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THE HISTORY

Of THE

CONSULATE & THE EMPIRE
OF FRANCE

UNDER

NAPOLEON.

M. A. THIERS.

TRANSLATED FROM THE LAST PARIS EDITION, WITH NOTES.

% 0 n D 0 It :

CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY.

1875.

Uniform with the present volume,royal %vo, cloth extra,price 1 5^.

THIERS'
HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

Translated from the last Paris Edition, -with Notes.

v^

LIBRARY

UNIVERSI 1 V OF CALIFORNU

SAATA BAHBAKA

1 _>

CONTENTS.

VOL. L

PAGE

l

Book I.

Constitution of the Year viii. ' . . . , , .1

II.

Govemment of the Interior

27

III.

Ulm and Genoa .

55

IV.

Marengo

85

V.

Heliopolis

119 '

VI.

The Armistice .

136

VII.

Hohenlinden

171

VIII.

The Infernal Machine .

193

IX.

The Neutral Powei-s .

207

X.

Evacuation of Egypt

231

XI.

The General Peace

260

XII.

The Concordat .

282

XIII.

The Tribunate .

305

XIV.

The Consulate for Life .

. 336

XV.

The Secularizations

. 377

XVI.

Rupture of the Peace of Amien

8

. 418

XVII.

The Camp of Boulogne .

466

XVIII.

The Conspiracy of Georges

506

XIX.

The Empire

. 536

XX.

Tiie Coronation .

. 575

XXI.

The Third Coalition

604

VOL IL

XXII.

Uln. and Trafalgar f 1

XXIII.

Austerlitz

46

XXIV.

Confederation of the Rhine

. 93

XXV.

Jena

143

XXVI.

Eyiau

194

XXVII.

Friedland and Tilsit

251

A 'i

HISTORY OF THE CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

BOOK I.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

ENTRANCE OF THE t'ROVlSIONAL CONSULS UPON THEIR FUNCTIONS. — DIVISION OF DUTY BETWEEN SIEVES AND
BONAPARTE. — BONAPARTE TAKES UPON HIMSELF THE ACTIVE ADMINISTRATION, AND LEAVES SIEVES TO
PLAN THE CONSTITUTION. — STATE OP FRANCE IN BRUMAIRE, VEAR VIII. — DISORDER IN THE FINANCES — DESTI-
TUTION OP THE ARMIES. — TROUBLES IN LA VENDEE. — MOVEMENTS OF THE REVOLUTIONISTS IN SOME OF THE
SOUTHERN TOW.NS. — FIRST STEPS OF THE PROVISIONAL CONSULS FOR RESTORING ORDER IN THE VARIOUS
DEPARTMENTS OP THE GOVERNMENT. — NOMINATION OF CAMBACERES TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE ; LA PLACE
TO THE HOME OFFICE; FOUCHE TO THE POLICE; TALLEYRAND TO FOREIGN AFFAIRS; BERTHIER TO WAR;
PORFAIT TO THE MARINE, AND GAUDIN TO THE FINANCES. — FIRST FINANCIAL MEASURES. — THE PROGRESSIVE
FORCED LOAN SUPPRESSED.— CREATION OF AN AGENCY OF DIRECT CONTRIBUTIONS, AND COMPLETION OF THE
LISTS OP ASSESSMENT LEFT IN ARREAR. — INSTITUTION OF THE BILLS OP THE RECEIVER-GENERAL. — CONFIDENCE
BEGINS TO BI RE-ESTABLISHED: THE BANKERS OP PARIS ADVANCE A LOAN TO THE STATE. — SUCCOUR SENT TO
THE ARMIES. — POLITICAL ACTS OF THE tONSDLS.— REVOCATION OF THE HOSTAGE LAW; DISCHARGE OF THE
IMPRISONED PRIESTS, AND OF THOSE SHIPWRECKED AT CALAIS. — COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE CHIEFS OF THE
KOYAIIST PARTY.— A SUSPENSION OP ARMS IN LA VENDEE AGREED UPON WITH BOURMONT, AUTICHAMP, AND
CHATILLON.— COMMENCEMENT OP RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN CABINETS.— STATE OF EUROPE. — AUSTRIA AND
ENGLAND RESOLVE TO CONTINUE THE WAR — PAUL OF RUSSIA, IRRITATED AGAINST HIS ALLIES, SHOWS AN
INCLINATION TO WITHDRAW FROM THE COALITION, AND ATTACH HIMSELF TO THE SYSTEM OF NEUTRALITY
ADOPTED BY PRUSSIA. — IMPORTANCE OP PRUSSIA AT THAT MOMENT. — BONAPARTE SENDS HIS AID-DE-CAMP
DUROC TO BERLIN. — RU.MOURS OF A PEACE.— SENSIBLE AMELIORATION IN THE MATERIAL AND MORAL STATE
OF FRANCE, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE PROVISIONAL CONSULS. — THE FORMATION OP THE
NEW CONSTITUTION TAKEN IN HAND.— PROJECT OF SIEVES LONG MEDITATED. — LISTS OP NOTABILITY, THE CON-
SERVATIVE SENATE, THE LEGISLATIVE BODY, THE TRIBUNATE, THE GRAND ELECTOR. — DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN
SIEYES AND BOtlAPARTE, RELATIVE TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER.— DANGER OF A RUPTURE
BETWEEN THE TWO CONSULS. — RECONCILEMENT THROUGH THEIR TRIENDS.— THE GRAND ELECTOR IS REPLACED
BY THE THREE CONSULS. — ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII., AND ITS OPERATION FIXED
POR THE 4th NIVOSE, IN THE YEAR VIII.

TiiK 18tli of Brumaire had terminated the existence
of the Directory.

The men who, after the stomiy times of the
Convention, had conceived a republic of this nature
were not thoroughly convinced of the solidity and
excellence of their work ; but in the transition from
the sanguinary path they had traversed, it was
difiicultfor them to have done otherwise or better.
Tlius it was impossible for them to have looked
towards the Hourbons, who were repudiated by
the universal feeling ; it was equally impossible for
tiiem to have Hung themselves into the arms of a
great general; because at that epoch, none of our
I soldiers had acquired sufficient glory to lead cap-
j tive the popular mind. Besides this, all illusions
were not yet dissipated by experience. After
escaping from the Committee of Public Safety, no-
thing had been tried but the ferocious I'cpublic of
1793, consi.sting of a single a-ssembly, exercising at
once every sjiecies of authority. It remained to
make a last attempt, that of a moderate republic,
the -(Hiwers of which should bo wisely separated,
and the administration confided to new men.

strangers to tlie excesses that had filled France
with dismay. Under these circumstances the Di-
rectory was conceived.

This new essay at forming a republic lasted four
years, from the 13th Brumaire, year iv. to the
18th Brumaire, in tlie year viii. It was under-
taken with good faith and a hearty will, by men of
whom the greater part were honest, and animated
by right intentions. Some men of a violent charac-
ter or of suspected probitj', as the director Barras,
had managed to mingle in the list of rulers, who
during these four years transmitted the authority
to each other ; but Rewbell, La Reveillicre-Le-
ipeaux, Le Tourneur, Carnot, Barthe'leniy, Roger-
iDucos, Sieycs, wore upright citizens, all men of
/ability, and the last, Sieycs, possessed of a very
superior intellect. Notwithstanding this, the dic-
tatorial republic soon exhibited grievous confusion;
less of cniclty, but more of anarchy : — such bad
been the character of the new government. The
Directoi-y did not guillotine, but it transported. It
did not oblige assignats to be received as currency
under the penalty of death ; but it paid nobody.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Sieyes. — Public notions 1799.
about the constitution. Nov.

Our soldiers, without arms and without bread, were
vanquished in place of being victorious. To terror
'had succeeded intolerable public uneasiness ; and
as feebleness has its j)assions, this republic of mild
intentions had finished by two measures altogether
tyrannical, the progressive forced loan, and the law of
the iiostages. This last measure, abuve all, although
it carried nothing sanguinary in its character, was
one of the most odious vexations invented under the
cruel and fertile imagination of parties.

Is it astonishing that I- ranee, to which the Bour-
|bons could not be presented hi 1709^ alter the ill suc-
(cess of the directorial constitution, began to have no
faith in a republic ? Is it astonishing that Franco
flung itself into the arms of a young general, the
conciuci'or of It;ily and Egypt, a stranger to every
party, affecting to disdain all, endowed with an
energetic will, exhibiting for both military and
civil business an equal aptitude, and leaving to
conjecture an ambition which, far from inspiring
people with apprehension, was greeted then as a
hope ? Less glory than he had acquii'cd might have
sufficed any one to seize the government, since
some time before General Joubcrt had been sent
to Novj, that he might acquire the titles he wanted
for operating the revolution, now called in our
annals the 18th Brumaire. The unfortunate Jou-
bert was conquered and slain at Novi ; but young
Bonaparte, then always fortunate :in<l victorious,
not less so in escaping the dangers of the sea than
those of battle, had returned from Egypt to France I
in a maimer almost miraculous; and at his first [
appearance the Directory had succumbed. Every
party ran to meet him, and demanded from him
order, victory, and peace.

Still it was not in one day that the authority of
a single man could replace that demagogue rule in
whi.h all the world, alternately the oppressors or
the oppressed, had possessed for a time the chief
authority. It was necessary to regard appearances,
and in order to bring fatigued France beneath
absolute power, to make her pass, by regular gra-
datiim, through a government of glory, reparative
and demi-republican. It wanted, in one word, the
Consulate, to lead the way to the Empire.

It is tliis jmrtion of our contemporary history
that I enter upon at present. Fifteen years are
rolled away since I traced the annals of our first
revolution. These fifteen years I have passed in the
bustle of imlilic life ; I have seen an ancient throne
fall and a new throiu; elevated; I have seen the
French revolution parsue its invincible career.
Although the scenes in which I have borne a part
have wirpriscd me little, 1 have not the presump-
tion to believe that Hiy experiences of men and
public affairs have taught me nothing. On the
contrary, I believe I have acquired much, and
that I am thus perhaps better qualified to seize
and delineate the great things wliich our fathers
performed during those heroic times. I am sure
that expeiience has not cooled the generous sen-
timents of my youth; I am certaiji I love, as 1
have ev.r loved, the liberty and glory of France.

I resume my narration at the lath Brumaire, in
the year viti. (November 9, 1799.)

The law of the 19th Brumaire, which established
the nrovisional consulate, being perfected, the
three new Consuls, Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Iloger-
Ducob, quitted St. Cloud for Paris. Sieyes and

Roger-Ducos, former members of the Du'ectory,
were already inhabitants of the palace of the
Luxembourg. Bonaparte left his house in the
street de la Victoiro, and with his wife, his adopted
children, and his aids-de-camp, took up his resi-
dence in the little Luxembourg. There surrounded
by the fragments of the last government, and the
elements of the new, and approximating to his two
colleagues, he set his hand at work, with that just
and rapid intelligence, that wonderful activity,
which signalized his mode of action in war.

With him were associated as his colleagues
Ducos and Sieyes, both formerly of the Directory;
both had been busily employed in destroying the
government they contemned. Sieyes particularly
had been placed at the side of Bonaparte, because
he was the second personage of the republic, au-
thor of the greatest and best conceptivms of the
revolution, such as the union of the three orders,
the division of France into (lei)artments,and the in-
stitution of the national guard. Sieyes, destitute of
eloquence, had rivalled Mirabeau in the first days
of our revolution, at the time that oratory was
esteemed the highest endowment ; and now when
universal war assigned the first place to military
genius, Sieyes, who never had borne a sword, was
nearly the equal of Bonaparte himself ; so great is
the power of mind, even without the talents that
render it useful or applicable. But now that he
must put his hand to business, Sieyes, who was
idle, morose, imperious in his notions, irritated or
upset by the slightest contradiction, was not able
long to rival in influence his young colleague, who
could work day and night, who was annoyed by no
contradiction, who was blunt, but not morose ;
who knew how to succeed by pleasing when he was
inclined, and when he did not see fit to give him-
self that trouble, had always the resource left of
carrying his object by force.

There was still one function appropriated in the
general way to Sieyes. This was the preparing
the new constitution, which the provisional consuls
had been charged to frame and to propose to the
country at the earliest possible moment. People
were at this time still somewhat imbued with the
notions of the eighteenth century ; they believed
less, generally, but they still believed, that human
institutions might be i)urely an operation of the
mind, and that a constitution, adapted for thei)ublic
rule, might start i-eady-niade from the head of the
legislator. Most assuredly if the French revo-
lution had required a Solon or Lycurgus, Sieyes
was worthy of being the man ; but in modern
times there is but one real legislator, and that is
exi)erience. They did not think so then, though we
think so now ; and it was universally agreed that
Sieyes should be the maker of the new constitu-
tion. This was hoped, and reported. It was pre-
tended that he was in possession of a plan long
reflected upon, a profound and admirable work ;
that, disembarrassed from the obstacles which
revolutionary passions had opposed to him before,
he would now be able to bring it forward ; that he
would be the legi-slator, Bonaparte the adminis-
trator of the new government, and that between
the two, France would be made powerful and happy.
Every epoch of the revolution had its illusions ;
the present is not without its own ; it is true, these
will probably be the last.

1799.
Nov.

Different factions.
State of La Vendee.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

Wants of the armies.—
Financial position of
France.

It wa-s agreed, tlien, by common accord, that
Sieyes sliduid be employed in framing the consti-
tution, aiul Bonaparte m the government. It was
urgent, in effect, that the country should be go-
verned by some one, because tnider every aspect
its situation was deplorable. Moral and material
disorder was at its height.

The ardent revolutionists, beaten at St. Cloud,
had still partizans in the society called the Jl/a-
ne<je^, &nd in analogous societies scattered abroad
throughout France. They had at their head few
noted leaders fi'om the two assemblies, but they num-
bered among them several officers who were much
esteemed by their brethren in arms. Bernadotte,
an ambitious man, who can'ied pretensions which
his standing in the army did not justify ; Augereau,
a ti'ue soldier, very unreasonable, brave, but with-
out influence ; lastly. Jourdan, a good citizen, and
a good general, whom his military disasters had
soured and flung into increased opposition. It was
to be feared that the fugitives from the Council of
Five Hundred would unite together in some con-
siderable place, form there a legislative body and
directory, and rally around them the individaals
who still preserved all their fervour of attachment
to revolutionary sentiments ; the first, because
they were compromised by excesses, or were pos-
sessed of national property ; the last, because they
loved republican system on its own account, and
feared to see it fall under the power of a new-
Cromwell. Such a movement would have been a
great embarrassment in a situation already full of
difficulty ; and some inquietude was felt lest it
should be attem|)ted in Paris itself.

On the part of the opposite faction, it was also
natural to feel serious fears, because La Vendue
was on fire anew. Chatillon was on the right bank
of the Loire, Autichamp on the left, Georges Ca-
doudal in tlie Morbihan, Bourmont in the Maine,
Frottd on the coast of Normandy ; all these were
excited and sustained by the English, thus renew-
ing the civil war. The law of hostages, the feeble-
ness of the government, the defeats of the armies,
were the motives that again urged them to take
u]) arms. Chatillon suddenly occupied Nantes ;
he had not fixed his quarters there, but entered it
and retired. This sufficed to make the larger com-
m.unes in the disturbed country cover themselves
with entrenchments hastily constructed, or sur-
round themselves with palisades when they were
unable to construct walls. Some of them, in order
to provide for their own defence, retained the scanty
funds that the insurgent provinces had paid into
the public coffers, saying that when the govern-
ment did not think of protecting them, they were
biiund to take that care upon themselves.

The Directory, although resolved to guard against
the exc< ssesof the Convention, had not been able to
resist all the violent propositions that the renewed
war in La Vendde might naturally inspire in the re-
volutionary party. IJrawn in by the movement of
these feelings, the Directory had made the law of
hostagiH, in virtue of which all those who were rela-
tions or supposed aecomplicrs of the Venddans,
were confined and rendered liable to certain pen-
alties for th<; suppression of the acts of the insur-
rectionists committed in the localities for which they

» The " Society of llic It id ini; House."

had been thus made answerable. This unjust and
violent law had only in-itated the passions without
disarming a single hand in La Vendee, and it had
roused agaiust the Directory unappeasable incense-
ment.

The war beyond the borders had been a little
less unfortunate towards the close of the last cam-
paign. The victory of Mass^na at Zurich, and that
of Brune at the Texel, had repulsed the enemy
from the frontiers, but our soldiers found them-
selves in a state of utter destitution. They we^-e
neither paid, clothed, nor fed. The army in Hol-
land which had vanquished the Anglo-Russians,
having the advantage of being supported by the
Batavian Republic, was less unfortunate than the
others. The army of the Rhine, which had lost the
battle of Stokach, and that of Helvetia, which had
gained the battle of Zurich, were in the deepest
misery. The army of the Rhine, on the soil of
France, practised without limit and without suc-
cei-s the system of requisitions. That of Helvetia
lived by means of war contributions upon Bale,
Zurich, and Berne ; contributions badly received,
badly employed, insufficient for the nourishment of
the soldiery, and mortifying to the independence
and spirit of economy remarkable among the Swiss.
The army of Italy, smce the disasters of Novi and
the Trebia, had fallen back upon the Apennines,
on a sterile country, ravaged by war, and was a
prey to disease and the most dreadful suffering.
Those soldiers, who had sustained the greatest re-
verses with unshrinking heroism ; they who had
shown amidst misfortune unshaken constancy, co-
vered with rags, consumed by fever and hunger,
demanded alms upon the roads in the Apennines,
and were reduced so low as to devour the indiges-
tible (ruits which are borne by the arid soil of that
sterile I'egion. Many deserted, or swelled the bands
of robbers that in the south and west of France
infcstid the high roads. Entire corps were seen
quitting their posts without the orders of their
generals, to occupy others where they hoped to
sustain life with less misery. The sea, guarded by
the English, showed no flag but that of an enemy ;
in this mode they received no resources. Cer-
tain divisions were deprived of all pay for eighteen
months. Some requisitions were levied in the way
of food; but of muskets, cannon, and munitions of
war, which could not be pj-ocured in this way, the
soldiers were in total want. The horses, already
insufficient for the cavalry and artillery services,
were marly all destroyed by famine and disease.

Suih were the results of a feeble, disordered, and
frightful financial derangement. The armies of
the republic liad been sustained upon a.ssignats and
victory for several years. The assigiiats were
now no more, and victory having all at once aban-
doned us, came just to show itself to our legions,
without opening to them again the abundant plains
of Germany and Italy.

It is here necessary to give an idea of our finan-
cial position, the principal c.iuse of the suflering in
our ainiies. The i)res4nt ill situation of the finances
far surpassed any that had been witnessed at an
anierior epoch. The constituent assembly iiad com-
mitted two faults, which had been mendid as far as
a certain point by means of assignats ; but for wiiich
there remained no palliative alter the depreciation
of that paper nionev. These two faults were, fii-slJy,
n2

Deficiency of taxes and
assessments.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Revenue abuses.
Paper currency.

the suppression of the indirect taxes imposed upon
hquoi^, salt, and articles of general consumption ;
secondly, the leaving to the municipal administra-
tions the power to assess the contributions upon
lands, houses, and objects of direct taxation.

By the suppression of the indirect contributions
the treasury lost, without compensation, a third of
its revenues. The j)roduce of the state domains
being nearly destroyed by bad management, that
of the registration through a deficiency in px-ivate
transactions, and that of the customs owing to the
war, the direct contributions formed nearly the sole
resource of the treasury ; but their receipts, which
represented about 300,000,000f. in a budget of
500,000,000f., were in an extraordinary state of
arrear. There were debts outstanding for the years
v., VI., and vii. The assessments for the year vi.
were not perfected ; for the year vii. there re-
mained a third to be completed ; and for the
current year, that is to say, for the year viii. (1799),
they were scarcely begun. Owing to this delay in
the completion of the assessments, it was not pos-
sible to collect the current taxes, and the accumu-
lation of those in arrear gave birth to new diffi-
culties in collecting, because the taxes of successive
years must too often be demanded of the payei-s at
the same time. This state of things arose from the
adoption of a principle, just in appearance, but in
reality unfortunate, — the conceding to the local ad-
nnnistrations the imposition of the public bm-dens,
and to a certain extent permitting them to assess
themselves. The departmental and municipal ad-
ministrations were at that time united, as is well
known. In the place of i)refects, sub-prefects, and
mayors, who were instituted at a later period, there
were joined with all these administrations, commis-
sioner of the government, having a consulting
voice, directed to request and urge the acceleration
of the labours of the administrations, but not to
execute these labours themselves. The system of
cantonal municipalities, imiting the 44,000 com-
munes of France into SOOO collective communes,
had added to the disorder. Every local business
was abandoned, while that which made the misfor-
tune the greater was, that the two main objects,
the recniiting of the army and the tax collections,
were wholly neglected. To remedy this defect in
the administrative action, 5000 commissioners were
attached to the municipalities of the cantons, whose
bu-siness was to hasten the completion of the lists
of assessment ; but they did not possess the power
which could have alone made them efficient, that of
acting themselves. Besides, divided between vari-
ous occupations, they only gave a slight degree of
attention to the completion of the lists of assess-
ment. The sum paid them for their labours, much
more expensive than it has been since the estjiblish-
ment of the administration of direct contributions,
w;i.s a heavy drain upon the treasury, without any
corresponding return.

Thus the direct taxes, the pi-incipal branch of
the state revenue, were not received. Besides this
permanent deficiency, proceeding from a default
in the receipts, there was another, which arose from
the extent of the expenditure at this time being
greater than the revenue : the ordinary expenses
were cilculatorl to cover the return of a revenue of
about r.OO.OOO.OOOf., but the war had carried them
to 700,000,000f. There remained as a resource

nothing but the national property, the larger part of
which was already absorbed ; besides, it was ex-
tremely difficult to sell this property to advantage,
because the definitive triumph of the revolution was
still very doubtful.

This state of things had caused revolting abuses,
and led to a situation which ought to be known for
the instruction of every people and government.

The assignats, we have said, had ceased to be in
existence for a good while. The notes which re-
placed them had also disappeared. The paper
money was thus completely abandoned, and how-
ever great the void might be, it was still
better not to fill it yet, than to fill it as be-
fore with a forced paper issue, barely admitted
even in forced payments, and thus give place
uselessly for the rigors of the law in order to
enforce its being circulated at all. The paper
money thus suppressed was replaced in the following
manner : First, the payment was dispensed with,
even in paper, of the public functionaries, so that
in Brumaire in the year vni. they had not re-
ceived anything for ten months. Still something
must be given to the fundholders, and to the
pensioners of the state ; and these received " bills of
arrear ^," of which the only value was that they
wei"e always received in payment of the taxes.
They did not pay the troops at all, but they ac-
quitted the value of what the armies took on the
spot for subsistence, by means of " bills of requisi-
tion," which were equally receivable in payment of
taxes. The companies charged to provide for the
wants of the soldiers, executed their duty ill, and
sometimes not at all; and they received, in place
of cash, orders upon the first I'eceipts of the
treasury, under this species of claim, given very
ai'bitrarily, obtaining nearly all the money which
got into the public exchequer. Finally, " rescrip-
tions" or orders on the national domains, receivable
in payment for the same, werer another kind of
pajjcr added to those which have been enumerated,
and contributed to the most fearful stockjobbing.

These various notes had not in effect a forced
currency, as the assignats had before them ; but
thrown into circulation, and endlessly bought and
sold in the Paris market, they became elevated or
depressed in value upon every good or bad rumour,
and were thus the subject of a ruinous speculation
for the state, and of lamentable demoralization with
the public. The men of business, the depositories of
all the wealth in specie, were able to procure them at
a very advantageous rate. They purchased them from
the fundholders, the contractors, and others, at the
lowest cost, and got them presented at the treasury
in payment of the t;ixes, turning for a hundred
francs what had cost them eighty, or sometimes
only fifty or sixty. The collectors gave themselves
to this kind of speculation ; and while they received
money from one part of the tax-i)ayers, they turned
at par into the state-coffei-s the paper which they
had acquired at the lower price. Therefore few
])ayed tiieir taxes in specie ; there was a much
greater advantage in acquitting them with paper.
In this mode the treasury did not receive the real
value to which it was entitled, and its distress daily
augmented.

In the same way that anger against the Vendeaus

- Bons d'arrtrage.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

France still stronsr.
Military resources.

produced the hostage law, that against the dealers
ia money gave the idea of the progressive forced
loan, designed to reach the larger capitalists, and
make them bear a pai-t in the expenses of the war.
This tax was called in France during the days of
terror, the tax upon the rich, being analogous to
that called the '• income-tax " in England— imposed
by Pitt in order to sustain the remorseless war
which he was waging against France. This tax,
not proportioned to the extent of fixed property,
which affords a certain basis, but to the supposed
wealth of individuals, was practicable in England,
although under much discontent — a state where
order prevailed, and where the fury of pai'ty did not
make the estimate of incomes an instiiiment of venge-
ance. But it was impracticable in France, because
in the midst of the disorders of the time the assess-
ing jury was a species of revolutionary committee,
imposing wealth or poverty upon individuals as
its caprices or its passions inclined; and never
credited to be just even when it was so, which
is nearly equivalent to its not being just at any
time. They did not dare to present this measui-e
to the country as formerly, mider the simple shape
of a tax; dissimulating its true nature; it bore the
name of a " forced loan ^," repayable, it was said,
in national property, and imposed, according to the
supposed ability of those who were to pay, by a
jury of assessors. Thus the measure became one
of the calamities of the day, and formed with the
hostage law the two heavy grievances afterwards
alleged against the Directory. This was not the
cause, as some asserted, of the sti-aitness of the
treasury, an evil owing to a complexity of circum-
stances; it drove away the wealthy speculatoi's,
whose help was indispensable to the government,
and through whom it should have aided itself, if
only for tlie moment, in order to be able to do
without them at a later period.

This financial situation was, as already said, the
principal cause of the distress and the reverses
of our armies. Perfectly well understood by foreign
powers, it filled them with the confidence of van-
quishing us by a little perseverance. Without doubt
the two victories of the Texel and Zurich re-
moved further off the object which they sought,
but it did not turn them aside from the pur-
suit. Austria, proud to have reconquered Italy,
decided to combat to the uttermost sooner than
resign it again. She already conducted herself
there a.s an absolut(! sovereign. Occu])ying Pied-
mont, Tuscany, and the Roman statis, she nei-
ther recalled the king of Sardinia to Turin, the
grand-duke of Tuscany to Florence, nor the ponti-
fical government to Rome. The defeat of Korsakoff
and Suwaroff at Zurich affected her less than might
be believed. It was in her view a check for the
Russian arms, not for those of Austria; a fault of
the generals Korsakoff and Suwaroff ; a military
mischief easily reparable, and only vexatious in
case it disgusted the Russians with the war. But
she hojied, with the influence of British subsi-
dies, to recal them again to the field of battle. As
. to Englan<l, enriched by the income-tax, which
' jiroduccd already more than 200,00(»,()00f. a-year;
blockading Malta, which she soon hoped to take
by famine; intercepting the conveyance of suc-

Hinprunt forci-.

eour to our anny in Egypt, that she hoped soon to
subdue by privation and by force — England was
resolved to follow out all these results, which her
policy flattered itself with gaining, before she laid
down her arms. Moreover she counted upon a
sort of social dissolution in France, which would
soon change -it into an open eountiy, accessible to
whoever might choose to enter it. Prussia, the
only one of tlie northern powers that had taken no
jiart in the war, observed a cold reserve in regard
to the French government. Spain, obliged by the
treaty of alliance of St. Ildefonzo to make common
cause with France, appeared to be mortified at their
community of interests. None seemed to care much
about keeping up relations with a government
ready to fall. The victories of Zurich and the
Texel had conferred upon it the show of external
respect, but not the confidence of the cabinets with
wliiidi it was at peace or in alli:ince.

Thus at home La Vendue anew in insurrection,
and abroad the principal powers of Em'ope in
arms, made the peril of the war doubly pressing
and onerous. It was necessary, by the creation of
some financial means, to supply the first neces-
sities of the famished armies. It was necessary to
re-organize them, to can-y them in advance, to
command them ably, to add new victories to those
which had been gained at the end of the last cam-
paign ; above all, it was necessary to take a\vay
from foreign cabinets the idea of the approaching
social dissolution of France, which rendered some
so confident in the result of the wax-, others so
guarded m their relations with her. All this could
only be obtained through a strong government,
perfectly able to restrain jiarty, and impress upon
the general mind that oneness of impulse, without
which, in its efforts to save itself, there could
neither be unity, energy, nor success.

The disease had arrived at that point of access
which often brings the return of health, on the con-
dition, it is true, that the strength of the sick man
is sufficient to last out the cure. Hajipily the
strength of France was still great. The revolution,
although decried by those that it had wounded, or
whose illusions it had not realized, was not the less
after all the cause of justice and reason, and it still
inspired that attachment which a grand cause is
always sure to do. It had, besides, numerous in-
terests bound up in its fate, in all those who had
acquired new situations, purchased the property
of emigrants, or played any character in it that
compromised them. Finally, the nation was not
so exhausted, morally and physically, as to see
with resignation the Austrians and Russians in-
vade its territory : on the contrai'y, it was indig-
nant at the idea.' Its armies abounded with good
soldiei"s, experienced officers, and excellent gene-
rals, who had only need of a good directiini. All
these forces were ready to unite spontaneously in
the grasp of a single hand, if that hand were ca-
pable of directing them. These circumstances
favoured the man of genius who was about to pre-
sent him.self, for even genius itself has need of
the aid of circumstances.

Had young Bonaparte, in 1789, for example, of-
fered himself with his talents and glory to seize
ujjon social France, then tending in all parts to
dissolve, because its elements were become incom-
patible, and had he attempted to restraui it with

6 Powers of the Consuls. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Qualifications of Bona-
parte for governing.

1799.
Nov.

his powerful arm, a human arm could hare ef-
fected nothing against the power of nature. At
this time, on the contrary, when an old society,
broken up, as it was necessary it should be, before
it was reconstructed upon a new model, presented
no more than scattered elements, but tending in
themselves to approximate, it was ready to lend
itself to the cflbrts of the able hand that knew how
to grasp it. Bonaparte had with him, then, both
liis genius and the favour of circumstances. He
had an entire society to organize, a society that
was willing to be organized, and willing it should
be done by him, because in him it had the limitless
confidence inspired by unequalled success.

The law which decreed the provisionary consul-
ship, conferred great powers on the three consuls.
This law invested them with the plenitude of the
" directorial power ;" especially charging tliem to
" re-establisli order in all branches of the adminis-
ti-ation; to re-estalilish interior tranquillity, and to
procure for France a peace soHd and honourable."
This law also joined with them two legislative com-
missions, of twenty-five members each, chosen out
of the Council of the Ancients and that of the Five
Hundred, in order to replace the legislative body,
and give a legal character to the acts of the
consuls. It authorized these two commissions to
decree all needful measures on the proposition of
the executive authority. It confided to them, be-
sides, the important duty of preparing the new
constitution. Nevertheless, as it was not possible
to confer such powei's for an unlimited time, the
same law enacted that on the 1st of Ventose next,
the two councils of the Ancients and of the Five
Hundred should in full right meet togetlier
again, if a new constitution were not promulgated
and accepted in the mean time. In this case the
members of the actual legislative body should be
considered re-invested with their powers, save
sixty of their number erased from the list of the
councils by an extraordinary provision. The re-
a.s.sembling eventually being fixed for the 1st Ven-
tose, the dictati'i-fihip confided to the provisional
consuls was limited to three months. It was in effect
a ti-ue dicta toi-ship which had been conceded, be-
cause these commissions deliberated with eh)Sed
doors; divided into difFerent sections of finances, of
legislation, of the couhtitution ; only meeting to
legalize what the government propc.sed to them ;
they were the surest and most facile instruments
for acting with promptitude. There was no ground
to fear that they would abuse these powers, because
when there is nuich good to be done quickly, people
do not lose time in doing evil.

The day of their entry into the Luxembourg, the
three pmvisional consuls assembled to delibe-
rate on the mure pressing affairs of the state. It
was tlio 11th of November 1799 (the 20th liru-
mairc). It hecamc necessary to clmose a jjresi-
dent, and the age and situatitm of Sieyea seenied
to demand that distinction. Ducos, although his
friend, as if operated upon by the feeling of the
moment, said to Bonaparte, " Take the chair, and
let us deliberate." Bonaparte took the chair at
the moment. Still the appointment of the pro-
visional consuls made no mention of a president.
A first examination, in sununary, of the situation of
the country was then made. Young Bonaparte
wa« ignomnt of many things, but he readily divined

what he did not before know. He had made war,
provided for numerous armies, governed conquered
provinces, negociated with Europe : his was the
best apprenticeship in the art of government. For
superior minds, but for superior minds alone, war is
an excellent school : command is learned there,
decision, and above all, government. Thus the new
consul appeared to have in all things an opinion
ready-formed, or an opinion that was formed with
the rapidity of lightning ; particularly after having
heard practical men, who were the only men he
would liear,and those upon the subject alone which
was connected with their special calling.

A species of knowledge, the deficiency of which
is to be regretted in one who exercises the supreme
authority, was at this time wanting to him — not the
knowledge of men, but of individuals. As to men
in genei-al, Bonaparte knew them profoundly ; but
having always lived with the armies, he was a
stranger to those who had figured in the revolution.
He therefore asked and was aided by the testimony
of his colleagues ; and owing to his quick penetration
and prodigious memory, he soon came to know the
individuals belonging to govei-nmeut offices as well
as he knew those of his army.

At this first conference, the parts were chosen
and accepted. The young general, with(;ut attend-
ing to the opinions of his colleagues, gave his own
at the moment, taking up and regulating every
point of business with the decision of a man of
action. It was evident the impulse would come
from himself. They retired after having settled
on the things most urgent to be done. Sieyes,
with a resignation which did honour to his sense
and pati-iotism, said in the evening to Talleyrand
and to Roedercr, " We have a master who knows
how to do every thing, is able to do every
thing, and who will do every thing." He there-
fore wisely concluded that it was better to per-
mit him to act, because at that moment personal
rivalry in the consuls would have ruined France.
It was agreed anew by a kind of voluntary division
of duty, that during the dictatorship, which must
be .short and busy, Bonaparte should govern, and
Sieyes employ himself in preparing the constitution.
This was, as has been already said, a duty that
public opinion adjudged to Sieyes, and in the ac-
complishment of which his colleague was not dis-
posed to give him much contradiction, — one point
excepted, the organization of the executive power.

The most urgent object was the composition of
the ministry. In a monarchy the first men of the
country are called to office : in a republic the
chief men having themselves become the heads of
the government, there remains for the ministry
only men of the second class in ability, mere
clerks ; officials without responsibility, because the
real responsibility is seated higher. When such
jiersons as Sieyes and Bonaparte were consuls, a
class of persons very distinguished for talent like
Fouchd, Cambac(-res, Reinliart, and Talleyrand,
could not be real ministers. Their choice had no
other weight attached to it than a certain public
effect and a good despatch of official business. In
this light only the ch<.ice offered an interest.

The lawyer Canibac^res, a learned and philoso-
phic man, as will be seen hereafter, was retained
witJiout opposition as minister of justice. Fouch^,
after a lively discussion among the consuls, re-

Miuistorial appoint-

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

The secretary of state.
Military changes.

mained minister of police. Sieyes was against him, I
because lie said Fouche was a man not to be relied |
upon and the creature of the director Barras. |
Bonaparte supported his cause and kept him in I
his post. He engaged thus in his behalf from |
a regard to services Fouche' had rendered him
during the events of the 18th Brumaire. Jlorc
than tliis, Fouche' joined to an acute mind a pro-
found knowledge of men and things connected with
the revolution. He was marked out for minister
of police ; as Talleyrand, with his court-habits, !
practised in important state-business, his mind '
subtle and conciliatory, was the minister indicated !
as best fitted for foreign affairs. Though Fouche i
continued iu his office, the anger of the z-evolutiou-
ists was so great against Talleyrand, whether
because of his connexions among the moderate
party, or on account of the part he had played in
the late events, that he was obliged to defer for
some weeks his return to the ministry for foreign
affairs. Reinhart was for a fortnight longer con-
tinued in his post. General Berihier, the faithful
companion of the conqueror of Italy and of Egypt,
his inseparable chief of the staff, who so well
understood and delivered his orders, received the
war portfolio, in place of Dubois-Crance', who was
judged to be too strong in his opinions. In the
ministry of the interior, Quinette was replaced by
an illustrious man of science, De la Place. This
was a great and just homage paid to science, but it
was of no service to the government ; his noble
and elevated genius being little fitted for the petty
details of state business. Forfait, an able engineer,
well skilled in naval construction, replaced Bom*-
don, of the Oise, as minister of the marine.

At this time, perhaps, the most important selec-
tion to be made was that of the minister of
finance. To the departments already indicated, the
conhuls were able to supply by themselves two of the
most considerable, those of war and ibroign affairs.
Bonaparte himself could perform the duties both
of Berthier and Reinhart. It was not so with the
finances. This was a department of the state in
which experience and knowledge were indispensa-
ble. There had not been in the late Directory
any person who was able to labour usefully at the
re-organization of the finances, though so urgent
anil neces.sary. There wius, however, a first clerk,
with a mind not so brilliant as solid, and of long
experience, who had rendered under the old go-
vernment, and during the enrly days of the revo-
lution, tliose administrative services little known,
but extremely valuable, which the heads of affairs
cannot do without, and consider of great im-
portance. The first clerk, of whom mention is
thus made, was Gaudin, afterwards Duke of Gaete.
SieycH, well able to judge of men, although little
capable of comrolling ihem, had known Gaudin
before, and had willingly offered him the portfolio
of finance towards the end of the Directory.
Gaudin, an excellent financier, but a timid citizen,
was unwilling to accept the office thus tendered
to him under an expiring government, wanting
the joint conditions of credit, sirength, and the
aspect of stedfastness. But when power a|)peared,
without contist or opposiiioii, to fall into able and
strong hanilH, he no longer felt the same repug-
nance to office. JJonaparte, having a decided jiredi-
lection for practical men, piirtook at once in the

opinion of his colleague Sieyes, and offered to
Gaudin the administration of the finances; which
he accepted, and in which office for fifteen years
he rendered the state the most important ser-
vices.

The ministry was thus complete. One only
nomination was added to those already recorded,
it was that of Maret, afterwards Duke of Bassano,
who became secretary to the consuls under the
title of " Secretary of State." Ordered to pre[)are
for the consuls the elements of their labours, often
to put in order their resolutions, to communicate
them to the heads of the different departments,
and to keep all the state secrets, he held a species
of ministry, destined at times to supply, complete,
and control all the others. A cultivated mind,
a certain know ledge of Europe, with which he had
already conducted negociations, principally at Lille
with Lord Malmesbury, an accurate memory, a
fidelity above ail proof, foi-med him to become
near Bonaparte, one of his companions in labour
the most serviceable, and the most constantly em-
ployed. Bonaparte preferred near him those who
displayed in service exactness and intelligence,
rather than brilliancy of mind. This is the taste
of superior genius, ever desiring to be compre-
hended and obeyed, not to be supplanted. Such
was the cause of the great favour of Berthier
during twenty years. Maret, not equalling Berthier
on the whole, had, in the civil line of duty, most of
the merits of that illustrious chief of the staff in
the military career.

General Lefebvre was placed in command of the
seventeenth military division. It will be recol-
lected that at first he had shown hesitation on the
morning of the 18th Brumaii'e, and that afterwards
he blindly threw himself into the arms of the
new dictator. He was recompensed by the seven-
teenth military division, and by the government of
Paris. His fidelity might afterwards be safely
counted upon.

Members of the two councils, who were sig-
nalized by their co-operation on the 18th Bru-
maire, were sent into the provinces, to explain and
justify that event ; and in case of ncscessity, to re-
place those agents in authority who might show
themselves refractory or inefficient. The result of
the 18th Brumaire was every where received with
joy ; still the revolutionary party had, iu men
compx'omised by their excesses, friends that might
become dangerous ; above all, in the directic)n of
the southern provinces. There when they showed
themselves, the youth who were styled the " gilded
youth," or done, were ready to come to blows with
them. The defeat or victory of one or the other
party would have produced serious inconveniences.
Certain clianges were brought about in the
distribution of the great military commands. Mo-
reau, dee])ly angry at the Directory, which had so
ill recompensed his patriotic devotion during the
campaign of 1/09, had consented to act as the lieu-
tenant of Bonaparte, in aiding him to consuunnatc
the revolution of the 18th Brumaire. At the head
of three hundred men, ho descended to the cha-
racter of guardian of the Luxembourg, in which
palace the directors found themselves prisoners,
whilst their doom was decided at St. Cloutl. Bona-
l):irte, who, in Mattering with skill the luido and
resentment of Moreau, thus led him to accept so

Moreau and Massina ex-
change commands.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Conduct of M. Gaudin. .--„
Loan to the govern- ^ '

singular a part, owed him an indemnity. He,
the'refore, united the two armies of the Rhine and
of Helvetia in one, and conferred upon Moreaii the
command. It was the most numerous and finest
army of tlie republic, and it was impossible to
be placed in better hands. Moreau had gained little
fame in the last campaign. His sterling services,
above all, when with a handful of men he stopped
the victorious march of Suwaroff, were, notwith-
standing, deenud no victories, and had not been
appreciated at their just value. At this epoch the
battle of Zurich effaced every other deed. Again,
the political conduct of Moreau in the affair of the
18th Fructidor, when he denounced Pichegru,
either too soon or too late, had cast a cloud upon
him in the general opinion, and caused him to be
esteemed a feeble character every way unworthy of
himself, when he was absent from the field of bat-
tle. Bonaparte re-elevated him in giving him so
extensive a command, which besides involved
another very wise detemiination. The legions of
the Rhine and of Helvetia comprehended in their
ranks the warmest republicans of the whole army,
very jealous of the glory acquired in Italy and
Egypt. Massc-na, who commanded tliem,had little
love for Bonaparte, although he was subdued by
his gtnius. He passed by turns from admiration
to ill humour in regarding him. Some vexatious
demonstration too was to be feared on the part of
Massdna, in consequence of the 18th Brumaire.
The choice of Moreau cut short every possible
chance of this nature, and took from a discon-
tented army an ill-disposed general. The choice
was equally good in a military sense, because this
army of the Rhine and Helvetia was destined, in
case of the renewal of hostilities, to operate in
Germany, and no one had so well studied as Jloreau
that part of the theatre of the war.

Massdna was sent to the army of Italy, to the
places and among the soldiers that were perfectly
well known to him. It was also honourable to
himself that he .should be chosen to repair the
faults committed in 179!), and be the continuator of
the exploits of Bonaparte in 179C. Separated from
the army iff the midst of which he had conquered
and obtained supporters, he was now transported
to the midst of a new army, to which the Directory
was odious, and where none were found who did
not approve of the 18th Brumaire. This selection,
like the preceding, was perfectly wise in a military
point of view. The Apennines were to be disputed
with the Austrians, and for a war of such a nature
on this theatre of operations Massdna had no w here
his equal.

After having agreed upon these indispensable
appointments, the consuls continued to apply them-
selves to a business not less urgent, that of the
finances. Before obbiining money from capitalists,
it was necessary to afford them satisfaction, by sup-
pressing the forced progressive loan, which, like the
hostigc law, had incurred universal reprobation.
The forced loan, as well as the hostage law, was
far fn)in having produced all the evil attributed to
it. But these two measures, scanty in utility, bore
th(! miscliicf, under a moral sense, that they re-
called the most odious recollections of the reign of
terror. Every body agreed in condemning them.
The revolutionists themselves, who in their pa-
1 triotic ardour had demanded them of the Dii-ectory,
I

by a reaction, very common to party, suddenly de-
nounced the measures of which they saw the bad
success in the unpopularity.

Only just installed in office, the rainister Gaudin,
at the command of the consuls, presented to the
legislative commissions a resolution, the object of
wliieh was the suppression of the law of the forced
progressive loan. This suppression gave rise to
universal plaudits. The loan law was replaced by
a war tax, consisting of an addition of 25 centimes
to the principal of the " foucial " taxes, or those on
land, moveable, and personal property. This was
payable in the same way as the other taxes, in
money or paper of any kind ; but in consequence
of the exigency of the moment, it was settled
that half the amount should be paid in specie.

The war tax, thus substituted for the forced pro-
gressive loan, could not yield immediate returns, be-
cause it could not be collected but through the lists
of assessment of the direct contributions, to which
contributions, at the same time, it was in reality no
other than an augmentation of one-fourth. For
the current service — above all, for the use of the
armies — it was necessary to have fimds in the
treasury immediately. Gaudin, under the new
measures, that pleased in a particular manner the
great capitalists, made an appeal to the principal
bankers of Paris, soliciting that aid, the necessity
of which struck every body. Bonaparte himself,
too, intervened with them directly, and the sum
of 12,000,000f. in specie was immediately advanced
to the government. The debt was to be repaid
out of the first receipts of the war tax.

This aid was a great advantage, and did honour
to the public spirit of the bankers of the capital ;
but it was no more than a subsistence for a few
days ; more durable resources were necessary.

It has been seen at the commencement of this
chapter, how the suppression of the indirect con-
tributions, decided upon at the beginnuig of the
revolution, had reduced the treasury to the sole
revenue derived from the direct taxes ; how this
revenue was itself nearly annulled by the retarda-
tion of the completion of the lists of assessment ;
how, in fine, the assignats, the ordinary means
adopted to cover all deficiencies, having totally
disappeared, their service was replaced with paper
of different kinds, which, though not having in
cuiToncy the power of money, did not straiten pri-
vate transactions more than the paper which was
in use before, but left the government without
resources, and gave birth to the most hideous
stock-jobbing. It was necessary to get out of such
a state of things, and to reorganize the collection, or,
what is the same thing, to re-open with the sources
of the revenue those of public credit.

In every country where taxes exist on property
and person, named in France "direct contribu-
tions," there must be a list of property returned
with an estimate of its product, and a list nominat-
ing individuals, with the value of their pecuniary
ability. Every year this list or statement must be
modified, according to the transmission of pro-
perty from hand to hand, or according to accidents
in birth, death, or removal. Every year there
must be repartitioned between property and per-
son the amount decreed as the impost ; and lastly,
there must be a collection made exact and prudent
at the same time; exact to insure the receipts.

1799,
Nov.

Disorders in collec-
tion. — Vingtiimes
re-established.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

Mode of receiving and
paying in the taxes.

prudent to spare the pei-sons taxed. Nothing of all
thLs existed in the year viii. (17!)9)

The cadastre, or register of property, the labour
of forty yeai-s, had not then been conimonced. There
were in some communes old roll-books, and a
general statement of their property, undertaken
in the time of the Constituent Assembly. These,
given with little correctness, were still turned to
some account. But the (liberations, which consist
in revising the lists of property and of i)ersons fol-
lowing their incessant changes, and in repartition-
ing annually between them the taxation decreed
under each impost — these operations, which pro-
perly constitute that which is denominated the
making up of the assessment lists, were delivered
over to the municipal administrations, of which the
disorganization and inefficiency have been already
explained.

The collection was not in less disorder. The
office was adjudged by abatement of the charge,
that is, to those who would collect at the .smallest ex-
pense. The pei"sons appointed gave the money col-
lected into the hands of receivers, who acted
intermediately between tliem and the receiver-
general. They were both one and another in
.arrear. The disorder that governed every thing,
at the time, permitted but a slight examination
into their accounts. Moreover, the non-comple-
tion of the lists of assessment always furnished a
plausible excuse for retarding the payments, and
stock-jobbing gave a means of acquitting them
in depreciated paper. In a word, they received
little and paid in less.

On the advice of Gaudin the consuls were not
fearful of returning tocertain practices under the old
system, which experience had proved to be sound
and useful. Upon an ameliorated model of the old
administration of the twentieths ( Vlwjtiemes), there
was an agency for direct taxes formed, a plan al-
ways rntil now rejected, from the unhappy idea of
leaving to the local administrations the care of
taxing themselves. A director and inspector in
each department, eight hundred and fifty comp-
trollers spread in a larger or smaller number
over the arrondissements, were themselves to
frame the lists of a.ssessment, or, in other words,
draw up the lists of properties and persons, stating
the changes occurring annually, and charging the
proper proportions of the imi)ost. Thus in place
of five thou.sand cantonal commissioners, who were
obliged to solicit from the communes the perfect-
ing of the assessments, there were to be ninety-nine
directors, ninety-nine inspectors, and eight hundred
and forty comptrollers, doing the duty themselves,
ami costing the state but 3,000,000 f. in place of
5,000,000 f. It was hoped that in six weeks this
administration would be perfectly organized, and
that in two or tiiree months it would achieve
the remaining third, yet umnade, of the lists of the
year VI I., or the past year, all those of the year viii.,
the current year, and lastly all those of the year ix.,
the next year.

Courage was flcmanded to overcome certain pre-
judices ; Bonaparte was not a man to stand still
before any prejudices. The legislative commis-
sioners, debating with closed doors, adopted the
proposed scheme after a few observations. Guaran-
tees were granted to those of the tax-payers who
had reclamations to urge,— guarantees since ren-

dered more secure by means of the institution of
the councils of the prefecture. The base of every
regular constitution being thus well re-established,
and this task completed, it was required to organize
the collection, and to can-y the product into the
treasury.

Now, thanks to the perfect order that the em-
pire and the subsequent governments have suc-
cessfully introduced into the finances, the collection
of the treasury funds is executed with a facility
and regularity which leave nothing to wish. The
collectors receive, month by month, the "direct"
contributions, that is, the taxes levied upon lands,
houses, and persons. They hand them over to the
particular receiver in each chief place of the ar-
rondissement, and he to the receiver-general in the
chief town of the department. The collectors of
" indirect" taxes, composed of the produce of the
customs established on the frontiers, arising out of
foreign merchandise, the duties of registry on the
transfer of property or on judicial acts, lastly, the
dues payable upon articles of consumption of all
kinds, such as liquoi-s, tobacco, salt, &c. — the
collectors of these pay, as fast as they are taken,
to the particular receiver, and this last into the
hands of the receiver-general, who is the real state
banker. It is his office to centralize the public
money, and set it in movement, according to the
orders he receives from the treasury.

The equal re-partitions of public duties, and the
general prosperity, have rendered the acquittance
of the taxes easy at the present time ; and still
more the accountability, which is but the sum-
mary of the operations of receipt and disbursement.
The last are become so clear, that the taxes are
paid on the given day, often sooner, and besides
this the ])recise date of the receipt and appropria-
I'tion is known. It was time to establish a system
I founded on the truth of facts, as they are them-
' selves accomplished. It is in the nature of the
" direct taxes," raised upon property and person,
to be as a species of rent, fixablo in advance both
in amount and term of jiaynient. They are de-
manded in monthly twelfths. The collectors or
receivers arc debited or made debtors for them
every month. But it is presumed that they have
not received the amounts due for two or three
months after each twelfth payment thus due has
expired, in order to leave the collectors a means
to spare the payers, and also to create in them-
selves a motive for getting the impost paid early.
Thus, if they received it before the term when the
tax was due, they gathered by interest a profit pro-
l)ortioned to the celerity of the payment. It is on
the contrary in the nature of the " indirect" taxes,
that they are known and paid as fast, and in the
same projjortion, as the entry into France of fox-eign
productions, and the amount of the duties on the
j>roperty, or on the goods of all kinds for consump-
tion that arrive irregularly ; and they follow the
movement of that on which they are dependent.
The receivers are debited ; that is to say, they are
constituted debtors, accountable at the moment
when the goods arrive, and not by twelfth payments
monthly, as is practised in case of the " direct"
taxes. Every ten days the receiver-general is
constituted debtor for the amount entered in tho
ten days just expired.

From the time that he is debited, DO matter for

Bills of the receiver-
general, and their
operation.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Securities and credit

system.

what kind of contribution, the receiver-general pays
interest upon the sums for which he is debited,
until the day when he converts them for the ac-
quittal of the public service. The day when he
pays, on the contrary, any sum whatever on ac-
count of the state, and before he is in debt to it,
the state in turn allows a credit for the interest.
The interests due by the receiver-general and
treasury are afterwards balanced upon the sums
left in his hands beyond the time prescribed, and
the interest due by the treasury on the sums which
have been advanced to it by him. This is done
in such a mode as that not a day's interest is lost
either by one or the otiier; and the receiver-gene-
ral becomes a real banker, in account cuiTent with
the treasury, obliged to keep always at the disposal
of the government the funds which the necessities
of the state may require, no matter to what amount.
Such is the system that experience on one part,
and growing ease among the tax-payers on the
other, have successively wrought out in collecting
and applying the money of the public.

But at tlie period of which tlie history is now
narrating, the imports were most irregular in re-
turn, and the accounts obscure. The collector who
had not ])aid up, was able to allege delay in per-
fecting the lists of assessment, or the distresses of
the tax-p.ayers ; he could deceive in the amount of
his receipts, owing to the confusion in the returns

I of the operations. The government never knew

1 then, as it knows now, what passes every hour in
the coffers of several thousand receivers composing

! the great excliequer of the nation.

I Gaudin proposed, and Bonaparte adopted, an in-
genious system, in a great part borrowed from that
under the old monarchy, which led almost in-
sensibly to the organization actually in existence.
This system was that of the bills of the receivers-
general. The receivers, the real bankers of the
treasury, as we have already styled them, were
bound ti» give bills, which fell due monthly, for the
entire value of tlie direct taxes, or for 300,000,000 f.
upon 500,000,000 f., which then composed the state
budget. When tiiese bills became due tiiey were paid
at the receiver-general's office. In order to meet the
delay conceded to the tax-payer, each twelfth part
was supposed to be paid about four months after it
became due. Thus the bills for the taxes due
January 31, were drawn payable on May 31, in
such a way that the receiver-general, having before
him a term of four montiis, had at tlie same time a
means to indulge the payer, while he was himself
stimulated, for tlie sake of the interest, to collect it
in earlier. Tims if he could get in the tax at the
end of two months, he secured the two additional
months' interest.

This system had not only the merit of sparing
the i)ayer and interesting the collector in obtain-
ing tiie payment ; but it had the advantage of pre-
venting tlie receiver-general from delaying the
payment t<j the state, because the treasury had iti
its chests the bills of exchange to be paid at a
fixed period, obliging them to be taken up under
the penalty of being protested, if not regularly
met. Such a combination as this was not to be
contemplated, it is true, until after the lists of
assessment were rendered perfect as well as the
collection. The receivers-general could not pay
with exactitude if they did not receive. That being

done in the mode already stated, the system of
giving bills was of easy fulfilment, and had the
advantage, independently of those already enu-
merated, of putting, on the first day of the year, at
the disposal of the treasury 300,000,000 f. in bills
from the direct taxes, which it was not difficult to
get discounted.

To establish credit tfor this paper, designed to
fulfil the office of the royal notes in France and the
exchequer bills in England, the sinking fund* was
invented. This, which was before long to receive the
contents of the whole of the public debt, had at
first no other object to answer than to guarantee
the bills of the receivers-general. It was thus
managed. The collectors of taxes, as a security
for their trust, gave it in immoveable property.
Tliis sort of guarantee, in case of default, placing
the state in the difficulties of enforcing an eject-
ment, when it was obliged to come upon the security,
was found not to fulfil satisfactorily the object of
its institution. Security in money was therefore
required to be given. The receivers-general were
making so great a profit by jobbing with the tax
itself, that they submitted most willingly to the
condition rather than lose their posts.

These securities paid into the sinking fund were
devoted as a guarantee to the bills of the receivers-
general. Every bill on falling due was to be paid
at his office, or, in case of non-payment there, at
the office of the sinking fund, the moment it was pro-
tested, and paid out of the security of the defaulter.
Such a bill, therefore, was rendered, in this way, as
valuable as the best commercial paper. This was not
the sole advantage of the plan. It was probable
that a very small amount of the security monies
would suffice to support the credit of the bills,
because few indeed of the recei\-ers-general would
ever suffer their paper to be protested; the surplus,
thei-efore, would remain at the disposal of the trea-
sury, which might ari-ange for its use with the
sinking fund, by ceding to it immoveable or funded
property.

By this institution the advantage was obtained
of giving a secure currency to the bills, and of
realizing at any moment a certain sum of money, —
a resource at that period most seasonable.

Such was the mode of collection and payment
which placed the treasury in a short time at i)er-
fect ease. It consisted, as shown above, in perfect-
ing the lists of assessment and putting them in
collection with rapidity and exactness ; next, in
drawing upon the principal receivers for the total
amount of the tax bills easily discounted through
the means devised to enable the receivers-general
to discharge their responsibilities themselves, or
which the sinking fund would discharge for them.

We have only spoken of the direct taxes. As to
the indirect, which neither came in regularly nor
by twelfths, the receivers-general, after their re-
ceipt, but not until then, were to forward to the
treasury bills payable at sight at their office. Thus
the indirect taxes were not available until the
amounts had been received. This part of the service,
which left in the receivex'-generals' hands too large
an enjoyment of the funds, was afterwards ren-
dered more perfect.

There are natui-ally, upon the introduction of any

■• Caisse d ainortissement.

1799. Jlodes of paying the
Nov. debts c the state.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

Council of finances held , ,
weekly. •! 1

new system, difficulties of transition, arising from
the labour of adjusting the present state of things
to that which is about be created. Thus the bills
of aiTear delivered to the fundholders, those of
requisition to the farmers, from whom their goods
had beentakenotf the premises, and, lastly, the com-
mission on the funds to be paid into the coft'ers,
delivered with culpable license to contractors, it
was possible might derange all the calculations.
Different modes were taken to meet such incon-
veniences as might result from the pressure of all
these kinds of paper in circulation. The bills of
arrear paid to the fundholders had alone the favour
to be received still in payment of the taxes; but
the amount of them for the current year being
ascertjiined, by that amount the sum which the
receivers-general were to pay was diminished.

The bills of requisition and of commission, paper
of doubtful origin and unknown amount, were ail
submitted to a peculiar liquidation. They were
paid later than the former, part out of the national
property, and part in value received of a different
nature, but with a proper regard to equity.

In paying the fundholders in money, as it was
proposed to do as soon as the receipt of the taxes
was secured ; in providing for the army and dis-
pensing with the system of requisitions ; in firmly
refusing to contractors the irregular commissions
which they had received on the treasury receijjts ;
the sources of the paper issues could not fail to be
quickly dried up, and the collection of the taxes to
be every where re-established in specie.

To these means, thus had recourse to for se-
curing the state revenues, were joined certain
measures, some legitimate at all times, but others
carrying only the character of expediency or the
excuse of neces.sity. Those who iiad acquired any
of the national domains, doing what every body
did at that time, namely, without regarding the
law, holding back the price at which they had made
their purchases, were compelled to pay up in four
months under the penalty of forfeiture. This ne-
cessity could not fail to bring in a great part of
the out-standing paper which was specially re-
ceivable in payment for the national domains.
There were classes of purchasers who were bound
to acquit their debts in specie, who for this pur-
pose were forced to subscribe negotiable obliga-
tions. Such paper was good and ea.sy to dispose
of, because it was issued by persons who were me-
naced with the loss of their purchases in case of
their paper being protested.

There still exi.sted unsold national domains to the
value of 300,000,000f. or 400,000,000f. This value
was founded hypotlictically on the estimates made
in IT.tO, and woidd, if more flourishing times were
awaited, bo doubled, tripled, and still more aug-
mented in value. It would have been better not
to dispose of them, had not the necessities of the
moment obliged that step to be taken. It was
settled that bills of rescription, representing the
sum at which it was projjosed to tender the sale of
the property, should be negotiated among those
inclined to speculate in them to the extent of
150,000,000 f. It was fortunate that only a small
pait of this amount was put into circulation.

A plan was conceived, lastly, to represent by paper
of the same nature, the capital of certain ground-
rents belonging to the public, of which the former

laws had permitted the redemption by the debtor.
This resource amounted to about 40^000,000 f. in
value. The holders of the property still owing
the rents, had left off paying them, although they
had not effected their redemption. There was
made, in consequence, a paper issue representing
this capital of 40,000,000f., negotiable, like that
upon the national domains, through the agency of
money-brokers.

These creations of artificial wealth were the last
concessions to the necessities of the hour. Cir-
culated among speculators, they were applied to
l)rocuring resources until the re-establishment of
the finances, which there was reason to hope would
take place upon the accurate completion of the
lists of assessment and the bill system of the re-
ceivers-general. This paper was issued with great
caution, and had not, as we shall see, the common
inconvenience of depreciation and the alienation at
a low value of the state resources.

These different schemes, although good in them-
selves, depended for their benefit upon the strength
of the government itself. Established upon the
supposed return of order, they could only answer
tlieir expected end, if order were really restored ;
if the executive displayed vigour and constancy in
following out its plans ; if it organized quickly and
well the new administration of the direct taxes ; if
it directed constant care to the accuracy of the
assessment lists within the time prescribed for the
collection, in order that the bills of the receivers-
general might be subscribed and paid when they
fell due; if the securities promptly paid in should
bo deposited in the sinking fund coflers in sums
pufficient to sustain the credit of the bills ; if, finally,
it for ever abandoned those ruinous expedients,
the bills of arrear, bills of requisition and com-
missions, which it now proposed to renounce — if
all this were realized the state was certain of a
happy result awaiting the new financial system.
It was further reasonable to hope much from the
personal intelligence and firnniess of Bonaparte.
All the foregoing plans ho had himself discussed,
approved, and frequently modified and ameliorated ;
he was sensible of their merit and importance, and
was fully determined to watch over their strict
execution. As soon as they were agreed upon
they were sent to the legislative commissions,
which formed them into laws without the loss of
a moment. Twenty days sufficed to project, con-
sider, and give tiiem the full legal character, so as
that they might conmience to bo in force. Bona-
parte himself worked with the nnnister of the
finances several times a week, thus taking the best
inctliod of putting an end to those mischievous
commissions which were too often granted at the
instance or through the corrupt influence of the
contractors. Every week he made the ministers
bring him a statement of their required exjiendi-
tnre, which he compared himself with the jnobablo
receipts of the treasury, and made in proportion to
the necessities of each a distribution of the actual
assets. He thus disposeil of that only which was
certain to be received, and by this firmness of pur-
jjose, the principal abuse, that tf the contractors'
commissions, was soon seen to disappear.

In awaiting the completion of the asscssmentB,
the time of their collection, and until the bills
of the receivers-general could be remitted to the

Results of new system.
12 Succours to the army.

Law of hostages abrogated, j jgg
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, ^"p'^i^^^^d'^lergy. ^^^ '"'" ^<"-

treasury and discounted, tlie {joverament had for
present use, besides the 1 2,000,000 f. lent by the
bankers, the payment of tlie new securities, the
ne-^otiation in the market of the resources recently
created, and the current collection of the taxes,
which last, imperfect as it was, had sufficed the
state until that time. The confidence imparted by
the provisional consuls satisfied the men of busi-
ness; and means were taken to negotiate among
them new securities, at which a few days before
nobody would have looked.

Uy the union of such means it was that the go-
vernment was able to relieve the naked and starv-
ing armies, and to procure them the first supplies,
of which they were in such urgent need. The dis-
order that reigned was so great in the office of the
minister-at-war, that he had no returns of the con-
dition of the soldiers, their number, or quarters.
Tlie artillery alone possessed such returns as far as
related to its own particular corps. As the army
was neither clothed nor fed ; as the battalions of
conscripts, raised in the departments and fitted out
by means of bills of equipment, had been often
organized without the intervention of the principal
authority, the last knew next to nothing about them.
Bonaparte was obliged to send staff-officers to the
different armies to procure the documents which
he required. At the same time he sent a few
supplies to the suffering corps, but too small in the
aggregate to meet their great necessities; and he
addressed them in a proclamation, couched in those
terms which he so well knew how to render im-
pressive to the soldiers, conjuring them to have
jiatience but for a few days longer, and to display
amid their sufferings the. same fortitude which they
had shown in battle. He said to them : —

" Soldiers, your necessities are great — measures
are taken to supply them. The first quality of a
soldier is fortitude in supporting fatigue and pri-
vation ; valour is but the second. Cori)S have
quitted their posts; they have been deaf to the
voices of their officers.' The 17th light infantry
is of the number. Are they then all dead ! the
heroes of Castiglione, of llivoli, of Newmarck?
They would have jjcrished sooner than quit their
colours — the>/ would have recalled their young
comrades to lionour and duty. Soldiers ! Say you
your rations are not regular? What would you
have done, if, like the 4th and 22nd light, and the
18th and 32nd of the line, you found yourselves in
a desert, without bread and water, feeding upon
horses and mules ? ' Victory will give us bread,'
they exclaimed ; but you — you quit your colours!

" Soldiers of Italy ! a new general commands
you; he was ever, in the brighter days of your
glory, in the vanguard. Surround him with your
confidence ; he will restore you to victory !

" A daily account will be sent me of the conduct
of eacii corps, and more especially of that of the
17th light, and of the CSrd of the line ; they will
remember the confidence I once had in them !"

The administration of the finances and also of the
army were not the only branches of the govern-
ment which pressingly demanded the attention of the
new consuls. It was necessary to recal the severe
measures, so unworthy a wise and humane adminis-
tration, which had been snatched by the violence
of party-feeling from the weakness of the expiring
directory. It was also needful to maintain the

order threatened by the armed Vende'ans here,—
there by the revolutionists exasperated at the affair
of the i8th Brumaire.

The first political measure of the new consuls re-
lated to the law of the hostages. This law, which
'made the relations of the Vend^ans and of the
Chouans responsible for the deeds committed in
the revolted provinces, inflicted on some imprison-
ment, on others transportation. It partook of the
public censure, with the law of the forced progres-
sive loan, though with a better title. It could only
be under the influence of the blind passions of the
time, that men could have dared to render the re-
lations of revolters responsible for acts of which
they had not been guilty, even if they had wished
tlie'm success. The consuls treated this law as
they treated that of the forced loan; they proposed
its repeal to the legislative commissionei-s, and it
was directly decreed. Bonaparte went himself to the
prison of the Temple, where many of the hostages
were in captivity, to break their chains with his
own glorious hands, and to receive those reiterated
benedictions which the healing acts of the consul-
ship so constantly and so justly effected.

To this measure were joined others of the same
kind, which marked with a parallel character the
policy of the provisional consuls. !Many priests,
although they had taken the oath required to their
civil constitution, which became the cause of the
schism, had neverthelef?s been persecuted. These
priests, who were distinguished by the epithet of
"sworn," were some of them fugitives or con-
cealed, others were imprisoned in the islands of
Re' and Ole'ron. The consuls ordered the enlarge-
ment of all that remained in custody. This step
caused the return to France or the re-appearance
in open day of all the priests of that class who had
sought security in flight or concealment.

Certain emigrants, shipwrecked in the neighbour-
hood of Calais, had been for some time past objects
of lively public interest. These unfortunate men,
placed between the horrors of shipwreck and those
of the law of emigration, had flung themselves
upon their native shore, little thinking that their
country could be less merciful to them than the
tempest. The supporters of rigorous measures
said, that these emigrants were going into La
Vendue to take a part in the renewal of the civil
war, — the fact was nearly certain, — and that thence
it was perfectly right to enforce against them the
tei-rible emigration laws. Public humanity, happily
revealed at that moment, opposed this mode of
reasoning. The question had been several times
reversely decided. The new consuls determined
that these emigrants should be enlarged, and con-
veyed out of the territory of the republic. Among
them were members of the greatest families in
France ; one was the Duke de Choiseul, whom we
have always found since in the number of those
attached to a rational freedom, the only freedom
that good men can love and uphold.

These acts were universally applauded. Let
us admire the difference between one government
and another. Had such acts as these emanated
from the directory, they would have been esteemed
unworthy concessions to the emigrant party.
Emanating from the new consulate, at the head of
which stood a great general, whose presence,
wherever he appeared, indicated strength and

The Manep:e.— Errors of the
consulate towards the re- CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

volutionary party.

Prompt submission of the
revolutionists. — Their 13
sentence revoked.

power ; such actions were taken for symptoms of
a strong, but moderate policy. Tlius true is it, that
to be moderate with honour and good effect, it is
neces.'^ry to be powerful.

At the first moment it was alone in regard to the
revolutionary party, that the policy of the pro-
visional consuls was wanting in moderation. It
was with this ])arty that the contest had occurred
on the 18th and 19th of Brumaire. Against it
very naturally a degree of mistrust and anger might
be felt ; still amidst acts of conciliation and i-epa-
ration, that only was destined to feel the severity
of the new rulers. The news of the 18th Bru-
maire struck into the patriots of the south a deep
sensation. The societies affiliated to the mother
society in Paris, or the J/rtKt/e, exhibited still
stronger indignation. It was reported that the
deputies, deprived by tl.o law of the 19th Bru-
maire of the rank cf members of the legislative
body, had determined to meet at Toulouse, there
to reinstall a species of directury. Bonapai-te, now
lie had the supreme command of the army, was not
afraid of any thing. He had shown on the 13th
Vende'miaire, that he knew how to suppress an in-
surrtcti(m ; and he did not trouble himself about
all that a few hot-headed patriots were able to do
without soldiers. But his colleagues, Sieyes and
Roger-Ducos, did not feel his confidence. Several
of the ministers joined them in opinion, and per-
suaded the first consul to adopt precautions. In-
clined himself, for that matter, to energetic mea-
sures, although moderate from motives of policy,
he consented to pronounce a decree of banisliment
against thirty-eight members of the revolutionary
j)arty, and to the detention at Rochelle of eighteen
othei-s. Among this number there were some vile
wretches ; one of them had been heard to boast of
having been the assassin of the Princess de Lam-
balle : but in the number there were good men as
well, members of the two councils, and above all a
distinguished and respectable personage in General
Jourdan. His ])ublie opposition to the 18lh Bru-
maire had, at the moment, inspired some degree
of fear. To include the name of such a man in
bucli a list was a fault upon a fault.

Public opinion, although not well disposed to-
wards the revolutionists, received this proceeding
with coldness, almost with censure. It feared
so nmch rigour and re-action ; the step was dis-
ap|)i'oved even when exerted against those who
had been guilty of the same rigour. Remonstrances
were sent from all parts, some of them in a very
high tone, in favour of names that were found on
the list of the pro.scribed. The Court of Cassation
remonstrated regarding one of its members, named
Xavicr .\rdouin, who had not deserved that sucli a
precaution should be taken against him. Talley-
rand, always mild in character, always adroit in
his conduct — Talleyrand, whom the revolutionary
party had, from its aversion, contributed to kec|i
out of the ministry for foreign affairs, had tlu;
good feeling to remonstrate in favour of one Jorry,
who had publicly insulted him. He did it, he said,
for fear they should attribute to his own revengeful
motives the insertion of this vulgar man's name
upon the jjroscribed list. His published letter on
the subject did him high honour, ami saved the
individual from the sentence. In compliance with
the public feeling, the name of General Jourdan

was also erased. Fortunately the turn taken by
public affairs permitted the revocation of an act,
which was but an accidental deviation from a
march otherwise just and straightforward.

Bonaparte had sent General Lannes, his most
devoted lieutenant, to Toulouse. At the simple
appearance there of tliis officer, all the prepara-
tions for re-action disappeared at once. Toulouse
was tranquillized, and the societies attached to that
of the Maneije in the capital, were silenced in the
south. The ardent revolutionists saw that public
opinion was in opposition to them, having ceased to
favour their views ; and they saw too at the head
of the government one whom nobody had the means
to resist. The most reasonable among them could
not forget that he was the same man who, on the
13th Vende'miaire, had dispersed the royalists of
the Paris sections, who wei-e armed against the
convention, and who, under the directory, in lend-
ing his strong hand to the government, had fur-
nished it with the means to bring about the 18th
Fructidor. They, therefore, submitted : the more
violent, venting their rage in exclamations, were
soon silenced ; the others hoping that at least under
the military government of the new Cromwell, as
they styled him, the revolution and France would
not be vanquished for the gain of the Bourbons,
the English, the Austrians, and the Russians.

One act of resistance, not by force, but by legal
means, was offered to the 18th Brumaire. The
president of the criminal tribunal of the Yomie,
named Barnabas, imitated the example of the old
parliaments, and refused to register the law of the
19th Brumaire, constituting the provisional govern-
ment. This president's audacity was brought be-
fore the legislative commisioners ; he was accused
of having refused to execute his duty, suspended,
and then removed. He submitted to his sentence
with resignation and dignity.

The speedy end of every attempt at resistance
enabled the government to abrogate a measure
which was in oi)position to its prudent course of
policy. Upon the report of Cambace'res, the minis-
ter of justice, that order was I'e-est.ablished in the
de]iartments, and that the laws were every where
executed without any obstacle, the sentence of
transportation pronounced against the thirly-eight
revolutionists, and the detention of the eighteen
others at Rochelle, was altered to a simple sur-
veillance. Soon afterwards this surveillance was
removed.

This act of indulgence was speedily eclipsed by a
series of others, wise, able, and vigorous, sig-
nalizing in a particular manner the bias of the
new government. La Vendue had, in turn, at-
tracted its whole attention. A rising had been
lately attempted, just at the close of the reign of
the directory. The elevation of Bonaparte to
jfower changed the face of things there altttgether,
as well as th« direction of the public mind in every
part of the rei)ubric. The chiefs of the new royalist
insurrections had been excited to take up arms as
much by the later severity of the directory, as by
the hope of the approaching overtures of the
government : but on one side the revocation of the
hosUge law, the setting tlie priests at liberty, the
grant of their lives to the shipwrecked emigrants at
Calais, tended to cause a rcconciliatory spirit ; while
on the other side, the presence and power of Bona-

14

state of La Vendee.
Overtures of the chiefs.

Their interview with Bo-
TIIIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. naparte. - Suspension

of arms m La Vendee.

parte tended more than ever to stifle all hope
of seeing the dissolution of that order of things
effected which had been caused by tlie revolution.
The 18th Bi-umaire had modified the ideas in La
Vendee, as well as elsewhere, and given birth to
new inclinations.

The royalist party, some of whom combated in
La Vendue, while others were jn Paris occupying
themselves with political intrigues, delivered itself,
like every party which seeks to overturn a govern-
ment, to continual mental activity, and, without
cessation, went in quest of new combinations to
ensure the triumph of their cause ; it now imagined
that perhaps there was some means in its power of
coniing to an understanding witli Sonaparte. Its
chiefs thought that one so eminent had no great
taste for figuring for a few days in the changing
scenes of the French revolution, to disappear, like
his predecessors, in the abyss opened before their
steps ; and that he would prefer to take his place
under a peaceable and regularly constituted mon-
archy, of which he might be both the support and
ornament. They were, in one word, credulous
enough to imagine that the character of Monk
suited a pei*sonage who did not thiidi the character
of Cromwell great enough for his ambition. Tliey
in consequence obtained the mediation of one
of those ministers of the foreign diplomacy, who,
under the pretext of studying the country where
they are accredited, have a hand in every I'arty
inirigne, and they thus obtained an introduction to
Bonaparte. Hyde de Neuville and D'Andigne
were the parties that took this step.

It is not needful to show how very erroneous was
the judgment thus formed of Bonaparte. This won-
derful man, sensible now of his own power and
greatness, would not be servant to any party. If he
had no love for disorder, he loved the revolution ;
if he did not credit freedom to its full extent
for all it had jiromised, he desired in entirety
that social reform, which it was his object to ac-
complish. Therefore he desired to see the revolu-
tion triumphant ; he desired the glory of terminat-
ing it, and to make it lead to a quiet and regular
course of things ; he desired to be its head, no
matter under what name nor what form of govern-
ment— but he did not desire to be the instrument of
any other power save Providence ; he had already
too much glory and too much conscious strength
to consent to that !

He received Do Neuville and D'Andign^, hoard
their insinuations, more or less clear, and declared
to tiiem frankly his intentions, which wore to put
an end to persecution, to rally all parties around
the goverimient, but to suffer none save that of
tlie revolution, to be master — of the revolution un-
derstood in its better sense. He declared to them
his willingness to treat with the VcndeJan chiefs on
reasonable terms, or his determination to exter-
min ite them to a man. This interview effected
nothing, except that it made the royalist party
better instructed in the character of Bonaparte.

Whilst these negotiations were proceeding in
Paris between Bonaparte and the friends of the
Bourbons, there were others begun in La Vend(?e
itself, between the chiefs of the revolt and those of
the republic. Towards the end of the directory,
when nobody knew who they were to obey, a kind
of relaxation, very closely ai)proximating to treason,

bad crept into the army occu])ying that country.
Moi'e than one officer of the republican forces,
imagining the republic could not much longer
exist, had turned his eyes towards the party of
the royalists. The elevation of Bonaparte to the
state changed this position of things, which was
about to become very dangerous ; but now, upon
the contrary, the communications to which they
gave rise, and the interchanges between parties,
took a new direction. The royalist chiefs, who drew
to tliem at first the officers of the republican army,
were themselves attracted in their tui-n to the side
of the republican officers and their government.
It was represented to them how slight a chance
they had of overcoming the conqueror of Ituly and
of Egypt, and the hope they might indulge of ob-
taining under the first consul a mild and restora-
tive system of government, which would render the
condition of every party agreeable and iieaceable.
This language was not destitute of use. There was
at that moment at the head of the army of the
wcHt, a conciliatory, judicious, and trustworthy
office!', general Hedouville, who had seen much
service under general Hoche, at the time when the
fii'st peace was brought about in La Vendee. He
mastered all that was proceeding between the two
parties, saw its worth, and offered to send the re-
sult to the new consul.

Bonaparte instantly availed himself of this open-
ing for a negotiation, confiding full powers to
general Hddouville f(jr treating with the chiefs of
the insurgents. These chiefs felt the strength of
Bonaparte in office, and showed a disposition to
come to terms. It was not easy to sign a capitula-
tion at once, and to agree in a moment uijon ar-
ticles for such a purpose; but a suspension of arms
did not include the same obstacles. The insurgent
chiefs offered to sign one immediately. The t.ffer
was accepted on the part of the government, and in
a few days, De Chatillon, D'Autichamp, and De
Bourmont, signed a suspension of arms for La
Vcnde'e and a jiart of Brittany. It was settled that
Georges Cadoudal and De Frott^ should be invited
to adopt the same course in the Morbihan and in
Normandy.

This act of the new government was not long
delayed, for it was accomplished at the com-
mencement of Frimaire, in twenty days after the
installment of the provisionary consuls. It in-
spired general satisfaction, and made the entire
pacification of La Vendee be thought nearer than
it was jjossible to be.

Humours of the same kind, relative to foreign
powers, led to the hope that, under the fortunate
star of Bonaparte, there would be seen the jxronipt
re-establishment of European peace.

As before observed, at the commencement of
this book, T'russia and Spain alone were in bonds
of .amity with France ; the first always showing
coolness, the second embarrassed by its comnui-
nity of interests with her. Russia, Austria, Eng-
land, and all the little powers in their train, whe-
ther in Italy or in Germany, sustained an unre-
lenting contest with the Republic of France. Kng-
land, with whom the war was merely a question of
fiv.ance, had resolved that question for herself in
the establishment of the income-tax, which already
produced a great revenue. She wished for tlie con-
tinuance of hostilities, in order to have time to gain

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

Importance of Prussia.
Fretlerick-Williaiii.

Malta, which she had blockaded, and also to re-
duce the French army of Egypt to surrender by
the same means. Austria, in possession of all Italy,
was determined to risk everything rather than re-
sign the conquest ; but the chivalrous Paul I.
who had thrown himself into the war under the
impulse of a foolish enthusiasm, saw liis arms
humbled at Zurich, and from thence imbibed a
feeling of lively resentment against everybody, \>ut
above all against Austria. He had been persuaded
that this power was the sole cause of his misfor-
tune; because the Austrian army, bound, in virtue
of a concerted movement, to advance to the Rhine,
and cede Switzerland to the Russians, had too
quickly abandoned the position of Zurich, leaving
Korsakoff exposed to Masse'na's attack, who having
beaten him, had afterwards given a good account
of Suwaroff. Paul I. saw in this as he imagined
an act of treachery on the part of a faithless
ally, and suspicion being once excited, every thing
appeared in a mistrustful light. He had ov.iy
taken up arms, he said, to protect the feeble
against the strong, and to replace on their thrones
thiise princes who had been hurled fi'om them by
the French republic. Austria too had kept her flag
every where flying in Italy, and had not recalled
to their places any of the dethroned princes. He
asserted, that having acted out of pure gene-
rosity he was made the dupe of the allied powers,
who were moved solely by self-interest. Fickle in
the extreme, he gave himself up entirely to his
new opinions as violently as he had before delivered
liiniself to those opposite. A recent occurrence ex-
asperated him to the highest i)itch: this was the
pulling down the Russian flag at Ancona, and its
replacement by that of Austria. The circumstance
arose from the ci-rorof an inferior officer: but that
did not matter, the act was keenly felt, however it
originated.

'Ihe sentiments of absolute sovereigns, despite
their efforts at secresy, explode as quickly as those
of a free people ; the one will not be nuicli longer
repressed than the other. This new consequence
of the battle of Zurich got wind all over Europe,
and was not unfortunate for France.

Austria and England at the news redoubled
their attentions to Paul I. They loaded Suwaroff,
the " invincible Suwarofl," as he was called before
lie was encountered by Masse'na, with all sorts of
distinctions. But they had no more soothed the
grief of the Russian general than they had dis-
armed the czar's resentment. An entirely new
incident on the part of Paul I. gave reason for
the apprehension that he would soon abandon the
coalition.

In the first glance of his zeal for the coalition
he had declared war against Spain, because she
made a common cause with France, and he had
Very nearly declared against Sweden, Denmark,
and Prussia, because those powers had roniaiii(;(l
neuter. He liad broken off his relations with
Prussia entirely. Since the recent events he ap-
peared to be much mollified in his disposition
towards the courts against which lie so lati ly felt
a bitter animosity ; and he now sent M. Krudener
to Berlin, an envoy in whom ho had great con-
fidence. Krudener was desired to |)roceed thither
aa a simple traveller, but liad a secret missiou to
re-establish relations between the two courts.

Fi'ance had then at Berlin an able and clever
agent in M. Otto, who was subsequently connected
with the more important proceedings of that pe-
riod. He apprised his government of the new
state of affairs. It was evident, that if we were
inclined to peace rather than war, the key of the
position for that end was Berlin. Spain, flung
to the extremity of Europe by her geographical
])osition, and to that of politics by the feebleness
of her government, could be of no utility. But
Prussia, placed in the centre of the belligerent
powers, remained neuter in spite of their liveliest
solicitude: thought ill of at first by all the cabinets
in the heat of the coalition, but thought better of
when that became cooler, Prussia grew into a
centre of influence, above all when Russia appeared
to court her alliance. That which had been denomi-
nated jjusillanimity on her part now a])peared to
be wisdom. If she were to adopt energetically
the character which events seemed to assign her,
she might serve ibr the link connecting France
and Europe ; she might be able to appear in
season among weary opponents intermediately ;
a method subsequently employed with great suc-
cess, and thus to gather the fruits of the war which
one party had not made, and of the peace which
the other had dictated. If Prussia had ventured
to do this, the character she would have played
would have been the most important since the time
of the great Frederick.

There was then upon the throne of Prussia a
young king, sincere, and possessing good intentions,
loving peace as a passion, and never ceasing to
lament the fault which his father had committed
in scattering upon a foolish war against the French
republic, the militai'v fame and treasures accumu-
lated by the great Frederick. Replaced at this
tmie in pacific relations with the French republic,
the king availed himself of the opportunity to re-
lieve by economy the losses of the treasure left by
iiis great uncle and squandered by his father. He
l)ossessed near his person an able and wise minister,
experienced in a high degree, with the skill of
evading difficulties; a partisan, like his master, of a
])..?iHc ]iolicy, but more ambitious than he was^in
believing that a neutrality well directed would ob-
tain /or Prussia greater aggrandisements than war
itself. At that time this might have been correct.
He urged on his sovereign, therefore, to take upon
hiniseir the character of an active mediator vmd
pacificator of the continent. To play this part was
no doubt a very grand one for the young and timid
Fi-ederick-William : but this prince was able to
fill, more or less, a portion of the character, if he
were unequal to the whole.

Bonaparte, perceiving all this, immediately di-
rected his attention to i)lease the court of Prussia.
It had formerly been convenient for him to be a
member of the "institute, that he might appear by
that title at some particular ceremonies where he
could not be seen in his jHilitical character, more
especially at the fetes given on the 2lHt of Ja-
nuary : it was now equally convenient for him to be
a giiieral, and to have aids-de-c.mip to send wher-
ever he saw it was required. This idea was de-
rived from tile example of princes, who on mounting
the tlirono announced the event by sending dig-
nitaiies as envoys for that purpose, lie did the
same thing, tiiougli with lesa parade, and <lispatehcd

Duroc sent to Berlin.
IQ Talleyrand takes ac-

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. ^o7MTua"^l*th?Dlfes'

to Berlin one of his aids-de-camp, wliicli, as mili-
tary Ilea J of a state, most assuredly was a ])roper
act without going out of his character. Among
tliose who bore the title there was one, Avise, dis-
creet, and prudent, joining to an agreeable exterior
of person perfectly good manners ; this was Duroc,
who returned from Egypt with his general, and
bore a reflection around his brow of the glory of
the Pyramids. The first consul ordered him to
proceed immediately to Berlin, to compliment the
king aiid queen of Prussia, and present hiiuself as
bearing a mission of respect and compliment ; while
at the same time he was to profit by the occasion
to explain the result of the last revolution in
France, to i-epresent it as a return to order, to a
healthy state of things, and, above all, to pacific
ideas. Duroc was directed to flatter the young
king, and to show him, that if he pleased he might
become the arbitrator of peace. The republic, re-
posing upon the victories of the Texel and Zurich,
and on all those for which the name of Bonaparte
was a pledge in future, was well able, without
wounding her dignity, to present herself with the
olive-branch of peace in her hand.

While he dispatched Duroc to Berlin, Bonaparte
performed several acts under the provisionary
consulship calculated to produce an eff"ect abroad.
Having for some time delayed the entry of Talley-
rand upon the ministry for foreign affairs, he at
length jilaced him in that office. It was impossible to
place there a more conciliatory person, more ]i roper
to treat with the European powers, more willing to
please, even to flatter them, without depressing the
dignity of the French cabinet. We shall have
other opportunities for painting this singular and
remai'kable character ; it suffices to say now, that
the choice of this minister alone clearly proves,
without passing from strength to weakness, that
the policy of the passions was moving into that of
calculation. There was nothing, down to that
elegance of manners peculiar to Talleyrand, which
was not of some advantage in the new aspect
which the government \Vlshed to assume towards
foreign powers.

Bonaparte made other diplomatic arrangements,
conceived in the same spirit. Although M. Otto,
chargd d'affaires at Berlin, after Sieyes had quitted
that post, was an excellent envoy, he was no more
than a simple chargd d'affaires in rank. To him
was assigned another destination, in which he soon
made himself very useful. The appointment of
minister at Berlin was given to General Beurnon-
ville, the old friend of La Fayette, hmg imprisoned
in Austria, and one of those members of the mi-
nority of French nobles, who had in 17559 embraced
with sincerity the side of the revolution. General
Beurnonville was a frank soldier, loyal, above all
disguise, of moderate ojjinions, and perfectly well
adapted to represent the new government. Austria,
where lie liad been so long detained a prisoner,
filled him with the hatred which was a sort of
passport to Berlin, wheie, towards that power,
there was the .same feeling prevalent which had
existed in the time of the great Frederick.

The representative of France at Madrid was an
old demagogue, destitute of all influence, and wlio
having no name in the diplomatic career, had been
flung where he was by the chance of events. He
was replaced by one of the Constituent Assembly,

M. Alquier, a clever man, lively and intelligent,
who had begun with credit in the diplomacy of
that time. Finally, at Copenhagen, where the
principles of maritime neutrality, openly violated
by England, were likely to work out our advan-
tage upon being cultivated, M. Bourgoing was
nominated in place of a creatui-e of the directory,
named Grouvelle. Each of these selections was
excellent, and perfectly indicative of that spirit of
moderation and prudence which had begun to pre-
vail in the relations of France with foreign powers.

To the choice of these individuals the consuls
wished to make the addition of some acts which
might serve as an answer to a reproach widely
circulated throughout Europe, that the French
republic violated incessantly the rights of nations
and the treaties they concluded with them. Most
assuredly France had been guilty of less violation
of the rights of nations than the Austi-ians, the
English, and all the courts at war with her. It
was the custom to pretend that it was not possible
to have any relations with an unstable, passionate
government, rejjresented continually by new men,
who never regarded themselves as bound by any
treaty or by the traditions of European public law.
This reproach might have been returned with
more justice upon the cabinets of Europe, that
had done so much worse, without the excuse either
of revolutionary jiassions or of continual changes
in government. To give a better idea of the policy
of the consuls, Bonaparte performed a first act of
justice towards the unfortunate knights of Malta,
to whom he promised, on taking possession of the
island, that they should not be treated in France
as emigrants, at least those among them who be-
longed to the French language. They had not
until now been benefited by this article in their
capitulation, neither in respect of goods nor person.
Bonaparte gave to them the full and entire terms
to which they were entitled.

In respect to Denmark, the first consul adopted
a measure both excellent in itself, kind, and equit-
able. There were in the ports of France a num-
ber of Danish vessels, stopped by the directory
in consequence of reprisals under the law of neu-
trals. They were accused of not respecting the
law of maritime neutrality, of submitting to be
searched by the English, and of permitting goods
that were French property to be seized on board
of them. The directoi-y h:id declai-ed that it would
make them subject to the same violence which
they suffered from the English, in order that they
might uphold with more energy the principles of
the rights of nations, under virtue of which they
navigated. This would have been but just, if they,
having the power to make themselves respected,
submitted to it ; but these unfortunate men did all
they could do, and it was hard to punish the
violence of one party by the violence of another.
In consequence of this system, a number of their
merchant-vessels being detained, Bonaparte re-
leased them, in order to exhibit the sign of a more
equitable and moderate policy.

Duroc an-ived promptly at Berlin, and was pre-
sented by M. Otto, who was still there. According
to I'igorous etiquette, Dm-oc, a simple aid-de-camp,
could not be put in immediate communication w ith
the court, but these regalations were laid aside to
receive an officer attached to the person of Bona-

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

Bonaparte's influence
upon tliose around 17

him.

parte. He was well received bv the king and queen,
and immediately invited to Potsdam. Curiosity
had as much to do as policy with these attentions,
since glory has, in addition to its own brilliancy,
a considerable advantage in affairs of state. To see
and hear the aid-decamp Duroc, resembled an
approach, though distant, to the extraordinary man
of whom the world was full. Duroc had taken
a part in the battles of the Pyramids, Mount
Tabor, and Aboukir. A thousand questions were
addressed to him, which he answered without ex-
aggeration, in truth and simplicity. He appeared
polished, mild, modest ; profoundly submissive to
his superior, and gave a most advantageous idea of
the manner of bearing which that ofticer imposed
upon those nearest him. The success of Dui-oe at
Berlin was complete. The queen testified for him
the greatest kuulness; and people began to talk
afterwards in a much better strain of the Fnmch
republic. Duroc found the young king was jileased
to discover that a strong and moderate government
was at last established in Paris, and felt flattered to
be at the same time courted both by Russia and
Finance. He desired much to act the part of a
mediator, but had more the wish than the talent
for such a purpose, without being at all dcHcient in
the ardour and zeal requisite for its perform'ance.

The success of Duroc engaged the attention of
Europe, and was re-echoed to Paris itself. The
idea of an approaching peace soon took posses-
sion of every mind. A specious circumstance, in
itself of small moment, singularly contributed to
propagate this idea. The French and Austrian
armies were in presence of each other along the
Rhine and on the coasts of the Alps and Apen-'
nines. On the Rhine they were stayed by an|
obstacle sufficient to hinder any serious operations,!
since the passage of that river was a task too greati
for either army unless for the purpose of opening;
the campaign. It was now Friraaire or December,'
the passage could not therefore be contemplated;/
skirmishes along the river became under such cir- ]
cumstances a useless effusion of blood, and there-
fore on that frontier an armistice was agreed
upon. In the Alps and Apennines circumstances
were different; there, where the country was so
varied, a movement well combined might procure
to the successful party a good position for the
commencement of operations. The belligerents,
therefore, would not bind themselves there in a
similar manner, and no armistice took place. Hut
the jmblic attention was directed to that signed
upon the Rhine ; and among the number of for-
tunate changes which atteniled the course of the
new government, people classed the possibility and
even probability of an approaching peace.

There are always in public evils one that is real
and one that is imaginary, while one contributes to
render the other insupportJible. It is a main j)oint
to do away with the imaginary evil, because by
that means the Hentimcnt of the real evil is di-
minished, and he who suffers from it is inspired
with the liope of a cure, or, above all, with the dis-
position to accept it. Under the directory, it was
decided that tli'-re was nothing to be expected of
a feeble, disreputable govenunent, which to repress
faction adojited violence without attaining any of
the effects of energy. Evi-ry thing it did was n.--
garded as bad ; nobody would credit good of it,

nor believe it when by chance some little good was
done. Even victory, which seemed to return to
it near the close of its existence — victory, which
to others would have brought glory, conferred no
honour upon it.

'I'he elevation of Bonaparte, of whom the world
was in the habit of expecting every thing suc-
cessful, changed this disposition. The evil in
imagination had ceased ; confidence was abroad ;
every thing was understood in good part. Most
assuredly the things performed were good in them-
selves, since it was good to release the hostages, to
set the priests free, to show pacific dispositions to
Europe ; but people, above all, were inclined to
consider that tliey were good. A token of apjiroach
in feeling, such as the welcome given to an aid-de-
camp, an armistice signed that really meant no-
thing, such as that upon the Rhine, passed already
as pledges of peace. 8uch is the prestige of con-
fidence ! It is every thing with a beginning go-
vernment, and to that of the consuls it was of
immense advantage. Thus money came into the
treasury, from the treasury it went to the armies,
that, content with the first succours, waited with
patience for those that were to come afterwards.
In presence of a power, the strength of which was
reputed superior to all resistance, parties submitted:
the oppressor party without any power to oppress
again ; the party oppressed, with the confidence
that oppi'essiou would no more be exercised upon
it. The good accomplished was thus great, and
hope added all that time had not yet permitted to
be done.

One thing was already rumoured in all quarters,
on the daily report of those who transacted bush)ess
with the young consul. It was said that this
soldier, above whom no geiieral of modern times
can be ranked, and but few in those which are
passed, was a consummate ruler, a iirofound poli-
tician. All the practical men by whom he was sur-
rounded, whom he heard with attention, whom he
even enlightened by the justness and promptitude
of his views, and whom he protected from opposi-
tion of all kinds, never left him without being
subdued and filled with admiration. They said
this the more willingly, because it became the
fashion to think and say so. Sometimes false
merit is seen to captivate the public for a time,
and conunand extravagant praise ; but it also some-
times happens that true merit, even genius itself,
inspires this sort of popular caprice, and then the
caprice becomes a passion. It was only a month
since Bonaparte had taken the direction of .affairs,
and the impression around him, )>roduced by his
powerful intellect, was deep and general. The
good-tempt-red Rogcr-Ducos spoke of nothing else;
the himioursome Sieyes, little inclined to stoop to
the fashion of the hour, especially when he was not
its favourite, acknowledging the superiority, the
universality of the governing genius, paid it the
l>niH!st homage, by conceding to it the entire power
<)f action. Those who were panegyrists from con-
j viction joined those who were such only from in-
I terest, and all seeing in Bonajiartc the evident head
of the new rei)ublie, set no limit to the measure of
their enthusiasm. Boniijjartc had among his ad-
mirers, and in truth very sincere admirers, Talley-
rand, Kcgiiault de St. Jean d'Angely, Ra'derer,
. Bouliiy (de laMeurthe), Defennon, Real, Dufrcsne,
C

Sieyiis.' long- meditated
IG project of tlie coiisti-

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, it

and others, who evei-y where said that they had
never seen any one of such promptitude, such
decision, such extent of mind, such prodigious
activity. It is true, the business he had accom-
plished in one month in every brancli of the
government was enormous, and, which seldom bap-
pens, that the flattery bestowed did not, in this
instance, exceed the reality.

It was every where considered that he was the
man on wjiom the new constitution must bestow
the larger part of the executive power. A Crom-
well was not desired by the people, for this niust
be conceded in honour of the men of that time.
The friends of B^aiaparte said aloud that the
parts of Ctesar and Cromwell were wholly " played
out," and were not worthy of the genius and
virtues of the young saviour of France. Still, they
desired that there should be a sufficient autho-
rity placed in his hands, to secure their heads, or
the national property which they had obtained :
and that be might have time enough left him to
repel the Bourbons and Austrians. The royalists
hoped he would save them from the revolutionists,
and re-instate the old absolute power, with a wild
wish that after he bad reinstated it, he would hand
it over tothcni; iu which case they were disposed to
make hipi a good bargain for the restitution ; they
would even go so far as to confer upon him the
dignity of constable to Louis XVIIL, if it were
positively necessary.

Tims, every body awarded to him the supreme
power, in more or less of integrity, for a longer or
shorter ti-rm, though with different object-. The
new legislator, Sieves, thus had to make a place for
bini in the new constitution which he was preparing;
but Sieyes was a dogmatical legislator, working on
behalf of the nature of things, at least he conceived
so, and not according to existing circumstances,
still less for any single man, no matter whom. This
may ea.sily be judged from what followed.

Sieyes, while his indefatigable colleague governed,
was occupied with his own assigned task. To give
to France not one of those e|ihenieral constitutions,
provoking ridicule from ignorance of passions and
parties, but a wise constitution, founded on obser-
vations 9f society, and on the lessons of past expe-
rience ; this had been the waking dream of his
whole existence. Amid his solitary and morose
meditations he laboured without cessation. He
bad weighed it in the midst of the sincere and
inconsiderate proceedings of the constituent as-
sembly, in the midst of the frantic gloom of the
convention, and in the midst of the feebleness of the
direct^ory. At each period he had new-modelled his
labour ; at last it w;i3 fixed, and once fixed he
would not alter his plan. He would sacrifice nothing
to the circumstances of the moment, to the prin-
cipal of tliese circumstances, to Bonaparte, for
wlioni'it' was evidently necessary to find a post,
adapteil* to the genius and character of him who
was to fill it.

This singular legislator, always meditating, al-
ways writing, but not writing much more than
acting, had never yet written out the scheme of his
consiiiution. It was in his head, and he must now
bring it out. This was to him a task by no means
easy, l^Qwever much he wished to see it produced
and eiybodied as a law. He was much pressed
to make it known, and at last decided to com-

municate his ideas to one of his friends, M. Boulay
de la Meurthe, who took upon himself the trouble
of transcribing it as fast as it was delivered in the
conversations they might have with each other.
> It was thus that this remarkable conception was
1 correctly obtained, and preserved for that posterity
I of which it was worthy.

1 Sieyes made a powerful mental exertion to unite
I the republican and the monarchical principles, in
I order to borrow what was useful or necessary from
each ; but in borrowing he showed a strong distrust
' of both. He had taken great precautions against
the demagogue spirit on one hand, and against the
1 power of the crown on the other. He had thus
])roduced a clever and complicated work, but one
in which every thing was balanced ; so that if this
constitution, modified by and for Bonaparte, were
deprived of one or the other of its counterpoises,
it might, against the intentions of its framer, lead
on to despotism.

The first care of Sieyes was, amid his combina-
tions, to guai'd against tlie influence of demagogue
passions. Without denuding the nation of that large
. participation in public affairs, which unhappily for
I itself it had before enjoyed, he wished to leave it a
power which it could not abuse. A phrase, which,
ibr the first time, perhaps, was in every body's
mouth, that of "a representative government,"
gives an exact idea of the state of the public mind
at the moment. By that word was understood
that the nation ought to have a share in its own
government, only through intermediate means,
that is to say, that it should be represented ; and,
as we shall see, it was, indeed, very indirectly that
such a representation was intended.

The elections imder the directory had been
drawn by degrees into the hands of the royalists at
one time, and of the Jacobins at another, and
violence had been deemed expedient to exclude the
first of these on the 18th Fructidor, the second, on
the 22nd Flordal. Thus the election system, and,
above all, that of the direct elections, had become
highly suspicious in the public view. Perhaps, had
they dared to reduce the number of the electors to
a hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand, the
attemjit to meet again the agitation of the elections
might have been ventured upon ; but the electoral
body, reduced to about the present proportion,
would have imparted oflenco rather than security.
Two hundred tliousand electors only attached to a
nation, which so recently possessed universal suf-
frage, would have ap])eared an aristocratic allow-
ance; at the same time that the electors, however
small their number, nominating directly their repre-
sentatives, with the power to yield to the passions
of the hour, would have borne the appearance of
being but the renewal of the continual reactions
which had been witnessed under the directory.
Direct election restricted, such as exists at present
was thus out of all the combinations. Sieyes, with
his liabitual tlogmatism, had made the maxim for
himself, that "confidence should come from below,
and power from above." He therefore conceived,
in order to realize this maxim, the system of
national representation which is about to be de-
■ scribed.

Every individual of the age of twenty-one, having
a French birthright, was obliged, if he desired to
enjoy his rights, to inscribe his name in a register

I79y.
Dec.

List of notables.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

called the " civic register." This list niij;ht hold
five or six millions of citizens' names admitted to
the exercise of political riglits. The i)ersons thus
inscribed were to meet in their arrondisscmcnts ;
this limit, which did not then exist, was to be pro-
posed ; they were then to choose a tenth of their
number. This tenth would produce a primary list
of five or six hundred thousand; and these numbers,
meeting in turn iii their departments, and again
choosing a tenth among themselves, would form a
second list of fifty or sixty thousand. These last
proceeded to a tiiird and hust list limited to five or
six thousand, and the three lists were denominated
the " lists of notability."

The first list of five or six hundred thousand
individuals was called that of the communal nota-
bility ; from it were to be taken the members of
the municipal bodies, those of the councils of the
arrondissements, and others on a par in equality
with them ; such were the mayors, the officers
since styled sub-prefects, the judges of tlie first
instance, and others. The second list of fifty or
sixty thousand citizens, was denominated the list
of the departmental notability ; and it was from
it that the members of the councils of the depart-
ments, the functionaries since styled prefects, the
judges of appeal, and similar officials, were taken;
in a word, all of that class. Finally, the last and
third list of five or six thousand persons, con-
stituted the list of national notability, from whence
all the raembei-s of the legislative body must be
taken, all the higher functionaries, counsellors of
state, ministers, judges of the tribunal of cassation,
and the like. Sieyes, borrowing a geometrical
figure to give an idea of the national represen-
tation, called it a pjrainid, broad at the base,
and narrow at the apex.

It is thus seen, that without conceding to the
nation the right to select itself the national dele-
gates, or the government functionaries, Sieyes re-
duced himself to the formation of a list of candi-
dati.-s, from which were to be selected tiie repre-
sentatives of the nation and the agents of govern-
ment. Every year the mass of citizens was to
meet for the purpose of excluding fronv the lists
the names which were not deemed worthy to con-
tinue there, and to replace them with others. It
is observable, that if, on one part, the power of
designation was very indirect ; on the other it em-
braced not only the members of the deliberative
assemblies, but the functionaries of the executive
themsilves. It was at once more and less than
ordinarily exists in the systena of a representative
monarchy. The agents designed for special offices,
and who were not supposed to possess any of the
jmblic confidence, such as tiiose belonging to the
finances, for example, or persona called to fulfil
offices HO difficult, that merit, when it could be
met with, ought to be chosen, no matter where
found — such as giMXjrals or ainl)assadors ; such
agents it was not obligatory to select from the lists
of notability.

We have shown how Sieyes realized his maxim
of making "ciinfid(Mico come from below," we will
now show how he nia<lo " power come from above."

lie dreaded cleclioiiH, under the influence of the

I feeling of tin; time?, Ijecauso he had witnesKcd how

the electors chose repreHeiitalives as headstrong aa

tiiemsclvcs. lie tiiorcforc renounced elections, and

decided, that out of those on the lists of notability
fnimtd by juiblic confidence, the legislative and
executive powers should be enabled to choose their
own membei's, and thus to constitute themselves.
Me laid no other obligation upon tliem,thiin that they
should select from the lists of notability. But before
stating the mode in which the jjowers were formed,
it is necessary to describe their organization.

The legislative power was to be organized thus :
First, the legislative body, pro[)erly speaking, placed
between the tribunal and the council of state : se-
condly, above and apart, the conservative senate.

The legislative body was to be composed of three
hundred members, designed to hear the discussion
of the laws, not to discuss them itself, and to vote
silently. How and among whom the discussion
was to take place, will be here shown.

A body of one hundred members, styled the
tribunate, empowered to represent in this consti-
tution the spirit of free, innovating examination,
received the communication of the laws, discussed
them publicly, and i)ut them to the vote, merely to
decide whether or not it should sunport their
a<ioption or rejection. It then api)omted three
members of its number to support its private
opinion befm-e the legislative body.

The council of state, the origin of that which
now exists, but more considerable in its importance
and duties, was connected with the government
for the purpose of embodying proposed laws ; it
was to present them to the legislative body, and to
send three of its number to discuss them in oppo-
siti<jn to the speakers in the tribunate. Thus the
council of state pleaded for, the tribunate against,
the proposed law, if the last disapproved it. The
legislative body then voted silently either on one
side or the other, as to the rejection or acceptance
of the measure. Its vote alone gave the cha-
racter of a law to the pi'oposition of the govern-
ment. The council of state besid(^s had the duty
of completing the laws by attaching to them the
regulations necessary for their execution.

Last of all came the senate, composed of one
hundred members, that took no part in the legis-
lative labour. It was deputed on the denunciation
of the tribunate, or of its own accord, to cancel
every law or act of the government to which, in its
own view, any thing unconstitutional might be at-
tached. It was on this account that it bore the
Jianie of the "conservative senate." It was to be
composed of individuals who were of ripe years,
deprived from the circumstance of belonging to the
senate of all active functions, being exclusively con-
fined to their character of conservators, and being
interested in attending well to their tluties, because
Sieyes intended that a good income should bo
attached to the place.

Such were the offices of the deliberative func-
tionaries. The mode of their formation was as fol-
lows:—

The senate completed itself by electing its own
membcrH, out of the list of notability formed by the
nation. Itnamcd also the membere of the tribunate,
of the legislative body, and of the tribunal of cas-
sation, choosing them by tho scrutiny or ballot
from the same list of national notability.

The executive power was thus the author of its
I own fVirmation, from choosing all its agents out of
I the three lists of notability, which corresponded to

20

The grand elector.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1799.
Dec

the functions which were to be executed. It took
the ministers, tlie councillors of state, and all the
superior officers from the list of national notability.
It took from the list of the departmental notability,
first, the councillors of the department, who, the
same as with the council of state, were considered
purely administrative authorities ; it took from them,
besides these, the prefects and all the functionaries
of the same particular order; and lastly it searched
in the list of communal notability for the municipal
councillors, the mayors, and the functionaries be-
longing to their class.

Thus, as Sieyes would have it, " Confidence came
from below, power came from above."

But as above the legislative power there was a
head or creator in the senate, so there was wanting
above the executive power a supreme creator to
name the ministers of state, who were then to no-
minate the subordinate officials down to the lowest
in the hierarchy. At the head of the executive
power there must also be a generative power.
Sieyes had given the holder of this power a name
analogous to his function, he had entitled him the
grand elector. This supreme magistrate's duty was
reduced to one single exclusive act; he was to elect
two superior agents, alone in their species and rank,
one called the peace, the other the war consul. These
nominated the ministers immediately; they, under
their personal responsibility, selected from the list of
notability all the agents of power, governed, admi-
nistered, directed in a word all the affairs of state.

A great and brilliant career was destined for the
grand elector. He was the generative principle of
the government, and he was also its external re-
presentative. That inaction, to which Sieyes desired
to confine the senators in order to secure the just
and impartial fulfilment of their duties, and to whom
he assigned an annual i-evenue of 100,000f. from
the national domains ; that inaction imposed also
upon tlie grand elector from a similar motive, was
yet more richly endowed, because he i-epresented
the entire republic. Sieyes, therefoi-e, assigned to
i him a revenue of C,00O,000fs. and sumptuous
I palaces, such as those of the Tuileries at Paris,
and Vei"sailles in the country, with a guard of three
thousand men. In his name justice was to be ad-
ministered, the taxes promulgated, and the acts of
the government executed. To him the foreign mi-
nisters were to be accredited, and the signatures to
all treaties between France and foreign states were
to be his execution. In a word, he joined to the
important act of observing tlie two more active
heads of the government, the ^clat, vain thougli it
might be, of external pomp. In him was to glitter
personified all the luxury of an elegant, polished,
and magnificent people.

The grand elector himself, was he to be an elected
or an hereditary potentate ? In the last case he
must be in every sense a king, and thus would
monarchy be re-established in France. This, whe-
ther or not he wished it, Sieyes would not dare
openly to propose. He, therefore, assigned to the
senate, the most impartial of the public bodies in
the government, the choice of that supreme magis-
trate, who was himself thus elevated that he might
be as impartial as possible in his selection of the
two heads whom he was to appoint.

A last and most extraordinary provision finished
this complex labour.

The senate, which had the power of abrogating
any unconstitutional act or law of the government,
received, besides, the power to deprive the grand
elector of his functions by nominating him a senator
in despite of his own will. This Sieyes denominated
"absorption." The senate had the power to do the
same thing in respect of any citizen, of whom the
talents might cause a jealousy in the republic.
Thus there was given to the citizen, that had been
reduced to foi'cible inactivity by absorbing him into
the senate, the penalty of the importance, of the rich
idleness, of the members of a body, which could
not act by itself, but still was able, by its veto, to

. -«top every kind of action in others.

I In this singular but profound idea, who does not
recognise the image in design, obscure and indis-
tinct as it may be, of a representative monarchy?
The legislative body, the senate, the grand elector,
are but commons, peers, and king ; all reposing
upon a sort of universal suffrage, but with such
precautions, that democracy, aristocracy, and
royalty, admitted into the constitution, are ad-
.mitted, then annulled by its operation. The lists
of notability, from which the deliberative bodies
and the executive functionaries are to be chosen,
are universal suffrage, nullified, because they
formed a circle of candidateship so extensive that
the obligation to choose in such a circle is an
absolute power of election conferred upon the
government and senate. The dumb legislative
body, listening to the discussion of the law, and not
discussing the law itself, having by its side the
tribunate, that is to oppose it in the council of
state, is but a species of house of commons cut
in two, one-half having the vote, the other half the
debate, and both annulled by the separation ; for
the first is exposed to the chance of falling
asleep amid its own silence, the second to waste
itself in a useless agitation of the question. The
senate nominating itself and all the deliberative
bodies, appointing the head of the executive power,
and, when necessai-y, absorbing him into its bosom ;
the senate being able to do this, but deprived of
active functions, taking no part iu making a law,
but bound to cancel it if unconstitutional; the
senate reduced thus to a sort of in.action, that it
may be more disinterested, and solely animated
with the idea of conservatism, this senate is
but a clever exaggerated imitation of an aristo-
cratical peerage, taking little part in the progress
of affairs, stopping it sometimes by its veto, and
receiving into its bosom those who, after a wild
career, come voluntarily to repose in the midst of
a grave, infiuential, and honoured body of men.
The grand elector, lastly, is no more than royalty
reduced to the inactive, but considerable office, of
choosing the chief actors in the government ; it
is royalty, but with wonderful j)recautions against
its origin and dui'ation, since it issued from the
senatorial urn, into which, upon occasions, it may
be rLturncd. In a word, this universal suff'rage,
this legislative body, this tribunate, this senate,
this grand elector, thus constituted, weakened,
neutralized the one by the other, attested a pro-
digious labour of the human mind, to unite in one
constitution all the known forms of government,
only to annul them all afterwards by the energy of
its precautions.

It nmst be admitted that representative mon-

D^^; ^"JlfnsSon."^^'^*"'' CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

The plan communicated
to the legislative com-
mission!..

archy, with less trouble and effort, by trusting
more to human nature, has procured for two cen-
turies a lively liberty, not subversive, for one of the
first nations in the world. Simple and natural in
its means, the British constitution admits of
royalty, aristocracy, and democracy ; and these being
admitted, leaves tiiem to act freely, imposing upon
them no other condition than to act in unison with
the common will. It does not limit the king to
such and such an act ; it docs not advance him by
election to swallow him up afterwards ; it does not
interdict to the peerage its active functions, nor
does it deprive of sj>eech the elective assembly ; it
does not grant universal suffrage to annul it by
rendering it indirect ; it permits royalty and aris-
tocracy to take their natural hereditary course ; it
admits of a king, and of a succession in the peer-
ago, but it leaves the nation, in return, the care of
selecting directly, according to its own taste and
tlie feelings of the day, an assembly, that, master of
the power of giving or refusing to royalty the
means of governing, obHges it to take for ministers
the men who possess the public confidence. All
that the legislator Sieyes sought was here almost
infallibly accomplished. Royalty and aristocracy
do no more than he wished them to do ; they are
merely the moderators of a too rapid progress ;
the elective assembly, full of the feeling of the
country, but restrained by the other two powers, in
reality chooses the heads of the government, car-
ries them into their post, maintains them there, or
overturns them, if they cease to respond to its
sentiments. Here is a simple, true constitution,
because it Ls the product of nature and time ; and
I not, like that of Sieyes, the clever artificial work of
la mind disgusted at monarchy from the reign
' of the later Bourbons, and fearful of a republican
government from ten years of storms.

But supposing a period more calm, and imagining
the constitution of Sieyes to be put quickly into
practice at a time when a powerful hand, such as
that of Bonaparte, was not wanted, and therefore
did not overrule all other motives ; supposing that
enormous notability established, the senate freely
giving out from its own body the other governing
bodies and the head of the state, what would then
happen ? Before long the nation would get to feel
little interest in the renewal of tlie lists, which
could very inefficiently express its sentiments ; the
lists would become nearly permanent ; the senate
would have chosen from them the state bodies, and
the grand elector, and naming the chief of the
executive power,being able at any moment to remove
him, would keep him in dependence : the senate
would be every thing — it would be wliat ? — the
aristocracy of Venice, with its book of gold, its weak
and pompous doge, every year bade to marry the
Adriatic — a curious sight, and worthy of being con-
templated ! Sieyes, with an elevated and deeply
reflective mind, sincerely attached to his country's
freedom, had, in ten years, run round the entire
circle of political agitation, of terror, and disgust,
which led most of the republics of the middle ages,
and that of Venice, the more celebrated of them, to
the golden book and the nominal chief. lie had at
last arrived at the Venetian aristocracy, consti-
tuted for the advant'igc of the men of the revo-
lution, as it gave for ten years to those, who hail
exercised political functions since 17UD, the privi-

lege and right of being upon the lists of notability ;
and he proposed to keep for himself, and the three
or four of the more noted individuals of the day,
the power of making, for the first time, all the
bodies that were to e.xercise the state govern-
ment.

An aristocracy is not to be made off-hand; des-
potism alone is to be improvised. The tortured
social state could only find ease in the arms of a
powerful man. Every thing was admired, and every
thing admitted iu this excellent constitution, —
every thing except the grand elector, so richly
endowed and so idle in his post. The grand elec-
tor's place was supplied by one sufficiently energetic
and active in Bonajiarte ; and by a single change this
constitution was docmied, without any participation
iin the result on the ]);irt of its author, to lead to
■the imperial despotism, that, with a conservative
;senate and a dumb legislative body, we saw govern
i France for fifteen years in a glorious but despotic
'manner.

When Sieyes, with great effort on his part, had
drawn these combinations from the profound of his
mind, where they had long lain buried, he ex-
plained them to his friend M. Boulay de la
Meurthe, who wrote them down, and to members
of the two legislative commissions; they communi-
cated them to others around. The two legislative
commissions were divided into sections, and in
each of the two there was a constitutional section.
It was to these sections in union that Sieyes, when
he had become master of his idea, explained his
system. It seized upon every mind by its novelty,
its singularity, and the infinite art of its combi-
nations.

In the first place, the interests of the auditors
of Sieyes were fully met ; for he had, as will be
seen, adopted a transitory disposition of things
which was in every respect necessary. With the
object of preserving the i-evolution, by keeping in
power those who had been its actors, he proposed
a resolution, much i-esembling that by which the
national convention had perpetuated itself in the
two councils of the ancients and of the five
hundred. He desired that all who since 1789 had
exercised public functions, who had been members
of different assemblies, legislative, departmental,
or municipal, should have a right to inscription on
the lists of notability ; and that these lists should
not be made up for ten years. Further, that Sieyes,
Roger-Ducos, and Bonaparte, were to nominate
for the fii-st time the various members of the state
bodies, in virtue of the right which they attached
to themselves of framing the new constitution.
This was a bold but i-equisite juovision, because it
nmst be remarked, that all the new men who would
come in through the elections, moved by the spirit
of reaction then abroad, and yielding to the com-
mon inclination to blame that which they had not
done themselves, would openly exhibit hatred both
against the acts and actors in the revolution, even
wlien they partook of the same sentiments. Sieyes,
therefore, had taken these precautions against the
necessity for any renewal of the IHth Fructidor,
by thus for ten years keeping the working of his
constitution in hands of which he was sure. The
ide!i.s of Sieyes were thus suited to every interest.
I Every body thought that lie was himself certain of
being a senator, legislator, counsellor of state, or

Praises bestowed upon
Sieyes' constilution.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Disapprobation of
Bonaparte.

1799.
Dec.

of the tribun.ite, for to these duties liberal appoint-
ments were attached.

Leaving out interest, the combinations appeared
to be .skilful as well as new. Men enthusiasti-
cally imbued with admiration for military genius,
discover an enthusiasm with equal readiness for
what seems to arise from profound mental re-
search. Sieyes had his enthusiasts as well as
Bonaparte his. The lists of notability appeared
the happiest of all combinations, and yet more from
the state of discredit into which the elective sys-
tem had fallen since the elections in which the
" Clichyens ^ " were returned, who were excluded
by the revolution of Fruetidor, and the Jacobins
excluded by means of the " scissions " (sections of
Paris). The counsel of state and the tribunate
pleading ijro and con before a dumb legislative
body, were amusing to those whose minds were
fatigued with discussions and pressingly in need of
repose. The senate, placed so high and so useful
for the pi-eservation of unity, getting rid by ostra-
cism of eminent or dangerous citizens, — all these
things found admirers.

The grand elector alone appeared a singularity
to the men who, not having reflected much on the
English constitution, could not comprehend a ma-
gistracy reduced to the single function of choosing
the superior agents of the government. They
found he possessed too little power for a king, and
too much state for the simple president of a re-
public. Nobody in fact could find the place
adapted for him who should fill it, or in other words,
for Bonaparte. The elector had too much of the
appearance without the reality of power : too much
of appearance, because it was necessary to avoid
awaking public apprehension, and rendering too
manifest the return to monarchy : not enough of
real power, because an authority almost without
limit was required by the man who had the task of
re-organizing France. Some persons, — incapable
of comprehending the impartiiility of a profound
thinker, who never dreamed but of making his
ideas accord with themselves, not binding up the
objects of a constitution in personal interest, — some
affii-med that the grand elector could never have
been invented to suit a character .so active as
Bonaparte, and that therefore Sieyes had invented
it for himself, and that he reserved the place of
war consul for his young colleague. This was a
malevolent and pitiful conjecture. Sieyes joined
to gi'eat strength of thought a remarkable acute-
ness of observation, and he too well judged his
own personal position and that of the conqueror
of Italy, to believe that ho was able to be, himself,
this sjiecies of elective king, and Bonaparte simply
his minister. He had obeyed merely the spirit
of his system. Other interpreters, less malevo-
lent, believed in their turn, that Sieyes destined
the place of grand elector for Bonai)arte, with the
view of tying up his Iiands, and above all making
him 8peedilybeci>me"absorbed"in the conservative
senate. The friends of freedom did not on that
account regard him with ill will. The partisans
of Bonaparte were unable to speak of the charac-
ter of the grand elector without crying ont loudly
against it, and among them was Liicicn Bonaparte,
who by turns served or opposed the head of his

• The members of the club of that name.

family, as he was prompted by caprice, without
discretion or measure ; placing at one time the
brother, passionately anxious for the aggrandise-
ment of his relative, at another the citizen who
was opposed to all despotism. Lucien declaimed
violently against the project of Sieyes. He de-
clared loudly that a president of the republic was
wanted, with a council of state, and very little
besides ; that the country was tired of vain talkers,
and wanted men of action alone. These incon-
siderate speeches were of a nature to produce a
very ill effect ; but happily few attached any im-
portance to the sayings of Lucien.

Bonaparte, in the midst of incessant toils, ga-
thered up the rumours circulated around respect-
ing the project of Sieyes. He had left his colleague
to proceed, according to a species of division of
their duties between them, declining to interfere
with the constitutional scheme, until the time should
arrive when it came to be definitively considered,
no doubt, promising himself to adapt his taste to
the place it assigned him. Nevertheless the ru-
mours which reached him from every side at
length irritated him, and he expressed his dis-
pleasure with Ilia ordinary warmtli of language, a
warmth to be lamented, but of which he was not
always the master.

The disapprobation he expressed at some parts
of the constitutional scheme reached its author,
who was much hurt by it. He was afraid, in fact,
that having lost, by the ignorance and violence of
past times, the occasion of being the legislator of
France, he should again lose it through the despotic
humour of the colleague he had given himself in
effecting the 18tli Brumaire. Although destitute
of intrigue, and inactive, he made himself busy to
gain over one by one the membei-s of the two
legislative sections.

In the interim, his friend Boulay de la Meurthe,
:\nd two intimate friends of Bonai>arte, Roederer
and Talleyrand, were desirous of maintaining
harmony between men of such importance, and
employed themselves actively to bring about ac-
cord. Boulay de la Meurthe had accepted the
office of transcriber of the ideas of Sieyes, and
he was thus become the confidant of his scheme.
Roederer was one of the old constituent assembly,
a man of sound mind, a true politician after the
fashion of the eighteenth century, f(jnd of reasoning
on the organization of social bodies, and of framing
j)rojects of constitutional government, joined to
very decided monarchical i)rcdilections. Talley-
rand, capable of comprehending and judging of
minds the most opposite to his own, was equally
affected by the genius of young Bonaparte for
action, and the .speculative mind of the philosophic
Sieyes, and he had a great regard for both. He
besides believed that each had need of the other;
all three strove with sincerity to promote the
success of the new govei-nment. All three, there-
fore, employed themselves in reconciling the soldier
and the legislator. An interview was planned to
take place at the residence of Bonaparte, in pre-
sence of Roederer and Talleyi'and. It took place,
but did not at first succeed. Bonaparte was under
the influence of the reports which had been made
to him of a grand elector, inactive, and liable to be
absorbed by the senate. Sieyes was full of the ex-
pressions attributed to Bonaparte, condemning his

1799.
Dec.

Vexatious differences
between Sieyi's and
Bonaparte.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR YIII.

The legislative sections

cieteriniiie to make the 23
constitution.

plan — expressions no doubt greatly exaggerated.
They parted in bad humour, using bitter language.
Sieyes, who required calmness to express his ideas,
did not explain them in the lucid manner and
order of delivery which was most adapted to his
purpose. Bonaparte was, on the other side, im-
patient and blunt. They inveighed against each
other, and parted very nearly enemies.

The mediators were alarmed, and now set to
work to remedy the ill success of this interview.
They told Sieyes that he ought to have had patience
iu the discussion, and taken some trouble to con-
vince Bonaparte, and above all, made him some
concessions. Tiioy told Bonaparte that he wanted
in the matter more caution than he had shown ;
that without the support of Sieyes and his authority
in the Council of the Ancients, he would not have
obtained, on the 18ch of Brumaire, the decree
which had placed the power in his hand ; that
Sieyes, as a political character, had an amazing
influence over the public feeling ; and that in case
of a conflict between the legislator and himself, a
great many persons would pronounce themselves
for the legislator, as the representative of the revo-
lution, and of iiljerty endangered by the man of the
sword. The first moment was not favourable for
effecting a reconciliation ; it was better to wait a
little. Boulay de la Meurthe and Roederer planned
fresh schemes for the fulfilment of the executive
power, that might remove the two difficulties
upon which Bonaparte appeared inflexible — the
inaction of the grand elector, and the menace of
ostracism suspended over his head. They first
imagined a consul with two colleagues for his as-
sistance ; then a grand elector, as Sieyes wished,
who named the peace and war-consuls, assisted at
their deliberations, and decided between them.
This was not enough for Bonaparte's satisfaction,
and it was too much for Sieyes, whose plan was
thus reversed. Every time it was proposed to
Sieyes to make the chief of the executive par-
ticipate in the government, he said, "That is the
old monarchy which you would give, — I won't
have it." Ho would hear of no royalty but that of
England without the title of king, immobility, and
hereditary succession. This was not the thing;
and Sieyes, with tliat promptitude of discourage-
ment attached to speculative minds when they
encounter obstacles which are placed in their way
by the very course of things, Sieyes said he would
give up the whole, quit Paris for the country, and
leave young Bonaparte with'his budding despotism
bare to every eye. " He means to go," said Bo-
naparte; " let him ; I will go and get a constitution
planned by lUjcderer, propose it to the two legis-
lative sections, and satisfy public opinion that
demands the HCttlement of the question." Here
he deceived himself by speaking in such a mode,
for it was yet too early to exhibit his drawn sword
to Franco ; he would have met on every side an
unforeseen resistance.

Nevertheless these two men, who, despite their
instinctive repugnance, had agfed for a moment,
in order to consummate the lUih Brumaire, were
still designed to meet again to draw up a constitu-
tion. The reports in circulation had awakened the
legislative commission ; they knew well what doc-
trine Lucien held, what a decided tone Bonaparte
took in the matter, and what a disposition Sieyes

showed to abandon the whole affair. They said
with reason that, after all, the care of framing a
constitution belonged to them definitively, being
specially confided to them ; that they woidd accom-
plish their duty, prepare the i)lan, present it to the
consuls, and force them to agree, after bringing
about a rational c<mipromise between them.

They set to work in consequence ; and many of
the mcmbere composing their body having had
communicated to them the ideas of Sieyes, they
adopted his scheme as the basis of their plan. The
man who works upon a .system, feels that the
adoption of all his ideas save one, occasions him as
much vexation as if the entire system were re-
jected. The adoption of the scheme of Sieyes for a
basis of the new constitution was still aii import-
ant point gained by himself. He grew a little
calmer, and Bonaparte, seeing the commissions
proceed right earnestly and resolutely, became
sensibly milder in his expressions upon the sub-
ject. The moment was seized in order to attempt
a reconciliation between the two great men.
A second interview took place between Bona-
parte and Sieyes, iu presence of Boulay de la
Meurthe, Roederer, and Talleyrand. This time
the two interlocutors were less passionate and
more disposed to mutual comprehension. In place
of annoying each other by dwelling upon tliose
points on which they disagreed, and placing their
differences foremost, they tried, on the contrary, to
reconcile their diff'erences, and to show where they
agreed in their opinions. Sieyes was moderate and
full of tact ; Bonaparte displayed his great good
sense, and his ordinary originality of mind. The
subjects of the conversation were the state of
France, views of the former constitutions, and the
precautions to be taken in a new constitution, to
l)revent the recurrence of the disordei-s of the past.
On all this they could not fail to be in accord.
They retired satisfied, and promised, as soon as the
sections had completed their labours, to unite their
own, and adopt or modify the pi'opositions, and to
abandon, as soon as possible, the provisionary sys-
tem, which began to displease the public. Sieyes
had from that time the certain knowledge, that ex-
cept the grand elector, and some attributes attached
to the conservative senate, his constitution would
be adopted in entirety.

In the ten first days of Frimaire, or between the
20tli of November and the first of December, the
sections had finished their project. Bonaparte then
summoned them to his house, to a meeting at which
all the consuls were present. Some of the mem-
bers of the .sections thought this proceeding was
little in conformity with their dignity ; and yet,
having determined to overlook many difficulties,
and to concede much to ^ man who was ^ neces-
sary to them, they attended on the occasion.

The sittings immediately commenced. Sieyes
was in the first instance requested to disclose his
])lan, as that was the foundation of what had been
done by the comniissions. He did this with a
.strength of thought and of language, which pro-
duced a strong impression on his hearers. " All this
is very fine and very profound," .said Bonaparte,
"yet there are some points which deserve very
serious disctission. Let us proceed in an orderly
manner, and treat each part of the jiroject conse-
cutively, first choosing a secretary. Citizen Daunou,

24 State power* designated. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Discussions on the
constitution.

1799.
Dec.

take the pen !" Thus it happened that M. Daunou
became the drawer up of the new constitution.
Tlie work was continued for numerous sittings, and
the resolutions following were immediately agreed
upon.

The lists of notability, communal, departmental,
and national, were adopted successively. They were
but too well fitted to suit the apprehensions of the
moment and the ideas of Bonaparte, by negativing
the popular influence, from rendering it indirect.
Two accessory resolutions, one agreeable to, the
other contrary to the ideas of Sieyes, were agreed
upon. It was settled that the functionaries of all
kinds should not be necessarily chosen from the
lists of notability, save when the constitution should
have nomuially designated them. No objection was
made to the selection of the deliberative bodies, of the
consuls, ministers, judges, and administrators, from
the lists, but that of tlie generals and ambassadors
seemed to be going too far. This point was con-
ceded. The second provision or resolution bore re-
lation, not to the main ground of the plan, but to
the necessity of its adaptation to the present state of
things. In place of putting ofiF the reformation of
the hsts for ten years, it was postponed to the year
IX. or only for one year, and it was resolved that all
the members of the great bodies of the state should,
by an act of constituent power, be nominated at
once, and that those who were so nominated should
have the right of being entered upon the lists. The
revision of the lists, instead of being annual, was to
be triennial.

The organization of the great powers came next
to be considered. Sieyes' maxim, " that confidence
ought to come from below, power from above," pre-
vailed evei7 way. On high was placed the right
to elect, but with the obligation to choose from the
lists of notability. The senate of Sieyes was adopted,
as well as the legislative body placed between the
council of state and the tribunate. The senate was
to choose from the lists of notability ; first the se-
nators themselves, next the members of the legis-
lative body, of the tribunate, of the court of cas-
sation, of tlie commission of accounts, since called
the court of accounts, and finally the head or heads
of the executive power. The senate was to nomi-
nate the members of its own body only upon the
presentation of three candidates, presented respec-
tively by the consuls, the legislative body, and the
tribunate ; this was a considerable limitation of its
attributes. The council of state, being a part of the
executive power, waste be nominated by that power.
Independently of possessing the right to make the
more important nominations, the senate received
the supreme attribute of abrogating any laws or
acts of the government that might be deemed un-
constitutional. In no respect was it to have any
part in making the laws, nor could its members
exercise any active function.

The duty of the legislative body, silent, agreeably
to the i)lan of Sieyes, was to listen to the opposing
arguments of the three councillore of state and
three tribunes, and to vote afterwards, without
debate, upon the propositions of the government.

The tribunate alone had the faculty of publicly
discussing the laws, but it could only vote for the
purpose of deciding what opinion it should sustain
iiefore the legislative body. In case of its nega-
tive vote, it could not prevent the passing of a law

if it were adopted by the legislature. The tribunate
had not the power of initiating any legal propo-
sition, but might express its desires, and receive
petitions, which it might transmit to the different
authorities with which they were more imme-
diately connected. The members of the senate
were to be eighty, in place of one hundred, as
Sieyes had at first designed ; and sixty were to be
immediately nominated, the otlier twenty in the
course of tlie following ten years. The legislative
body was to consist of three hundred members,
and the tribunate of one hundred. The senatoi-s
were to have a fixed salary of 25,000 f. each, the
legislators 10,000f., and the members of the tri-
bunate 1 5,000 f. Thus far, therefore, the original
plan of Sieyes might be considered, with a trifling
difference, respecting the more limited power of
the senate, as having been adopted. In the or-
ganization of the executive power, the alteration
made w-as, on the other hand, very considerable.

Here was the great point upon which Bonaparte
was inflexible. Sieyes, who was fully prepared to
meet the rejection of this part of his plan, was
asked nevertheless to state his ideas. He in con-
sequence proposed the institution of the grand
elector. Nobody, it must be granted, not even
Bonaparte himself, had at that time sufHciently
reflected on the nomination and organization of
the head or chief power in a free govei-nment, to
understand the depth of the character conceived,
or to discover the analogy it exhibited with the
king at the head of the English monarchy. Bona-
parte, had he considered and perfectly understood
the character thus conceived, would on no account
have assented to its adoption, from motives easy
to be comprehended, and altogether personal. He
criticised the grand elector severely. He said of his
wealthy idleness as all kings would say, only with
less wit than he spoke and less ground to go upon,
because amid an upturned society to be organized,
sanguinary factions to subdue, and a world to con-
quer, the wish was perhaps excusable to have the
exercise of his talents and genius unfettered. But
if in those first days of the consulate he were right
when he had reason to wish his genius unfettered,
there being so much to be done ; afterwards, the
sublime victim of St. Helena, he might have re-
gretted the power that was thus conceded to him
to exercise it so freely. More confined in the
employment of his faculties, he might not have
accomplished such great things ; but he would
have been prevented from attempting those of so
much extravagance, and his sceptre and his sword
would have most probably rested in his own
glorious hands until his death. " Your grand
elector," he said to Sieyes, " is a lazy king, and
the time for lazy kings has passed away. What
man of spirit and intellect would submit to a do-
nothing life for 6,000,000f. and a habitation in the
Tuileriesi What, nominate those who act, and do
nothing oneself ! It is inadmissible. Then you
imagine by this means that your grand elector will
be prevented from interfering in the government.
Were I your grand elector, I would be bound, not-
withstanding, to do all you desired me not to do.
I would say to the consuls of peace and war, ' If
you do not choose such a person, or if you do not
perform such or such an act, I will turn you out !'
I would soon oblige them to act as I desired. I

1799.
Dec.

First co-^iil agreed
upon. His func-
tions.

CONSTITUTION OF THE YEAR VIII.

Arrondiss«ment divi-
sions. — Council of
state.

would make myself master again only by going
roundabout to my end."

Bonaparte, with his wonted sagacity, penetrated
here into the truth, discovering as lie did that
the grand elector was not an absolute nonentity,
since, as supreme magistrate, he liad the power
and means, at certain times, of appearing again all
potent upon the arena, where party was squabbling
for power, and of taking it from one that he
might confer it upon anotiier. This lofty surveil-
lance of English royalty over the administration
was not adapted for the ardour of young Bonaparte ;
he may be pardoned for it, because this was neither
the time nor place for constitutional royalty.

Thus the grand elector fell inider the sarcasm
of the young general, and under a power still
greater than that of his sarcasm ; that of the
existing necessity, f^i. dictatorship was at the
time really required, and the authority to be con-
ferred upon a grand elector was very inadequate to
meet the necessities of the moment.

Another part of the plan of Sieyes was objected
to by Bonaparte in the most decided manner, be-
cause he regarded it as a snare, it was the power
of "absorption" attached to the senate, not only
as it affected the grand elector, but every citizen
of note, whose greatness might give offence.

Bonaparte would not consent that, after years of
toil and service, any one should have the right to
bury him alive in the senate, and for a pension of
25,000 f. constrain him to idleness. This point was
conceded, and the executive power was oi'ganized
in the following manner :

The adoption of a first consul was decided
upon, and he was to be accompanied by two others;
in order to conceal somewhat the great power of
the first functionary. The first consul had the
direct and only nomination of the members of the
republican administration generally ; of the mem-
bers of the councils of departments and munici-
palities ; of the official persons since called pre-
fects, sub-prefects, municipal agents, and the like.
He nominated all the officers in the naval and
military services, the counsellors of state, and the
amba.ssadors, the judges, civil and criminal, except
the justices of the peace, and those of the court of
cassation. He could not remove the judges who
were once appointed ; their immutability being
substituted in place of election as a guarantee for
their independence.

Besides the iiornination of the administrative
offices, judicial and military, the first consul held
the full and entire government of the country, the
direction of war and of diplomacy ; he signed
treaties, without prejudice to their discussion and
adoption by the legislative body, according to the
legal forms. In his various functions he was to be
aided l)y the other two consuls, who had only a
consulting voice in the matter, but who could
place their o])inion8 in a register kejjt for the i)ur-
pose of recording their deliberations. The othir
two consids were clearly ai)pointed for the purpose
of masking the enormous authority confided to
Bonaparte. This authority, given for a term of
considerable duration, it was possible might become
perpetual after the ten yoarw, for which the consul
was at fil-st elected, should expire ; the consuls, too,
were all perpetually re-eligilde. One vestige alone
of the "absorption" of Sicycs remained. The

first consul, on vacating qfiice, from whatever
cause, became a senator in plenitude, and was
thenceforward excluded from public functions.
The other two consuls, not having attained the
highest office in the state, were free to accept, on
retiring, this well-endowed neutralizing appointment,
but they were not obliged to become senators
against their inclinations.

The allowance made to the first consul was
500,000 f., and to each of the others 150,000 f.
They were all to reside in the Tuileries, and to
have a consular guard.

Such were the principal provisions of the cele-
brated constitution of the year viii. Thus Sieyes
saw the attributes of the senate abridged, and a
powerful head of the state substituted for his idle
grand elector, a circumstance which a few years
afterwards caused his constitution, in place of
leading to the rule of an aristocracy, to become the
instrument of a despotism.

No declaration of rights distinguished this consti-
tution, although by means of certain provisions of
a general character it guaranteed individual liberty,
the inviolability of the citizen's house, the respon-
sibility of ministers, and that of their inferior
agents, except, without prejudice in the case of the
last, to the previous approbation of the council of
state. The constitution stipulated that a law in
any department, under extraordinary circum-
stances, might suspend the constitution in its re-
gard, a proceeding now denominated " putting in a
state of siege." Pensions were secured to the
widows and children of soldiers ; and finally, by a
species of return to ideas for a long time pro-
scribed, it acknowledged as a principle that national
rewards might be accorded to those who had ren-
dered eminent services to their country. This
was the dawn of the institution once so celebrated
— the legion of honour.

The constitution of Sieyes contained two strong
and excellent ideas, which have been both retiiined
in our administration, namely, the division of the
country into arroudissements, and the council of
state.

Sieyes was thus the author of all the boundaries
adopted in France for the purposes of the gi>vern-
ment. He had before invented the departmental
divisions, and obtained their adoption ; and on the
present occasion he desired that the cantonal
governments, which were no less in number than
five thousand, should be superseded by those of
arroudissements, which, less numerous, were far
more convenient, from being intermediate between
the commune and the department. No more than
the principle of this change was to be traced in the
constitution ; but it was agreed that before long
a refonn of the existing law in the administrative
I)rincij)le of Franco should take place upon this
point, and terminate the anarchy of the communes,
of which a ]iainful i)icture has been given above.
A tribunal of the first instance was to be fixed in
each arrondissement, and for a certain number of
iniited departments there was to be a tribunal of
appeal.

The second of Sieyes' creations, and belonging
to himself exclusively, w.ts the council of state,
a deliberative body attached to the executive
jwwer, preparing the laws, and sustaining them
before the legislature, adding to them the regu-

Bonaparte first consul.
2(J Canibacerfes and Lebrun
second consuls.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Constitutional arrange-
ments submitted to
the public.

lationti that must accompany the hiws, and render-
hig t]i.\ laws administrative. It is the most practi-
cal of his inventions, and with the preceding just
described, must survive the present and pass into
future times. To the honour of this legis'.ator, be
it spoken, time ha.s swept away all the ephemeral
revolutionary constitutions, and the only fragments
of tho.se constitutions which have survived have
been the work of his hands.

But to settle the distribution of the new consti-
tution was not enough, it was indispensable to add
to it those who were to wield its powers, to seek
for them in the men of the revolution, and to
designate the whole in the constitutional act. It
was necessary also, after completing all the dispo-
sitions that iiave been stated, to direct attention to
the selection of the individuals.

Bonaparte was nominated consul for ten years.
It was impossible to say that he was chosen, so
forcibly did the situation indicate the person who
was best fitted to fill it ; he was accepted from the
hands of victory and necessity. His appointment
fixed, the next thing to do was to find one for
Sieyes. This great personage had not much love
for business, and still less for playing a secondary
part. He did not feel himself inclined to become
the assistant of young Bonaparte, and he in conse-
quence refused to be the second consul. It will be
seen presently what place more suitable to his cha-
racter was assigned to him. Canibaceres was
chosen second consul, a lawyer of eminence, who
had acquired great importance among the political
personages of the time by his deep knowledge,
prudence, and tact. Ho was at that moment
minister of justice. Lebrun, a distinguished writer,
who was editor of the Maupeou edicts, and be-
longed under the old government to the party that
was disposed to reform ; attached to the cause of
moderate revolutions, well versed in matters of
finance, and too mild to contradict in any trouble-
some degree, Lebrun was made third consul.
Cambace'res was an able assistant to Bonaparte in
the administration of justice, and Lebrun was
equally useful in the administration of the finances,
both being of essential aid to him without crossing
any of his intentions. The men intended to form
tlio new government could not have been better
associated, while from these appointments all others
in the organization of the executive were neces-
sarily to How.

Proceeding next to tlio appointment of the de-
liberative bodies, the part for Sieyes indicated it-
self. It was written down in the constitution that
the members of all the deliberative bodies were to
be elected by the senate. The point now to be
arranged was who should compose the senate for the
first time. It was settled by a particular article of
the constitution, that Sieyes and Roger-Ducos, who
were about to cease from being consuls, unitedly
with Cambac^res and Lebrun, who were about to
become so, should nominate the absolute majority
of the senate, or thirty-one members of the sixty
of wiiich it was composed. The thirty one senators
elected in this mode were afterwanls to elect by
ballot the twenty-nine .senators wanting to comi)lete
the total number. The senate, when completed,
was to nominate the legislative body, the tribunate,
and the court of cassation.

By these various combinations Bonaparte found

himself at the liead of the executive power, while
at that moment a proper delicacy was observed, by
his exclusion from the formation of the deliberative
bodies called upon to control his acts. This care
was left mainly to the legislator of Fiance, Sieyes,
whose active duties then ceasing, he would receive
the presidency of the senate as his retiring post.
Appearances were thus preserved, and the re-
spective positions of each individual conveniently
arranged.

It was decided that the constitution should be
submitted to the national sentiment, through re-
gisters opened at the mayoralties, at the ofiiccs of
justices of peace, the notaries' offices, and those of
the registers of the tribunals; and that till its ac-
ceptance, which was not doubted, the first consul,
the consuls going out of office, and the two coming
in, should proceed to make the required appoint-
ments, in order that, on the 1st Niv6se, the great
powers of the state might be ready to put in force
the new constitution. It had become absolutely
needful to put a termination to the dictatorship of
the provisional consuls, which began to cloud the
minds of some persons, and also in order to satisfy
the general impatience to see a definitive govern-
ment. In fact, every body now wished to see a
just and stable administr:itive system established,
which might insure strength and unity of power
without extinguisliing all freedom, and under
which honest and capable men of every rank and
party might find the place which was their due.
Those desires, it must be acknowledged, it was
not impossible to gratify under the constitution of
the year viii. That constitution might even have
given them perfect satisfaction, but for the violence
which was done to it at a later period by an extra-
ordinary genius, that, favoured as it was by circum-
stances, could have overturned far stronger barriers
than those which the labour of Sieyes could oppose
to it, or any other which it was possible to imagine
fur such a purpose.

This constitution, decreed in the night of the
12th and 13th of December (21 and 22 Frimaire),
was promulgated on the 15th of December, 1799
(24 Frimaire, year viii.), to the high satisfaction
of its framers and of the imblic.

It charmed the nnnds of all by the novelty of
the conceptions and the artificial skill it displayed.
Every body began to feel confidence in it, and in
those who were about to carry it into execution.

It was preceded by the following preamble : —

" Citizens ! A constitution is now presented to
you. It terminates the uncertainty caused by the
provisional government in regard to foreign rela-
tions, and the interior and military situation of the
rej)ublic.

" It places in the institutions which it establishes
the first magistrates, of whom the devotedness has
appeared necessary to its activity.

" The coun.stitution is founded on the three
principles of repi-esentative government, on the
sacred rights of property, equality, and liberty.

" The powers which it establishes will be strong
and durable, as they must be, in order to guarantee
the rights of the citizens and the interests of the
state.

" Citizens ! The revolution is fixed to the prin-
ciples which commenced it; it is finished!"

Men like Bonaparte and Sieyes proclaiming in

1799.
Dec.

Establishment of the
constitution.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

Honour conferred on
Sieyes.

i;7

1800, " the revolution is finished !" What a sin-
gukir proof does it disclose of the illusions of the
human mind ! Still it must be acknowledged that
something was finished, and that was anarchy.

The pleasure felt by all those who had a hand
in that work, when they saw it terminated, was in-
deed great. It is true some of the ideas of Sieyes
had been rejected, yet nearly his entire constitu-
tion had been adopted. Without absolute power,
Buch as Solon, Lycurgus, or Mahomet possessed,
a power that in our times of distrust, by which
every individual prestige is destroyed, no man can
obtain — without absolute power, it was hardly pos-
sible to infuse a larger part of any individual con-
ception into the constitution of a great people. If
the victor of Marengo had not subsequently made
two very considerable changes in it, the imperial
hereditary accession, in addition, and the excision
of the tribunate, such as it was, this constitution
would have had a career which might not have
ended in the triumph of absolute power.

Sieyes having put the sword which had over-
thrown the directory into the hands of Bouai)arte,

and having framed a constitution, was about to
deliver France to the activity of the young consul,
and, as far as ho was liimself concerned, to retire
into that meditative state of idleness, which he
])referred before the tmnnoil and stir of business.
The new first consul, wishing to confer on the
legislator of France some testimonial of the na-
tional gratitude, the consideration of the estate of
Crosne as a gift, was, by his proposition, laid
before the legislative commissions for their sanc-
tion. The estate was decreed, and the an-
nouncement of the gift made to Sieyes with noble
e.vpressions of the naticihal gratitude. Sieyes ex-
pressed high gratification, for, despite incontestable
probity, he had a regard for the enjoyments of
fortune, and he could not but be affected with the
delicate and dignified way in which this national
recompense was awarded to him.

Every thing was now disposed so as to put the
constitution in the full vigour of activity during
the first days of January, 1800 (Nivose, yearviii.),
that is, in the first days of the year which wivs
about to close that wonderful century.

BOOK II.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

THE COXSULAR COVERVMENT DEFIXITIVELT ESTABLISHED.— COMPOSITIOX OF THE SEXATE, OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY,
OF THE ThIBUXATE, AXD OF THE COUXCIL OF STATE. — MANIFESTO OF THE FIRST CONSUL TO THE EUROPEAN
POWERS. — PUBLIC TENDERS OF PEACE TO ENGLAND AND AUSTRIA. — PROCLAMATIONS ADDRESSED TO LA VENDEE.
— OPENING OF THE FIRST SESSION. — RISING OPPOSITION IN THE TRIBUNATE. — SPEECHES OP THE TRIBUNES
DUVETRIER AND BENJAMIN CONSTANT. — A CONSIDERABLE MAJORITY APPROVES THE MEASURES OF THE CONSULS.
— NUMEROUS LAWS FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC BODIES. — INSTITUTION OF PREFECTURES AND SUBPRE-
PECTURES. — CREATION OP TRIBUNALS OF THE FIRST INSTANCE, AND OF APPEAL.— CLOSE OF THE LIST OF EMI-
ORANTS.— ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BIGHT OF MAKING WILLS MID DISPOSING OF PROPERTY.— LAW OF IXCO.ME
AND EXPENDITURE.— BANK OF FRANCE. — SEQUEL TO THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH EUROPE. — REFUSAL OF ENGLAND
TO LISTEN TO NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. — WARM DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT.
— AUSTRIA REFUSES IN MILDER BUT NOT LESS POSITIVE TERMS THAN THOSE OP ENGLAND.— NECESSITY FOR
RECOMMENCING HOSTILITIES.— UN ABLE TO SUCCEED WITH THE BELLIGERENT POWERS IN BRINGING ABOUT
PEACE, THE FIRST CONSUL ENDEAVOURS TO ATTACH PRUSSI.A TO FRANCE, AND EXPLAINS HIS VIEWS TO HER
IN A FRANK MANNER. — HE APPLIES HIMSELF TO TERMINATE THE WAR IN LA VENDEE BEFORE OPENING THE
CAMPAIGN OF 1800. — SITUATION OP PARTIES IN LA VENDEE. — CONDUCT OP THE ABBE BERN lER. — PEACE OF
MONTPAUCON.— AUTKHAMP, CHATILLON, BOUBMONT, AND GEORGES CADOUDAL, PROCEED TO PARIS AND SEE
THE FIRST CONSUL. — DF, PROTTE IS SHOT. — FINAL SUBMISSION OF LA VENDEE. — TROOPS PUT JN MOTION FOR
THE FRONTIERS.- THE SESSION OP THE YEAR VIII. CLOSES IN TRANOUILLITY.- REGULATION.S OP THE POLICE
IN REGARD TO THE PRESS. — FUNERAL CEREiMOXY ON THE OCCASION OP THE DEATH OF WASHINGTON. — THE
FIRST CONSUL TAKES UP HIS RESIDENCE IN THE PALACE OF THE TUILERIES.

Tin; day appointed for the entrance of the consuls
upon their functions, and for the first sitting of the
conservative senate, was the 4th Nivose in the
year viii., or the 25th of December, 179f). It
being necessary to organize both the executive
power and the senate b.forc they could perform
their duties, numeious public appointments neces-
sarily took place before that day.

Bona[)arte, whose business it was to nominate the
agents of the executive power, and Sieyes, Roger-
Ducos, Cambac(?ies, and Lebrun, entrusted with
the choice of the ineinbci*s of the senate, that in its
own turn had to select the meinbei-s of the legis-
lative body and of the tribunate, were besieged
with solicitations from all quarters. Appointments
were sought to the senate, to the legislative body,

the tribunate, the council of state, and the pre-
fecture. It nuist be confessed that such offices,
yielding no slight emoluments, all to be filled up at
one time, were well calculated to tempt ambition.
Many of the more ardent revolutionists, enemies
of the 18th Brumaire, were already become won-
ilerfully reconciled to the new state of things.
Wavercrs, of whom there were many that took
this side as soon as success had declared itself,
began to express their opinions aloud. An expres-
sion at that time current, as particular expressions
at such times are certiiin to be, depicted perfectly
the state of the public mind. " Wc nmst sliow
ourselves," wius the ])hrase in every mouth. " Wo
must prove, that far from desiring to create ob-
stacles in the way of the new govci-nmcnt, wo are

Ambitious candidates for
office. — Censures of the
Monileur.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Composition of the dif- 1799.
ferent orders. Dec.

ready to assist in overcoming those which encircle
it ;" thus signifiying how much they wished to
attract towards themselves the attention of the
five personages wlio possessed the power of nomi-
nation to the good things of the state. There were
some among the applicants who, in order to obtain
an appointment to the tribunate, promised their
devoted sui)i)ort to the coii.sular government,
having ah-eady resolved to direct towards it the
most annoying opposition.

When in a revolution the flame of the passions
begins to lower itself, cupidity succeeds to vio-
lence, and fear is suddenly metamorphosed into
disgust. If actions of the greatest virtue, and if
heroic deeds, did not cover by their brightness the
melancholy details,— above all, if tlie great and
beneficial results which nations obtain from social
revolutions, did not compensate the present evil by
the immensity of the future good, it would become
us to turn away our eyes from the spectacle they
offer to mankind. They are the trials to which
providence submits human society in order to
effect its regeneration. It is, therefore, our duty
to study with care, profitably if we can, the picture,
repulsive and sublime by turns, which is thus pre-
sented to us.

The impulse at this moment imparted to the
ambition of all classes was, it appeai-s, very con-
siderable indeed, fully strong enough to attract the
attention of the writers of the day, and to afford a
subject for their animadversion. The Monitciir,
not at that moment the official organ, though in a
few days afterwards, on the 7th Niv6.se, it became
such, stigmatized the baseness of the period. It
said ; " Since the constitution has created a num-
ber of well-paid places, how people bestir them-
selves ! How many imfamiliar visages are now
forward in showing them.selves ! How many for-
gotten newly-revived names bustle about amid the
dust of the revolution ! How many fierce republi-
cans of the year vii. humiliate themselves, that
they may be heard by the man of power, who can
bestow places upon them ! How many Bruti are
begging appointments ! How many men of small
abilities are extolled to the skies I What trivial
services are exaggerated ! What stains of blood
are concealed from view ! This astonishing shift
of scenery has hiippencd in an instant. It is to be
lioped that the hero of liberty, who has been
hitherto marked in the revolution by the benefits
which he has conferred, will see these manoeuvres
with the disgust they must excite in every lofty
mind, and that he will not tolerate, in a crowd of
obscure or disreputable persons, their envclope-
ment in the rays of liis glory *."

But let the good be sepai-ated from the evil ; let
us not believe that such a picture was exhibited by
the wliole nation. If there were pei-sons who de-
graded themselves, there were others who, without
self-degradation, came forward, waiting not un-
worthily the appeal that the government would
make to their zeal and intelligence. If Benjamin
Constant, for instance, sought admission to the
tribunate, witli groat earnestness and assurances of
devotion to the family of Bonaparte, De Tracy,
Volney, Monge, Carnot, Ginguene', and Ducis
made no such applications, but left to the free will

1 Monileur, 3d Nivosc. I

of the constituent power the act of including them
or not in that extended nomination of public
functionaries.

On the 24th of December, being the 3rd Nivose,
the new consuls met for the purpose of proceeding
to the composition of the council of state, so that
the installation of the government might be effected
on the day following, or on the 25th of December,
the 4th Niv6.se. Sieyes, Roger- Duces, the retiring
consuls, with Cambacdres and Lebrun, who were
about to enter upon office, proceeded to the Luxem-
bourg in order to nominate the half, and an addi-
tional one of the members of the senate, so as to
constitute the majority ; this being done, it enabled
the portion of the senate elected to complete itself
on the morrow, and proceed to the composition of
the great deliberative bodies of the state.

The council of state was divided into five
sections, namely, those of the finances, of civil and
criminal legislation, of war, of the marine, and of
the interior. Each section had a councillor of
state for president, and over all the first consul
presided in person, or when absent, one of his
colleagues, Cambace'rcs or Lebrun, took his place.

Each of the sections was to draw up the pro-
posed bills and the regulations which might belong
to matters within its own competency. These bills
and regulations were to be afterwards discussed in
a general assembly of the united sections. The
council of state was charged besides with the de-
cision of all the points in those administrations
which might chance to be contested, and also was
to settle questions of competency, whether between
the civil tribunals and the administration, or among
the tribunals themselves. These are the self-same
powers which it exercises at the present time,
but it then possessed alone the privilege of drawing
up the laws, as well as the exclusive right to dis-
cuss them before the legislative body ; and still
further, the great questions that arose in the
government were communicated to it, sometimes
even to the extent of those involving foreign
policy, of which instances will appear hereafter.
At this time, therefore, the council of state was not
merely a council of administration, but, in the full
sense of the term, a council of government.

Some of the members of the council were charged
in the different departments of the ministry with
any special services to which more than common
importance was attributed, or that requii-ed moi'e
than extraordinary attention. These departments
were those of public instruction, of the national
domains, the treasury, the colonics, and the public
works. The counsellors of state, to ^^hom the
charge was committed of the management of these
different branches, were placed under the control
of the proper minister. The members of the
council of state were %vell paid, receiving each
25,000 f. annually, and their president 35,000 f.
These sums, it should be recollected, were more
considerable at that time than they would be now.
The post of a councillor of state was an object of
higlier ambition than a senatorial seat, because,
with emoluments equal to those of senators, and
with equal public consideration, the members of
that body were admitted as fully as the ministers
themselves to the management of the most im-
portant public business.

TIk; iirincipal members of the council of state

Election of the senate. GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

Lejrislative body and tri-
bunate elected. — Places
of meeting.

were, for tlie section or department of war : Bruno,
Laeue'e, and Marniont ; for that of the marine,
De Clianipagny, Ganteaume, and Fleurieu; that of
finances, Uefermon, Duchatel, Dufresne; of justice,
Boulay de la Meurthe, Berlicr, Real ; of tlie in-
terior, Roederer, Cretet, Chaptal, Regnault St. Jean
d'Angely, Fourcroy. The five jiresidents were :
Brune, Gauteaume, Defei-mon, Boulay de la lleurthe,
and Roederer. It would not have been possible
to select individuals of greater note, nor possessing
more various and sterling talents. Here it is but
just to remark, that the French revolution showed
itself wonderfully prolific in men of ability of
every kind ; and that if no attention were paid
to exclusions dictated by i^arty feeling, either ok
one side or on the other, there were the means at
hand for composing a most able, varied, and it
may be said, glorious government, as far as con-
cerned individual talent. The course jiursued by
the first consul was marked by this feeling. M.
Devaisnes, censured loudly for his x'oyalism, but
professionally a man of practical knowledge in
finance, was appointed to office, in which he
proved himself afterwards liighly useful.

On the same day, December 24th, or 3d Nivose,
Sieyes, Roger-Ducos, Cambaceres, and Lcbrun,
met together in order to nominate the twenty-nine
senators, who, with the consuls about to vacate
office, should number in all thirty-one of the mem-
bers. As may be supposed, the list had been
drawn out previously, and contiiined names of
high repute, such as those of Berthollet, Laplace,
who had recently quitted the ministry of the in-
terior, Monge, Tracy, Volney, Cabanis, Kellerman,
Garat, Lacdpede, and Ducis, but the last declined
accepting the honour.

Upon the morrow, December 25th, or Nivose 4th,
the council of state mot for the first time, the con-
suls being present, accompanied by the ministers.
The subject of their deliberations was a proposed
law to settle the relations of the great bodies of
the state towards each other. Various projected
measures to be presented to the legislative body
in the approaching session were also agreed upon.

On the other hand, the senate met at the palace
of the Lu.xembourg, and elected twenty-nine new
members, which carried up the senators to sixty.
It will be remembered that this number was after-
wards to be increased to eighty. In this additional
list were comprehended very distinguished names:
Lagrange, Darcet, Fran9ois de Neufcbateau, Dau-
benton, Bougainville, PerrcJgaux, the banker, and
De Choiseul-Praslin, an individual of very ancient
family.

The formation of the legislative body and of the
tribunate by the senate, occupied several successive
days. The men of the most moderate character
were preferred for the legislative body, out of
those who had been so distinguished in the con-
stituent and legislative assemblies, in the national
convention, and council of five Iiundrcd. Care
was taken to choose from these different bodies
men who liad been regardless of making a stir in
public affairs, who had not sought popularity too
much, and had shown little inclination to be distin-
guished ; thoHC of a contrary character were re-
served for the tribunate. In consequence, the
names that were enrolled in the legislative body
were not remarkable for brilliancy, so that it

would be a difficult task to point out in the three
hundred of which that body consisted, only two or
three names known at the present time. The
modest and bravo Latour d'Auvergne was, it is
true, one of them, a hero worthy of antiquity for
his virtues, his actions, and his noble end.

The hundred indivichials of the tribunate wei-e
selected with the natural object of affording active,
stirring minds, emulous of renown, an opjiortunit}'
for the display of thpir abilities, an object after-
wards bitterly repented of. Some of their names
may be faded a little in remembrance, but are not
forgotten at the pi-escnt time. Among them were
Che'nier, Andrieux, Cliauvelin, Stanislas de Girar-
din, Benjamin Constant, Daunou, Riouffe, Beren-
ger, Ganilh, Ginguene, Laromiguiere, Jean-Baptiste
Say, and others.

As soon as the formation of these bodies had
terminated, the places for their meeting were as-
signed. The Tuileries was resei'ved for the three
consuls ; the Luxembourg was appropriated to the
senate ; the Palais Bourbon to the legislative body,
and the Palais Royale to the tribunate.

The Tuileries was rendered habitable at the
expense of some hundred thousand francs; and
while this was achieving, the consuls lived in the
Petit-Luxembourg.

Since his return from Egypt, Bonaparte had al-
ready effected a good deal. He had overthrown
the directory, and had acquired an authority infe-
rior in appearance, but in reality superior to a con-
stitutional monarchy. But scarcely was he in pos-
session of this authority before it was necessary for
him to legitimatize its possession by useful labours,
and the performance of great actions. He had
still a vast deal to accomplish; his first essays at
re-organization were but as a single efiort, beyond
doubt fortunate so far, but they left the nation gtill
in great disorder, suffering grievously with a strait-
ened treasury, misery in the armies, and the flame
of civil war in La Vendee, hesitation among the
neuti-al powers, and a relentless struggle determined
upon on the part of the belligerent powers. Never-
theless, the possession of authority, coming after
his first labours, and preceding the mighty task
w liich he felt a confidence ut very soon performing,
gratifioil his amliitious spirit.

In order to celebrate his installation in the govern-
ment, he performed a series of acts accumulated
with that design, in which deep policy may be per-
ceived, heartfelt j)leasure, and that generous feel-
ing which satisfaction affords to every benevolent
and sensitive mind. These were made known in
succession, between the 25th of December, the
4th of Nivose, the ilay of the installation of the
consular government, and January 1st, 1800, the
nth Nivose, the day of the opening of the firet
legislative session.

A judgment of the council of state in the first
place, under date of the 27th December, or Glh Ni-
vose, decreed that the laws which excluded the
iH'lations of emigrants and the former nobility from
public functions, should die as a thing of coui-se, be-
cause they were contrary to the principles of the
new constitution.

A number of persons attachec^ to the revolution-
ary party, had been sentenced, as already stated, to
transportation or imi)risonnient, in consequence of
a step taken under too little reflection, shortly after

Diwrtorial victims re-
;{0 called.— The priests'

oath niodilied.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Obsequies of Pius V[.
Revolutionary festival

abolished.

tlu 18tli Bruniaire. The transportation and iin-
prisonment had been before changed to a surveil-
lance of the hi^'h or political police. A decree was
now issued, dated the 5th of Nivose, for the termi-
nation even of this surveillance. Having made re-
paration thus far to those who were so near expe-
riencing his severity, the first consul fulfilled a
more important and necessary act of justice to-
wards the victims of the directory and the govern-
ments which preceded it. These unfortunate per-
sons, who had been sent off without a trial, were
permitted to return home under the obligation of
residing in the places assigned to them. This permis-
sion included individuals proscribed at every period,
but in a jjarticular manner those banished on the
18tli Fructidor. Boissy d'Anglas, Dumolard, and
Pastoret, thus recalled, were authorized to reside,
the first at Annonay, tlie second at Grenoble, and
the third at Dijon.' Carnot, Portalis, Quatremere-
Quincey, Sime'on, Villaret-Joyeuse, Barbe-Marbois,
and Barrere, were also recalled, and ordered to re-
side in Paris. The care to place in the capital, which
was not their native place, such men as Carnot,
Simeon, and Portalis, plainly showed that the
government had its eyes upon them, and intended
to make use of their talents.

Other measures were taken relative to public
worship and its free exercise. On the 28th of De-
cember, or 7tli Nivose, it was decreed that the
buildings devoted to the ceremonies of religion
should continue to be set apart for that purpose, or
should be again appropriated to that use, in case
they had not been restored already to the minis-
ters of the various persuasions. Some of the local
authorities having a desire too))striict the Catholic
worsliip, forbade the opening of the churches ex-
cept upon the "decadi" in place of the Sunday.
The consuls reversed these decisions of the munici-
palities, and in addition to the free use of the re-
ligious edifices, they added the right oF opening
them on the days customary in the particular form
of woi-ship to which they belonged. They did not
yet venture to interdict the ceremonies of the Theo-
philaiitiiropists, which took place in the churches
on particular days of the week, and were regarded
by the Catholics as profanations.

The form of the civil engagement required from
the priesthood or clergy, was modified by the con-
suls. They jiad been compelled before to take an
especial oath to a civil constitution of the jiriesthood,
an oath which obliged them to acknowledge a le-
gislation at variance, as some of them contended,
with the laws of their churcli. It was conceived
best to impose upon them only a simple assevera-
tion of obedience to the state, which could not raise
a just scru))le in any of them, unless indeed they
refused that "obedience to Ciesar," whicii is so ri-
gorously commanded by the Catholic religion. Tiiis
was afterwards styled, " the promise," as contra-
distinguished from " tlie oath," and it recalled to
their religious duties, almost immediately, a great
number of the priesthood. Those who had taken
the oath before, styled the "sworn'," were already
reconciled with tlie government ; the othei-s wjio
were styled "unsworn'," wei"c now in their turn
received into favour.

To measures similar with the preceding, the

' Assenncnt6s. 2 Kon-assermentes.

first consul added one which in a peculiar manner
attached to himself, because it recalled things which
were in some sort personal to him. He had nego-
ciated with the defunct Pope Pius VI., and signed
the treaty of Tolentino, at the gates of Rome. From
the year l?!)?, he had affected to show great regard
for the head of the Catholic church, having re-
ceived marked testimonies of the kindness of his
holiness. Pius VI. died at Valence, in Dauphine,
but had not at that time received the rites of se-
pulture. His mortal remains were deposited in a
sacristy. Bonajiarte, on his return from Egypt,
met Cardinal Spina, at Valence, became acquainted
with the circumstances, and determined to make
early compensation for the unseemly neglect which
had occurred.

On the 30th of December, 9tli Nivose, he got
the consuls to join in a decree founded on the higli-
est considerations.

The decree was as follows : —

" The consuls reflecting that the body of Pius VI.
has been left in the city of Valence without having
had granted to it the rites of sepulture : —

" That though this old man may have been the
enemy of France for a moment, from being misled
by the counsels of those who were around him in
liis advanced age : —

" That it is worthy the dignity of the French na-
tion, and in conformity with its character, that re-
s])cct should be sliown to him who occupied one
of the first offices upon earth : the consuls there-
fore decree," &c. Then followed the provisions,
ordering at the same time funeral honours to the
pontiff, and that a monument should be erected as
a record of the dignity and rank of the deceased.

This demonstration of respect for the mortal
remains of the Pope, produced, perhaps, a greater
effect than the most humane measures would have
done, because it struck the public mind habituated
to different spectacles. A vast number of persons
flocked in consequence to Valence, to take advan-
tage of the authority thus given for a manifestation
of a religious character.

The catalogue of the revolutionary festivals con-
tained one conceived in the worst possible spirit,
celebrated on the 2!st of January^. Whatever
might bo the opinions of men of every party in re-
gard to the tragical event which connected itself
with that date, it was a barbarous festival, kept to
commemorate a sanguinary catasti-ophe. Bonaparte
had exhibited a great dislike to attend it in the
time of the directory, not that by doing so he had
any notion of paying honours to the royalty he was
afterwards to establish for his ov;n advantage, but
because he was fond of ]iublicly defying similar
feelings in which he did not share. Now become
the head of the government, he obtained the deci-
sion of the legislative commission, that there should
be no more than two festivals, tlitit of the first day
of the revolution kept on the 14tli of July, and the
fesiival of the 1st Vend^miairc, the anniversary of
the first day of the republic. '• These days," said
he, " are imperishable in the minds of the citizens ;
they have been greeted by every Frenchman with
unanimous transports, and arouse no rccollectiomi
tending to carry divisions among the friends of the
republic."

' Death of Louis XVI.

,--. Marsiial Augereau sent
l/"^- to Holland.— Veiidean

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

Army sent to La Vendee.
Consular proclamatiou.

It required all tlie power and resolution of the
chief of the new government to liazai'd a series of
measures, which, though in themselves just, moral,
and politic, appeared to iiot-headed persons but as
so many preciu"sory acts to a counter-revolution.
But, in effecting all this, Bonaparte took care to
give himself the foremost example of the forgetful-
ness of political animosity, to awaken at times with
eclat that sentiment of glory by which he led cap-
tive the men of that time, and snatched them away
from the base fury of party feeling. Thus he ap-
pointed general Augereau, who had offended him
by his conduct on the 18th Brumaire, to the com-
mand of the army in Holland. "Show," he wrote
him in a letter, which was published, " show in all
the acts that your command will give you occasion
to perform, that you are above all these wretched
party dissensions, the recoil of which has been so
unfortunate for ten years past in tearing France to
pieces. * « * * » If circumstances force me to take
the field in person, you may rest assured that I
shall not leave you in Holland, and that I can
never forget the glorious day of Castiglione."

At the s;inie time he instituted the presentation
of " arms of honour," the prelude to the establish-
ment of the legion of honour. French democfacy,
after having displayed a horror of personal dis-
tinctions, could barely tolerate at that time rewards
for military exploits. In consequence of an article
of the constitution, the first consul caused a reso-
lution to be ])assed, that for every distinguished ac-
tion, a musket of honour should be presented to the
infantry soldier, a carabine of honour to the ca-
valry, grenades of honour to the artillery, and
swords of honour to the officers of all ranks. The
first consul carried out this resolution, which was
decreed on the 2oth December, or 4th Nivosc, by
positive acts. On the following day he presented a
sword to general St. Cyr, for a brilliant afRiir by
which that general distinguished himself in the
Apennines; "Receive," said he, "as a testimony
of my satisfaction, a handsome sabre, whieh you
will wear on the day of battle. Make known to the
soldiers under youi" command, that I am satisfied
with them, and tliat 1 hope to be so still more."

By these acts that announced the taking posses-
sion of power, he marked the character of his
government, and showed his determination to be
above the feelings of party. The first consul added
inmiediately to tliese, proceedings of still more im-
portance in regard to La Vendue and the foreign
powers of Europe.

A truce had been signed with the Vendeans,
conferences had conmieiicod, and yet i)eace had
not been conclud'-d. Boiiajiarte had left no doubt
ill the minds of the royalists, who had applied to
him with the view of discovering his intentions as
to whether he would bo satished with being the
restorer and supporter of the house of Bourbon.
He li:id undeceived them by showing himself irre-
vocably attJiehed to tliu cause of the revolutiun,
and this frankness in iiis declarations had not
tended to aid the work of conciliation wliich had
been begun. The Vend^an chiefs hesitated, being
placed between the fear inspired by tiie rigour of
the new goviTmneiit and tlie instances of the
emigrants in London, aiithoi-izcd by i'itt to promise
them arms, m>ney, and men.

It was on a new insurrection in La Vendt-o that

England particularly calculated. She proposed
making upon this part of our coast an attempt
similar to that which she had attempted in Hol-
land. The ill success of the last attempt did not
discourage her, and she requested, with great
earnestness, of the emperor Paul, the assistance
of his troops, though without much chance of ob-
taining it. Prussia, which began to testify a
species of interest for the consular government,
never ceased repeating to the aid-de-camp Duroc,
and M. Otto, charge d'affaires of France, " Finish
the business of La Vendee, for it is there that you
will receive the most serious blow."

Bonaparte was well aware of this. Independ-
ently of the mischief that was done by La Vende'e
occupying a part of the military force of the
republic, a civil war seemed in his view not only
a misfortune, but a species of dishonour to the
government, as it bespoke a dejjlorable internal
condition of the country. He had therefore taken
the most effectual measures to put an end to it.
lie had recalled from Holland a part of the army,
that under general Brune had beaten the Aiiglo-
llussiuns, and had joined to that force a part of
the garrison of Paris, which he was able to di-
minish considerably without any apprehension,
supplying the diminution by the influence of his
own name. By this means he was able to assemble
in the west an army of 60,000 men. General
Brune was placed at its head, with the recommen-
dation to retain as his principal lieutenant the
wise and conciliatory He'douville, who held all
the threads of the negociation with the royalists.
The name of general Brune was a reply to those
who counted upon a new Anglo-Russian descent.
But before striking the decisive blow, if the con-
ditions of the jiacification were not finally accepted,
the first consul believed it his duty to address the
Venddans on the very day of his installation.

On the 29th of December, 8th Nivose, head-
dressed to the departments of the west a deci'ce of
the consuls, accompanied by a proclamation, to the
following effect: —

" An impious war threatens for the second time
to set the western departments on fire. The duty
of the supreme magistrates of the republic is to
hinder the spreading of the conflagration, and to
extinguish it in its focus ; but they arc unwilling
to use force until they have exhausted the means
of persuasion and justice."

Distinguishing between guilty men sold to the
foreigner, for ever irreclaimable with the republic,
and the misguided who had joined in the civil war
to resist cruel i)crsecution, the first consul recalled
every thing which was likely to gain the confidence
of the last, and bring them beneath the rule of the
new government; such as the revocation of the
law of the hostages, the restoration of the churches
to the ])riesthood, the liberty granted to all for tho
observation of Sunday ; he promised, lastly, a full
and entire amnesty to those who submitted, and
delivered up tho arms furnished them by England.
He added, that the most severe measures would
bo taken against those? who persisted in the insur-
rection, lie announced the suspension of tho
constitution ; in other words, tho employment of
extraordinary jurisdictions in those ])laces where
insurgent bodies continued to show themselves in
arms. " The government," said the conclusion of

32

Foreign relations of France.

Mission of envoys to foreign THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

states.

Letter of Bonaparte to
George III.

the proclamation of the consuls, " will pardon, it
will show favour to the repentant ; its forgiveness
shall be entire and absolute; but it will strike
down whoever after this proclamation shall dare
to resist the national sovereignty. But no, we will
acknowledge only the sentiment — the love of our
country. The ministers of a God of peace will be
the first means of conciliation and concord. Let
them speak to all hearts the language which they
learned in the school of their Master ; let them
visit those temples which are re-opened for them
to offer the sacrifice which shall expiate the crimes
of the war and the blood which has been spilled !"

This manifesto, having at its back a formidable
force, was calculated to produce an effect, above
all, as proceeding from a new government, a per-
fect stranger to the faults and excesses which had
served as the pretext for civil war.

Having acted thus in regard to the enemy within,
the first consul next addressed himself to the
enemy without the frontiers, fully resolved to take
a formal step towards the only two powers that
had not shown any sign of desiring amicable
relations with France, but, on the contrary, were
obstinately bent upon war, namely, Austria and
Great Britain.

Prussia, it has been seen, had received Duroc in a
very flattering manner, and daily gave fresh testi-
monies of her sympathy with the first consul. Satis-
fied as to her existing relations with his government,
Prussia wished him success against anarchy, suc-
cess against the forces of Austria. As to offering
herself as a mediatrix, she still nourished the
thought, but dreaded to take the first step, think-
ing that peace was yet far off", and unwilling too
soon to engage herself in a course of which it was
impossible to foresee the tendency. In fact, who-
ever at that time observed closely the state of
things in Europe, might easily see that to unloose
the ties between England and Austria would re-
quire another campaign. The court of Madrid
had seen with equal satisfaction the acce.ssion of
Bonaparte to the consulship, since with him the
alliance between Spain and France seemed both
more honourable, as well as more profitable. But
the horizon was not completely clear. Bonaparte
resolved, therefore, on the same day that the con-
stitution invested him officially with new authority,
to address himself to those powers who were de-
cided enemies, to offer them peace, and thus to
place them in the wrong if they rel'u.sed it. After
that he could appeal to arms, with the opinion of
the world upon his side.

First he gave orders to all the agents of France,
already api)ointed, who had not quitted Paris,
because it was deemed right they should be ac-
credited from the government definitively consti-
tuted ; General Beuinonville to set out for Berlin,
M. Alquier for Madrid, M. de S(;monvillo for the
Hague, M. Bourgoing for Copenhagen. General
Beurnonville was ordered to compliment adroitly
the king of Prussia, by requesting from him a bust
of the great Frederick to place in the grand gal-
lery of Diana in the Tuileries. The first consul
was at this time arranging there the busts of the
great characters whom he held in particular admi-
ration. M. Alquier, in bearing to Madrid the
kindest assurances to the king and queen, was
cJiarged to add to them a present for the Prince of

Peace, who exercised considerable influence in the
court, although he was no more minister. The
present consisted of some beautiful arms from the
manufactory of Versailles, then noted all over
Europe for the perfection to which the manu-
facture there was carried.

This being done, the first consul took the step he
had projected in regard to the two courts of Eng-
land and Austria. It is the general custom to dis-
guise such proceedings by previously making side-
long overtures, in order to spai-e the humiliation of
a refusal. Bonaparte, in communicating thus with
England and Austria, intended to address the
Avhole world ; for which purpose he wanted a
serious overture out of the way of accustomed
forms, addressed to the hearts of the sovereigns
themselves, and thus either to flatter or embarrass
them. In consequence, he did not transmit a note
to Lord Grenville or M. Thugut, but he wrote two
letters directly to the king of England and the
emperor of Germany, which the ministers at those
courts were requested to present to their respective
sovereigns. That addressed to the king of England
was as follows : —

Paris, 5th Nivose, year vni.
(Dec. 26, 1790.)

" Sire, — Called by the desire of the French nation
to fill the chief magistracy of the republic, I think
it fitting, on entering upon office, to make a dix-ect
communication on the subject to your majesty.

" Is the war which, for eight years, has ravaged
the four quarters of the globe, to be etei-nal ? Is
there, then, no mode of coming to au under-
standing ?

" How can the two most enlightened nations of
Europe, stronger and more powerful than their
safety and independence require, sacrifice to ideas
of vain greatness the blessings of commerce, in-
ternal prosperity, and domestic happiness ? How
can they help feeling that peace is the first of
wants, as well as of glories ?

" These sentiments cannot be strange to your
majesty, who governs a free nation, with the sole
aim to render it happy.

" In this overture, your majesty will discover
only my sincere desire to contribute efficaciously,
for the second time, to the general pacification by
a i)r(impt procedure, entii-ely confidential, and di-
vested of those forms which, necessary perhaps
for disguising the dependence of weak states, be-
tray only in strong states a mutual desire to deceive
each other.

" France, England, by the abuse of their strength,
may, for a long time to come, to the misfortune of
all nations, retard its exhaustion ; but I dare as-
sert, the lot of all civilized nations is attached to
the termination of a war which has thi'own the
whole world into a conflagration.

(Signed) " Bonaparte,

" First consul of the French republic."

On the same day the first consul addressed the
following letter to the emperor of Germany : —

"On returning to Europe, after an absence of
eighteen months, I find the war rekindled between
the French republic and your majesty.

" The French nation calls me to occupy the
chief magistracy.

. The opposition in the tribu-

1800. Meeting of legislatiTe and GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR. nate.-Madame de Stael 33

Ion «.»», ..»,VP h..rt...s. gjjij jljg jjjgj consul.

executive bodies.

" A stranger to every feeling of vain-glory, the
first of my wishes is to stop the eft'usioii of the
blood that is about to be spilt. Every thing pro-
claims that, in the next campaign, numerous and
ably directed annies will triple the number of the
victims hitherto sacrificed, by the resumption of
hostilities. The known chai-acter of your majesty
leaves me no doubt respecting the wish of your
heart. If that wish alone is consulted, I perceive
a possibility of reconciling the interests of the two
nations.

" In the communications which I have pre-
viously had with your majesty, you have pei-sonally
testified some regard for me. I request you to
consider the step which I am taking as proceeding
from a wish to make a return for it, and to con-
vince you moi-e and more of the very high respect
which I entertain for your majesty.

(Signed) "Bonaparte,

" First consul of the French republic."

Such was the mode in which the first consul
announced his accession, both to the domestic
parties that divided France, and to the foreign
cabinets which coalesced against her. In offering
to make peace, he was prepared to secure it by con-
quest if it could not be got by amicable negociation.
His intention was to employ the winter in making
a short and decisive campaign in La Vendue, that
in the following spring he might be able to send
over the Rhine and Alps the troops which at the
termination of the war at home might become dis-
posable for foreign operations.

While awaiting the result of these proceedings,
ho opened the legislative session on the 1st of
January, 1800, the llth Nivose, year viii., r,nd he
determined to devote this session of four months to
perfect the administrative organization of France,
which had scarcely commenced, by means of whole-
some legislation. He substituted his brother Lucieii
for the scientific La Place, in the ministry of the
interior ; and M. Abrial for the ministry of justice,
in place of Cambacc^res, now become consul. The
new minister of justice was an upright man, much
attached to business.

On the 1st of January, 1800, the senate, legis-
lative body, and tribunate assembled. The senate
elected Sieyes president ; the legislative body Per-
riu des Vosges ; the tribunate Daunou. Nume-
rous outlines of proposed laws were immediately
laid before the legislative body.

A sort of anxiety was exhibited to witness the
new meeting of these deliberative assemblages. The
I)coj)le were tired of agitation, and desired repose ;
they possessed no more that strong love for politi-
cal oratory whicii they showed in llii'J, when
Mirabeau, Barnave, Maury, and Cazales, opened
a new career of glory — that of the tribune. The
animosity against tiie bar was universal, and men
of action alone found favour, who were capable of
procuring victory and peace for the country. Still
the jiublic had not yet decided upon tiie establisii-
ment of absolute power, nor did tliey desire that all
freedom, all rational discussion, should cease. If
the ])Owcr of action wliich a new leijislator had
planted in the constitution by creating the first
consul, and by ciioosing for the niagistracy the
greatest captain of the age, if this power were in-
compatible with freedom, tliey were ready to sacri-

fice it ; although every body would have been
pleased at the reconciliation of freedom with sub-
stantial strength, if it were possible. Those who
thought so were not the vulgar agitators and obsti-
nate republicans ; for there were eminent men, of
enlightened, sober minds, who would have felt pain
to see the revolution belie itself so soon, and so
completely.

Meanwhile the neutral party inquired with
curiosity, — the well-disposed with real anxiety, —
how the tribunate, the only body which had the
power of speaking, would conduct itself towards
the government, and how the government would
bear an opposition, if any resulted from it.

When a reaction comes on, however general it
may be, it cannot carry every one along with it ;
while it irritates as well as annoys those whom it
docs not. Ch<5nier, Andrieux, Ginguene, Daunou,
and Benjamin Constant, who had seats in the
tribunate, De Tracy, Volney, and Cabanis, who
were members of the senate, while they all de-
plored the crimes of the reign of terror, were
not disposed to think that the Frencli revolu-
tion was wrong in its conduct towards its adver-
saries.

The monarchical and religious doctrines, which
were beginning to show themselves once more,
nettled them, the more especially from the pre-
cipitancy and want of moderation with which this
return to ancient ideas was coming into action ;
and they felt a discontent which they were at no
pains to conceal. The majority of them were
sincere. Strongly attached to the revolution, they
desired to preserve it nearly entire, save its blood
and rapine ; and they by no means desired what
they tliought they could discover in the secret
intentions of the first consul. To stop the per-
secution of the priests was well ; but to favour
them to the extent of restoring them to their altars,
was too much for these faithful followers of the
philosophy of the eighteenth century. Again, it
was good to give greater unity and strength to the
government ; but to push the wish for this to the
extent of re-establishing a monax'chieal unity for
the advantage of a soldier, was also, in their
eyes, going too far. For the rest, as always hap-
pens, their motives were difl'ei'ent. If these were
the opinions of Clie'nier, Ginguend, Daunou,
Tracy, and Cabanis, such could not be those of M.
Constant, who certainly, in the society of the
Necker family, in which he lived, had imbibed
neither an aversion to religion, or a special taste for
the French revolution. Placed in the tribunate
at the solicitation of his friends, he became in a
few days the most active and talented of the new
opposition, a coui'se to which he was inclined by
the natural bent of his disposition towards railler}',
but more especially by the discontent of the
Necker family, of which he himsc^lf partook. Ma-
dame de Stael, who then represented in herself
alone that illustrious family, had been a great
admirer of Bonaparte ; nor would it have cost
him much trouble to make a con(iuest of one,
whose imagination was sensibly alive to all tiint
was great; but, though endowed l)y nature with a
mind as noble as his genius, by some expression
not too delicate, lie had oft'ended a woman, whose
])r(!tensions beyond her sex displeased him ; and
had thus excited in her heart an angry feeling
1)

First sittings of the
tribunate. — lt3
effects.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

First sittings of the
tribunate. — Its

1800.
Jan.

against himself, wliicli, even if not foi'midable,
might be annoying. Every fault, however slight,
has its fruits; and the first consul was soon to reap
the fruits of his, in meeting with an inconvenient
opposition from those who were placed under the
attractive influence of Madame de Stael — of this
number was Benjamin Constant,

The tribunate had been located at the Palais
Royal, certainly without any intention, and solely
from necessity ; the Tuileries had been restored to
the head of the government ; the Luxembourg, in
former times belonging to the council of ancients,
had naturally been given to the senate ; the Palais
Bourbon was set aside for the legislative body ;
there remained then only the Palais Koyal to be ap-
propriated to the tribunate. Such was the disposition
in certain minds to take in bad part, acts the most
simple, that they complained bitterly of a wish to
depreciate the tribunate, by.placing it in this gene-
ral haunt of disorder and debauchery. In the dis-
cussion of some formal matters on the 2nd and
3rd of January, one of the members, M. Duveyrier,
suddenly rose to speak, and complained of certain
measures, which he said were injurious to many
proprietors of establishments that had for years
existed in the Palais Royal. Now the interest of
these claimants was but trifling, and more than
this, they had already been indemnified; neverthe-
less, the tribune, Duveyrier, eagerly inveighed
against this pretended injustice, and said that the
national represeriUitives ought not to be rendered
unpopular by being made responsible for acts of
severity committed in their name. Then passing on
to the choice of situation, " I am not," he said, " of
the number of those who are offended that it has
been chosen to place the tribunate here, in a place
usually the theatre of disorders and excesses of
every kind. I see in this neither danger nor dis-
respect to us; on the contrary, I give its due to the
patriotic intention of those who desire that the
tribunes of the peii])le should hold their sittings in
the midst of the i)eople ; that the defenders of li-
berty .should be placed in a jilace which witnessed
the first triumph of that liberty. I thank them
that they have given us to see from this very tri-
bune, the .spot where the noble-spirited Camille
Desmoulins gave the signal for our glorious move-
ment, and displayed the national cockade, that
most glorious of our trophies and our rallying sign
for ever ; that cockade which has given birth to so
many prodigies, to which so many heroes owe the
honour of their arms, and which we never will lay
down but with life. I thank them that we can see
that spot, where, if we wished to raise an idol of
fifteen days, we could call to mind the fall of an
idol of fifteen centuries.''

So rough an attack naturally created a lively
sensation in the assembly, and quickly after in
Paris. The tribunate passed on to the order of the
day, the mtijority of the members diHapi>roving
such a Hiilly, but its effect was not thereby lessened.
It was a bad beginning for an assembly, which,
if desirous of preserving liberty from the dangers
by which it was menaced in so general a re-
action, needed to use much circumspection, both
in regard to the readiness of many minds to take
alarm, and to the head of a government easily
irritated.

A scene like this could not fail of consequences.

The first consul was much enraged, and the humble
worshippers of his rising power were loud in
their exclamations. Stanislas de Girardin, de
Chauvelin, and some others, who, without wishing
to surrender their independence to the new govern-
ment, yet disapproved of so ill-timed an opposition,
spoke at the next sitting; and, to correct the effect
of the discourse of the tribune Duveyrier, they pro-
posed the taking a kind of oath to the constitution.
" Before we proceed to our labours," said M. de
Girardin, " I think that we ought to give the nation
some striking evidence of our attachment to the
constitution. I do not propose to you that we
swear to maintain it; I know, and so do you, the
inutility of oaths; but I believe it to be useful that,
when we assume duties, a promise should be given
to perform them faithfully. Let us follow the ex-
ample of the conservative senate, and of the council
of state : in so doing, we shall confirm the opinion
that should be entertained of us, and silence the
malevolence which now gives out that the tribunate
makes an organized resistance to the government.
No ! the tribunal is no focus of opposition, it is a focus
of intelligence. No ! it is not the wish of the tri-
bunate to be ever attacking the measures of the
government; on the contrary, it is ready to wel-
come with pleasure whatever may be conformable
to the interests of the public. The tribunate will
apply itself rather to calm jiassions than seek to
irritate them. Its modei-alion will place itbetween
all the factions, to reunite and break them up. It
was the moderate party- who brought about the
18th Brumaire, that day of safety and of glory
which preserved France from domestic anarchy
and foreign invasion. Let us return, in order to
save the republic, to the principles on which it was
founded; but let us avoid a return to those excesses
which have too often brought it to the verge of
destruction. If we can see from this place the spot
where, for the first time, was displayed the signal
of liberty, from hence, too, we can equally see the
place in which wei'e conceived those crimes which
have fixed the stain of blood on our Revolution.
Myself, I am far from applauding the choice that
has been made of this palace for our sittings; on
the contrary, I regret it; but, for the rest, the me-
mories which it recalls are happily far away from
us. The time has gone by for vehement harangues
or appeals to the seditious groups of the Palais
Royal ; nevcrtheles.^!, if a certain style of declamation
can no longer destroy us, it may retard our pro-
gress towards prosperity ; resounding from this
tribunate through Paris, from Paris through all
Europe, it may awaken alarm, and furnish a
pretext for delaying that peace which we all de-
sire Peace," added M. de Girardin, " peace

should occupy our minds unceasingly; and when
this great interest .shall be always present, we shall
not permit ourselves any more expressions such
as the other day escaped one of our colleagues,
and which none of us took up, since there was no
one to apply them to, for we know of no idol in
France."

The speaker concluded by moving, that each tri-
bune should make a declaration as follows : " I
promise to perform with fidelity the functions which
the constitution has assigned to me."

This proposition was adopted ; and M. Duveyrier,
annoyed at the scandal his speech had excited.

.,u\ The government plan .or the

^- method 01 discussing the GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

Jan.

laws. — Attacks on the plan.

Speeches of M. Con-
.stant and the tri-
bune lUouffe.

attempted to excuse it, e.xpressing his wish to be
the fii-st to make tlie declaratiou suggested by M.
de Girai'diii. All the membei'S of the tribunate
lia.<!teiied to repeat it after him.

Tlie effect, tiien, of the first scene, was some-
wliat remedied ; neveitheles.s, the first consul con-
ceived an insurmountable aversion to the tribunate,
which, indeed, he would liave equally felt for any
free assembly using and abusing the liberty of
speech : he caused, therefore, the insertion in the
Monileur of some very bitter i-emarks on the tri-
bunes of France and Rome.

The sittings that followed were distinguished by
fresh manifestations, as much to be regretted as
the preceding. The first measure proposed by the
government had for its object the regulation of tlie
formstobefollowedon the iutroiluction, the debating,
and the passing of the laws. This iiad been one of
the sulijects neglected in the cimstitutiim of the year
Till., and had been left to the legislature. In the
proposed arrangement, not much regard was had
t<j the tribunate. The plan of the government
settled that the laws were to be brougiit iu to the
legislative body by three counsellors of state ; that
they Were to be thence commimicated to the tri-
bunate ; and that, on a day fixed by the govern-
ment, tlie tribunate was to be prepared to discuss
them by its three orators before the legislative
body : the tribunate, however, might recjuire a
delay from the legislative body, whose duty it was
to decide whether such delay should be accorded.
It must be confessed, that a great slight was here
shown towards the tribunate, since the government
wished it to fulfil its task by a day fixed, a thing
which it dared not have required of a section of the
council of state or a ministerial department. No
one, at this day, would venture to fix a day for a
deliberative assembly so as to limit its discussion;
this is a point which is left to its own understand-
ing, and in case of urgency to its zeal. But the
courtesies of parliament, like politeness, are the
growth of usage, and could not with us precede the
actual practice of representative government. From
the violence of the revolution we passed almost
without transition to military roughness. The com-
missions which, during a month, exercised the
legislative power, by their discussions with closed
do<»rs, and their carrying laws through in four and
twenty hours, had fully shown the taste of the first
consul, which desired to be served and .satisfied at
once. This may suffice to explain, though not to
excuse, the otherwise singular details of the go-
vernment plan.

The new-born opposition in the tribunate was
right, ihfU, in combating this proposition ; but it
was unC.irtunate, after its indecorous commence-
ment, that it should have to oppose the first pro-
position emanating from the consuls, as it gave
rise to a untiou thai it was ever on the watch to
atUck ; while to this misfortune was ad<ltd the
defect of the vexatious manner of the opp'isition.
The most violent attack came from Constant,
who, in one of those witty and ironical speeches
for which he wiis famous, demanded that the in-
hunate should have some time allowed it for an
examination of what laws wore subuiitted to it,
nor be expected to go through thoni at a gallop.
He recalled t<» the considi-ration of this subject,
the memory of those " laws of urgency " which were

brought in during the revolution, and which had
always led to most disastrous results : he demanded
why there was such an an.\iety to have done with
the tribunate ; why was it already considered as so
hostile, that the passage of the laws through it must
be cut as short as possible ? " All this," added he,
" is in accordance with the false idea that the tri-
bunate is only a body in opposition, destined to
do nothing more than unceasingly run contrary to
the government ; this is what it is not, this is what
it shall not be, this it is which lowers us in the
opinion of the public. This false idea has stamped
on everj' article of this bill a restless and un-
reasonable impatience ; we shall have bills pre-
sented to us, as it were, on the wing, in the hope
that we may not catch them ; they will traverse
our examination like an enemy's army, to be
made into laws before we can come up with
them."

Many such cutting reflections were in this long
speech ; and it produced a sufficiently great sen-
sation. Constant took great pains to maintain
that the tribunate was not a body especially de-
voted to contradiction, and that it only opposed
when compelled to do so by the public interest ;
but these protestations were delivered in a manner
and a tone which gave them little credit, and ren-
dered it evident that he all the while intended that
systematic opposition which he took such pains to
dei;v.

TiiO tribune Riouffe, conspicuous for his faithful
and generous friendship to the proscribed Girond-
ists, was one of those whom t!ie horrors of 1793
had so powerfully affected, that they were ready to
throw themselves blindly into the arms of a new
government, whatever that government might do.
He was, therefore, desirous of repelling the attacks
of Benjamin Constant, which, in his opinion, were
indecorous.

"Suspicions," said he, "so injurious as those
shown here yesterday, would be enough to break
off" all further communication in the relations be-
tween man and man ; and it will be impossible for
authorities, destined to live and act together, long
to have intercourse with each other, if mutual
respect be not regarded as a sacred duty with
wliii-h they must never dispense."

He went on to say that he had, as far as he was
concerned, an absolute confidence in the govern-
ment ; and here he undertook to deliver an eulo-
gium on the first consul, which, though true, was too
long, and couched in too strong terms: " When this
orator," said he, " praises Camille Desmoulins, and
that, the national convention, I will not shut myself
up in the silence of conspiracy ; I, too, will praise
him, whom the whole world praises ; and having
hitherto confined myself in this place to celebrating
proscribed virtue, I will assume a boldness of a
diff'erent kind, and speaking the praises of genius
in the bosom of power and victory, I will con-
gratulate myself on seeing at the head of the re-
public the man who has ohtained for the French
nation the title of the Great Nation ; I will pro-
claim him grand, clement, just." M. Riouffo went
on to compare Bonaparte to Caesar and Hannibal ;
and by these expressions of an admiration, just,
but unreasonable, provoked a manifestation suf-
ficiently vexatious. He was frequently interrupted
by cries of " question." — " I wish," replied M.

Speech of M. de Chauvelin.
35 Majorities in the tribunate
and legislative bodies.

The bills for the adminis-
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. trative and judicial or-
ganization of France.

1800.
Jan.

Kiouffe, " to speak of the man whom all the world
admires." — " Speak of the law," repeated his in-
terruptei's ; and he was compelled to return to the
subject.

Whether this lengthy and ill-timed, though sin-
cere, expression of Riouft'e's sentiments provoked
the impatience of his interrupters, or whether
the admiration he showed, was not shared in the
same degree by the tribunate, the effect of this
speech was by no means happy. Chauvelin en-
deavoured to remove it, by a speech in favour of
the bill before them.

He confessed its faults, but " the circumstances,"
said he, "the circumstances which surround us,
the condition of many of the departments, which
require prompt as well as urgent measm-es; power-
ful political considerations ; the calumny which
watches our every action ; the divisions which it is
pleased to find amongst us ; the pressing need of
union between the powers of the state ; all call
upon us to pass the bill which is brought before us."

The bill was, in fact, put to the vote, and passed
by a majority, which ought to have assured and
tranquillized the government : a majority of fifty-
four against twenty-six, decided that the orators of
the tribunate should be commissioned to speak in
the legislative body, in support of the proposed
law. The legislative body receired it with still
greater favour, and passed it by a majority of two
himdred and tliree against twenty-three. Nothing
more could be wished, since, after all, a majority of
two-thirds of the tribunate (a body whose oppo-
sition decided nothing, as they did not pass the
laws), and a majority of nine-tenths of the legis-
lative body, the only body whose vote was decisive,
ought to have satisfied the first consul and his
adherents, and have inclined them, by this ex-
hibition of a spirit of liberty, to look with in-
dulgence on these faults of maimer, which, after
all, were merely a right of that same liberty. But
the first consul, though he could not be seriously
alarmed, seemed, nevertheless, sorely mortified,
and expressed himself in no measured terms. He
began to make a frequent use of the press, which
though by no means partial to, he yet knew how
to turn to his own advantage. He caused to be
inserted in the Monlteur of the 8th of January, the
18th Nivose, a highly impi'oper article, in which
he undertook to show the little weight of this oppo-
sition, and to make it appear as no part of a
settled plan to run counter to the government;
imputing it to that desire, in some minds, of a
perfection impossible in human laws, and to a

wish in others to make a noise. " Thus," added . ^business is badly done

These impressions, however, soon gave place to
others. The vast labours of the government, in
which the legislative body and the tribunate were
called upon to take their share, soon attracted the
attention of all minds, and occupied them to the
exclusion of all other considerations. The first
consul caused two bills of the greatest importance
to be brought into the legislative body. One had
for its object the departmental and municipal ad-
ministration, and became the famous law of the
28th Nivose, year viii., which established an ad-
ministrative centralization in France ; the object
of the other was an organization of justice, an
organization which exists to the present time. To
these two bills others were added — on the emi-
grants, whose condition it was pressing to settle ;
on the right of bequeathing by will, of which all
families called for the re-establishment ; on the
tribunal of prizes, which it was necessary to erect
from our relations with the neutral powers ; on the
creation of new officers of account, who were known
to be required ; and, lastly, on the receipts and
expenses of the year viit.

The administration of France, as we have shown
above, found itself, in the year 1799, in a state of
frightful disorder. There are in all countries two
kinds of business to be dispatched : that of the
state, which consists in recruiting, taxation, works
of general utility, and the application of the laws ;
that of the provinces and communes, which consists
in the management of the local interests of all
fkinds. If a country be left to itself, that is to say,
if it be not ruled by a general administration at
once strong and intelligent, the first part of this
business, that of the state, is not done at all ; the
second meets with, in the provincial or communal
interest, a pruiciple of zeal, but of a zeal capricious,
unequal, unjust, and seldom intelligent. The pro-
vincial or communal administrations, assuredly, sel-
dom fail in inclination to busy themselves in what
concerns them particularly ; but they are extra-
vagant, meddling, and always opposed to the com-
mon rule. The tyrannical peculiarities of the middle
age in Europe, had no other origin. From the time
that the central authority withdraws itself from a
country, there is no kind of disorder to which the
local interests will not give themselves up, even to
their own i-uin. In 1789, wherever the communes
enjoyed any liberty, they were in a state of bank-
ruptcy; and most of the free cities of Germany,
when suppressed in 1803, were completely ruined ;
thus, without a strong general administration, the
business of the state is not done at all, and local

the official journal, " every thing allows us to con-
clude that there does not exist in the tribunate an
opposition combined and systematic ; in a word, a
real opposition. But every one has his thirst for
glory ; every one wishes to commit his name to the
hundred tongues of fame ; and some persons have
yet to learn that they aiTive less surely at dis-
tinction by an ambition of fine speeches, than by a
perseverance in duties useful, though obscure,
which the public applauds and values."

This manner of treating a great body of the
state was by no means decorous, and evinced, on
the part of the first consul, an intention to do as he
pleased ; while, on the part of France, it showed
an inclination to put up with it.

The constituent assembly and the national conven-
tion, after they had successively re-modelled the
administrative organization of France, arrived at a
state of things which was anarchy itself. Collective
administi-ations, at every step, perpetually delibera-
ting and never acting, having at their side commis-
sioners of the central government, charged to urge
them, cither to the dispatch of the business of the
state, or the execution of the laws, but deprived of the
power of acting themselves, — such was the depart-
mental and municipal regime on the 18th Brumaire.
As to the municipal regime in particular, there had
been devised a kind of cantonal municipahties, which
added still further to this administrative confusion.
The number of the cantonal municipalities was

Ill success of the cantonal
municipalities. — Insti-
tution of prefects, sub-

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

prefects, and mayors. — Sup-
pression of the cantonal mu- 3^
nicipalities.

found to be too lai*ge, as it amounted to forty
thousand ; and certainly the superintendence of
such a number of small local governments, in itself
sufficiently difficult at all times, became impossible
for authorities constituted as they were at that
time. At present, the prefects, with the assistance
of the sub-prefects, are adequate to it, pi'ovided
they be sufficiently assiduous. But let any one sup-
pose the prefects without sub-prefects, and in their
place petty deliberative assemblies, and it will be
easy to see the disorder which must reign in such
administrations. These forty and odd thousand
communes were reduced to five thousand cantonal
municipalities, composed of a re-union of several
communes into one. It was thought that this
uniting several communes under the same govern-
ment would, besides giving them a governing power,
place them nearer to the central authority, and more
under its superintendence ; but it resulted in a
disorder even moi-e frightful than that to which it
sought to j)ut an end. These five thousand can-
tonal municipalities were too numerous, and too far
removed from the central authority, to be under
its eye, and were ve.vatiously placed at a distance
from the population they were intended to rule,
without being bi'ought sufficiently near to the go-
vernment. A communal admiuisti'atiou is made to
be placed as near as possible on the spot : the ma-
gistrate who takes account of the births, deaths,
and marriages, who watches the police and the
health of a city, who has the care of the fountains,
the church, the hospital of a village, should reside
in the viJJ;^ge or the town itself; in short, live in the
midst of hiS-Xcllow-citizens. These cantonal muni-
cipalities, then, liad resulted in uselessly displacing
the domestic authority, without bringing the local
affairs sufficiently near for the eye of the govern-
ment to observe them : add to this, (thanks to
the disorder of the times,) that nothing was done
properly, and it will be understood how much con-
fusion was brought about by the vice of the institu-
tion, added to the vice of circumstances.

A last cause of disorder was added to all the
others. There is not only a necessity for an ad-
ministration on account of the state and the com-
munes, but also of a court for judgment; since the
citizens may have reason for complaint, either that
tl»eir property has been encroached upon in mark-
ing out a road or way, or that in rating them to
the taxes, the rating has been made unjustly.
Under the old regime, the ordinary justice", then
the only restraint on the executive authority —
which well explains the resistance of the parlia-
ments to the court — the ordinary had claimed for
itself authority in all cases that are called disputes
with the administrative justice^. This was a gi'ave
inconvenience; as civil judges, from their want of
knowledge on the subject, arc bad dispensers of
administrative juiitice. Our first legislators of the
revolution, rightly appreciating this inconvenience,
thought they. could re8<jlve the difficulty by aban-
doning all administrative disputes to the petty local
assemljlies, to which they liad handed over the
administration. When we imagine, then, these
collective admhiistrutions in the place of those whom
we now call prefects, sub-prefects, and mayors,

''' Justice ordinaire.

" (onttnticux administrative!.

and charged with the duties of all these, with the
jurisdiction besides of the councils of prefecture,
we can form an idea of something approaching to
the confusion which then reigned. Even with the
spirit of order which prevails at this day, the result
would be a chaos ; add to this the passions of the
revolution, and what an exti-a chaos would ensue !
It was thus that the retm-ns of the cojitributions
were never completed, that the receipt of the taxes
was many years in arrear, that the finances were
in ruin, and the armies in misery. The recruiting
alone was occasionally carried out, — thanks to the
passions of the revolution, which, having done the
mischief, contributed in part to repair it ; for
having as its principle a love, disorderly but ar-
dent, of France, its greatness, and its liberty, it
forcibly urged on the population to arms.

It was in such a state of things that the first
consul was, it may be said in truth, an envoy from
Providence. His mind, simple and just, imder the
guidance of a character active and resolute, was
formed to lead him to the right solution of these
difficulties. The constitution had placed at the
head of the state a legislative power and an
executive power ; the executive concentered almost
in a single chief, and the legislative, divided
amongst many deliberative assemblies. It was
only following the natural order of things, to place
at each degree of the administrative scale one wlio
should represent the executive power, specially
charged to act, and at his side, to control or to furnish
him with information only, — not to act in his place,
— a small deliberative assembly, such as the council
of the department, of the arrondissement, or of the
commune. We have in this simple, clear, fruitful
idea, — the excellent administration which exists
to this day in France. It was the wish of the first
consul to have in each department a prefect
charged, not with urging on a collective adminis-
tration to despatch the business of the state, but to
do it himself ; he was also to be charged with car-
rying on the departmental business, but jointly
with the council of the department, and with re-
sources to be voted by that council. As the
system of cantonal municipalities was universally
condemned, and as Sieyes, the author of all the
local divisions of France, had in the new con-
stitution laid down the principle of the division
by arrondissement, the first consul determined to
eniploy it as a means of doing away with the can-
tonal administrations. The communal adminis-
tration was first of all replaced where it ought to
be, that is, in the commune itself, town, or village ;
and between the ccmimune and the department, an
intei-mediate administrative degree, that is to say,
the arrondissement. Between the prefect and the
mayor it was thought necessary to have the sub-
prefect, charged, under the superintendence of the
prefect, with the direction of a certain number of
communes, sixty, eighty, or a hundred, more or
less, in jtroportion to the importance of the depart-
ment. Lastly, in the commune itself, there was to
be a mayor, who was also an executive power,
having at his side a deliberative power in a nm-
nicipal council, — a mayor, the agent for the de-
spatch of the business of the state, directly dependent
on the general authority, — an agent of the com-
mune as regarded its local affairs, managing its
interests in conjunctiou with it, under the super-

I

Councils of the prefecture es- administration, and all the ,-„

S8 tablished. - The nomina- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, members of the local courts, """•
tion of all the agents of is left to the first consul.

intendence, however, of the prefect and the sub-
prefect, and by consequence of the state.

Such is this admirable hiei-archy to which France
is indebted for an administration incomparable for
its energy, the precision of its working, and the
exactness of its accounts, and which is so excellent,
that it was sufficient, in six months, as we shall
soon see, to restore order in France, under the im-
pulse, it is true, of the extraordinary genius of the
first consul, and favoured by circumstances as ex-
traordinary; for there was every wliere a horror
of disorder, a thirsting after order, a disgust with
idle babbling*, a taste for prompt and positive
results.

There remained still the question of the admi-
nistrative disputes, — that is to say, the administra-
tive justice", charged with the care, that those
liable to be taxed should not be rated beyond their
means; that those holding property on a river-bank
or on the side of a street, should not be exposed
to encroachments, and that the contractor for the
works of a town or of the state might not find a
judge of his contract with the commune or the
government a difficult question, as the ordinary
tribunals were known to be improper for dispens-
ing justice of this kind. The principle of a wise
division of power was again employed here with
great advantage. The prefect, the sub-prefect,
and the mayor, charged with the actual admi-
nistration, were open to the suspicion of partiality,
as if inclined to enforce their own will, for it was
usually of their own acts that those seeking justice
would have to make complaint ; the councils of the
department, the arrondissement, and the commune,
were also properly lial)le to suspicion of the same
kind, as their interest too often ran contrary to
that of the complainant. The administration of
justice is, besides, a long and continuous operation,
and there was no desire to see the councils either
of the department or the commune made perma-
nent, since the first consul only required their attend-
ance for fifteen days in the year, just time enough
for them to go through their business, give their
advice, and vote their expenses. On the other
hand, there was need of a tribun.il to sit without
interruption. A special court of justice was there-
fore established, a tribunal of four or five judges,
having their seats by the side of the prefect, and
judging conjointly with him ; a species of council
of State assisting the administration of the laws
by the prefect, as the council of state enlightens
and supervises that of the ministei's; and subject,
moreover, by way of ai)peal, to this supreme
council. These are the tribunals now called the
councils of prefecture, whose equity has never been
disputed.

Such was the principal and communal govern-
ment of France — a single head, in a prefect, a sub-
prefect, or mayor, for the despatch of all business ;
a deliberative council, in the council of the depart-
ment, of the arrondissement, or of the commune,
to vote the local expenses; next, a small judicial
body, placed by the side of the prefect only to
carry on tlie administrative justice ; a government
entirely subordinate to the general government in
all matters of state, and under its supervision and
direction, but having its own proper views, in the

« Bavardage.

9 Justice administrative.

management of the affairs of the departments and
the communes. Order has never ceased to reign,
as well as justice, during the time this excellent
institution has existed among us, that is to say, for
nearly half a century ; it being well underetood
that the expressions order and justice, like all other
words of human language, have only a relative
meaning, and signify that there lias been in France,
in the administrative department, as little of dis-
order, and as little of injustice, as it is possible to
hope for in a great state.

It was naturally the wish of the first consul that
the nomination of the prefects, sub-prefects, and
mayors, should rest with the executive power ; for
since they were its direct agents, they ought to be
endowed with its spirit; and as regarded local mat-
ters, which they had to conduct according to local
views, that they should conduct them in accord-
ance with the general spirit of the state. But it
would not have been in due course of the nature
of things for the executive to name the members
of the councils of departments, of arrondissements,
and of communes, whose duty it was to control
the agents of administration, and to vote their
expenses. The constitution led to this preten-
sion, and also justified it. " Confidence must come
from below," said Sieyes; "power must come from
above." According to this maxim, the nation
showed its confidence by the inscription on the
lists of notability; the superior authority conferred
the power, by choosing its agents from these lists.
The senate was charged with the election of all the
political deliberative bodies; but as the councils
engaged in the conduct of local interests were
reckoned part of the general administration of the
republic, it devolved upon the executive power,
according to the constitution, to nominate them by
a choice from the lists of notability. By virtue,
then, of the spirit as well as of the letter of the con-
stitution, it devolved upon the first consul to choose,
from the lists of notabihty of the departments,
the members of the councils of the departments;
from^he lists of the notability of the arrondisse-
ment?, the members of the councils of the arrondisse-
ments ; and, lastly, from the lists of the notability
of the communes, the members of the municipal
councils. This power, in ordinary times excessive,
was at that moment necessary. An election, in
fact, for the formation of these local councils was
altogether as impossible as for the formation of
great political assemblies. It would only have
given rise to the most dangerous agitations, to
petty triumphs to the extreme parties, alternately,
on one side or the other, in place of a peaceable
and hopeful fusion of all moderate parties — a fusion
which was indispensable in thus founding a new
society from the reunited fragments of the old.

The judicial organization was equally well-
planned. It had the double object of placing
justice near those who required it, and of giving
them an assurance, nevertheless, beyond the local
justice, if they desired to have recourse to it, of a
court of appeal, at some distance certainly, but in
a high position, and possessed of enlightenment
and impartiality by reason of that very height of
position.

Our first legislators of the revolution, from the
aversion they were inspired with against parlia-
ments, suppi'csseu all the tribunals of appeal, and

The tribunals of the first
instance and of appeal
are established.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

Passiner of the laws for the
administrative and judi- 39
cial organization.

placed one tribunal only in a department, to afford
the first de<Tree of jurisdiction to complainants in
the department; and a second degree of jurisdiction,
a tribimal of appeal for the neighbouring depart-
ments. This appeal took place, then, not from an
inferior tribunal to one superior, but from one
neighbouring tribunal to another. Below werq
the justices of the peace, the tribunal of cassation
above. The single tribunal for each department
being found to be too far from those seeking
redress, the jurisdiction of the justices of the peace
had been extended so as to dispense with tlie
citizens having to travel too often to the chief
town. There had also been created three or four
hundred correctional tribunals, charged to repress
small crimes. The criminal jury held its sittings
at the principal town near the central tribunal.

This judicial organization had very slight success
in the municipal cant mments. The justices of tlie
peace, whose jurisdiction had been extended, were
not competent to the task. The justice of the first
degree found itself placed too far off by i-esiding in
the chief town ; the justice of appeal had become
nearly illusory ; for appeal docs not hold, unless it
be made to men of superior minds. The supreme
courts, like the parliaments formerly, and like tlie
royal courts of our day, numbering amongst them
eminent magistrates, and about tliem a renowned
bar, exhibit a superiority of knowledge, to which a
man might be tempted to have recourse ; but no
one would think of appealing from one tribunal of
the first instance to another tribunal of the first
instance. The tribunals of correctional police were
also too numerous, and limited, moreover, to a sin-
gle object. It was nc( ;ssary to reform this judicial
organizatiim. The 1 .st consul, adopting the ideas
of his colleague Canibaci-res, to which he gave the
support of his own good sense and courage, caused
that organization to be adopted, which exists to
this day.

The limit of the arrondissement planned for
the departmental administration, offered great con-
venience for the judicial administration. It pre-
sented a means of establishing a primary local
justice, placed sufficiently near to litigants, without
interfering with the recourse to tribunals of appeal
placed far fro; : it, aud much higher. There was
established, tliurefore, a tribunal of the first in-
stance for the arrondissement, forming the first
step of jurisdiction ; next, without the dread of
seeming to re-establish the old parliaments, it was
resolved to establish a tribunal of appeal. One
for each department would be too many in number,
twi little for th« importance and elevation of the
jurisdiction. Twenty-nine were established, which
gave them nearly the importjince of the old parlia-
ments ; and they were placed in spots which had
formerly enjoyed the j)re8ence of those supreme
courts. There was an advantage in restoring
them to places which had been thus deprived : they
were the old dei)ositorius of judicial traditions, the
ruins of which deserved to be collected. The bars
of Aix, of Dijon, of Toulouse, of Bordeaux, of
Rennes, and of i'aris, were the hearths of science
and of talent which it was necessary once more to
kindle.

The tribunals of the first instance, already es-
tablished in each arrondissement, were charged,
at the same time, with the correctional police; a

plan which, while it doubled their usefulness, placed
in the arrondissement the administration of civil
justice, and that of the repressive in the first
degree. The criminal justice was always to be
confided to a jury, and have its seat only in the
chief town of the department, by means of judges
coming from the tribunals of appeal, whose office
it was to direct the jury ; in a word, to hold
assizes. This part it took some time to complete.

In accordance with these arrangements, it be-
came necess;vry to reduce within more restricted
limits the department known as the justice of the
peace ; but, as it was impossible to do all at once,
the law for the remodelling of these courts was
postponed until the following session. The wish of
the legislature, however, was to preserve, while
it improved, the paternal spirit of a system, so
especially popular, so expeditious, and so cheap.

As the crown and coping-stone of this e4ifice
of justice, there was maintaiued, witli some
modifications, and a restraining jurisdiction over
all the magistrates, the tribunal of cassation,
one of the finest institutions of the French revo-
lution ; a tribunal, whose scope is not the judging
a third time wiiat the tribunals of the first instance
and of appeal have already twice given their
judgments upon, but which, putting on one side
the facts of the case, interposes only when a doubt
has been raised in the meaning of the law, de-
termines that meaning by precedents, and thus
adds to the unity of the text as emanating from the
legislature, a unity of interpretation as issuing
from the supreme jurisdiction, and so common to
the whole country.

It is, therefore, from this year 1800, a year so
fruitful in events, that we date our judicial organi-
zation ; since which time it lias consisted of nearly
two thousand justices of the peace', a magistracy
for tlie people, rendering justice, at a small expense,
to the poor ; of nearly three hundred tribunals
of the first instance, one for each arrondissement,
that administer civil and correctional 2 justice, in
the first degree ; of twenty-nine suj)reme' tribu-
nals* administering the department of civil justice
as courts of appeal and criminal justice by judges
sent out from it who hold assizes at the chief town
of each department ; lastly, (.f a supreme tribunal,
placed at the head of this judicial hierarchy, to in-
terpret the laws, and complete the unity of the
legislature by the unity of jurisprudence;

The two la\xs for these purposes were of too
pressing a necessity, and too complete in their
plan, to meet with any serious obstacles ; yet
they nevertheless had to sustain more than one
attack in the tribunal. Objections the most trifling
we.-e raised against the projiosed system of admi-
nistration. There was not much complaint of the
authority placed in the hands of the prefects, sub-
prefects, or mayor8,.as that was in accordance with
the notions of the time, and was in imitation of the
constitution, which placed one i)erson as chief at
the head of the state; but a grievance was found in

' Juecs de paix. 2 Police. 3 Souvcrains.

* We give here only round numbers, as tlie number of (he
tribunals has constantly varied, in accordance with the dif-
ferent changes of territory which France has undergone; at
present, for instance, there are no more than twenty-seven
cuiirs rni/alei, or tribunals of appeal.

Appointment of the i
40 ininistrative and ,

djcial officers.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The closing of the pro-
scription list.

the creation of three degrees in the scale of admi-
nistration— the department, the arrondissement,and
the commune. The opposition went so far as to assert
that the communes must he reconstituted, as it
would not be possible to find men of sufficient eu-
Hghtenment for mayors. It was, however, a resto-
ration of self-government, of domestic authority,
and in this view tlie plan was more popular than
can even be imagined. As regarded the judicial
organization, some cried out against it as a resto-
i-ation of the parliaments; others complained of the
jurisdiction over the inferior magistrates which was
given to the tribunal of cassation, with other such
objections; all of the mnot worthy of mention, since,
in spite of all, the two proposed laws were passed.

Twenty or thirty votes, the main body of the
opposition in the tribunate, w^ere given against
those laws, but three-fourths voted in their favour.
The legislative body adopted them almost unani-
mously. The law relating to the departmental admi- *
nistration bore the date since celebrated, of 28th
Pluviose, year viii., that relating to the judicial
organization was dated 27th Ventose, year viii.

The first consul, determining not to leave them a
dead letter in the list of laws, appointed forthwith
the prefects, sub-prefects, and mayors.

He was liable of course to many mistakes, as
generally happens where a number of functionaries
have to be appointed at once ; but an enlightened
and vigorous government can speedily rectify any
en-or of its first choice. It is enough that the
general intention of it be good, and in this instance
the intention shown in the choice was excellent; it
was at once firm, impartial, and conciliatory. The
first consul sought out m all parties men of reputed
honour and capacity, excluding none but the vio-
lent, and even adopting some of these last, if expe-
rience and time had reduced them to such a mo-
derate tone as then formed the essential charac-
teristic of his policy.

To the prefectures, offices of importance and
high salary, — the prefects then received 12,000,
15,000, and up to even 24,000f. of income, being in
value double what these amounts now are, — he ap-
pointed personages who had figured witli honour in
the great political assemblies, and whose appoint-
ment would most cleai-ly show the intention of his
choice; for men, though they be neither actions nor
principles, yet represent them in the eyes of the
people. To Itlarseilles, for instance, the first consul
named M. Charles Lacroix, ex-minister of foreign
affairs ; to Saintes, M. Fran9ais, of Nantes ; to
Lyons, M. Verninhac, foi-merly an ambassador; to
Nantes, M. Lctourneur, formerly a member of the
Directory ; to Brussels, M. de PontCicoulant ; to
Rouen, M. Bcugnot ; to Amiens, M. Quinette ; to
Ghent, M. Faypoult, formerly minister of finance.
All these men, and others, who were found in the
Constituent Assembly, the Legislative Assembly, the
Convention, and the Five Hundred, and who wei-e
taken from amongst the ministei-s, the directors,
and the ambassadors of the republic, wei'e ready to
give a fair start to the new administrative func-
tions, and -to confer on the government of the pro-
vinces the importance which it deserved. The
greater part of them retained their offices during
the reign of the first consul and of the emperor. One
of them, M. de Jessaint, was a prefect witliin -the
last four years. For the prefecture of Paris, the

first consul made choice of Frochot, and gave
him for a colleague at the prefecture of police, M.
Dubois, a magistrate whose energy was useful in
purging the capital of those ill-doers whom fac-
tion had thrown within its bosom.

The judicial appointments were made in the
same spirit. Men of honoured name, acquired in
the former bar and the former magistracy, were as-
sociated, wherever it could be done, with new men
of renown and probity. Wherever he could throw
a lustre on these offices by noble names, the first
consul failed not to do so, for he liked eclat in all
things ; and the time had come when, without
danger, something might be boiTowed from the
past. A magistrate named Aguesseau headed the
list of judicial appointments, as the chief of the
tribunal of appeal of Paris, now the " Royal Court."
These functionaries received instructions, imme-
diately on their appointment, to depart on the
instant, for the purpose of taking possession of
their seats, and of contributing their part to that
work of re-organization which formed the constant
occupation of the young general, out of which he
wished to create his fame, and which, after so
many prodigies of victory, has remained, in fact,
the most stable of his glories

Where society had been turned so completely
topsy-turvy, it became necessary to handle every
matter at the same time. The emigration, at
once so blameable and so pitiable, — a just object
alike of sympathy and aversion, since in its ranks
were to be found men cruelly persecuted, and
bad Frenchmen who had conspired against their
country, — the emigration required the earnest
attention of the government. According to the
last law, a decree, either of the directory or of
the administration of the department, was in itself
sufficient to place any absent individual on the list
of emigrants, from which moment his goods be-
came confiscated, and the law pronounced his
death if he were again found on the territory of
the republic. A great numher of individuals, who
were actually emigrants, or had only secreted
themselves, and who had not been inscribed on the
fatal list, either because they had escaped notice,
or no one had been found to denounce them, were,
however, still liable to be placed upon it ; and thus
there were numbers of Fi-enchmen who were living
in a continual anxiety. It wanted but an enemy
to meet them, and they might be instantly on the
list, and subject to the laws and penalties of pro-
scription. As regards those who had been already
placed on the list, justly or not, they were arriving
in great numbers to have their names struck ofiT.
Their eagerness, and their very rashness, showed
their confidence in the humanity of the govern-
ment ; but was rather annoying to certain of the
revolutionists, some of whom were conscious of
excesses committed against the returning emi-
grants, others of having obtained possession of their
property. This was a new source of difficulty in
the arrangements ; for while it was necessary that
proscription should cease, it was also necessary not
to expose to continual uneasiness those who liad
taken a part, especially a violent one, in the con-
flicts of the revolution, which owed to those who
had compromised themselves for it a complete
security ; since, unfortunately, men in general are
either cold and selfish, or passionate partisans of

Some emigrants still
proscribed.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

the cause tlicy take up ; in which latter case they
can ordinarily claim little merit for their mode-
ration.

To such a state of tilings it was urgent to apply
a remedy ; and the government introduced a bill,
whose tirst enactment was to close the famous list
of emigrants. On and after the 4tli Nivose,
year viii., or December 25, 1799, the day on which
the constitution came in force, the list of emigrants
was declared to be closed ; that is to say, the fact of
absence posterior to that date was no longer to be
construed as emigration, or to be liable to the same
punishment : liberty was granted to come and go,
to travel from France to a foreign country, and
from a foreign country to France, without com-
mitting a punishable offence ; for it is a fact, that
for tea years absence had been a crime. The
liberty, then, of comnig and going was thus restored
to every citizen.

To this first enactment a second was added :
individuals more or less liable to the charge of
emigration, whether from having left the country
for a short time, or simply concealed themselves, to
keep out of the way of persecution, and who by good
fortune had been omitted in the pi-oscription Hst, —
were now no longer to be placed upon it but by au-
thority of a decision of the ordinary tribunals ; that
is to say, of a jury. This was tantamount, in some
measure, to closing the list for them also, as there
was little risk that many names would be added
to it in the then spirit of the tribunals.

Lastly, while the handing them over to the tri-
bunals insured to those whose names had not been
inscribed, the guarantees of the common law, those
who had been unjustly placed on the list, or who
pretended to be so, in their wish to have their
names stnick off, were referred to the administra-
tive authority. The intended indulgence of the
new government in favour of these parties was
evident in this ; for the new administrative autho-
rities, created by it, and imbued with its spirit,
could not fail to lend a ready ear to claims of this
nature : the presenting a certificate of residence
in any part of France (and there was no difficulty
about false certificates) was all that was necessary
to prove that the party had been wrongfully de-
clared absent, and to cause him to be erased from
the list of emigrants. With the general good-
natured inclination to violate tyrannical laws, this
means of ol)taining their erasure seldom failed
those who sought it. More than this, emigrants
who wisiied to procure their erasure, were allowed
to re-enter France "under surveillance " of the
chief police; in the language of the times, this was
called "obtjiining surveillances;" they were given
in great numbers, so that those of the emigrants
who had most need of it, were enabled thus to an-
tici|>ate the moment of their erasure; and, indeed,
many of th<nn went no further, but made use of
these " surveillances" as a definitive recall.

Emigrants, however, there were, whose names
could not l>e cut out from that fatal list, because of
the notorious scandal of their emigration. In
respect of these the existing laws were still main-
tained. The spirit of the times was such, that it
was not possible to do otherwise. For the unfor-
tunate tliere was pity; but anger only for the
guilty who had quitted the territory of France to
bear arms against tiieir country, or invite against

her the arms of the foreigner. For the rest, whether
erased or not, no man could recover his property
if sold. All sales were irrevocable, both by virtue
of the constitution, and the enactments of the new
hiw ; those only who, after their erasure, found
their property had not been sold, though seques-
tered, wei-e enabled to indulge the hope of recover-
uig it for themselves.

Such was the law as pi'oposed and adopted by
an immense majority, despite objections made in
the tribunate, on the part of some, who found shown
ill it either too much or too little favour towards
the emigrants.

Among the legal enactments then in force, there
was one which appears insupportably tyrannical —
a restraint on the power of bequeathing by will.
As the laws stood, no man at his death could dis-
pose of more by will than a tenth portion of his
property if he had children ; of a sixth if he had
none. These enactments resulted fnmi the first
indignation of the revolution against the abuses
of the old state of French aristocratic society,
where paternal vanity, sometimes from a desire
to aggrandize an elder son, sometimes to force
the affections of children to ill-assorted mar-
riages, would despoil some for the benefit of others.
Under the natural influence of anger thus aroused,
in place of reduchig the power of a father within
due limits, the revolution completely fettered it.
It was no longer in the power of a parent to re-
ward or punish. If he had children, there was
nothing, or little more than nothing, which he
could leave in favour of the child that merited all
his affection; and, what is more extraordinary, if
he had only nephews, whether nearly or distantly
related to him, he could only leave them a portion
of his property the most insignificant, that is to
say, a sixteenth. This was in truth an attack on
the rights of property, and, of all the rigorous en-
actments of the revolution, the one most keenly
felt; for the hand of death strikes down every day
its victims; and thousands who died, breathed their
last sigh in regret at an inability to obey the last
dictates of their hearts towards those who had
served them, cared for them, and consoled them
in their old age. A reform like this could not
possibly wait the drawing up of the civil code. A
law to re-establish the right of bequeathing by will,
within certain restrictions, was at once brought in.
By virtue of this law, a father who had less than
four children was empowered at his death to be-
queath a fourth of his property; if less than five,
a fifth ; and so on in the same proportion. He
might dispose of a half if he had neither ascending
nor collateral relations, and of the whole when he
had no kindred qualified to succeed him.

This measure was much attacked in the tri-
bunate ; above all, by the tribune Andrieux, a
man of honesty and sincerity, but with more en-
thusiasm than judgment. He spoke of it as a return
to the abuses of primogeniture, to the violent in-
justice of the anc'ien rajime, in the case of the chil-
dren of men of rank; but this law, like the others,
was passed by an immense majority.

By another law the government instituted a
tribunal of prizes, which had become indispensable
for rendering impartial justice to the neutral
powers, and conciliating them towards Franco by
better treatment. Tlie attention of the two assera-

42 ^Stof"f80°o"°'"'^" THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. 'Pa"p^\ntef"'' ''' '"" '11

blies was, lastly, invited to the laws respecting
the finances.

The government had but little to address to the
legislative body on this subject, as the two legis-
lative commissioners had ah-eady returned the
necessary laws. What had been done by the
government in working out the administration of
those laws, was scarcely a matter for discussion.
It was, however, necessary to decree, if only as a
matter of form, the budget of the year vni. Had
the taxes been regularly collected, had the regu-
lar imposts been exactly paid, and not only regu-
larly paid by the contributors, but duly hauded
over by those who received the public monies, the
finances of the state would have been in a tolerable
condition. The ordinai-y taxes would give about
430,000,000 f., to which amount the government
hoped to reduce the public expenses in time of
peace ; indeed they promised themselves to bring
them down still lower. Experience soon proved
that this was not possible even in time of peace, but
it has also shown that it was easy to bring up the
receipts from the taxes to this amount, without in-
creasing the i-ate of taxation. We exclude from
this calculation the expense of collection, and local
expenses, which, reckoning them as they are reck-
oned now, w(ndd brins the budget of this date up
to 600,000,000 f. or 620,000,000 f.

The great and certain insufficiency of the re-
ceipts was only a]iparent in the expenses of the war
— a result not to be wondered at, as it always must
be the case. In no country can a war be supported
on the ordinary revenues of peace. If this were
the case, it would sufficiently prove that the taxes
were too gi-eat in a time of tranquillity. But,
thanks to the disorder of the past, no one could
tell, whether with a war the budget would i-isc to
600,000,000 f., 700,000.000 f , or 800 000.000 f.
One party said G00,000,000f., the other 800,000,000f.
Every one had a different conjecture on this sub-
ject. Experience here also proves that about
1 50,000,000 f. added to the ordinary budget, are
enough to furnish the expenses of a war, especially
with an army always victorious, and living on the
enemies' country. The budget for the year was,
therefore, made out at 600,000,000f. of expences and
receipts; and as the ordinary revenues amounted
to 43it,000,000f., there was, therefore, a deficiency
of 170,000,000 f. This, however, was not the real
difficulty. It would have been too much to pre-
tend, on just emerging from a financial chaos, to
aim at an immediate equalization of the receipts
with the expenditure. What was first necessiiry
was to get in the ordinary taxes. If this first
result could be reached, tlie government was sure
to have resources soon to meet the most pressing
wants ; for credit would quickly feel the effect ;
and with the different bills and securities, the
creation of which we have elsewhere enumerated,
it would have, in its hands, means of obtaining from
capitalists tiie necessary funds for every dejjart-
ment. For this M. Gaudin worked unremittingly;
seconded, in all the difficulties which he met, by
the firm and sustained purpose of the first consul.
The board of direct constitution, recently esta-
blished, displayed the greatest activity. The as-
sessment papers were well sent out, and already in
course of collection. The bills of the receiver.-!-
general began to find their way into the treasury.

and were discounted at a rate of interest not too
usurious. The difficulty in establishing this sys-
tem of bills consisted always in the amount of
paper in circulation, which it is difficult to fix,
especially as regarded each general receipt. A re-
ceiver, for instance, who should collect 20,000,000 f,
could not sign bills for that amount, if he was
liable to be called upon for six or eight millions of
dead securities, either bonds of arrearage, bonds
of requisition, or similar obligations.

The minister applied himself to retiring these
obligations, and when he had made an estimate how
much they would enter into of each general receipt,
he drew upon the receivers-general for the amount
which he calculated would come into their coffei-s.
There were created, in the same session, a new
class of accountable officers, whose duty it was to
bring about greater exactness in the transmission
of monies to the treasury; these were the receivers
for the arrondissement. Hitherto there had been
no intermediate officer between those who collected
from the tax-payers, and the receiver-general placed
in each chief town, than the clerk of the receipts,
the receiver-general's own agent, dependent upon
him, and telling the truth to him alone. This was
exactly one of the points at which the entry of the
money into the public coffers could be best noted
and ascertained, and this very point was miserably
neglected. Special receivers were now appointed
to each arrondissement, who were dependent on
the state, owing to it an account of what they re-
ceived and handed over to the receivers -general;
they were thus well-informed and disinterested
witnesses as to the progress of the sums collected,
since to them no advantage could arise from a stag-
nation of the public monies in the coffers of the
accountable officers. By these appointments the
govei'nment obtained the advantage of knowing the
exact state of the receipts, and of having in its
hands new securities in cash ; a matter of indif-
ference now, but not so just then ; it had, lastly,
the advantage of finding a new employment for the
lately devised division into the arrondissements.
The courts of civil and correctional justice, and
a great portion of the communal administration,
had already been established in the centre of the
arrondi.'-sement; by fixing also a part of the financial
administration in the same place, a still further
usefulness would be given to this division, which
the malicious were attempting to disparage as
being only an arbitrary subdivision of the country.
And since for particular reasons it had been con-
sidered a necessary step, there could be nothing
better than to multiply its uses, and so render real
what was charged with being artificial. The prefects
and sub-prefects received ordci-s to visit the re-
ceivei-s, and themselves to watch, by an inspection
of the books, over the exactitude of their trans-
actions. Fortunately it is not so in our time ; but at
that moment, when the whole plan was but as it
were a rough sketch, the sending a prelect and
sub-prefect to inspect their accounts, was by no
means a useless stimulant to employ with account-
able officers.

The re-organization of the finances thus went on
with all possible rapidity ; but assemblies can only
understand results when they are realized. They
could not perceive how much that was actually
useful was doing in the interior of the administra-

The bank of France
established.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

Reply of the British ca-
binet to the first con-
sul's letter.

tion. In the tribunate they were eloquent without
end ou the great question of the equaUzation of
receipts with e.\pcnses ; they complained of the
di- licit ; they brought forward a thousand plans ;
and there were some persons so senseless as to
iucline to a rejection of the finance laws until the
government should propose some means of bringing
the expenses and i-eceipts to a balance. But all
these propositions led to no I'esult ; the proposed
laws were passed by a great majority in the tri-
bunate, and almost vinauimously by the legislative
body.

An institution, worthy of mention in history,
was added next to those of which we have just
recounted the foundaticm; this was the bank of
France. The old establishments for discount had
fallen in the midst of the disorders of the revo-
lution ; it was impossible, however, that Paris
could remain without a bank. In every centre of
commerce, where any activity exists, there must
be a money convenient for payments, or, in other
words, a paper-money, and an estaljlishmcnt to
discount on a large scale the drafts of commerce.
These two branches afford to each other a nmtual
assistance ; for the funds deposited against bills
in circulation, serve at the same time to aid com-
mercial transactions in the way of discount. In
fact, where any business is stirring, however in-
considerable, a bank cannot fail to make a profit,
if it discount good bills only, and do not issue
more notes than are required ; in a word, if it pro-
portion its opei-ations to the true wants of the
place where it is established. This is what was
wanted in Paris, and its success was certain if it
were properly constituted. The new bank, be-
sides transactions with private individuals, was to
have transactions with the treasury, and conse-
quently, while making profits, it had to give ser-
vices in return. The government consulted the
principal bankers of the capital, at the head of
whom M. Perrcgaux placed himself, a financier
whose name connects itself with all the great ser-
vices rendered at that time to the state ; and there
was soon formed an association of rich capitalists
for the creation of a bank, called the bank of
France, the same which is in existence at this day.
Its capital was settled at 30,000,000 f. ; it was to
be governed by fifteen directors and a managing
committee of three persons, which committee after-
wards gave place to a governor. It was, by its
statutes, to discount commercial bills representing
legitimate not fictitious transactions, to issue notes
circulating as money, and was interdicted from
engaging in any business foreign to discounts and
dealing in bullion. Faithful to its statutes, it
has grown up into the finest establishment of this
kind in the world. It will be seen presently what
was done by the government to push on the ope-
rations of this bank with a speed which made it
prosperous in the carhcst days of its existence.

Pending these great operations for the improve-
ment of the internal administration, to which the
consular government, in concert with the legis-
lative body, sedulously applied itself, negotiations
with foreign powers, friendly or belligerent, were
carried on without interruption. The letter of the
first consul to the king of England wiis followed
by an immediate answer. The first consul had
written on the 2(ith December, the 6tii Nivoso ; ho

was answered on tlie 4th January, the 14th Ni-
vose : indeed, the i-esolution of the English cabinet
had been taken beforehand, and it had no neces-
sity for deliberation. England, in 1797> when her
finances were in a state of embaiTassment, and when
Austria had been compelled to sign the treaty
of Campo Formio, had been inclined to think of
treating, and sent Lord Malmesbury to Lille ; but
now that the income-tax had restored ease to her
exchequer, — now that Austria, placed again in a
state of war with us, had carried her arms to our
very frontiers, — now that England was strenuously
occupied in wresting from us our important positions
in Malta and Egypt, and in avenging the affront of
the Texel, — peace was but little to the taste of that
power. She had, besides, another reason for this
I'cfusal, which was, that war was suited to the
passions and the interests of Mr. Pitt. This illus-
trious head of the British cabinet had made a war
with France his object, his glory, and the basis of
his ])olitical existence. If peace were necessary,
possibly he must retire. lie brought to the con-
flict that firmness of character, which, united to his
talent as an orator, had made him a statesman,
powei'ful, though not enlightened. The answer
could not be a matter of doubt ; it was dis-
courteous, and in the negative. The English cabinet
did not do the first consul the honour of addressing
the answer directly to him, but keeping up the
custom, in most i-espects an excellent one, of com-
municating from minister to minister, they replied
in a note addressed by Lord Grenville to M. de
Talleyrand.

In this note, with some want of skill, the chagrin
was allowed to be seen which this challenge to
peace, not to war, addressed to England by the first
consul, had occasioned to Mr. Pitt. It contained a
recapitulation of the original causes of the war, eter-
nally reproduced, year after year. It imputed the
first aggression to the French republic ; reproached
it in violent terms for the ravages committed in
Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and Italy, making
especial mention of the rapine carried on by the
generals in the latter country; it added to this
charge that of a desire to overthrow the throne
and the altar every where ; and then, coming to
the last overtures of the French consul, the English
minister said that these feigned demonstrations of
pacific intentions were not the first of the same
kind, for that the different revolutionary govern-
ments, successively raised up and pulled down
within ten jears, had more than once made similar
l)roposals; that his majesty the king of Great Bri-
tain could not yet observe, in what was passing in
France, any change of princii)les capable of giving
.satisfaction and tranquillity to Europe ; that the
only change which could thoroughly re-assure it,
would be the restoration of the house of Bourbon,
since then only would social order appear to be no
I longer endangered; that, nevertheless, the re-esta-
I blishment of that family was not made an absolute
condition of peace with the republic of France; but
that until there were new symptoms more signifi-
cant and more satisfactory, England would continue
the contest, as well for her own safety as that of
her allies.

This discourteous note was disapproved of by sen-
sible men in all countries, and reflected little lionour
on Mr. Pitt, as showing him more in anger than

Fruitless correspondence be-
44 tween the first consul and THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.
Lord Grenville.

he was wise. It showed that many indeed are
the victories required by a new government before
it cau be respected; since, though the government
then existing had ah-eady won victories both nu-
merous and brilHant, it was evident that more
were still wanted. The first consul was not dis-
concerted, and in his desire to profit by the good
position which the moderation of his conduct gave
him in the eyes of the world, he prepared an an-
swer at once mild and firm, not in the form of a
letter to the king, but as a despatch addressed to
the minister of foreign affairs, Lord Grenville.
Recapitulating in a few words the first events of
the war, he proved, in very guarded language, that
the sole object of France in taking up arms had
been to resist an European conspiracy directed
agamst her safety ; granting the misfortunes which
the revolution had brought upon the whole world,
he insinuated, in a passing way, that those who had
persecuted the French republic with sucli eager
hate, might possibly reproach themselves de-
servedly with being the true causes of the vio-
lences so often deplored. " But," added he, " to
what good are these remembrances ? Behold, now,
a government disposed that war should cease.^
Shall this war have no end, because the one party
or the other was the aggressor ? and if it be not
to endure for ever, should we not put an end to
these incessant recriminations ? Surely there can
be no hope of obtaining from France the re-esta-
blishment of the Bourbons ; is it then suitable to
the purpose to throw out hints such as those which
have been allowed ? Nay, what would be said if
France in her communications were to call upon
England to re-establish on the throne that family
of the Stuarts, which only left it in the last cen-
tury ? But to pass over such irritating questions,"
added the note dictated by the first consul, " if you
deplore, as we do, the evils of war, let us agree to
a suspension of arms; let us fix a town, Dunkirk
for instance, or any other of your own choice,
where negotiations may be carried on; the French
government will place at the disposal of Great
Britain passports for the ministers she may uivest
with proper powei's."

The very calmness of this attitude produced the
usual effect which coolness has upon angry men.
It provoked a reply from Lord Grenville, more
angry, more bitter, and even worse in reason than
his first note. In this answer, the English mi-
nister, seeking to palliate the fault which he had
committed in speaking of the house of Bourbon,
responded, that it was not for that family the
war was carried on, but for the safety of all go-
vernments ; and he declared anew that hostilities
would be continued without relaxation. This last
communication bore the date of the 20th January
or 30th Nivose. Nothing more could be said. Bo-
naparte had done enough ; confiding in his glory,
he had not feared to ofi'er peace ; he had made the
offer with not much of hope, but in good faith;
and had gained by this step the double advantage
of unveiling to the eyes of France, as well as to
those of the English opposition, the unreasonable
passion of Mr. Pitt. Fortunate would it have been,
if at all times he had united with his power, so skil-
fully calculated, the same moderation of conduct.

The communications of Austria were more cour-
teous, but gave no greater hope of peace. This

power, convinced that the intentions of the first
consul, however pacific, would not go to the extent
of abandoning Italy in her favour, was resolved to
continue the war ; but, having some experience of
the conqueror of Castiglione and of Rivoli, and
knowing that with such an antagonist victory could
not altogether be considered a certainty, she was
desirous of not closing every path to ulterior nego-
tiation.

As if Austria and England had an understand-
ing about formalities, the answer of the emperor to
the first consul was by a despatch from M. de Thugut
to M. de Talleyrand, dated 15th January, 1800, or
25 Nivose. In substance it was the same as the
English notes. Both only made war, they said,
to guaranty Europe against a general overturn;
there was nothing they more desired than to see
France disposed towards peace : but what gua-
rantee could be given of this new disposition ? The
cabinet of Vienna admitted that there was hope,
under the first consul, of greater moderation at
home and abroad, more stability in purpose, and
greater fidelity to engagements entered into, and
that from these might m time i-esult the chance of
a solid and lasting peace. This happy change they
expected from his great talents; but without sajang
it in words, they gave him to understand that when
the change was completely brought about, it would
be time enough to negotiate.

Dealing with Austria as he had done with Eng-
land, the first consul did not let the matter rest
with this evasive exposition. Not discouraged by
the vagueness of the answer, he felt inclined to
put the cabinet of Vienna under the necessity of
explaining itself positively, and of either refusing
or accepting peace in a categorical manner. On
the 28th February, or 9th Vent6se, Talleyrand was
instructed to write to M. Thugut, and to ofi'er
him the adoption, as the basis of a negotiation, of
the treaty of Campo Formio. This treaty, he
observed, Avas an act of great moderation on
the part of Bonaparte towards the emperor of
Austria, since — when in 1797 he had it in his
power, from the menacing position of the French
army at the gate of Vienna, to require from that
prince great sacrifices— he had, in the hope of a
lasting peace, preferred moderate advantages to
those of a more extensive nature ; he had even,
added the French minister, incurred, by liis con-
duct to the imperial court, the blame of the direc-
tory. Lastly, M. de Talleyrand declared that the
house of Austria should receive in Italy the in-
demnification which, by the treaty of Campo For-
mio, had been promised to it in Germany.

To comprehend the bearing of these proposals
of the first consul, we must recal^ to mind that
the treaty of Campo Formio ceded to France,
Belgium and Luxemburgh ; to the Cisalpine Re-
public, Lombardy, Mantua, and the Legations ;
and that Austria received as an indemnification,
Venice and a great portion of the Venetian states.
As regards the line of the Rhine, embracing be-
tween Belgium and Luxemburgh the country com-
prised within the Meuse, the Moselle, and the
Rhine, — in a word, those we now call the Rhenish
Provinces, — Austria was to use her mediation to
have them ceded to France by the Germanic em-
pire. Austria, at the time, ceded, on her own
part, the countship of Falkenstein, lying between

Reply of Austria to the
first consul's proposals.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR. Further correspondence. 45

Lon-ain and Alsace, and engaged to open to the
French ti-oops the gates of Mayence, which she
occupied as a count of the empire. As a com-
pensation, Austria was to receive tlie bishopric of
Saltzburg, contiguous to Bavaria, as soon as the
ecclesiastical provmces were secularized. These
diflerent arrangements formed the subject of ne-
gotiations at the congress of Riistadt, which ter-
minated so tragically in 171)9, by the assassination
of the French plenipotentiaries. Such was the
treaty of Campo Forniio.

In offering this treaty as the basis of a new ne-
gotiation, the first consul did not surrender the
question of the frontier of the Rhine, as far as
concerned the Rhenish provinces : he only decided
the question of Belgium, which had been irre-
vocably conceded to France, while he left that
of the Rhenish Provinces to ulterior negotiation
with the empire ; and by offering in Italy the in-
demnification formerly stipulated for in Germany,
he insinuated that the success obtained in Italy by
Austria might be taken into consideration, and
place her in a more advantageous position in that
country. He added, that for the secondary powei-s
of Europe there should be stipulated a system of
guarantees, proper to re-establish in all its force that
law of nations on which the security and well-doing
of nations so essentially depend. This was an allu-
sion to the invasion of Switzerland, of Piedmont, of
Tuscany, the Papal States, and Naples, which had
afforded matter for a heavy charge against the
directory, and had been taken as the pretext for the
second coalition ; it was a sufficiently clear offer to
re-establish those states, and to give Europe an
assurance against the pretended usurpations of the
French republic. To such offers no addition could
be made ; and the necessity of peace for France
could have alone induced the first consul to make
them. Not to do things by halves, he addressed to
Austria, as well as to England, a formal proposal
for a suspension of arms, not only on the Rhine,
where such a suspension already existed, but also
on the Alps and the Apennines, where it was not
yet in being.

On tlie 24tli of March, the 3rd Germinal, M.
Thugut replied in tflrms, otherwise very moderate,
that the treaty of Campo Formio, which had been
violated a.s soon as concluded, did not comprise a
system of pacification, which could give assurance
to the belligerent parties ; that the true principle
adopted in all negotiations was to take as a basis
the position in wliich the success of their arms had
left each power, and this was the sole basis to
which Austria could agree. M. Thugut added, that
previous to going any further, he had to demand an
explanation relative to the form of the negotiation ;
that it behoved him to know if France were willing
to admit negotiations from all the states engaged
in the war, for the purpose of arriving at a general
peace, — tiie only peace which would be fair and
prudent, and to which alone Austria would accede.

This languag(! proved two things. Firstly, that
Austria, by wisiiing to Uikc as a starting-point
the actual position ', that is to say, the situation in
which the last campaign had left each power, fos-
tered great pretensions in regard to Italy. Secondly,
that she would not separate herself from England,

to whom treaties of subsidy ©losely bound her.
This fidelity to England was, on her part, a duty
made necessary by her position; and influenced,
as will be seen before long, the fate of the nego-
tiations and the war.

Such an answer, however civil its terms, left
little hope of an understanding, especially as it
made the conduct of a power disposed to listen to
some mention of peace, dependent on that of an-
other, i-esolved not to listen to any. Neverthe-
less, IBouaparte sent a new reply, in which, while
offering in Italy the compensation before stipu-
lated in Germany, he proposed implicitly to take
the starting-point of the treaty, not from the status
ante helium, but from the status jjost bellum; that
is to say, to take into account the success of Austria
in Italy. He further observed, that the overtures
he had made to England showed his desire for a
general peace ; that there was little to be hoped
from a negotiation common to all the belligerent
powers, since England would not hear of an accom-
modation; that he had admitted plainly and simply
the proposals of Austria ; that he waited, in con-
sequence, the fixing a place where they might
treat ; but that, as they wished to go on fighting,
it must be settled for some place beyond the theatre
of war.

Austria declared, that as such were the inten-
tions of the French cabinet, she must communi-
cate with her allies, but that, until she had consulted
them, it was impossible for her to name any place
positively. This was postponing the negotiations to
an indefinite period.

In making these overtures to England and Aus-
tria, the first consul never deceived himself as to
the result ; but he was inclined to try pacific steps,
firstly, because he had a desire for peace, regard-
ing it as necessary to the oi-ganization of his new
government ; secondly, because he judged such a
step would place him better in tlie public mind of
France and Europe.

His calculations were completely justified by
what passed in the parliament of England. Mr. Pitt,
by his brutaP manner of replying to the overtures
of France, had brought upon himself attacks the
most vehement, as well as justly gi-ounded. The
opposition of Fox and Sheridan had never felt a
nobler inspiration, never had shed such glory, or
more justly deserved the esteem of honourable
men in all countries.

There was, in fact, a great dearth of motives for
the continuance of the war; since England was then
in a position to obtain all she could reasonably desire.
She would certainly not have obtained the abandon-
ment of Egypt ; but as she, four months later, offered
to resign it altogether and leave us to do as we liked
with it, as the subsequent negotiations will pi'ove,
she might have con.sented to this at once, and at
that price have preserved her conquests, the Indies
included. She would thus have been spared the
immense danger to which her obstinacy after-
wards exposed her. It was therefore, at bottom,
nothing but the interest of the ministers which
induced the British cabinet to support the war with
such eagerness. The remonstrances of the opposi-
tion w(!re strong and unceasing. They demanded
and obtained the papers relating to the ncgotia-

= Urutale.

4G

Vehement debates in the
British parliament on

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. lUSf rac"' ''' '''"■

tiiins, and these led to the most violent debates.
The ministers maintained that it was not in their
power to negotiate with the French government,
since there could be no certainty in entering into a
treaty with it ; that it had drawn upon itself, by
its breach of faith, a war with the whole world,
Denmark and Sweden alone excepted, and that
even with the latter of these two countries its
relations were mucli impaired ; that peace with
such a government would be treacherous and fatal,
as evidenced in the Italian States; that, after having
been the aggressor against every sovereign in
Europe, it desired to dethrone them all, devoured
as it was by an incessant craving after destruction
and conquesr. ; that Bonaparte offered no more
guarantees than his predecessors ; that if the new
French government were no longer terrorist, it
was equally rev<dutionary, and that with the French
revolution neither truce nor peace could be hoped
for; and that if it could not be totally annihi-
lated, it might at least be so worn out, as to be-
come at last, from il.s weakness, no longer an ob-
ject of terror. In regard to the first consul the
English ministers, and especially lord Grenville,
made use of language the most outrageous; indeed
they spoke of iiim as tliey might of Robespierre.

Fox, Sheridan, Tierney, the duke of Bedford,
and Lord Holland, replied with much reason to all
these allegations, — " Do you ask who was the
aggressor ?" said they ; " of what importance is
that? You say France ; France says England.
Must we go on destroying each other until this
historical point is settled ? And what matters it
who was tlie aggressor, if he, whom you call so,
offers first to lay down his arms? You say it
is impossible to treat with the French govern-
ment ; you sent, yourselves, Lord Malmesbury to
Lille, to treat with the directory ! Prussia and
Spain have had treaties witii the French republic,
and make no complaint of it. You talk of the
crimes of this government ; but your ally, the
court of Naides, commits crimes which are more
atrocious than those of the convention, while it has
not the excuse of popular fury. You talk of am-
bition ; but Russia, Prussia, and Austria have
shared Poland amongst them, and Austria is
aiming to reconquer Italy, without restoring their
states to the princes whom France has disjws-
sessed of them; for yourselves, — you have made
yourselves masters of India, of a ])art of the colo-
nies of Spain, and of all the Dutch colonies. Who
will have the audacity to proclaim himself more
disinterested tlian the rc.it in the struggle of
anger and greediness, in which all the states are
engaged? Either you will never treat with the
French republic, or you will never find a nioment
more favouralile than the present, since a man of
power and authority h.is tikrii the reins of govern-
ment, and seems disjiosc.l to use it with justice
and moderation. Is it worthy of the English go-
vernment to heap abuse on an illustrious personage,
the head of one of the first nations of the world,
and who, at least, is a great soldier, whatever may
be the vices or virtues wliich time may bring to
light in him ? Unless we are prepared to say that
we will exhaust Great Britain, her blood, her
treasures, her most precious resources, in re-
establishing the house of Bourbon, it will not be
easy to assign a good reason for refusing to treat

at this time." To arguments so pressing and so
true there was no replying. Mr. Tierney, taking
advantage of the fatdt committed by the English
minister, in speaking, in his note, of the re-
establishment of the house of Bourbon, tnade a
special motion against that family. He proposed
the adoption of a formal resolution, declaring that
the cause of England was distinct from that of the
Bourbons, — a family so fatal to the two countries,
" to Great Britain," exclaimed he, " as well as to
France." "I have heard," he continued, "many
partisans of the administration of Mr. Pitt say,
that as the French govei-nment had not proposed a
joint negotiation, there was good reason for re-
fusing to negotiate separately, as it would weaken
us, by alienating our allies ; but I have not
seen the man who has not severely blaVned thus
fixing the termination of the war at the date
of the re-establishment of the Bourbons on the
thnme ! " It is true, as ]\Ir. Tierney said, that
every one blamed this error; and that the cabinet
of Vienna, less actuated by passion than that of
Great Britain, took care not to follow its example.
The English ministers replied, that they had never
proposed this condition as one absolute and indis-
pensable; but they were met with the rejoinder,
that the very mention of it was a sufficient viola-
tion of the rights of nations, and an outrage on
their freedom. " And what would you say," ex-
claimed Mr. Tierney, repeating here the argu-
ment of the French cabinet, " what would you
say, if general Bonaparte, in an hour of victory,
were to declare to you, that he would not treat but
with the Stuarts? Moreover,'' added he, "is it
from gratitude to the house of Bourbon that you
are thus prodigal of our blood and treasures ? Do
you remember the American war ? Or rather, is it
for the principle which that house represents ? Are
you then about to let loose against yourselves those
passions which raised up all France against the
Bourbons? Are you about to have upon your
hands all those who desire no more nobles, who
wish for no more tithes nor feudal rights; all
those who have purchased national property ; all
those who for ten year.s have borne arms for the
French revolution? Do you then wish to drain
France of her blood to the very last drop, before
you think of ])eace ? I make a formal motion,"'
said Mr. Tierney, in conclusion, " that England do
sei)arate her cause from that of the house of
Bourbqn/'

On another motion, the celebrated Sheridan,
always the boldest and most sarcastic of orators,
turned the debate on a very tender point for the
British cabinet, the expedition to Holland, at the
close of which the English and Russians, after a
defeat by general Brune, had been reduced to
capitulate.

" It would seem," said Siieridan, " that our go-
vernment, if it cannot conclude treaties of peace
with the French republic, can at any rate conclude
capitulations. I ask it to explain to us the motives
of that which it has signed for the evacuation of
Holland." Mr. Dimdas, thus called upon, assigned
three reasons for the expedition to Ilolhind. The
first, to detach the united provinces from France ;
the second, to diminish the maritime rescuirces of
France and to increase those of England, by taking
the Dutch fleet ; the third, to create a diversion

Sheridan's speech. —
Pitt obtains ample
■ sujiplies.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

France and Prussia.

47

which might be useful to the allies ; and he added,
that the British cabinet had succeeded in two
objects out of three, as it had taken the fleet, and
had contributed to tlie gaining the battle of Novi,
by drawing upon Holland the forces destined for
Italy. The minister had scai-cely ended, when
Sheridan, rushinj; to the attack, retorted with un-
equalled point, *• Yes, you have listened to the ac-
counts of emigrants, and you risked on the conti-
nent an Engli.-^h army to cover it with disgrace ;
you wished to detach Holland from France, and
you have attached it just so much the more, by
filling the whole country with indignation at your
iniquitous robbery of its fleet and its colonies. You
have seized, as you say, the Dutch fleet, but by
what unheard of, by what odious proceedings ? by
exciting their crews to revolt, and jjresenting the
most terrible of all spectacles, that of sailors in
mutiny against their officers, in violation of that
discipline which cimstitutes the strength of naval
l)Ower and the gi'eatness of our own nation. You
liave carried off this fleet, to the disgrace of the
name of Britain ; not for England, but in any
case for the stiidtholder ; fur you were obliged to
declare it was for him, and not for England.
Lastly, you rendered a service to the Austrian army
in Italy. It may be so; but do you, the minis-
tei-s of the king of Great Britain, boast of having
saved an Austrian army by giving up an English
army to shiughter ?"

These attacks, however virulent, did not prevent
Pitt from olitaining immense financial resources,
about 1100,000,000 f.', or nearly double the budget
of France at that period; with an authorization fur
subsidizing Austria and the states of the south
of Germany ; important additions to the income-
tix, which already produced 180,000,000 f.^ a
year ; a new suspension of the habeas corpus
act ; and, lastly, the grand measure of a union
with Ireland. But the public mind of Eng-
land was deeply excited by so much reason and
elo(|uence. All reasoning men throughout Europe
were struck with the wrong done towards France ;
and victory ere long siding with justice, Pitt
was destined to ex])iate, by cruel humiliations,
the haughtiness of his ])olicy towards the flrst
consul. Meanwhile Pitt had to furnish the coali-
tion with means for a new camjiaign, — the last
campaign, it is true, for all the parties were
exhausted ; but the more fiercely fought, for the
very reason that it was the last.

In this grave conjuncture, the first consul was
desirous of making a.s much u.sc of the court of
Prussia as was to be expected at the moment. It
was not in the power of this court, in the face of
such powei-fid adversaries, to bring about a peace,
unletsH through an anncd intervention ; a i)art not
impoKsibIc for it to play, but at present unsuited
to the views of the young king, who applied himself
to recruiting his treasury and his army, while all
the nations around him were exhausting themselves.
This prince had already sounded the belligerent
powers, antl, as he found them so out of reason,
had given up all idea of interposing between them.
The Prussian cabinet itsilf, moreover, had its own
interested views. It had a great desire to see
Austria weakened by France, and that she should

' £«4,000,000. ' £7,500,000.

exhaust herself in the long struggle ; it also
wished that France should renounce a ])art of the
frontier of the Rhine, and that, contenting lierself
with Belgium and the Luxemburgh on that side, she
should not require the Rhenish provinces. Prussia
strongly pressed this advice upon the first consul,
dropping a hint, that France and Prussia would
agree the better for not being too close to each
other ; and that the caMnets of Europe, feeling
re-assured by this moderation, would be the more
inclined towards peace. But though the first con-
sul was very reserved in explaining his intentions
on this point, there was at the bottom but little
hope of inclining him to such a sacrifice ; and the
Prussian cabinet could not sec, in all this, a peace
which would satisfy it for meddling too much in
the question. It continued, therefore, to give a
quantity of advice, clothed in a dogmatic style,
yet in a very friendly manner ; but it did nothing.

But still this cabinet might be useful in main-
taining the neutrality of the north of Germany,
in obttiining the association of as great a number
pos.sible of the German princes iii that neutrality ;
lastly, in entirely detaching the emperor Paul from
the coalition. As far as this, it acted with zeal,
es[)ecially as its own wish was to preserve and
aggrandize the neutrality of northern Germany;
and, above all, bring over Russia to this system.
Paul, who carried every feeling to excess, grew
more irritated every day against Austria and
England ; he declared loudly that he would compel
Austria to replace the Italian princes on their
thrones in Italy, which she had reconquered with
the arms of Russia ; and oblige England to replace
the order of Malta on that island fortress, of which
she was just about to make herself master : he
showed a remarkable affection for this ancient
order, and caused himself to be made grand mas-
ter. He blamed the manner in which the over-
tures of the first consul had been received in Vienna
and London ; and in his despatches to Prussia,
now grown confidential, he allowed it to be seen
that he wished similar overtures had been ad-
dressed to himself. The first con.5ul, in fact, had
not ventured to do so, from distrust of the conse-
quences with such a character as the czar. Prus-
sia, advised of all these particulars, gave informa-
tion to the French cabinet, which made advan-
tageous use of them.

Before opening the campaign, as the season for
military operations was approaching, the first con-
sul sent for M. de Sandon, the minister of Prussia,
and had with him, on the 5th March, or I4th Ven-
tose, a positive and complete cxi)lanation. After
recapitulating at length all that he had done to
re-establish peace, and the discourtesy and in-
vincible obstacles thai had been brought to hoar
against him, he stated in their full extent his
military preparations, and, without disclosing the
secret of his profound omibinations, lie suHcred
the Prussitin minister to obtain an insight into the
greatness of the resources yet remaining to France.
The fii-st consul iilso told M.de Sandon that he had
full confidence in Prussia, and ex|)ccted it to nitike
new cttiirls to reconcile the belligerent powers, while
they should be engaged in fighting ; that in default
of a general peace, of which there was little pro-
bability before a new campaign, he hoped for two
services from King Frederic- William, — the re-

^"/nnTrn'Jf ""'""" ^'*''"' THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Affairs of La Vendee.

conciliation of the republic with Paul I., and an
effort made in regard to the elector of Bavaria
to break away that prince from the coaUtion.
" Bring about an accommodation between us and
Paul," said Bonaparte ; " decide, at the same time,
the elector of Bavaria to refuse his soldiers and
liis territory to the coalition, and you will render
us two services which we will not forget. If the
elector accede to our proposals, you may promise
him that all the consideration he desires shall be
shown him during the war, and the best treatment
at the peace."

Tlie first consul now laid before the Prussian
envoy his ulterior views. He told him that as the
treaty of Campo Formio was offered as the basis of
future negotiation, the Rhenish frontier would
afterwards form a question for a treaty with the
empire ; and that the independence of Holland, of
Switzerland, and of the Italian states, should be
formally guarantied. Without entering into ex-
planations as to the point where the Rhine would
cease to be the French frontier, he only said, that
no person could imagine that France would require
less than as far up as Mayence ; but that down from
Mayence, the Moselle or the Meuse might possibly
serve her as a boundary. Belgium and Luxem-
burg]! he considered as beyond all question. He
added, in conclusion, that if Pi-ussia rendered
France the services which she was in a position
to render, he would pledge himself that the cabinet
of Berlin should exei'cise a considerable influence
in the negotiations for peace. This, in fact, was
the point which Prussia held most in regard, as
she was desirous of taking a part in any such ne-
gotiations, for the purpose of having the German
frontiers defined in the manner which best agreed
with her own views.

A communication, so frank and well-timed, liad
the best effect at Berlin. The king replied, that as
respected the emperor Paul, he had already em-
ployed his good offices, and would do so still to
reconcile him to France ; that as regai-ded Ba-
varia, surrounded as it was on every side by Aus-
tria, he could do nothing ; but that if the emperor
Paul should declare himself, it might be possible,
with the double assistance of Prussia and Russia,
to withdraw the elector from the coalition.

After these prudently concerted ste])S, there
remained nothing but to commence hostilities with
all possible promptitude. However, as the season
for them had not yet arrived, and was likely to
be later than usual, since France had to re-organ-
ize her armies, in part disbanded, and Austria to
fill up the chasm left by Russia, in the ranks of the
coalition, the first consul thought the time had
arrived when the war in La Vendue was to be
finished : in order, firstly, to put an end to the
odious spectacle of a civil war; secondly, to render
disposable, and transport upon the Rhine and the
Alps, those excellent troops which La Vendfe de-
tained in the interior of the republic.

The intimations which he had caused to be ad-
addressed to the insurgent provinces, concurrently
with his overtures for peace to the foreign powers,
had produced amongst them a very great effect,
supported as they were by an imposing force of
nearly sixty thousand men brought together from
Holland, from the interior, and from Paris itself.
The fii-at consul ventured so far as to leave Paris,

which at that moment was crowded by the refuse
of all the factions, with a garrison of two thousand
three hundred men ; and he even went to the ex-
tent of making this fact public. As an answer to
the EngHsh ministers, who pretended that the con-
sular government was not more stable than those
which preceded it, he caused a comparative state-
ment of the forces in London and Paris to be
printed, the result of which showed that London
was guarded by fourteen thousand six hundred
men, Paris by two thousand three hiuidred, — a
number scarcely sufficient to furnish the guards,
which for merely police purposes are stationed at
the great public establishments, and the residences
of the chief officers of the state. It could be plainly
seen that in Paris the name of Bonaparte was suf-
ficient guard.

But however this was, the insurgent provinces
found themselves on a sudden sui'rounded by a for-
midable army, and placed between the option of a
peace immediate and generous, or a war of exter-
mination. In such a choice there could be no
delaj'. D'Andigne' and Hyde de Neuville, after
an interview Avith the first consul, had entirely
got rid of their illusions, and no longer believed
that he had any inclination to restore the Bom'-
bons, or supposed any more that they could con-
quer such a man. Hyde de Neuville, who had been
commissioned by the Count d'Artois to give an
opinion on the state of affaii's, decided on return-
ing to Loudon ; not that he wished to abandon the
cause of the Bourbons, but that he saw the impos-
sibility of continuing the war. He left his advice
with the chiefs to do what the necessity of time or
place might urge them. D'Andign^ returned to
La Vende'e, to report what he had seen.

The duration of the cessation of arms was on the
pouit of expiring, and it became incumbent on the
royalist chiefs either to sign a definitive peace, or
at once to enter upon a war to the death, against a
formidable army. In 1793, in the first enthusiasm
of the insui'rection, they had not been able to
conquer sixteen thousand men of the garrison of
Mayence, nor had they obtained any results save
those of engaging in combats, cex'tainly heroic, but
bloody, only to succumb at last. What, then, could
they effect at this period against sixty thousand of
the first troops in Europe, one-half of whom had
sufficed to drive the Russians and the English
into the sea ? Clearly nothing ; and this opinion
was general in the insurgent jn-ovinces, or in any
case, more or less, in each of them. On the left
bank of the Loire, between Saumur, Nantes, and
Sables, — in a word, in old La Vendue, — they felt
wearied of the war, from the exhaustion of men
and means; while they regarded as a folly, its
right value, the late taking up arms, which never
would have happened but for the weakness and
severity of the directory. On the right bank,
about Mans, which had been the theatre of a
desperate struggle, these sentiments predominated.
In Lower Normandy, where the insurrection was
of recent date, and where de Frotte', a young chief,
active, subtle, and ambitious, was the leader of
the royalists, they showed more disposition to con-
tinue the war. This was the case also in Mor-
bihan, where the distance from Paris, the vicinity
of the sea, and the nature of the country, gave
them greater resources, and where Georges Ca-

1800.
Jan.

State of opinion in La
Vendee.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

The abbe Bemier, cure of
Saint-Laud. — The peace 49
of Montfaucon.

doudal, a chief of a ferocious and indomitable
enerfry, kept up their courage. In these two last
countries a very frequent communication with the
English conti'ibuted to render their resistance more
obstinate.

From one end of La Vende'e and Britany to the
other, they were discussing what part they should
take. The emigrants in the pay of England, whose
devotion consisted in continually coming and going,
and who had not to suffer all "the consequences of
the insurrection, wei-e in angry dispute with the
people of the country, on whom the burden of the
civil war fell without relief. The former contended
that the struggle must be continued ; the latter, on
the contrary, that it must be brought to a close.
These representatives of an interest rather English
than royalist, declared that the consular govern-
ment would come to an end like all the other
revolutionai-y governments after some days of
imposing appearance ; that it would fail from the
disorder of the funds and the administration ; that
detachments of the Russian and English armies
would be sent to La Vende'e to give a helping hand
to the French royalists ; that it only required a
few days' patience to reap the fruits of eight years'
labour and fighting ; and that by holding out they
would probably have the honour of conducting the
Bourbons in victory to Paris. The insurgents,
men who did not go habitually to seek refuge in
London and live there upon English pay, who re-
mained in the country with their peasantry, who
beheld their lands ravaged, their houses bui-nt,
their wives and children exposed to famine and
hunger, — these said that Bonaparte had never
yet failed in what he had undertaken ; that at
Paris, in place of thinking that all was going to
pieces, they believed all was i-eorganizing under
the fortunate hand of the new chief of the re-
public, the consul Bonaparte ; that this republic,
which was said to be exhausted, had just sent them
an army of 00,000 men ; that the Russians and the
English, of whom there was so much boasting, had
just laid down their arms before the half of this very
army; that it was easy for the emigrants in London
to lay down fine plans, and talk of devotion and of
constancy, when tiiey were far from the country,
from events and their consequences ; that on this
account they should use some restraint in what
they said before men, who, for eight years, had en-
dured alone tiie ills of civil war in all their horrors.
Amongst the worn-out royalists, there were some
who went bo far as to insinuate, that Bona-
parte, in his inclination towards the good cause,
would, after 1;(; had re-established peace, put
an end to jicrswution, and restored their altiirs,
raise up the throne again. They repeated these
fabulous tales, which after the interviews of
Andignc; and Hyde de Neuville with the first con-
sul no lon;;er fcjund admission amongst the prin-
cipal royalist.s, but wliich still had some credit in
the lower ranks of the insurgent populace, and
contributed to draw them towards the government.

There lived in the heart of old La Vendue, a
simple priest, the abbe Bemier, cure of Saint-
Laud, destined ere long to tiikc a part in the affairs
of tlie repul)lic and the emjiire. The abb<;, from
his great intelligence and natural capacity, had ac-
quired a powerful influence over the royalist chiefs.
From attentive observation of that protracted in-

sun-ection, which had resulted only in calamities,
he regarded the cause of the Bourbons as lost, for
a time at least, and was of opinion that out of the
general confusion of the French revolution, nothing
more could be saved than the ancient altar of
Christianity. Feeling clear on this point from the
acts of the first consul and frequent communica-
tions with general H^douville ; he no longer
hesitated, but calculated that by submission they
would obtain peace, an end to their persecutions,
and toleration at least, if not protection, for public
worship. He advised, therefore, all the chiefs on
the left bank to submit, and he silenced by his in-
fluence the harangues of those who came back-
wards and forwards between London and La
Vende'e. A meeting took place at Montfaucon, at
which in a council of the officere the abbe Bemier
decided M. D'Autichamp, a gentleman young
and full of bravery, but open to conviction from
superior minds, to lay down his arms on the part
of the province. The capitulation was signed on
the 18th January, or the 28th Nivosc. The republic
promised an entire amnesty, respect for religious
worship, an abandonment of taxation on the ravaged
provinces for some years, and that the names of
the chiefs should be ei-ased from the list of pro-
scriptions ; the royalists on their part undertook
for a complete submission, and an immediate sur-
render of their arms.

On the same day, the 1 8th January, the abbe
Bernier wrote to general He'douville : " Your wishes
and mine are accomplished. At two o'clock this
day the peace has been accepted at Montfaucon
with thankful acknowledgment by all the chiefs
and officers of the left bank of the Loii-e. The
right bank without doubt will follow this example ;
and the olive of peace will replace on both sides of
the Loire the mournful cypress, planted there by
war. I charge MM. de Baurollier, Duboucher,
and Renou, with the bringing to you these happy
tidings, and recommend them to the kindness of
youi-self and of the government. Falsely inscribed
on the fatal list of 1793, they have seen themselves
despoiled of all their property. They make this
sacrifice to the necessity of circumstances, and are
not the less desirous of peace. This peace is your
work : maintain it then, general, by justice and
good deeds ; your gloi-y and your happiness are
combined with it. I will do all in my power to
carry out your excellent views ; prudence com-
mands it, humanity wills it : my heart is with the
country in which 1 dwell, and its happiness is the
first of my wishes. Bermek."

This example produced its effect. Two days
afterwards, the insurgents on the right bank, who
were commanded by an old and brave gentleman,
M. de Chatillon, and disgusted, like him, with
serving England more than the cause of royalisni,
suiTendcred. All of the old La Vendue was thus
in a state of peace. The joy was extreme, whether
in the country places where royalism reigned, or
in the towns where reigned, on the other hand,
the spirit of the revolution. In many towns, such
as Nantes and Angers, the royalist chiefs, bearing
the tricolor cockade, were received in triumph,
and feasted as brothers. On all sides they began to
give up their arms, and to submit in good faith,
under the influence of an opinion, which was gra-
dually becoming general, that the war, without
K

The war still carried on
"O in Britany.

Surrender of Georges Ca-
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. doudal. - Arrest and

death of M. de Frotte.

1800.
Feb.

bringing back the Bourbons, would have no other
end than bloodshed, and the ravaging of the coun-
try, while submission, on the contrary, would
procure for them repose, security, and the re-
establishment of their religion, which, beyond all
other things, they desired.

The oljstacles to pacification were greater in
Britany and Normandy. In these places the
war, as we lately observed, was more recent, and
had less exhausted their courage ; moreover, in
these parts, it brought with it certain infamous
emoluments, while in La Vende'e it produced
nothing but suffering. The Chouans, a set of
scoundrels whom insurrection had accustomed to
robbery, and who knew no other method of getting
a living, had all of them taken refuge in the centre
of Britany, and towards Normandy. These men
always made war on the tax-gatherer's chest, on
the diligences, or on those who had possessed
themselves of the national domains, and were in
communication with a party of bad characters at
Paris, receiving from them intelligence which
served to guide them in their expeditions. In
Morbihan, lastly, where the insurrection had the
most obstinate hold, Georges, the only implacable
chief of the Vendeans, received money and supplies
from the English, which seconded his resistance,
and he was thus little disposed to submission.

But preparations were made to crush the chiefs
who still held out. On the 24th of January or 1st
Pluviose, general Chabot broke the suspension of
arms, and marched upon the bands in the centre
of Britany, under the command of Bouriiiont
and De la Prevalaye. Near the comnmne of Me'-
lay he came up with Bourmont, who, at the head
of a thousand Chouans, defended himself vigorously,
but was nevertheless compelled to give way to
the republican soldiers, accustomed to cimquer
far different troops to peasantry. He himself
escaped with great difficulty, after incurring the
greatest danger ; and being soon after obliged to
acknowledge that he could do no more for his
cause, he gave up his arms on the 24th of January
or 4th Pluviose.

General Chabot next marched upon Rennes, on
his way thence to the extremity of Britany, where
General Brune was concentrating a great force.
On the 25th January or 5th Pluviose, a number of
columns, despatched from Vannes, D'Auray, and
D'Elven, under generals Harty and Gency, met
with the bands of Georges at Grandehamp. The
two republican generals were escorting to Vannes
convoys of grain and cattle, raised in the insurgent
country ; and the Chouans, while endeavouring to
retake these convoys, were surrounded by the co-
lumns of the escort, who, in spite of their vigorous
resistance, slew four hundred men and many of
the chiefs, putting them completely to the rout.
Two days after, on the 27th, a very smart engage-
ment at Hennebon caused the slaughter of three
hundred Chouans, and served completely to destroy
all the hopes of the insurgents. Off the coast were
lying an English eighty-gun ship and some frigates,
which could see how chimericiil were all those
hopes with which the British government had been
deluded. As far as this, both parties had mutually
cheated each other ; the British government in
promising another new expedition like that to Hol-
land, the Bretons in announcing a general rising.

The royalists, so recently landed, had much trouble
in getting back to the English squadron in a small
vessel, where they met with the reception of emi-
grants who have promised much and performed
little. Georges found himself reduced to lay down
his arms, and delivered up twenty thousand mus-
kets and twenty pieces of artillery, which he had
just received from the English.

In Lower Normandy, De Frotte, a young chief
strongly devoted to his cause, had been, like
Georges, very resolute in continuing the war. He
was followed uj) by generals Gardanne and Cham-
barlhac, with detachments from the garrison at
Paris. Many sharp engagements took place be-
tween them on different points. On tlie 25th Ja-
nuary, or the 5th Pluviose, general Gardanne came
up with De Frottd at the forges of Coss^, near De
la Motte-Fouquet, and destroyed great part of his
force. On the 26tli or 6th Pluviose, one of the
chiefs, named Duboisgny, was attacked at his
chateau of Duboisgny, near Fougeres, and sus-
tained, like De Frotte', a considerable loss. Lastly,
on the 27th, or the 7th Pluviose, general Cham-
barlhac, in the environs of Saint Christophe, nol
far from Alen9on, surrounded some companies of
Chouans, and put them to the sword.

De Frottd saw, like the others, but unfortu-
nately too late, that all resistance v,:;s vain against
the numerous columns which were thrown upon
the country, and thought it time to surrender. He
wrote to general Hedouville to ask for peace, and
proposed, while awaiting an answer, a suspension
of arms to general Chambarlhac. This officer
replied, that as he had no power to treat, he would
apply to the government for them, but that he
could not take upon himself to suspend hostilities
in the interval, unless De Frotte' would consent
immediately to deliver up the arms of his troops.
This was exactly what De Frottd most dreaded.
He readily consented to submit, and to sign a pacifi-
cation for the moment, but on condition of remaining
armed, so as to seize without delay the first favour-
able occasion for recommencing the war. He even
wrote to his lieutenants letters, in which, Avhile
enjoining them to surrender, he advised them to
keep their muskets. In the mean while, irritated
liy the obstinacy of De Frotte', the first consul
had given orders that no quarter should be shown
him, and that an example should be made in his
person. De Frotte, luieasy at not receiving an
answer to his proposals, was desix'ous of placing
himself in conniuinication with general Guidal,
who was in command of the department of the
Orne ; and, while seeking an interview with him,
was arrested with six of his companions. The
letters found upon him, containing the order to his
officers to surrender but to preserve their arms,
sufficed for a charge of treason. He was con-
ducted to Verneuil, and handed over to a military
commission.

When the news of his arrest reached Paris, a
crowd of intercessors surrounded the first consul,
and obtained from him a suspension of the pro-
ceedings, which was equivalent to a pardon. But
the courier who earned the order of the govern-
ment, arrived too late : for, as the constitution
was suspended in the insurgent departments, De
Frottd had been tried summarily, and by the time
the order to suspend the proceedings had arrived.

1800.
Feb.

End of the civil war.

The cliiefs' interview

with Bonaparte.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Close of the session ot th»
year vni.

this young chief had already suffered the penalty of
his obstinacy. The duplicity of his conduct, how-
ever clearly proved, nevertheless is not sufHciently
culpable to prevent our deeply regretting such an
execution, — the only one, it must be stated, which
stained with blood that fortunate termination of
the civil war.

By this time the departments of the west were
entirely pacified. The prudence of general H^-
duuville, the vigour and promptitude of the means
employed, the exhausted condition of the insur-
gents, the mixture of confidence and fear which
the first consul inspired, ettected this rapid pacifi-
cation. It was brought to a perfect termination
by the end of February 1800 or 1st Ventose. The
disarming was complete ; there remained only
highway robbers, whom justice, active, and without
mercy, would quickly overtake. The troops wlio
had been employed in the west, began their march
towards Paris, to take their part in the great
designs of the first consul.

The constitution, which had been suspended in
four departments, the Loire- Inf^rieure, the Ille-et-
Vilaine, Morbihan, and the C6tes-du-Nord, was
again put in force ; and the majority of the chiefs,
who had just laid down their arms, were, in suc-
cession, induced to visit Paris, and report them-
selves to the first consul. He well knew that
it was not enough to pluck arms from their hands,
but that he must make himself master of minds so
enthusiastic, and direct them towards some noble
object. He desired to carry these royalist chiefs
along with him, in the extensive career at that
moment opened to all Frenchmen ; to lead them to
fortune, and to glory, by that path of danger which
they were accustomed to tread. He invited them
to an interview. His renown, which made all,
who had an opportunity, desirous of approaching
him, and his beneficence, so celebrated at that
time throughout La Vendee, which they had to
invoke in favour of many victims of the civil war,
were honourable motives for the royalist chiefs to
pay him this visit. The first consul graciously
received, first, the Abbe Bernier, next Bour-
mont, D'Autichamp, and Chatillon, and, lastly,
Georges Cadoudal himself. He paid marked at-
tentiini to the Abb^ Bernier, and determined to
attach him to him.self, and employ him in difficult
affairs connected with the church. He held fre-
•liient conversations with the military chiefs, whom
his lofty language affected, and some of them he
decided to serve in the armies of Franco. He suc-
ceeded even in gaining the heart of Chatillon,
who i*etired from public life, took to himself a
wife, and became the ordinary and successful
mediator for iiis fellow-citir.ens, whenever they
had any act of justice or humanity to solicit from
the first consul. Thus it is by gloi-y, clemency, and
beneficence, that men must put an end to revo-
lutions.

Georges alono bore up against this high influence.
When he was conducted to the Tuileries, the aid-
dc-canip, who had to introduce him, conceived
such alarm at liis looks, tlut In; would not close
the door of the first consul's cabinet, and went in
every now and then to steal a glance at what was
|):isiing. The intcrvic^w was a long ntw. The consul
IJoiiaparte tried vainly on the ears of Gi-orges
Cadoudal the words " coimtry " and " glory ;" in

vain he essayed even the bait of ambition on the
heart of this savage soldier of the civil war; he
made no impression, and felt himself convinced
that he had not, when he looked on the counte-
jiance of him whom ho addressed. On quitting
him, Georges departed for England with Hyde de
Ncuville, and often, while i-ecounting this inter-
view to his travelling companion, he held out his
vigorous arms, exclaiming, " What a blunder I
made in not strangling the fellow vithin these
arms !"

This prompt pacification of La Vendue produced
a great ettVct on the public mind. Certain of the
evil-disposed, who did not wish to explain it by
natural causes, the energetic physical means em-
ployed, the prudence of the policy, and, above all,
the influence of the great name of the fix'st consul,
pretended that there was a secret connexion with
the Vendeans, in which a promise was given them
of some important satisfaction. They did not say
pla'nly, but insinuated, that there might possi-
bly be something, even more than a restoration of
the principle of the old regime, than even of the
Bourbons themselves. These ridiculous fables were
spread about by the newsmongers of the revolu-
ti(mary party. But men of sense, with a better ap-
preciation of the acts of ^onaparte, said that no
man would do such great deeds for another to
reaj) the fruits; and expressed their belief, that if
his labours were not solely for France, they were
at least for himself, and not for the Bourbons.
For the rest, the pacification of La Vende'e was,
in the eyes of all, a very fortunate event, as pre-
saging that peace, the most important and difficult
— a peroe with Europe.

Before opening the campaign of this year the
consul, in his haste to close the session of the
legislative body, pressed on the passing of the
numerous bills which iiad been introduced. Some
of the members of the tribunate complained of the
rapidity with which they were called upon to dis-
cuss and vote. " We are," said the tribune Sedil-
lez, a man of impartiality and moderation — " we
are carried along in a whirlwind of hurry, which
moves rapidly in the direction of our wishes. Is it
not better to yield to the impetuosity of this move-
ment, than to I'isk impeding its progress ? We can
next examine with more mature deliberation the
bills presented to us, and correct them where it
may be necessary." In fact, all went I'apidly on,
as the first consul wished. The laws wei-e pnt
into operation as soon as passed ; the functionaries
a])]iointed repaired to their posts. The new pre-
fects entered on their charge, and the administra-
tion assumed, in every part, a unison of action and
an activity Jiithcrto unseen. The taxes in arrears
came into the treasury, since the completion of
the assessment enabled the collectors to call ujion
the tax-i)ayers with a legal right. Every day
some new measure gave clearer evidence of the
direction of the government ])olicy. A second list
of the ])r()scribed obtained the benefit of a recall.
A groat number of writers who figured on this list.
Do Fontanes, Do la Ilarpo, Suard, Sicard, Mi-
chaud, and I'iiivtJe, were either recalled from their
exile, or authorized to come forth from their re-
treats. The meiuLei's of the constituent asscinlily,
known for having voted the abolition of feudal
rights, were exempted from all the severities which

Carnot becomes minister of

52 war.-Last opposition in THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

the tribunate.

Regulations regarding 1800.
the periodical press. March,

had been inflicted on tliera by the convention :ind
the dii'ectory. A famous prescript of the 18th
Fructidor, Barth^lemy, tlie ex-director, who nego-
tiated and signed the first treaty of peace for the
repubhc, was named a senator at the instance of
the consuls ; and, lastly, another of the proscribed
of the same date, Carnot, but recently brought
back from exile, and appointed inspector of re-
views, was called to the office of minister of war,
in place of general Berthier, then on the point of
departing to take the command of one of the
armies of the republic. The name of Carnot was,
at that day, one of great military reputation, to
which attached the recollection of the victories
under the convention in 1793 ; and while the name
of general Bonaparte was sufficient alone to make
the coalition tremble, the addition to it of that of
Carnot produced, in truth, a remarkable sensation
in the foreign staffs.

As the session was tending to ite close, the op-
position in the tribunate made a last effort, which
created some excitement, though defeated by a
large majority. The legislative body sat for four
months only, but no term had been assigned to the
sittings of the tribunate. The latter might thus
assemble, though the vacation of the legislative
body left it without business. It was proposed
that it should make some employment for itself
out of the petitions, which it was alone empowered
to receive, and the expression of its wishes on
matters of public interest, for which it had au-
thority. Benjamin Constant moved that the
petitions should be handed over to separate com-
mittees, that they should be kept constantly at
work, and should contrive by this means, not only
a discussion of all the acts of the government (a
thing in itself legitimate), but their permanent dis-
cussion through the twelve months of the year.
All that was really important in this proposition
was negatived. It was decided that the tribunate
should meet once a fortnight to receive petitions,
and that tliis should be done through a bureau of
the assembly, composed of a president and secre-
taries. Reduced within these limits, the propo-
sition no longer gave occasion for uneasiness.

Saving this last effort, the end of the session was
perfectly peaceable, even in the tribunate. So
large had been the majority in favour of the go-
vernment, that it required some touchiness to be
displeased with an opposition not numbering more
than twenty membei-s. Tlie first consul, though
little disposed to put up with it, determined to
make no account of it ; and thus this first session
of the year viii. by no means coi-rcsponded with
the fears to which certain propagators of bad news
affected to give utterance. If, at a latter period,
matters had remained in this state, people would
have accommodated themselves to this last sem-
blance of a deliberative assembly, and it would
have been supported equally by that alarmed gene-
ration, and the chief whom it had chosen.

A sliort time before the closing of the session, the
first consul adopted a measure in regard to the
periodical press, wliich at present would be little
else than an impossible phenomenon, but which, at
that time, from the silence of the constitution, was
a measure perfectly legal, and, from the spirit of
the time, was almost insignificant. The constitu-
tion, in fact, said nothing of the press. It may

seem surprising that so important a point of hberty
as that of writing was not even specially men-
tioned in the fundamental laws of the state ; but at
that time the tribune, as well of the assemblies as
of the clubs, was, owing to the passions of the
revolution, the favourite means of publishing opi-
nion ; and there had been so much use made of
the right of speaking, that there was no thought of
that of writing. At the epoch of the 18th Fruc-
tidor, the press had been rather more made use of,
but as it was so by the royalists in particular, it
created an irritation against itself among the revo-
lutionists, which afterwards sunk into indifference.
They suffered it, therefore, to be proscribed at the
18th Fructidor ; and when the constitution was
framed in the year viii., it was omitted, and
thenceforth left to the pleasure of the government.

The first consul, who had endured with much im-
patience the attacks of the royalist journals, while
he was merely a general of the anny of Italy,
began now to feel annoyed at the indiscretions
committed by the press respecting his military
operations, and the virulent attacks which it
permitted itself to make on some foreign govern-
ments. Applying himself specially to reconcile
the republic with Europe, he feared that the bitter
invectives of the republican press against the
cabinets, particularly since the refusal of the over-
tures made by France, would render vain all his
efforts for an arrangement. The king of Prussia, in
particular, had made a complaint against some of
the French journals, and expressed his displeasure
at their attacks. The first consul, in his desire
to efface completely all traces of violence, and,
moreover, unrestrained in regai'd to the liberty of
the press by a firm and established public opinion,
such as at this day exists, came to a resolution by
which he suppressed a great number of journals,
and pointed out those which should have the privi-
lege of appearing. The journals allowed to remain
were thirteen in number. These were, the Moni-
teur Universd, the Journal des Debats, the Journal
de Paris, the Bkn-informe, the FuUkute, the
Ami des IjOis, the Clef du Cabinet, the Citoyen
Fra7ifais, the Gazette de France, the Journal des
Jlommes Libres, the Journal du Soir, the Journal
des DCfenseurs de la Fatrie, the Decade PJiiloso-
phivjue.

These favoured journals moreover received
notice, that whichever of them should publish
articles against the constitution, or the armies,
their glory or their interests, or promulgate in-
vectives against foreign governments, the friends or
allies of France, would be immediately suppressed.

This measure, which now-a days would appear
so extraordinary, was received without murmur or
surprise, so true is it that the value of things
dcjjends on the spirit of the times.

The votes required from the citizens on the
subject of the new constitution were taken and
counted, and the result of the casting up com-
municated to the senate, the legislative body, and
the tribunate by a message from the consuls. No
one of the former constitutions had been accepted
by so gi-eat a number of suffrages.

In 1703, for the constitution of that epoch, there
had been given one thousand eight hundred suf-
frages in its favour, eleven thousand against it ; in
1 705, for the constitution under the directoi-y, one

Funeral ceremony
ill honour of
Washington.

GOVERNMENT OF THE INTERIOR. Eulogium by De Fontancs. 53

million fifty-seven thousand suffrages in its favour,
and forty-nine tliousand against it. On this occa-
STon more than three millions of votei-s presented
themselves, of whom three millions voted in favour
of the constitution, and only one thousand five
hundred opposed it'.

It is true, that such empty fonnalities have no im-
port with thinking men : it is not from such vulgar
and often counterfeited demonstrations, but from
its moral aspect, that we form a judgment of the
feeling of society ; yet the difference in the number
of the voters bore, in this instance, an incontes-
table signification, and proved, at least, how general
was the sentiment which called for a strong and
restorative government, competent to give assu-
rance of order, victory, and peace.

Before departing for the army, the first consul
decided upon an important step : he established
himself at the Tuileries. With the disposition of
some minds to see in him a Ctesar or a Cromwell,
whose destiny it was to terminate a reign of
anarchy by one of absolute power, this taking up
his abode in the palace of the kings, was a step of
boldness and delicacy, not because of the resistance
it might provoke, but from the moral effect which
it might perhaps produce.

The first consul caused this to be preceded by
an imposing and well-imagined ceremony. Wash-
ington had just died ; and the decease of this illus-
trious pei-sonage, who had filled with his glory the
close of the last century, formed a subject of regret
to all the friends of liberty in Europe. Tlie first
consul, judging that some manifestation on this
subject would be opportune, addressed to the army
the following order of the day : —

" Washington is dead ! That great man fought
against tyranny, and consolidated the independence
of his country. His name will be always dear to
the people of France, as well as to all free men of
the two worlds, and especially to the soldiers of
France, who are fighting, like him and the soldiers
of America, for cijuality and liberty."

Ten days of mourning were directed in conse-
quence, which consi-sted in all the colours of the
republic being hung with black crape ; nor did
the first consul stop here. He directed a fete, at
once simple and noble, to be got up in the church
of the Invalides, a church named, in the fugitive
nomenclature of the time, the temple of Mars.
The colours taken in Egypt had not yet been pre-
sented to .the government. General Lannes was
charged to receive them on this occasion, by direc-
tion of the minister of war, under the magnificent
dome raised by the great king for his aged warriors.

On the 9th of February or 20th Phiviose all the
autlioriticH being asisembled at the Invalides, gene-
nera! Lannes presented to the minister of war,
Bcrthier, ninety-six Hags, taken at the Pyramids,
at Mount Tabor, and at Aboukir ; and j)ronounccd
a brief and martial liarangue, to which Bcrtiiier
responded in the same style. The latter was seated
between two invaliils, each a hundred years old,
and had in front of liim a bust of Washington,

• The exact numbers were : In 1703, 1,801,918 in favour,
and 1I,C10 against; in 1795, 1,057,300 in favour, and 49,955
against, in 1800, of 3,012,589 voteri, 3,011,007 in favour,
and I5C2 against.

over-shadowed by a thousand flags, won from
Europe by the armies of republican France.

Not far from this spot a tribune was erected,
and this was aseeJided by one of the proscribed,
who owed his liberty to the policy of the first
consul. This was De Fontanes, a pure and bril-
liant writei', the last who made use of that French
language, once so perfect, but which in the
eighteenth century has gone into the abyss of the
jiast. De Fontanes, in studied and profound lan-
guage, pronounced the funeral oration of the liero
of America. He celebrated the warlike virtues
of Washington, his valour, his wisdom, his disin-
terestedness; he placed far above the military genius,
whose knowledge is that of gaining victories, the
genius which can restore, which knows how to put
an end to civil war, to close the wounds of a
country, and give peace to the world. By the
side of the shade of Washington he evoked those
of Tnrenne, of Catinat, and of Cond^ ; and speak-
ing after a figure, in the names of these great
men, he gave utterance to encomiums which were
as full of noble spirit, as they were replete with
lessons of wisdom and prudence.

" Yes," he exclaimed at the close of liis speech,
"yes, thy counsels shall be attended to, O Wash-
ington, O warrior, O legislator, O citizen without
reproach ! He who, while yet young, surpasses thee
in war, like thee, shall close, with his triumphant
hands, the wounds of his country ; soon — we have
assurance in his will, and his genius for war, should
it unhappily be necessary,— soon shall the hymn of
peace resound in this temple of war ; then shall
one universal sentiment of joy efface the memory
of all injustice and oppression, then may even the
oppressed forget their wrongs, a)ul look forward
with confidence to the future. The applause of
every age will accompany the hero who confers
this blessing upon France, and upon that world
which she has_ too long thi-own into commotion."

At the close of this discourse, black crape was
attached to all the colours, and the French repub-
lic was considered to be in mourning for the founder
of the American republic, as mouarchs put them-
selves in mourning for each other.

And what was there wanting in this ceremony
that was present to those funeral scenes where
Louis XIV. came to listen to an eulogium on one
of his warriors, from the lips of Fiddlier or of
Bossuet ? Certainly not the grandeur of the oc-
casion or the men, for the speech was of Wash-
ington, in the presence of Bonaparte, and delivered
in the midst of men who had seen a Charles I.
ascend tlie scaffold, and even crowned women fol-
lowuig him there. The words Fleurus, Areola, Ri-
voli, Zurich, the Pyramids, C(mld at that time be
pronounced ; and tiiose magnificent words would
assuredly shed as great a lustre on the discourse as
those of Dunes and Rocroy ! What then was want-
ing in this ceremony to make it completely great I
There wanted what the greatest of men could not
bring there, there wanted especially religion ; not
such as men labour to affect, but what they really
feel, and without wiiicli a funeral is but a cold
solemnity: there wanted also the genius of Bossuet;
for there is a greatness which comes not again in
nations, and if Turcnno and Cond(f have iiad their
Buccessoi'H, Bossuet has not: there wanted, lastly,
a certain sincerity ; for tiiis homage to a hero,

54

The consuls resolve
to occupy the Tui-
leries.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Their installation.
Household of the
palace.

renowned especially for the disinterestedness of
his ambition, was too visibly an affectation ; yet let
us not believe, with the vulgar crowd of thinkers,
that all in this instance was mere hypocrisy ;
doubtless there was some, but there were also the
ordinary illusions of the time, ay, and of all times !
Men cheat themselves oftener than they cheat
others. There were many Frenchmen, who, like
tne Romans under Augustus, believed still in the
republic, because they heard its name diligently
pronounced ; and it is by no means certain, that
he who directed this funeral ceremonial, that even
Bonaparte did not deceive himself in celebrating
Washuigton, and that he did not imagine, that
it was possible to be the first man in France
as in America, without becoming a king or an
emperor

This ceremony was the prelude to the installa-
tion of the three consuls at the Tuileries. The
necessary repairs had been for some time going on
at this palace ; the traces left there by the con-
vention were effaced, and the red caps, which it
had placed in the centre of the gilded ceilings,
removed. The first consul was to occupy the
apartments on the first floor, the same as the royal
family, now reigning, occupy for evening parties.
His wife and her children were to be lodged over
him, in the entresol. The gallery of Diana was, as
now, the vestibule which leads to the apartment of
the head of the state. The first consul caused it
to be decorated with busts, representing a suc-
cession of great men, and endeavoured to mark in
his choice of tliese busts the bent of Ids own
genius ; there were Demosthenes, Alexander, Han-
nibal, Scipio, Brutus, Cicero, Cato, Caesar, Gustavus
Adolphus, Tureime, Cond^, Duguai-Trouin, Marl-
borough, Eugene, Marshal Sa.xe, Washini;ton, Fre-
derick the Great, Mirabeau, Dugommier, Dampierre,
Marceau, Joubert, — in a word, warriors and orators,
the defenders of liberty and conquerors, heroes of
the ancient monarchy and of the republic, — lastly,
four generals of the revolution, who had fallen on
the field. To assemble round him the glories of
every time, of every country, in the same manner
as he desired to assemble round his government
men of all parties, such was on every occasion the
inclination he loved to manifest.

But he was not to occupy the Tuileries alone.
His two colleagues were to reside thei-e with
him. The consul Lebrun was lodged in the pa-
vilion of Flora. As for the consul O.mibaceres,
who ranked with the consul Lebrun, he refused to
take up his quarters in the palace of the kings.
This personage, a man of consummate prudence,
possibly the only man of his time who did not give
himself up to any illusion, remarked to his col-
league Lebrun, " We nuist not go and settle our-
selves in the Tuileries ; it is not at all suitable foi*
us ; and, as for me, I shall not go. Bonaparte
will soon want to live there by himself, and we
shall have to go out ; it is better not to go in at
all." N'lr did he go, but had a handsome house
given him in the Place du Carrousel, which he
kept as long as Napoleon kept the empire.

When Jill wasyn order, and some days after the
funeral ceremony at the Invalides, the first consul
resolved to take possession publicly of the Tuileries,
and did so in great state.

On the 19th February, the 30th Pluviose, he left

the Luxembourg to repair to his new palace, pre"
ceded and followed by an imposing cortege. The
fine regiments which had passed from Holland to
La Vendee, from La Vende'e to Paris, and which
were about to render themselves illustrious for the
hundredth time on the plains of Germany and
Italy, led the way under the command of Lannes,
Murat, and Bessieres. Next came, in carriages
(almost all of them hired), the ministers, the coun-
cil of stite, and the public authorities ; lastly, in a
splendid carriage, drawn by six white horses, the
three consuls themselves. These horses were es-
pecially appropriate, from the circumstance of their
having been presented to Bonaparte by the em-
peror of Germany, on the occasion of the peace of
Campo-Formio. He had also received from the
same prince a magnificent sabre, which he took
care to wear on this day. He had thus about him
all that recalled to mind the wai-rior and peace-
maker. The crowd collected in the streets and on
the quays leading to the Tuileries greeted his pre-
sence with loud cheers. These acclamations were
sincere, for in him they hailed the glory of France
and the commencement of her prosperity. On its
arrival at the Carrousel, the carriage of the consuls
was received by the consular guard, and had to
pass between the two guard-houses, erected the
one on the right, the other on the left of the court-
yard of the palace. On one of these yet remained
this inscription, "Royalty is abolished in France,

AND SHALL rise UP >0 MORE."

On entering the court-yard, the first consul
mounted a horse, and passed in review the troops
drawn up in front of the palace. When he came
in front of the colours of the 96th, the 43rd, and
the 30th demibrigades, all blackened as they were
with smoke, and torn by balls, he saluted them,
and was saluted in his turn by loud huzzas from
the soldiers. Having gone through the ranks, he
took up a position in front of the pavilion of Flora,
and saw them defile before him. Over his head,
in the balcony of the palace, were the consuls, the
principal authorities, and, lastly, his own family,
who now began to hold a rank in the state. The
review over, he proceeded to his apartments, where
the minister of the interior presented to him the
civil authorities ; the minister of war, the mili-
tary authorities ; and the minister of marine, all
the officers of the navy then in Paris. In the
course of the day entertainments were given at the
Tuileries and at the houses of the ministers.

The service of the consular palace was regulated
as follows : Be'nezech, a councillor of state, and
formerly minibter of the interior, was charged
with the general administration of this palace.
The aids-de-camp, and especially Duroc, were
to do the honours, in place of that multitude of
officers of every kind, who ordinarily throng the
vast apartments of European royalty. Every fort-
night, on the 2nd and 17th of each month, the first
consul received the diplomatic corps. Once in the
decade en different days but at certain fixed hours,
he received the senators, the members of the
legislative corps, the tribunate, and the tribunal of
cassation. Functionaries desirous of an audience
had to address themselves to the ministers of their
department, to be presented. On the 2nd Ventose
or 24th February, two days after his installation at
the Tuileries, he gave audience to the diplomatic

Preparations tor war.

ULM AND GENOA.

Errors of the Austrian government.
The archduke Charles.

body. Sun'ounded by a numerous staff, and with
the two consuls at his side, he received the envoys
of the states who were not at war with the republic:
having been introduced by Be'nezech, and pre-
sented by the minister for foreiu;n affairs, they
delivered tlieir credentials to the first consul, who
handed them to the minister, somewhat in the
maimer of a sovereign in a monarchical government.
The foreign agents who figured in this audience
were M. de Musquiz, ambassador of Spain ; M. de
Sandoz-RoUin, minister of Prussia ; M. de Schim-
melpenninck, ambassador from Holland ; M. do
Serbelloni, the envoy of the Cisalpine republic ; and
lastly the cfuiiyes d'affaires of Denmark, of Sweden,
of Switzerland, of Hessc-Cassel, of Rome, of Genoa,
and others. {Mutiitetir, 4 Ventose, year viii.)

After tliis presentation the different ministci*s
were presented to madame Bonaparte.

Every five days tlie first consul passed in review
the regiments marching through Paris on the route
to the frontiers. It was here that he could be
seen by the troops and the multitude, who were
ever eager to run after him. Thin, pale, stooping
on his horse, he impressed and interested them by
a SLvere and melancholy beauty, and by an ap-

jiearance of ill-health, which began to occasion
much anxiety; for never was the preservation of
any existence so much to be desired as his.

After these reviews the officers of the troops
were admitted to his table. To these repasts, where
reigned a decent luxury, were invited also the
foreign ministers, the members of the assemblies,
the magistrates, and the functionaries. There were
not yet at this nascent court either ladies of honour
or chamberlains. The tone of it was severe, but
yet somewhat refined : it purposely avoided the
usages of the director^-, luuler which a ridiculous
imitation of antique costume, united to a disso-
luteness of manners, had banished all dignity from
the external representation of the government.
Silence was observed, and men regarded and fol-
lowed w ith their eyes the extraordinary personage
who had done such great things, and who gave
hope of still greater. They waited his questions,
and replied to them with deference.

The day which followed his establishment at the
Tuileries, Bonaparte, while going over the palace
with his secretary Do Bourrienne, said to him,
" Well, Bourrienne, here we are at the Tuileries 1
and we must now stop here."

BOOK III.

ULM AND GENOA.

PREPARATIOKS FOR WAR — FORCES OP THE COALITrON IW 1800. — ARMIES OP THE BARON DE MELAS IN LIOCRIA,
OF MARSHAL KRAY IX SWABIA. — AUSTRIAN PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. — IMPORTANCE OF SWITZERLAND IN THIS
WAR. — PLAN OP BONAPARTE. — HE RESOLVES TO MAKE USE OF SWITZERLAND TO COME DOWN ON THE FLANK OF
KRAy, AND IN THE REAR OP MELAS.— WHAT PART HE INTENDED FOR MOREAU, AND WHAT FOR HIMSELF.
—CREATION OP THE ARMY OF RESERVE.— INSTRUCTIONS TO MASSENA. — COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES.— THE
BARON MELAS ATTACKS THE ARMY OF LIGURIA ON THE APENNINES, AND DIVIDES IT INTO TWO PARTS,
THE ONE OF WHICH IS DRIVEN BACK ON THE VAR, THE OTHER ON GENOA. — MASSENA BEING SHUT UP IN
GENOA PREPARES FOR AN OBSTINATE DEFENCE THERE.— A DESCRIPTION OF GENOA.— HEROIC ENGAGEMENTS
OP MASSENA. — THE FIRST CONSUL URGES MOREAU TO SET ABOUT COMMENCING OPERATIONS IN GERMANY, TO
BE ABLE THE SOONER TO SUCCOUR MASSENA.— PASSAGE OP THE RHINE AT FOUR POINTS.— MOREAU SUCCEEDS
IN UNITING TIIRKE DIVISIONS OF HIS ARMY OUT OP FOUR, AND FALLS UPON THE AUSTRIANS AT ENGEN AND
STOCKACH.— BATTLES OF ENGEN AND SHESSKIBCH.— RETREAT OF THE AUSTRIANS ON THE DANUBE.— AFFAIR
OP 8T. CYR AT BIBERACH. — KRAY ESTABLISHES HIMSELF IN AN ENTRENCHED CAMP AT ULM.— MOREAU
MAKCEUVRF.S TO DISLODGE HIM. — MANY FALSE MOVEMENTS OP MOREAU, WHICH HAPPILY ARE ATTENDED BY
NO BAD RESULTS.— MOREAU SHUTS UP MELAS IN ULM, AND TAKES UP A STRONG POSITION IN ADVANCE OF
AUGSBURG, INTENDING TO AWAIT THE EVENTS IN ITALY. — A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ACTIONS OF MOREAU. —
CHARACTER OF THAT GENERAL.

A ITER all the earnest solicitations he had ad-
dressed to Europe for peace — solicitations hardly
to be expected from a general covered as he was
with glory, nothing was left to the first consul but
to make war, for which he had been jireparing
during ti)o whole of the winter of 1790— 1«00
(year viii). This war was at once the mo.st legiti-
mate, and the most glorious of all in tho.se heroic
times.

Austria, all the while she observed in matters
of form more modemtion than England, had never-
theless arrived at the same conclusion, and refused
I)eace. The vain hope of preserving in Italy the
advantageous position which she owed to the
victories of Suwarrow, the English subsidies, the
erroneous im[)reasion tliat France was exhausted of
men and money, and could not fui-niah means for

another campaign, but, above all, the fatal obsti-
nacy of Thugut, who represented the war party at
Vienna with as great a degree of prejudice as Pitt
did in London, and wiio brought to this question
much more of personal feeling than of true patri-
otism ; all these causes combined, led the Austrian
cabinet into committing one of the gravest political
faults,— that of not profiting by a good position to
negotiate. It required a great degree of blindness
to exjicct that the successes which it owed to the
incapacity of the directory, it could again obtain
in tlie face of a new government, already completely
reorganized, active to a prodigy, and under the
direction of the first captain of the age.

The archduke Charles, who united with his true
military talents mnch moderation and modesty,
had pointed out the danger attached to a con-

German princes subsi-
5(; dized— The imperial

armies.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Distribution of the
troops of the coali-
tion.— Their plan.

tinuance of the war, and the difficulty of making
head against the celebrated adversary who was
about to enter the lists. His only answer was the
withdrawal of the command of the Austrian
armies, by which they deprived themselves of the
only general who was able to direct them with any
chance of success. His disgrace was masked under
the title of governor of Bohemia. The imperial
army bitterly regretted this pi-ince, even though
there was given them as his successor haron Kray,
who had greatly distinguished himself in the last
Italian campaign. Kray was an officer of bravery,
competency, and experience, and showed himself
not unworthy of the command with which he was
entrusted.

To fill up the void left by the Russians in the
ranks of the coalition, Austria, by the aid of sub-
sidies from England, obtained a sufficiently large
supply of forces from the states of the empire. A
special treaty, signed on the ICth of March, by Mr.
Wickham the British minister, with the elector of
Bavaria, bound that prince to furnish a supple-
mentary corps of twelve thousand Bavarians Ije-
yond his legal contingent as a member of the
empire. A treaty of the same kind, signed on the
20th of April, with the duke of Wurtemberg,
procured another corps of six thousand Wurteni-
bergers for the ai-ray of the coalition. Lastly, on
the 30 th April, the same negotiator obtained from
the elector of Mayence a corps of from four to
six thousand Mayencais on the same financial
conditions. Beyond the expenses of recruiting,
equipping, and maintaining their troops, England
guarantied to the princes of the German coalition,
not to treat with France without them, and pledged
herself that their states should be restored to them,
whatever might be the result of the war, making
them promise in retm-n not to listen to any pi-o-
posal for a separate peace.

Of these German troops the best were the
Bavarians ; next to those came the Wurtem-
bergers ; but the troops of Mayence were militia,
without discipline or valour. Independently of
these regular contingents, the peasantry of the
Black Forest had been roused to arms by the terrible
accounts of the ravages committed by the French,
who at that time caused much less devastation
than did the imperial armies, on the cultivated
plains of unhappy Germany.

The imperial army of Suabia, all the auxiliaries
included, amomited very neax'ly to one hundred
and fifty thousand men, of whom thirty thousand
were in garrison, and one hundred and twenty
thousand present on active service. It was pro-
vided with a numerous artillery, good, though in-
ferior to that of France ; and, above all, with
a superb cavalry, as is usual in the armies of
Austria. The emperor had above one hundred
and twenty thousand men in Lombardy under
Mdlas. A great number of English ships assem-
bled in the Mediterranean, and, cruising incessantly
in the gulf of Genoa, supported all the operations
of the Austrians in Italy. They were to transport
an auxiliary corps consisting of English and emi-
grants, already assembled at Mahon, and amount-
ing, as was said, to twenty thousand men ; it
was arranged that this corps should even be
landed at Toulon, in case the imperial army,
charged with the operations against the Apennine

frontier, should succeed in forcing the line of the
Var.

There had been a hope of a junction of some
Russian troops with those of England, to be
landed on the coast of France, for tlie puqiose of
exciting insurrections in Belgium, Britany, and
La Vendee; but an inaction on the part of Russia,
beyond doubt voluntary, and the pacification of La
Vendee, caused a failure of this plan, on which the
allies had greatly counted.

It was, then, a mass of three hundred thousand
men, or thereabouts ; one hundred and fifty thou-
sand in Suabia, one hundred and twenty thousand
ua Italy, and twenty thousand at Mahon, seconded
by the marine power of England, which was to
prosecute the war against France. Such a force,
it must be confessed, would have been exceedingly
insufficient against France, reorganized, and in
possession of all her resom-ces : but against France
just emerging from the chaos into which she had
been cast by the weakness of the directory, it was
a considerable force, and one with which great
results might have been achieved, had the enemy
known how to use it. It must be added, that this
was the actual force, liable to very little deduction,
since the three hundred thousand men who com-
posed it were inured to hardships, and were al-
ready upon the very frontier they were to attack ;
a circumstance of importance, inasmuch as every
army, at its first campaign, can with difficulty
endure the early trials of war ; and if it has a long
march to make before joining battle, grows less in
number, in proportion to the distance it has to
traverse.

We have now to ascertain the distribution of the
troops of the coalition, and the plan on which they
were about to act.

Kray, at the head of the one hundred and
fifty thousand men imder his command, occupied
Suabia, taking up a position in the middle of the
angle formed by the Rhine in that country, when
after running from east to west, from Constance
down to Basle, it turns sharply towards the north,
numing fi-om Basle to Strasburg. In this position
Kray, having Switzerland on his left flank, and
Alsace on his right, could watch all the passes
of the Rhine by which the French army might
penetrate into Germany. He made no show of
forcing the line of this river, and invadmg the
territory of the rei)ublic ; the part he had to play in
opening the campaign, was to be of a less active
kind. The commencing operations was reserved
for the ai'my of Italy, one hundred and twenty
thousand strong, and already, in consequence of
the advantages which it gained in 1799, almost at
the foot of the Apennines. It was to blockade
Genoa, to carry it if possible, then cross the Apen-
nines and the Var, and show itself before Toulon,
where the English and the emigrants of the south,
under the command of general Willot, one of those
proscribed in Fructidor, had arranged to meet
the Austrians. Another invasion of that province
of France whicli contained our greatest marine
establishment, was so especially agreeable to the
English, that it is to them we must, in great part,
attribute this plan, that was afterwards so severely
criticised. When the Austrian army of Italy,
which, owing to the climate of Liguria, could com-
mence the campaign before that of Suabia, should

1800.
March.

Description of the Alps.

ULM AND GENOA.

Importance of the neutrality
of Switzerland.

57

have penetrated into Provence it was supposed
that the fii-st consul would withdraw liis troops
from the Rhine to cover the Var, and tliat Kray
would then have an opportunity for action. Switzer-
land, when she founa herself thus outflanked, and,
as it were, strangled between two victorious armies,
would fall, as a matter of course, without there
being any necessity to renew against her the fruit-
less efforts of the preceding campaign. The ex-
ploits of Lecourbe and Massena in the Alps had
given Austria a strong distaste for any great ope-
ration specially directed against Switzerland, and
they were desirous to confine themselves to a mere
observation as regarded that country. The ex-
treme left of Xray was charged with this duty
in Suabia; the cavalry of Mdas, useless in the
Apennines, was to undertake the same duty in
Lombardy. The plan of the Austrians consisted,
then, of temporizing in Suabia, and carrying on the
operations with all speed in Italy; to advance on
this side as far as the Var, and then, as soon as tlie
French being drawn upon the Var sliould leave the
Rhine unprotected, to cross the river, and thence
advance in two great divisions, the one upon Basle,
the other to the south by Nice, and so reduce, with-
out attack, the formidable barrier of Switzerland.

Practical judges of mihtary operations have
greatly blamed Austria for its neglect of Switzer-
land, 'which allowed Bonaparte to open a way
there for himself, and fall on the tianic of Kray,
and on the rear of Me'las. We believe, as will
soon appear from the facts, that it was impossible
for any plan to be quite certain in the presence of
Bonaparte, and with the irreparable inconvenience
of Switzerland being in the hands of the French.

To form a just comprehension of this memorable
campaign, and a sound judgment on the plans of
the belligerents, we must figure to ourselves ex-
actly the position of Switzerland, and the influence
which it must have on the military operations,
especially at the point to which they had arrived.

Towards the eastern frontier of France, and in
the centre of the European continent, tlae Alps
take their rise; whence stretching towards the east,
they separate Germany and Italy, throwing from
the one side the Danube and its tributaries, from
the other the Po and all the rivers of which that
noble stream is composed. That part of the Alps
nearest to France forms Switzerland ; further on
they constitute the Tyrol, which for ages has be-
longed to Austria.

When the Austrian armies are advancing to-
wards France, they are compelled to ascend the
valley of the Danube on one side, the valley of the
Po on the other, being separated in two masses,
acting on the long chain of the Alps. So long as
they are in Bavaria and in Lombardy, these two
masses can communicate across the Alps, by the
Tyrol, which belongs to the emperor ; but when
they reach Suabia, on the upper Danube, and
Piedmont, on the upper Po, they find themselves
separated one from the other, without the power
of connnunication across the Alps; since Switzer-
land, being indipeiident and neuter, is usually to
them forbidden ground.

This neutrality of Switzerland in an obstacle
which tlie policy of Europe has wisely ])laced be-
tween France and Austria, to diminish the points
of attack between those two formidable powers.

Thus, if Switzerland be open to Austria, the latter
can advance her armies, with a free comnmnica-
tion between them from the valley of the Danube
to the valley of the Po, and menace the frontiers
of France from Basle as far as Nice. This, a
serious danger for France, would oblige her to
be always in readiness from the mouths of the
Rhine to those of the Rhone ; whereas, whilst the
Swiss Alps are closed, she may concentrate all her
forces on the Rhine, careless of attack from the
south, seeing that no operation on the Var has
ever been successful with the Imperialists, because
of the length of the circuit. There is, then, a great
advantage to France in the neutrality of Switzer-
land. But it is not the less important to Austria,
perhaps even more so ; in fact, if Switzerland be-
came the theatre of hostilities, the French army
can invade it the first ; and as its foot-soldiers are
intelligent, agile, and brave, and as well adapted
to a mountain warfare as to that of plains, it
has every chance of being able to maintain itself
there, as was proved in the campaign of 1799.
If, in fact, the Alps are attacked by the great
chain from the side of Italy, they oppose a resist-
ance such as Lecourbe showed to Suwarow in
the passes of St. Gothard; if attacked on the side of
Germany, by the lower ridge, they oppose, behind
their lakes and rivers, a resistance such as that of
Masse'na behind the lake of Zurich, which ended
in the famous battle of that name. Thus, when-
ever the French army is master of Sv.itzerland,
it commands a very threatening position, and one of
which it can take advantage to bring about results
the most extraordinary, as we shall soon see in
reciting the operations of Bonaparte. In fact,
when two Austrian armies are the one in Suabia,
the other in Piedmont, separated by the massive
rocks of Switzerland, they have no means of com-
munication between them; while the French, mak-
ing their way by the lake of Constance on the one
side, and the great Alps on the other, can throw
themselves either on the flank of the army of
Suabia, or the rear of the army of Italy. This
danger it is impossible to avoid, whatever be the
plan adopted, without going back for fifty leagues,
by retrograding as far as Bavaria on the one side,
and, on the other, to Lombardy.

It was, then, necessary for the Austrians to do
one of these things; cither that, losing their advan-
tages in their last campaign, they should abandon
to us at one time both Suabia and Piedmont ; or
that, refusing to make such sacrifices, they should
endeavour to carry Switzerland by a main attack —
in which they could not hope for success, as it was
to attack in front an obstacle almost insurmount-
able, before which they had already been baftled ;
or, lastly, that they should divide themselves into
two grand armies, as they did, being separated by
Switzerland, which was thus placed on their flank
and rear. They were thus enabled, it is true, by
following this last course, to diminish to some
extent one of their two armies for the purpose
of increasing tl.e other; to leave, for instance,
Mdlas with but small means, sufficient merely to
keej) Massdna in check, and to raise the army of
Suabia to two hundred thousand men ; or to do
the contrary, by uniting their principal forces in
Piedmont. But, in the one case, this was to desert
Italy — Italy, the only object and the so ardently

I

Erroneous views of the

58 Aubtrians concerning

the French resources.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Vast plans of Bonaparte, ^l^^^'

desired prize of the war ; — in the other, it was to
abandon, without a battle, the Rhine, the Black
Forest, and the sources of the Danube, and to
shorten, besides, the road of the French to Vienna:
it was, Listly, in both cases, to do that which was
most to our advantage; since, by bringing up either
one of the two armies to the number of two hun-
dred thousand men, the victory was given to that
one of the two powers which had Bonaparte on
its side ; for he was, in fact, the only general who
could, at that day, commajid two hundred thousand
men at one time.

There was then no plan for Austria which could
be perfectly sure of success, so long as the French
were masters of Switzerland, which, to speak in
passing, is a proof that the Swiss neutrality is a
most important device for the interest of these two
powers. It adds, in fact, to their means of defence,
while it diminishes their means of oft'ence ; that is,
it gives to their safety what it takes from their
powers of aggression. Nothing could be better
conceived for the interests of a general peace.

The Austrians then had little choice in taking
their course; and whatever may be said, they took
perhaps the only possible one, of deciding to tem-
porize in Suabia, and carry on active operations in
Italy, remaining separated by the obstacle of Swit-
zerland, which it was impossible for them to dis-
place. But there was even in this position, more
than one manner of conducting their operations,
and it must be acknowledged that they did not
adopt the best, nor even cast a glance before them
at the dangers with which they were menaced.
Obstinate in believing the French armies ex-
hausted ; not supposing that of Germany was
capable of assuming the offensive and passing the
Rhine in the face of the one hundred and fifty thou-
sand Austrians posted in the Black Forest; think-
ing still less that they could cross the Alps, without
a road, and in the season of snow-storms ; not see-
ing, moreover, the third army which might be
tempted to cross them ; they gave themselves up
to a confidence which proved fatal. In jus-
tice to them, it must still be acknowledged, that
most men would have been deceived as they were,
since their security was based on obstacles appa-
rently insurmountable. But experience soon dis-
closed to them, that before such an adversary as
Bonaparte, all security, though founded on barriers
insurmountable, rivers, or mountains of ice, was
deceitful, and might become fatal.

France had two armies; that of Germany, which
amounted, by the junction of the armies of the
Rhine and Helvetia, to one hundred and thirty
thousand men ; and that of Liguria, reduced to
forty thousand at most. In the troops of Holland
and La Vendue she had the scattered and disjointed
elements of a third army. None but a capacity
for administration of the very liighest order could
bring this together in time, and, above all, unexpect-
edly, at the point where its presence was required.
These were the means which it was the plan of
Bonaparte to employ as follows : —

Massdna, with the army of Liguria, not aug-
mented, but with fresh stores only of provision and
ammunition, was ordered to maintain liis position
on the Apennines, between Genoa and Nice, and
to maintain it like a Thermopylae. The army of
Germany, under Moreau, augmented as much as

possible, was to make pretended demonstrations on
the banks of the Rhine from Strasburg to Basle,
from Basle to Constance, as if about to pass over ;
then to march rapidly forward in a parallel course
with tlie river, ascend it to Schaffhausen, throw
over it four bridges at the same moment, open at
once on the flank of Kray, take him by surprise,
drive him back in disorder on the upper Danube,
outstrip him if possible, cut liim off' his road to
Vienna, surround him if practicable, and cause him
to suffer one of those memorable disasters of which
there is not moi"e than one example in the present
age. If the army of Moreau did not succeed so far
as this, it would at any rate drive Kray upon Uim
and Ratisbon, constrain him thus to descend the
Danube, and separate him from the Alps, so that it
would be out of his power to send succours in that
direction. This done, it was ordered to detach its
right wing towards Switzerland, to second there the
perilous operation, the execution of which Bona-
parte reserved for himself. The third army, called
the reserve, the very elements of which could scarce-
ly be said to exist, was to form itself between Geneva
and Dijon, and await the issue of these first events,
in readiness to succour Moreau if there was ne-
cessity. But if Moreau succeeded, in one part at
least of his plan, this army of reserve, marching
under Bonaparte to Geneva, fi'om Geneva to the
Valais, joining there the detachment taken from
the army of Germany, and next passing the St. Ber-
nard over the ice and snow, was by a prodigy
greater than that of Hannibal, to fall on Piedmont,
take Mdlas in the rear, while he was occupied
with the siege of Genoa, surround him, engage him
in a decisive battle, and, if it won the victory, com-
pel him to lay down his arms.

Assuredly, if the execution did but correspond
with such a plan, nevi.r had a finer conception re-
flected honour on the genius of a soldier of ancient
or modern days. But it is the execution only
which gives their value to grand military combi-
nations; for, deprived of this merit, they are no-
thing but vain chimeras.

The execution here lay in conquering an infinity
of difficulties, in the reorganization of the armies
of the Riiiuc and Liguria, in the creation of the
army of reserve, in keeping the secret of its crea-
tion and destination ; finally, in the double passage
of the Rhine and the Alps, the second equal to tlie
most extraordinary efforts ever attempted in the
art of war.

The first care of Bonaparte was especially to
recruit the army. Deseition to the interior, sick-
ness, and battle had reduced it to two hundred and
fifty thousand men, a number scarcely credible at a
time when France had to make head against a
general coalition, were it not proved by authentic
documents. Happily, these two hundred and fifty
thousand men were seasoned waiTiors, all of them
able to contend against an enemy double their
number. The first consul had demanded one hun-
dred thousand conscripts from the legislative body,
and it had granted them with an enthusiasm truly
])atriotic. The war was so legitimate, so evidently
necessary, after the rejection of the offers of peace,
that merely to hesit;ite would have been criminal.

But there was nothing of this kind to fear, and
the eager haste of the legislative body and the
tribunate amotmted to enthusiasm. These one

1800.
March.

His appeal to the volunteers.
Imporlaiu mJitary reforms.

ULM AND GENOA.

Unfortunate state of the aimy of
Liguria.

59

hundred thousand young conscripts, combined with
two hundred and fifty thousand old soldiers, would
fomi the materials of an excellent army. The pre-
fects newly appointed, and fii-st arrived at their
posts, impressed an activity on the recruiting
department hitherto unseen. But these conscripts
could not be with their regiments, drilled and
ready to serve under the period of six months. The
first consul adopted the plan of retaining in the in-
terior the regiments which had been exhausted,
and employing them as skeletons, which he filled
up with the new levy. ' He moved, on the other
hand, towards the frontier the regiments which
were competent to the field, taking care to transfer,
from the i*anks of those which were to stop in the
interior, to the ranks of those which were about to
march to the field all the soldiers who were in a
fit state for service. By so doing, he could scarcely
muster two hundred thousand men to place im-
mediately in line. But in powerful and competent
hands these were sufficient.

He appealed at the same time to the patriotic
sentiment of France. Applying himself to the
soldiers of the first requisition, whom the general
discouragement, consequent on our reverses, had
drawn back to their homes, he compelled by force
to rejoin their regiments all those who had left
them without permission; he laboured besides to re-
awaken the zeal of those v.ho had regular furloughs.
He tasked himself to arouse a military spirit among
the young, whose imagination was inflamed by the
name of Bonaparte. Greatly as the enthusiasm of
the first days of the revolution had cooled down,
the sight of the enemy on our frontiers reanimated
all hearts; and the succour which might possibly
be again procured from the devotion of the volun-
teers was by no means to be despised.

To the attention bestowed on recruiting, Bona-
parte added other useful reforms in respect to
the administration and composition of the army.
He first created inspectors of reviews, whose
duty it was to keep account of the number of
men present under arms, and to take care that the
treasury did not pay for soldiers who were only
present upon paper. In the artillery he made a
change of very great importance. The carriages
of the artillery were at tliat day under the conduct
of drivers belonging to tiie waggon train, who not
being under any restraint from a feeling of honour,
like the other soldiers, cut the traces of their
horses, at the very first danger, and fled, leaving
tiieir guns in the hands of tiie enemy. The first
consul considered, that the ccjnductor charged to
bring a piece to the place of battle, w.os rendering
a service as great as tlio cannoneer charged to fire it
off; that he ran the same danger, and stood in need
of the same moral motive — the same honour. Ho
therefore converted the drivers of the artillery in-
to soldiers, wearing the uniform, and forming a
portion of that arm. There were thus ten or
twelve tliouHiind horhcnien who wero to show as
much zeal in bringing their guns uji to the
enemy, or ra]»idly carrying them off, as those whoso
duty it was to load, jjoint, and fire them. This re-
form had been only just made, and all its useful
consequences were not developed until a later
period.

The artillery and the cavalry were thus in want
jf horses. The first consul having neither time

nor means to make purchases, decreed a forced
and extraordinary levy of every thirteenth horse.
This was a hard but inevitable necessity. The
armies were to provide themselves from their
own vicinity in the first instance, and then, go
further and further, from the surrounding pro-
vinces.

The first consul had sent to Masse'na what funds
he had at his disposal, to succour the unhappy
army of Liguria. From sixty thousand men, of
which it was composed by the junction of the
army of Lombardy with that of Naples, after the
bloody battle of Trebia, it was reduced, by pri-
vation, to forty thousand at the most, not muster-
ing more than about thirty thousand fighting men.
Corn, as it could not come either from Piedmont,
which the Austrians occupied, or by the sea, which
the English guarded, was very scarce. The un-
happy soldiers had nothing for their support but
the crops of the Alps, which, as every body knows,
are next to nothing. They would not go into the
hospitals where there was a want of the chief articles
of food, and were to be seen along the road from
Nice to Genoa, devoured by famine and fever, pre-
senting the most pitiable of all spectacles, that of
brave men left to die of want by the country they
itre defending.

Masseua, when furnished with the fundc sent
him by the government, made some purchases at
Marseilles, bought up all the corn in that town,
and sent it to Genoa. Unluckily, during this
winter, the winds, as rigorous as the enemy, blowing
contrary without cessation, prevented their arrival
at Marseilles, and replaced in some sort the block-
ade which the English could not keep up at that
bad season. Nevertheless, as some cargoes suc-
ceeded in getting in, the troops of Liguria had
bread once more dealt out to them. Arms, shoes,
some clothing, and — hopes were sent to them. As
for military energy, there was no need to inspire
them with that ; for never had France seen her
soldiers endure such reverses with so much firmness.
These conquerors of Castiglione, of Areola, and of
Rivoli had borne, without being staggered, the
defeats of Cassano, of Novi, and of Trebia ; the
temper they had acquired could not be changed
by the strokes of fortune. Moreover, the presence
of Bonaparte at the head of the government, and
of Mass(;na at the head of the army, would have put
them in heart again, if there had been necessity.
They wanted but food, clothing, and arms, to per-
form the greatest services. In this respect the
best that was in their power was done by (he
government. Mass^na, by some acts of severity,
re-established discii)line, which was shaken amongst
then), and assembled above thirty thousand men,
impatient to march once more under his order's
on the road to fertile Italy.

The fii-st consul prescribed to this general an
ably conceived plan for the conduct of his ope-
rations. Three narrow passes lead across the Apen-
nine from the inland side to the maritime: tliese
are that of the Bocchetta, opening upon Genoa;
that of Cadibona, upon hjavona; that of Tende,
u|)on Nice. The first consul enjoined Massdna to
leave only weak detachments in the \mHs of Tende,
and that of Cadibona — altogether just enough to
watch them — and to concentrate his force of twenty-
five thousand or thirty thousand men upon Genoa.

60 The army of the Rhine. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Character of its generals. j^^»^^-

This town being strongly occupied, an invasion of
the south of France became less probable, and in
any case less to be feared ; since the Austrians
would not be so rash as to advance beyond the
Var upon Toulon and the mouth of the Rhone,
with lilassdna left hi their rear. Besides, Masse'na
could, with his thirty thousand men in one body,
fall upon any corps which was crossing the defiles
of the Apennines. It would be difficult for him,
seeing the narrow and steep nature of the country,
to meet with more than thirty thousand at one
time. He had, then, the means of making head
every where against the enemy. This excellent
plan was unhappily not capable of execution but
by a general who had the prodigious dexterity of
the conqueror of Montenotte. For the rest, the
first consul felt assured of having in Masse'na an
obstinate defender of the heights of the Apennine,
and of preparing employment for Melas, which
would detain him in Liguria during all the time
necessary for the skilful combinations of his plan
for the campaign.

Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged, that the
army of Liguria was in some little degree treated
as a sacrificed army ; not one man more was sent
to it, only supplies, and, as respects these, no more
than was just necessary. The principal efforts of
the government were directed to another quarter,
for it was in another quarter that the grand blow
was to be struck. The army of Liguria was ex-
posed to the risk of perishing, that others might
gam time to be victorious. Such is the stern fatality
of war, which passes from one head to another,
compelling these to die that those may live and
triumph.

The army to which the most special care was
devoted was that, which, under the orders of
Moreau, was destined to act in Suabia. All the
men and materiel possible were sent there. The
greatest efforts were made to ensure it a complete
artillery, and large means of passage, that it
might find itself in full possession of resources for
crossing the Rhine on a sudden, and, if possible,
at one point. Moreau, of whom men said the first
consul was so jealous, was to have under his
orders the finest and most numerous army of the
republic, about one hundred and thirty thousand
men, while ^Masse'na was to have thirty-six thousand,
and the first consul forty thousand at the most.
This was not, however, an empty comjiliment ad-
dressed to the pride of Moreau. Such a distribu-
tion of the forces had been decided upon the most
serious motives. The operation, whose object
was to drive Kray upon Ulm and Ratisbon, was
of the very highest importance to the general
success of the campaign ; since, in the presence of
the two powerful armies of Austria which were
advancing upon our frontiers, it was necessary first
to drive one off, before bemg able to cross the Alps
to fall upon the rear of the other. The first ope-
ration, then, must be can-ied out by decisive means,
which placed its success beyond doubt. The first
consul, with all his estimation of Moreau, esteemed
himself still higher ; and if one of the two could
dispense with great means, he thought that he
could do better without them than Moreau. The
feeling that actuated him on this occasion is better
in great affairs of state than generosity itself, it
was a love of the public weal ; this he placed

above all private interest, whether that of others
or his own.

This army of the Rhine was a superb one,
though, like the other armies of the republic, it
wore the tatters of privation. The few conscripts
who had joined were just enough to give it the
spirit of youth. It was composed of an immense
number of veterans, who, under the orders of
Pichegru, Kle'ber, Hoche, and Moreau, had con-
quered Holland and the banks of the Rhine, had
crossed full many a time this river, and had shown
themselves on the Danube. It would be an in-
justice to say that they were braver men than
tho.se of the army of Italy ; but they exhibited all
the qualities of accomplislied troops. They were
prudent, sober, observant of discipline, well-drilled,
and intrepid. The chiefs were worthy of the
soldiers. The formation of this army into detach-
ments, complete in every branch of the service,
and acting in separate corps, had, by that means,
developed in a greater degree the talents of the
generals of division. These generals were men
of a merit equal, yet different. There was Le-
courbe, the most able officer of his time in moun-
tain warfare — Lecourbe, whose glorious name the
echos of the Alps still repeat; there was Riche-
panse, who united with an audacious bravery a
rare intelligence, and who to Moreau, soon after,
rendered on the field of Hohenlinden the greatest
service that a lieutenant ever rendered to his gene-
ral ; there was St. Cyr, cold in disposition, but
profound, a chai-acter of little social feeling, but
endowed with all the qualities of a general-in-
chief; there was, lastly, the youthful Ney, whom
his heroic courage, directed by a happy instinct of
war, afterwards rendered popular in all the armies
of the republic. At the head of these lieutenants
was Moreau, a man of a slow mind, occasionally
indecisive, but solid, and one whose indecisions
ended in a wise and firm resolution as soon as he
was face to face with danger. Practice had, to a
singular extent, formed and extended his military
glance. But while his warlike genius every day
grew greater under the trials of war, his civil
character weak, and open to every influence, had
already succumbed, and would yet succumb still
more, to the trials of politics, which minds tnily
elevated alone soar above. For the rest, the un-
happy passion of jealousy had not yet altered the
purity of his heart, and corrupted his patriotism.
From his experience, from his habit of command,
his high renown, he was, after Bonaparte, the only
man then competent to the command of one hun-
dred thousand men.

The details of the plan which the first consul
had prescribed for him, consisted in entering
into Suabia at a point which would allow him
best to act on the extreme left of Kray, so as to
outflank him, to cut him off" from Bavaria, and to
enclose him between the Upper Danube and the
Rhine; in whicli case the Austrian army in Suabia
was destroyed. To succeed in this, the Rhine was to
be crossed, not at two or three points, but at one
only, as near as possible to Constance ; an operation
of singular boldness and difficulty, since it con-
sisted in transporting across a river, and in the
presence of an enemy, one hundred thousand men
at one time with all their materiel: and it must be
granted that, previous to Wagram, no general bad

Creation of the army of reserve.

ULM AND GENOA.

Its organization.

passed a river under such an assemblage of circum-
stances and with such resolution. It wanted also
much address to deceive the Austrians as to the
place chosen ; with great address, much bold-
ness in the execution of the passage over; and,
lastly, what is always necessary, great good for-
tune. The first consul had directed the collecting
together on the rivers flowing into the Rhine, es-
jiecially on the Aar, of a great quantity of boats,
that three or four bridges might be thrown across
at once, at a distance of a hundred fathoms from
each other. It remained to find admission for
these combinations into the cold and cautious mmd
of Moreau.

After this attention to the troops of Liguria and
Germany bestowed with unremitting zeal, the first
consul applied himself to form, almost out of no-
thing, an army which, under the title of the "army
of reserve," afterwards accomplished the greatest
achievements.

That it might fulfil its object, it was necessary not
only to create this force, but to do so without any
one crediting the possibility of its being effected.
It will be shown what mode Bonaparte took to
obtain that double result.

The first consul had found in Holland, and in the
troops accumulated in Paris by the directory, the
means to pacify La Vendde in good season : and he
also contrived to discover in La Vendue, as soon as
it was restored to peace, the necessary resources
for creating an army, which, thrown on a sudden
upon the theatre of military operations, might
change the destiny of the campaign. In writing to
genei-al Brunc, who had the chief command in the
west, he addressed him in these beautiful words, so
well expressing his own manner of operating, and
that of other gi-and masters in the art of adminis-
tration and of war : " Let me know if, indepen-
dently of those five demi-brigades which I linve
requested from you by my last courier, you will be
able to di.spose of one or two more, on the condition
of their being sent back in three months. We must
resolve to stride over France as we did formerly
over the valley of the Adige ; it is only bringing
the decade into a day'."

Although the English must liave felt a distaste
for new expeditions upon the continent, since their
adventure at the Texel, and more than all since
the separation of the Russians from the coalition,
the vast extent of our coasts, from the Zuyder-Zee
to the gulf of Gascony, could not be abandoned
without some means of defence; the pacification of
La Vendde had been too recent. The first consul
left in Holland a force, half French, half Dutch, to
guard this valuable country, and gave the com-
mand of it to Augereau. It was formed into divi-
sions for active service, ready-armed and prepared
to march. When it soemed cerUiin that by the
course of operations there was no descent to be
feared, thin force under Augereau's conmiand was
to march u]) the Rhine, and cover the i-ear of
Moreau in (iei-many. Out of the sixty thousand
men drawn from the coasts of Normandy and
Uritany, the fii-st consul ciiosc the weakest dcmi-
hi-igades, and h-ft them to watch the country of the
insurrection. He reduced their strength yet further

' From the Dipot de la Secrttairerie d'Etat, 14 Ventose,
an VIII. (Sth March, 1800 )

by sending to the army m actual service the sol-
diers best capable of duty; thus rendering them
fitter for receiving conscripts, whom they were to
instruct, while they guarded the coast. He formed
of these men five small encampments, uniting ca-
valry, infantry, and artillery, ready to march at
the first signal, and commanded by good officers.
There were two of those encampments in Belgium,
one at Liege, another at Maestricht, both designed
to secure the country kept in disturbance by the
priests, and, if required, to aid in the defence of
Holland, Another of those camps was formed at
Lisle, ready to fling itself upon the Somme and
Normandy, a second at St. Lo, and a third at
Rennes. The last was the most numerous, and
numbered from seven thousand to eight thousand
men ; the otliers from four thousand to five thou-
sand, and all the camps together about tlui-ty
thousand. These would soon be doubled, at least,
by the arrival of the conscripts, and all were in-
tended to do the duty of police in the countries
recently subdued, such as Belgium, and the pro-
vinces of Normandy, Britany, and Poitou. The first
consul ordered a search to be made for arms con-
cealed in the woods, and began to form, through the
attraction of high pay, three or four battalions out of
the men who had contracted adventurous habits in
the civil war, intending them for the army in Egypt.
Their leaders had residences assigned them at a dis-
tance from the scene of civil war, and received pen-
sions amply sufficient to maintain them in comfort.

The arrangements completed, there i-emained
about thirty thousand excellent soldiers out of
sixty thousand, collected for the pacification of the
interior of the country ; they were embodied, in
the demi-brigades which had suftered least. Some
had returned to Paris after the operations were
completed in Normandy against De Frotte ; others
were in Britany and La Vende'e. They Avere formed
by the first consul into three fine war- divisions, two
in Britany, at Rennes and Nantes, and one in
Paris. These divisions were to prepare them-
selves for service with the utmost speed, providing
themselves with such appointments as were at
hand, and procuring the rest on their march, by
means which will be presently explained. They
had orders to repair to the eastern frontier, with
rapid " strides," to use the words of the fii-st con-
sul "as the army of Italy once strode over the
Adige." Their arrival in Switzerland in the month
of April was certain.

There was yet another resource in the depots of
the army of Egypt stationed in the south of France,
which had never been able to forward recruits to
their corps, it having been impossible for them
to pass the sea in consequence of its being conti-
nually watched by the English. Fourteen fine bat-
talions ready for service were drawn from those
depots by adding a few conscripts to them. The
order was given for them to march to Lyons, where
they would be completed. This was a fourth and a
capital division, capable of performing good service.

The most difficult and longest task in the form-
ation of an army is the organization of the ar-
tillery. The first consul having resolved to form
the army of reserve in the east, had in the depots
of Auxerrc, IJosaufon, and Brian5on, the means
of collecting in men and apjwintments a force
equal to sixty pieces of cannon. Two able artillery

Measures taken by the
b^ first consul to con-

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

ceal the object of the
army of reserve.

1800.
March.

officers, who were greatly attached to him, Mar-
mont and Gassendi, were sent from Paris, with
ordei-s to get ready sixty pieces of cannon in the
different depots, without saying where they were
to be united or concentrated.

It was necessary to point out some place where
all tiiese corps were to be collected tugether. If
an attempt had been made to conceal the pre-
parations by silence about them, it would have
had a wrong effect, and spread an alarm. The
first consul deceived the enemy by the very bustle
of his preparations. In the Moniteur, a decree of
the consuls was inserted by his orders, for the
foi-mation of an army of reserve at Dijon, to be
composed of sixty thousand men. Bertliier went
post-haste to Dijon, for the purpose of commen-
cing its organization, his duty now drawing less
upon his time by the entry of Carnot upon the
ministry of war. An exciting appeal was made
to the old volunteers of the revolution who after
one or two campaigns had retired to their homes,
beseeching them to repair to Dijon. A small
quantity of the munitions of war, and a few con-
scripts, were sent there with much parade. The
old officers despatched to that city gave the idea
of being sent to commence the instruction of the
skeleton battalions of conscripts. The newspaper
writers, who were only permitted to interfere with
military matters in the most circumspect mode,
had full liberty to write what they pleased about
the army at Dijon, and to detail in their columns
whatever concerned it. This was enough to attract
all the European spies to that quarter, where
there was no want of them, since they repaired
thither in great numbers.

If the divisions formed at Nantes, Rennes, and
Paris, and the troops drawn from La Vende'e; and
if the division formed at Toulon, Marseilles, and
Avignon, with the depots of the army of Egypt;
and the artillery prepared at Besan9on, Auxerre,
and Brian5on, with the materials in their arsenals,
had been united at Dijon, the secret of the first
consul would have been out ; all the world would
have believed in tlie existence of the army of
reserve. But he took good care not to act in that
manner. The divisions were sent towai-ds Lau-
sanne and Geneva by different roads, in such a
way that the public attention was not particularly
attracted to any p6int. They passed for reinforce-
ments going to the army of the Rhine, which,
being spread over the country from Strasburg
to Constance, might well ai)pear to be the point
to which they were all proceeding. The muni-
tions for the war, ordered from the arsenals of
Auxerre and Besan9on, passed for supplemental
artillery destined for the same army. Tliose col-
lecting at Brianfon were in the same way supposed
to be for the army of Liguria. The first consul sent
a quantity of spirits to Geneva; but this did not
indicate its real destination, since the German
army of France had its base of operations in Swit-
zerland. Four millions of rations of biscuit were
ordered to be made in the departments on the
banks of the Rhone, destined to feed the army of
reserve, amid the sterility of the Alps ; and one
million eight hundred thousand were secretly sent
up the Rhone to Geneva, while two hundred thou-
sand were ostentatiously sent down to Toulon, in
order that it might be supposed they were intended

for the naval service at that port. Lastly, the di-
visions were marched slowly, and without fatiguing
them, in the direction of Gene\a and Lausanne.
They had the half of March and the whole of
April to complete the distance, receiving as they
proceeded shoes, clothes, muskets, horses, and
the necessaries of which they might stand in need.
The first consul having arranged in his own mind
the route which the troops were to follow, and
having carefully made himself acquainted with
the nature of whatever they wanted, sent to
every place through which they were to march,
sometimes one thing, and sometimes another, of
such kinds as were necessary, taking care not to
raise suspicion by too large a collection of stores
at one place. The correspondence relating to
these preparations was kept bade from the war
office, and confined between himself and the com-
mander of the troops, being sent by trustworthy
aids-de-camp, who travelled backwards and for-
wards by post, saw every thing themselves, and
did every thing immediately, possessing the irre-
sistible order of the first consul, ignorant them-
selves all the time of the general plan which they
were carrying out.

The real object, confined to the first consul,
Berthier, and two or three generals of engineers
and artillery, to whom it was absolutely needful to
communicate the plan of the campaign, was kept a
profound secret. None of them would betray it,
because secrecy is an act of obedience that govern-
ments obtain in proportion to the ascendancy which
they possess. Upon this ground the first consul
had no indiscretion to fear. The foreign spies who
flocked to Dijon, seeing only a few conscripts,
volunteers, and old officers, thought themselves
wonderfully acute in discovering that there was
nothing serious to be apprehended ; that the first
consul evidently made all the stir to terrify M^las,
and prevent him from penetrating the Jura by the
mouths of the Rhone, under the belief that he
would find in the south an army of reserve capable
of stojjping him. This was the comprehension of
the business by such as deemed themselves ex-
cellent judges ; and the English newspapers were
soon filled with thousands and thousands of jests
upon the subject. Among the caiicatures designed
on the occasion, was the army of reserve repre-
sented by a child leading.a wooden-legged invalid.

Tlie first consul desired nothing better than to
be jested upon at such a moment. In the mean
time his divisions were marching, and his warlike
stores were preparing on the eastern frontier. In
the beginning of May, an army formed in a mo-
ment would be ready either to second Moreau, or
to throw itself over the Alps, and change the face
of events in that quarter.

The first consul had not neglected the navy.
After the cruise which had been made, during the
preceding year, in the Mediterranean by Admiral
Bruix, with the combined fleets of France and
Spain, this fleet had entered Brest. It was com-
posed of fifteen Spanish and about twenty French,
in all, nearly forty sail. Twenty English men-of-
war blockaded it at the moment. The first consul
availed himself of the first financial resources
which he had succeeded in creating, to send some
provisions and a part of the pay that was in arrear
to this fleet. He urged it not to suffer itself to be

1800.
March.

Rrslstance of Moreaa to th«
plan proposed.

ULM AND GENOA.

His own plan.— Mediation of
general Dessoles.

blockaded, but if it had only thirty sail against
twenty, to put to sea at the first moment, even if it
were forced to give battle; and, if unable to keep at
sea, to puss the straits, sail to Toulon, assemble
there some vessels charged with stores for Egypt,
and then go and raise the blockade of Malta and
Alexandria. The way thus cleared, commerce
would of itself victual the French gai-risous ou the
coasts of the Mediterranean.

Such were the attentions he directed to military
affairs, at the same time tliat with Cambaceres,
Sieyes, Talleyrand, Gaudin, and others, who shared
in his labours, he was employed in the reorganiza-
tion of the government, in re-establisliiiig the
finances, in creating a civil and judicial adminis-
tration, and ill negotiating with Europe. But it
was not sufficient to conceive plans and prepare
for their due execution ; it was necessary to im-
print his own ideas on the minds of his lieutenants,
who, though answerable to his consular authority,
were not then so perfectly subordinate as they
afterwards became, when under the title of "mar-
shals of the empire " they obeyed him as emperor.
The plan prescribed to Moreau more particularly,
had upset his cold and timid head ; he was alarmed
at the boldness of the operations he was ordered to
perform. The country has been spoken of already
in which he was about to operate. The Rhine,
we have said, runs east and west from Constance
to Basle, and turns to the north at Basle, jiassing
by Brisach, Strasburg, and Jlayence. In the
angle which it thus describes, is situated the tract
called the Black Forest, — a woody and mountainous
region, intersected by defiles, which lead from the
valley of the Rhine to that of the Danube. The
French and .Vustrian army occupied, to a certain de-
gree, the three sides of a triangle. The French army
held two sides, from Strasburg to Basle, and from
Basle to Schaff hausen. The Austrian army occu-
pied one side only, or from Strasburg to Constance.
'I'he la-it had therefore the advantage of a more
easy concentration. General Kray had his left,
under the prince de Reuss, in the environs of
Constance, his right in the defiles of the Black
Forest, nearly as far as Strasburg, his centre at
Donau-Eschingen, at the point where all the roads
intui-sect, and thus could concentrate his army
nipidly before the very spot where Moreau wish(;d
to cross the Rhine, either between Strasburg and
Basle, or between Basle and Constance. This
position was the subject of uneasiness to the French
geiiL-ral. He feared that Kray, ju'esenting Iiis
whole force at the place where he crossed, would
reiider the passage impossible, perhaps disastrous.

The first con.sul thought nothing of the kind,
believing, on the contraiy, that the French army
would be able to concentrate itself with case on the
left flank of Kray and overwhelm it. To that end
he wished, a« we liavc already seen, that profiting
by the river-curtain, or in other words, by the llhine,
which covered the French army, he should jwcend
that river on a sudden, should unite his forces be-
tween Basle and .Schaffliauscn, and with boats pro-
vided secretly in the tributary waters of that river,
throw over four bridges the same morning, by which
he might pass across eighty thousand or one hun-
dred liiousand men between Stockach and Donau-
Eschingen, coming upon the flank of Kray, cut-
ting him off from his rcservea and his left wing, and

driving him in confusion upon the upper Danube.
The first consul thouglit that by this operation,
executed with vigor and promptitude, the Austrian
army of Gernumy might be destroyed. That
which he proposed at a later period around Ulm,
and that which he did the same year, by Mount St.
Bernard, showed that this j)lan had nothing in it
but what was practicable. He thought that the
French army not having to move in an enemy's
country, as it would ascend the Rhine by the left
bank, having only to move without fighting, might
steal two or three mai-chcs upon Kray, and be at
the ])oint of crossing before that genei'al could
assemble means sufficient to jirevent it.

This was the plan that troubled so mucli the
mind of M(U-eau, little habituated to such bold
combinations. He was fearful that Kray, learning
his object time enough, would bring down the mass
of the Austrian army to encounter him, and drive
the French into the Rhine. Moreau pi'eferred to
avail himself of the bridges already existing at
Strasburg, Brisach, and Basle, to pass in several
columns over to the right bank. In this manner
he should divide the attention of the Austrians,
and drive them principally towards those defiles of
the Black Forest which were correspondent to the
bridges of Strasburg and Brisach ; then, after
having lured them into the defiles, he proposed to
steal away of a sudden, pass parallel with the
Rhine those of his columns that had crossed the
river, and post himself before Schaffhauseu to
cover the passage of the rest of the army.

This plan of Moreau was not destitute of merit,
nor was it without serious inconveniences. Although
it might tend to the escape of the danger following
a passage in one place executed wi.h the whole
body ot the army, it had, by dividing the operation,
the inconvenience of dividing his foi'ces, of throw-
ing upon an enemy's territoi-y two or three de-
tached columns, and of making them perform a
hazardous flank march as far as Schaffhausen,
where they would have to cover the last and most
dangerous passage of the river. Lastly, the plan
had the disadvantage of giving few or no results,
because it did not throw the French army entire
and at one time upon the left fiank of Kray, which
would have been the only means to overthrow the
Austrian general and cut him oft' from Bavaria.

It is a spectacle well worthy of historical regard,
to see two men, thus opposed to each other on
a question of great moment, bringing out so well
their differences in spirit and character. The plan
of Moreau, as it often happens with the phuis of
second rate men, had only the appearance of pru-
dence. It might succeed in the execution ; for it
is right to repeat continually that the execution
redeems all— sometimes causing the best combina-
tions to fail, and the worst to succeed. Moreau
persisted in his own idea. The first consul wishing
to act upon him by persuasion, through an inter-
mediate agent, carefully selected, summoned gene-
ral Dessoles to Paris. This ottieer was chief of
the staff in the army of Germany, and po.ssessed
an acute, penetrating intellect, well worthy of
serving as a link between two susceptible and
powerful men, having that desire to conciliate his
superiors not always found in subordinate officers.
The first consul sent for him to I'aris about the
middle of March, the end of Ventdse, and kept

The first consul yields
to Moreau.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Positions of the army 1800.
in Liguria. April.

him there some days. Having explained his ideas
to general Dessoles, he made him perfectly under-
stand them, and prefer them even to those of
Moreau. The general did not in consequence less
persist in advising the first consul to adopt the plan
of Moreau ; because, in his opinion, it was better to
leave the genei-al who was to act, to do so agreeably
to his own character and ideas, especially when he
is worthy of the command with which he is entrusted.
" Your plan," said general Dessoles to the first
consul, " is grander, more decisive, probably more
certain ; but it is not adapted to the genius of
him who is to execute it. You have a mode of
making war which is superior to any other, and
Moreau has liis, which, without doubt, is inferior
to yours, but yet excellent. Let him act; he will
act well ; slowly, perhaps, but surely ; and he will
obtain all the results which you will require for the
success of your general combinations. If, on the
other hand, you impose your ideas upon him, you
will annoy him ; you will offend him, and will
obtain nothing from him by the desire of obtaining
too much'."

The first consul, as deeply versed in the know-
ledge of men as in his own profession, appreciated
the soundness of the advice given by general
Dessoles, and yielded. " You are in the right," he
observed; " Moreau is not capable of catching and
executing the plan which I have conceived. He may
do as he sees fit, provided he will throw Kray
upon Ulm and Ratisbon, and then send back his
left wing in seasonable time upon Switzerland.
The plan which he does not undei-stand, and dares
not execute, I will carry into effect in another
part of the theatre of war. What he will not dare
on the Rhine, I will do on the Alps. He may
possibly, bj'-and-by, regret the glory which he
abandons to me." Proud words, of deep meaning,
containing a whole military prophecy, as it will
soon be easy to discover.

The mode of crossing the Rhine thus left to
Moreau himself, there still remained another point
to arrange. The first consul had a strong desire
that the right wing, commanded by Lecourbe,
should remain in reserve on the Swiss territory,
ready to second Moreau if he i-equired it, but not
to penetrate into Germany unless its presence thei-e
was indispensable, in order that it should not have
to retrograde for the purpose of co-operating in the
Alps. Still he knew how difficult it is to take
from a general-in-chief a detachment of his army,
when operations have commenced. Moreau in-
sisted on having Lecourbe, engaging to send him
back to Bonaparte as soon as he had driven Kray
upon Ulm. The first consul agreed to his request,
determined to concede every thing to promote
harmony ; but he requested that Moreau should
sign an agreement, by which he promised, after
driving back the Austrians upon Ulm, to detach
Lecourbe, with twenty thousand or twenty-five
thousand men, towards the Alps. This agreement
was signed at Basle between Moreau and Berthier,
the last being considered as acting officially in his
character of general-in-chief of the army of reserve.

General Dessoles left Paris, after having settled
completely every point of discussion with the first

1 In my youth I had the honour to receive this recital
from the mouth of general Dessoles himself.

consul. All was in accord, and every thing ready
to open the campaign, and it was of importance to
commence operations immediately, in order that
Moreau having executed as early as possible that
part of the plan arranged in which he was con-
cerned, the first consul might be able to throw
himself on the other side of the Alps, and disen-
gage Masse'na before he was crushed, fighting with
only thirty-six thousand men against one hundred
and twenty thousand. The first consul wished
that Moreau should commence operations by the
middle of April, or at the latest by the end of that
month. His wishes were vain ; Moreau was not
ready ; he had neither the activity nor the mind
capable, out of its own resources, of supplying the
insufficiency of his means. While he thus deferred
commencing operations, the Austrians, faithful to
their plan of taking the initiative in Italy, flung
themselves upon Massena, and commenced a strug-
gle with that general, which the disproportion of
strength between the two renders . worthy of im-
mortal I'emembrance.

The army of Liguria at most numbered about
thirty-six thousand men, in a fit state for active
service, distributed in the following manner : —

Thirteen or fourteen thousand men under gene-
ral Suchet formed the left of that army, occupying
the Col de Tende, Nice, and the line of the Var. A
detached corps from this wing, of about four thou-
sand men, under the orders of general Thureau,
was posted on Mount Cenis. Consequently there
were eighteen thousand men engaged in guarding
the French frontier, from Mount Cenis to the Col
de Tende.

Ten or twelve thousand men under general Soult,
forming the centre of the army, defended the two
principal passes of the Apennines, — that which
coming down from the Upper Bormida, descends
on Savona and Finale, and that of the Bocchetta,
which comes down upon Genoa.

About seven or eight thousand men, under the
intrepid ]\Iiollis, kept Genoa, and a pass which
opens near that city on the side opposite to that of
the Bocchetta. Thus the second moiety of this army,
in number about eighteen thousand men or nearly,
under the generals Soult and MioUis, defended the
Apennines and Liguria. The danger of a separa-
tion between these two portions of the army, that
occupying Nice, and that which held Genoa, was
very evident.

These thirty-six thousand French had opposed
to them Me'las, the Austrian general, with one
hundred and twenty thousand men, i*efreshed, well-
fed, and re-victualled, owing to the abundance of
everything in Italy, and to the subsidies which Aus-
tria received from England. General Kaim, with
the heavy artillery, the cavalry, and a body of in-
fantry, in all thirty thousand men, had been left in
Piedmont to serve as a rear-guard and watch the
approaches from Switzerland. Me'las, with seventy
thousand men, the greater part consisting of infan-
try, had advanced towards the openings in the
Apennines. Besides his superiority in numbers, he
had the advantage of a concentrical position ; Mas-
S(?na was obliged to occupy thirty thousand men in
guarding the semicircle, forty leagues in extent,
formed by the maritime Alps and the Apennines,
from Nice to Genoa, the surplus of his force occu-
pying Jlount Cenis. Me'las, on the contrary, placed

1800.
April.

Bonaparte's instructions to
Massena.

ULM AND GENOA.

on the other side of the mountains, in the centre
of this semicircle, between Coni, Ceva, and Gavi,
had but a short distance to go before he could
reach any point of his opponent's Une which he
might choose to attack. He was also able to make
false demonstrations upon any one of these points,
and then, i-apidly moving upon another, act against
it with his whole force. Masse'na, menaced in this
wav, had no less than forty leagues to march from
Nice to the succour of Genoa, or from Genoa to
succour Nice.

It was upon considering all these circumstances
that the first consul grounded the instructions he
had given to Mass^na, — instructions already alluded
to in a general manner, but which it is now neces-
sary to re-state in a more particular way. Three
roads, adapted for artillery, led from one side of the
mountains to the other : that ivhich by Turin,
Coni, and Tende, opened upon Nice and the Var ;
that whii-h ascending the valley of the Borniida
conducted by the defile of Cadibona to Savona ;
lastly, that of the Boechetta, which by Tortona and
Gavi descended on the left of Genoa into the
valley of Polcevera. The danger to be apju-e-
hended was, lest M(5!as should be seen bringing
down his whole force by the second of these o[)en-
ings, and thus, by cutting the French army in two
parts, fling one half upon Nice, and the other half
upon Genoa. Seeing this hazard, the first consul
wrote Masse'na instructions in a correspondence
displaying admirable foresight, imder date of the
5th and 12th of March, instructions of which the
following is the substance : "' Take care not to
have a line too extended. Keep few men upon the
Alps and the Col de Tendc; the snow will defend
you there. Leave detachments near Nice and in
the surrounding forts. Have four-fifths of your
troops at Genoa and its environs. The enemy will
march upon your right towards Genoa, upon your
centre towards Savona, very probably upon both
points at once. Refuse one of the two attacks, and
fling yourself with your whole force upon one of
the enemy's columns. The ground will not allow
him to avail himself of his superiority in cavalry
and artillery ; he can only attack you with his in-
fantry ; yours is infinitely superior to his, and,
favoured by the nature of the ground, that will
supply the place of numbers on your side. In this
rugged country, if you manoeuvre well, you will be
able with thirty thousand men to beat sixty thou-
sand. To carry into Liguria sixty thousand infan-
try, M^las must have ninety thousand, which sup-
poses a total army of at least one hundred and
twenty thousand ; Melas has neither your activity
nor your tab nts ; you have no reason to fear him.
If he appear to Aanls Nice, while you are at Genoa,
let him march on ; he will not dare to advance,
while yo\i are in Liguria, ready to fall upon his
rear, or upon the forces he will have left behind in
Piedmont. "

More tlian one cause operated to prevent Mas-
B^na from following this sagacious advice. First,
he wa-s surprised by a sudden irruption of the Aus-
trians, before he had time t*) perfect the disposal of
his troops and effect his definitive arrangements ;
secondly, he had not sufficient provisions in Genoa,
to concentrate his whole army there. Fearful of
consuming those of which the city stood in ncd in
case of a siege, he rather desired to secure the re-

sources of Nice, which were much more abundant.
Finally, Masse'na did not appreciate sufficiently
the deep wisdom of the instructions of his superior,
to disregard the real inconveniences of a concen-
tration upon Genoa. Masse'na, on the field of battle,
was, perhaps, the fii"st of his contemporary gene-
rals ; in character e<|ual to the most resolute sol-
dier of any age : but though he had a great deal
of natural talent, the extent of his viev.s by no
means equalled his mental energy and the promp-
titude of his visual glance.

Thus, for want of time, provisions, and a suffi-
cient impression of the importance of the measure,
he did not concentrate h.is forces upon Genoa with
sufficient rapidity, and he was suri)rised by the
Austrians. Melas opened the campaign on the
5th of April, or loth Germinal, which was much
earlier than it was expected active hostilities would
be resumed. Melas advanced with seventy thou-
sand or seventy-five thousand men, in order to
force the chain of the Apennines. His lieutenants,
Ott and Hohenzollern, directed twenty-five thou-
sand men upon Genoa. Ott, with fifteen thousand
ascending the Trebia, approached by the defiles of
Scoffera and Monte-Creto, which open upon the
right of Genoa. Hohenzollern, with ten thousand
men, threatened the Boechetta. Mdlas himself, with
fifty thousand, ascended the Borniida, and attacked
simultaneously all the positions of what has been
called above the "middle I'oad," which led by Cadi-
bona to Savona. His intention, as the first consul
had foreseen it would be, was to force the French
centre and separate general Suchet from Soult, who
were in communication at this point. A violent
struggle ensued, from the sources of the Tanaro and
of the Bormida, as far as the scarped hill-summits
that overlook Genoa. The Austrian generals, Mdas
and Elsnitz, carried on a fierce encounter with
Suchet at Rocca-Barbena, Sette-Pani, Melogno, and
Santo- Jacobo; and with Soult at Montelegino, Stella,
Cadibona, and Savona. The republican forces,
profiting by the mountainous nature of the country,
and covering themselves well by the rugged and
broken character of the ground, combated with
incomparable courage, and caused to the enemy a
loss three times greater than they themselves sus-
tained, by reason that their fire plunged into dense
and deep masses of men ; but they were obliged to
fight ceaselessly against numbers continually re-
newed, and were worn out bj' fatigue at last,
rather than Ijeaten by the Austrians. Suchet and
Soult were constrilined to separate, the first re-
tiring upon Borghetto, the second upon Savona.
As was easy to be foreseen, the French line was
broken, one half of the Ligurian army being thrown
upon Nice, the other half compelled to shut itself
up in Genoa.

On the side of Genoa the success had been ba-
lanced with tolerable equality. The attack of Ho-
henzollern on the Boechetta was made with too few
troops to overcome the French, there being but ten
thousand Austrians against five thousand French.
The Austrians were repulsed by Gazan's division.
On the right of Genoa, towards the positions of
Monte-Creto and ScoH'era, which afford access to
the valley of Bisagno, general Ott, having beaten
the division of Miollis, who had but four thousand
men to oppose to his fifteen thousand, descended
the reverse side of the Apennines, and surrounding
I'

Description of Genoa. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIBE.

Its defences.— Measures 1800.
of Massena. April.

all the forts which cover the city, displayed the
Austrian colours to the terrified Genoese. The
English squadron at the same time hoisted the
British fla^. If the inhabitants of Genoa itself were
patriots and partisans of the French, tlie peasantry
of the valleys, attached to the aristocratic party,
like the Calahrians of Naples were to queen Caroline,
or the Vendeans in Fi-ance to tiie Bourbons, rose
at once at the sight of tiie soldiers of the coalition.
The alarm-bell was rung in the villages. A certain
baron, named D'Aspres, attached to the imperial
service, and having some influence in the country,
excited the revolt. In the evening of the 6th of
April, the unfortimate peoi)le of Genoa, seeing the
Austrian fires on the hills around them, and on the
sea the flag of England, began to fear lest the oli-
garchy, alreaily full of joy, should again quickly
establish its detestable power.

But the intrepid Massena was among them. Se-
parated from Suchet by tiie attack directed upon
his centre he had still from fifteen thousand to
eighteen thousand men ; and witii such a force he
could defy any enemy whatever to force the gates
of Genoa in his presence.

In order to understand perfectly the operations
of the French genei-al during this memorable siege,
it is needful to describe the theatre where it hap-
pened.

Genoa is situated at the bottom of a beautiful
bay, which bears its name, at the foot of a spur
of tlie Apenuine mountains. This spur projecting
from north to south down to the sea, before it
plunges in, separates into two ridges, one turning
to the east, the other to the west, and thus forming
an inclined triangle, of which the summit is in
connexion with the Apennines, while the base
rests upon the sea. It is at the base of this tri-
angle, anil be it undei-stood, with the usual natural
irregularity, that Genoa displ.iys itself in long
streets, lined v.ith magnificent ])alaces. Both
nature and art have done much to aid in its de-
fence. On the side next the sea, two moles carriid
out in a direction that nearly cro.ss the one with
the other, form the port, and defend it against a
naval attack. On the side of the land, a rampart
with bastions surrounds the p:irt of the city which
is built upon and peopled. An outer rampart of
great extent, and bastioned like tiie first, is carried
along the heights, which, as before observed, de-
scribes a triangular figure around the city. Two
forts, disposed in terraces, one al>ove the other,
called the Spur and the Diamond forts, are placed
at the apex of this triangular configuration of the
hill summits, and cover with their fire the centre
of tlie fortified works.

But this was not all that had been done to keep
an enemy at a distance. On turning 'he back to
the sea, and regarding Genoa, the east will be on
the right hand, and the west on the left. Two
small rivers, the Bisagno on the right hand or
east, and that of Polcevei-a on the left or west,
bathe the two sides of the exterior lamparfs. The
Bisagno descends from the mountain heights of
the Monte-Creto and of Scoffera, which must be
passed when coming from the back of the Apen-
nines in ascending the Trebia. The side of the
valley of the Bisagno which is opposite to the city
is called Moiite-Ratli, and presents several posi-
tious from which much injury might be inflicted

upon Genoa, if they were not occupied. Care
had been taken, therefore, to crown them with
three forts, namely, those of Quezzi, Richelieu,
and St. Tecle. The valley of Polcevera, on the
contrary, lying on the left of Genoa, offered no
dominant position which it was necessary to oc-
cupy in order to i>rotect tl;e city. A large suburb
on the sea-shore, that of San Pietro d' Arena, pre-
sented a mass of building useful and easy to defend.

The fortifications of Genoa thus presented a tri-
angle, inclined to the horizon about 15°, being
about nine thousand fathoms in extent, connected
by its summit with the Ai)emiines, its base washed
by the sea, and bordered upon its two sides by the
Bisagno on the east, and the Polcevera on the
west. The Spur fort, and above that Fort Diamond,
covered the summit. The forts of Richelieu, St.
Tecle, and Quezzi prevented a destructive fire
being poured from Monte-Ratti on this city of
marble palaces.

Such was Genoa then, and such were its de-
fences, which art, time, and contributions imposed
upon France have since greatly improved.

Massena had still under his command about
eighteen thousand men. If with such a garrison,
in so strong a place, he had possessed a sufficiency
of provisions, he would have been impregnable.
It will be seen how much characti r can < fi ■ct in
warfare to^^■ards repairing a fault in foresight and
combination.

Massdiia was resolved to oppose to the enemy a
most energetic resistance, and he proposed imme-
diately to execute two very important things ; the
first was to drive back the Aiisirians who had
])rcssed too closely upon Genoa beyond the Apen-
nines ; the second was to effect a junction with
Suchet by a combined movement with that general
along the line of the Coniiche.

To execute his fir.st design it was necessary that
he should drive the Austrians from the Bisagno
on the one hand, and fioiii the Polcevei'a on the
other, and that he should drive them by the Monte-
Creto and the Bocchetta to the other side of the
mountains, from whence they had come. Without
the loss of a day, on the very morrow of their first
ajipearance, being the 7th of April, or IJih Ger-
minal, Massena sallied forth from Genoa, and
traversed the valley of the Bisagno, followed by
the brave divisions of Miollis, which ten days be-
fore had been obliged to retire before the very
superior force of general Ott. He was now re-
inforced with a part of the reserve, and marched
in two colunms. That of the right, under general
Arnaud, marched by the sea towards Quinto; that
of the left, under Miollis, directed itself towards
the declivities of Monte Ratti. A third column,
under general Petitot, followed, marching up the
bottom of the valley of Bisagno, which winds at
the foot of Monte Ratti. The jn-ecision in move-
ment of the three columns was such, that the fire
of all three was heard upon every point at the
same moment. General Arnaud by one slope, and
general Miollis by another, forced their way with
great vigour to the heights of Mfnite-Ratti. The
presence of Masse'iia liimself, and the desire to
revenge the surprise of the preceding day, ani-
mated the soldiers. The Austrians were driven
into the torrents, and lost all their positions. Ge-
neral Arnaud marched on, following the mountain

1800.
April.

His success. — He endearoors to
unite with Suchet.

ULM AND GENOA.

Soult's struggle with M61as.

67

crest, and reached the extreme summit of the
Apennines at the pass of ScofTera. JIasse'na fol-
lowed with some reserve companies, and descended
into the valley of Bisagno, to join the column of
general Petitot. The last thus reinforced repulsed
the enemy upon every point, and, remounting the
river, seconded the movement of Arnaud upon
Scoftera. Precipitated into these tortuous valleys,
the Austrians left Ma.sse'na one thousand five hun-
dred prisoners, and at their head the instigator of
the revolt of the peasantry at Fonte-Buona, the
baron d'Aspres. On entering Genoa in the evening,
Masse'na was heartily welcomed by the patriotic
Genoese, whom he had delivered from the sight of
the enemy. Bringing with him a.*! a prisoner the
very officer whose speedy triumphant announce-
ment had been before made to the population, it
could not conceal its joy, and the commander of
the French was rec.ived with loud aeclamation.s,
while the inhabitants provided litters to carry the
wounded, and wine and broth for their refresh-
ment, the citizens disputing the honour of receiving
them into their houses.

After this energetic action on the left, by far the
most important to be performed, because upon
that side alone the city was closely pressed by the
enemy, M;isse'tia determined, after the respite he
liad obtained by his reient success, to make an
effort on the left towards Savona, and thus to re-
establish his communication with Suchet. In order
to secure Genoa from attack during his absence,
he divided his forces into two bodies, the one on
the right under Miollis, the other on the left under
Soult. The corps of Miollis was to guard Genoa
ill two divisions. The division of Arnaud was to
defend the east facing Bisagno, and that of Spitiil
the west, facing Polcevera. The corps upon the
left under Soult was ordered to take the field w itii
the two divisions of Gardaimc and Guzan. With
this last force of about ten thousand men, Mass^na
proposed to approach Savona, to open his eominu-
nication with Suchet, to whom he had secretly sent
notice of his intention, with orders to attempt a
similar movement simultaneously upon the same
point. Gardanne's division proceeded by the sea
t-hore, and that of Gazan along the crests of the
Apennines, with the intention to induce the enemy,
at the sij;lit of the two separate columns, to divide
his own forces. Manoeuvring with great rapidity
directly afterwards upon ground of which he had
a perfect knowledge, Mass^iia intended, according
to circumstances, to unite his two divisions in such
a manner a» todestr<iy, either on the heights of the
Apennines or by the sea-sliore, that divi.sion of the
enemy which mi^it be most exposed to his attack.
Masstiia was in person with Gardanne's division,
and confiiled that of Gazan to Soult. His design
was to follow the coast by Voltri, Varaggio, and
Savf)na ; his lieutenant Soult had ordci-s to ascena
by Aipia-Bianca and San Pietro del Alba, upon
Sass4;llo.

On the 9th of April, in the morning, the troops
commenced their march. MiJlas, after divitling
the PVencIi army into two i)art8, intended to shut
up Massdna in Genoa, and contiact his own line,
which was too extended. It embraced from the
valley of the Tanaro to that of the Trebia, a space
•>f no less than fifteen leagues at least. The
two armies met in their respective movemunta

upon ground very rugged and broken ; a des-
perate but confused conflict ensued. Massdua had
marched in two columns, M^las in three, while
Hohenzollern, with a fourth, made an attack upon
the Bocchetta, ten thousand French being opposed
to above forty thousand Austrians. Soult, filing
by Voltri, perceived the Austrians upon his right.
They had passed the Bocchetta, and crowned the
surrounding heights. On reaching a place called
Aqua Santa, it was in their power to threaten the
rear of the French columns, and cut off their
return to Genoa. Soult thouuht it would be the
most prudent step to drive them back ; a brilliant
combat ensued, in which Colonel Mouton, since a
marshal, and count Lobau, commanding the third
demi-brigade, were greiitly distinguished. Soult
took some cannon and prisoners ; and, despite his
numerous enemies, gained the mountain-road to
Sassello. The time consumed in this action, which
could not prevent the advance of the Austrians
upon the rear of the French columns, prevented
Soult from arriving at Sassello, on the other side
of the Apennines, at the moment that Massena
Wiiited for his junction. The last had marched by
the sea-side, and on the following day, April 10,
he WHS at Varaggio, in two columns, endeavouring
to form a communication with Soult, whom he sup-
jiosed to be at Sassello. The Austrians, whose
force was ten times as great as his, endeavoured to
envelope his two little columns, particularly the
left, which he commanded in person. Mass(5na,
trusting to his right column and the movement
of Soult towards Sassello, resisted for a good
while a corps of eight or ten thousand men with
no more than twelve hundred, displaying extra-
ordinary firnmess. He was, at last, obliged to
retreat, having lost sight of his right column, which
had fallen beliind in consequence of a tardy de-
liverance of provisions ; but he went in search of it
among fearful precipices and bands of peasants in
revolt. He found it, and, ordering it back, united
it with the rest of Gardanne's division, which had
not quitted the sea-side by Varaggio and Cogo-
Ictto. The difficulty of combining movements in
thti midst of such a crowd of enemies in so rugged
a country, having hindered the junction in time
with Soult, Massena resolved to rally his troops, to
ascend the crest of the Apennines, rejoin his lieu-
tenants, and fall upon the Austrian corps dispersed
about the valleys. But the harassed troojjs had
dispersed upon the roads, ami coulti not be collected
in time. Massena then resolved to send to Soult
such of his forces as were able to march, to serve
him as a reinforcement, and with the i-emainder,
composed of wounded and exhausted men, to re-
gain, by following the seaside, the ajjproaches to
Genoa, in order to cover the retreat of the corps,
and insure an entrance into the jilace. With only
a liandfiil men he had to sustain several most dis-
proportioned actions, and in one of them, a French
l)attalion having given way before a charge of tlio
hussars of Seckler, he charged the hussars with
only thirty hoi-se, and drove them off. He posted
himself at last in Voltri, to await the return of
Soult. This officer was in th« mountains among
the enemy's detachments five or six times superior
in nundjcr to himself. He there encountered groat
hazards, and nuist have finally surrendered but
for the help so seasonably sent to him by Massena.
t 2

Massena's preparations to
defend Genoa.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Sufferings of the gar-
rison.— Austrian at-
tack repulsed.

Being thus reinforced at the critical moment, he
was able to regain the road to Genoa, having main-
tained, without disadvantage, an arduous and most
unequal contest. Rejoining the commander-in-
chief, they both entered Genoa, bringing in four
thousand prisoners. Suchet had on his part en-
deavoured to rejoin his commander, but found it
impossible to force his way through the enormous
mass of the Austrian army.

The Genoese were delighted to see the French
general enter the city again, preceded by columns
of prisoners. The ascendency of Mass^na became
all-powerful, both the army and population obeying
him with perfect submission.

From this moment, Massena might consider
himself shut up in Genoa, but he had no intention
to suffer the enemy to press him too closely. His
intention was to keep Me'las at a distance from tlie
walls, to fatigue him with continued combats, and
so to occupy his attention that he should not force
the Var, enter Lombardy, nor oppose the march of
the first consul over the Alps.

No sooner had he entered the city, on the 18th
April or 28th Germinal, than he organized a police
for the purpose of provisioning the place. Appre-
hensive of treachery from the Genoese nobles, he
took his measures so as to guard against a surprise
from them. The national guard, composed of Li-
gurian patriots, supported by a French force, was
encamped in the principal square of the city, with
matches ready lighted at their guns. The national
guard was to assemble whenever the drums should
beat to ai'ms. Such of the inhabitants as did not
belong to it were ordered at the signal to return
to their homes. Armed troops alone were per-
mitted to traverse the streets. At ordinary times
the inhabitants were commanded to be at home by
ten o'clock at night ; and assemblages at any hour
were strictly forbidden.

Massena gathered together all the corn to be
found in the city, promising to pay for it when it
was brought voluntarily, and paying on such occa-
sions. When it was only obtained by domiciliary
visits, the owners refusing to give it up, it was seized.
The corn being ail secured, both the population
and army were supported upon rations ; and what
was thus procured was sufficient to sustain the
army and poor inhabitants during the first fifteen
days of the siege. These fifteen days being nearly
passed, provisions were still left, which many of
the rich procured for themselves, at a high rate
of payment, from stores that had been concealed
for their sole use. By order of Massena a second
search was made, and enough of the common kind
of grain, such as rye and oats, were found for a
fortnight's supply more of coarse bread to the army
and population. It was hoped that a gale of wind
might arise and drive off the English fleet, and
thus a few cargoes of pi'ovisions niiglit enter the
harbour. Assistance was expected from Corsican
and Ligurian privateers, which had received letters
of marque for the capture of vessels laden with
corn. In the mean while, Mass<;na was resolved to
hold out to the last extremity. It was determined,
rather than submit, to feed the troops with cacao,
with which the warehouses of Genoa were well
provided. Having at his command some money
sent him by the first consul, Masstjna hoarded it
for extreme cases, or made use of it for affording

occasional relief to his unfortunate soldiers under
their cruel sufferings. Already, in the different
encounters, several thousand men had been killed
or disabled, and a great number were in the hos-
pitals. In the forts, upon the two ramparts, and
in the reserve, there was an active force of about
twelve thousand men still left.

In this horrible position Massena exhibited every
day a calm and serene countenance, communicating
to others that courage which animated himself.
His aid-de-camp, Franceschi, embarked in a small
boat to proceed by the coast to Nice, in order to
repair to the first consul and make known to him
the hardships, exploits, and danger of the Ligurian
anny.

On the morning of the 30th of April or 10th
Floreal, a general cannonade was heard on all
points at the same time ; on the east towards the
Bisagno, on the west in the direction of the Pol-
cevera, and, lastly, along the coast itself, from a
division of gun-boats, all announcing some general
attempt of the enemy. The Austrians on that day
displayed themselves in great force. Count Hohen-
zollern attacked the little plain of the Two Brothers,
on which fort Diamond stood. After a fierce
struggle the Austrians gained the ground, and sum-
moned the fort. The officer in command replied,
that he would not surrender a post entrusted to
his honour until compelled by main force. This
fort was of great importance, since it commanded
that of the Spur, and, in consequence, the entire
ramparts. The Austrian camp of Coronata, si-
tuated on the banks of the Polcevera towards the
west, opened a heavy fire upon the suburb of San
Pietro d'Arena, and several attacks were at the
same time made for the purpose of narrowing the
space which the French still possessed in that
quarter. On the opposite side of the city, towards
the Bisagno, the enemy surrounded fort Richelieu,
and unfortunately took fort Quezzi, which was not
completely finished when the siege commenced. In
the last place, he took the village of San Martino
d'Albaro, under the fort of Mount Tecle, and was
very near getting that formidable position the Ma-
dona del Monte, from which Genoa might be com-
manded. The soldiers of general d'Arnaud had
already quitted the last houses of the village of
Albaro ; they scarcely any of them kept in their
ranks, many having dispersed in ])arties, and some
were scattered like tirailleurs. Massena hastened
to the spot, rallied them, renewed the fight, and
dispersed the enemy.

Half the day had gone by ; it was high time to
repair the mischief. Masse'na entered Genoa in-
stantly and made proper dispositions. He confided
to Soult the 73rd and lOfith demi-brigrades, and
ordered him to retake the plain of the Two Brothei-s;
but first wishing to recapture fort Q,uezzi and
force the enemy to evacuate the village of Albai'o,
ho himself led the division of Miollis against those
points, after it was reinforced by battalions bor-
rowed from the 2nd and 3rd of the line.

D'Arnaud's division coming to the charge turned
San Martino d'Albaro, and i-epulsed the enemy
who had occupied it into the ravine of Sturla, took
some prisoners, and thus covered the right of tlie
Frcncli columns advancing from fort Quezzi, while
the brave colonel Mouton, at the head of two
battalions of the 3rd, attacked fort Quezzi in front.

1800.
April.

Great exertions of the garrison.
Sucliet retreats to the Var.

Bonaparte strongly urges Moreau to
ULM AND GENOA. commence hostilities.— Reasons for
Jloieau's delay.

Adjutant-general Hector was directed to turn the
Monte-Ratti by the heights of fort RicheHeu.
But, despite every effort, colonel Mouton was re-
pulsed ; though he did not yield until a ball pierced
thi-ou"h his chest, and he was left for dead on the
field of battle. Mas.se'na, who had only two bat-
talions remaining, pushed one on the right flank of
the position of the enemy, and directed the other
upon the left. A fiei'ce combat now took place round
fort Quezzi. Too near one another to fire, the
combatants fought with stones and the butt-ends of
their muskets. The French were on the point of
giving ground before numbers, when Massena led
up a demi-battalion that remained with him, and
decided the victory ; the fort was captured. The
Austrians, driven from position to position, left a
great number of killed, wounded, and prisoners. At
this moment Masse'na, who had deferred the attack
on the little plain of the Two Brothers, profiting
by the effect of tliis success, connnandcd Soult to
take it. General Spital was induced to make the
attack ; the ground was warmly disputed, but taken
by the French at last.

'Thus after a whole day's fighting the fort of
Quezzi was taken, the posts of San Jlartino and of
the xMadonna del Monte, as well as the plain of the
Two Brothers, in fine, all the decisive positions,
without wjiicli the siege of the city by the Austrians
could never be successful. jNIass^na entered the
city in the evening, bringing in with him the
scaling-ladders which the enemy had prepared for
mounting the walls. The Austrians lost in that
day one thousand six hundred prisoners, and two
thousjind four hundred killed or wounded, — about
four thousand men, in all. Including these last,
Mass^na had killed or taken from twelve thousand
to fifteen thousand men subsequent to the opening
f)f hostilities, and, what was of far more consequence,
ho had depressed the nmi-al courage of their army
by the great efforts which he forced them to make.

Not a moment was lost in putting fort Quezzi
into repair. The work which seemed likely to
occupy a month, was finished in three days, by
means of five or six hundred barrels of earth
which were brought by the soldiers, and served for
the formation of the intrenchments. On the 5th of
May, or I5th Flor<?al, a small vessel entered the
port with a supply of grain for five days. This
was a valuable addition to the stock of provisions,
which had become very low. Still it was necessary
to relieve the city, otherwise it could not hold out
nnicli longer, for it was likely in a short time to be
entirely destitute of bread.

(jeneral Suchet on his side finding himself over-
powered from the crests of the Apennines, was
obliged to quit his position at Borghetto, to abandon
even the Roya. no longer tenable, as the enemy
marched freely by the Col do Tende and threatened
Nice and the Var. Even Nice was occupied by
Mdas, will) eiiteied the place in triumph, proud to
tread the soil which had been declared a part of the
French territory by the republic. Suchet rallied
behind the Var, in a position long studied by the
French officers of engineers. The bridge of St.
Laurent over the Var, covered by a fortified work,
presented a defile of four hundred fathoms to be
traversed, and was considered an insunnountable
obstacle to an enemy. The whole ri(;ht bank was
covered with battalions, and guarded by the French

from the mouth of the river to the mountains. The
forts of Montalban and of Vintimille, placed in
advance of the Var, had been garrisoned by French
at the moment Nice was evacuated. The fort of
Jlontalban, situated in the rear of the Austrians, at
such an elevation that it was visible from the
French camp, was surmounted by a telegraph,
through which means Suchet was made acquainted
with every movement of the Austrians. All the
disposable troops from the neighbouring depart-
ments had been concentrated niidor Suchet, so
that his army numbered fourteen thousand men,
sheltered behind good entrenchments, in a position
very difficult to be taken by storm.

On receiving intelligence of what was going on in
Liguria, the first consul addressed the most pressing
communications to Moi'eau, urging him to com-
mence active hostilities. A month had passed
since every thing had been settled between them,
and no further difficulties attaching to the French
government impeded the movements of Moreau in
that quarter. But tliis general was by nature
somewhat slow, and would not compromise himself
on an enemy's territory without a certainty of suc-
cess ; thus delaying, until it was mischievous, the
commencement of operations. Every delay in his
commencing the campaign was a delay in the
entry of the army of reserve upon another cam-
paign, and a cruel prolongation of the suflerings of
Masse'na and his brave soldiers. " Hasten, hasten,"
wrote the first consul to Moreau from Paris,
" hasten, that by your success the moment may
arrive when Masse'na may bo relieved. That
general wants provisions ; for fifteen days he has
sustained with his exhausted soldiers a despairing
conflict. I address myself to your patriotism, to
your own self-interest ; because if Mass^na sur-
renders, it would be necessary to take from you a
part of your army, and hurry to the Rhone, to the
aid of the southern departments." At last a formal
telegraphic order was given him to pass the
Rhine.

Tlie reasons which hindered Moreau from enter-
ing upon action had been valid in circumstances
less urgent. Alsace was exliausted, Switzerland,
as badly off, had been for two years crowded with
the armies of all Europe, and was entirely destitute
of resources. The inhabitants, unable to feed their
children, were obliged to emigrate with them in
troops from the jmor into the rich cantons ; and
the ruined fatnilies there delivered them over to
the charity of the families that had still some means
of subsistence left. Nothing in the way of pro-
visions could be got out of such a country, of
which to make an enemy would not be provident,
because it was the point of supjiort to two of the
French armies. Moreau, as we have before said,
lived upon tho stores pi'ovided in the French for-
tresses of the Rhine for use in case of siege. This
was, however, not tho real motive of iiis delay ; it
might have been a motive, on the contrary, to
hasten as soon as possible into an enemy's country,
that he might sujiport himself upon it ; the truth
was, both his artillery and eavalry were in want of
horses. He had no canq) e(piipages, no imple-
ments ; if he had enough materials to throw a
bridgt! over a river, it was the utmost. Still, con-
sidering how urgent circumstances at that moment
were, he at last consented to do the best lie could

__ Moreau begins his march.
* " Division of his army.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Strength of the Aus-
triaiis. — Tlieir posi-
tion.—Moreau's plan.

1800.
April.

with what he possessed, in the hope of procuring
what he wanted as he proceeded. His ai-my was so
well composed, that it would be able to supjjly itself
with what it required as it passed along, or else to
do so by conquest. By the end of April, the first
days of Flore'al, the general had decided to com-
mence the campaign, the finest in his life, and one
of the most memorable in the annals of France.

Moreau had at his disposal, as we have seen,
about one hundred and thirty thousand men,
rather more than less : of these, thirty thousand
were occupied as garrisons in Strasburg, Landau,
Mayence, at the bridge-forts of Basle, Brisach,
Kehl, and Cassel. Of these thirty thousand, ton, six
or seven under general Moncey guarded the village
of the St. Gothard and the Simplon in order to close
them against the Austrians. With Moreau there-
fore there remained one hundred thousand men fit
for the field. Tlie infantry, above all, was sujierb,
numbering eighty-two thousand ; the artillery
mustered five thousand, having one hundred and
sixteen pieces of cannon ; the cavalry was thirteen
thousand. As will be seen, the artillery and the
cavalry were below the usual proportions ; but tliey
were excellent of their kind, and the character of
the infantry enabled the commander the better to
accommodate himself to his deficiency in the
auxiliary services.

Moreau divided his army into four corps.
Lecourbe commanded the right, twenty-five thou-
sand strong. It was stationed from tlie lake of
Constance as far as Schaffhaiisen. The second
corps, denominated the reserve, consisted of thirty
thousand men, or nearly that number. It was
directly under the conunand of Moreau himself, and
occupied the territory of Basle. Tlie third, con-
sisting of twenty five thousand men,fornnng the
centre under St. Cyr, was quartered about Old and
New Brisach. Lastly, general St. Suzanne, at the
head of about twenty thousand, after ascending
from Mayence nearly to Strasburg, occupying
Strasburg and Kehl, formed the left of the
army.

Moreau had a long while before adopted this
kind of arrangement, dividing his army into sepa-
rate corps, each complete in infantry, cavalry, and
artillery. Thus each corps was able to act by
itself, under whatever circumstances it migiit be.
This mode of formation had the inconvenience, as
experience soon demonstrated, of leading the corps
to separate too readily, and to act by tiieniselves,
more especially when the commander-in-chier did
not exercise a sufficient authority, so as at all times
to enforce their co-operation in one common end.
This inconvenience was yet more Jtggravated by a
l)articular step which Moreau adopted in this cam-
paign. This was the assuming to himself the
immediate command of one of the corps of the
army, under the appellation of "the reserve." St.
Cyr, who had served with Moreau a good while,
and who possessed nmch influence over him,
strongly opposed this combination '. St. Cyr al-
leged that it absorbed the attention of the com-
mander-in-chief, and made him lower himself to a
duty foreign to his post ; more than all, that it was
an injury to the other corps of the army, who
were seldom so well treated as those more im-

' See the Memoirs of St. Cyr, Campaign of 1800.

mediately under the general staffs These objections,
the justice of which was proved more than once in
the course of this campaign, had no weiglit, Mo-
reau continuing to persist in his resolution out of
complaisance to the interests of a party. Having
already conferred the direction of his staff upon
general Dessoles, and still desirous of making an
appointment for general Lahorie, one of the dan-
gerous friends who subsequently contributed to his
ruin, he gave him the second command of the
reserve. This circumstance caused a coolness be-
tween Moreau and St. Cyr, which at length came
to an open quarrel.

Kray, the Austrian general, opposed to Moreau,
had, as we have before said, one Imndred and fifty
thousand men under his command, of which num-
ber forty thousand were in fortresses upon the
Rhine and Danube, and one hundred and ten
thousand in the field. The infantry, mingled with
Bavarians, Wurtembergers, and Mayen^ais, was
ordinary ; the cavalry was fine, and numbered
twenty-six thousand ; the artillery, numerous
and well-appointed, numbered three hundred
pieces of cannon. The right of the Austrians,
which was commanded by general Sztarray, ob-
served the course of the Rhine, between Mayence
and Rastadt, connecting itself with the levies of
the Mayence peasantry, under the baron d'Albini.
General Kienmayer covered the opening upon
Strasburg in advance of Kinzig. Major Giulay,
with one brigade, held the Val d'Enfer, and ob-
served Old Brisiicli. The main body of the Aus-
trian army was encamped behind the defiles of the
Black Forest, at Donau-Eschlngen and Willingen,
at the junction of the roads conducting from the
Rhine to the Danube. On this point forty thou-
sand men were collected. Kray had placed in the
forest-towns a strong advance-guard under the
archduke Ferdinand, with orders to watch the
Basle road ; and he left a numerous rearguard,
under ])rince Joseph of Lorraine at Stockach, to
cover his magazines established in that town, to
guard the roa(ls of Uhn and Munich, and to keep
up his communication with the Lake of Constance,
where Williams, an Englishman, commanded a
flotilla. In the last place, prince de Reuss, at the
head of thirty thousand men, partly Austrians, and
partly Tyrolese militia, were in occupation of the
Rlieinthal, from the Gri.sons to the Lake of Con-
stance. This was considered the left of the im-
perial army. Kr.iy, in the centre of this web
extending around him, flattered himself that he
should be informed of the least movement ou the
part of the French.

The jilan of Moreau, before stated, consisted in
passing over the three bridges of Strasburg, Bri-
sach, and Basle, and then in stealing away and as-
cending the Rhine as far as Schaff'hausen; headopted
it without modification ^. Moreau set his troops in
motion on the 25th of April. He proceeded him-
self to Strasburg, where he joined the corps of
St. Suzanne, in order to make it more readily be
supposed, by his presence there, that his intention
was to act by the direct road from Strasburg

» Here St. Cyr in his Memoirs seems to be in error. The
first con>ul adopted the plan entire. This is attested by a
letier of general Des.soles, contained in the Memoiret de la
Guerre, and by manuscriiit correspondence.

1800.
April.

The false movements
of Moreau's army.

ULM AND GENOA.

by which he deceives the
Austrian general.

71

across the Biack Forest. He took anotlier pre-
caution for masking his objects still further, for he
did not unite his forces beforehand. The demi-
brigades marched out of their cantonments to the
place where they were to cross the Rhine, joining
in their march the corps of which they formed a
part. Every thing being thus arranged, three im-
posing heads of columns, acting simultaneously,
over a space of thirty leagues, passed the bi-idges
of Strasburg, Old Brisach, and Basle at the same
moment, on the 25tli of April.

General St. Suzanne, who commanded the ex-
treme left at Strasburg, drove all before him that
he found in his way. Here and there he fell in
with deUched cori)S ; they made hut a slight re-
sistance. Not wishing to involve himself in any
serious affairs, he halted between Renchen and
Offenburg, menacing, at the same time, the two
valleys of Renchen and of Kiiizig, but endeavouring
to make the .\ustriaiis believe that he was trying
to reach the Daimbe by the Black Forest in follow-
ing the valley of the Kinzig. At the same time as
St. Suzanne had advanced from Strasburg, St. Cyr
marched from Old Brisach upon Friburg, driving
the enemies' detachments rapidly before him ; but,
like St. Suzanne, taking care not to push on too far
in advance. He met some resistance before Fri-
burg. The Austrians had entrenched the heights
surrounding the town, and placed behind them a
great number of the peasantry raised in the moun-
tains of Suabia, under the plea of defending tlieir
homes against the ravages of the French. They
could not maintain their ground, and Friburg was
taken possession of in a moment. Some of the un-
fortunate peasantry were sabred, and no more was
seen of any of tliem during the remainder of the
campaign. St. Cyr tools, up his ground hi such
a manner as to induce a belief that he intended to
engage in the Val d'Enfer, or, as the Gemians
call it, the Hollengrund.

The reserve oa the same day passed over the
bridge of Basle without meeting any obstacle, and
sent a division, that of Richepanse, towards Schlien-
gen and Kandern, to communicate with St. Cyr's
corp.s, which was to ascend the Rhine in two days'
time.

During the whole of the 2Cth of April, or 6th
Flor^aljSt. Suzanne remained in his position before
Strasburg, and St. Cyr in advance of Brisach.
The reserve, which had passed over the Rhine at
Basle, completed its development ; awaiting the
movement of the two corps, intended to a.scend the
Rhine until they were in a line with itself. Moreau
quitted Stra.sburg to reach the head-quarters, which
was placed in the middle of the reserve.

The 27th of April was still employed in deceiving
the enemy as to the direction of the French
columns. The Austrians might well oxpict a
decided movement by the Val d'Knfer and Kinzig.
These defiles arc the most direct road for an army
marching on the Danube from the Rhine, wince
they open at some distance one from the other,
running in the same direction, and at length uniting
between Donau-Eschingeii and Hlifingeii, not far
from Schaffhausen, at which point was the corps
of general Lecourbo. It was natural to suppose
that these two strong coltnniis, from twenty thou-
Kind to twenty-five thousand men each, present-
ing themselves at the entrance of those defiles.

were going in reality to communicate with Le-
conrbe. In order, therefore, to guard them more
securely, Kray detached twelve squadrons and nine
battalions from Willingen, as a reinforcement for
general Kienmayer. He was thus obliged to weaken
Stockach, to i-eplace in Willingen the troops he had
sent away from that place.

In the night of the 27th and on the 28th of
April, while Kray was thus ensnaring, the di-
rection of the French columns was suddenly
changed. St. Suzanne fell back upon Strasburg,
rejiassing the Rhine with his entire corps, and
ascending the river by the left bank, in order not
to expose himself on an enemy's ground by a flank
movement too much prolonged. Upon reaching
New Brisach, he crossed again to tlic right bank,
and occupied the position of St. Cyr before Fri-
burg, as if with the intention of entering the Val
d'Enfer. St. Cyr, on his part, turned off to the
right without quitting the German side of the river,
which he coasted with his artillery, cavalry, and
baggage ; and thus, as his heavy materiel followed
the level country, a large pi-oportion of his infantry
marched along the flank of the mountains, by St.
Hubert, Neuhof, Todnau, and St. Blaise. By this
course Moreau avoided encumbering the banks of
the Rhine, cleared the heights of the Black
Forest, full of Austrian detachments, and was able
to pass the rivers nearer their sources, that from
these heights descending into the Rhine traverse
the territory of the forest towns. These rivers
are called the Wie.sen, the Alb, and the Wutach.
Unfortunately roads wore supposed to exist where
there were none. St. Cyr was obliged to traverse
a horrible country, without artillery, and almost
always near the enemy. Still his delay was not so
great as to prevent the possibility of his arrival at
St. Blaise, on the Alb, upon the ajipointed day.

Moreau, at the same time, ascended the Rhine
with the reserve, remaining, like St. Cyr, on the
German side. Richejianse, who commanded the
advance-guard, after he had seen the artillery
and cavalry of St. Cyr pass by, which had followed
the bank of the Rhine, set out himself for St.
Blaise, in order to connect himself with the in-
fantry of the same corps. Generals Delinas and
Leclerc, who commamled the two extreme divisions
of the reserve, were marched upon Sockingen, and
then upon the Alb, before the bridge of Albruck.
This bridge was covered by entrenchments. The
adjutant-general Cohorn, at the head of a battalion
of the 14th light, and two battalions of the 50th
and the 4th hussars, advanced in columns upon the
entrenchments, and carried them, Cohorn jumped
upon the shoulders of a grenadier, and crossed the
Alb, not leaving the enemy time to destroy the
bridge. Some cannon and prisoners were cap-
tured.

On the 29th of April, or 9th Flor^al, the centre
under St. Cyr, and tlie reserve under Moreau, were
in lino on the Alb, from the abbey of St. Blaise a.s
far as the union of the Alb and Rhine. St. Suzanne
arrived at New Brisach by the left bank. On the
French extreme right Lecourbe assenilpled his
whole corjjs between Die.senhofen anil Schaff-
hausen, ready to pa-ss across as soon as St. Cyr
and Moreau should have a-scended the Rhine to a
parallel height with himself. On the 30tli of April
St. Suzanne passed the Rhine at New Brisucb,

Kray discovers his error.
'72 Tl»e whole French army
pass the Rhine.

Success of Moreau's plan.
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. —Lecourbe advances on

Stockach.

1800.
May.

and showed himself at the entrance of the Val
d'Enfer. St. Cyr remained in the vicinage of St.
Blaise, and Moreau marched in advance towards
the Wutach.

On the 1st of Jlay, the llth of Flore'al, the
army successfully made its more decided and final
movement. Kray now hegan to see his error, and
recalled those of his corps which had advanced too
far into the Black Forest. St. Suzanne, who had
to pass through the Val d'Enfer, which opens upon
the positions the French army was to occupy when '
it had completed its movement, found the troops of
Kienmayer in retreat, and closely followed them.
St. Cyr hung on the rear of the corps of the arch-
dukeFerdinand, and pushed it from Bettmaringen
to Stiihlingen on the Wutach, where he arrived
in the evening. The troops of Moreau crossed
the Wutach without meeting much resistance,
repaired the bridge, which wanted scarcely any
thiug but a few planks to make it good; and tried
to coimect themselves by the right with Schaff-
hausen, where they found Lecourbe, and by the
left with StUhliugen, where they found St. Cp\
This was the moment that Lecourbe, already upon
the Rhine, was to cross that river. On the 1st of
May thirty-four pieces of artillery were placed on
the heights upon the left bank of the river, so as
to command, by their fire, the environs of the
village of Richlingen. Twenty- five boats carried
general Molitor across to the right bank, with two
battalions, to protect the establishment of a bridge
some time before prepared m the Aar. In an
liour and a lialf this bridge was thrown across.
General Vandamme passed over with a great pai't
of the corps of Lecourbe, and instantly occupied
the roads leading to Engen and Stockach, two
points of importance on the enemy s line. He
took the little town of Stein and the fort of Hohent-
wiel, reputed impregnable, and well fui'nished with
provisions and stores. Goulu's brigade, crossing at
the same moment towards Paradis, encountered in
the village of Busingen an obstinate resistance,
which it soon overcame. In the last place the
division of Lorges entered Schaffhausen in the
evening, and effected a junction with the troops of
Moreau.

On the 1st of May, in the evening, the entire
army had thus passed the Rhine. The three prin-
cipal corps, under St. Cyr, Moreau, and Lecourbe,
forming in all a body of seventy-five thousand or
eighty thousand men, occupied a line which pa.ssed
through Bondorf, Stiihlingen, Schaffhausen, Radolf-
zell, to a point on the lake of Constance. They
were ready to march upon Engen and Stockach,
threatening at the same time the line of retreat
and the magazines of the enemy. St. Suzanne,
with the left, of twenty thousand men, followed
the Austrians in the defile of the Val d'Enfer,
waiting to march upon the Upper Danube, and
to unite himself to the main body of the French
army, as soon as it should have cleared the mouth
of tiie defile by its advance.

The entire movement was thus effected in six
days in the most successful manner. Moreau, pre-
senting three heads of colmmis, by the bridges of
Strasburg, Brisach, and Basle, had attracted the
enemy towards those three openings ; then stealing
off suddenly, and marching by the right along the
Rhine, two of his corps on the German side, he

had ascended the river to the height of Schaff-
hausen, where he had covered the passage of
Lecourbe. He had made one thousand five hun-
dred prisoners, taken six field-pieces, with their
horses, and forty pieces of heavy cannon in the
fort of Hohentwiel, together with several magazines.
The troops had in all instances shown a firmness
and resolution which was worthy of veterans, full
of confidence in their leaders and in tJieniselves.

All the objections made to the plan of Moreau
on this occasion are hushed by its success. It is
seldom, indeed, that such complicated movements
succeed so well, that an enemy falls into a snare
with such credulity, or that the heads of different
corps co-operate with so much exactness. Still
this plan of the pmdent ^Moreau carried with it
as much of danger as that of the first consul,
wliieh he rejected as being too full of temerity.
St. Cyr and Moreau had exposed their flanks for
several days in their march along the Rhine, shut
in between mountains and the river ; St. Cyr had
been separated from his artillery ; and St. Suzanne
was at last left alone against the enemy in the Val
d'Enfer. If marshal Kray, inspired by a sudden im-
pulse, had flung himself upon St. Cyr, Moreau, or
St. Suzanne, he must have crushed one of these
detached corps, and hence forced a retrograde
movement upon the whole French army. Moreau,
on the other hand, had two evident advantages;
first, he had acted on the offensive, which always
disconcerts an enemy; and secondly, he had ex-
cellent troops, which were adequate to repair any
unforeseen accident by their firmness, and who
actually did repair by their steadiness, as we shall
soon see, more than one fault of their commander-
in-chief.

The moment now approached when the two
amiies, after having manoeuvred, the one to pass
the Rhine, the other to impede the passage, were
to meet beyond that river. On the 2nd of May,
the 12th Floreal, Moreau prepared himself for the
struggle ; but not imagining it was so near as it
really proved to be, he omitted to take measures
sufficiently prompt and perfect for the concentra-
tion of his forces. He determined to send Lecourbe
with his corps of twenty-five thousand men upon
Stockach, where the rear-guard of the Austrians
was, together with their magazines, and by which
they had their communications with the Vorarlberg
and prince de Reuss. The vigorous execution of this
attack had been concerted with the first consul;
because Kray, cut off from Stockach, would be
separated from the lake of Constance, and, in con-
secjnence, from the Alps. Moreau ordered Le-
courbe to march on the 3rd of jMay in the morning,
or on the 13th of Flordal, to take Stockach from
the prince of Lorraine -Vaudemont, who with
twelve thousand men held that important post.
Moreau himself advanced with all the reserve
upon Engen, keeping Lecourbe in view, and ready
to afford him aid if necessary. St. Cyr was di-
rected to advance and occupy a position extending
from Bettmaringen and Bondorf as far as Engen,
in such a manner as to be in connexion with him
on the one part, and to hold himself, on the other,
ready to communicate with St. Suzanne as soon as
he sliould issue from the Val d'Enfer.

Moreau thus proceeded in order of battle with
his back to the Rhine, his right to the lake of

1800.
May.

Approaching rencontre between
the two armies. — Nature of
the country. — Two ways of

ULM AND GENOA.

defending the Danube. —
March of Moreau and
Lecourbe.

73

Constance, and liis left to the openings of the
Black Forest; presenting a front of fifteen leagues
in extent, parallel to the line on which the Aus-
ti'ians must retreat if they retired from Donau-
Eschingen to Stockach, where many reasons seemed
to demand their presence. It was a position very
extended, and, in particular, so near to the enemy,
that before an active and enterprising fire the
French might have been exposed to considerable
danger. Fortmiately, the Austrian army under
Kray was less concentrated than the French.
Kray's primary position had been better than that
of the French for a rapid concentration, since he
occupied from Constance to Strasburg, the base
of a triangle, of which the French held the two
sides. Kray, surprised by the movement of
Moreau, having already on his left flank the
united French forces to two-thirds of their total
number, all having passed over the i-iver, felt him-
self in a situation of difficulty. He had given to
the detachments of his army hurried orders to
fall back upon the Black Forest, upon the higlier
Danube; but a prompt and well-concerted opera-
tion could alone extricate them. This may be
better understood, as well as the accompanying
manoeuvres, by a survey of the theatre of these
operations.

The wooded and mountainous territory called
the Black Forest, around which runs the Rhine,
for, without entering it, that river pursues a north-
erly course ; this territory contains a small spring,
very insignificant at its head, althougli destined to
become one of the larger rivers on the globe ; tliat
river is the Danube. It sends forth its stream
eastward, and so continues to flow, except witli a
shght inclination to the north for a short distance,
occasioned by the foot of tlie Alps, which it borders
all the way to Vienna, collecting in its course the
waters descending from a long mountain-chain, the
cause of its sudden increase so soon after its in-
significant origin.

The Austrian generals who defend the valley of
the Danube against the French, the common i-oad
as it is to their country, have two plans to follow.
They are able, if the French succeed in penetrating
into it by .Switzerland and the Black Forest, to
pas."? along the foot of the Alps, resting their left
on the mountains, and tlieir right on the Danube,
thus defending successively all the rivers which
fall into it, such as the lller, Lech, Isar, and Inn ;
or they may abandon the Alps, place them.selves
on each side of the Danube, and descend with its
course, making a resistance at all the good posi-
tions which it offers, such as those of Ulm, Ratis-
bon, and others, ready to cover themselves with
its stream, which gradually widens, or to fall upon
the imprudent adversary who shall make a false
manccuvrc. This last coui-se has generally been
that prefirred l)y the Aiistrians.

Kray wa.s able to choo.se either the one or the
other of these modes, to sustain his left on the
Alps, or to niancDuvre on the Danube. By sus-
taining himself upon the Alps, he would unknow-
ingly have contravened the scheme of the first
consul, who, in descending in safety from those
lofty mountains ujton the rear of general Mdlas in
Italy, wi.shcd to \w(^p thir Austrian army in Suabia
away from Switzerland and the Tyrol. But here
he would sacrifice his right wing, too far advanced

upon the Rhine, without knowing what would be-
come of it. By manoeuvring on the Danube he
would assuredly rally his right wing, but become
.separated from his left under the prince de Reuss;
though not sacrificing it, because it would find in
the Tyrol a place of security and employment.
Kray would fall in with the designs of the first
consul by moving far from the Alps; but this
was a minor evil ; for even if he were to support
himself upon them, it was not probable he would
think of throwing himself into Lonibardy to save
Me'las. The plan which presented the fewest
inconveniences, and that most in unison with
the course previously pursued by the Austrian
armies, was to concentrate his forces upon the
Upper Danube, although, in order to succeed it
was necessary to act promptly and resolutely.
Unhappily for himself, Kray had inmiense maga-
zines at Stockach, near the lake of Constance, with
a strong rear-guard of twelve thousand men, under
the prince of Lorraine- Vaudemont. It was neces-
sary that he should recall his rearguard imme-
diately from Stockach to the higher Danube, and
that he should march thither himself, sacrificing
his magazines, which he would not have, in any
case, the time to remove. He did not do this ;
but still, with the intention of afterwards man-
oeuvring on the Danube, he sent general Nauen-
dorft" with the centre of the Austrian army upon
Engen, to succour Stockach. He ordered prince
Ferdinand, who was in the Black Forest, to repair
to the same place; and his right, under the generals
Sztarray and Kiemnaycr, to quit the Rhine and
rejoin him with all speed.

A vast inconvenience attaches to the enormous
magazines of provisions cu.stomary among the Ger-
mans, in that the army must be regulated by them
in its movements. The French dispense with ma-
gazines altogether, and, by spreading themselves
over the country, procure subsistence without the
discipline of the troops suff'ering from the practice.
They are active, industrious, and know how to be
marauding and at the same time remain near their
coloui's. The German troops are rarely exposed to
the same pi-actice without becoming disorganized
and dispersed. There is the advantage in pos-
sessing magazines, that the war presses with less
severity upon a country that is the seat of hostilities,
and thus they prevent the people from becoming
exasperated against the invaders.

Moreau, marching with his right upon Stockach
and his reserve upon Engen, while the corps of St.
Cyr extended itself to communicate with St. Su-
zanne, was therefore very likely to meet with the
rear-guard of Kray at Stockach, his centre at
Engen, and to be on the heels of prince Ferdinand,
who was on his way to rejoin the main body of the
Austrian anny. An unexpected combat must be
the result of such a meeting, — a circumstance often
occurring in war, when its plans have not been
conducted by superior minds capable of foresight
as well as direction.

Lecourbe liad been on his march to Stockach
since the morning, liaving thrown out on his left
the division of Lorges to communicate with Moreau,
pushing straightforward before him the divi.sioii of
Montricliard with the reserve cavalry of Nansoiity,
on the high road from Schaffhausen to Stockach.
Lastly, sending the divisions of Vandamme to the

Battle of Engen. — Lecourhe

74 takes stock.ch -Results THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

thereby obtained.

Moreau's attack on Engen.
Nature of the country.
Movements of Lorges.

May.

vis^ht, between Stockach and the lake of Constance.
The force of the last was divided intotwu brigades:
one, manoeuvring in such a manner, under general
Leval, as to cut off the Austrian communication
by Bodniann and Sernadingen witli the Like of
Constance, met with no obstacle, because the prince
of Reiiss, who might have appeared there, gave
himself little trouble about keeping up a commu-
nication with his commander-in-chief ; the other
brigade, under general Molitor, directed by Van-
damine in person, marched to the rear of Stockach
by a cross road, while Montrichard and Nansouty
proceeded by the high road from Schaffhausen.
In the thick of the woods infantry was perceived
falling back as well as cavah-y, the last reconnoitring
as they retired. At last the troops arrived at the
ground, which the Austrians seemed determined
to defend. Montrichard found them in order of
battle beyond the village of Steusslingen, covered
by a strong bo<ly of cavalry. The French infantry
passed through the village in two columns, opening
out to the left and right, and threatening tiie ene-
my's flanks. At the same moment the cavalry of
Nansouty, coming out of Steus.slingen, charged
vigorously, and overthrew tlie Austrians, who re-
treated upon Neuzingen. This was the second and
princi|)al position covering Stockach ; it was sup-
ported upon that of VValilwyes, which at the same
moment Vandamnie threatened with Molitor's bri-
gade. A numerous infantry were seen barring the
extremity of the village of Neuzingen, vesting its
right and left on the woods, and covered by cannon.
A vigorous effort was required to dislodge the
enemy ; Montrichard, however, was successful in
turning it, by a height called the Helieniberg, while
Vandamme, having passed Wall! wyes, opened upon
the rear of Neuzingen. The position was carried,
and the whole corps of Lecourbe, being now united,
poured in a mass upon Stockach, which was in-
stantly taken. The Austrians endeavoured to make
a resistance beyond Stockach, and thus to check
the French. They exhibited about four thousand
infantry it; order of battle, and covered by all their
cavalry. The regiments of Nansouty, charging the
enemy's horse, thrtfw them into disorder back upon
their infantry, which now only thought of surren-
dering. Lecourbe made four thousand prisoners,
ca])tured eight pieces of cannon, five hundred
horses, and the immense magazines of Stockach.
It could not have terminated otherwise. Lecourbe,
with soldiers ca])able of fiy;hting an enemy having
numbers greatly superior, had on the ground twice
the number of men that the jirince of Lorraine
had, although he had detached the division of Lor-
ges to form a connexion with Moreau. Lecourbe
finished his task at an early hour ; and if a direc-
tion equally vigorous had marked the whole of the
oi'eraii'in.s, together wiiii jiroper unity of design,
he might and ought to have been employed else-
where, as will be sei-n presently.

The division of Lorges, destined to serve inter-
mediately between Lecourbe and Moreau, was di-
vide<l into two brigades. That of Ooulu had
marched ui)on Aach to scour the country between
Stockach and Rngen, but, fin.ling no enemy in sight,
had turned off towards Stockach, where it was of
no use. General Lorges, witli the rest of his
division, having joined Moreau's corps, accompanied
it towards Engen.

Moreau, with wliat was styled the corps of re-
serve, had been all the morning marching upon
Engen. Kray, at the same time, was traversing
that place on his way to Stockach, to save his
magazines. He soon saw that, from the Fi-ench
force displayed before him, there would be a battle
in j)lace of a reconnoitring, and he halted for the
purpose of giving it, relying upon his superior
force of forty thousand men at hand, and the
strength of the position to which he had been by
chance conducted.

Leaving towards Schaffhausen the banks of the
Rhine for those of the Danube, in a rugged, broken,
irregular country, where the declivities are un-
certain, the small valley of the Aach is met with,
which conveys to the lake of Constance those waters
which neither fall into the Rhine nor Danube. In
this valley is the small town of Engen. To descend
to Engen it is nece.ssary first to climb a number of
wooded heights very difficult of access. Those
heights were occupied by the Austrian infantry ;
their cavalry was in the plain of Engen. Moreau
would be obliged to dislodge the Austrians from
tliose heights before he could descend into the
plain and attack the cavalry. He marched, him-
self, at the head of the divisions of Delmas and
Bastoul, and half of that of Lorges. He directed
Richepanse's division, the left, along the Blumen-
feld road. This road led through a series of val-
leys, and the division was to turn the enemy's
position by less defended approaches ; all, being
successful, were then to descend in a body upon
Engen.

Lorges, who had got a little in advance of the
reserve, found a large body of troops near Water-
dingen, and, before attacking them, awaited the
division of Delmas, which quickly arrived. They
then charged and dislodged the Austrians. Arrived
at this point, they had next to surmount the heights
whir<h surround Engen, and for that purpose it was
required to cross some steep-sided table-ground,
conmianded on the right by a position called the
Maulberg, and on the left by a very elevated peak
having the name of the Peak of Ilohenhewen.
Lorges was ordered to attack the Maulberg. After
a slight cannonade he advanced, and the enemy
gave way. Then Delmas, passing to the left, di-
rected his force upon a wood which encircled the
peak of Hohenhewen, occupied by eight of the
enemy's battalions of infantry.' Two battalions of
the 46lh advanced upon this wood without firing,
while general Grandjean and adjutant-general Co-
horn turned it with a detachment. As soon as the
46th had received the fire of the enemy, they rushed
ui)()n him with fixed bayoriots. The eight Austrian
battalions, finding themselves so vigorously at-
tacked in front and turned on the right, abandoned
the wood. The French, having taken the principal
positions which defended the approaches to the
valley of Engen, had no more to do than to descend
into that valley, which was traversed by a con-
siderable rivulet. The enemy had retired to the
pe;ik of Hohenhewen, placed his artillery and in-
fantry on the declivities, and drawn up his cavalry,
twelve thousand men, in the plain of Engen. Mo-
reau had the intention at first to take the peak,
and ordered Delmas to attack it. Ilis division, on
leaving the wood, was exp<ised to a very destructive
fire, which it sustained bravely. General Jocopin,

May.

Progress of the battle.— Dan-
gerous situAtion of Riche-
pause.

ULM AND GENOA.

Decisive inoTenients of Moreau. —
Kesults of the buttle of Eiigen.
— Faults committed by Moreau.

placing himself at the head of the infuntry, re-
ceived a ball in the thigh ; but genei-al Graudjean
turned the position. Tlie adjutant-general Cohorn,
who, as before mentioned, had crossed the Alb
on the shoulders of a grenadier, mounted to the
summit with a battalion, and the xVustrians were
driven down. The troops of Moreau were now in
possession of all the heights commanding Engen
and its plain, and were able to open out unuiolested,
tiie enemy having retired to the other side of the
plain beyond the rivulet, which passes through
it, to the foot of a chain of hills which form the
opposite boundary. Mere the Austrians were drawn
up : in front was their numerous cavalry and the
greater part of their artillery ; and in their rear, in
the hollow part of a valley, at the entrance of which
stands the little village of Ehingen, was a strong
reserve of grenadiers. Such was the mass of force
to be overcome before the battle could be decided
to the advantage of Moreau.

During this time a sharp fire was heard on the
other side of the peak of Hohenhewen, and a good
distance beyond along the girdle of woody heights
which surround Engeii. This proceeded from the
division of Richepanse engaged with the troops
that Kray had placed on that part of the field of
battle. Richepanse had been obliged to separate
his division into two brigades to take two different
positions, one called Leipferdingen,the other Water-
dingen at the extremity of the valleys into which
he liad entered. There he was obliged to maintain
a very obstinate conflict with varied success, when
very fortunately for him the advance-guard of St.
Cyr's corps began to appear. These troops arrived
very late in consequence of a want of unity in the
dispositions of Moreau. St. Cyr ought to have
aided St. Suzanne with one of his divisions, but he
had been obliged to wait for Ney, who was hindered
by want of provisions, and he was even delayed for
his artillery, which had been in the rear ever since
the pa.ssage of the Rhine ; moreover he had been
in an incessant encounter with prince Ferdinand
during his march, and had been obliged to advance
with the utmost caution, having only one of his
divisions, out of three, j)resent to oppose to his
enemy. At last he had come up to the assist-
ance of Richepanse at the moment when Kray
was making a vigorous effort to prevent him
from marching upon Engen. Moreau, judging
from the vivacity of the fire that Richepanse was
in danger, determined to draw the Austrian at-
tention towards their left, and for this purpose
thought it right to attack the village of Ehingen,
which formed the chief support of their position
on the other side of the plain. Here it has been
seen tiiat the enemy had jjosted at the foot of a
ciiain of hills his artillery, cavalry, and yet more a
reserve of grenadiers, the last in the valley of
which Ehingen formed the entrance. General
Bontemps proceeded there with the 67th dumi-
brig.'ule, two battalions of the 10th light, and two
B(|uadn)ns of the Otli hussars. General Ilautponl
followi;d «ith the reserve of cavalry. These troops,
marching in colunwi on the plain under the fire of
a battery of twelve pieces of cannon, arrived and
took the village of Ehingen in a gallant manner.
On a sudden eigiit battalions of grenadiers, in re-
serve, charged them in turn, and obliged tliem
to give up the village, llautpoul's cavalry was

repulsed by that of the Austrians, and the brave
general Bontemps was sevei-ely wounded in the
confusion that ensued. At the same moment the
firing on the left beyond the peak of Hohenhawen
redoubled in activity, announcing the danger of
Richepanse's position, who persisted, but so far
vainly, in attempting to force that belt of heights.

Moreau, who in difficult movements had the
firmness of the truly martial soul, saw in a moment
the seriousness of his situation, and determined upon
a vigorous effort to be master of the field. He
made the remnant of Bastoul's division advance,
placed himself at the head of some companies of
grenadiers that were near at hand, inflamed their
courage by his example, led them forward to the
charge, and restored Ehingen to the French army.
While Moreau was thus deciding the day on the
field, Richepanse was, on his part, performing pro-
digies of courage. St. Cyr, rejoined by marshal
Ney, and definitively delivered from the attacks of
the archduke Ferdinand, sent forward Roussel's
brigade, which vied in courage with the troops that
had been so long and vainly engaged, and aided
tiiem in storming the heights thus long and vigor-
ou.sly disputed. The action was over every where
against the Austrians, but thus decided at the price
of much labour and bloodshed. The 4th demi-
brigade lost in this combat from five hundred to
six hundred men. Night came on ; the ardour
of the Fi'ench increased, as the courage of the
Austrians fell, when they learned the news of the
ruin of the prince de Lorraine- Vaudemont at
Stockach. Kray, fearing to be turned by Stockach,
ordered a retreat. He then hastened to regain the
Danube by Tuttlingen and Liptingen.

The loss of the French army in this succession of
obstinate combats was considerable, not less than
two thousand men killed and wounded. That of the
Austrians was three thousand, but four thousand or
five thousand prisoners remained in the hands of the
French. The French troops by dint of extraordinary
bravery had corrected the defects in the plan of tin ir
general. This plan was by no means perfect, and
its weak points can now be fully appreciated. The
results themselves show, in the first place, how in-
convenient it was to pass the Rhine at several
l)oints. Owing to this mode of operation no more
than three corps were ready to march together.
Then the third or St. Cyr's was pai'alyzed by the
necessity of waiting to open the communication
with the fourth, which remained in the rear. To
this system was attributable the delay in bringing
up St. Cyr's ai'tillery, which not a little contributed
to delay succour i-eaching Richepanse. Then, as
to the jnain battle ; Moreau with twenty-five
thousand men was obliged to combat forty thou-
sand at Engen, while Lecourbe with twenty thou-
sand had only twelve tliousand to fight at Stockach,
and St. Cyr was nearly unoccupied or confined
to the duty of observation. St. Cyr, accused of
having ai-rived too late, affirmed that he did not re-
ceive a single aid-de-camp from head-quartera
during the whole day. We shall never see such
things occur, or very rarely indeed, on battle-fields
where the first consul commanded. Still a general
to act as Moreau did must jxissess high tnerit.
Once in the presence of danger he comported him-
self with an energy and calmness wiiich never
abandoned him, and, seconded by the valor of hia

Kray retires upon the Da-

of Mijsskirch.

76 nube, and resolves to try THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. New errors of Moreau

another battle,

Movements of Lecourbe.

May.

troops, he, after all, bore away the victory, and
acquired a decided superiority over the enemy.

Moreau encamped upon the field of battle. If on
the following day he had closely pursued Kray,
on the road' from Stockach to the Danube, it is
probable he would have thrown him into disorder.
But he had not enough ardour of character, and
was too sparing of his troops, to execute rapid
movements, which are no doubt fatiguing to the
soldiei-3 at the moment, but in reality save both
their blood and strength by an acceleration of the
results. The 4th of May, the 14th Floreal, was em-
ployed in rectifying the position of the army, and
in marching slowly upon the Danube. St. Cyr
marched by Tuttlingen, Moreau and Lecourbe by
Moskii-eh, looking sharply to their right and to
the openings of the Vorarlberg, by which the prince
de Reuss might make his appearance.

Kray was not yet resigned to quit the ground
without a battle. His army, lessened by nearly ten
thousand men, was also disheartened. It was an
error in him to persist in exposing himself to a new
encounter with the French, before he had passed
the Danube and been joined by generals Kienmayer
and Sztarray, who, returning from the Rhine, were
traversing the Black Forest, at the same time with
the French corps of St. Suzanne. He required tlie
shelter of a great river, some days' rest, and re-
inforcements, tliat the moral power of the Austrian
army might recover itself. The position of Moss-
liirch, which Moreau allowed him time to occupy,
inspii'ed Kray with the imprudent but bold i-esolu-
tion to risk another battle.

The situation of Mosskirch is a very strong one.
The higji road, going to the Danube by Engen and
Stockach, passes a short distance, before arriving at
Mosskirch, under the fire of some large and elevated
table-land, called the plain of Krumbach. This is on
the left of the road which now enters a long woody
defile. It opens afterwards upon cleared ground,
at the extremity of which, on the right, the little
town of Mosskirch is perceived, and on the left
the village of Heudorf. Behind Mosskirch rises a
line of heights which continue from Mosskirch to
Heudorf, then from Heudorf they connect that
place in the rear, and on the left with the table-kn J
of Krumbach, so that the road, going at first under
the table-land, buries itself in a wood, and opens at
la.st under fire of the heights extending from Moss-
kirch to Heudorf.

Kray crowned this position with a formidable
artillery. The prince of Lorraine, commanding the
Austrian left, occupied Mosskirch and the sur-
rounding eminences. Nauendorf, commanding their
centre, was drawn up above Heudorf, having a
reserve of grenadiers in his rear. Baron Wrede
with the Bavarians, the arcliduke Ferdinand, and
general Giulay united, composed the right of the
imperial army, on the table-land of Krumbach.

Moreau did not much more calculate upon a
battle at Mosskirch than he had done at Engen.
Having some expectation of meeting with resist-
ance at Mosskirch, he acquainted Lecourbe witii
his suspicion, by saying it was probable an effort
would be made there, without giving any precise
orders for that concentration which indicated the
near chance of a great battle. Lecourbe kept at
the head of the army, and marched in three divi-
visions, having thrown off Vandamme's division

some distance to the right, in order to watch the
movements of prince de Reuss towards the Vorarl-
berg. A part of this division, under general Molitor,
was to direct itself by the road of Pfullendorff and
Klosterwald, on the flank of Moskii-cli. Lecourbe,
with the divisions of Montrichard and Lorges,
with the reserve of cavalry, was to advance by
the high road that has been described, and which,
after passing under Ki'umbach, upon traversing
the woods, opens in face of Mosskirch. Moreau
followed the same road, keeping some distance in
the rear. St. Cyr, at a considerable distance, flanked
the left of Moreau, occupying both banks of the
Danulie towards Tuttlingen. Such were not, surely,
the dispositions for a gi-eat battle. Vandamme
ought not to have been thrown with his half divi-
sion upon the flank of the position of Mosskirch.
Lecourbe ought to have been sent with his whole
force upon that point. Moreau should not have set
out so tai'dily, nor have crammed himself and Le-
courbe on the same road into a woody defile. St. Cyr,
lastly, ought not to have been left so far off.

However this may be, Lecourbe went forward in
the morning conformably to the arrangements made
previously. On reaching the height of Krumbach
he kept the table-land upon his left, and entered
the woody defile. Some advance-guards, met with
in this defile, were driven back, and Lecourbe ar-
rived at the opening. It was then seen that the
naked ground which reached from the opening of
the road out of the wood all the way to Mosskirch
was on every side bordered with heights crowned
with Austrian artillery. As soon as the heads
of the columns appeared, five pieces of artillery
fired from the front towards Mossldrch, while
twenty pieces on the flank, from the side of Heu-
dorf, vomited forth a shower of balls and grape.
Two battalions of light infantry posted themselves
on the skirts of the wood, and three regiments of
cavalry, the 9th hussars, the 12th chasseurs, and
the 1 1th dragoons, passed rapidly to the front, in
order to protect the placing of the artillery; but
under the fire of those twenty-five pieces, which
thundered \ipon them in every possible sense of
the word, these squadrons were obliged to retreat.
Fifteen pieces of cannon that general Montrichard
had opposed to tlie Austrian artillery were partly
dismounted. Tlie light infantry were obliged to
cover themselves in the woods. The Austrian
cavali'y attempted to charge in turn, but were
quickly repulsed ; yet as often as general Mont-
richard attempted to come out of the wood, a
terrible fire stopped his columns. It soon became
evident that this was not the true point for an
attack upon Mosskirch; that, on the contrary, this
point was upon the right, following the cross-road
of Klosterwald, by which Vandamme advanced.
He had not yet arrived, on account of the distance
of ground he liad to pass over. In the mean time
Lecourbe resolved to attack Heudorf, by filing
on his left along the edge of the wood. The 10th
light, despite a heavy fire of musketry and ar-
tillery, entered the village of Heudorf, but was
repulsed by superior numbei-s; and while the cavah-y
was moving forward to sustain it, the Austrian ar-
tillery behind Heudorf compelled it to move back.
Thus the second attempt to open upon the left was
not more successful than that made more directly
upon Mosskirch.

May.

The Au«tri:iiis, acting on the de-
fensive, are repulsed. — Brigades
of Molitor and Montricliard.

ULM AND GENOA.

Gallant conduct of the 57th.— Com-
plete success of Moreau. — In-
action of St. Cyr.

77

Encouraged by the check thus given to the
French, the Austrians now took the offensive, and
tried to move from the village of Hcudorf upon
Lorges' division. This was taking too great a free-
dom with such brave troops. The 38th furmed in
column and advanced. Eight pieces of artillery
l>oured grape-shot upon them. Onward they
moved with admirable coohicss into the village of
Ileudorf, bayonets at the charge. On a steep
rising ground behind Heudorf were woods filled
with dense masses of Austrian infantry. Superior
numbers rushed upon this gallant dcmi-brigade ;
overwhelmed by them it fell back ; the 67th came
to its assistance, and it quickly rallied. Both regi-
ments then charged. The entire division hastened
to the spot, carried the village, and mounted the
formidable heights whence the enemy had poured
upon them such a terrific fire. Whilst this was
proceeding upon the left around tlie village of
Ileudorf, Vandamme on the right opened at last
upon Miisskirch, at the head of ^lolitor's brigade.
He skilfully arranged it for the attack, in spite of
the Austrian infantry, which made a destructive
fire from the suburbs of that town upon the French
column. The brave men of JMolitor's division
pressed forward and made a furious charge into
.Mo.sskirch, while two battalions turned the Aus-
trian position on the heights. Montricliard, still
shut up in the woods, chose the same moment for
moving out upon the open ground, which had been
so fatal to him at the commencement of the affair.
He threw himself upon four columns in the lace
of the Austrian artillery, somewhat disconcerted
at the sight of these simultaneous attacks. His
own four columns came up, and, passing a ravine
at the foot of the heights, gained the table-ground
of Mosskirch at the moment when Vandamme's
troops, which had entered Mo.sskirch, were be-
ginning to come out of it. The Austrians were
every where put to the rout. Their reserve,
placed a little in the rear of Rohrdorf, would now
iiave acted in its own turn, but was kept in check
by the divisions of Vandamme and Montricliard
tliat had united.

From this moment we were masters of the whole
of the Austrian line, from Mosskirch to Heudorf.
Kray, then, judging with admirable correctness
of eye the vulnerable point of the French positiAi,
moved part of his army in the direction of the
table-ground of Krumbach, on the left of the
Frencli, where he could threaten both their flank
and rear. The division of Lorges, which occupied
Heudorf, was in danger of being overpowered.
'Ihe wbole of the Austrian I'c.serve of grenadiers
had attacked that unfortunate division, which, after
liaviiig taken and retaken Heudorf several times,
was worn out with fatigue. It w.as crushed under
the ma.s8 of Austrian infantry and the fire of their
artillery. Fortimatoly Moreau, ajijjrised by the
violence of the cannonadi;, hastened his march,
and arrivi;d at lonijth at the entrance of the wood
with his corps, formed of Dclraas', Bastoul's, and
l<.ichepan.se'H divisions. He sent instantly to the
left upon Heudorf, Delmas' division to the aid
of that of Lorges. That brave body of men soon
changed the face of things, routed the Austrian
grenadiers, and retook Heudorf as well as the
woods above it. Hut if the French had their re-
inforcements, so had Kray. IFis right, composed

of the archduke Ferdinand and of general Giulay,
that St. Cyr had followed step by step since the
commencement of operations, but at too great a
distance — his right brought rapidly upon the field
of battle was directed against Heudorf and Krum-
bach, on the very flank of Delmas' division, which
was in danger of being surrounded. A part of the
latter immediately faced to the left. The 57th,
which had earned in Italy the name of " the
terrible," formed in order of battle, and for more
than an hour fought against the Austrian masses,
exposed to the fire of sixteen pieces of cannon, to
which general Delmas could only reply with five,
which were soon dismounted. This heroic regi-
ment, undismayed under the merciless fire, suc-
ceeded in stopping the enemy, until Moreau,
hastening from one corps to another, to place or
su]iport them, brought Bastoul's division to the
help of that of Delmas. He aiTived at the moment
when the Austrians, unable to defeat the division
of Delmas, sought to deprive it of the aid of Bas-
toul's, by opening out upon the level of Krumbach,
in order to intercept the communication, and they
wei'e already descending for the purpose to the road,
and beginning to mingle with the waggon column.
Thus the battle, after beginning at Mosskirch, ex-
tended itself to Heudorf, and from Ileudorf to
Krumbach, embracing the entire angle of this vast
position, and covering it with blood, fire, and de-
vastation. At this important moment the division
of Bastoul worthily supported the eff'orts of Delmas'
division; but it was likely to be surrounded, if the
enemy should succeed in descending from the table-
land of Krumbach, and should get possession of the
high road by which the French troops were ar-
riving. Richepanse's division, most fortunately
brought up at the moment to the decisive point,
foniied in columns of attack, climbed the heights
of Krumbach under a plunging fire, and over-
whelmed the ai'chduke Ferdinand. After this
effort Kray had no force left to meet Riche-
panse, and was forced to give the order to retreat.
From Krumbach to Ileudorf, and from Hcudorf
to Mosskirch, the French were victorious.

At this time the corps of St. Cyr was at some
leagues' distance, at Neuhausen-ob-Eke. If he had
appeared, the Austrian army would have been
wholly undone ; and in place of an ordinary vic-
tory, one of those brilliant successes would have
been gained which terminate a campaign. What
fatal inaction, then, kept him useless, so near the
|)lacc where he might have decided the destiny of
the war ? This is a question difficult to answer.
St. Cyr pretended the next day that he had received
no order. Moreau rei)lied, that he had sent orders
by several aids-de-camp. St. Cyr replied, he was
so near the field of battle, that if a single officer
had been sent to him, the officer could not fail to
have arrived where he was. The coterie who sur-
rounded Moreau declared that St. Cyr, a bad com-
panion in arms, had left his comrades to be cru.shed
at MiJsskiich, as In; had at Engen.

Thus in the military as in civil life there is
jealousy, calumny, and hatred. Human passions
are every where the same, and war is not very
likely to be the sUite most capable of cooling tht^m,
or giving (hem a sense of justice. Tin; truth is,
that St. Cyr, discontented with the coterie which
had the cai* of Moreau, affected to confine himself

__ St. Cyt s excuses.

7o Further errors of Moreau.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Dangerous position of the
Ausirians. — They escape
through Moreau's neglect.

May.

to the command of his own corps, at the head of
which he operated in great perfection ; but he
never made amends for any oversiglit in the com-
mander-in-chief, and waited, before he acted, for
orders, which a Heutenant ought to be able to
anticipate, especially when he hears cannon. St.
Cyr, in alleging his pi-oximity, in order to prove
that orders had not been sent to him, or he must
have received them, accuses himself; since that
very proximity made his not arriving inexcusable,
at least with one division of his corps, to a spot
where a tremendous cannonade indicated a violent
combat, and, it was not improbable, great danger to
the rest of the army. But the faults he committed
upon this occasion were soon to be redeemed by
most essential services.

French and Austrians alike were, at the close of
the day, completely exhausted. In the confusion
of battle the number of the killed and wounded is
never accurately known, but at Mosskirch the
number must have been great ; three thousand of
the French, and nearly double that number of
Austrians. But the French army was full of con-
fidence; for it was victor u|ion the field of battle,
which it intended to quit the next day, to follow
up the series of combats which, without having
yet produced a decided result, had still sustained
its superiority over the enemy. The Austrian
army, on the other hand, was incapable of support-
ing sucli a contest much longer.

Every body may guess, after the recital just
given, what censures were passed upon the ope-
rations of Moreau '. He had marched upon the
field of battle without reconnoitring in advance ; he
had directed too small a part of his force upon the
true point of attack, which was on the road from
Klosterwald to Mosskirch, opening upon the flank
of that small town. He had marched late, and
made all his divisions follow each other through a
wood, out of which it was impossible to come forth
without losing a great many men ; finally, he did
not bring St. Cyr upon the ground where his
presence would have decided every thing. Kray,
on his part, after having well directed his strength
u|>oii the left, which was the vulncral)le point, had
committed the error of suffering Mosskirch to be
taken; though it may be said in his behalf, that
his troops were far from equalling the French in
intelligence and firmness. Besides this, they began
to lose confidence, and it was no longer easy to
make them bear the sight or sustain the attack of
their enemies.

On the morrow, May 6, or 16th of Flore'al,
Kray set out to get behind the Danube, that he
might connect himself with the great line of ope-
rations at last. This was the moment to follow
him up closely, so as to render the passage of the
river impracticable or very ditticult. Moreau
marched in line with his left to the Danube, very
near the spot wiiere the Austrians were crossing,
so that he had it in his power to crush them by
suddenly wheeling to the left. St. Cyr formed at
the same moment the wing which rested upon the
Danube. St. Cyr, not having been engaged on the
preceding day, was ready to act, and desirous of so
doing. He himself saw distmctly the imperial

> See the Memoirs of St. Cyr, p. 215 et seq., torn. vii.
campaign of 1800.

troops precipitately crowding upon the point of
Sigmaringen. There the Danube, by making an
elbow, formed a sort of promontory, upon which
the Austrians had crowded together, pressing for-
ward to pass over to the other bank. St. Cyr
perceived it at the distance of a short cannon-
range, crowded in a space scarcely sufficient for a
single division, and so much surprised at the sight
of the French, that before Ney's brigade alone it
suspended its passage across, drew up in order of
battle, and covered itself with the fire of sixty
pieces of cannon. St. Cyr, observing it thus alarmed
and huddled together, was certain he could have
driven it into the Danube by a single charge of
his corps. He ordered forward a few pieces of
cannon, every discharge of which swept off whole
files, but these could not be expected to remain
in battery before Kray's sixty pieces. St. Cyr
hoped by his cannonade to excite the attention
of Moreau, and so bring him from the corps of
reserve to the left wing. On finding he did not
come, St. Cyr sent an officer to him, to state what
was going on, and obtain leave to attack the enemy.
But union no longer existed between these two
officers. The officers of the staff believed that
St. Cyr had a wish to move to the left, in order
still further to detach himself, and to act alone.
The reply given to him was an order to move to
the right, and connect himself more closely than
was his custom with the right of the army and
corps of reserve, which formed the centre. He
was told, the measure was indispensable, that the
general might, in case of necessity, have it in his
power to di.spose of the troops in case of necessity^.
The nature of this order exhibited very plainly
the feeling of the general-in-chief and of those who
surrounded him. It was evident that Moreau had
suffered himself to be taken up wholly with a
single corps, and that the feebleness of his cha-
racter Jiad given birth to intestine divisions, bad
enough any where, but worse in armies than in any
other place.

Kray was thus enabled to i-etreat without danger,
and to rally his army on the other side of the
Daimbe. Kienmayer joined him. there again with
the troops arriving from the shores of the Rhine,
and Stzarray followed him very closely.

JTIie army of Moreau had discovered immense
magazines at Stockach and Donau-Eschingen, so
that it wanted f(jr nothing. It was in high spirits
from its successes, and from continually acting
upon the offensive. The 7th and 8th of May, or
17lh and I8lh of Flore'al, Moreau continued his
march with his left to the Danube, presenting too
extended a line, and frequently halting to give
time for the corps of St. Suzanne to rejoin him.

On the 9tii of May, the 19th of Flor^al, Moreau,
knowing that St. Suzanne, who, coming by the left
bank of the Danube, was at length opjjosite to the
army, quitted the head-quarters for a day, and
crossed the Danube to inspect the troops just
arrived. These now formed his left wing, St. Cyr
became tlic centre, and the reserve corps was kept
conformably to its denomination as the real re-
serve.

In all probability Kray, retiring his army, would
continue beyond the Danube, and the French

* St. Cyr, torn. vii. p. 201.

1800.
May.

Affair of Biherach.— The place
described.— St. Cyr's hesitation.

ULM AND GENOA.

Richepanse arriving, St Cyr resolves

to attack the Austrians.— His sue- JQ
cess.

might safely make on tlie 9th another march with-
out encountering tlie enemy. Moreau commanded
Lecourbe, with the riglit wing, to proceed on the
9tii between Wurzach and Ochsenhausen ; the re-
serve to advance to Ochsenliausen, while the centre,
under St. Cyr, was to pa,ss Biberach, the left being
in observation on the Danube. In this order the
army advanced near the Iller, in a Hne parallel
with this tributary of the Danube. Moreau set
out on the morning of the 9th, believing he should
be able to devote the wliole day to the corps of
St. Suzanne.

Kray had, in the mean while, been induced to
adopt a new and unexpected resolution through
the advice of the council of war, which had judged
it proper to preserve the innr.ense magazines of
Bibei"ach, and not abandon them to the French,
as was done at Eiigen and Stokach. He there-
fore crossed over to the right bank of the Danube
by Riedlingen with his whole force, and posted
himself in front and behind Biberach. This ])lace
had already been the scene of a battle gained
by Moreau in 1796, thanks to St. Cyr more par-
ticularly, and it was now about to witness again
the success of our troops and of St. Cyr himself,

Biberach is situated in a valley inundated by the
Riess. This valley is so full of marshy ground,
that a person on horseback cannot jiass through it
without being kst, so that people are obliged to go
through the town itself, and over the little bridge
contiguous to it. Penetrating into the valley, a
species of defile, between the heights of Galgenberg
on one side and Mittelbiberach on the other, must
be passed. This defile being cleared, Biberach
suddenly comes upon the view. On crossing the
marsh of the Riess over the bridge adjoining the
town, and beyond the marsh, a superb i)()sition is
seen, called the Mettenberg, upon which an army,
well provideil with artillery, may make a firm
resistance. Kray could not place himself in ad-
vance of the defile, having so narrow an outlet by
which to effect a retreat; he could only place him-
self behind Biberach, beyond the Riess on the
Mettenberg; but then he could not leave Biberach
uncovered. In consequence of this he ])laced a
corps, consisting of eight or ten battalions and a
dozen squadrons, in advance of the defile of Mittel-
biberach, to retard the march of his opponents,
and at the same time to have leisure for evacuating
or destroying the larger part of his magazines.

It was a perilous step, more than all with an
army demoralized as his was. St. Cyr, having re-
ceived an order to go and pa.s8 the night a little
beyond Biberach, soon discovered the jiosition the
Austrians had taken. He was much hurt not to
have had near him the cominander-in-chit f, or at
least the head of his staff, that he might obtain the
needful orders, and make something of his dis-
covery. Moreau was absent ; general Deswles
was not on the spot. If St. Cyr had had with him
his whole corps, ho would not have lie.sitiited to
attack the Austrians with that alone. Unhappily
iiis own corps wiis dispersed. Being obliged to
watch the Danube oti his left, he had devoted to
that object the best of his divisions, that com-
manded by Ney, of whom he duspatclicd sev(;ral
officers in search ; but in conseciucnce of Ney
having followed the winding shores of the river,
and from the bad state of the roads, it was not

easy to reach and bring him back. St. Cyr, to
attack a mass of sixty thousand men at least, had
but the two divisions of Thareau and Baraguay-
d'Hillicrs, and the cavalry of reserve of general
Sahuc, attached to his corps. The demoralized
state of the enemy was a gi-eat temptation to attack
him, but the disproportion of force made him
hesitate. All at once the firing of general Riche-
])anse was heard, who having orders to maintain
ins communication with St. Cyr, and to cross the
Riess by the bridge of Biberach, had aiTivcd at
tlic same point by a transverse road, or that of
Reiehenbaeh. St. Cyr, having thus at his disposal
the fine division of Richepanse, and being enabled
to fill the void left in his corjjs by the absence of
Ney and his division, no longer hesitated. He
thought that if the detachment left in advance of
the defile which was before Biberach were over-
thrown, the defeat of this body of eight thousand
or ten thousand men would be sometiiing more
serious than the defeat of a simple advance-guard,
and that by its effect the moral courage of the
enemy would be deeply shaken. Therefore, with-
out as much as halting to form his troops for
the attack, he gave orders to the eighteen bat-
tiilions and twenty-four squadrons under his com-
mand to advance at quick time, and charge the
Austrians who barred up the defile. Overthrown
by the sudden shock, the Austrians rushed pell-
mell into Biberach and the valley of the Riess. It
would have been no difficult matter to take almost
all of them, but St. Cyr would not attempt it, fearing,
if he permitted his soldiers to pursue the enemy,
he might not be able to rally them, and thus be
deprived of their services in the main operation.
He was, therefore, content to enter Biberach,
establish himself, and secure the safety of the
magazines. Having strongly occupied the town,
and taken steps to jirovide a retreat in case of
necessity, he crossed the Riess.

Richepanse had just arrived on his right by the
Reiehenbaeh road. Reinfin-ced by this division,
St. Cyr crossed the river by the bridge of Biberach,
and advanced himself to observe the enemy's posi-
tion. At the same moment the Austrians, who had
been so suddenly thrown into the Reiss, were
mounting through the raidis of their own army,
which opened to let them pass. At the sight of
St. Cyr it was easy to discover how nmcli the
army of the enemy was alarmed. St. Cyr ordered
forward a number of skirmishers, who approached
and insulted the enemy, none of whose force came
to meet them, and fiing them into the ravine.
These detached men were answered by general
discharges, evidently fn-m men in alarm, who
endeavoured to regain their courage by the noise.
St. Cyr was, when upon the field, one of the ablest
tacticians of whom we have ever been able to
boast. Observing this stiite of the Austrian army,
ho decided in a moment his course of action. He
drew up Thareau's and Baraguay's divisions in two
columns, fWmed a third of Riehepan8e's,and placed
his cavalry in ichelon on the wings. These ar-
rangements being completed, he set all his columns
in motion at once. They ascended the acclivity of
the Mettenberg with unparalleled steadiness. The
Austrians, at the sight of tho French climbing tho
formidable position with such coolness, whenco nu
army three times their number might have pre-

Kray retires upon Ulm.
Grand results of the action.
State of the two armies.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Moreau's army about to , „„»
be reduced.— Carnot's i?""-
mission to Moreau. M-^y-

cipitated them into the marshes of the Reiss, were
struck with astonishment and fear. Kray ordered
a retrograde movement; but his troops did not
execute the order as he intended they should do;
for after some firing they abandoned the field of
the Mettenberg, and finished in a disorderly flight,
leaving to St. Cyr many thousand prisoners and
immense magazines, which served the French army
for a long time afterwards. Night stopped the
pursuit. In the midst of the affair Moreau arrived;
and, notwithstanding the coolness between him and
St. Cyr, on the raorro\»', in presence of Carnot, the
minister of war, he stated to him his high satisfaction
at his conduct. Moreau, disembarrassed for a mo-
ment from the mischief-making friends who sur-
rounded him at head-quarters, could thus be just
to a lieutenant who had fought and conquered in
his absence and without orders.

The French army completely victorious, the
Austrians were no more able to resist, and it
might now march forward without opposition.
Kray had sent — it is difficult to comprehend for
what reason — a detachment to defend the maga-
zines of Memmingen. Memmuigen was in the
route of Lecourbe. That place was taken, the de-
tachment routed, and the magazines secured. This
was on the 10th of May, or 20th Floreal. The 11th
and i2th, Kray definitively retired upon Ulm.
Moreau continued his march in a long line, nearly
perpendicular to the Danube. The 13th of May
he was beyond the Uler, without encountering any
serious resistance to the passage of that river. The
right and the reserve were at Ungerhausen, Kell-
miintz, Uler-Aiclisim, Illertissen. St. Cyr was
placed at the confluence of the Uler and Danube,
across the filer, occupying the bridge of Untev-
kirchberg, and connecting himself with St. Suzaime,
who was advancing along the left bank of the
Danube. From the head-quarters of St. Cyr,
where Ney's division was placed, in the abbey of
Wiblingen, the Austrian troops might be distinctly
seen afar off, in their vast intrenched camp of
Ulm.

The two armies were now rejoined by all their
detached corps. Kray had recalled to himself
Kienmayer but a few days before, and afterwards
Sztarray. Moreau, having close at hand the corps
of St. Suzanne, was now in full strength. Both
armies had sustained losses, but those of the Aus-
trians were far more considerable than those of the
French. They were estimated at thirty thousand
men, killed, wounded, and prisoners. Upon this
matter history is reduced to conjecture, because,
on days of battle, generals always diminish their
losses; and when they want reinforcements from
their governments, they constantly exaggerate the
numbers of the dead, the sick, and the wounded.
No one knows with perfect accuracy the total num-
ber of soldiers really present under arms. Kray
commenced the campaign with one hundred and
ten or one hundred and fifteen thousand efficient
men ; and reckoning thirty-five or forty thousand
in fortresses, he could have now but eighty thou-
sand at most, these worn out with fatigue, and
completely demoralized.

The loss of the French army was estimated at
four thousand killed, six or seven thou.sand wounded
or dead of fever, and some made prisoners ; in the
whole, twelve or thirteen thousand rendered unfit

for service, four or five thousand of whom might
again return to duty after a little rest. This cal-
culation reduces Moreau's active force for the mo-
ment to ninety thousand men, or somewhat less.
But he was soon about to part with a considerable
detachment, consonant to an agreement with general
Berthier at the opening of the campaign. It was
stipulated in that agreement, that as soon as Kray
\\'as driven to the distance of eight or ten marches
from the Lake of Constance, Lecourbe should fall
back upon the Alps, to join the army of reserve.
The position of Masse'na rendered the fulfilment of
this engagement urgent ; and it was not any silly
desire to check Moreau in the midst of his suc-
cesses, that caused the demand to be made for the
corps of Lecourbe, but the most legitimate of rea-
sons— that of saving Genoa and Liguria. The army
of reserve, collected with so much labour, consisted
of no more than forty thousand men inured to war.
It needed a reinforcement in order to place it in a
condition to attempt the extraordinary operations
beyond the Alps in which it was about to be em-
ployed.

The first consul, impatient to act in thie direction
of Italy, and wishing at the same time to avoid
offending Moreau, and yet to secure the due execu-
tion of his orders, made choice of Carnot, the war
minister himself, for that purpose, sending him
to the head- quarters of the army of the Rhine,
with the formal injunction to detach Lecom-be to-
wards the St. Gotliard. The letters accompanying
this order were cordial in manner and irresistible
in argument. The first consul well knew that it
was not Lecourbe and twenty-five thousand men
that would be sent to him; but if he obtained fifteen
or sixteen thousand he would feel satisfied.

Moreau received Carnot with chagrin; still he
executed faithfully the ordex-s which were brought
him by the war minister, who took care to remove
any feeling of dissatisfaction on the part of the
feeble-minded general, who was easily deceived ;
and that confidence in the first consul was thus
revived which detestable mischief-makers were
striving to destroy.

Some historians, who flatter Moreau, but only his
flatterers since 1815, have elevated the detachment
taken from the army of Germany to twenty-five
thousand men. Moreau himself, in his reply to the
first consul, did not estimate it at more than seven-
teen thousand eight hundred, and this number was
exaggerated; not more than fifteen or sixteen thou-
sand entered Switzerland to climb mount St. Go-
tliard. After that, Moreau had about seventy-two
thousand men left; and soon afterwards, by the
recovery of the sick and wounded, seventy-five
thousand '. This number was more than sufficient
to beat eighty thousand Austrians. Kray had no
more, and those were dispirited and incapable of
standing the least serious rencounter with the
French.

1 It is from Moreau's own correspondence that I state
these numbers. All the calculations are exaggerated on the
side of Moreau. lie estimates the battalions retained by
him at C50 men, and those sent to Italy at 700 each. This
calculation cannot be correct ; for if he sent the corps just as
they were, and the battalions in his army were reduced to
GSOmen, there could not be 700 in those which were detached
from him.

ISOO.
May.

Lorges, with a detachment, marches
towards the Alps. — Kray's posi-
tion at Ulra.

ULM AND GENOA.

St. Cyr 8 bold proposal to storm
the Austrian camp, refused by
Moreau.

81

In order that the enemy might remain ignorant
of this diminution of his force, Moreau determined
not to aher the position nor the existing distribu-
tion of his battalions. He took the sixteen thou-
sand men which he designed for the first consul
out of all the existing corps. Each of these corps
furnished its contingent; and thus tlie diminution of
his force was concealed in the best mode possible.
Moreau wislied to keep Lecourbc, who was worth
ill value more than some thousands of men. Le-
courbe was accordingly left to him, and the brave
geneml Lorges had the command of the detach-
ment which marched for Switzerland. Carnot im-
mediately set out for Paris after he had seen on their
way tlie troops destined to pass the St. Gothard.

This operation occurred on the 11th, 12tli, and
13th of May, being the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of
Flor6il. Aloreau's army was now seventy-two
thousand strong, or nearly so, without counting the
garrisons in the different fortresses, the Helvetian
divisions, or those who might return to service
from the hospitals. It was still of the same strength
as before the arrival of the corps of St. Suzanne, a
strength which had sufficed to make it uniformly
victorious.

Kray had established himself at Ulm, where
for a long time an entrtnehed camp had been pre-
pared as a stronghold for the imperial troops. Of
the two modes of defence of which mention has
been made, that of retreating by the foot of the
Alps, thus covering the army by tlie tribut:\ry
waters of the Danube, or keeping on both sides of
that river in order to operate on both banks, the
Aulic council of Vienna decided for the last, and
Kray followed his orders with considerable skill.
The first mode would have been the best, had it been
necessary to keep up a permanent communication
between the two armies of Germany and Italy. In
the first stiiges of retreat its positions offered no
great strength, because the lller, the Lech, the Isar,
and the Inn, are the only obstacles of moment
coming in succession; and the Inn alone offers very
considerable impediments, for invincible obstacles
no longer present themselves in war. But an army
which is free from every communication with Italy
should be jilaced upon the Danube itself, having
all the briilges at its command, destroying them in
succe».sion as it retires, while still i)osscssing the
means of crossing from one bank to the other, the
enemy being confined to one bank. It is thus able,
if tiio enemy go forward dii-ect upon Vienna, to
follow liiui under the shelter of the Danube, and
fling itH<lf upon the invader's rear, to imnisli him
for the first fault he may commit. Thus (ilaccd,
an army has been generally thought in the best
position for covering Austria.

Kray was poste<l at Ulni, where extensive works
had bi.en carried on for his sui)port. At this
point it is Will jdiown that the left bank of the
Danube is fi.rnird Ijy the first declivities of the
moimtjiiiis of Suabia, which are always dominant
over tlK- right bank. Ulm is on the left side of the
river at ilie fiot of tlmso heights, and upon the
Damil)e iiscif. The walls had been repaired, and
a redoubt had been constructed, to defend the bridge
on the opjiositc or right bank. All the heights
behind Ulm, more especially the Michelsbcrg, had
been covered with artillery. If the French ap-
peared on the right bank, the Austrian army

having one of its wings resting upon Ulm and the
other upon the lofty convent of Elchiugen, covered
by the Danube, and its artillery sweeping the low
level ground on the right shore, it was in a jiositton
impossible to be assailed. If the French presented
themselves on the left bank, the Austrians were in
a ])osition equally strong. In order to compi-chcnd
this, it is right to recollect that the position of Ulm
is covered on the left bank by the river Blau,
which descends from the mountains of Su.abia, and
falls into the Danube close to Ulm, its bed foi-ming
a deep ravine. If the French crossed the Danube
to attack the Austrians by the left bank, they
would change their position, and, in place of facing
the Danube, would turn their backui)ou that river,
and cover their front by the Blau. Their left wing
would be in Ulm, their right at Lalir and Jungingen,
and their centre at Michelslierg. It would require
several marches on the Danulje to turn this po-
sition, abandoning wholly the right bank, which
might frustrate all the previous combinations for
the campaign, since it would uncover the Alps, and
leave the road open to Ital}'. Into such a secure
camp Kray now marched his exhausted ai-my.

St. Cyr was at the convent of Wiblingen, and
from its windows could distinctly see the Austrian
position without the aid of a telescope. Relying
upon the confidence and boldness of the troops, he
offered, and several generals offered witli him, to
storm the enemy's camp. They would, they said,
answer for the success of the effort with their lives;
and it must be acknowledged that if the daring of
some of them, such as Ney and Richepanse, excited
some doubts of the success of such an effort, the
opinion of St. Cyr, a cool methodical tactician, me-
rited regard. But Moreau was too prudent to ven-
ture uoon an assault of such a nature, and give
Kray the choice of winning a defensive battle. It
was true that if the French were victors, the Aus-
trian army flung into the Danube would bo half-
destroyed, and the campaign would be ended. On
the other liand, if the attack failed, Moreau would
be obliged to fall back ; the campaign in Germany
would bo endangered, and, worse than all, the
decisive cami)aign in Italy would be rendered im-
l)racticablc. Moreau acted in war with safety
rather than boldness. He suffered the bravo sol-
diers who offered to throw the Austrians into the
Daimbe, to talk on about it, but he refused to suffer
such an attempt to be made. A war of manoeuvres
alone remained. It was possible to pass the Da-
nube to the left bank above Ulm, as already de-
scribed ; but then, in order to turn the Austrian
position, the l''rench would be obliged to j)roceed
so far along the left bank, that Switzerland would
b(! opened, and the detachment sent towards the
Alps would be endangered. By remaining on the
right bank, they might descend the Danube some
way below Ulm, cross it out of the way of the
Austrians, and master their position by cutting
them off from the Lower Danube. By descending
the river, the rear of the army would be exposed,
and the road to Switzi'rland. Moreau thercforo
gave up all idea of dislodging Kray from Ulm.
Though with such an army as his he might have
hazarded any attempt again.st the enemy, he was
right in his caution, and fully justified in pursuing
tho jilan which securely covered tlio ojierations
of the first consul, his superior and rival.
G

Moreau manoeuvres before
82 Ulm.- Serious error.- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Danger of St. Suzanne.

Gallant conduct of Levas- , ...
seur.— St. Cyr succeeds i?""*
ill rescuing at. Suzanne. ^^'

Moreau resolved to execute a mana3uvre, which
was very right under his circumstances. This was
to march upon Augsburg, or, iu otlier words, to
abandon the course of the Danube, Jo cross its tri-
butary waters, and render useless a[l the Austrian
lines of defence by a direct march into the heart
of the empire. This movement woiild inevitably
oblige Kray to leave the Danube anid his camp at
Ulra, and draw him after the French army. The
idea was a bold one ; and it did not uncover the
Alps, Moreau l)eing constantly at tl^eir foot. He
had, under the circumstances, no hal^ measures to
pursue. He must either remain inactive before
Ulm, or march boldly upon Augsburg^and Munich.
A single demonstration would not deceive Kray,
and only expose to danger the corp^ of observa-
tion necessarily left at Ulm. Here Moreau com-
mitted an error which was nearly productive of
serious consequences.

On the 13:li, Hth, and 15th of May, Moreau
crossed the lUer, leaving St. Suzanne alone on
the left bank of tlie Danube, and St. Cyr at the
confluence of the I Her and Danube : he pushed
forward a corps of reserve on the Guntz, towards
Babenhausen. Lecourbe he pushed beyond the
Guntz to Erklieim, and sent out a corps of flankers
to Kempten, on the road to the Tyrol. In this sin-
gular position, extending twenty leagues, touching
Ulm on one side and menacing Augsburg on the
other, he could not instil into Kray the smallest
apprehension of his marching upon Munich, nor do
more than tempt him to throw himself in full force
upon St. Suzanne, whose corps remained alone
on the left bank of the Danube. Had Kray given
way to the temptation, and attacked St. Suzanne
with his entile masses, the Fi'ench wpuld have
been entirely destroyed.

The r)rders given to St. Cyr on the 15th or 25th
Flor^al were executed on the morning of the ICth,
when St. Suzanne was attacked at Erbach by an
enormous nmss of cavalry. His right division,
commanded by general Legrand, was at Erbach
and Papelau, along the Danube ; his left division,
commanded by Souhum, was at Blaubeureh, on both
sides of the Blau ; the reserve, under general
Colaud, was a little in rear of the two divisions. The
acti(}n began by a vast number of horse surround-
ing the French columns on every side. While the
troops of St. Suzanne were charged by numerous
squadrons, masses of infantry, sallying out of Ulm,
and a-scending the Danube, gave fears of a still
more serious attack. Two columns of infantry and
one of cavalry advanced, the one upon Erbach, to
attack and surround the two brigades, which com-
posed Legrand's division ; the other upon Papelau,
to separate the division of Legrand fmni that of
Souham. Legrand made his troojjs fall back. They
retired slowly through the woods, and thei) had to
come out on the level ground between Donjyurieden
and Ringengen. The troops executed this, retreat
with great steadiness. They were soni^ hours
yielding a small S))ace of ground, halting every
moment, forming in squares, and annoying the
cavalry sent iu pursuit of them with a tremendous
fire. Souhain's division, attacked on both, flanks,
was obliged to execute a similar movement and to
concentrate itself upon Biaubeuren, behijid the
Blau, driving into the deep ravine of that river
Buch of the Austrians as pressed them too closely.

It was the division of Legrand which encoun-
tered the greatest danger, from its having been
placed nearest the Danube ; and for that reason
the Austrians wished to overwhelm it, in order to
intercept all succour that might arrive from the
other side of the river. The two brigades of
which it was composed defended themselves with
great resolution, until at the moment when the
infantry was retreating, and the light artillery was
replacing its guns on the fore part of the carriages
to retreat also, the enemy's cavalry, returning
to the charge, dashed suddenly upon the unfor-
tunate division. The brave adjutant-general Le-
vasseur, who had been dismounted in a charge,
sprung upon a horse, gallopped to the lOtli regi-
ment of horse, which was some distance from the
field of battle, brought it up against the enemy,
cliarged the Austrian squadrons ten times their
number, and checked them. The artillery had
thus time to carry off their guns, take a position
in the rear, and protect in turn the cavalry which
had rescued it.

During this interval, general St. Suzanne had
arrived with a part of the division of Colaud to
the aid of Legrand. General Decaen, with the
remainder, had gone to Biaubeuren to succour
Souham's division. The action was renewed, but
it might still end in a disastrous manner, since
there was every reason to fear that the Austrian
army would fail in a body upon the corps of St.
Suzanne. Fortunately, St. Cyr, who was posted
on the opposite side of the Danube, did not leave
his comrades to be routed as he had before been
accused of doing ; he hastened to them with all
speed. Hearing the cannonade on the left bank of
the river, he sent off aids-de-camp on aids-de-camp
to bring his divisions from the banks of the lUer
to those of the Daimbe. He ordered not a mo-
ment to be lost in making the advanced corps fall
back immediately, and the main body of the troops
to be despatched without waiting for their out-posts,
a corps being left behind to collect them. He
placed himself on the bridge of Untei-kirchberg,
upon the lller, and as soon as one corps arrived,
infantry, cavalry, or artillery, as it might chance
to be, he sent it towards the Danube as quickly as
possible, preferring the disorder of a moment to a
loss of time. He then went iiimself to the banks
of the Daimbe. The Austrians, not doubting but
that St. Suzanne would receive assistance, if prac-
ticable, destroyed all the bridges as high up as
Dischingen. Seeing St. Cyr endeavouring to cross
by a ford, or to re-establish a bridge, the enemy
drew up a part of his forces facing those of St.
Cyr on the right bank, and commenced a heavy
cannonade, to which St. Cyr lost no time in re-
sponding. The fire of artillery on both sides the
river made the Austrians who' had sallied out of
Ulm begin to fear that their retreat would be cut
off", and cau.sed them to iall back some distance;
this disengaged St. Suzanne a little, and diffused
a feeling of joy iu his ranks as .soon as it was known,
as for twelve hours they had l;e])t up a contest almost
hopeless; their ardour revived once nioi-e. They
cried out for permission to advance, which was
granted them. All the French divisions then moved
on together, and drove the Austrians under the
battei-ies of Ulm ; but in traversing the field of
battle, which they were so overjoyed to recover.

isro.
May.

Movements of More .n. — He
refuses to aitaik tlie Aus-
trian Cdinp.

ULM AND GENOA.

Morcau's jiosiiidn wliile
awiiitin^ news fiom

f?3

they found it covered with their own dead and
wounded. The loss of the Austrians had not been
less tiian that of the French. Only fifteen thou-
sand of the latter had foujjht all day against thirty-
six thousand Austrians, of whom twelve thousand
were cavalry. Kiay was himself present the whole
time on the field of battle.

But for the extraordinary courajie of the troojis,
with the energy and talent of the officers, the fault
which Moreau had committed would have been
punished by the loss of his left wing. Moreau
immediately went to that wing himseif, and, as if
his thoughts !iad been only drawn to that quarter
by pure accident, he resolved to pass his entii-e
army over to the left bank of the Danube.

On the 17th, or 27th Flore'al, leaving St. Suzanne
to rest in the (losition of the day before, he led the
corps of St. Cyr back between the Iller and the
Danube. The reserve, tnider his own command,
he sent in advance to Unterkirchberg, on the Iller,
and commanded Lecourbe to fall back between the
Guntz and Weissenhoru. On the 18th, the army
made a second movement to the left. St. Suzanne
moved beyond the Blau, St. Cyr beyond the Da-
nube, and the reserve to Gocklingen,on the Danube
itself, ready to cross over. On the lOtli the man-
oeuvre was still more developed, St. Suzanne had
turned Ulm completely,^ having his head-quar-
ters at Urspring ; St. Cyr was on both banks of
the Blau, with his headquarters at Blaubeuren ;
the reserve had passed the Danube between Erbach
and the Blau ; and Lecourbe was ready to cross
that river.

Every thing now denoted an attack upon the
entrenched camp of Ulni. In this new position
Kray had his left at Ulm, his centre on the Blau,
and his right at Elchingen. Thus he had his back
to the Danube, and defended the reverse of the
position of Ulm. Moreau, having reconnoitred
the whole attentively, disappointed his lieutenants,
who imagined that they saw in the movement of
the left a serious operation in progress, and were
desirous of a bold attack on the camp of Kray,
because they believed the success of such an
attempt was certain. St. Cvr insisted again upon
its practicability, but he was n<it heard. Moreau
determined to retire, unwilling to risk an attack by
hard fighting along the Blau, and not willing to
turn the position by the left, for fear of uncovering
Switzerland too much. He ordered the army there-
fore to return once more to the right bank of the
Danube, On the 20lh of May and the following
days the army decamped, to the great displeasure
of the officers aiul men, who calculated upon the
assault being made, and ecpially to the astonish-
ment of the Austrians, who were in dread of it.

These false movements were attended with the
great inconvenience that they elevated the coin-age
of the Austrian army, although they did not shake
that of the French, which felt t<io conscious of its
own superiority. .Moreau might then have at-
tempted the movctnent which has been already
menli<ined, and wliich, alti-rwards executed, ob-
tained for liim such a signal iriumph. This move-
ment was to descend l.y the Diinuhe, threaten
Kray to pass below Ulm, and thus obli(i;e liiui to
decamp by disquieting hnn about the line of IiIh
communications; but Moreau Wiis always fe;ii Inl of
uncovering the road of the Aljis. He had thought

of making a second demonstration upon Augsburg,
and thus once more of endeavouring to deceive the
Austriims and to persuade them, that leaving Ulm
behind him he was going definitively upon Bavaria,
l>robalily upim Austria. On the 22nd of May, or
•2nd Trairial, all the French army repassed the
Danube. Lecourbe with the right wing threatened
Augsburg by Landsherg ; St. Suzanne with the
leit wing kept himself at some distance from the
Danube, between Dellmensingeu and Achstetten.
The same day prince Ferdinand with twelve thou-
sand men, half of whom were cavalry, either with
the view of keeping the French near Ulm, or to
discover their intentions, made an attack upon St.
Suzanne, which was warmly repulsed, the troops
acting with their eustimiary vig(U-, and general
Deeaen distinguishing himself greatly. The follow-
ing diiys Moi'cau continued his movements. On
the 27th Jlay, or 7th Prairial, Lecourbe with
equal skill and courage made himselT ma.sterof the
bridge of Landsberg, over the Lech, and on ibe
281I1 entered Augsburg. Still Kray was not to be
moved by this operation, and remained immovable
in Ulm. This was the best of all his resolutions,
and did most honour to his firmness and judgment.

From that time Moreau remained inactive, cal-
culating events in Italy. He rectified his position,
and greatly improved it. In place of forming a^
loH'i- line, one extremity of which touched the
Danube, a position which exposed his left corps to
unequal conflicts with the entire of the Austrian
forces, he executed afterwards a change of front
facing the Danube, ranging himself parallel with
that river, but at a considerable distance, his left
resting upon the lUei", his right upon the Guntz,
his rear-guard in Augsburg, and a corps of flankers
observing the Tyrol. Thus his army formed a
mass sufticiently dense to fear nothing from any
isolated attack iqion either of his wings, and it had
nothing to risk but a general engagement, which
was all that it desired, because such a contest
could not fail to terminate m the utter ruin of the
Austrian army. In this unapproachable position,
Moreau determined to await the result of the
operations which Bonaparte was at the same
moment carrying on u|)on the other side of the
Alps. His lieutenants pressed him to abandon his
inaction, but he persisted in re]>lying that it would
he im))rudent to do more until he received intelli-
gence from Italy ; but if Bonai>arte succeeded in
that part of the theatre of war, they would then
try a decisive movement against Kray; for that if
the French army on the other side of the Alps was
not fortunate, they would be greatly embarrased
by any progress they shotild now make in Ba-
varia. The enterprise of Bonaparte, the secret
of which was known to Moreau, carried something
very extra^jrdinary in it to a mind constituted like
his;and therefore it is not at all improbable that ho
felt inc|uiotude, or that ho was nnwillini;to advance
without kiu)wing for a certainty the ibi tunes of tho
army of reserve.

Moreau, in consequence of these resolutions, had
warm altercations with some of his lieutenants, and
more immediately with St. Cyr. This officer com-
plained of the inactivity in which nu-an while they
were kept, and still more of the partiality that was
prev.alent in the distribution of tho rati(U)s to tho
dill'erent corps of the army. He connuunicatcfl to
o2

Misunderstandings among the Moreau's character com-

84 French generals.— Moreau's THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. POsed of weaknesses
letter to Bonaparte.

and great qualities.

1800.
May.

Moreau that his division was frequently without
bread, while that of the commander-in-chief close
by it was in want of nothing. There was no lack
of resources since the capture of the enemy's
magazines, but only of the means of conveyance.
St. Cyr had upon the same subject more than one
dispute ; there was evidently a difference between
him and the staff that sun'ounded Moreau ; and
this was the real cause of these unfortunate dis-
putes. General Grenier had just joined the army,
and St. Cyr wished moreover to give him the com-
mand of the reserve, that Moreau might be free
from the occupations and partialities which are the
inevitable consequences of holding so particular
a command. Moreau unfortunately would do no-
thing of the sort. St. Cyr then retired, and thus
the army was deprived of the ablest of its genei-al
officers. St. Cyr was himself made ninre to com-
mand than obey another. General St. Suzanne
retired too in consequence of similar misundei--
standings. The last was sent to tlie Rhine to
form a corps, designed to cover the rear of the
army of Germany, and to keep the forces of baron
D'Albini in check. Grenier succeeded to the plate
of St. Cyr, and Richepanse to that of St. Suzanne.
Moreau, who was strongly established in his new
position, and whose troops wanted for nothing,
determined to wait where he was, and wrote to the
first consul, well expressing his situation and inten-
tions, as follows : —

Babenhausen, 7 Prairial, an viii.
(May 27, 1800.)

" We wait with impatience, citizen consul, for the
tidings of your success. Kray and I are groping
about here — he to keep near Ulm, I to make him
quit that post.

" It would have been dangerous for you in par-
ticular, if I had transferred the war to the left
bank of the Danube. Our present position has
forced the prince de Reuss to move off to the
openings of the TjtoI and to the sources of the
Lech and Iller ; so that he cannot inconvenience
you.

" Give me, I beg you, news of yourself, and let
me know how I can serve you ....

" If M. Kray moves in advance, I shall fall back
as far as Memmingen ; there I shall make general
Lecourbe join me, and we shall fight. If he
marches upon Augsburg, I shall do the same; he
will lose his support of Ulm, and then we shall see
what is to be done to cover you.

" It would be more advantageous to make the
war upon the left bank of the Danube, and to
force Wurtemberg and Franconia to contribute
to our suj)port ; but this would not suit you, since
the enemy might send detachments into Italy,
while leavmg us to ravage the territory of the
empire.

" Be assured of ray attachment.

" (Signed) Moreau."

A month and two days had now elapsed, and if
Moreau liad not obtained those prompt and de-
cisive results which terminate a campaign at a
blow, as he might have done by passing the Rhine

at a single point towards Schaffhausen, throwing
his entire force upon the left of Kray, and fighting
the battles of Engen and Mosskirch with undivided
forces ; or as he might have done by throwing the
Austrian army into the Danube at Sigmai-ingen,
dislodging it by main strength from the camp at
Ulm, or obliging it to decamp by a decided move-
ment upon Augsburg; still he had fulfilled the
more essential conditions of the plan of the cam-
paign,— he had passed the Rhine without accident,
in presence of the Austrian army ; he had fought
two great battles, and, though the concentration of
his forces had been defective, he had gained both
battles by his firmness and good generalship on
the field of action ; lastly, despite his "gropings"
about Ulm, he had, notwithstanding, shut up the
Austrians around that place, and kept them block-
aded there, cutting them off from the route to the
Tyrol and Bavaria, still having himself the power to
await in a good position the result of events in Italy.
If we do not find in him those superior talents and
that decision which distinguish the greatest soldiers,
we discover a calm, prudent mind, repairing by
its coolness the faults of an intelligence too nar-
rowed, and of a character somewhat irresolute: we
find, in fact, an excellent general, such as nations
often wish to possess, and such as Europe had
none to equal. It was the foi'tune of France to
possess at this time — of France which already pos-
sessed Bonaparte — to possess also Moreau, KMbei*,
Dessaix, Massena, and St. Cyr, in other words,
the best second-rate generals ; and it must be re-
collected that she had already produced Dumou-
riez and Pichegru. Time of wonderful recollec-
tions ! which ought to inspire us with some kind
of confidence in ourselves, and prove to Europe
that all our glory in the present centui'y is not due
to a single man, that it is not the result of that
rare fortune which produces such men of genius as
Hannibal, Csesar, or Napoleon.

What might be chiefly alleged against Moreau
was a want of vigour in commanding ; above all,
his suffering himself to be surrounded and con-
trolled by a military circle, his permitting mis-
understandings to have birth around him, thus
depriving himself of his best officers ; and his not
correcting, by the force of his own will, a bad or-
ganization of the army, which tended to make his
lieutenants isolate themselves, and be guilty of
acts importing bad military brotherhood. Moreau
erred in character, as we have before observed
several times, and as we shall too often have to
repeat. We would there were a veil to hide from
us, and as well conceal from others, the sad sequel
time discloses; and that we might be pei-mitted
to enjoy, without any thing to make the feeling
paint'ul, the noble and pi-udent achievements of
the soldier, whose heart jealousy and exile had not
yet altered.

We must now transport ourselves to a different
theatre, to witness a scene of a very different kind.
Providence, that is exuberant in contrasts, will
there exhibit another mind, a different character,
and a different fortune; and, for the honour of
France, soldiers still the same, that is to say, always
intelligent, devoted, and intrepid.

1800.
May.

The first consul impatient to march.
— Masseiia's distress.— Ott's bra-
vado revenged.

MARENGO.

BOOK IV.

MARENGO.

THE FIRST CONSUL IMPATIENT FOR NEWS FROM GERMANY. — RECEIVES INTELLIGENCE OF MOREAU S SUCCESS, AND
RESOLVES TO DEPART FOR ITALY. — EXTREME SUFFERINGS OF THE GARRISON OF GENOA.— MASSENa's FORTI-
TUDE.— THE FIRST CONSUL HASTENS TO HIS llELIEP, AND EXECUTES HIS GRAND DESIGN OF CROSSING THE
HIGH ALPS. — BONAPARTE SETS OUT AND MAKES A FEINT OP APPEARING AT DIJON, ARRIVES AT MARTIGNY, I.\
THE VALAIS.— CHOOSES ST. BERNARD TO PASS OVER THE ALPINE CHAIN. — .MEANS ADOPTED FOR TRANSPORTING
ARTILLERY, AM.MUNITION, PROVISIONS, AND MATERIEL OF THE ARMY. — COMMENCEMENT OP THE PASSAGE. —
THE GREAT DIFFICULTIES SURMOUNTED BY THE SPIRIT OF THE TROOPS.— UNFORESEEN OBSTACLE IN THE FORT DU
BARD. — SURPRISE AND GRIEF OF THE ARMY AT THE SIGHT OF THE I ORT. — THOUGHT AT FIRST lO BE IMPREG-
NABLE.—THE INFANTRY AND CAVALRY MAKE A CIRCUIT, AND AVOID THE OBSTACLE.— THE ARTILLERY DRAWN
BY BAND UNDER THE FIRE OF THE FORT.— IVREA TAKEN, AND THE ARMY ARRAYED IN THE PLAINS OP PIED
MONT BEFORE THE AUSTRIANS ARE AWARE OF ITS EXISTENCE OR MARCH. — PASSAGE SIMULTANEOUSLY OP THE
ST. GO^HARD BY THE DETACH.MENT FROM GERMANY. — PLAN OF BONAPARTE WHEN DESCENDED INTO LOMBARUV.
— HE DETERMINES TO PROCEED TO MILAN, TO llALLY THE TROOPS FROM GERMANY, AND ENVELOPE MELAS. —
THE LONG ILLUSIONS OF MELAS DESTROYED AT A SINGLE BLOW.— MORTIFICATION OP THE OLD GENERAL. —
ISSUES ORDERS FOR EVACUATING THE BANKS OF THE VAR AND THE ENVIRONS OF GENOA. — LAST EXTREMITY
OF MASSENA. — ABSOLUTE IMPOSSIBILITY OF SUPPORTING LONGER THE SOLDIERS AND PEOPLE OF GENOA: HE IS
FORCED TO SURRENDER. — HONOURABLE CAPITUL ATION.— THE AUSTRIAN'S, GENOA BEING TAKEN, CONCENTRATE
IN PIEDMONT. — IMPORTANCE OF THE ROAD FROM ALEXANDRIA TO rIACENZA.— EAGERNESS OF THE HOSTILE
ARMIES TO OCCUPY PIACENZA. — THE FRENCH ARRIVE THERE FIRST. — POSITION OP LA STRADELLA CHOSEN BY
THE FIRST CONSUL FOR ENVELOPING MELAS.— HALT IN THAT POSITION FOR SOME DAYS. — BELIEVING THAT THE
AUSTRIAN'S HAVE ESCAPED, THE FIRST CONSUL GOES TO FIND THEM, AND ENCOUNTERS THEM X'NEXPECTEDLY
IN THE PLAIN OE MARENGO.— BATTLE OF MARENGO LOST AND GAINED. — HAPPY' IMPULSE OP DESSAIX, AND
DEATH. — REGRET OF THE FIRST CONSUL. — DESPAIR OF THE AUSTRIANS, AND CONVENTION OF ALEXANDRIA, BY
WHICH ALL ITALY AND ITS FORTRESSES ARE DELIVERED OVER TO THE FRENCH ARMY. — TIIF. FIRST CONSUL
REMAINS SOME DAYS AT MILAN, TO REGULATE AFFAIRS.— CONCLAVE AT VENICE, AND ELEVATION OP PIUS VII.
TO THE PAPAL CHAIR. — RETURN OP THE PIRST CONSUL TO PARIS. — ENTHUSIASM EXCITED BY HIS PRESENCE. —
SEQUEL OF OPERATIONS ON THE DANUBE. — PASSAGE OP THE RIVER BELOW ULM. — VICTORY OP HOCHSTEDT. —
MOREAU CONQUERS ALL BAVARIA AS FAR AS THE INN. — ARMISTICE IN GERMANY AS WELL AS IN ITALY. —
COM.MENCE.MENT OP NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. — ST. JULIEN SENT BY THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY TO PARIS. —
FETE OF THE HTH OF JULY AT THE INVALIDES.

The first consul waited only for news of the suc-
cess of the anny of the Rhine, in order to descend
into the plains of Italy; for, unless Moreau were
fortunate, he would not be able to spare the de-
tachment of his troops ; besides, Kray was not so
far separated from M^ias, as to make it safe to
nianrjeuvre freely on the rear of the last. The
iin|^>atience of tiic first consul was great, being re-
solved to quit Paris, and take the command of the
army of reserve the moment he was certainly
a-ssured of tlie success of the army of Moreau.
Time pressed, seeing that Masse'na, in Genoa, was
reduced to the most cruel suffering. We left liim
there, contending against the whole Austrian f(U'ce,
with an army worn out by fatigue, yet daily inflict-
ing considerable loss upon the enemy. On the
lOtli of May general Ott indulged in an unseemly
bravado, informing Ma8S(5na that he should fire his
gun-^ for .". victory obtained over Suchet — a piece of
news utterly destitute of truth ; tiic gallant defender
of Genoa replied to some purpose. He sallied
out of the eily in two columns. The column on
tlie left, commanded by Soult, ascended tlie lii-
sagiio, and turned the Monte-Rjitti ; that under
Miollis attacked Monte-Ratti in front. The Aus-
trians, thus vigorou.sly assailed, were iirecijiitated
into the ravines, and lost that importiint position,
with fifteen hundred men made jirisoners. Mas-
sciia entered Genoa triunipliant tlie same evening,
and the next morning wrote to general Ott, that he
would fire his cannon for the victory of the pre-

ceding day ; an heroic revenge, worthy a great
soul.

This was the last of his successes : his soldiers
could scarcely sustain the weight of their arms,
they were so debilitated by famine. On the 13th
of May, or 23d Flor^al, this energetic officer, yield-
ing to the advice of his generals, consented, in
spite of himself, to an operation, the result of which
was exceedingly disastrous. This was, to storm
the Monte-Creto, an important post, which it would,
no doubt, have been most desirable to take from
the Austrians, because they would, by this means,
be removed to a considerable distance from Genoa.
Unhappily, there was but little chance of success
in such an undertaking. Massdna, who had tho
greatest confidence in his army, for he daily re-
quired and obtained from it the most strenuous
efforts, did not think it was capable of carry-
ing a position which the enemy couhl defend with
all his strength. He would have preferred an
expedition to Porto Fino, along the coast, to seize
a considerable <[uantity of provisions, which were
known to be in that quarter. He gave way,
however, contrary to his custom, and on tlie
morning of the 13th marched upon the Mont< -
Creto. The battle at first was brilliant : but, un-
fortunately, a violent storm, which lasted for some
hours, broke down the strength of the soldiers.
The enemy had concentrated ujxin this jtoint a large
body of troops, and drove back the Prencli, who
were dying of fatigue and hunger, into the valleys.

Soult a prisoner. — The Genoese

The first consul prepares to

86 women riotous.-Massena'sex- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. march.— His address to ° "'

ertions to procure subsistence,

the legislative bodi(

Soult, making it a point of honour to succeed in an
expedition wliich he had advised, rallied the third
demi-brigade, and led it back against the enemy.
He had, perhaps, been successful, but a ball, having
fractured his leg, extended him on the field. His
men would have carried him off, but they had not
time. Thus the general, who had so well seconded
Masse'na tlu-oughout the whole siege, was left in
the hands of the enemy.

The troops entered Genoa with deep mortifica-
tion, bringing in some prisoners. While they were
absent, the women in the city had become riotous.
These unhappy creatures, driven by want, ran
through the streets, ringing bells and calling for
bread. They were very quickly dispersed ; but
the Frencli commander was thenceforward almost
wholly occupied in providing support for the popu-
lation of Genoa, which showed, in all other respects,
the most devoted conduct. There had been corn
procured, as already said, for a fortnight at first,
and afterwards for a second term of the same
length. After this a ves.sel brought in enough to
last for five days : thus supplies had been obtained
for more than a month. Blockaded from the 5th
of April, these resources had lasted to the 10th of
May. Seeing the px-ovisions diminish, the daily
rations had been reduced both to the military and to
the inhabitants. Soup made with herbs and a little
meat still left in the city, were substituted for bread.
The richer inhabitants found means to supply them-
selves with victuals at an enormous price, out of
those which had escaped the search of the police
for the purpose of applying them to the general
use. Thus Massena had only to trouble himself
about the poor, by whom the famine was severely
felt. He had imposed a contribution upon the rich
in their behalf, and had thus won the hearts of the
poor to the French side. The majority of the
population, dreading the Austrians, and the political
system of which they were the supporters, deter-
mined to second Mussina in this emergency. Stiiick
with the energy of his character, their obedience
to him was equal to their resignation. Still the
aristocratical party endeavoui-ed, by every possible
means, to embarrass and annoy him, by making
tools of some hungry wretches for that purpose.
To overawe them, lie made his troops pass the
night in the jirincipal streets at their guns, with
matches lighted. But the bread on which they still
supported themselves, made of oats, beans, and any
grain that could be procured, was vei-y nearly
exhausted ; of meat, too, the city was as near
being destitute. On the 20th of May there would
be only such things as it would be almost impossible
to use for human sustenance. It was thei-eforc
necessary to relieve the place before the 20th of
May, unless Masstna and his whole army were
allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy, when
Me'las would thus be able to dispose of thirty thou-
sand men more, who might return into Piedmont,
and block iip the pa.ssnges of the Alps.

The aid-de-camp Franceschi, who had gone to
state to the government the position of the garri-
son, had succeeded by boldness and address in
passing through the Austrians and the English,
and he had communicated to the first consul the
deplorable situation of the city. The first consul,
in consequence, neglected nothing to put the army
of reserve in a state to cross the Alps. It was for

this end he had sent Carnot to Germany with the
formal order of the consuls, to send the detach-
ment forward which was to pass over Mount
St. Gothard. For himself, he laboured night and
day with Berthier, who oi-ganized the divisions of
cavalry and infantry, with Gassendi and Marmont,
who organized the artillery, and with Marescot,
who was busy reconnoitring along the whole line
of the Alps. He urged them all forward with that
power of persuasion which enabled him to lead the
French from the b:mks of the Po to those of the
Jordan, and from the banks of the Jordan to those
of the Danube and Borystlienes. He did not mean
to quit Paris until the last moment, being unwill-
ing to relinquish the political government of France
longer than he could help, and thus leave free quar-
ters for intriguers and plotters. In the mean time
the divisional troops from La Vendue, Briiany,
Paris, and the banks of the Rhone, were travei'sing
the whole extent of the republican territory. Al-
ready the heads of the columns had made their
aijpearance in Switzerlnnd. There were always at
Dijon, the depots of -diiTerent corps, certain con-
scripts and volunteers, who had been sent there to
spread abroad the opinion, that the army of Dijon
was a mere fable, solely destined to alarm Me'las.
Thus far, then, all had succeeded to admiration —
the delusion of the Austrians was complete. The
movement of the troops towards Switzerland was
scarcely noticed. In consequence of these troops
being widely dispersed, they passed for no more
than reinforcements intended for the ai'my of
Germany.

At length every thing was ready, and the first
consul made his final arrangements. He received
a message from the senate, the tribunate, and the
legislative body, conveying to him the wishes of the
nation, that he might soon return as " conqueror and
peace-maker." He replied to them with studied
solemnity. His reply was intended to agree with
the articles in the Moniteur, proving that his
journey, about which so much parade was made,
like the army of reserve, was a feint, and nothing
better. He charged Cambace'res, the consul, to
pi-eside in his place over the council of state, which
was at that time in a good measure the entire
government. Lebrun was commissioned to super-
intend the administration of the finances. He said
to each of them : " Be firm ; if any event happens,
be not troubled. I will come back like lightning,
to crush the audacious persons who shall dare to
lay their hands upon the government." He par-
ticularly charged his brothers, who were bound to
him by a more personal interest, to make known
every thing to him, and to give him the signal to
return, should his ])resence be required. While
he was thus jjublishing his departure with so much
ostentation, the consuls and ministers, on the con-
trary, were to let the newsmongers know that the
first consul had quitted Paris for some day.s, merely
to review the troops ready to take the field.

He himself set off, full of hope and highly satis-
fied. His arnsy contained a good many conscripts,
but it contained soldiers inured to war in a far
greater number, accustomed to conquer, and com-
manded by officers formed in his own school. He
had also, in the deep conception of his plan, a full
and entire reliance.

According to the latest information, Mdlas ob-

May.

Bonaparte's confidence. — Feint at Dijon.
—Interview wiih Marescot.— Why St.
Bernard preferred as the route.

MARENGO.

Preparations for the marcli. — Dis-
posiliuh of the ariuy. — Nature
of the country.

87

stinately coutinued to push liis troops deeper into
Liguria, halt" towards Genoa, the otlier half towards
the Var. The first consul at this moment doubted
less than ever the success of his enterprise; already
seeing, in his ardent imagination, the very place
where he should meet and destroy tiie Austrian
army. One day, before he set out, laying 0])en his
maps, and placing upon them marks of difterent
colours, ♦.o represent the positions of the French
and Austrian corps, he said, in the pre-sence of his
secretary, who heard him with curiosity and sur-
prise, "That poor M^ias will pass by Turin — will
fall back upon Alexandria : I shall pass the Po —
encounter him on the road to Piacenza, in tlie
plains of the Serivia, and I shall beat him there —
there ! " On saying this he placed one of his marks
on San-Giuliauo. It will soon be easy to appre-
ciate what an extraordinary glance into futurity
prompted these words. j

Bonaparte quitted Paris on the 6th of May hefore '
daybreak, taking with him his aid-de-camp Duroc |
and 'vis secretary Bourrienne. On arriving at
Dijon lie passed the conscripts in review, assem-
bled there without stores, or any of the appoint-
ments necessary to take the field. After this,
which was only intended to confirm the spies in the
belief that the army of Dijon was no more than a
fiction, he proceeded to Geneva, and from thence
to Lausanne, wiiere every thing bore a serious
aspect. There was sufficient to undeceive the most
incredulous there, but too late for the information
to be sent off and made available at Vienna.

On the 13tli of May Bonaparte reviewed a part
of the troops, conferr.iig with the officers, who
received orders to ;.ieet him, in order to state
what they had don , and receive his final com-
mands. To general Marescot had been committed
the duty of recou.ioitring the Alps, and the first
consul was most impatient to hear him. On a
comparison of all thi- passes, that of St. Bernard
was considered the n.ost favourable by this en-
gineer officer, but even here the opei-ation he
thought would be extremely difficult. " Difficult !
is it possible ?" in juired Bonaparte. "I think so,"
I'cplied the general of engineers, " but with extra-
ordinary efl'orts.' " Then let us stiirt !" replied
the first cons'l.

It is proper to explain the motives which decided
the first consul in choosing the passage by Mount
St. Bernard. The St. Gothard pass was reserved
for the troops that were on the march from Ger-
many, of which general Moncey had the command.
This passage lay in their way, and was only capable
of furnishing suljsistence at most for fifteen thou-
sand men, because the higher Swiss valleys had
been entirely ruined by the presence of belligerent
armies. The passages of the Simplon,of the Great
St. Bernard, and of Mount Cenis were left, but
these were not, as in the present time, crossed by
high roads. It was necessary to dismount the
carriag<;s at the foot of the mountain, and U> send
them forward upon sledges, remounting them on
the other side. Thest; passages presented all three
nearly the same dilticulties. Mount Cenis, being
more frequently crossed and the track better
beaten than on the others, was jjcrhaps the most
ea.sy of access of all three ; but ilicn the road by
that mountain opened upon Turin, in the midst
of the Austrians, and consequently was not well

adapted to the plan for enveloping them. The
Simplon, on the other hand, was the furthest of the
three from the point of departure, presenting re-
verse inconveniences : it opened, it is true, the
road to Milan, in a fine, rich country, far from the
Austrians, — in fact, quite in their rear ; but the
distances were too great ; and even to ge(;,to it the
ascent of the whole Valais would have been neces-
sary, together with conveyances for the stores of
the army, none of which could be obtained. Amid,
the desolate and ice-covered valleys to be travelled
every individual must carry his own baggage, and
a score of leagues more to march was a matter of
great consideration. In regard to the passage by
the St. Bernard, there was only the distance to
pass from Villeneuve to ^lartigny, or from the e.x-
treme end of the lake of Geneva, the point where
navigation ceases, to the foot of the mountain. The
distance across was very small. The St. Bernard
road, besides, opened into the valley of Aosta upon
Ivre'a, between the roads of Turin and Milan, in a
very favourable direction fur coming upon the
Austrians. ^lore difficult, and perhaps more dan-
gerous, it deserved the preference on account of
the shortness of the passage.

The first consul determined therefore to lead
the main body of his ai-my over the St. Bernard.',
He took with him the best men of the army of
reserve, in all, about forty thousand, five thou-
sand being cavalry and thirty-five thousand ar-
tillery and infantry. Wishing, at the same time,
to disti-act the attention of the Austrians, he con-
ceived the idea of sending some detachments
through other passes, that could not be connected
w ith the main body of his army. Not a great way
irom the Great St. Bernard is the passage of the
Little St. Bernard, which opens also into the valley
of Aosta from the heights of Savoy. The first
consul directed the 70th denii- brigade to proceed
by that pass, and some battalions from the west,
consisting principally of conscrii)ts, all under the
command of general Chabran. This division mus-
tered five or six thousand men, and at Ivre'a it was
to rejoin the principal column. Lastly, general
Thureau, who with four thousand men defended
the pass of Mount Cenis, had orders to attempt to
penetrate to Turin. Thus the French army was to
descend from the Alps by four passes at one time,
by the St. Gothard, the Great and Little St. Ber-
nard, and Mount Cenis. The ])rincipal body, forty
thousand strong, acting in the centre of this semi-
circle, was certain of being joined by the fifteen
thousand men coming from Germany, as well as by
the troops of general Chabran, and perhaps those
of general Thureau, which would compose a total
force of about sixty-five thousand men, — a force
that would not fail to disconcert the enemy, who
could not know, from the appearance of all these
corjis, on what point to direct his means of re-
sistance.

The choice of the passes over the mountains
being fixed upon, it became necessary to attend to
the operation itself — an operation which consisted
in throwing sixty thousand men with all tlieir ap-
pointnients, to the other side of the Alps, destitute
ol beaten paths, over rocks and glaciirs, at the worst
season of the year— on the thawing of the snows.
It is never a pleasant thing to have a park of artil-
lery to drag along, since every gun requires several

Great difficulties to be en-

The monks of Great St. Ber-

conveyiug Ihe materiel.

Means of THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. nard.-Review of the army

at the foot of the mountain.

May.

waggons after it ; thus, for sixty pieces three hun-
dred waggons were required : but in those high
valleys, many of tliem sterile from tlie reign of an
eternal winter, others scarcely extensive enough to
furnish the means of liveUhood to their scanty in-
habitants, it is necessary to carry the bread for
the troops, as well as the forage for the horses.
The difficulty therefore was enormous. From
Geneva to Villeneuve all was easy, thanks to Lake
Leman and a navigation of eighteen leagues equally
speedy and commodious. But from Villeneuve, the
extremity of the lake to Ivre'a, the opening by
which the rich plains of Piedmont are entered,
there are forty-five leagues to pass over, of which
ten are over the rocks and glaciers of the great
chain. The route to Martigny, and from Martigny
to St. Pierre, was good for carriages. At St. Pierre
they would begin to ascend paths covered with
snow, and bordered by precipices scarcely more
than two or three feet wide, exposed in noon-day
heat to the fall of frightful avalanches. There was
nearly ten leagues to be travelled over these paths,
to arrive on the other side of the St. Bernard, at
the village of St. Remy, in the valley of Aosta,
where a road practicable for carnages would be
found, leading tlu-ough Aosta, Chatillon, Bard, and
Ivrea, to the plain of Piedmont. Of all these
points there was but one supposed likely to offer
a difficulty — it was Bard, where it was said there
was a fort of which some Italian officers had been
heard to speak, but which was not supposed ca-
pable of offering any serious obstacle. There were
then, as we have said, forty-four leagues to be passed
over, the troops can-ying every thing with them,
from the lake of Geneva to the plain of Piedmont,
and of these foi-ty-five leagues, ten were destitute
of roads, and not practicable for carriages.

The following were the dispositions made by the
first consul for the transport of the materiel of the
army, and carried into effect by generals Marmont,
Marescot, and Gassendi. Immense stores of
grain, biscuit, and oats, had been sent to Ville-
neuve, by the lake of Geneva. Bonaparte, well
knowing that for money the assistance of the hardy
mountaineers of the Alps might be easily obtained,
had sent to the spot a considerable sum in specie.
All the chars- a-banc of the country, all the mules,
had been drawn at a high price to the spot, but
only during the last days. By these means bread,
biscuit, forage, wine, and brandy, had been conveyed
from Villeneuve to Martigny, and from thence to
St. Pierre, at the foot of the pass. A sufficient
quantity of live cattle had also been conducted
thither, and the artillery with its waggons. A com-
pany of workmen, established at the foot of the pass
of St. Pierre, was employed in dismounting the guns,
and taking the carriages themselves to pieces, that
they miglit be carried by mules, the pieces being
marked with numbers. The guns, separated from
their carriages, were placed upon a species of sledge
with low wheels, previously prepared for the purpose
at Auxonne. For the convenient carriage of the am-
njunition of the infantry and artillery, there had
been provided a great number of small boxes, easily
placed upon mules, for the purpose of transporta-
tion by the beasts of burden used in that country,
in the same way as the other articles were to be
conveyed. A second company of workmen, pro-
vided with camp forges, was to pass the mountains

with the first division, and establish itself in the
village of St. Remy, wliere the beaten track on the
I'oute began again. There the guns and carriages
were to be re-united. Such was the enormous task
that had been undertaken. There had been united
to the army a ponton company, who, though destitute
of materials for the construction of bridges, w^ere
ready to avail themselves of such as might be
obtained from the enemy in Italy.

The first consul had besides taken care to obtain
the assistance of the monks resident in the hospital
of the Great St. Bernard. It is well known that
this pious cenobitical community had been es-
tablished for ages in that fearful solitude, above
the habitable region of the earth, in order to give
their aid to travellers overtaken by storms or
buried in the snow. The first consul, at the latest
moment, had sent them a sum of money, in order
that they might collect together a large quantity of
bread, cheese, and wine. A hospital was got
i-eady at St. Pierre, close to the foot of the pass,
and another on the reverse side of the mountain,
at St. Remy. These two hospitals were to receive
and forward the sick or wounded, if there should
happen to be any, to larger hospitals at Martigny
and Villeneuve.

These arrangements being completed, the troops
began to make their appearance. Bonaparte placed
himself at Lausanne, to inspect the men ; he spoke
to them, infused into them a portion of the ardent
spirit which animated himself, and prepared them
for that immortal enterprise which will be ranked
in history with that of the grand expedition by
Hannibal. He had taken care to appoint two
inspections, the first at Lausanne, the second at
Villeneuve. There every soldier of the infantry
and cavalry was passed in review, and by means of
magazines temporarily formed in those places, they
were furnished with such clothing, shoes, and
arms, as were required. This was a good pre-
caution ; because, in spite of the trouble he had
already taken, the first consul often saw old soldiers
arrive, whose clothes were worn out, and their
arms unfit for service. He made heavy complaints
upon this head, and caused the omissions, arising
from the haste or negligence of the agents, always
to a certain extent inevitable, to be supplied. He
carried his foresight to sucli an extent, that he
placed saddlei-s' woi-kshops at the foot of the pass
to repair the artillery harness. He himself wrote
letters upon a subject apparently of such small
moment : the incident being mentioned here for
the instruction of those generals and governments
to whom men's lives are confided, and who often,
from idleness or vanity, neglect similar details.
Nothing that can contribute to the success of the
operations or the safety of the soldiers is beneath
the genius or rank of officers who command.

The divisions marched in echelon from the Jura
to the foot of Mount St. Bernard, in order to avoid
embarrassment. The first consul was at Martigny
in a convent of Bernardins. From thence he
directed every thing, and continued in constant
correspondence with Paris and with all tlie armies
of the i'e|)ublic. He received intelligence from
Liguria, by which he found tliat Me'las, always
under the greatest illusions, directed all his efforts
to take Genoa, and force the bridge of the Var.
Well satisfied upon this important subject, he gave

1800.
May.

Lannes passes the mountain
witliout accident. — Passage
of other divisions.

MARENGO.

Their manner of proceeding.
Zeal of the soldiers.

orders at last for the passage to begin. He himself
remained upon this side of the St. Bernard, in
order to correspond as long as possible with the
government, and to expedite every thing himself
across the mountain. Berthier, on the other hand,
proceeded to the opposite side of Mount St. Ber-
nard, to receive the provision and mattrld which
were sent over.

Lannes went first at the head of the advance-
guard, in the night between the 14th and 15th of
May, or 24tli and 25th of Flore'al. He commanded
six regiments of chosen men, that, perfectly armed,
gaily set out on their adventurous march under
their fiery leader, who was sometimes insubordinate,
but always valiant and able. They set out between
midnight and two in the morning, in order to pass
before the time when the sun's heat dissolving the
snow brings down mountains of ice on the heads of
the rash travellers who enter among these frightful
gorges. It required eight hours to reach the
summit of the pass as far as the hospital of St.
Bernard, but only two to descend to St. Remy.
There was time enough, therefore, to escape the
greatest danger. The troops surmounted with
spirit all the difficulties of the road. They were
heavily laden, being obliged to carry biscuit for
some days, and in addition a large quaxitity of
cartridges. They climbed tlic steep rocks, singing
amid the precipices, dreaming of the conquest of
Italy, where they had so often tasted the pleasures
of victory, and having a noble presentiment of the
immortal glory they were on the point of acquiring.
For the infantry the toil was not so great as for
the cavalry. These last walked, leading their
horses by the bridle. In ascending there was no
danger ; but in the descent, the path being very
narrow, they were obliged to go before their horses,
and thus, if the animal made a false step, they were
exposed to be dragged with him down the preci-
pices. There were a few accidents of this kind,
but very few ; some horses were lost, but scarcely
any of the men. Towards the morning they reached
the hospital, and there a surprise, provided by the
first consul, renewed the strength and good temper
of the soldiers. The monks, furnished before with
the necessary provisions, had prepared tables, and
served out to every soldier a ration of bread,
cheese, and wine. After a momentary rest they
proceeded on their route, reaching St. Remy with-
out any disagreeable accident. Lannes instantly
estabr^hed himself at the foot of the mountains,
and made all the needful disposition for the incep-
tion of the other divisions, and more particularly
for the munitions and stores.

Ever day one of the divisions of the army passed
over ; an operation which occupied many days, be-
cause of the matirid which it was necessary to take
over with each division. While the troops were
ascending in succession, others were sot at work.
The provisions and ammunition were first sent oft';
as this part of what was to pass could be divided
and i)laced in boxes upon nmles. the difficulty was
not so great !ls for some other things. Then there
was not a sufficiency of the means of conveyance ;
for, notwithstanding the money prodigally expended,
the mules required for the conveyance of the
enormous weights to be transported over, could not
be procured in a sufficient number. Still the pro-
visions and ammunition iiaving crossed along with

the divisions, by the help of the soldiers, the
artillery was the last to occupy attention. The
gun-carriages, taken to ])ieces, as already said, were
placed on the backs of mules. The guns them-
selves remained, and their weight could not be
lessened by dividing the burden. With the twelve-
pounders and the liowitzcrs the difficulty was still
greater than had been imagined. The sledges,
constructed partly upon wheels, could not be used.
A mode was thought of, and directly adopted on
being found to answer. It consisted in splitting the
trunks of fir-trees in two, hollowing them out, and
encasing between every two demi-trunks a single
gun, which might, thus encased, be drawn along the
ravines. By this means the gun was secured from
harm ; no shock could injure it. Mules were
harnessed to this odd burden, and thus drew
several pieces to the summit of the pass. But the
descent was more difficult, and could only be
effected by strength of arm, running at the same
time great danger, because it was necessary to hold
the gun back, that it might not fall over the pre-
cipices. Unfortunately the mules began to get
weak, and the muleteers, of whom a large number
were I'equired, became equally exhausted. Other
means were then had recourse to. The peasants
were offered a thousand francs for every gun
which they would agree to draw from St. Pierre to
St. Remy. It required a hundred men to every
gun ; one day to draw it up, and another to make it
descend. Some hundreds of tlie peasantry came
forward and transported several pieces of cannon
across, directed by the artillerymen; but even the
stimulus of gain was not powerful enough to make
them renew their labour. They all disappeared ;
and notwithstanding officers were sent in search of
them, and large offers of money made to induce
them to return, it was in vain. It was then found
necessary to request of the soldiers themselves to
drag the artillery of the divisions. From such
devoted men any thing was obtainable. In order to
encourage them, they were promised the money
which the disheartened peasantry declined to earn ;
but they refused it, saying it was the duty of the
troops to save their guns, and they took hold of the
forsaken pieces. Bodies of a hundred men came
successively out of the ranks, and each dragged
them in turn. The music struck up animating
airs in the most difficult passes, and cncoui'aged
them in surmounting obstacles of such a novel
nature. On arriving at the summit of the moun-
tjiin, they found refreshments prepared for them by
the monks of St. Bernard, and took rest, before com-
mencing the descent which I'cquired their greatest
and most perilous efforts. Thus it was that
Chambarlhac's and Monnier's division dragged their
artillery themselves; and as the day was too far ad-
vanced to permit them to descend, they preferred
to pass the night in the snow, rather than separate
themselves from their cannon. Happily the sky
was serene, and they had not to sustain besides that
of the place, the additional rigor of bad weather.

During the 17th, lath, IDth, and 20th of May,
the divisions continued to cross with provisions,
ammunition, and artillery. The first consul, still
stationed at Martigny, pu.shed on the conveyance of
the mittcrict, which was received by Berthier on
the other side of St. Bernard, and put in order by
the workmen. The first consul, whose foresight

Their progress stopped by the The news transmitted to

90 fort of Bard, found to be THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. 'he first consul.-His
impregnable. eneigetic reply.

180D.
May.

never rested, tliought immediately of pushing
forward Lannes towards the opening from the
plain, in order to secure it ; his division being
united, and liaving some four-poundcrs all ready to
move. He ordered that officer to advance as far
Ivre'a, and to take that town in order to secure
the entrance into the j)l:iin of Piedmont. Lannes
moved on the lOth and 17tli of May, upon Aosta,
where he found some Croats, whom he drove into
the bottom of the valley, after which lie marched
towards the little town of Chatillon, where he
arrived on the 1 8th. A battalion of the enemy,
which he foimd there, was routed, and lost a
number of men, who were made prisoners. Lannes
then entered the valley, which, as the troops de-
scended, enlarged considerably, and exhibited to
the delighted eyes of our soldiers, habitations, ti-ees,
and cultivated fields, all the forerunners of Italian
fertility. These brave fellows marched along in
high spirits, when the valley, again becoming
narrower, presented a contracted gorge, closed in
by a fort bristling with cannon. This was the fort
of Bard, already mentioned as an obstacle by
several Italian officers, but still as an obstacle that
might be overcome. The engineer officers attached
to the advance-guard went forward, reconnoitred
the place, and, after a short examination, declared
that it completely obstructed the road through the
valley, which could not be passed without forcing
it, a task that seemed impossible to execute.
The intelligence circulated through the division
caused a painful surprise. Tiie nature of this un-
foreseen obstacle was as follows :

A river flows through the valley of Aosta, which
receives all the waters of the St. Bernard, and
under the name of the Dora Baltea falls into the
Po. In approaching Bard the valley becomes
more narrow; the i-oad running along between the
foot of the mountains and the bed of the river
gradually contracts, and a rock, which appears to
have fallen from the neighbouring heights into the
middle of the valley, closes it up almost entirely.
The river runs on one side of this rock, the road
passes on the other. Tiiis road, lined with houses,
constitutes the whole town of Bard. On the sum-
mit of the rock a fort, impregnable from its posi-
tion, although badly constructed, commands with
its fire, on the right the course of the Dora Baltea,
and on the left the long street which forms the little
town of Bard. Drawbridges close the entrance
and the outlet of this solitary street. A garrison,
not numerous, but well commanded, occupied the
fort.

Lannes, who was not a man to be thus stopped,
immediatelysent afew companies of grenadiers, who
let fail the drawbridge, and entered the town in spite
of a brisk fire. The conmiandant of tiie fort then
poured a shower of balls, and particularly shells,
upon the unfortunate town; but at last stopped, out
of consideration for the inhabitants. Lannes sta-
tioned his division outside the place. It was clearly
evident, that under the fire of the fort it would be
impossible to pass the materiel of the army, as its
fire swept the road in all directions. Lannes in-
stantly made his re|)ort to Berthier of the circum-
stance, and the latter hastened to the spot, and saw
with apprehension how difficult the object thus
suddenly disclosed would be to overcome. General
Marescot was sent for; he examined tiie fort, andat

once pronounced it to be impregnable, not on ac-
count of its construction, which was very indiffer-
ent, but from its being wholly insulated. The
steepness of the rock almost forbade an escalade,
and the walls, although notcovered by earth-works,
could not be battered in breach, because there was
no means of establishing a battery in a place where
the guns could be effective. Still it was possible to
haul by main strength a few guns of small weight
of metal upon a neighbouring height, and orders
were given by Berthier to that effect. The soldiers,
who were made for difficult enterprises, laboured
hard to haul up two four and two eight-pounders.
They succeeded at last in getting them on the
mountain of Albaredo, which commands the rock
and fort of Bard, and a downward fire suddenly
o])ened, and caused great surprise in the gari-ison.
Still it was not discouraged; it replied, and dis-
mounted one of our guns which was of small weight
of metal.

Marescot declared he had no hope of taking the
fort, and that it would be necessary to find some
other mode of overcoming the obstacle. The long
sinuosities of the mountain of Albaredo on the left
were reconnoitred, and at last a path was found,
which having many difficulties, much more than
the St. Bernard itself pi'esented, led to the high road
of the valley, which it rejoined at St. Donaz below
the fort. After traversing a mountain of the
secondary order as difficult to pass as the St. Ber-
nard, if it should be required to perform the opera-
tions a second time, which the army had gone
through on MountSt. Bernard, by again dismounting
and remounting the artillery, and dragging it along
with the same efforts, the sti'ength of the army
might not be adequate to the performance, and this
matiriel itself, so many times taken to pieces and put
together again, might be rendered unserviceable.
Berthier, in a state of alarm, immediately issued
counter-orders to the columns, which were arriving
in succession, to suspend the forward movements
every where, botli of troops and stores, in case of
its being ultimately necessary to return. The alarm
immediately spread over the rear, and all believed
that they were stopped in their glorious enterprise.
Berthier sent off' several coiu'iers to the first con-
sul, to make known to him their unforeseen disap-
pointment.

The first consul was still at Martigny, not having
an intention of crossing the St. Bernard, until he
had himself seen the hist of the stores belonging
to the expedition sent forward. The announce-
ment of an obstacle deemed insurmountable stag-
gered him at first ; but soon recovering himself, he
refused, in the most determined manner, to admit
the thought of a retrograde movement. Nothing
upon earth should make him submit to such an
extremity. He thought that if one of the highest
mountains on the globe had not arrested his design,
a secondary rock could not overcome his genius
and courage. " They will take the fort," he ob-
served, " by a bold dash ; or if not taken, they will
turn it. Besides, if the infantry and cavalry can
pass with a few four-pounder guns, they will pro-
ceed to Ivrea, at the entrance towards the plains,
and halt there until the heavy artillery can follow
them. If the heavy guns cannot pass free of the
obstacle thus presented, and if to replace them
that of the enemy piust be captured, the French

1800.
May.

He himself passes Mount St.
Bernard —His benevolent
act to his guide.

MARENGO.

He ])rocee<Is to examine the
tort of Bard.— Fruitless
attack.

infantry is both sufficiently brave and numerous
to fall upon the Austrian artillery and supply
themselves."

Bonaparte then studied his maps anew, ques-
tioned a great many Italian officers, and finding
from them that other roads led from Aosta to the
surrounding valleys, he wrote again and again to
Bcrtliier, forbidding the interruption of the for-
ward movement of the army, and indicating to
him, with wonderful precision, the observations
necessary to be made around the fort of Bard ;
satisfied that no serious danger could arise except
from the arrival of a body of the enemy. To close
up the outlet at Ivre'a, he enjoined it upon Berthier
to send Lanues to Ivre'a, by the way of Albaredo,
and to make him take up a strong p()>ition, covered
from the Austrian artillery and cavalry. " If
Lannes," added tlie first consul, "will guard the
entr.mce of the valley, it little matt< rs what may
happen; it can only be a small loss of time at most.
We have provisions iu a sufficient quantity to allow
of waiting ; and we shall come round iu the end,
either by turning or vanquishing the impediment
which delays us at this moment."

These instructions being sent to Berthier, he
addressed his last orders to general Moncey, who
was to cross by the St. Gotliard ; to general Cha-
bran, who, taking the pass of the Little St. Bernard,
would come direct upon the fort of Bard, and then,
at last, he determined himself to cross the moun-
tain. Before he departed, he received news from
the Var, that on the 14th of May, or 24th of Flor&l,
Mdas was still at Nice. As it was now the 20th
of May, it was not to be imagined that the Aus-
trian general could have hurried from Nice to Ivre'a
in six days. He therefore set out to cross the moun-
tains on the 20th, before daybreak. His aid-de-camp
Duroc, and his secretary Bourrienne, accompanied
him. The artists have painted him clearing the
Alpine snows upon a fiery charger. The truth is, that
he cros.sed the St. Bernard mounted upon a mule,
dressed in the grey great-coat which he commonly
Wore, conducted by a guide belonging to the coun-
try. He exhibitedfcvtu in the most difficult passes,
the abstraction of a mind otherwise occupied; then
conversing with the officers on the road, then ques-
tioning his guide, and making liim relate the his-
tory of his life, of his joys and troubles, just as an
idle traveller would do who had nothing better
with which to beguile the time. The guide, who
was young, gave him a siiiii)le narrative of the
particulars of his obscure existence, and, more
than all, of his vexation, because, from want of the
small means, he was unable to marry one of the
girls of the valley. The first consul, listening at
one time, and at another questioning the passen-
gers with whom the mountain was covered, arrived
at the hospital, where the good monks gave him
a warm reception. Scarcely had he descended
from his nmlo, when he wrote a note, which he
gave to his guide, desiring him to be very careful
of its delivery to the quarter-master of the army,
who remained on the other side of the St. Bernard.
In the evening, tin; young guide, on returning to
St. Pierre, discovered with surprise who the great
traveller was whom he had escorted in the morn-
ing, and that Bona|)arte had ordered that a house
and piece of grounrl should be immediutcly given
to him, with the means of marrying and realizing

all the dreams of his modest ambition. This
mountaineer died recently in his own country,
proprietor of the land bestowed upon him by the
ruler of the world. This singular act of kindness,
at a moment when his mind was filled with such
weighty occupations, is worthy of remark. If it
were no more than the caprice of a conqueror,
flinging good and evil about at random, by turns
oversetting an empire or building a cottage, such
a caprice it may be useful to record, if only to
tempt the lords of the earth to imitate similar
actions : but actions such as this reveal something
besides. The heart of man in those moments,
when it experiences strong desires, tends to kind-
ness, doing good in the way of meriting that which
it solicits of Providence.

The first consul stayed a little time with the
monks, thanked them for their attentions to his
army, and made them a magnificent present towards
the relief of the poor and of travellers.

He descended the mountain rapidly, and following
the custom of the country, he suffered himself to
slide down over the snow. The same evening he
reached Etroubles. On the following day, after
having directed his attention for a short time to the
park of artillery and the stores of provisions, he
departed for Aosta and Bard. Having found that
all he had been told was correct, he determined to
send on his infantry, cavalry, and four-pounders,
by the way of Albaredo, which was possible, if the
path were made good. All the troops were to
march forward, and to lake possession of the moun-
tain opening in advance of Ivi-e'a, the first consul in
the mean time intending to make an attempt to
take the fort, or find .some means of turning it, by
getting his artillery over the neighbouring passes.
He ordered general Lecchi, at the head of the
Italians, to- mount on the left, and penetrate by the
"ay of Grassoney into the valley of the Sesia,
which terminates near the Simplon and Lago Mag-
giore.

The object of this movement was to keep open
the Simpion I'oad, communicate with the detach-
ment wliich was descending from thence, and,
finally, to observe all the roads that were capable
of admitting carriages to pass over them.

The first consul then directed his attention to
the fort of Bard. The army was in jjossession
of the only street composing the town, but they
must pass through it under such a shower of balls,
that there was scarcely any possibility of getting
along with artillery, though the distance was not
more than two or three hundred fathoms. The
commander was summoned, but he firmly replied,
as fully sensible of the importance of his post, that
force alone should make the French nuusters of the
pass. The artillery, which had been placed upon
the mountain of Albaredo, jjroduced no important
effect. An escalade was attempted on the outer-
work of the fort, but some brave grenadiers and
an excellent officer, Dufour, were uselessly killed or
wounded. At the same time the troojjH had been
moving forward over the path on the Albaredo. Fif-
teen hundred workmen having completed the most
urgent repairs, enlarged the places that were too
narrow, by removing banks, diminishing the slopes
that were too rapid, cutting steps for the feet, ami
in somo ]>laces tlirowing the trunks of trees in the
way of bridges over ravines too difficult to cross

They succeed in conveying the Engagement at Chiusella. -gnn

92 artillery l.elore the fort.- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. -The passage of the '?""•

Ivrea carried by Lannes. Alps completed. j"<iv.

May.

without. The troops advanced in succession, one
after another, the cavalry leading their horses. The
Austrian officer commanding in the fort of Bard
began to despair at seeing the columns pass, without
power to stop their march, and wrote to Mdas, that
he had seen a whole army, cavalry and infantry,
march on, without being able to obstruct them ; but
he would engage liis liead for it, that they would
arrive without a single piece of cannon. The artil-
lery, ill the mean time, made the bold attempt to
take on a piece of cannon in the night, under the
fire of the fort. Unluckily, the enemy, discovering
by the noise what was passing, threw light-balls,
which made the road as visible as if it had been
noon-day, and enabled them to cover the ground
with a hail-shower of projectiles. Of thirteen gun-
ners, who were so adventurous as to draw the piece,
seven were killed or wounded. This was enough
to put out of heart the boldest men, until an inge-
nious mode, but still exceedingly dangerous, was
conceived. The street was covered with straw and
stable dung, and bands of tow were placed round
the gun in such a manner as to prevent the least
clash of the mass of metal upon the carriage. The
horses were detached, and bold artillerymen dragged
them by main strength, venturing to pass under the
batteries of the fort, along the street of Bard. The
plan perfectly succeeded. The enemy, who occa-
sionally fired in a precautional way, struck some of
the gunners ; but in no long time, in spite of the
fire, the heavy artillery was removed to the other
side of the defile, and this formidable difficulty,
which had caused the first consul more anxiety
than the passage of the St. Bernard itself, was thus
overcome. The artillery horses had been taken
round by the Albaredo path.

While this bold plan was in execution, Lannes,
marching in advance at the head of his infantry,
had, on the 22d of Jlay, caii'ied the town of Ivrda,
that had not been repaired since the wars of the
time of Louis XIV., but which, from a presenti-
ment much too late, the Austrian staff had just
began to arm. The defensive works of Ivre'a con-
sisted of a citadel unconnected with the body of
the place, and of bastioned walls. The brave
general Watrin, at the head of his division, as-
saulted the citadel, while Lannes advanced against
the body of the place, and both were taken by
■ sscalade. There were about five or six thou-
sand Austrians in the town, half of which were
cavalry, wlio retreated in a great hurry. Lannes
made some prisoners, drove the Austrians out
of the valley, and took up a position at the
opening upon the plains of Piedmont, at the point
designated by the first consul. A few days later,
Ivr^a, defended by the Austrians, would have be-
come, though not an insurmountable obstacle, a
serious embarrassment. Cannon and provisions
were found in the town. Lannes completed its
armament, and victualled it in such a manner,
that, in case of a check, it might become one of the
supports of the line of retreat.

While these things were performing, general
Chabran descended with his division by the Little
St. Bernard. As his division contained a good
many conscripts recently incorporated, the blockade
of the fort of Bard was confided to his hands; for it
could not be long before it surrendered when it
saw itself cut off from all resources, and the artil-

lery, which it could not stop, gone beyond its
reach. General Thureau, at the head of a corps
of four thousand men, carried the outlet of Suza,
making one thousand five hundred prisoners, and
taking several cannon. He was obliged to halt at
the entrance of the valley between Suza and Bus-
solino. Genei'al Lecchi, with the Italians, turned
the valley of the Sesia, repulsed Rohan's division,
taking some hundreds of prisoners, disengaged the
outlet of the Simplon, and connected itself to a
detachment of the division left in Switzerland at
the commencement of the campaign. Finally, the
corps of general Moncey, in echelon over a great
length of the valley of St. Gothard, clambered up
the heights to the summit.

Thus the general movement of the army was
every where effected with perfect success. It was
at last necessary to quit the valley of Aosta :
Lannes, always in the advance-guard, left the
valley on the 26th of May, or the Cth of Prairial, no
longer hesitating to show himself in the plain.
The Austrian general Haddick had the charge of
closing this outlet of the Alps, with some thou-
sand infantry and his numerous cavalry ; he was
covei-ed by the little river Chiusella, which falls
into the Dora Baltea. A bridge crossed this
stream, to which Lannes briskly pushed with his
infantry. The fire of artillery, well-pointed and
sudden, greeted the French, but did not stop their
advance. The gallant general Macon entered the
bed of the river with his demi-brigade, and crossed
both above and below the bridge, clambering up
the opposite bank. The Austrian cavalry, com-
manded by Genei-al Palfy, charged the demi-
brigade ; but the general fell dead, and his cavalry
were dispersed. The French, rejoined by the rest
of Lannes' division, advanced in pursuit of the
enemy with their accustomed spirit. General
Haddick, profiting by the disorder of the pursuit,
pushed on his squadrons at a very favourable mo-
ment : the 6th light was obliged to halt ; but the
22d, in close column, repulsed solely by its fire this
new charge of the Austrian cavalry. Some thou-
sand horse then dashed on at once to make a last
effort against the French infantry. The 40th and
22d demi-brigades, formed into a square, sustained
the formidable charge with wonderful firmness ;
they were thrice charged, and as many times they
repulsed the cavalry with their bayonets. Haddick,
finding himself incapable of resisting the advance-
guard of the French, gave the order to x'etreat,
after losing a great many men, killed and wounded,
and others made prisonei-s ; thus relinquishing
the plains of Piedmont to Lannes, and retiring
behind the Oreo. Lannes continued his march,
and on the 28th of May, or 8th of Prairial, he ad-
vanced towards Chivasso on the banks of the Po.
The Austrians, alarmed at this unexpected inva-
sion, quickly evacuated Turin. Lannes seized a
numerous convoy of barques descending the Po,
having on board corn, rice, ammunition, and
wounded men. The abundance designed by the
Austrians for their army was thus soon affording
resources to the French.

Thirteen diiys were now over, and the stupendous
enterprise of the first consul had fully succeeded.
An army of forty thousand men, infantry, cavalry,
and artillery, had passed by unbeaten paths over
the highest mountains in Europe ; dragging its

1800.
May.

Bonaparte harangues his troops,
and lays aside all disguise. —
Conduct of Melas.

MARENGO.

His illusions gradually dis-
pelled.— His critical situa-
tion and consequent alarm.

artillery by iii:iin strength alon<!; the snow, or
pushing it forward under the murderous fire of a
fort, almost close to the muzzles of its guns. One
division of five thousand men had descended tlie
Little St. Bernard ; another of four thousand had
passed over Mount Cenis ; a detachment occupied
the Siraplon ; and lastly, a corps of fifteen thou.sand
men, under general Moncey, was on the suniuiit of
St. Gothai'd. There were thus sixty thou.sand
soldiers and more about to enter Italy, still, it is
true, separated from each other by considerable
distances, but assured of soon rallying round the
principal mass of forty thousand, who had come by
Ivre'a, in the centre of the semicircle of the Alps.
Nor was this extraordinary march the whim of a
general who, in order to turn his enemy, exposed
himself to be turned in a like manner. Master of
the valley of Aosta, of the Simplon, and of St.
Gothard, Bonaparte had the certainty, that if he
lost a battle, he should be able to return to the
point whence he had set out, at the utmost by the
sacrifice of some part of his artillery, in case of
being closely pressed on his retreat. Having now
no movement to conceal, the first consul went to
Cliivasso, harangued the troops, congratulated them
upon their firmness before the Austrian cavalry,
announced to them the great results which he saw
ap])roaching, and showed Iiimself, not only to his
own troops, but to the Italians and Austrians, that
he might alarm, by the knowledge of his own for-
midable presence, the enemy whom a little before
he wished to remain in the profound repose of
their own self-assured security.

What in the mean while was Mdas about ?
Continually by the cabinet of Vienna and by his
own generals made easy on the subject of the
fabulous army of reserve, he pushed the siege of
Genoa and the attack of the bridge of the Var.
He liad suftered considerable losses at b-^th these
points, but still persisted in thinking that the levies
assembled at Dijon were composed of no more than
a body of conscripts, destined to fill up the vacancies
in the regimental .skeletons of the two armies of the
Rhine and of Liguria. Some news that reached
hira about the middle of May was calculated to cre-
ate an uneasiness about the position of affairs in his
rear, but he soon recovered from his apprehensions,
and cherished the notion, that the troops collected
at Dijon were intended to descend the Rhone
directly, in order to join the corps of Suchet on
the Var. In place of sending his forces by the Col
de Teude into Piedmont he kept them all with him
before the bridge of the Var. Nevertheless, the
I'rench columns i.ssuing fn^m all the valleys of the
Alps at once, seen and recog:\iBed with jicrfect
certainty by general Wuka.ssowich, at length roused
him from his illu.sions, but still without wliolly con-
vincing hin). He left general Ott with thirty thou-
Baiid men before Genoa, and general Klsnit/. with
twenty thousand before the bridge of the Var. The
last were to bo reinforced by the troops under
general St. Julien, wliich had become disposable
by the reduction of Savona. MiSlas now returned
with ten thousand men across tlie Col de Tende to-
ward Coni. On the 22d of May he entered that
[ilace, and, until that mrtinent, really believed that
the French trooi)S wiiich had shown thcn)selves
were (inly conscripts employed to make a demon-
.stration in the rear of his army, in order to induce

him to raise the siege of Genoa, and he could
scarcely credit even now that it was Bonaparte
at the head of a gi'eat army. But this illusion
was soon dissipated. One of his officers, who knew
the person of the French commander-in-chief per-
fectly well, was sent to Chivasso on tlie banks of
the Po. There he saw with his own eyes the con-
queror of Castiglioue and Ilivoli, made his com-
mander acquainted with the whole extent of his
danger, and that it was not an assemblage of con-
scripts of which the first consul had deigned to
take the command. This was not all; for, it having
been doubted whether the French had cannon, the
noise of their artillery was now distinctly heard at
Chiusella. This estimable old officer, Me'his, who
had displayed superior military qualities in the
preceding campaign, was thus subjected to the
most cruel anxietie.s. Every day added to his
troubles, since he soon learned that the heads of
the columns of general Moncey were descending
the St. Gothard.

M^las was in an extremely critical situation. Of
one hundred and twenty thousand men he recently
commanded, he had lost at least twenty-five thou-
sand before the Var and Genoa. Those which he
had left were dispersed ; Otto, with thirty thou-
sand, was before Genoa ; Elsnitz, with twenty-five
thousand, before the bridge of the Var ; general
Kaim, guarding the outlets of Suza and Pignei'ol
with about twelve thousand men, had lost Suza,
and retii-ed upon Turin. Haddick, who had about
nine thousand, watched the valleys of Aosta and
Sesia, and was now retiring before Lannes; Wu-
kassowich, who had ten thousand men, was in
observation of the valleys of the Simplon and
St. Gothard ; what would be his fate before Mon-
cey? Melas himself was at Turin with ten thou-
sand falling back upon Nice. Was it not Bona-
parte's intentions to throw himself among all these
dispersed corps, and beating them one after an-
other, to destroy them ? There was yet time, per-
haps, to take safe steps, provided they had been
executed as soon as they were conceived ; but the
Austrian general lost some days in coming to him-
self, and forming a definitive opinion regarding the
plans of his opponent, then in forming his own,
and, last of all, in resigning himself to the sacrifices
attending the concentration of his forces ; since
it was necessary for him to abandon at the same
time the Var, probably Genoa, and, most as-
suredly, the larger part of Piedmont.

While Mdlas was deliberating, Bonaparte had
made his determinations with his customary
promptness and resolution. His determinations
were not less grave than those of his enemy. If
the Austrians were dispersed, the French were so
too, since they descended by Mont Cenis, the Great
and Little St. Bernard, the Simplon, and the St.
(jothard. It was afterwards necessary they should
miite and cut oft" all retreat from Mcla.s, or, lastly,
set Massena free, who at this moment was reduced
to the last extremity.

Having descended the St. Bernard, Bonaparte
had uijon iiis right mount Cenis and Turin, on his
left the St. Gothard anil Milan, fifty leagues in
his front Genoa and Ma.ssc'na. What course would
he now take? Inelining to the right upon moinit
CeiiJH, to rally the four thousand men under gmeral
Thureau, would be of little moment. lie would

Determinations of the first
94 consul as to his future
proceedings.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Further illusions of
Melas. — Passage
of the Tessino.

May.

thus expose himself to an encounter with Mdias
immediately, tliough in the present dispersed state
of his forces this would not he very hazardous;
hut by inelinin-,' to the riglit he must relinquish
to the Austrian general on the left, the roads of
Milan or Piacenza, by which he might effect a
retreat. It was little worth his while, having made
such great eflf.irts to cross the Ali)s and throw
himself upon the communications of the enemy,
if after thus occupying them, he were to leave
them free. To jiroceed straightforward, pass tiie
Poj'-fly to Genoa among the dispersed corps of the
Austrian army, neglecting general Thureau on
his right and general Moncey on his left, and com-
promising every one of his own communications,
was not consistent with that great prudence which
had combined ail the parts of the plan thus far
followed will) so nmeh reflection and boldness.
He was ignorant what number of troops might be
met with upon that route; he would sacrifice his
line of retreat upon the Alps, by abandoning gene-
rals Tliureau and Moncey to themselves, and,
in all probability, reducing them to the alternative
of falling back upon Mi)unt Cenis and St. Gothard,
Who shall say after what adventures! It would
have been better to succour Masse'na direct by
Toulon, Nice, and Genoa. Under all these cir-
cutnstances, there evidently remained but one part
to take; and this was to incline to the left towards
St. Gothard and Milan, and form a communication
with the fifteen thousand men commanded by gene-
ral Moncey. Ill this mode he would unite him-
self to the principal detachment of the army, which
would carry up the number to sixty thousand
fighting men ; he would occupy the capital of
upper Italy ; he would raise the population in the
Austrian rear; he wouM take all their magazines;
he would become master of the line of the Po, and
of all the bridges on that great river; and, finally,
by tints putting it in his ])ower to attack the enemy
upon either bank, he woiUd stop Me'las by which-
ever road lie might attcfnpt an escape. It was
true, that by this plan no succour could, for eight
or ten days, be sent to Massena, which was to ba
regretted ; but Bonaparte thought that his own
presence in Italy would suffice to disengage the
army of Liguria, because he supposed M^las would
lose.no time in iiastening to collect around him the
corps that were investing Genoa and the bridge of
the Var. In any case, tlie generals Masse'na and
Suchet had fulfilled the object which was assigned
to them, iiad retained M^las on the Apennines,
fatiguing and exhausting him, above all, prevent-
hig his closing up the outlets of the AljJS. If the
defender of Genoa must yield, it would but con-
summate Ihc long series of sacrifices imposed upon
the nobie and unfortunate army of Liguria for the
success of a vast combination.

His resolution formed, Bonaparte made his ar-
rangements witii tlie greatest promptitude, direct-
ing his entire army on the left bank of the Po. lie
assembled his park of artillery wiiich had just been
put in an efficient state ; he enjoined Laimes to
collect all the boats taken at Chivasso, to dispose
of them in such a manner as if he was about to
tlirow a bridge across, and to pass into Piedmont.
His object was a second time to deceive Me'las
in regard to his intentions, and in this he was as
successful as he had been before. On observing the

movements of Bonaparte, Me'las, trying to flatter
himself to the last moment, indulged the hope that
the French had only descended the Alps in a small
number. He believed that Bonaparte, as every
thing induced him to think, had only passed the
Poto enter Turin, and communicate towards Mount
Cenis with general Thureau, and imagined he
could make head against him, by destroying the
bridges and disputing the passage of the Po with
abotit thirty thousand men. He had thus the hope
that he should be able to defend himself on this
line, Avithout making the double sacrifice of the
positions occupied on the Var, and the advantages
obtained before Genoa. In consequence, M^las
united general Haddick, who had returned from
the valley of Aosta, general Kaim before posted
at the outlet of Susa, the ten thousand men he had
himself brought from Nice, with a new detachment
from the Var, thus forming, together, a force of
thirty thousand men, and, thinking the French
were not more numerous, he trusted to dispute
witli this number, the river which separated the
two armies.

The first consul did not seek to destroy this new
illusion of his enemy, and leaving him to employ
himself towards Turin, in this partial concentra-
tion of his forces, fell back suddenly himself upon
Milan. Laimes, who was ajiparently about to
ascend the Po in order to march from Chivasso
up(m Turin, on the contrary suddenly descended
the river. He advanced by Crescentino and Trino
on Pavia, where the Austrians ))0ssessed immense
magazines of provisions, ammunition, and artillery,
and still more the most important of their commu-
nications, for it commanded at the same time the
passage of the Po and the Tessino. Murat marched
by Verceil on tiie point of BufFalora. The whole
army followed tlie general movement upon Milan.
On the 31st of May it arrived at the Tessino. This
river is large and deep ; there were no boats to
pass over ; and on the opposite side a numerous
cavalry appeared, belonging to tlie corps of Wukas-
sowich, which guarded the Simplon and that part of
the opening of the Alps. Behind the Tessino ran
the Naviglio-Grande, a broad canal which crosses
the country as far as Milan. This canal for some
distance runs a parallel course with the river from
Avhich it branches, and ajiproxiraates to it very
closely. The enemy's cavalry, cooped up on a
narrow tongue of land between the Tessino and the
canal, was extremely confined in its movements,
and could scarcely make use of its strength. The
adjutant-general Girard took some of the small
boats which the peasantry of the vicinity had con-
cealed near Galiate, with which they were desirous
of furnishing the army, crossed with a few troops,
and fell upon the Austrian advance-guard. Suc-
cessively reinforced by these boats, wliich were
kept continually passing and repassing, and sup-
ported by the fife of the artillery, the general re-
pulsed the cavalry, which dared not advance upon
a ground so unfavourable, and obliged it to repass
the Naviglio-Grande at a place called the biidge of
Turbigo. Thus he cleared at once the Naviglio
and Tessino. But general Wukassowich brought
up Laudon's infantry-brigade, and attempted to
penetrate into the village of Turbigo. The ^dju-
tant-geiieral Girard had but a few hundred men to
oppose to this force. He defended himself for

The approach of Bonaparte on
Milan.— Surprise aiid joy of
the Milanese.

MARENGO.

He Cillers Milan, and re-estalilishes
the republican govrriiineni. — Fur-
ther inoveinent> of the army.

several successive hours with great spirit and
cnui-age, finally succeeding in saving the bridge of
Turbi;;o, tlie loss of which might have thrown the
French on this side of the Naviglio-Grande, and
perhaps of the Tessino it.self. While lie thus gal-
lantly defended himself, general Monnier, who had
ciintrived to cross a little below, came to his aid,
fell upon the troops of Lan<l<)ii, and drove them
from Turbigo. The line which was to check the
French anny ^^as thus passed at the cost of a
simple skirmish of the advance-guard.

The next day, the 1st of June, or 12th Prairial,
B'ludet's division crossed near Buffalora, and tlie
whole army advanced up<m Milan. Wukassowieh,
fearful of being entrapped between the main army
while advancing in Lonibardy, and the corps of
Moncey descending from the St. Gothard, retired
with great ha.'^te, and commanded Dedovich's
brigade, which was at the foot of the mountains, to
fall back behind the Adda at Cassano. He him.self
went to seek shelter behind the Adda by Milan
and Lodi, after leaving a garrison of two thousand
eight hundred men in the citadel of Milan.

There was now nothing to impede the progress
of the French army. It could enter freely into
the capital of Lonibardy, which had groaned for
above a year under the yoke of the Austiians.
Thus far the unhappy Italians liad heard of nothing
but the successes of Melas and the distress of the
French. Caricatures of tlie army of reserve had
been circulated in Milan as well as in London and
Vienna. They represented it as a rabble of boys
and old men, armed with sticks, mounted upon
as.ses, and having for their artillery a couple of
blunderbusses. At the same time the derision of
the French republic, inoffensive enough, was thus
poured out, the Italians were the victims of
grievous oppression. All the men in Lombardy,
any way distinguished by talents or fortune, were
imprisoned or e.\ili-d, particularly if they had been
at all couceriieil in the affairs of the Cisalpine
republic. It was not a little remarkable that the
persecution fell le.ss heavily upon the infuriated pa-
triots who corresponded with the French Jacobins,
than upon moderate men, whose examples might
be more catching among the people. Excepting a
few who were the creatures of the Austrian go-
vernment, and some of the nobles attached to tlie
oligarchy, every body sighed for the return of the
French. Yet for this they could scarcely venture
to hope, particularly when they saw M^las advanced
so far ill Liguria, so near the capture of Genoa
and the passage of the Var, and the first consul so
occupied, at least as far as appearances went, with
llie dangers of the invasi'ni which threatened
France ujion the side of the llliini'. A report had
been circulated among the peopk-, that Bonaparte,
so well-known in Italy, iiad died in Egypt ; that,
a new I'liaraoh, he had been engulfed in the Red
Sea ; and that he whu figured in Paris, bearing the
same name, was one "f his brothers.

The Huiprisc of the Italians, when they were
suddenly tohl that a French army had shown
itself at Ivr(Ja, may be easily divined ; that it was
issuing fiirth below that town, that it was in marcli
for tile Teseino ; and, lastly, that it had pas.sed
that river. It may he imagined what agitation
[(revailed in Milan ! The affinnations, tiie contra-
dictions, that lor forty-eight hours succeeded each

other ; and, last of all, the delight that appeared
when the news was confirmed by the presence of
Bonaparte him.self, marching with his staff at the
head of the advance-guard. On the 2nd of June,
or the 13th Prairial, the entire population came
out to meet the French army, and recognise the
illustrious general, whom they had so often seen
within their walls, welcoming him in transports of
enthusiasm, and receiving him like a saviour from
heaven. The feelings of the Italians, always
lively and demonstrative, had never broken out
with such force, because so many circuiu-stances
had never, until now, concurred to render the joy
of the people so quick and deep. The French
general, on entering Milan, hastened to open the
prisons, and to restore the government of the
country to the friends of Frauce, He gave a pro-
visional administration to the Cisalpine republic,
and c<imposed it of the most respected men. Still
faithful to the same principles in Italy to which he
adhered in France, he would neither allow violence
nor re-action ; and in i-estoring the power to the
Italians of his own party, he aid not permit them
to exercise it against those who were of the con-
trary side.

After having thus first taken care of the
Milanese, he made haste to push out columns in
every direction, on the lakes, on the Adda, and on
the Po, so as to extend the rising in favour of the
French, seize the enemy's magazines, cut off their
communications, and shut up every road in their
retreat. Uj) to this puint every thing went well,
as Lannes. who had been ordered upon Pavia, had
entered that town on the 1st of June, and carried
off immense magazines. This general found in
Pavia, the Austrian hospitals, a large- store of
grain, forage, ammunition, arms, and especially
three humlred piec s of cannon, one-half being field-
pieces. He was able also to procure thence many
materials for making bridges, which the pontoon
companies, who had been started oif without
materiel, could usefully employ on the Po. The
division of Chabran, which had been left before the
fort of Bard, captured it on the 1st of June, and
found there eighteen pieces of cannon. General
Chabran, leaving a garrison there, as well as at
Ivrt-a, went on to occujiy the coui-se of the Po from
the Dora Ballea to the Sesia, beyond which point
to Pavia it was occupied by Lannes.

The corps of general de Be'theiicourt, which had
marched from the Simplon, took up a position be-
fore Arona, towards the point of Lago Maggiore.
The Italian legion was despatched from Brescia to
follow up the Austrians who were retreating in all
haste. At the same time the Duhesme and Loison
divisions jiassed the Adda, and appeared at Lodi,
Crema, and Pi/zighittone. General Wukassowieh,
giving u|> all pretence of guarding the Adda, re-
treated behind the Mincio, under the cannon of
Mantua.

There was notliing to check the progress of
general Slomey, always excepting the difficulty of
finding subsistence in the barren valleys of upper
Switzerland. His first columns were just making
their ajjpearance, but it was necessary to wait some
days yet for the others, and this, as things stood,
was a most convenient point, for it became ini-
jiortant to jiress cm, lest Genoa should fall into tho
iiands of the Austrians. Bonaparte was now certain

Melas, thoroughly undeceived,
96 relinquishes half measures.- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.
Dreadful state of Genoa.

In all their sufferings the ...«
garrison hope for rescue •.„_.■
from Bonaparte. ''"°^-

of bringing all his columns together, with the ex-
ception of one only, that of general Thureau, which,
in entrenchment at the fort of mount Cenis, was un-
able to proceed. In all other respects, the army
was strongly posted in the centre of the Milanese,
having its retreat assured by mount Cenis, the St.
Bernard, the Simplon, and St.Gothard, in possession
of the Adda, the Tessino, and the Po, victualled from
the magazines of the Austi-ians, whom it cut off on
every road, and could bring to a decisive engage-
ment, after which they would have no other re-
source, if beaten, than to lay down their arms.
The surrender of Genoa, if it took place, would be a
vexatious circumstance; vexatious, first, because
of the brave army who were its defenders, and
secondly, because the body of Austi-ians engaged at
present in the siege would not fail to re-iuforce
Me'las, and so render more arduous the great
battle which was to put an end to the campaign.
But if Bonaparte carried off the victory, Genoa
and Italy were reconquered at the same blow.
Nevertheless he placed a high value on the pre-
servation of Genoa ; but there was scarcely a hope
of assembling the corps of Moncey before the 5th
or 6th June, and no one could flatter himself that
Genoa would hold out to that time.

Me'las, whom the last news had thorouglily en-
lightened, and who saw his adversary entering into
Milan and joming all his columns as they succes-
sively came down from the Alps, now comprehended
the vast plan which had been projected against
him. To increase his misfortune, he just now re-
ceived intelligence of the ill-fortune of Kray, and
his retreat upon Ulm. He threw away at once his
system of half measures, and issued imperative
orders to general Elsnitz to abandon the bridge of the
Var, and to general Ott to give up the siege of Genoa,
and concentrate both their forces at Alexandria.
It was in this that Bonaparte had placed his hope
for the safety of Genoa. But it was fated that the
noble and unfortunate army of Liguria should pay
to the last, with its blood, its sufferings, and finally
with the mortification of a surrender, for the
triumphs of the army of reserve.

Masse'na to the last supported his great reputa-
tion. " He will make us eat his very boots," said
the soldiers, " before he surrenders." When the
butchers' meat was consumed, they ate their horses,
and when these had gone they fed upon animals tlie
most unclean. The sorry bread, made of oats and
beans, had been already devoured. From the 23d
May, or 3d Prairial, Masse'na had collected the
starch, linseed, and cacao wliich were in the maga-
zines of Genoa, and caused them to be made into
a bread, which the soldiers could hardly swallow,
and very few digest. Nearly all of them crowded
into the hospitals. The people, reduced to soup of
herbs for their only aliment, experienced all the
agonies of famine. The streets were strewed with
the bodies of men dying from inanition, and
emaciated women, who exposed to charity the
children wliom they could no longer nourish. A
spectacle of another kind created terror in the city
and the army; it was that of the numerous pri-
soners whom Massena had made, and to whom he
had no food to give. He was not inclined to dis-
miss them on' their parole, since he liad seen those
to whom lie did so again appear in the ranks of
the enemy. He proposed to general Ott, and then

to admiral Keith, to furnish the provisions neces-
sary for their daily consumption, on his giving his
word of honour that they should not be misapphed
for tlie support of the gai-rison. The word of such
a man might certainly have been taken ; but so
inveterate were the enemy, that they resolved to
impose upon Massena the charge of supporting his
prisoners. The enemy's generals had thus the
barbarity to condemn their soldiers to the horrible
suff'erings of famine, for the purpflse of augmenting
the dearth in Genoa by leaving him some thousand
more mouths to provide for. Masse'na supplied
these prisonei's with the herb-soup which he gave
the inhabitants ; but this was not sufficient for
robust men accustomed to the plenty of the rich
plains of Italy. They were continually on the
point of breaking out into revolt ; and to prevent
any fear of this, Massena had them shut up in
the old hulks of some vessels, which he placed in the
middle of the port, and on which a numerous
artillery was constantly pointed, in readiness to
pour forth death. These wretched men kept
uttering a hideous howling, which deeply moved
the population of the city, even in the midst of
their own sufferings.

The number of our soldiers each day diminished.
They might be seen expiring in the streets; and
such was their weakness, as to render it necessary
to allow them to sit while mounting guard. The
Genoese were too discouraged to i)erforra any
longer the duties of a national guard, believing
that th'ey would be compromised, as the Austrians
would soon restore the aristocratic party. From
time to time vague rumours gave token that the
despair of the inhabitants was about to break out ;
and to prevent an explosion, the principal places
were occupied by battalions with loaded cannon.

Masse'na imposed awe on the people and the
army by his imperturbable attitude. Tlie respect
which this hero inspired — eating the vile bread
of the soldiers, living with them under the fire of
the enemy, and enduring, besides their physical
sufferings, with undaunted firmness the anxieties
of his command — the respect which he inspired
controlled all men ; and in the midst of desolated
Genoa he exercised the ascendancy of a gi'eat mind.

Yet a feeling of hope still supported the be-
sieged. Several aids-de-camp from the general,
by eff'orts the most courageous, had passed the
enemy's lines, and brought m news. Colonels
Reille, Franeeschi, and Ortigoni had passed in
and given information : at one time that the first
consul was on his way; at another, that he was
passing the Alps ; one of them, Franeeschi, had
left him descending the St. Bernard. But since
the 20tli of May there had been no more news. Ten
or twelve days passed in such a situation appeared
like ages, and men began to ask in despair, how
it could be possible, that in ten days Bonaparte
had not crossed the space between the Alps and
the Apennines. " They knew the man," they said;
" and by that time he was either victor or van-
quished ; if he had not arrived, it was because he
had failed in this daring enterprise. If he had
succeeded in coming out upon Italy, he would
have already pounced upon the Austrian general,
and forced him from the walls of Genoa." Others
asserted that Bonaparte had regarded the army of
Liguria in the light of a corps to be sacrificed to a

Massena's proclamation to the
soliliers. — He is reduced to
the last extremity, and cora-

MARENGO.

pelled to surrender tlie city,
but on the most honourable
terras.

97

grand operation; that all he wanted was to detain
Me'las uu the Apennines; and that, this effected, he
gave himself no further care to raise the siege,
but marched on to carry out grander objects.
" Well,' added the Genoese, and our soldiers also,
"we have been sacrificed to the glory of France:
so be it ; but now that object is attained, are we to
die to the last man I If it were in battle, with arms
in our hands, we should give death a welcome ; but
of famine, of sickness,— we cannot bear it ! The time
has come for a surrender." Many of the soldiers in
their desperation went so far ivs to break their
muskets. About the same time information was
given of a conspiracy of several persons who were
irritated by suttering. Masse'na addressed them in
a fine proclamation, in which he reminded them
that the duties of a soldier consist as much in the
endurance of privations and of sufferings, as in the
braving of danger ; he also pointed out to them
the example of their officers, who ate the same
food, and were killed or wounded each day at their
head. He t->ld them that the first consul was ad-
vancing with an army to their deliverance, and
that to capitulate now would be to lose in one in-
stant the result of twp months of e.xertion and
devotion. " A few days more, perhaps a few honrs,"
said he, " and you will be delivered, and have ren-
dered eminent service to your country."

Accordingly, at every sound, every echo in
the air, they thought they heard the cannon of
Bonaparte, and ran towards it with enthusiasm.
One day they persuaded themselves of the sound
of canniin at the Bocchctta ; a madness of joy
broke out on all sides. Masse'na himself went to
the ramparts. Vain illusion 1 it was the sound of
a storm in the gorges of the Apennines, and they
relapsed into a still deeper depression.

At last, on the 4th June, there remained no
more than two ounces for each man of the
wretched bread, made of starch and cacao. The
place must be surrendered; for it was impossible I
to reduce our unfortunate soldiers to devouring I
each other, and there was thus, in the actual im- ;
possibility of subsisting, an inevitable limit to the
resistance. Moreover, the army had a feeling
that it had done all that could be expected from
its bravery. It felt an internal conviction, that it
was no longer covering the Tliermopylse of France,
but that it was subservient to a manoeuvre which
must, at the time, have either succeeded or failed.
It began to suspect, in addition, that the fir^t consul
tliounht more of extending his combinations than
of affording them succour. In these sentiments
MasB^na sliared, though be did not avow them;
but Ik- regarded his duty as not entirely comi>leted
until he had reached the last ])ossible limit of re-
Bistance. When these two miserable ounces of
bread which remained for each man were consumed,
he was forced to surrender. He resigned himself
to this at last with bitter sorrow.

General Ult sent a flag of truce to him; for the
Austrians were as nuich pressed to terminate the
siege as the French themselves. Ott had I'e-
ceivcd the most peremptory orders to raise the
siege and fall back upon Alexandria. These offeis
coming from an enemy, some historianM say, ought
to have opened the eyes of MassiJna. There is no
doubt that the general knew if he waited a day or
two more ho might jierchance be relieved, but

those two days were not at his disposal. "Only
give me," he said to the Genoese, " two days' pro-
vision— only one day's — and I shall save you from
the yoke of the Austrians, — I shall save my army,
too, from the mortification of surrendering."

At last, on the 3rd of June, Masse'na was obliged
to negotiate. His enemies spoke of a capitulation,
but he rejected the proposal in such a manner as
did not allow them to i-enew it. He would have
for his army the permission to retire freely, with
arms and baggage, their colours flying ; he would
be at liberty to commence active service the mo-
ment he should have passed beyond the lines of
the besieging army. " If this cannot be," said
Mass(Jna to the Austrians, '" I will sally from Ge-
noa, sword in hand, with my eight thousand famished
men, I will come to your camp, and will fight until
I shall force my way through." The Austrians
then permitted the garrison to march out, but de-
sired that their connnander should himself x'emain
a prisoner, fearing lest, with such a leader, the
garrison proceeding from Genoa to Savona might
unite itself with the troops of Suchet, and then
make a formidable attack upon the rear of Me'las.
To tranquillize the indignation such a wish must
excite, they stated to him the motive of tlie con-
dition, which was in every way so honourable to
himself. He would not listen to it : they then in-
sisted that the garrison should retire by sea, that
it might not have time to join the corps of Suchet;
to this he still rej)lied that he would cut his way
through them. At last they agreed to suffer eight
thousand men to depart by land, or, in other words,
all who were not too enfeebled to support the
weight of their arms. The convalescent were to
be successively embarked and conveyed to the
head-quarters of general Suchet. There were left
behind four thousand sick, whom the Austrians
agreed to su))ply with provisions, to take care of,
and restore to the French army. Of these general
Miollis was loft in the connnand. Massdna also
stipulated, in behalf of the Genoese, that none
should be molested for the expression of opinions
exhibited during the French occupation of the
city, and that persons and jiroperty should be
faithfully respected. A distinguished citizen of Ge-
noa, M. Corvetto, subsequently minister of France,
was admitted to the conferences, that he might
witness the eftbrts made in favour of his country-
men. Masse'na wished to obtain for them the
existing form of government, lor which they were
belndden to the French revolution, but on this
head the Austrian generals refused to concede any
thing. " Very well," rej)lied Massena, " do as you
please ; but before fifteen days are past, I assure
yiiu that I shall again return to Genoa ;" a pro-
phetic speech, to which an Austrian officer, M. St.
Julien, made the delicate and noble reply : "You
will leave in this place, general, men whom you
have taught how to defend it."

The definitive conference took jjlace on the morn-
ing of the 4th of June, in a clia|iel at the bridge of
Cornegliano. The article whieh provided that a
part of the army should retire by land gave place
to a last difliculty. Ma-ssena leaving the Austrian
generals the alternative to consent to what he de-
sired, or to expect a desperate battle the next day,
they gave up the point. It was stipulated that this
convention of evacuation, from which the word
11

Massena and the French quit Retreat o; the Austrians

Genoa.-Afutuallossei, in- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. from the Vir.-Move-
curred during the siege. ments oi Suchel

ISOO.
Jujie.

capitulation liad been carefully excluded, should
be carried into effect the same evening. The
officers of the Austrian forces, struck with- ad-
miration for the Fi-ench general, showed him marks
of the highest respect and attention.

Evening came ; Massena still felt reluctant to
sign, indulging to the last moment the hope of de-
liverance. At last, when without breaking his word
it was impossible to avoid doing so, he set his .sig-
nature to the document. On the morrow the
French troops marched out with general Gazan at
their head, and found rations provided for them at
the advanced posts. Massena embarked in order
'to reach the head-quarters of Suchet more ex-
peditiously. He left Genoa in a vessel carrying
the tricoloured flag, and within reach of the guns
of the English squadron.

Thus finishtd this memorable siege, during
which the French army distinguished itself by
such important services and such distinguished
victdHes. This army had taken more prisoners
and killed more of the enemy than the amount of
its own numbers. With fifteen thousand men,
more than eighteen thi)usand Austrians had been
killed or taken. It bad more particularly destroyed
■the coiifideiice of the imperial army in itself, and
constrained it to make continual and extraordinary
efforts. But at what cost did the brave garrison
of' Genoa perform all these things? Of fifteen
thousand soldiers it hail lost three thousand killed;
foGr thousand were lightly or severely wounded ;
eight thousand only remained fit for service. The
second in command, general Soult, remained in the
hands of the enemy with a broken leg. Out of
tlrreei genei-als of division, one had died of an epi-
demic disease, general Marbot; another, general
Gazan, was severely wounded : out of six generals
of'brigadc, four were wounded, Gardanne, Petitot,
Fressinet, and Arnaud : of twelve adjutants-
general, six were wounded, one taken, and one
killed. Two officers of the staff were killed, seven
takeii, and fourteen wounded ; eleven colonels out
of sevtenteen were killed or made prisoners, and
three-fourths of the officers had met the same
fate. Thus it may be seen that it was by giving
an example of their own devotion that the leaders
of this brave army supported it in the midst of
such s6vere trials. It proved how worthy it was
of those who led it ; ■ the French soldier never on
any occasion displaying greater constancy or he-
roism. Let there be honour, then, given to that
unfortunate courage which, by a devotedness with-
out limit, contributed to the triumph of that more
successfid courage, the exploits of which it will be
our province to recount.

While thus urged to raise the siege of Genoa,
and while general Ott was granting to ilassiJiia the
honourable conditions just recounted, general Els-
nit2, recalled by the order of M^las, abandoned
the bridge of the Var. The Austrian attacks upon
this point bad been tardy, because their heavy
artillery bad been long on the passage.. Attempts
hadilbeei* successively made on the 22nd and 27th
of May 1(1 cari-y this object. The la-st attack was
a despairing effort on the part of general Elsnitz,
who was de.rirous before he retreated not to spare
any efforts. These attacks were bravely repulsed;
Xid general Elsnitz, knowing he had no chance of
success, began to think of crossing the mountains.

Suchet, judging promptly and rightly the intentions
of the Austi'ian general, made bis arrangements so
as not to permit him to retii-e in security. He saw
plainly enough, that by manoeuvring with his left
wing along the mountains, be could place the Aus-
trians in a perilous situation, and probably might
be able to cut off from them some of their detach-
ments. In fact, beyond the line of the Var whicli
had stopped the invaders, the line of the Roya ran
in a parallel, the source of which river is in the
Col de Tende itself. If the French went beyond
the Var,jind preceded the Austrians at the sources
of the Roya, they would obHge them to avoid the
Col de Tende, and force them to move along the
coast of the Apennines to find a passage. This
happy idea, vigorously executed, was productive to
general Suchet of the happiest results. He began
by dispossessing general Gorupp of Ronciglioue;
then continuing to march i-apidly by his left on the
right of the Austrians thus shaken, he took in suc-
cession the Col de Rauss, which affords a passage
from the valley of the Var into that of the Roya,
the famous camp of Mille Fourclies ; and being
master of the Col de Tende, found himself on the
1st of June upon the line of retreat of general
Elsnitz. General Gorupp, thrown in confusion upon
the Upper Roj-a, had yet time to gain the Col de
Tende, but left on the way a number of dead and
of prisoners. General Elsnitz, with the rest of his
army, had no other resource than to follow the
turn of the maritime Apennines as far as Oneglia,
and to return by Pieva and St. Jacobo into the
valley of Tanaro. He had to traverse frightful
mountains with troops already demoralized by this
kind of flight, and having close behind him an
enemy full of joy at passing from the defensive to
the offensive. During five entire days the Austrians
were pursued without intermission, receiving con-
tinual checks. At length, on the 6th of June,
general Elsnitz arrived at Ormea, his force not
numbering more than ten thousand men. On the
7tli he was at Ceva, and general Gorupp had re-
tired upon Coni with a vei-y weak division. The
loss sustained by the Austrian forces since they
left the Var was considered to be not less than ten
thousand men. »

General Suchet, so long separated from Mas-
sena, found him once more in the environs of
Savona. The twelve thousand French from the
Var, united with those from Genoa, eight tliousand
in number, composed a body of twenty thousand
men, very well placed for falling upon the rear of
Mdlas. But Masse'na had received upon landing a
very severe wound, so that he was unable to mount
his horse ; the eight thousand men who were with
him were worn out with fatigue ; and it must be
admitted, that all the defenders of Genoa felt a
secret irritation against the fir.st consul, who was
known to have been triumphant in Milan, while
the army of Liguria was so reduced as to be
obliged to capitulate, Massena was not willing
that general Suchet should run the risk of a descent
into Italy, while in ignorance of the movements
about to be made beyond the Apennines by the
two generals opposed to each othei*. Me'las, joined
by his lieutenants, Haddick, Kaim, Elsnitz, and
Ott, at the head of a very formidable force, might
fling himself upon general, Suchet, .and crush him
before he went to engage Bonaparte. Jlass^na,

Suchet occupies a threatening
position. — Crit.cal situation
of the Austrians.

MARENGO.

Melas endeavours to concentrate his
force-;.— Boiiaijarte intercepts tlie
Austrian despatches.

99

llK-reforc, permitted Sucliet, his lieutenant, to pass
the Apeiiuiiies, and place liiuiselt iu advance of
Acijui, but to remain in tiiat position, observing,
disquieting the Austrian army, and banging over
its head like the sword of Damocles. It will pre-
sently bo seen what service the army of Liguria
rendered merely by its presence on the sunnnit
of the Apennines.

Masse'na thought, this brave army, in terminating
by a menacing movement the memorable defence
of Genoa, had done enough for tiie triumpii of
tlie first consul ; and that without great impru-
dence it could do no more. Tliis great soldier was
correct. He had delivered over to Bonap.irte tiie
exhausted Austrians reduced one-third. Of seventy
thousand men who had passed the Apemiines,
there returned no more than forty thousand, in-
cluding the detachment Id-ought back to Turin by
Meias. The fifty thousand that remained in Lom-
bardy were much reduced, and dispersed about.
Generals Haddick and Kaim, who guarded the one
the valley of Aosta, the other that of Suza, had
sustained considerable losses. General Wukasso-
wieh, thrown beyond the Miiicio, and separated
from his commander-in-chief by the French army
which descended from Mount St. Bernard, was
paralyzed for the rest of the campaign. A corps
of some thousand men had ventured into Tuscany.
By uniting at once with tlie troops of generals
Haddick and Kaim, who were conflng from the
valleys of Aosta and Suza, those of generals Elsnitz
and Ott, who were returning from the banks of
the Vfir, Melas mii^lit form a body of seventy-five
thousand men. But it was necessary to leave
garrisons in the fortresses of Piedmont and Lignria,
Buch as Genoa, Savona, Gavi, Acqui, Coui, Turin,
Alexandria, and Turtona. Then; would remain to
him after this no more than fifty thousand men,
a thousand or two more perhaps to place in line on
the day of battle, if it be supposed that he did not
sacrifice too many to keep the fortresses, and that
the generals formed a junction without accident.

Tlie situation of the Austrian general, thert-fore,
was very critical, even after the .surrender of
Genoa. It was so not only by re:ison of the dis-
persion and diminution of his forces, but under the
aspect of the route he must follow to get clear of
the confined limits of Piedmont in which Bonaparte
had enclosed him. He would l»e obliged to cross
the Po in the face of the French, and to regiin, by
traversing Lombardy, which they occupied, the
great road of the Tyrol, or of Friuli. The diffi-
culty wa.s enormous, from the presence of an ad-
versary who excelled iu war principally in the art
of great movements.

Ml-L-ls iiad preserved the Upper Po from the
source as far iia Valenza. It wa.s ea.sy for him to
cross that river at Turin, Chiva^so, Casale, or
Valenza, it wa.s no matter which ; but in pa.ssingat
one of these points he would fall upon the Tessino,
which was occupied by Bonajiartc, and upon Milan,
the centre of all the French forces. He had but
little chance for an escape in that direction. He
might still incline to bis light in order to proceed
towards the lower part of the Po; in other words,
to march on Piacenza and Crenunia in order to
gain the great road to Mantua. It hu di<l thus,
J'iacenza would become for both tho contending
parties the grand point to occupy. For Melas it

was almost the only way of escape from the Cau-
dine Forks; for Biuiaparte it would be the means
of gathering up the price of his audacious march
across the Alps. If Bonaparte sufl'ered the Aus-
trians to escape, though he had delivered Pied-
mont, the result would be little, compared to the
perils which he had braved : he would even incur
ridicule in the eyes of Europe, that were so
attentive to this campaign, since his manoeuvre,
the intention of which was at jiresent so manifest,
would be defeated. Piacenza was conseciuently
the key of Piedmont. It was necessary equally
for him who wanted to get out of that country, and
for him who desired to shut up his enemy there.

Under these motions Me'kis fixed two points for
the concentration of his troops ; Alexandria, for
the troops stationed in Up()er Piedmont, and
Piacenza, for those that were in the vicinity of
Genoa. He commanded generals Kaim and Had-
dick to march from Turin by Asti upon Alex-
andria; general Elsnitz, retiring from the banks of
the Var, was to proceed by Ceva and Cherasco.
These three corps, when united, were to march
from Alexandria to Piacenza. General Ott, re-
turning from Genoa, w.is oriKred to descend
directly by the Bocchetta and Tortona to Piacenza.
A body of infantry, disembarrassed of all the in-
cumbrances of a military body, was ordered to
proceed more directly still by the route of the
Bobbio, which runs along the valley of the Trebia.
Lastly, general O'Reilly, who was already about
Alexandria with a strong detachment of cavalry,
received instructions not to wait for the concen-
tration of the troops of Upper Piedmont, but to go
to Piacenza at the utmost speed of his horses.
The small corps which had ventured into Tuscany
was commanded to repair to the .same place
through the duchy of Parma, and by the route of
Fiorenzuola. Thus as the principal i)art of the
Austrian army was concentrating itself at Alex-
andria, to march from thence to Piacenza, tlie
corps nearest to that place had orders to march
thither immediately on a direct line.

It was doubtful whether it could be possible to
anticipate Bonaparte in so important an object.
He had lost five or six days in Milan, to wait for
the trooiis coming by the St. Gotbard ; a time most
valuable, seeing that in the interval Genoa h^d
surrendered. But now that generaJ Moncey, with
the troops drawn from tho army of Germany, had
passed the St. Gothard, he was not to lose another
moment. Placed on the road of the couriers that
came from Vienna to M^las at Turin, and from
M(flas at Turin to the imperial goverimient, he
had become well acquainted with all tho ideas of
the court of Vienna. He had read, for example,
singular despatcln-s, in which M. de Thugut re-
a-ssured the Austrian general, recommending him
to be easy in mind, and not to be turned aside
from his objects by the fable of the army of
reserve; to take Genoa as quickly as possible, as
well as the line of tho Var, tliat ho might be able
to spare a detachment for ihc aid of marshal Kray,
driven back upon Ulin. Bonaparte had also read
the despatches of M«51as, at Hrst brimful of con-
fidence, and soon afterwards of anxiety and in-
quietude. The j)lea.sin'e ho felt at this news was
troui)led, wh.n he found on the Htli of June,
through this same correHpoiideiice,that Mass(?na had

Plans of Bonaparte. — Lannes
100 crosses the Po. -O'Reilly THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

leaves Placenza, -which is

taken by Murat. — Move-
ments of the Austrian
generals.

June.

been obliged to surrender Genoa on the 4th. This
intelligence, however, did not change in any thing
the plan of the campaign. Having fixed to get
into the rear of the enemy, in order to envelojje
him and make him lay down his arms, Italy and
the city of Genoa would be reconquered at a single
blow. The real inconvenience that arose from the
surrender of Genoa was the setting free the troops
of general Ott, whom lie should have in addition to
contend with. But the intercepted despatch car-
ried with it the consolation that Massena's forces
were not prisoners of war. So that if on one part
a more considerable body of Austrian troops were
about to descend from the Apennines; on the other,
the Fr-ench troops, on which he could not at first
calculate, were to descend too at the heels of the
Austrians.

Now that Genoa had fallen, the first consul was
in a less hurry to encounter Melas. But he was
extraordinarily pressed to occupy the line of the
Po from Pavia as far as Piacenza and Cremona ;
he therefore made his dispositions with as much
activity as Me'las, in order to possess himself of
points of such importance. While he was occupied
at Milan in collecting the troops which had come
from the different points of the Alps, he placed
upon the Po the forces which had come with him
by tiie St. Bernard. Lannes had already taken
possession of Pavia with Watrin's division. That
general was ordered to pass the Po a little below
its union with the Tessino, or, what is the same
thing, at Belgiojoso. Murat, with the divisions of
Boudet and Monnier, had orders to pass at Pia-
cenza ; Duhesme, with the division of Loison, to
cross at Cremona.

On the Gth of June, Lannes, having assembled at
Pavia on the Tessino all the disposable boats,
brought them into the Po, and on arriving between
Belgiojoso and San Cipriano commenced the pass-
age. General VVatrin, who was placed under his
orders, crossed with a detachment. He was no
sooner arrived on the right bank than he was
attacked by the Austrians which had come from
Valenza and Alexandria, and were hastening to
Piacenza. He was in danger of being thrown into
the river, but he held firm until the boats, passing
and repassing, brought him reinforcements, and he
remained at last master of the field. The remain-
der of Watrin's division, led by Lannes, passed the
Po afterwards, and took a position a little further
on, menacing the high road from Alexandria to
Piacenza.

Murat arrived before Piacenza the same day.
All the Austrian stores, guarded by some hundreds
of men, together with the different army adminis-
trators, were in tlie town. On the approach of
danger the Austrian commander there ordered
cannon to be planted at the head of the bridge on
the left bank of the Po, and endeavoured to defend
himself until the troops, which were advancing
from all sides, should arrive to his support. The
advanced guard of Monnier's division, which con-
ceived it was moving upon an undefended position,
was received with a horrible fire of grape-shot,
and could make no impression on the post by a
front attack. The furtiier attempt upon it in form
was postponed until the next day.

On the 7tli of June, the following day, general
O'Reilly, who had received orders from Melas

to ride full speed to Piacenza, arrived with his
cavalry. The other Austrian corps, that which
ascended from Parma by Fiorenzuola, that which
descended with general Gottesheim by Bobbio,
and that which was coming with general Ott by
Tortona, were not yet arrived. General O'Reilly
Avas scarcely equal with his squadron alone to
defend Piacenza. The few hundreds of men who
had offered resistance at the head of the bridge
had lost one-fourth of their strength. Under these
circumstances the Austrian commandant ordered
the artillery to be taken away, and the bridge,
which was of boats, to be divided; thus when gene-
ral Boudet attempted to remedy his repulse of the
day preceding, he found the work at the bridge
head evacuated and the bridge destroyed. A part
of the boats of which it had been constructed yet
remained. Murat took possession of these, and
made use of them for transporting Monnier's
brigade to the other side of the Po, at Nocetto,
a little lower down, by I'epeated trips across. This
brigade then attacked Piacenza, and got in after
a sharp contest. General O'Reilly retrogi'aded in
haste, that he might be in time to save the park
of artillery in its way from Alexandria; because
if it came on to Piacenza, it would be in danger
of falling into the hands of the French. He pro-
ceeded with such speed as to effect his object,
and thus prevented the park from getting into the
possession of Murat or Lamies. He had to make
more than one charge of cavalry ag.iinst the ad-
vanced troops of Lannes, which had passed the Po
at Belgiojoso ; but he disengaged himself from it,
and giving counter-orders to the park, it sough.t
refuge in Tortona. While general O'Reilly, almost
untouched in passing through the French advanced
posts, was on his way to Alexandria, the advanced
guard of general Gottesheim, which had descend-
ed the Trebia by Bobbio, appeared before Pia-
cenza. It was the regiment of Klebeck which
thus came upon Boudet's entire division, and was
severely handled. This unlucky regiment, at-
tacked by superior numbers, lost a good many
l)risoners, and fell back in disorder upon Got-
tesheim's principal corps, of which it was in ad-
vance. General Gottesheim, taking alarm at this
rencontre^ ascended the slope of the Apemiines
in great haste, in order to reach Tortona and
Alexandria, which caused him to lose his way for
several days. Lastly, the regiment returning from
Tuscany, by the route of Purma and Fiorenzuola,
arrived the same day in the suburbs of Piacenza.
Here happened anotiier rout of a detached corps,
which fell on a sudden into the midst of an enemy's
army, and was repulsed in disorder upon the road
to Parma. Of four corjis, three wliicli marched
upon Piacenza, those the least important, it is true,
had been overthrown, had fled, and left prisoners
behind them. The fourth, that of general Ott,
having a longer circuit to march, was still behind,
and was about to encounter Lannes in front of
Belgiojoso, near Pavin. From this time the French
wei'e masters of the Po, and had in their possession
tiie two principal passages of Belgiojoso, near
Pavia, and that of Piacenza itself. They very
soon too got possession of a third; for on the fol-
lowing day, general Duhesme, at the head of
Loison's division, took Cremona from a detach-
ment that general Wukassovich had left in retiring.

1800.
June.

The French, masters of Mtlas'
line of retreat. — Plans of
Bonaparte to cut otf the

MARENGO.

Austrians' retreat. — Forces
at the disposal of the French.

He took t>yo thousaud prisoners aud a good many
militiiry stores.

Bouaparte directed all these operations from
Milan. He had sent Berthier to the banks of the
Po; and day by day, often hour after lioiu", he
prescribed, in a continual correspondence, the
movements to be executed.

Though he was master of the line of retreat that
Mc'las would most probably be tempted to follow,
in possessing himself of the Po from Pavia to
Piaceuza, still all was not yet considered, since
that which made the route of Piacenza the true
line of retreat for the Austrians, was the pi-erfence
of the French behind the Tessino aud around
Milan. The French, in fact, from their iiosition,
shut up close the passage which the Austrians
would have been able to open in crossing the Po
between Pavia and Valeuza ; but if now tlie
French, for the purpose of going to meet Me'las,
crossed the Po between Pavia and Piacenza, and
thus abandoned Milan and weakened the Tessino,
they might again t«mpt ile'las to cross at Turin,
at C'asale, or at Valenza, traverse our undefended
rear, enter the city of Milau itself, and serve the
French just as they had served him in descending
from the Alps.

It was not impossible either for Me'las, de-
termining to sacrifice a part of his baggage and
his heavy artillery, which hideed he might leave
in the fortresses of Piedmont, to retire upon Genoa,
then again remounting by Tortona aud Novi, as
far as the Bocchetta, and tliere throwing himself
into the valley of the Trebia, to fall upon the Po
below Piacenza, in the vicinity of Cremona or
Parma, and thus reach Mantua and the Austrian
states by a round-about way. This march across
Liguria, and along the projections of tlie Apen-
nines, was the same as that which had been
marked out for general Gottcsheim, and was the
least likely to be attempted, because it offered
extraordinary difficulties, and would cost the
sacrifice of a good deal of the matirid of the army;
but it was still possible, strictly speaking, and it
was needful therefore to provide against its exe-
cution, as well as against other plans. The entire
attention of Bonaparte was now employed against
these chances. There is not perhaps in all history
an example of dispositions more able, more i)r(>-
foundly conceived, than those which he devised
upon this decisive occasion.

It was necessary, to resolve this triple problem,
to close by a barrier of iron the principal road,
or that which goes directly from Alexandria to
Piacenza ; Uj occupy that which, by passing along
the Upper Po, falls upon the Tessino in such a
mode a-s to be able to hasten there in case it be
reipii.site ; lastly, to have the power of descending
in time upon the Lower Po, if the Austrians,
seeking to Hy by the reverse side of the Apennines,
bhr)uld try to cross that river below Piacenza,
towards Cremona or Parma. Bonaparte me-
ditating incessantly over the map of Italy, to find
a point where all th<-sc three conditions might be
fulfilled, made a choice worthy of high admiration.
H the direction of the Apennine chain be ex-
amined, it will be seen that in virtue of the curve
that it forms to embrace the gulf of Genoa, it
remounts to the northward, and throws out but-
tresses, which approach to the I'o very closely,

from the position of Stradella to the vicinity of
Piacenza. In all this part of Piedmont and of the
duchy of Parjjia, the base of the heights advances
so near the river, as to leave a narrow place only
for the high road to Piacenza. An army stationed
in advance of Stradella, at the entrance of a sort
of defile many leagues in length, the left to the
height.'*, the centre on the road, and the right
along the Po and the marshy ground on its bank,
would be difficult to dislodge. It must be added,
that the road is thickly strewn with hamlets and
villages, built of stone and capable of resisting
cannon. Against the imperial forces, strong in
cavalry and artillery, this position, independently
of its natural advantages, afforded that of render-
ing null those two military arms.

It had yet other peculiar advantages. It is near
this position tliat the triiiutary streams on the other
side of the Po, the most important to occupj', such
as the Tessino and the Adda, form (heir junction.
Thus the Tessino falls into the Po a little below
Pavia, and above Belgiojoso, nearly opposite to
Stradella, or, at most, not more than two leagues
off. The Adda, running beyond a long way before
it unites with the Po, falls into that river between
Piacenza and Cremona. It will be at once under-
stood, that placed at Stradella, and master of the
bridges of Belgiojoso, of Piacenza, and Cremona,
Bonaparte would be in possession of the most
decisive points; because he would thus bar the
principal road, or that from Alexandria to Pia-
cenza, and he would at the same time have it in
his power, by a long march, either to liasten to
the Tessino, or to redescend the Po as far as Ci'e-
mona, and to fly towai-ds the Adda, which covered
his rear against the corps of Wukassowich.

It was in this sort of net, formed by the Apen-
nines, the Po, the Tessino, and the Adda, that he
distributed his forces. He at first resolved to
proceed to Stradella himself, with the thirty thou-
sand best soldiers of his army, the divisions of
Watrin, Chambarlhac, Gardanne, Boudet, and
Monnier, placed under Murat, Victor, and Lannes,
in the position already described, the left to the
mountains, the centre on the great road, and the
right along the Po. The division of Chabran,
which came by the Little St. Bernard, and was
first ordered to occujiy Ivre'a, was afterwards
ordered to Verceil, but commanded to retreat
upon the Tessino in case of the approach of the
enemy. Lapoypc's division, which descended the
St. Gothard, was posted upon the Tessino itself,
in the environs of Pavia. These numbered from
nine thousand to ten thousand men, who were to
fall back one upon the other, to dispute the passage
of the Tessino to the last, and thus afford Bona-
parte one day to come to their assistance. The
detachment of the Simplon, under general Bdthen-
court, guarded the route of the St. Gothard towards
the Arena, the retreat of the French army in case
of a reverse. The division of Gilly was to guard
Milan, rendered necessary by tlie presence of an
Austrian garrison in the citadel. There were
three or four thousand men appropriated to this
double purpose. Finally, the division of Loisoii,
which m.adc a part of the army of reserve, coming
from Germany, had a commission under llu; or-
ders of general Duhosme, to defend Piacenza and
Cremona ; there was another corps, from ten to

1.1 nn A in

UNIVKHSn V oi «;ALI1'ORi>L^

102

Orders sent in anticipa-
tion by. Bonayarte to

liis oiiicers.

The Austrians preparing
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. to attack Piacenza, en-
counter Lannes.

eleven thousand strong, employed on these two last
points.

Such was tho difit-ribution of the fifty and some
thousand more sol diei-H, which Bonaparte had at
that moment at his disposal : thirty-two thou-
sand were at tlie central point of Stradella ; nine
or ten thousand on the Tessino ; three or four
thousand at Milan and Arona ; finally, ten or
eleven thousand on the inferior course of the Po
and of the Adda, all placed in such a manner
as to sustain each other reciprocally with ex-
treme promptitude. Thus in effect, on a no-
tice from the Tessiiio, Bonaparte could in a day
fly to the succoui- of the ten thousand French
who guarded it. On an alarm from the Lower
P©, he was able in the same space of time to de-
scend on Piacenza and Cremona, while general
Loison, in defending tho passage of the river,
would give him time to come to his aid. Each
and all of these, on their part, could march upon
Stradella, and thus reinforce Bonaparte in as small
a space of time as it cost him to proceed to them.

In this case Bonaparte seemed to abandon his
usual custom of concentrating his troops on the eve
of an important battle. If such a concentration
pass for a great performance in the art of war,
when it is executed properly at the moment of a
decisive action, in the circumstance of two adver-
saries marching one against the other, it is a dif-
ferent affair, one of the two being desirous of
escaping, and the chief skill consisting in stopping
him before fighting. Such was the case here. It
was necessary that Bonaparte should extend a net
around the Austrian army, and that this net should
be strong enough to hold it ; because if there had
been on the Tessino and Lower Po advanced guards
only, as most proper to give notice, but not to close
a road ag;iinst an enemy, the object would have
wholly failed. There must be on all points posts
capable at the same time of giving notice and of
checking the enemy, while a principal body is re-
tained in the centre, ready to hasten to any quarter
with adequate means. It was impossible to com-
bine with deeper art the employment of his force,
and to modify more skilfully the application of his
own principles, than Bonaparte did upon this occa-
sion. It is in their manner of the application of a
just but general principle according to circum-
.stances, that we acknowledge the men of superior
power in action.

The plan settled, Bonaparte issued corresponding
orders. Lannes, with the division of Watrin, had
been moved to Stradella by Pavia and Belgio-
joso. It was of moment that Chambai'lhac's, Gar-
danne's, Monnier's, and Boudet's divisions should
support him with their strength before the Aus-
trians, who, repulsed from Piacenza, joining general
Ott towards Tortona, should be able to press upon
him. This had been foreseen by Bonaparte with
wonderful sagacity. Not able himself to quit Milan
before the 8th, to reach Stradella by the 9th, he
sent to Berthier, Lannes, and Murat the following
instructions : " Concentrate at Stradella. On the
8th or 9th, at the latest, you will have fifteen
or eighteen thousand Austrians on your backs
coming from Genoa. Encounter and roiit them.
There will be so many the less to fight in the de-
cisive battle which awaits us with the whole army
of Melas." Having issued these orders he left

Milan on the 8th, to cross the Po in .person, in
order to be at Str;idella the next day.

It was impossible to divine with more exactness
the movements of the enemy. We have just before
said that three Austrian detachments had uselessly
shown themselves before Piacenza ; that the de-
tachment arrived fr(im Tuscany by Fiorenzuola
had been driven back; that the corps of general
Gottesheim, which had descended with infantry by
the valley of the Trebia, bad been i-epulsed isito
that valley; finally, that general O'Reilly, hasten-
ing from Alexandria with his cavalry, had been
forced to I'eturn towards Tortona. But general
Ott, on his side, marching with the principal corps
by the road of Genoa upon Tortona, arrived at
Stradella on the 9th of June, in the morning, as
had been foreseen by Bonaparte. He brought in
his advance generals Gottesheim and O'Reilly,
whom he had met on their retreat ; and he deter-
mined in consequence to make a very vigorous
attack upon Piacenza, not dreaming that the French
army could be almost entirely stationed in echelon
in ihe defile of Stradella. He had, counting the
troops that had joined him, seventeen or eighteen
thousand men. Lannes was unable to unite on the
morning oF the 9lh more than seven or eight thou-
sand ; but in consequence of the reiterated orders
of the commander-in-chief five or six thousand
were to join him during the day. The field of
battle was that which we have described. Lannes
presented himself, with his left, on the heights of
the Apennines, his centre in the high road towards
the little town of Casteggio, and his right in the
plains of the Po. He committed the error of pro-
ceeding a little too much in advance of Stradella
towards Casteggio and Montebello, where the I'oad
ceases to form a defile owing to the extent of the
plains. But the French, full of confidence, although
inferior in numbers, were capable of doing great
service under such a leader as Lannes, who had
the art of drawing his troops any where after
him.

Lannes, pushing Watrin's division upon Casteggio
with vigour, drove back the advanced posts of
O'Reilly. His plan was to take the hamlet of Cas-
teggio, situated on the road before him. either by
attacking it in front or turning it by the declivities
of the Apennines. The numerous artillery of the
Austrians, in position on the road, commanded the
ground in all directions. Two battalions of the (Jtli
light endeavoured to capture this murderous ai--
tillery by turning to the right, while the 3rd bat-
talion of the 6th and the entire 40th tried to gain
the neighbouring hills on the left ; the division of
Watrin marched ujjon Casteggio itself, where it
met with the main body of the enemy. A fierce
combat ensued on every point. The French were
near carrying the positions they had attacked,
when general Gottesheim hastened with his in-
fantry to support O'Reilly, and overthrow the bat-
talions which had surmounted the heights. Lannes,
amidst a tremendous fire, supported his men, and
prevented their yielding to numbers. Still they
were on the point of giving way when the division
of Chambarlhac arrived, and a part of the corps of
general Victor : general Rivaud, at the head of the
43rd, climbed the heights anew, rallied the French
battalions on the point of being repulsed, and, after
unheard-of efforts, succeeded in mamtaining him-

1800.
June.

Battle of Montebello : conse
quences of the victory.

MARENGO.

Desaix joins the army. — Wel-
comed by tlie first consul. —
Plain of Marengo described.

103

self. At the centre on the high road, the OCtli
went to the assistance of general Watrin in his
attack upon Casieggio ; anil there the 24th, ex-
tending itself to the right on the plain, attempted
to turn the enemy's left, in order to stop the fire of
his artillery. During this combined efTort on the
wings, the gallant Watrin had to sustain an ob-
stinate conflict in Casteggio ; he took and lost the
place several times. But Lannes, present every
where, gave the decisive impulse. By his ordei-s,
general Rivaud on tlie left, having become master
of the heights, crossed tliem, and descended in the
rear of Casteggio. The troops, sent on the right
into the plain, turned the place so hotly contested,
and both marched to Montebello; while general
Watrin, having made a last effort on the enemy's
centre, broke through, and at last proceeded past
Casteggio. The Austrians, finding themselves thus
repulsed at all points, fled to Montebello, leaving
in the hands of the French a considerable body of
prisoners.

The conflict lasted from eleven o'clock in the
morning until eight in the evening. The Austrians
were the s;ime troops that had besieged Genoa,
and had been hardened by Masse'na to the most
fuiious fighting, as they showed by their despera-
tion in the plains of Piedmont, when endeavouring
to force their way through. They were supported
by a numerous artillery, and displayed more than
ordinary bravery. The first consul arrived at the
moment when the battle was concluding, the time
and place of which he had so well foreseen. He
found Lannes covered with blood, but intoxicated
with delight, and the troops overjoyed at their
success. They had, as he afterwards said, the con-
sciousness that they had admirably comported
themselves. The conscripts showed that they were
worthy to rival the older soldiers. Four thousand
prisoners were taken, and three thousand of the
enemy killed and wounded. The victory was dif-
ficult to gain, since twelve thousand combatants
had to encounter eigiiteen thousand.

Such was the battle of Montebello, that gave to
Lannes and his family the title which to this day
distinguishes it among the French people, — a glo-
rious title, that its sons may well be proud to
beat.

This rencontre was a good commencement, and
announced to M^las that the road would not be
easily opened to him. General Ott, weakened to
the extent of seven thousand men, retired in con-
sternation upon Alexandria. The courage of the
French was now elevated to its highest point.

The first consul hastened to unite his divisions,
in order to occupy the road from Alexandria to
Piacenza, which it was probable Mdlas would take.
Lannes being too much advanced, the fir.st consul
fell back a little to the point called .Stradellu, be-
cause the defile, narrower in that jilace by the
approximation of the heights to the river, renders
the position more safe.

The lOtli and 11th of June were passed in watch-
ing the Austrian movemcmts, concentrating the
army, giving it rest after its hasty marches, and
ori;anizing, as well as it was jjiissiblo, the artillery,
since, till now, no more than torty field-pieces
could be reunited on the 8p<jt.

On the lltli there arrivcid at head -quarters one
of the most distinguished generals of that period,

Desaix, who, perhaps, equalled Mureau, Mass<?na,
Kleber, or Lannes, in military talents, but in the
rare perfection of his character surpassed them all.
He had quitted Egypt, where Kleber had com-
mitted political ci'rors that we shall shortly have
the irksomeness of detailing. Desaix had in vain
endeavoured to prevent them, and had fled to Eu-
rope to avoid the painful sight. These errors he
afterwards gloriously repaired. Desaix, stopped
by the Ejiglish on the coast of France, had been
ti-eated by them in a disgraceful manner. He ar-
rived full of indignation, and asked fur the oppor-
tunity of .avenging hinisflf sword in hand. He
loved the first consul with a sort of passion; and
Bonaparte, touched by the attachment of .such a
noble heart, returned it in the warmest friendship
which he ever felt in his life. They passed a
whole night in relating to each other the events
which had occurred in Egypt and France, and the
first consul immediately gave him the command of
the divisions of Monnier and Boudet united.

The next day, whieli was the 12tli of June, Bo-
naparte was surprised to see no appearance of the
Austrians, and could not help being under some
ai)prchensions. Astonished that in such a situation
Melas should waste time and suffer every outlet to
be closed against him, judging his opponent too
much by his own feelings, he said that Me'las could
not have wasted hours so precious, and that he
must surely have made his escape, either by re-
mounting towards Genoa, or by crossing the Ujjper
Po under the notion of forcing the Tessino. Tired
of waiting for him, he left his, post at Stradella ou
the afternoon of the 12th, and advanced, followed
by his entire army, to the height of Tortona. He
ordered that fortress to be blockaded, and esta-
blished his head-quarters at Voghera. On the
13th, in the morning, he passed the Scrivia, and
marched forth on the immense plain which stretches
between the Scrivia and the Bormida, that at the
present time has no otiier name than the plain of
Marengo. It was the very same place on which,
but a few months before, his prescient imagination
had represented to him a great battle with Melas.
On this plain the Po runs at a distance from the
Apennines, and leaves large open spaces, across
which the Bormida and Tanaro roll their waters
less rapidly, mingling near Ale.xandria, and tlien
flowing into the bed of the Po together. Th^ I'oad
that skirts the foot of the Apennines as far as
Tortona, separating from it at that place, turns off"
to the right, passing the Scrivia, and, opening on a
vast level, gous across this to a first village called
San Giuliano, to pass a second called Marengo ;
finally, it crosses the Bormida, and leads to the
celebrated fortress of Alexandria. " If the enemy
intended to follow the high road from Piacenza to
Mantua, it is here he would wait for me," said
Bonaparte to himself; " here his numerous artillery,
his fine cavalry, would liavc great advantage^, and
he would fight with his united means." Making
this reflection, and in order to judge of the cor-
rcctnes^t of his conjecture, he ordered his light
cavalry to scoyr the country, but not a single
;VuHtrian sojdicr wjis seen. Towards the fall of
day he sent on Victor's corps, composed of tin-
divisions of Gardanne and Chambarlhac, as far as
Marengo. A detachment of Austrians was found
there, the corps of O'Reilly, which at the nio-

Bonaparte at Torre di
104 Garofolo. — The Aus-
trians in despair.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The Austrians resolve to
give battle. — Delibera-
tions of the generals.

, June.

ment defended the ■village of Marengo, but imme-
diately abandoned it and repassed the Bormida.
Reconnoitring before, without proper care, it was
believed that the Austrians had not passed the
bridge over tlie Bonnida.

From all these circumstances Bonaparte had no
doubt, to use his own expression, " that Melas had
escaped." He would not have abandoned the
plain, and, above ail, the village of Marengo, which
is its entrance, if he intended to give battle, and
acquire by conquest the road from Alexandria to
Piaeenza. Cheating liimself by a reflection so well
founded, Bonaparte left Victor with his two divi-
sions at Marengo ; he placed Lannes in echelon on
the plain, with the division of Watrin,and hastened
to his head-quarters at Voghera, to obtain some
intelligence of general Moncey, who was stationed
on the Tessino, and of Duhesrae on the Lower Po;
and to discover whether they knew any thing of
Me'las. Officers of the staff, setting out from all
points, were directed to come to him at head-
quarters. But the Scrivia had overflowed, and he
was fortunately obliged to stay at Torre di Garo-
folo. The intelligence from the Tessina and Po,
intelligence of the same day's date, announced that
all was tranquil in that direction. Melas had at-
tempted nothing upon that side: what had become
of him ? Bonaparte thought that he had marched
back to Genoa by Novi, in order to pass into the
valley of the Trebia, and so fall upon Cremona. It
seemed that if he were not in Alexandria, nor on
the march for the Tessino, he could not have taken
any other direction. It was possible that, follow-
ing the example of Wurmser at Mantua, he had
gone and shut himself up in Genoa, where, fed by
the English, and having a garrison of fifty thousand
men, he would have the means of protracting the
war. These ideas had taken a strong hold upon
the mind of the first consul. He ordered Desaix
to march upon Rivalta and Novi, with the division
of Boudet only. It was by Novi that M^las must
pass to march on Genoa from Alexandria.

However, by a happy presentiment, he kept the
division of Monnier, Desaix's second, in reserve at
head-quartci's; and he provided, as far as possible,
for every thing, by leaving Victor at Marengo with
two divisions, Lannes with one on the plain, and
Murat at his sides with all his cavalry. If the dis-
tribution of the French force at this time be re-
flected upon, their dis])ersion is very striking ;
scattered, a part on the Tessino, a part on the in-
ferior Po and Adda, and another part on the route
to Genoa. This was the necessary consequence of
the general situation, and of the circumstances of
the moment.

On the evening of the 13th, that preceding one
of the grandest days in history, Bonaparte, in the
village of Torre di Garofolo, lay down and fell
asleep, expecting to receive news of the Austrians
on the morrow.

In the mean time confusion prevailed in Alexan-
dria. The Austrian army was in despair. A coun-
cil of war was held ; but none of the resolutions of
which the French commander was fearful, were
adopted. There had been some conversation about
retreating by the Upper Tessino and the Po, and
also of shutting themselves up in Genoa; but the
Austrian generals, brave men as they were, had
prefeiTed following the dictates of honour. " We

have been fighting for these eighteen months like
good soldiers, after all," they said ; " we have re-
conquered Italy; we were in march on the frontiers
of France ; our government urged us onwards ; it
gave us those orders but yesterday ; it ought to
have advised us of the dangers which threatened
our rear. If any blame belongs to our position, it
is the fault of our government. It w^as the duty of
that government to announce the danger which
threatened us. All the means of evading an en-
counter with the French army are complicated,
difficult, and hazardous; there is but one fair and
honourable way, that is, to break through. To-
morrow we must open a road at the expense of our
blood. If we succeed, we shall rejoin, alter a vic-
tory, tlie route from Piaeenza to Mantua ; if not,
after having done our duty, the responsibility of
our disaster will press on other shoulders than
ours." The first consul never conceived that they
would have lost so much time in deliberation in a
similar conjuncture. But no one equalled him in
promptitude of determination ; and Mdas was in a
situation sufficiently unfortunate to obtain pardon
for the cruel perplexity which retarded his defini-
tive resolutions. In his decision to fight, the Aus-
trian general conducted himself like a soldier of
honour; but he is to be censured for leaving twenty-
five thousand men in the fortresses of Coni, Turin,
Tortona, Genoa, Acqui, Gavi, and Alexandria ;
more than all, after the loss that general Ott sus-
tained at Montebello. With twenty-five thousand
men in these places, three thousand in Tuscany,
twelve thousand between Mantua and Venice, he
had at most but forty thousand to bring into the
field where the issue of the war was to be decided.
To this number had fallen the fine army of one
hundred and twenty thousand men, which, at the
commencement of the campaign, was to force the
southern frontier of France. Forty thousand had
perished, forty thousand were scattered, forty thou-
sand were about to fight in order to escape the
Caudine Forks; but among the last was a powerful
cavalry, and two hundred pieces of cannon.

It was agreed upon, for the following day, that
the entire army should issue forth by the bridges
of the Bormida ; for there were two bridges pro-
tected by the same redoubt, despite the false
account given of them to Bonaparte : general Ott,
it was also decided, should, at the head of ten
thousand men, half cavalry and half infantry, leave
the Bormida, and, taking the left, direct himself
upon the village called Castel Ceriolo ; that gene-
rals Haddick and Kaim, at the head of the main
body of the army, about twenty thousand men,
should carry the village of Marengo, which affords
the entrance to the plain ; and that general
O'Reilly, with five or six thousand men, should
take the right, and ascend the Bormida ; a power-
ful artillei-y sustaining the movement. A con-
siderable detachment, jjrincipally cavalry, was left
in the rear of Alexandria upon the road of Acqui,
to observe the troops of Suchet, of the ai-rival of
which they had heard some floating rumours.

The vast plain of Marengo has been described;
the great road from Alexandria to Piaeenza tra-
ver.scs through its entire length, inclosed between
the Scrivia and Bormida. The French, marching
from Piaeenza and the Scrivia, came in the first
instance to San Giuliano, and in three quarters of

The Austrians pass the Bormida.
Occupation of the ground.
Contest : the Fontanone.

MARENGO.

General Haddick mortally
wounded. — Battle of Ma-
rengo begun.

105

a league further to Jlareiigo, which nearly touched
the Bormida, and formed the principal outlet that
the Austrians had to acquire in coming out of
Alexandria. Between San Giuliano and Marengo
there proceeded in a right line the road which was
about to be contested, and on both sides extended
a plain covered with vineyards and cornfields.
Below Marengo on the right of the French and on
the left of the Austrians was Castel Ceriolo, a
large hamlet, by which general Ott would pass, to
turn the corps of general Victor that was stationed
in Marengo. Upon Marengo there was to be di-
rected the principal attaclc of the Austrians, since
that village commanded the entrance to tlie plain.

At break of day the .Austrian army passed over
the two bridges of the Bormida, but its movement
was slow, because it had but one issue in the work
that covered the bridges. O'Reilly went first, and
encountered Gardanne's division, that general Vic-
tor, having occupied Marengo, had placed in ad-
vance. The division consisted of the 101st and
44th demi-brigades only. O'Reilly, supported by
a numerous artillery, and having double the num-
ber of men, obliged the division to retreat and shut
itself up in Marengo. Fortunately O'Reilly did
not follow it into the place, but waited until he
was supported by the centre under general Had-
dick. The sl(jwness of their march in pasising the
defile caused by the bridges, made the Austrians
lose two or three hours. At length generals Had-
dick and Kaiin formed in the rear of O'Reilly,
and general Ott crossed the bridges to proceed to
Castel Ceriolo. General Victor immediately united
his two divisions for the defence of Marengo, and
sent off to inform the first consul that the Austrian
army was advancing in its entire force with the
clear intention of giving battle.

.\n obstacle in the nature of the ground seconded
very appropriately the courage of the French
soldiers. In advance of Marengo, between the
Austrians and French, there wa.s a deep and
muddy rivulet called Fontanone. It ran between
Marengo and the Bormida, and emptied its con-
tents a little lower down into the Bormida itself.
Victor placed towards his right, that is, in the
village of Marengo, the 101st and 44th demi-
brigades, under general Gardanne ; on the left of
the village the 24th, 43rd, and 9Gth, under general
Giamharlhac ; a little in tiie rear, general Kciler-
mann with the 20th, 2nd, and 3th cavalry, and one
squadron of the 12th. The rest of the 12th was
on the Higher Bormida observing the distant
movements of the enemy.

General Haddick advanced to the rivulet, covered
by twenty-five jdeces of cannon, which opened upon
the French. He threw himself gallantly into the
bed of the P'onUmone at the head of Bellegarde's
division. General Ilivaud, leaving the shelter of
the village with the 44th and lOlst, opened a direct
fire upon the Austrians, who were trying to issue
out. A viulent conflict ensued along the Fonta-
none, Haddick making many attempts; but Riviiud ',
holding himself firm under the Austrian battery,
stopped, by the fire of his musketry, given at a
very short disLitue, the corps of Haddick, and
repulsed it in dis<(rder to the other side of the
rivulet. The unfortunate general Haddick re-

> Oliver RIvaud.

ccived a mortal wound, and his soldiers retreated.
M^las then matle the troops of general Kaim ad-
vance, and ordered O'Reilly to proceed along the
Bormida, and ascend it as far as a place called
Stortigliona, in order to execute a charge on the
French left with the cavalry of Pilati. But at the
same moment general Kellermann was mounted at
the head of his division of cavalry, observing the
motion of the Austrian squadrons ; while Lannes,
who had remained the night before on the left of
Victor, in the j>laiu, placed himself in line between
Marengo and Castel Ceriolo. The Austrians then
made another effort. Gardanne's and Chambarl-
hac's divisions, drawn up in a semi-circle along
the semi-circular bed of the Fontanone, were
placed in such a manner as to be able to pour a
converging fire on the jioint of attack. They
made dreadful work with their musketry among
the troops of general K;iim. During this time
general Pilati, ascending higher, succeeded in
crossing the Fontanone at the head of two thousand
horse. The brave Kellermann, who on this day
added greatly to the gltn-y attached to his name at
Valmy, dashed upon the squadrons of Pilati as
soon as they attempted to open out, sabreing and
precipitating them into the muddy bed of that
stream, which could not have been better traced
by art for covering the French position.

Up to this moment, though the French, surprised,
had only the two corps of Victor and Lannes in
line, or about fifteen or sixteen thousand men
to resist thirty-six thousand ; still owing to the
fault of the Austrians, in not on the day before
taking possession of Marengo, a fault which gained
for theru some advantage, by leading Bonaparte
into error, the French had gained time to wait the
arrival of the commander-in-chief and of the
reserves remaining behind or despatched on the
road to Novi.

Such was the state of things, when Mdlas de-
cided on making the last effort to save the honour
and freedom of his army; and bravely seconded
by his soldiers, who were all veterans, whose
victories in the preceding campaigns had height-
ened their courage, he made another attack
upon the French line. General Ott, who had
taken much time to file off, now began to be able
to act towards the Austrian left. He manojuvred
with the design to turn the French, and, travers-
ing Castel Ceriolo, attacked Lannes, who being
placed beside Victor, between Marengo and Castel
Ceriolo, formed the right of the French line.
While Ott occupied the attention of Lannes, the
corps of O'Reilly, Haddick, and Kaim united, were
anew directed on the Fontanone, in front of Ma-
rengo. A formidable artillery sup])orted all their
movements. The grenadiers of Lattermann en-
tered the rivulet, and, passing it, gained the other
side. The division of Chambarlhac, placed on the
left of Marengo, began a most destructive fire
upon them, yet still a battalion of these grenadiers
continued to keep its ground beyond tho Fonta-
none ; Mt51as redoubU;d his cannonade on the
division of Chambarlhac, which was not covered
by the houses of the village, as those that defended
Marengo were. In the mean time the Austrian
pioneers hastily constructed a bridge of trestles.
The gallant Kivaud, at the head of the 44tli,
sallying from the village of Marengo, and march-

Progress of the battle.
106 Bonaparte hastens to,
the field.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

He rallies the troops,
and makes a new
disposition.'

1800.
June.

ing upon the enemy in spite of the grape-shot, was
on the point of driving them into the Fontanone,
but the mui'derous discharge of artillery stopped
the 44th, thinned by this obstinate struggle, and
Rivaud was himself wounded. Seizing the oppor-
tune moment, Lattermann's grenadiers advanced
in a body and penetrated into Marengo. Rivaud,
covered with blood, placed himself again at the
liead of the 44th, and, making a vigorous charge
on the grenadiers, drove them out of Marengo ;
but, on leaving the shelter of the houses, they were
received with such a dreadful fire of artillery, that
he was unable to force them back over the brook,
which had so far well protected the French army.
Enfeebled by loss of blood, this brave officer was
obliged to submit to be carried off the field. The
Austrian grenadiers remained masters of the posi-
tion which they had carried. At this instant the
division of Chambarlhac, which, as has been ob-
served, was unprotected by any shelter from the
grape-shot, and wholly uncovei-ed, was nearly de-
stroyed. General O'Reilly repulsed the 96th,
placed at the extreme left of the French, and then
began to assume the offensive. Towards the right,
Lannes, who at first had only the single corps
of general Kaim to oppose, was on the point of
driving it into the bed of the Fontanone, when he
discovered that he was suddenly turned by general
Ott, who was issuing from Castel Ceriolo with a
large body of cavalry. Champeaux's brigade of
cavalry, drawn up in the rear of Lannes' corps, as
Kellermann's was in rear of Victor's, made in vain
several brilliant charges, while the unfortunate
Champeaux himself received a mortal wound.
Our army, on both wings severely handled, sepai'ated
itself from Marengo, by which it had so tenaciously
held, and then had nothing to sustain it. It ran
the hazard of being forced into the plain in the
rear, without any support, against two hundred
pieces of cannon and an immense cavah-y.

It was now ten o'clock in the morning; the car-
nage had been horrible. A considerable number
of wounded encumbered the road between Marengo
and San Giuliano. Already a part of Victor's
corps, overpowered by numbers, was retreating,
crying that all was lost. All must have been lost
too, without a reinforcement of troops which had
not been wearied out, and, more than all, without a
great soldier capable of regaining the victory
wrested from his troops.

Bonaparte, in receiving intelligence that the
Austrians, who he feared would escape him, had
taken his army by surprise in the plain of Marengo,
80 deserted on tlie previous day, hastened from
Torre di Garofolo, congratulating himself upon
the lucky inundation of the Scrivia, which had
prevented his going on to Voghera to pass the
night. He brought with him the consular guard,
a body of men not numerous, but of unequalled
courage, which subsequently became the imperial
guard : he also brought Monnier's division, com-
posed of three excellent denii-brigades, and was
followed at a short distance by a reserve of two
regiments of cavalry : he, lastly, sent orders for
Desaix to march in all haste upon San Giuliano.

The first consul, at the head of the reserve,
proceeded in a gallop to the field of battle. He found
Lannes attacked on the right by the cavalry and
infantry of general Ott, endeavouring still to sup-

port himself on the left about Marengo. Gardanne
was defending himself in tlie hedges of that village,
the object of such a furious contest ; and on the
other side, Chambarlhac's division, thundered upon
by the Austrian artillery, was dispersing.

Over this scene he judged, with a military glance,
what was most needful to be done, to re-establish
the state of affairs. The broken left was in a state
of utter rout, but the right still maintained its
ground, being only threatened, — and that was the
point, therefore, which it was proper to reinforce.
By holding firmly on Castel Ceriolo, he would have
a point of support in the middle of that vast plain ;
he would be able to pivot upon that point his
strengthened wing, and bring his beaten wing into
the rear out of reach of the enemy. If he should,
by this movement, lose the high road from Ma-
rengo to San Giuliano, the mischief would be re-
parable; because behind the new position there
passed another road, which led to Sal^, and from
Sale to the banks of tlie Po. Thus his line of retreat
to Pavia would still be secure. Placed besides
on the right of the plains, he would be on the
Austrian flank, since they would take the great
road from Marengo to San Giuliano, if they in-
tended to turn their victory to any profit.

These reflections were made with the rapidity of
lightning : Bonaparte instantly put into execution
the resolution he conceived in consequence. He
sent forward in the plain to the right of Lannes
the eight hundred grenadiers of the consular
guard, and ordered them to stop the Austrian
cavalry, until the arrival of the three demi-brigades
of Monnier. These brave men formed themselves
into a square, and received with admii-able cool-
ness the charges of the Lobkowitz dragoons, stand-
ing unbroken by the reiterated assaults of a multi-
tude of horse. A little to their right, Bonaparte
ordered two of Monnier's demi-brigades, that ar-
rived at that moment, to direct tliemselves upon
Castel Ceriolo. These two demi-bi-igades, the 70th
and 49th, conducted by general Carra St. Cyr,
marched in advance, and sometimes formed in a
square to resist the cavalry, sometimes in columns
to charge the infantry. They at length succeeded
in regaining the ground lost, and posted themselves
in the hedges and gardens of Castel Ceriolo. At
the same moment JBonaparte, at the head of the
72nd, went to the support of the left under Lannes,
while Dupont, the chief of the staff, set out to rally
in the rear the wrecks of Victor's corps pursued
by O'Reilly's horse, but protected by Murat with
the cavalry reserve. The presence of the first
consul, and the sight of the main corps of the horse-
guards, reanimated the troops, and the battle was
renewed with great fury. The gallant Watrin, of
Lannes' corps, with the 6th of the line and the
22nd, drove the soldiers of Kaim at the point of
tiie bayonet into the Fontanone. Lannes, infusing
into the 40th and 28th the fire of his own heroic
soul, pushed forward botli regiments upon the
Austrians. Over the immense extent of that plain
of Marengo the battle raged with intense violence.
Gardanne endeavoured to retake Marengo ; Lannes
to make himself master of the rivulet, that on the
commencement of the battle had so well covered
the French troops ; tiie grenadiers of the consular
guard, continuing m square, a living citadel in the
middle of the battle-field, filled up the void be-

I

The Austrians carry all before them.

The French retreat.

Gallantrj- of the consular guard.

MARENGO.

Desaix, hearing the cannon of
Marengo, returns thither.

107

tweeii Lannes and tlic coliimiis of Carra St. Cyr,
which were in possession of tlie first houses of
Castel Ceriolo. Melas, with the coui-age of de-
spair, bringing his united masses upon Marengo,
issued at lengtli from the village, driving back the
worn-out soldiers of Gardanne, who in vain took
advantage of every obstacle to aid their resistance.
O'Reilly continued to overwhelm with grape-shot
the division of Chanibarlhae, so long exposed to the
tire of his immense artillery.

But there was no longer any possibility of
making head ; they must yield up the gi-ound. Bo-
napai-te ordered them to fall back by little and
little, at the same time keeping up a firm front.
Then, while his left, sejiarated from Marengo, and
thus deprived of support, fell back rapidly as far
as San Giuliano, where it went to seek a shelter, he
continued to keep the right of the plain, and to
maintain himself in slow i-etrcat, — thanks to Castcl
Ceriolo, the bravery of the consular guard, and,
above all, to Lannes, who made unequalled efforts.
If he could not .support the right, the first consul
had still a certain line of retreat by Sale' towards
the banks of the Po ; and if Desaix, who was sent
on the preceding day upon Novi, should return in
time, the field of battle might yet be reconquered,
and victory come back to the side of the French.

At this moment it was that Lannes and his
four demi-brigades exhibited efforts worthy of the
plaudits of posterity. Tiie enemy, who liad issued
out of Marengo upon the plain in one solid mass,
poured forth from eighty pieces of cannon a con-
tinued shower of round and grape shot. Lannes,
at the head of his deini-brigades, was two hours in
retreating three-fourths of a league. When the
enemy, coming too near, pressed upon him, he
halted and charged him with the bayonet. Although
liis guns were dismounted, a few light field-pieces,
drawn by the better horses, were brought up and
mancBUvred with the same skill and boldness, a-s-
Bisting by their fire the deini-brigades that were
too much pressed; and they even dared to place
themselves in battery against the Austrian ar-
tilleiy. The consular guard, which the Austrians
i were unable to break by their charges of cavalry,
was now assailed by cannon. The Austrians strove
to batter it in breach like a wall, and then it was
charged by Frimont's horse. It sustained con-
siderable loss, but retreated unbroken. Carra St.
Cyr also retreated, and abandoned Castel Ceriolo,
but he still had a Inst support in the vineyards in
the rear of that village. The French also remained
ma.sters of the road from Ceriolo to Salt*. Every
when- the plain exhibited a vast pile of carniige,
upon which continual i xplosions were added to the
thunder of the artillery; for Lannes, in his retreat,
blew up such of the artillery-waggons as he wiis
unable to bring away.

Half the day was over. Melas made sure of the
vict^>ry which he had purchased so dearly. The
old soldier, who at least for courage showed him-
self worthy t>{ his adversjiry on that memorable
day, re-entered Alexandria worn out with fatigue.
He left gtjneral Zach, the chief of his staiT, in com-
mand, and sent off courifrs to all part« of Europe
to announce; the defeat of general Bonai)arte at
Marengo. The chief of the staff, then in full com-
mand, formed the greater part of the Austrian
army in a marching column on the great road

from Marengo to San Giuliano. He placed at the
head two regiments, then a column of Lattcrmann's
grenadiei-s, and after them the baggage. He dis-
I)Osed on the left general O'Reilly, on the right the
corps of generals Kaim and Haddick, and in this
order he sought to gain the great road to Piacenza,
the object of so many efforts, and of the safety
itself of the Austrian army.

It was three o'clock : if no new event occurred,
the contest might be considered lost to the French,
unless they could, the next day, with the troops
drawn from the Tessino, the Adda, and the Po,
repair the misfortunes of that hour. Desaix was
still absent with the entire division of Boudet, —
would he come up in time ? Upon this depended
the fate of the battle. The aids-de-camp of the
first consul had been all the morning in search of
him. But before these messengers could reach
him, Desaix, on the first sound of a cannon in the
plain of Mai-engo, had instantly stopped his mai\ch.
The sound of distant cannon, thus heard, made him
conclude that the enemy, of whom he was going in
search at Novi on the Genoa road, was at Ma-
rengo itself. He had instantly sent Savary with
some hundred ' cavalry to Novi, to observe what
passed there, and with his division had awaited the
result, continually hearing the cannon of the French
and Austrians, which always resounded in the di-
rection of the Bormida. Savary having seen no
one in the direction of Novi, Desaix was more
than ever confirmed in his conjectures; and with-
out waiting a moment longer, he marched upon
Marengo, preceded by aids-de-camp, whom he
sent forward to announce his arrival to the first
consul. He had inarched all the day, and at three
o'clock the heads of his columns began to show
themselves in the vicinity of San Giuliano. Ad-
vancing himself at full gallop, he came up to the
first consul, — happy impulse of a lieutenant so in-
telligent, and so full of devotedness, — happy fortune
of youth ! If, fifteen years afterwards, the first
consul, so well seconded here by his generals, had
found a Desaix on the field of battle at Waterloo,
he would have preserved the empire, and France
have kept her dominant position among the powers
of Europe.

The presence of Desaix went to change the
face of things. He was surrounded, and the for-
tunes of the day related to him. The generals
formed a circle about him and the first consul, and
the seriousness of their situation was warmly dis-
cussed. The greater part of those present advised
a retreat. The first consul was not of that opini<in,
and pressed Desaix forcibly to state what his might
be. Desiiix glanced over the devastjited field of
battle, then taking out his watch, and looking at
the hour, replied to Bonaparte, in these fine yet
simple terms : " Yes, the battle is lost : but it is
only three o'clock; there is yet time enough to gain
one." Bonaparte, highly plca.sed at the decision
of Desaix, .so disposed affairs as to profit by the
resources which the general had brought with
him, and of the advantages insured to him by the

1 Savary himself says only fifty horse. M. Thiers differs,
too, with the same writer aliout a bridge on the Bormida,
one of which, lower down than Alexandria, ought to have
been di-ntroyed, but was not. iSce Savory's Memoirs, vol. i.)
— Translator.

Bonaparte addresses the re-
108 puised troops: they renew THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE,
the attack.-Death ol Desaix.

Grand charge of Kellermaiin. .„.(,
— Lannes drives the Aus- j " *
trians back to Marengo.

position taken in the morning. He was in the plain
on the right, whilst the enemy were on the left iu
marching columns on the great road to San Giu-
liano. Desaix arrivuag at San Giuliano with six
thousand fresh men, and presenting his front to
the Austrians, might stop them, while the mam
body of the army might throw itself on their flank.
The dispositions were instantly made iu conse-
quence.

The three demi-hrigades of Desaix were formed
in advance of San Giuliano, a little to the right of
the high road ; the 30th formed in line ; the 9th
and 59th in close columns on its wings. A small
undulation of the ground concealed them from the
enemy. On their left were the wrecks of Cham-
barlhac's and Gardanne's troops under general
Victor, a little recovered. On their right in the
plain was Lannes, whose retreat was suspended,
then the consular guard, then Carra St. Cyr, who
had kept as near as possible to Castel Ceriolo; and
between Desaix and Lannes, but a little in the
rear, the cavalry of Ivellermann was placed in an
interval. A battery of twelve cannon, all that re-
mained of the artillery of the army, was placed
along the front of Desaix's corps.

These dispositions being made, the first consul
rode through the ranks of the soldiers, and spoke
to the different corps. " My friends," said he,
" we have retreated far enough ; do you recollect
that I am in the habit of lying on the field of
battle." After reanimating the soldiei-s, Avho had
gathered fresh spirits from the arrival of the re-
inforcements, and were burning with impatience to
conquer, he gave the signal. The charge was
beaten along the whole line.

The Austrians, rather in the order of march
than the order of battle, were proceeding along the
high road ; the colunni led by general Zach, the
commander, being in front ; a little behind that,
the centre partly formed on the plain, and showing
its front to Lannes.

General Marmont at the same moment suddenly
unmasked twelve pieces of cannon. A shower of
grape-shot fell upon the head of the surprised
Austrian column, that expected no more resistance,
because they thought the French were in full
retreat. It had scarcely recovered from this sud-
den alarm, when Desaix moved on the Sth light, and
said to his aid-de-camp, Savary, " Go, and tell the
first consul that I am chargmg, and shall want to
be supported by the cavalry." Desaix, on horse-
back, led on the demi-brigade. He ascended with
it the slight rising ground which concealed his
advance from the view of the Austrians, and re-
vealed himself to them at once by a discharge of
musketry at the distance of only a few paces. The
Austrians returned the fire, and Desaix fell, a ball
having entered his breast. " Conceal my death,"
he exclaimed to general Boudet, the chief of his
division, " for it may disconcert the troops," — a
useless caution of the liero ! He was seen to fall ;
and his soldiers, like those of Turenne, demanded
vengeance for the loss of their chief with loud
shouts. The 9th light, which gained that day the
title of the "incomparable," and bore it to the
end of our wars, — the 9th light, after pouring in
their fire, formed in column, and rushed upon the
solid Austrian mass. At this sight, the two first
x-egiments that stood in their way, in consternation

fell back disordered upon the second line, and dis-
appeared in its ranks. The column of Lattermaun's
grenadiers then became alone in the front, and
received the shock of the light troops. They kept
firm. The battle extended to both sides of the
high road. The 9th light was supported on the
right by the rallied troops of Victor, on the left by
the 30th and 59th demi-brigades of Boudet's di-
vision, which had followed the movement. The
grenadiers of Lattermanu defended themselves
with difficulty ; when on a sudden an unforeseen
storm bui-st upon their heads. General Keller-
mann, who at the demand of Desaix had received
orders to charge, set oft' at a gallop, and> passing
between Lannes and Desaix, placed a part of his
squadrons en jjotence to face the Austrian cavalry
which he saw before him; with the rest he dashed
upon the flank of the grenadiers that were already
attacked in front by Boudet's iufantrj-. The
charge, executed with extraordinary force, cut the
column into two parts. Kellermann's dragoons
sabred to the right and left; so that, pressed on all
sides, the unfortunate grenadiers wei-e obhged to
lay dow n their arms. Two thousand of them were
made prisoners. At their head, general Zach him-
self was obliged to deliver up his sword. The
Austrians were thus deprived of direction at the
conclusion of the battle ; for Me'las, as we have
seen, believing the victory certain, had entered
Alexandria. Kellermann did not halt here; he
darted upon the dragoons of Lichtenstein, and
put them to flight ; they fell back upon the Aus-
trian centre, which was formed in the plain in face
of Lannes, and put it into disorder. Lannes then
advanced upon the Austrian centre, while the
grenadiers of the consular guard and Carra St.
Cyr moved anew upon Castel Ceriolo, from which
they were not far ofi". On all the line from San
Giuliano to Castel Ceriolo the French had adopted
the offensive; they marched forward intoxicated
with joy and enthusiasm at seeing victory return
to them. The surprise and discouragement had
gone over to the Austrians.

How admirable is the power of the determined
will, that by perseverance in determination brings
back fortune ! The oblique line of the French
from San Giuliano to Castel Ceriolo advanced at
the charge, driving back the Austrians, who were
astoimded at having a new battle to fight. Cai-ra
St. Cyr soon reconquered the village of Castel
Ceriolo; and general Ott, who had been the first to
advance beyond that village, fearing to be over-
powered, thought of retrograding, to prevent his
communication from being cut off; a panic seized
upon his cavalry, which fled at full gallop, crying,
" To the bridges !" All tried to reach the bridges
of the Bormida. General Ott, repassing by Castel
Ceriolo with the troops of Vogelsang, was obliged
to force through the French. He succeeded, and
regained in a hurry the bank of the Bormida, where
all the Austrians hurried with headlong precipi-
tation.

The generals Kaim and Haddick strove to keep
the centre firm in vain. Lannes did not permit
them the means, but drove them into Marengo,
proceeding to push them into the Fontanone, and
from the Fontanone into the Bormida. But the
grenadiers of Weidenfeld made a momentary re-
sistance, to give O'Reilly time to return, he having

Consequences of the victory.
Bonaparte's regret for the
death of Desaix.

MARENGO.

Exultation of the French and depres-
sion of the Austrians, who send a
flag of truce.

109

advanced as far as Cassina Grossa. Tlie Austrian
cavalry, too, attempted several times to stop the
advance of tiie French. It was driven back by the
horse grenadiers of the consular guard, led by
young Beauharnois and Bes.sieres. Lannes and
Victor, with their connected forces, fell at last
upon Marengo, and threw O'Reilly's, as well as
Weidenfeld's grenadiers into disorder. The con-
fusion on the bridges of the Bormida every moment
increased. Infantry, cavalry, artillery, were all
crowded together there. The bridges could not
hold them ; and numbers threw themselves into
the Bormida to ford it. An artillery conductor
endeavoured to cross with his gun, and suc-
ceeded. Tiie entire artillery tried to imitate his
example, but a part of the carriages i-emained
in the bed of the river stuck fast. Tlie French, in
hot pursuit, captured men, horses, cannon, and
baggage. The unfortunate Mdlas, who, two hours
before, had left his army victorious, liurried out at
the news of the disaster, and could scarcely credit
what he saw. He was in utter despair.

.Such was the sanguinary conflict of Marengo;
which, as will soon be seen, exercised a vast influ-
ence upon the destiny of France, and of the world;
it gave peace to the republic at the moment, and a
little later the empire to the first consul. This bat-
tle was cruelly contested, and it was worth the
contest ; since no i-esult was ever of more im-
portance to one or the other of the combatants.
M^ias fought to avoid a fearful capitulation; Bona-
parte staked on that day his entire fortunes. The
number lost, considering the total of the combat-
ants, was immense, and out of the usual proportion.
The Austrians lost eight thousand killed and
wounded, and more than two thousand prisoners.
Their staff" was cruelly decimated. General Had-
dick was killed ; gentrals Vogelsing, Latterraann,
Bellegarde, Lainarsaille, and Gotteslieim were
wounded; and with them a great number of offi-
cers. They lost in men killed, wounded, or taken,
one-tliird of tlieir army; if this army was tliirty-
six thousand, or forty thousand strong, as was
generally said. Then, as to the French, they had
six thousand killed and wounded, and about one
thousand made prisoners, wiiich shows a loss of
one-fourth of their force out of twenty-eight thou-
sand present in the field. Their staff was as badly
treated as the Austrian. Generals Mainony, Ri-
vaud, Malher, and Champeaux were wounded, the
la«t mortJiUy ; but the greatest loss was Desaix.
France had not lost one more? regretted during ten
years of war. In tlie view of the first consul this
loss was great enough to diminish the pleasure of
the victory. His secretary, Bourienne, congratu-
lating him upon liis miraculous success, said to
him : " What a glorious day I" " Yes," replied
Bonaparte, " it would have been indeed glorious,
if I could have embraced Desaix this evening on
the field of battle. I was going to make liim
minister of war," he added. " I would liave made
him a prince if I could." The conqueror of
Marengo had yet no idea that he should, at a
time not distant, be able to give crowns to those
who served him.

The body of the unfortunate Desaix was lying
near San Ginliano, amid.st the vast field of slaugh-
ter. His aid-de-camp, Savary, who wiuj a long
time attached to him, searched for his body among

the dead ; and, recognizing it by the abundance of
the hair, removed it with great cax-e, wrapped in
a hussar's cloak, and, placing it on his horse, took it
to the head-quarters at the Torre di Garofolo.

Although the plain of Marengo was inundated
with French blood, joy reigned in the army.
Soldiers and generals felt how meritorious had
been their conduct, and appreciated fully the great
importance of a victory gained on the rear of an
enemy. The Austrians, on the contrary, were in a
consternation; they knew that they were enveloped
and forced into submi.ssion to the will of the victor.
j\le'las, who had two horses killed under him during
the day, conducted himself, in spite of his age, as
well as it was possible for the youngest and most
valiant soldiers in his army to have done ; he was
plunged in the deepest sorrow. He had gone into
Alexandria to take a little rest, believing himself
the conqueror. Now he saw liis army half de-
stroyed, flying by every outlet, abandoning its
artillery to the French, or leaving it in the
marshes of the Bormida. To finish his misfor-
tune, the chief of his staff, Zach, who enjoyed liis
entire confidence, was a prisoner with the French.
He went from one of his generals to the other in
vain; none of them would give an opinion; while all
cursed the cabinet of Vienna, which had kept them
under such fatal illusions, and precipitated them
into an abyss. Still, something must be decided
upon — but what? To cut his way through the
enemy — that had been attempted, and had not
succeeded. Should he retire upon Genoa, or pass
the Upper Po, in order to force the Tessino ?
Tliese resorts, difficult before a battle, were impos-
sible, since battle had been given and lost. General
Suchet was only some leagues in the rear, towards
Acqui, with the army of Ligurij. Bonaparte was
in front of Alexandria, with the victorious army of
reserve. Both might form a junction, and cut off
tlie road to Genoa. General Moncey, who, with
the detachment from Germany, guarded the Tes-
sino, could be succoured by Bonaparte in as little
time as it would require to march upon Moncey.
He had no hope of safety on any side; and it was
necessary to adopt the idea of a capitulation, happy
if, in abandoning Italy, he insured the liberty of
the Austrian forces, and attained from the gene-
rosity of the conqueror, that this unfortunate army
should not be prisoners of war. It was in conse-
quence resolved, to send a flag of truce to Bona-
parte, in order to commence a negotiation. The
prince of Lichtenstein was chosen to proceed on
the following morning, being the I5th of June or
2C Prairial, to the French head-quarters.

On the other side, the first consul had many
reasons for treating with the Austrians. His jirin-
cipal end was gained, for Italy was delivered by a
single battle.

After the victory which he had thus gained,
that enabled him to invest the Austrians on
every side, lie was certain of obtaining the evacua-
tion of Italy. He might also rigorously demand
that the vanquished should lay down their arms
and surrender themselves prisoners. But in
wounding the honour of bravo men he might per-
chance force them into some desperate act. 'I'his
would occasion a useless effusion of bhiod, and
would more particularly be attended with a loss
of time. Absent from Paris above a month, it

Convention of Alexandria
110 signed by Melns and Bo-
naparte.— Its articles.

Reflections on the results
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. of the battle of Ma-
rengo.

was important that he should return there as soon
as possible. There was a prisoner in the hands of
the Frencli, general Zacli, who might be made
a valuable intermediate agent. The first consul
opened his mind to him, and expressed in his pre-
sence how sincerely he felt desirous of peace ; that
he felt every wish to spare the imperial army
and to grunt it the most honourable terms. The
Austrian flag of truce having arrived, he manifested
to the officer thus sent the same disposition that
he had exhibited to general Zach, and requested
them to return with Berthier to general Melas to
arrange the basis of a capitulation. Following his
usual custom under similar circumstances, he de-
clared the irrevocable conditions under which he
Wduld treat, these being already settled in his own
mind, and :innouiiced that no modification of them
could happen. He consented that the Austrian
army should not be declared ])risoners of war ; lie
was willing that it should pass out with the honours
of war ; but he insisted that all the fortresses of
Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy, and the Legations
should be immediately given up to France, and
that the Austrians should evacuate Italy as far as
the Mincio. Tiie negotiators immediately pro-
ceeded to the Austrian head-quarters.

Although rigorous, the conditions were such as
were but natural, it may be said, generous. One
alone was painful, almost humiliating ; it was the
surrender of Genoa, after so much blood spilled,
and after an occupation of only a few days ; but
this was a point from which the conqueror would
not deiiart. Still Me'las sent his principal nego-
tiator to remonstrate against some of the conditions
in the proposed armistice. " Sir," said the first
consul with a little warmth, " my conditions are ir-
revocable. I did hot begin my military life yester-
day; your position is as well known to me as to
yourselves. You are in Alexandria, encumbered
with dead, wounded, and sick, destitute of pro-
visions, dejirived of the best soldiers in your army,
surrounded on every side. I am in a position to
demand any thing ; but I respect the grey hairs
of your general and the courage of your soldiers. —
I demand nothing that is not justified by the pre-
sent situation of affairs. Return to Alexandria ;
do as you please, you will have no other conditions."

The convention was signed on the same day, the
15th of June, at Alexandria, on the basis proposed
by Bonaparte. It was in the first i)lace arranged
that there should be a suspension of arms in Italy
until the reception of a I'eply from Vieima. If the
terms of the treaty were sanctioned, the Austrians
were to be free to retire with the honours of war
behind the line of the Mincio. They engaged upon
retiring to give up into the hands of the Frencli
all the str.ng places which they occuj)ied. The
citadels of Tortoiia, Alexandria, Milan, Arona, and
Piaceiiza were to be remitted between the 16th
and 20th of June, or 27tli of Prairial and 1st of
Messidor ; the citadels of Cevi, Savona, the for-
tresses of Colli and Genoa, between the ICih and
24th, and that of Urbino on the 2Gth. The Aus-
trian army was to be divided into three columns,
to i-etire one after another as fast as the places
were delivered up. The immense stores of pro-
visions accninulated by M^las in Italy were to be
equally divided between the French and the Aus-
trians ; the artillery of the Italian foundries to go

to the French, that of the Austrian foundries to
the imperial army. The Austrians, after the
evacuation of Lombardy as far as the Mincio,
were to retire behind the following boundary : —
the Mincio, the Fossa-Maestra, the left bank of
the Po, from Borgo- Forte as far as its mouth in the
Adriatic, Peschiera, and Mantua remained in pos-
session of the Austrians. It was verbally agreed
without any explanation, that the detachment of
the army at that time actually in Tuscany should
continue to occupy that province. Respecting the
states of the pope, and those of the king of Naples,
nothing was siijailated, as those princes were
foreign to the events in the north of Italy. If
this convention should not be ratified by the em-
peror, ten days were allowed for the resumption of
hostilities. In the meanwhile neither party was
to send any detachments into Germany.

Such are the main points of the celebrated con-
vention of Alexandria, which in one day obtained
for France the restitution of Upper Italy, and in-
volved the restitution of the whole. M^las was
afterwards too much censured for the campaign
and treaty. It is proper to be just towards the
unf(u-tunate, when, more than all, it is I'edeemed by
honourable conduct. Me'las was deceived j-egard-
ing the existence of the army of reserve by the
cabinet of Vienna, which never ceased to mislead
him with the niost fatal illusions. When he was
undeceived, he may perhaps be justly reproached
for not having united his troops quickly and com-
pletely enough, and with having left too many men
in the fortresses. It was not behind the walls of
fortresses, but on the battle-field of Mareng,o, that
these were to be defended. This being admitted,
it must be acknowledged that Melas conducted
himself as a brave man should do when he is sur-
rounded, he endeavoured to cut his way out sword
in hand. He attempted it bravely, and w.as de-
feated. After that he had but one thing left to do,
which was to sec^iire the liberty of his ai-my, because
Italy was irrevocably Inst to him. He was imable
to get better terms than he obtained ; he might
have been obliged to submit to worse humiliations
had it been the desire of his conqueror. The con-
queror himself did well not to require more, since
had he determined on more, he would have run
the chance of driving brave men to sanguinary
extremities, and himself to lose most precious time,
his presence in Paris being indispensable. Melas
deserves pity, and the conduct of the victor ad-
miration, who owed the result of the campaign not
to hazai'd, but to the most profound combinations,
most marvellously executed.

Some, fotid of detraction, have pretended that
the victory of Marengo was due to genei'al Keller-
mann, and that all the consequences were but
natural results. Why then, if Bonaparte must be
robbed of his glory, not attribute it to that noble
victim of a happy imjiulse, Desaix ; who guessing,
before having received them, the orders of his
commander, came to bring him victory and his
life ? Why not attribute it to the intrepid de-
fender of Genoa, who, in retaining the Austrians
on the Apcnniiie, gave Bonaparte time to descend
the Alps, and delivered them up to him half
destroyed ? Some say that generals Kcllemiann,
Desaix, and Massc-na are the real conquerors (^
Marengo, any one except Bonaparte. But in this

Bonaparte, well seconded by his
lifutenaiits, the real conqueror
ut' Marengo.

MARENGO.

}Iis letter to llie emperor of
Austria from the field of
battle.

Ill

world the voice of the public always decrees glorv,
and the voice of the pultlic has proclaimeil tlie
coiKiiieror of Marengo to be him who, with the
quick glance of genius, discovered the use tliat
might be made of the Higher Alps to pour down
on the i-ear of the Austri.ins, having for three
niontlis together deceived their vigilance ; to be
him who created an army that did not before exist;
rendered its creation incredible to all Europe,
traversed the St. Bernard ovir an unbeaten track,
ajipeared unexpectedly in the midst of Italy that
was confounded with astonishment, enveloped with
wonderful skill Ids uniortniiate adversary, and
having fought a decisive battle with him, lost it in
the morning and regained it in the evening. Tlie
battle was certain to be regained on the following,
if it had not on the same day ; for besides the six
thousand men unuer Disaix, ten thousand on tlie
way from the Teasino, and ten thousand posted on
the Po, presented infallible means to destroy the
army of the Austrians. Let us suppose the Aus-
triaiis victors on the I4lh of June, entering into
the defile of Stradella, finding at Piacenza generals
Duhesme and Loison with ten thousand men ready
to dispute the passage of tlie Po, having behind
them Bonaparte reint()rceu by the generals Desaix
and .Moncey— what could the Austrians have done
in such a dangerous place, stojiped bj' a river will-
defended, and pursued by an army superior in
number ? Tliey must have fallen more disastrously
than they fell in the lield of the Bormida. The
real conqueror of Marengo then was he who
mastered fortune by combinatinns, so profound, so
admirable, as to be without equals in the history of
the greatest soldiers.

In other respects he was well served by his
lieutenants, and there is no need to sacrifice the
glory of any to construct his. Masse'na by an
heroic defence of Genoa, Desaix by the most
happy resolve, Lannes by incomparablo firmness
on the plain of Marengo, Kellerinann by his fine
charge of cavalry, concurred towards his triumph.
lie recompensed all in the most signal mode; and
in regard to Desaix, he felt for him the greatest
sorrow. The first consid ordered the most mag-
niticent lionours to be paid to the man who had
rendered France such einineiit services. He even
took care of his military family, and placed about
his own person tin; two aids de-camp of Desaix,
thrown out of enipluynient at the generars decease,
colonels llapp and Savary.

Before he quitted the battle-field of Marengo,
the fiiHt consul wrote another letter to the einjicror
of Germany, although he only obtained an indirect
answer to the first, addressed by M. Tliugut to
Talleyrand. BonapartL! conceived that his victory
|)ermitted him to renew his repelled advances.
At that m.iinent he wished anlently for peace,
lie fi;lt that to pacify I'raiico without, ius he had
pacili'-d her within, wan his real vocation, and that
having accomplished this trunk, his jiresi iit autho-
rity would be legitimatized better than it Would
Ijc by new victories. Susceptible, besides, of the
keenest iiiipi<;sHionH, ho was deeply aH'ecteil at the
sight of the plain of Marengo, on which lay ;i fourth
of two armies ; an<l under the iiiHueiice of these
feelings ho wrote to tlio emperor of Austria a
singular letter:

" It is on the field of battle, amid the suffcringii

of a multitude of wounded, and surrounded by
fifteen thousand dead, that J conjure your majesty
to listen to the voice of humanity, and not to per-
mit two brave nations to slaughter each other for
interests to which they are strangers. It is for me
to urge your majesty; since I am nearer tlitin you
to the theatre of war, your heart cannot be so
strongly impressed its mine."

This letter was long ; the first consul discussed,
with an eloquence which was peculiar to himself,
and in language wiiich was not that of diplomacy,
the motives which France and Austria could have
for continuing still to arm against each other. " Is
it for religion that you combat ?" said he, " in that
case make war upon the Russians and English,
who are the enemies of your faith ; be not their
ally. Is it to guard against revolutionary prin-
ciples ? The war has extended them over one-half
of the continent in extending the conquests of
France, and it must extend them still further! Is
it for the balance of jiower in Eurojie I The En-
glish threaten moi-c than we do that equilibrium,
because they have become the masters and the
tyrants of commerce, and no body can now cnntrol
them ; whereas Europe will always bo able to
cimtrol France, if she desires to threaten seriously
the independence of nations," a proposition un-
fortunately but too well founded, as fifteen years
of war fully jjroved. " Is it,V added the sojdier-
dipliimatist, " is it for the integrity of the German
empire ? But your majesty has given up to us
Mayeiice and the German states on the left bank
of the Rhine — besides, the empiie is demanding
])eace of you. Is it, lastly, for the interests of the
house of Austria ? Nothing is more natural : but
let us carry out the treaty of Canipo Formio, which
secures to your majesty large indemnities in com-
])ensation for the provinces lost in the Netherlands,
and insures them to you where you would rather
obtain them — in Ittily. Let your majesty send
negotiators wherever you wish, and we will add
to the treaty of Canipo Forniio stipulations capable
of satisfying you in relation to the existence of the
secondary states, which the French republic is
charged with having disturbed."

The first c-nsul alluded here to Holland, Swit-
zerland, Piedmont, the Roman states, Tuscany,
anil Naples, which the directory had revolutionized.
" On these conditions," he continued, '' peace is
made ; let us extend the armistice to both ai'mies
and enter into immediate negotiations."

M. St. Julien, one of the generals in the em-
peror's confidence, was to be the bearer of the
letter atid of the convention of Alexandi'ia to
Vienna.

Some days afterwards, when his former impres-
sions were somewhat blunted, the first consul felt
a little of that regret which he often experienced
when he wrote an important document tit the first
impulse, and without consulting colder minds than
his own. Giving an ticeount to the consuls of the
step he had lliiis ttiken, he said, " I have sent a
courier to the emperor with a letter that the
minister for foreign reltitiona will communicate
to you. You wii.i, iiND rr a littlk oukjinal ; but
it is written on ihr (l.ld of battle. June 22nd."

Alter taking leave of his army he .set out for
Milan, on the 17th of June, or 2»lh of Prairial, in
the uiormng, three days after the victory of Ma-

Bonaparte institutes a pro-
112 visional govtrnment at THIERS' CONSULATE AND E^MPIRE.
Milan.

Proceedings respecting
the elettion of the
new pope.

rengo. He was expected there witli the greatest
impatience. He arrived in the evening at dark.
The population of the city, aware of his coming,
were in the streets, to see him pass. They raised
shouts of joy and threw flowers into his carriage.
The city was illuminated with that brilliancy
which the Italians alone know how to display in
their fetes. The Lombards who had been ten or
twelve months under the yoke of the Austrians,
rendered more grievous by the war and the vio-
lence of circumstances, trembled to be replaced
under their insupportable authority. They had,
during the various chances of this short campaign,
experienced the most painful anxiety, through the
contradictory reports which they had i-eceived,
and they were now delighted to see their deliver-
ance secured. Bonaparte immediately proclaimed
the re-establishment of the Cisalpine republic, and
hastened to restore order in the affairs of Italy, of
which his last victory had completely changed the
aspect.

We have already said that the war undertaken
between the Russians, the English, and the Aus-
trians, to re-establish in their states the princes
overthrown by the encroachments of the directory,
had not restored one of them. The king of Pied-
mont remained at Rome, the grand duke of Tus-
cany in Austria ; the pope had died at Valence,
and his territories were invaded by the Neapolitans.
The royal family of Naples, delivered entirely into
the hands of the English, was alone in its domi-
nions, where it permitted the most sanguinary re-
actions. The queen of Naples, the minister Acton,
and lord Nelson, allowed, if they did not command,
the most abominable cruelties. The victory of the
French rejjublic changed all this : humanity was
as much interested in the matter as policy.

The first consul instituted a provisional govern-
ment at Milan, until the Cisalpine could be recjr-
ganized, and definitive limits assigned to it, which
was not possible to be done until the peace. He
did not consider that he was bound to regard the
king of Piedmont more than Austria had done,
and he was in consequence in no hurry to re-esta-
blish him in his dominions. He substituted a provi-
sional government, and named general Jourdan the
commissioner charged with its directions. For a
good while the first consul wished to employ and
separate from his enemies an honest and clever
man, little fitted to be at the head of the French
anarchists. Piedmont was thus kept in reserve
with the intention of disposing of it at the peace,
to the advantage of the French republic, or as the
price of reconciliation with Europe, in constituting
the secondai'v states destroyed under the directory.
Tuscany was occupied by an Austrian force. The
first consul had watched, ready to seize it if the
English landed there, or it continued to raise men
for the service of the enemies of France. As for
Naples, he said and did nothing, waiting to see the
effect of his victory upon the court. Already the
queen of Naples, in fear, was about to set out for
Vienna, to ask the support of Austria, and more
particularly of Russia.

The court of Rome remained ; there temporal
were complicated with the most serious spiritual
interests. Pius VI., as ali'eady seen, had died in
France, the prisoner of the directory. The first
consul staunch to !iis political system, liad rendered

funeral honours to his remains. A conclave had
assembled at Venice, and with much trouble had
obtained from the Austrian cabinet the permis-
sion to nominate a successor to the deceased head
of the church. Thirty-five cardinals attended the
conclave. A prelate was secretary, Gonsalvi, a
Roman priest, young, ambitious, remarkable for
the suppleness, penetration, and agreeable qualities
of his mind, who has since mingled in most of the
more important public affairs of the time. The
conclave, as usual on every political or religious
question was divided. Twenty-two of the members
took the side of cardinal Braschi, nephew of the
last pope, and supported cardinal Bellisonii, bishop
of Cesena, in his pretensions. Those who were
against supporting at Rome the domination of the
family of Braschi, supported cardinal Autonelli.
This cardinal was for bringing in cardinal Mattel,
who signed the treaty of Tolentino, but he only
obtained thirteen votes. For many months the
contest had been silently but obstinately canned
on. Neither of the two candidates had as yet gained
over the vote of an opponent. At last the learned
cardinal Gerdil was thought about ; lie had figured
in the controversies of the last century. Tliis new
candidate was a Savoyard, who had become, through
the late victories of the republic, a subject of Fi-ance.
Austria put in force against him her right of ex-
clusion. To put an end to the affair, two of the
voices detached themselves from cardinal Mattel,
and promised to support cardinal Bellisomi, which
assured to him twenty-four voices, the number
required, or two-thirds of the suffrages, as rigor-
ously demanded by the ecclesiastical laws to make
the election valid. As it was in the dominions of
Austria that the conclave was held, it was thought
jiroper in the first place to submit to her the nomi-
nation in order to obtain her tacit agreement. The
court of Vienna had the want of courtesy to suffer
a month to pass away without returning any an-
swer. The sensitiveness of the princes of the
church was wounded, while at the same time all
the parties were put out of joint, and the election
of cardinal Bellisomi became impossible. It was
this moment of disorder and fatigue that the able
secretary of the conclave had awaited to start a
new candidate, the object of his long and secret
meditations. Speaking to all parlies the language
most likely to move them, he demonstrated to some
the inconvenience of the domination of the Braschi,
to others the small reliance that could be placed on
Austria or any of the Christian courts ; then address-
ing himself to the old profound and sagacious Ro-
man interest, he uncovered before their astonished
eyes a perspective view wholly new to them. " It
is from France," said he, " that we have for ten
years seen persecution proceeding — very well, it is
from France that we may be able to derive succour
and consolation. France, ever since Charlemagne,
has been for the church the most useful and the
least aimoying of protectors. A most extraordi-
nary young man, very difficult at present to judge
of, governs there now. He will, no doubt, very
soon reconquer Italy (the battle of Marengo had not
then been fought). Recollect that in 17!J7 he pro-
tected the priests, and that he has rendered formal
honour to Pius VI. Singular speeches which he has
been heard to make on religion, and on the court
of Rome, have been repeated to us by persons who

?800.
June.

Conduct of cardinal Maury.
Cardinal Chiaramonti elected
pope.

The first consul friendly to the church.
JIARENGO. He attends the Te i)euHj at Milan. 1]3

Distribution of the army.

heard them, well worthy of credit. Neglect not the
resources which offer on that side. Let us make a
choice th.it cannot be considered hostile to France,
or that may, to a certain extent, be agreeable tu
her, and we shall perhaps do a thing more useful
to the Church than in demanding candidates of all
the Catholic courts of Europe.

This was undoubtedly a coruscation from the
genius of the Roman court, which subsequently
cast out other bright flashes at the commencement
of the century. Cardinal Gousalvi then brought
forward cardinal Chiaramonti, a native of Cesena,
aged tifty-eight years, a relation of Pius VI., and
by him elevated to the purple, who enjoyed by his
intellect, learning, and mild virtues, the general
esteem. To these attractive qualities he added
great firmness. He had been seen struggling at
an anterior period against the bickerings of his
order, that of St. Benedict, and against the perse-
cutions of the holy office, with victorious fortitude.
His more recent and more noted act was a homily,
made in his character of bishop of Imola, when his
diocese was united to the Cisalpine republic. He
had then spoken of the French revolution with a
moderation which had plea.sed the conqueror of
Italy, and scandalized the fanatics of the old order
of things. Still, respected by everybody, he was
agreeable to the Braschi party, and not disliked by
his opponents; he suited all the cardinals who were
wearied by the protracted length of the conclave;
and he was deemed a fortunate selection by those
who hoped mueli from the good-will of France in
future. The adhesion, totally unexpected, of an
illustrious personage, decided his election, which
was met by no real difficulty, except in his own
personal reluctance to accept the honour. The
adhesion alluded to was that of cardinal JIaury.
This celebrated champion of the old French mon-
archy had retired to the Roman court, where he
lived, recompensed with a cardinal's cap for his
contests with Bamave and Miiabeau. He was an
emigrant, but an emigrant endowed with a remark-
able mind and extraordinary intellect; entertaining
with secret satisfaction the idea of again attaching
himself to the government of France, since glory
had redeemed the novelty of that government.
He had six votes at his disposal, and gave them to
cardinal Chiaramonti, who was elected pope a little
after the arrival of Bonaparte at Milan by the
route of the St. Bernard.

The new pontiff was at Venice, having been un-
able to obtain of the court of Vienna permission to
be crowned at .^t. Mark's, or from the court of
Naples the iin.-,><.ssion of Rome. Having gone sud-
denly to .Uicona, he negotiated in that city the
evacuation of the states of the Church, atid his own
return to the capital of the Christian world. In
this precarious Hituation, France, that had become
friendly towards the holy see, was able to render
him useful support; and the singular foresight of
cardinal Gonsalvi received its accomplishment in
a very sudden manner. The meeting of cardinal
Chiaramonti and the first consul, the one raised to
the pontificate, and the other to the republican
dictatorship, nearly at the same time, was not one
of tho lea.st <xtraordinary events of the centm-y,
nor the lea.st fertile in results.

Young Bonaparte, in I79C, tlic submissive gene-
ral of the directory, unable yet to dare every thing,

and not having the assumption to give lessons
to the French revolution, had maintained the pope
by the treaty of Tolentino, and had taken from him
only the Legations for the purpose of transfemng
them to the Cisalpine republic. Become now fii-st
consul, and able to do as he pleased, he determined
to put in order a large part of the measures accom-
plished at the French revolution, and could not
hesitate in his conduct tow.irds the pope just elected.
Scarcely had he returned to Milan wlien he saw
cardinal Martiniana, bishop of Venice, the friend of
Pius VII., and declared to him that he desired to
live in a good understanding with the holy see, to
reconcile the French revolution to the Church, and
to support it against its enemies, if the Church
showed itself reasonable, and well understood the
actual position of Frtmce and of the world. This
conversation in the ear of the old cardinal was not
lost, and soon brought forth abundant fruit. The
bishop of Verceil sent off to Rome his own nephew,
count Alciati, for the purpose of opening a nego-
tiation.

To this overture Bonaparte joined an act yet
more bold, that he dared not indulge in Paris ; but
he was pleased to make it reach that city at a dis-
tance, as an earnest of his future intentions. The
Italians had prepared a solemn Te Deum in the old
cathedral of Milan. He resolved to assist at the
ceremony ; and on the I8th of June, or 29th Prai-
rial, he wrote in these terms to the consuls : —

" To-day, in spite of all that may be said by our
Paris atheists, I shall go with great ceremony to
the Te Deum that they are going to chant in the
metropolitan church of Milan i."

After having given these attentions to the general
aflairs of Italy, he made some indispensable ar-
rangements for distributing the army in the con-
quered country, its provision, and reorganization.
Masse'na had just joined him. The ill humour of
the defender of Genoa was dissipated before the
flattering reception given him by the first consul ;
and he received the command of the army of Italy,
that in every way he so well merited. This army
was composed of the corps that had defended
Genoa, of that which had defended the Var, of the
troojis that descended the St. Bernard, and of those
which, under general Moncey, had arrived from
Germany. The whole formed an imposing mass of
eighty thousand tried men. The first consul quar-
tered them in the rich plains of the Po, in order
that they might repose after their fatigues, and
make up for their former privations by the abun-
dance they enjoyed.

With his accustomed foresight, tho first consul
ordered the forts and citadels which closed tho
pas.ses between France and Italy, to be destroyed,
in consequence, the demolition of the forts of
Arona, Bard, and Seravalle, and of the citadels of
1 vrcfe and Ceva, was ordered and executed. He fixed
tli(! mode and extent of the contributions to be
l(!vied for the sustenance of the army ; sent off the
consular gu.ard for Paris, calculating the marches
it would require to be in Paris at the time of the
festival of the 14th of July, which, agreeably to his
intentions, was to be celebrated with great pomp.
He even took care, at Milan, to regulate the details
of the festival : —

• Dep6t of the Secretary of State's Office.

I

Delay in surrendering Genoa. tion at Lyons.— Arrival at , „,„

[14 -Honourable conduct of THIERS* CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Paris. -Parisian intrigues. ,' °""-
Melas.— Bonaparte's recep- — T„)„of;„„ .,. f'-,„„t

-Injustice to Carnot.

" It is necessary," he wrote, " to study to render
as brilliant as possible the solemnity of the I4th of
July 1, and to take eai-e that it does not .■^pe the
rejoicings which have recently taken place. Cha-
riot-races miglit have been very well in Greece,
where they fought in chariots ; they are out of
place and unmeaning in France '■'."

He forbade triumphal arches to be erected for
him, saying, ho desired " no other arch of tri-
umph THAN THE PUBLIC SATI.SF ACTION."

The first consul, in spite of all that called for his
presence in Paris, remained twelve days in Milan,
His reason was, that he might, be certain of the
exact execution of the convention of Ale.xandria.
He had fears of the Austrian honour, and fancied
that he saw some delay in giving up certain for-
tres.ses. He cried out against the weakness of
Berthier, and ordered the detention of the second
and third columns of the army of Melas. The first
column iiad already passed. There was some rea-
son to fear for the delivery of Genoa, which the
Austrians might easily be tempted to deliver over
to the English, before the French should enter.
The i)rince of Hohenzollern, in fact, either spon-
taneously or urged by the English, refused at the
moment to deliver up to Massena a place they had
acquired with so much labour. Melas, informed of
the difficulty, insisted, in the most honourable
manner, that his lieutenant should fulfil the con-
vention of Alexandria, and threatened him, if he
re-sisted, to give him up to the consequences of such
a dishonourable act. The order of M(Jias was
obeyed, and Genoa was delivered up to tlie French
on the 24th of June, to the great joy of the Ligu-
rian patriots, who were freed in so short a space of
time from the Austrians and the aristocratical
dominion that oppressed them. Thus the spirited
words of Massena were verified, " I swe.ar to you i
that I shall re-enter Genoa before fifteen days are
over."

All the.se things being completed, the fir.st consul
departed from Milan on the 24th of June, in com-
pany with Duroc, his favourite aid-de-cainp, Bes-
sieres, who commanded the consular guard, Bour-
rienne, his secretary, and Savary, one of two
officers whom he had attached to his per.son out of
regard to the memory of Desaix. He stopped
some hours at Turin, to examine the works at the
citadel, and give orders. He traversed Mount Cenis,
and entered Lyons under arches of triumph, in the
midst of a population astoundeil at the prodigies
which he had accomplishe I. The Lyonnese, who
were equally struck with his policy and his gli>ry,
surrounded the Hotel of the Celestins, where he h;id
set down, and absolutely demanded to see him. He
was obliged to go out before them, and unanimous
acclamations burst forth at his appearance. They
earnestly requested liim to Iny the first stone of
the Place Bellecour, of which the reconstruction was
about to be commenced; and he was obliged to
consent. He passed a day at Lyons in the midst
of a vast concourse of all the population of tiie
environs. After addressing to t!ie Lyonnese, in
terms which much pleased them, a speech relative
to the approach of peace, commerce, and order,
he pi-oceeded to Paris. The inhabitants of the

1 At the storming of the Bastile. in 1789.

2 Dated Milan, June 22nd.— State Paper Office.

provinces thronged to greet him at every place
through which he passed. The man then so well
treated by fortune enjoyed glory, yet conversing
continually with his travelling companions, he
made this fine remark, so expressive of his in-
satiable love of fame : " Yes, I have conquered in
less than two years Cairo, Milan, and Paris ; yet if
I were to die to-morrow, I should not have half a
page in a universal history." He arrived iia Paris
in the night between the 2nd and 3rd of July.

His return was necessar}-, because, absent from
the capital nearly two months, his absence, and
more particularly the false statements about Ma-
rengo, had caused several intrigues. It was be-
lieved, for a short time, that he was either dead or
vanquished, and the ambitious set themselves at
work. Some thought of Carnot, others of La
Fayette, who from the dungeons of Olmutz had
re-entered France, through the kindness of the first
consul. They would have Carnot or La Fayette
for ))resident of the republic. La Fayette had no
hand in these intrigues ; Carnot no more. But
Joseph and Lucien Bonaparte both had an unjust
misgiving about Carnot, which they planted in
their brother's mind. Tlience came that unfortu-
nate resolution, which the first consul e.xecuted at
a later period, of taking from Carnot the ministry
of war. There were some who fancied they
could sec in Talleyrand and Fouclie', who hated
each other, a tendency notwithstanding to a recon-
ciliation, no doubt for the purpose of concert, and
profiting together by the concatenation of events.
Nothing was perceived at this time about M.
Sieyes, the man most expected to figure, in case
Bonaparte had disappeared from the scene. He
was the only personage who exhibited so much
reserve. All these things had scarcely time to
show themselves, before the bad news was effaced
by tlie good. What really did take place was
greatly exaggerated in the relation, and the first
consul conceived against scmie persons a resent-
ment which he had the good sense to conceal, and
soon to forget entirely in regard to all who had
been pointed out to him, except the illustrious
Carnot. The first consid besides, full of delight at
his success, would not have the slightest shade
thrown over the public joy. He received everybody
kindly, and was himself received in return with
transports, more especially by those whom there
was ground to reproach. Tlie people of Paris, on
hearing of his return, ran under the window of the
Tuileries, and during the day filled the courts and
garden of the palace. The first consul was obliged
to show himself several times to the people. In
the evening the city of Paris was spontaneously
illuminated. They celebrated with delight a
miraculous victory, the certain presage of a peace
ardently wished. That day affected so deeply him
who was the object of this homage, that twenty
years afterwards in loneliness, exiled, a prisoner in
the midst of the Athiniic Ocean, he counted it, in
recalling the scenes of other times, as among the
most deliglitful of his life.

On the following day the various bodies of the
state waited upon him, and gave the first exam|)le
of those felicitations, of that distasteful spectacle,
whicii has been renewed so many times under every
reign. There were seen at the Tuileries, the se-
nate, the legislative body, the tribunate, the great

Proceedings of Moreau on the
Danube.

MARENGO.

Arrangements of the army. — Daring
movements of Lecourbe. — Gallantry
of Quenot.

115

tribunals, the prefecture of the Seine, the autho-
rities civil and military, the directors of the bank
of France, finally, the institute and the learned
societies. These great bodies attended to com-
pliment the victor of Marengo, and addressed him
as they formerly spoke, and as they have spoken
since to kings. But it must be said, that the lan-
guage, although uniformly full of praise, was dic-
tated by a sincere enthusiasm. In fact, the aspect
of tilings had ch.mged in a few months ; the security
that had succeeded to great troubles, a victory un-
paralleled had replaced France at the head of tlie
European powers, the certainty of approaching
peace putting an end to the anxieties of a general
war; in fine, the prosperity already showing itself
every where, — how should such great results, so
soon realized, fail to transport every spirit ! The
president of the senate terminated his address as
follows, and this may serve as an idea of all the
others : —

" We are pleased to acknowledge that the country
owes its safety to you ; that to you the republic owes
its consolidation, and the people a prosperity which
in one day you have made succeed to ten years of
the most stormy of revolutions."

While these things were passing in Italy and
France, Moreau, on me banks of the Danube, con-
tinued his fine campaign against Kray. We left
him manoeuvring before Ulm to oblige the Aus-
trians to (juit that strong position. He had placed
himself between the lller and the Lech, support-
ing his left and his right on these two rivers, his
front to the Danube, his rear to the city of Augs-
burg, ready to receive marshal Kray if he chose
to fight, and, in waiting where he was, barring the
road to the Alps, the essential condition of the
general plan. If the success of Moreau had not
been prompt or decisive, it had been sustained and
fully sufficient to allow the first consul to accom-
plish in Italy all he had himself j)roi)oscd to
|>erform. But the moment was now come when
the general of the arn.y of the Rhine, emboldened
by time and by the success of the army of reserve,
was tempted to try a serious manoeuvre to dislodge
Kray from the position of Ulm. Now, that with-
out a knowledge of the battle of Marengo, he
knew the fortunate success of the passage of the
Alps, Moreau had no fear about uncovering the
niiiuntains, having full freedom for all his move-
ments. Of all the vari'ius manoeuvres possible to
reduce the position of Ulm, he preferred that which
consisted in passing the Danulje below that ])o-
sition, and forcing Kray to decamp by menacing
the line of his retreat. This manoeuvi-e w:is really
the best. That which consisted in pushing on
Birniyht to Vienna by Munich was too bold for the
charact'-r of Moreau, and perhaps it was pre-
mature also in the existing state of afiairs. The
plan which consisted in passing the Danube below
and very near Ulm, to storm the Austrian camp,
was hazardous, as every attack by main force must
be; but to pass below Ulm, and by threatening
Kray's line of retreat to oblige him to regain it,
was, at the same time, the wisest and surest
manoeuvre.

From the 15th to the Iflth of Jimc, Moreau set
himself in movement to execute his new resolve.
The organization of his army, as before obnerved,
had received certain changes in consL-quencc of the

departure of generals St. Cyr and St. Suzanne.
Lecourbe always formed the right, and Moreau the
centre at the head of the body of reserve. The
corps of St. Cyr, under the orders of general Gre-
nier, composed the left. The corps of St. Suzanne,
reduced to the proportions of one strong division,
and confided to the command of the audacious
Richepanse, had to perform the duty of a corps of
flankers, that at the moment had the charge of
observing Ulm, while the army manoeuvred below
that city.

There had been some fighting before Ulm, more
particularly on the 5th of June, when two French
divisions made head against forty thousand Aus-
trians. This was part of the object of Kray, in
order to detain the French before Ulm, by con-
tinuing to keep them employed. On the I8tli of
June Riche])anse was in sight of Ulm ; Grenier,
with the left, at Guntzburg ; the centre, composed
of the corps of reserve, at Burgau ; and Lecourbe,
with the riglit, extended as far as Dillingen. The
enemy had destroyed the bridges from Ulm as far
as Donauwerth. But an observation made by Le-
courbe decided Moreau to choose the points of
lilindheim ' and Gremheim to cross the Danube,
because at these two places the bridges were im-
perfectly destroyed, and mijiht be easily repaired.
Lecourbe was charged with this dangerous ope-
ration. In order to facilitate, general Boyer was
reinforced with five battalions and the entire re-
serve of cavalry under the orders of general
Hautpoul. The centre, under the general-in-chief,
moved from Burgau to Aislingen, to be at hand to
su])port the passage. Grenier, with the left, was
ordered to make an attempt on his side, in order
to attract the attention of the enemy.

On the lyth of June, in the morning, Lecourbe
])osted his troops between the villages of Blindheim
and Grc-mheini, the bridges of which were only
partially destroyed, and he took care to shelter
liiiiiself behind some clumps of trees. He had no
bridge equipage, and possessed only a quantity of
boards. He supplied by his courage the want of
every thing else. General Gudin directed, under
L' courbe, this attem])t at a passage. Some guns
were ))laced on the bank of the Danube to keep off"
the enemy ; and at the same time, Quenot, the
adjutant, threw himself couragermsly into the
water, in order to seize ujion two large boats that
were lying on the other side. This gallant officer
br<iught them over under a shower of balls, and
unhurt, save by a slight wound in the foot. The
best swimmers of the division were chosen ; they
]ilaced their clothes and arms in the two boats, and
])lunged into the Danube umier the enemy's fire.
On reaching the ojiposite bank, and without taking
time to put on their clothes, they seized their
arms and flew upon some companies of the Aus-
tri;ins in-otecling that part of the river, dispersed
them, and took two pieces of cannon with the
ammunition waggons. This being achieved, the
soldiers hiistened to the bridges, the piles of which
were still standing ; they worked hard on both
banks, jdacing ladders and planks, to establish a
conununication. Some artillery soldiers availed
themselves of it to cross to the other side of iIk?
Danube, in order to employ against the enemy the

< RlunhcimT— Translator.
I -2

116

Bold charge of Leconrbe-
Passage of the Danube.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Battle of Hochstedt.
The French, masters
of the field.

two guns which had been thus taken from hun.
The French were soon masters of both banks of
the river, and had sufficiently established the
bridges to afford a passage to the greater part of
the troops. The infantry and cavalry began to
pass over. It was expected that numerous Aus-
trian reinforcements would promptly ascend from
Donauwerth, and descend from all the upper posi-
tions, Gundelfingen, Guntzburg, and Ulm. Le-
courbe, who had himself repaired to the spot,
placed all the infantry he could spare, with some
cavalry troops, in the village of Schwenningen,
which is situated on the road to Donauwerth.
This was an important point, because by that road
it was that the Austrians who ascended the Danube
must arrive. It was not long, in consequence, be-
fore four thousand infantry, five hundred horse,
and six pieces of cannon showed themselves, and
attacked the village, which, for the space of two
hours, was several times taken and retaken. The
superiority of the Austrians in numbers, and their
determination to retake so important a post, had
nearly given them the victory over the French,
and obliged them to abandon the village, when
Lecourbe was seasonably x-einforced by two squa-
drons of carabiuiers. To these he joined some
troops of the 8th hussars, that happened to be at
hand, and sent them upon the enemy's infantry,
which extended itself on the vast plain towards
the bank of the Danube. The charge was exe-
cuted with so much vigour and promptitude, that
the Austrians were routed, leaving to the French
their artillery, two thousand prisoners, and three
hundred horses. Two battalions of Wurtem-
bergers, who endeavoured to resist by forming
themselves into squares, were broken like the rest.
After this brilliant action, fought by the brigade
of Puthod, Lecourbe had no more to fear on the
side of the Lower Danube. But it was not on that
side from which he had to fear the greatest dangers.
The main body of the Austrians being posted above,
or at Dillingeii, Gundelfingen, and Ulm, it was
necessary to turn himself to that side in order
to face the enemy, w-ho was about to descend.
Happily the divisions of Montrichard, Gudin, and
the reserve of Hautpoul had passed over the re-
established bridges of Gremheim and Blindlieim,
and bordered upon the famous plain of Hochstedt,
rendered so sadly celebrated for the French in the
time of Louis XIV., on the 13th of August, 1704.
The enemy, having hurried from all the nearest
points to Dillingen, at some distance from Hoch-
stedt, was drawn up near the Danube, the infantry
upon the French left, along the marshes of that
river, and behind some clumps of wood, the cavalry
on their right in great force. Thus they presented
themselves in good order, awaiting the reinforce-
ments which were approaching, and slowly retiring
to draw nearer to them. The 37th demi-brigade
and a squadron of the 9th hussars followed, step
and step, the retrograde movement of the Austrians.
Lecoui'be, disembarrassed, by the combat of Schwen-
ningen, of the enemy who might have come from
the Lower Danube, arrived at a gallop at the head
of the 2nd regiment of carabiniers, of the cuiras-
siers, the 6th and 9th cavalry, and the 9th hussars:
this was nearly all the reserve cavalry of general
Hautpoul. Tliey were upon a plain, separated from
the enemy by a little water-course, called the Egge,

on which was the village of Schrezheim. Lecourbe,
at the head of the cuirassiers, crossed the village
at full gallop, formed as they issued out of it, and
rushed upon the Austrian cavalry, who, surprised
at the suddenness and rapidity of the charge, fell
back in disorder, and left uncovered nine thousand
infantry, whom it was designed to protect. The
infantry thus abandoned would have thrown them-
selves into the ditches that burrow the banks of
the Danube towards Dillingen ; but the cuirassiers,
well directed, cut the column, separating one thou-
sand eight Imndred men, who were made prisoners.

This was the second fortunate act in the day
due in part to the cavalry, but it was not the last.
Lecourbe placed himself on the Egge, waiting for
the rest of his resources that was coming by the
bridge of Dillingen, which had fallen into the hands
of the French. Kray's cavalry hurried forward
with all expedition, outstripped the infantry, and
arranged itself in two grand lines in the plain at
the rear of Lauingen. This was an excellent op-
portunity for the French cavalry to take advantage
of the spirit which had inspired them through the
successes of the morning, and to measure them-
selves in the plain, with the numerous and bril-
liant squadrons of the Austrian army. Lecourbe,
having occupied Lauingen with his infantry, united
with Hautpoul's all the cavalry of his divisions,
and formed it on the plain, offering to the enemy
that kind of challenge which was likely to tempt
him on account of the numbers and quality of his
hoi-se. The first of the Austrian lines chai'ged the
French at full speed with the steadiness and order
natural to a well-trained cavalry. It drove back
the 2d regiment of carabiniers, which had con-
ducted itself so well in the morning, and the squa-
drons of hussars which had charged along with it.
The French cuirassiers then advanced, rallied the
hussars and carabiniers, who faced about on seeing
they were supported; and the whole united dashed
forward upon the Austrian squadrons, whieh they
in turn drove back. On seeing this, the second line
of the enemy's cavalry advanced, and having the
advantage of the impulse over the French, whom
the former charge had separated, obliged them to
fall back with precipitation. The 9th was in re-
serve, and, manoeuvring with skill and steadiness,
attacked the Austrian flank by surprise, threw
it into confusion, and secured to the victorious
French squadrons the plains of Hochstedt.

The losses in killed, wounded, and prisoners,
could not be great, since it is only the encounters of
cavalry with infantry that are serious in this re-
spect. But the plain remained in possession of the
French, whose cavalry now claimed a real advan-
tage over that of the Austrians, which it never
before exhibited. Each French military arm had
a decided superiority over that of the enemy.
It was eight o'clock, and in the long days of June,
there was still time for the imperialists to dispute
the left bank of the Danube, so gloriously con-
quered in the morning. Eight thousand infantry
advanced to the assistance of the corps already
beaten, followed by a numerous artillery. Moreau
arrived at the head of the reserve. A new and
ntore obstinate contest then commenced. The
Irench infantry in turn attacked the Austrian
under a fire of round and grape shot. The soldiei's
of Kx'ay, who fought for a great stake — the preser-

I

July.

Kray quits Ulm, and marches rapidly
to Nordlingen. — Moreau pursues
him iu vain ; recrosses the Danube

MARENGO.

and enters Munich.— Encounter
at Neuburg.— Dealh of Latuur
a'Auvergne.

vation of Ulm, displayed great energy. Moreau
found himself several times engaged in pci-son in
ll»e midst of the fray; and his infantry, supported
by the cavalry, which returned to the charge, re-
mained victorious at eleven o'clock at night. At the
same moment the 37th dtnii-brigade entered into
Gundolfingen, from which time all the positions on
tile plaia were in the power of the French. They
had crossed the Danube, taken five thousand pri-
soners, twenty pieces of cannon, twelve hundred
horses, three hundred carriages, and considerable
magazines at Donauwerth. The lighting had lasted
for eighteen hours successively. This affair, which
changed the unfortunate recollection of Hochstedt
into one equally glorious, was, after Marengo, the
finest operation of the campaign, and was alike
honourable to Lecourbe aisd ^lorcau. The last
had slowly acquired hardihood : stimulated by
the examples which Italy afforded, he had entered
upon more enlarged view.s, and had culled a laurel
of that tree fi-oni which the first consul had ga-
thered such evergreen wreaths, — a rivalry noble
and happy, had it never extended further.

After a manoeuvre so hardy and decisive on the
part of his adversary, Kray could not much longer
remain in Ulm, without being cut off from his com-
nmnications with Vienna. To march up directly to
the French, and offer them battle, would be too
hazardous a measure, with forces in whom the
courage had been so damped by the late combat. He
huVried himself for the purpose of decamping the
same night. He sent off in advance his park, con-
sisting of several thousand carriages, and the next
morning followed it with the main body of his army
on the route to Nordlingcn. He marched in fright-
ful weather over roads that the rain had entirely
torn up. Nevertheless, the rapidity of his I'etreat
was such, that in twenty-four liours he arrived at
Neresheim. In order to support his dispirited
troops, he gave out that ,a suspension of arms had
been signed in Italy, and that it would be extended
into Germany ; peace not failing to succeed. This
news diffused joy among his soldiers, and gave
them some energy. They arrived at Nordlingen.

Moreau was apprised too late of the departure
of tiie enemy. lliche|)anse had not perceived the
evacuation of Ulm until the last detachments were
retiring. He immediately made known the circum-
stance to his commander-in-chief. But during the
interval the Austrianshad gained the advance; and
the bad weather, which had existed for two days,
did not pennit him to overtake them, even by a
forced marcli. Still Moreau arrived at Nordlingen
on the 23d of June, in the evening, and pressed
u|)on the rear-guard of Kray, who continued to
reiire. Seeing, that from the bad state of the
roads, he could not gain upon the Austrian army so
as to overtake it, and that lie miglit not be drawn
on into a fruitlesH pursuit for an unseen distance,
-Moreau determined to halt, and clioose a position
adapted to tlie present state of tilings. Kray, con-
ccnhng the good news of the battle of Marengo,
whicii wa.s not then known to the French army,
sent to announce the suHpension of arms, concluded
in Italy, and prop<is<<I a like stipulation for (]er-
niany. .Moreau, Kuspe<ting from lliis that Home
great events iiad occurred on the otiier side of the
Alps, did not doubt their being propitious, and ex-
pecting every instant a courier, who would i)ut

him in possession of the infoi-mation, he would con-
clude nothing before he learned the particulars,
and, above all, before he had secured better can-
tonments for his army. He therefore took the re-
solution of re-passing the Danube, confiding to
Richepanse the investment of the two principal
places on that river, Ulm and Ingoldstadt, and pro-
ceeding with the main body of his army to the
other side of the Lech, in order to occupy Augs-
burg and Munich, and to secure a part of Bavaria
fir i)rovisions; in fine, to conquer all the bridges of
the Isai", and acquire all the roads leading to the
Inn.

Jlorcau accordingly repassed the Danube and
the Lech, by Donauwerth and Rhain, moving his
different corps by Pottmess and Pfuffenhofen, as far
as the banks of the Isar. On that river he occu-
)>ied the points of Landshut, Mo<,.Kl)urg, Fi-eisingen,
and detached Docaen upon Munich, which he en-
tered, as if iu triumph, on the 28th of June. Whilst
he executed this movement, the armies encountered
each other for the last time, and fought a battle
without an object. This took place at Neubui-g, on
tlie right bank of the Danube, while both were
marching on the Isar. A French division having
separated itself at too great a distance from the
rest of the army, had to nuxintain a long and obsti-
nate contest, in which it was at last successful,
aftei' sustaining a severe loss in that of the
brave Latour d'Auvergne. This illustrious scjldier,
honoured by Bonaparte with the naiue of the first
grenadier of France, was killed by the thrust of a
lance through his heart. The army shed tears
upon his tomb, and did not quit the field of battle
until they had raised a monument over his re-
mains.

On the 3d of July, or Nth Messidoi', Moreau was
in the midst of Bavaria, blocking Ulm and Ingold-
stadt, on the Danube, and occupying on the Isar,
Landshut, Moosbiu-g, Freisingcn, and Munich. It
was now time to think of the Tyrol, and to tjike from
the prince de Reuss the strong positions of which
he was master along the mountains, at the sources of
the Uler, the Lech, and the Isar — positions through
which he was always able to annoy the French.
He was not very dangerous to encounter, but his
])rescnce obliged the French to make considerable
detachments, and he became the subject of con-
tinual occu])atiou for the right wing. To this end,
general Molitor was reinforced, and put in posses-
sion of the means for attacking the Orisons and the
Tyrol. TIk; ])ositions of Fussen, Reitti, Immen-
stadt, and Feldkircli, were taken in succession, in
a prompt and brilliant maimer; and our establish-
ments on the Isar were thus jjerfectly consoli<l:ited.

Kray had repassed the Isar, and |)Iacod himself
behind the Inn, occupying, iu advance of the river,
the camp of Am])fing, and the bridge iieads of
VVasserburg and of Miihidorf. It was tiie middle
of July, or end of Messidor. The French govern-
ment had left to general Moreau the liberty of
acting as lie pleased, and to lay by his arms when
lie tiiought it convenient. He imagined, with
some reason, that it was not rigiit he alone should
remain fighting. The rest whitij the soldiers of
the army of Italy enjoyed, was envied by the
soldiers of Germany ; further, the army of the
Rhine, between the Isar and the Inn, had a nuuh
more advanced jiosition than tin.' army of Italy,

Armistice concluded be-
118 tween Moreau and the

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Grand fete at Paris. —
Arrival of count St. Ju-
lieu to treat of peace.

1800.
July.

and bad thus one of its flanks uncovered. Al-
though an article in the treaty of Alexandria inter-
dicted both Austrians and French from sending
detachments into Germany, it was possible that
this stipulation might not be scrupulously kept,
and that the army of the Rhine might soon expect
an increase of enemies upon its hands. Moreau,
who had received several propositions from mar-
shal Kray, determined at last to listen to them;
and on the 15th of July, or 26lh Messidor, he con-
sented to sign at Parsdorf, a place in advance of
Munich, a suspension of arms nearly conformable
to that of Italy.

Both armies were to retire, each behind a line
of demarcation, which, parting from Balzers in the
Grisous, passed along the Tyi-ol, ran between the
Isar and the Inn at an equal distance from both
rivers, and fell to Wilshofen on the Danube, as-
cending that river as far as the mouth of the Alt-
Miihl,and following the Alt-Muhl, the Rednitz,and
the Mayn, as far as Mayence : the fortresses of
Philipsburg, Ulm, and Ingoldstadt, remaining
blockaded ; but every fifteen days they might re-
ceive a quantity of provisions in proportion to the
strength of their garrisons. The two armies had
to give twelve days' notice before the commence-
ment of hostilities. The French army had Franconia
from which to draw its provisions, as well as
Swabia, and a large part of Bavaria. The French
troops posted u|>(;n the Mincio on one side of the
Alps, and on the other upon the Isar, were now
about to receive, for their toils and privations, a
compensation from the rich plains of Italy and
Germany. These brave men had merited it by
the greatest exploits that had yet signalized the
arms of Fi-ance. The army of the Rhine, although
it had not cast so bright a lustre as the army of
Italy, had .still distinguished itself by a campaign
conducted with as much sagacity as energy. The
last great event of the campaign, the passage of the
Danube at Hochstedt, might take a place by the
side of the finest feats of arms in the military
history of France. Public opinion, which in 179fl
had not been favourable to Moreau, had, in UiOO,
become almost ])artial in his behalf. After the
name of Bonaparte — it is true at a great distance,
but such a distance as that the distinction was
flattering — was heard without cessation the name
of Moreau ; and as public opinion is fluctuating,
this year he had completely occupied the place of
the conqueror of Zurich, by whom the preceding
year he had been eclipsed.

The news of the brilliant success of the army of
the Rhine completed the public satisfaction pro-
duced by the extraordinary success of the army of

Italy, and changed into certainty the hopes of
peace with which every mind was filled. There
was general joy. The public funds, the five per
cents., which sold at thirteen francs before the
18th Brumaire, mounted to forty. A decree of the
consuls announced to the fundholders, that in the
first half year of the year ix. the dividends falling
due on the 22nd of September, 1800, would be
wholly paid in specie. Agreeable tidings, such as had
not for a long while been imparted to the unfortu-
nate state creditors. All these benefits wei'c at-
tributed to the armies, to the generals who had
led them to victory, but principally to young
Bonaparte, who knew well how at the same
time to govern and to fight in a superior manner.
Therefore the fete of the 14th of July, one of the
two republican solemnities preserved by the con-
stitution, was celebrated in the most splendid man-
ner. A very magnificent ceremony was prepared
at the Invalides. The musical composer, Mehul,
prepared some fine pieces ; and the first Italian
singers of Italy, that about this period became de-
prived of its master-pieces and its artists, were
brought to Paris to execute them. After hearing
the performances under the dome of the Invalides,
the first consul, accompanied by a numerous staff,
went to the Champ de Mars to review the con-
sular guard. It had arrived that same morning,
covered with dust, its clothes in tatters, not having
stopped on the march from the day after the battle
of Marengo, in order to be punctual at the meeting
appointed with the first consul for the 14th of
July. The consular guard brought the colours
taken in the late campaign, to be placed in the
general depository of the French military trophies.
The crowd, which lined both sides of the Champ
de Mars, rushed forward to obtain a nearer view
of the heroes of Marengo. The intoxication of the
public joy was carried to such an extent as well
nigh to produce accidents. The first consul was a
long while pressed up in the crowd. He entered
the Tuileries surrounded by the multitude that
jjressed upon his steps. The entire day was de-
voted to i)ublic rejoicing.

Some days afterwards, upon the 21st of July, or
2nd Thermidor, the arrival of count St. Julien in
Paris was announced, an officer in the confidence
of the emperor of Germany, charged to carry to
Paris the ratification of the convention of Alex-
andria, and to confer with the first consul upon the
conditions of the ajiproaching peace. No doubt
was then entertained of the conclusion of the paci-
fication so much desired, which should put an end
to the second coalition. France, it may be .said,
had never before seen such delightful days.

I

1799.
Aug.

Bonaparte leaves Egypt for France. HELIOPOLIS.

BOOK V.

HELIOPOLIS.

(TATE OP ECYrl AFTER THE DEPARTURE OE BONAPAUTE. — DEEP GRIEF OP THE ARMY, AND DESIRE TO RETURN
TO FRANCE. — KLEBER INCRF.ASES, IN PLACE OF REPRKSSISG, THE FEELING. — HIS REPORT ON THE STATE OP
THE COLONY. — THE REPORT DESIGNED FOR THE DIKECTORY IS RECEIVED BY THE FIRST CONSUL. — FALSEHOODS
IT CONTAINED. — GREAT RtSOllRCES OF THE COLONY, AiiD FACILITY OF ITS PREStRVATION TO FRANCE. — KLEI1E&
DRAWN ON BY THE FKELINGS HE HAD ENCOLRAGED, IS BROUGHT TO TREAT WITH THE TURKS AND ENGLISH. —
CULPABLE CONVENTION OF EL ABISCH, STIPULATING FOR THE EVACUATION OF EGYPT. — REFUSAL OP THE ENG-
LISH TO EXECUTE THE CONVENTION, THEY CALCULATING THAT THE FRENCH MUST LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS. —
NOBLE INDIGNATION OF KLEBER — RUPTURE OF THE ARMISTICE AND BATTLE OF HELIOPOLIS. — DISPERSION OF
THE TURKS. — KLEBER PURSUES THEM TO THE FRONTIERS OF SYRIA. — TAKES THE CAMP OF THE VIZIER. — RE-
PARTITION OF THE ARMY IN LOWER EGYPT. — RETURN OF KLEBER TO CAIRO, IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE CITY,
BROKEN OUT INTO INSURRECTION DUKING HIS ABSENCE. — HAPPY TEMPORIZING OF KLEBER.— HAVING COLLECTED
HIS MEANS, HE ATTACKS AND RETAKES THE CITY.— GENERAL SUBMISSION. — ALLIANCE WITH MURAD BEY. —
KLEBER, WHO THOUGHT IT IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP EGYPT WHEN SUBDUED, RECONQUERS IT IN THIRTY-FIVE DAYS
FROM THE TURKISH FORCES AND THE REVOLTED EGYPTIANS.— HIS FAULTS ALL GLORIOUSLY EFFACED. — EMO-
TION OF THE MUSSULMAN PEOPLE IN LEARNING THAT EGYPT REMAINS IN THE HANDS OF THE INFIDELS. —
A FANATIC TRAVELS FROM PALESTINE TO CAIRO, TO ASSASSINATE KLEBER. — UNFORTUNATE DEATH OP THE
LATTER, AND ITS CONSEOUENCES FOR THE COLONY. — PRESENT TRANQUILLITY.— KLEBER AND DESAIX BOTH
KILLED ON THE SAME DAY. — CHARACTERS AND LITES OF THOSE TWO CELEBRATED WARRIORS.

In August, 1799, Bonaparte, upon receiving in-
telligence from Europe, decided that he would
quit Egypt suddenly, and ordered Admiral Gan-
teaume to send to sea from the port of Alexandria
tlie Muiron and the Carere frigates, the only ships
wliich remained after the dcstiuction of the flotilla,
and to bring them to an anchor in the little road of
Marabout. It was tiiere that he intended to em-
bark, about two leagues west from Alexandria. He
tool; with him the generals Berthier, Lannes,
Murat, Andrcos-sy, Marmont, and two learned men
of whom he was must fond, IVlonf^e and lierthoUet.
On the 22nd of August, or 5tli Fructidor, year vii.,
he went to Marabout, and embarked precipitately,
continually in fear that the Engliish squadron
would appear. The horses that li.nd served to
bring his party to the spot were loft upon the
shore, and went off full gallop towards Alexandria.
'file sight of the horses ready sad<lled, and de-
prived of their riders, occasioned considerabh;
alarm. It wa.H believed that some accident had
happened to the ottieers of tlie garrison, and a body
of cavalry was detached in piirsiiit. Soon after-
wards a Turkish groom, who had a.^sisted at the
embarkation, exjilained all as it had i-eally oc-
curred; and Menou, who was alone acquainted with
the secret from tlie beginning, announced in Alex-
andria the departure of Bonap.vrte, and the appoint-
ment which he had made of KIcbcr as his successor.
Kl(5bcr had an appointment with Bonaparte at llo-
sctta for the 23id of August ; but Bonaparte,
anxious to embark, had gone without attending to
it. Besides, in iinixming upon Kl^ber the heavy
burthen of the command, he was spared the troul)le
of either objection or refusal, by leaving him the
absolute ordiT.

This iuteliigencc caused a sorrowful surprise to
the army. At first nobody credited it: general
Dugua, commanding at Itiiseita, made a contra-
diction of the statement, not b<lieving it himself,
and feaiing for the bad cfl'ect it might produce.

All doubt upon the subject soon became impossible,
and Kl^ber was officially proclaimed the successor
of general Bonaparte. Officers and soldiers were
in a state of consternation. The ascendency exer-
cised by the conqueror of Italy over the soldiery
was required for the purpose of drawing them after
him into distant and unknown lands ; it would soon
require that ascendency to retain them in due
subordination. The regard for home is a passion
which becomes violent when the distance and
strangeness of the place, and fears of the impos-
sibility of return, increase the irritation of the
feeling. Often, in Egypt, this passion caused mur-
murings, and sometimes suicides. But the presence
of the general-in-chief. his address,and his incessant
activity, expelled all gloomy feelings. Always
knowing how to occupy himself and to occupy
others, he captivated to the highest pitch, and dis-
sipated around him those irksome sensations, or
prevented their having birth, to which he himself
was utterly foreign. The troops often said, that
they should never return to France, — that they
should never more recross the Mediterranean, —
now more than ever since the fleet of Aboukir was
destroyed ; but general Bonaparte was there, and
with him they would go any where, and find a way
home again, or make a new country for themselves.
Bonajjarte being gone, the face of every thing was
changed. Thus the news came upon them like a
thunderbolt. The worst epithets were made descrip-
tive of his act of departure. They did not consider
that irresistible impulse of patriotism and ambition
which, at the news of the disasters of the republic,
had induced him to return to France. They saw
nothing but the abandonment of the unfortunate
army which had so much confidence in his genius
as to induce it to f'olhiw him. They said to them-
selves, that he himself must be convinced of the
liopeiesHiiess of the enterprise, of the impossibility
of making it succeed, since lie liad eloped and
given up to others that which ho himself con-

state of feeling in the army of Kleber's popularity.— He

120 E^ypt.-The discontent of THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. assumes the command ;

Kleber affects the army. reports to the directory.

1799.
Aug.

sidered to be altogether impracticable. But thus
to start off alone, leaving beyond the sea those
whom he had thus compromised, — it was a cruelty,
even a cowardice, according to certain slanderers ;
for he always had some, that were even very near
his person, throughout the most brilliant epochs
of his career.

Kle'ber was not attached to Bonaparte, and bore
his ascendency with a species of impatience. If
he restrained this feeling in his presence, he showed
it elsewhere by improper remarks. Fanciful, and
given to grumble, Kle'ber had greatly desired to
take a part in the expedition to Egypt, in order to
get himself out of that state of disfavour in which
he was suffered to live under the directory, and
now he was regretting his having quitted the banks
of the Rhine for those of the Nile. With a feeble-
ness unworthy of his character, he permitted his
feelings to display themselves ; and this man, so
great in danger, gave way to them as much as the
lowest of his soldier.s could have done. The com-
mandership-in-chief did not balance in him the
necessity of living in Egypt, because he was not
fond of command. Pushing on the discontent
against Bonaparte, he committed the fault, that
might be called criminal, if heroic acts had not
repaired them, of himself contributing to produce
a dissatisfaction in the army which very soon be-
came general. Following his example, every body
began to declare that they would not stay any
longer in Egypt, and that it was necessary at any
cost to return to France. Other sentiments min-
gled with this passion for returning, calculated to
subvert the spirit of the army, and give occasion to
the most mischievous resolutions.

An old spirit of rivalry then and for a good while
before had divided the officers who once belonged
to the armies of Italy and of the Rhine. They were
jealous of each other, one party pretending against
the other, that it carried on warlike operations in
a superior manner ; and although this rival feel-
ing was repressed during the presence of Bona-
parte, it was in reality the principal cause of the
difference of their opinions. All those who came
from the army on the Rhine, had little attachment
for the Egyptian expedition; while the officers who
had composed part of the army of Italy, though
feeling melancholy at being so far from France,
were in favour of the expedition, because it was the
work of their commander-in-chief. After his de-
parture all restraint disappeared. They tumul-
tuously ranged around Kleber, and repeated loudly
with him, what began to take hold of every body's
mind, that the conquest of Egypt was an insensate
expedition, which should be abandoned at the ear-
liest possible moment. Nevertheless, there were
some of an opposite way of thinking; several gene-
rals, such as Lanusse, Menou, Davout, Desaix,
more particularly, manifested difiercnt sentiments.
Hence there were two parties, one called the colo-
nist, the other the anti-colonist. Unhappily Desaix
was absent. He had accomplished the conquest of
Upper Egypt, where he had fought several brilliant
actions, and governed with great ability. His in-
fluence could not, therefore, be opposed at that
moment to Kleber's. To complete the misfortune,
he was not to remain in Egypt : Bonaparte, wishing
to have him near his pei-son, had committed the
error of not nominating him commander-in-chief,

but left an order for him to return to Europe as
soon as possible. Desaix, whose name was univer-
sally cherished and respected in the army, and
whose talents for government equalled his mili-
tary ability, would have administered the govern-
ment well, and would have avoided all those weak-
nesses to which Kle'ber deUvered himself over, at
least for the moment.

Still Kleber was the mo.st popular general among
the soldiery. His name was hailed by them with
the utmost confidence, and it consoled them in
■some degree for the loss of the great general who
had quitted them. The first impression once
passed, their minds, though they had not perfectly
recovered their usual equilibrium, were become
more calm and sensitive to justice. A different
kind of conversation was held: they said, that, after
all, Bonaparte was obliged to fly to the aid of
France when in danger; and that besides, the army
once established in Egypt, the best thing he could
do for it was to go to Paris, in order to explain
there its situation and necessities, and to demand
the succours which he alone would be able to extort
from the negligence of the government.

Kleber returned to Cairo, took the command
with a species of ostentation, and placed his quar-
ters in the Ezbekyeh, in the fine Arab house which
had been inhabited by his predecessor. He dis-
]ilayed a degree of pomp, less to satisfy his own
taste, than to present an imposing appearance be-
fore the orientals, and determined to make his
authority felt by exercising it with vigour. But it
was not a long while before the cares of the com-
mandership-in-chief became unbearable to him:
the new dangers with which the Turks and English
threatened Egypt, and the grief of exile, which was
general, filled his heart with the most gloomy dis-
couragements. After having received a report of
the state of the colony, made at his order, he ad-
dressed to the directory at home a despatch full of
errors, and with it sent a report of the administra-
tor of the finances, Poussielgue, in which things
were represented under a false aspect, and more
particularly accusatory of Bonaparte himself.

In this despatch and the report, dated the 2Gth of
September, or 4th Vende'miaire, year viii., general
Kleber and the commis.sary, Poussielgue, said that
the army, already diminished one-half, found itself
at that moment reduced to about 15,000 men; that
it was nearly naked, which in that climate was ex-
tremely dangerous, on account of the difference of
the temperature between the day and night ; that
they were in want of cannon, muskets, projectiles,
and powder, all which things it was difficult to
rei)lace there, because iron for casting, lead, and
timber for building, and miiterials for making
powder, were not to be obtained in Egypt : then
there was a large deficiency in the finances, as the
sum of 4,000,000f. was due to the soldiers for jiay,
and 7,000,000 or 8,000,000f. to contractors, for
various services ; that the resources for establish-
ing contributions were already exhausted, the
country being ready to revolt if new ones were laid
on ; that the inundation not being great that year,
and the crops likely to be deficient, the means and
the will to ])ay the impost were equally unavailable
with the Egyptians; that dangers of every kind
threatened the colony; that the two old chiefs of the
Mamelukes, Murad-Bey and Ibrahim-Bey, main-

Aug.

Errors in Kleber'3 despatches. — Bona-
parte censured in them— They fall IIELIOPOLIS.
into the hands of the English.

Kleber's misstatenit-nts rectilied.
Salubrity and fertility of Egypt.

121

taineJ their j^rouud, one in Upper, the other Lower
Egypt. Tliat tlie celebrated paclia of Egypt, Djezzar,
was about SLMnHiig to tlie Turkisli army a reinforce-
ment of 30,000 e.\cellent soldiers, the former de-
fenders of St. Jean d' Acre against the French ; that
the gnind vizier himself liad left Constantinople,
and had already arrived in the neighbourhood of
Damascus with a powerful army ; that the Rus-
sians and the English had united a regular force
with the ii'regulai- Turkish soldici-s ; that in this
extremity there remained but one resource, which
was to treat with the Porte ; that Bonapai'te, in
having given the example and express authoi-ity in
the instructions left for his successor, an attempt
was about to be made to stipulate with the grand
vizier, for a sort of nii.\ed government, by wliich
the Porte should occupy the open part of Egypt,
and levy the miri, or land-tax, while the French
should occupy the towns and forts, and receive the
revenue of the customs. Kl^ber added, that the
general-in-chief had seen the crisis approaching,
and that it was the real cause of his precipitate de-
parture. Poussielgue finished his report by a gross
calumny, saying that B maiiarte, in (piitting Egypt,
had taken with him 2,000,000 f. It must be added,
that Bonaparte had heaped benefits upon the head
of Poussielgue.

Such were the dispatclies sent to the directory
by Kl^er and Poussielgue. Bonaparte was treat( d
in them as an individual supposed to be lost, and
to whom no regard need bo had. He was believed
to be exposed to the double danger of capture by
the English, and of condemnation by the directory,
for having quitted his array. What would have
been the embarrassment of those who wrote
these communications, if they had known that they
were to be opened and read by him who was the
object of their calumny, become in the interim the
absolute licad of the government ?

Kl^jer, too careless t(t assure himself of the true
state of tilings, did not think of examining whether
the statements thus sent were in accordance with
his own a.s.sertions. Klc'bcr did not imagine he was
stating what was untrue; he transmitted, through
negligence or ill-humour, the sayings that excited
feelings had multiplied around him, so far as to
establish for them a species of public notoriety.
These despatches were confided to a cousin of the
director Ban-as, and were accompanied by a muti-
tude of letters, in which the ofticors of the army
expressed their despair to a degree equally im-
l)rudent and unjust. This cousin of Barras was
taken by the English. He throw overboard the
despatches, of which he was beaier, in a great hurry ;
but the packet swam, was seen, recovered, and
sent to the British cabinet. The effect of these
mischievous communications will be soon seen ;
the despatches, in the hands of the English, were
soon piililisliiMl all over Europe.

At tin; hame lime KlAer and Poussielgue had
sent their despatches to Paris in duplicate. The
last arrived safe, and was handed over to the first
consul.

What truth was there in these pictures drawn
by diseased fancies ? This may soon be judged in
a certain manner, Ijy the events themselves ; but
in the interim it is proper to rectify the false
assertions which liave been just stated.

The army, according t*) Klt'bcr, was reduced to

fifteen thousand men, yet the retm-ns to the di-
rectory made them twenty-eight thousand five
hundred. When two years afterwards it was
brought back to France there were still twenty-
two thousand soldiers in its ranks, and it had
fought several great battles and inimmerable
actions. In 179a there left France thirty-four
thousand men ; four thousand remained at Malta,
thirty thousand therefore arrived at Alexandria.
At a later period three thousand seamen, the rem-
nant of those of the fleet destroyed at Aboukir,
reinforced the army, which raised the number to
thirty-three thousand. It had lost four or five
thousand soldiers from 1798 to 17!)9 ; it was
then reduced in 1800 to twenty-eight thousand
men at least, of whom twenty-two thousand were
fighting men.

Egypt is a healthy country, where w-ounds heal
w iih wonderful rapidity ; there were this year
very few sick, and there was no plague. Egypt
was full of Christians, Greeks, Syrians, and Copts,
soliciting to enter into the French service, and
it might have furnished excellent recruits to the
number of fifteen or twenty thousand. The blacks
of Darfour, bought and made free, supplied five
hundred good soldiers to one of the demi-brigades.
IMoreover, Egypt had submitted. The peasants
who cultivated the land, habituated to obedience
under every master, never dreamed of taking up
arms. Except some tumults in the towns, there
were none to fear save the undisei])lined Turks
coming from a distance, or English mercenaries
brought by sea with great trouble. Against such
enemies the French army was more than sufficient,
if it was commanded not with genius, but merely
with c(mimon judgment.

Kle'ber said, in his despatches, that the soldiers
were nearly naked ; but Bonaparte had left cloth
for clothing them, and a month after the despatches
were sent off the men were actually clothed anew.
In any case Egypt abounded in cotton, which it
l)roduced for all Africa. It could not be ditticiilt
to procure them the stuffs by purchase, as they
might have been levied in part of the imposts.
As to provisions, Egypt is the granary of the coun-
tries that produce no corn. Grain, rice, beef,
mutton, fowls, sugar, and cuffee, were at a price
there ton times less than in Europe. The markets
were so low, that the army, although its finances
were not over rich, was able to pay for every thing
which it cimsumed ; in other words, it conducted
itself in Africa much better than Christian armies
conduct themselves in Europe, because there, it is
well-known, they live on the conquered country,
and pay nothing. Kldber said that he wanted
arms : there remained in his stores eleven thou-
sand sabres, fifteen thousand muskets, fourteen or
fifteen hundred cannon, of which otie hundred and
eighty were field pieces. Alexandria, that he said
liad been stripped of its artillery for the siege of
St. Jean d'Acre, had more than three hundred
jiieces of camion in battery. Then as to aiimui-
nition, there remained three millions of musket car-
tridges, twenty-seven thousand cannon cartridges,
filleil, and resources for making more, as there
were still in the magazines two hundred thousand
projectiles and eleven hundred thousand pounds of
gimpowdcr. Subse(|uent events demonstrated the
truth of these allegations, for the army continued

Kleher's misstatements con- Culpability of the heads of .^gg

122 cerning the finances rec- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. the army.-Bonaparte's ' ' ;•

titled. instructions. °'

to fight for two years longer, and left to the English
ciinsiderable stores. What, in fact, could have
become in so short a time of the immense materiel,
so carefully accumulated by Bonaparte on board
the fleet which transported the army to Egypt ?

Then in respect to the finances, the report of
Kle'ber was equally untrue. The soldiers were
paid up to the day. It is true, that nothing had
yet been dime in fixing the system of finance best
adapted for provisioning the army without pi-ess-
ing upon the country ; but the resources were in
existence, and in mauitainiiig only the imposts
already estaijlished it was easy for the troops to
live in abundance. There was money from the im-
posts of the year enough to pay all the current ex-
penses, or more than 10,000,000 f. There was conse-
quently no necessity for driving the population to
revolt, by the establishment of fresh contributions.
The accounts of the finances, made at a late period,
prove that Egypt, well managed, could supply
25,000,000 f. per annum of revenue. At this rate
she w<iuld not pay the half of what was taken, with
a thousand vexations, by the numerous tyi-ants
who oppressed the country, under tlie name of
Mamelukes. At the price of tlnngs in Egypt, the
army might live very well ujion 18,000,000 f. or
20,000,000 f. As to the chests, so far was Bona-
parte from having diminished them, that he had
scarcely touched them, and at his departure had
not even drawn tlie whole of hie own pay.

In regard to the dangers with which the colony
was threatened, this is the truth : Murad Bey,
discour.aged, was a fugitive in Upper Egypt, with
a few Mamelukes. Ibrahim Bey, who under the
government of the Mamelukes, partook the sove-
reignty with Murad, was in Lower Egypt, towards
the fnmtiers of Syria, with less than four hundred
horse in place of some thousands. Djezzar Pacha
was shut up in St. Jean d'Acre. So far was he
from succouring the army of the vizier with thirty
thousand men, that, on the contrary, he saw with
displeasure the approach of this new Turkish
army, now more than ever that his pachalic was
freed from the French. As to the grand vizier,
he had not yet passed the Taurus. The English
had their troops at Mahon, and were at the mo-
ment thinking of employing them in Tuscany,
Naples, or on the coast ol Trance. In regard to a
Russian expedition, that was a jmre fable. The
Russians had not yet thought of taking so long a
voyage for the purpose of supporting the policy of
England in the east.

The inhabitants were not, as was said, inclined
to revolt. By managing the sheiks as Bonajiarte
had prescribed, the sheiks, who are the priests
and lawyers of the Arabs, their good-will might
soon be gained. We had commenced already to
have a strong party among them. We had with
us, besides, the Copts, the Greeks, and the Syrians,
who being all Chri.stians, behaved in regard to the
French as friends and useful auxiliaries. Thus
there was nothing imminent from this quarter to
fear. It is not to be doubted that if the French
had met with reverses, tiie Egyptians would do as
the Italians themselves had done, with the fickle-
ness of a conquered people. They would join tlie
victors of to-day against the victors of yesterday.
Still they felt the difference of the government that
pressed upon them, robbed them, and was never

without the sabre in its hand, and the French who
respected their property, and very rarely stmck
off their heads.

Kleber had given way to these dangerous ex-
aggerations, the melancholy result of hatred, ennui,
and exile. By his side general Menou, observing
every thing under the most favourable colours",
believed the French in Europe to be invincible,
and regarded the expedition as the first appear-
ance of a considerable revolution in the commerce
of the world. Men ai-e unable to divest themselves
sufficiently of their personal impressions in these
kind of appreciations. Kleber and Menou were
upright men, both honest ; but one wanted to go
away, the other to remain in Egypt. The clearest
and most authentic statements signified opposite
things in their views ; misery and ruin for one,
abundance and success for the other.

Whatever might be the situation of the country,
Kle'ber and his party rendered themselves seriously
culpable in thinking of an evacuation ; because
they had no right to do so. It is true that Bona-
parte, in his instructions, full of sagacity, examin-
ing every possible case, had provided for that
which might occur if the army should be obliged
to evacuate Egj^pt. " I go," said he, " to France,
either as a private or a public man ; I will get
succours sent to you. But if in the approaching
spring," (he wrote in 1709,) "you have received
neither succours nor instructions ; if the plague
should carry off above fifteen hundred men in-
dependently of losses by war ; if a considerable
force, which you will not be capable of resist-
ing, should press you vigorously, negotiate with
the vizier ; even consent, if it must be so, to
the evacuation, under one condition, that of re-
course to the French government ; and in the
meantime continue the occui>ation. You will thus
gain tiiue; and it is not possible but that, in the in-
terval, you will be succoured." These instructions
were wise; but the case provided for was far from
being realized. In the first place it was necessary
to wait for the spring of 1800 ; it was necessary
at that time for no succours, no orders to reach
Egypt ; it was necessary to have lost by the
plague a part of the effective strength ; and lastly,
to have been pressed by superior forces : but no-
thing of the kind had occurred nor did occur. An
open negotiation without these conditions was an
act of real ofi'ence.

In September, 1799, Vend^miaire, year vii.,
Desaix, having completed the conquest and secured
the submission of Upper Egypt, had left two move-
able columns in pursuit of Murad Bey, to vhom
he had offered peace, on condition of his becoming
the vassal of France. He had come back to Cairo
by order cf Kleber, who wished to have his name
in the unfortunate negotiations into which he was
about to enter. While these proceedings were
going forward the army of the vizier, so long an-
nounced, was slowly advancing. Sir Sidney Smith,
who convoyed with his vessels the Turkish troops
dest'ned to proceed by sea, had arrived at Da-
rn ietta with eight thousand janissaries. On the 1st
of November, or 10th Brumaire, yearviii., the first
disembarkation of four thousand janissaries took
place, towards the Bogaz of Damictta, that is, at
the entrance of the branch of the Nile which passes
before that city. General Verdier, who had but

1799.
Aug.

A Turkish reinforcement routed

at D.imietta. Sir Sidney

Smitli's exertions to induce

HELIOPOLIS.

the French to evacuate Egypt.
Overtures made by Kleber.

123

one thousand men at Damietta, went out with that
number, and proceeded above tlie fort of Lesbch.
on a narrow tonijue of hind, on the shore of whieli
the Turks had disembarked ; and before the four
thousand janissaries on the way could arrive, he
attacked the fuur thousand that had ah-eady landed.
In spite of the fire of tlie English artillery, placed
advantageously on an old tower, he beat them, and
killed or drowned more than three tlmusand, making
the rest prisoners. The gunboat.s, seeing (lie whole
scene, returned to their vessels, and landed no
more of the troops. The French had only twenty-
two killed, and one hundred wounded.

At the news of this disembarkation Kl^bcr sent
Desaix with a column of three thousand men ; but
these, on arriving at Damietta, foinid the victory
gained, and the French full of boundless confidence.
This brilliant feat of arnis ought to have encou-
r.tged Kleber; unluckily, he was ruled at the time
by his own chagrin and that of the army, lie had
led the minds, that led him in turn, to the fatal
resolution of an immediate evacuation. Bonaparte
w;is made the subject of new invectives. " This
headstrong young man," .said he, " who has exposed
the French army to danger, and himself to other
perils, in braving the seas and the English cruizers,
to return to France, — this rash young man has not
escaped the dangers of the passage. The wise
generals, educated in the school of the army of the
Rhine, ought to give up this wild scheme, and take
back to Europe brave soldiers indispensable to the
republic, threatened on all quai'ters.

In this disposition of mind Kldber sent one of
his officers to the vizier, who had entered Syria, to
make overtures of pi ace. Already Bonaparte, to
embroil the vi/.ier witli the English, had had an
idea of attempting to negotiate ; though on his own
part it was no more than a feint. His overtures
were received with a haughty defiance. Those of
KleHjerobtjuned a better rcce])tion, by the influence
of Sir Sidney Smith, who i)repared to play a pro-
minent character in the affans of Egypt.

Tliis English ofi';cer of the navy had greatly con-
tributed to prevent the success of the siege of St.
Jean d'Acre; he was proud of what he had done,
and conceived a ruse dc fjverre, according to the
expression of the English agents. It cimsisted in
profiting, by a moment of weakness, to snatch from
the French this precious conquest. As all the in-
tircepted letters of the French officers showed
clearly enough their ardent desire to return to
France, Sir .Sidney Smith wished to induce the
aiiny to negotiate, by subscribing a capitulati(jn ;
and beloro the French government had time to
give a-ssent to or refuse the ratification, to embark
it and throw it upon the coast of Europe. It was
with this view that he dispo.sed the grand vizier to
liHten to the overtures of Kldber. As to Jiimself,
he loaded the French officers with civilities; he
allowed the news from Europe to reach them, but
to<ik care only to give Buch intelligence as was an-
terior to the 18tli Bruniuire '. Kldber, on his side,

' (It would liave been ginijular had Sir Sidney Smith com-
muiiicnti'd in general Klibcr what liad not thm occurred.
"I'lic 18th of llrumaire wa« (he 3th of November, ITJ'J.
K'.elicr's correspondence with Sir Sidney bejf.iti. Kleber him-
ic!f !)ayi,(.iee bis letter to the directory dalcd lOih I'luviAke,
«r January 30tb,) a few dayi bejore the ditcuibarkation of the

sent a negotiator to Sir Sidney Smith, the En;;lish
being masters of the sea, and he wishing to have
them as parties to the negotiation, so that the
return of the army to France might be rendered
practicable. Sir Sidney listened willingly to this
messiige, and showed liimself disjjosed to enter into
an arrangement, adding, besides, that in virtue of a
treaty dated the 5th of January, 17!I9, of which he
had been the negotiator, there existed a triple
alliance between Russia, England, and the Porte ;
that these powers were bound to make a common
cause ; and that, in consequence, no arrangement
executed with the Porte would be binding, if it
was not made in concurrence with the agents of the
three courts. Sir Sidney Smith took, in these com-
munications, the title of " minister jilenipotentiary
from his Britannic majesty to the Ottoman Porte,
commanding his squadron in the waters of the
Levant."

Sir Sidney Smith here gave himself a title which
he once had, but which he had ceased to hold after
the arrival of lord Elgin as ambassador at Con-
stantinople ; and in i-eaiity he had at the moment
no other power than such as belongs always to
a military commander — that of signing military
conventions, suspensions of arms, and similar docu-
ments.

Kleber, without closer examination, without
knowing whether he was treating with agents
accredited sufficiently, engaged in a blind manner
in this perilous aff'air, into which he was drawn by
a feeling common to the whole army, and which
would have terminated ignominiously if, happily
for him. Heaven had not endowed him witli an
heroic soul, which could not fail to recover him
with glory, as soon as he became sensible of the
extent of his error. He entered into the nego-
tiations, and offered Sir Sidney Smith as well as
the vizier, who had advanced as far as Gaza in
Syria, to nominate officers furnished with full
powers to treat. Feeling repugnant to the admit-
tance of Turks into his cnmp, and unwilling, on the
other hand, to risk his officers in the midst of the
undisciplined army of the grand vizier, he con-
ceived the |)lace best to, choose for the conferences
woidd be the Tigre, Sir Sidney Smith's vessel.

Sir Sidney was cruising with only two ves-sel-s —
which, by the way, sufficiently proved the possi-
bility of connnunicating between France and Egypt;
Sir Sidney had no more than one at that time; thp
other, the Theseus, being under repair at Cyprus.
Rough weather frequently obliging him to stand
off' the coast, and his communications being neither
]irompt nor regular with the land, it took some
time to receive his assent. At last his reply came;
it intimated that he would appear successively off'
Alexandria and Damietta, to receive onboard sucli
officers as KliJber might send.

Kldber appointed Desaix and Poussielgue the

janissaries at Damietta. The janissaries were disembarked
and routed on the first of Nowmlier. Sir Sidney could not
then have known what occurred subsequently in Paris,
therefore, on the Ulh of that monih. The negotiations went
on in a more serious manner on the 22nd of December; at
wliich date, even, it in probable Sir Sidney himself knew
notbinK of what must have gone from Paris to London, and
wou'ril, in thoscf dayx, have takin live or i>ix wreks to reach
Alexandria from London, at the usual estimate.— Trani-
lalor.]

Desaix received by

124 Sir Sidney Smith.—

Kleber's unreasonable

demands. — Sir Sidney's
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. answr.-Xhe grand vi-
zier at El-Arisch.

1799.
Aug.

commissary, who had so heavily slandered Bona-
parte, and whom the Egyptians, in their Arabic
phraseology, had denominated " sultan Kle'ber's vi-
zier." Poussielgue was the advocate of the evacua-
tion, Desaix was opposed to it. The last had made the
utmost exertion to resist the torrent, and elevate
tlie spirits of his companions in arms; and he had
only charged himself with the negotiation com-
menced by Kleber, with the hope of protracting it,
and gaining time for the arrival of orders and
succours from France. Kle'ber, in order to excuse
himself in the sight of Desaix, told him that Bona-
parte was the first who had commanded treating
with the Turks; that besides he had provided him-
self and authorized the advance of a treaty of
evacuation in case of imminent danger. Desai.x,
ill-informed, hoped continually that the first vessel
wliich arrived from France would clear up all
obscurities, and perhaps change the deplorable
state of the staff of the army. He parted with
M. Poussielgue, and unable to join Sir Sidney
Smith off Alexandria, found him before Damietta,
and went on board the Tigre on the 22nd of De-
cember, 1700, or 1st of Nivose, the year vni., the
same moment that Bonaparte was invested with
the supreme power in France.

Sir Sidney Smith, who was delighted to have on
board such a plenipotentiary as Desaix, treated
him in the most flattering manner, and sought by
every means of persuasion to bring him into the
idea of evacuating Egypt.

Desaix knew perfectly well how to defend him-
self, and stuck to the conditions which his com-
mander had instructed him to ask. These con-
ditions, unacceptable to the English commander,
were very convenient to Desaix, who wished to
gain time ; they were too, on the part of Kleber,
very ill calculated, because they were so extrava-
gant as to render agreement impossible. Kleber
sought in the extended nature of the demand itself
an excuse for his error. He demanded, for ex-
ample, to be landed on any point of the continent
he might choose, in order to afford the republic the
aid of his army wherever it might be deemed of
most service, retiring from Egypt with the honours
of war, with arms and baggage. He demanded
that the Porte should restore to France imme-
diately the Venetian Islands, which by the treaty
of Campo Formio had become subject to France ;
that is Corfu, Zante,Cephalonia, and others, at that
moment occupied by Turco-Russiangari'isons; that
these islands, and above all Malta, a much more
important one, should be given up to France; that
the possession of these should be guaranteed to
her by the ])ersons signing the treaty of evacuation;
that tlie French army, on retiring, should have the
right to reinforce and revictual the garrisons ;
lastly, that the treaty which united Tui-key, Austria,
and England, should be instantly annulled, and
the triple alliance of tiie East dissolved.

These conditions were unreasonable it must be
said ; not that they were an exaggerated equivalent
for what was given up in giving up Egypt, but
because they were impossible to execute. Sir
Sidney made Kldber sensible of this, — that officers,
treating for a suspension of arms only, could not
include objects of such a wide latitude in their
negotiations. Zante, Cei)halonia, and Corfu, were
occupied by Turkish and Russian troops ; it was

required, therefore, to communicate with St. Pe-
tersburg as well as Constantinople. Malta was
held under the king of Naples as lord paramount
of the order ; it could not be disposed of without
the consent of that prince, v ho had always refused
to cede it to France. To place French troops on
the island at that moment was, in a manner, suf-
ficient of itself to settle the question. There were
to be found the cruizers of all the allied powers,
that would not retire upon an order of Sir Sidney
Smith or of the grand vizier. England, besides,
would never consent to any condition which placed
Malta in the hands of France. To land the Fi-ench
army on a point of the continent, where it would
be able to change the combinations of the war by
its unexpected appearance, was a piece of hardihood
that a single commodore commanding a naval
station would not take upon himself to permit. In
fine, to abolish the treaty of the triple alliance, was
to demand that Sir Sidney Smith should abrogate,
on board his own ship, a treaty ratified by three
great pov/ers, which was of great importance for
the East. Supposing that all these stipulations
should be accepted by all the courts whose consent
would be required, it was necessary to send to
Naples, London, St. Petersburg, and Constan-
tinople ; this, then, could be no longer a military
convention of evacuation, such as that signed at
Marengo and executable at the instant. If it were
referred to London, it must be referred to Paris,
which Kleber had no desire should be done. All
this, then, was evidently far beyond the limits of
a militai'y capitulation.

Sir Sidney Smith had no difficulty in making
the French negotiators feel the cogency of these
reasons. But he was urgent to settle two objects
immediately, — the departure of the wounded and
of the learned men attached to the expedition, for
whom Desaix demanded a safe-conduct, and a sus-
pension of arms ; because the army of the grand
vizier, although marching slowly, would soon find
itself in presence of the French army. It had ar-
rived, in fact, before the port of El Arisch, the first
French port on the Syrian fx-ontier, and had already
summoned it to surrender. Kleber, made ac-
quainted with this circumstance, had written to
Desaix, and prescribed to him, as an indispensable
condition of the conference, that the Turkish army
should halt on the frontier.

The first point, the departure of the wounded
and the scientific men, rested with Sir Sidney
Smith. He at once assented to it with great cheer-
fulness and much courtesy. As to the armistice.
Sir Sidney said that he would demand it, but that
the obtaining it did not depend upon himself; for
the Turkish army was composed of barbarous and
fanatical hordes, and it was extremely difficult to
make a regular convention with it, and, above all,
secure the execution. To remove this difficulty,
he determined to proceed himself to the camp of
the grand vizier, which was near Gaza. The ne-
gotiation had been proceeding for a fortnight on
board the Tigre, while floating at the mercy of the
winds oft" the coasts of Syria and Egypt. The
parties had said all they had to say, and the nego-
tiation could no longer continue to be useful,
unless it wore carried on near the grand vizier
himself. Sir Sidney Smith therefore proposed to
repair to the vizier's camp, and to conclude a sus-

HELIOrOLIS.

Conduct of the garrison thew
The fort taken.
Massacre of the French.

125

pension of arms, and prepare for the arrival of the
French negotiators, if he thought that he could
procure for them respect and security. The \n-o-
positidU was accepted. Sir Sidney, profiting by a
favourable moment, got off in a boat, which landed
him on the coast, not without incurring some
dangers, ordering the commanding officer of the
Tigre to meet him in the port of Jaffa, where
Desaix and Poussielgue were to be landed, if the
place of conference should be changed to the camp
of the grand vizier.

At tiie moment when the English commodore
arrived at the grand vizier's camp, a horrible
event had occurred at El-Arisch. The Turkish
army, composed tlie smaller part of janissaries,
and the larger of Asiatic militia, that the Mussul-
man laws place at the disposition of the Porte,
presenting a confused and undisciplined body, was
very formidable to those who wore the European
dress. It had been levied in the name of the
prophet, the Turks being told that this was the
last effort to be made for driving the infidels out
of Egypt ; that the formidable " sultan of fire "
(Bonaparte) had gone away from them ; that tliey
were enfeebled and discouraged ; that it only suf-
ficed for them to show tliemselves and to conquer;
that all Egypt was ready to revolt against tiieir
domination.' These, and other things, repeated
every where, had brought seventy or eighty thou-
sand Mussulman fanatics around the vizier. To the
Turks were united the Mamelukes under Ibrahim
Bey, that had for some time retired into Syria ; and
Murad Bey, who, by a long circuit, had descended
from the cataracts to the vicinity of Suez, all be-
came auxiliaries to their former adversaries. The
English had made for this army a sort of field
artillery drawn by mules. The Bedouin Arabs,
in tlie hope of soon pillaging the vanquished, no
matter of which side, placed fifteen thousand camels
at the disposal of the grand vizier, to aid him in
crossing the desert which sei)arates Palestine from
Egypt. The Turkish commander-in-chief had in
his lialf barbarous staff some Englisli officers and
many of those culpable emigrants who had taught
Djezzar Pacha how to defend St. Jean D'Acre.
It will now be seen of what those miserable refugees
became the cause.

The fort of El-Arisch, before which the Turks
were at tiiat moment, wa.s, according to Bonaparte,
one of the two keys of Egypt ; the otiier was Alex-
andria. On the same authority an army coming by
sea could not land in any great number except
upon the beach near Alexandria. An army coming
by land, and liaving to cross the desert of Syria,
was obliged to pass by El-Arisch, in order to ob-
tiin water at the wells situated there. Bonaparte
liad in consequence ordered works of defence to be
constructed about Alexandria, and that El-Ariscii
also should be put into a state of defence. A body
of three luindred men, well provided with ammuni-
tion and provisions, garrisoned the fort, and an able
officer, named Cazals, commanded it. The Turkish
advanced guard appearing before EI-Ariscii, it
was summoned to surrender by colonel Douglas, an
English officer in the Turkish service. A disguised
French emigrant was the bearer of the summons
to the commandant, Cazals. A parley took place,
and the soldiers were told that the evacuation of
Egypt would be innuediate; that it was already an-

nounced as i-esolved upon; that it would soon be
inevitable; and that it would be cruel to wish they
should defend themselves. The culpable sentiments
whieh the officers had too much encouraged in the
army, then broke out. The soldiers garrisoning El-
Arisch, having the same desire to leave Egypt as the
rest of their comrades, declared to the conmiand-
ant, that they would not fight, and that he must
surrender the" fort. The gallant Cazals called them
togetherindignantly,addresscd them in manly terms,
told them that if there were cowards among them
they had leave to quit the garrison and go over to
the Turks, he giving them full license to do so; but
that he would resist to the last with those French-
men who continued to be faithful to their duty.
This address recalled for a moment the feeling of
honour into the hearts of the men. The sununons
was rejected, and the attack begun. The Turks
were not able to carry a ])osition even tolerably de-
fended. The batteries of the fort silenced their
artillery. Directed by English and emigrant offi-
cers, notwithstanding this, they pushed their
trenches to the salient angle of a bastion. The
commandant ordered a sortie to be made by some
grenadiers, in order to drive the Turks from the
first brancli of the trench. Captain Ferray, who
was ordered on the duty, was only followed by
three grenadiers. Seeing himself abandoned, he
returned towards the fort. Meanwhile the muti-
neers had struck the colours, but a sergeant of
grenadiers rehoisted them. A contest ensued.
During this struggle, the scoundrels who insisted
upon surrendering, threw ropes to the Turks, and
these ferocious enemies, once hoisted up into the
fort, fell sword in hand upon those who had ad-
mitted them, and massacred the larger part. The
rest, coming to their senses, united with the re-
mainder of the garrison, and, in despair, defending
themselves with the utmost courage, were the
larger part cut to pieces. Some few in number ob-
tained quarter, thanks to colonel Douglas, owing
their lives entirely to the intervention of that
officer.

Thus fell the fort of El-Arisch. This was the first
effect of the unhappy disposition of the mind of
the army; the first fruit that the commanders ga-
thered through their own errors.

It was the 30th of December, or 9th Nivose :
the letter, written by sir Sidney Smith to the grand
vizier, to propose a suspension of arms, had not
arrived in time to prevent the sad occurrence of
El-Arisch. Sir Sidney Smith was a man of gene-
rous sentiments, and this barbarous massacre of a
French garrison was revolting to his feelings, and
made him fear, in a more particular manner, the
ruptiu-e of the negotiations. He sent in haste ex-
jdanations of the affair to KIdber, as well iu his
own name as in that of the grand vizier ; and
he added the formal assurance that all liostilities
shoidd cease during the negotiations.

At the sight of these hordes, wiio resembled
more an emigration of savages, than an army
going to combat, actually fighting among them-
selves over their provisions at night for the pos-
session of a well, sir Si<lney Smith felt alarinrd
for the security of the French i)leMi]iotcntiarios.
He insisted that the tents destined for their recep-
tion should be situated in tiio same quarter as that
of the grand vizier and reis effeiidi, who were both

Sir Sidney Smith and the
126 French plenipotentiaries THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

visit the gran^ vizier.

Conditions of the conven-
tion. — Errors of the
French commissioners.

present with the army ; that a chosen body of
troops should be placed around their tents ; he
placed his own near them, and, lastly, provided a
body of En^li-sh seamen, to secure from violence
both himself and the French officei-s committed to
his honour. Having taken these precautions, he
sent to Jaffa in search of Desai.K and Poussielgue,
in order to bring them to the place of conference.

Kleber, when he heard of the massacre of El-
Arisch, was not so indignant as he should have
shown himself, being aware that if he were too
wai-m about the affair, all negotiation might be
broken off. He was more than ever urgent for a
suspeusion of arms ; and by way of prevention, as
well as to be nearer the p. ace of conference, he
transferred his head-quarters to Salahieh, on the
frontier of the desert, within two marches of El-
Arisch.

Ill the meanwhile Desaix and Poussielgue,
having the wind contrary, were not able to laini
at Gaza luitil the 11th of J;inuary, or 21st of
Nivose, nor to arrive at El-Arisch before the 13th.
The confei'enees began upon their arrival ; and
Desaix nearly broke off the negi)tiati(m by his
indignation. The Turks, barbarous and ignorant,
put their own construction upon the conduct of
the French; and from their disposition to treat,
imagined they were afraid to fight, in place of
desiring so immediately to return to France. They
i'e(|uired, therefore, that the French army should
surrender and become prisoners of war. Desaix
was for terminating at that moment evei-y kind of
parley ; but sir Sidney interposing, brouglit back
boili parties to more honourable terms, if there
could be such for a convention of this character. It
was no longer possible to put forward the first
propositions of Kle'ber. Of this he had been in-
formed by letters written from on board the Tigre,
and he had cea.sed to speak of the Venetian islands,
of Malta, and of the revictualling of those places.
Still, to colour his negotiation, he held fast to the
retirement of the Porte from the triple alliance.
This ])oint might in strictness have been negotiated
at El-.-Vrisch, because the reis effendi and the
grand vizier were there; but it coidd hardly be
required of the English negotiator, whose inter-
vention was indispensable. The condition was
therefore set aside with the others. It was a vain
artifice that Kle'ber and his advisers employed
towards themselves, to disguise in their own eyta
the disgraceful nature of their conduct.

In a short time the simple and pure evacuation
and its c(mditions became the sole subject. After
lung discussions it was agreed that hostilities
should cease for three months ; and that for these
three months the grand vizier should employ him-
self in collecting in the ports of Rosetta, Alioukir,
and Alexandria, the vessels required for the con-
veyance of the French army; that general Klei)er
should employ himself in evacuating Ui)per Egyjjt,
Cairo, and the surrounding provinces, and in con-
centrating his troops for the jjurpose of embarka-
tion ; that the French should embark with arms
and baggage, in other words, with the honours of
war, taking with them such stores as they might
require, and leaving the rest ; that from the day
of liie signature of the treaty, they sliould cease to
impose contrii)ution.s, and abandon to the Porte
those which remained due ; but iu return, that the

French should receive three thousand pui-ses of
the value of 3,000,000 f., representing the sum
necessary for their subsistence during the evacua-
tion and the passage. The forts of Ivatieh, Sala-
hieh, and Belbeis, to be given up ten days after
the ratification of the treaty, and Cairo in forty-
days afterwards. It was agreed that the ratifica-
tion of the treaty should be returned by general
Kleber alone in eight days, without having recourse
to the Fi-ench government. Lastly, sir Sidney
Smith agreed, in his own name and that of the
Russian commissioners, to furnish passports to the
army, in order that it might sail free of the
English cruisers.

The French commissioners here committed a
grievous error. The signature of sir Sidney Smith
was indispensable, becau.se without his signature
the sea would remain closed. They ought to have
required this of sir Sidney Smith, as he was the
negotiator of the convention. Then the mystery of
his powers would have been cleared up. It would
then have been seen, that the English commodore,
having had formerly the power to treat with the
Porte, had none at that moment, lord Elgin
having arrived as minister at Constantinople; that
he had no special instructions for the present case;
and that he could ahme have had a strong pre-
sumption that his conduct would be approved in
London. Little versed in diplomatic usages, the
French plenipotentiaries believed that sir Sidney
Smith, in offering them passports, had the power
to give them, and that such passports would be
valid.

The conditions of the convention being thus
terminated, nothing remained but to .sign them.
The noble heart of Desaix revolted at what he was
obliged to do. Before he put his name to the
paper, he sent for Savary, his aid- de-camp, and
directed him to jiroceed to the head-quariel-s at
Salahieh, where Kle'ber was, to communicate to
him the draft of the convention, and to declare
that he would not sign it until he had a formal
order for that purj>ose. Savary went to Salahieh
and acquitted himself of his commission to Kidlier.
That general, who had a confused feeling of bis
error, in order to cover it, called a council of war,
to which all the generals of the army were sum-
moned.

This council assembled on the 1st of January,
1800, or 1st Pluviose, year viri. The minutes
still exist. It is painful to see brave men, «ho
had sjfilled their blood and were going again to
spill it in their country's service, accumulate
miserable falsehoods to hide their criminal wttik-
ness. The example may well serve as a lesson to
military officers, that it does not alone suffice to lie
firm in combat, but that the courage that bra vis
balls and bullets is the least of the duties inip( si il
upon tieir noble professi(jn. Great weight was
laid in this council of war upon the intelligeiuc,
then well known in Egypt, that the grand Fn iieli
and Spanish fleets had gone out of the Me<liter-
rancan into the ocean, from which it was inferred
that all hope of aid from France was cut off.
Five montlis had elansed since the departure
of Bonaparte, during which no despatch had bei ii
received. The discouragement of the army was
also used as an argument which they had them-
selves contributed to produce. They cite^ what

1800.
Jan.

Council of war summoned. — The con-
vention ratified.— Conduct of Da-
vout and Desaix.

HELIOPOLIS.

Kleber's despatches reach London and
Paris. — Kesoiuiions of Bonaparte
and the Britisli government.

127

had occurred recently at Rosetta and A'exandria,
wliere the gari'isoiis had threatened mutiny, be-
liaviiig like that of El-Arisch, if they were not
immediately sent back to Europe ; they pretended
further that the active force was reduced to eight
thousand men ; the force of the Turks was ex-
aggerated beyond possibility; a pretended Russian
expedition for the purpose of joining the grand
vizier, an expedition existing only in the heated
imagination of those who wished to quit Eiiyjit at
any cost ; the impossibility of resistance was posi-
tively established — an assertion which was soon to
be proved false, in a manner the most heroic, by
the very pereons who now advanced it ; finally,
to keep as near as possible to the instructions of
Bonaparte, they alleged a few cases of plague, of
very doubtful character, and absolutely unknown
in the army.

In spite of all that was said, the partisans of the
evacuation were far from conforming to the in-
structions left by Bonafarte. He had laid down
four conditions : namely, if no succours, no orders,
should aiTive before the spring of 1800 ; if the
plague should have carried off one thousand five
Imndred men, besides those lost in battle ; if the
danger was so great as to render all resistance im-
possible ; and these events being realized, then he
recommended, lastly, the gaining time by negotia-
ting, and the admission of the evacuation only under
the condition of its being ratified by Franc?. It
was still only January, 1800; there was no plague,
no pressing danger ; yet still an immediate evacua-
tion was on the point of taking place, without any
recourse to France. One who has shown in war
something superior to courage — in other words,
character — general Davout, afterwards prince of
' ; kmuhl, dared to oppose this culpable impulse,
did not fear to oppose Kleber, to whose influ-

•o all the rest submitted; and he combated with
energy the idea of a capitulation. He was not lis-
tened to; and by an unhapj)y condescension, lie
Consented to sign the resolntion of the council of
war, and left it to remain an entry in the minutes,
that it had been ado|)ted unanimously.

Davout, notwithstanding, took Savary aside, and
told him to inform Desaix, that if he were willing
to iireak off the negotiation, he would not want
supporters in the army. Savary returned to El-
Arisch, and stated w hat had occurred, and what he
had been desired by Davout to say on his part.
Desaix, seeing in the minutes of the deliberation
the name of IJavout, answered warmly to Savary,
" In whom do you desire I should confide, when he
who disapproves of the convention does not make
it confoiinablu to his opinion ? He would have nic
disobey, and yet he dares not su|)port to the end
the opinion which he has expressed." Desaix,
although deeply hurt upon seeing the torrent, suf-
fered himself to be carried away with it, and sub-
scribed his name, on the 28th of January, to this
unfortunate ccmvention, since so well known as the
treaty of El-Arisch.

The thing being completed, every body began to
feel the importmce attached to it. De.saix returned
to the camp, expressed himself with deep sorrow,
not dissinmlating his chagrin, that he had been
appointed for such a mission, and forced to fulfil it
by the order of the connnander-in-chief. Davout,
Menou, and some otliirs broke out into bitter

expressions, and divisions existed in all parts of
the camp of Salahieh.

Nevertheless, preparations were made for the
departure of the army, the main body of which was
full of delight at the prospect of quitting those
distant shores and of soon returning to France.
Sir Sidney Smith had returned on board. The
j vizier a|)proached and took possession, one after
another, of the entrenched posts of Katieli, Sala-
I hieh, and Belbeis, that KIdber, pressed to carry
out the convention, faithfidly gave up. Kleber
reiurned to Cairo to make his dispositions for de-
parture, to recall his troops guarding Upper Egypt,
concentrate his army, and direct it ii|)on Ro.setta
and Alexandria, at the times specified for the em-
barkation.

While these events were taking place in Egypt,
the unhappy consequences of a sentiment which
the leaders of the army had strengthened in place
of combating, other events, consequences of the
same error, were taking place in Europe. The
letters and despatches sent in duplicate had, as we
have seen, arrived at the same time both in Lon-
don and Paris. The despatch accusatory of Bona-
jiarte, and designed for the directory, had been
delivered into the hands of Bonaparte himself,
become the head of the government. He was dis-
gusted at such weaknesses and falsehoods ; but he
was well aware how much the army i food in need
of Kleber ; he appreciated the great qualities of
that officer, and not imagining that his discourage-
ment could proceed to so great a length as to
induce him to abandon Egypt, he concealed his own
feelings. He then hastened to transmit instructions
from France, and to announce that he was pre-
paring to send great succours.

On the otlier side, the British government
having also a duplicate of Kleber's despatches, and
a vast number of letters written by French officers
to their families, published them all, with the object
of exhibiting to Europe the situation of the French
in Egypt, and to raise a quarrel between Bona-
parte and general Kle'ber. This was a calculation
quite natural on the i)art of a hostile ]iower. In
the mean while the English cabinet had received
notice of the overtures made by Kleber to the
graml vizier and sir Sidney Smith. Believing that
the French army was reduced to the last ex-
tremity, it hastened to send out a formal order to
grant no capitulation to the French unless they
surrendered prisoners of war. Mr. Dundas in
|)arliament made tise of odious expressions. He
said — " An example must be made of this army,
that, iu a time of profound peace, dared to attack
the dominions of one of our allies ; the interests of
maiduud demand that it be destroyed,"

This language was barbarous; it displays the
violent passions which then raged in the brca.sts of
the two nations. The English cabinet had under-
stood to the letter the exaggerations of Kidber and
of the French officers. It considered that the
I'rench were in a state to accept any terms it
might choose to impose ; and without being aware
of what had passed, committed the folly of giving
to lord Keith, commander-in-chief in the Levant,
a positive order not to sign his name to any capitu-
lation unless it expressly constituted the French
prisoners of war.

This order, sent from London on the 17tli oi

Sir Sidney Smith receives
128 I'resli instructions. — His
honourable conduct.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Indignant reply of Kleber
to Lord Keith's letter. —
He prepares for action.

December, reached lord Keith in Minorca, about
the first week in January, 1800 ; and on the 8th of
the same month that admiral hastened to com-
municate the instructions to sir Sidney Smith,
which he had just received from his government.
It took time at that season of the year to sail
across the Mediterranean. The despatches of lord
Keith did not reach sir Sidney Smith until the
20th of February. Sir Sidney was deeply morti-
fied. He had acted without instructions from the
govei'ument, counting tliat his acts could not fail
to be approved ; he found himself compromised in
regard to the French, because he felt he might be
accused by them of a breach of faith. Best aware
of the true state of things, he well knew that
Kleber would never consent to surrender himself a
prisoner of war ; and he saw the convention of
El-Arisch, so cleverly wrung from the weakness
of the moment, wholly compromised. He hastened
to write to Kleber, expressing his sorrow, and to
apprise him candidly of what' was going forward,
advising him immediately to suspend the delivery
of the Egyptian forts to the grand vizier, and to
conjure him to wait for fresh ordei's from England
before taking any definitive resolution.

Unfortunately, when these despatches from sir
Sidney Smith reached Cairo, the French army
had already executed a part of the convention of
El-Arisch. It had given up to the Turks all the
po-sitions on the right bank of the Nile, Katieh,
Salahieh, Belbeis, and every one of the positions of
the Delta, jiarticularly the city of Damietta and
the fort of Lesbeh. The troops wei*e already on
their march for Alexandria, with their baggage
and stores. The division of Upper Egypt had
given up Higher Egypt to the Turks, and fallen
back upon Cairo, to join tlie rest of the army near
the sea. Desai.x, taking advantage of the order he
had received to return to France, would not take
any part in the arrangements of this disastrous
retreat, and had gone away with Davout, who, on
his part, would not remain near Kle'ber. Kle'ber,
forgetting his diff"erences with Davout, was anxious
to retain him, and offered him the i-ank of general
of division, which it was in his power to bestow as
governor of Egypt. This Davout refused, saying
that he did not wish his promotion to bear the
date of an event so deplorable. When Desaix and
Davout embarked, Latour-Maubourg arrived from
France with despatches from the first consul; he
met them on the beach, and informed them of the
revolution of the 18th Brumaire, and of the eleva-
tion of Bonaparte to the head of the state. Thus
Kleber found, at the moment when he had given u|)
liis fortified places, the refusal of the fulfilment of
the treaty of El-Arisch, and the impoi'tant intelli-
gence to him of the elevation of Bonaparte to the
consular government.

There had been sufficient weakness shown for
any great character to exhibit ; an ignominious
offer was about to recal Kleber to himself, and to
prove him, as he was, a hero. He must surrender
himself a prisoner, or defend himself in a far
worse position than that which he had declared
untenable in the council of war at Salahieh. He
must either submit to dishonour, or engage in a
desperate conflict. He did not hesitate; and it will
be seen, that, despite his impaired position, he
knew well how to do that which he had judged im-

possible some days before, and thus he gave to
himself the finest of contradictions.

Kle'ber countermanded immediately all the ordei-s
he had previously issued to the araiy. He recalled
to Lower Egypt, as far as Cairo, a part of the
troops which had already descended the Nile ; he
sent up his ammunition ; he pressed the division
from Upper Egypt to rejoin him, and to signify
to the grand vizier he must stay his march upon
Cairo, unless he chose to commit immediate hos-
tilities. The grand vizier i-eplied that the conven-
tion of El-Ari.sch was signed, and that it must be
executed ; that in consequence he should advance
upon the capital. At the moment, an officer with
a letter from lord Keith at Minorca, to Kleber,
was received at head-quarters. Among other
expressions this letter contained the following
passage : — " I have received the most positive
orders from his Britannic majesty not to consent
to any capitulation with the army which you com-
mand, except the troops lay down their arms,
surrender themselves prisoners of war, and give
up all the vessels in the harbour of Alexandria."

Kleber, indignant, had this letter copied into
the order of the day, adding to it tlie simple
words : —

" Soldiers, to such insults there is no other an-
swer than victory — prepare for action !"

This noble language was echoed from every
breast. His situation was greatly changed since
the 28th of January, the day on which the con-
vention of El-Arisch was signed. Then the French
possessed all the fortified positions of Egypt, and
governed the Egyptians, who were quiet and sub-
missive ; the grand vizier was on the other side
of the desert. Now, on the contrary, the more
important posts had been given up, and the plain
was all that was in the possession of the French.
The population was everywhere awake; the people
of Cairo, excited by the presence of the gi'and
viziei', who was within five hours' march, only
awaited the first signal to revolt. The gloomy picture
drawn by the council of war in the treaty of El-
Arisch had been debated: the picture, false then,
was now rigorously correct. The French army
was about to combat in the plains of the Nile, with
the vizier in front having eighty thousand men;
and in the rear, Cairo with three hundred thousand
ready to rise ; and it was without fear. — Glorious
reparation of a great error !

The agents of sir Sidney Smith had hastened
up to interpo.se between the French and the Turks,
and to propose new terms of accommodation.
Letters were written to London, and when the
convention of El-Arisch was known there it would
certainly be i-atificd ; in this situation it would be
right to suspend hostilities and wait. The grand
vizier and Kleber consented, but on conditions
that could not be admitted. The grand vizier
insisted on the delivery of Cairo ; Kldber, on the
other hand, would have the vizier fall back even
to the frontier. In such a state of things, to fight
was alone the alternative.

On the 20th of March, 1800, or 29th Vent6,se,
in the year viii., before break of day, the French
army left Cairo, and formed in the rich plains
which border the Nile, having that river on the
left, the desert on the right, and in front, but afar
off", the ruins of ancient Heliopolis. The night,

1800.
March.

Arrangement of the French army.
KJeber addresses the soldiers and
attacks the Turks.

HELIOPOLIS.

Battle of Heliopolis.— Village
of El-Matarieh taken by
the Frecch.

almost luminous in that climate, facilitated the
manoeuvres, without rendering them distinctly
visible to the enemy. The army was formed into
four squares ; two on the left under general
Rejaiicr, and two on the right under general
Friant. They were each composed of two denii-
brigades of infantry ranged in several lines. At
the angles and outside were companies of gre-
nadiers with their backs to the squares, serving
to reinforce them during the march, or under
charges of cavalry, and detaching themselves to
go to the attack of positions where the enemy
attempted to make a stand. In the centre of tho
line of battle, that is, between the two squares of
the left and the two squares of the right, the
cavalry was disposed in a dense mass, having light
artillery on the wings. At some distance in tlie
rear and on the left, a fifth square, less than the
others, was designed to serve as a reserve. The
number of troops which Kieber had been able to
collect in the plain of Heliopolis was about ten
thousand. They were firm and tranquil.

Day began to break ; Kle'ber, who since he had
been connnander-ia-chief, had displayed a species
of magnificence in order to impose upon the Egyp-
tians, was dressed in a rich uniform. Mounted
upon a lofty horse, he showed to his soldiers that
noble figure which they were so fond of beholding,
and the bold beauty of which filled them with
confidence. " My friends," said he, riding through
their ranks, " you possess in Egypt no more gi'ound
than is under your feet. If you recoil a single
step you are lost." The greatest enthusiasm every
where greeted his appearance and address. As
soon as it was day he gave the order to march.

Only a part of the grand army of the Turks was
in sight. On the plain of the Nile, which extended
before the French, was seen the village of El-
Matarieh, which the Turks had entrenched. An
ad vanceil guard of five or six thousand janissaries
was there, good soldiers, escorted by several thou-
Siind horse. A little beyond, another body of the
enemy appeared, as if about to glide between the
river and the left wing of the French, in order to go
and obtain the revolt of Cairo in the rear. In front,
but much further off, the ruins of ancient Helio-
polis, a wood of palms, and considerable unevcn-
ness of the ground, hid the main body of the
Turkish army from the view of the French soldiers.
The total number of all these forces, including
the principal body, the corps placed at Pjl-Matarieh,
and the detachment marching to penetrate into
Cairo, might be estimated at seventy or eighty
tiiousand men.

Kldber ordered first a squadron of mounted
guides to charge the detachment manoeuvring on
his left for the purpose of entering into Cairo. The
guides dashed up at a gallop upon this confused
mass. The Turks, who never fear cavalry, received
and returned the charge. They completely sur-
rounded the French horse, which was in danger of
being cut to pieces, when Kldber sent the 22iid
regiment of ciiaHseurs, and the 14th dragoons to
their aid, who charging the close mass that sur-
rounded the guides, dispersed them with the sabre,
and put them tc Hight. The Turks then retired
out of view.

This being done, KliJbcr hastened to attack the
entrenched village of El-Matarieh, before the

larger part of the enemy's army had time to ar-
rive, and committed this duty to general Reynier,
with the two squares on the left; he himself, to make
a diversion, taking up a position between El-Mata-
rieh and Heliopolis, in order to hinder the Turk-
ish army from succouring the attacked position.

Reynier arrived at El-Matarieh, detached the
companies of grenadiers that doubled the angles of
the squares and ordered them to storm the village.
Tlie companies advanced in two small cohnnns.
The brave janissaries w-ould not wait for them,
but marched out to the encounter. The grenadiers
received them firmly, gave them a discharge of
musketry when almost close to the ends of their
j)ieues, and brought down a great number, after
which they charged them with fixed bayonets.
While the first column was attacking the janis-
saries in front, the second took them in flank, and
completed their rout. Then the two columns re-
united, attacked El-Matarieh, amidst a hail shower
of balls, rushed on the Turks who resisted, with
the bayonet, and after a great slaughter of them i*e-
mained masters of the position. The Turks, flying
to the plain and joining those whom the guides,
chasseurs, and dragoons had just before dispersed,
they fled in confusion towards Cairo, under the order
of Nassif Pacha, the lieutenant of tlie grand vizier.

The village of El-Matarieh, full of oriental spoils,
was a rich booty for the French soldiers. But they
could not stay tliere ; the generals and soldiers both
knew too well how important it was not to be sur-
prised in the midst of a mass of Turkish troops.
The army, resuming by degrees the order observed
in the morning, advanced upon the plain, always
formed in squares, with the cavalry between. It
passed the ruins of Heliopolis, and saw beyond
them a cloud of dust ascending in the horizon, and
moving i-apidly onwards. On the left the village of
Seriaqous appeared ; on the right, amid a grove of
palms, the village of El-Merg, situated on the shores
of a little lake, called the Lake of the Pilgrims. A
slight elevation of ground ran from one of these vil-
lages to the other. All at once the moving cloud
of dust stopped; then it was dispersed by the wind,
and the Turkish army was seen forming a long float-
ing line from Seriaqous to El-Merg. Placed on more
elevated ground, it commanded, in a slight degree,
the ground upon which the French troops were
formed. Kldber then gave tho order to advance.
Reynier, with the two squares on the left, marched
towards Seria<ious. Friant, with the two columns
on the right, directed himself upon ?:i-Merg. The
enemy had scattered abroad, in advance of the
palm-trees on the shore of the lake, a good number
of tirailleurs. But a combat with tirailleurs could
scarcely be successful against the French soldiera
o|)posed to them. Friant sent out some companies
of light-infantry, which soon made the Turks, thus
detached, re-enter into the confused mass of their
army. The grand vizier was there in the midst of
a tnjop of horsemen, whose arms glittered brilliantly
in the sun. Some shells soon dispersed this group.
The enemy moved forward his artillery in the way of
reply ; but his bulhts, ill-directid, passed over the
heads of the French soldiers. His guns wore soon
dismounted by those of the French, and rendered
useless. The thousand colours of the Turkish army
were then seen waving in the air. A part of liis scjua-
dron d:ished out of i;i-Merg, iijyon the squares of
K

General attack. — Grand

Conduct of Murad Bey. ,.»»
zier put t.. fliglu.-SmaU THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. -Kleber marches to j^i^^^-
loss of the French. ■""" —

Friant's division. Tlie deep openings in the ground,
the common effect of a hot sun upon a soil a good
while inundated, fortunately retarded the impe-
tuosity of the horses. General Friant, suffering
the Turkish horse to arrive pretty near, ordered a
fire of grape shot to be suddenly opened upon them
us they advanced nearly to the mouths of the guns,
and overturned them by hundreds. They then
retired in disorder.

This was but a prelude to a general attack.
The Turkisli army was visibly preparing for it.
The French squares awaited it witli firmness, two
on the right, and two on the left; the cavalry be-
tween facing both to the front and rear, and co-
vered by two lines of artillery. At the signal given
by the grand vizier, the mass of the Turkish ca-
valry moved forward togeth.er, rushed upon the
French squares, opened out upon their wings,
turned them, and soon surrounded the four fronts
of the French order of battle. The French infan-
try, whom the cries, the movement, and the tumult
of the Turkish horse did not at all trouble, remained
calm, with bayonets at the charge, continuing a
well-directed fire. In vain those thousand groups
of horse wheeltd round it ; tliey fell und^r the
grape-shot and balls, seldom arriving as far as the
bayonets, expiring at the feet of the infantry, or
turning and flying, never more to appear.

After a protracted and frightful confusion, tlie
heavens, before obscured by the smoke and dust,
became clear ; tlie sun came forth, and the vic-
torious French saw before them amass of men and
horses dead and dying, and at a distance, as far as
the view could e.xtend, bauds of fugitives ruumng
away in all directions.

The main body of the Turks retreated towards
El-Kanquali, where they had encamped on the
preceding night upon the road to Lower Egypt. A
few groups only joined the detachments, which in
the morning were directed upon Cairo, led by
Nassif Pacha, the lieutenant of the grand vizier.

Kleber would not allow the enem}' the least rest.
His squares, preserving the order of battle, crossed
the plain at a rapid pace. Passing Seriaqous and
El-Merg, they advanced as far as El-Kanquah,
where they arrived at night ; the enemy seeing
himself pursued, fled again in disorder, leaving the
French army the baguage and the provisious, of
which it had great need.

Thus, in (he plain of Heliopolis, ten thousand
soldiers, by the ascendancy of discipline and calm
courage, dispersed seventy or eighty thousand ene-
mies. But to obtain a more important result than
that already gained in the few thousands killed and
wounded, it was necessary to pursue the Turks, to
drive them into the desert, and leave them to
perish there by hunger, thirst, and the swords of
the Arabs. Kleber, therefore, allowed the army a
little repose, and then gave orders for the pursuit
on the following day.

There were scarcely more than two or three
hundred French killed and wounded, for in such a
species of contest, soldiers in a square, preserving
themselves unbroken, sustain little loss. Kleber,
hearing cannon in the direction of Cairo, had no
doubt that the corps which had turned his left,
Jiad gone to second the revolt of that city. Nassif
pacha, lieutenant of the vizier, and Ibrahim Bey,
one of the two Mameluke chiefs, had in fact

Belbeis.

entered it, with two thousand Mamelukes, eight or
ten thousand Turkish horse, and some of the re-
volted villagers of the vicinity, in all about twenty
thousand men. Kle'b r had left scarcely two thou-
sand men in this large capital, divided between the
citadel and the forts. He ordered general Lagrange
to go off at midnight with four battalions to their
aid. He directed the officers of the troops left in
Caii^ to occupy strong jxiints, and keep up com-
munications with each other, but not to attempt
any decisive attack before his return. He feared
some false manoeuvre might take place on their
part, that would uselessly compromise the lives of
soldiers, every day becoming more valuable now
they were condemned to remain in Egypt.

During the whole time of the battle, Murad Bey,
who had formerly partaken with Ibrahim Bey in
the government of Egypt, and was distinguished
from his colleague by bis brilliant courage, chival-
rous generosity, and much intelligence, remained
on the wings of the Turkish army, immoveable, at
the head of six hundred superb horsemen. The bat-
tle over, he rushed into the desert and disappeared.
It was in consequence of a promise given to Kle'ber
that he thus behaved. Mm'ad Bey had arrived at
the liead-qnarters of the vizier, and discovered, still
prevalent, the old jealousy which had so long di-
vided the Turks and Mamelukes. Murad soon saw
that the Turks desired to recover Egypt, not to
return it to the Mamelukes, but to possess it them-
selves. He then thought of making terms with the
French, in tlie view of becoming their ally if they
were successful, or of succeeding them if they were
vanquished. Still, he acted wiih great circumspec-
tion ; he would not declare until hostilities were
definitively renewed, and promised Kleber tliat
after the first battle he would ally himself with the
French. The battle was fought, and proved glorious
for the French, and his regard towards them could
not but be much augmented by it. There was reason
to hoi)e that, after a few days were elapsed, he
would declare his alliance.

At the hour of midnight following the battle,
after a few hours of rest to the troops, Kldbcr beat
the rece'dle, and marched upon Belbe'is, in order to
allow the Turks no rest. He arrived there at an
early hoin* in the day. It was the 21st of March,
or 30tli of Vent6.se. The vizier had already in liis
rapid flight, passed Belbe'is. He had left in the
fort and town a body of infantry, and in the plain
a thousand horse. On the approach of Kleber's
army the horse fled. The Turks were driven out of
the town, but they shut themselves in the fort,
where, after the exchange of a few cannon-shot,
want of water, and the fear of being stormed, in-
duced them to surrender. The fanaticism of some
of them was so great that they chose rather to be
put to death than give up their arms. In the mean-
time the cavalry of general Leclerc, scouring the
plain, fell in with a long caravan of camels niarch-
if)g towards Cairo, and carrying the baggage of
Nassif I'aclia and Ibrahim Bey. This capture
revealed more fully to Kldber the real object of
the Turks, which consisted in raising an insurrec-
tion, not only in the capital, but in the large cities
of Egypt. Thus aware of the design, and discover-
ing that the Turkish army made no resistance any
where, Kle'ber detached five battalions upcm Cairo,
under general Friant, to sui)port the four batta-

1800.
March.

Kl^ber pursues the vizier to the
desert.— Capture of the Turk-

HELIOrOLTS.

Immense spoils. — Kleber's
arrangements after the
victor'-.

lions sent off on tlie jirecedinc; evening, fi'oni El-
Kanquah, under the orders of general Lagrange.

On the following day, the 22nd of March, or 1st
of Germinal, Kleber manhed upon Salahieh. Gene-
ral Reynier preceded him at the Jiead of the left
division ; he himself marching after at the head
of the guides and the 7ih iiiiss;u"s; last of all came
g-^neral Belliard with his brigade, the remainder
of Friant's division. During tiie march a message
was received from the graml vizier, offering to
negotiate, but a positive refusal was returned.
On arriving at Koraim, about half-way to Salahieh,
a cannonade was heard, and soon afterwards the
division of Reynier was seen formed in a square,
and in combat with a multitude of horse. Kle'ber
sent an order to Belliard to hasten forward, while
with the cavalry he .set out in all speed towards
Reynier's square. At the sight of Kle'ber and his
horse, the Turks, who were nuich more partial to
a conflict with the French cavalry than with the
iulantry, attacked the guides and V'li hussars.
They charged them so suddenly that the light ar-
tillery had not time to place itself in battery. The
gonuer-drivers were sabroil on the guns. Kleber
with the guides and the hussars found themselves
on the instant in great danger; particularly when
tin; inhabitants of Koraim, believing that so few
French must be destroye 1, hastened out with
scythes and pitchforks to finish them. But Reynier
sent the 14th drag<ions to their assistance imme-
diately, who disengaged Kleber in time. Belliard,
who had quickened his pace, arrived witli his
infantry directly afterwards, and cut some hundred
men to pieces.

KIdber, desirous to reach Salahieh, hastened his
march, delaying until his return the pimishment
of Koraim. The heat of the d;iy was insufferable;
the wind blew from the desert, and they respired
with the burning air a fine ])enetratiug dust.
H irses and men were overcome with fatigue.
Tiiey arrived at Sahihieh at the close of day.
They were now on the frontier of Egypt itself,
at the entrance u|)on the desert of Syria ; and here
Kle'ber expected, the next morning, a last conflict
with the grand vizier. But on the following day
early, being the SSrd of March, or 2J of Germinal,
the inhabitants of Salaiiieii came to meet him, and
from them he learned that the grand vizier was con-
tinuing his flight in great disorder. KitJber hastened
onwards, and saw himself the proof how nnicli he
liad exaggerated the danger of a Tinkish army.

The grand vizier, taking with him Ave hundred
of his best horse, had plungi-d with some baggage
int.) the desert. The rest of his army had fled in
every direction ; one part fled towards the Delta ;
another asked quarter on its knees at S.tlahieh ;
another i)art, seeking an asyhnn in the desert,
p<'rislied under tlie Kal)res of the Arabs. These
ii.iviiig conveycil the Tin-kish army to the frontiers
of Mgypt, remained there, knowing that one party
or the other must be van(|uished, and from that
party booty minht be obUiined. They Inid judgeil
correctly; and finding tlie Turkish army c(mi|)lelely
demoralized and iricapalilc of defending itself, even
against them, they butchered the fii;;itiveH for the
nakc of pillaging them. At the moment of Kleber's
arrival, they had come ilown upon tlio vizier's
deserted camp like so many birds of prey. At the
Bight of the French they flew off on their swift

horses, and left an abundance of plunder for the
French soldiers. Here, in the midst of an en-
trenched camp, covering a square league, were a
vast quantity of tents, saddles, harness of all kinds,
f(n-ty thousand horseshoes, i)rovisions in plenty,
rich garments, boxes already broken open by the
Arabs, but full of perfumes, of aloes, silk stuffs,
and all the objects which contribute to the glitter-
ing and barbarous luxuries of oriental armies. At
the side of twelve litters of wood, carved and
gilded, was foimd a can-iage hung ui)on springs,
in the European mode, and of English manufac-
ture; and j)ieces of cannon with the motto, " Honi
soit qui null y pense:" a. certain evidence of the
very active intervention of tlie English in the war.

The soldiers, who had brouglit nothing with
them, found in the Turkish camp ])rovisions, am-
nnmiiion, a rich booty, and some things, the
singularity of which made them laugh, as they
were always dis])ose<l to do after a short period of
dejection. Strange power of the mind upon men!
To-day victorious, they no longer wished to quit
r>gypt ; for they no longer thought themselves con-
demned to perish in afar-distant banishment.

When Kle'ber had witnessed himself the utter
disapjiearance of the Turkish army, he determined
to return and bring back to obedience the towns
of Lower Egypt, and more particularly Cairo.
Ho then made the following dispositions : Generals
Rainpon and Lanusse were ordered to scour the
Delta. Rampon to march upon the important town
of Damietta, which was in the power of the Tin-ks,
and to retake it. Lanusse was to keep up a com-
munication with Riimpon, to sweep the Delta from
the city of Damietta as far as Alexandria, and to
reduce successively the revolted villages. Belliard
was to support tliese operations generally ; was
more especially to second R;impon in his attack
upon Damietta,, and to retake the fort of Lesbeh
himself, connnanding one of the mouths of the
Nile. Kle'ber left Reynier at Salahieh to prevent
the return of the wrecks of the grand vizier's
army, gone into the Syrian desert. He was to
remain on the frontier in observation, until the
Arabs had finished the dispersinu of the Turks,
and then to return to Cairo. Kleber liim.self de-
parted the next day, the 24th of March, or 3rd of
Germinal, with the JifSth denii-hrigade, two com-
panies of grenadiers, the 7tl> hussars, and the 3rd
anil 1 4th dragoons.

Kl(5ber arrived at Cairo on the 27th of March.
Serious events had occurred there since his de-
parture. The population of this largo city, num-
bering nearly three hundred thousand, fickle, pas-
sionate, prone to change, as every nudtitude is
fi)und to be, had given way to tin; suggestions of
the Turkish emissaries, and attacked the French
:is soon as they hisard the caimon of Heliopolis.
Ruiming without the walls of the city during the
battle, and seeing Nassif Tacha and Ibrahim Bey
with some thousand horse and janissaries, they
thought them the conquerors. Careful not to un-
deceive the people, the Turks asserted, on the con-
trary, that the French were exterminated, and
that the grand vizier had obtained a com|)letc
victory. At this news fifty thousand men had
risen at Cairo, Boulaq, and Gyzeh. Armed with
sabres, lances, and old nniskets, they proposed to
put to death all the French that remained among
k2

Massacres in Cairo. — The Kleber's return to Cairo. ,„„.

132 Turks' attack on the head- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, Pmdent measures to sup- w^°"°-

quarters repulsed.

; insurrection.

them. But two thousand men, entrenched in the
citadel and the forts which commanded the city,
supplied with provisions and ammunition, offered
a resistance difficult to overcome. Having nearly
all fallen back iu good time, they had succeeded in
shutting themselves up in the fortified places.
Some had run great hazards ; tliey were those
who, to the number of two hundred only, composed
the guard of the house occupied as head-quarters.
This fine house, formerly inhabited by Bonaparte,
and afterwards by Kleber, and the principal ad-
ministratives, was situated at one of tlie extremi-
ties of the city. On one side it looked upon the
square of Ezbekyeh, the finest in Cairo, and on the
other, u])on the gardens that were backed by the
Nile. The Tui'ks and the populace in revolt
wished to take this house, and to kill all the French
who occupied it, two hundred in number. This
appeared the more easy to do, as general Verdier,
who was in the citadel at the other end of the city,
could not come to their assistance. But the brave
men who were in the house, as much by a well
sustained fire as by bold sallies, defended them-
selves so well, that they kept oft' the ferocious
mob, and thus gave time to general Lagrange to
arrive. He had been detached, as lias been seen,
already in the evening from the field of battle with
four battalions. He an-ived at noon the next day,
entered by the gardens, and thenceforth rendered
the head-quarters impregnable.

The Turks, having no means to overcome the
resistance of the French, revenged themselves upon
such unfortunate Christians as were at hand.
They began by killing a part of the inhabitants of
the European quarter, and some of the mercliants,
pillaged their houses, and carried off their wives
and daughters. They sought out those of the
Arabs who were accused of being on good terms
with the French, and of having drunk wine with
them. These they murdered, and, as customary,
rapine succeeded to slaughter. They impaled an
Arab, who had been chief of the janissaries under
tlie French, and wlio had the charge of the police
of Cairo ; they treated in the same manner one
who had been secretary of the divan instituted by
Bonaparte. From thence they proceeded to the
quarter of the Copts. These, as it is well-known,
are the descendants of the anc-ient inhabitants of
Egypt, and have persisted in Christianity, in spite
of all the Mussulman governments that have suc-
ceeded each other in this country. Their wealth
was great, arising from the collection of tlie imposts
delegated to them by the Mamelukes. The object
was t<j punish them for being friends of the French,
but more than all to plunder their houses. Hap-
pily for the Copts, their quarters formed the left of
tlie Place Ezbekyeh, and adjoined the head quar-
ters. Their chief was besides both rich and brave;
he defended liimself well, and succeeded iu saving
them.

In tlie midst of these liorrors, Nassif Pacha and
Ibrahim Bey were ashamed at what they did, and
suffered to be done by others. Tiiey saw lost, with
regret, the riches which would have been tiieirs if
they iiad become masters of Egypt. But they
allowed every tiling to be done by a pojmlace of
which they were no longer masters, and wished
besides by those massacres to continue to nourish
a hatred of the Frencli.

During these transactions general Friant ar-
rived, detached from Belbeis ; finally, came Kle'ber
himself. Both entered the head-quarters from
the gardens of the house. Although victor over
the army of the vizier, Kleber had a serious diffi-
culty to surmount here, in conquering an immense
city, peopled by three hundred thousand inhabitants,
part of them in a state of revolt, and occupied by
twenty thousand Turks. Constructed in the oriental
style, that is to say with narrow streets, divided
into masses of buildings that were real fortresses,
receiving light from within, .showing nothing ex-
ternally but high solid walls, having terraces m
place of roofs, wlienee the insurgents could pour
down a plunging and murderous fire — to all this it
must be added, that except the citadel and Place
Ezbekyeh, the Turks wei-e masters of all. The
latter was in a manner blockaded, the streets that
ran into it being closed up by the Turks witii
crenelled walls.

The French had only two modes of attack ;
either to open from the citadel a destructive fire of
shells and shot until the place was reduced, or to
attack by the Place Ezbekyeh, and overturning all
the barriers raised at the ends of the streets, to
take the houses one and one by assault. The first
mode would cause the destruction of a great city,
the capital of the country, of which too the French
had need for the supply of necessaries ; the second
mode exposed them to the risk of losing more
soldiers than in ten such battles as that on the plain
of Heliopolis.

Here Kle'ber exhibited as much prudence as he
had shown energy in the field. He resolved to
gain time, and to suffer the insurrection to exhaust
itself. He had sent nearly all his materiel into
Lower Egypt, believing that he was on the eve of
embarkation. He ordered Reynier, as soon as the
army of the vizier had crossed the desert, and
Damietta and Le.sbeh were taken, to ascend the
Nile with his entire division, and the stores that
were wanted at Cairo. In the interim he caused
all the outlets, by which Cairo could communicate
with the country, to be blocked up. Though the
insurgents should procure provisions by pillaging
the Egyptian houses, commonly well supplied with
them ; though they forged bullets and cast cannon,
it was impossible they should not soon suffer fi-om
want. They could not be long so unacquainted
with the real state of things in other parts of
Egypt, as not to discover that the French were
every where victorious, and the army of the vizier
dispersed ; finally, they were likely to have differ-
ences among tliemselves before long, because their
interests were opjjosite. The Turks of Nassif
Pacha, tlie Mamelukes of Ibrahim Bey, and the
Arabs of Cairo, could not long be in accordance
together. For all these reasons Kleber determined
to temporize and to negotiate.

While he thus gained time he completed his
treaty of alliance with Murad Bey, through the
agency of the wife of that Mameluke prince, who
was universally respected, endowed with beauty,
and a superior intellect. He granted to Murad
the province of Said, under the sovereignty of
France, on condition of paying a tribute, equal in
amount to a good part of the taxes of that province.
Murad Bey engaged, on the other hand, to fight for
the Fi-ench ; and the French engaged, in case of

1800.
April.

Treaty with Murad-Bey.
The Turks attacked
the Place Ezbekyeh.

IIELIOPOLIS.

Assault upon Boulaq ; afterwards
upon the city. — Cairo submits
to Kleber.

evacuating Egypt, if they ever should do so, to
facilitate as much as possible his occupation of tlie
country. Miirad Bey, as will bo seen hereafter,
was faithful to tlie treaty which he had subscribed,
and began by driving out of Upper Egypt a Turkish
corps, wiiich had occupied it.

Through Murad Bey and the sheiks, who were
friends of France, Kleber opened a negotiation
with the Turks who had entered Cairo. Nassif
Pacha and Ibrahim Bey began to fear being shut
up in the city, and treated in the Turkish mode.
They knew besides that the army of the vizier was
completely dispersed. They lent themselves with
good will to the proposal of a conference, and con-
sented to a capitulation, in virtue of which they
were to be permitted to retire safe and sound.
But at the moment when the capitulation was to
be concluded, the insurgents in Cairo, seeing them-
selves left to the vengeance of the French, were
seized with terror and rage, broke off the parley,
threatened to murder those who should abandon
them, and gave money to the Turks to engage
them to fight. An attack by main force, therefore,
become necessary to reduce the city to subjection.

Lower Egypt having returned to its duty, Rey-
nier had ascended to Cairo with his corps and a
convoy of stores. He took a part in the invest-
ment of the works of Cairo to the north and east,
or from Fort Camin to the citadel. General
Friant encamped on the west in the gardens and
house of the commander-in-chief, between the city
and the Nile ; Le Clerc's cavalry was placed be-
tween the divisions of Reynier and Friant, scouring
the plains ; general Verdier occupied the south.

On the 3rd and 4th of April general Friant
began the first attack, directed inmiediately to dis-
engage the Place Ezbekyeh, which was the princi-
pal inlet for the French. The beginning was made
at the Copt tjuarter, which formed the left of the
square. The troops penetrated with the greatest
courage into the streets which crossed that quarter
in every direction, while several detachments blew
up the iiouses around the Place Ezbekyeh, in order
U) make openings to the interior of the city. During
this operation the citadel threw some shells to in-
timidate the population. These attacks succeeded,
and made the French masters of the issues of all
the streets which terminated in the Place Ezbe-
kyeh. On the following days an eminence near
Fort Sulkouski, which the Turks had entrenched,
cfimmanding the Copt quarter, was taken. Every
disposition was now made for a general simul-
taneous attack. Before the order was given,
Kleber, for tlie last time, sunmioned the insurgents
to surrender, but they refused to listen to the
offer. Still attaching great importance to the
preservation of the city, which besides was inno-
cent of the crimes committed by fanatics, Kl(5ber
determined to appeal to their sight by means of a
terrible example. He ordered Boulaq, a detached
suburb on the bank of the Nile, to be attacked.

On the l.'jth of April, or 25th of Germinal, the
division of Friant encircled Boulaq, and rained
upon that miserable Huburb a shower of shells and
shot. Favoured by the fire the soldiers pusiied on
to the assault, but found, on the jiart of tin; in-
habitants and of the Turks, a very obstinate
resistance. Every street, and every house, became
the scene of an obstinate contest. KltJber sus-

pended the horrible carnage for a moment in order
to offer pardon to the insurgents; but his offer was
repelled. The attack was renewed. The fire Hew
from house to house, and Boulaq in a blaze im-
parted a double horror to the flames and the
assault. The heads of the population then threw
themselves at Kl^ber's feet ; he stopped the ef-
fusion of blood, and saved the rest of that unfor-
tunate suburb. It was the quarter where the
warehouses of the merchants were situated, and
an immense quantity of goods was found there ;
the goods were preserved for the use of the army.

This horrible spectacle had been seen by all the
populr.tion of Cairo. Profiting by the effect which
it ought to produce, Kleber then attacked the
capital itself. A house near the head-quarters,
still held by the Turks, had been undermined, and
the Turks and insurgents were blown into the air
together. This was the signal for the attack. The
troops of Friant and Belliard assaulted the city by
all the inlets from the Place Ezbekyeh, while gene-
ral Reynier entered at the north and east, and
general Verdier from the lofty citadel showered
down shells. The combat was obstinate. The
troops of Reynier entered by the gate of Bab-el-
Cliaryeh, at the extremity of the grand canal,
and driving before them Ibrahim Bey and Nassif
Pacha, who defended it, crowded them both up
between the 9th demi-brigade, which had pene-
trated from the opposite point, and had driven
back all they encountered in their victorious march.
The French corps met after making a fearful
carnage. Night parted the combatants. Several
thousand Turks, Mamelukes, and insurgents had
fallen ; and four hmidred houses were in flames.

This was the last attempt made at resistance.
The inhabitants, who had so long retained the
Turks, now conjured them to leave the city and
give them the opportunity of negotiating with the
French. KMber, to whom these scenes of slaughter
were repugnant, and who wished to spare his
soldiers, desired nothing more. The agents of
Murad Bey served as mediators. The treaty was
soon concluded. Nassif Pacha and Ibrahim Bey
were to retire into Syria, under escort of a de-
tachment of the French army. They obtained no
other terms than that their lives should be spared.
They quitted Cairo on the 2oth of April, or 5th of
Floreal, leaving to the mercy of the French the
miserable people whom they had stirred up to
revolt.

Thus terminated this sanguinary conflict, which
had commenced by the battle of lleliopolis, on the
20th of March, and fini.shed on the 25th of April,
by the departure of the last lieutenants of the
vizier, after thirty-five days of fighting, between
ten thousand French on one side and the whole
jjower of the Ottoman empire on the other, seconded
by the revolt of the Egyptian towns. Great faults
caiLsed this revolt and provoked this horrible ef-
fusion of blood. If the French had not put on the
appearance of departure, the Egyptians would never
have dared to revolt. The contest would have
been limited to a combat, brilliant indeed, but
little beyond, between the French squares and the
Turkish cavalry. But a commencement of the
evacuation raising a po[)ular commotion in souie
cities, it was necessary to retake them by an as-
sault, much mori! destructive than a battle. The

All the cities of the Delta sub-
134 "lit. Kleber's clemency. —
Financial arrangements.

Conciliatory measures.— A ,_..
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. yoiing fanatic resolves to ^»^^-

assassinate Kleber. •^'"^""

faults of Kldber must be forgotten in doing honour
to his fine and energetic conduct. He had imagined
that he could not defend Egyi>t, when peaceful and
subdued, against the Turks, and he had made the
conquest in thirty-five days, against the Turks and
the Egyptian insurgents, with as much energy as
humanity and prudence.

In the Delta all the cities were in complete sub-
mission. JIurad By had driven the Turkish
detachment of Dervish Pacha from Upper Egypt.
Every where the vanquished trembled before tho
victor, and expected a terrible punishment. Tho
inhabitants of Cairo particularly, who had com-
mitted frightful cruelties on the Arabs attached
to the French service, and on the Christians of all
nations— they were filled with terror. Kleber was
humane and wise ; he took care not to repay
cruelty with cruelty. He knew that conquest must
be odiims to evei'y people, and could only become
tolerable in the view of those upon wliom it falls,
at the price of good government, while it cannot
become legitimate in the eyes of great nations but
by contributing to the accomplishment of grand
objects. He hastened therefore to use his suc-
cesses with moderation. The Egyptians were
convinced he would treat them with severity.
They thought tliat the loss of their goods and
their heads could alone exjiiate the crime of their
revolt. Kieber assembled them together, exhibited
a severe countenance towards them, then pardoning
them, satisfied himself by imposing a contribution
upon the insurgent cities.

Cairo paid 10,000,000 f., not an onerous burthen
for so large a city, the inhabitants regarding them-
selves lucky to get off so well. Eight millions,
besides, were imposed upon the other insurgent
cities of Lower Egypt.

This sum immediately paid all the ari'ears that
were due, as well as for the provisions of which
the army had need, the care of the wounded, and
the completion of the fortifications begun. It was
a precious resource until the system of taxation
could be ameliorated and put into execution.
Another resource, altogether unexpected, offered
at the moment. Sixty-six Turkish ships had en-
tered the ports of Egypt to transport the French
army. The recent hostilities gave the French the
right of detaining them. Tliey were laden with
merchandize, which was sold to the profit of the
military chest. From these different sources an
abundance of every thing required was obtained,
without any requisition in kind. The army found
itself in the midst of plenty ; and the Egyptians,
who had not hoped to get clear so easily, submitted
with perfect i-esignation. The army was proud of
its successes, confident in its strength; and know-
ing that Bonaparte was at the head of the govern-
ment at home, did not doubt that he would soon
come to their succour. Kleber had conquered,
the noblest of excuses for his momentary fault, in
the fields of Hcliopolis.

He assembled the commissaries of the army and
the persons best acquainted with the country, and
set them to organize the finances of the colony. He
gave to the Copts, to whom it had formerly been
confided, the collection of the direct contributions.
He imposed new duties on the customs, and on
articles of consumption. The total of the revenue
was to be carried to 25,000,000 f. It sufficed for all

the wants of the army, if the amount did not exceed
eighteen or twenty million francs. He admitted
into the ranks of his army, Copts, Syrians, and even
blacks, bought in Darfour, whom some of his subal-
tern officei's, beginning to speak the language of the
country, commenced to teach the military exercise.
These recxniits, placed in the more reduced regi-
ments, fought there as well as the French, at whose
sides they had the lionour to serve. Kleber ordered
the furts round Cairo to be finished, and set work-
men upon those at Lesbeh, Damietta, Buries, and
Rosetta, situated on the coast. He pushed forward
the works at Alexandria with rapidity, and im-
pressed fresh activity on tlie learned researches
of the Institution of Egypt. Every thing, from the
cataracts to the mouths of the Nile, assumed the
aspect of a solid and durable establishment. For
months afterwards, the caravans of Syria, Arabia,
and Darfour, began to re-appear at Cairo, where
their hospitable reception insured their return.

If Kle'ber had lived, Egypt would have been
preserved to France, at least until the day of her
great misfortunes. But a' deplorable event took
away that general in tlie midst of his exploits and
most judicious government.

It iynot without danger that the great principles
of human nature can be deeply shaken. The en-
tire of Islamism had been affected by the presence
of the French in Egypt. The sons of Mahomet
had experienced somewhat of that enthusiasm,
which in old time aroused them against the cru-
saders. On every side was heard, as in the twelfth
century, the cries of a holy war ; and there were
Mus.sulnian devotees who vowed to accomplish the
"sacred combat," which consisted in killing an un-
believer. In Egypt, where the French were seen
more closely, where their humanity was duly valued
and comprehended, where they were able to com-
pare them to the soldiers of the Porte, or more
particularly to the Mamelukes ; in Egypt, finally,
where they witnessed their respect for the prophet,
(a respect ordered to be shown by Bonaparte,) the
aversion towards them was less; and when at a later
time they quitted the country, fanaticism had al-
ready sensibly cooled. There were perceived in
some places, during the last insm-rectiou, real signs
of attachment for the French soldiers, to such a
degree that the English agents were surprised at it.
But, throughout the rest of the east, there was
only one thing that appeared striking to all the
natives, the invasion, by infidels, of an immense
Mussulman country.

A young man, a native of Aleppo, named Sulie-
man, who was the prey to great fanaticism, who
had made journeys from Mecca to Medina, who
had studied at the mosque, El-Azhar, the wealth-
iest and most renowned in all Cairo, where the
Koran and Turkish law were taught, and who
wi.shed to join the body of doctors of the faith,
happened to be wandering in Palestine when the
remnant of the grand viziei-'s army passed through
that country. He was an eye-witness to the suffer-
ings and despair of those of his own religion, and
this sight strongly affected his diseased imagina-
tion and moved his sensibility. The aga of the
janissaries, who saw him by chance, inflamed his
fanaticism yet more by his own suggestions. This
yoimg man offered to assassinate " the French sul-
tan," general Kleber. They furnished him with a

Kleber assassinated.— Grief
of the army — Menou as-
sumes the command.

HELIOPOLIS.

Comparison of the characters of
Kleber and Desaix.

135

dromedary, and a sum of money to pay his journey.
He reached Gaza, crossed the desert, came to
Cairo, and shut himself up for several weeks in the
great mosque, into which students and jjoor tni-
vellers are admitted at the cost of that religious
foundation. The rich mosques are, in the east,
what the convents formerly were in Europe; there
are found prayer, hospitality, and religious instruc-
tion. The young fanatic disclosed his intention to
four of the principal sheiks of the mosque, who
were at the head of the department of instruction.
They were alarmed at his determination, and the
consequences which might ensue; they told hirn that
he would not succeed, that he would occasion great
mischiefs to Egypt; but still they did not make the
French authorities acquainted with the circumstance.

When this wretch was fully confirmed in his re-
solution, he armed himself with a poignard, fol-
lowed Kleber for several days, and not being able
to get near him, conceived the design of ])enc-
trating into the garden of the head-quarters, there
to conceal himself behind an old cistern. On the
14th of June he suddenly presented himself before
Kleber, who was walking with the architect. Pro-
tain, showing him what re])airs were necessary to
be done to the house, in order to obliterate the
marks left by the bullets and shells. He approached
close, as if to solicit alms, and, while Kle'ber was in
the act of listening to him, he rushed upon his vic-
tim and plunged the poignard several times into
his heart. Kle'ber sank under the blows The archi-
tect, Protain, fell upon the assassin with a stick
which he had in his hand, and struck him vio-
lently on the head, tut was, in his turn, struck
down by a stab of the ])oignard. At the cries of
Kleber and his comp:inion, the soldiers ran to the
spot and i-aised up t!:uir cxjuring commander; then
searching, found tiie assassin, who was concealed
behind a pile of r!.L)bish.

In a few minttes after this tragic scene Kleljcr
was no more. The army shed bitter tears over
liim. The Arabs, who admired his clemency to
them after their revolt, united their regrets with
those of the French soldiery. A military commis-
sion was instantly formed to try the assassin, who
avowed all. lie was condemned to be impaled,
according to le law of the country. The four
sheiks, who vere in his confidence, lost their
luads. Til' .se sanguinary .sacrifices were believed
necessarj- ;■. in.surc the security of the chiefs of the
army. Vain precautions ! In Kleber the army
had lost a general, and the colony a founder, whom
none of the ofKcers in the army of Egypt coui<l
replace. With Kl^er, Egypt was lost lor France.
Menou, who succeeded him in tlic order of se-
niority, was an ardent |)artiHyn of the expedition ;
but, in spite of his zeal, he was alt<igether below
such a Uihk. One man alone could eijual Kleber,
or surpa.ss liini, in the government of Egypt; he had
three montliH before embarked in the port of
Alexandria to reach Italy, and he fell at Marengo,
the sante day, and nearly at the same insUint that
Kl(?ber fell at Cairo— it wii.s Disaix ! Both died
on the 14th of June, IKOO, in the accomplishment
of the va.st designs <.f Bonaparte. Singular, in-
deed, was tlicfate of ihe.sc two men, continually side
by side in life, mnlividc d in death, and yet ho very
different in their (jualitns both of mind and body.

KUber was the fini.st man in the army. His

stature lofty and commanding ; Iiis countenance
noble, and expressive of the pride of his spirit ; his
courage at once cool and intrepid ; his prompt and
sure intelligence making him on the batile-field
the most formidable of commanders. His mind
was original and brilliant, but uncultivated. He
read Quintus Curtius and Plutarch continually and
exclusively, and searched for the food of great
souls in the history of the heroes of antiquity. He
was capricious, indocile, and a grumbler. It was
said of him that he W( uld neither command nor
obey, and this was said truly. He even obeyed the
orders of Bonaparte murmuringly. He sometimes
commanded, but in the name of another, under
that of general Jourdan, for exam |)le, assuming the
command by a species of inspiration in the middle
of the battle, and exercising it like a great soldier ;
then, after the victory, resuming liis character of
lieutenant, which he preferred to every other. He
was licentious in his manner and language, but of
strict integrity ; disinterested, as men were in his
days, before the conquest of the world had cor-
rupted their characters.

Desaix was in every respect the reverse of
Kle'ber. Simple, bashful, even a little awkward,
he had not the aspect of a soldier, his face being
hid by his ample head of hair. Heroic in battle,
kind to the soldiers, modest among his companions,
generous to the vanquished, he was adored by the
army, and the people whom he had subdued by
the French arms. His mind was solid, and had
been well cultivated; while his intelligence in war,
his disinterestedness, and his attention to his duties,
made him the accomplished model of all the mili-
tary virtues. Kleber, unsubmissive, indocile, could
not endure a superior authority. Desaix was as
obedient as if he had never known how to com-
mand. Under a coarse exterior, he concealed an
animated soul, very susceptible of enthusiastic feel-
ing.s. Although brought u]) in the severe school
of the army of the Rhine, he felt a strong admi-
ration for the campaigns of Italy, and had a wish to
see himself the fields where tlic battles of Cas-
tiglione, Areola, and Rivoli had been fought.
While ho was vi.siting those fii Ids, the scenes of
immortal glory, he fell in by accident with the
commander-in chief of the army of Italy, who .soon
felt a strong attachment for him. What an honour-
able homage was the friendship of such a man !
Bonajiarte was deeply affected by it. He esteemed
Kleber for great military talents; but he jdaced no
one eiiher for talent or character on a level with
Desaix. He loved him besides; in that, having
around him companions in arms who had not yet
pardoned his ascendancy, though they affected
towards him an obsequious sulimis-sion, he the
more valued Desaix's purt; and disinterested de-
votion, founded upon deep admiration. At the same
lime kee|>ing secret his ])reference, and pretending
ignorance of Kleber's faults, he treated both him
and De.saix alike, and wished, as will be seen soon,
to join in the Himc honours two men, whom
fortune had mingled in one common destiny.

For the rest, every thing n niained frnnquil in
Eg\pt after Kldber'o death. (Jeneral Meuou, on
taking the chief conmiand, despatched the OsinH
from Alexandria with all »|.eid, to carry to France
intelligence of the flourishing slate of the colony,
and of the deplorable end of its second founder.

Chagrin of British govern-
i;3(j ment at the French re-
• ig Egypt.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Bonaparte's regret at 1800.
Kleber's death. June.

BOOK VI.

THE ARMISTICE.

VAST PREPARATIONS FOR THE SUCCOUR OF THE EGYPTIAN ARMY. — ARRIVAL OF M. ST. JULIEN IN PARIS. — IMPA-
TIENCE OF THE FRENCH CABINET TO TREAT WITH HIM. — DESPITE THE INSUFFICIENT POWERS OF M. ST. JULIEN,
TALLEYRAND INDUCES HIM TO SIGN PRELIMINARY ARTICLES OF PEACE. — M. JULIEN SIGNS THEM, AND SETS
OFF WITH DUROC FOR VIENNA.— STATE OF PRUSSIA AND RUSSIA. — ADROIT EXPEDIENT OF THE FIRST CONSUL
IN REGARD TO THE EMPEROR PAUL.— HE SENDS SIX THOUSAND RUSSIAN PRISONERS BACK WITHOUT RANSOM,
AND OFFERS HIM THE ISLAND OF MALTA.— ENTHUSIASM OF THE EMPEROR PAUL FOR BONAPARTE, AND MIS-
SION GIVEN TO M. SPRENGPORTEN FOR PARIS.— NEW LEAGUE OP THE NEUTRAL POWERS. — THE FOUR GREAT
aUESTIONS OP MARITIME LAW.— RECONCILIATION WITH THE HOLY SEE.— THE COURT OF SPAIN, AND ITS
INTIMACY WITH THE FIRST CONSUL. — INTERIOR STATE OF THAT COURT. — GENERAL BERTHIER SENT TO MADRID.
— THAT ENVOY NEGOTIATES A TREATY WITH CHARLES IV., BY WHICH TUSCANY WOULD BE GIVEN TO THE
HOUSE OF PARMA, AND LOUISIANA TO FRANCE. — ERECTION OF THE KINGDOM OF ETRURIA. — FRANCE RE-
INSTATES HERSELF IN THE FAVOUR OP THE EUROPEAN POWERS. — ARRIVAL OF M. ST. JULIEN AT VIENNA.—
ASTONISHMENT OF THE COURT OF VIENNA AT THE NEWS OF THE PRELIMINARY ARTICLES BEING SIGNED
•WITHOUT POWERS. — EMBARRASSMENT OF THE CABINET OP VIENNA, WHICH HAD ENGAGED NOT TO TREAT
WITHOUT ENGLAND. — DISAVOWAL OF M. ST. JULIEN. — ATTEMPT AT A NEGOTIATION COMMON TO BOTH ENGLAND
AND AUSTRIA. — THE FIRST CONSUL, TO ADMIT ENGLAND INTO THE NEGOTIATION, REOUIRES A NAVAL ARMIS-
TICE, WHICH WILL PERMIT HIM TO SUCCOUR EGYPT.— ENGLAND REFUSES, NOT TO TREAT, BUT TO ACCORD THE
PROPOSED ARMISTICE. — THE FIRST CONSUL THEN REQUIRES A DIRECT AND IMMEDI-iTE NEGOTIATION WITH
AUSTRIA, OR A RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES. — MANNER IN WHICH HE PROFITED BY THE SUSPENSION OF ARMS,
TO PLACE THE FRENCH ARMIES ON A FORMIDABLE FOOTING. — APPREHENSION OF AUSTRIA, AND THE REMIS-
SION OF THE FORTRESSES OF PHILIPSBURG, ULM, AND INGOLDSTADT, TO PROCURE A PROLONGATION OP THE
CONTINENTAL ARMISTICE. — CONVENTION OF IIOHENLINDEN, GRANTING A NEW SUSPENSION OF ARMS FOR
FORTY-FIVE DAYS.— DESIGN ATION OP M. COBENTZEL, AS ENVOY TO THE CONGRESS OF LUNEVILLE. — FETE OF
THE 1st VENDEMIAIRE. — TRANSLATION OP THE BODY OF TURENNE TO THE INVALIDS. — THE FIRST CONSUL
GIVES UP THE TIME LEFT TO HIM BY THE INTERRUPTION OP HOSTILITIES, TO OCCUPY HIMSELF WITH THE
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. — SUCCESS OF HIS FINANCIAL MEASURES. — PROSPERITY OP THE BANK OF FRANCE.
— PAYMENT OP THE STOCKHOLDERS IN SPECIE.— REPAIR OF THE ROADS.— RETURN OP THE PRIESTS. — DIFFI-
CULTIES RESPECTING THE SUNDAY AND DECADE IN THEIR CELEBRATION. — NEW MEASURES RESPECTING THE
EMIGRANTS. — SITUATION OF PARTIES. — THEIR DISPOSITION TOWARDS THE FIRST CONSUL. — THE REVOLUUTION-
ISTS AND ROYALISTS. — CONDUCT OF THE GOVERNMENT TOWARDS TIIEM. — DIFFERING INFLUENCES ABOUT THE
FIRST CONSUL.— PAKTS PLAYED NEAR HIM BY TALLEYRAND, FOUCHE, AND CAMBACERES. — THE BONAPARTE
FAMILY. — LETTERS OP LOUIS XVIII. TO THE FIRST CONSUL, AND THE REPLY MADE. — PLOT OP CERACCHI AND
ARENA. — AGITATION OF THE PUBLIC ON HEARING OP THE PLOT.— THE IMPRUDENT FRIENDS OP THE FIRST
CONSUL WISH TO PROFIT BY IT, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELEVATING HIM TOO SOON TO THE SUPREME POWER. —
PAMPHLET WRITTEN WITH THIS VIEW BY M. FONTANES. — NECESSITY FOR DISAVOWING THAT PAMPHLET. —
LUCIEN BONAPARTE DEPRIVED OF THE MINISTRY OP THE INTERIOR, AND SENT AS ENVOY TO SPAIN.

While the Osiris was conveying to Europe the
news of what had occurred on the banks of the
Nile, there left England ordei-s altogether con-
trary to those which had been sent before. The
observations of sir Sidney Smith had been favour-
ably received in London. The government had
been fearful of disavowing the acts of an English
officer who liad represented himself as invested
with powers from liis government ; it had, more
than all, discovered tlie falsity of the intercepted
despatches, and better appreciated the difficulty of
taking Egypt out of tlie liands of the French army.
It therefore ratified the convention of El-Ariscli,
and desired lord Keith to see it executed. But
there was no longer time, as has been alrcndy
seen ; the convention was at that moment torn in
pieces, sword in hand; and the French re-esta-
blished in the possession of Egypt, would not now
abandon the country. The English ministry were
destined to reap the fruit of their levity in bitter
regret, and to sustain violent attacks in parliament
for their conduct.

The first consul, upon his part, received with
joy the tidings of the consolidation of his conquest.
Unhappily the news of the death and exploits
of Kle'ber arrived nearly at the some moment.
His regrets were deep and sincere. He rarely
dissimulated, and only when forced to do so by
some duty or great interest, but it was always
done with effort, because his vivacity of temper
rendered dissimulation difficult. In the narrow
circle of his family and counsellors, he never dis-
gui.sed any thing ; he exhibited his affection and
aversion with extreme violence. It was among
his intimate friends he betrayed the grief caused
by the death of Kle'ber. He did not regret in
him a friend, as he did in Desaix ; he regretted
a great general, an able commander, more capable
than any other man to secure the establishment of
the Fi-ench in Egypt — an establishment which he
regarded as his finest work, of which the defini-
tive success alone could change from a brilhant
essay into a great and solid undertaking.

Time, like a river, carries along with it all that

Active preparations for the succour
of the Eg)-ptian anijy.

THE ARMISTICE.

Blockade of Malta.— Character of Rey-
nier, Menou, and Lanusse. — Menou J37
confirmed in the command.

nian flings into its rapid waters — time has swal-
lowed up the odious falsehoods invented by party
malice. Still there is one of them which it is
instructive to mention here, although long since
completely forgotten. The royalist agents reported,
and the English newspapei*s circulated, that Desaix
and Kie'ber, having given umbrage to the first con-
sul, they had been both assassinated by his orders,
one at Marengo, the other at Cairo. There were
not wanting miserable fools who believed this,
while to-day people are almost ashatned to recall
such base imputations. Tiiose who fabricate such
infamous falsehoods, should sometimes place them-
selves before posterity ; they would then blush, if they
could, at the denial that time had prepared for them.

The first consul had already given pressing
orders to the fleets of Brest and Rochfort, to pre-
pare to sail into the Mediterranean. Although
the finances were in an improved state, still obliged
to make great eft'orts on land, the first consul was
not able to do at sea all that he had judged neces-
sary. At the same time he omitted nothing to
place the great Brest fleet in a state to i)ut to
sea. He urged the court of Spain for the neces-
sary ordei's to admirals Gravina and Mazzaredo,
commanding the Spanish division to concur in
the movements of the French. By the united
squadrons of the two nations, blockaded in Brest
for a year past, a force of forty sail of the line
would be formed. The first consul wished that,
profiting by the putting to sea of this large naval
force, tile Frencli vessels disposable at L'Oricnt,
R<jchefort, and Toulon, and the Spanish vessels dis-
posable at Ferrol, Cadiz, and Carthagena, should
join the combined fleet, so as to augment its
strength. These different movements were to be
conducted in such a mode as to deceive the English,
and throw tliem into great perplexity, during
which admiral Ganteaume, taking with him the
best sailere, Wius to slip off and carry to Egypt si.\
thousand chosen men, numerous workmen, and an
immense maliriel.

Spain consented very willingly to this com-
bination, which for her had at least the advantage
of recalling into the Mediterranean, and conse-
quently into her own ports, the squadron of Gra-
vina, uselessly blockaded in Brest harbour. She
saw no other objection than that arising from the
bad condition of the two fleets, and their wretched
e(iuipment. The first consul did his best to re-
move this objection, and the vessels of both nations
were quickly provided with the stores that were
most necessary. In the mean time he was anxious
that the army of Egypt should receive intelligence
from him every five or six days. He gave orders
that from all the ports in the Mediterranean,
Spain and Italy included, brigs and small vessels,
mere n-.L-rchantmen, ithould sail with balls, shells,
lead, powder, muskets, sabres, timber for car-
riages, medicines, bark, grain, wkie, all in fact that
could be wanted in Egypt. He ordered further,
that each of these small vessels should carry
workmen — masons, sniitliH, guimers, or ])ickcd
horsemen. \h- had vessi Is chartered for this pur-
pose at Carthag<;iia, Barcelona, I'ort-Vendres,
Marseilles, Toulon, Antibes, .Savoiia, Genoa, Bastia,
St. Florent, and dtlier parts. He bargained with
the merchants of Algiers to semi cargoes of wine
to Egypt, of which the army was destitute. By

his order a troop of comedians was provided with
all that was required for a theatre, the whole to
sail for Alexandria. The best Paris journals were
ordered to be sent to the principal officers of the
ai'niy, that they might know all that was going on
in Europe. Nothing was neglected, in one word,
of all that would be expected to sustain the spirit
of the excited soldiers, and to keep them in con-
stant communication with the parent country '.

Several of these vessels were of course likely to
be captured; but the larger number had the chance
of arriving safe, and did actually arrive, because
the extended coast of the Delta could not be strictly
guarded. The same success did not attend the
attempts made to revietual Malta, which the Eng-
lish kept in a state of rigorous blockade. They
made it a most important oi)ject to take this second
Gibraltar, knowing that here the blockade was
certain of proving effective ; because Malta is a
rock that can only be supplied by sea, while EgJ^pt
is a large country that supplies its neighbours and
itself. They persevered, therefore, with great
strictness in the investment of the island, and in
inflicting upon it the horrors of famine. The gal-
lant general Vaubois having at his disposal four
thousand men, had no fear from being attacked ;
but he saw, hour by hour, the diminution of the
provisions required for the sustenance of his
troops, and, unfortunately, did not receive from
the ports of Corsica sufficient supplies to replace
the daily consumption.

The first consul directed his attention to select a
commander capable of replacing Kie'ber in Egypt.
The loss of this officer was painful, more par-
ticularly in consideration of those who might be
called to succeed him. If Desaix had remahied
in Egypt the mischief would have been easily re-
paired ; but Desaix had come back, and was no
more. Those who remained in Egypt were not
equal to such a command. Reynier wius a good
officer, brought up in the school of the army of the
Rhine, skilful and experienced, but cold, irresolute,
and having no ascendancy over the men. Menou
was well-informed, brave, enthusiastic in favour
of the expedition, but not capable of managing an
army; and rendered ridiculous from having mar-
ried a Turkisli woman and ■^irofessed tin; Maho-
metan faith. He called himself Abdaiiah Menou,
which became a subject of jesting to the soldiers,
and much diminished the respect with which a
commander-in-chief should be ever invested. Ge-
neral Laimsse was brave and intelligent, full of a
warmth which he knew how to coinmimicatc to
others. He appeared to the first consul to merit
the preference, although he was deficient in pru-
dence. But general Menou had taken the com-
mand from seniority. It was difficult to secure
the arrival of an order in l'jgy|>t ; the English
might intercept it ; and by not publishing it word
for word, raise a sus|iicion of its real meaning
in such a way as to render the command uncertain,
to raise divisions among the generals, tmd to dis-
tract the colony. He left things, therefore, in the
same state, and confirmed Menou, not believing
him, indeed, as incapable as he really proved
iiimsclf to be.

' These pnrticulars arc all extracted from the voluminou*
corrcKpondcnce of the first consul with the departments of
war and of the marine.

European affairs.— Conduct The emperor's letter to

138 of the Austrian govern- THIERS' CONSULATE AND E:\IPIRE. Bonaparte. — Instruc-
ment. tioiis to St. Julien.

July.

It is necessary now to return to Europe, in
order to see what is passing in the tlieatre of the
great events of the world. The letter which tlie
first consul had addressed from Marengo itself to
the emperor of Germany, was brought to him with
the news of the loss of that battle. The court
of Vienna was now aware of the fault it committed
in repelling the offers of the first consul at the
beginning of the winter'; in obstinately crediting
that France was so reduced as Jiot to be able to
continue the war; in refusing to believe in the
existence of the army of reserve : and in pushing
Me'las so blindly into the gorges of the Apennines.
The influence of M. Thugut was considerably
diminished, because it was to him alone that were
to be imputed all these errors in conduct and fore-
sight. Still to these faults, already so great, he
added another, not less so, in forming a closer
alliance with England than ever, under the im-
pression of the disaster of Marengo. Until now
the cabinet of Vienna had declined the English
subsidies ' ; but it thought i-iglit to obtain as
soon as possiljle the means of repairing the losses
of the campaign, whether to enable it to treat
more advantageously with France, or to place
itself in a better condition to renew the struggle
with her, if her demands were too exorbitant.
Austria therefore accepted 2,500,000^. sterling, or
C2,000,000f. * In return for this subsidy, Austria
agreed not to make peace with France before the
month of February following, unless the peace was
common both to Austria and Eng!an<l. The treaty
was signed on the 2ath of June, 1800, the same
day that the dis:istri)us news arrived from Italy.
Austria was thus bound up to the fortunes of
England for seven months to come; but she hoped
to pass the summer in negotiating, and to see
winter arrive before hostilities recommenced.
In other respects the cabinet of Austria was in-
clined to peace; and only wished to negotiate in
common with England, and above all, not to be
obliged to make too many sacrifices in Italy. On
this condition she desired nothing better than to
conclude it.

The emperor employed to be bearer of his letter
to the first consul the same officer who had brought

' [If the difference between a loan never to be repaid and
sum of money given directly, can be defined; M. Thiers is
undoubtedly correct. Austria got £1,600,000 from England
in 1795 ; in 1797, £1,600,000, under the name ot loans: not
one shilling of which advances she ever returned. The first
mon y given under the name of '•subsidij" was sent, as M.
Thiers ob.-erves, in 1800. The present thus made to renew
defeats similar to that of Marengo, was £1,066,660. Ihus
England paid towards the continued reverses of Austria
alone, up to 1800, or in five years, no less than £7,266,060.]
— Translator.

* [This sum is erroneous. The whole of the subsidies pre-
sented by England to different European states in 1800, ac-
cording to our own returns, were —

Germany, or Austria £1,066,666

German princes 500,000

Bavaria 501,017

Russia 545,494

£2.61.3,177

M. Thiers seems to imagine that all was presented to Aus-
tria, or about £2,500,UU0.]— Trani/a<or.

him the letter from Italy, written at Marengo,
M. St. Julien, in whom he reposed great con-
fidence. The reply was this time directed and
addressed personally to general Bonaparte. It
contained the ratification of the double armistice,
signed in Germany and Italy, and an invitation to
explain confidentially, and with perfect frankness,
the basis of a future negotiation. M. St. Julien
had a special order to sound the first consul about
the conditions on which France would be willing
to sign a peace; and, on the other side, to explain
eijough of the intentions of the emperor to induce
the French cabinet to discover its own. The
letter of which M. Julien was the bearer, full of
flattering and pacific protestations, contained a
passage in which the object of his mission was
clearly specified.

" I am writing to my generals," said his imperial
majesty, " to confirm the two armistices and re-
gulate their details. In regard to other matters,
I have sent to you the major-general of my armies,
count St. Julien; he is in possession of my instruc-
tions, and commanded to call to your attention,
how essential it is not to enter into public nego-
tiations, likely to deliver so many nations to hopes,
perhaps illusory, until after having known, at least
in a general way, if the bases which you would
propose for peace are such as will enable us to flatter
ourselves with an arrival at so desirable an object.
— Vienna, July 5, 1800."

The emperor let fall, towards the conclusion of
his letter, the engagements which connected him
with England, and which made him desire a peace
common to both the belligerent powers.

M. St. Julien arrived in Paris on the 21st of
July, or 2nd Thermidor, in the year viii., and was
received with the greatest cordiality and attention.
He was the first envoy, for a long while, sent from
the emperor, who had made his appearance in
France. People welcomed him as the representative
of a great sovereign, and as the messenger of peace.
We have already spoken of the lively desire the
first consul felt to put an end to the war. No one
contested with him the glory of battles; he now
wished for glory of another kind; less brilliant,
but more novel, and, at that moment, more advan-
tageous to his anth<prity— that of pacifying France
and Europe. In his ardent mind desires were
passions. He sought peace then as he afterwards
sought war. Talleyrand desired it as much as the
first consul, for he was alread\^ fond of assuming
the part of moderator about Bonaparte. It was
an excellent part to play, particularly at a later
period; but now to press the first consul to peace
was to add one impatience to another, and to
compromise the result by hastening the event too
much.

The day after his arrival, July 22nd, or 3rd of
Therinidur, M. St. Julien was invited to a confer-
ence with the minister for foreign affairs. They
conversed on tiie reciprocal desire felt to terminate
the war, and on tbe best mode to succeed in that
object. M. St. Julien listened to all that was said
to him upon the conditions under which peace
might be concluded, and, on his side, hinted at all
that the emperor his master desired. Talleyrand
too hastily imagined that M. St. Jtilien had secret
and sufficient instructions to treat, and proposed,
m consequence, that they should not confine them-

1800. Conference between St. Julian

July. and Talleyrand.

THE ARMISTICE.

Minutes of the preliminary treaty
signed by St. Julien.

selves to a mere convention, but reduce to writing
preliminary articles for a peace. M. St. Julicu,
wiio was not authorized to cuiamit himself in so
serious an affair, because the engagements between
Austria and England were absolutely in opposition
to it ; — M. St. Julien objected, that he had no
power to conclude a treaty. Talleyrand replied,
that the letter of the emperor completely authorized
hira; and that if he wmild agree to some prelimi-
nary articles, and sign them, with the reservation
of their ulterior ratification, the French cabinet,
upon the simple letter of the emperor, would con-
sider him sufficiently accredited. M. St. Julien,
who was a soldier, and had no experience in diplo-
macy, was simple enough to make Talleyrand ac-
quiiinted with his ignorance of forms and his
embari'assment, and to ask him what he would do
in his place. " I should sign," said Talleyrand.
"Very well, then; let it be so,'' replied .M.St. Julien;
" I will sign the preliminary articles, which shall
not be esteemed valid until they have received the
ratification of my sovereign. " " Most undoubtedly
not," replied Talleyrand ; " no eng.agements are
valid between nations but such as have been
ratified."

This strange manner of communicating their
powers to each other, is to be found specified at
full length in the protocol of the negntiation still
in existence. The minutes are dated the 23d, 24th,
27th, and 28:h of July, or 4th, 5th, 8ch, and lith of
Thermidor in the year viii. All tlie important sub-
jects for arrangement between the two counti'ies
were discussed, and the treaty of Campo Formio
adopted as the basis of the negotiation, with a few
modifications. Thus the emperor abandoned to the
republic the boundary of the Rhine, from the point
where that river leaves the Swiss territories, to
that where it enters upon the Batavian limits.
Under tliat article M. St. Julien required and ob-
tained a change in the language. He wished the
expression, "The emperor concedes the line of the
Rhine," to be changed into " The emperor does not
oppose the conservation of the limits of the Rhine
by the French repuldic." This mode of expression
had for its object to answer the reproaches which
might be mad .• by the Germanic body, that had
accused the emperor of delivering up to France
the territory of the confederation. It was agreed
that France should not retain on the right bank of
the Rhine any of the fortified posts, such as Kelil,
Ehrenbreitstein, or Cassel, that the works should be
razed; but tliat, on the other hand, the Germans
should not throw up any works of earth, or ma-
sonry, within three leagues of the river.

Thus far for the boundary limits between France
and Germany. It remained to settle those that be-
longed to Austria and Italy. The fifth secret ar-
ticle of the treaty of Campo Formio, had stipulated
that Austria shouM recive in Germany, an indem-
nity for certain lordships which she had conceded
on the left bank of the Rhine, independently of the
Low Countries, which she had long before given up
to France.* The bishoprick of Salzburg was to
comprise this indemnity. The emperor would have
been better pleased to have had the indenmity in
Italy, because the acipiisitions which he obtained
in Germany, particularly the ecclesiastical princi-
palities, were hardly new acquisitions, the court of
Vicuna having already in those principalities an

1 ICUl

influence and privileges which were nearly equiva-
lent to a direct sovereignty. On the contrary, the
acquisitions that it obtained in Italy had the ad-
vantage of giving the emperor countries over which
he had not before the slightest influence or power;
above all, extending its frontier ami its influence in a
country, the object of the continued ambition of the
emperor's family. From the same motives France
preferred that Austria should indemnity hei"self in
Germany rather tlian Italy. Nevertheless, this last
]ioint was given up. The treaty of Campo Formio
threw Austria upon the Adige, and gave to the
Cisalpine republic, the Mincio and the celebrated
fortress of Mantua. The desire of Austria, at this
time, was to obtain the Jlincio, Mantua, and the
Legations, which was an exorbitant demand. The
first consul was willing to go as lar as the Alincio
and Mantua, but he would not yield the Legations
at any rate. He woidd do no more than consent
that they should be given to the grand duke of Tus-
cany, on condition that in return Tuscany should
be bestowed upon the grand duke of P.irnia, and
the duchy of Parma on the Cisalpine. The grand
duke of Parma would be a considerable gainer by
this exchange, which would be a satisfaction ac-
corded to Spain, in what respect will be shown
hereafter.

M. St. Julien replied, that on this last point his
sovereign was not prepared to give a definitive re-
solution. That the translations of sovereign powers
from one country to another were little conform-
able to his political views ; and that it was, in fact,
a point; to be regulated at a later period. In order
to evade the difficulty, the negotiators were con-
tent to say, in the preliminary articles, that Austria
should receive in Italy the territorial indemnities
previously granted to her in Germany.

The Austrian officer, thus metamorphosed into
a plenipotentiary, testified, in his sovereign's name,
great interest for the independence of Switzerland,
but little for that of Piedmont, and insinuated that
France could pay herself there, for what she gave
up in Lombardy to the house of Austria.

Thus they stayed their proceedings at very
general points; the limits of the Rhine for France,
with the demolition of the fortresses of Kehl, Cas-
sel, and Ehrenbreitstein ; particular indenmities
for Austria taken in Italy in ])lace of Germany,
which signifieil that Austria would not be reduced
within the limits of the Adige. But it must be said,
that not only was it vain to treat with a powerless
plenii>otentiary, but that there was something yet
more vain in considering articles preliminary to
peace, articles in which the sole questionable part,
ior which the emperor had gone to war, namely,
the frontier of Austria in Italy, as resolving that
|)oiiit even in the most general manner. As to
the boundary of the Rhine, noboily had for a long
time before thought seriously of contesting that
frontier.

To the foregoing articles w(!i'c added some ac-
cessary arrangements; it was, for example, agreed
that a congress should be immediately held; that
during this congress, hostilitici blmuld be sus-
])ended, the levies C7i vtaMC making in Tuscany bo
disbanded, and tlie disemlmrkution threatened in
Italy by the English be delayed.

M. St. Julien, whom the desire to play an im-
portant character had carried beyond all reason-

St. Julien exceeds his powers.
140 He returns to Vienna, ac-
companied by Duroc.

Bonaparte's instructions to

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Duroc.-Views or Prus-

sia and Russia.

July.

able bounds, had felt, from time to time, seiniples
upon the bold and singular step which he had per-
mitted himself to take. In order to make him
easy upon the matter, Tallej-rand agreed to give
him a promise, upon his word of honour, that the
preliminary articles should remain a secret, and
that they should not be considered as possessing
any value whatever until they were ratified by the
emperor. On the 28th of July, 1800, or 9th
Thermidor, year viii., these famous preliminaries
were signed at the liotel of Talleyrand, being the
office for foreign affairs, to the great delight of Tal-
leyrand, who seeing M. St. Julien so well prepared
to answer every question, seriously believed that
officer had secret instructions for the purpose. Such
was not, however, the case; and if M. St. Julien was
so well-informed, it was only because tliey desired
at Vienna to put him in a position to provoke and
to receive the confidential communications of the
first consul, relative to the articles of the future
treaty. The French minister had not been able
to penetrate into this circumstance, and by the
desire to fulfil an act bearing a resemblance to a
treaty, he had committed a sei'ious fault.

The first consul, not occupying himself with the
forms observed by the two negotiators, and trust-
ing entirely in that regard to Talleyrand, never
thought for his own part of doing more than of
making Austria explain her own objects, to ascer-
tain if she wished for peace, and to force it from
her by a new campaign if she appeared to have
no desire to make it. But for this purpose it
would have been better to call upon her for an
explanation within a given period of time, than to
enter into an illusory and puerile negotiation, in
which the consequence might be a compromise of
the dignity of the two nations, and thus a final
reconciliation be rendered more difficult.

M. St. Julien did not think it right to wait in
Paris for the reply of the emperor, as he had been
requested to do, but wished to carry tiie pre-
liminaries to Vienna himself, \vithout doubt for the
purpose of explaining to his master the motives
of his singular conduct. He left Paris on the 30th
of July, or 11th of Themidor, accompanied by
Duroc,*whom the first consul sent into Austria, as
he had been before sent into Prussia, to observe
the court narrowly, and give it an advantageous
idea of the moderation and policy of the new
government. Duroc, as we have elsewhere ob-
served, by his good sense and excellent bearing,
was well fitted for similar missions. The first
consul had, besides, given him written instructions,
in which he had provided for every thing with the
most minute attention. In the first instance, upon
any circumstance occuiTing which might lead to
an inference of the intentions of Austria in respect
to the preliminaries, he was to send off a courier
to Paris immediately. Until the ratification he
was recommendtd to keep a perfect silence, and
to appear ignorant in every respect of the in-
tentions of the first consul. If the ratification was
conceded, he was authorized to say, in a positive
manner, that the peace might be signed in twenty-
four hours, if it was sincerely desired. He was to
make it known, in some way, that if Austria con-
tented herself with the Mincio, the Fossa-Maestra,
and the Po, which was the line marked out by the
convention of Alexandria ; that if, further, she

admitted the translation of the duke of Parma to
Tuscany, and of the duke of Tuscany to the Le-
gations, there was no obstacle to an immediate
conclusion. Those instructions contained further
rules respecting the language to be used fur all
the subjects which might arise in conversation.
Duroc was forbidden to lend himself to any jokes
against Prussia and Russia, which were then little
loved at Vienna, because they were not parties in
the coalition. He was recommended to maintain
a great reserve in regard to the emperor Paul,
whose character was a subject of raillery at every
court; he was to speak well of the king of Prussia;
to visit the grand duke of Tuscany, to let none of
those passions be visible which the revolution had
excited, neither on one side nor the other. RoyaUsts
and Jacobins in France were to be spoken of as if
they were as ancient as the Guelphsaud Ghibelines
in Italy. He was desired to show no dislike
towards tlie emigrants, except, indeed, to such as
had borne arms against the republic. He was
ordered to say, upoia every occasion, that France
was, of all the countries of Europe, the most at-
tached to its government, because it was that of
all the European governments which had afforded
its government an opportunity of doing the most
good. Lastly, he was to represent the first consul
as having no prejudices, neither of the old times
nor of the present, and as being indifferent to the
attacks of tlie English press, because he did not
understand English.

Duroc set oti" with M. St. Julien, and although
the secret of the preliminaries had been kept, still
the numerous conferences of the envoy of the
emperor with Talleyrand had been remarked by
every body, and people said loudly that he was the
bearer of the conditions of a peace.

The prodigious success of the French in Italy
I and in Germany naturally exercised a considerable
influence, not only in Austria, but in all the courts
of Europe, friendly or inimical to France.

At the news of the battle of Marengo, Pi-ussia,
still ruled by the neutral system, was kindly in-
clined to France according to the turn of events;
Prussia had expressed a warm admiration of the
first consul, and never said again, from that
moment, a single word which could put in doubt
the assignment to France of the entire line of the
Rhine. The only thing she now considered wa.s,
that justice might be done in the partition of the
indemnities due to all those who had lost territory
on the left bank of that river, and that discretion
might be preserved in settling the limits of the
great states. She added, that it was right to be
firm towards Austria, and to repress her insatiable
ambition. Such was the language held every day
to the French ambassador at Berlin.

M. Haugwilz, and particularly the king, Frede-
rick William, wliose kindness was sincere, informed
general Beurnonville daily of the rapid progress
the first consul made in the regard of Paul I. As
lias been seen already, this prince, fickle and en-
thusiastic, passed during a few months from a
cliivalric passion agamst the French x-evolution, to
an admiration beyond all limit for the man who
was now its representative. He had begun to
bear a downright hatred towards Austria and
England. Although through this change a great
result had been obtained in the inactive position of

ISOO.
July.

Bonaparte sends back the Russian
prisoners, and gives up Malta to
the emperor.

THE ARIMISTICE.

Kffect of the.se actions on Paul.
Mediation of M. liaugwitz.

141

the Russians on the Viatula, the first consul as-
pired to soraethino; better still. He wished to
enter directly into relations with the emperor Paul,
who was suspicious that Prussia prolonged the
existing equivocal state of things, tliat she might
he the only intenncdiate party in our relations
with tlie most weighty of the northern powers.

He hit upon the means which obtained complete
success. There remained in France six or seven
thousand Russians taken prisoners the preceding
year, not having been exchanged because Russia
had no prisoners to offer for that j)Hrposo. The
first consul had proposed to England and to
Austria, that having in his hands a gi-eat number
of Russian soldiei-s and seamen, they should be
exchanged, Russians against French. Both nations
certainly owed to Russia such a courtesy, because
the Russians had been made captives in serving
the designs of the English and Austrians. Still
the proposition was refused. Immediately on this,
the fii-st consul conceived the happy idea of re-
turning to Paul, without any conditions, all the
prisoners in his possession. This was a generous
and dexterous action, little onerous for France, that
liad notliing to do with the prisoners, since French-
men were not to be procured in excliange. The
first consul accompanied the act with jjroceedings
the most likely to act upon the susceptible heart of
Paul I. He had the Russians armed and clothed
in the uniforms of their sovereign ; he even gave
up to the officers their colours and their arms.
He next wrote a letter to count Panin, the Russian
minister for foreign affairs at St. Petersbui'g, inform-
ing him, that as Austria and England had refused
to give their liberty to the soldiers of the czar, who
liad become prisoners of war in serving the cause
of these powers, the first consul would not in-
definitely detain these brave men, but send them
back to the emperor unconditionally ; this being,
upon his part, a testimony of consideration for the
Russian army, an army of which the French had
acquired the knowledge and esteem upon the field
of battle.

This letter was sent by the way of Hamburg,
and transmitted by M. de Bourgoing, the Frencii
minister in Denmark, to M. Muraview, the minis-
ter of Russia in that city. But such was tjie
fear of Paul I. among his own agents, that M.
Muraview refused to receive the letter, not daring
to break the anterior order of his own cabinet,
which interdicted all communication witli tlie
representatives of Fiance. M. Muraview con-
tented himself with reporting to the court of St.
IVtiTHburg wliat had occurred, and made known
to it tlie existence and contents of the letter of
which ho liad refused to take charge. Upon this
the first consul added another and still more effi-
cacious advance towards the Russian monarch.
.Seeing plainly that Malta could not hold out much
longer, ami that the island, rigorously blockadi'd,
would soon be obliged to surrender to tlie English
for want of ijiovisions, he conceived the idea of
making it a present to the emperor Paul. It was
well kn()wn that this prince was an enthusiastic
admirer of the old orders of chivalry, antl of that
of Malta moi(! particularly, having got himself to
be elected under tlie title of grand master of St.
John of Jerusalem ; that he had determined to
establish that religious and chivalric institution.

and that he held in St. Petersburg frequent chap-
ters of the order, for the object of conferrin;'- the
decoration upon the princes and great personages
of Europe. It was impossible to captivate his
heart more completely than by offering him this
island, which was the seat of the order of which he
wished to be the head. The thing was admirably
conceived under every point of view. Either the
English, who were on the eve of its capture, would
consent to its restitution, and thus it would be out
of their hands ; or they would refuse, and Paul I.
was ca])able for such an object to declare war
against them. M. Sergijeff, a Russian officer, who
was detained in France as a i)risoner of war, «as
this time charged to proceed to St. Petersburg,
caiTying the two letters relative to the prisoners
and to Malta.

When these different communications arrived in
St. Petersburg, they produced their inevitable
effect. Paul was greatly touched, and from this
time gave himself up without reserve to his ad-
miration for the first consul. He selected im-
mediately an old Finland officer, once a Swedish
subject, and a very respectable man, exceedingly
well disposed towards France, and much in favour
at the Russian court. He was nominated governor
of Malta, and ordered to put liimself at the head
of the six thousand Russian prisoners who were in
France, and to go with that force well organised,
and take possession of Malta, to be delivered up to
him by the hands of the French. Paul ordered
him to go by Paris, and to thank the first consul
publicly. To this demonstration Paul added a
step of much greater efficiency. He enjoined M.
Krudener, his minister at Berlin, who had some
months before been charged to renew the con-
nexion between Russia and Prussia, to enter into a
direct communication with general Beurnonville,
the Frencli ainbassadoi", and furnislied him with
necessary powers to negotiate a treaty with France.

M. Haugwitz, who perhaps found that the re-
conciliation proceeded too rapidly, since Prussia
would lose her character of a mediator the first
moment that the cabinets of Russia and France
were in direct communication, arranged so as to
be himself the ostensible agent of this reconcilia-
tion. Thus far M. Krudener and M. de Beurnon-
ville liad met at Berlin with the ministers of the
different courts without speaking. M. Haugwitz
invited both to dinner one day : after dinner he
brought them together, and then left them by
themselves in his own garden, that they might
have the means of the more perfect explanaiii)n.
M. Krudener expressed his regret to general
Beurnonville that he had never been able before
to enjoy the society of the Frencli legation; made
an excuse for the refusal given at Hamburg to
the receipt of the first consul's letter, because of
the existence of the anterior order ; and last of all
entered into a long explanation of the Hew tlis-
jjosition of Ills sovereign. lb- announced to gene-
ral Beurnonville, that M. Spiengporten liad been
sent an envoy to Paris ; and slated to him the
livL'ly satisfaction that Paid I. had filt in learning
the restitution of the jtrisoiK rs, an<l the offer to
restore Malta to the order of St. John of Jcriisa-
lein. He passed at last from these subjects to the
more important one of all; in other words, to the
conditions of a peace. Russia and France liad no

Interview between the Rus- between France and Russia.

[42 sian and French ministers THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. — ReHections upon Bona-

ai Berlin. — Reconciliation parte's genius and success.

July.

quarrel between themselves. Tliey were not at
war for any interest connected with commerce or
territory; but on account of a dissimilarity in their
forms of government. They had nothinsj more to
do, therefore, in regard to what immediately con-
cerned themselves, but to write one article, de-
claring that peace was re-established between the
two powers. This fact alone iixlicated how un-
i-easonable the war had been. But the war had
brought alliances in its train, and Paul, who
piqued himself upon fidelity to his engagements,
demanded only a single condition, which was, that
his allies should be taken care of. They were
four in number, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Piedmont,
and Naples; for these four he asked the integrity
of their territories. Nothing was more facile thiin
to introduce an explanatory clause to this effect,
that the conditions should be regarded as fulfilled,
if those princes obtained an indemnity for the
provinces which the French republic might take
from them. This point was thus understood and
admitted by M. Krudener. The secularisation of
the ecclesiastical estates in Germany, and their
proportional partition amongst the lay princes,
who had lost a part or all of their teri'itories in
consequence of the abandonment of the left bank
of the Rhine to France, was in effect a matter
long assented to by every body. It had been ad-
mitted in the congress of Rastadt under the
directory. The arrangement was not less easy as
regarded the Italian jirinces, the allies of Paul I.
Piedmont lost Nice and Savoy ; she might be
indenniified in Italy, if the ambition of Austria
in thitt country was kept under due restraint, and
not permitted to e.\tend itself too far. On this
subject Paul I., greatly irritated against the cabinet
of Vienna, said, like Prussin, that Austria must be
kept down; and was not inclined to grant her that
which it was possible to refuse. In regard to the
kingdom (jf Naples, France had nothing to take
from it, but France had offensive conduct to
punish and outrages to avenge. Still the first
consul was willing to pardon her upcjn one con-
dition, which was of a nature to please Paul I.,
as ill-disposed towards the English as towards the
Austrians; it was that the cabinet of Naples should
expiate its faults by a formal rupture with Great
Britain. On all these topics there was a pretty
near agreement, and every day there must have
been a closer approximation, from the active
movement of affairs, and from the impatient
character of Paul I., who from a state of discon-
tent with his former allies, was about to pass,
without transition, into a state of o|)en hostility.

The reconciliation of Fiance with Russia was
thus nearly accomplished, and even made public,
because the departure of M. Sprengporten from
Paris had been officially announced. Paul I., the
furious enemy of France, thus became its friend,
against the powers of the <jld coalition. The glory
and the pr. .found dexterity of the fir.st consul had
produced this singular change. A circumstance
at once fortuitous and important was about to
make it more complete; this was the quarrel of the
neutral powers, increased by the violence of Eng-
land upon the hinh seas. It seemed as if every
thing at that time united to favour the designs of
the first consul ; and we are induced to adn)ire at ihe
same moment his good fortune as well as his genius.

On regarding the affairs of this lower world, one
is almost tempted to say, that Fortune loves j-outh,
it so wonderfully seconds the early years of great
men. But let us not, like the ancient poets, make
her blind and capricious. If she favours so often
the youth of great men, as she did of Hannibal,
Csesar, and Napoleon, it is because they have not
yet abused her favours.

Bonaparte was then happy, becausehe was worthy
to be so; because he had reason on his side against
all the world : at home against party, abroad against
the ])owers of Europe. At home he would have
nothing but justice and order; abroad, peace, but
a peace advantageous and glorious, such as he h:is
a right to desire who was not the aggressor, and
who had himself known how to be victorious.
Thus the world would reconcile itself with France
represented by a great man, at once just and
powerful ; and if this great man had met with
fortunate circumstances, there was not one of
which he had not himself been the cause, and by
which he had not profited with skill. It was but
a little before, that one of his lieutenants, antici-
pating his commands, hastened at the sound of
cannon to give him victory at Marengo; but what
had he not done to prepare the way for that vic-
tory ? Now a prince, struck with insanity, seated
upon one of the first thrones in the world, became
an easy jirey to his diplomatic talents; with what
clever condescension had he not flattered liis folly?
England, by her conduct on the ocean, was soon
about to recall to France all the maritime power.s;
it will soon be seen with what art he set about
managing them, and casting upon England the
charge of all the violence. Fortune, tlie capricious
mistress of great men, is not so capricious then as
some would lain rejiresent her. All is not caprice
when she favours tliem, or caprice when she aban-
dons them. In these pretended infidelities the
errors are, in general, not upon her side. Let us
speak a more correct language, moi-e worthy of
an important subject: Fortune, the pagan name
given to the jjower which regulates all sublunary
things, is but Providence befriending genius when
it walks in the path of rectitude, or, in other words,
in the way designated by infinite wisdom.

The foitunate circumstance which was about to
rally definitively the powers of the north around
the policy tif the first consul, and to procure him
auxiliaries upon the element where he had the
greatest necessity for finding them, in other words,
upon the sea, happened thus. The English had
comniitted fresh outrages upon neutrals. They
would not suffer the Russians, the Danes, the
Swedes, and the Americans, to enter freely all
the ports of the world, and to lend their flags to
the trade of Fr.ance and Spain. They had already
violated the independence of tlie neutral flag, more
particularly in regard to America ; and it was
because the Americans had not sufficiently de-
fended it, that the directory showed its anger by
subjecting them to treatment almost as rigorous
as that they received from the English. Bona-
I>arte had repaired this error by annulling the
harshest of the regulations enforced by the direc-
tory ; by the institution of the tribunal of prizes
charged with adminJNtering better justice to cap-
tured vessels ; by rendering homage in the iiei-son
of Washington to the whole of Anierica ; and,

July.

Conditions of marilime neutrality. THE ARMISTICE.

Arguments advanced by England
lor tlie riglit of search.

143

finally, by calling to P.tris negotiators, in order to
establish with her relatinns of amity and com-
merce. It was at this very moment that England,
as if irritated by the bud success of her imlicy,
seemed to become more oppressive towards neu-
trals. Already the most offensive acts had been
committed by her upon the high seas; but the last
exceeded all bounds, not only of justice, but of the
commonest prudence.

This is not the place for entering upon all the
details of that serious dispute ; it will suffice to
mention its mai* points. The neutrals asserted
that the war, wliich the great nations chose to wage
with each other, ought not in any manner to cramj)
their trade, that they had even a right to carry on
the conmierce of which the belligerent parties had
voluntiirily deprived themselves. They claimed, in
consequence, the riglit of entering freely all ihe ports
of the world, and of navigating between the ports of
the belligerents; of going, for example, from France
and Spain to Englnml, and from England to Spain
and France, and, what was less reasonable, of going
from the colonies to the mother-country, as from
Mexico to Sjiaiii, for the purpose of carrying the
precious metals, which, but fur their interference,
could not reach Europe. They maintained that the
flag covered the merchandise, or, in other words,
that the flag of a nation, not concerned in the wur,
covered against every sjiecies of search the mer-
chandize conveyed in such vessels ; that on board
of them French merchandise could not be seized
by the English, nor English merchandise by the
French ; as a Frenchman, for instance, would have
been inviolable on the quays of Copenhagen, or of
St. Petersburg, for the British power : in short,
that the vessel of a neutral nation was as sacred
as the quays of its cai)ital.

The neutrals only consented to one exception.
They acknowledged that they ought not to carry
goods used for purposes of war; because it was con-
trary to the idea of neutrality iiself, that they
should furnish one belligerent power with arms
against another. But they understood that this
interdiction should be limited solely to objects
fabricated for warlike purposes, such as muskets,
cannon, powder, projectiles, and articles of e(|uip-
mcnt of every kind ; as to provisif)ns, they would
not admit the interdiction of any, except such as
were prepared for the usage of armies, as biscuit
for exaniple.

If they admitted an exception as to the nature
of transporljiblo nurchandise, they admitted of
another, in respect to the place to lie entered, on
the condition that it should be strietly <lefined.
The second exception w.is, as to the p<u'ts really
and truly blockaded, and guarded by a naval force
capable of laying sieg.; to, or reducing them by
famine, under a state of blockade. In such a case
it was admitted that, to run into a blockaded port,
wa« threaU.ning one of the two nations in the usu
of its right, i»y preventing it from taking the places
of its enemy by famine or attack ; that it was con-
sequently affordmg aid to luie of tho two against the
other. Hut lli<y demanded that the blockade should
be preceded by fiprmal (h-claraiions, that tho block-
ade be real, and executed by such a force thattlu're
would be inmiiuent ilanger in violating it. They
would not ailmit that by a simple declaration of
blockade, either party should be ablo to interdict at

pleasure, by means of a pure fiction, the entry of
such and such a port, or to exclude from the entire
extent of certain coasts.

Lastly, it was necessary to discover whether a
vessel really belonged to the nation whose flag she
hoisted, whether or not she carried merchandise
qualified as contraband of war. The neutrals con-
sented to be searched, but it was required that the
search should be made with a certain regard to
civility, to be agreed upon and faithfully kept. In
])articular, it was considered essential that mer-
chant-ships should not be searched if convoyed by
a man-ol-war. The military, or i-oyal flag, must,
according to them, have the privilege of being cre-
dited on its word, when it affirmed, upiJii the honour
of its nation, that the vessels under convoy, were
of the nation in the first |)lace; and, in the second,
that they carried no inienliited goods. If it were
different, they said, a brig oidy while cruizing,
might stop a convoy, and with that convoy a fleet-
of war, perhaps an admiral. Who could know ?
Even a privateer might stop M. De Suff"ren, or
Lord Nelson !

Thus, the doctrine sustained by the neutrals,
might be resolved into four main jjoints.

The flag covered the merchandise; that is to say,
it interdicted the search for an enemy's merchan-
dise on board a neutral vessel, a stranger to tho
belligerents.

No merchandise to be interdicted, but such as is
contraband of war. The contraband confined wholly
to tho objects fabricated for the use of armies.
Corn, for example, and naval stores not included.

Access could not be interdicted to any port, un-
less such a port be really blockaded.

Lastly, no vessel under convoy could be visited.
Such were the principles supported by Franco,
Prussia, Denmark, Swedert, Russia, and America,
in other words, by the inmiensc majority of na-
tions; principles founded upon a respect for the
rightsof others, but absolutelycontested by England.
She maintained, in effect, that, under those re-
gulations, the conmierce of her enemies would be
carried on without any obstacle by means of neu-
trals (which, by the by, was not correct, for that
commerce could not be contiimed by means of neu-
trals, without giving up to thein the greater part of
the profits, and causing the nation obliged to liave
recourse to them, an inmiense loss). She insisted
on seizing French ov Spanish property wherever
it might be. She maiiitaine<l that certain nu'rchan-
discs, such as corn, and naval stores, were real suc-
cours to a country at war ; she desired that a de-
claration of blockade should be sufficient without
the presence of a naval force to interdict the en-
trance to certain ports or ccasts ; lastly, that neu-
trals, under the pretext of convoy, should not
escape the examinaiion of the belligerent powers.

If it be desirable to know what was the founda-
tion of the important interest concealed under this
sophism of the public writers of England, here it
may be fouiul. lingkuxl wished to hinder the car-
riage to the Spaniards of the lieh metals of Mexico,
the great source of Spanish opulence ; to the
French, the sugar and coffee, without which they
are uiuible to live ; to the oiu- and the other, th<^
timber, iron, and hemp of the north, necessary for
their ships. She woidil have wished to bo able to
Starve them in case of deficient harvests, as siio

League of neutrality
of Catherine of
Russia.

English attack upon neu- ,o,,n
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. tral convoys—Affair of j^

Barcelona. -""y-

did, for example, in 1793 ; she wished for the
power of closing the ports of entire countries with-
out the obligation of a real blocliade ; lastly, she
desired, by means of searches, vexations, and ob-
stacles of all kinds, to ruin the trade of every na-
tion; so that war, which, for commercial countries,
is a state of distress, should become for her mer-
cliants, what it truly was, a time of monopoly and
of extraordinary prosperity. In regard to the
Americans, she had an intention still nioi-e ini-
quitous ; it w'as to take from them their seamen,
under the pretext that they were English ; a con-
fusion easy to make, owing to the uniformity of the
language.

In 1780, during the American war, Catherine
tlie Great had formed a league of neutrals, to resist
these pretences. The first consul, profiting by the
new-born friendship of Paul, the irritating wrongs
of neutrals, and the outrageous violence of the
English, set every eff'ort at work to form a similar
league in 1800.

At this moment the dispute presented itself only
under one form, in the right of search. The Danes
and Swedes, to escape the vexations of the English
cruizers, had devised the plan of sailing in numer-
ous convoys, escorted by frigates carrying the royal
flag. It must be added, that they never dishonoured
this flag, and took good care not to escort false
Danes or Swedes, to cover the contraband of war,
as it is denominated; they studied only how to
escape vexations which were become unbearable.
But the English, seeing in this only a manner of
eluding the difficulty, and continuing the trade of
neutrals, determined to continue the right of search,
without i-egard to the convoying vessel.

The preceding year two Swedish frigates, the
Troya and the Hulla-Fersen, accompanying some
Swedish vessels, were stopped by the English
squadrons, and obliged to submit to the searcli of
the convoy under their charge. The king of Sweden
sent the two captains of the frigates to trial by a
court-martial, for not defending them. The ex-
ample had for a moment stopped the English, who
feared they might be exposed to-a rupture with the
northern powers. Tliey had, in consequence, been
somewhat less rigoi-ous with Swedish ships. But
two recent examples had renewed the difficulty,
and forced Sweden and Denmark to the utmost
pitch of exasperation.

In the winter of 1799 1800, the Danish frigate
the Haufersen, captain Vandockum, who convoyed
a fleet of merchantmen in the Mediterranean, was
stopped by order of lord Keith ; he attempted to
resist, was fired upon, and earned into Gibraltar.
A very violent dispute followed upon the subject
between the English and Danish cabinets. It was
still in progress when, in the month of July, a
Danish frigate, the Fi'eya, escorting a convoy of its
own nation, was met in the channel by an English
squadron. The latter insisted on the right of
search ; the commander of the Freya, captain
Krabe, nobly resisted the summons of the English
admiral, and refused to permit the search of his
convoy. Force was employed with unnecessary
violence ; captain Krabe defended himself until he
was crippled, and he was obliged to surrender to
the supei-iority of the enemy, as he had but a single
ship to opiMtse to six men-ot'-war. The Freya was
taken into the Downs.

This event was soon followed by another of a
diff'erent nature, but more odious and more serious.
Two Spanish frigates ^ were at anchor at the en-
trance of the road of Barcelona. The English
formed a scheme for capturing them. Here there
was no question about the right of neutrals, but
the committal of a complete i)iece of knavery, for
the purpose of entering with impunity into an
enemy's port without being recognized. They per-
ceived in the roads a Swedish galliot, the Hofihung,
and resolved to make use of it for the act of bri-
gandage which they had meditated. They manned
their boats, boarded the galliot, clapped a pistol to
the breast of the Swedish captain, and obliged him
to sail quietly towards the Spanish frigates, which,
having no mistrust of the Swedish flag, suffered
her to come alongside. The English immediately
rushed on board, surprised the two frigates, which
had few hands on board, took, and left the harbour
of Barcelona with their prey so dishonestly ac-
quired.

This circumstance produced an extraordinary
sensation in Europe, and rendered every maritime
nation indignant, whose rights the English were no
longer satisfied with violatmg, but whose flag they
outraged, by making them unconsciously serve the
jjurpose of a most infamous piracy. Spain was
already at war with Great Britain, she could do no
more ; but she had recourse to Sweden, whose
flag had been usurped, to denounce the odious
fact, as well for Sweden as for Spain 2. It needed

1 [In this statement there is not one syllable of fact.
True it is, that the English and French alike, in those days,
stated the most extraordinary things of each other, without
regard even to probability; and liistory will pass many of
them to posterity as facts. The Conception and La Pas,
nearly four hundred tons each, and carrying twenty-two
guns, were in the port of Barcelona, laden with provisions
and stores ready for sea, on the sixth of September, 1800.
The port was blockaded by the Minotaur and Niger, English
ships of war, the boats of which, five or six in number,
attacked the Spanish vessels and carried them. The cap-
tain of the Conception fought well ; three of his men were
killed and twenty-three wounded. The English had two
killed and si.x wounded. The cowardly commander of the
La Pas got into his boat on the other side of his vessel from
that attacked, and pulled away. To cover liis cowardice, he
gave out that he was boarded in the way stated by M. Thiers,
to shelter himself from the anger of his government. The
fort of Mont Jouc fired on the English boats. Captain Louis,
of the Minotaur, says, "The firing began from all quarters
at nine; about ten o'clock I had the pleasing satisfaction to
see the two ships dropping out of the road, under a heavy
fire from the vessels, four batteries, ten gun-boats, two
schooners, with two forly-two pounders, the fort of Mount
Jouc at the same time throwing shells." The HotTnung, a
Swedish galliot, was in the harbour at the time. Under the
circumstances, such a use of that vessel would have been,
in a naval sense, not possible.] — Translator.

2 [The Spanisli minister, De lluerta, complained of this
affair to the Swedish chancellor, Ehrenheim, who remarked
pithily in his reply, that the Spaniards must be negligent, in
permitting violence to be done to neutrals in their own ports.
De Huerta actually accused the Swede of coolness in the
affair. In the mean time, it does not appear that any com-
plaint was ever made of such an outrage by the master of
the HotTnung. The point to l)e gained was to excite Sweden
against England, upon a circumstance that never did occur,
on the strength of the story of a cowardly Spaniard. The
king of Sweden's reply to one remonstrance on the subject —
a remonstrance most probably urged by France — ran, that

Aug.

Conduct of England to Denmark.
— Lord Wliitworth sent to Co-

TIIE ARMISTICE.

penhagen. — British convention with
Denmark.— Affairs of Spain.

no more to envenom the quarrel between England
and tlie neutral powers, especially at this moment
above all, when the moderation of the first consul
towards them was of such a nature as to exhibit in
a strange light the violence of England. Sweden
demanded satisfaction ; Denmark had already made
the same demajid. Behind the two courts was
Russia, which from 17«0 regarded itself as bound
up with the powers of the Baltic in all the ques-
tions which involved their maritime freedom.

.M. Bernstorff, on the side of Denmark, kept up
a lively controversy with the cabinet of London, by
means of notes, which France published, and
which reflect equal honour on the minister who
wrote them and tlie government that signed
them, and which was soon called to support its
signature by arms. " A mere gun-boat," the En-
glish remarked, "carrying the fiag of a neutral, is
to have the right of conveying the commerce of
the world, and of keeping out of our view the trade
of our enemies, whicli may be carried on as easily
during war by this means as during peace." " An
entire squadron then," answered M. BernstorH",
" would be obliged to obey the summons of the most
wretched cruizer, to stop upon her demand, and
suffer the convoy she is escorting to be examined
before his eyes. The word of an admiral, making
a declaration upon the honour of his country, is
not to weigh against the doubt of the captain of a
privateer, who is to possess the right of veriKcation
by search." One of these hypotheses is much more
admissible than the other.

In order to support these opinions by fear, the
English cabinet, which had just sent lord Whitworth
to Copenhagen, ordered him to be followed by a
squadron of sixteen sail of the line, which at that
i>oment was cruising at the entrance of the Sound.
The presence of this squadron produced a strong
feeling among the Baltic powers, and not only
alarmed Denmark, against which it more inmiedi-
ately pointed, but Sweden, Russia, and even Prussia
herself, whose trade was interested in the navi-
gation (if the Baltic. The four signatures to the
old neutrality of 17f!0 began a negotiation, with
the avowed end of forming a new league against
the maritime tyranny of England. The cabinet of
London, which' was still in apprehension of such an
event, insisted strongly at Copenhagen upon ar-
ranging the dispute ; but so far from offering satis-
faction, it had the singular audacity to demand it.
It wished, by alarming, to detach Denmark from
tiie league before it was consummated. Unfortu-
nately Denmark had been surprised, the Sound
wa« not defciidefl, Cojienhagen was not secure
against bombanlincut. In this state of things it
was necessjiry to yield for the moment, in order to
gain tlie advantage of the winter season, during
which the ice defends tiie Baltic, and thus give
all the neutral powerH time to make preparations
for resistance. On the 27th of August, or lltii
IVuctidor, ill tlie year viii., Denmark was obligi-d
t<) sign a convrntion, in which the question of the
law of nations wiiH adjourned, and the last difference
above, which had ari»cn respecting the Freya, was

"he could not take upon himnelf any share of responsibility
for the improper use wlilch the liclligerent powers niiKlit
make of ttie Swi(li«h vessels tliey may seize upon."— Notk
OP Kuar.s nzi» ]—Tran.il'ilor.

adjusted. The Freya was repaired in an English
dockyard, and re.-tored ; and for the moment Den-
mark gave up convoying her merchant ships.

This convention decided nothing. The storms,
in place of being dissipated, soon gathered again,
because the four northern powers felt greatly ii-ri-
tated. The king of Sweden, whose honour was
not yet satisfied, prepared for a voyage to St. Peters-
burg, in order to renew the ancient neutrality.
Paul I., who was not fond of middle measures,
began by a most energetic action. Learning the
dispute with Denmark, and that an English fleet
was off the Souiid, he ordered the sequestration of
all the property belonging to the English, as, a
security for the injury which might accrue to Rus-
sian commerce. This measure was to be con-
tinued until the intentions of the English govern-
ment were completely cleared up.

Thus in the courts of the north every thing
occurred to favour the objects of the first consul;
and events turned out according to his wishes.
Things did not go on less jtrosperously in the south
of Europe, that is in Spain. There was seen one
of the first monarchies in Europe sinking into disso-
lution, to the great injury of the balance of Europe,
and the great sorrow of a generous people, indig-
nant at the character which they had been made
to play in the world. The first consul, whose in-
defatigable intellect embraced every object at once,
had already directed to the side of Spain" his
political efforts, and sought to obtain as much ad-
vantage as possible for the common cause from
that degenerate court.

We should not here retrace the sad picture which
follows, if, in the first place, it were not true, and if
it were not necessary afterwards to comprehend the
great events of the age.

The king, the queen of Spain, and the prince of
peace had occupied for many years the attention
of Europe, and offered a spectacle dangerous for
royalty, already so much compromised in popular
esteem. One would have said that the illustrious
liousc of Bourbon was destined, at the end of the
century, to lose its power in France, Naples, and
Sjiain, because in these three kingdoms three kings
of extreme feebleness iianded over their sceptres
to the contempt and ridicule of the world, by
leaving them in the hands of three queens, either
giddy, violent, or dissolute.

The Bourbons of France, whether from their
own fault or by misfortune, had been swallowed up
by the French revolution ; by foolishly provoking
it, those of Naples had been driven, for the first
time, from their capital ; those of Spain, before
they let their sceptre fall into the hands of the
crowned soldier which the revolution had |)rodiiced,
iiad seen no better step to take than to pay their
court to him. They had already become the allit.s
of France during the convention, they could now
much more willingly be in connexion with her,
wiieii the revolution, in place of a sanguinary
anarchy, ofl'ered to them a great man disposed to
jirotect them if they followed his advice. Hap|>y
would it have been for these princes had they fol
lowed the ctmiisels of this great man, at that lime
sr> excellent. Happy for jiimseif, had he done no
nior(! than give it to them !

The king of Spain, Charles IV., was an honest
man ; not hard and Idunt like Louis XVL, but
L

Character of the royal family
146 of Spain -Scandalous con- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMriRE.
duct of the queen and the

prince of the peace. — Dis-
graceful favouritism. —
Fatuity of the king.

more agreeable in his person, less informed, and
exceeding him in weakness. He rose very early,
not to attend to his royal duties, but to hear seve-
ral masses, and then descend into his workshops,
where, mingled with turners, smiths, and ar-
mourers, he stript off" his clothes like them, and in
their company laboured at all kinds of work.
Loving hunting a good deal, he liked better to
manufacture arms. From his workshops he went
to his stables, to assist in taking care of his horses,
and gave himself up to the most incredible fa-
miliarities witli his grooms. After having thus
employed the first half of the day, he partook of a
solitary meal, to which neither the queen nor his
children were admitted, and gave up the remainder
of tlie day to hunting. Several hundred horses
and domestics were set in motion for his daily
pleasure, his dominant passion. After having rode
like a young man, he re-entered the palace, gave a
quarter of an hour to his children, a lialf hour to
the signature of the papers submittid to him by
his minister, sat down to play with some of the
grandees of his court, and sometimes took a siesta
with them until the time arrived for his last meal,
which was immediately followed by his retiring to
bed, always at the same fixed hour. Such was his
life, witlumt one single change during thy whole
year, except in Passion-week, wiiich he devoted
entirely to religious duties. In other respects he
was an honest man, faithful to his word, mild,
humane, religious, of exemplary chastity, though
not cohabiting with his wife, ever since his phy-
sician had, by her order, requeistexl liim to abstain
from it ; he had no other concern in the scandals
of his court or the errors of his government than
in allowing them to be committed, without seeing
or believing them during his long reign.

At his side the queen, sister of the duke of
Parma, a pupil of Condillac, who composed for her
and her brother excellent works for tlieir educa-
tion, led a totally diiTerent life. She would have
done little honour to the celebrated philosophical
instructor of her youth, if phil<)so])hers were com-
monly able to answer for their disciples. She was
about fifty yeiirs of age, and jiossessed some re-
mains of beauty, which she took pains to perpetuate
with infinite care. Attending mass, as the king did,
every day, she psissed in corresjionding with a
great number of persons, and more particuliirly
with the prince of peace, that time which Cliiirles 1 V.
gave to his workshops and stables. In this correspon-
dence she made the prince of the peace acquainted
with all the affairs of the court and the state, and
she received from him, in return, all the st-andal
and puerilities of Madrid. She finished lier morning
by giving an hour to her children, and another to
the cares of govermnent ; not an act, not an ap-
pointment, not a pardon, went to receive the royal
signature, before the contents were seen by lier.
The minister who allowed himself to commit such
an infraction of tlie conditions of her favour, would
have immediately been displaced. She took her
dinner alone, like the king, in the middle of the
day ; the rest of the afternoon was devoted to re-
ceptions, in wliich siie acquitted herself with great
grace, and to tiie prince of peace, on whom she
bestowed d:iily several hours of her time.

At the period now spoken of, it is well known
the prince of the peace was uo longer minister.

M. Urquijo, who will shortly be introduced, had
succeeded him ; but the prince was not less the
first authority in the kingdom. This singular per-
sonage, incapable, ignorant, full of levity, but of a
hiindsome appearance, as it is necessary to be in
order to succeed in a corrupt court, was the arro-
gant ruler of queen Louisa, and had reigned for
twenty^ years suiirenie over her empty and fri-
volous mind. Weary of his exalted favour, he
shared it at last voluntarily with obscure favourites,
and resigned himself to a thousand disorders and
debaucheries, which he repeated to his crowned
slave, whom lie found pleasure in rendering mise-
rable by his tales ; he even ill-treated her, it was
said, in the grossest way. Still he retained an ab-
solute influence over the jjrincess, who was wholly
unable to resist him, and could not live happily
unless she saw him every day. She committed the
government to him for a long time, under the
official title of prime minister, and aftei-wards,
when he had the title no hmger, he remained so in
fact, for nothing was done in Spain without his
consent. He disposed of all the state resources,
and he had in his own possession enormous sums
in specie, wjiile the treasury, reduced to the great-
est want, sustained itself upon paper-money depre-
ciated one-half in value. The nation was well nigh
accustomed to this spectacle, and 'xhibited its in-
dignation only when some new and extraordinary
scandal made the cheeks of those brave Spaniards
blush, whose heroic resistance soon afterwards
proved that they were worthy of a better govern-
ment. At the time when Euro])e resounded with
the great events which were passing on the Po and
the Danube, the court of Spain was the scene of an
unparalleled scandal, wiiich had nearly destroyed
the patience of the natives. The prince of peace,
from one disorder to another, completed all l^y
marrying a relation of the royal family. A child
was the off"spring of this marriage. The king and
queen themselves determining to become sponsors
for the new-born infant at the baptismal font,
proceeded to the completion of the ceremony, with
all the usages customary at the baptism of a royal
child. The grandees of the court were obliged to
fulfil the same duties that would have been exacted
of them if the child bad been the issue of royalty
itself. Upon that babe ni swaddling-clothes, the
great orders of the crown, and the must magnifi-
cent |)resents, were conferred. The grand inquisi-
tor officiated at the relii;ious ceremony. It is true,
that this time public indiiiuation arose to the high-
est point, and that every Spaniard thought himself
personally outraged by this odious affair. Things
had come to such a head, that the Spanish minis-
ters o|)ened their minds upon the matter to the
foreign ambassadors, and particularly to the am-
bassadors of France, Avho were generally their res
sort in most of their enibarrassmcnts, and who
heard from their own tongues the frightful details
which are hero related.

In the midst of these disgraceful actions, the
king alone, who was kept under a continual obser-
vation by his wife, was ignorant of all, nor had he
the least su5])icion of what was passing. Neither
the voices of his subjects, nor the revolt of some of
the Spanish grandees, wlio were indignant at the
services required of them, nor even the inexplica-
ble assiduity of the prince of the peace, could make

tsoo.

Aug.

Regard of Charles IV. for tlie
lirst consul. — Character of
the minister Urquijo.

THE ARMISTICE.

Mutual presents between Bo-
naparte and the couit of
Spain.

him see. Tlie poor and good-tempered luns;; was
sometimes heard to make this singular observation,
which embarrassed all those who were condemned
to hear it, " My brother of Naples is a fool, who
suffers liis wife to govern liim !" 1 1 mnst be ob-
served, that the prince of Astiirias, afterwards
Ferdinand VII., brouglit up at a distance fr<im
tlie couri, with incredible strictness, detested the
fiivourite, of wliose criminal intiuence he was well
aware, and that this just hatred of the favourite
tinislied by being converted into an involuntary
liatred for his father and mother.

What a sight at the close of the eighteenth cen-
tury, and the beginning of the nineteenth, when
the throne of France iiad jusi fallen with a crash,
and when upon its ruins a young soldier, simple,
austere, indefatigable, full of genius, jiad just ele-
vated himself. How long could the Spanish imm.ir-
chy resist the dangerous example of the contrast ?

The house of S|>ain, amidst these disorders,
was struck sometimes with confused presentiments,
and was often under the apprehension of a revolu-
tion. The (lid attachment of the Spaniards for
royalty and religion, without doubt, in some degree
reassured it, but it feax-ed to see a revolution come
by the way of the Pyrenees, and endeavoured to
avert the danger by an entire deference towards
the French republic. The incredible violence of
ihe English cabinet, and the angry oulbreakings of
Paul I. in its regard at the moment of the second
coalition, had thrown it comiilutely into the arms
of France. She found this conduct advantageous,
even honourable, since Bonaparte had ennobled, by
his presence at the head of power, all the relations
of the cabinets with the government of the republic.
The good king, Charles IV. had imbibed, though
at a distance, a sort of friendship for the first
consul. This sentiment every day augmented, and
it is sorrowful to reflect how this friendship was
destined to end, without any perfidy on the side
of France, by an inconceivable chain of circum-
stances. " What a great man is that ;;eneral Bona-
l>arte," said Charles IV. continually. The queen
also said the same, but with more coolness; because
tlie prince of the peace censured sonn'times what
was done by the court of Spain, of which he was
no longer the minister, and appeared to blame the
]>artiality it testified towards the French govern-
ment. Still, the first consul informed by ,M. Al-
quier, the French ambassador, a man of compre-
hensive mind and great sagacity, that he nmst ab-
Bolutely secure at Madrid the good will of the
prince of the peace, sent to the favourite some
m.-»gnificent arms, made in the Versailles manufac-
tory. This attention, on the (lart of the most famous
personage in Europe, tojtcluMl the vanity of the
prince of t!ie |)eace. A few attentions from the
French ambassador completely gained him over,
and from tliat titne the court of Spain seemed to
give itself up entirely to France without reserve.

From the minister Urquijo alone was the slight-
est rcsistanci! ever experienced. He was a man of
odd character, naturally the enemy of the prince
of the peace, of whom he was the siicccr sor, and
he had little love lor Bonaparte. M. Uniuijo, of
plebeian extraction, endowed with a certain degree
<if energy, had attracted the enmity of the cbrgy
and court, through some insignilieant reforms that
he had attempted in the govermneiit of tho king-

dom ; and was inclined, in a manner somewhat
extraordinary for a Spaniard of the time, towards "
revolutionary ideas. He was in connexion with
many French demagogues, and partook, in a cer-
tain degree, of their dislike to the first consul.
He possessed the merit of wishing to reform the
more glaring abuses, of desiring to reduce the
reveimes of the clergy and the jiU"!sdiction of the
agents of the court of Rome. Towards these
measures he was endeavouring to obtJiin the con-
sent of the Hojy See, and even in this attempt
he had exposed himself to serious dangers. Having
against him in fact the prince of the peace, he
was utterly undone, if the influence of Rome should
join that of the prince to destroy his influence in
the ])alace. Affected by sontc attentions which
were paid him by M. Alquier, and witness, besides,
of the inclinations of tiie king and queen, M.
Urquijo became in his turn the admirer of Bona-
parte, whom it was not only natural, but every
way the fashion, at that time, to admire.

The king's partiality soon became unbounded;
it was impossible to be more manifested. Having
seen the arms which had been sent to the prince
of the peace, he conceived and expressed a desire
to possess some of the same kind. Some magni-
ficent specimens were immediately manufactured
and sent to him, and he I'eceived them with great
delight. The queen wished to have some dresses,
and Madame Bonaparte, whose taste was re-
nowned, sent to her all that Paris could produce
of the most elegant and tasteful character. Chai'les
IV., genei'ous as a true Caslilian, woidd not re-
main behind in the career of civility, and he
acquitted himself in a maimer truly royal. Know-
ing that horses would be an agreeable present for
the first consul, he took the most beautiful animals
he possessed from the studs of Aranjiiez, Medina-
Ceeli, and Altamira, to find first six, then twelve,
and then si.xteeii, the finest in tiie peninsula. No
one could tell where he would have stopped, if his
ardour had not been moderated. He employed him-
self two months in the selection ; and no one was
belter able to acquit himself of such a task, because
he was a perfect judge of horses. He composed
a mmierous train of persons to conduct them to
France, taking for tlie mission the best of his
grooms, and clothing them in magnificent liveries;
and oil all this fine cavalcade he laid but one
jiositive order, which \»as, that while travelling
through France they should atteml mass every
Sunday. The jiromise was given liim that what
Ik; desired should be attended to; and his delight
at making his handsome present to the first consul
was then unalloyed. Though fond of France, this
kind prince really believed that it was not possible
for a man to live in that country many days with-
out forsaking the religion of his latbers.

The noise ma<le by these demonstrations well
suited the objects of the first consul. While it
gratified bim, he thought it was useful to show to
iMirope and to France itself, tlie successors of
Charles V., the descendants' of Louis XIV., taking
honour to themselves from their personal relations
wiih him. But he sought mueh more solid ad-
vantages in his diplomatic relations, and aimed at
one important object.

The king and queen of Spain were fond of one
of their children, the infanta Maria LouLsa, the

General Berthier sent to
148 Madrid.— Mutual de-
mands of France and

Spain upon each other.
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. -The concession of

Louisiana,

1800.
Aug.

wife of the hereditary prince of Parma. The
queen, sister, as we have said, to the reigning
duke of Parma, had united her daughter to her
nephew, and concentrated upon their heads Iter
best affections ; because she was extremely at-
tached to the house from whence she descended.
She contemplated for that house some aggi-andize-
ment in Italy ; and as Italy depended upon the
conqueror of Marengo, it was from him she hoped
to obtain the accomplishment of all her wishes.
The first consul, aware of the secret desire of the
queen, took care not to neglect this means of
cai'rying out his views, and sent to Madrid his
faithful Berthier, in order to profit by the existing
circumstance. If he had sent one of his aids-de-
camp to Berlin and Vienna, he wished to do more
for the court of Spain, and resolved to send thither
the man who had the larger share in his glory,
because Berthier was then Parmenio to the new
Alexander.

At the same moment that the first consul was
negotiating with M. St. Julien the preliminaries
of peace, while he was winning over the inflam-
mable heart of Paul I., and fomenting in the north
the quarrel of the neutral powers, it was at that
moment he despatched general Berthier in haste
to Madrid. He set off towards the end of August,
or commencement of Fructidor, without any of-
ficial title, but with the assurance that his presence
would alone produce a very great effect, and with
secret powers to negotiate upon very important
subjects.

His journey had several objects. The first was
to visit the principal ports in the Peninsula, and
to examine into their state, and their resources, and
to urge forward, with the money in his hand,
expeditions to Malta and Egypt. Berthier per-
formed this part of his mission with great rapidity,
and then hastened to Madrid to fulfil the more
important part of his duty. The first consul was
willing to grant an accession of territory to the house
of Parma; he was willing to join to this increase
of greatness the title of king, which would have met
fully the desires of the queen : but he demanded
to be paid for these concessions in two ways,
namely, by the return of Louisiana to France, and
by Spain assuming a threatening attitude towards
Portugal, for the purpose of getting that country
to treat with the French republic and break with
England.

The motives of the first consul for exacting such
conditions were these : since Klc-ber's death he had
felt uneasy about the preservation of Egypt, for he
shared, in common with his contemporaries, the de-
sire of possessing distant colonies. The rivalry of
France and England, which countries, for a century
past, had fought solely about the East and West In-
dies, had i-aised to the highest pitch the desire to pos-
.sess colonial territories. If Egypt were taken from
France, the first consul still wished to do some-
thing for Jier colonial interests. He looked over
the map of the woi-ld, and saw a magnificent pro-
vince, placed between Mexico and the United
States, formerly possessed by France, but ceded
in a time of abasement by Louis XV. to Charles
III., always threatened by the English and
Americans as long as it remained in the impotent
hands of the Spaniards, to whom it was of little
value, though possessing half of the American

continent. Of great value to the French, who had
no possession in that part of America, and capable
of being rendered productive, when their active
labour could be concentrated there, he wished to
possetis the territory, which was thr.t of Louisiana.
If Egypt, being lost, could no more be a substitute
for St. Domingo, the first consul hoped to find
what he desired in Louisiana.

He, thei-efore, demanded it formally of Spain,
as the price of the Italian acquisition ; he also
asked in addition that part of the Spanish fleet
which was blockaded in Brest. In regard to
Portugal, he wished to profit by the geographical
position of Spain as it affected her, and also to
turn to advantage the relationship of the two
houses reigning in the peninsula, in order to detach
that country from English alliance. The prince of
Brazil, who governed Portugal, was, in fact, the
son-in-law of the king and queen of Spain. They
therefore possessed at Madrid, besides the in-
fluence exercised by the vicinity, that of the
family, and it was a fit time to employ those
double means for expelling the English from that
part of the continent. The English once excluded
from Portugal, when the courts of Prussia, Den-
mark, Russia, and Sweden were about to be closed
against them, when Naples, forced into submission
to the will of France, received orders to exclude
them from her ports, would thus, in a little time,
be altogether shut out of the entire continent.

Such were the proposals which Berthier had
orders to carry to Madrid. He was perfectly well
received there by the king, the queen, the prince
of the peace, and by all the Spanish grandees, who
were curious to see the man whose name always
figured by the side of that of Bonaparte in the
details of the wars of the time. The conditions of
the bargain thus tendered by France appeared
hard, and yet no serious resistance could be
offered to them. The minister Urquijo alone,
having fears what effect the cession might produce
upon the Spanish people, showed somewhat more
opposition than the court. Reasons, deemed in-
contestably sound, were brought forward to make
him quiet. He was informed that it would take
a large territory on the uninhabited borders of the
Mississippi, to balance, as an equivalent, a small
possession in Italy. That the Spaniards stood in
need, in the gulf of Mexico, of such allies as the
Fi-ench, against the English and Americans; that
if Louisiana was of value to France, deprived of
her colonial possessions, it was of very small value
to Spain, that was already so rich in the new
world, that an accession of influence in Italy would
be of more consequence to her than a territory so
far off, placed in a region where .she had already
more than she was able to defend; finally, that it
was an f)ld French possession, torn away through
the feebleness of Louis XV., and that Charles III.
himself, with a true spirit of integrity, as was well
known to the world, had at one time refused it,
so convinced was he that it was not his due. These
reasons were excellent, and Spain certainly, in
this instance, was asked to give no more than she
received. But that which decided M. Urquijo
more than all the better arguments in behalf of
the measure, was the fear of offending France,
and of opposing a combination to which his court
clung fast with a kind of paHsion.

Aug.

A treaty signed. — Spain urged
to break tier alliance with
Portugal. The American

THE ARMISTICE.

envoys arrive at Paris.—
lleconciliation with the
United States.

140

A treaty was eventually agreed upon, in which
the first consul promised to procure for the duke
of Parma an augmentation of his dominions in
Italy to the e.\tent of one million two hundred
thousand souls, or thereabouts, to assure to him
the title of king, and the acknowledgment of the
new title by all the sovereigns of Europe at the
period of a genei^al peace. In I'cturn, Spain, as
soon as a part of these conditions was fulfilled, was
to cede back to France Louisiana, with tlie same
extent of territory as that province possessed when
it was ceded by Louis XV. to Cliarles III., and to
give besides si.\ sail of the line full-rigged, armed,
and ready to receive their crews. This treaty,
signed by Berthier, filled the queen with delight,
and elevated the infatuation of the court of Spain
for the first consul to the highest degree.

The last condition, which had, for its object, to
force Portugal to break her alliance with England,
was easy to be performed ; for it was as much in
accordance with the interests of Spain as it was
with those of France. Spain, in fact, was as much
interested as France, that England should be ex-
cluded from the continent, and her power reduced.
In this the first consul did nothing more than
awaken her from her unpardonable apathy, and
force her to make use of an influence which it was
lier duty long ago to have employed. He went
still furtlier in the matter ; he i)roposed to
Charles IV., that if the court of Lisbon did not
immediately obey the injunction given to it, a
Spanish army should pass the frontier of Portugal,
and keep one or two of the Portuguese provinces
as pledges, in order to oblige England afterwards
to restore the Spanish colonies which she had cap-
tured, and to save the dtmiinions of her ally. If
Charles IV. did not feel himself strong enough to
undertake such an enterprise, he offered to second
the object with a Fx-ench division. The good king
did not desire so much as was thus offered. The
prince of Brazil was his own son-in-law ; he had no
wish to take liis provinces from him, though they
were to be pledges for the restitution of Spanisli
provinces. But he addressed to him most urgent
exhortations, and even menaced him with war, if
his advice was not regarded. Tiie court of Lisbon
promised to send an envoy immediately to confer at
Madrid with the French ambassador.

Berthier returned to Paris from Spain, loaded
with the favours of the court, and gave the first
consul the a.4surance, that ho had at the court of
Madrid persons wholly devoted to him. The fine
horses given him by Charles IV. arrived about
tlie same time, and were presented to the first
consul in the Place Carrousel, at one of those grand
reviews wliere lie was always plea.sed to exiiibit
to tiio Parisians and to strangers the soldiers that
had conquered Europe. An immense crowd of
persons came to see those beautiful animals ; the
grooms were so splendidly attired, that they re-
called the titncs of old monarchical pomp, and
proved the consideration in which the new cliicf of
tlio French I'epublic waa held by the oldest courts
of Europe.

At this moment tlircc negotiators from the
United States of America to France arrived in
Pari.s, Mr. Oliver Ellsworth, Mr. Ilichardson
Davie, and Mr. Van Murray. That republic,
governed by interest much more than by gratitude.

ruled above all by the policy of the federal party,
had approximated nearer to Great Britain during
the late wtu', and had been wanting, not only to
France, but to itself, in deserting the principles of
the maritime ncuti'ality. In spite of the alliance
of 1778, to which the states owed their existence,
a treaty which obliged tliem not to concede to
others the commercial advantages which were not
also conceded to the French, they had granted to
Great Britain peculiar and exclusive pi-ivileges.
Abandoning the principle that " the flag covers the
merchandise,"' they had admitted that an enemy's
property might be searched for in a neutral vessel,
and seized, if its origin were ascertained. This
conduct was as dishonourable as it was impohtic.
The directory, naturally exasperated, had recourse
to a system of reprisals, by declaring that France
would treat neutrals as they wore suffered to be
treated by England. From one harshness to an-
other, a state of things existed between Fj-ance
and America very little different from that of open
war, without active hostilities.

It was this state of things to which the first
consul wished to put an end. It has been seen
what honours were given to the memory of Wash-
ington, with the double object of producing an
effect at home and abroad. Bonaparte now ap-
pointed three individuals to negotiate with the
Americans — Joseph, his brother, and the two
counsellors of state, Fleurieu and Roederer ; they
were to urge on the conclusion of the negotiation,
for the purpose of soon giving a new adversary to
England, and placing a new power on the list of
those that had bound themselves to observe strictly
the ti'ue principles of maritime neutrality. The
first obstacle to a reconcilement was the article by
which America had promised France the partici-
pation in commercial advantages accorded by the
states to every nation. This obligation to give
nothing to others which others would not give to
us, caused the Americans very great embarrass-
ment. Their negotiators did not exhibit the least
disposition to give way upon this point; but they
showed themselves ready to acluiowledge and de-
fend the rights of neutrals, and to ro-establisli, in
their stipulations witli France, the princii)los which
they had abandoned in treating with England.
The first consul, who was much more anxious to
hold fast the principle of an armed neutrality than
the commercial advantages of tho treaty of 1778,
become illusory in practice, enjoined his brother to
pass that over, and to conclude an arrangement
with the American envoys, if it were possible to
obtain fi'om them a perfect recognition of the prin-
ciples of the rights of nations, which it was of tho
utmost importance to enforce. This difficulty re-
moved, the rest might soon be arranged, and at
the moment a treaty of reconcilement was pre-
paring with America.

Another reconciliation, much more important,
that between France and the Holy See, began now
to produce its effect. Tho new pope, elected in
the vague hope of an acconunodation with France,
had seen thi.s hope realized, to which lio owed his
elevation. Bonaparte, as we have said, returning
from Marengo, had .sent sonic overtures to Pius VII.
by cardinal Martiniana, bisiiop of Vercelli, as-
suring him that he liad no intention of re-establibh-
ing the Roman Partlienopcan republics, tho worlcs

Negotiations with the Holy government -Anger of the joqq

150 See.-TheactsofSt.Julien THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, first consul.- Meeting of ^^ ;

disavowed by the Austrian the council of state. "

of the directory. He had certainly enough in
Italy to constitute, direct, and defend against the
policy and interests of all Europe the Cisalpine
republic. Bonaparte had, in turn, demanded that
the new pontiff should use his spiritual influence in
France to aid in the establishment of concord and
peace. The pope received with pleasure count
Alciati, the nephew of cardinal Martiniana, charged
to carry the overtures of the first consul ; he sent
him back instantly to Vercelli to declare, in his
name, that, disposed to second the intentions of the
first consul relative to an object so important and
so dear to the church, he wished, in the first
place, to become acquainted in a more precise
manner with the views of the French cabinet.
The cardinal wrote in consequence from Vercelli
to Paris, to make known the disposition and wish
of the new pope. The first consul, in reply, asked
for a negotiator with whom he would be able to
explain himself directly, and the pope designated
immediately monsignor Spina, bishop of Corinth,
nuncio of the Holy See at Florence. This nego-
tiator, after having repaired first to Vercelli, re-
solved to set out for Paris at the pressing instance
of the fii-st consul, who, by bringing this nego-
tiation under his own superintendence, thought to
make more sure of success. Upon the side of the
first consul, it was a delicate matter to bring to
Paris a representative of the Holy See, above all in
the existing state of the public mind, which was
hardly yet prepared for such a spectacle. It was
agreed that nicinsignor Si)ina should not have any
official title, and that he shiuld style himself bishop
of Corinth, ordered to treat with the French go-
vernment upon the affairs of the Roman cabinet.

While these negotiations, so ably and actively
conducted with all the powers, were in progress,
M. St. Julien, who had signed the preliminaries of
peace, and was the bearer of them, proceeded with
Duroc to Vienna. Sensible of the imprudence of
his conduct, he had not dissimulated with Talley-
rand, that he was not sure whether he should be
able to take Duroc'as far as Vienna. The illusion
of Talleyrand had not permitted him to believe in
the existence of such a difficulty; and it was agreed
that M. St. Julien and Duroc should pa.ss the head-
quarters of geiKTal Kray, then established near
the Inn, at Alt-CEttingen, in order to obtain from
that general a ])aKsport that should permit Duroc
to pass into Austria. Tliey arrived at the head-
quarters of Kray on ihe 4tli of August, 1801), or IGih
Thermidor, year viii. ; but Duroc was detained,
not being suffered to pass the limits fixed by the
armistice. This was a first, and by no means a
favourable sign of the reception destined lor the
preliminaries. M. St. Julien then jiroceeded to
Vienna alone, saying to Duroc that he would de-
mand passports for him there, and send them to
the head-quarters, if he obtained them. M. St.
Julien then went to the emperor, and delivered to
him the articles w'uicli he had signed at Paris,
under conditions of secresy. The emperor was
much surprised and dissatisfied at the singular
latitude wliich M. St. Julien had given to his in-
struction.s. It was not precisely the conditions
contained in the preliminary articles wliich dis-
pleased him, but the fear of compromising himself
with England, that had aided him with money, and
was exceedingly suspicious. He was willing to

make known a part of his own intentions, in order
to become acquainted with those of the first consul ;
but he would on no account have a signature affixed
to any document whatever, because it implied an
open negotiation concluded without consulting the
British cabinet. Then, in spite of the danger of
provoking a storm on tlie side of France, the im-
perial cabinet took the step of disavowing M. St.
Julien. That officer was very ill treated in public,
and sent into a species of exile, in one of tiie re-
mote provinces of the empire. The preliminaries
w ere considered as void, having been signed, though
provisionally, by an agent without powers or cha-
racter. Duroc received no passports ; and having
waited until the 13(h of August, or 25th Ther-
midor, he was obliged to return to Paris.

All these things, independently of causing a delay
in the conclusion of a peace, were very disagreeable
to the first consul ; and Austria had reason to
dread the effect of such a communication upon his
irritable character. It was very probable that he
w(juld quit Paris immediately, ]iut himself at the
head of the armies of the republic, and inarch
upon Vienna. The court of Austria resolved,
therefore, ui disavowing the preliminaries, not to
make that a cause of rupture. Lord Minto, the
representative of England at the court of the
emperor, consented that Austria should negotiate,
but only on condition that England should be in-
cluded in the negotiation. It was arranged with
him to propose diplomatic conferences, in which
England and Austria should take an equal part.
In consequence, M. Thugut wrote to Talleyrand,
under date of the 11th of August, or 23rd Ther-
midor, that, while disavowing the imprudent con-
duct of M. Julien, the emperor had not a feeling
less warm for peace ; that he proposed the imme-
diate opening of a congress in France itself, at
Schelestadt <ir Luneville, whichever was deemed
preferable ; that Great Britain was ready to send
a plenipotentiary ; and that if the first consul
agreed, a general peace might soon be given to the
world. This offer was accompanied with expres-
sions the best calculated to soothe the impetuous
character of the man who at that time was ruler of
France.

When the first consul received the intelligence
of what had ooeun-ed, he was exceedingly angry.
He was first offended at the disavowal of an officer
who had treated with him, and next mortified that
peace was .still distant. He perceived, more particu-
larly, in the presence of England in the midst of the
negotiation, the cause cf interminable delays, because
a mariiinie peace was much more difficult to con-
clude than one that was only continental. On the
moment, and under the influence of a first impres-
sion, he was about I'aising an outcry, and recom-
mencing hostilities at once, denouncing the bad
faith of Austria. Talleyrand, knowing well that he
bad done wrong in negotiating with a plenipoten-
tiary who had no powers, endeavoured to calm the
first consul. The whole matter was submitted to
the council of state. That great body, which is
now nothing more than an administrative tribunal,
was then a real council of government. The min-
ister addressed to it a detailed report.

" The first consul," said the report, "has judged
it proper to convoke an extraordinary meeting of
the council of state, and, confidiiig in its discretion,

3800.
Aug.

Kesults of the itieetinp. — Attempts
to negotiate in Loudon through
M. Otto.

THE ARMISTICE.

Requisites for a treaty between , ^ .

France and England. l"*

as in its wisdom, has charged me to make known
to it the more minute details of the negotiation
which has been carried on with the court of Vien-
na." After having laid open the negotiations, as
might have been done before a council of minis-
ters, Talkvrjind acknowledged that tl.e Austrian
plenipotentiary had no powers, and that in nego-
tiating with liim, the chance of a disavowal ought
to have been seen ; that, in consequence, it was im-
possible to make a laboured ccntrovei-sy' about the
matter; and that, therefore, a violent outcry sliould
be avoided. But recalling the example of the
negotiations for the peace of Westphalia, which
had gone before the signature of the treaty of
Munster a good while, during which the parties
continued to fight and to negotiate, he proposed
that the opening of the congress should be assented
to, and, at the same time, that hostilities should be
recommenced.

This was, in fact, the wisest course that could be
taken. It was necessary to treat, since the opponent
powers, in addressing themselves to France, had
made the offer; but it was equally right to profit
by the state of the French armies, which were
ri'ady to fcvke the field anew, and by that of the
Austrian armies, which had not yet recovered from
their defeats, in order that Austria might be forced
to negotiate seriously, and separate hei-self from
England.

1 1 was possible to take one step besides, w hich
might have its advantages, and that the first con-
sul seized upon with his customary sagacity. Eng-
land proposed a common negotiation. By admit-
ting that power into the congress, there was the
danger of introducing a contracting party that was
in very little hurry to conclude; and more than that,
the danger of complicating the continental peace,
with all the difficulties of one that was maritime.
The time consumed in these negotiations, insin-
cere or difficult as they might be rendered, would
also permit the fine season for fighting to pass
away, and would give to the Austrian armies the
rest of which they had so great a need. These
were great inconveniences ; but it was possible to
find a compensation to balance them. England, o::
demand, might be admitted to the negotiation, but
on one condition, namely, that she should conclude
a naval armistice. If England consented to such a
thing, tlie benefit of a naval armistice would far
surpass the inconveniences of the continental one ;
because the French fleets, at liberty, would be able
to provision Malta, and to take soldiers and viatc-
rkl to the army in Egypt. For a like advantage the
first consul would most willingly have exposed him-
self to the chances of an extra campaign upon the
continent. A maritime armistice was undoubtedly
sometiiing new, altogether unusual in the law of
nations: yet, it was but just that the Anglo-Aus-
trian alliance should in some mode indenniii'y
France for the sacrifice she would make in suspend-
ing the march of her armies ujion Vienna.

There was resident in London, on the French
side, an able, clever, and shrewd negotiator, M. Otto,
who was kept there for the purpose of treating on
matters relating to prisoners-ol-war. Ho had been
selected by the French cabinet on purpose to make
use of him on the first occasion that uvertui-es uf

■ Poleraiquc d'apparut.

peace might occur on the side of France, or over-
tures be made by England. He was especially
charged to address himself to the British cabinet,
and at once make the proposal of a naval armi-
stice. In this mode of proceeding the first consul
saw the advantage of moving with mox-e rapidity,
and of treating directly respecting such affairs,
which he always preferred to employing interme-
diate agents. On the 24th of August, or 6th Fruc-
tidor, in the year viii., instructions, in agreement
with this new ])lan of negotiation, were transmitted
I to M. Otto. Upon the same day the communica-
1 tions from Vienna were answered in a very severe
I tone. In the French communications, the refusal
' to admit the preliminaries was attributed to the
treaty for a subsidy, signed on the 2Gih of June
preceding. The French government deplored the
state of dependence in which the emperor was
placed in regard to England. A congress at Lune-
ville was assented to ; but it was added that, while
the negotiations proceeded, the war must be con-
tiimed : because, in proposing a joint negotiation,
Austria had not taken care to provide, as a natural
ci>nseqitcnce, a suspension of arms by land and sea.
This was said for the object of engaging the Aus-
trian diplomatists to interfere themselves in Lon-
don, in order to obtain a naval armistice.

Communications were established in London,
between M. Otto and Captain George, the head of
the transport-board. They lasted during the whole
of the month of Septeaiber. M. Otto proposed, on
the side of France, that hostilities should be sus-
pended by sea and land ; that all vessels, both of
trade and war, belonging to the belligerent na-
tions, should navigate freely ; that the ports be-
longing to France, or occupied by her armies, such
as Malta and Alexandria, should be assimilated to
the fortresses of Ulm, Philipsburg, and Ingoldstadt,
in Germany, which, though blockaded by the French
armies, were nevertheless, to be victualled and sup-
plied. M. Otto freely admitted that France would
derive great benefit from such an arrangement ;
but he stated that her advantages ought to be
great to compensate for the concessions which she
niuGi niake, in letting the sunmier pass away with-
out completing the destruction of the Austrian
armies.

The sacrifice thus demanded of England was one
which nothinj* was capable of snatching from her
hands. It was, in fact, giving permission to re*
victual Malta and Egypt, and perhaps give over
those two possessions to France for ever ; it was
to i)ermit the combined French and Spanish fleets
to leave Brest and sail up the Mediterranean,
taking possession of a place which would render
it anew master of the sea for a longer or shorter
time. England could not assent to such a pro-
l)osal, though the danger threatening Austria
touched her very nearly ; she iiad a great interest
in preventing Austria from being crushed; because
if Austria fell, Bonaparte, having all his resources
at liberty, might be able to make some formidable
attempt upon the British isles. In consequence,
she believed it was needful to make some sacrifices
for an interest of this nature ; and while crying
out against the novelty of a naval annistice, she
presented a connter-iirojeet, dated the 7th of Sep-
tember, IHOO, or 20th of Fructidor, year viii. To
connnenco, she agreed to Luncvillo as the place

Demands of the English go- Military proceedings. — Con- .-nn

152 vernment.— Final proposi- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. dilion of the armies of the i,°""-

tioris of the first consul. Khine and Italy. '"^I"-

for the meeting of the congress, and appointed
Mr. Thomas Greuville, the brother of the minister
for foreign affairs, to treat of a general pacification.
England then proposed the following system in
respect to the naval armistice. All hostilities
shall be suspended by land and sea ; the suspen-
sion of arms shall be not only common to the three
belligei-ent parties, Austria, England, and France,
but also to their allies. This aiTangement had for
its object to deliver Portugal from the threatening
attitude of Spain. The maritime places which are
blockaded, such as Malta and Alexandria, shall
be assimilated to those in Germany, and be pro-
visioned every fifteen days, in proportion to the
consumption of the provisions, which has taken
place in the same interval of time already elapsed.
The ships of the line in Brest and the other ports
were not to be at liberty to change their stations
during the armistice.

This counter-project on the part of England was
rather an evidence of good will towards Austria,
than an eff'ective concession on the important point
of the negotiation. Malta might no doubt gain
something by being provisioned for a short time ;
but Egypt had no need of provisions. Soldiers,
muskets, and cannon were wanted there; not corn,
with which she could supply the whole world.

Still France, yielding in some things, might find
in the naval armistice advantages sufficiently great
to admit of its execution with certain modifications.

On the 21st of September, being the 4th com-
plementary day of the year viii., the first consul
made a last proposition. He consented tliat the
vessels of the line should not change their stntions,
which condemned the combined .squadrons of
France and Spain to remain blocked up in Brest
harbour; he demanded that Malta should be re-
victualled every fifteen days, at tlie rate of ten
thousand rations a-day ; he consented that Eg3'iJt
should remain blockaded, but required that six
frigates should pass free to Egypt from Toulon,
to go and return from Alexandria without being
visited.

His intention was here very clear; and he was
right not to disguise an interest which all the
world must discover at first sight. He intended
to arm three frigates en jiute, to load them with
men and munitions of war, and to send them to
Egypt. He hoped they might have been able to
carry six thousand men, a great quantity of mus-
kets, swords, bombs, shells, and similar articles.
He therefore sacrificed every thing to obtain his
essential object, the victualling of Malta and the
recruiting of the army in Egypt.

But the difficulty, whatever eff"orts might have
been made on either side to remove it, continued
the same. The object was to preserve Malta and
Egypt to France; to her interest in these England
would not give way. There was no means of
coming to an understanding upon the matter, and
the negotiation was abandoned, on the refusal in
London to allow the last plan for a naval armistice.

Before entirely breaking oft" the negotiation, the
first consul, in the way of courtesy, made a last
proposition to England. He off'ered to renounce
the naval armistice, and to treat with her in a
separate negotiation from that about to commence
with Austria.

It was now September, 1 800 ; several months

had been passed in vain negotiations, since the
victories of Marengo and of Hochstedt, and the
first consul would lose no more time without action.

Austria, when threatened, replied that she could
not force England to sign a naval armistice; that
she off'ered for herself to negotiate immediately ;
that she had appointed M. Lehrbach to go to
Luneville, and that he was about to proceed there
immediately ; that Mr. Thomas Grenville was only
waiting for his passports ; that they could thus
negotiate without any waste of time ; but that it
was not necessary to renew hostilities during
negotiations, and shed more torrents of human
blood. The first consul, who knew well the secret
intention of dragging on the affair until winter
should arrive, determined at last upon the renewal
of hostilities, and gave orders in consequence. He
had perfectly well employed the two months that
were gone, and had put a finishing hand to the
organization of the armies. His new dispositions
thus made were as follow : —

Moreau, as already has been said, had been
obliged to send general St. Suzanne on the Rhine,
with sonic detachments, for the purpose of uniting
the garrisons of Mayence and Strasburg, and
making head against the peasant levies made by
the baron Albini in the centre of Germany. This
was a weakening of Moreau's force, and still an
insufficient means of covering his rear. The first
consul, in order to prevent any damage in that
quarter, hastened to complete the Batavian army,
placed under the orders of Augereau. He formed
it of eight thousand Dutch and twelve thousand
French, both one and the other taken from the
troops that guarded Holland and the departments of
the north. The battalions mostwoi-n outer fatigued
by the preceding campaigns, i-estored by rest and
completed with recruits, were now excellent corps.
Augereau marched to Frankfort, and thei'e by his
presence restrained the Mayence levies of the
baron Albini and the Austrian detachments left
in the neighbourhood. This precaution taken, the
corps of St. Suzanne, re-organized and very nearly
eighteen thousand strong, had again marched to
the Danube, and formed once more the left wing
of Moreau's army. His return raised the active
army of Moreau to very nearly one hundred
thousand men.

When the army of reserve had thrown itself
into Italy, it had left in the rear a part of the
corps designed to complete it ; but for its complete
formation there had not been time to wait. In
place of an eff'ective force of sixty thousand men,
as was originally designed, it had only amounted
to forty and a few thousand men. The first consul
formed these into a second army of z'eserve, about
fifteen thousand strong, and placed it in the Gri-
sons, in face of the Tyrol, which thus allowed
Moreau to draw closer to him his right wing, com-
manded, as is well-known, by Lecourbe, and to
unite at hand the entire mass of his forces, if it
was required to force the barrier of the Inn.

On its own side the army of Italy, established on
the banks of the Mincio by the convention of
Alexandria, delivered from all care about the
Tyrol and Switzerland by Macdonald, had been
enabled to bring its wings nearer to its centre, and
to concentrate in such a manner as to be fit for
immediate action. Composed of troops that had

Massena removed from the Ligu-

appointed THE ARMISTICE.

Activity of the emperor of
Austria.— Changes in his
army.

153

passed the St. Bernard, and those which had been
drawn from the German army by the St. Gothard,
lastly, of the troops of Liguria, which had defended
Genoa and tlie Var, recruited, rested, and re-
freshed, it presented a total mass of about one
hundred and twenty thousand men, of which num-
ber eighty thousand were united on the Mincio.
Masse'na was at lirst the general-in-chief, and the
only one capable of commanding itweli. Unhappily
dissensions arose between the commissariat of the
army and the Italian governments. The army,
although transported into the midst of fertile Italy,
and in possession of the rich magazines left by the
Austrians, had still not enjoyed all the good things
to which it had a right. It was alleged that the
officers of the commissariat had sold a part of these
magazines. The governments of Piedmont and of
the Cisalpine complained that they were crushed
under war contributions, and refused to pay them.
In the midst of this confused state of affaire, very
heavy charges were made against the French ad-
ministrators, and they reached even to Masse'na
himself. The clamour soon became so loud, that
the hrst consul found himself obliged to recai Mas-
s^na, and replace him by general Brune. Brune,
with much courage and mind, was in reality but an
indifferent general, and in polities still less able.
He was one of the most zealous chiefs of the dem-
agogue party, which did not prevent his being
strongly attached to the first consul, who was
much pleased at knowmg it to be the case. Not
having been able to give him an active command
during the spring, the fii'st consul gave him one
during the autunm. The victory in Holland strongly
recommended him in public opinion ; but the recal
of Masseua was a misfortune for the army and for
the first consul himself. Masse'na got soured, and
was on the point of becoming, despite himself, a
subject of hope for a crowd of intriguers, who at
that particular moment happened to be busy. The
first consul was not ignorant of this, but he would
not permit iiTegularities any where, and he was
not to be blamed.

To the four armies above-mentioned, the first
consul joined a fifth, consisting of troops assembled
around Amiens. He detached fi'om deini-brigades
remaining in the interior, the skeletons of various
companies of grenadiers ; he had them filled up
with fine men, and formed a superb corps of nine
or ten thousand choice soldiers, who were designed
to do duty on the coasts, if the English should
effect a disembarkation on any part, or they were
to pass into Italy, to fill the place occupied by
Augereau in Germany — that of covering the wings
and rear of liie principal army. Murat was nomi-
nated to the chief command.

All this was done, as far as the recruiting was
concerned, l)y means of the levy ordered by the
legislative body, and, in regard to the expenses,
by means of the financial resources recently created.
Notiiing was now wanting to the three different
corps ; they were well-fed, well-armed, and their
horses and mdir'tel were complete.

It may be supposed that tlie first consul was im-
patient to make use of these means to force a peace
from Austria before the winter came on. He
ordered Moreau and liruno in eon8c<iuence to re-
pair to tiieir respective head-fjuartt-rs, and to pre-
pare to recommence hostilities. He enjoined upon

Moreau to give the Austrian general proper notice,
under the time stipulated in the armistice, and not
to permit him to prolong the suspension of arms
but on one sole condition, that the emperor sh.ould
give up to the French army the three places actually
blockaded, Philipsburg, Ulm, and Iiigoldstadt.
On this condition five or si.\ weeks' respite longer
might be given. These places were worthy of the
sacrifice. By occupying them, an excellent base
for operations on the Danube would be obtained.
The French would be strengthened by the corps
thus employed in the blockade ; they would thus
have time to push a wing of the army of Italy
upon Tuscany and the kingdom of Nai)les, comi-
tries in which the levies en masse were continued at
the instigation of Austria with English money.
Such were the orders sent to the head-quarters of
Moreau.

On his side the emperor of Germany, profiting
by the time gained, employed with the greatest
activity the subsidy furnished him by England. He
urged forward the new levies ordered in Bohemia,
Moravia, Hungary, Styria, and Carinthia. The
English minister, Wickham, established offices of
a peculiar sort in various German towns, in order
to purchase the services of soldiers to go and fight
for the coalition. By means of a new subsidy, the
Bavarian and Wurtemberg corps were considerably
augmented. Independently of the sums given to Aus-
tria, the recruiting agents Jiad taken into the direct
pay of the English government two regiments com-
posed of boatmen raised from the rivers of Ger-
many, and designed to facilitate the passage over
them. Ten thousand peasants were hired to exe-
cute, under the direction of engineers, formidable
entrenchments along the line of the Inn, from the
Tyrol to the union of that stream with the Danube.
Every thing was in movement from Vienna to
Munich. The staff of the Austrian army had been
entirely changed. Kray, de-spite his experience
and his activity on the field of battle, had partaken
in the disgrace of M^las. The archduke Ferdinand
himself, who served under his orders, had been
removed. The archduke John, a young pi-ince,
brave and well-educated, but wholly without expe-
rience in war, his head full of theories, his imagina-
tion smitten with the manoeuvres of Bonaparte,
and wishing at any cost to imitate them, was called
to the chief command of the imperial forces. This
was one of those novelties which peoj)le willingly
attempt in desperate cii-cumstances. The emperor
himself repaired to the army, to re-animate it by his
presence, and by passing it in review.

He spent several days with the troops, accompa-
nied by M. Lehrbach, the negotiator appointed to
attend tlie congress at Luneville, and by the young
archduke John. After having seen and examined
every thing in company with liis counsellors, he
discovered that nothing was ready ; that the anny
was not yet sufficiently established, either in point
of confidence or vuUirlcl, to commence immediate
hostilities. M. Lehrbach was then charged to pro-
ceed to the head-quarters of Moreau, to learn
whether lie was able to obtain again a prolongation
of the armistice, for a few days, from the French
government. Moreau informed M. Lehrbach what
tjjc conditions were upon which the first consul
would agree to a new suspension of arn\s. The
emperor consented regretfully to these conditions;

Ulm. Philipsburg, and In- missed. — Festival of Sep-

154 goldstadt, surrendered to THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. tember 22.— Obsequies
the French. — Thugut dis- of Turenne.

1800.
Sept.

and on the 20tli of September, or third comple-
mentary day of the year viii., a new prolongation
of the armistice was concluded between M. Lehr-
bach and general Lahorie, in the village of Hohen-
linden, destined soon to become so celebrated.
The fortresses of Philipsburg, Ulm, and Ingold-
stadt, were to be delivered up to the French army,
to be disposed of as it might see fit. In return,
the armistice was prolonged for forty-five day.s
from the 21st of .September, comprising fifteen
days' notice of the x-esuniption of hostilities, if
afterwards they were to recommence.

The emperor returned to Vienna very ill-sat>sfied
with the visit he had made to his army, since that
event had been attended with no other results
than to give up to the French army tiie three
strongest places in Ins dominions. He was
deeply mortified. His j>enple partook in his feel-
ings, and accused jM. Thugut of being entirely
in the interest of England. Queen Caroline of
Naples had just arrived with lord Nelson and lady
Hamilton, to support the war party in Vienna.
But the public clamour was great. M. Thugut
was charged with serious errors, such as his re-
fusal, at tlie beginning of the winter, to listen to the
pacific propositions uf the first consul ; the bad
direction of the military operations ; his obstinacy
in not admitting the army of reserve, even when
it was passing tlie St. Bernard ; the concentration
of the principal forces of the empire in Liguria, to
please the English, who flattered themselves that
they should get pussession of Toulon ; and lastly,
the engagement entered into with the Englisii
government not to treat without it — an engagement
signed on the 20th of June, when he ought, on the
other hand, to have preserved his freedom of
action. These reproaclics were in a great degree
well-founded. But well-founded or not, they were
sanctioned by events ; for nothing had succeeded
under the auspices of M. Thugut, and people only
judge according to results. M. Tiiugut was then
obliged to bend to circumstances, and to retire, but
still retaining a great influence over the Austrian
cabinet. M. Lelirbach was appointed to succeed
him in the foreign office; and to succeed M.
I Lehrbach at the congress of Luneville, a well-
known negotiator, M. Louis Cobentzel, was ap-
pointed, who was well-known personally to Bona-
parte, and was particularly agreeable to him, having
negotiated together the treaty of Campo Forniio.
It was hoped that M, Cobentzel would be a ]>erson
better adapted than any other for establishing a
good understanding with the French govei-nment ;
and that, placed at Luneville, at some distance
from Paris, he would sometimes visit that city, in
order to have more connnunicatiou with the first
consul.

The delivery to the French army of the three
fortresses of Ulm, Ingoldstadt, and Philipsburg,
happened very seasonably for the celebration of
the fete of the 1st Vende'miaire. Jt revived the
hopes of peace, because it displayed very clearly
the extreme situation of Austria. The annual fete
was founded to celebrate the foundation of the re-
public, and was one of the only two which the con-
stitution had established. The first consul deter-
mined that it should not be less splendidly cele-
brated than that of the Utii of July, which had
betn so happily increased in attraction by the pre-

sentation of the colours taken in the preceding cam-
paign, to the Invalides; he determined that it should
be distinguished by a character as patriotic, but
more serious than any of those which were given in
the course of the revolution, and, more than all,
that it should be freed from that ridicule attached
to the imitation, in modern times, of the customs of
the ancients.

It must be confessed that religion leaves a great
vacancy in being excluded from the festivals of
nations. Public games, theati-ical representations,
fires that make the night brilliant with illumina-
tions, may oceu{>y the popular attention for some
time, upon any public occasion of the kind, but
cannot fill up the whole day. In past times, na-
tions have ever been disposed to celebrate their
victories at the foot of the altar, and have made
their ])ublic ceremonies an act of thankfulness to
the divinity. But France had then no altar but
that which had been elevated to the goddess of
reason during the reign of terror ; those, which
the theophilanthropists innocently strewed with
flowers, during the liccTitious reign of the directory,
were now covered with ineffaceable ridicule, be-
cause, in regard to altars, those only are respect-
able which are ancient. The old Catholic altar of
France had not then been restored, and nothing
remained in consequence but certain ceremonies
in some degree academic, under the dome of the
Invalides ; elegant orations, such as those made by
M. Fontanes, or patriotic music composed by Mehul
or Lesueur. The first consul was sensible of this,
and endeavoured, therefore, to supply the deficiency
in religious featiu-e, by giving the fete something
that should possess a deeply moral character.

The homage paid to Washington, and the pre-
sentation of the colours taken at Marengo, had
already supplied subjects for the two festivals yet
celebrated under his consulship : he contrived for
the present to find, in a great act of reparation,
the subject for the fete of the 1st of Vende'miaire,
year ix., or 23d of September, 1800.

At the time when the tombs of St. Denis were
rifled, the body of Turenne had been found in per-
fect preservation. In the midst of the excesses of
the people, an involuntary respect had saved these
remains from the common desecration. At first
deposited in the Jardin des Plantes, they were
subsequently committed to the care of M. Alex-
ander Lenoir, a man whose pious zeal, worihy of
being honoured in history, preserved a multitude
of old monuments, which he collected in the mu-
seum of the Petits Augustins. There lay the re-
mains of Turenne, exposed rather to the curious
feelings of visitors, than to their respect. The first
consul thought of depositing the remains of tliis
great man under the dome of the Invalides, and the
guard of our older .soldiers. In honouring an illus-
trious general and servant of the old monarchy, he
was bringing into union the glories of Louis XIV.
and those of the republic ; it was an act re-esta-
blishing the respect for the past without doing
outrage to the present time; it was, in a word, the
entire political object of the first consul, under a
noble and touching aspect. The translation was to
take place on the last complementary day of the
year viii. or the 22d of September, and on the fol-
lowing day, or 1st of Vend^miaire in the year ix.,
or 23d of September, the first stone was to be kid

1800.
Sept.

Obsequies of Turenne.
— i'rocession to the
Invalides.

THE ARMISTICE.

Announcement of the armistice
of Hohenliiideu. — Rise of tlie
public funds.

155

of the monument to Kldber and Desaix. Thus, at
the moment when tlie earth, in obedience to the
laws which impart motion to it, was completing
one great century, and giving birth to another, not
less renowned in its turn if it proved in future
worthy of its commencement, — at sueli a moment
the first consul determined to pay a double homage
to one hero of the past time, and to two of the pre-
sent. In order to make the ceremonies the more
striking, he imitated, to a certain extent, the same
proceedings which had been practised at the fede-
ration of 1790, and he requested all the depart-
ments to send representatives, who, by their pre-
sence, might give a character to the scene not only
Parisian, but national. The departments answered
readily to the call, and selected dist nguished citi-
zens, that curiosity, the desire to see for themselves
tranquillity succeed to trouble, prosperity to the
miseries of anarchy, the wish, above all, to see and
converse witli a great man, attracted to Paris in
considerable numbers.

Upon the 5th complementary day of the year viii.,
or 22il of September, the public authorities went
to the museum of the Petits Augustins, to fetch the
car upon which lay the body of Turenne. On this
car, drawn by four wiiite horses, was placed the
sword of the hero of the monarchy, preserved in
the family of Bouillon, and lent to the government
for that striking ceremony. Four old generals,
mutilated in the service oF the republic, held tlie
tassels of the car, which was preceded by a pie-
bald horse, such as that whicli Turenne rode,
harnessed after the fashion of his time, and led by
a negro, all an accurate repi-esuntation of some of
the scenes of a day belonging to the times of the
hero to whom the liomage was paid. Around the
car marched the invalid.-^, followed by some of
those fine troops which had returned from the
banks of the Po and the Danube. This singular
and noble procession traversed Paris to the Inva-
lides in the midst of an immense assemblage.
There the first consul waited its arrival, surround-
ed by the envoys from the departments, both those
of the old France and those of the new France ;
these last representing Belgium, Luxemburg, the
Rhenish provinces, Savoy, and the county of Nice.
The precious relic which was carried by the pro-
cession, was placed under the dome. Carnot, the
minister-at-war, delivered a simple and appropriate
adilress, and then, while solemn music resounded
through the vaulted building, the body of Turenne
was deposited in tlie monument which it now occu-
pies, and where it was soon to be rejoined by his
companion in glory, the illustrious and virtuous
Vauban; where, too, lie was destined to be one day
joined by the author of th*; great achievements
we are recounting, and where he will most assu-
redly rest, surrounded by this august company,
throughout tiie ages which heaven may have re-
served for France.

If in days like our own, when faith is become
Cold, any thing can fill its place, and perhaps
equal the purposes of religion, it is such a spectacle
as (his.

On the evening of the same day a gratuitous
representation of tlie " Tartutfe" and of the " Old "
was given to the people, with the view of offering
them an anmscinent less coarse than had been
customary ui)on such occasions. Tiie first consul

attended the performance. His presence, his in-
tention, instinctively guessed by a sensitive and
intelligent people, all concurred to maintain upon
the occasion, in a tumultuous assemblage, a thing
not usual at gratuitous exhibitions — the most com-
plete decorum. The order was interrupted only
by cries a thousiind times repeated — ''■ Long live
the republic ! — Limg live general Bonaparte !"

On the following day, the first consul, as before,
accompanied by the public authtu'ities and envoys
from the de(>artments, repaired to the Place des
Victoires. There a monument was about to be
erected in the Egyptian style, intended to receive
the mortal remains of Kle'ber and Desaix, whom
the first consul wished to repose side by side. He
then went on horseback to the Invalides, where the
minister of the interior, his brother Lucien, de-
livered a speech on the state of the republic, which
made a powerful imprcssi(m. Some passages were
very strongly api)lauded ; this, among otliex's, re-
lative to the present age and to that of Louis XIV.
" It may be said chat at the present moment
these two great ages have met to salute one an-
other over that august tomb !"' The orator, in
delivering these words, mounted upon the tomb of
Tureniic. Unanimous plaudits responded, showing
tiiat every heart, without derogating from the
present, was willing to receive from the past what-
ever deserved revival. And that the scene might
be comi)lete — that the connnon illusions of human
nature might do their part, tlie orator further ex-
claimed— "Happy the generation which sees
finished, in a republic, the revolution which it com-
menced under a monarchy !"

During this ceremony the first consul received a
despatch by telegraph, announcing the armistice of
Hohenliuden and the cession of Philipsburg, Uim,
and Ingoldstadt. He sent a note to his brother
Lucien, which was read to all those present, and
welcomed with greater applauses than the speech
of the minister of the interior. Despite all respect
for i)l:ices, the cries of " Long live Bonaparte ! —
Long live the republic !" shook the arches of that
noble edifice. The innnediate publication of this
intelligence produced deeper .satisfaction than all
the amusements destined to please the multitude.
The people were not afraid of war ; they had full
confidence in the talents of the first consul, and in
the courage of their armies, if it was necessary
that war should be continued ; but after so many
battles, so many troubles, they wished to enjoy in
peace the glory acquired, and the prosperity whicli
was beginning to appear.

This prosperity was making a rapid progress. I
the sole pi'csence of Bonaparte sufficed, on tiie 18lh
of Brumaire, to calm, soothe, re-assure, and give
back hope, the matter must be changed now when
the success of the armies, the earnest advances
made by Europe towards France, the prospect of
an approaching and brilliant jieace, — in fine, the
tranquillity every where establisln.d,— had i-ealized
the hopes conceived in the first moment of con-
fidence.

These hopes were become realities. It might be
said, that in the ten montlis past, from November,
179.0, to September, 1800, the aspect of France
liad changed. The public funds, the vulgar but
certain ex])ression of the state of tiie public mind,
liad risen from twelve fi-ancs on tiie real price at

Returns of the public contri-
15G butions. -Success of. the THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

measure adopted.

prosperity.

Sept.

which the five per cents, were sold the day before
the 18th Brumaire, to forty francs — they promised
to reach fifty.

The stockholders had received half a year's
dividend in specie, a thing which had not happened
since the commencement of the revolution. This
financial phenomenon had produced a great effect,
and appeared not to be the least of the victories of
the first consul. How had he been able to eftect
such a success ? It was an enigma which the
mass of the people explained by that singular
power which he was said already to possess, of
doing whatever he pleased.

But it was not the smallest miracle ; there is no
other cause for real successes than good sense
seconded by a powerful detei-mination, and such
was the sole cause of the happy results obtained
under the administration of the first consul. He
had, at first, sought to remedy the real evil exist-
ing, which arose from the slowness with which the
imposts were collected ; he had, with this view,
established a special agency for perfecting the lists
of assessment, left too complaisantly before to the
communes. This special agency, stimulated by
the prefects, another creation of the consular go-
vernment, had corrected the assessments in arrear
for the years vii. and viir., and had terminated
those for the year ix., that which had just begun,
or from September, 1800, to September, 1801.
Thus, for the first time since the revolution, the
lists of the current year were placed in a train for
collection from the first day of the year. The re-
ceivers-general, having the taxes punctually paid
to (them, were enabled to be punctual in their
monthly acquittal of the obligations which they had
accepted, and had paid them in constantly at the
end of every month. It has been said before, that
in order to guaranty the credit of these obligations
or bills, the treasury had required of the receivers-
general security in specie, which security, being
deposited in the sinking fund, served to pay any of
the obligations that might be protested. Out of the
sum of 20,000,000 f., being the total amount of the
securities, 1,000,000 f. sufficed to pay the dis-
honoured bills. From this circumstance they ac-
quired a credit equal to that of the best commercial
paper. At first they could not be discounted under
three-fourths per cent, per month, or nine per cent,
per annum ; now they were discounted at eight,
and many were willing to discount them at seven
per cent. This was very moderate interest ui com-
parison with that which the government had before
been obliged to pay. Thus, as the direct contri-
butions in a total budget of 500,000,000 f. repre-
sented about 300,000,000 f., tlie treasury had, at
the first day of the year, 300,000,000 f. of value in
its hands, very nearly realized ; for in place of re-
ceiving nearly nothing, as formerly, and receiving
the little paid very slowly, it had, on the 4th of
VendeJmiaire, the best part of the public revenues
at its disposal. Such had been the result of the
completion of the assessment lists in good time,
and of the system of monthly bills, drawn under
the title of obligations upon the chests of the re-
ceivers-general, by preventing the last from having
any pretext for delaying their receipts, the govern-
ment was able to impose upon them the condition
of paying in upon a lixcd day.

The year vui., which had just terminated, from

September, 1799, to September, 1800, had not
been provided for with such facility as the year ix.
promised to be. It had been necessary to with-
draw all the paper emitted before, such as the
bills of arrear, of requisition, the delegations, and
others. The different paper had been withdrawn,
either by the acquittal of the anterior contribu-
tions, or by means of certain arrangements agreed
upon with the holders. The revenue of the year
VIII. had, in consequence, been so much diminished,
there was a deficiency too in that year's receipts.
But the victories of the French armies having
taken them into the enemies' country, the treasury
was relieved from the burden of their support ; and
with some of the national domains, which had begun
to fetch good prices in the market, the deficiency
of that year might be made good. The expenditure
of the year ix. would not offer any similar diffi-
culty. No more bills of arrear were issued, because
the stockholders were paid in specie ; no more
bills of requisition, because the army was either
fed by the treasury itself, or by the treasury of
the foreigner ; no more delegations were issued,
because, as before observed, the first consul
adopted an invariable rule in regard to those who
had claims upon the state : he paid them specie
or nothing ; and in specie he paid them already
more than the preceding governments had done.
Every week he held a council of finance, when he
required a statement of the resources to be laid
before the council, and also one of the money
wanted by each minister ; he chose the most
urgent demands, and divided them with exactness;
he distributed the assets certain to be paid, but
no more than those. In this mode, with a firm
conduct, there was no more need for issuing paper
money ; and having no fictitious paper abroad,
there was none to be redeemed. The receipts of
the year ix. were certain to be m specie.

The stock or fund-holders were paid by the bank
of France. The bank had only been in existence
for six months, and was already capable of issuing
notes to a large amount, taken by the public as
readily as specie itself. The necessities of ti'ade,
and the conduct of the government in regard to
the new establishment, had caused this rapid suc-
cess.. This was the mode in which the matter was
managed. Of the securities in specie, one million
in twenty millions sufficed to sustain the credit of
the obligations. The remainder was without em-
ployment ; and however pressing was the tempta-
tion to employ those 19,000,000 f. to meet urgent
necessities, the government did not hesitate to
impose upon itself the severest hardships, that it
might lay out 5,000,000 f. in purchasing shares in
the bank, the amount of which it immediately
paid. It did not stay there, but deposited with
it in current account the surplus of the disposable
funds. The account current was composed of
sums paid in, on condition that they might be
drawn out accordingly as they were wanted, day
by day. Having such resources suddenly placed
at its command, the bank lost not a moment in
discounting, and in issuing notes which, always
paid in money, if desired, had acquired in a few
months the value of cash. To-day such a thing would
not appear extraordinary, because in the smallest
towns the same operation is seen performing in
the easiest way, and many banks prosper from th«

!800.
Sept.

The bank of France.— State of
the lauded proprietarj-.

THE ARMISTICE.

The first consul repairs the
public roads.

157

time of their starting. But in that day, after so
many bankruptcies, after the dislike which the
assignats had created for paper, it was a species
of commercial wonder, worked out by a goTern-
ment which had, above all other things, the gift of
inspiring confidence.

The treasury then thought of confiding to the
bank divers services, advantageous to itself as well
as to the state, especially that of paying the stock-
holders. This it effected by means perfectly simple.
The bills of the receivers-general were as good as
bills of exchange. The treasury oflFered the bank
these bills, to the amount of 20,000,000 f., for dis-
count,— an operation highly advantageous to the
bank, because discount was at six and seven per
cent.; and the operation was perfectly secure, since
the bills had become of undeniable value. The
bank undertook, in consequence, to pay the half-
)-early dividends to the stockholders, who received
money or notes, as they might prefer.

Thus in some months the government, in know-
ing how to impose privations upon itself, had
already procured a powerful instrument, which
for an aid of 10,000,000 f. or 1 2,000,000 f., that
it had received at a moment's notice, could make
a return of service to the extent of hundreds of
millions.

Financial ease was therefore every where re-
newed. The only sensible suffering remaining
was that of the landed proprietary. In the worst
time of the national troubles, the proprietor* of
estates and houses had the advantage of not paying
any taxes, owing to the delay in the making up
the assessment lists; or of paying next to nothing,
owing to the assignats. To-day it was otherwise.
The landed proprietors were now forced to pay
up their arrears and their current taxes, all in
cash. For the small proprietors the charge was
heavy. At first an allowance had been made in
the budget of 5,000,000 f. for assets not available,
in order to exempt such payers as were too
severely pressed ; but it was found necessary to
devote a much larger sum to this purpose. It
was a sort of profit and loss account opened with
the payers, by which the past was given up in
order to secure the exact acquittal of the present.
The landed proprietary alone cannot pay all the
pul)lic burdens of a state. Some must be met by
duties imposed upon articles of consumption. The
revolution, by abolishing the taxes imposed upon
liquors, upon salt and different articles of the kind,
had closed up one of the two necessary sources of
jiublic revenue. Time had not yet opened it again.
This wa.s one of the glories destined, at a later
period, for the return of order and of society in
France to effect. Bonaparte had at first many
prejudices to overcome. By establishing an excise
or "octroi" at the gates of the towns, to provide
for the necessities of the public hospitals, ho had
made a first useful casay, wliich accustomed people
to the restitution of a tax sooner or later indis-
pensable.

Though the landed property was for the moment
heavily taxed, still a general feeling of prosperity
was diffused among all classes of persons. On all
sides the people felt themselves regenerated, and
found they had courage to labour and speculate.

But there were other efforts to be made in that
upturned state of society, to bring every thing

right, if not to so perfect a state as time might do,
to such a state as was supportable for all. It has
been seen what was done for the finances; there
was another branch of the public service fully
as much disorganized as the finances had been,
namely, that of the roads. These had become nearly
impassable. As everybody knows, not years of
negligence, but a few months only, are sufficient
to change into bogs the artificial roads that man
makes upon the surface of the earth for the trans-
port of heavy loads. It was nearly ten years since
the roads in France had been left almost without
repair. Under the old government, the roads were
repaired by "corve'es," or tenant labour; and sub-
sequently to the revolution, by means of a sum of
money, which appeared in the general budget, but
had not been more punctually paid than the sums
destined for other services. The directory, seeing
how matters stood, had contemplated a particular
resource for the purpose, which should not be
alienated, and could never be diminished; and, to
arrive at this object, had established a toll, and
created barriers for its collection. This toll had
been farmed out to the contractors for the road
themselves, who being negligently surveyed, cheated
both in the collection of the toll and in the applica-
tion (if the product. Besides, the sum was in-
sufficient that was thus obtained. It returned
13,000,000 f. or 14,000,000 f. per annum at most,
and 30,000,000 f. was necessary. In the years vt.,
VII., and VIII., no more than 32,000,0001". had been
expended upon the roads, and at least I00,000,000f.
would have been required to repair the ravages
which time had made, and to preserve them in
re))air annually.

The first consul, postponing the adoption of a
perfect system, had recourse to the most simple
means — the general funds of the state ; applying
them to the purpose of the I'oads, a service so
important in every respect. He suffered the toll
to continue in the old mode of being levied and
in its application, taking care that its outlay was
carefully superintended; and he added 12,000,000f.
in the year ix., a considerable sum for that time.
This sum was intended to repair the main roads
going from the centre to the extremities of the
republic, from Paris to Lille, to Strasburg, to
Marseilles, to Bordeaux, and to Brest. He pro-
posed afterwards to proceed to other roads with
the funds thus devoted, and to augment the sums
in proportion to the improved state of the treasux-y,
employing them concurrently with the toll, until
the roads were restored to such a state as they
ought to be in every civilized land.

The canals of St. Quentin and of Ourcq, under-
taken towards the close of the regal government,
exhibited every where to the sight mere ditches
half-filled, hills partly cut through, and utter ruins;
in a word, they seemed any thing but works of art.
Bonaparte sent engineers to survey them imme-
diately, and went himself and ordered the definitive
plans, that by labors of jjublic utility the first
movements of the approaching peace might be
signalized.

The bad state of tlic roads wa.s not the only
thing which rendered them imi)assable; there were
robbers infesting them, in a great many of the
provinces. The Chouans and tho Venddans, re-
maining without emi)loy from the end of the civil

Pul)l-c robl)ers suppressed.— Spina arrives at Paris from

158 Differences of t lie priest- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, the holy see— Regulations

Jiood regulated. -Monsignor for the Sunday and decadi.

Strpt.

wai', having contracted liabits of life which were
irreeoncileable with a state of peace, ravaged the
great roads in Britanv, Noi'niandy,and the envii-ons
lit' Paris. Refractory per.sons who wished to escape
the conscription, and some of tlie soldiers of the
Liiiurian army that misery had (hiven to desertion,
wore committing robberies upon the highways of
the south and centre of France. Georges Cadoudal,
wlio had come bnclc from England with plenty
of money, concealed in the Morbihan, secretly
directed these new Chouan depredations. It wa.s
necessary to have a number of moveable columns,
with military' commissions following them, to sup-
press these disorders. The first consul had already
lorined some of these columns, but he was in want
of men. The directory had kept too many troops
at iiome ; he liad kept too few ; but ho said, with
sound reason, that when he had beaten the enemies
without, he would soon put an end to those witliin.
" Patience," he replied to th.ose who spoke to \i\vi
fearfully of this species of disorder; "give me a
month or two; I shall then have conquered peace,
and I will do i>rompt and complete justice ujion
these highway robbers." Peace was, then, the
inilispensable condition of good in all things. Still
he did not the less employ the interim in applying
remedies to the more urgent disorders.

It has been before observed, that he had con-
sented to sub.stitute for an oath formerly exacted
from the priestiiood, a simple promise of obedience
to the laws, which could in no way wound their
consciences. They had immediately avjiiled them-
selves of this concession in considerable numbers,
and the clerical duties were at once seen to be dis-
puted by the constitutional priests who had taken
the oath to the civil constitution of the clergy, the
unsworn jiriests who had only given a verbal pro-
mise of obedience to the laws, and, lastly, those
who had neither given a promise to obey the laws,
nor taken any oath at all. The ])riests belonging
to the first two classes were alike agreed in the
endeavour to obtain churches, which were con-
ceded to them with greater or less facility, accord-
ing to the very variable humour of the local autho-
rities. Those who had refused to make any kind
of oath or prorai.se, performed the duties clan-
destinely in the interior of private iiouses, and
passed, in the eyes of many of the faithful, for the
only true ministers of religion. Lastly, to add
to the confusion, came the Thcophilanihrnpists,
who replaced the Catholics in the churches,
and on certain days deposited flowers on the
altars, where the priests who preceded them
had just said mass. These ridiculous sectarians
held festivals in lionour of all the virtues, — of tem-
|)erance, courage, charity, and similar qualities.
Upon All Saints' day, they celebrated, for example,
a festival in honour of ancestors. In the view of the
strict Catholics this was a pi-ofanation of a reli-
gions edifice, and good sense as well as rcsjiect for
(l(miin;int creeds demanded that it should be dis-
continued.

In order to put an end to the prevailing chaos,
it was necessary to have an agreement with the
holy see — an agreement by means of whicii, those
who had taken the oath, and those who had only
given the promLsc, and those who had refused to do
either the one or the othei-, should be reconciled.
But Monsignor Spina, the envoy from the holy

see, had just arrived in Paris, and kept out of
sight, feeling surprised to find himself there. The
business upon which he had come was as delicate
for him as for the government. The first consul, dis-
cerning, as he did, with rare tact, the characters of
men, and tJie employment for which they are best
adapted, opposed to the wary Italian the individual
most fitted to cope with him, the Abbe Bernier,
who, having for a long while directed the affairs of
La Vendee, had, ultimately, reconciled it with the
government. The first consul, having brought the
abbe' to Paris, attached him to himself by the most
honourable of all relations, a desire to contribute to
the public good, and to be a partaker of the Iionour
of the task. To re-establish a good understanding
between Frame and the Roman church was, witli
the abbe' Bernier, but a continuance and comple-
tion of the pacification of La Vendee. The inter-
view with Monsignor Spina had scarcely begun,
and the government was unable to promise itself
any inmiediate result.

It was important to arrive as speedily as possi-
ble at a settlement of these religious affairs. Peace
with the holy see was not less desirable for
calming the minds of the peo])le, than peace with
the great European powers. In the mean while
there remained a nundjer of irregularities, singular
or mischievous, to provide against, which the first
consul did by the best means he was able to use,
by consular decrees. Already by his ordinance of
the 7tli Nivose, year viii., or 28th of December,
1790, he had ])revented the local authorities, fre-
quently favourable to the |>riesthood, from thwart-
ing them in the performance of their religious
duties. Disjxising, as already observed, of the
churches of which they had the care, they would
often refuse permission to the i)riests to use tiiem
on the SutKlay in place of the decadi, asserting
that tlte last wsis the only In liday recognized by
the laws of the republic. The ordinance before
referred to had piovided against this difficulty,
and obliged the li/c;d authorities to deliver the
places of religious wor.ship to the priests on the
days indicated by each religious denomination.
But this or<linance had not resolved all the diffi-
culties relative to the Sundays and de'cadis. Upon
this point the manners ami laws were opposed to
eaoJi other; a matter necessary to explain, in order
to give an idea of the slate of French society at
that time.

In the passionate taste for symmetry and uni-
formity attached to the revolution, it had not con-
fined itself to the introduction of uniformity in the
measures of length, superficies, and weight, and to
reducing them to natural and immutable unities,
such as a fraction of the meridian, ir the sjiecific
gravity of distilled water; it had introduced tlie
same kind of regularity into the mea.'-urement of
time. It had divided the year into twelve equal
months, of thirty days each, and had comi)leled it
by five complementary days. It had divided the
month into three de'cades, or weeks, of ten days
each, thus reducing the days of rest to three in
each month, and substituting for the four Sundays
of the Cregorian calendar, the three decadis of
the republican. Beyond contradiction, and under
the mathematical view of the question, this la.st
calendar was much better than the old one; but
then it hurt religious feelings ; it was not that of

1800.

Sunday again observed. —
Anxiety of the emigrants
to return.

THE ARMISTICE.

Decree concerning the proscription ,
list. *'

the generality of nations nor that of liistorv, and it
could not overcome inveterate habit. Tiie metrical
system, after forty years of efturt and legislative
enactment, notwithstanding its incontestable com-
mercial ailvantages, has scarcely been yet defini-
tively establisjied ; how then could it be expected
that tlie republican calendar could be maintained
after liie usjige of twenty centuries, agninst the
custom of the whole world, and against the power
of religion itself I It is necessary when we i-eform,
to content ourselves with reformation so far as to
destroy real suffering — to establish ju.stice when
it is required; but to refoi-m for the mere jileasure
of the sight and fancy, for the purpose of putting a
straight line where none exists, is exacting too
much of human nature. The habits of a child
may be formed at pleasure, but not so those of a
grown man. It is the same with nations ; the
habits of a people, after an existence of fifteen
centuries, c:imiot be changed.

In consequence Sunday was again kept every-
where. In some towns the shops were closed (m
Sundays, in others on decadis ; often in the same
town and street the contrast was exhibited, and
))resented a picture of a mischievous conflict be-
tween mannei-s and ideas. Sunday would have
everywhere been J>bserved, but for the intervention
of some of the auth irities. The first consul, by a
new decree of the 7th Thermidor, year viii., or
July 26, 1«00, declared that every dne should be
free to keep holiday when he pleased, and to adopt
for a day of rest that most agreeable to his taste
and religious noticms; and that the authorities, con-
strained to adhere to the legal calendar, should
alone be obliged to choose the de'cadi for the sus-
]>ension of their business. This was at once to
insure the triumph of the Sunday.

The first consul was acting with judgment, in
aiding this return to old and general habits, es-
pecially if he inclined to the restoration of the
Catholic religion, as indeed he did, and which he
had good reason for desiring.

His attention was engaged anew by the emi-
grants. We have already made mention of their
anxiety to return during the first days of the con
solute : this eagerness continued to increase, as
they saw the repose enjoyed by France, and the
S'.curity in which the iidiabitants of her soil were
living. But however great the wish to put an
end to the proscription against these people, it was
nt-cessary, in putting an end to one disorder —
for such was the |>ro8criptioii — to guard against
giving birth to another ; for a jirecijiitate reaction
is a disorder, and one of the gravest character.
The emigrants, on their return, met with either
iheir former proscribers who had contributed to
their persecution, or persons who had obtained
po.ssession of their property for assignats ; and to
the Olio or the other they were either rest-
leH8 enemies, or at least troublesome people to
meet ; nor were they by any means discreet
enough to avoid abusing the clemency shown to-
wards them by the government.

They availed themselves eagerly of the laws
passed a few months before, by which the pro-
Kcri|)tion-list was closed. Those who had been
oniitied on this list, hastened to profit by the
clause referring to their case ; and as they ctmid
no longer be put upon that list but by the authority

of the ordinary tribunals (of which, in their opinion,
the danger was but slight) ; they felt tranquillized
on this score, and iiad almost all returned. Those
who had been on the list, and whom the law sent be-
fore the administrative authoi-ities to claim their
erasure, profited by the spirit of the times to get
themselves erased. They first of all made ap|)lica-
tion for giirreillances, that is to say, as we have already
explained, the privilege of returning temporarily
under the surveillance of the high police; and then
they went on to deliver in, either through friends
or complai.sant pei-sons, false certificates, showing
that they had not quitted France during the reign
of terror, but had only been concealed to avoid
the scaffold ; thus they obtained their erasure
with an incredible fiiciiity. The lists, as made up
by the local authorities, with all the cold reck-
lessness of persecution, comprehended one hundred
and forty-five thousand individuals, and formed
nine volumes. At this time there was as much
recklessness shown in erasing as there had been in
inscribing, and the emigr;ints were restored by
thousands to their civil rights. That part of them
whose effects had not already been sold, addressed
themselves to the members of the government to
have the sequestration removed ; they importuned,
as is usual, the very men whom they had vilified
yesterday, and were ready to vilify again to-
morrow; and not unfrequently Madame Bonaparte
herself, who had been, to some extent, formerly
allied t() the French nobility, in consequence of
the rank which she held in .society.

That the emigrants, whose effects had not been
sold, should recover them at the expense of certain
proceedings, followed by ingratitude, was no great
evil; but others, whose effects had been alienated,
betook themselves to the provinces, addressed them-
selves to the new proprietors, and successively, by
the force of threats and importunities, or by re-
ligious suggestions at the bed of the dying, c;iused
them to give back, at a low price, their family
estates, by proceedings hardly moi-e credital)le than
the means by which they had been themselves
desjioiled of tliem.

The uproar was at this moment so general as to
attract the attention of the first consul. His de-
sire was to ro)»ur the cruellies <if the revolution,
but, beyond all, it was his wish not to alter any of
the interests it had created, and to which time had
given the sanction of law. Consequently he thought
it his duty to adopt a measure, which was only a
part of what he afterwards did, but whicii gave
some slight order to the chaos of claims, preci]>i-
tate returns, and attempts, fraught with danger.
After a profound consultation in the council of
state, a decree to the following effect was issued
20ih of October, 1800, 2«ih Vendcmiaire,year ix.

In the first place, all persons erased anterior to
the decree, no matter by what authority, or what
carelessness had been shown in conducting the
proceedings in their regard, were validly struck
out of the list of emigrants. Certain collective
inacripti<ins, under the designation of the children
or heirs of emigrants, were to be considered as not
iiaving taken place. Wives under the command
of their husbands when they left France, minors
sixteen years of age, the priests who left the
country in obedience to the, law for their biinish-
meut, persons comprised under the descrii>lion of

Who retained on the pro-
160 scription list. — Politi-
cal success of the first

consul.— All parties be-
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, come attached to him.-

La Fayette.

1800.
Sept.

labourers, day-labourers, workmen, artisans, and
domestics, persons whose absence dated anterior
to the revolution, and the knights of Malta, who
were at Malta during the troubles, all these were
definitively erased. The government also struck
off the list the names of the victims who had
perished on the scaffold — a reparation due to their
families and to humanity. After these had been
erased from the list, there were kept on it, without
exception, all who had borne arms against France,
those who held offices in the household, civil or
mihtary, of the e.xiled princes, those who had
received ranic or titles from foreign governments
without authoiization from the government of
France, and othei's. Nine commissioners were to
be named by the minister of justice, and nine by
the police, to which eighteen commissioners the fir.st
consul was to add nine counsellors of state ; and
these twenty-ssven personages were collectively
charged to draw up a new list of the emigrants
upon the basis indicated. The emigrants who
wei-e definitively erased were under an obligation
to make a ])romise of fidelity to the constitution,
if they wished to remain in the country, or obtain
a removal of the sequesti'ation on their effects, if
not sold. They were adjudged to remain under
the surveillance of the high police until the con-
clusion of a general peace, and for one year after-
wards,— a precaution taken in favour of those who
had purchased property from the nation. As
regarded those emigrants who were definitively
kept on the list, nothing could be determined at
present on their account ; what concerned them
was left to a later period.

Under the actual circumstances, this decree was
all that could be done in reason. It struck fi-om
the proscription list the great mass of those in-
scribed, and reduced it to the small number of
the declared enemies of the revolution, whose fate
even it postponed to a future time. So that when
the republic should be definitively victorious over
Europe, universally recognized, and solidly esta-
blished; when the firm intention of the first consul
to protect the holders of national property should
have sufficiently reassured them, it would probably
be possible to complete this act of clemency, and
recal at last all the proscribed, even those who
had been criminal towards France. For the
present it went no further than deciding some
embarrassing questions, and putting an end to a
multiplicity of intrigues.

It will be seen that tlie government had diffi-
culties of all kinds to contend against, in re.st(n'ing
order where society had been overthrown, in being
clement and just towards one party without being
alarming and unjust to the other. But if it had
its troubles, France rewarded them by a support
which we may call unanimous. In the first pei-iod
that succeeded the 18th Brumaire, the state threw
itself into the arms of Bonaparte; because it sought
for strength wherever that might be, and because,
after the acts of the young general in Italy, it
had hopes that strength would be given in aid of
good sense and of justice. One doubt alone still
remained, and to some extent weakened the con-
fidence with which this self-abandonment was
made : — " Would he maintain himself longer than
the governments which had preceded him? Would
he know how to govern as well as he did to fight?

Would he make the troubles, the persecutions, to
cease? Would he be of this or that party?" The
past eleven or twelve months had, however, cleared
up these doubts. His power consolidated itself
evei-y hour, and especiallj' when, since Marengo,
France and Europe bent under his ascendency.
Upon his political genius thei-e was but one opinion
amongst those who approached him ; he was the
great statesman no less than the great soldier.
As to the tendency of his govei-nment, it was as
evident as his genius. He was of that moderate
part)-, which was disinclined to persecution of any
kind; which, though disposed to retrace many of
the steps of the revolution, desired not to go back
on all points, but, on the contrary, was resolute in
maintaining its principal results. The removal of
these doubts brought over all men to him with
eagerness and joyful gratitude.

There are in all parties two portions : the one
numerous and sensible, which he who carries into
accomplishment the wishes of his country, can
always bring over to himself ; the other small in
numbers, infiexible and factious, w'ho l)y such ac-
complishment of a country's wishes are chagrined
rather than contented, inasmuch as they are thereby
shorn of all their pretexts. Except this latter
portion, all parties were satisfied, and gave them-
selves frankly to the first consul, or, at least, re-
signed themselves to his government, if their cause
was irreconcileable with his, as, for instance, that of
the royalists. The patriots of 1789, (and, ten years
before, these would have comprised all France,)
carried away at first by an enthusiasm towards the
revolution, then quickly driven back by the sight
of the bloody scaffold, were now disposed to think
that they had been deceived in almost all things,
believing that in the consular government they had
at last found all of their wishes that could be accom-
plished— the abolition of the feudal royalties, civil
equality, the power of the country to exercise some
infiuence in its own aff"airs, not much of liberty,
but much of order, the brilliant triumph of France
over Europe. All these, however diff'ei'cnt from
what they had at first hoped for, but sufficient for
their desires — all these seemed assured to them.
La Fayette, who, in many respects, bore a resem-
blance to men of this class, except that he was less
disabused of former notions — La Fayette, released
from the dungeons of Olmutz by the act of the first
consul, gave full proof, by his truly disinterested
assiduities towards him, of the esteem in which he
held his government, and the adhesion of those
who thouglit with him. As to the more ardent
revolutionists, who, without being connected with
the i-evolution by a participation in its culpable
excesses, yet adhered to it from conviction and
feeling, these were delighted with the fir.st consul,
as being the opposite of the Bourbons, and assuring
their definitive exclusion. The holders of national
property, thrown a little in the shade at times by
ills indulgence towards the emigrants, doubted not
his resolution to maintain the inviolability of their
now properties, and held by him as an invincible
sword, which guarantied them from their only real
danger — the triumph of the Bourbons and the
emigrants through the arms of Europe.

As to the timid and well-disposed jiortion of the
royalist party, who desired, before all, to have no
longer a dread of the scaffold, of exile, or confis-

1 800. State of part ies —The royalists.-
Sept. Ultra-republicans.

THE ARMISTICE.

Tlieir cliimerical sdiemes. —
Conciliatory measures of
the first consul.

161

cation, wlio, for tlie first time within ten years,
began to have it no longer before their eyes; it was
almost h;ippy; for this party no longer to fear, was
ii:deed in itself happiness. It fijndly, if I may so
express myself, expected from him, all that he had
not yet given. To see the people at their work-
shops, the tradesmen at their counters, the nobi-
lity in the government, the priests at their altars,
the Bourbons at the Tnileries, and Bonaparte at
their side, in the very highest fortune imaginable
for a subject to attain, would liave been, for these
royalists, the perfection of their wishes. Of these
things there were three or four which they could
already clearly discern in the acts and projects of
the first consul; as to the last, that of the i-eturn of
the Bourbons to the Tuileries, tliey were disposed,
in their kind credulity, to expect it from hmi, as
one of the marvels of his unparalleled genius; and,
if some who had more clearsightedness found an
obstacle in the difficulty of believing that any man
would give a crown to others, while he could keep
it for himself ; they took up their position thus :
" Let him make himself king," said they, " but let
him save us, since nothing but a monarchy can
save us;" in default of a legitimate prince, a great
man would have been acceptable to them ; but at
any rate a king they nmsr have.

Thus, by assuring to the patriots of 1789, civil
equality; to the holders of national pro|)erty, to the
more especial patriots, the exclusion of the Bour-
bons ; to the more moderate royalists the security
and tlie re-cstjiblishment of religion ; to all, order,
justice, and the greatness of the nation, he had
gained ctver the mass of the honest and dis-
interested of all parlies.

There remained, what always remains, the im-
placable portion of these parties, which time can
never induce to change, but by carrying it to the
grave ; it is generally composed of those who are
most convinced they are right, or those who are
most wrong, and they are generally the last upon
the breach.

The men, who, in the course of the revolution
liad stained themselves with blood, or siijnulised,
being noted for some excess impossible to be for-
gotten ; others, who, without any thing to reproach
themselves with, had been hurried along as dema-
gogues by the violence of their character, or -the
nature ot their minds ; tlie furious portion of the
mountain, the few survivors of the commune, all
these were irritated in proportion to the success (pf
the new government. They called the first consul
a tyrant, whose de.sire it was to effect a complete
cfiunter-revolution in France, to abolish liberty,
and to bring back the emigrants, the priests, and,
poKsilily it might be, the Bourbons, to make him-
self one of their lowest servants. Others, less
blinded by anger, said that he was trying to make
liimself a tynmt for his own sake, and that it was
ill his own interest that liu wished to strangle li-
berty. Here wiis a Ciesar who called for the dagger
of a Brutus. They spoke of daggers; but ihey did
no more than H|)eiik of them, tor the energy of
these men, greatly exhausted by ten years' exeessts,
began to lean towards violence in language. We
bhiill see, in fact, iliat it was n<»t amongst their
ranks, that aiwassius were t<> be found. The police
waH on their track nnceahingly, penetrating into
their secret councils, and watching tliein with con-

tinual attention. There were some who only
wanted bread ; with which the first consul, acting
under the advice of his minister, Fouche, supplied
them of his own accord ; or, if they were good for
any thing, did what was better, gave them em-
ployment. After this they wei-e no more, to use
the language of the rest, than wretches sold to the
tyrant. Those too, who had grown a little more
(|uiet from sheer fatigue, Santerre for instance, and
many others, came under the same title, as men
who had sold themselves. According to the custom
of parties, these incorrigible demagogues searched
amongst the real or supposed malcontents of the
time, lor the imaginary few who could realize their
views. It is not easy to say by what indications
Moreau had appeared to them to be jealous of the
first consul ; it may be because he had acquired
sufficient glory to be the second personage in
the state. They elevated him, at once, to the
clouds. But when Moreau happened to arrive in
Paris, and the first consul, after giving him a most
fiattering reception, had presented him with a pair
of pistols, enriched with pearls, and the titles of
his battles, he was then to them no more than a
valet. The demagogue Brune, at first dear to
their hearts, attracted the attention of the first
consul, obtained his confidence, nnd received the
command of the army in Italy : he also was imme-
diately a valet. But on the other hand, Massena,
unceremoniously deprived of his conmiand of this
army, was discontented, and could scarcely con-
tain himself. On the instant he was declared the
future saviour of the republic, and was to place
himself iit the head of the true patriots. Thus it
was that Caruot, whom they called a royalist on the
18th Fructidor, whose proscription they had de-
manded and obtained, but wiui, now deprived at
the time of the ])ortfolio of war, became again
in their eyes a great citizen. So also was it with
Lannes, who, it is true, was attached to the first
consul, but who was a decided republican, and at
times used rather violent language about the re-
turn of the priests and the emigrants : thus also
was it with Sieyes liimself; Sie^es, at one time
odious to the republicans, for being the chief
accomplice in the 18th Brumaire; next, an object
of tluir raillery on account of the trifling return
with which the first consul had repaid his services;
and lastly, just then most agreeable in their eyes,
becau.se, di>sa:i.sfied at being a cipher, lie showed
the same face of coldness and disii|)))r(>bation at
acts of the present government, as he had done to
all <ithers. Liisily, a touch which will fiiii.sh the
])icture of the silly credulity of this exi)iring fac-
tion; the minister, Fouchc, who was one of the two
principal counsellors of the fiist consul, and who
liad iioihiiig to wish for— the minister, Fouche, be-
cause he well knew the patriots, leared them little,
and oceasi<iiially a.ssisted tliem, from a knowledge
that their tongues needed silencing more than their
hands disarming — the minisier Fouche was to
join with .Massena, Carnot, Liinnes, niKl Sieyes, to
throw down the tyrant, and rescue liberty from his
menaces.

The royalist faction, like the rcvolulionary, had
its implacable secuirians ; equally credulous as
reasoiiers, but as plotters niurc to be dreaded.
These were the great lonls of VirsailU s, who had
returned, or were about to return ; intriguers,
M

162 Character and language THIERS' CONSQLATE AND EMPIRE. of the royalist nobles.

1800.
Sept.

charged with the pitiable affairs of the Bourbons,
coming and g<iing between France and foreign
countries to weave puerile plots, or to gain money ;
and, lastly, men of action, soldiers devoted to
Georges, and ready for every crime.

These first, being great noblemen, accustomed to
fashionable conversation, confined themselves to
talking against the first consul, his family, and his
government. They lived in Paris, somewhat after
the fashion of fureiguei-s in France, scarcely deign-
ing to notice what was passing, and occasionally
soliciting their erasure from the list of pro-
scription, or that the sequestrations be taken off
their unsold property. For this purpose they
visited madame Bonaparte ; those at least who had
been in her circle when she was the wife of M. de
Beauharuais. They visited her in the morning,
never in the evening, and were received in the
entresol of the Tuileries, where were her private
apartments. Urgent suitors while in her pre-
sence, they excused themselves strongly when they
left for having made their appearance there, put-
ting it off upon their desire to be of service to
some unf rtunate friend. Madame Bonaparte was
weak enuu;;h to permit these equivocal relations ;
and her husband, though it exposed him to fre-
quent importunities, put up with them nevertheless
out of complaisance to his wife, as well as from
a desire of knowing every thing, and being in com-
munication with all parties. There were few of
these askers of favours, who, whether by them-
selves or by their connexions, were not under
obligations to the government; but their freedom of
speech was none the less diminished. All that was
done for them, was, in their opinion, only their
due ; they had been despoiled of their property ;
and if it were i-estored to them, it was an act of
repentance, for which no gratitude was necessary.
They jested at every thing and every body, even
the embarrassment of madame Bonaparte ; who, if
she was proud of her connexion with the first man
of the age, seemed almost ashamed of belonging to
the head of the government, and was indeed at once
too kind and too weak to crush them by that
haughtiness which she ought legitimately to have
felt. They railed, as we have said, at all the
world, except, however, the first consul, whom
they ngarded as a great soldier, but a mediocre
l)(>litieian, with no settled plan; one day favouring
the Jacobins, on another the royalists ; with no
disposition but for war, as v.ar w;is his profession;
and even in that, in more than one resjiect, in-
ferior to Moreau. Without doubt his Successes
had been brilliant ; these gentlemen could not
deny tlu-m ; up to this time all had gone pros-
perously with him : but how long would this last 1
Europe, it is true, was now no longer able to with-
stand him ; but conqueror abroad, wouhl he be so
at hi nie over all the difficulties which lay around
hhn ? The finances wore a better appearance to
be sure; but jiaper, which had been the ephemeral
resource of all the governments of the revolution,
was again the resource of the present ; and no-
thing was to be seen but boiuls of the receivers-
general, liiils of the bank of France, and the like.
Would net this new paper end as paper had
always ended. They got on tolerably at present,
for tile armies supported themselves on the enemies'
country ; but at a peace, when they came back

within their own country, how would they then be
able to keep them ? Landed property was weighed
down by taxation ; and, in short, those liable to the
taxes, neither could, nor would, pay the imposts.
They spoke, it is true, of the satisfaction of certain
classes, the priests and emigrants, who are well
treated by the existing government ; but this go-
vernment reeals the emigrants without restoring
their property. Here then are enemies whom it
transports from without to within, and makes them
only the more dangerous. It recalls the priests
without restoring them to their altars. Thus to
concede by halves, is to oblige a man one day in a
manner which must make him ungrateful the
next. Bonaparte, as these royalists styled him,
for they disdained to give him his legal title, Bona-
parte only knew how to do things in an incomplete
manner. He permitted the observation of the
Sunday, but had not dared to abolish the ddcadi,
or observance of the tenth day ; France, how-
ever, when left to herself, returned altogether to
the Sunday. This was not the only thing of the
]iast to which she would return, if she had once
but the example and the liberty of so doing.
Bonaparte, by re-establishing one thing and an-
othe;-, was, in fact, himself commencing a counter
revolution, which would lead him further than l)e
intended to go. Through his resuscitation of so
much, might he not go the length of setting up the
monarchy again, and even of setting it up for
himself, by making himself king or em]>eror 1 He
would thereby only the more certainly bring about
a counter revolution, by undertaking to do it on
his own account. Soon would this restored throne
demand the princes .who ahme were worthy to
occupy it ; and, in re-establishing the institution,
he would have established it for the Bourbons '.

Hatred is not unfrequently a correct jirophet,
for it usually supjioses faults, and, unhappily, faults
are always the most probable supposition; only hi
the ardour of its impatience it antedates the time
of their commission. These trifling talkers knew
not to what extent they were saying what was
true; but they did not also know that before their
predictions would be accomplished, it was ordained
that the world should be for fifteen years in com-
motion ; it was ordained that this man, of whom
they held such language, should do the noblest
deeds, and commit gigantic faults; and that before
the end of all this should come, they would have
time to declare themselves false projduts, to prove
renegades to their cause, to abandon their only
legitimate princes, in their opinion, to enter into
the service of this ephemeral master, to serve him
and to adore him ! They knew not that if France
must one day come again to the foot of the Bour-
bon, she would come there as if thrown by a
tempest at the foot of some tree of ages, and be
prostrate there but lor a moment.

' I have painted, not drawn, this picture of the emigrants
of that period from imagination. 'J'he language I make
them use is literally extracted from the voluminous corre-
spondence addressed to Louis XVIII , and brought over to
France by that prince. Left at the Tuileries during the
liundied days, and afterwards dei>osited in the aichives of
the foreign oliice, they comprise a singular evidence of the
illusions and passions of the period. Some of them are ex-
ceedingly clever, and all of them very

ISOO.
Sept.

Georges Cadoudal and the
ChouHiis. Inuiiference
of Bonaparte.

THE ARMISTICE.

State of the police.
Character of Fouche.

1G3

In :i lower sphere, tliere were men who con-
spired otherwise tlian in words, the intri<;iiers in
the service of the Bourbons; and in one still lower,
yet more dangerous, the agents of Georges, whose
iiands were full wiili money sent from England.
Since his return from London, Georges kept in
the Morljjlian, concealing liimself frcm all eyes,
playing the part of a man who resigns himself to
what has happened, and returns to ciltivate his
fields : but in reality implacable; for he had sworn
in his heart, he had sworn to the Bourbons, to
destroy the first consul or fall in the attempt. To
try the ciiances of battle with the grenadiers of
the consular guard was impossible; but among the
men of the Cliounnerie there were hands always
reiuly for the last resource of a vanquished faction;
for assassination itself. Amongst them could be
found a haiwd ready for every thing, for crimes the
blackest or attempts the most rash. These, Georges,
not yet knowing what time or place he ought
to choose, kept to their object, communicating
with them by trusty friends, while he let them
find tlieir suljsistence on the high roads, or upon
a portion of the money he was profusely supplied
with by the British cabinet.

The first consul, satisfied with the homage of
France, and the unanimous adhesion of the sincere
and disinterested of all parties, felt little inquietude
at the scandal of .some royalists, or the plots of
others. Closely applying himself to his occupation,
he thought little of the vain discourse of idlers,
though far from being insensible to it ; but he was
actually too much absorbed by his task to give
much attention to such language. Nor did lie pay
more regard to the plots directed against his per-
son ; he considered it as one of the chances which
he braved every day on the field of battle with
the indifference of fatalism. Nevertheless, he de-
ceived himself in the nature of his danger. He
had attained the 18th * Bruinaire by snatching
power from the jjarty of the revolution, and re-
garding it at the time a-s his principal enemy, he
imputed to this party all that happened, and
seemed to feel displeasure at that alone. The royal-
ists, in, his eye, were no more than a party under
persecution, which it was his wish to preserve
from oppression. Amongst them he well knew
were some bad men; but from his intercourse with
the moderate party, it had grown habitual with
him to look for no violejice but from the revolu-
tionists. One of his counsellors, however, en-
deavoured to correct this error in his mind; this
was Touchy, the minister of police.

In this government, reduced nearly to one man,
all the ministers were eclipsed except two, Fouche
anil Talleyrand. They alone have preserved the
privile;;c of being sometimes visible in the halo
surrounding IJonaparte, in which all figures dis-
api>ear but his own. General Berliner hail just
succeeded Carnot in the war department, as
being more ]>liable, and more resigm-d to the
modest part of comprehending and carrying out
the ideiis of his chief, which he did with a clear-
ness and jirecision truly wonderful. It was no
small merit to fill worthily the part of the chief of
the staff to the greatest soldier of the age, anil
possibly of all ages. But Berthier, by the side of
the first consul, coidd not have any importsince as a
director of military oi)erations. The navy at thih

epoch, drew very little attention. The finance
merely required a firm and persevering, though
unnoticed, api)lication of cert;iin princi|)les of
order laid down once for all. Tlie jjolice, on the
contrary, was of great importance, from the vast
arbitrary ])ower with which the government was
armed ; and with the police, the dejiartment of
foreign aff:iirs, from the re-establislinient of re-
lations with all the world. For the police there
was necessary to the first consul a man who had
a perlect knowledge of all parties, and of the in-
dividuals who coin|)osed them; this was the reason
of the influence acquired by the minister Fouche.
In regard to foreign affairs, however the first
consul might be the' most competent person to
offer to Europe, he wanted an intermediate agent
for all occasions, with more mildness and patience
than he himself possessed; and this was the cause
ot the influence acquired by Talieyrlmd. Fouche,
then, and Talleyrand shared between them the
only portion of jjolitical credit which the ministers
of that time enjoyed.

The police of this epoch was not, what it has
happily since become, a sim|ile surveillance with-
out power, charged only with the jirevention of
Clime, and the cai>ture of the culprit. It was the
depository of an immense arbitrary ])ower in the
hands of one man alone. The minister of police
liad power to banish these as revoJutionaries,
those as returned emigrants; to assign to one or
the other their place of residence, or even throw
them into a temporary prison, without fear of the
disclosures of the press or of the tribune, then
powerless and decried ; it was in his power to take
oft" or keep on the sequestration upon the effects of
the proscribed of all pei-iods ; to restore or take
away his church from the priest; to suppress or
reprimand a journal which displeased him, and,
lastly, to mark out every individual to the mistrust
or to the favour of the government, which had at
this moment an extraordinary number of places
to distribute, and the wealth of Eni-ope to be-
stow profusely on its creatures. The minister,
on whom the laws conferred such powers, how-
ever he might be placed under the superior and
vigilant authority of the first consul, had yet a
formidable j)owcr over every relation of life.

Fouche, the man charged with the exercise of
this power, an old oratorian and an old conven-
tionalist, was a pei-son of intelligence and crafti-
ness; filled with no love of good or inelinntion to ill,
he had a thorough knowledge of mankind, espe-
cially the bad portion, and despised them without
distinction. Heenii)loyed the revenues of the ])olico
in supporting the fosterers of sedition, as much
as in watching them ; always ready to give bread
or a place to such individuals as were tired of
political agitations: he thus procured friends for
the government, and, above all, procured tliem for
himself ; making them lar su|)erior to credulous or
I read lerous spies, dependents who never failed to
lurnish him with intelligence of w hat it waa his in-
terest to be informed. Thus he had in every party,
but especially among the royalists, his (ie|)endents
whom he knew how to manage and control to his
])uri)08c. Always forewarned in lime, and never
exaggerating a danger either to himself or to his
nni.Hter, ho could distinguish between an impru-
dent man and one really to bo feared, knowing how
M 2

164

Character of Fouche

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

and Talleyrand.

1800.
Sept.

to restrain the one and proceed against the other ;
in a word, conducting the police better than it had
ever been before, since this consists in disarm-
ing as much as in i-cpressing hatred : a minister
of a high order, if his extreme indulgence had had
any other principle than an indifference most ex-
treme to good or evil ; if his incessant activity had
been actuated by any other motive than an anxiety
for meddling in all things which rendered him an
inconvenient person, and exposed him to be sus-
pected by the first consul, giving him moreover
the appearance of an intriguing subaltern ; for the
rest, his countenance, intelligent, vulgar, and equi-
vocal, well represented the qualities and defects of
his soul.

Jealous of his confidence, the first consul did not
grant it freely, at least to those for whom he had
not a perfect esteem ; he made use of Fouche, but
distrusted hira while he did so. Thus he sought
how to supply his place or to control him, by giv-
ing money to his secretary, Bourrienne, or to
Murat, the commandant of Paris, or to his aid-de-
camp, Savary, thus making up several opposition
polices. But Fouche always found a way to con-
vict these secondary jiolice departments of clumsi-
ness an-J puerility; while he showed that lie alone
was well informed: so that all the time he was run-
ning counter to the fii-st consul, he inclined him
nevertheless the more to himself, by his manner ot
treating men, into which neitht^r love nor hatred
found admission, but simply an application directed
to wrest individuals, one by one, from a life agitated
by faction.

Fouche, with a half fidelity to the revolutionary
party, willingly undertook the manngement of iiis
old friends, and ventured, on this point, to c(mtra-
dict the first consul. Well acquainted with their
moral position, appreciating moreover the scoun-
drels of royalism, he incessantly repeated that if
there was any peril, it was to be looked fi>r from
the side of the royalists, not of the revolutionists ;
and that there would soon be an opportunity of
seeing this. He had also the merit, though hi.- ii;id
it not long, of insisting that it would he better
not quite so much to desert the revolution and its
principles. Hearing, at that time, the flatterers of
the epoch say, that the reaction must be carried on
more quickly, that no account must be made of the
prejudices of the revolution, and tinit it was time
to go back to something that resembled a monar-
chy, but without the Bourbons, he had daring
enough to blame, if not the object, at leiist the im-
prudence by which it was endeavoured to be at-
tained. While all the time admitting the justice
of liis advice, given as it was without frankness,
and without dignity, the first consul was struck, but
not satisfied. He could not but acknowledge, while
he did not relish, the services of this personage.

Talleyraml plaved a i)art altogether the con-
trary ; he bore neither affection nor reseml)Ianee
to Fouchd. Both of them alike having been for-
merly priests, and come out the one from the liigli
clergy, the otliei- from the low, they hail nothing m
common, but that they had both takiii advantage
of the revolution, the one to strii) ott' the robes of
a prelate, the oilier the humble gown of an orato-
rian professor. It is a strange spectacle, it must he
avowed, a si)ectacle which admirably paints a so-
ciety in which order has been completely reversed,

to see this government, composed of a soldier and
two priests, who had abjured their profession,
though thus composed, have none the less of glorv,
grandeur, and influence in the world.

Talleyrand, a man of the liighest extraction,
destined to the profession of arms from his birth,
condemned to the priesthood by an accident which
deprived him of the use of one foot, having no
taste for the profession imposed upon him, be-
coming successively prelate, courtier, revolutionary
emigrant, then, at last, minister of foreign affairs
to the directory ; Talleyrand had preserved some-
thing of all these conditions, and one might find in
him the bishop, the nobleman, and the revo-
lutionist, without any fixed opinion, but merely a
natural moderation, which felt a repugnance to all
exaggei'ation ; accommodating himself in an in-
stant to the ideas of those whom ilf may be his
inclination or interest to please; expressing him-
self in an unique language, peculiar to the society
of which "Voltaire w:is the founder ; fertile in re-
partee, lively, yet so cutting as to render him
equally as formidable as he was attractive ; by
turns caressing or disdainful, open or impenetrable,
careless or dignified, lame without any loss of
grace ; a personage, lastly, the most singular, and
such as a revolution only could produce, he was
the most seducing of negotiators, but at the same
time incapable of directing the affairs of a state as
its head ; since to guide a state requires purpose,
piinciple, and close attention, not one of which he
possessed. His purpose confined itself to pleasing,
his principles consisted in the opinions of the
moment, application he had none. He was, in a
word, an accomplished ambassador, but not a
directing minister ; it being undei-stood, however,
that this expression is to he taken only in its highest
accei>tation. Besides this, he held no other office
under the consular government. The first consul,
who allowed to no person the right of giving him
advice in war or dipUmiacy, never employed him
but in carrying on negotiations with foreign minis-
ters according to his own directions ; and this
Talleyrand did with a skill which will never be
suipassed. Once for all too he had a moral merit,
that of being a lover of peace under a master who
was fond of war, and of allowing this inclination to
be ])erceived. Giited with an exquisite taste, of a
sure tact, and even a uselul indoknce, he was able
to render true service, if only in opposing to the
abundance of the speech, pen, and action of the
first consul, his own sobriety, his perfect mode-
ration, his inclination to do nothing. But he had
little influence on his imperious master, on whom
he made no impression eiiher by iiis genius or by
conviction. Thus he h:id no more power than
Fouchd,evcn less, though always equally employed,
and more agreeable.

For the rest, Talleyrand expressed opinions
quite contrary to those of Fouche' ; a lover of the
ancient regime, minus the persons and ridiculous
preju<lices of other times, he counselled the recon-
stitution of the monarchy, or an equivalent for it,
by making the glory of the first consul serve in
the place of a blood royal ; adding, that if it were
wished to make a speedy and lasting peace with
Europe, it Was necessary to lose no time in assimi-
lating ourselves to her institutions : .so that while
Fouche, in the name of the revolution, advised not

1800.
Sept.

Character of Cambac^r^s

THE ARMISTICE.

165

to go too fast ; Tallevrand, in the name of Europe,
counselled that we should not go so slow.

The first consul |iiized the good common sense
of Fouch^, but lilted the graces of Tallejrand,
without absolutely believing either the one or the
other on every subject; and as fur his confidence,
he had given it — given it entirely, but not to
either of these two persuns — to his favourite col-
league Canibace'ies. This personage, though not
very brilliant in talent, had a lare good sense, and
an unbounded devotion to the first consul. Having
trembled for ten years of his life under proscribers
of every kind, he loved with a species of tenderness
the powerful master who gave him at last the
faculty of breathing at ease. He cherished his
power, his genius, and his person, fmm which he
had never received, and hoped to receive nothing
but benefit-s. Knowing the weakness even of the
greatest men, he gave his advice to the first consul
as those ought to advise who wish lo be attended
to, with perfect goud faith, and infinite manage-
ment, never for tlie sake of showing off his own
wisdom, but always to be useful to a government,
which he loved as himself, expressing his appro-
bation of it in i)ubhc, in every respect, nor permit-
ting himself to disapprove it but in secret, in an
absolute tCte-a-tCte with the first consul ; silent,
where there was no lunger a remedy, and when all
criticising could only be the vain pleasure of finding
fault ; always speaking out, and with a courage the
more meritorious in one who was the most timid <>f
men, when there was time to prevent a fault, or to
influence the general conduct of affairs. Yet, as
it must be, a character which restrains itself
unceasingly, is certain to escape on some one side,
the consul Cambac^res allowed himself to exhibit
with his interiors a puerile vanity ; he had with
him constantly some subaltern courtiers, who paid
him their gross homage ; promenaded the Palais
Royal almost every day, in a costume ridicu-
lously magnificent, and sought in the gratification
of a (lourmandhe, now prov-.-i-bial, pleasures which
suited the man at once vulgar and wise. But
of what consequence, on the whole, are a few ec-
centricities when they are accompanied with a
superior reason.

The first consul willingly pardoned these eccen-
tricities m his colleague, and held him in great
consideration. He valued at its worth that supe-
rior good sense, which never wished to shine but
only to be u.seful, which made all things clear in
a true and temperate light. He appreciated,
moreover, the sincerity of his attachment; smiled
at his foibles, yet always with regard ; and paid
liim the greatest of homages — that of saying all to
no one but him, nor ever giving himself any con-
cern but about his judgment. Thus lie was sus-
ceptible of no influence but his alone ; an influence
hardly suspected, and, fir that reason, very great.

The consul Cambac^res was, moreover, just
adajjted to temper his (juickness in regard to per-
sons and his precipiUition in action. Amidst the
conflict of two opposite tendencies, the one pushing
forward to a precipitate reaction, the other, on the
contrary, combating this reaction, CambaciJres, in-
flexible when acting for the maintenance of order,
was, in every thing else, alwiiys in favour of not
going too fiist. He did not oppose the end to
which things were visibly tending. " Let tiiem

decree .some day, to the first consul, all the power
they please :" he would repeat, "so be it ; but not
too soon." His wish was, moreover, that reality
shoulil be always preferred to appearance ; true
power, to that which was nothing but ostentation.
A fiist consul, with full power to do all he wished
in effecting good, seemed to him worth much more
than a crowned prince limited in action. To act
and not to be sef^n, moreover never to act too
quickly, constituted the whole of his wisdom. This
is not genius, certainly, but it is prudence ; and in
laying the foundation of a great state there must
be both.

Cambaceres was also useful to the first consul in
another way ihati that of giving him counsel ; this
was in governing the senate. That body, as we
have already mentioned, had an immense import-
ance, innsnuich as the gift of offices was vested in
it. In the beginning this was, in some measure,
left to Sieyes, as an equivalent for the executive
power, which was entirely handed over to Bona-
parte. Sieyes, at first content to abdicate, and
living on his estate at Crosne, began to feel a slight
vexation at his insignificance ; for there never was
an abdication without regret. If he had possessed
I)urpose and consistency, he might have been able
to wrest the senate from the influence of the first
consul, and then no other resource would have
been left him but a cotip d'etat. But Cambaceres,
without noise and without ostenlaticm, insinuated
himself by degrees into this body, and occupied
there the territory which the negligence of Sieyes
abandoned to him. Peo])le knew that it was
through him that the first consul, the source of
every favoux*, was to be got at ; and it was to him,
in fact, that men addressed themselves. Of this he
took advantage with infinite, yet always concealed,
skill, to restrain or gain over the opposition. But
with such discretion was this done, that no person
thought of comi)laining. At a time when re-
pose was become the true wisdom, when the same
repose was necessary to give some day new birth
to a taste for liberty, we dare not blame — we dare
not call by the name of corrupter, the man who, on
one side, tempered the master ini])osed on us by
events, and, on the other, arrested the imprudences
of an opposition which had neither aim, nor fitness
of season, nor political intelligence.

In regard to the consul Lebrun, Bonaparte
treated him with regard, and even with affection ;
yet as a jjersonage who mixed little in affairs, the
administration excepted. He gave him the charge
of watching over the detail of the finances, and of
keeping himself well acquainted with what the
royalists were doing or thinking ; and by these the
third consul was frequently surrounded. He
had thus an ear or eye amongst them; attaching
to it no other importance than a simple interest or
curiosity, to know what was doing or hatching in
that quarter.

To have an idea of the first conBul'a circle, we
must say a word of his family. He had four
brothers, Joseph, Lucicn, Louis, and Jerome. We
shall, in their proper time, n)ake acrjuaintanco
with the two last. Joseph and Lucien alone were
then of any im[)ortance. Jose])li, the eldest of the
family, had married the daughter of a wialtliy and
lionourable merchant of Marseilles. He was of
gentle disposition, of tolerable talents, agreeable in

160

Family of the first consul.
Joseph and Lucien.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Character of Madame 1800.
Bonaparte. Sept.

person, and caused liis brother much less annoy-
ance than any of the others. It was for him the
first consul reserved the honour of negotiating
peace for the republic with the states of the old
and new world. He had charged him with the
conduct of the treaty which he was preparing with
America, and had just named him plenipotentiary
to Lun^ville, endeavouring thus to give him a part
to play which would be pleasing to France.
Lucien, at that time minister of the interior, was
a man with much cleverness, but fif an unequal,
restless, and ungovernable mind, and though he
had talent, not having sufficient to make up for
his deficiency as regards good sense. Both of
these encouraged the inclination of the first consul
to raise himself to the supreme power; as can be
easily conceived. The genius of the fir.st consul
and his glory were things personal to himself ; the
only quality which could be transmissible to his
family would be the princely quality, if he should
some day assume it, by preferring himself to the
chief magistracy of the republic. His brothers
were of tlie party who said, with little reserve, that
the present form of government was only one of
transition, designed to quiet the prejudices of the
revolution, but that it was necessary to make a
choice; that if it were wished to lay the foundation
of any thing really stable, it was impossible to do
so witliout giving to power more of concentration,
unity, and solidity. The conclusion of all this
could easily be drawn. The first consul, as all the
world knew, had no children, and this was a great
embarrassment to those who already had their
dreams of the transformation of the republic into
a monarchy. It was, in fact, difficult to pretend
that there was a wish to assure the regular and
natural transmission of power, in the family of a
man who had no heirs. Thus, though at a future
time this want of heirs might po.ssibly be a per-
sonal advantage to the brothers of the first consul,
it was at the moment an argument against their
plans, and they frequently reproached Madame
Bonaparte with a misfortune, of which they said
she was the cause. Having quarrelled with her
from jealousy of her influence, they used little
reserve respecting her before her husband, and
persecuted her with their observations, repeating
inces.santly and even loudly, that the first consul
ought to have a wife who would bring him chil-
dren ; that this was a matter not of private but
of public interest, and that a resolution to this
effect became indispensable, if he had any desire
to assure the future to France. These fatal words,
full of so sinister a conclusion for her, they caused
to be repeated from every lip, and the wife of the
first consul, in appearance so fortunate, was thus
at that moment far from being happy,

Josephine Bonaparte, married at first to the count
of Beauharnais, then to the young genera!, who
had saved the convention on the 13th Vend^miaire,
and now sharing with him a place which began to
assume some resemblance to a throne, was a Creole
by birth, and had all the graces, all the deficiencies,
usual in women of such an origin. Kind, prodigal,
and frivolous, not beautiful, but the perfection of
elegajice, gifted with infinite power of charming,
she had the skill of pleasing much more than
women who were her superiors in wit and beauty.
The levity of her conduct, depicted to her hu.sband

in the most odious colours on his return from
Egypt, filled him with anger. He was inclined to
separate from a spouse, whom, whether right or
wrong, he considered culpable. She wept a long
time at his feet; her two children, Hortensc and
Eugene de Beauharnais, who were both of them
very dear to Bonaparte, wept also ; he was con-
quered, and yielded to a conjugal tenderness which,
during many years, was with him victorious over
political considerations. He forgot the faults, real
or supposed, of Josephine, and loved her still; but
never as at the early period of their union. Her
extravagancies without limit, her annoying im-
prudencies, every day brought under his notice,
frequently excited in her husband emotions of im-
l)atience, which he could not control ; but he par-
doned all with the kindness prompted by successlul
power, and knew not liow to be long angry with
a wife, who had shared the first moments of his
nascent greatness, and who seemed, from the day
she took her scat by his side, to have brotight
fortune along with her.

Madame Bonaparte was a true woman of the
old re'gime, a devotee, superstitious, and even a
royalist, detesting those she called the Jacobins,
who fully returned her hate ; nor seeking any
society but the men of the past, who returning in
crowds, as we have said, came to pay their visits
to her in the mornings. They had known her as
the wife of an honourable man, of sufficiently high
rank, and of military dignity, the unfortunate
Beauharnais, who died on the revolutionary scaf-
fold; they found her the wife of a parvenu, hut of a
parvenu more powerfid than any prince in Europe;
they had no hesitation in going to her to ask
favours, while all the while they afiected to look
upon her with disdain. She took pains in making
them share in her ])ower, and rendering them
services. She ever studied to foster an opinion
amongst them, which they willingly adopted, that
Bonaparte was, secretly, only waiting an occasion
to recall the Bourbons, and restore to them the
inheritance which was their right. And, singular
as it is, this illusion, which she took a jileasure in
exciting amongst them, she was almost inclined
herself to share in; for she would have preferred
to see her husband a subject of the Bourbons, —
but a subject, the protector of his king, and sur-
rounded by the homage of the ancient French aris-
tocracy,— nmch rather than as a superior monarch
crowned by the hand of the nation. She was a
woman of weak heart ; yet wh.atever her levity,
she loved the man who covered her with glory,
and loved him the more now that she was less
loved by him. Never imagining that he could
plant his audacious foot on the steps of the throne
without falling, alike by the daggers of the re-
publicans and the royalists, she saw confounded in
one common ruin, her children, her husband, and
herself. But, su[)posing that he should arrive
safe and sound upon that usurped throne, another
fear tore her heart ; she could not sit there with
him. If ever they made Bonaparte king or em-
peror, it would evidently be under the pretext of
giving to France a fixed government, by rendering
it hereditary ; and, unhappily, the physicians al-
lowed her no hope of having children. On this
subject she called to mind the singular prediction
of a woman, a, kind of Pythoness then in vogue,,

1800.
Sept.

Character of Madame
Bonaparte.

THE ARMISTICE.

Letters to the first consul
from Louis XVXII.

167

who had said to her : " You will occupy the first
position in the world ; but for a short time (nily.'
She had already heard the brotliere of the first
consul give utterance to the fatal word — divorce.
This unfortunate lady, whom, if they judged of
her condition by the continued brilliancy with
which she was surrounded, the queens of Europe
nii;;Iit have regarded with envy, lived in the most
terrible anxiety. Every advance of fortune added
to the appearance of her happiness and to the re-
grets of her life ; and if she continued to escape from
her heart-piercing anxieties, it was from a levity
of character, which preserved her from prolonged
thought. The attachment of Bonaparte, his abrupt-
ness of passion when he gave way to it, made
up on the instant by emotions of the most ])erfect
kindness, served also to reassure her. Hurried
on, moreover, like all persons of that time, by a
whirlwind which took away their senses, she
counted on chance, the god of revolutions; and,
after the most painful agitations, returned to her en-
joyments. She strove to divert her husband's mind
from his notions of exceeding greatness, ventured to
speak to him of the Bourbons, at the risk of storms;
and, in spite of her tastes, which should have led
her to prefer Talleyrand to Foucli^, she took the
latter into her favour, because, as she said, all
Jacol>in though he was, he yet ventured to speak
the truth to the first consul ; since, in her eyes, to
make the consul hear the truth was to advise the
preservation of the republic, with an augmentation
of the consular power at the same time. Talley-
rand and Fouch^, thinking they should strengthen
their position by penetrating into the family of the
first ennsul, introduced themselves by flattering
each side as it liked to be flattered. Talleyrand
sought to please the brothers, by saying tliat it
was necessary t > devise for the first consul some
position differc.it from that which he held by the
constitution. Fouch^ endeavoured to make him-
.self agreeable to Madame Bonaparte, by saying
that to pu li on too fast would be to connnit the
gravest imprudence, and would, in fact, risk
the loss of all. This manner of insiriuating them-
selves into his family circle was singularly dis-
jileasiiig to I lie first consul. He gave frequent
evidence o!' this feeling; and when he had any
eoramunicuion to make to his relatives, entrusted
it to his colleague CambacfJres, who, with his ac-
customed prudence, heard all and said nothing
l»ut \vli:it he was directed, and thus acquitted him-
self of this class of commissions with as nmch
.skill as exactness.

A circumstance, sufficiently strange, occurred
at this moment to give to all these internal agi-
tations an immediate and positive object. The
prince, who was afterwards Louis XVI II., then
an exile, attempted a singular step, and one
which showed little reflection. Many of tlie royal-
ists, to explain and cxcu.sc their return towards
the new government, feigned to believe, or actually
did believe, that Bonaparte was desirous of re-
calling the Bourbons. These men, who had cither
not read, or did not know how to read, the history
of the English revolution, and to discover there
the terrible lessons with which it was full, came all
at otice to a discovery of an analogy in it which
was propitious to their hi>peH: this was the biing-
ing back of the Stuarts by general Monk. They

suppressed all consideration of Cromwell, whose
part nevertheless was quite great enough not to
be overlooked. They ended by getting up a fac-
titiiius opinion, which had reached as far as Louis
XVIII. This prince, gifted with tact and some
sense, had the great weakness to write to Bona-
parte himself, and forwarded to him several letters,
which he considered well-timed, but which were
by no means so, and proved but one thing — the
ordinary illusions of the emigrants. Here is the
first of these letters :

" 20th February, 1800.
" Whatever appearance their conduct may as-
sume, men like you, sir, inspire no inquietude.
You have accepted a post of eminence, and I am
rejoiced that you have done so. You, better than
any person, know how much strength and power
are wanting to make the happiness of a great nation.
Save France from her own frenzy, and you will
fulfil the first wish of my heart ; restore her king
to her, and future generations will bless your
memory. You will always be too necessary to
the state to admit of my acquitting, even by the
most important posts, the debt of my ancestors
and my own. " Louis."

On receiving this letter the first consul was
much surprised, and remained undecided, not
knowing whether he ought to reply to it. It had
been transmitted to him by the consul Lebrun,
who received it himself from the abbe Mon-
tesquiou. Absorbed in the nmltiplicity of aft'airs
at the commencement of his government, the first
consul allowed the time for answering it to pass
by. The prince, with the impatience of an emi-
grant, wrote a second letter, still more strongly
impressed with the credulity of his party, and
still more to be regretted for the sake of his own
dignity. It was as follows : —

"For a long time, general, you must have
known, that you have acquired my esteem. If
you doubt whether I am susce])tible of gratituile,
mark out your own place, fi.x those of your
friends. As for my principles, 1 am a Frenchman;
clement by disposition, I shall be still more so
from reason.

" No, the victor of Lodi, of Castigli<me, of Ar-
eola, the conqueror of Italy and of Egypt, can never
prefer a vain celebrity to true gl'>ry. Neverthe-
less, you are losing valuable time ; we can assure
the repo.se of France ; I say we, because 1 have
need of Bonaparte for this purpose, and he cannot
eftect it wuhout me.

" General, Europe observes you, glory awaits
you, and I am impatient to restore peace to my
people. " LoLis."

This time the first consul thought he could
not dispense with replying. In reality, he had
never any doubt as to the course to be pursued
in regard to the deposed princes. Independently
of all ambition, he looked u])on the recall of the
Hoiu'bons as an imprac^ticalilo and fatal step.
Whatever might be otherwise his desire to be
master of France, it was from convietion that he
repulsed them. His wife had been informed of
the Secret, as also his secretiiry ; and though he
did not do them the honour of admitting them to his
deliberations on such a niiitter, he informed them

168 Answer of the first consul. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. ^"and'ArJnaf ^"''"^' 'oct:

of his motives. His wife had thrown herself at
his feet, supplicating him to leave the Bourbons
at least some hope ; he repulsed her with some
temper, and addressing himself to his secretary,
" You do not know these people," said he ; " if I
were to restore their throne to them, they would
believe they had recovered it by the grace of God.
They would be quickly surrounded, and drawn on
hy the emigrants ; they would upset evei-y thing,
in their wish to i-estore even what cannot be
restored. What would become of the numerous
interests created since 1789 ? What would become
ofthem, and of the holders of national property,
and of the chiefs of the array, and of all the men
who have engaged their lives and fortunes in the
revolution ? Next to men, what would become of
things ? What would become of the ])rinciples
for which we have fought? All would perish,
but would not perish without a conflict : there
would be a fearful struggle ; thousands of men
would fall. Never, never, will I adopt so fatal
a resolve." He was right. All personal interest
ajiart, he acted properly. His own dictatorship,
whicli i-etarded the establishment of political liberty
in France, a liberty, be it said, at that time sur-
rimnded with great difficulties; his own dictator-
ship achieved the triumph of the French revo-
lution, which Waterloo itself, because it happened
fifteen years later, could not destroy.

His answer was of coui'se conformable with his
opinion, and left no more hope than be meant to
give. It is only from the text itself of the letter
that we can form an opinion of the grandeur of
expression with which he replied to the imprudent
advances of the exiled prince.

" Paris, the 20th Fructidor, vear viii.
"7th September, 1800.

" I have received your letter, sir ; I thank you
for the polite expressions you make use of in
regard to myself.

" You must not wish for your return to France;
you would have to march there over five hundred
thousand corpses.

"Sacrifice your own interest to the repose and
happiness of France ; history will give you credit
for it.

" I am not insensible to the misfortunes of your
family ; and I will contribute with pleasure to the
ease and tranquillity of your retreat.

" Bonaparte."

Some part of this was made known, and thus
the personal designs of the first consul became
only the more evident.

It is often the attempt of parties against a
rising power that linstens its progress, and en-
courages it to dare all it meditates. An attempt,
more ridiculous than criminal, of the republicans
against the first consul, hastened a demonstration,
altogether as ridiculous on the part of those who
wished to precipitate his elevation ; neither the
one nor the other attained the object.

The patriot declaimers, more noisy and much
less formidaiile than the agents of royaiism, met
frequently at the house of an old emplo;/e of the
committee of public safety, then out of office.
He was called Demerville; he spoke nnich, carried
from one place to another pamphlets against the

government, and was scarcely capable of doing
more than this. To his house resorted the Corsican
Arena, one of those members of the five hundred
who had escaped through the window on the 18th
Brumaire ; Topino-Lebrun, a painter of some
talent, a pupil of David, who shared in the re-
volutionary enthusiasm of the artists of that time;
and also many of the Italian refugees, who
were exasperated against Bonaparte because he
protected the pope, and had not established a
Roman republic. The principal and most noisy of
these last was a sculptor named Ceracchi. These
hot-headed fellows usually assembled at Demer-
ville's, and held the most foolish discourse. It
was necessary, they said, to bring matters to an
end ; they had most of the world with them —
Massena, Carnot, Lannes, Sieyes, and Fouche him-
self. They had but to strike the tyrant, and all
the true republicans would at once declare them-
selves ; all would reunite to raise up once more the
expiring republic. But it was requisite to find a
Brutus to strike this new Ciesar — and no one
offered himself. A soldier without employ, named
Harrel, who was living in idleness and misery, with
these declaimers, indigent and discontented as them-
selves, appeared to them the man of action of whom
they stood in need. They made proposals to him
at which he was terrified. In his agitation
he disclosed the matter to a commissary of war
with whom he had some connection, and who
advised him to impart what he knew to the go-
vernment. Harrel next went and found Bour-
rienne, the secretary to the consul, and Lannes, the
commandant of the consular guard. The first
consul, forewarned by them, caused money to be
given by the police to Harrel, as well as an order
for him to imdertake every thing that his accom-
plices might propose. These vvretc-hed conspirators
believed themselves to have met in this individual
with the right man to execute their jiurpose; but
they found that one was not sufficient. Harrel
])roposed to them to introduce others ; they con-
sented, and he introduced some of Fouchd's agents.
After they had fallen into this snare, their next
care was to procure poignards, wherewith to arm
Harrel and his companions. This time they un-
dertook the care themselves, and brought poignards
purchased by Topino-Lebrun. At last tliey made
choice of a place to assassinate the first consul, and
that was the opera, then styled the theatre ot arts.
They fixed the time, it was to be the 10th October,
or 18th Vend^miaire, year ix., the day when the
first consul was to be present at the first represen-
tation of a new opera. The j)olice, forewarned,
liad taken precautions. The first consul went
to the theatre of the opera, followed by Lannes,
who, watching over him with the greatest solici-
tude, had doubled the guard, and placed about the
box the bravest of his grenadiers. The pretended
assassins came in fact to the rendezvous, but not
all, and not armed. Topino-Lebrun was not there,
no more was Demerville. Arena and Ceracchi
alone presented themselves. Ceracchi approached
nearer tiian the others to the box of the first consul,
but he was without a poignard. There were
no bold men of all those present on the spot, nor
arnied, except the conspirators placed by the police
on the scene of crime. They arrested Ceracchi,
Arena, and all the others in succession, but the

Great sensation tliereby occasioned.
AdJresses to the first consul.

THE ARMISTICE. indiscreet pamphlet by M. Fontanes.

most part at tlieir own dwellings, or in houses
where they had gone to seek refuge.

This affair created a great sensation, which it
did not deserve. As.suredly the pohce — which igno-
rant men, strangers to any knowledge of public
affairs, accuse in general of itself fabricating the
plots which it discovei-s — the police had not in-
vented this, though it might be said to have taken
too greab-a share in it. The conspirators without
doubt meditated the death of the first consul, but
they were incapable of striking the blow with the r
own hands ; by encouraging them, and by furnish-
ing them with what it was their greatest difficulty
to find, hands to execute their purpose, they had
been drawn into crime further than tliey would
have been engaged in it had they been left to
themselves. If all this were to have ended in a
severe but temporary puni.-ihment, such as is in-
flicted on mailmen, it would have been well ; but
to lead them to tlieir death by such a road is more
than is right, even when we are acting for the
preservation of a valuable life. Men did not look
at matters so nicely at that time. They instituted
proceedings directly which rendered the scaffold
inevitable to these unhappy offenders.

This attempt caused general alarm. Until now
there had only been seen during the revolution
what were called the join-iiees, in other words,
attacks by armed men ; but against assaults such
as these there was security in the military power
of the government. No one had thought about as-
sassination, and the possibility of the first consul
being suddenly struck down and killed, notwith-
standing he might be surrounded by his grenadiers.
Th<; attempt of Ceracchi, the ridiculous character
of which was not known, was a piece of intelligence
that frightened the public. The dread to see so-
ciety plunged again into a chaos dwelt upon every
mind, and gave birth to a species of passion. The
crowd ran to the Tuileries. The tribunate was the
only ])ublic body of the state which happened at
that moment to be sitting, frotn its habit of holding
its meetings every fortnight during the interval of
the sessions; and that body went tliere collectively.
All the public authorities followed the example. A
vast number of addresses were presented to the
first consul. Their sense may be collected from the
contents of that drawn up by the municipal body
of Paris : —

" General, we come in the name of the citizens of
Paris to express to you the deep indignation which
they feel at hearing of the new attempt meditated
against your person. Too many interests are at-
tached to your existence for the plots which have
threatened it not to become a subject of public
sorrow, as all that protects it is a subject of ac-
knowh^dgmcnt and national gratitude.

" Providence, which in Venddmiaire, year viir.,
brought you Ijack from Egypt, that at Marengo
preserved you from all the perils of the field ; that
lastly,on the 18th Venddmiaire, in the year i\'., saved
you from the rage of the assassins, permit us to
8.'iy so, is the providence of France nmcli more than
yours. The .same providence will not allow that a
year so important, so full of glorious events, and
destined to occupy so grand a place in human me-
mory, should terminate all at once by a detcMtable
crime. O that the enemies r)f France would cease
to desire evil to you and to us, that they would but

submit tliemselves to thac destiny which, more
powerful than all their jilots, will assure your
preservation and that of the republic ! We do
not speak to you of the guilty: they belong to
the law."

These addresses, all cast in the same mould, con-
tinually repeated to the first consul that he had no
right to be merciful, that his life belonged to the
republic, and ought to be placed under the same
safeguard as the public good, of which it was the
]iledge. It is ])roper to state that these manifesta-
tions wei'e sincere. Every one thought himself in
danger from the first consul being in that situation.
All who were not of the factious wished for his pre-
servation. The royalists believing, that if anything
happened to him they would be turned back to the
seafibid or to exile; the revolutionists believing they
should have a counter-revolution, rendered trium-
phant by means of foreign armies.

The first consul took particular care, it is worthy
of remark, to diminish the idea of the danger to
which he had been exposed. He would not have
it believed that his lite depended upon the first
comer, and he regarded that belief as equally
necessary for his safety and his dignity. Speaking
to the authorities commissioned to compliment him,
he tuld them that the danger about which they
were so much alarmed rtally had nothing in it
very serious ; he explained to them how, sur-
rounded by officers of the consular guard and a
picket of grenadiers, he was completely secured
against all that seven or eight miserable wretches
could have intended to effect. He believed much
more than his words would seem to imply, in the
peril which had threatened his life; but he judged
it useful to impress upon all minds, that surrounded
by the grenadiers of Marengo he was inaccessible
in the midst of them to the attempts of an a.ssassin.

Plots as serious as that which made all this stir,
and directed by other hands, were preparing in dark-
ness. A vague feeling prevailed of such being the
case, and people said that these attempts would be
renewed more than once. This gave the partizaiis
of the first consul a reason for repeating that
something was wanting more stable than an ephe-
meral power, resting in the hands of one man, that
might disappear beneath the blow of an assassin's
])oigiiard. The brother of the first consul, Roederer,
Regnaultde St. Jean d' A ngely, Talleyrand, Fontanes,
and many others held those notions, some from a
conviction of their truth, others to please their mas-
ter; all, as it commonly happens, mingled with sen-
timents sincere or interested. At this moment a
pamphlet appeared anonymously, a singular and
very remarkable jiroduction. It had for its author,
according to report, Lucien Bonaparte; but from
its rare beauty of style, and its knowledge of clas-
sic history, it should only have been ascribed to
its real author, M. Fontanes. This ])amphlet, as
the cause of a great sensation in the public mind,
deserves to be noticed hero. It marked one of the
steps that advanced Bonaparte in his career to the
supreme power. The title was, " A Parallel between
Cicsar, Cromwell, Monk, and Bonaparte." The
author first compared Bonaparte with Cromwell,
but was unable to trace any resemblance between
the principal personage in the English revolution
and the first consid. (Cromwell was a fanatic, the
cliief of a sanguinary faction, tiio assassin of liis

Bonaparte compared with
JO Cromwell, Monk, and
Caesar.

The pamphlet extensively ,.•.
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. circulated by Lucien Bo- 'Zt

naparte. "'''•

king, a victor only in a civil war, conquering a few
cities and provinces of England, a mere barbarian,
who ravaged the universities of Oxford and Cam-
bridge, lie was a very able scoundrel, not a hero.
The parallel of Cromwell in the French revolution
would be Robespierre, if Robespierre had been
possessed of the courage, and if France had only
La Vendee to conquer, and he had been the con-
queror. General Bonaparte, on the contrary, a
stranger to the evils of the i-evolution, had covered
with astonishing glory the crimes in which he had
no concern. He had abolished the barbarous festival
instituted in honour of the regicide; he had put an
end to the horrors of revolutionary fanaticism ; he
had honoured learning and science, reestablished the
schools, and opened the temple of the arts. He hud
not made a civil war; he had conquered, not cities
but kingdoms. As to Monk, what had he in com-
mon with that wavering man, the deserter from all
parties, not caring whither he went, having wrecked
the vessel of the republic on the monarchy, as he
would have wrecked that upon the republic, — what I
had that vulgar and miserable personage in com- |
mon with general Bonajjarte, and his stedfast j
mind acquiring whatever it desired? The title of j
duke of Albetnarle had satisfied the wretched vanity
of Monk. " But can it be credited, that the baton
of a marshal or the sword of a constable sufficed \
for a man before whom the universe is confounded ?
Was it not felt that he was one of those destined to
fill a first place ? Besides, if Bonaparte were ever
able to imitate Monk, would not France be seen
again plimged into the horrors of a new revolu-
tion ? storm in place of calm being every where
renewed.

After having repelled these comparisons, the
author could find no one analogous to Bonaparte
in history but Ciesar. lie recognized in that cha-
racter the same military glory, the same political
greatness; and ho also discovered one dissimilarity.
Cuisar at tlie head of the demagogues of Rome had
trampled upon the good men and destroyed the re-
public; Bonaparte, on the contrary, had elevated
the party of good men, and crushed only the base.

All this was true ; the work undertaken by
Bonaparte was much more upright than that of
Ca;sar.

After these comparisons the writer concluded,
" Happy the reiJublic, if' BonapaHe were immortal ."
" But where," he adds, — " wliere are his heirs."
Where are the institutions that can adequately
maintain his good deeds and peqietuate his genius?
The fate of thirty millions of men only hangs upon
the life of one ! Frenchmen, what would become
of you, if at this moment a melancholy cry an-
nounced to you that this man was dead ?"

Here the author exaniiived the different chances
which would present themselves on the death of
general Bonaparte. " Shall we fall under the yoke
of an assembly ? But the remembrance of the con-
vention was there to drive the minds of everybody
from such a supposition. Shall we throw ourselves
into the arms of a military govej'nment ? But where
was the equal of Bonaparte ? The republic, there
was no doubt, possessed great generals, but which
of them was so superior to all the rest, as to be
above rivalry, and able to hinder the armies from
combating each other for the interest of this par-
ticular leader ? lu default of a government of

assemblies, in default of a government of preto-
rians, should recourse be had to a legitimate dynasty,
that was upon the frontier holding out its arms to
France ? But that would be a counter revolution,
the return of Charles II. and of James II. to
England; blood had flowed at their appearance:
tlicy were sufficing examples to open the eyes of
nations, and if there was need of more recent ex-
amples, the return of the queen of Naples and her
imbecile husband to that unhappy kingdom was a
lesson written in characters of blood ! Frenchmen,
you sleep on tlie cdije of an abps ! " Such were the
last words of this singular piece of writing.

All which it contained, except the flattering lan-
guage, was true; but the truths were premature,
to judge by the impressif)n which they produced.
Lucien, minister of the interior, employed every
means in his power to scatter this pamphlet all
over France. He filled Paris and the provinces
with it, having taken good care to conceal its
origin. It produced a great eff* ct. At the bottom
it disclosed that which every body thought ; but it
demanded from France an avowal which a very
legitimate j)ride did not yet permit her to make. She
had abolished eiglit years previously a monarchy
of fourteen centuries, and she must so soon after-
wards come forth and acknowledge at the feet of a
general thirty years old, that she had played the
fool, and pray him to revive, in his own i)erson,
that very monarchy ! She was willing to give him
a power equal to that of monarchs, but it was ne-
cessary, at least, to preserve appearances, were it
only for the sake of the national dignity. Besides,
the young warrior had gained gi'eat vict(U'ies, and
already given the begiiming of services to the
country; but he had scarcely commenced the re-
conciliation of parties, the reorganization of France,
the arrangement of the laws; above all, he liad not
yet given peace to the world. There remained to
him these and many titles to conquer, which he
was very certain in addition to place soon over his
glorious head.

The impression was general and painful. On all
sides, the prefects stated the i)amphlet produced a
mischievous effect; that it gave some reason to the
factious demagogues to say, that the Caesars pro-
duced the Brutuses, that the ])amphlet was impru-
dent and to be regretted. In Paris the impression
it i)roduced was similar. In the council of state,
tlie disapprobation was not concealed. The first
consul, whether he had known anything of the
pam|)hlet, whether he had been compromised un-
knowingly by impatient and awkward friends, still
believed the disavowal necessary, above all, in the
sight of the revolutionary party. He sent for
Fouch^, an'd publicly demanded of him why he suf-
fered the circulation of such writings. The minister
replied, " I know the author." " If you know him,"
replied the first consul, " he must be sent to Vin-
cennes." "I am not able to send him to Vinceniies,"
replied Fouchd, " because he is your own brother."
At this Bonaparte complained bitterly of his bro-
ther, who had already more than once compromised
him. His sourness towards Lucien increased. One
day, Lucien not being exactly in time at the coun-
cil of ministers, a thing that often occurred, and
many comjilaints being made against his official
conduct, the first consul testified great discontent
towax'ds him, and appeared determined to revoke

Peace signed

HOHENLTNDEN.

with the United States.

hfs appointment immediately. Buttlic consul Cam-
Laceres urged him not to take froin Lucien the
portfolio of the home depai'tment without giving
liim an equivalent.

The fii-st consul consented ; Cambace'res devised
an embassy to Spain, and was instructed to offer it
to Lucien, who accepted it without difliculty.
Lucieu went off, and there was soon no more
thought of the imprudent pamphlet.

Thus a first attempt at assassination directed
ajainst the first consul had called forth in his

favour a first attempt to elevate him ; but the one
was as foolish as the other was badly managed. It
was necessary for Bonaparte to attain by new ser-
vices an augmentation of authority, winch no one
could yet precisely define, but all could confusedly
foresee in the future, and to which lie or his
friends made no secret of his aspiring ; at any
rate, his fortune was about to furnish him, in ser-
vices rendered, and in dangers avoided, great titles
to similar demands, such as France could no longer
resist.

BOOK VII.

IIOHENLINDEN.

P£ACE WITH THE UNITED STATES AKD THE BARBARY REGENCIES. — MEETIKG OF THE CONGRESS OP LVNETILLE. —
M. COBESTZEL REFUSES A SEPARATE NEGOTIATION, AND WISHES AT LEAST FOR THE I'RESENCE OF AN ENGLISH
PLENIPOTENTIARY, TO COVER THE REAL NEGOTIATION BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND FRANCE. — THE FIRST CONSUL,
TO HASTEN THr CONCLUSION, ORDERS THE RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES.— PLAN OF THE WINTER CAMPAIGN. —
UOREAU COMMANDED To PASS THE INN, AND MARCH UPON VIENNA. — MACDONALD, WITH THE SECOND ARMY
OP RESERVE, ORDERKD TO PASS THE ORISONS INTO THE TYROL.— BRUNE, WITH EIGHTY TlOlt'SAND MEN, IS
DESTINED TO FORCE THE MINCIO AND ADIGE.— PLAN OP THE YOUNG ARCHDUKE JOHN, NOW BECOME GENERAL-
ISSIMO OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMIES.- HIS PLAN TO TURN MOREAU FAILS FROM DEFECTS IN THE EXECUTION. —
HE HALTS IN HIS WAY-, AND WISHES TO ATTACK MOREAU IN THE FRONT OF HOHENLINDEN. — FINE MANOEUVRE
OF MOREAU, EXECUTED IN AN ADMIR.IELE MANNER BY RICHEPANSE. — MEMORABLE BATTLE OP HOHENLINDEN.

GREAT CONSEQUENCES OF THE BATTLE.— PASSAGES OF THE INN, SALZA. TBAUN, AND ENS. — ARMISTICE OP

STEYER. — AU.'-TRIA PROMISES TO SIGN AN IMMEDIATE PEACE. — OPERATIONS IN THE ALPS AND IN ITALY. —
PASSAGE OP THE SPLUGEN BY MACDONALD IN THE MIDST OF THE HORRORS OP WINTER.— ARRIVAL OF MAC-
DONALD IN THE ITALIAN TYROL. — DISPOSITIONS OP BRUNE FOR PASSING THE MINCIO AT TWO PLACES. — ERROR
OF HIS DISPOSITIONS.— GENERAL DUPONT MAKES THE FIRST PASSAGE AT POZZOLO, AND DRAWS UPON HIMSELF
THE WHOLE AUSTRIAN ARMY. — THE MINCIO IS FORCED AFTER A USELESS WASTE OF BLOOD.— PASSAGES OF THE
MINCIO AND ADIGE. — LUCKY ESCAPE OP GENERAL LAUDON, BY MEANS OP A FALSEHOOD. — THE AUSTRIANS
BEING ROUTl.D, DEMAND AN ARMISTICE IN ITALY.— SIGNATURE OP THE ARMISTICE AT TREVISO.— RENEWAL OP
THE NEGOTIATIONS AT LUNEVILLE. — THE PRINCIPLE OF A SEPARATE PEACE ADMITTED BY M. COBENTZEL. —
THE FIRST CONSUL INSISTS UPON AUSTRIA PAYING THE EXPENSES OP THE SECOND CAMPAIGN, AND IMPOSES
CONDITIONS HARDER THAN THOSE OP THE PRELIMINARIES OF M. JULIEN. — HE GIVES FOR AN ULTIMATUM THE
LIMITS OP THE RHINE IN GERMANY, AND OF THE ADIGE IN ITALY. — BOLD RESISTANCE OF M. COBENTZEL. —
THIS RESISTANCE, ALTHOUGH HONOURADLE TO HI.M, JIAKES AUSTRIA LOSE VALUABLE TIME. — WHILE THE
NEGOTIATION PROCEEDS AT LUNEVILLE, THE E.MPEKOR PAUL, TO WHOM THE FIRST CONSUL HAD CEDED THE
ISLAND OF MALTA, RECLAIMS IT OP THE ENGLISH, WHO REFUSE IT. — ANGEI'. OF PAUL I. — HE INVITES THE
KINO OF SWEI.EN TO PETERSBURG, AND BENEW> THE LEAGUE OF 1780. — DECLARATION OF THE NEUTRAL
POWKRS.— RUPTURE OP ALL THE NORTHIRN POWERS WITH ENGLAND. — THE FIRST CONSUL PROFITS BY IT TO
FORCE HARDER TER.MS UPON AUSTRIA.— HE INSISTS, BESIDES THE LIMITS OF THE ADIGE, UPON THE EXPUL-
SION OF ALL THE PRINCES OP THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA FRO.M ITALY.— THE GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY, AS WELL
AS THE DUKE OF MODENA, TO BE REMOVED INTO GERMANY.— M. COBENTZEL AT LAST GIVES WAY, AND SIGNS
WITH JOSEPH BONAPARTE, ON THE NINTH OF FEBRUARY, 1801, THE CELEBRATED TREATY OF LUNEVILLE.—
FRANCE, FOR THE SECOND TIME, OBTAINS THE RHINE FOR A BOUNDARY THROUGHOUT ITS WHOLE LENGTH,
AND REMAINS MISTRESS OF NEARLY ALL ITALY. — AUSTRIA IS FORCED BACK BEHIND THE ADIGE.— THE CISAL-
PINE REPUBLIC IS TO INCLUDE THE MILANESE, MANTUA, THE DUCHY OF MODENA, AND THE LEGATIONS. —
TUSCANY IS DESTINED FOR THE HOUSE OP PARMA, WITH THE TITLE OP KINGDOM OF ETRURIA— THE PRIN-
CIPLE OP THE SECULARISATIONS IMPOSED FOR f. i- R M \ VV. — T M PORT ANT RESULTS GAINED BY THE FIRST
IN THE COURSE OF FIFTEEN MONTHS.

Joseph Bonaparte liad «igned, at Morfontaino, tiic
treaty which established peace between France
and America, witii the American negotiators, Klls-
worth, Davie, and Van Mtirmy. It was the first
treaty conchuii'd by the consular government. It
was natural that the reconciliation of France with
the different |)owerH of tin- glolic, HiH>uld coiiimeiice
with that republic, to wiiich, in a certain sense.

she had given birth. The first consul had per-
mitted the adjournment of the ditficnlties relative
to the treaty of alliance of the (>th of February,
]^^ii ; but, in return, he hail re(|nired the adjourn-
ment of the American claims, relative to captured
vessels. He judged, with nason, that he ought to
be satisfied with tin? acknowledgment of the rights
of neutrals. This gave to France another ally, and

172

Conditions of the treaty. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Negotiations with Austria. '*^^-

to England an enemy nmre on the ocean ; it was a
new fermentation in the maritime dispute, which
was risinj,' in the north, and daily becoming
more serious. Inconsequence of tiiis, the princi-
pal articles of the neutral rij,'hts, such at least as
they are laid down l.y France and all the mari-
time states, were integrally in the new treaty.

These articles were the same as we have already
stated.

1. The flag covers the merchandise; in conse-
quence, the neutral can carry the goods of any
enemy without being searched.

2. There is no exception from this rule, unless
for the contraband of war; and that contraband
does not extend to alimentary substances, or to
naval stores, timber, pitch, and hemj), but solely to
manufactured arms and munitions of war, such as
powder, saltpetre, petards, matches, balls, bullets,
bombs, grenades, carcasses, pikes, halberts, swords,
sword-belts, accoutrements, pistols, scabbards, ca-
valry-saddles, harness, cannon mortars with their
carriages, and generally arms, nmnitious of war,
and implements for the use of troops.

3. Neutral bottoms can sail from any port to
any port; there is no exception to their freedom of
navigation, except in regard to ports blockaded
bona fide, and those ports alone are buna fide block-
aded, which are guarded by such a force that there
wouM be serious danger in attempting to break the
blockade.

4. The neutral is bound to submit to be visited
for the pilrpose of discovering her I'eal character ;
but the visitor vessel must remain out of cannon-
shot distance, and send a boat and three men;
and if the neutral is convoyed by a ship-of-war, the
visit shall not take place, the presence of the mili-
tary flag being a sufficient guarantee against every
species of Iraud.

The treaty contained other stipulations in detail;
but the four principal articles which truly constitute
the law of neutrals, were an important victory, since
the Americans, in adopting them, were obliged to
insist upon their application in their commerce with
the English, or to go to war with them.

The signature of the treaty was celebrated with
rejoicing at Morfontaine, a fine estate that Joseph
Bonapax'te, who was richer than his brothers
through his marriage, had acquired some time be-
fore. The first consul attended, accompanied by a
numerous and brilliant party. Elegant decorations,
placed in the house and gardens, exhibited every
where the union of France and America. Toasts
were given in honour of the occasion. The first
consul proposed this: " To the manes of the French
and Americans, who died on the field of battle for
the independence of the new world."

Lebrun proposed: "To the union of America
with the powers of the north to enforce the liberty
of the seas."

Finally, Cambac^res proposed the third : " To
the successor of Washington."

The French government waited with impatience
for the arrival of M. Cobentzcl at Luneville, to dis-
cover if his court was disposed to conclude a peace.
The first consul, if he were not satisfied with the
march of the negotiations, was determined to re-
sume hostilities, although the season was ever so
far advanced. Since he had passed the St. Bernard,
he made no account of obstacles, and imagined that

men could fight just as well upon snow and ice,
as when the ground was covered with verdure or
harvests. Austria, on the other hand, wished to
gain time, because she had engaged with England
not to make a separate peace before the coming
month of February,! 801, or Pluviose, in the year ix.
Fearing greatly the resumption of hostilities, she
applied for a third prolongation of the armistice.
The first consul had refused it peremptorily, from
the motive that M. Cobentzel had not yet arrived
at Lune'ville. He was i-esolved not to yield the
point until the Austrian plenipotentiary should
reach the place fixed upon for the negotiation. At
last, M. Cobentzel arrived at Luneville on the 24ili
of October, 18('0. He was received on the fron-
tier and along the whole way by the sound of can-
non, and with great testimonies of consideration.
General Clarke had been nominated to the gover-
norship of Lune'ville, in order to do the honours
of the city to the members of the congress, and
that he might acquit himself of the duty in a con-
venient manner, funds were placed at his disposal
as well as some prime regiments. Joseph Bona-
parte, on his own side, had repaired there, accom-
panied by M. Laforet as bis secretary. M. Cobent-
zel had scarcely arrived before the first consul,
wishing to be convinced of the disposition of the
Austrian negotiator, addressed to him an invita-
tion to come to Paris'. M. Cobentzel dared not
refuse, and ])roceeded with great deference to that
city. He arrived there on the 29th of October. A
new extension of the armistice was then granted
him fi>r twenty days. The first consul conversed
with him respecting the peace and the conditions
upon which it might be concluded. M. Cobentzel's
answers were not very satisfactory on the matter
of a separate negotiation, and in regard to the con-
ditions, he put forward pretensions that could not
be tolerated. Austria had, in regard to Italy, ob-
jects that it was not possible to satisfy ; she was in
the expectation that if the indemnities promised
her in Italy, by the treaty of Campo Formio, were
to be given in Germany, she should i-eceive very
large grants of territory, either in Swabia, Bavaria,
or the Palatinate. The first consul gave way to
some exhibitions of tempei-. This he had before
done with M. Cobentzel, at the treaty of Campo
Formio ; but advancing age, and more power than
formerly, made him restrain himself less. M. Co-
bentzel complained in the bitterest manner, saying
that he had never been so treated, neither by
Catherine, Frederick, nor by the emperor Paul
himself. He demanded leave in consequence to re-
turn to Luneville ; and the first consul suffered
him to go, thinking it would be better to negotiate
with him foot by foot, through the medium of his
brother Josci)h. The last, mild, calm, and suffi-
ciently intelligent, was a better person than his
brother for an operation requiring so much for-
bearance.

M. Cobentzel and Joseph Bonaparte having met
together at Luneville, exchanged their full powers
on the 9th of November, or 18th of Brumaire.
Joseph had orders to address to him the three fol-
lowing questions. Had he authority to treat ? Was

> Napoleon said at St. Helena, that M. Cobentzel wished
to come to Paris lo gain time. This was an error of memory.
The diplomatic correspondence proves the contrary.

1800. The French and Austrian armies

Nov. set in motion.

HOHENLINDEN.

Terms of ppace demanded by the
fir&t consul.

173

lie authorized to treat separately from England ?
Was he to treat for the emperor in the name of
Austria alone, or in the name of the whole Ger-
manic empire ?

The powers being exchanged and recognized to
be valid, for which object they were scrutinized
very minutely, on account of the misadventure of
M. St. Julien, they discussed the extent of their
mutual powers. M. Cohentzel did not hesitate to
declai-e that he was unaljle to treat without the
presence of an English plenipotentiary. As to the
question if he would treat fur the house of Austria
alone, or for the whole empire, ho said that he-
must refer to Vienna fur new instructions.

These re])lies were sent to Paris. Immediately
afterwards the first consul announced to M. Co-
bentzel, that hostilities should be renewed as soon
as the armistice was concluded, or in the last days
of November ; that the congress need not break
up; that while hostilities were going forward, they
might negotiate; but that the French armies would
not halt until the Austrian plenipotentiary had cou-
8ent(!(l to treat without England.

While these proceedings were in hand, the first
consul had taken, in respect to Tuscany, a precau-
tion become indispensable. The Austrian general
SonmiaRiva had remained there witha few hundred
men, conformably to the convention of Alexandria,
but he continued to raise levies en tnasse, with the
money of England. At the very moment a disem-
barkation at Leghorn was announced of those same
English troops, that for a long while had been on
their way from Mahon to Ferrol, and from Ferrol
to Cadiz. The Neapolitans on their side were
marching upon Rome, and the Austrians spreading
themselves over the Legations beyond the limits
marked by the armistice, were endeavouring to aid
the Tuscan insurrection. The first consul, seeing
that the object of the Austrians was to gain time,
and that they were preparing to place the French
between two fires, ordered Diipont to march upon
Tuscany, and Murat, who conmianded the camp at
Amiens, to go immediately to Italy. He had several
times informed the Austrians of what lie intended
to do if they did not suspend the movements of the
troops begun in Tuscany ; and seeing that they did
not regard his notice, he gave orders accordingly.
General Dnpont, wiih the brigades of Pino, Mat-
her, and Carra St. Cyr, crossed the Apennines
rapidly, and occujjied Florence, while general Cle-
ment marched from Lucca to Leghorn. No re-
sistance was experienced there. Still the insur-
genU resisted in the city of Arezzo, which had
already shown itsel. hostile to the French during
the retreat of Macdonald in 170!). Tiicy were
obliged to take it by assault, and to ])tmisli it,
thouL'h much less severely than it merited from its
conduct towards the French, soldiers. Tuscany was
from that time wholly submissive. The Neai)olitans
were stopped in their march, and the English
driven from the soil of Italy, at the moment when
they were about to enter Leghorn. Tsvo days
afterwards tii<y landed twelve thousand men.

All the armies were every where in motion,
from the banks of the Mayn to the shores of the
Adriatic, from Frankfort to Bologna. Notice of
the commencement of hostilities had been given.
Austria, in apprehension, made a final attempt
through the mediation of M. Cohentzel, an attempt

which showed her good-will to terminate matters,
and as well her unfortunate embarrassment with
England. M. Cobentzel, addressing himself to
Jose|di Bonaparte, and putting on a tone of confi-
dence, demanded from him several times whether
he might calculate upon the discretion of the
French government. Assured that he might by
Joseph, he showed him a letter from the emperor,
in which that personage testified the same in-
quietude that he, M. Cobentzel, felt himself, relative
to the danger of an indiscretion; but relying upon
his knowledge of men and things, he authorized
him to make the following proposal. Austria at last
consents to separate herself from England, and to
treat separately upon two conditions, on which she
must in the most absolute manner insist : 'first,
inviolable secrecy to be preserved, until the 1st of
February, 1801, the time that her engagements
terminated with England, with a formal promise, if
the negotiation did not succeed, to return all the
documents both on one side and the other. Se-
condly, the admission of an English ]>ienipotentiary
at Luiidville, to cover by his jiresence the real nego-
tiation. Upon these two conditions Austria con-
sented to treat immediately, and desired a fresh
prolongation of the armistice.

The jjroximity of Paris allowed an immediate
reply. The first consul would not admit, at any
price, an English negotiator at L'.".;i^vilie. He
would consent again to suspend hostilities on con-
dition of a treaty of peace signed secretly, if that
Would be convenient to Austria ; but it must be
signed in forty-eight hours. The conditions of
su( h a peace were already nearly settled by the
discussion on the preliminaries. They were these:
The Rhine for the frontier of the French republic
towai'ds Germany ; the Miucio for tiie Austrian
frontier in Italy, in place of the Adige, which it
had in 17!»7, but with that the cession of jNIantuato
the Cisalpine ; the Milanese, Valteline, Parma,
and Modena to the Cisalpine ; Tuscany to the duke
of Parma ; the Legations to Tuscany ; finally, as
general conditions, the independence of Piedmont,
of Switzerland, and of Genoa. Such were the
ground of the St. Julien preliminaries, with the
dift'erence of the abandonment of Mantua to the
Cisalpine, to punish Austria for her refusal of the
ralilication. But the first consul demanded that
the treaty should be signed in forty-eight hours,
otherwise he proclaimed war to the last extremity.
In case of accei)tance, he bomid himself to secresy
until the 1st of February, and to a new suspension
of hostilities.

Austria was not inclined to proceed too quickly,
nor to agree to so many sacrifices in Italy. She
deceived herself regarding the conditions she might
1)0 able to obtain, and reject(^d the ])roposals of
France. Hostilities were the immediate result.
M. Cobentzel and Josei)h Bonaparte remtiined at
Lundville, waiting to makt; new coniniunications,
according to the events which might liapix'U on
the Danube, the Inn, the Higher Alps, or the
Adige.

The I'esnmption of hostilities had been an-
noimced for the 28111 of November, or 7lh Fri-
maire, year ix. All was ready for this winter
campaign, one of the most celebrated and decisive
in the annals of Fraiicr.

The first consul had disj)layeil five armies upon

174'^forceT.''"''""^""'^''"'^ THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Disposition of the French 1800.

the vast theatre of war. His intention was to
direct them from Paris, without jnitting himself at
their head. He had still not renounced the idea
of proceeding to Germany or It:ily, and taking the
command of one of them upon any unforeseen
reverse occui-riug, or should any other cause ren-
der his i)resence necessary. His equipages were
at Dijon, ready to take him to any point where it
might be necessary to transport himself.

The five armies were those of Augereau on the
Main, of Moreau on the Inn, of Macdonald in the
Orisons, of Bruno on the ISlincio, and of Murat
mart-hing towards Italy witli the grenadiers of
Amiens. Auginan had under his command eight
thousand Hollanders and twelve thousand French,
in ail twenty thousand men. Moreau one hundred
and thirty tliousand, of whom one hundred and
twenty thousand belonged to the active army. The
army of the last hud been raised to this consider-
able strength by recruiting, by the return of sick
and wounded, and by the union of the corps of
St. Suzanne The surrender of Pliilipsburg, Ulm,
and Ingoldstadt, had besides permitted Moreau
to concentrate all his forces between the Isar and
tlie Inn. Macdonald had at his disposal fifteen
thousand men in tiie Grisons. Brune in Italy was
at the head of one hundred and twenty-five thou-
sand soldiers, eighty thousand of whom wei'e on
the Mincio, twelve thousand in Lombardy, Pied-
mont, and Lignria, eight thousand in Tuscany, and
twenty-five thousand in the hospitals. Murat's
corps was comiHised of ten thousand grenadiers.
If to this number be added forty thousand men in
Egypt and the colonies, and sixty thousand in the
interior and on the coasts, it will appear that during
the administration of the first consul, the republic
had nearly four hundred thousand men underarms.
The three hundred thousand placed in the theatre
of war, of which two hundred and fifty thousand
were effective, and capable of immediate action,
were provided with every thing, owing to the
unit d resources of the ti'easury and contributions
in the concjuered countries. The cavalry was well
mounted, more especially that in Germany. The
artillery was numerous, and perfectly well served.
Moreau had two Inindred pieces <if cannon, and
Brune one hundred and eighty. The French were,
therefore, better prepared than in the spring, and
the armies had, in themselves, a confidence beyond
bounds.

Enlightened but severe judges have anked why
the first consul, in place of dividing into five corps
the whole of his active force, had not, following
his owi. jirinciples, formed two grand masses, one
of one hundred and seventy thousand men, under
Moreau, marching on Vicuna, through Bavaria;
the other of one hundred and thirty thousand men,
under Brune, ])assing (he Mincio, the Adige, the
Alps, and threatening Vienna and Friuli This
was, in fact, the plan which he ado])ted in 1805 ;
but an examination of facts will show how well and
profoundly he was acquainted with men and things,
and how he was alile to vary, according to circum-
stances, the great principles of war.

The two princijial armies, those of Moreau and
Brune, were placed on tlie two sides of the Al|)s,
and nearly at the .same height, the first along the
Inn, the second along the Mincio. Moreau hail to
force the line of the Inn: Brune that of the Min-

cio. Those two armies were, at least, equal in
numerical, and greatly superior in moral force,
to those that were opposed to them. Between the
two arose the chain of the Alps, forming in this
part what is called the Tyrol. The Austrians had
the corps of general lller in the German Tyrol,
and that of general Davidovich in the Italian
Tyrol. General Macdonald, with the fifteen thou-
sand men placed under his command, styled " the
second army of reserve," was to occupy the atten-
tion of these two corps entirely, by keeping them
uncertain where he would make an attack ; since,
placed in the Grisons, he was at liberty to throw
liimself directly into the German Tyrol, or by the
SplUgen into the Italian. The title which his
army bore, and the doubts circulated regarding
its strength, gave out the belief of some extra-
orilinary blow being about to be struck, and it
was ready to ])roHi liy the prestige which the army
of St. Bernard had produced. Too little credit
had been given to the existence of the first
army of reserve, and ]>eople were ready to give
too much to the second. Moreau and Bru)ie,
having no more anxiety on the side of the Alps,
were thus able, 'without being in apprehension
about their flanks, to push forward with all their
forces.

The little army of Augereau was destined to
watch over the levies en masse in Franconia and
Suabia, supported liy the Austrian corps of Simb-
schen. It thus covered the left and rear of
Moreau. Finally, Murat, with ten thousand gre-
nadiers and a powerful artillery, performed for
Brune what Augereau did for Moreau. He
covered the right and rear of Brune against the
insurgents of central Italy, the Neapolitans, English,
and others.

These prudent precautions are such as it is
proper to take when confined within the conditions
of ordinary warfare. But the first consul was
necessarily confined within them, when he had
to carry out his designs two such generals as
Moreau and Brune. Moreau, the best of the two,
and one of the best in Eurojic, still was not the
man to do what the first consul did himself in
1805> after he became emi)eror, when he collected
a considerable force on the Diinube, and leaving
a smaller force in Italy, marched thundering on
upon Vienna, not disturinng himself about his
flanks or his rear, and placing his security in the
crushing vigour of iiis blows. But Moi-eau and
Brune were not men to comport themselves in
this manner. It was necessary that in directing
them he shouM keep within the limits of metho-
dical warfare ; it was necessary to guard their
flanks and rear, to secure them against what
might occur around them ; for neither the one
nor the other were equal to the control of acci-
dents by the grandeur and vigour of their resolu-
tions. It was for this that Macdonald was jilaced
in the Tyrol, Augereau in Franconia, and Murat
in central Italy.

These dispositions did not admit of being
changed, imless the internal affairs of France had
permitted the first consul to make war in person;
but all the world agreed that at such a moment
he- ought not to quit the centre of his govermnent.
{ His absence during the shoi-t campaign of Ma-
j rengo had produced inconveniences great enough

1800. Dispo!<ition of the Austrian army.
Nov. Ciiraiueiiceraent of hosiiiities in

HOIIENLINDEN.

Germany. — Theatre of the war
described.

to prevent his exposing himself to them again
without an absolute necessity.

The dispositions of the Austrian army were, in
every way, inferior to those of the Frencli. Their
armies, nearly equal in numbers to the Frinch, were
in no way equal to them in other i-especis. They
were not yet recovered from their recent defeats.
The archduke John commanded in Germany ;
marshal Bellegarde in Italy. The corps of Simb-
schen, destined to form the nucleus of the army
of the levies of Snal.ia and of Franconia, was .'iiip-
ported on general Khnau. The last commandod
an intermediate corps, placed on both sides the
Danube, connecting itself, on the right, with the
corps of Simbschen, and on the left, with the prin-
cipal army of the archduke. Generals Simbschen
and Klenau had between them twenty-four thou-
sand men, exclusively of the partizan troops raised
in Geruumy. General Klenau was destined to
follow the movements of general St. Suzanne; to
approach the archduke if St. Suzanne approached
JIoreau,or to join Simbschen's corps if St. Suzannj
should join the little army of Augereau.

The archduke John had eighty thousand men
under his command, of wiiich force sixty thousand
Austrians were in advance of the Inn and twenty
thousand Wurtembergers, or Bavarians, behind
the entrenchments on that river. General Uler
commanded twenty thousand men in the Tyrol, in-
dependently of ten thousand Tyroleans. Marshal
Bellegarde, in Italy, was at the head of eighty thou-
sand men,wellstationedbi hind the .Mincio. Lastly,
ten thousand Austrians, detached towards Ancona
and Romagna, were ready to second the Neapoli-
tans or English, in case the last should make an
attempt on central or southern Italy. Here, then,
Wiis a force of two hundred and twenty-four thou-
sand men, that, with the Mayenfaif, the Tyroleans,
the Neapolitans, the Tuscans, and the English,
amounted to about three hundre I thousand men.
The first consul, in disarming the Tuscans, closing
Leghorn against the English, and restraining the
Neapolitans, had taken a useful precaution, very
well adapted to hinder the augrnentiitiou of the
enemy's means of offence.

Under a kind of common resolution, the two bel-
ligerents seemed disposed to settle their quarrel in
Girmany, between the lini and the Isar. The
operations commenced on the 28th of November,
or 7'h Frimaire, in very severe weathei', which
produced a coM rain in Suabia, and an intense fro.st
in the Alps. VVhilo Augereau, advancing by Frank-
fort, Aschatfeniberg, Wurtzbtirg, and Nuremberg,
fou;;ht a brilliant action at Burg-Eberach, sepa-
rated the Mayciiee levies of the cor|)s of Simbschen,
and neutralized the last for the remainder of the
cam|)aign ; while Macdonald, after having for a
long time occupied the Austrians towards the
sources of the Inn, wa.s getting ready, despite- the
8^-verity of the season, to cross the great Alpine
chain, in order to throw himself upon the Italian
Tyrol, for the pur[)oHo of facilitating the attack of
lirune upon the line of ihe Mincio; Moreau, with
the principal part, of his forces, advanced between
the Isar and tin- Inn, over a field of battle which
he had long siuditd, necking a decisive engagement
with the grand army of the Austrians.

It is iiecesHary clearly to understand the nature
of the country over which the French and Aus-

trians went to the encounter, in one of the most
imporUtnt battles during our long wars. We have
•^Isewhere described the basin of the Daimbc, com-
posed of that great river and a number of tributa-
ries, which descend rapidly from the Alps, and in
succession go to increase the body of its stream.
These tributaries, we have before said, are the
lines which an Austrian army should defend to
cover Vienna, and which must be forced by a
French army that seeks to march upon that capital.
Moreau, as will be remembered, in the summer
campaign, after having penetrated from the valley
of the Rhine into that of the Danube, and having
passed the Iller, Lech, and Isar, had halted be-
tween the Isar and the Iim. He was master of
the cour.se of the Isar, of which he occupied all the
principal points. Munich first, then Freising,
Moosburg, Landshut, and other places. He had
advanced beyond that river, and was in face of the
Inn, occupied in force by the Austrians.

The Isar and the Inn both flow from the Alps,
rmming together into the Danube, and are sepa-
rated by a distance, almost continually the same, of
ten or twelve leagues. At first they direct them-
selves nearly north, the Isar as far as Munich, the
Inn to Wassei'hurg ; then both rivers fall off to the
east, until they flow into the Danube, the Isar at
Deggendorf, the Inn at Passau. The French were
masters of the Isar ; it was necessary they should
force the Inn. This river, broad, deep, defended
at its outbreak from the mountains by the fort of
Kufstein, and in the lower part of its course by the
fortress of Braunau, covered between these two
])oints with a great number of entrenchments — this
river was a difficult obstacle to pass over. To
force the Isar in the upper jiart of its course, be-
tween Kufstein, Rosenheim, and Wasserburg, local
difficulties presented themselves nearly insurmount-
able ; and besides these, the army of the Tyi'ol
would be upon the right flank. If Moreau at-
tempted to force the Isar in the lower part of its
course, between Braunau and Passau, near where it
falls into the Danube, he would be exposed, during
a long march upon the left, in a difficult country,
woody, marshy, and his flank bare to the Austrian
army, which by Miihldorf and Braunau, had the
means of throwing itself upon his right wing.
These inconveniences were thought to he of a very
serious nature. If the Austrians, taking care to
guard themselves, and to watch with vigilance all
the passages of the Iim, kejit upon the defensive,
Moreau would encounter obstacles well nigh in-
surmountable. Such was not their scheme : the
Austrian staff resolved upon as.suniing the offen-
sive. The young arehduke John, his head full of
new theories invented by the Germans, and eager
to emulate some of the great movements of Bona-
parte, conceived a very extensive plan, not on the
whole a bad conception, according to good judges ;
but it was unluckily vain, because it was not
founded upon a correct view of existing circum-
stances. As well as can be ascertained, this plan
was as follows.

Moreau occupied the ground which separated
the Isar from the Inn. Between Munich and
Wa.sserburg the land forms an elevated level,
covered with a ihiik forest, subsiding as it ap-
l)roache8 the Daindu'. As it thus subsides it is
broken into numerous ravines, some parts still

The archduke assumes the
17c offensive.— His plan to
turn Moreau's rear.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Motions of the two

continuing to be covered witli wood, other parts
marshy, and everywhere presenting great difficul-
ties of access. Moreau was in possession of this
level, of the forest, and the roads tliat passed over
it. From Munich, wliere his head-quarters were
situated, two roads lead to tiie Inn, one going
directly by Ebersberg on Wasserburg, the other
leading obliquely to the left, passing by Hohenlin-
den, Haag, Ain'])fing, and Mlihldorf. Both one
and the other cross the sombre forest of pines
which covers that elevated region. It was in this
formidable retreat, formed by a mountainous and
wooded country, to be approached only by two
roads of which Moreau lield possession, that the
archduke must seek him in order to give battle.
The other roads consisted only of strai},'lit, narrow
ways, principally. used for the conveyance of wood,
and wholly impracticable for the heavy trains that
accompany an army.

The young archduke projected a grand man-
anivre. He had no idea of attacking the front
of Moreau's position, but of turning it by the bridge
of Miihldorf, New-CEtting, and Braunau. Leaving
twenty thousand men, Bavarians, Wurtembergers,
and the emigrants of Cond^ to guard the Inn, he
proposed to himself to assume the defensive with
sixty thousand Austrians, and to march upon the
left of Moreau, tlimugh that woody, marsliy dis-
trict which extends between the Inn and Isar near
to the points where they unite with the Danube.
If the archduke rapidly passed over tliis difficult
country by Eggenfelden, Neumarkt, Vilsbibnrg,
and arrived in time at Landshut upon the Isar, he
would be able to ascend the Isar in the French
rear, as far as Freising, pass over the Isar there,
and take uj) his ground uptm a chain of heights
which commencing at Dachau overlook the plains
of Municli. Placed there he would dangerously
threaten the line of Moreau's retreat, and oblige
hiu'i to evacuate the country between the Inn and
the Isar, and to traverse IMnnich in great haste, in
order to take np a retrograde i)osition upon the
Lech. But to ensure him the success of this man-
oeuvre he must have accurately calculated the
means of execution ; and after having engaged in
the operation, great firmness was requisite to en-
counter the chances of danger, for it was necessary
to cross a country almost impracticable, in a dread-
ful season, the whole time u])on the skirts of tlie
enemy, who was not prompt and daring it is true,
but intelligent, firm, and not easily disconcerted.
Tlie armies of the two nations were in movement
on the 2f!;h or 27th of November, or the 5th and
fjfli of Frimaire, to commence hostilities on the
28th or 7th of Frimaire. 'J'lie Austrian genei-al
Klenau, stationed upon the Danube to support
Simbschen against the little army of Augenau,
liad attracted the attention of general St. Suzanne,
commanding the 4th cor|)s of Moreau. Drawn
both one and the other far from the principal
theatre of events, they were upon the Danube,
genei-al St. Suzanne towanls Ingoldstadt, and ge-
neral Klenau towards Ratisbon.

Moreau had moved his left wing, twenty-six
thousan<l strong, and placed it under the orders of
general Grenier on the great road from Munich to
Miihldorf by Holienlinden, Haag, and Amiifing;
thus it occupied the slo|)es of that species of lofty
level which extends between the two rivers. His

centre, which Moreau commamled in person, and
which amounted to about thirty-four thousand
men ', occupied the direct road from Munich to
Wasserburg by Ebersberg. The right wing
under Lecourbe consisting of about twenty-six
thousand men, was placed along the u|)per Inn,
in the viciin"ty of Rosenheim, observing tlie Tyrol
with one division. Moreau had only at hand
therefore his left and centre, or about sixty thou-
sand men. He had set his army in movement to
make a strong reconnoissance from Rosenheim as
far as Miihldorf, to force the enemy to discover his
intentions. Moreau knew not, like Bona])arte, how
to divine the plans of his adversary, still less to
dictate them, as the last did, by taking the initia-
tive boldly himself. Moreau was forced to grope
in order to find out that which he could not guess
or command; but he advanced prudently, and if
he was sur])rised, quickly repaired with great cool-
ness the mischief thus occasioned.

The 29th and 30th of November, or 8th and 9th
Frimaire, the year IX., was enijiloyed by the French
army in reconnoitring the line of the Inn ; and by
the Austrian army in ])assing that line, and tra-
versing the low country between the Inn, the
Danube, and the Isar. Moreau forced the Aus-
trian advanced posts to fall back, moved his right
under Lecourbe to Rosenheim, his centre under
himself to Wasserburg, and his left under Grenier
to the heights of Ampfing. From the heights a
command is obtained of the banks of the Inn,
though at a great distance. The lelt of the French
army was somewhat coni]iromised, because in fol-
lowing the channel of the Inn as far as Miihldorf
it was no less than fifteen leagues from Munich,
while the rest of the army was more than ten.
Moreau in consequence took care that it should be
supported by a division of the centre, under the
command of general Graiidjean. But it was a
fault to advance in this way in three corps, so far
one from another, in place of maiching in a strong
body upon the Inn, presenting himself at a single
opening, and making false demonstrations at several
other places. This errcjr was very near being pro-
ductive of serious consequences.

The Austrian army had passed by Braunau, Neu-
CEtting, Miihldorf, and traversed the low country,
of which mention has been already made. A part
of the troops of the archduke, recently arrived, had
scarcely had time to rest. They were inarching
with labour in that woody district, crossed by small
rivers, such as the Vils, the Rott, and the Isen,
which descended from the table land occupied by
the French army. The narrow ])aths which they
were forced to take were broken up ; the heavy
waggons had much difficultv in moving. The
young archduke and his advisers, who were not
prei)ared for any of these circumstances, were
frightened at the undertaking now it was com-
menced. The French left wing, advanced nearly
to Miilddorf and Ampfing, made them fear being
cut ott' from the Inn. They designed to turn
Moreau, and were now in fear of being turned

' The centre consisted of thirty tliousaiid men; but the
Piilisli (livi^ion of Kniacewitz, wliidi I. ad rejdined general
Decaen, and the reserve of the artillery, must have inereased
the number to about ihiity-four or thirty-five thousand
men.

Errors of the archduke John.
Combat at Ampfing.

IIOHENL INDEX.

Moreau advances on the fun.
Position of the French army.

177

themselves. They ought to have foreseen sueli
a danger, and formed on the Danube, between
Ratisbon and Passau, a new base of operation in
ease of their being separated from the Inn. But
they had done notliing. In every liold operation
it is proi)er to provide for tlic ilifticuhies of the
execution. Then, the execution once commenced,
to persevere with firmness in the intention once
begun; since it is rare that we do not our.selves
risk tlie very dangers which we have prepared for
oiir adversary. The Austrian stafli" was afraid,
from the first setting out, of that which it had
]ilanned itself, and suddenly changed its design.
Instead of persisting in gaining tlie Isar to ascend
into the French roar, it stopped short, determined
to fall upon the French left and to give battle at
once. This was to face the ditticulty ui full force,
and without the least diminution; for it was neces-
sary, in ascending by the beds of the rivers, to climb
to the elevated ground which the French occupied,
.ind to penetrate into the forest, wliere (hey had
been for a long time well established. Tiie Aus-
trians might be able at commencing to obtain an
advantage over the left wing of the French, which
was somewhat endangered; but that success gained,
tlie French would be found concentrated in a real
labyrinth, of which they well knew and commanded
all the outlets.

On the 1st of December, or 10th of Frimaire, in
the year ix., the archduke John moved the larger
part of his army upon the left of the French at
once by three roads ; the valley of the Isen, the
h'ghway fmm Miilildorf to Ampfing, and by the
lu-idge of Krayburg on ihe Inn. The valley of the
Isen, opening on the flanks of the woody table-land
already described, allowed the lengthened position,
too much lengthened as it was, to be turned. A
corps of fifteen thousand men ascended the eleva-
tion. Anotiier corps marched right on upon the
highway of Miilildorf, which, after mounting the
heights of Ampfing, conducts through the forest to
Ilolienlinden and Munich. Lastly, a detachment
crossing the Inn at Kraiburg, and passing through
Aschau took in flank the left wing of the French,
which liad unfortunately advtntured as far as
Amjifing. Forty thousand men were in a moment
about to fall upon twenty thousand. Thus the coii-
ti St was severe and difficult for the twenty thou-
sand men thus situated, who were eonnnaiuled by
gineral Grenier. Ney, who defi nded the heights
<if Ampfing, displayed on that day the inconi))a-
raljle energy and courage for which he was so (lis-
tiiiguished in war. He exhibited the most won-
derful elforts of valour, and managed to effi ct his
retreat with no very serious loss. Being me-
naced by the troops r»f the ciioniy that had passed
the Inn at Krayburg, and that had ])enetiale<l into
the dtfiic of Aschau, he was happily disengaged
from his hazanlous situation by the division of
general Grandji-an, that Moreau, as we have saiil,
had detached from his centre to support his left,
'ihe division of Legrand, which was in the valley
of the Isen, ascended that valley in retrograding
upon Dorfen. Moreau, seiing the superiority of
the Austrians, had the good feeling to rcHtrain him-
self, and elfocted his retreat in good onler.

It is clear from these movements that Moreau
had been imable to peni'tnite the design of the
enemy, and that by advancing u|ion all (he open-

ings of the Inn at once, in place of making an
attack upcm a single point, he had compromised his
left. The extraordinary courage of tlie troops, the
activity of his lieutenants, who in execution were
accomplished generals, had repaired every over-
sight.

This was only an insignificant commencement.
Mt)reau had abandoned the borders of his posilicai,
and withdrew to the centre of the extensive forest
of Hohenlinden. The Austrians would find it ne-
cessary to force him from this formidable retreat.
His coolness and energy were here about to be
confronted with the archduke's inexperience, in-
fatuated by a first success.

We have already said that two ronds traversed
the forest, one on the right, which leil directly to
the Inn by Ebersberg and Wasstrburg ; the other
fill the left, which passed by Hohenlinden, Matten-
boett, Haag, Ampfing, and joined the Inn at Miilil-
dorf, a longer distance than the former. It was
upon this last road that the Austrians w-ei"e pro-
ceeding in a body. Some were following the defile
which it forms through the forest, others, ascend-
ing with labour by the beds of the rivulets which
gave access to the flank of the French position.
Moreau at once judged of the situation of things,
judged correctly, and became at once possessed
with an idea productive of great results. This was
to suffer the Austrians that were already in con-
flict willi his left, to engage themselves in the forest,
and when they were ])retty far advanced into it, to
move his centre from the Ebersberg to the Hohen-
linden road, surprise them in that dangerous posi-|
tion, and beat them there. He made all his dispo-
sitions with that view.

The road on the left, or that of Hohenlinden,
adopted by the Austrians, after having quitted the
banks of the Inn, and mounted the heights of
Ampfing, passed as far as Mattenboctt, over hills
alternately wooded or open, then from Mattenboett
to Hohenlinden through a dense wood, forming a
long defile, bordered by tall pines. At Hohenlinden
itself the forest suddenly disappeared. A small
plain then appeared, without wood, covered with
scattered hamlets, and in the middle of the plain
were situated the post-house and village. There
the Austrian army must pass, and not only the
princi])al column marching in the defile of the
forest, but the detachments aseemling the river
Isen, in order to open out by difi'erent issues upon
the left of the French |)osition.

Moreau formed, in this little plain of Hohenlin-
den. his left wing under Grenier and the division
of Grandjean already detached from the centre; in
fact, all his reserve of artillery and cavalry.

To the right of the road alul villa^,'.- of Hohen-
linden, Moreau placed Grandji aii's division, com-
manded that <lay by general {Jronch.v ; to the left
(he division of Ney ; more still to (he left on the
border of the wood, at the li<;i<l of the i-oad by
which tli(! Austrian colunms would ascend from
the valley of the Isen, he stationed the divisions of
Legrand and Bastoul, both one and the other
drawn up in front of the villages of Pi-eisendorf
ami Ilarihofeii. The n serves of cavalry and artil-
lery were in the rear of these four divisions of
infantry, formed in the middle of the plain. The
centre, reduced to (lie two divisions of Kichepanse
and Decaeii,were some leagues dislant on the right
N

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIIIE.

Advance of the Aus-

180'*.
Uec

hand road in tlie vicinity of Ebersberg. Moreau
sent orders to those two divisions, rather vaguely
expressed, but of tlie most positive cliaracter, to
throw themselves from the right liand road upon
that on the left, to get upon the last in the environs
of Mattenboett, and there to take the Austrian army
entangled in the forest by surprise. This order
was not given with precision, clearness, nor mi-
nuteness, as all orders should be that are well con-
ceived and well given, as those of Bonaparte uni-
formly were. It neither indicated the road to be
followed, nor did it provide for any possible con-
tingencies, but left all to be done by the intelligence
of generals Decaen and Richepanse. They might
be entruste<l, it is true, to supply themselves with
all that the conim;in<Kr-in-chief had omitted. Mo-
reau directed Lecourbe who commanded his right
towards the Tyrol, and St. Suzanne who formed
his left toward the Danube, to approach by forced
marches towards the spot where the decisive event
of the campaign was al)out to hap])en. But one
was at least tifteen leagues off, and the other
twenty-five, and both were in consequence beyond
reach. Bonaparte never acted thus upon the eve
of his great battles; he never left, at similar times,
half his forces at such distances. But to bring nj)
at one time on the point whfre the destiny of the
war is to be decided, every detachment composing
a numerous army, demands that superior foresight
which the greatest commanders alone possess, and
destitute of which it is very possible to be an excel-
lent general. Moreau was on the point of fighting
seventy thousand Austrians with less than sixty
thousand French ; yet this number was more than
sufficient witii the soldiers wliich then composed
the French army.

The archduke John, ignorant of all these things,
was intoxicated with liis advantage gained on the
1st of December, or 10th Frimaire. He was young,
and had seen the redoubtable army of the Rhine,
that for many years the Austrian generals had not
possessed the skill to stop, fall back before himself.
He remained idle on the 2nd of Deceml)er, which
gave Moreau time to m;ike the dispositions of his
army which have been just described. He prepared
every thing for marchin'^ through the vast forest
of Hohenlinden on the 3rd of December, or 12 h
Frimaire. The archduke, a novice in his profession,
did not imagine that the French army could make
any resistance to him in the route he was about to
take. He thought only that he might fall in with
it in advance of Munich.

He divided his army into four corps. The prin-
cipal, that of the centre, composed of the reserve,
the Hungarian grenadiers, Bavarians, the greater
part of the cavalry, the ba^'gage, and a hundreil
pieces of cannon, was to take the hinli road from
MUhldorf to Hoheidinden, clear the defile through
which it p;isses in crossing the forest, and then
open upon the little plain of Hohenlinden. General
Riesch, who had crossed the Inn at Krayburg, on
the 1st of December, with about twelve thousand
men, was to flank this centre, and to come upon
the open ground at Hohenlinden, on the left of the
Austrians and right of the French. At the other
extremity of the field of battle, the corps of Baillet-
Latour and Kicnmnyer, that were in the valley of
the Isen. were to coiitiinie their ascent, and to
issue forth at some distance from each other, the

first by Isen upon Kronaker and Preisendorf, the
second by Lendorf upon Harthofen, both in the
unwooded plain of Hohenlinden. They were or-
dered not to lose time, but to leave even their
artillery behind, the corps of the centre taking
with it a large quantity by the principal road; they
were to take no more necessaries than were suffi-
cient to make soup for the soldiers.

Thus then the fiur corps composing the Austrian
army marched at a <;i-eat distance from one another,
in a thick forest : while only one of the four passed
over a high paved road, the other three went along
roads employed solely for the carriage of timber.
All were, however, to meet together in the cleared
ground which extended between Hohenlinden and
Harthofen, subject to the hazard of not arriving
together, and of meeting during the march many
niiToreseen obstacles. The Bavadans having re-
joined the Austrians, the army of the archduke
numbered at the time seventy thousand men.

On the morning of the 3rd of December, the
French were formed in order of battle between
Hohenlinden and Harthofen. Moreau was on
horseback before break of day at the head of his
staff, and at some little distance Richepanse and
Decaen had begun the movement which they had
been commanded to execute between the roads of
Ebersberg and Hohenlinden.

The four Austrian corps advanced simultaneou.sly.
They marched as fast as they wereal)le, well aware
of the value of time, at a season when there is so
little daylight either to march or to fight. A thick
snow-shower fell and darkened the air, so as to
render it difficult to disiinguish objects distant but
a short way off. The archduke John, at the head
of the centre, had got into the defile of the forest
between Mattenlioett and Hohenlinden, and had
nearly cleared it, long before general Riesch on his
left, and generals Baillet-Latour and Kienmayer on
his right, were able to arrive at the field of battle,
embarrassed as they were amidst the horrible roads
they had taken. The young archduke at last ap-
peared on the skirt of the wood in front of Grand-
jean's and Ney's divisi((ns, drawn up in order of
battle in advance of the village of Hohenlinden.
The 108ih denii-brigade of Grandjean's division
was in line, having upon its wings the 46lli and
57ih in close coloumns ; the 4th hussars and 6th
of the line supported them in the rear. On both
sides a brisk fire of artillery commenced the action.
The Austrians attacked the 108th, which ma<le a
determined resistance. Eight battalions of Hun-
garian grenadiers were then ordered to file through
the wood to turn the French by the right. Upon
observing this movement, generals Grouchy and
Grandjean went with the 40th to the assistance of
the 108 h, which, disordered, had begun to give
ground. The 4bth penetrated into the wood, and
a desperate combat ensued there, almost man to
man, among the pine trees, with the Hungarian
grenadiei's. A battalion of the 57th, pushing into
the wood still deeper, turned the Hungarians, and
(djliged ihem to seek for safety in the recesses of the
forest. Thus the division of Grandjean remained
victorious, and hindered the Austrian column from
opening out upon the plains of Hohenlinden,

After a few moments' cessation, the archduke
•Joim directed a new attack to be made upon
Hohenlinden and the division of Grandjean. This

1800.
Dec.

Battle of Hohenlinden.
Gallant cliarge of Kichepanse.

HOHENLINDEN.

Meeting of Ney and Riehepanse.

171)

second attack was repulsed as tlie first liad been.
At this moment there was discovered, on tlie side
of Kronaker, the Austrian troops of Baillet-Latour,
who showed themselves upon the left, ready to
issue out upon the plains of Hohenlinden. The
snow for a few minutes having ceased to fall, per-
mitted theui to be distinctly seen, though tluy
were not yet in a condition to act, and then the
divisions of B;vstoul and Legrand were prepared to
give them a warm reception. On a sudden a sort
of unsteadiness, a wavering, an agitation, was seen
along the centre of the Austrian army, which had
not yet been disengaged from the forest delile.
Something unaccountable seemed to be taking
place in their rear. Mnreau, with a sagacity
which did honour to his military glance, remarked
it, and said to Ney, " This is the moment to charge;
Riehepanse and Decaen nmst be on the rear of the
Austrians." He iiimiediately commanded the di-
visions of Ney and Gran<ljean, which were on the
right and left of Hohenlinden, to form themselves
in columns of attack, to charge the Austrians
drawn up on the skirts of the forest, and to drive
them back upon the long defile in which until
then they had been enclosed. Ney charged tliem
in front, Grouchy with Grandjean's division took
them in fiank, and then both drove them furiously
into the defile, where they were crowded together
pell-mell with their cavalry and artillery.

At this very moment, near the other end of the
defile, at Mattenboett, that event was happening
for which Moreau had prepared, and which he had
just now foreseen. Uiclivpanse and Decaen, in
obedience to the orders which they had receiveil,
had started across from the road of Ebersberg into
thnt of Hohenlinden. Richepansp, wlio was nearest
to Mattenboett, had proceeded without waiting for
Decaen, and had plunged deeply and audaciously
into that country of wood and ravine which sepa-
rates the two roads, marcliing while the battle
was fighting at Holienlimlen, and making incre-
dible efforts to drag with him over that inundated
ground six light guns. He had already passed
through the village of St. Christopher with one
brigade, when the cor|)s of general Riesch, that
was designed to flank the Austrian centre, arrived
there. Drouet, with the second brigade, was left
ciig;iged with the enemy; Riche|)anse making sure
that Decaen would soon come up to his assistance
and disengage him, he himself marched upon
Mattenboett iis fast as possible, for there his mili-
tary instinct told him he would find the decisive
point. There only remained with him two demi-
Inigadcs of infantry, the H.h and 48tli, a single
regiment of cavalry, the 1st chasseurs, and six
guns, in all about six thousand men. He ])ushed
forwards, dragging his artillery by liand, con-
timially in (luagmires. H;iving arrived at Matten-
boett, at the otiier end of the forest defile, of which
they had just attacked the head, he encountcn d a
troop of cuirassiern on foot, their bridles on their
arms ; he attacked them and took them prisoners.
Then forming on the little apace of o|ien ground
that Hurrouinls Mattenboett, he ranged the 8ilt on
right, the 48th on the left, ami sent the Ist chas-
seurs upon eight B(|uadrons of cavalry, which on
seeing the French pre|)aii(l to char;ie. The ehas-
senrs charged home, Init were driven baik, and
rallied behind the 8th deini- brigade. This last cro.ss-

ing bayonets stopped the advance of the Austrian
cavalry. At this moment the position of Riehepanse
was very critical. Having lett his second brigade in
the rear, to keep head against the corps of general
Riesch, himself surrounded on all sides, he thouglit
it best not to let the Austrians perceive his weak-
ness. He confided to general Walther the 8th
demi-brigade and the 1st chasseurs, in order to
restrain the rearguard of the enemy, which seemed
disposed to attack. He himself, with the 48th
alone, moved to the left, and boldly determined to
attack the Austrians in the forest defile. Perilous
as this resolution seemed, it was not less wise than
courageous, because the column of the archduke
nmst have before it the whole of the French army,
and by flinging himself desjjerately upon the rear,
it was more than probable he woulil produce great
disorder and obtain important results. Riehe-
panse, therefore, formed the 48th into two columns,
and marching sword in hand in the midst of his
grenadiers, penetrated into the forest, receiving,
without yielding an inch, a severe discharge of
grape-shot ; there he met two Hungarian battalions
that disputed his passage. Riehepanse would have
animated his men both by voice and gesture; but
they had no need of either. " These men are our
prisoners," they shouted; "let us charge !" They
immediately charged, and completely routed the
Hungarians. They next came upon heaps of bag-
gage, artillery, and infantry, all accumulated in
confusion in that narrow pass. Riehepanse by his
appearance struck them with indescribable terror,
and they were thus flung into disorder, at the same
moment that confused cries were heard at the
other extremity of the defile On arriving there
the shouts became more distinct, and discovered
the i)resence of the French. They came from
Ney, who, leaving Hohenlinden, had penetrated by
the head of the defile, driving before him the Aus-
trian column that Riehepanse was now forcing
back upon him from the rear.

Ney and Riehepanse then met, recognized caih
other, and embraced full of joy at the glorious
result they had obtaineil. Their soldiers rushed
upon those Austrians on every side, who had sought
shelter in the w<iods, and were now asking for
(]uarter. Thousands of prisoners were taken, tho
whole of the Austrian artillery and baggage. Riehe-
panse abandoned to Ney the care of gathering up
the tro|)hies of their victory, returning to Matten-
boett, where he had left general Walther, and
the rest of his brigade, with one regiment of ca-
valry. He found the gallant general struck by a
ball, and carrying off in the arms of his men, his
Countenance beaming with joy, and repaid in his
sufferings by the satisfaction of having contributed
to the decisive manoeuvre. Riehepanse disengaged
his troops and returned to St. Christopher's, whoro
he had left Drouet and his brigade alone in combat
with the corps of Riesch. All his hopes had b<>en
fulfilled on this fortunate day. General Dcca<ai
bad arrived in time, had disengaged the corps of
Drouet, and made a number of prisoners.

Dy this time it was noon-day. The centre of the
army of the archduke had bci n enveloped an<l
utterly routed. The left, under general Riesch,
having arrived too late to stop Riehepanse, at-
tacked and driven towards the Inn by Decaen,
was in lull retreat, after suffering considerable loss.
n2

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

His brilliant success. —
This the greatest of
his battles.

From such resuJts in regard to the centre and left
of tlie Austriaiis, the termmationof the battle could
not be (hnibtful.

Durin;; these events the divisions of Bastoul and
Legniiid, placed on the lelt of the open plain of
H-.tienlinden, found upon their hands, the infan-
ti-y of generals Baillct-Latour and Kiennmver.
These divisions had enougli to do, being inferiii-in
number to the enemy by one-half, and were pushed
hardly in consequence. They had too the disad-
vant.Vge of the ground, since the head of the wooded
ravines, by wiiich the Austrians issued upon the
little plain of Hohenlinden, being somewhat higher
than tiie plain itself, permitted a plumjing fire to
be directed u|ion it. Still, generals B.i'Uoul and
Legrand, under the conmiand of general Grenier,
were .•seconded by the courage of their brave sol-
diers. Fortunately, also, Hautpoul's ca ahy was
presfiit to support them, as well as Ney's second
brigade, he having taken but one with him into
the iletile.

These two French divisions, at first borne down
by numbers, lost ground. Abandoning the edge of
the woo.l, they fell bacU into the plain, but with a
steady front they displayed to the enemy the most
heroic firmness. Two demi-brigades of Legrsmd's
division, tlu-Slstand 42d, falling back to Harthofen,
had to enjiage Kitnmayer's infantry, as well as a
division of cavalry attached to that corps. Some-
times keeping up a st ady fire on the infantry,
sometimes repulsing the cavalry with the bayonet,
they opposed an invincible resistance to every
assault. At this time general Grenier, gaining
int'-lligence of the success obtained over the Aus-
trian centre, formed Legrand's division iHto co-
lunnis, supporting the movement by some charges
of Hautpoul's cavalry, and thus repulsed tlie corps
of Kieinnayer, as far as the skirt of the wood. On
liis own side general Bonnet, with the division of
Ba.st'iul, charged the Austrians, and overthrew
then) in;o a valley, from whence they were at-
tempting to issue. The grenadiers of Jola's brigade,
part of Ney's second, rushed up to Baillet-Latour
and repulsed him. The impulse of victory, com-
municated to these bold troops, redoubled their
strength and Courage. They alternately drove
back the two corps of Baillet-Latour and Kien-
mayer, the one towards the Isen,tlie other towards
Lendorf, in that low and difficult couniry, out
of which they liad vainly attempted to come, in
order to possess themselves of the plain of Hohen-
lindcn.

Moreau at this moment returned from the depth
of ihe forest, with a detachment of Grandjean's
division, in order to succour the left, which was so
briskly attacked. But there, as on all the other
points, he found the soldiers victorious, transported
with joy, anil felicitating thvir genci'al upon his
signal victory. The triumph was, indeed, very
great. The Austrian army had still more difficulty
to encounter in getting out of the woods than it
liad to penetrate into tliem. Every where strag-
gling corps were observed, tliat not knowing whi-
ther to fly, fell into the hands of the victors and
laid down their arms. It was five o'clock, and
night covered with its shadows the field of battle.
From seven thousand to eight thousand Austrians
were killed, and twelve thousand made prisoners,
three hundred waggons, and eighty-seven pieces of

cannon, were the results of a battle not usual in
warfare. The Austrian army lost that day nearly
twenty tliousand men, almost all its artillery, its
baggage, and, what was worse than all, nearly the
entire of its spirit.

This battle was the finest ever gained by Moreau,
and most assuredly one of the greatest fought
dui-jng the jn-esent century, in which so many ex-
traordinary battles have taken place. It has been
wrongfully said, that there was another conqueror
of Marengo besides Bonaparte, that it was general
Kellermann. With much greater force might it be
said, that there was another conqueror at Hohen-
linden than Moreau, and that it was general Riche-
panse; because this last, upon a vague order, exe-
cuted a very fine manoeuvre. But, although less
unjust, this assertion would still bo unjust. To
e\evy man should be left the property of his own
labours, not supporting the miserable efforts of
envy, whicli at all times would fain seek any other
conqueror than the real conqueror himself.

Moreau, in advancing along the Inn, from Kuf-
stein to Miihldort, without havingselected a precise
I'oint of attack, without having concentrated on that
point all his strength, to make only simple denfon-
strations, Moreau had thus exposed his left on the
1st of December. But this could only be pro-
ductive of a momentary ailvantag'' to an enemy ;
and in withdrawing himself into tiie labyrinthian
recesses of Hohenlinden, attracting the Austrians
there after him, bringing down his centre upon his
left at the opportune moment from Ebersberg up-
on Matteidjoett, he executed one of the happiest
manoeuvres known in the history of war. It has
been asserted that Richepanse marched without
orders^, this is an error; the oi-dcrs were given,
as has been stated here, but they were too general,
or not sufficiently detailed. No obstacle that might
have happened had been provided ngamst. AIo-
reau merely directed Riehepanse and Decaen to go
off from the Ebersberg road upon St. Christopher's,
without designating his route, without warning
him of the corps of Riesch being present there in
all probability, nor designating any of the possible
or i)robable accidents ho might meet with' in the
midst of a forest full of enemies. Without an
officer as vigorous as Riche])anse, he might have
reaped a defeat in place of a victoi'y. But for-
tune always has a part in military successes. All
that can be said is, that it was good in this in-
stance, and much better too than usual.

Moreau has been censured, because while lie
was fighting with six divisions out of twelve, he
had left St, Suzanne with tliree upon the Danube,
and three under Lecourbe on the U])per Inn ; by
which he exposed his left, under Grenier, to the
chance of fighting under the difference of one. to
two. This censure is assuredly more grave and
better merited ; but let not so great a triumph be
tarnished ; and let it be added, in order to be just,
that, as in the finest works of man, there are de-
lects, so in the finest victories there are faults —
faults which fortune repairs, and which must be
admitted as the ordinary acconipaiiimeut of great
military actions.

• Napoleon erroneously asserted this at St. Helena. The
•uTitten orders still exist, and have been printed in the
ni-rnorial of the war.

Moreau marches upon Vienna.

IIOHEXLINDEX.

Lecourbe forces the Ir
upon the Salza.

After tliis iinportant victory, it was riglit to fol-
low up vigorously the pursuit of the Austrian army,
to niarclj upnn Vienna, to throw down the defences
of the Tyrol hy pusiiing forward, and in tliis in:in-
iier to determine a retrograde movement along the
whole line of the Austrians from Bavaria to Italy.
Thus the retreat of the troops of the Inn would
have made those of the troops of the Tyrol a
necessary consequence, and the retreat of these
last would have made inevitable the abandonment
of the Mineio. But to obtain all these results, it
was necessary to force the Inn, and then the Saha,
which falls into the Inn, forming a second line to
be passed after the former. At the moment all
this might have been achieved from the strong im-
pulse given to the ai-niy by the victory of Ilohcn-
linden.

Moreau, when he had allowed rest to his troops,
moved his left and a part of his centre on the road
to Miihldorl, thus threatening at the same time the
bridges of Krayburg, Miihldorf, and Braunau, in
order to make the enemy believe that he intended
to ci'oss the Inn in the lower part of its course. In
the mean time Lecourbe, who some months before
had so gloriously jjiissed across the Danube on the
day of tiie battle of Hochstedt, was ordered to pass
the Iini in the vicinity of Rosenheim. The general
had discovered a place near Neubeurn, where the
right b;iidv occupied by the French, commanded
the left occupied by the enemy, and where it was
practicable to place his artillery with advantage,
in order to protect the passage. This point was
chosen in consequence. Several days were most
unfortunately lost in collecting the mattrid neces-
sary, and it was not until the Dth of December, six
days after the great battle of Hohenlinden, that
Lecourbe was ready to act.

Moreau had suddenly tiiken up a position upon
the Upper Inn. The three divisions of the centre
had been directed from Wa.sserburg upon Aibling,
a short distance from Rosenheim, ready to succour
Lecourbe. The left had replaced them in their
positions, and general Collauil, with two divisions
of the corps of St. Suzanne, had been moved in
advance of the Isar to Erding.

On the morning of the yth of December, or 18th
Frimaire, Lecourbe began his operations for the
passage of the rivir at Neubeurn. Montrichard's
division was to be the first to pass the Inn. Gene-
ral Leuiaire j)laced on the heights commanding the
riljht bank a battery of twenty-eight pieces of cannon,
and drove off the troops that presented themselves
there. Upon this part of the river Austria had
only the corps of Conde, which was too feeble to
oflcr any serious resistance. After having driven
off, by the continued fire of the artillery, all the
enemy's detachments, the pontonniers placed tliem-
Belves in iheir boats, followed by son)e light bat-
talions designed to pnitect their operations. In
two hours and a half the bridge was finished, and
the division of Montrichard began the jiassage. It
advanced upon the Austrians, who retreated, de-
scending the right bank of the river until tluy
were opposite Rosenheim. They then took up a
strong position at StepheuHkirchen. During this
n)ovenient, the divisions of the French centre,
placed before Rosenheim itself, exerted themselves
in ))revcnting the Austrians from wjmpletely de-
stroying the bridge at that town. Being unsuc-

cessful, they ascended tlie Inn, and crossed over at
Neubeurn, in order to support Lecourbe. The
corps of Condd having been reinforced, supported
itself on one side upon the ruined bridge of Rosen-
heim, upon the other on the little lake of Chiem-see.
Lecourbe sent a detachment to turn the lake, and
thus obliged the enemy to retreat after no very
sanguinary resistance.

Thus the Inn was crossed, and that formidable
obstacle, which it was declared would stop the
French army, was overcome. Lecourbe thus
gained another laurel in the winter campivign. The
inarch was not retarded. The next day a bridge
was thrown over at Rosenheim for the passage of
the rest of the centre. Grenier, with the left,
crossed the Inn over the bridges of Wasserburg
and Miihldorf, which the Austrians had left un-
dcstroyed.

It was necessary to hasten forward and drive
the Austrians as far as the banks of the Salza,
which Hows behind the Inn, and falls into that
river a little below Braunau. The Salza is a
second arm of the Inn in itself. If it is crossed
near the mountains, it must, in a certain respect,
be twice crossed, while on passing it in the neigh-
bourhood of Braunau after its union with the
Salza, there is only one passage to be performed.
But in the last case the volume of the water is
doubled, and the difficulty of crossing by main
force is ijroportionally augmented. This reascm, ;;nd
the wish to surprise the enemy, who did not expect
to see the French attempt to cross above Rosen-
heim, decided Moreau in the choice.

Lecourbe, sup[)orted by the divisions of the
centre, advanced with great I'apidity, in spite m"
the difficulties presented by a mountainous coun-
try, covered with woods, rivers, and lakes, a country
at all times difficult, but much more so in the
middle of December. The Austrian army, although
stricken by so many reverses, so far maintained
itself in the field. The feeling of honour, awakened
by the danger of the capital, occasioned it still to
make noble efforts to stoi) the progress of the
French. The Austrian cavalry covered the re-
treat, charging with vigour the Frencii cori)s that
advanced with too much temerity. The Austrians
crossed the Alz, which conveys the w;iter of the
Chiem-see to the Inn ; they also passed Traun-
stein, and at last arrived near the Salza not far
from Salzburg itself.

There they remained before Salzburg, a strong
position to occupy, and there the archduke John
thought he should be able to concentrate his troops,
hoping to obtain for them some kind of success
that woidd restore their courage, and at least
render the daring pursuit of the Frencii less rapid.
The archduke then concentrated himself beforo
Salzburg on the 13th of December, or 22nd Fri-
maire, 1«(I0.

The city of Salzburg is seated upcm the Salza.
In advance of this river (here runs another smallir
stream, called the Saal, which descends from the
mighbourin;; mountains, and joins the Salza below
Salzburg. The ground beneath these two rivers is
level, niai-shy, and covered with clumps of wood,
being everywliere difHenIt of access. It was there
the archduke John had taken up iiis posiiion, his
right on the Salza, his left to the mountains, his
front covered by the Saal, his artillery swept the

Lecourbe fords t!;e Saal. —
182 Rex-ucd from dan^jer by
Decaen.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The archduke Charles called

Deu.

whole level. His cavalry stationed on the un-
covered and solid portion of the ground, was
ready to charge any Fi'eiich corps that took tlie
offensive. His infantry was well supported on the
city of Salzliurg itself.

On tile 14tli, in the morning, Lecourbe, drawn
onwards by his ardour, forded the Saal, received
several charges of cavalry on the bank boi'dering
the river, and sustained them with bravery. Pre-
sently a dense fog clearing up, he discovered in
advance of Salzburg a formidable line of cavalry,
artillery, and infantry. This was the whole Aus-
trian army. In presence of such a danger he con-
ducted himself with much steadiness, but did not
escape without loss.

Most foriuiiateiy the division of Decaen had
crossed the Salza at this moment near Laufen in a
manner almost miraculous. On the preceding day
the advanced guard of the division, finding ihe
bridge of Laufen destroyed, had coasted the banks
of the Salza, everywhere covered with the Austrian
tirailleurs, and continued to hunt out a pas^iage. A
boat Wiis seen upon the oi)posite side of the river.
At the sight, three chasseurs of the 14iii threw
themselves into the water, and swam to the other
side, in spite of the intense cold, and a current
more rapid th:'.n that of the Inn. After fighting
hand to hand with several Austrian tirailleurs, they
succeeded in getting tie boat, and bringing it over.
By this means the French, to the extent of some
hundreds, crossed successively to the opposite
bank, occupied a village close to the bridge of
Laufen, which had been destroyed, and there
barricaded themselves in such a manner as that a
small number were able to defend it. The rest
rushed upon some Austrian artillery, got posses-
sion of it, seized all the boats on the right bank of
the Salza, and thus supplied with the means of
coming over the whole of the division on the left
side of tiie river. The following morning, the 14tli,
the whole of Decaen's division had passed over,
and ascended nearly to Salzburg at the very mo-
ment when Lecourbe was engaged with the entire
Austrian army. It was impossible for it to arrive
at a better moment. The archduke, informed of
the passage of the French, and of their inarch
upon Salzburg, decamped in a hurry, and Lecourbe
was thus disengaged from a very hazardous situa-
tion, to which his own ardour and daring com'age
had exposed him.

Thus the defences of the Inn and Salza had fallen
before the French. From that moment there was
no obstacle to cover the Austrian army, or enable
it to resist the French. There remained, it is
true, twenty-five thousand men in the Tyrol, who
had it in their power to threaten the French rear;
but it is not when an enemy is victorious, and de-
moralization pervades tiie ranks of an army, that
bold attempts are likely to be made. Moreau,
having left the corps of St. Suzanne in the rear,
to invest Braunau, and to occupy the country
between the Inn and Isar, emboldeiud by the
success of every step he had taken, marched upon
the Traun and Ens, which were not capable
of arresting his march. Richepanse commanded
the advanced guard, sustained by Grouchy and
Decaen. The retreat of the Austrians was con-
ducted in great disorder. At every instant the
French took men, carriages, and cannon. Riche-

panse gained several brilliant actions at Frank-
enniarkt, Voeklabruck, and Schwanstadt. Con-
tinually engage.l with the Austrian cavalry, lie
made prisoners of twelve hundred horse at a time.
On the 20th of December, or 29tli of Frimaire, he
had passed the Traun, and was marching upon
Steyer in order to pass the Ens.

The young archduke, whom so many disasters
had completely put out of heart, was now suc-
ceeded by the archduke Charles, who had at last
been recalled from disgrace, to perform the task,
now become impossible, of saving the Austrian
army. When he arrived he .saw with deep pain
the spectacle presented to his sight by the soldiers
of the empire, who, after they bad no"bly resisted
the French, demanded that they should not be
sacrificed to an unhappy system of policy univer-
sally reprobated. The archduke sent M. Meer-
feld to Moreau to propose an armistice. Moreau
willingly granted it for forty-eight hours, on con-
ditiim that, during the delay, that officer should
return from Vienna with full powers from the
emperor; but he stipulated, at the same time, that
during the interval, the French army should have
the right to advance as far as the Ens.

On the 21st he passed the Eiis at Steyer, and
his advanced posts were upon the Ips and Eriaf.
He was, in fact, at the gates of Vienna, and might
feel the temptation to enter the city, and thus
bestow upon himself the glory which no French
general ever before had, of peneti'ating to the
capital of the empire. But the moderate mind of
Moreau had no desire to push fortune to the ex-
treme. The archduke Charles gave his word, that
if hostilities were suspended, the Austrians would
immediati ly treat for peace, on the conditions that
France had always demanded, more especially
upon the basis of a separate negotiation. Moreau,
feeling a well-founded esteem for the archduke
Charles, showed a disposition to give him full credit.

Several of Moreau's lieutenants endeavoured to
excite him to march u])on Vienna. " It will be
better," he answered, " to secure peace. Of Mac-
donald and Brune 1 have no intelligence. I know
not if one has succeeded in penetrating the Tyrol,
or if tile other has been able to pass the Mincio.
Augereau is a great way off' from me, in a hazard-
ous situation. I should, perhaps, drive the Aus-
trians to despair, if I insisted on humiliating them
jet more. It is better for us to halt, and content
ourselves with peace, because that is all for which
we are fighting."

These were wise sentiments, well worthy of
praise. On the 25th of December, or 4th Nivose,
y(!ar ix., Moreau consented to sign, at Steyer, a
new suspension of arms, upon the following con-
ditions : —

There is to be a cessation of hostilities in Ger-
many between the Austrian and the Frencii armies,
commanded by Moreau and Augereau. Tiie ge-
nerals Brune and .Macdonald are to be invited to
sign a similar armistice for tiie armies of the
Grisons and of Italy, The entire valley of the
Danube, comprising also the Tyrol, with tlie for-
tresses of Braunau and Wurizbiirg, and the forts
of Scharnitz, of Kul'siein, and others, and the
inagazines of the Austrians, to be placed at the
disposal of the French. No detaciiment of troops
to be sent into Italy, if it should appear that no

Great abilities of ftloreau.
Danger of Aucereau : i
lieved by the armi^tlce.

IIOHENLINDEN.

Macdonald passes the Gr
enters the Valteline.

i8:i

suspension of arms has been consented to by the
general conunanding in that comitry. This sti-
pulation to be common to both armies.

Moreau was content witii these stipulations, as
lie had full reason to be, calculating upon peace,
aiid preferring it to more signal, but more hazard-
ous triumphs. A brightness of gl>a'y surrounded
his name, because his winter campaign had sur-
passed that of tlie spring. After crossing the
Rhine in the spring campaign, having driven the
Austrians to the Danube, while Bnuaparte was
crossing the Alps, and after dislodging them from
tlieir camp at Ulm, by the battle of Hochstedt,
thus pusliing them back to the Inn, he liad taken
breath during the fine season. He had com-
menced his march in winter, during the most
severe cold; he had overthrown the enemy at Ho-
henlinden, flung them back from the Iim upon
the Salza, from the Salza upon the Traun and
Ens, pushing them in confusion to the very gates
of Vienna. Lastly, he iiad granted them, in stop-
ping his victorious march a few leagues from the
capital, time to sign a treaty of peace. There had
been "gropings," delays, and faidis, tliat severe
judges have keenly censured since, as if to revenge
upon tiie memory of Moreau the injustice committed
upon the memory of Napoleon; but Moreau had
a continued ciiaiu of successes justified by his own
prudence and firmness. All true glory should be
respected; we ought not to darken the glory of
one to avenge the other. Moreau proved himself
capable of comnianding one hundred thousand
men with prudence and courage ; no one, except
Napoleon, has manoeuvred such a force in the
present age so well ; and if the place of the victor
of H'henlinden be at an immense distance from
that of the victor of Rivoli, Murengo, and Auster-
litz, his place is still great, and would have con-
tinued great, if criminal conduct, the unfortunate
production of jealousy, had not later in life sullied
a character until then pure and exalted.

The armistice in Germany took place very op-
portunely for rescuing the Gallo-Batavian army,
conmianded by Augereau, from its hazardous situ-
ation. The Austrian general, Klenau, who always
rtmained far enough away from the archduke
John, suddenly formed a junction with Simbsclien,
and by thus uniting their forces, jjlaced Augereau
in imminent danger. But the last defended Rad-
nitz with great skill and courage, and su|i))orted his
ground until the conclusion of hostilities. The
retreat of the Austrians into Bavaria relieved him
hum his peril, and the armistice saved him from
the dangers of a situation in which he was destitute
of support, seeing Moreau was at the gates of
Vienna.

During these events in Germany, hostilities were
continued in the Alps and in Italy.' The first
consul, seeing in the opening of the campaign, that
Moreau could spare the army of the Grisnns, iiad
ordered Macdonald to pass over the SplUgen, and
throw himself from the great chain of the Alps
into the Valteline, from the Valteline into the
Italian Tyrol, and tlien moving upon the Trent,
to turn the line of i\w Mineio; by this mana'uvre
putting an end to the resistance of the Austrians
in the plains of Italy. No objection arising from
the height of the Sjiliigen or the rigour of the
season could change the deternivtatiun of the first

consul. He had constantly answered, that where-
ever two men could place their fiet, lui army pds-
sessed the means of passing, and that the Alps
were easier to ci'oss in frost than when the snow
was melting, the season in which he had himself
crossed the St. Bernard. This was the language
of a mind altogether absolute, determined at any
cost to attain its end. The event proved, that in
the mountains the winter presents dangers at least
equal to those of spring; besides which, it eonilemns
those who brave it to the most ImrriMe sufferings.

General Macdonald prepared to obey the order
of the first consul, with all the energy natural to
ills character. After having left Moriol's division
in the Grisons, to guard the openings which form
the comnmnication between the Grisons and the
Engadine, or superior valley of the Inn, he moved
towards the SplUgen. For some time before, the
division of Baraguay d'Hiiliers had been in the
high or upper Valteline, threatening the Engadine
fi'om the side of Italy, while Morlot menaced it
from the side of the Grisons. With the main body
of his army, about twelve thousand men, Mac-
donald commenced his march, and clambered up
the first declivities of the SplUgen. The jiass of
this lofty mountain, narrow and winding, during
many leagues of the ascent, offered the severest
perils, more particularly at that season, when fre-
qufcnt storms encumbered the roads wiili ennrmous
drifts of snow and ice. The artillery and ammu-
nition were placed on sledges, and the soldiers
were loaded with biscuits and cartridges. The first
column, composed of artillery and cavalry, com-
mencing the passage in fine weather, on a sudden
was overtaken by a frightful storm. An ava-
lanche carried away half a squadron of dragoons at
once, and filled the soldiers with terror at the
sight. Still they did not lose their courage, and,
after a delay of three days, another attempt was
made to cross this redoubtable mountain. The
snow had encumbered all. Oxen were driven before
the troops to tread down the snow, into which they
sank up to their bellies ; labourers beat it down
hard ; the infantry in passing over rendered it
harder : and lastly, the sajjpei-s widened the passes
where they were too narrow, by cutting away the
ice with hatchets. These exertions were all need-
ful to make the road practicable for cavalry and
artillery. Thus the first days of December were
employed in effeciing the passage of the three first
colunma. The soldiers endured the most terrible
suHerings with great fortitude, living upon biscuit
with a small quantity of brandy. . The 4lh and
last column had nearly reached the summit of the
pass, when another storm came on and again
closed up the passage, dispersed the 104th demi-
brigade entirely, and buried a hundred men. Ge-
neral Macdonald was there, and rallied the sol-
diers, cheered them amid their pains and suHerings,
made the road be cleared a second time, that was
thus closed with blocks of frozen snow, and with all
the rest of his forces entered the Valteline.

This enterprise, so justly wonderful, carried
the greater i>art of the army of the Grisons
aero.ss the great mountain-chain, to the very en-
trances of the Italian Tyrol. General Macdonald,
as ho had been commanded, sought, as soon as he
had passed the Splugeii, to act in concert with
Brune, in order to move upon the sources of the

Macdonald attacks the
Austrians at mount
Totial.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Brune advances to cross
the Mincio. — Descrip-
tion of ttiat river.

Mincio and Adige, thus overturning the whole de-
fensive line of the Austrians, which extended from
the Alps to the Adriatic.

Brune would not deprive himself of an entire
division to aid Macdonald, but he consented to
detach the Italian division of Lecchi, which was to
ascend the valley of the Chiesa, as far as Rocca
d'Anfo.

Macdonald now determined to ascend the Valte-
line and attack nmunt Tonal, which commanded
the entrance into the Tyrol, and the valley of the
Adige; but there, tliough the height was inferior to
the Spltigen, the ice was as deeply collected; and
furtlier, general Wukassowieh had covered with
intreucliments tlie principal approaches. On the
22nd and 23rd of December, general Vandamme
led an attack upon them at the head of a body of
grenadiers, and sevei'al times renewed it unsuccess-
fully with the most heroic courage. These brave
men made incredible but useless exertions to gain
their object. Several times they marched over the
ice entirely unprotected, and under a murderous
fire. Tliey readied the palisadoes of the entrench-
ment, endeavouring in vain to force them. The
ground was frozen, and it was impossible to pull
them up. There was no use in persisting further;
and it was in consequence resolved to move into the
valley of the Oglio, and descend that river to Pi-
sogno, in order to proceed into the valley of
Chiesa. The object was to cross the mountains in
a less elevated region, and by passes not so effec-
tually defended. Alacdonald, having descended to
Pisogno, crossed tiie passes which separated him
from the valley of the Chiesa, formed his junction
with Lecchi's brigade towards Rocca d'Anfo, and
then found himself beyond the obstacles whiL-li
separated him from the Italian Tyrol and the
Adige. Thus he was enabled to reach Trent before
general VVukassowich had made his retreat from
the heights of mount Tonal, and to take up a posi-
tion between the Austrians who defended in the
middle of the Alps the sources of the different
rivers, and the Austrians who defended the hi-
fei'ior parts of the streams in the plains of Italy.

Brune, beloi-e lie forced the passage of the Min-
cio, had waited until ^lacdonald had niadesutricient
progress for the attack to be nearly simultaneous
in the mountains and in the ))lains. Out of one
hundred and twenty five thousand men spread
over Italy, he had, as we have already observed,
one hundred thousand efl'ective men, tried soldiers,
recruited after their snffeiings and privations ; an
artillery perfectly organized by general Marmont,
and an excellent cavalry.

Twenty thousand men, or nearly that number,
protectfil Lonibardy, Piedmont, Liguria, and Tus-
cany. A leeljli! brigade, connnanded by general
Petitot, watched the Austrian troops that .-allied
out of Ferrara, and menaced Bologna. The na-
tional giuird of this last city was ready, in addition,
to defend it against tiie Austrians. The Neapoli-
tans Were <rossing the new Roman state, in 4.ider
to march upon Tuscany; but Muiat, with ten thou-
sand men from the camp of Amiens, liad marched
to encountir them.

Brune, after having provided for the pi-oteetion
of the ditteivnt jdaces in Italy, had about seventy
thousand men to direct upon the Mincio. Bona-
parte, perlectly acijuainied with the theatre of

operations, had recommended him to concentrate
his troops with care; and as much as possible in
Upper Italy, to pay no attention to what the Aus-
trians might attempt in the direction of the Po, in
the Legations, or even in Tuscany; but to remain
steady, as he himself had formerly done, near the
openings of the Alps. He repeated to Brune in-
cessantly, tiiat when the Austrians were beaten
between the Mincio and Adige, in other words, on
the line by which they enter Italy, all those who
had passed the Po, to penetrate into central Italy,
would only be the more exposed to danger.

The Anstrians really put on the face of attacking
Bologna, by sallymg from Ferrara for that pui-pose;
but general Petitot knew how to restrain them, and
the national guards of Bologna exhibited upon their
own side the firmest attitude.

Brune, conforming at once to the instructions
which he had received, advanced to the Mincio
from the 20th to the 24th of December, or 29th
Frimaire to 3rd Nivose, took the positions which
the Austrians had occupied in advance of that
river, and made his dispositions for passing it on
the morning of the 2oth. General Delmas com-
manded his advanced guai'd; general Moncey the
left; general Dupont the right; and general Mi-
dland the reserve. Beyond the cavalry and artil-
lery distributed in his divisions, he had a consider-
able reserve of both.

In recounting the first campaigns of Bonaparte ',
we have already described the theatre of so many
memorable events. It will lie necessary still to re-
trace in a few words the configuration of the places.
The great mass of the waters of the Tyrol are con-
veyed by the Adige into the Adriatic: thus it is that
the line of the Adige is one of great strength. But
before the line of the Adige is obtained, a less im-
portant one is encountered, that of the Mincio.
The waters of several of the lateral valleys of the
Tyrol, wdiich first accumulate in the lake of
Garda, deliver themselves from thence into the
Mincio, remain some time ai'ound Mantua, where
they form an inundation, and last of all. fall into the
Po. In consequence there was a double line to
cross, first that of the Mincio, and next that of the
Adige, this last being much more considerable, and
much the strongest of the two. It was necessary
to cross both these rivers; and if this was done so
])romptly as to act in immediate concert with Mac-
donald, who was moving by Rocca d'Anfo and
Trent upon the Upper Ailige, it would be possible
to separate the Austrian army which defended tile
Tyrol, from that defending the Mincio, and to take
the former.

The line of the Mincio, in length not more than
seven or eight leagues, was supported on one flank
by the lake of Garda, and by Mantua, bristling
with artillery, upon the other ; and was defended
by seventy thousand Anstrians, under the com-
mand of i-ount Bellegaide, nor was it easily to be
forced. The Austrians had at Borghetto and Val-
legio a bridge well entrenched, and this enabled
Bellegarde to act upon botii banks. The river
was not fordable at that season, and the mass of its
\\^iters was yet more augmented by closing all the
canals it fed.

Brune, after having united his columns, con-

' History of ilie French Kevoiiuiou.

1808.
Dec.

Dupont crosses the Mincio
unrestrained by Brune.

IIOHENLINDEN

185

ceived the singular idea of crossing the Mincio in [
two places, both at the same nionient, at Mozzem- I
bano and Puzzolo. Between these two points the ,
river formed a bend, the convex point of whicii ;
turned towards the French army. The right bank,
whicii Ih-uue occupied, comniauded the left, occu-
pied by the Austrians, so that at Mozzciiibaiio, as
well iis at Pozzolo, a converging tire could be
opened from higher batteries upon the Austrian
iiank, and the operation of the passage be covered.
Siill, at both points the Austrians were found to be
firmly posted behind the Mincio, covered with solid
cntrenclinients, that were supported either on
Mantua or Pechiera. The advantages and incon-
veniences were therefore nearly the same, either at
Pozzolo or Mozzerabano; but what should have
decided Brune to prefer one of these two points, no
matter which, while he made a false demonstration
on the other, was, that between these two points
there was an entrenched bridge, then occupied by
the enemy. The Austrians therefore could pass
ovef by this means, and throw themselves upon
one of the two operations, in order to prevent it
from being effected : it was proper, therefore, that
only one slioul 1 have been attempted, and that
with the entire of his army.

Still Brune pei'sisted in his double plan, appa-
rently for the purpose of distracting the attention
of the enemy; and on the 25th of December he
arranged every thing to effect this double passage.
But obstacles intervened in respect to carriage,
obstacles very great at that season of the year, and
prevented every thing being ready at Mozzetnbano,
the point where Biune was himself, togetiier with
the larger part of his army, and the operation was
deferred until the next day. It would then ai)pcar
that the order to attempt the second passage should
have been countermanded ; but Brune, having
always considered the attempt on the side of Poz-
zr.lo as merely a diversion, thought that the diver-
sion would more surely produce its eff"ect if it pre-
ceded the principal operation twenty-four hours.

Dupont, who commanded at Pozzolo, was an
officer full of ardour; he advanced on the morning
of the 25th to the bank of the Mincio, crowned
with artillery the heights of Molino-della-Volta,
whicii overlooked the opposite bank, threw over a
liridge in a short time, under favour of a dense foj^,
and succeeded in conveying over Waltrin's division
to the right bank. During this time Brune re-
mained immoveable with the left and the reserve
at Mozzeinbano. General Suchet, placed between
the two with the centre, ma-sked the Austrian
bridge of Borghetto. Thus general Dupont was on
the left bank with a single corps before the whole
Austrian army. The result it is easy to discover.
Count Bellcgarde, without losing a moment, dircctei I
the whole mass of his forces upon Pozzolo. Du|)ont
sent to apjirise Suchet his neighbour, and also the
Commander-in-chief, of liis success, and of the dan-
ger to which lie was exposed. Siiehet, a brave and
failiiful fellow-soldii-r, hastened to the assistance
of Dupont; but on (juitting Borghetto, sent to urge
Brune to provide for tlio guard of the entrenched'
bridge, which lie left opi-n by his movement upon
Pozzolo. Brune, in i)lace of hurrying with all his
forces to the pr.int where a fortunate incident hail
ojiened for his army tlio passage of the Mincio,
never moved from his position, being engrossed by

his operations at Mozzembano, which were to take
idaee on the following day. He approved of the
movement of Suchet, but recommended him, at the
same time, not to endanger iiimself on the opposite
side of the river, sending Boudet's division alone
to mask th.e bridge of Borghetto.

General Dupont, impatient to profit by his suc-
cess, was absolutely engaged. He had passed the
IMincio, taken Pozzolo, which is situated on the
left bank, and successively carried over the divi-
sions of Wattrin nnd Jlonier. One of his wings
was supported on Pozzolo, the other on the Mincio,
under the protection of the elevated batteries upon
the right bank.

The Austrians marched upon the position w
all their reinforcements. They were preceded by a
number of pieces of cannon. Happily, the French
artillery placed upon Molino-della-Volta, in sweep-
ing from one bank to the other, protected the
French by the superiority of their fire. The Aus-
trians flung themselves with great fury upon the
divisions of Wattrin and Mcnier. The sixth light,
the twenty-eighth, and the fortieth of the line, were
nearly overwhelmed, but still they resisted with
wonderful courage the repeated attacks of the
Austrian cavalry and infantry. Monier's division,
surprised in Pozzolo by a colunui of grenadiers,
was driven out. At this moment the corps of Du-
pont, detached from its principal point of sui>port,
was on the eve of being driven into the Miiieio.
General Suchet, arriving on the right bank with
the division of G:iZ:in, and perceiving, from the
height of iMolino-ilella-Volta, the serious danger i;f
Dupont, engaged with ten thousand men against
thirty thousand, hastened to reinforce him. lie-
strained by the orders of Brune, he dared not send
him the whole of Gazan's division, and he threw
Clauzel's brigade over to the other side of the river.
This brigade was insufficient, and Dupont must
have succumbed, despite this aid, but the rest of
Gazan's division, crowning the opposite bank, from
whicii the Austrians could be reached with grape-
shot, and even by musketry, poured upon them a
murderous fire, and thus stopped them. Dupont's
division, being supported, resumed the offensive,
and made the Austrians fall baek. Suchet, seeing
the danger that every moment increased, deter-
mined to send over the whole of Gazan's division
to the opp site bank. The important point, Poz-
zolo, was fiercety disputed; six times it was taken
and retaken. At nine o'clock at night the contest
still continued by moonlight, under a severe frost.
Tiie French finally remained masters of the left
hank, but they had lost the flower of four divisions.
The Austrians left six tiiousand killed and wounded
on the field of battle, and the French nearly the
same number. But for the arrival of general
Suchet, the left wing woidd have been utterly de-
stroyed; as it was, he dared not engage fully, his
hands being tied up by the orders of the com-
mander-in-chief. If count Bellegarde had directed
his whole force upon that point, or if lie had passed
over the bridge of Bor;;liet(o, while Brune re-
mained immoveable at Moazembano, he wouhl have
infficted a fearful blow upon the centre and left of
the French ai'iny.

Fortunately, he did nothing of the kind. The
Mincio was thus crossed at one point. Brune ])er-
sisted in his plan of passing the next day, the 2(;tli

Dishonourable act of general
18C Laudon.-The Au»tmns THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

beg an armi:>tice.

Bonaparte receives the ,„„„
news of the victory 7"°-
with great joy. "'''"•

of December, towards Mozzembano, thus newly
exposing himself to the chances of an operation by
main force. He covered tlie heigiits of Mozzem-
bano with forty guns, and, favoured by the fogs of
tliat season, succeeded in placing a bridge. The
Austrians fatigued with tlie fight of tlie pre-
ceding day, and doubting the intention of the
second passage, made less resistance than the day
before, and permitted the positions of Sallionzo
and of Vallegio to be taken from them.

The whole army passed in tiiis way beyond the
Mincio, and was thus enabled to marcii with its
united divisions ui)on the .\dige. The entrenched
bridge of Borghetto must liave fallen naturally from
the offensive movement of the French columns. A
first fault was committed, and several hundreds of
brave men's lives sacrificed to complete the con-
quest of a point that was not tenable : twelve hun-
dred Austrians were made prisoners there.

The French were victorious, but at the cost of
valuable blood, which generals Bonaparte or Moreau
would not have failed to spare the army. Leeourbe
passed the German rivers in a very different man-
ner. Brune, having forced the Mincio, advanced
towards the Adige, which lie ought to have crossed
immediately. He was not ready to efft-ct the pas-
sage before the 3lst of December, or lOth Nivose.
On the 1st of January, general Dehnas, with the
advanced guard, suci-essfully crossed that river
above Verona at Bussolengo. General Moneey,
with the left, was to ascend to Trent, while the rest
of the army again descended to invest Vemna.

Count Bellegarde at this moment found himself
in the greatest danger. A part of the troops of
the Tjjrol, under general Laudon, were retiring
before Macdonald and falling back upon Trent.
General Moneey, with his corps, was also marching
there in ascending the Adige. General Laudon
must have succumbed, being hemmed in between
Macdonald and Moncey's corps, unless he had time
to save himself in the valley of the Brenta, which,
flowing beyond the Adige, terminates in many
windings near Bassano. Brune, if he passed the
Adige quickly, and i>ushed Bellegarde beycmd
Verona, to Bassano itself, might anticipate at this
last point the corps of the Tyrol, and take it en-
tirely by closing tiie ouening of the Brenta.

An act of general Laudon, not very honourable,
and the dilatoriness of general Brune, excused in
some degree, jjerhaps, by the season, disengaged
the corps of the Tyrol from its peril.

Macdonald had in effect arrived near Trent,
while the corps of general Moneey was proceeding
thither at its sid«. General Laudon placed be-
tween these two corps, had recourse to a falsehood.
He announced to general Moneey that an armis-
tice liad been signed in Germany, and that this
armistice was common to both armies. This was
false, because the treaty signed at Steyer by Moreau
only api)lied to the armies operating on the Danube.
General Moneey, in an excess of honourable feel-
ing, believed wliat Laudon stated, and opened a
passage for him to the valley of the Brenta. He
was thus enabled to rejoin count Bellegarde in
the vicinity of Bassano.

But the disasters of Austria in Germany be-
come known. The Austrian army beaten in Italy,
pressed by a mass of ninety thousand men after the
junction of Macdonald with Brune, was no longer

able to hold out. An armistice was proposed to
Brune, who hastened to accept it, and it was signed
on the ICth of January at Treviso. Brune, eager
to settle affairs, was contented to demand the line of
the Adige, with the fortresses of Ferrara, Pechiera,
and i'ortolegnago. He did not dream of demand-
ing Mantua; still his instructions were not to halt
until he had entered Isonzo, and made himself
master of Mantua. This was the only place that
was worth the trouble, because all the others must
fall naturally and as a thing of course. It was of
great importance to occupy it, that there might be
a claim for demanding its ce.-sion to the Cisal-
pine republic at the congress of Lune'ville.

While these events were happening in Upper
Italy, the Neapolitans entei-ed Tuscany. T!ie count
Danias, who commanded a body of sixteen thousand
men, eight thousand of whom were Neapolitans,
had advanced as far as Sienna. General Miollis,
obliged to protect all the posts in Tuscany, had
only three thousand five hundred disposable men,
the larger part Italians. Notwithstandiiig this, he
marched upon the Neapolitans. 'Ihe gallant sol-
diers of the division of Pino threw tiiemselves upon
the advanced guard of count Danias, overthrew it,
forced their way into Sienna, and put to the sword
a number of the insurgents. Count Damas was
obliged to retreat. Murat was advancing with his
grenadiers to force from him a signature to a third
armistice.

The campaign was thus every where terminated,
and peace insured. On every belligerent ])oint the
French had been successful. The army of Moreau,
flanked by that of Augereau, had penetrated nearly
to the gates of Vienna; that of Brune, seconded by
Macdonald, had passed the Mincii) and the Adige,
and marched to Treviso. Though it had not en-
tirely driven the Austrians beyond the Alps, it had
taken from them a sufficiency of territory to furnish
the French negotiator at Lune'ville with powerful
arguments against Austrian pretensions in Italy.
Murat was about to compel the court of Naples to
submission.

Ujxin receiving intelligence of the battle of Ho-
lienlinden. the first consul, who was said to be jea-
lous of Moreau, was filled with hearty delight'.
This victory lost nothing of its value in his eyes
because it was gained by a rival. He deemed him-
self so superior to all his coni])anions in arms, in
military glory and in political inHu( nee, that he felt
no jealousy towards any of them; wholly devoted to
the object of pacifying and reorganizing France,
ho learned with lively satisfaction every event
which contributed to facilitate his labour, although
such events might aggrandize men who were
afterwards set up as rivals to him.

That which most displeased him in this campaign
was the useless effusion of French blood at Pozzolo,
and above all, the serious fault conmiitted in not
demanding Mantua. He refused to ratify the con-
vention of Treviso, and declared that he would
give orders for the renewal of hostilities, if the
fortress of Mantua were not immediately delivered
over to the French army.

> Bourrienne says that " he leaped for joy ;" and this bio-
graiilu-r is not to be suspected, for, tliougli he owed every
thing to Napoleon, he seems not to have remembered that
he did so in his memoirs.

Negotiations renewed at Luneville.
Determination uf Bonaparte.

HOHENLINDEN.

Terms fixed by Bonaparte for
the peace.

187

At this moment, Joseph Bonaparte and M. Co-
bentzel were at Lime'ville, awaiting events on the
D.iniibe and Adige. These negotiators were placed
in a singuhir situation, treating while the fight was
going on, and being in some sort witnesses of the
duel between two great nations, expecting every
moment the news, thou^^h not of the death, yet of
the exhaustion of one or the other. M. Cobenlzel
exhibited upon the occasion a vigour of character
whieh might serve as an example for those men
who are called upon to serve their country in such
important circumstances. He never suffered him-
self to be disconcerted, neither by the defeat of the
.\ustrians at Hohenlinden, nor by the passage of
the Inn, the Salza, i>r the Traun. To all these dis-
astrous events he replied, with imperturbable self-
possession, that all these things were no doubt very
vexatious, but that the archduke Charles iiad reco-
vered from his chagrin, and that he had arrived at
the head of the extraordinary levies of Bohemia
and Hungary; that he had brought to the assist-
ance of the capital twenty-five thousand Bohemians
and seventy-five thousand Hungarians ; that, in
advancing further, the French would encounter a
resistance which they could little expect to find.
He supported at the same time all \he Austrian
demands, particularly that of- not treating without
an English plenipotentiary, who would at least
cover by his presence the real negotiations which
it might be possible to establisii between the two
nations. Sometimes he threatened to return to
Fi-ankfort. and thus put an end to all the hopes
of jieace of which the first consul had need,
for composing the minds of the people. At this
threat, the first consul, who was never guilty of
tergiversiition, when any one attempted to intimidate
him, answered M. Cobentzel, that if he quitted
Luneville, all chance of acconnnodation would be
for ever lost, that the war should be pushed to the
utmost, even to the entire downfall of the Austrian
monarchy.

Ill the midst of this diplomatic contest, M. Co-
bentzel received intelligence of the armistice con-
cluded at Steyer, the orders of the emperor to treat
at any price, and above all, to extend to Italy the
armistice already agreed upon in Germany, be-
cause nothing would be gained, if, having stopped
one of two armies marching upon Vienna, the
other should be permitted to take the same direc-
tion, by Friouli and Carinthia. In conse(iuence,
M. Cobentzel declared, on the 31st of December,
that he was ready to treat without the consent of
England, that he would agree to sign )>reliminaries
of peace, or a definitive treaty, whichever was
desired by France; but before he committed him-
self decidedly, in separating from England, he
wished that an armistice, common to Germany
and Italy, should be concluded, and some explana-
tions regarding the terms of the peace should be
made, at least in a general manner. For his own
part, he would propose as conditions, that the Oglio
should be the limit of Austria in Italy, with the
Legations, and at the sam- time, that the dukes of
Modena an<I Tuscany should be reinstated in their
former dominions.

These conditions were unrca-sonable, the first
consul would not have admitted them before the
triumphs of the winter campaign had been achieved,
and much less afterwards.

The preliminaries <:f M. St. Julien have not been
forgotten here. The treaty of Campo-Formio was
adopted for the basis, with this difference, that cer-
tain indemnities promised to Austria f.r small ter-
ritories, were to be taken in Italy in ])lace of Ger-
many. We have already indicated the substance of
tliem; the treaty of Campo-Formio. assigned to the
Cisalpine republic and to Austria the boundary of
the Adige ; in promising indenmity to Austria in
Italy, site was given to hope for the Mincio, for
example, in place of the Adige, as a boundary', but
the Mincio at most, and the territoi'y of die Lega-
tions not at all, of which the fii-st consul intended
to make a different disposition.

The ideas of the first consul were thus deter-
mineil. He insisted that Austria should pay the
expenses of the winter campaign ; that her Italian
limits should be the Adige, and nothing more,- and
that she should receive no indenmity, neither in
Germany nor in Italy, for the small territories
ceded on the left bank of the Rhine. The Legations
he intended to reserve, and make them subservient
to divers combinations. Until now they had belonged
to the Cisalpine republic. His design was rather
to leave thein to that rej)nblic, or to devote them
to the agiii-andizement of the house of Parma, as
promised by treaty with the court of Spain. In
this last case he would have given Parma to the
Cisalpine, Tuscany to the house of Parma, which
would have been a great aggrandizement, and the
Legations to the grand duke of Tuscany. As to the
duke of Modena, Austria had promised, by tlie
treaty of Campo-Formio, to indemnify him for his
lost duchy by means of the Brisgau. It was for
her to keep her engagements towards that prince.

The first consul wished fta- another thing that
was well understood, but very ditticnit to make
Austria consent to. He did not wish, as he was
bound to do, after the treaty of Campo-Formio, to
hold a congress with the princes of tlie em])ire, to
obtain from each individually the formal abandon-
ment of the left bank of the Rhine to France. He
recollected the congress of Rastadt, which termi-
nated in the assassination of the French plenipoten-
tiaries. He recollected the trouble he had been at
to treat with each prince individually, an<l to come
to an agreement with all those who had lost terri-
tories, upon a system of indemnity which should
be satisfactory to them. The first consul demanded,
in consequence, that the emperor should sign, as
chief of the house of Austria, for what concerned
the house, and as emperor for what concerned the
empire. In a word, he wanted to have at a single
stroke the acknowledgment of the French con-
(juests, whether on the part of Austria or on the
part of the Germanic confederation.

Bonaparte therefore ordered his brother Joseph
to signify to M. Cobentzel, as definitively settled,
the following conditions : — The left baidi of the
Rhine to France. The limits of the Adige to
Austria and the Cisalpine, without abandoning the
Legations. The Legations to the duke of Tuscany.
Tuscany to the didie of Parma. Parma to the
Cisalpine. Brisgau to the duke of .Modena. Finally,
the peace to be signed by the emperor, as much
for hiniself as for the empire. A.s for the armistice
in Italy, he was willing to grant it on condition
that Mantua be immediately given up to the French
armv.

188''"o"y'-Ordlr:ol^?l,11r?t THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, ^t&^f'^^ ^- *°^=^''^^ 'Z'.

consul to Ills brother.

As the first consul well knew the mode of treat-
ing common to the Austrians, and in particular
that of M. Cohentzel, he wislied to cut short many
difficulties, and much opposition, and menaces of
simulated despair ; he therefore thought of a ne>v
mode of signifying his ultimatum. The legislative
body had just assembled ; it was proposed to it on
the '2d of January, or 12th Niv6.-ie, to declare that
the four, armies commanded by Moreau, Brune,
:Macdonald, and Augereau, had merited the thanks
of their country. A message added to this proi)0-
sition announced that M. Cobentzel at last con-
sented to treat without the concurrence of Great
Britain, and the definitive conditions of the peace
were, the Rhine for France, the Adige for the Cis-
aljune republic. The message added, that in case
these conditions should not be accepted, the peace
slKJuld be signed at Prague, at Vienna, and at
Venice.

This communication was received with great joy
in Paris, but it caused a deep emotion at Lunevilie.
M. Cobentzel raised a great outcry against the
hardness of these conditions, above all against their
form. He complained bittei'ly, that France seemed
to be making the treaty herself, without negotiating
with any one. Still he kejyt firm, and declared
that Austria could not give way upon all these
points ; she would rather fall with arms in her
hands than concede such conditions. M. Cobent-
zel consented to retire from the Oglio to the
Chicsa, wliich runs between the Oglio and the
Mincio, on the condition of having Peschiera,
Mantua, and Ferrara, without the obligation to
demolisii the fortifications. He consented to in-
demnify the diiko of Modcna with Brisgau, but in-
sisted on the restitution of the territory of the duke
of Tuscany. He spoke of formal guarantees to bo
given for the independence of Piedmont, Switzer-
land, the Holy See, Naples, and other states. As
to peace with the empire, he declared that the
emperor was about to demand powers of the Ger-
manic Diet, but that this monarch would never take
upon liimself to treat for it without being authorized.
M. Cobentzel insisted upon an armistice in Italy,
stating that as far as regarded Mantua, if Austria
were to surrender that jjlace into the hands of the
French army, she would put Italy at once into
tiie hands of the French, and de])rive herself of all
the means of resistance if hostilities should be re-
commenced. M. Cobentzel joined blandishments
to firmness, endeavouring to touch Joseph in speak-
ing to him of the favourable dispositions of the
emperor towards France, and more ])articuiarly
towards the first consul ; even insinuating that
Austria mi;;ht probably ally herself with the
French repiiliiic, and th:it sucli an alliance woulil
be very useful against the concealed but real ill-
will of the northern courts.

Joseph, who was of a very mild disposition,
could not but be affected to a certain extent by the
complaints, the threats, and the blandishments of
M. Cobentzel. The first consul awakened his bro-
ther's energy by numerous dispatches. " You are
f(trbidden," he wx'ote to Josepli, " to admit of any
discussion on the principle laid down as the ulti-
matum : tlie lliii.NE and the Adkje. Hold to these
two conditions as irrevocable. Hostilities shall
not cease in Italy, but with the surrender of Man-
tua. If they commence again, the middle of the

Adige shall be carried back to the crest of the ,
Julian Aljjs, and Austria shall be excluded from '
Italy. Should Austria speak of her friendship and
alliance, reply that those who have just shown
themselves so attached to the English alliance can-
not care about ours. Assume, while you are ne-
gotiating, the attitude of general Moreau, and
make M. Cobentzel take that of the archduke
John."

At last, after a resistance of some days, intelli-
gence more alarming continuing to arrive every
hour from the banks of the Mincio, where it must
not be forgotten hostilities were much more pro-
longed than in Germany, M. Cobentzel consented
that the Adige should be adopted for the boundary
of the Austrian possessions in Italy. This assent
took place on the I5th of January, 1801, or 25th
of Nivose. M. Cobentzel ceased to allude to the
duke of Modem), but renewed the formal demand
for the re-establishment of the duke of Tuscany in
his estates. . He agreed yet further to a decla-
ration, that the peace of the empire should be
signed at Lune'ville, after the emperor had obtained
power to do so from the Germanic diet. In the
same protocol tliis plenipotentiary asked for an
armistice in Italy, but without the condition that
Mantua should be immediately given up to the
French troops. He feared that in abandoning this
point of support, France would exact still harder
conditions ; and however alarming the resumption
of hostilities appeared to be, he would not consent
to part with this pledge so soon.

This pertinacity in the defence of his country,
when in so difficult a position, was lionouiable,
but it terminated at last by becoming imprudent,
and brought with it consequences M. Cobentzel
had never foreseen.

That which at this time was passing in the north,
contributed as much as the victories of the French
armies to augment the pretensions of the first
consul. He had pressed forward as much as lay in
his power a peace with Austria, in the first instance
to have i)eace, and in the second to secure, himself
against those caprices of character so common with
the emperor Paul. For some months past that
sovereign had exi)ibited a bitter feeling of resent-
ment against Austria and England ; but a ma-
niEuvre of the Austrian or English cabinet might
recal him to the arms of the coalition, and then
France would again have all Europe upon her
hands. It was tliis apprehension which made the
first consul brave the inconveniences of a winter
campaign, in onler to crush Austria while she
was deprived of the assistance of the other forces
of the continent. The recent change of events in
the north had removed all apprehensions upon
that score, and he became immediately much more
patient and niore exacting. Paul had broken
formally with his old friends and allies, and had
flung himsilf altogether into the arms of France,
with that warmth which attached to ali his actions.
Already very nuich disposed to act thus, the effect
jiroduced in his mind by the victory of Mareiigo,
the restitution of the Russian prisoners, the ofi'er
of the island of Malta, and, lastly, the adroit and
delicate flattery of the first consul, had been
definitively disclosed by a late event. It will be
I'eniembered that the first consul, despairing of the
preservation of Malta, strictly blockaded by the

1801.
Jan.

Policy of Paul towards England.

HOHENLINDEN. Kussia and Prussia support France

]l'-0

Eii<;Iisli, li:id struck upon the happy idea of offer-
inj; the island to Paul I.; tliat the czar had reieivcd
tlie offVr >viili delight, and had commanded M.
S|ireiiyporteii to go to Paris, and tliank the licad of
the Frrncli government. There he was to receive
tlie Russian prisoners, and to conduct tliera to
Malta to hiild it as the garrison. But in the interval,
general Vauhois, reduced to the last extremity, had
surrendered the island to the English. This event,
which under other circumstances would have been
a suliject of deep regret to the first consul, cha-
grined him very little. " I have lost Malta," he
observed, " but I have placed the apple of discord
in the liands of my enemies.' In fact, Paid
hastened to demand of England the seat of the
order of St. John of Jerusalem, hut the English
kept the island, and gave him a flat refusal. He
Could restrain himself no longer, hut immediately
laid an embargo upon nearly tliree hundred English
vessels, then in the ports of Russia, and even
ordered any of them, endeavouring to save them-
selves by flight, to be sunk. This circumstance,
joined to the dispute respecting neutral vessels,
before explained, could not fail to produce war.
The czar ])laced himself in front of the battle, and
calling Sweden, Denmark, and even Prussia to his
assistance, proposed to them the renewal of the
armed neutrality of 1780. He sent an invitation
to the king of Sweden to visit Petersburg, to
confer with him upon so important a subject.
Kmg Gustavus accepted the invitation, and was
magnificently received. Paul, full of the mania
which at that time possessed him, held in Peters-
burg a grand chapter of the order of Malta, ad-
mitting as knight the king of Sweden, and those
persons who had accomjianied him, lavishing be-
yond all sober limits the honours of the order.
But he afl'ected something mcjre serious still, he
renewed immediately the league of 1780. On the
2fiih of December, 1800, there was signed by the
ministers of Russia, Swetlen, and Denmark, a
declaration, by which the three maritime powers
engaged to maintain even by force of arms the
princi|)les of neutral law. They enumerated all
the principles in their declaration, without the
omission of one of those which we have mentioned,
and whieh France had prevailed upon the United
States to acknowledge also. They engaged thein-
selves to imite their forces, and to use them against
any power, whatever it might be, that should at-
tem[jt to assail the rights which tliey asserted be-
longed to them. Denmark, allhougli very zealous
for the rights of neutrals, was not (|uite willing to
procce<l with such rapidity ; but the ice dclended
her for three months, and she hoped that before the
return of the fine season England would yield, or
that the [)reparations made by the neutral parties
in the Baltic would bo suflicieiit to prevent the
English fleet from approaching before the Snuiid,
as it had ilone in the month of August previously.
Prussia, that would rather negotiate than ])rnceed
with such promptitude, was drawn into the treaty,
as ^*ell as Sweden and Dcmnark. Two days after-
wards she adhered to the declaration of St. Peters-
burg.

These were events of serious importance, and
insuied to France the alliance of all the northern
jxiwers of ICurope against England ; hut this was
not all the dij)lomatic success of the first consul.

The emperor Paul had proposed to the court of
Prussia to have a common understanding with
France (m what was passing at Lun^ville, and that
all three should agree to the bases of a general
peace. Now the privileges w hich these two powers i
communicated to the French government were pre-
cisely those that France was desirous of carrying
at Lune'ville.

Prussia and Russia granted the left bank of the
Rhine to France without the necessity of a dis-
putation; they only required an indenmity for such
princes as lost, by that means, a portion of their
territories; but only for hereditary jninces, by
means of the secularization of the ecclesiastical
estates. This was just the principle that Austria
op))osed and France admitted. Russia and Prussia
reipiired the independence of Holland, Switzerland,
Piedmont, and Naples, which at that moment were
in no way opposing themselves to the interests of
the first consul. The emperor Paul interfered with
the interests of Naples and Piedmont on the ground
of a treaty of alliance, concluded with these states
in 1798, when it had been seen needful to involve
them in the war of the coalition; but he did not
mean to protect Naples, save on the conditions that
she should break with England. In resjiect to
Piedmont, he only claimed fiir her a slight imlemnity
for the cession of Savoy to France. He deemed it
right, and so did Prussia with him, that France
should restrain the ambition of Austria in Italy,
and confine her within the limits of the Adige,

Paul was so ardent at last, that he made a pro-
posal to the first consul that both should ally them-
selves more strictly against England, and not make
peace with her until after the i-estnration of Malta
to the order of St. John of Jerusalem. This was
more than the first consul would consent to do, who
was by no means fond of making such positive en-
gagements. Paul, desirous of reconciling the show
of things with their real state, in place of clandes-
tine communications with M. Krudener and general
Beurnonville at Berlin, opened a public negotiation
in Paris itself. He nominated as a plenipotentiary
M. Kalitschefl" to treat ostensibly with the French
cabinet, and that jjcrsonage bad orders to go to
France immediately. He was bearer of a letter to
the first consul, and what was more, written by the
emperor Paul with his own hand M. Sprengportcn
was already in Paris, and M. Kalitschefl" was about
to be there. It was not possible to wish for a more
signal proof of the reconciliation of Russia with
France.

All was thus changed in Europe in the north as
well as the south. The maritime ])owers in o])en
war with England endeavoured to hague with
Fiance against that country by engagements alto-
gether absolute. In the south, Spain was already
bound to France by the closest ties; and she threat-
ened Portugal in order to force lur to br ak with
Great Britain. Finally, Austria, lieatcn in Germany
and Italy, abandoned by the other powers of Eu-
rope to the mercy of France, had no oth< r defence
than the obstinacy of her negotiators at Ltinevillo.
These events, which the ability of the (irst consul
had wrought oxk, made a great noise one after the
other in rajtid succession, during the first days of

' L<-ltcr of the king of Prussia, of tlic I Itli of January,
cuininunicatfd by M. de Lucchviiini.

190

Bonaparte delays the
nt-gotiatioiis — and
the reason.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Progrpss of the nego-
liiitions. — Indenini-
ficatory stipulations.

January. Russia and Prussia manifested tlieir
wishes for tlie peace of the continent, and Paul
with his own hand announced to the iirst consul
the mission of M. Kalitscheff at tiie very time when
M. Cobentzel, giving way as to tlie hinit of the
Adige, obstinately held out in regard to the rest,
and refused the delivery of Mantua as the price of
the Italian armistice.

The first consul wished immediately to suspend
the progress of the negotiations at Lun^ville. He
had instructions given to Joseph ', and wrote to
him, prescriliing a new line of conduct to the French
legation. In such a crisis as had thus occurred in
Europe he now thought it not to be convenient to
press too forward. It was possible that something
might be ceded which might be opposed to the
views of tlie northern courts, or something might
be contrary to their wishes in the stipulations.
Thinking besides thiit M. Kalitscheff would airive
in a few days, he wished to see him before making
a definitive engagement. Orders were then sent to
Joseph to temporize at least for ten days befoi-e
signing, and to exact conditions still harder than
those wliich h:id ju'eceded.

Austria consented to limit herself to the Adige.
The first consul intended to understand by that, the
absence of the duke of Tuscany from Italy, and his
reception of an indenmity like the duke of Modena
in Germany. His ultimate object was, not to leave
an Austrian prince in Italy. To leave the duke
of Tuscany in Tuscany was in his sight to give
Leghorn to the English. To jilace him in the Le-
gations was giving Austria a hold beyond the Po.
In consequence he adopted the plan of giving Tus-
cany to the bouse of Parma, as he bad stipulated
at Madrid ; to confide Leghorn in consequence to the
Spanish navy, and of thenceforward including the
whole valley of the Po in the Cisali)ine republic :
for after this plan it would consist of the Mila-
nese, Mantua, Piacenz;i, Parma, Modena, and the
Legations. Piedmont, situated at the opening of the
valley, would in future be only a prisoner to France.
Austria, gone back to the Adige, wiis thrown to one
extremity of Italy; Rome and Naples confined to
the other; France, placed in the centre, tlinugh
Tuscany and the Cisalpine, would sway and direct
the whole of that superb country.

Joseph Bonaparte had, therefore, for his new in-
structions to exact that the duke of Tuscany, as
well as the duke of Modena, should be transferred
to Germany ; that the principles of the seculari-
zation of the ecclesiastical stutes should be car-
ried out in order to indemnify the hereditary Ger-
man ])rinces, as well as the Italian princes, dispos-
sessed by France; that i)cace with the empire
should be signed at the same time as peace with
Austria, witboot waiting for powers from the diet ;
that nothing should be stipulated respecting Na-
ples, Rome, or Piedmont, because France, desirous
to preserve these states, wished first to arrange
with them the conditions of their preserAation;
finally, that .Mantua be given up to the French
armies under ihe threat, without, of the immediate
renewal of hostilities.

Nothing is more common when a negotiation has
not terminated, and when a treaty has not been
signed, nothing is more usual than to modify the

' Letter dated 1st Pluviose, or 21st January, in tlie Stale
Paper Office.

proposed conditions. The French cabinet was con-
sequently justified in altering the first conditions ;
but it must be acknowlfdged ihat here the altera-
tions were abrupt and very considerable.

M. Cobentzel, by lingering on, demanding too
much, and being obstinately blind to his position,
had lost the favourable minute. According to his
custom, he complained bitterly, and tlA-eatened
France with Austi-ia in desperation. He was still
pi'essed to obtain an armistice for Italy, and deter-
mined to concede Mantua ; though he feared that
after delivering up this bulwark, he should find
himself at the mercy of France, and see himself
exposed to new demands. In this disposition of
mind, he showed himself mistrustful and peevish.
He would not yield Mantua until the last moment.
At length, on the '26th of January, or 6th Pluviose,
he signed the order for the surrender of that place
to the French army, in order to obtain an armi-
stice in Italy, and a prolongation of that in Ger-
many. The negotiators sent off couriers from
Lune'ville itself, to prevent an effusion of blood; of
which there was imminent danger.

The discussions that followed this event at Lund-
ville were exceedingly warm. M. Cobentzel said,
that Joseph had promised the re-establishment of
the grand duke— promised it too the same day that
he had consented to the boundary of the Adige.
Joseph Bonaparte replied, that such was the fact,
but that the re-establishment of this prince was to
be in Germany; that every state profited of its ex-
isting situation to treat more advantageously ; that
France, in thus acting, applied the very principles
expressed by M. Thugut in his letter of the last
winter ; that moreover the grand duke, respect-
ing whom they were in discussion, would be iso-
lated completely from Austria in Tuscany, and thus
be unsupported. That in the Legations, on the con-
trary, he would be too well placed, as he would
thus be a connexion between Austria, Rome, and
Naples, or, in other words, between the enemies of
France, to which she would never consent. He
must, therefore, resign all hope of being placed
either in Tuscany or in the Legations.

After some warm controversies, M. Cobentzel
appeared at length to consent that the indemnities
for the grand duke should be taken in Geimany ;
but he refused to admit the absolute principle of
the secularization of the ecclesiastical states. The
ecclesiastical states remained devoted to Austiia,
more especially the three electoral archbisho)irics
of Treves, Cologne, and Mayence, while the here-
ditary princes were often oj)posed to her influence
in the Germanic Diet. Austria consented to the
secularization, on the understanding that the small
ecclesiastical states should serve not only to indem-
nity the hereditary princes of Bavaria, Wurteni-
burg, and Orange, but the great ecclesiastical
jirinces, such as the archbishops of Treves, Cologne,
and Mayence ; since by them her influence would
have been partly sujijiorted in Germany. Joseph
Bonaparte had directions to refuse this ])roposition
detcrminately. He was not to admit the principle
of secularization but for the advantage of the
hereditary princes alone. Finally, M. Cobentzel
would not sign the peace for the empire without
jiower from the Diet. His refusal arose, according
to his own account, fi-om his repugnance to violate
forms : in reality it was from his dislike to make

ISOl.
Feb.

Conditions of the treaty. — Difficulties
in agreeing on the indemnities.

HOHENLINDEN.

too cvidont the game commonly played in regard
to the nuinbei-s of the Germanic lii.dy, by coniiiro-
mising thtin with France, whenever it was the
interest of Austria to do so ; and afterwards, when
the war became unfortunate, to abandon them. In
1797 she delivered over Mayence to the French, a
proceeding severely censured by all Germany; and
now to sign on the part of the empire according to
M. Cobentzel was a perfect novelty, grievous indeed,
added to all the anterior acts with which the Ger-
man princes had to reproach tiieir sovereign. Jo-
seph Bonaparte replied to these arguments, that it
was easy to discover the real motives of Austria ;
she was afraid of committing herself with the Ger-
manic body, but that it was not for France to enter
into such cuusiderations ; that, as to the point of
form, there was an example in the peace of LSaden
in ITli, signed by the emperor, without power
from the Uit-t. There was nothing more de-
manded of him now, than to sanction that which ihe
deputation from the empire had already assented
to at Rjistadt, — that was, the abandonment of the
left bank of tlie Rhine to France; that his refusal
would be a poor service rendered to Germany,
for the French armies would contiime in the ter-
ritory tliey occu|)ied until a peace was concluded
with the empire, whereas, if the peace was ccmi-
mon to all the German princes, the evacuation of
their territories would follow immediately upon the
ratifications.

These discussions continued for several days.
M. Cobentzel wjis now anxious to terminate tlie
affair. On its own side the French legal ion, lately
desirous of delaying the negotiations for a few
days, finding that M. Kalitscheff woidd not arrive

in Paris ass as was expected, saw that nothing

was to be gained by further delay, and wished the
matter to be brought to a eonchision. An order
was received by both plenipoteiitiMries to arrive
at an agreement; and, in order to force M. Co-
bentzel to determine quickly, Josepii Bonaparte
had orders to make a concessinn of the character
of tliose which serve, at the last moment, to m;ike
a worn-out negotiation conclude with honour.
The middle of the Rhine was the limit assigned
as the bonndaiy to France and to Gi-imany. In
consequence, Dusselilorf, Ehrenbreitstein, Pliilips-
burg, Kehl, and Old Breisacii, situated on tiie right
bank, though attached to the lelt by many ties,
remained to the Germanic confederation. Ihit
Cassel, a suburb of Mayence, on the right bank,
was a contested snitject, because it was difficult to
detacii it from Mayence itself. Joseph was au-
thorized to cede it, on condition that it be dis-
mantled. In consequence, Mayence was no longer
a fortified bridge, aHording a passage to the right
bank of the Rhine at all times.

On the 9i,li of February, IfJOl, or 20ih of Plu-
viose, year ix., the last conference took place.
According to custom, tiny were never more near
a rupture than on the day when tlK^y met for
a definitive agreement. M. Cobentzel warndy
insisted upon the maintenance of the grand iluke
of Tuscany in Italy; on the indenniity designed
for the GerniJin princes — an indenmity which he
desired to render common to the ece!eHia«tical
princes of the higher order; on the inconvenience,
lastly, of higning without having powers from the
Uiet. An ai-ticle relating to the Belgic debt gave

birth to great diffieultics. Upon all these heads
he declared that he dared not sign without a
reference to Vienna. Joseph then informed him
that his own government authorized him to close
the negotiations, uidess they brought them to a
conclusion before they broke up; he added, that in
another campaign, Austria would be repelled be-
yond the Julian Aljis. Finally, he ceded Cassel
and all the fortified positions upon the right bank
of the Rhine, on the condition that France should
demolish the works before she evacuated them,
and that ihey should not be repaired.

Upon this concession M. Cobentzel gave way, and
the treaty was signed on the 9ili of February,
1801, at lialf-past five o'clock in the evening, to
the great joy of Joseph, and the great grief of
M. Cobentzel, who still had nothing with which to
reproach himself, because if he had hazarded the
interests of his court, it was through having de-
fended them too well.

Such was the celebrated treaty of Luneville,
which terminated the war of the second coalition,
and a second time conceded ihe left bank of the
Rhine to France, with a dominant position in
Italy. The following were the more essential
conditions.

The middle of the Rhine, from its issue out of
the Helvetic to its entry inio the Batavian terri-
tory, formed the limits of Fr.mce and of Germany.
Dusseldorf, Ehrenbreitstein, Cassel, Kehl, Philips-
burg, Old Breisach, situated on the right bank,
remained to Germany, after being dismantled.
The hereditary priiiees who lost territory on tiie
left bank were to be indemnified. No allusion was
made to the ecclesiastical princes, nor to their
mo<Ie of indenmity; hut it was well understood, on
each side, that ecclesiiistical territories would fur-
nish them also with indenmities. The emperor,
at Luneville as at Campo-Formio, ceded the Belgic
provinces to France, and also the small teinitories
belonging to him on the left bank, such as the
county of Falkenstein and the Friedthal, which
was (•oo()ed up between Zurzach and Basle. He
al)aiidoned also the Milanese and the Cisalpine.
For these he received no other indemnity than
the Venetian states as far as the Adige, which had
been before insured to him by the treaty of Campo-
Formio. He lost the bishopric of Salzburg, which
had been promised him by a secret article in the
treaty of Cam])o-Foijnio. His house was, besides,
deprived of Tuscany, ceded to the house of Parma.
An indemnity in Germany was promised to the
duke of Tuscany. The duke of Modena pi-eserved
still the promise made to him of Brisgau.

Thus the Italian territory was placed on a basis
much more advantageous for France than at the
conelusion of the treaty of Campo-Formio. Aus-
tria continued her limits of the Adige, but Tus-
cany was taken from her house, and given to one
dependent upon France. Tlie English were
excluded from Leghorn ; all the valley of the Po,
from Sesia and the Tanaro as far as the Adriatic,
belonged to the Cisalj)iiie republic, a dependent
child of the French ; Piedmont, confined to the
sources of the Po, dt jiended upon France. Thus
master of Tuscany and of the Cisalpine, France
occupied tiie entire of central Iialy, and' the Aus-
Irian connexion was prevented between Piedmont,
the Holy See, and Naples.

Sacrifices made by
AustriH in the treaty
of Luneville.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The treaty arrives in
Paris, and rejoicings
there.

Austria lost by the first coalition Belgium and
Lonibardy, besides Modena from licr liouse. She
lest in the second, the bishopric of Salzburg from
herself, and Tuscany from her house. This placed
her in a position little inferior in Germany, but
very greatly so in Italy; yet it was not, assuredly,
too much for all the bloodshed and efforts made by
France.

Tlie principle of the secularizations was not e.\-
plicirly, though it was implicitly determined, since
being* for the indemnificati(m of the hereditary
princes, it made no allusion to ecclesiastical ones.
The indemnity could only be demanded of the
ecclesiastical princes themselves.

The peace was declared to be common to the
republics of Batavia, Helvetia, Liguria, and the
Cisalpine. Their independence was guarantied ;
nothmg was said in regard to Naples, Piedmont, or
the Holy See. Those states depended ujion the
goodwill of France, which was bound, in regard to
Piedmont and Naples, by the interest that the
emperor Paul felt towards those courts; and in
regard to the holy see by the religious objects of
the first Consul.

Still the first consul, as we have seen, had not
yet deemed it right to explain himself to any one
relative to Piedmont. Not pleased with the king of
Sardinia, who delivered up his ports to the English,
he wished to preserve his freedom of action
towards a country placed so near to France, and
of such great importance to her.

The emperor signed the treaty of peace for him-
self, as the sovereign of the Austrian states, and
for the Germanic body, as emperor of Germany.
France secretly promised to employ her influence

with Prussia, to gain her sanction to the emperor's
mode of procedure in respect to his thus signing for
the Germanic body. The ratifications were to be
exchanged within thirty days by Austria and
France. The French ai-mies were not to evacuate
Germany until after the ratifications were ex-
changed at Luneville, but they were to evacuate it
eniirely within a month after that exchange.

In this treaty, as in that of Campo-Formio, the
freedom of all persons confined for political offences
was expressly stipulated. It was agreed that the
Italians, incarcerated in the dungeons of Austria,
and particularly Moscati and Caprara, should be
released. The first consul insisted upon this act of
common humanity from the opening of the congress.

Bonai)artc attained the supreme power on the
9th of November, 1799, or l!!th Brumaire, year
VIII., it was now the 9th of February, 1801, or 20lh
Pluviose, year IX., and not fifteen months had passed
since. In this time, France, reorganized in part at
home, was completely victorious abroad, and allied
with the south and north of Europe against En-
gland. Spain was ready to march against Portugal;
the queen of Naples had thrown herself at the feet
of France, and the court of Rome negotiated at
Paris the arrangement of religious affaii-s.

General Bellavene, appointed to carry the treaty,
left Lmie'ville on the 9th of February, in the even-
ing, and arrived as an extraordinary courier in
Paris. The treaty which he brought was imme-
diately inserted, word for word, in the Momteur.
Paris was illuminated immediately; joy was upon
every countenance ; and countless thanks were
given to the first consul for this happy result of
his statesmanshii) and his victories.

Increase ofhighway robbers. THE INFERNAL MACHINE. Outrages committed by them.

193

BOOK VIII.

THE INFERNAL MACHINE

PLOTS DIRECTED AGAINST THE LIFE OF THE FIRST CONSUL. — THREE AGENTS OP GEORGES, NAMED CARBON, ST.
REJANT, AND LIMOELAN, FORM A PLAN TO DESTROY THE FIRST CONSUL BV THE EXPLOSION OP A BARREL
OP POWDER. — CHOICE MADE OP THE STREET ST. NICAISE, AND OP THE 3RD NIVOSE, POR THE EXECUTION OF
THE CRIME. — THE FIRST CONSUL SAVED BY THE DEXTERITY OP HIS COACH MAN.— GENERAL SENSATION PRO-
DUCED.— THE CRIME ATTRIBUTED TO THE REVOLUTIONISTS, AND TO THE INDULGENCE SHOWN TO THEM BY
FOUCHE, THE MINISTER. — DISLIKE OP THE NEW COURTIERS TO TH.\T MINISTER. — HIS SILENCE AND COOLNESS.
— HE DISCOVERS A PART OF THE FACT, AND MAKES IT KNOWN; BUT STILL MEASURES ARE TAKEN AGAINST THE
REVOLUTIONISTS. — IRRITATION OP THE FIRST CONSUL. — AN ARBITRARY MEASURE CONTEMPLATED.— DISCUSSIONS
ON THE SUBJECT IN THE COUNCIL OP STATE. — AFTER LONG DELIBERATION, A RESOLUTION IS PASSED FOR
BANISHING A CERTAIN NUMBER OP THE REVOLUTIONISTS WITHOUT A TRIAL.- SOME RESISTANCE MADE, BUT
VERY SLIGHT, TO THIS DESPOTIC ACT.— EXAMINATION WHETHER IT SHALL BE EtPECTED BY A LAW, OR BE
THE SPONTANEOUS ACT OF THE (iOVERNMENT. — ONLY REFERRED TO THE SENATE FOR THE SAKE OP BEING
CONSISTENT WITH THE CONSTITUTION.— THE LAST COURSE IS ADOPTED.— A DECREE OF TRANSPORTATION
AGAINST ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ALLEGED TERRORISTS. — FOUCHE, WHO KNEW THEM TO BE INNOCENT OF
THE ATTEMPT ON THE 3nD NIVOSE, CONSENTS NOTWITHSTANDING TO THEIR PROSCRIPTION. — DISCOVERY OF THE
REAL AUTHORS OF THE INFERNAL MACHINE. — PUNISHMENT OP CARBON AND ST. REJANT. — UNJUST CONDEMNA-
TION OF TOPINO-LEBRUN, ARENA, AND OTHERS. — SESSION OF THE YEAR IX.— NEW MANIFESTATIONS OF OPPO-
SITION IN THE TRIBUNATE. — INSTITUTION OF SPECIAL TRIBUNALS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF ROBBERIES ON
THE HIGH ROADS — FINANCIAL STATEMENT OP THE RESOURCES FOR THE YEARS V., VI., VII., AND VIII. —
BUD3ET OP THE YEAR IX.— DEFINITIVE ARRANGEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DEBT.— REJECTION BY THE TRIBUNATE,
AND ADOPTION BY THE LEGISLATIVE BODY, OF THIS PLAN OF FINANCE.— SENTIMENTS OP THE FIRST CONSUL —
CONTINUATION OP HIS ADMINISTRATIVE LABOURS. — ROADS.— CANAL OF ST. QUINTIN. — BRIDGES OVER THE
SEINE. — WORKS ON THE SIMPLON. — THE MONKS OP ST. BERNARD ESTABLISHED ON THE SIMPLON AND ON
MOUNT CENIS.

While the situation of France externally became
day by day more brilliant, ami Austria as well as
Germany was signing a treaty of jieace ; wliile
the northern powers were leaguing with France to
resist the maritime domination of England, Nai)les
and Portugal closing their ports against her ; while,
in short, every thing succeeded according to the
wishes of a victorious and moderate government,
the internal situation of France presented a spec-
tacle, sometimes fearful, of tlie last struggles of
expiring parties. It has been already seen, that in
spite of the prompt reorganization of the govern-
ment, robbers infested the iiighways, and fac-
tions in despair attempted to as.sassiiiate the first
consul. Tliese were the inevitable consecjuences
of jiast discords. The men that civil war had
trained to crime, and could not return to peaceable
occupations, endeavoured to lind employment on
the highroads. The beaten factions, that despaired
of vanquishing the grenadiers of the consular guards,
attemptfd, by means the most atrocious, to desti'oy
the invincible author of their defeat.

Highway robbery increased on the approach of
winter. It was not possible to travel the roads
without being exposed to pillage and a8.sas8inati<)n.
The dipartinents of Normandy, Anjou, Maine,
Britany, and Poitou, were, as formerly, the scenes
of these depredations. Tlux-vil, too, had extended
itself. Several departments of tlie south and
centre, such aB those of tlicj Tarn, Lozere, Avey-
ron, Haute-Garomie, lldrault, Gard, Ardeche,
Drome, Vaucluse, Bouches du Ilhuuc, High and

Low Alps, and Var, had in their turn been in-
fested. In these departments the bands of robbers
were recruited from the assassins of the south, who,
under the pretence of hunting out the Jacobins,
killed for the purpose of robbery the purchasers
of the national domains. They were augmented
too by young men who would not submit to the
conscription, and by soldiers whom misery had
driven away from the army of Liguria during the
cruel winters of 1799 and IJJOO. The.se miserable
men having once engaged in criminal courses, had
imbibed a taste for them ; and nothing but the
force of arms, and the rigor of the law, could turn
them aside from their bad liabits. They stopped
the public conveyances ; they took from their
homes the purchasers of the national domains, and
freiiuendy wealthy landed proprietors as well,
carrying them into the woods, as fur example the
senator Clement de Ris, who was detained for
twenty days ; and they made their viciims submit
to horrible tortures, sometimes burning their feet
until they advanced considerable sums of money
for their ransom. They more especially plundered
the public chests, and Irequently seized the public
money in the houses of the collectors, under the
pretext of making war upon the governineiit.
Vagabonds who, in the midst of troubled times,
had ([uitted those provinces, to deliver themselves
up to a wandering life, acted as their spies, ami
appeand in the towns under the character of
mendicants. These sctmndrels, obtaining every
kind of infonnatiou while they were begging, gave
O

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, ^'^'.tt^fot^r'' '"^ °' 'vll

it to the robbers their accomplices, as well as what
carriages they were to stop, or what houses to
rob.

Small bodies of soldiers were required to sup-
press these banditti. But when any of liiem were
captured, justice could not be done ; because the
witnesses were afraid to give evidence against
them, and even the juries were fearful of convicting
them. Extraordinary measures are always to be
regretted in such cases, less from the severities
which they are sure to bring in their train, than
by the shock they give to the constitution of the
country, and particularly when the constitution is
new. But here measures of this kind were become
indispensable, because the ordinary course of
juhtice, after having been tried, was found to be
altogether powerless. The project of a law had
been prepared for the institution of special tri-
bunals, destined to repress highway robbery. This
plan or project, presented to the legislative body,
at that moment sitting, became an object of a
strung attack upon the part of the opposition. The
first consul, exempted from all those scruples of
le";ality which have only existence in quiet times,
and which even when they are narrow and petty,
are a happy sign at least of resi)ect for the law —
the first consul did not hesitate to have recourse to
martial law until the projected enactment under
discussion could be adopted. As it was necessary
to enqiloy bodies of troops to repress these bands
of robbers, the gendarmerie not being in sufficient
strength to cope with them, he thought such a
situation of things approximated so closely to a
state of real war, that it authorized the laws
peculiar to that position. He formed a number of
small bodies of soldiers, which traversed in all
directions the departments infested, and these were
followed by military commissions. All the robbers
taken with arms in their hands, were tried and
shot within forty-eight hours.

The terror inspired by these villains was so
general and so powerful, that nobody dared to
raise a doubt of the regularity, or of the justice
of the executions. In the mean while some mis-
creants of another character meditated by different
means, and still more atrocious, the ruin of tlie
consular government. While Demerville, Ceracchi,
and Ar6ia were under a judicial instruction, ihcir
adherents of the revolutionary party continued to
plan a thousand schemes, one more insane than
another. They platmed the assassination of the
first consul in his box at the ojiera, and hardly
dared, a.s has been seen, to seize their poignards.
Now they were planning something difTcrcnt. At
one time they proposed to raise a disturbance at
the rising of one of the theatres, and to destroy the
first consul in the midst of the confusion ; at an-
otiier they were to seize him on his way to Mal-
maison, and to carry him oft' and murder him. All
this they talked about openly, like club-orators,
and so loudly, that the police were hourly informed
of all their designs ; though while they thus de-
claimed, not one of them was bold enough to put
liis hand to the work. Fouchd, though he had
little fear from fhem, yet watched them most
attentively. Still among their numerous schemes,
there was one which was more formidable than the
rest, and which had much attracted the attention
of the police. A m^n named Chevalier, a work-

man employed in the manufactory of arms esta-
blished in Paris during the time of the convention,
had been discovered at work upon a most terrible
machine. It consisted ci a cask full of powder
and missiles, to which a musket barrel with a
trigger was appended. This was clearly intended
to destroy the first consul by blowing him up. The
inventor was arrested, and put into prison. This
new invention made a noise, and conti-ibuted to
concentrate the public attention upon those deno-
minated Jacobins and Terrorists. Their character
in 1793 made them more feared by far than they
deserved. The first consul, as has been remarked
before, partook in the common erx'or indulged in
their regai'd ; and having always had to deal with
the revolutionary party, often with honest men of
the party discontented with a reaction too rapid,
often with miscreants projecting crimes which they
had not courage to commit, he threw the blame of
every thing upon the revolutionists, was incensed
against them alone, and only talked of punishing
that party. Fouche' persisted in vain in attempting
to fix his attention upon the royalists. It would
have requii'ed very strong proofs to change the
first consul's opinion, as well as that of the public,
on this subject. Unfortunately, facts of a most
atrocious nature were in progress to set the matter
at rest.

Georges, returned to the Morbihan from London,
with plenty of money, (thanks to the English!) se-
cretly directed the robbers of the public vehicles.
He had sent to Paris some of his cut-throat instru-
ments, with a conmiission to assassinate the first
consul. Among t'lese were two persons named
Limoelan and St. Re'jant, both well piaetised in the
horroi'S of civil warfare ; the last had been a naval
officer, having a considerable knowledge of the
artillery service. To these two were added a third,
named Carbon, a suboi'dinate to them, and a very
worthy instrument of such great criminals. One
arrived after the other in Paris towards the end of
November, 1800, or the first days of Frimaire.
They set about the consideration of the best mode
of destroying the first consul ; and they made in
the environs of Paris more tiian one experiment
with air-guns. Fouche, aware of their pi'esence
and of their objects, had them watched very closely,
but, owing to the bad nianngcnient of the two spies
emplojed upon that service, they lost sight of the
conspirators. Whilst the jiolice were making efibrts
to re-find them, these villains had involved them-
selves in complete obscurity. They made no de-
clamations like the Jacobins ; they communicated
their secret to no one ; but ])repartd for a horrible
deed, which has had iis equal but once in the pre-
sent times. The macliine of Chevalier had given
them the idea of destroying the first consul by
means of a barrel of powder charged with missiles.
They determined to i)ut this barrel into a cart,
and to place it in one of the narrow streets leading
to the Carrousel, which the first consul often pa.ssed
through in his carriage. They bought a horse, a
cart, and hired a cart-house, passing themselves
for country traders. St. R<;jant, who was, as ob-
served above, an officer of the marine and artillery,
made the necessary ex[)eriments, went a number of
times to tiie Carrousel to see the carriage of the
first consul come out from the Tuilerics, to calcu-
late the time it would take to reach the neighboui*-

Explosion of the machine.
Escape of the firit consul.

THE INFERNAL MACHINE.

Xndignation against the revolu-
tionary party.

ing streets, and to arrange every thing in such a
manner that tlie barrel sliould e.xplode at the pro-
per niunient. These three persons chose for the
iuifihnent of their plot, a day when the first consul
was to go to the Opera, to hear Haydn's oratorio,
'• The Creation," whicli was then to be executed
for the first time. It was the 3rd of Nivose, or
24th of December, 1800. They selected for the
scene of their crime the street St. Nieaise, which
ran from the Carrousel towards tlie Rue de Riche-
lieu, that the first consul was often in the habit of
p.ossing through. In this street, successive turn-
ing.s rendered necessary a slackening of his pace
by the most adroit coachman. The day having
arrived, Carbon, St. Rejant, and Limoelan con-
ducted the cart into the Rue St. Nicaise, and then
they directly separated. While St. Rejant was to
set fire to the barrel of powder, the other two were
to place themselves in sight of the Tuiieries, in
order to give notice when they .=aw the carriage of
the first consul appear. St. Rejant had the bar-
barity to give the horse of this horrible machine
to a girl of fifteen years of age to hold. He him-
self kept in readiness to set fire to the powder.

At this precise moment, the first consul, worn
down with his labour.s, was in some doubt about
going to the opera in consequence. He was finally
prevailed upon to attend, by the earnest per-
suasions of those who happened to be present at
the time, and he left the Tuiieries at about a
quarter past eight o'clock. General Lannes, Ber-
thier, and Lauriston accompanied him; and a de-
tachment of mounted grenadiers followed, in place
of preceding the carriage. It arrived in the
narrow part of the street St. Nicaise, without the
guard announcing its api)roacli to St. Rejant, or
even his acuoniplices, the last never coming to ap-
prise him of it, either through fear, or perhaps
from the non-recognition of the carriage. St. Re'-
jant himself did not perceive the carriage until it
had i)<'issed the machine a trifling distance. He
was violently jostled by one of the horse grena-
diers; but not disconcerted. In- set i\vn to the
machine and instantly fled. Tlie coachmaii of the
fii^t consul, who was exceedingly adroit at his
business, and who comtiionly drove a I, a great rate,
had by that time passed one of the tiu-nings of the
street, where the explosion took place. The shuck
wiiH terrible ; the carriage was nearly overturned,
ail the windows were broken, and tlu; fronts of
the neighbouring houses were defaced with the
missiles. ()\v of the horse grenadiers was sliglitly
wounded ; and a number of persons, killed or
wounded, were instantly jji-ostratcd in the sur-
rounding streets. The first consul and those who
were with him thought first that they had been
fired upon with grape-shot ; they stopped for a
moment, and, learning the truth, continued on their
way to the opera, whither the first consul insisted
u\)nu proceeding. He exhibited a calm, in)i)assivo
countenance, in the midst tif a mo>-t extraoidniary
sensation ])ervading every part of the house. It
was reported there that a whole quarter of Paris
had been blown up by banditti in order to destroy
him.

lie remained only a few moments at tlie opera,
:in<l then returned to the Tuiieries, where, in con-
sequeuce of the news of tlio attack, an inunens(!
crowd of persons had assembled, llisang 'r, which

until then had been restrained, now burst forth.
" These are the Jacobins, the Terrorists," he cried
out ; '• it is those miscreants in a permanent re-
volt, formed in square against every government ;
they are the assassins of the 2nd and 3rd of Sep-
tember, the authors of the 23rd of May, the con-
spirators of Prairial ; they arc those miscreants
who, to assassinate me, do not regard immolating
thousands of lives. I will do signal justice upon
them."

There was little need to arouse public opinion
against the revolutionists after so high an autho-
rity. Their exaggerated reputation, and their at-
tempts for two or three months before, were of a
nature to cause all sorts of crimes to be charged
u])on them. In the saloon, where a number of
persons were assembled, anxious to exhibit their
attachment as much as possible, there could but
be a united cry against the Terrorists as they were
called. The numerous enemies of Foiich^ hastened
to profit by the event, and pour out against him
the bitterest invectives. His police, they said, saw
nothing, and did nothing ; he exhibited a criminal
indulgence towards the revolutionary jiarty. This
comes from his feeling towards his old accomplices.
The life of the first consul will no more be secure
in his hands. In a moment the hatred against the
minister rose to its full elevation ; the same even-
ing his disgrace was proclaimed. As to Fouchd
himself, he retired into one corner of the saloon of
the Tuiieries with some individuals who did not
experience the general excitement, where he heard,
with great composure, all that was preferred against
him. His incredulous air yet more excited the
anger of his enemies. He would not tell that with
which he was well acquainted, for fear of marring
the success of tlie researches on foot. But re-
collecting the agents of Georges, for some time
under the observation of the police, and of whom
the traces had been lost, he did aot himself hesitate
to impute the crime to them. Some members of
the council of state, addressing observati(ms to the
first consul, implying doubts as to the real authors
of tlie attempt in the street of St. Nicaise, he
warmly rei)lied : " I am not to be cheated in this ;
they are neither Chouans, nor emigrants, nor old
nobles, nor old i)ri<.sts. I know the authors ; I
shall soon reach them, to inflict upon them the
most exemplary punishment." In uttering these
words, his tone was most vehement, and his gesture
threatening. His flatterers approved of all he
said, exciting his auger still more, in place of re-
straining it, after the horrible event which had so
slioidied the feelings of all the world.

The next day the same scenes were renewed.
According to the custimi lately established, the
senate, the legislative body, the tribunate, the
eomicil of state, the tribunals, the administrative
authorities, and the military staffs waited upon the
first consul to testify their sori-ow an<l indignation
at what had occurred ; sentinuiits sincere and
very largely partaken— for never, in fact, liad a
similar thing been seen. The revolution liad
lial)itu!itcd the minds of the ju'oplc to the cruelties
of the victorious party, but mver yet with the
plots of those that had been vanquished. Every
mind was struck with Kurinisc! and dismay. They
dri-aded the repetition of these base attempts ; and
each inquired of the other what would hai>pen, if

Congratulatory addresses t
the fir»t consul.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Debates on a law for
puiiiihiiig the as-
sassin.

Ihe only man who could alone restrain these wretches
should be taken off. All the public bodies, ad-
mitted at the Tuileries, expressed their ardent
att^ichment to the hero-pacificator, who had pro-
mised to give, and had, in effect, given, peace to
the world. The language of these addresses was
of the common stamp, but the sentiment they ex-
pressed was as sincere as it was deep, The first
consul replied to the municipal council of Paris : —

" I have been nmch touched with the proofs of
affection which the people of Paris have given to
me on this occasion. 1 deserve them, because the
only object of my thoughts and of my actions is to
increase tiie prosperity and glory of France. As
far as this troop of banditti directed its attacks
upon myself, I could leave to the laws the task of
their punishment ; but when they have, by an
unparalleled ciime in history, endangered part of
the population of the cajjital, the punishment shall
be as promi)t as terrible. Assure, in my name,
the people of Paris, that this handful of miscreants,
the crimes of whom almost dishonour liberty, will
be soon deprived of the power to effect mischief."

Every one applauded these revengeful words, be-
cause there was nobody who had not himself made
use of the same expressions. Reflecting minds
foresaw with apprehension that the angry lion
might possibly overleap the barrier of the law. The
multitude called out for punishment. In Paris
the agitation was very great. The royalists cast
the crime upon the revolutionists ; the revolution-
ists upon the myalists. The oi.e and the other
were equally in earnest, since the crime remained
a profound secret except to its oi-iginators. Every
one discoursed upon the subject; and, according to
the bias of his feelings, condemning this or that
party beyond any other, discovered reasons equally
plausible to accuse royalists or revolutionists. The
enemies of the revolution, old and new, declared
that the Terrorists were alone capable of forming
so atrocious a jjlot, and, in conclusive proof of their
opinions, quoted the machine of Chevalier, the
armourer, recently detected. Wise heads, on the
contrary, who stedfastly clung to the revolution,
asked why the robbers on the high road, the chauf-
feurs, who committed so many crimes, and every
day exhibited a refinement in cruelty, without
example, who, in particular, had carried off the
senator Clement de Ris; why these men might not
be the authors of the horrible explosion in the
street St. Nicaise, as well as those pretended
Terrorists. It nmst be observed, that calm minds
were unable, at that moment, to obtain a hearing,
80 dee|)ly was the ]>ublic mind agitated, and so
prejudiced was it against the revolutionary party.
But, will it be credited ? in the midst of this con-
flict of varied imputations, there wei-e some persons
inconsiderate or obstinate enough to sjjeak very
differently. Certiiin factious loyalists longed fir
the destruction of the first con.sul, cost what it
might; and in supporting the general notion, which
attributed the crime to the Terrorists, they ad-
mired the atrocious energy and the profound
secrcsy which nmst have been put in practice to
perform such a deed. The revolutionists, on the
contrary, appeared as if they were covetous of the
merit for their party ; and there were among them
certain boasters in crime, who would have been
almost proud of the imputation of such an ex-

ecrable act. It is in times of civil troubles alone,
that such unreflecting and wicked language is heard
among men, who, themselves, would be wholly
incapable of performing the actions they thus affect
to a|)prove.

The minister of police, Fouche, alone had a sus-
picion of the real criminals; all besides, who talked
or conjectured as to its authors, were entirely
wrong.

While he was occupied in their detection, every
one inquired what was to be done for the future
prevention of similar attempts. I'eople were then
BO habituated to violent measures, that they thought
it was but natural to arrest the men once known
undt-r the appellation of Terrorists, and to treat
them as they treated their victims in 1793. The
two sections of the council of state, to whom the
matter more inmiediately belonged, the sections of
legislation and of the interior, assembled two days
after the event, on the 26th of December, or 5th
of Nivose, to examine, among the different plans
that presented themselves, which it was most ad-
visable to adopt. As the proposed law for the
purpose of instituting special tribunals was under
discussion, it was proposed to add to it two clauses.
The first, for the institution of a military commis-
sion, to try all crimes committed against the mem-
bers of the government ; the second, to invest the
first consul with the power to remove from Paris
the individuals whose presence in the capital might
be deemed dangerous, and to punish them with
transportation, if they should attempt to evade their
first exile.

After the preliminary examination of the subject
in two sections of the legislative and interior, the
entire council of state met under the presidency of
the first consul. M. Portalis made a report of what
had taken place in the morning in the two sections,
and submitted the pro|)ositions to the assembled
council. The first consul in his impatience thought
tlie proposals insufficient for the end. He was for
arresting the Jacobins in a body, shooting those
who should be found guilty of the crime, and trans-
porting the rest. He wished to accomi)lish this end
by an extraordinary measure in order to make sure
of the result. "The proceedings of a special tribu-
nal," he said, "were slow, and would not reach the
true criminals. It is not now the question to frame
a system of judicial metaphysics ; metaphysical
minds have destroyed every thing in France for
these ten years past. It is necessary to judge in our
situation of statesmen, and to apply a remedy like
determined men. What is the evil that torments
us ? There are ten thousand scoundrels in France,
sjiread over the entire country, who have perse-
cuted every honest man, and who are drenched in
bl(Pod. All are not in the same degree culpable;
very far from it. Many are susceptible of repent-
ance, and are not irreclaimable criminals ; but
while they see the head quarters established in
Paris, and their chiefs forming plots with impunity,
they keep hope alive, and hold themselves in good
breath ; strike boldly at the leaders, and the soldiers
will disperse. They will return to those labours from
which they were driven by a violent revolution ;
they will soon forget that stormy period of their
lives, and become peaceable citizens. Honest men,
kept in continual fear, will lose all apprehensinn,
and attach themselves to the government which

An intemperate speech of
Bonaparte censured by
admiral Truguet.

THE INFERNAL MACHINE.

Boldness of Tniguct. —
Angry reply of Bona-
parte.

197

lias known how to pi-otect tlieiii. There is no mid-
dle way; we must either pardon all like Aucjustus;
or venueanee, prompt and terrible, proportionate to
the critne, must overtake them. As many of the
guilty must be sacrificed as there have been vic-
tims; fifteen or twenty of these villains must be
shot, an 1 two hundred of them transported. By
this means the republic will be disembarrassed of
])erturba ion that disturbs it; we shall purge it of the
sanguinary lees.'' At every sentence the first con-
sul became more and more animated and irritated
by the disapprobation which lie saw expressed upon
some countenances. " I am," he cried, " I am so
convinced of the necessity and justice of some
strong measure to puril'y France, and at the same
time to calm her, that I am ready to make myself
the sole tribunal, to have the culprits brought
before me, to investigate their crimes, to judge them,
and order sentence to be executed. Ail France
would applaud me, 1)ecause it is not my own jiri-
vate vengeance that I seek. My good fortune
which has preserved me so many times on the
field of battle will secure me still. T do not think
of myself; I think of the social order which it is my
duty to re-establish, and of the national honour,
from which I am commissioned to wash out this
abominable stain."

This scene struck with surprise and fear a part
of the council of state. Some of the members, par-
taking in the sincere but intemperate warmth of
the first consul, applauded his arguments. A large
majority regretfully heard in his words the same
language which had been held by the revolutionists
themselves, when they prescribed thousands of vic-
tims. They had said in the same way, that the aris-
tocrats placed the republic in danger; that it was
necessary to be rid of them by the most prompt
and certain means; and that the public safety was
worth some sacrifices. The difference was most
assuredly great; because in place of sanguinary
miscreants, who in the blindness of their fury had
taken each other for aristocrats and destroyed one
another, a man of genius was here seen, proceed-
ing with energy towards a noble end, in restoring
to its place a disorganized society. Unhappily, he
wished to ])roceed, not by the slow observation of
rules, but by direct and extraordinary methods,
such as tliose employed wlio had been the cause of
the evil. His good sense, his generous heart, and
tlie horror of shedding blood then prevalent, were
sufficient guarantees against sanguinary executions;
but with this exception he was disposed to have
recourse to every kind of severity towards the men
at that time known as Jacobins and Terrorists.

(Jbjections were raised in the council of state,
though timidly, because of the indignation every
where excited at the crime in the Rue St. Nicaisc,
which checked the courage of those who would
have opposed a stronger resistance to acts so arbi-
trary. Still there was one individual who did not
fear to make head against the first consul, and who
made it boldly and with perfect freedom, — this
was admiral Truguet, who seeing that the intention
was to strike at the revolutionists in a body, cx-
])resscd doubts in regard to the real authors of the
crime. " Goveniment," said the admiral, " is desi-
rous of getting rid of the ba.sc men who trouble the
republic ; be it so ; but there arc villains of more
than one class. The returned emigrants threaten

the holders of national property; the Chouans infest
the high-roads ; the reinstated priests in the south
inflame the passions of the people; the public mind
is corrupted by pam.phlets." Admiral Truguet
made an allusion here to the famous pamphlet
of M. Fontanes, of which mention has been already
made.

At these words the first consul, stung to the
heart, and advancing dii'ectly to the speaker, asked
— "To what pamphlets do you allude?" "Pam-
phlets publicly circulated," the admiral rei)lied.
" Designate them," replied the first consul. " You
know them as well as I do," retorted the bold man
who dared defy in this way the anger the first
consul exhibited.

Such a scene as this had never before been seen
in the council of state. The circumstance was
a specimen of the impetuous character of the man
who then held the destinies of France in his Iiaml.
Upon this reply lie displayed all the eloquence of
his anger. " Do people take us for children? " — he
exclaimed, — "do they think to draw us away by
declamations agauist the enn'grants, the Chouans,
and the priests ? Because there are still some par-
tial disturbances in LaVende'e, do they demand, as
formerly, that we shall declare the country in dan-
j ger ? Has Fi-ance ever been in a nobler pusition, —
the finances ever in a better way, — the armies more
victorious, — peace ever so near at hand? If the
Chouans commit crimes, I will have them shot.
Must I recommence proscription because of the
titles of nobles, priests, and royalists ? Must I send
into exile ten thousand old men who only desire to
live in peace and obey the established laws ? Have
you not known Georges himself put to death in
Britany four ecclesiastics, because he saw they
were likely to be reconciled to the government ?
Must I proscribe again merely for rank and title ?
Must I strike some because they are priests, others
because they are ancient noldes ? Do you not know,
gentlemen of the council, that except two or three,
you all pass for i-oyalists ? You, citizen Defermon,
are you not considered a partisan of the Bourbons ?
Must I send citizen Devaisne to Madagascar, and
then constitute my.self a council a la IJaboeiif? No,
citizen Truguet, I am not to be blinded ; there are
none who threaten our peace but the Septembrians.
They would not spare yourself ; in vain would
you tell them how well you defended them to-day
in the council of state, — they would inmiolate you
as they would me — as they would all your col-
leagues."

There was only one word to be said in reply to
this vehement apostrophe, that it was not just to
proscribe any individual on account of his quality;
neither the one party for being royalist, nor the
other for being revolutionist. The first consul had
no sooner finished his last words than ho arose
suddenly and concluded the sitting.

The consul Cambac(5rcs, always calm, had won-
derful skill in obtaining that object by gentle
means which his fiery colleague would, if po.ssible,
obtain by the power of his own will. On the
following day he assembled the sections at his own
house, endeavoured to excuse, in a few words, the
warmth of the first consul, sisserted what was the
fact, that ho had no antiiiathy to contradiction,
when it was unaccompanied by sjileen <ir person-
ality, and then endeavoured to incline their minds

Interference of Cambaceres.
198 -Convocation of the sec- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Plans proposed.— Progress ,„,,
ofinquiry concerning the , '"
real delinquents. ''^"•

to take some extraordinary step. This was un-
worthy of the usual moderation of Cambaee'res ;
but although he was accustomed to give prudent
advice to tlie first consul, he yielded when he saw
him resolute, and particularly when the point at
issue was to repress the Terrorists. M. Portalis,
who had the merit of never desiring the pro-
scription of any man, though he had been himself
proscribed, assented to the idea of the two sections,
wliich added two articles to the law for special
tribunals. Despite of these, Cambaee'res insisted,
and gained a majority in favour of an extraordinary
measure, upon the agreement that it should have a
fresh discussion before the two sections united.
In this species of secret meeting warm words took
place. Ra:derer clamoured loud against the Ja-
cobins, imputed their crimes to the indulgence of
Fouche', and even proceeded to move the council of
state to join iu a declaration for the dismissal of
that minister.

Cambaee'res repressed all these over-zealous dis-
plays, and convoked the sections at the residence of
Bonaparte, in whose presence a sort of privy coun-
cil was held, composed of the consuls, the two
sections of the interior and of legislation, the minis-
ters for foreign affairs, the interior, and justice.
The prejudice shown against Fouche' was so great,
that he was not even summoned to these con-
ferences.

The proposition for an extraordinary resolution
was then presented anew, and discussed a good
while. There were many sittings of the privy
council before the members could be got to agree.
At last it was decided that some general measure
should be carried into effect against the party de-
nominated Terrorists, but the form of the measure
became a weij^hty question. The main point to be
settled was whether the measure should be carried
into effect by the sp(mtaneous act of the govern-
ment or by means of a law. The first consul,
generally so bold, wished it should be by law. He
did not like to compromise the great bodies of the
state upon such an occasion, and openly declared,
that " the consuls were irresponsible, but the
ministers were not .so ; and that any of them who
signed such a resolution might, on some future
day, have to answer for it. Not a single individual
should be comjjromised ; the legislative body must
share in the responsibility of the proposed act.
The consuls themselves," lie said, " knew not what
might occur. As for myself, while 1 live I am not
afraid that any one will call me to a reckoning for
my actions. But I may be killed, and then I shall
not be able to answer for the security of my two
colleagues. It would be your turn to govern," he
added, laughing, to the second consul Cambaee'res,
"and you are not very Jinn in tlie stirrups. It will
be better to have a law for the present as well as
for the future."

There was pa-ssing at this moment a very singu-
lar scene. Those who were repugnant to the
measure desired to see it adopted not as a law but
as the sjjontaneous act of the government. They
wished to throw upon the government the entire
responsibility of the measure, not perceiving that
as so doing tliey were suffering it to acquire the jier-
nicious habit of acting alone upon its own arbitrary
authority. It was said in support of this opinion,
that the law could not pass, that sentiments were

divided upon the real authors of the crime, that
the legislative body recoiled before a list of pros-
cription, and that the government would expose
itself to the danger of incurring a very serious
defeat. Roederer and Regnault de St. Jean
d'Angely declared themselves of this opinion. The
first consul said to the last, " Since the tribunate
rejected one or two laws, you are seized with a
panic. There are some Jacobins in the legislative
body, it is true, at most ten or a dozen. They
alarm the others, who know that but for me, on the
18th Brumaire they would have been murdered.
These last will not be wanting upon this occasion,
the law will pass."

They persisted, and Talleyrand agreed in opinion
with those who, fearing the chances were against
the passing of a law, for which he gave a reason to
the first consul the most likely to produce an
effect, namely, that out of France the act would
appear the more imposing. " Foreigners will see,'
said he, " a government that knows and dai-es to
defend it.self against the anarchists." The first
consul gave way to this argument, but devised
in consequence a middle course, and this was fol-
lowed ; namely, to refer it to the senate, that the
senate might examine whether the act was or was
not an attack upon the constitution. It will,
doubtless, be remembered that according to the
constitution of the year viii., the senate did not
pass the laws, but had the power of annulling them,
if it deemed them contrary to the constitution.
With respect to the measures of the government it
did not possess the same power. The idea of the
first consul was approved in consequence, and M.
Fouche was commanded to draw up a list of the
principal terrorists, with the design of transporting
them to the deserts of the New World. The two
sections of the council of state were charged to
make a declaration of the reasons for the proceed-
ing. The first consul was to sign the decree, and
the senate to declare \\hether it was contrary to
the constitution or not.

This measure against the terrorists, in itself
illegal and arbitrary, had not even the justice upon
its side which arbitrary measures sometimes have,
when they fall upon those who are really guilty ;
because the terrorists were not the authors of the
crime. About this time the truth began to be sus-
pected. The minister Fouche', and the prefect of
police, Dubois, had continued to make researches
incessantly into the affair, nor had tiieir exertions
been unavailing. The violence of the explosion
had destroyed, almost to aimihilation, nearly all
the instruments used. The young girl to whom
St. Rejant had given the horse to hold, had been
torn in pieces ; nothing of the unfortunate creature
was left but her legs and feet. The iron of the
cart-wheels was thrown to a great distance. Frag-
ments of the articles employed in connnitting the
crime could alone be found, the only things likely to
lead to a discovery ; and these wei-e scattered at a
great distance off in every direction. There were
still some remains of the cart and horse. These
remains were all collected together, and a descrip-
tion of them was written and made public through
the newspaper.s, and all the hoi-se dealers in Paris
were asked to inspect them. By a fortunate chance,
the original owner of the horse identified the animal
at once, and named a dealer in seeds to whom it

Jan.

THE INFERNAL MACHINE.

Weakness of Fouche.— Trans-
portation of the Terrorists jgg

I had been sold. This dealer, on being summoned, |
I declared with the most perfect frankness every

I' thing he knew about the matter. He had sold the
hoi-se to two men, who passed for foreign traders.
He had had several interviews with them, and was
I able to describe them with great exactness. A
; man who kept carriages to let, and who had let tlie
I Ciirt-house for some dajs in which the cart had
; been kept, made a very precise declaration. He
, described the same individuals, and gave the same
■ indications as to their persons, as the dealer in
I seeds had done. The cooper who had sold the
' barrel, and had put iron hoojis upon it, gave de-
; scriptious concurring exactly with those of the
' other two. The descri|(tions exactly tallied in
I respect to features, stature, dress, and general
I appearance, with the parties suspected. When all
I this evidence had been taken, recourse was had to
i decisive proof. Above two hundred revolutionists,
j apprehended upon suspicion, were made to appear
i before them, Tlie 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of Janu-
; ary, or II th, 12th, l.'ith, and 14ih of Nivose, were
consumed in confronting these prisoners with the
witnesses, and concluded in the conviction that
none of the revolutionists arrested were authors of
the crime, because not one was recognized. There
was no doubt could be entertained of the honesty
and veracity of the witnesses who had furnished
the evidence, almost all of whom had come forward
spontaneously to state what they knew, showing the
greatest zeal in seconding the efi"orts of the police.
It was thus proved, almost to a certainty, that the
revolutionists were innocent ; but the absolute fact
could not be made clear until the discovery of the
real criminals. An iniportant circumstance directed
attention to the agents of Georges, who had been
sent to Paris nearly a month before, and who had
always been considered by Fouche to be the guilty
parties. Though all trace had been lost, yet dovyu
as recently as the 3rd of Nivose they had been
seen, sometimes in one place, sometimes in another,
though the police had been unable to seize them.
After the 3id of Nivose they had entirely disap-
peared, so wholly, that it might be thought they
liad been buried under the earth. This disappear-
ance, so complete and sudden, from the very day
ot the crime, was a striking fact. To this it must
be added, tliat one of the descriptions given by
every witness coiTcsponded with the person of
Carbon. M. Fouche, after all these indications,
believing more than ever that the real authors of
the plot were the Chouans, lost no time in despatch-
ing an emi.s.sary to observe Georges, and obtain in-
humation respecting St. R^jant, Carbon, and Li-
moi-lan. - While this was doin;;, he obtained enough
evidence to shake the previous opinions of many
persons, and even those of the first consul himself ;
but who still would not yield his first opinion
uidess the matter was clearly and certainly ascer-
tained.

Such was the state of the proceedings on the
4tli of January, or 14th of Nivose, the day on
which the decree that condemned so many of the
terrorists was dLfinitively settled '.

■ I have compared the dates of the documents in this
case witli the dates of the miasures passed aRainst the re-
volitlonary parly; the re»ult is. that between the Uth and
I Itli NivcMc, or Iht and ■itii uf January, only one tiling was
known, namely, that the examinations of the persons of tJie

There was at last, on the part of the government,
an accordance upon all the jioints discussed. It
had never at any time seriously thought of a sum-
mary tribunal, which should try the terrorists, and
sentence them to be shot ; it had always stoi)ped
its measures at the idea of transporting a certain
nuiuber of them. After numerous debates upon
the subject, it was agreed upon that they should
be transported by the act of the consuls, first sub-
mitted for the sanction of the senate. All having
been settled with the principal members of the
council and senate, the rest could be only a mere
formality.

M. Fouche, without knowing all the truth,
and yet knowing a part, assailed upon all sides,
had the weakness to lend himself to a measure,
directed, it is true, against men who had been
stained with blood, but were not the authors of the
crime, the perpetrators of which were then awaiting
detection and punishment. Of all who had a share
in this act of ])roscription, he was, therefore, the
most inexcusable ; but he was attacked upon every
side. He was accused of forbearance towards the
revolutionists, and he had not the courage to resist.
He drew up himself the report of the council of
state upon whii-h the decree of the consuls was
groimded.

In this report, ]>resented to the council of state
upon the 1st of January, 1801, or 11th Nivose,
numbers of men were denounced who for ten years
had participated in every kind of crime, who had
spilled the blood of the prisoners in the Abbaye,
invaded and done violence to the convention,
threatened the directory, and who, reduced now to
despair, had armed themselves with the poignard
to strike at the republic in the person of the first
consul. "All these persons," it was said, "have not
taken the dagger in their hands; but all are uni-
versally known to be capable of sharpening and of
using it." It was added, that the tutelary iorius of
justice were not made for them ; it was therefore
proposed to seize and transport them beyond the
territory of the republic.

The examination of the report raised the ques-
tion as to whether the Jacobins ou<;ht not to be
denounced as the authors of the 3rd Nivose. The
first consul opposed the pro]50sal earnestly. " We
may believe so," said he, "but we do not know it."
He began, it is probable, to be shaken in his con-
victions. "They are transi)orted for the 2iid of
September, for the 31st of May, the days of Prairial,
the conspiracy of Baboeuf, for all which they have
done, and for all which they might still do."

Terrorists had not led to the recognition of any one of them :
there was, consequently, every just reason to believe tliat
the revolutionary party was entirely unacquainted witli tlic
crime in the Rue St. Nicaise. It was not possible to have
ptrlc'ct certainty upon this point until mucli later, or until
the 28th Nivose, or IStli of January, the day of the arrest of
Carbini, and his complete identitication by the parties that
sold him the horse, the cart, and the barrel. The act de-
creed against the revolutionists is dated the Mth of Nivose,
or January lih. It is not true, therefore, as some have
ventured to asseit, that the proscription took place with a
perfect knowlcdKC of the real authors of the crime; and that
the government struck at the revolutionists, well knowing
that they were innocent of the otfence charged upon tliera.
The act was not the less arbitrary for all that; still it is
proper to give the real fact, without extenuation or exagge-
ration.

Conduct of the council of state Hatred shown towards the

OQO —Decree of transportation THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, terrorists- CondemMatiou
carried into effect. ol C.racchi and others.

1801.
Jan.

A list of one hundred and thirty individuals,
condemned to transportation, followed the report.
The f^overnment did not confine itself to transport-
ing the persons name<l, but, what was more cruel,
if possible, added to the names of many of them
the description of " Septembriseur," with no other
proof for so stamping them than mere common
report.

The council of state showed a visible repugnance
on hearing the hundred and thirty names, because
it might be said to be employed in drawing up a list
of proscription. Thibaudeau the counsellor said
that such a list could not be prepared by the coun-
cil. " I am not so foolisli," rejoined the first consul,
with some temper, "to make you pronounce the
doom of these individuals; I only submit to you
the principle of the measure." The principle was
approved, but not without some opposing voices.

Tlie next question was, whether the measure
should be an act of the high police on the part of
the governmo'iit, or be passed in the customary
form of a law. This had been arranged previously;
the resolutions already secretly decreed were con-
firmed; and it was decided that the measure should
be a spontaneous act of the government, only
refeiTcd to the senate to pronounce upon the ques-
tion of its being constitutional.

On the 4tli of January, or 14th Nivose, the first
consul having had the definitive list prepared,
issued a decree by which he transported beyond
the territories of the republic the individuals in-
scribed upon it, and without any hesitation placed
his signature to the decree.

On the 5tli of January, or 15th Nivose, the
senate met and advanced further than the council
of state had done, by declaring that the decree of
the first consul was a measure necessary to the
preservation of the constitution.

The unfortunate persons thus named were col-
lected together <m the day following, and sent on
their way to Nantes, there to be placed on board
ship, to embark for distant countries. There were
of the number several deputies of the convention,
some nieml)ers of the old commune, all those that
remained of the assassins of September, and the
well-known Rossignol, formerly a general of the
revolutionary army. These men, it is true, merited
no pity as regarded themselves, or at least but few
of them ; yet were all the forms of justice violated
in their persons, and what proved the danger of
violating such sacred forms was, that many of the
designations made by the police were contested
with great appearance of truth. It required, at
such a moment, no small degree of moral courage
to appear in the behalf of these proscribed persons;
yet there v/ere some who, on the recommendation
of courageous men, were erased from the list of
the proscribed, and saved at Nantes from the fatal
embarkation.

That upon an influential recommendation an
individual should be able to obtain, or net to ob-
tain, the favour of a government — be it so; but
that a recommendation should suffice to exclude or
not from a proscription list, according as a man
has a friend bold or influential enough to command
it, causes every sentiment of justice to revolt, and
proves that when forms are once violated there
only remains for society the horrors of arbitrary
power. Yet this period may be radieut with glory ;

it was remarkable for the love of order and a
hatred of bloods^hed. But the country was rising
out of a revolutionary chaos ; it had no regard ft)r
rules, and found them inconvenient and insupport-
able. If this arbitrary proceeding was spoken of, a
single word was sufficient to justify it. It was said
that these miscreants were drenched in blood, and
would be so again if they had their own way ; that
they were treated much better than they had
treated their victims; and if, in effect, this act, under
the aspect of a violation of forms, equalled those
which had been witnessed at anterior epochs, it
presented two points of difference ; it fell for the
most part upon villains, and their blood was not
spilled : — a very miserable excuse, it must be
allowed, to offer in mitigation, but it may still be
urged to show that the year 1800 had no common
feature with 1793.

While these miserable men were on their way
to Nantes, it was with great difficulty they were
preserved from the fury of the populace, in all the
towns through which they travelled, so much was
the public sentiment against them. Under the in-
fluence of this sentiment, there was something still
more deplorable occurred, in the condemnation of
Ceracchi, Arena, Demerville, and Topino-Lebrun.
It will be remembered that in the month of Octo-
ber preceding, or Vendemiaire, these discontented
fellows entered into a ])lot for the purpose of assas-
sinating the first consul at the opera. But neither
of them had the boldness, perhaps never the real
determination, to carry the plot into execution.
The police agents sent in spies among them, gave
them poignards, and pushed them on to a degree
in crime greater than they contemplated them-
selves, or had the courage to commit. In any case
they did not make their a))pearance at the place
where they were to execute their design, save
Ceracchi, who was arrested alone at the opera, and
was not even armed with a single poignard of those
given to them. They were no more than empty
talkei-s, who certaiidy wished for the destruction of
the first consul, but would never have dared to
attempt the deed themselves. They were tried on
the 9th of Januiu-y, or 19ih of Nivose, at the very
moment when the events were occurring which
have just been narrated. Their counsel, aware of
the terrible influence exercised upcm the minds of
the jury, by the event of the 3nl of Nivose, made
vain efforts to combat it. The influence upon
their minds was irresistible; for of all jurisdictions
a jury is that most governed by public opinion,
having all the advantages and disadvantages of the
disposition. Four of these unhappy men were con-
denmed to death, Ceracchi, AriJna, Demerville, and
Topino-Lebrun. The last merited some symj)athy,
and was a striking instance of the cruel mutations
of fortune during the revolution. Young Toi)ino-
Lebrun had been a pupil of the celebrated David,
and was a young artist of some talent. Participating
in the wild notions of artists at that time, he had
been one of the jury of the revolutionary tribunal,
and had shown himself much more merciful than
his brother officials. He produced upon his trial
the advocate Chauveau-Lagarde, the respectable
defender of the victims before that tribunal, to
give evidence of his humanity. What an extraor-
dinary change of fortune ! The former juryman of
the revolutionary tribunal, accused in his own turn

Arrest of Carbon and St.
lU'jant.— Their condem-
nation and execution.

THE INFERNAL MACHINE.

General joy at the peace of __ .

Luneville. ^^^

and calling to liis assistance tlie old defender
of the victims of that sai)j,'uinar.v judgment scat !
But the aid thus generously given could not save
him. All four were condemned on the 9th of
January, or 19th of Nivose, and after a useless
appeal to the court of cassation, were executed on
the 3lst of that month.

In the meanwhile, the horrible mystery of the
infernal machine was clearing up by little and little.
Fouche had sent, to be near Georges, certain
agents, who were to make inquiries about Carbon,
what had become of him and where he lived. He
learned, through this medium, that Carbon had
sistei-s, who were residents in Paris, and he found
out their abode. This was searched by the police,
and a barrel of powder discovered. From the
youngest sister the police obtained a knowledge of
the new lodgings where he had concealed himself.
It was with very respectable persons, the ladies
De Cic^, sisters of M. de Cice', once archbishop of
Bordeau.x, and minister of jubtice. The ladies took
him for a returned emigrant, whose passport was
not rectified, and they ])rocured him a place of
refuge with some old religious sisters, living in
company in a retired part of Paris. These unfor-
tmiate sisters, who every day thanked Heaven that
the first consul had escaped death, because thoy
considered themselves all lost if he was no more,
had given an a.sylum, unconscious what they did,
t<j one of his intended assassins. The police went
to their house on the 18th of January, or 28th of
Nivose, and apprehended Carbon, together with
all those who had thus received him. The same
day he was confronted with the witnesses already
mentioned, and recognized at once. At first he
denied every thing ; but at last confes.sed he was
a participator, but an innocent participator only,
I ill the crime, because, from his own statement, he
was not aware of the object for which the cart
aiiiJ barrel were intended. He denounced Limoe-
lan and St. R^jant. Limoelan had found time to
escape into a foreign country ; but St. Rejant,
thrown down by the explosion, and for some
minutes half dead, had only just time and strength
left to change his lodgings. An agent of Georges,
employed to attend upon him, who had been left
at liberty for the purpose, as it was iioped, of
finding St. Rejant, by tracking him, was the means
of discovering his residence. The police found
him still ill in consequence of his wounds. He
was soon confronted, recognized, and convicted
by such a crowd of witnesses, as left no room for
douijt. A letter to Georges was found under his
bed, in which he detailed, in an ambiguous manner,
the princijial circumstances of the crime, and made
a Kort of justification of himself to his employer
because he had not succeeded. Carbon and St.
R(?jaut were sent before the criminal tribunal,
which sentenced these execrable ruffians to lose
their heads.

When all the particular facts of the ca.se were
published, the obstinate accusers of the revolution-
ary party, and the complacent defenders of the
royalists, were surprised and confounded. The
cneniies of Fouchd, too, fmmd themselves enibar-
raased. The correctness of his judgment was re-
cognized, and he was again well established in the
favour of the first consul. But he had furnished his
enemies with a weapon of which they took ad-

vantage with some justice. " Why," said they,
" if he was so certain of the fact, did he suffer the
revolutionists to be proscribed?" He well de-
served upon this point a bitter reproach. The
first consul, who did not regard a violation of
forms, caring for nothing but the results obtained,
showed no regret about the matter. He thought
that what had been done was well done, in every
point of view; that he was disenibarriissed of those
whom he called the "staff of the Jacobins," and
that the 3rd of Nivose only pmved one tiling,
which was, the necessity for watching the royalists
as well as the Terrorists. " Fnuclie," said he,
" judged better than most other persons ; he is
right ; it is necessary to have an eye open upon
the returned emigrants, upon the Chouans, and
over all who are of that party."

This event much diminished the interest felt in
behalf of the royalists, who had been complacently
styled the victims of terror: it also greatly lessened
the antipathy felt against the revolutionists, while
M. Fouche', though he did not increase in public
esteem, gained in credit.

The i)ainful sentiments of which the infernal
machine had been the cause, were .soon removed
by the joy inspired at the treaty of Lune'ville.
Every day under the most prosperous government
is not fortunate. That of the consulate had this
uneqtialled advantage, that if sad impressions at
one moment occupied the minds of the people,
they were dissipated the next instant by some
great, new, and unforeseen result. Some short
and mournful scenes there were in which the first
consul appeared as the saviour of France ; these
every faction was desirous of obliterating ; after
these scenes, victories, treaties, acts of reparation,
came healing deep wounds and reviving public pros-
perity— such was the spect:icle which lie thus un-
ceasingly presented — Bonajjarte constantly emerged
from them, greater, dearer to France, more evi-
dently destined for the sujireme jiower.

The second .session of the legislative body had
commenced. It was at this moment engaged in
the discussion and adoption of many laws, of which
the principal, that of the special tribunals, was of
no real importance after what hail just before been
done. But the opposition in the tribunate opposed
these laws against the government, which was a
sufticicnt inducement to their being carried out.
The first of these related to the archives of the
republic. It had become necossitry, since the
abolition of the ancient ])rovincc3 had consigned
to disorder a great number of old titles and of
documents, either very u.seful or very curious, to
decide where they should deposit such a mass of
records, laws, treaties, and similar instruments.
This was a measure of order only, liaving no
political character. The tribunate voted against
the law; and after having, accoi-ding to custom,
.sent its three orators to the legislative body, it
obtained a rejection of the measure by a largo
majority. The legislative body, though strongly
attached to the government, as assemblies so at-
tached generally are, was jealous of sometimes
exhibiting its independence in nicasurcs of detail,
and it was assuredly able to do this without danger,
under the proposal of a law, the object of which
was merely to decide upon the de|i08it, in this or
that place, of certain papers and ancient records.

202

Discussions relative to
tlie law of special tri-
bunals.

Objections. — The law
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. passed—Strong lan-

guage of Bonaparte.

1801.
Feb.

The two assemblies were occupied at the same
moment with the consideration of a more important
law, but equally a stranger with the preceding to
politics. It related to the justices of the peace, of
which the number was acknowledged to be too
great. Si.\ tliousand having been appointed at
their first institution, they had not answered the
purpose for which they were created. Men capable
of fulfilling the functions of the office could not be
found in many cantons ; they had failed, too, in
anotiier point. It had beeu judged proper to
assign to them the judicial police, but they had
performed the duty very indifferently, and the
paternal and benevolent character of their juris-
diction had been in some degree injured by it. The
proposed measure of the government included two
modifications to be introduced relative to these
officials. In the first instance, theh* reduction
from six thousand to two thousand six hundred
was contemplated; and next, the duty of the judi-
cial police was to be performed by other magis-
trates. The proposed measure was very rational,
and made with the best intentions; but it en-
countered a strong opposition in the tribunate.
Several members spoke against it, more particularly
Benjamin Constant ; notwithstanding this, it was
adopted in the tribunate, by fifty-nine to thirty-two,
and in the legislative body by two hundred and
eighteen to forty-one.

Another law, more likely to become a subject of
discussion, and of a character wholly political, was
presented at this time : the law for the institution
of special tribunals. This law had lost its chief
utility, since the first consul had instituted military
commissions, to follow the moveable colunms which
were in the pursuit of the robbers upon the high-
ways; and since, above all, he had not iiesitated to
proscribe, iu the most arbitrary manner, tiie re-
volutionists who were deemed dangerous to the
state. Tiie military commissions had already pro-
duced very salutary efTects. Tiie judges, in mili-
tary uniforms, wiio composed them, had no fear
of the accused ; they encouraged the witnesses
who gave evidence, and not unfrequencly these
witnesses were the soldiers tiiemselves, who had
arrested the robbers, having surpi-ised them witii
arms in their liands. Prompt and vigorous justice
following the employment of a very active force,
had singularly contributed to re-establish the se-
curity of the high roads. The escorts placed on
the imperials of the diligences, often obliged to
engage in murderous confiicts, had intimidated the
roijbers. Attacks were less frequent; and security
began again to be felt, tiianks to the vigour of the
government and the tribunals, and to the con-
clusion of the winter. Tlie ])roposed law was,
therefore, introduced when the mischief was al-
ready much diminished ; but it had the useful
object of regulating the military disj)eusation of
justice upon the high roads, and it applied to iiigh-
way rol)bers a permanent and legal punislnnent.
The projected organization was this : —

Tiie special tribunals were to be composed of
three ordinary judges, all members of the criminal
tribunal, of three military officers, and of two
assessors, the last chosen by the government, and
duly qualified to act as judges. The military
members could not, therefore, have the majority.
The government was to have full power to es-

tablish these tribunals in the departments where it
might believe them to be necessary. They were
empowered to take cognizance of all offences com-
mitted upon the high roads and in the country by
armed bands ; of all assaults against the purchasers
of national property ; and, finally, of murder di-
rected with premeditation against the heads of the
government. This last provision comprehended
the infernal machine, the plot of Ceracchi and
Are'na, with the like offences. The court of cas-
sation was authorized to decide in cases of doubtful
competency, all other business before the court
being suspended for that purpose. Tliese special
tribunals were to be abolished as a matter of right,
two years after a general peace.

Every thing might be objected to these tribunals
which could be objected to exceptional justice.
But there was this' to be urged in their favour,
that S(jciety never so deeply convulsed, at no
time demanded more prompt and extraordinary
means to restore it to tranquillity. Under the plea
of fidelity to the constitution, use was made of that
article belonging to it, which permitted the legis-
lative body to suspend it in those departments
where it might be judged necessary. The case of
extraordinary jurisdictions was evidently com-
prised in this article, because the suspension of the
constitution of necessity led to the establishment of
martial law. Besides the discussion was super-
fluous in a country, and at a moment when one
hundred and thirty persons had been proscribed
without a trial, and military commissions had beeu
established in several departments without the
least censure of public opinion. It must still be
allowed that, compared with these acts, the pro-
posed law was a return to legal government. But
it was warmly and acrimoniously attacked by the
usual opposition members, by Daunou, Constant,
Ginguene, and others. In the tribunate it only
passed by a majority of forty-nine to forty-one
voices. In the legislative body the majority was much
more considerable, the law obtaining one hundred
and ninety-two iu its favour, to eighty -eight against
it. But a minority of eighty-eight surpassed the
ordinary number of the minority iu that assembly
entirely devoted to the government. The great
number of negative suffrages then obtained was
attributed to a speech made by M. Francis of
Nantes, in which he addressed the legislative body
in language considered too intemperate. " M.
Francis of Nantes has done well," said the first
consul, iu reply to one of his colleagues Camba-
cdres or Lebriin, who expressed disapprobation of
his speech. " It is better to have fewer votes, and
to show that feeling insults, we are determined
not to tolerate them."

The first consul held stronger language to a
deputation of the senate which presented him with
a resolution of tiieir body. He expressed himself in
the boldest way, and in several instances said,
without disguise, that if he was much incommoded,
and prevented from restoring peace and order to
France, he would trust to the opinion which the
country held of him, and govern by consular ordi-
nances. p]very moment his ascendancy increased
with his success, and his boldness with his as-
cendancy, and he gave himself no more trouble to
dissemble the entire of his intentions.

He encountered a stronger opposition upon the

Financial measures of the

THE INFERNAL MACHINE. Scheme for meeting deficiencies. 203

question of the finances, which constituted the
last business of the session. This was the most
pniisewdi-tiiy of all the labours of the government,
and most particularly due to the pei'soual interven-
tion of the first consul.

We have several times explained the means
taken to secure the rcijular collection and i)ay-
nient of tlio revenues of the state. These means
had perfectly succeeded for the vear viii., or 1799-
1800; the sum of 518,000,0(io"f.' had been re-
ceived, which equalled the total sum of the taxes
for one year ; for at that time the revenue and
expcmliture in the budget did not exceed
500,000,000f. Of these 518,000,000f., 172,000,000f.
beliin!;ed to the years v., vi., and vii., and
346,000,000 f, to the year viii. All liabilities for
these four years were not acquitted. It was neces-
sary that there should be a complete liquidation,
in order that the year I.K., or 1800-1801, which
was the current year, might proceed with C(mi-
plete regularity. The income of the year ix. was
certiiinto meet its own expenses, because the taxes
would produce from 500,000,000 f. to 620,000,000 f.,
and this was adeiiuate to the expenses in a time of
peace. A practical system of accounts having
been established, from that date the receipts of
the year ix. would be applied exclusively to the
expenses of the year ; the receipts of the year x.
to the expenses of the year x. and so on ; thus the
future was secure. In regard to the past, or for
the years v., vi., vii., and viii., there remained a
deficit to be covered. To this object the daily
receipts from the arrears of taxes for those years
were respectively applied. These arrears, which
were principally due from the landed proprietors,
reduced them to a situation of considerable de-
pression. At the meeting of the councils-general
of the departments, held then for the first time,
eighty-seven councils-general out of one hundred
and six. remonstrated against the excessive burdens
of the direct contributions. The government was
obliged in consequence, as has been before stated,
to remit a part of the taxes in arrcar, for the pur-
pose of securing the punctual payment of the entire
tax in future. A law was ])roposed for the pur-
pose of authorizing the local administrations to
relieve those persons who were taxed too heavily,
and the measure passed without oppositi<m. In
consequence there was a ileficiency of resources
noted, as attiching to the years v., vi., vii., and
viii. The amount was estimated for the three
years, v., vi., and vii., at 90,000,000 f , and for the
year viii. alone at 30,000,000 f. The year vm.,
1799 1800, was distinguisbed from the years v.,
VI., VII., because the year viii. was under the
consulship.

It became necessary, therefore, to discover how
tluse deficiencies were to bo met. There remained
al)out 400,000,000 f. of national ])roi)erty dispos-
able ; and it was here that the first consul exer-
cised the most fortunate infiuence upon the finan-
cial systf^m, and made the best employment pos-
sible of the public resources.

Not being able to dispose of the national pro-
perty jit pleasure, the value had alw.ays been
received by anticipation, through the means of a
paper emitted under diflerent names, receivable in

' ,\bout £21,000,000 stcrlinB.

payment for that species of property. After the
fall of the assignats, the later name devised for
this kind of paper was that of " rescription." In
the course of the year vm. some of the "re-
scriptions"' had been negotiated to a less disad-
vantage than in the time gone by, but with too
little advantage still for it to be prudent to have
recoui-sc to them as a resource. 'J'his paper had
been circulated at a loss; for from the first day of
its issue it fell into discredit, and soon passed into
the hands of speculators, who, by this means, pur-
chased the national domains at a very trifling
price. Thus it was that a valuable resource had
been foolishly wasted to the great injury of the
state, and the great benefit of stock-jobbers. The
400,000,000 f. in value remaining, if they could be
successfully preserved from the disorder by which
so many other millions had been lost down to this
time, would not fail to acquire, with peace and
time, a value three or four times greater. The
first consul was resolved not to expend them in
the mode in which several thousand millions had
been already flung away.

But resources were immediately required, and
the first consul endeavoured to find them in the
issue of stock, which already, since his accession to
power, had obtained considerable value. The
funds had risen from the rate of ten and twelve,
to that of twenty-five and thirty, after the battle of
Marengo. Since the peace of Luneville they had
risen above fifty, and at a general peace it was
expected they would reach as high as sixty. At
this rate the government might begin to deal in
them, as there was less loss in selling stock than in
.selling the national property. The first consul,
unwilling to raise a regular loan, proposed to pay
with stock certain state creditors, and to devote to
the sinking fund an equivalent sum in landed
property, which that fund might afterwards sell,
but slowly, at its full value, so as to compensate in
this mode for the increase about to be made to the
public debt by the stock. This was the principle
of the financial law now proposed lor the year.

The unpaid debts which remained to be liqui-
dated for the last three years of the directory, or
the years v., vi., and vii., passed for bad debts.
These were the remnant of disgraceful contracts
made under the directory, and amounted to
0"00,000,000 f. On beginning a new system it was
proper to have a due regard to these debts, what-
ever might be their nature or origin. The sum
due was 90,000,000 f. ; nearly the whole being in
the hands of speculators, they were at a discount
of seventy-five per cent, in the market. It was
proposed to acfpiit these by means of stock
bearing an interest of three jwr cent. The total
of these debts being 90,000,000 f., a sum of
2,700,000 f. would be required to \my the divi-
dend. This sum, at the existing prices of the
])ublie funds, represented a real amount of
27,000,000 f. or 30,000,000 f., and could not repre-
sent less than 40,000,000 f. in the eight or ten
months that nnist elapse before the li(iuidation
could be completed. The debts which it was to
ac(iuit being at a discount of seventy-five ]ier cent,
in the market, and the capital of 00,000,000 f.
being thus rt^duced in reality to one of 22,000,000 f.
or 23,000,000 f., more would be paid for them than
their value, if the government were to yay divi-

Financial measures.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Regulation of the public 1801.
debt. Feb.

dends for them at the rate of 27,000,000 f., be-
cause such an interest immediately suld would
produce 27,000,000 f. or 30,000,000 f., and was
very soon likely to produce more.

The debts ot' tiie year vni., still in arrear, were
of a totally different character. Tliey were the
obligations for services executed during the first
year of the consular government, when order had
been perfectly established in the administration.
These services, executed at a time when the public
distress was still great, had been paid for at a dear
rate without doubt ; Ijut it was against the honour
of the consular government to treat its engage-
ments so )-ecently contracted, which had not like
those of the directory taken the character of dis-
credited debts, and been so negotiated — to treat
such engagements in the same manner as those
which belonged to the years v., vi., and vii. The
government did not hesitate, therefore, to pay in
full, and at its nominal worth, the excess of the
expenditure of the year viii. Its actual amount
was estimated at 60,000,000 f., but the payment of
the arrears of taxes in the year viii. reduced the
sum to 30,000,000 f. It was determined to ])ay a
part of this debt, amounting to 20,000,000 f., by
constituting stock at five per cent., which would
amount to a million interest. It will presently be
explained how the remaining part of the debt was
provided for.

The year ix., or 1800 1801, promised to meet
its own ex|)enses, upon the very probable hypo-
thesis of the approaciiing termination of the war,
because the continental peace concluded at Lune-
ville must soon bring about a mariiime one. The
budget was not then voted a year in advance, but
was voted the same year during the time that the
expenses were incurring. The budget of the year
IX., for example, was brought forward and dis-
cussed in Ventose of the year ix., that is to say,
the budget of 1801 in the month of March, I80'l.
The expenses and rect-ipts of this year were esti-
mated at the moment at 4 1 5,000.000 f., exclusively
of the expenses of collection and divei-s local ser-
vices, which may be taken at about 100,000,000 f.
more, and raised it to 515,000,000 f. in place of
4 1 5,000,000 f. But the estimate of receipt and
expenditure was inferior to the real aniount, be-
cause then, as now, the real expenses were always
beyond the estimates. It will by and by be clearly
shown that the sum of 41o,0!)0,000 f. was increased
to 500,000,000 f Happily the product of the taxes
exceeded the estimate as well as the expenditure.
The double excess thus produced there is no doubt
had been foreseen ; but fearing that in future the
receipts would not eipial tlie excess of the ex-
penditure, the government determined to a.ssure
itself of a supplementary resource. Ten millions
still remained to be met, as we have before said,
in order to complete the payments of the year viii.;
it was supposed that 20,000,000 f. woidd be wanted
for the payments of the year ix., 30,000,000 f.
would thus have to be raised in two years. It was
decided for this sum alone to have recourse to an
alienation of the national property. Fifteen mil-
lions of this property sold in each year would not
surpass the amount of alienation which it was
l)ossible to effect with advantage, and without dis-
order in the course of the year. By placing this
business in the hands of the managers of the sink-

ing fund, who had already very ably acquitted
themselves of the duty, the government was certain
to obtain an advantageous price for the portions of
the domains of the staie thus sold. In this way
the past debt would be liquidated, and the present
account be balanced. There only remained one
o]ieration to execute in order to terminate the
re-organization of the state finances ; this was the
regulation of the public debt definitively.

The moment was in effect come for detei'mining
its amount, for arranging the resources of the
sinking fund with the recognized amount of the
debt, and for making a convenient use with this
object of the 400,000,000 f. of national property
which still remained at the disposal of the state.

The public debt was, as it had been left, in a
state of bankruptcy, being so declared by the di-
rectory for which the convention and constituent
assembly had prepared the way. A third of the
debt had been jilaced in the great book, and it was
this third, which, in the language of that time, had
been called the " consolidated third." Interest at
five per cent, had been allowed upon this third,
saved from the bankruptcy. The amount inscribed
in the great book was 37,000,000 f. interest, not
capital, and there remained a considerable sum
still to be inscribed; two-thirds of the sun) had been
erased from the great book, or had been "mobi-
lised," another expression used at that time, and
declared to be receivable in paymeiit for the na-
tional domains, thus they were no more in fact
than real assignats. A posterior law had com-
pleted their depreciation by reducing them to one
only purpose, that of paying exclusively for the
buildings, but neither for the woods nor the land,
that made a part of the national property.

It was absolutely necessary to jiut a term to
such a state of things as this, and for that purjiose
to carry into the " great book" the remainder of
the consolidated third, which the anterior govern-
ment had delayed inscribing, that it might escape
paying the interest. Justice, and the good order of
the finances, required that such a state of things
should terminate. It was proposed to carry into
the " great book," a million and a half of the con-
solidated thirds, but only to bear interest from the
beginning of the year xii. This portion of the debt,
though the enjoyment of the interest was delayed
for two years, acquired instantly, from the mere
circumstance of its inscription, a value nearly
equal to that already entered ; and a much higher
value was thus conferred on all which remained of
the provisional third, by this appearance of punc-
tuality. A considerable sum remained to be en-
tered, either in " consolidated thirds," properly so
called, or in the debts of emigrants, of which the
state had taken the responsibility when it confis-
cated their property, or in the debts of Belgium,
which had been the condition of the conquest.
Finally, there were the " two-thirds mobilised,"
extremely depreciated, and which it was but equi-
table to give the holders the means of realising.
The conversion of the " consolidated thirds" was
offered by funding them at the rate of five for a
hundred capital. It was likely that the holders
would eagerly accept this offer. For this purpose
it was proposcil to create a million stock, and if the
project succeeded, it was imagined that the "mo-
bilisf^d two-thirds" would be speedily absorbed. A

1801.
Feb.

THE INFERNAL MACHINE.

Provision for public instruction
and invalid hospitals.

final period was fixed for the payinent of debts due
for national property, after wliicli, tlie" two-thirds"
bonds were to be no longer received in payment.
Tlie time thus allowed having expired, the pro-
perty not paid for lapsed to the state.

It was estimated that on adding the 20,000 OOOf.
of stock to the sum of 37,000,000 f. of consolidated
thirds, already entered in the great book, it would
be sufficient to meet the amount of the consolidated
third remaining to be entered, the mobilised two-
thirds, of whicli the conversion was eoiitem])laled,
and, lastly, the debts of the emigrants and of Bel-
gium. The total of the iiermanent public debt
would then consist of a charge of 57,000,000 f. In
addition to this permanent charge there weie
20,000,000 f. in life-annuities, 19,000,000 f. in civil
and religious pensions, the last paid to the clergy
who had lost their pio])erty, and, finally, 30,0()0,000f.
of military pensions, in all (i9,000,o6o f. of termi-
nable annuities, of which about 3,000,000f would
annually terminate. It was possible to hope in
a few years, by means of the extinction of the
terminable debt, that the savings would cover the
sensible augmentations to which the i)er|)etual
debt was liable, in consequence of new entries in
the great bo..k. It followed that the whole
charge, making provision for the old claims, could
not exceed the amount of 100,000,000 f. for the
service of the i)ublic debt, of which one-half
would be a perpetual charge, and one-half be ter-
minable. The position of the finances, therefore,
stood thus: a public debt of 100,000,000 f.; a budget
of 500,0(10,000 f.; eipial in receipt and expenditure,
or altogether ot 600,000,0001'., including the ex-
penses of Collection. This was a situation certainly
much better than that of England, which had an ab-
sorbing debt of 500,000,000 f. annually, up<in a reve-
nue of between 1000,000,0001. and 1 100.000.000 f.
In addition to this tliere remained still to France
the resource of the indirect contributions; that is to
say, of the tax upon liquors, tobacco, salt, and simi-
lar articles not then re-establislied, and which fur-
nished, at a future time, a very large revenue.

The first consul was desirous of proportioning
the resources of tlie sinking fund to the income of
the debt. He decided upon the creation of stock
involving a charge of 2,700,000 f. to cover the de-
ficiency of the years v., vi., and vii., of 1,000,000 f.
for that of the year viii., and of several millions
more for the inscription of the consolidated thinls,
for the conversion of the two-thirds mobilised, and
similar exigencies. He devoted to the sinking fund
a cajiital of 90,000,000 f. in national property, which
might be sold as convenience required, and cm-
jiloyed in the purchase of stock. The first consul
also had a transfer made to it of 5,400,000 f. of stock
belonging to the funds of public instruction, wiiich
wa-s replaced in a mode that will be shortly seen.

The national domains were thus preserved from
being wasted; because by the sinking fund they
were alienated slowly, at the times most beneficial,
or were kept back if it was found convenient; thus
being protected from the renewal of those dilapida-
tions which had been before so much lantented.
In order to secure the rest with greater certaintv,
the first consul determined to apply a considerable
jiart to other services, respecting which he felt
great solicitude, such as public instruction and (he
invalids. Public instruction appeared to liitn the

most important service of the state, and that for
which an enlightened government, such as his own,
wiis bound to make a provision in all haste, having
a new state of society to form. As to the invalids,
in other words, the woimded soldiers, they com-
])osed in some sort liis own family; they were the
supporters of his power, and the instruments of his
glory; he owed them all his cares, and he was in-
debted to them some portion at least of the thou-
sand millions formerly ]>roniised by the republic
to ihc defenders of their country

The first consul disliked to see these important
objects liable to the variations and deficiencies
of the budget. In consequence, he devoted
120 000,0001. of national propeity to public in-
siiiiciion, and 40,000,0001. to the support of the
invalids. Heie he had ample means to endow
richly the noble institutions which it was his inten-
tion .some day to devote to the instruction of the
youih of France, and also to endow several hos-
pitals for invalid soldiers, similar to that which
had its origin in the time of Louis XIV. Whether
these allotments were or were not maintained after-
wards, there were, for the moment, 100,000,000 f.
preserved from irregular s;ile, and made a relief
to the annual budget.

Thus, of 400,000 000 f. remaining of the national
property, 10,000,000 f. were devoted to the expcn-
diiuie of the year viii., and 20,000,000 f. to that of
the year ix. The sinking fund had 90,000,000 f. ;
jinblic instruction, 120.000,000 f., and the invalids,
40.000,000 f. This was a sum total of 280,000,00(1 f.
out of 400,000.0001'., for which a very useful
employnu-nt was found, without having recourse
to the system of alienation. Of this sunt of
280,000,0001'., 10,000,000 f. only were for the year
VIM., and 20,000,000 f. for the year ix., which was
to be disposed of in two years, and, therefore, was
attended with little inconvenience; the 90,000,000 f.
designed for the sinking fund, would only be sold if
the fund required money, and then very slowly, per-
haps not at all. The 12(1,000,000 f. devoted to public
instruction, and the 40,000 0001'. for the invalids,
were never to be sold. Out of the 400,000,000 f.,
therefore, but 120.000,0001'. would remain unappro-
])riated and disposable, while, in reality, only about
30,000,000 f. out of 400,000,000 f. were to bo parted
with by the state. The remainder was for divers
services, or as a disposable reserve, with the cer-
tainty of soon acquiring a value double or triple,
at least, in advantage to the st;iie.

To recapitulate : the government took the ad-
vantage of the return of credit to substitute the
resource of the creation of stock for that of the
alienation of the national property. By disposing
of a very small portion of this property, and by a
creation of stock, it paid off the debts arising iqxm
the years v., vi., Vii., and viii. It completed
means for the acquittal of the public debt, and
assured the payment of the interest in a certain
and regidar manner. Having thus regulated the
past, saved the rest of the state domains, and fixed
the amount of the debt, there were 1 00,000,000 f. of
interest ainnially to be paid, with an am])le sink-
ing fund; and, lastly, a budget of balance, in receipt
anil expen.liture, of 500,000,000 f. without, and
GOO.000,000 f. with the expenses of collection.

Such a distribution of the public property, con-
ceived with as much equity as good sense, ought

206 ^'Z^aS™™,"'" THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Public undertakings.
Canals.— The Simp-
Ion road.

to have met general approbation. Notwithstand-
ing; this, a etrong opposition was raised in tlie
tribunate. Tlie 415,000,000 f. demanded for Uie
current year, or year i.x., were accorded without
opjwsition ; but its enemies complained that the
budget was not voted in advance ; a very unjust
reproach, for nothing had been arranged at that
time for such a pi'oceeding. It was not yet prac-
tised in Enghind, and among financiers was still a
matter of disputation. The same opposition mem-
bers reproached the government tliat the regulation
of the arrears was an act of bankruptcy towards
the creditors of the years v., vi., and vii., and con-
solidated their debts at 3 per cent, in place of 5,
as was the case with those of the year viii. They
censured the regulation of the debt for depriving
the holders of the consolidated third of the interest
of their stock for two years, because that interest
was only to commence with the year xii. These
two reproaches were very ill founded ; because, as
has been seen, the creditors of the years v., vi.,
and VII., in obtaining stock carrying an interest
of 3 per cent., received more than the value of
their debts; and as to the portion of the consoli-
cLated thirds, of which the inseriptinn was ordered,
a great benefit was done to the holders by the
mere circumstance of the inscription. If, in effect,
the inscription hnd been deferred for a year or two
more, as had been done by the former government,
not only would the holders have been deprived of
the interest, but of the benefit of the definitive
consolidation. It was a great advantiige to tlieni
so soon to resume the mere work of consolidation.
The tribunate got warm upon these petty objec-
tions, paid no regard to the answers which were
addressed to it, and rejected the plan of finance by
a majority of fifty-si.\ to thirty, in the sitting of the
19th of March, or 28th of Veutose. Some cries of
"Long live the Re|)ublicl" were heard, raised in
the tribunes, which iiad nttt been heard for a long
time, and recalled the unhappy times of the conven-
tion. On the motion of MM. Rioufte and Cliauveliu,
the president ordered the trihune to be cleared.

On the 21st of March, or 30th of Ventose, two
days after, being the last day of the session of the
year ix., the legislative body heard tiie discussion
of the bill. Three of the tribunate attacked and
three of the counsellors of state defended it. Ben-
jamin Constant was one of the three tribune.s. He
urged, in an eloquent and brilliant manner, the
objections to the government scheme. The legis-
lative lx)dy, notwithstanding, voted for its adoption
by a majority of two hundred and twenty-.seven
against fifty-eight. The first consul ought to have
been sati-sfied with this result. But he did not
know, any more than those who surrounded him,
that we ought to do good without being surprised
or annoyed by the injustice with which it is too
fretjuently repaid. What man had ever so much
glory to repay him for such unjust and indiscn^el
attacks ? Besides, in spite of these attacks, the
measures of the governnient were really sound and
excellent. The majority in the legislative body
was, at least, five-sixths, and in the tribunate,
whei-e nothing was decided, it was only two-thirds.
There was nothing to be alarmed at or to astonish
in such feeble minorities. But although he was
the object of universal admiration, the man that
governed France knew not how to bear the puny

censures dealt out upon his administration. The
time for a real representative government was not
then come ; the opposition had not more of prin-
ciples and manners than the government itself.
That which achieves the portraiture of the op-
ponents of the measure in the tribunate is, that
the odious act against the revolutionists was not
the subject of a single observation. They availed
themselves of the circumstance of that act not
being referred to the legislative, to remain silent
about it. Upon matters far less importiuit, itnd
even irreproachable, they declaimed aloud, and
.suffered to pa.ss, without observation, an unpardon-
able infraction of all the rules of justice. Thus it
fares, at nearly all times, with men and parties.

The sterile agitation, produced by a few oppo-
nents in complete ei-ror about the general move-
ment, the public mind, and the necessities of the
times, occasioned but little sensation. The public
was entirely occupied with the spectacle of the im-
mense labours which had procured for France
victory and a continental peace, and which were
soon to procure for her a maritime one.

In the njidst of his military and political occu-
pations, the first consul, as has been several times
observed, did not cease to give his attention to the
roads, the canals, the bridges, and to whatever
concerned manufactui-es and commerce.

The miserable state of the roads has been already
described, as well as the means employed to make
up the deficiency of the tolls. He had ordered an
ample inquiry to be made into the subject, but as
too often happens, the difficulty lay more in the
deficiency of funds than in the selection of a good
system. He went directly to the object; and in the
budget of the yearix. appropriated fresh sums from
the treasury out of its general funds to continue the
extraordinary i-epairs already commenced. Canals
were akso much talkt d about. Men's mind.s, wearied
with political agitation, willingly directed them-
selves towards all that concerned commei'ce and
manufactures. The canal now known under the
name of the canal of St. Quentiu, joining the navi-
gation of the Seine and the Oise with that of the
Somme and the Escaut, in other words connecting
Belgium with France, had been abandoned. It
had not been found possible to agree upon the mode
of executing the excavation, by means of which a
passage was to be afforded from the valley of the
Oise into that of the Escaut. The engineers were
divided in opinion. The first consul repaired to the
spot in ))erson, heard the difficulty explained, de-
cided it, and decided it rightly. The excavation
was determined upon, and continued in the best
direction, that which has succeeded. The popula-
tion of St. Quentin received him with great joy,
and .scarcely had he returned to Paris when the
inhabitants of the Seine Infe'rieure addressed him
by a dejiutation, to solicit him to grant them in turn
forty-ei,:.;lit hours of his time. He promised them
an early visit to Normandy. He then decided upon
the erection of three new bridges in Paris; that at
the termination of the Jardin dcs Plantes ; that
denominated Austerlitz, which joins the island of
the City to the island of St, Louis ; and lastly, that
which connects the Louvre with the palace of the
Institute. At thesame time he turned his attenticm
to the road of tiie Sirnplon, the first of his youthful
proji ets, always the nearest to his heart, and \vor-

THE NEUTRAL POWERS. Formationof the civil code.

207

thv, in future atjes, of takin<» its place amon;; the
recollections of Rivoli and of Marengo. ]t will be
remembered tliat iIk' iiivt consul, as soon as he had
founded the Cisalpine republic, wished to connect
it with France by a road, which from Lyons or
Dijon, passins^ Geneva, should traverse the Valais,
and goinjj by Lago Maggiore to Mihui, enable an
army of fifty thousand men and a hundred pieces
of cannon to proceed at any time into the midst of
Upper Italy. For want of sulIi a road he had been
obliged to cross Mount St. Bernard. Now the Cis-
alpine republic had been reconstituted at the con-
gress of Luneville, it was more than ever needful
to estabhsh a gi*eat military communication between
Lombardy and France. The first consul inmie-
diately gave the necessary instructions for the
work. General Tureau, whom we liave already
seen descending the Little St. Bernard with his
legions of conscripts, while Bonaparte descended
the greater mountain with his more se.nsoncd foi'ces,
the same gcnei-a! Tureau received ordei-s to make
Domo d'Ossola his head-quarters, at the foot of the
Siniplon itself. The general was to protect the
workmen, and his soldiers were to assist hi the
laiiour of the undertaking.

To this magnificent work the first consul desired
to add another in commemoration of the passage of
the Alps. The fathers of the Great St. Bernard had
rendered real services to the French army. Being
supplied with money, they had for ten days sup-
ported the vigour of the .soldiers by means of wine
and food? The first consul, retaining a grateful
sense of these services, resolved to establish two
similar hosjjilals, one upon Mount Cenis, the other
at the Simplon, both to be subsidiary to the convent
of the Great St. Bernard. They were each to con-
sist of tifteen brothers, and to receive fi-ora the Cis-
alpine republic an endowment in land. The republic
was unable to refuse any thing to its founder. But
as that founder loved promptness of execution
befcjre all things, he had the works for the iirst
named establishment executed at the expense of
France, in order that no delay might occur in for-
warding these memorable establishments. Tims
magnificent roads and noble benevolent foundations
were destined to attest to future generations the
pa.ssage of the modern Hannibal across the Alps.

With these great and beneficent objects those of
another character occupied his attention, having
for their object a creation of a difleront, but equally
useful character — the compilation of the civil code.
The first consul had charged Messrs. Portalis, Tron-
chet, and Bijot de I're'ameneu, eminent lawyei-s,
with the task of digesting the code, and their la-
bour was completed ; the result was then conmiu-
nicated to the court of cassation, and to twenty-
nine tribunals of appeal, afterwards denominated
royal courts. The opinions of all the chief magis-
trates were thus collected. The whole was now to
be submitted to the council of state, and carefully
discussed under the presidency of the first consul.
After this it was proposed to lay it before the legis-
lative body in the approaching sessions, or that of
the year x.

Always ready to support great undertaking.?, and
equally as ready to i-ecompense their authors mu-
nificently, the first consul had just eni])loyed his
influence to raise M. Tronchet to the senate. He
rewarded in him a great lawyer, one of the authors
of the civil code, and — what was not an indiflerent
matter in his eyes, under a political signification —
the courageous defender of Louis XVL

Every thing, therefore, was organized at one
time, with that harmony wliich a great mind is
able to introduce into his labours, and with a i-a-
l)idity which a determined will is alone able to
effect, under a punctual obedience to its authority.
The genius which effected these things was, beyond
doubt, great ; but it must be remarked, that the
situation was not less extraordinary than the
genius. Bonaparte had Fi-ance and Europe to
move, and victory for his lever. He had to digest
all the codes of the French nation ; but, in the
mean while, every one was disposed to submit to
his laws. He had I'oads, canals, and bridges to
construct ; but nobody contested with hira the re-
sources for the.se objects. He liad even nations
ready to furnish him with their treasures ; the
Italians, for exam])le, who contributed to the
opening of the Simplon, and the endowment of the
hospitals on the summit of the Alps. Providence
does nothing by halves ; for a great genius it finds
a mighty operation, and for a mighty operation a
great genius.

BOOK IX.

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

COITTIWUAKri! Of THE SEOOTIATIOXS WITH THE DIFKERENT rOURTS OP EUHOI'E. — TREATY WITH THE COURT OP
KAPLES. — EXCLUSION OP THE ENGLISH PIIOM THE POUTS OP THE TWO SICILIES, AND AGREEMENT CONTRACTED
WITH THE NEAPOLITAN GOVERNMENT TO RECEIVE A DIVISION OP FRENCH TROOPS AT OTRANTO. — .SPAIN PRO-
MISES TO roRCE THE PORTUOUESE TO EXCLUDP. THE ENGLISH PROM THE COASTS OP PORTUGAL. — VAST NAVAL
PLANS OP THE prnST CONSUL, POR UNITIKO THE NAVAL 10RCE8 OP SPAIN, HOLLAND, AND PRANCE. — MEANS
OEVIsl.O FOR sncCOURISO KGYPT.— ADMIRA L OANTEAUME, AT THE HEAD OP ONE DIVISION, LEAVES BREST
DUR1N(> A STORM, AND SAILH TOWARIII THE STRAITS OP GIIIRALTAII, UPON HIS WAV TO THE MOUTH OP THE
NILE— <;ESEHAL COALITIO.V OP ALL Till: MARITIME COUNTRIES AGAINST ENGLAND. — PREPARATIONS OP THE
NEUTRALS IN THE BALTIC. — WAHLIKK ARDOUR OP PAUL I. — DISTRESS OP ENGLAND.— SHE IS VISITED RV A
PEARPUL FAMINE.— HER FINANCIAL STATE UEFORE AND SINCE THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR.— HER
EXPENDITURE AND RPSOCBCEI ALIKE DOUBLKD.— UNPOPl LARITV OP PITT.— HIS DI8AOEEF.MEST WITH GEORGE III.

Negotiations for peace
continued.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Murat marches towards
Naples.— An armistice
signed.

1801.
March.

AND HIS RETIREMENT. — THE MINISTER ADDINGTON. — ENGLAND, DESPITE HER DIFFICULTIES, FACES THE
STORM, AND SENDS ADMIRALS PARKER AND NELSON INTO THE BALTIC, TO BREAK UP THE NEUTRAL COALI-
TION PLAN OP NELSON AND PARKER.— THEV DETERMINE TO FORCE THE PASSAGE OP THE SOUND. — THE

SWEDISH SIDE BEING BADLY DEFENDED, THE ENGLISH FLEliT PASSES THE SOUND WITHOUT ANY DIFFICULTV. —
IT APPEARS BEFORE COPENHAGEN.— THE OPINION OP NELSON IS, BEFORE ENTERING THE BALTIC, TO GIVE
BATTLE TO THE DANES. — DE-CRIPTION OP THE POSITION OF COPENHAGEN, AND OF THE MEANS ADOPTED FOR
THE DEFENCE OF THIS IMIORTANT MARITIME PORTRESS.— NELSON EXECUTES A BOLD MANffiUVRE, AND SUC-
CEEDS IN ANCHORING IN THE KINO's CHANNEL, IN FACE OF THE DANISH SHIPS.— SANGUINARY ENGAGEMENT.

VALOUR OP THE DANES, AND DANGER OF NELSON.— HE SENDS A FLAG OF TRUCE TO THE CROWN PRINCE OF

DENMARK, AND THEREBY OBTAINS THE ADVANTAGES OF A VICTORY. — SUSPENSION OF HOSTILITIES FOR FOUR-
TEEN WEEKS.— THE DEATH OF PAUL I. IS MADE KNOWN. — EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE IN RUSSIA. — EXASPERA-
TION OF THE RUSSIAN NOBLES AG.VINST THE EMPEROR PAUL, AND DISPOSITION TO RID THEMSELVES OF THAT
PRINCE BY ANY MEANS, EVEN BY A CRIME. — COUNT PAHLEN. — HIS CHARACTER AND PLANS. — HIS CONDUCT
WITH THE GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER.- THE SCHEME OF ASSASSINATION CONCEALED UNDER THAT OF A FORCED
ABDICATION. — FRIGHTFUL SCENE IN THE MICHEL PALACE DURING THE NIGHT OF THE 23rD OF MARCH. —
TRAGICAL DEATH OP PAUL I.— ALEXANDER'S ACCESSION.— THE COALITION OF THE NEUTRAL POWERS DISSOLVED
BY THE DEATH OF THE EMPEROR PAUL.— REAL ARMISTICE IN THE BALTIC — THE FIRST CONSUL ENDEAVOURS,
BY OFFERING HANOVER TO PRUSSIA, TO RETAIN HER IN THE LEAGU E.— ENGLAND, SATISFIED AT HAVING
BROKEN THE LEAGUE BY THE BATTLE OF COPKNHAGEN, AND BEING RID OP PAUL I., SEEKS TO PROFIT BY THE
OCCASION TO TREAT WITH FRANCE, AND REPAIR THE ERRORS OF PITT— THE ADDINGTON MINISTRY OFFERS
PEACE TO THE FIRST CONSUL THROUGH THE INTERMEDIATE MEANS OF M. OTTO.— THE PROPOSITION IS ACCEPTED.
AND A NEGOTIATION BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND IS OPENED IN LONDON. — PEACE BECOMES GENERAL,
BOTH ON L.1.ND AND SEA. — PROGRESS OF FRANCE AFTER THE 18TH OF BKUMAIRE.

Peace with the emperor and empire having been
signeiJ at Liine'ville, in February, 1801, the first
consul was impatient to reap tlie benefit of the
consequences. These were to conclude a ])eace
with thiise continental states which had not yet
become reconciled with the republic; to force them
to shut their ports against England ; and to turn
against that country tlie united forces of the neutral
powers, in order to combine some great operation
against its territory and commerce, and by this union
of means to force a maritime peace, indispensable
to that of the continent. Every thing announced
that the great and happy conseciuences could not
be delayed for a long time.

The Germanic diet had ratified the signature of
the emperor to the treaty of Limdville. Tliere
was no ajiprehension that it wonld be otherwise ;
because Austria held the power of influencing the
ecclesiastical states, the only states really opiiosed
to the treaty. In regard to the secular princes, as
they were to be indemnified for their lo.sses from
the estates it was proposed to secularize, they had
an interest in seeing the stipulations promptly ac-
cepted between Austria and France. Besides, tliey
were jilaced under the influence of Prussia, which
power France had disposed to give her approval of
what was done by the emperor at Lun^ville. Be-
sides this, all the world at that time wished for
peace, and was ready to contrilmte to that end
even by making some sacrifices. Prussia alone, in
ratifying the sijjnature of the emperor without
powers given ti> him from the diet, was rather de-
sirous of according to the ratification the character
of her tolerance, th:in of her approbation ; thus re-
serving for the future the rights of the empire. But
this proposition on the part of Prussia, as it im-
plied a censure upon the emperor, wiiile she ratified
the treaty, did net obtain the sup])ort of the ma-
jority. The treaty was ratified, in its pure and
Himjile form, by a conduaum, on the J>th of March,
1801, the 18th of Vcntose, in the year ix. The
ratifications were exchanged in Paris on the 16th
of March,or 25tli Ventose. Notiiing more remained
to be regulated but the plan of indenniification,
which was to be the subject of ulterior negotiations.

Peace was thus conchided with the greater part
of Europe. It had not yet been signed witli Russia ;
but France was leagued with her and tlie northern
courts, as will be seen, in one great maritime coali-
tion. Tliere were at Paris two Russian ministers
at once, M. Sprengpoiten, relative to the Russian
prisoners, and M. Kalitscheff, for the regiilation of
general business. The last had arrived in the
beginning of March, or middle of Ventose.

The courts of Naples and Portugal it still re-
mained to coerce, in order to shut out England
entirely from the continent.

Murat was marching towards southern Italy with a
choice body of men, drawn from the camp at Amiens.
Reinforced by several detachments taken from the
army of general Bruiie, he had reached Foligno, in
order to oblige the court of Naples to yield to the
will of France. Had it not been for the interest
testified in behalf <jf Naples by the emperor of
Russia, the first consul would most likely have
given to the house of Parma the kingdom of the
Two Sicilies, in order to keep that fine country out
of an enemy's family. But the wislies of the em-
peror Paul did not admit of such a pi'oceeding.
The first consul, too, was very desirous of con-
ciliating public opinion throughout Europe ; and,
upon this ground, it was expedient to avoid, as
much as possible, the overthrow of the older king-
doms. He was willing to grant a peace to the
court of Naples, if it would consent to break its
alliance with England ; but to induce it to do
this, was a task exceedingly difficult of accomplisli-
ment. Murat advanced as far as the frontiers of
the kingdom, taking great care to avoid the papal
dominions, and lavishing upon the pope the highest
marks of liis resjiect. The court of Naples no
longer liesitated, and signed an armistice, wiiiih
contained a sti|)ulation, in consonance with the
views of tlie first consul, securing the exclusion of
the English from the ports of the Two Sicilies.
The armistice was short, being only for the space
of thirty days; these being expired, a dcfiniiive
treaty of jieace was to be signed. The marquis of
Gallo, one of the negotiators of the treaty of
Campo Forniio, who had the advantage of being

Treaty wiih Naples signed at
Florence.

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

Affairs of Spain.— Disgrace of ^_-

Urquijo -"•'

I

acquainted with the first consul, and of having
over liira as much influence as M. Cobentzel, re-
paired to Paris. He relied on these jiersonal re-
commendations, on the protection tif the Russian
legation, and on the recommendation of Austria,
for obtaining flie conditions desired by the court
of Naples, which were included in a simple neu-
trality. This was a ridiculous pretension; because
a court which bad given the signal for the second
coalition, which had waged war obstinately against
France, and, in fact, treated her with great indig-
nity, could hardly expect, now it lay at the mercy
of France, to get ott' upon the pure and sim])]e
condition of separating itself from England. The
least that France could insist upon would be to
compel Naples, by good will or by force, to act as
hostilely against England as she had before acted
in ho.stility to France.

M. Gallo, having shown some marks of self-
sufficiency in Paris, and having exhibited his de-
pendence— more than, indeed, was decent — upon
the Russian embassy, an end was quickly put to
his negotiation. Talleyrand informed him that a
French plenipotentiary had departed for Florence;
that the negotiation was consequently adjourned to
that city ; and that, besides, he would not be able
to treat with a negotiator who was not empowered
to consent to the sole condition considered essential;
namely, the expulsion of the English from the ports
of the Two Sicilies — a condition which the emperor
Paul had demanded as well as the first consul him-
self. In consequence, M. Gallo found hini.>self
obliged to leave Paris innnediately. M. Alquier
had, in fact, been despatched to Florence ; he had
been recalled from Madrid at the time when Lucien
Bonaparte was sent there. M. Ahjnier was fur-
nislied with full powers and instructions to nego-
tiate with Naples.

On reaching Florence as expeditiously as possi-
ble, M, Alquier found there the Chevalier Miche-
roux, the minister wiio iiad signed the armistice
with Murat; he had received full powers from his
court. The negotiations carried on in that ci:y
under the bayonets of tlie French army, met witli
none of the difficulties they had encountered in
Paris. The treaty of peace was signed on the 18th
of March, 1801, or 27tli of Ventose, year ix. The
stipulations of the treaty were moderate, ui)nn
comparing the situation of the c<tuitof Naples with
that of tlie French re|>ublic. To this branch of
the house of Bourbon wiis left the integrity of its
states. The only territory demanded was a small
portion of the island of Elba, Porto Longone, and
the surrounding district ; the rcht of the island
belonging to Tuscany, and having been divided
between the two Countries. The intention of the
first co)»Mul was to attach the entire island to
Franicr. An historian of these treaties lias loudly
attacked this as a violent act, whereas it was no
more than the simple right of the victor ; with the
exeeption of this very trifling sacrifice, Naples L.st
noiliing. .She was obliged to siiut her ports against
the English, and to make over to France three
frigates, ready armed, in the jjort of Ancona.
These the firMt consul dehigned for Egypt. The
most important stipulation of the treaty was secret.
It obliged the Neapolitan government to receive a
diviaiou of twelve or fifteen lliouHaiid nten in the gull
of Tarento,and to find iliem provisions during tlieir

stay. The object of the first consul was to send
them without reserve to the succour of Egypt. At
that ]dace they would be half way on their road to
Alexandria. The last article stipulated for the
ol)jects of art which had been chosen at Rome for
France. These having been packed in cases when
the Neapolitan army had penetrated into the
estates of the pope in 1799, luvd been seized by the
court of Naples, and aiipropriated by that govern-
ment. An indemnity of 500,000 f. was gi-anted to
the French who had been pillaged or harassed by
the undisciplined bands belonging to Naples.

Such was the treaty of Florence; which must be
considered an act of clemency, when the anterior
conduct of the court of Naples is reflected upon,
but which was perfectly well adapted to the objects
of the first consul, almost wholly occupied with the
object of closing the ports of the continent against
England, and with securing the most advantageous
points from whence he could communicate with
Egypt.

Nothing was yet arranged with the pope, whose
plenipotentiary was at Paris still negotiating the
most important question of all, that relating to
religion. He was dissatisfied with the king of Sar-
dinia, who had given up that island to the English,
and as well with the inhabitants of Piedmont, who
had shown feelings not very amicable towards
France. Ho was, therefore, anxious to free him-
self from any engagement respecting that important
part of Italy.

Turning to Spain and Portugal ; every thing
in these countries proceeded successfully. The
court of Spain, delighted with the stipulations of
the treaty of LuntJville, wliich secured Tuscany to
the young prince of Parma, with the title of king,
showed itself, day by day, more at the devotion of
the first consul and his views. The fall of M.
Urquijo, an event wholly unexpected, far from
being injurious to the relations of France, only
served to render them more intimate. This was
not at first believed, because in Spain M. Ur-
quijo was thought to be a sort of revolutionist,
from whom towards France more favour was to be
expected than from any other minister. But the
result showed this idea to be erroneous. M. Ur-
quijo had only been |)rime miidster a very short
time ; desiring to correct certain abuses, he had
prevailed upon the king, Charles IV., to address a
letter to the pope, written in the royal hand all
through, which contained a series of propositions
for the nforni of the S|>anisli clergy. The pope,
alarmed to find a spirit of refonnation introducing
itself into Spain of all countries, addres.sed himself
to the old duke of Parma, the (lueen's brother,
complaining of M. Urquijo, and representing him
as a had catholic, 'i'his was of it.self sufficient to
ruin M. Urquijo in the king's opinion. The prince
of th(> i)eace, the open diemy of M. Ui(juijo, took
advimtage of the ociasion to strike the final blow
during a journey taken by the c iirt. By these
united influences M. Uiquijo was disgraced, and
treated with a brutality beyond exanqile. He was
carried away from his own h< ii.se, and banished
from Madrid as a state criminal. M. Cevallos,
the relative and creatine of the princo of the
peace, was nominati-d his siiccissor, and the prince
became again Iroiii that moment the real minister
of the court of S|)ain. .\8 In; had sometimes sliowu |
P I

Lucien Bonaparte at Madrid. The court of Lisbon has „.,

210 -Spain gladly accepts the THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. to decide between Eng- "•

alliance of France. land and Spam.

an opposition to a close alliance with France,
probably that he might be able to make it a charge
against the Spanish minister, it was feared that
this niinisiterial revolution might be prejudicial to
the objects of the first consul. But Lucien Bona-
parte, who had recently arrived in Madrid, dis-
covering at once how matters stood, paid no atten-
tion to M. Cevallos, who he saw was a powerless
subordinate, and placed himself in immediate com-
munication with the prince of the peace himself,
whom he made to comprehend that he was re-
garded in Paris as the real prime minister of
Charles IV.; that to him alone would be attributed
all the ditticultics which the policy of France
might meet with in Spain, and that it depended upon
himself whether France regarded Spain as a friend
or an enemy, according to his conduct. The prince
of the peace, who had drawn upon himself nume-
rous animosities, and, above all, that of the heir
presumptive, who was deeply irritated at the state
of oppression in which he was condemned to live —
the prince of the peace thinking himself utterly lost
if the king and queen should die, looked upon the
friendship of Bonaparte as most valuable to him,
and promptly accepted the alliance of France in
place of its hostility.

From this period business was transacted directly
between the prince of the peace and Lucien Bona-
parte. M. Unjuijo, finding himself too weak to
bring the question of Portugal to a settlement, had
continually deferred any positive explanation upon
the subject. He had made France a thousand pro-
mises, followed by no result. The prince of the
peace avowed in his interviews with Lucien, that
thus far they had felt no inclination to act ; that M.
Urquijo liad amused France with fine words, but
declared liimself that he was ready, jis far as he
was concerned, to concoct measures with the first
consul for the purpose of acting effectively against
Portugal, provided it were possible to agree upon
some particular points. He demanded, first, the
assistance of a French division of twenty-five thou-
sand men, because Spain was not able to raise a
larger force than twenty thousand ; to such a
wretched st;ite was this fine monarchy reduced.
The presence of a French force would alarm the
king and queen, therefore, in order to quiet their
fears, he jiroposed that the force thus supplied
should be piac d under the command of a Spanish
general ; that this general should be the prince of
the peace hini.self ; lastly, that the provinces of
Portugiil of which the conquest might be made,
should remain in trust in the hands of the king of
Spain, until a general peace ; in the interim the
ports of Portugal were to be closed against
Eiiu;land.

Tlie.se propositions were eagerly accepted by tlie
first consul, and were sent back for the acce|)tancc
of king Charles IV. This i)rince, governed by the
queen, as she was herself governed by the prince
of the peace, consented to make war upon his son-
in-law, on condition that he should not be de-
prived of any part of his territories; that he should
only be obliged to break with the English, and to
enter into an alliance with Spain and France.
These object-s did not altogether correspond with
tho.se of the prince of the peace, who wished, so it
was said in Madrid, to procure for himself a princi-
pality ill Portugal. However that might have been

he was obliged to submit, and received in due
course the rank of generalissimo.

A summons was now sent to the court of Lisbon,
and a demand made that it should, within fifteen
days, enter into an explanation, and make its selec-
tion between England and Spain, the last being
supported by France. In the meanwhile, on both
sides of the Pyrenees, preparations were made for
war. The prince of the peace became generalissimo
of the Spanish and French troops, and took away
even the king's guards in order to complete his
army. He then amused the court with reviews
and warlike exhibitions, giving himself up to il-
lusions of military glory. The first consul, on his
side, hastened to march upon Spain a part of the
troops which were returning to France. He formed
a division of twenty-five thousand men, well armed
and equipped. General Lccler, had the command
of the advanced guard, and general Gouvion St. Cyr,
whom with reason he regarded as one of the most
able generals of the time, was to command the
entire force, and make up for the perfect incapacity
of the prince generalissimo.

It was settled that these troops, put in move-
ment in the month of ]March, should be ready to
enter Spain in April following.

The whole of Europe concurred in aiding the
objects of the French government. Under the
influence of the first consul, the southern states
had shut their ports against England, and the
northern states were in active league against her.
In this situation it was necessary that England
should have forces every where. In the Mediter-
ranean to blockade Egypt; in the Straits of Gibral-
tar to arrest the movements of the French fleets in
both seas to help her threatened ally; before Brest
and Rochefort to blockade the grand French and
Spanish fleets, which were ready to set sail; in the
north to keep the Baltic in restraint, and overcome
the neutral powers ; and in India as well, to main-
tain her authority and conquests in that quarter of
the globe.

The first consul was desirous of seizing the mo-
ment when the British forces, obliged to be every
where, should ueces.sarily be much scattered, in
order to attempt a great expedition. The principal,
and that which he had most at heart, was the suc-
cour of Egypt. He had a great duty to fulfil
towards that army, which he had himself led
beyond the sea, and then left alone that he might
himself come back to the aid of France. He consi-
dered the colony he had thus formed upon the
banks of the Nile the most glorious of all his works.
It was important that he should prove to the
world, that in transporting thirty-six thousand men
to the east, he had not yielded to the impulses of a
young and ardent imagination, but had attempted
a grave enterprise, susceptible of being conducted
to a successful end. His efforts have already been
seen for concluding a naval armistice, which should
permit six frigates to enter the port of Alexandria.
This annistice, as it will be remembered, had not
been concluded. Not having had financial resources
sufficient for completing armaments by sea and
land, the first consul had been unable to carry into
effect the great operation which he had projected
for the succour of Egypt. At present, from absence
of the pressure of a continental war, he was able to
direct his resources exclusively towards naval war-

1801.
Jan.

Great naval and mili-
tary preparations

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

for the succour of
Eg:jpt.

»

i

fare. Havintj nearly the whole extent of the coasts
of eontinoital Europe at his disposal, he contem-
plated, for the preservation of Egyjjt, projects as
bold and extensive as those which he had executed
iu makinpj its conquest. The winter season too was
near, which would render impossible the continua-
tion of the English cruisers upon the coasts.

Meanwhile vessels of every kind, both of war
and commerce, from the smallest barks up to those
of trade and war, sailed from different ports of
Holland, France, Spain, Italy, and even from the
Barbary coast, carrying to Egypt, with intelligence
from France, luxuries, European goods, arms, and
warlike stores. Some of these vessels were taken,
but the greater part entered Alexandria. Not a
week passed without news being received at Cairo
from the government at home, — jiroofs of the in-
terest which the colony insi)ireil there.

The first consul projected a species of line-of-
battle shi]), adapted to the inland navigation of
Egypt. He had the model of a seventy-four exe-
cuted, combining great strength with the advantage
of being able to navigate the shallow channels of
Alexandria with her guns on board '. Orders
were given to build a certain number of ships upon
that model.

While he was taking such great care to sustaiii
the spirit of the Egyptian army, transmitting men
to it frequently as well as partial relief, he had at
the same moment in the course of preparation a
great expedition in order to convey there at once a
powerful reinforcement of troops and munitions of
war. The armies had returned home to the French
soil. They were about to jn-ess heavily, by their
cost, upon the national finances; but in return they
offered to the government a great means of dis-
turbing, if not of striking a blow at England. Tiiirty
thousand men remained in the Cisalpine republic,
ten thousand in Piedmont, six thousand in Switzer-
l.ind ; fifteen thousand were on their march to the
gulf of Tarentum ; twenty -five thousand were
marching upon Portugal ; twenty-five thousand
were quartered in Holland. There were thus one
hundred and eleven thousand men that were to be
supported by foreign powers. The remainder were
to be maintained by the French treasury, but they
were at the disposal of the first consul. A camp
was formed in Holland, another in French Flan-
ders, and a third at Brest ; a fourth was already
chtablished in the Gironde, either for Portugal, or
to furnish such troo])s as were to embark at Roche-
fort. The corps returning Irom Italy were to be
collecU-'d near Marseilles and Toulon. The division
of fifteen thousand men designed for th(! gulf of
Tarentum was to occupy Oiranto, in virtue of the
.secret article in tlie treaty with Naples, to cover
the neighbouring harbours with numerous bat-
teries, and to lay down moorings, where a fleet
might come and taki; on board a division of ten or
twelve thousand men, to transport them into
Egypt. Admiral Vilieneuve went thither in order
to superintend the preparations necessaiy for such
an embarcation.

The naval forces of Holland, Fi-ancc, and Spain,
with some remains of the Italian navy, stationed
near these different assemblages of troops, gave

' Letter of tlie Ist of Niv8se, year ix., in the Secretary of
States OfTire.

England reiuson to fear several expeditions directed
upon different points of attack at the same time,
on Ireland, Portugal, Egypt, and the Ea.st Indies.

The first consul concerted measures with Spain
and Holland relative to the employment of the
three naval armaments. By uniting the wrecks of
the old Dutch navy, five sail of the line and a few
frigates might be rendered fit for service. Thirty
sail of the line were at Brest, fifteen Fi-ench, and
the same number of Spanish, detained two years in
that harbour. With Spain the arrangements made
by the first consul were as follow : — five Dutch,
combined with five French and Spanisii vessels
lying at Brest, were to sail for the Brazils, in order
to protect that fine kingdom, and prevent the En-
glish from indenmifying themselves for the occu-
])ation of Porttigal by the Spanisii and French
forees. By this arrangement twenty French and
Spani-sh vessels would remain in Brest, and be
ready at any moment to throw an army upon
Ireland. A French division, under admiral Oan-
teaumc, was organized in the same port of Brest,
to sail, it was said, for St. Domingo, for the pur-
pose of re-establishing in that island the French
and Spanish authority. Another French division
was equipped at Rochefort, and a Spanish division
of five vessels was at Ferrol, with the object of
carrying troojjs to the Antilles, and of recovering
Trinidad, or, for example, Martinique. Spain, by
the treaty which secured Tuscany to her iu ex-
change for Louisiana, had promised to give France
six vessels, armed and equipped, and to deliver
them in Cadiz ; she also engaged to employ the
resources of that ancient arsenal in order to i-eor-
ganize a portion of the naval force which she
formerly had in that port.

The first consul, in making these arrangements,
did not explain to the Spanish cabinet his real de-
sign, because lie was in dread of its indiscretion. He
wished to send a part of the combined forces to
Brazil and the Antilles, in order to effect the objects
which he stated, and to attract after them the Eng-
lish fleets. For the Brest fleet he contemplated one
exjioilition alone, under Ganteaume, announced as
for St. Domingo, but in reality destined for Egypt.
Heordered the selection of seven vessels of the squa-
dron, the finest sailors, as well as two frigates and
a brig. These vessels were to transport five thou-
sand men, munitions of every kind, timber, stores,
iron, medicines, and the European commodities
which were most desirable in Egypt. The first
consul ordered the hiding of the vessels, which
was nearly completed, to lie stopped, and recom-
menced in a different mode which he had himself
determined upon. He wished that every vessel
should contain a complete assortment of the artieles
r<"qiiired for the colony, and not one entire lading
of the same article, in order that if one of the ves-
sels should be captured, the expedition should not
be <iitirely deficient in the article contained in the
captured ship. This arningemeiit, contrary to the
custom <)f the naval service, rendered ihi' steerage
of the vessels more complicated and difficult; but
the absolute will of the first consul vani|iiished all
such obstacles ; Lauriston, his aid (lo-cainp, re-
mained at Brest, and joined to the letters of which
ho was the beanr, the influence of his presence!
and carncHt exhortations to complete the duty re-
quired.

p2

Naval armaments. —
212 Admirals Bruix and
Ganteaume.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Departure of Ganteaume.
— Critical position of
England.

The Rochefort expedition, announced to be for
the Antilles, also had Egypt for its destination.
They laboured at its equipment with all possible
expedition. Savary, the aid-decamp, pushed for-
ward its departure, and urged the arrival of the
troops detached from the army of Portugal. The
division of twenty-five thousand men, which was
going to pass across the Pyrenees, was assembled
in the Gironde, and thus furnished an excellent
disguise for the real object of the expedition from
Rochefort. There were a few battalions borrowed
from this force without exciting the least suspicion
that they were got ready to embarlc on board
the squadron. This squadron was trusted to the
command of the most remarkable of the sea-
men, perhaps, that France at that time possessed.
He joined to a superior intellect, rarely equalled
among men in civil or military life, a perfect know-
ledge of seamanship, and was distinguished in a
particular manner by his successful cruise in the
Mediterranean, in 1799, which was frequently
alluded to in his praise. When, at the last mo-
ment, Bonaparte intended to disclose his secret
object to the cabinet of Madrid, admiral Bruix was
to sail into Ferrol, and strengthening himself by
uniting his vessels to the squadron in that port,
proceed from thence to Cadiz, where he was to be
joined by the division furnished by Spain. Pro-
ceeding from thence to Otranto, he was to em-
bark the troops collected there, and set sail for
Egypt.

The division at Cadiz, furnished by Spain, was
composed of six capital vessels, which were got
ready for sea with great expedition. Admiral Du-
manoir had set out by post for Cadiz, in oi'der to
urge forward this equipment. Bodies of seamen
proceeded by land towards that port ; and at the
same time small vessels filled with seamen were
sent coastwise that they might be turned over to
the ships of war.

Such numerous expeditions could not fail to
attract the attention of the English to all the points
at once, dividing and distracting her operations;
during which, some one of them availing itself
of such a state of things, had nearly a certain
chance of arriving safely in Egypt. Desirous of
profiting by the bad season, which rendered the
cruising of the enemy ott' Brest, both difficult and
liable to interruption, tiie first consul intended that
the sailing of admiral Ganteaume should take place
before the commencement of the spring. His
orders were explicit ; but he was unable to com-
municate to his naval commanders the boldness
which animated those on land. Admiral Gan-
teaume appeared to the first consul to be bold and
successful, because it was that officer who had al-
most miraculously brouglit him from Alexandria
to Fi'^jus. But tiiis was an illusion. This expe-
rienced naval officer, knowing well the navigation
of the Mediterranean, and possessing undaunted
bravery, was of a wavering character, and in-
capable of supporting the burden of a iieavy
responsibility. The expedition was ready; several
families of workmen were on boanl, under the
idea of their being about to sail for St. Domingo ;
still there was a hesitation about sailing Savary,
having the orders of the first consul, silenced all
difficulties, and obliged Ganteaume to set sail.
The enemies' cruisers discovered them, and made

signals to the blockading squadron that the French
fleet was leaving the port. Ganteaume was obliged
to return and moor in the outer road. He then
feigned to enter the inner road, in order to induce
the belief in the English that he had no other
object in view than to exercise and manoeuvre his
squadron.

At last, on the 23rd of January, or 3d of Plu-
viose, when a frightful storm had dispersed the
enemies' cruisers, admiral Ganteaume set sail, and
in spite of the greatest danger, fortunately suc-
ceeded in getting out of the port of Brest, and
sailing towards the straits of Gibraltar. The suc-
cours of Ganteaume were the more desirable in
Egypt, since the famous English expedition, con-
sisting of fifteen thousand or eighteen thousand
men. said one day to be destined for Ferrol, another
for Cadiz, or it might be for the south of France,
was at that moment upon its way to Egypt. It
was in the road of Macri, opposite the island of
Rhodes, awaiting the season for landing, and the
completion of the Turkish preparations.

Orders were issued to all the newspapers of the
capital to say nothing of any naval movements
which might be remarked in the ports of France,
unless the intelligence was taken from the Moni-
ieur ^.

Before detailing the operations of the French
squadrons in the south, it will be right to revert
to the north, and observe what passed between
England and the neutral powers.

The greatest dangers at this moment were ac-
cumulating over England. War had broken out
between her government and the Baltic powers.
The declaration of the neutrals, similar to that
entered into in 1780, being simply a declaration
of their rights, England might have dissembled
with them for a time, taking this declaration,
which was addressed in a general way to all the
belligerent parties, as addressed in particular to
herself, and might have avoided for a moment the
ciiance of a collision, by taking care to respect the
vessels of the Danes, Swedes, Prussians, and Rus-
sians. She i)ad, in fact, much more interest in
keeping herself in peace with the north, than in
annoying the trade of the smaller maritime powers
with France. Besides, at this moment, she was in
great want of foreign corn, which, for her own
interest, rendered the liberty of the neutrals useful
to her for a time. In strictness, slie was not fully
justified in taking measures of reprisal against any
but Russia ; because among all the members of
the league of neutrality, it was only the emperor
Paul who had added the measure of an embargo
to the declaration. Moreover, here the question
of Malta was much more the motive of the em-
bargo, thiin any of the points at issue concerning
maritime rights.

But England, in her pride, had responded to an

!■ Here is a curious letter relatm? to this subject :—
"The first consul to tliuminister of general police. — Have
the goodness, citizen minister, to addre.ss a short circular to
the editors of the fourteen journals, forbidding the insertion
of any article calculated to afford the enemy the slightest
knowledge of the diftcrent movements taking place in our
squadrons, unless derived from the official journals.
" Paris, Ist Ventose, year ix."

From the Slate Paper Office.

State of EnKland.— Fa-
mine.—Dcticieniy in

the taxes.

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

The riches <if England increase
witli lier burdens.— The na-
tional debt.

exposition of principles by an :ict of viokiice, and
placed an embargo upon all Swcdisii, Danisli, and
Russian vessels. The conimerce of Prussia alone
she had exempted from these rigorous proceedings,
because she wislitd still to h^ive an understanding
with that country ; she hoped to detach it from
the northern coalition; and, above all, because she
knew that Hanover lay at the mei-cy of that
country.

England found herself at one time involved in a
war with France and S|)ain, her old eneiyies, and
with the courts of Russia, Sweden, and Prussia,
her old allies. She had been abandoned by Aus-
tria since the treaty of Luncville, and by the court
of Naples since the treaty of Florence. Portugal,
her last hold upon the continent, was also about to
be lost to hei'. Her si'UMtion was become similar
to that of France in 179.S. She was obliged to
fight alone against all Europe, exposed to less
danger it is true than France, and also with
the less merit in defending herself, because her
insular position preserved her from the perils
of invasion. To render the similarity of their
situations more remarkable and singular, England
was the prey to a frightful famine. Her people
wanted food of the first necessity. This state of
affaii-s was entirely owing to the obstinacy of Pitt
and to the genius of Bonaparte. Pitt refused to
treat for peace before the 'u;»ttle of Marengo; and
Bonaparte, disarming a part of Europe by his
victories, turned the other part against England
by his policy ; both were incontestably the authors
of this wonderful change of fortune.

The situation of England was at that moment
very alarming; but it nuist be acknowledged that
she did not become dispirited. The corn harvest
of the preceding year, 17'J9, had been one-third
less than a common average, and all the last year's
corn had been consumed. The harvest of 1800
had fallen short a fourth part, and a scarcity was
the consequence. This deficiency was aggravated
doubly by the general war, and by the war in the
north with the maritime powers, more especially
because her supplies of grain were commonly ob-
tained from the Baltic, if, tlierefore, the bad
crop was the first cause of the famine, it was
equally true that the war was a great cause of its
aggravation, li the war had only raised the price
of corn by interrupting the commerce of the Baltic,
it must have already exercised a very disastrous
influence upon the public di.stress. All the taxes
tins year presented very alarming deficiencies.
The income tax and the excise caused an a|>pre-
hension of a deficit in the revenue of 7.5,000,000 f.
to 100,000,000 f. ' 'J'he expenditure for that year
was enormous. In order to meet the necessity, a
loan wius necessary, amounting to 025,000,000 f. or
650,000,000 f 2 The total of the expenses of the
three kingdoms for that year, Ireland being then
united to England, amounted, including tile interest
of the debt creat<;d by Mr. Pitt, to tliu enormous
sum of l,72.'{,000,000f. ', a sum enormous at any
time, but more so in 1800; for at that period the
budgets had not yet rec<;ived the increase of
amount to which a subseiiuent ptjriod of forty

» £3,000.000 or £1,000,000.
' £25,000,000 or £20,000,000.
» £69,000,000.

years has raised them in all the European states.
France, as before seen, had then to support no
more than an expenditure of 6u0,000 000f. The
amount of tlie English debt was, as usual, disputed;
hut taking the amount stated by the government*,
it was 12,109,000,000 f. ^ This demanded for the
annu.il interest and sinking fund an expense of
504,000,000 f. «, not reckoning the debt of Ireland,
and the loans guaranteed dU account of the em-
peror of Germany. Pitt was accused of having
increased the public debt, in or er to carry on the
war of the revolution, more than 7,500,000,000 f. ^
According to the government statement, the amount
was 7,454,000,000 f. »

But it must be admitted that England presented
a singular phenomenon in the improvement of her
resources of all kinds, and that her riches increased
in proportion to the public burdens. Besides the
coM(|ncst of India, achieved by the destruction of
Tippoo Saib ; besides the conquest of a part of the
French, Spanish, and Dutch colonies, to which
must be added the acquisition of the island of
Malta, England had engrossed the commerce of
the entire world. According to the official retui-n.s,
her importations, which had been in 1781, townrds
the close of the American war, only 311i,'u00,000f.'-',
and in 1792, at the commencement of the war of
the revolution only 491,000,000 f. '», had risen in
1799 to 74r,000,000 f. " The exportaiions of the
manufactured productions of England, which in
irsi had been 190,000,000 f. '2, were, in 1792,
622.000,000 f. ", and in 1799 had reached
849,000,000 f. '* Thus, from the date of the ter-
mination of the American war all had tripled; and
since the commencement of the war of the revolu-
tion had doubled.

In 1788 the commercial navy of England em-
ployed 13,827 ships, and 107,925 seamen ; in 1801
it eniployed 18,877 ships, and 14:1,601 seamen. The
excise and customs had risen from 183,000,000 f.'^
to 389,000,000 f.' 6 The sinking fund, which, in
1784, was 25,000,090 f.'^ was 137,000,000 f.i« in
1800.

All the forces of the British empire had re-
ceived a double or triple increase within twenty
years ; and if the pressure was great at the mo-
ment, it was still a pressure upon wealth. It was
very true that England was loaded with a debt of
more than 12,000,000,000 f., and an annual charge
upon that debt of 500,000,000 f.; that she had to sup-
port, in that year, an ex])eii(iiture of 1, 700,000,000 f.,
and to make a loan of 600,000,000 I. to meet her
outlay. All this was, beyond doubt, enormous in
amount, especially if the value of money at this
time be taken into consideration ; but England
contained within herself means to meet these
charges. Although she was not a continental

* These amounts are taken tiom the budget presented to
parliament by Mr. Addington, successor to Pitt, in June,
I8UI.

* In sicrlinK money, £I84,;!C5,474.

« Or £20,H4,000. ' Or £.100,000,000.

8 Or £298,000,000. • £12,721,000.

><» £19.059,000. " £29.945,000.

'2 £7,0.33,000. " .£21.905,000.

'•« £.33 991,000. '» £7,320,000.

1» £15,58?,»00. " £1,000,000.

'» £5,500,000.

British army and navy. — Ad- Great reaction. -Comblna-

214 miral Nelson.— Resources THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, tion of European powers
of England and Fiance. against England.

1801.
Feb.

power, she bad one hundred and ninety-three thou-
sand reguhir troops, and one hundred and nine
thousand militia or fencibles, in all three hundred
and two thousand men '. She possessed eight
hundred and fourteen - ships of war of all sizes,
building, repairing, in oi'diuary, or at sea. In this
number were one hundred vessels of the line and
two hundred frigates, spread over every latitude; and
twenty vessels with forty frigates in reserve, ready
to come out of port. Her effective force could not
then be taken at less than one hundred and twenty
ships of the line and two hunch-edand fifty frigates,
manned by one hundred and twenty thousand
seamen. To this colossal strength in materid,
England added a crowd of naval officers of the
greatest merit, at the head of whom was the great
admiral Nelson. He was an eccentric, violent
man, not well adapted for a command where
diplomacy and war were intermingled. He had
but too recently given a proof of that at Naple.s,
by suffering his renown to be sullied by female
intrigues, during the sanguinary executions com-
manded by the Neapolitan government. But in
the midst of danger he was a hero ; he displayed,
too, as much genius as courage. The English were
justly proud of his glory.

England and France have filled the present age
with their formidable rivalry. The period at which
we have just arrived is one of the most remarkable in
the renowned contest which they sustained against
one another. They had continued the war for
eight years. France with financial resources much
less, but perhajis more solid, because they were
founded upon territorial revenue, with a population
nearly double, and with the enthusiasm a good
cause insi)ires, had resisted all Europe, extended
her territory as far as the Rhine and the Alps,
obtained dominion in Italy, and a decisive influence
over the continent. England, with the wealth
arising from the commerce ot the world, and with a
powerful navy, had acquired the same pre|)onde-
raiice upon the ocean which France had obtained
on the land. England, by subsidizing the Eu-
ropean power.s, had incited them to figiit even to
their own destruction. But while she thus ex-
jHjscd them to be crushed in her service, she seized
the colonies of every nation, oppressed neutral
powers, and avenged hex-self for the successes of
France ui)on the land by her overbearing tyranny
upon the ocean. Still although victorious upon
this ekment, slie had not been able to prevent
France from forming a magnificent maritime es-
tablishment in^ Egypt, threatening even her East
India dominions.

A strange reaction of opinion, as we liave else-
where observed, had resulted from this alteration
of circumstiinces. France admirably governed, ap-
peared in tiie sight of the world humane, tranquil,

' Bedsides the Indian army. — Translator.

» In all, 819 : viz., 197 of the line, 29 fifties, 251 frigates,
332 sloops and other vessels, in October, 1801. Of these
there were at sea. 111 ships of the line, 10 lifties, 185 frigates,
2.50 sloops and smaller vessels. Of this naval force there
were in the Channel, 42 of the line and 35 frigates; North
Sea stations, 14 of the line, 3 fifties, and 31 frigates; the
Mediterranean, 31 of the line, 4 fifties, and iC frigates ; on
the coasts of Spain and Portugal, II of the line and 6 frigates;
while 9 sail of the line, 7 fifties, and 8 frigates, were in
India. — Translalor.

wise, and, what is not common, amid her victories
actuated l)y moderation. Whilst the various cabi-
nets of Europe were becoming reconciled to her,
they at the same time perceived how much they
had played the dupe to the political objects of
England. Austria had fought for England as much
as she had for ii(n-self. For this same England
the Germanic empire had been dismembered. The
l)owers of the north, with Russia at their head,
acknowledged at last, that under the jiretext of
pursuing a moral end, in fighting against the
French revolution, they had only served as the
instruments to procure for England the commerce
of the universe. Thus all the world turned at the
moment against the mistress of the seas. Paul I,
had given the signal with the natural impetuosity
of his character ; Sweden followed his example
without hesitation ; Denmark and Prussia had
equally done so, though with less resolution.
Austria vanquished, and recovered from her de-
lusion, nursed her chagrin in silence, and, at least
for the time, promised herself a long resistance to
the temptation of British subsidies.

England reaped the consequences of the policy
which she had pursued. She had doubled her
colonies, her commerce, her revenue, and her
navy, but she had at the same time doubled her
debt and its expenses, her enemies, and her entire
expenditure. She presented, in the midst of im-
mense wealth, the frightful spectacle of a people
dying with hunger. France, Spain, Russia, Prus-
sia, Denmark, and Sweden were leagued against
her. France, Spain, and Holland could reckon
upon eighty ships of the line, and were able to arm
more. Sweden had twenty-eight, Russia thirty-
five, and Denmark twenty-three. Here then was
a total of one hundred and sixty-six ships of the
line, a force superior to that of England. On the
other liand, she had a great advantage in contend-
ing against a coalition ; and what was more in her
favour, her armaments surpassed in quality those
of all the coalition. There were only the Danish
and French vessels which were able to cope with
her's ; and there was still the greater difficulty in
fighting in large fleets, that the English navy ex-
celled those of all the world in manoeuvring. Still
the danger was thi-eatening, because if the contest
lasted long, Bonajiarte was well capable of under-
taking a formidable expedition ; and if lie suc-
ceeded in passing the Straits of Dover with an in-
vading army, England was lost.

The long good fortune of Pitt began, like the for-
tune of M. Thugut, to be on the decline, before
that of the young general Bonaparte. Pitt's was
the most brilliant destiny of his time, after that of
the great I'^rederick ; he was only forty-three years
of age, and had held the government seventeen
years, possessing a power almost absolute in a free
country. But his good fortune was growing old;
and that of Bonaparte, on the contrary, was still
young, merely in its infancy. The fortunes of
men succeed each other in the history of the world,
like the races of the same universe ; they liave
their youth, their decrepitude, and their dissolu-
tion. The more prodigious fortune of Bonaparte
was one day to decline also ; but in the mean-
while, he was destined to see the fall, under his
own ascendency, of that of England's greatest
minister.

Unpopularity of Pitt.— Riots.
Strength of the opposition.

THE NEUTRAL TOWERS.

Pitt's reply to his opponents'
arguments.

215

England seemed at this time to be threatened
with a species of social convulsion. The people,
under the sufi'ering of great scarcity, wci-e rising in
different places, and pillaging the fine habitations
of the British aristocracy, and, in the towns, attack-
ing the shops of the butchers and dealers in food.
There were in London in 1801, as in Paris in 17^2,
ignorant friends of the people, who encouraged
attacks against supposed engrossei's, and insisted
upon some measure analogous, in fact, thougli not
in name, to a maximum for the price of bread.
Neither the government nor the parliament ap-
peared disposed to grant this foolish demaud. Pitt
was reproached with being the cause of the suffer-
ings of the time ; they asserted that it was he who
liad loaded the people with taxes, doubled the debt,
and raised to an exorbitant price all the articles of
the first necessity in existence ; that it was he wlio
was so obstinate in pursuing a senseless war ; and
he who, in refusing to treat with France, had
concluded by turning the other maritime nations
against England, thus depriving the people of the
indispensable resource of the Baltic corn. The
opposition, seeing, for the first time during seven-
teen years, the power of Pitt shaken, redoubled its
ardour. Fox, who had for a long while neglected
to attend in pai'liament, reappeared there. Sheri-
dan, Tierney, Grey, and Lord Holland, reuewed
their attacks ; and, that which does not always
happen on the side of a wai-m opposition, they had
the reason of the argument against their opponents.
Pitt, despite his accustomed self-assurance, had
little to urge in reply, when he was asked why he
had not treated with France, when tlie first consul
proposed peace after the battle of Marengo ? why
recently, and before the battle of Hohenliuden, he
had not consented, if not to a naval armistice, —
wliich would have given the French a chance of
maintaining themselves in Egyi)t, — at least to the
separate negotiation Avhich had been offered ? why
liad he, with so nmch want of shrewdness, suffered
the opportunity to escape of the evacuation of
I-jgypt, by refusing to ratify the treaty of El Ariseh?
why had he not negotiated with the northern
powers, in order to gain time ! why had he not
imitated Lord North, whf), in 1780, avoided reply-
ing to the manifesto of the northern powers, by a
declaration of war ? why had he thus drawn all
Europe upon him, on account of some very doubt-
ful question in the law of nations, about which
every nation had a different opinion, and in which,
at the moment, England liad little interest ? why
not, in order to prevent France from obtaining
some building timber, iron, and hemp, wliich were
not capable of making a navy, — why had England
been exposed to be cut off from the importation of
foreign corn ? why was an English army paraded
from Mahon to Fcrrol, and from Ferrol to Cadiz,
without any useful result ? The o])position com-
pared the eonduct of the affairs of England with
those of France! and their management, asking
Pitt, with ctitting irony, what he had to say of
young Bonaparte, of the rash young man, who, ac-
cording to the miniHtcrial language, would only like
his predecessors liav(! an ephemeral existence ; so
ephemeral, that he did not merit they should con-
descend to treat with him.

Pitt had great trouble in maintaining himself
against Fox, Sheridan, Tierney, Grey, and Lonl

Holland, who put to him these forcible questions iu
the face of all England. He became alarmed at
the number of his enemies, and was disconcerted
at the cries of a half-famished people demanding,
without obtaining, bread.

To their questions Pitt replied with great feeble-
ness. He continued to i-epeat his favourite argu-
ment, that if he had not made war upon France
the English constitution would have perished. He
cited as examples Venice, Naples, Piedmont, Swit-
zerland, Holland, and the ecclesiastical states of
Germany; as if it were possible to make anyone
believe that wliat had occurred in a few Italian or
German states of the third order, could happen to
England, with, her liberal constitution. He I'eplied,
too, and w'ith moi-e reason on his side, that if
France had aggrandized herself on the land, Eng-
land had done the same by sea ; that the navy
was covered with glory ; that if the debt and taxes
were doubled, the wealth of the country was dou-
bled also,and that under every point of view England
was more powerful now than before the war began.
All tliis could not be denied. Pitt added that the
first consul, appearing to be established in a stable
manner, he felt cvei-y disposition to tivat with him.
That as to what regarded the right of neutrals, he
should remain inflexible. "If," said he, "England
agrees to the proposed doctrines of the neutral
power.s, a single armed sloop may convoy the com-
merce of the whole world. England will be shut
out from proceeding in any way against the com-
merce of her enemies; she will be unable to do any
thing to prevent Spain from receiving the treasures
of the new world, or to prevent France from re-
ceiving the naval stores of the north." "We must,"
he said, " wrap ourselves in our own flag, and find
our grave in the ocean sooner than admit the cur-
rency of such principles in the maritime law of
nations."

Two sessions of parliament succeeded each other
without an adjournment. In November, 1800, the
last parliament denominated the parliament of
England and Scotland, assembled for the last time.
In January, 1801, the united parliament of the
three kingdoms held its first assemblage. During
these two sessions, the discussions were continued
without cessation, and with the most vehement
warmth. Pitt was evidently weakened, not only in
the number of the majorities in parliament, but in
general influence and moral power out of doors.
Every body perceived that in obstinately continuing
the war against France, he had gone beyond the
mark, and had missed on the eve of Marengo and
on that of Hohenliuden the ojjportunity of treating
advantageously. To miss the opportunily is for the
statesman, as it is for the soldier, an irreparable
mischief. The moment for peace once jiassed over,
fortune turned round upon Pitt. He lelt himself,
and thi; public felt, that he was vanquished by the
genius of the young general Bonaparte.

The justice must be done to Pitt, and also to Eng-
land, of acknowledging that during this fearful
want of food, the measures adopted were those of
great moderation. The maxiniuin price was re-
jielled. The government was content to give consi-
derable bounties upon the importation of corn, to
prohibit the use of grain in distilleries, and not to
give any more parochial relief in money, lest it
should tend to raise the price of bread, xxlief being

21

Measures to reduce the
J of corn.— Union with .-_
land — Catholic emancipa-

price ti

I Ire- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, t

icipa- s

tion. — Pitt's resignation. — ,„»,
Causes of that step.— His p"'"
successors.

afforded, in place of money, with food, such as salt
meat, vegetables, and siniilai' sustenances. A royal
proclamation, addressed to all persons in easy cir-
cumstances, who had it in their power to vary their
diet, recommended them to adopt a system of great
economy in the consumption of bread in their fami-
lies. Lastly, munerous vessels were sent to obtain
rice in the East Indies, and corn in America and
in the Mediterranean. Some even endeavoured to
procure it from France, by means of a contra-
band trade, along the coasts of La Vendue and
Britany.

Still in the mid.st of this distress so courageously
supported, Pitt neglected no means for the ])rose-
cution of the war, and made every ai'rangement
for a bold demonstration in the Baltic as soon as
the season would permit. He wished to strike the
first blow at Denmark, then at Sweden, and to go
even to the bottom of the gulf of Finland, for the
purpose of threatening Russia. It is not known,
even in his own country, whether he really wished
or not at this time to continue at the head of
affaii-s in England. There were two questions
raised by him in the cabinet, one of which, most
inopportune at that moment, led to his retirement
from office. Alter great exertions the year pre-
ceding, it has been seen that he caiTied into effect
what was called the "union with Ireland," or in
other words the union of the parliaments of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland, into on eimperial legis-
lative body. This measure seemed like a species of
political victory, moi'e particularly in the face of
the i-eiterated attempts of the French republic to
raise an insurrection in Ireland. But England had
only succeeded in depriving Ireland of her inde-
pendence, by giving the Irish catholics the formal
promise of their " emancipation" from the restric-
tions under which they laboured. They had in
effect .said to the catholics that they would never
obtain their freedom, owing to the jjrejudices of an
Irish parliament, and the assertion was most un-
doubtedly correct. It apjieared, too, that the ])ro-
mises given were equivalent to a positive engage-
ment, which mu.st be regarded as a political error,
if it be true that Pitt was obliged, by the nature of
his own personal pledge, either to grant emancijia-
tion or to retire, because it was a pledge it was not
possible to fulfil. However this might have been,
in the month of February, 1801, on the first meet-
ing of the united parliament, Pitt asked the consent
of George III. to the measure of catholic emanci-
pation. This prince, at the same time a protestant,
was a complete devotee, and a.sserting that his coro-
nation oath would be affected by such a measure,
he obstinately i-efused his assent. Pitt made a
second request, which was a very reasonable one,
namely, that the occupation of Hanover by Pi-ussia
should not be cunsidered an act of ho.stility to this
country, that England might keep up relations with
that court, in order, at least, to possess one friendly
power upon the continent. This sacrifice was too
great for a prijice of the house of Hanover to
make. The quarrel between the king and minister
became wanner, and on the 8tli of February, 1«01,
Pitt gave in his resignation for himself and his
colleagues, Dundas,Windham,Grenville,and other.s.
This resignation, after a ministry of seventeen
years, caused nuich surprise in such extraordinary
circumstances. People were unable to ascribe it to

natural events, and attached a secret motive to
Pitt, which at last became the public opinion, since
zealously propagated by historians ; this motive
was, that Pitt seeing the necessity for a momentary
peace, consented to retire for a few months, in
order to let it be negotiated by others rather than
himself, intending to return to the management of
public affairs when the necessity of the moment
should be passed. Such are the reasons that the
multitude ascribe to public men under similar
circumstances, which ill-informed writers repeat,
as they pick them up from rumoui*. Pitt neither
foresaw the peace of Amiens, nor its short duration;
nor did he believe that peace was at all incompati-
ble with his position at the head of affiiirs. He had
consented to the well-known negotiation at Lille in
1797, and had recently named Mr. Thomas Gren-
ville to proceed to the congress of Lune'ville. But
Pitt liad gone considerable lengths with the catho-
lics ; he had been guilty of a fault which public
men often commit, tliat of sacrificing the interest
of to-day to that of to-morrow. Having promised
too much, he felt embarrassed at not being able to
fulfil his promises, and in a very anxious position in
which the addition of a lew more enemies would
suffice to overwhelm him. It is true that he sub-
sequently denied his having contracted any positive
engagement in regard to the emancipation of the
catholics ; the denial was wanting to justify him
from so imprudent a charge. Whatever may be
thought upon this matter, there was never a period
when the perils of any country permitted and even
demanded to the same extent the adjournment of
the executicm of existing engagements, because in
1801, England had famine at home, and abroad was
at war with all Europe. Still Pitt withdrew from
office; and his retirement can only be considered as
having arisen from the weakness of a superior
mind. It is clear, that surrounded by fearful em-
barrassments, Pitt was not sorry to escape from
such a situation under the honourable pretext of
inviolable fidelity to his engagements. The resigna-
tiiin was accepted, to the great sorrow of the king,
and the discontent of the ministerial party, as well
as to the apprehension of all England, which saw
with deep anxiety men, inexperienced men, take
the helm of affairs. Pitt was replaced by Mr.
Addington, who was his creature •, and had for
many years held the post of speaker of the hou.se of
commons. Lord Hawkesbury, afterwards lord Li-
verpool, replaced Grenville at the foreign office.
They were prudent, moderate men, but of.littlo
ca))acity for office ; both had been friends of Pitt,
and for some time followed his system. This it was
more than any thing else which made it reported,
and believed, that the retirement of Pitt was only
simulated.

' I olitained these details from several of the cotetnpora-
ries of Pitt, wlio were on intimate terms with him, minfjled
in the ministerial negotiations of the period, and fill, even
in the present day, eminent situations in England.— iVo/e of
the Author.

The author should rather have said, "the creature of
George HI ," with whom he was a favourite, partaking the
bigoted notions of that monarch in regard to religion, anil
holding the same arbitrary ideas in politics ; wliik' liis fi eble
ness of mind made him a jest with the friend.s of Pitt, as weV.
as with those who had been the opponents of that minister.
— TraiisldtoT.

Illness of Georpe III.— Great

powwr of Pitt.-
jf ihe king.

Recovery THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

iliaracter of Pilt and his suc-
cessors.—NeUon's plai: for 217
actinsT in the Baltic.

I

The feeble intellects of Geoige III. were unable
to bear up against the political agitations of the
crisis. He was seized with a fresh attack of insa-
nity, and for a month was unable to fulfil the rojal
functions. Pitt had given in his i-csignation. Ad-
dington and Hawkesbury were the designated mi-
nisters, but had not yet entered upon their duties.
Pitt, although he had ceased to be minister, was at
this time the real king of England, during a
crisis of nearly a month, and was so by the consent
of the whole nation. E.vplanations upon the sub-
ject were asked in the house of commons. These
were of a very delicate nature. When thus de-
manded in the liou.se they were answered in the
noblest manner by Sheridan and Pitt. All motions
common in England respecting the state of the
country, were postponed; and it is probable that it
occurred to some mistrustful persons, that Pitt
voluntarily prolonged the species of royalty which
he enjoyed. " He trusted, it would be believed,"
to use his own language at that time, " that in the
event of ministers being no longer able to receive
the commands of his majesty from his own mouth,
they would propose measures to which it was unne-
cessary to alluile more distinctly, but which they
would not delay for a single day. They found
themselves placed by their duty in an extraordi-
nary situation, which they did not wish, upon any
ground, should endure a moment beyond the strict
necessity." Sheridan, in reply, testified his entire
confidence, that neither Pitt, nor any other mi-
nister, would seek to profit by the state of the
king's health to prolong for one moment the pos-
session of a power equal to that of tlie sovereign
himself.

The most delicate reserve wao kept upon the
subject. The word "madness" characterizing the
real condition of the king, was not once pronounced;
but all waited with anxiety, yet with j)erfect com-
posure, the termination of this extraordinary crisis.
In the interim Pitt voted subsidies which were not
opposed; the English fleets were prepared in the
different ports, and admirals Parker and Nelson
set sail from Yarraontli for the Baltic with forty-
seven vessels.

About the m^Jlle of March the king's health
was i-e-established, and Pitt handed over the
reins of government to Mr. Addington and Lord
Hawkesbury. The new ministers, according to
custom, entered into explanations upon their
taking office. They did not fail to declare to the
house that they felt sentiments of the greatest
esteem for their predecessors, and that they con-
sidered the line of policy they had adopted as
highly salutary, and the salvation of England.
They aflirmcil in eonsetjuencc, that they should
follow the sauK! j)rinciples, and tread exactly in the
same stejjs. " Wherefore, then, have you taken
office ?" inquired .Sheridan, Grey, and Fox. " If
you mean to follow the same cour.se of policy, the
ministers who liave gone out are much more ca-
l)able of directing the affairs of the country than
you are !"

1 mpanial persons, niembcra of parliament, blamed
Pitt for aijandoning the government of the country
at so <litticult a moment, and for resigning without
valid reasons. The opj)osition itHcIf was in the
wrong HO far a« to reproach him with making his
retreat at the expense of the king'n character, by

declaring that the king refused to allow "enian:;!-
l)ation," a measure at the time extremely popular.
This reproach was unreasonable, and at varkmce
with true constitutional principles. Pitt, in retiring,
was naturally obliged to state the reason, and if the
king refused him "emancipa/tion," he had a perfect
right to declare that such was the fact. He made
it known in language extremely well-suited to the
circumstances, but it remained very evident that
the refu.sal was rather a pretext than a real motive,
and that Pitt withdrew irom a state of affairs with
which he had not the courage to contend. His star
was growing pale before one that was then ascend-
ing, destined to cast a brighter lustre than his
own. Although he afterwards reappeared at the
head of aftairs, to die at the post, his political ex-
istence may be said to have terminated from that
day. Pitt, after governing for seventeen years,
leit his country loaeed with debt and wealth both
alike increased and alike burihened. He was an
acconi])lished orator, regarded as the organ of go-
vernment, and a veiy able and influential head of
a party; but, as a statesman, he possessed very un-
enlightened views, had committed great errors,
and was continually overborne by the worst pre-
judices of his countrymen. No native of England
entertained so deep a hatred to France. But this
consideration must not r.':ake us unjust towards
him, knowing as we do how to honour patriotism
in others, even when it was employed in a contest
with our own.

Neither Lord Hawkesbury nor Mr. Addington
were to be compared for talent to Pitt ; the im-
pulse being given, the vessel of the state moved
onwards for a time under the momentum imparted
to it by the head of the fallen ministry. The sub-
sidies were demanded and obtained ; the English
fleets were launched towards the B;iltic, to .settle
the great question about neutral rights; and an
army, embarked in the fleet of lord K?ith, was
upon its voyage to the East to di.spute the posses-
sion of Egy|)t with the French.

Admiral Parker, an old and cx])erienced naval
officer, who understood how to act under difficult
circumstances, was the conimander-in-chief of the
English fleet, and sent to the Baltic. Nelson was
at his side, in case it should become necessary to
fight ; he was, in fact, only qualified for battles,
endowed as he was with a ha])py instinct for war,
and perfectly master of every thing connected with
his proft'ssion. Nelson proposed that, without
waiting for the divisions of the fleet, they should
pass the Sound, and bearing directly up for Co-
penhagen, detach Denmark from the coalition by
a vigorous blow ; then repair to the Baltic, in the
midst of the coalesced fleets, prevent their jimctioii,
and thus give them all the law. This plan was
happily arranged, because in the month of March,
the ice still covered those northern seas, and was
of its'^lf sufficient to prevent their junction; which,
indeed. Nelson had some reason for dreading, as,
in that case, the British squadron would be ex-
posed to great danger.

This s(|u.ulron, consisting of seventeen sail of
the line and thirty frigates, or snndler vessels, ap-
j)eared, on the 30lli of March, in the Cattegat.
The Cattegat is the first gulf, formed by the land
of Denmark ai)i)roacliing the opposite coast of
Sweden.

The northern powers prepare
218 for war.-Prussia declares THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

against England.

The Danes prepare
to defend the

Send.

The neutral powers were making their prepara-
tions with great activity. Tlie emperor Paul, full
of ai-dour, stinmhited Sweden, Denmark, and
Prussia, and thi-eatened with his enmity those who
did not exhibit as much zeal as himself. Den-
maric and Prussia would have preferred commenc-
ing with a negotiation ; but the menaces of Paul,
the earnest, but not menacing, remonstrances of
the first consul, accompanied with the formal pro-
mise of French assistance, brought into the same
system those two courts. Denmark, besides, see-
ing the English reply to a declaration of principles
was by a declaration of war, thought that it was her
place to receive and prepare for resistance with
all her energies. Prussia, pressed between Russia
and France, had been deprived of her character of
mediatrix, since Paul I. and the first consul li;id
commenced to be upon friendly terms with each
other. In place of leading, as before, she was now
reduced to the situation of being a follower, and
could only rely in future upon their good-will
alone, for that ])art of the German indemnity ad-
vantageous to her interests. Prussia was, there-
fore, anxious to please by her firmness in the cause.
She declared against England, and to overtures
from that jjower, avowed her adherence to the side
of the neutrals. She interdicted to the English
all the coast of the north sea from Holland to
Denmark ; she closed the mouths of the Elbe, the
Ems, and the Weser, and placed batteries, with
troops, at those jjrincipal outlets. Finally, .she
occupied Hanover with a body of troops ; which
was the most serious and most decisive of her
measures. The first consul recompensed her by
marked proofs of his satisfaction, and by the
strongest and most positive i)romise of an advan-
tageous partition in her behalf of the German in-
demnities.

Denmark, on her side, occupied Hamburg and
Lubeck. The little port of Cuxhaven, which be-
longed to Hamburg, and which was the only
place where the English could land, had already
been occupied by Prussia. Thus, then, the English
had nothing left to them but their vessels and the
ocean. Tliey liad not a single port where they
could cast anchor. They had now the alternative
of recovering by force their access to the conti-
nent. •

In order to reach the Baltic througli the Catte-
gat, it is necessary to pass through the noted strait
called the Sound. This strait is formed by the
approach of the coast of Denmark to that of Swe-
den. Between Elsinore and Ilelsingburg, it isabout
two thousand three himdred fathoms broad. The
batt ries placed on the two ojjpositc shores are
enabled to cross their fire, but not sufficiently
near to cause much damage to a fleet. Notwitii-
standing this, the channel is deeper on the Swedish
side, and very large ships are obliged to approach
nearer that shore in consequence ; so that by
strengthening it with batteries, the passage might
liave been rendered difficultfor the English. But the
Swedish side was not fortified, and had no batteries,
nor indeed had it ever jjosscssed them. In fact, it
has no port which merchant slii|is would be likely
to visit. There is none in the Sound, except that
of Elsinore, which belongs to Denmark, and upon
that account batteries were cTected there only,
and scarcely any upon the Swedish coast. On the

Danish side was constructed the fort of Kroner.-
burg, regularly fortified. From this came the
custom of paying the Danes dues for the passage,
and not the Swedes. In this state of things it
was necessary to construct furtified works on the
Swedish side, of which they wei-e in want. The
king, Gustavus Adolphus, who, after Paul I., was
the most earnest of tlie coalition, had conversed
with the czar upon this subject, when he was at
St. Petersburg!! ; but they were aware of the im-
possibility of executing any work there at such a
season, when the soil, daring the winter frost, was
as impenetrable as iron. Gustavus Adolphus had
also an interview with the prince of Denmark,
then regent of the kingdom ; the same who died
in 1841, after a long and honourable reign. They
conversed upon the subject ; and the prince-regent,
for some particular reason which influenced Den-
mark, appeared to attach very little importance to
the fortification of the Swedish shore i. The Sound,
then, was feebly defended on the Swedish side.
They were obliged to be contented with an old
battery of only eight guns, long ago established
upon the niost salient i)oint of the shore. Besides,
though this disregard of the defence has been
much blamed since, it is very certain that the
Sound, if well f(jrtified upon both sides, could not
have presented any very serious obstacle to tlie
English ; because the width of the passage being
about three miles, ships in mid-channel would be
a mile and a half from the batteries, and would,
consequently, sustain no other damage than a little
injury inflicted upon their sails or rigging.

There are, besides the Sound, other entrances
into the Baltic ; these are formed by the two arms
of the sea which separate the Isle of Zealand from
that of Funen, and the Isle of Funen fi-om the
coast of Jutland, passages known under the names
of the Great and Little Belts. The English were
but little inclined to attempt these straits where
they were likely to meet with more than one
Danish batter^', but above all from fear of the
shallows, which render the navigation very dan-
gerous for ships of the line. The passage of the
Sound was, therefore, that which they would most
probably clioose.

The Danes concentrated all their means of de-
fence not immediately in the Sound, but lower
down in the channel into which the Sound opens,
in reality before tlie city of Copenhagen itself.
The two shores of Denmark and Sweden, after
ai)proxiniating towards the Sound, retire from each
other again, and form a channel twenty leagues
long and from three to twelve wide, over which
reefs and sandbanks are tiiickly strewn, and in
which navigation must be effected by foUowuig the

1 Erroneous assertions have been circulated upon this sub-
ject. I have had recourse to the most authentic evidence
possible; the archives of France, Denmark, and Sweden con-
tain proofs of what is here stated. Those staling otherwise,
Napoleon amon;,' thini, have only repeated the rumours and
assertiorisof the time. The second passageof the Sound, which
took yilace.in 1807, at a time when Sweden and Denmark were
at war, and Sweden saw with pleasure ihe triumphs of the
English, has contril)Uted toatiarh to Sweden the charge of
perlidy. But at the time of the first passage, that is to say,
in 1801, Sweden acted with perfect good faith; she wished
heartily fcir the common success, and would have ensured it
had she been capable of so doing.— Note of the Author.

Swedish and Russian prepara-
tions.—Jlr. Vansittart's pro-
posals indignantly rejected

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

by the prince of Denmark. — Eng-
lish council of war. — Nelson and 219
Parker enter tl'.e Sound.

narrow channels, and by incessantly sounding.
The city of Copenhagen is situated on one of the
most important of these ciianuels about twenty
leagues from the Sound, towards the south. Tiiere
it was that the Danes had made their greatest
preparations, and there they awaited the approaeli
of their enemy. The post whicli they thus held did
not precisely close up the passage into the Baltic,
as will presently be e.xplained, but it obliged the
English to make an attack upon a position e.xceed-
ingly well defended, and i>repared beforehand for
their reception. The prince royal had promptly
made numerous strong measures of defence. In front
of Copenhagen he had placed a number of vessels
of war cut down and armed with cannon, making
of them very fonnidable floating batteries ; he had
also armed ten sail of the line, which were only
waiting for seamen from Norway to complete their
complement of men. It is well known that the
Danes are the best seamen in the north of Europe.

To these Daiii.sh prepai-ations were joined those
of Sweden and Russia. The Swedes had disposed
of their troops along the coasts from Gottenburg to
the Sound, and had fortified Karlscrona in the
Baltic, as well as all the accessible points of that sea.
The king, Gustavus Adolphus, was pushing forward
the equipment of the Swedish fleet, and urging
admiral Cronstedt to its completion. This fleet
Consisted of seven sail of the line and two frigates,
which would be ready to sef sail as soon as the sea
was clear of the winter ice. The Russians had
twelve sail of the line ready at Revel, which, like
those of Sweden, were only embarrassed by the ice.
The coalesced powers had not completed all, with-
out doubt, which would have been possible if they
had possessed at their head a government as active
as tiiat of France at the same period ; but by
uniting in time seven Swedish and twelve Russian
vessels to the ten Danish ships before Copenhagen,
they would have possessed a Heet of thirty sail of
the line and of ten or twelve frigates, established in
a very fonnidable position, which the English could
not have approached without danger, wiiiie still
less could tiiey have sailed by and disregarded it.
To have sailed by without attacking it, in order to
carry on anj' operations in the Baltic, would have
been to leave in their rear a most imposing force,
cajjable of blocking up the outlet to the sea, and
preventing their passage out in case of a reverse.
But to unite in time these naval squadrons de-
manded a celerity of movement of which these
three neutral governments were not capable. They
made all the haste they could there is little doubt ;
but calculating too much upon the j)rolongation of
the bad season, they had not begun their prepa-
i-ations early enough, and the energetic promptitude
of the Engli.sli was far too much in advance of
them.

On the 21st of March an English frigate touched
at Elsinin-e, and put on shore iVlr. Vansittart, who
wo-f charged to njake a last communication to the
Danish government. Mr. Vansittart delivered to
Mr. Drummond, the English charg^ d'aflaires, the
ultimatum of the British cabinet. The tenns of the
ultimatum were the withdrawal of Denmark from
the maritime confederation of the neutral powers,
that Denmark should open her pcirts to the Eng-
lish, and adhere to the provisional engagement en-
tered into in the preceding month of August, by

which they had engaged no longer to convoy their
trading- vessels. The prince royal of Denmark
rejected the idea of such a defection, with indigna-
tion, and answered that neither Denmark nor her
allies had made a declaration of war, having con-
fined themselves to the publication of their prin-
eii)les of maritime law ; that the English were the
aggressors, because they had replied to the mere
assertion of a thesis, in the law of nations, by an
embargo; that Denmai-k would not commence hos-
tilities, but would energetically meet force by
force. The brave population of Co|)enliagen sup-
ported by its loyalty and adhesion the prince who
represented it with so much dignity. The entire
population took up arms, and, on the appeal of the
prince royal, formed militia and volunteer corps.
Eight hundred students took up the musket ; all
who could handle a pick-axe aided the engineers
in executing the works of defence, and intrench-
ments were every where cast nj). Messi-s. Drum-
mond and Vansittart left Copenhagen abruptly,
threatening this unhappy city with all the thunders
of England.

On the 24th, Messrs. Drummond and Vansittart
went on board the ileet, and the Eiiglisli innne-
diately made their preparations for connneucing
hostilities.

Nelson, and the commander-in-chief, Parker,
held a council of war on board shij). The j)lan of
operations was discussed. One was for jJMSsing
through the Sound, another was for sailing through
the Great Belt : Nelson declared that it was of no
consequence by which mode the passage was made;
that it was necessary as soon as possible to enter
the Baltic, and appear before Copenliagen, in order
10 prevent the junction of the coalesced fleets.
Once in the Baltic, the English fleet should be
directed, a part upon Copenhagen to strike a blow
at the Danes, and a part upon Sweden and Russia,
to destroy the northern squadrons. They had
twenty sail of the line, and twenty-five or thirty
frigates and vessels of all descriptions. He him-
self would undertake, with twelve sail of the line, to
destroy the Swedish and Russian fleets, the rest of
the English force should attack and bombard Co-
l)eiihagen. As to which passage they shc^uld make,
he would prefer braving a few caimonshots in
forcing the Sound, to encountering the dangei-ous
shoals of the Great and Little Belt.

Parker, far less enterprising, made an attempt
by the Great Belt, on the 2(ith of March. Several
small \ essels of his fleet having taken the ground,
the eoinmander-in-chief recalled the squadron, and
I determined to force a passage. Early in the morn-
ing of the 30th of March, he entered this renowned
strait. It blew at the moment a fresh breeze
from the north-west, very much in favour for pass-
i ig through the Sound, which runs from north-
west to south-east, as far a.s Elsinore, after which,
it continues nearly due north and south. The
Heet, under the favourable breeze, boldly ad-
vanced, keeping at an equal distance from both
shores. Nelson led the advanced squadron, Pai'ker
the centre, and admiral Graves the rear. The
line-of-battle ships formed a single colunni in
the middle of the channel. Upon each side a
flotilla of gun and bomb-vessels pas.st'd nearer to
the shores both of Denmark and Sweden, in order
to return the enemies' fire closer to their batteries.

Position of Copenhagen.
— Its defences.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE

Copeiiliagen.

April.

When the fleet came in sight of Elsinore, the
fortress of Kronenburj; instantly opened, and a
hundred pieces of heavy cannon, vomited forth at
once a storm of slielis and red- hot balls. The Eng-
hsh admiral, seeing that the battery upon the Swe-
dish shore scarcely fired at all, because that old bat-
tery of eight guns was almost useless, steered
nearer to that side, and the English in passing on
jeered at ilie Danes, whose prnSectiles did not
reach their ships by four or five Hundred yards.
The bomb-vessels which had approached tlie Da-
nish shore, gave and received a great number of
shells, but very little bh)odshed ensued, as only
four men were hurt on the side of the Danes,
two of whom were killed, and two wounded. In
Elsinore only one house suffered injury from the
English fire, and that, remarkably enough, was the
house of the English consul.

The whole fleet anchored about noon in the mid-
dle of the gulf, near the ishmd of Huen.

This gulf, as before oljserved, descended from
north to south fur the distance of about twenty
leagues; irregular in width, from three to twelve
leagues, as the shores recede or advance, and pos-
sessing but few navigable channels. About twenty
leagues towards the south stands tlie city of Copen-
hagen, situated on the west of the gulf upon the
side of Denmark, at a very small elevation above
the sea, forming a plane slightly inclined from
whence a cannon-ball would just skim over the
surface of the sea. The gulf, very wide and broad
at this place, is divided by the low island of Salt-
holm into two navigable channels; one of which,
called the passage of Malmo, stretching along the
coast of Sweden, is scarcely accessible for large
vessels ; the other, which is called Drogden,
stretches almost parallel with the coast of Den-
mai'k, and is commonly preferred for the purpose
of navigation. This last passage is itself divided by
a sand-bank, called the Aliddel Grund, into two
pa.ssages ; one named the King's Channel, borders
the city of Copenhagen; the otiier the Dutch Chan-
nel, is situated on the opposite side of the Middel
Grund. It was in the King's Channel that the
Danish force was placed, leaving the other, or that
of the Dutch, open to the English, the Danes think-
ing more of the defence of Copenhagen than of pre-
venting the entrance of the English into the Baltic.
But it was very obvious that Parker and Nelson
■would not have ventured into the Baltic until they
had destroyed the defences of Copenliagen, together
with any naval force of the neutrals which might
be there united.

The means of defence which were possessed by
the Danes consisted in batteries on shore, situated
to the right and left of the entrance of the port,
and of a line of floating battei-ies, or vessels cut
down and moored in the middle of tiie King's
Channel, for the whole length of Copenhagen, in
such a manner as to protect the city from the fire
of the enemy. Commencing on the north of the
position, there was placed a work called the Tiu-ee
Crowns, constructed in masonry, nearly closed up
at the gorge, commanding the entrance into the
port, and connecting its fire with that of the citadel
of Copenhagen. It was mounted with seventy
pieces of cannon of the largest calibre. Four ships
of the line, of which two were at anchor, and two
under sail, and also a frigate under sail, closed the

entrance of the chamiel which led into the port.
Fi'om the fort of the Three Crowns, in going south-
wards, twenty hulks of large vessels were strongly
moored, carrying heavy guns, and filling up the
middle of the King's Channel, being also connected
with land batteries on tho Nand of Amack. Thus
the Danish line of defence was supported on the
left by the Three Crown batteries, and on the right
by the isle of Amack, occupying lengthways and
completely blockading up the middle of the King's
Channel. The fort of the Three Crowns could not
be forced, defended as it was by seventy cannon
and five vessels, three of which were under sail.
The line of defence, on the contrary, con)posed of
immovable hulks, was too long and not sufficiently
close, besides being incapable of manoeuvring ',
and in the object of obstructing the middle of the
passage they were placed too far in advance of the
point of support on the right, or in other words, of
the fixed batteries u])on the isle of Amack. This
island is only a continuation of the land upon which
Copenhagen stands, the line of defence might there-
fore be attacked on the right. If it had been com-
posed of a division of vessels under sail, capable of
moving, or if it had been more closely united and
more strongly supported on the shore, the English
would not have come safe and sound out of the
attack. But the Danes thought a good deal of their
ships of war, which they were not rich enough to
replace if they should be destroyed ; and besides,
they had not yet received their complement of men
from Norway ; they were consequently shut up in
the interior of the port, thinking that unservice-
able vessels were sufficient to answer the purpose
of floating batteries against the English fleet.

Their bravest seamen, commanded by intrepid
officers, served the artillery in those old floating
batteries, thus moore<l in line.

The English arrived at Copenhagen long before the
junction, at that city, of all the vessels of the neutral
j)0wers could take place. They might have passed to
the east of the middle ground, and disregarding the
floating batteries moored in the Royal Channel,
have gone through the Dutch Channel into the
Baltic. They might have done all this out of reach
of the guns of Copenhagen ; but they must have
left behind them a very imposing force, capable of
cutting off" their retreat in case of any untoward
event occurring which might oblige them to return
by the passage of the Sound, weakened and in
want of resources. It was much better to profit
at once by the isolation of the Danes, to strike a
decisive blow at them, detach them from the con-
federation; and after having, by this means, seized
upon the keys of the Baltic, proceed, as quickly as
))ossible, to attack the Swedes and Russians. This
])lan was at the same time bold and wise, and ob-
tained the concuri'cnce of both Nelson and Parker,
a thing that rarely happens between two such com-
manders.

The 31st of March and 1st of April were em-
ployed in i-econnoitring the Danish line, sounding
the channels, and arranging the plan of attack.
Nelson, Parker, the older captains of the fleet,

' This "manoeuvrinj?" in a narrow and intricate channel,
shows that the author does not understand naval affairs, or
he would not have made a disadvantage of what in such a
place was impossible. — Translator.

1801.
AprU.

Sa'.tle of Copenhagen.

THE NEUTRAL TOWERS.

Daring courage of Nelson.

221

t

and the commandant of the artillery, reconnoitred
in person the position of the enemy, in the midst
of ice, and sometimes oi the Danish balls. Nelson
maintained, that with ten sail of the line he would
attack and break the right line of the Danes. His
plan was to proceed along the entire length of the
Middle Ground, passing througli the Dutch Chan-
nel, then doubling back immediately, to enter the
King's Cliannel, and place ship against ship, a
hundred fathoms from tlie Danish line. He wished
at the same time, that some vessels of the fleet,
under captain Riou, should attack the Three Crowns
battery, and having silenced the guns, disembark
a tiiousand men and carry it by storm. The com-
mander-in-chief, admiral Parker, with the re-
mainder of the fleet, was not to engage in this
bold attack; he was to remain in the rear, cannon-
ade the citadel, and cover any disabled vessel
that might retire out of action.

This manoeuvre, as bold as that of Aboukir,
could only succeed by great ability in the execu-
tion, and great good fortune as well. Admiral
Parker consented, upon condition that the enter-
prise sliould not be carried too far if the difficulties
were found not likely to be surmounted. He gave
Nelson twelve ships in place of the ten he de-
manded. On the 1st of April, in the evening,
Nelson sailed through the Dutch Cliannel, and
came to anchor some way below Copenhagen, off"
a point of the isle of Amack, called Drago. In order
to get into the King's Channel, and to sail through
it, a diff"erent wind was required from that which
the day before had enabled him to pass through
the Dutch Channel. On the following day, in the
morning, the wind blew just opposite to tlie point
whence it blew on the pi-eceding nigiit. He sailed
into tiie King's Channel, steering between the
Danish line and the Middle Ground. All the
channels had been .sounded ; but in spite of this
precaution three ' vessels got fast upon the Middle
Ground, and Nelson took up liis post with only
nine. He did not suff'er himself to be disheartened,
but anchored very close to the Danish line, at a
distance that must have rendered the effect of the
cannonade most horrific. The want of the three
vessels aground was much felt, more particularly
for the attack on the batteries of the Three Crowns,
which now could only be answered by frigates.

At ten in tlic morning the whole of the British
squadron was in line. It received and returned
a dreadful fire. A division of bomb-vessels,
wliicli drew little water, was placed upon the
shoal of the Middle Ground, and threw shi-lLs into
Copenhagen, passing over both scjuadrons. The
Danes had eight hundred pieces of artillery in
play on their batteries, which inflicted consider-
able dan~agc upon the English. The officers
comniandin:^ the floating batteries and hulks dis-
played uncommon bnivery, and found in those
under tiieir command the most devoted courage.
Tiic commander of the Provesten in particular,
which was the SffUthernmost of the Danish line,
beiiaved witli heroic courage. Nelson, seeing the
impoitance of depriving their line of tile support
of the batteries on tiie isle of Amack, directed tlie
fire of four vessela upon the Provesten alune.

• Two only were aground ; one wai anchored, from n-t
bMng able to weather the aUoal.—Tramtalor.

M. Lassen, the commander, defended his ship
until he had lost five hundred out of six hundred
of his gunners; lie then threw himself into the
sea with tlie remainder, and swam on shore, leav-
ing his vessel in flames. He had thus the glory
of not striking his flag. Nelson then directed all
his eflorts against the other floating batteries and
rafts, and succeeded in silencing several. In the
meanwlnle, at the other end of the line, the English
suffered considerably, and captain Riou was very
roughly handled. Three English vessels were still
on shore on the middle ground, and he jiad none
but frigates to oppose to the batteries of the Three
Crowns. He had received a terrible fire, without
the hope of silencing it, or storming the work.
Parker, observing the resistance made by the
Danes, and fearing the English vessels, much in-
jured in their rigging, would be exposed to getting
aground, gave orders for the battle to cease.
Nelson, perceiving the signal at the mast-head'
of Parker, gave way to a noble expression of in-
dignation. He had lost one eye, and to that
applying his spy-glass, he coolly said, " I cannot
see Parker's signal for ceasing action ;" and or-
dered his own signal for close action to be kept
flying. This was a noble act of imprudence upon
his part; and as often happens to audacious im-
prudence, it was followed by complete success.

The Danish hulks, which c<iuld not be moved
to find shelter under the land batteries, were ex-
j)osed to a most destructive fire. The Danebrog
blew up with a terrible explosion; several others
were disabled and driven from their moorings,
with an enormous loss of men. But the English,
on the other side, did not suffer less, and found
themselves in great danger. Nelson, endeavour-
ing to take possession of the Danish ships which
had struck their colour.s, was exposed, on ap-
proaching the batteries * upon the isle of Amack,
to several deadly discharges fnmi their guns. At
this rai>ment two or three of his vessels were so com-
pletely cut up as to be incapable of manoeuvring;
and on the side of the Three Crowns, captain Riou,
who had been obliged to retire, from these for-
midable batteries, was cut in two by a chain-shot.
Nelson, nearly beaten, was not disconcerted, and
struck upon the idea of sending a flag of truce to
the ])rince-royal of Denmark, who, from one of the
batteries, was a si)ectator of the terrible scene.

* Being moored, the Danish line was stronger, and could
fire on the En)ili>li ships coming to an anchor, that had to
anclior and furl tlieir sails under a lieHvy fire. Though the
Danes fouglit nob'y, it was the r;ipi(lity of tl.e English fire
that gave Nelson the victory. The Danish force south of
the Crown batteries was all destroyed, burned, or taken. It
consisted of oix sail nl tlie line, eleven filiating batteries,
mounting ea'h twenty-six 24-pounders, or eighteen 18-
pounders, each fianked by the batterits which inflicted the
piincii al loss. Nelson sunk, burned, tdok, or drove on shore,
the whole line; and C(>|ienhagen, at ihe close of the day,
was open to homiiar<lnieiit, and Ihe vessels placed for that
purpose. One seventy-four, oue sixty four, 'our two-decked
hulks, two frigates, a lloatir.g baitfry, four pontons or
praams of twenly-four guns each, were taken, a frigate and
a hri^' sunk, the Danish connnodore was blown U|), one or
two were driven on shore under the I>atti'rie8 ; all this was
achieved without the loss of a single VeHel. 7ct^- but our
author could deem such a protended or dubiouc ilc'cxy —
Tratnlalur.

222 ""tr^nt'-lu^pl'rsIoTo'f THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Nelson lands for the
purpose of nego-
tiating.

1801.
April.

In his letter, Nelson stated, that if the prince did not
stop the fir.i which prevented his taking possession
of his prizes, which by right belonged to him, having
struck their colours, he should be obliged to blow
them up with all on board; that the English were
the brethren of the Danes ; that both had fought
enough to show their valour, and that auy further
effusfon of blood ought to be avoided i.

The prince, stricken by the appalling spectacle,
ana fearin.' for the city of Copenhagen, deprived
of the support of the floating batteries, ordered the
firin'T to ct-ase. Tliis was a fault, because in a few
monrents the fieet of Nelson, nearly disabled, would
have been obliged to retire half destroyed. A sort
of negotiation was commenced, and Nelson took
advantage of it to quit his place of anchorage. As
he retired three of his vessels got aground. If at
this moment the fire of the Danes had but con-
tinued, these three vessels must have been lost 2.

On the following day Nelson and Parker, after
great labour, got the three vessels afloat that had
been aground, and entered into a negotiation with
the Danes with the object of stipulating for a suspen-
sion of hostilities. They stood as much in need of
this as the Danes, because they had twelve hundred
men killed and wounded, and in six vessels a horrible
slaughter ». The loss of the Danes was not much

1 Nelson did not want to approach the isle of Amack for
such a purpose. When he wrote the note to the crown-
prince the Danish line was irrecoverably ruined, but the fire
was still hot. The Danebrog had just before struck her
colours ; and the boats going to take possession of her. Nel-
son's ship having ceased to lire for that purpose, the Danebrog
fired upun the boats, most likely from ignorance of the usage
of war, and they were obliged to return. The Elephant then
opened again upon the Danebrog with grape-shot from her
36-pounders, killing and wounding many in that vessel, but
making a far more horrible slaughter in two praams, feebly
resisting, full of men, ahead and astern of her. The sight
was most abhorrent to Nelson ; and he had no choice but to
burn the Dane with all on board, including numbers of
wounded. With the same humane feelings as those with
whith he rushed on deck at the battle of the Nile, to save
the crew of I'Oi ient, but with a different feeling as to the
quarrel, and a desire, ever uppermost, to detach the Danes
from the confederacy by the impression produced, — for Nel-
son was a man of genius as well as courage, -he wrote the
letter to the crown prince. Some have said there was a
third motive ; but as the Danes had nothing to do with that
motive, it is immaterial to mention it here. The battle was
over in the afternoon, about a couple of hours before dark.
Early the nex» morning Nelson went on shore, and was re-
ceived with acclamations by the people, not with " murmurs ;'•'
thty knew his object was peace and they did not harmonize
witii the designs of Paul I. and the lirst con?,ul.— Translator.
' This was not true. The De»iree frigate, the Defiance,
and Klephant, got on shore only at the close of the action.
They had anctiored so close to the Middle Ground, under
the mistaken idea that tliere was shoal water between the
Danish line and them, that the Kleptiant had only four feet
water under lier keel when the battle began. These ships
had no enemy opposed to them, the Danish line being de-
stroyed, and bomb-vcBsels moored in a position ready for the
bombardment. The Monarch and Isis were the only ships
that required serious repair, and they were sent home for
that purpose, with one of the Danish prizes containing the
wounded. Not half the fleet had been engaged. The line
of defence gone between Amack and the Crown batteries,
Parker's division might have moved up and cannonaded the
city the next day, if the bomb-vessels were not of themselves
sufficient to destroy ii.— Translator.
» The English had 20 officers and 234 rccn killed, and 48

greater ; but they had relied too much upon their
line of fioatiiig batteries, and now that these bat-
teries were destroyed, the lower part of the city,
that which was open to the sea, was exposed to a
bombardment. Above all, they were apprehensive
for their vessels in the basin, in which were their
ships of war, but half equipped ; immovable, and
locked up in the basin, they might have every one
been burned. This was a mo.st alarming subject of
solicitude. They regarded their fleet, in fact, as
they did their maritime existence itself ; because if
it were lost tiny had not the means of fitting out
another. Under the irritation of suffering and
danger at the moment, they complained of their
allies, without making any allowance for the diffi-
culties they had to encounter, and which had
obstructed their arrival under the walls of Copen-
hagen. The contrary \vind.s, the ice, and want of
time, had retained the Swedes and Russians with-
out any fault of their own. It is true, tliat if they
had arrived with twenty vessels and joined the
Danish fleet in the straits where the engagement
took place, Nelson would have failed in his daring
enterprise, and the cause of maritime neutrality
would have triunij)lied that day. But time was
necessary for them to ])repare, and the promptitude
of the English changed the destiny of tlie war.

Parker, who had been alarmed at the temerity
of Nelson, in the battle of the 2nd of April, was now
able to form a tolerably correct opinion of the ac-
tual position of the Danes, and understood all the
results which could be drawn from the battle that
had taken place. He required that the Danes
should withdraw from the neutral confederacy,
that they should open their ports to the English,
and should receive an English force, under the
pretence of protecting them against the resent-
ment of the neutral powers. Nelson had the cou-
rage to land on the 3rd of April, and to carry these
propositions to the crown-prince. He went iu a
boat to Copenhagen, and heard himself the mur-
murs of this brave population, indignant at his
appearance ; but he found the crown-prince was
inflexible. The prince, more alarmed the evening
before than the actual danger of Copenhagen jus-
tified, would not consent to the shameful defection
which was proposed to him. He replied, that he
would sooner bury himself under the ruins of his
capital than he would consent to betray the com-
mon cause. Nelson returned on board his ship
without having obtained any concession. During
this interval, the Danes .seeing themselves exposed
to the dangers of a secoml battle, set themselves at
work to add new defences to those already exist-
ing. They made the battery of the Three Crowns
nmcli stronger, and covered with cannon the isle
of Amack and the lower part of the town. They
brought their ships, the great objects of their care,
into basins, as far as possible from the sea, cover-
ing them with earth and dung, in oi'der to preserve
them as much as possible from fire : and became
in a certain degree more confident when they saw
the hesitation of the English, who did not seem in

officers and Cll men wounded ; in all 943. Three ships sus-
tained nejirly half the loss, the rest had to be divided be-
tween sixteen vessels of all classes. The English accounts
gave the Danish loss at 2000 men ; the Danish accounts at
1800.— Tramlatur.

1S01.
April.

THE NEUTRAL TOWERS.

Death of Paul I. of Russia ;
cliaracter.

113

a hurry to reconinieiice tlio terrible struggle. One
part of the popiilatimi cajiable of assisting, lent
their aid in the defensive works ; the other part
was employed in preparing means to prevent the
conflagration.

Finally, after five days of delay, Nelson returned
to Copenhagen mitwitlistanding the threatening
aspect of the Danish people. The discussion was
lively, and Nelson took upon himself to concede
more than Parker authorized. He concluded an
armistice which was no more virtually than a statu
quo. The Danes did not retire from the confede-
ration ', but all hostilities were to be suspended
between them and the English for fourteen weeks,
after which time they were to return to the same
position as on the day of the signature for the sus-
pension of arms. The armistice comprehended only
the Danish isles and Jutland, but not Holstein, so
that hostilities might continue in the Elbe, and that
river be still interdicted to the English. The Eng-
lish were to keep at cainion-shot distance from all
the Danish ports and armed vessels, except in the
King's Channel, which they had the liberty to pass
and repass for the purpose of entering the Baltic.
Tlipy were not to establish themselves on any part
of the Danish territory, and wei-e only to touch at
the ports for the purpose of getting such things as
were necessary for the health and refreshment of
the crews.

Such were all the terms which Nelson could ob-
tain, and it must be acknowledged they were all
his victory gave him a right to demand. But as he
was upon the jwint of quitting Cojienhagen, a very
unfortunate event was currently reported, of which
the crown-prince, who hail been induced by it to
enter into negotiations, succeeded in keeping from
him the knowledge. Jt was rumoured at the same
moment that Paul 1. had died suddenly. Nelson
set sail without knowing this, or it would no doubt
have made him advance in his demand. The ar-
mistice was immediately ratified by admiral Parker.
The prince-royal of Denmark hinted to the Swedes,
that it would be of no use to expose themselves to the

' Nelson landed on the 3rd of April. Sir Hyde Parker
was at some distance, with whom conference was to be held.
Notwithstanding delays and exchanges of powers, the sus-
pension of arms was executed for fourteen weeks on the 9th.
The stipulations were as stated by the author, except that he
has disengenuously omitted to notice the most important of
all : " Tlie treaty of armed ventral'ity shall, as Jar as relates
to the co-operalion of Denmark, be suspended while the armis-
tice it in force." Nelson had gained all he required — to
proceed again«t Sweden and Russia with no fear of an enemy
in his rear. In ten or twelve days after the battle, the Kng-
lisli fleet had arrived— so far from being seriously injured —
within two days' sail of St. Petersburg. Count Pnlilen's
letter to Admiral Parker, written on the 2nth of April, was
answered by Adcnirhl Parker on board the London, at sea,
on the 22. id. Count Palilen's Utter put an end to the con-
federacy. Jt announced that, on Alexander's accession, one
of the first events had been, the acceptance of " the olfer
which the British court had made to his illustrious prede-
cessor," to terminate the dispute "by an amicable conven-
tion." This letter, and acceptance by Alexander of what
Paul had refused, suspended Parkers proceedings. The
British court had no part in that act, beyond orders pre-
viously given to its admirals, in case Russia consented to
the convention, that hostilities should be suspended. Parker
sailed back to Kioge Bay, in Denmark, Immediately re-
.sifc'ned, and Nelson look the chief connnand. — Translator.

attack of the English, whom they would find thetn-
selves incapable of resisting. Nor was the advice
nimcccssary, for Gustavus Adolphus had got his
fleet ready for sea. In the desire to get his fleet
forward, he had dismissed one rear-adiniral from
his service, and sent an admiral before a court-
martial, to punish him for his delay in getting for-
ward, though very unjustly.

All these efforts were vain. Paul I. had died at
St. Petersburg on the night between the 23rd and
24th of March. This event terminated much more
certainly than the incomplete victory of Nelson,
the marititne confederation of the northern powers.
Paul I. had been the author of the confederation,
and had applied towards its success all the impe-
tuosity of temper which he threw into every action
of his life, and he would most certainly have dis-
l)layed similar earnestness in repairuig the disaster,
nearly of equal disadvantage to each, of the battle
of Copenhagen. He would have sent his land forces
to Denmark, and the whole of the neutral fleet to
the Sound, and jirobably have made the English
repent of their cruel enterprise against the Danish
capital. But this prince had pushed to the utmost
the patience of his subjects, and had just become
the victim of a tragical revolution in his own
palace.

Paul I. was a spirited and not a bad man; but he
carried his opinions to extremes, and like all others
who are of the like character, was capable of good
or evil actions, according to the disordered im-
pulses of a violent and feeble mind. If such an
organization is unfortunate in private individuals,
it is much more so in princes, and still worse in
absolute sovereigns. With such it very frequently
approaches to madness, at times putting on a san-
guinary complexion of mind. Thus every person in
St. Petersburg was in dread for his own destiny.
Even tlie best treated favourites of Paul were by
no means sure that the favour they enjoyed would
terminate out of Siberia.

This prince, sensitive and chivalrous, had felt a
lively sympathy for the victims of the French revo-
lution, in consequence a vengeful hatred to tiiat
event. Thus while the able Catherine had con-
trived, during her whole reign, to excite all Europe
against France without marching against her a sin-
gle soldier, Paul, on arriving at the throne, had
sent Suwarrow, with one hundred thousand Rus-
sians, into Italy. In the warmth of his zeal, lie
interdicted even French hooks, manners, and cus-
toms. This could not fail to oft'eiid the Russian
nobility, who, like the whole of the European aris-
tocracy, were fond of reviling France, with the
reservation of enjoying her wit, her manner.s, and
her advanced civilization. The Russian nobles
found the antirevolutionary zcjil unbearable when
pushed to such an excess.

Paul had been seen to alter these opinions, and
to run into the opposite extreme, contracting a
hatred for his allies, taking his enemies to Jiis
bosom, and filling his apartments with portraits of
Bonaparte, drinking to his health in public, and
acting so much upon contraries tis to declare war
against England. This last step made liim not only
distasteful to the Ru.ssian nobility, but odious; be-
cause it touched not merely their tastes btit their
interests. The vtist extent of his em])ire, ocpii|)yiiig
nearly the whole of the northern part of iairope.

Disaffection of the Russian Count Pahlen. — Plot

224 aristocracy.-Contrast be- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. against the life of

tween England and Russia. Paul I.

1801.
March.

fertile in grain, timber, liemp, and rninerals, stands
in need of tlie aid of inrii;,'!! merchants to take
their productions, and Rive money or mainifactured
goods in exehan<;e. The Enfjlisli furnisli to Rus.sia
for the raw produce of her soil, tlie articles which
are the product of their own labour, and thus the
Russian farmers are able ti> pay their landlords the
rents of their land. The Eny;Iish possess in conse-
quence most of the trade with St. Petersburg; and
that is, in a great degree, the bond which so con-
nects the policy of Russia to that of England,
retarding a rivalry which sooner or later must
arise between those two great copartners of Asia.

The Russian aristocracy was exasperated at the
new system of policy adopted by the emperor. If
it had blamed in this jirince his excess of hatred
towards France, it yet more censured his excess of
attachment, more jjarticularly when it went the
length of resolutions fraught with ruin to the great
landed proprietors. To these annoyances against
their tastes and interests, Paul joined cruelties that
were not natural t<t his heart, which was rather
good than evil. He had sent a multitude of unfor-
tunate people into Siberia ; lie afterwards recalled
them in consequence of bein^ moved by their suf-
ferings, but he never gavf them back their ))ro-
perty. These unhappy beings filled St. Petersburg
with their miseries and their complaints. Annoyed
by this he sent them anew into banishment. Daily
becoming more awake to the sense of hatred boine
towards him by his subjects, he grew more dis-
trustful, and tlireatened every life around iiim. He
formed the most sinister designs, now against his
ministers, then against his wife an<l children, and
at length with his madness assumed all the conduct
of a tyrant. He rendered the Michel palace in
which he resided a complete fortress, surrounding
it with bastions and ditches. It might be thought he
was in dread of an unforeseen or sudden attack.
Every night he barricaded the door which sepa-
rated his apartments Irom those of the empress,
and thus, without being aware of it, prepared him-
self for his tragical fate.

Tills state of affairs could not continue long, and
terminated — as, in this emjiire which approaciies
fast, it is true, towards civilization, but where
barbarism was the starting jioint, as it had termi-
nated before more than once. 'I'he notion of get-
ting quit of the unfortunate Paul by the customary
mode, in other worcis, by a revolution in the palace
—there where the palace is the nation— was upper-
most in every mind. Let a proper value be set
upon national institutions. .\t another extremity
of Europe, upon one ot liie {ir--t thrones in the
world, there was also a prince. George III., in a
state of madness, a hea<lsti-ong prince, good, and
religious. Tiiis prince, occasionally deprived of his
reason for whole months, had just experienced
a return of the same disonler, at one of the most
serious periods in the history of England. Not-
withstanding which thinj^s proceedeii in the most
simple and regular maimer, i'he constitution placed
at the king's side ministers whi> con<lucted the
government on his beiialf, and this eclipse of the
royal reason did not in any mode affect the public
business of the country. Pitt governed in behalf
of George III. as he had done before for seventeen
years : the idea of an atrocious crime in such a
case entered iato no man's imagin.tion. In St.

Petersburg, on the contrary, the sight of a prince
on the throne in a state of insanity gave origin to
the basest designs.

There was at that time in the court of Russia
one of those formidable men who never I'esile upon
any extremity, who, under a regular government,
would perhaps become great and distinguished
citizens, but under a despotic government become
criminals, if crime is in particular situations,
though not actually countenanced by the govern-
ment, incidental to its administration on certain
occasions. Crime must be condemned in every
country ; but the institutions that produce it must
be still more a matter of repmbalion.

Count Pahlen had served with distinction in the
Russian army. He was of a very imposing person,
and concealed under the rough and sometimes
familiar manner tif a soldier a shrewd and pene-
trating intellect. He was endowed with singular
boldness and imperturbable ]iresence of mind.
Governor of St. Petersburg, entrusted with the
p(/lice of the whole empire, initiated, for which
thanks were due to his master's c( nfidence, into all
the great afl'airs of the state, he was in I'eality more
than by the title of his office the j)rincipal person
in the Russian government. His ideas upon the
policy of his country were of a decided character.
He deemed the crusade against the French revo-
lution as very unreasonable, and the new zeal
against England as iiitenqierate. A prudent re-
.serve, an able neutrality, in the midst of the
formidable rivalry between England and France,
appeared to hira the most profitable political situa-
tion for Russia. Neither English nor French, but
Russian in his political views, lie was also Russian
in his manners — Russian as it was understood in
the time of Peter the Great. Convinced that all
would be lost in Russia if the reign of Paul were
not abridged ; having even felt himself some fore-
bodinjjs for his own ])ersonal safety, from certain
signs of dissatisfaction he had remarked in the
emperor, he resolutely determined upon his course
of action, and connnnnicated it to count Panin, the
vice-chancellor and minister for foreign affairs.
They both agreed that it had become absolutely
needful to put an end to a situation as alarming
for the empire as it was for individual security.
Count Pahlen accordingly took upon himself to
execute the terrible design upon which they had
mutually agreed'. The heir to the throne was the

I The foUowins details are the most authentic that can be
olitaiiied regarding the dentil (jf Paul I. The source from
wliicli tliey are derived is as tollows. The court of "rtwsiawas
nuicli afTi-cted at the death of Paul I., and the ...ore indig-
nant at the effrontery «ilh which certain accomplices in the
crifkie were heard to lioast about it in Berlin. I'he court
obtained by different ways, aii<l aliove all through a person
well informed on tlie matter, some veiy curii;us particulars,
which were col ected into a memoir, and communicated to
tlie first consul. These are ihe particulars of which M.
Ui-noii, then secretary of the Kremh embassy at the court
of Prussia, was able to obtain the knowledge, and wliich he
has detailed in his work. Still the more secret circum-
stances attending the event remained wholly unknown, when
a singular incident placed Fra ce in jiossession of the only
a'Connt worthy of credit, which perhaps at this moment ex-
ists, of the death of Paul 1. A French emigrant, who had
passed bis life in the service of Russia, anil who acquired a
degree of military renown, had become the friend of coimt
Pahlen and general Benningsen. Being with them at the

ISOI.
March.

The frand duke Alex-
ander consents to

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

his father's deposition.— The
conspirators.

grand duke Alexander, wliose reijjn belongs to our
time, a young prince wlio gave a pronnse of
superior qualities, and wlio tlien appeared, wliich
he did not afterwards prove, ea.'sy to lie led. He it
was whom count Pahlen wished to place upon the
throne by a catastrojihe sudden and free from
alarm. It was indispensable to liave an under-
standing with the grand duke and heir to the
crown, in the first place, in order to have his con-
sent, and then not to be after the event treated as a
common a.ssassin, who is sacrificed while the ad-
vantage of his crime is secured. It was difficult to
break such a matter to the prince, full of kindly
feeling, and utterly incapable of lending himself to
an attempt against the life of his father. Count
Pahlen, without laying open his ininil, and without
avowing the design he intended, discussed the
affairs of the government with the grand duke,
and at each fresh extravagance of Paul that was
dangerous to the empire, communicated it to him,
but remained silent without commenting upon what
he had said. Alexander, upon receiving these
communications, cast down his eyes with grief, but
said nothing. These dumb but expressive scenes
were many times renewed. At last clearer ex-
planations became necessary. Count Pahlen fini.shed
by making the young prince comprehend that
such a sUite of things could not be much longer
protracted without causing ruin to the empire; and
taking good care not to speak of a crime of wiiicli
Alexander would not have tolerated the propo-
sition, he intimated to him that it would be neces-
sary to depose Paul and ensm-e him a quiet retreat,
but in any case to take out of his hands the chariot of
the state, which he was driving towards a precipice.
Alexander shed a good nuiny tears, protested
against any idea of disjiuting the government of the
empire with his father, and then gave way by
degrees, before fresh proofs of the danger into
which Paul was throwing the affairs of the state,
and even the imperial family itself. In fact, Paul,
dissatisfied with the sluggishness of Prussia in
the quarrel of the neutral powers, spoke of march-
ing eighty thousand men upon Berlin. Besides
this, in the delirium of his arrogance, he wished
the first consul to take him for arbitrator in every
thing ; and that even this powerful personage
should neither make jieace with Germany, nor the
courts of Piedmont, Naples, Rome, or the Porte,
except upon bases laid down by Russia ; in such a

country-house of count Pahlen, he one day obtained from
their own lips ihe circumstantial account of all that passed
ill St. PetcrsburR in the tragical iiii,'lit «( the 23rd and 24ih
of .March. Ah the emigrant was very careful to commit to
writinB all which he saw or heard, he immediately wrote
down the narrative of the two principal actors in that event,
and inserted them in the memoirs which he left behind him
These manuscript memoirs are now French property. They
rectify many \niiue or incorrect asseriions; and, in other
respects, do not commit, more than ihi-y were previously
committed, the names already connected with this dark in-
cident; they only t;ive more prt-clse and correct details in
place of those falsified or exaKKerutcd which were already
known. After comparing lliis account, emanating from tes-
timony (II valid, with the details furnished by the court of
Prussia, we have put to;<eihvr the hii>torical recital which
follows, and which seems to us the only one worthy of belief,
perhaps ihe only perfect one in existence, or that posterity
will ever be able to obtain, of a catastrophe so tragical.—
Nole of the Author.

way it was soon reasonable to think he would
not long have kept terms with France, whose side
he had embraced with so much ardour. To these
arguments count Pahlen added an expression of
inquietude on his own part for the security of the
imi)erial family itself, of which he said Paul began
to be susjiicious.

Alexander at length consented, but exacted a
solemn oath from count Pahlen that he should not
attempt any thing that miglit affect the life of his
father. Count Pahlen swore to every thing desired
by the inexperienced son, who thought a sceptre
could be snatched from the hand of an emperor
without first taking his life.

The actors were yet to bo found for the tragedy;
in his conception of the design, count Pahlen
deemed it beneath him to be a personal pai-taker
in the execution. He had the actors in view, but
reserved the secret according to the confidence
each seemed to merit, making them sooner or later
acquainted with the part which he had reserved
for them to perform. The Soubow brothers, who
had been raised from nothing by Catherine's fa-
vour, were chosen for carrying out this catastrophe.
Count Pahlen only opened his design to them at a
late period. Plato Soubow, the favourite of Cathe-
rine, restless and supple, was well worthy to make
a figure in a palatial revolution. His brother
Nicolas, solely distinguished by his great bodily
strength, was well fitted for a subaltern part. Vale-
rian Soubow, a brave and good soldier, a friend of
the archduke Alexander, deserved from his merits
to have been omitted from so unworthy a project.
They had a sister closely allied with all the English
faction, the friend of lord Whitvvorth, the English
ambas.sailor, who poured into their ears her own
zeal for the policy of England. Count Pahlen
secured many other confederates, and brought
them under different jiretences to St. Petersburg,
without disclosing to them his secret. There was
one individual whom he had summoned to St. Pe-
tersburg, whose concurrence he did not doubt any
more than of his redoubtable energy, — that in-
dividual was the celebrated general Benningsen,
an Hanoverian belonging to the Russian service,
the first officer in the Russian army at that time,
and who had the honour at a later period, in 1807,
to stop the victorious march of Napoleon. His
hands, worthy oF bearing a sword, should never
have been armed with a poignard.

Benningsen had sought a refuge in the country
from the anger of Paul, whom he had displeased.
Count Pahlen drew him fioin his retreat, made
him acquainted with the plot, but only .spoke, if
general Benniiig.sen is to be credited, ol the depo-
sition of the emperor. Benningsen gave his word,
and kept it with frightful deterniiiiation.

It was resolved to choose for the time of exe-
cuting the plot, some day when the regiment of
Semeiiourki, which was entirely devoted to the
grand duke Alexander, should he on guard at the
Michel palace. Tliey were olili;;eil to wait. But
lime pressed, for Paul's illness made a rapid pro-
gres.s, every day becoming more alarming for the
interests of the empire, and placing the safety of
his attendants in greater peril. One day he seized
the imj)irturb;ible Pahlen by the arm, and singu-
larly add ris.sed him in (luse words: — "You were
in St. Petersburg in 1702?"

226

Singular behaviour of
Paul. — Calmness of
count Pahlen.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

This was the year when the empei-or, the father
of Paul, was assassinated, that Catherine might
mount the throne.

" Yes," replied Pahlen, with great coolness, " I
was there."

"What part did you take in the event which
then happened ? " >

« That of a subaltern officer in a cavalry regi-
ment,— I was a witness, not an actor, in ^ that
catastrophe."

" Very well," replied Paul, casting a look of ac-
cusation and of suspicion at his minister, "they
want to recommence to-day the revolution of 1762."

"I know it," replied count Pahlen, without (emo-
tion; "I know the plot and am in it."

" What you ! " exclaimed Paul,, " you in the
plot ? "

" Yes, in order to become well acquainted with
it, and to be better able to watch over your
security."

The calmness of this redoubtable conspirator
disconcerted all the suspicions of Paul, who ceased
to be jealous of Pahlen, but continued to be still
agitated and restless.

A curious circumstance very nearly of public
interest, if such a jihrase may be employed in con-
nexion with so great a crime, hastened, among
other causes, the contemplated event. Paul ordered,
on the '23rd of March, a despatch to be written and
sent off to M. Krudener, his minister at Berlin, in
which he commanded him to declare to the Prus-
sian court, that if it did not immediately decide to
act against England, he would march eighty thou-
sand men upon the Prussian frontier. Count Pahlen
wishing, without discovering his reason, that M.
Krudener should not attach any importance to the
despatch, added with his own hand the following
postscript : —

" His imperial majesty is indisposed to-day; this
may have serious consequences ^."

The 23rd of March was chosen by the chiefs of
the cons|>iracy for the execution of the fatal plot.
Count Pahlen, under the pretext of a dinner party,
had united at his house, the Soubows, Benningsen,
and a numljer of generals and officers on whom he
well knew he could rely. The bottle was profusely
circulated with wine of every kind. Pahlen and
Benningsen drank nothing. VVhen dinner was over
the design for which they were then assembled
was unfolded to the conspirators, and to nearly all
of them for the first time. They wei-e not informed
that the intention was to assassinate the emperor;
from such a crime they would have recoiled with
horror. They were told that they must all proceed
to the palace in order to compel Paul to abdicate
the imperial dignity. That thus they should deliver
the empire from very imminent ])eril, and save a
vast number of innocent jiersons whose lives were
tiircatened by the sanguinary insanity of the empe-
ror. Finally, in order more com|)letely to secure
their assent, it was affirmed to them that the gi-and
duke Alexander, convinced himself of the necessity
of preserving the empire, was well aware of the
design, and ajiproved of it. Soon after this the
party, flushed with wine, no longer hesitated, and

1 This despatch was shown to general Beurnonville, the
French ambassador, who communicated the contents to his
own government immediately.

all, three or four excepted, went to the palace,
believing that they were going merely to depose a
mad emperor, not to shed the blood of their unfor-
tunate master.

The night appearing to be sufficiently advanced,
the conspirators, to the number of sixty or there-
abouts, separated, dividing themselves into two
parties. Count Pahlen took the direction of one,
general Benningsen of the other. Botli those
officers were in full uniform, wearing sashes and
orders, and proceeding sword in hand. The palace
Michel was built and guarded like a fortress, but
the bridges were lowered and the gates opened to
the two heads of the conspiracy. The party of
Benningsen went first straight forwards to the
apartment of the emperor. Count Pahlen remained
behind, with a reserve of conspirators. He who
had organized the plot, disdained to aid in the exe-
cution, and was there solely to make pi'ovision for
any unexpected events. Benningsen penetrated to
the apartment of the sleeping monarch. Two hey-
dukes were the emperor's body guard, and like
faithful servants attempted to defend their sove-
reign. One of them wis struck down with a blow
from a sabre ; the other fled, crying out for assist-
ance, a very useless cry in a palace guarded almost
wholly by accomplices in the crime. A valet, who
slept near the emperor, ran to the spot, and he was
made to open his master's door. The unhappy
Paul would fain have found a refuge in the apart-
ments of the empress, but amid his dark suspicions,
he had been accustomed, with great care, to barri-
cade the door that led to them every night. He
had therefore no way of escape, and flinging him-
self out at the bottom of the bed, concealed himself
behind the folds of a screen. Plato Soubow, run-
ning to the imperial bed, found it empty, and cried
out in alarm, " The emperor has saved himself; —
we are lost."

At that instant Benningsen saw the emperor,
went to him sword in hand, and presented him
with the act of abdication. " You have ceased to
reign," cried he ; " the grand duke Alexander is
emperor. I summon you in his name to resign
the empire, and sign this act of abdication; on this
condition alone will I answer for your life." Plato
SoUbow repeated the same summons. The em-
peror, struck with dismay, and iu utter confusion,
asked of what he had been guilty to merit such
treatment. " You have not ceased to persecute
us for years," replied the half-drunken assassins.
They then pressed close upon the unfortunate
Paul, who urged and implored for mercy in vain.
At this moment a noise was heard, — the footsteps
only of some of the consjjirators who had remained
behind. The assassins, believing it was assistance
coming to the emperor, fled immediately. Ben-
ningsen alone, but with fearful determination, re-
mained in the monarch's presence, and advancing
with his sword pointed at Paul's breast, prevented
him from moving. The conspirators, recognizing
each other, re-entered the theatre of their ciime.
They surrounded anew the unfortunate monarch,
in order to force him to sign his abdication. The
emperor for a moment tried to defend himself.
In the scuffle, the lamp, which cast a light upon
the horrible scene, was overturned. Benningsen
went to seek for another, and on entering found
Paul expiring under the blows of two of the con-

1801. Grief of the royal family. -

March. Alexander proL-laiiiietl em

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

peror.— Public opinion upon
tlie assasbiiiation.

J27

spirators ; one had fractured his skull with tlip
pummel i)f his sword, the other was in the act of
Strai)<>;liiig him with his sash.

White this terrible scene was {!;oin<» forwai-d
within, count Pahlen, with the second band of con-
spirators, had remained outside. When he was
informed that all was over, he had the body of the
emperor placed upon his bed, and set a guard of
thirty men at the door of the apartment, with
orders to forbid any one, even of the imperial
family, from entering. He then set out to find
the grand duke, to announce to him tlie frightful
occurrence of the night.

The grand duke Alexander, agitated most
violently, as might be expected, demanded of the
count, when he arrived, what iiad become of his
father. The silence of count Pahlen soon taught
him how fatal were the expectations he had
cherished, when he persuaded himself that nothing
but an act of abdication was contemplated. The
sorrow of the young prince was very great; the
act became, it was said, the secret torment of his
life, because nature had given him a kind and
generous heart. He flung himself »\)on a seat,
bur.«t into tears, and would listen to nothing, load-
ing count Pahlen with bitter reproaches, wliilo the
count bore them all with imperturbable compjsed-
ness.

Plato Soubow went to find the grand duke Con-
stantine, who had no knowledge of wjiat had oc-
curred, though he has been unjustly accused of
having been implicated in the horrible deed. He
came tremblingly to the spot, thinking that all his
family were to be sacrificed. He found his brother
overwhelmed with despair, and then became aware
of what had happened. Count Pahlen sent a lady
of the palace, who was on very intimate terms with
the empress, to inform her of the event of her
tragical widowhood. The empress ran in ha.ste to
her husband's apartment, and attempted to reach
his bed of death, but was ])revented by the guards.
Having recovered for a moment from her first
grief, she felt within her heart, mingling with the
emotions of sorrow, strong impulses of ambition.
She recalled Catherine to her recollection, and at
once felt a desire to mount the throne. Slie sent
several messengers to Alexander, who was about
to be proclaimed, to say to him that the throne
was hers, and that she, not he, ought to be pro-
claimed sovereign. Hero was a new embarrass-
ment, and a new trouble for the wounded heart of
her son, who, about to mount the steps of the
throne, had to pass, in order to ascend it, between
the body of a murdered father and a mother in
tears, demanding, alternately, either her husband
or a crown. The night departed upon these ap-
])alling scenes ; morning dawned; it was necessary
that no time should be allowed for reflection ; the
death of Paul it was most important should be
made known, and that the accession of liis suc-
cessor should, at the same time, be pronndgated.
Count Pahlen went to the young prince, and said,
" You have wept enough as a child ; now come
and reign." Ho snatched young Alexander from
the place of his sorrow, and followed by Benning-
sen, went to present him to the troops.

The first regiment they encountered was that of
Preobrajensky. IJeing (levoted to Paul I., it gave
them a very cool reception ; but the others, that

were much attached to the grand duke, and were,
besides, under the influence of Pahlen, who pos-
sessed a great ascendancy in the army, did not
hesitate a moment to shout " Long live Alexander!"
Their example was followed by others of the troops;
the young emperor was speedily proclaimed, and
put in possessicni of the throne. He returned and
took up his residence with his spouse, the empress
Elizabeth, in the winter palace.

All St. Petersburg heai'd with di.'^may of this
sanguinary catastrophe. The impression which
it made, proved that the maimers of the people
hnd begun to change in that country, and that since
17(>2, Russia had been influenced by the example
of civilized Europe. It may be observed, to her
honour, that if she had then advanced since 1762,
she has now advanced equally far from what she
was in 1800. On this occasion, the Russians
exhibited feelings wliich did them honour. They
feared Paul L and his madness much more than
they hated him, because he was not of a sanguinary
disposition. The horrible circumstances of his
death were immediately known, and inspired every
bosom with pity. The body of Paul was exposed
in state, according to custom, but with infinite
care to conceal his womids. Military gloves con-
cealed the mutilations of his hands, and a large hat
covered his he.id. His face was deformed by in-
juries; but it was promulgated that he had died of
a])oplexy.

This barbarous act made an extraordinary sen-
sation throughout Em'ope. The intelligence flew
like lightning to Viemia, Berlin, London, and
Paris, producing consternation and horror every
Avhere. Some years before, it was Paris that had
shocked Eui'ope by spilling royal blood : but now
Paris gave an example of order, humanity, and
peace ; they were the old monarchies which, in
their turn, had become the scandal of the civilized
world. Only a year before, Nenpolitan royalty
had bathed itself in the blood of its sul)jects; and
now a revolution in a palace ensanguined the im-
perial throne of Russia.

Thus, in this age of agitation, every country
successively gave sad examples, and furnished
lamentable subjects for the censures of their ene-
mies. If nations desire to nn-ilo each other, they
have certainly enough in their .several histories to
yield deplorable materials for such a purpose : let
HS take care not to emi)loy similar recollections for
such ends. If we recount these horrible narra-
tives, it is because truth is the first quality of
history, — it is because truth is the most useful and
the most powerful of teachers; the most effective
for the prevention of similar scenes ; and without
meaning what is oflTcnsivc to any nation, let us say
once more, that the institutions are more in the
wrong than the people; and, that if, in St. Peters-
burg, an em])eror was assassinated, in order to
bring about a change of policy, in London, on the
conirary, without any sanguinary result, the policy
of peace succeeded that of war by the simple sub-
stitution of Addington for Pitt.

The more minute particulars of this catastrophe
were soon made public by the indisenct conduct
of the assassins themscslves. At Berlin, nnn-e
particularly, the court of which was so closely
allied to that of St. Petei-sburg, the details of the
crime were circulated with great rapidity. The
q2

228 ^acc^led '^ *'^'""'* ""^""'"^ THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1801.
March.

Bister of the Soubows liad taken refuge there, and,
it was said, had shown symptoms of disquietude
and anxiety, such as a person would exhibit that
had been in expectation of some great event. She
had a son, who was the very officer commanded
to announce to Prussia the accession of Alexander.
This young man, with the indiscretion natural to
youth, disclosed some of the particulars connected
with the assassination, and caused at Potsdam a
rumour which much offended the young and
virtuous king of Prussia. The court made the
young man sensible of the impropriety of his con-
duct ; and from thence originated a disgraceful
calumny. The sister of the Soubows was on in-
timate terms of friendship with the English
ambassador. Lord Wliitworth, who some time
afterwards figured at Paris, where he played a
remarkable part. The death of the emperor Paul,
of great advantage to the English, coming so op-
portunely to perfect the incomplete victory of
Copenhagen, was attributed by the Tulgar through-
out Europe to the influence of British i)olicy. The
intimacy of the English ambassador with a family
80 deeply implicated in tlie murder of Paul, gave
ground for strong presumption in confirmation of
the calumny, and presented new arguments to
those who were unable to perceive that such
events may arise from general and very natural
causes.

None of these conjectures were well-founded.
Lord Wliitworth was an honourable man, incapa-
ble of being concerned in such an attempt. His
cabinet had committed many unjustifiable actions
for some years, and was soon afterwards guilty of
others wliich it would be more difficult to justify,
but it was as much taken by surprise at the death
of the czar, as the rest of Europe. Yet the first
consul himself, in spite of the perfect impartiality
of his judgment, could not keep entertaining sus-
picions, and he caused many more by the niiinner
of announcing in the Moniteur the death of Paul.
" It is for history," said the official journal, " to
clear up the mystery of his tragical end, and to say
what cat)inet in the world was most deeply inter-
ested in bringing .-ibout this catastrojdie."

Tile death of Paul delivered England from an
unrelenting enemy, and deprived the fii-st consul
of a powerful ally, but one at the same time that
was embarrassing, and in his later days nearly as
dangerous as he was useful. It is clear that the
defunct emperor, believing that the first consul
would refuse him nothiiig as the price of his al-
liance, had exacted conditions in regard to Italy,
Germany, and Egypt, wliich France could not i)os-
sjbly have agreed to, and that must have proved
great obstacles in the establishment of a general
peace. The first consul made choice of Duroc, his
favourite aid-de-canip, to go to Russia, the same
wlio had already been sent to Berlin and Vienna.
Duroc carried a letter, written in the first consul's
own hand to congratulate the new emperor upon his
accession to the throne, and to try all that the
powers of Hattery and persuasion could do in order
to fill his mind, if |)ossible, with just ideas in re-
gard to the relations between Russia and France.

Duroc set off immediately, with orders to go
through Berlin. He was to visit a second time the
court of Prussia, and to collect the most correct
infurniatiou upon the late occurrences ui the north.

that he might arrive in St. Petersburg better pre-
pared to manage the men and things with which
he was about to come in contact.

England was much pleased, as might be expected,
to learn at the same time the victory of Copen-
hagen, and the death of the formidable adversary
who had formed the neutral league against her.
They exalted the heroism of the British hero
Nelson, with a natural and legitimate enthusiasm ;
nations act well in the first excess of their joy to
celebrate and even exaggerate their victories. Still,
when the first enthusiasm was over, and when the
popular imagination became more calm, the pre-
tended victory of Copenhagen was better appre-
ciated. The Sound, jieople said, was not difficult to
force; the attack upon Copenhagen, in a nari'ow
channel where the English vessels could not move
without great hazard, was a bold act, worthy of
the conqueror at Aboukir. But the English fleet
had been seriously disabled. If it had not been
that the crown-prince too eagerly listened to lord
Nelson's truce, probably he would have been beaten.
The victory had then been very near a defeat, and,
moreover, the result obtained was not very import-
ant, because only a simple armistice had been ob-
tained of the Danes, after whiih the contest must
be renewed. If the emperor Paul had not died,
this novel camiiaign, which the English must have
carried on, in the midst of an enclosed sea, where
they could not put into any port, for all the ports
were shut against them, presented great and fear-
ful chances. But the blow, struck so opportunely
at the very gates of the Baltic against the Danes,
was decisive ; Paul was no longer alive to take up
the gauntlet and continue the fight. This is another
proof added to a thousand others in history, that
there are many favourable chances on the side of
boldness, especially when its blows are directed by
commiinding ability.

The English immediately sought to avail them-
selves of this fortunate change of government to
relax the rigour of their maxims in maritime law, so
as to arrive at some honourable adjustment with
Russia, and after her with all the other powers.
They well knew the kind and amiable character of
the young prince who had mounted the Russian
throne, because at that time it was reported to be
almost bordering upon feehleness : moreover, they
flattered themselves that they should regain a con-
siderable degree of influence at St. Petersburg.
They sent Lor<l St. Helen's to that capital with the
necessary powers to negotiate an arrangement.
M. Woronzoff", the ambassador of Russia at the
court of George III., entirely devoted to British
interests, had incurred even the sequestration of
his property, on account of his not quitting London,
which was his usual pkice of residence. Count Wo-
ronzoff" was invited to take upon himself again his
former official duties. The vessels belonging to the
neutral powers in the English ports which had
been laid under an embargo were released. Nelson,
by orders of his government, continued inactive in
the Baltic, and was instructed to declare to the
northern courts that hi should abstain from every
.ict of hosiiiity, while they refrained from sending
their fleets to sea, in which case he should attack
them. If, on the contrary, their fleets remained in
port, and did not attempt the jiniction long threat-
ened with the Danes, he was interdicted from any

1801.
April.

Disposition of the northern
courts.

THE NEUTRAL POWERS.

229

hostile act upon the coasts of Denmark, Sweden,
and Russia; and that he should permit to all mer-
chant-vessels a free pa.ssage, the relations between
the countries being placed upon the same footing
as before the nipture.

The blow thus struck at Copenhajren had un-
happily produced its efteet. The smaller neutrals,
such as Denmark and Sweden, although irritated
against England on their own account, had been
only forced into the league by the threatening in-
fluence of Paul I. Prussia, that regarded her ma-
ritime interests as only secondary to those of the j
nation at large, and that was greatly inclined to
peace, had not entered into tlie quarrel at all but
for the double influence of Paul I. and the first
consul; she therefore felt a great pleasure in being
extricated from her embarrassing position. She
was, as the rest all were, very wtli-disposed to the
re-establishment of her commercial interests.

In a very short time the flags of conuuercial
vessels were seen again in the Baltic, English, Swe-
dish, Danish, and Russian ; and the navigation
there once more resumed its former activity.
Nelson permitted them all to pass freely, and
received in return, along the northern coasts,
the refreshments of which he stood in need.
This state of the armistice was, therefore, univer-
.sally assented to. The Russian cabinet, governed
by count Pahlen, without giving way before Eng-
lish influence, showed itself well inclined to termi-
nate the maritime quarrel by such an arrangement
as should, up to a certain point, secure neutral
rights. It was announced that lord St. Helens
would be received ; M. Woronzoft' had already
been authorized to return to London, and M. Bern-
storff" was sent to England l>y Denmark.

The first consul, who had by his skill formed
thisredoubtiible coalition against England, founded
as it was upon the interest of all the maritime
powers, saw its dissolution with regret, through
the feeiilenessof the confederates. He endeavoured
to make them ashamed of the haste with which they
withdrew; but each excused its conduct by that of
its neighbour. Denmark, justly proud of her bloody
engagement at Copenhagen, said that she had ful-
filled her duty, and that they ought to fulfil theirs.
Sweden declared that she was ready to fight, but
added, that as the Danish, Prussian, and above all
the Russian flags, were sailing freely over the
ocean, she could not discover a reason why her
subjects should not partake the benefit of naviga-
tion as well as the rest. Prussia excused her inac-
tion from the change that had occurred at St. Pe-
tersburg, and repeated to France new protestations
of firmness and constancy. She declared that her
perseverance might bo best judged, when the ne-
cessary time came to conclude an aiTangement, and
articles should be definitively agreed upon for re-
gulating maritime rights. Russia afTcctcd to sup-
port neutral rights, but protended to have in view
only one main object, that of putting an end to
hostilities commenced without suflicient grounds.

Tile first consul, who wished to retjird as long as
possible any accommodation between Prussia and
England, devised a clever expedient to prolong
their diH'crences. He had oHered Malta to Paul,
he now offered Hanover to Prussia. It has been
seen that Prussia had occupied that jjrovincc, so
dear to the heart of Georg<; 111., as a reprisal for

the violence committed by England upon the rights
of neutrals. Prussia had reconciled herself with
difficulty to this aggressive action ; but the secret
longing which she always felt to possess that pro-
vince, the most desirable for her that could be,
coming so well in for enlarging and rounding off
her dominions — this feeling decided her, in spite of
her desire for repose and peace. Prussia had a
claim to an indemnity in Germany, because it was
one of those secular principalities which were to be
indemnified for their losses on the le't bank of the
Rhine, by the secularization of the ecclesiastical
states These pretensions were very considerable;
and in the hope that the first consul would favour
these views, she was anxious to secure his good
will by occupying Hanover. Bonaparte at once
said, that if she were inclined to keep Hanover, and
consider it as her indemnity, though it was ten
times more than was her due, he would consent to
it, without any jealousy on the part of France, on
account of so large a portion of territory being
granted to a power bordering upon that country.
This proposition was most welcome, and yet it
troubled the heart of the young monarch of Pi'ussia.
The offVr was seductive; but the great difficulty in
the way was the light in which it would be viewed
by England. Still, without accepting the proposal
in a definitive manner, the cabinet of Berlin re-
plied, that the king, Frederick-William, was touched
with the kindness of the first consul; that without
positively accepting the projiosai, it was better
to delay the consideration of the question of terri-
tory until general negotiations for peace took jilace
throughout Europe ; and he added, that grounding
his conduct upon the present state of things, which
was that of a tacit armisti';e rather than one
formally stipulated, lie should continue to keep
possession of Hanover.

The first consul did not wish for more than this,
being perfectly satisfied with having created be-
tween the courts of London and Berlin a very
complicated difficulty, and placed in the hands of a
power devoted to him a precious pledge, of which
he should be able to make a great advantage in
negotiating with England.

The period of such negotiations at last drew
near. England had seized with some degree of
eagerness the opportunity of softening the harsh-
ness of her maritime principles, in order to dispel
the danger which threatened her in the north.
She was now anxious to conclude the existing state
of things, and have peace, not only with the neu-
trals, but with a power which had been much
more formidable than they — with France, that for
the last fen years had shaken all Europe, and had
begun to threaten the English soil with serious
dangers. At tine moment, thanks to the obstinacy
of Pitt and the talents of Bonaparte, she had found
herself alone engaged in a contest with all the world:
escaped from this position by a successful act of
boldness, by a stroke of good fortune, she was un-
willing to fall again into the same hazards through
a repetition of similar errors. England, too, could
now negotiate with honour ; and it was wise, after
so many lost opportunities, not to suffer that which
at jresent oflVred itself anew to escape. Where-
fore— reasoned the more sensible j)Pople in Eng-
land— wherefore prolong the war ? W« have taken
all the colonics that are worth the trouble ; Franco

George III. becomes favour-
230 ably disposed towards Bo- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

naparte.

Lord Hawkesbury and
M. Otto treat for
peace.

I8U1.
April.

has vanquislied all the allies to which v»e were
bouud ; she has aggrandised herself at their ex-
pense, and has become the most formidable power
in the universe. Every day in addition to the con-
test renders her stronger, more particularly so by
the successive conquests of all the coasts and
harbours of Europe. Slie has subjugated Holland
and Naples, and she is now marching upon Portu-
£;al. We must not add to her power l)y obstinately
continuing the war. If it was for the support of
the most salutary principles that we had been
fighting for year."?,— if it was for social order
threatened by the French revolution, — these are no
longer the question, since France gives at this
moment the best examples of prudence and order.
Do we tliink to re-establi.sh the Bourbons ? but
that was Pitt's great fault, the mistake of his
policy; and if we have lost his powerful influence and
the assistance of his great talents, we must at lea.st
obtaui the sole advantage of his retirement fi-oni
office ; in other words, we must renounce that in-
flexible and malicious hatred, which between him
and Bonapai'te originated insults and personalities
of the grossest nature.

All the more sensible minds in England were,
therefore, directed to peace. Two great sources of
influence were exerted on the same side — the king
and the people. The king of England, the obstinate
and religious, who refused " emancipation" to Pitt
from his fidelity to the protestant cause, did not the
less rejoice to see Catholicism re-established in
France, a re-establishment which was already an-
nounced to be near. He saw the triumph of re-
ligious principles, and that was sufficient. He had
a great aversion to the French revolution ; and
although Bonaparte had been the means of giving
severe and terrible checks to the policy of England,
he was much pleased with his conduct in acting
against that revolution, and in reinstating true
social principles in his own country. France,
which in so gi-eat a degree possessed the faculty of
communicating to every people her own sentiments
and feelings, having become tranquil, had returned
to sound ideas ; George III. I'egarded the blessings
of social order as being by this means preserved to
mankind. If for Pitt the war had been one of
national ambition, for George III. it had been a
war of principles. So far George III. might be
considered a friend to Bonaparte of a very different
character from Paul I. Recovered from the
access of disorder that for some months had ob-
scured his reason, he was perfectly well disposed to
peace, and urged his ministers to its conclusion.
The English people, loving novelty, regarded a
peace with France as the very first of novelties to
them, for they had been slaying each other for
ten }oars over the whole world. Attributing alone
the scarcity of bread to the sanguinary contest
which was desolating sea and land, they loudly de-
manded peace with France. At last the new minis-
ter, Mr. Addington, very unequal as a rival to the
glory of Pitt, to whom in talents he was infinitely
inferior, as he was in character and political im-
portance— Mr. Addington had only one clear and
intelligible duty, that of making peace. He, ac-
cordingly, was anxious to conclude it. Pitt, still
powerful in Parliament, advised him, on his own
pai-t, to follow so expedient and judicious a step.
The events in the north, far from exalting British

pride, furnished her, on the contrai'y, with a more
facile and honourable opportunity for negotiation.
The new minister had determined upon this step
the day on which he accepted office, and he was only
the more confirmed in this opinion, when he learned
what had passed at Copenhajien and St. Petersburg.
Proceeding still further, he determined to make a
direct tender to the first consul, which might serve
as a return to that made by the first consul to
England iipon his acceptance of power.

Lord Hawkesbury, who was in the cabinet of
Mr. Addington, as secretary of state for foreign
affairs, sent for M. Otto. This gentleman fulfilled
in London, as we have already shown, certain
diplomatic functions relative to prisoners of war,
and had been enti'usted six months before with the
negotiations which took place regarding the naval
armistice. He was thus very naturally become the
intermediate agent of the new communications be-
tween the two governments then about to com-
mence. Lord Hawkesbury stated to M. Otto that
the king had charged him with an agreeable com-
mission, which without doubt would be heard of
with as much pleasure in France as in England, a
commission for the proposal of a peace. He de-
clared that the king was ready to send a pleni-
potentiary to Paris itself, or to any other city that
the fii'st consul might choose. Lord Hawkesbury
added, that the conditions he intended to offer were
such as were honourable to both nations, and to
show the perfect frankness of the reconciliation, he
affirmed that reckoning from the selfsame day,
every design directed against the present govern-
ment of France should he discountenanced in the
British cabinet, and he expected the same return
from that of the French republic.

This was disavowing the anterior political system
of Pitt, who had always pretended to endeavour to
effect the re-establishment of the house of Bourbon,
and had never ceased to uphold the attempts of
the emigrants and Vende'ans with English money.
The proposed negotiations could not have been
commenced in a more dignified manner. Lord
Hawkesbury required an innnediate answer.

The first consul, who, at this moment, did not
aspire at more than completely fulfilling his pledge
to France, of restoring to her order and peace,
was much pleased with this solution of the ques-
tion, that he had, it may be said, commanded by
his successes and political ability. He received
the overtures of England with as much earnest-
ness as they had been offered. A negotiation of
formal diplomacy appeared to him, under such
circumstances, to be tedious and ineffective. The
recollection of that of Lord Malmesbury, in 1797>
which had proved only a vain demonstration on
the part of Pitt, had left a distasteful impression
upon his mind. He thought, that if there was
real sincerity in London, as there appeared to be,
it would suffice to confer directly, and without
noise, at the fijreign-office, there to treat of the
conditions of a peace with frankness and good
faith. He i-egarded it as easy of arrangement, if
a reconciliation were truly intended ; " because,"
.said he, " England has taken the Indies, and we
liave taken Egypt. If we agree to keep, each of
us, these valuable conquests, the rest is of small
importance. t)f what importance, in effect, are
a few islands in the West Indies or elsewhere.

1801.
April.

Instructions given to M. 0;to. EVACUATION OF EGYPT. Prospects of a general peaoe.

231

which England retains from us or our. allies, com-
pared to the vast possessions we have conquered I
Perhaps she refuses to restore them, wlicn Hano-
ver is in our hands, when Portugal must soon be
so; and we offer to evacuate those kingdoms for
a few American islands. Peace is, therefore, easy
to conclude." So he wrote to M. Otto : " If the
English desire it, I authorize you to treat ; but
directly, and only with lord Hawkesbury."

Powers were sent to M. Otto, with a recommen-
dation to make nothing public, to write as little as
possible, to negotiate verbally, and to exchange
written notes only upon the most important points.
It was impossible to keep perfectly secret such a
negotiation ; but the first consul desired him to
request, and upon his own part to observe, the
utmost possible discretion relative to the questions
which must arise and be discussed on both sides.

Lord Hawkesbury consented to this mode of
proceeding, in the name of the king of England;
and it was agreed that the conferences should
begin at once in London, between him and M.
Otto. They, therefore, really commenced in the
early part of April, 1801, or middle of Germinal,
year ix.

From the 18th of Brumaire, year viii., or 9th
of November, ]'t9D, to the month of Germinal,
year ix., or April, 1801, eighteen months had
elapsed, and France had now peace with the con-
tinent, was engaged in a frank and sincere nego-
tiation with England, going, finally, to obtain, for
the first time for ten years, a general peace on
land and sea. The condition of this general peace,
admitted by all the contracting parties, was the
preservation of her brilliant conquests.

BOOK X.

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

TUB NEGOTIATIONS IN LONDON EXCITE THE GENERAL ATTENTION.— REMARKS UPON THE INFLUENCE THAT THE
DEATH OF PAUL I. -WOULD EXERCISE UPON THIS NEGOTIATION. — STATE OF THE COURT OF RUSSIA. — CHARACTER
OP ALEXANDER. — HIS YOUNG FRIENDS FORM WITH HIM A SECRET GOVERNMENT, WHICH DIRECTS THE -WHOLE
BUSINESS OF THE EMPIRE. — ALEXANDER CONSENTS TO DIMINISH, IN A CONSIDERABLE DEGREE, THE PRETEN-
SIONS BORNE TO PARIS BY M. KALITCHEFP IN THE NAME OF PAUL I. — HE RECEIVES DUROC WITH MUCH
FAVOUR. — REITERATES HIS PROTESTATIONS OF A DESIRE TO BE UPON GOOD TERMS WITH FRANCE.— COMMENCE
MEST OF THE NEGOTIATION SET ON FOOT IN LONDON. — PRELIMINARY CONDITIONS BOTH ON ONE SIDE AND THE
OTHER.— CONQUESTS OF THE TWO COUNTRIES BY LAND AND SEA. — ENGLAND CONSENTS TO RESTORE A PART OF
HER JIABITLME CONOUESTS, BUT MAKES EVERY OTHER QUESTION SUBORDINATE TO THE EVACUATION OP EGYPT
BY FRANCE. — THE TWO GOVERNMENTS TACITLY AGREE TO TEMPOBIZE, IN ORDER TO AWAIT THE PROGRESS OF
MILITARY EVENTS. — THE FIRST CONSUL, APPRIZED THAT THE NEGOTIATION DEPENDS UPON THESE EVENTS,
UR'iES ON SPAIN TO MARCH RAPIDLY UPON PORTUGAL, AND MAKES FRESH EFFORTS TO SUCCOUR EGYPT. —
EMPLOYMENT OF THE NAVAL FORCES. — DIFFERENT EXPEDITIONS PROJECTED. — COURSE FOLLOWED BY GAN-
TEAUME OS SAILING FROM BREST.— THE ADMIRAL PASSES THE STRAITS. — READY TO GO ON TO ALEXANDRIA,
HE IS ALARMED AT IMAGINARY DANGERS, AND ENTERS TOULON. — STATE OF EGYPT AFTER THE DEATH OF
KLEBER.— SUBMISSION OF THE COUNTRY, AND PROSPEROUS SITUATION OF THE COLONY IN RESPECT TO ITS
RESOURCES. — INCAPACITY AND GENERAL ANARCHY AMONG THE COMM ANDERS.— DEPLORABLE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN THE GENERALS. — BADLY-DEVISED MEASURES OP MENOU, WHO WISHES TO EFFECT EVERY OBJECT AT
THE SAME TIME. — IN SPITE OF REPEATED WARNINGS RESPECTING THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION, HE TAKES NO
PRECAUTIONARY STEPS. — DISEMBARKATION OF THE ENGLISH IN THE ROAD OF ABOUKIR, ON THE 8tH OF
MARCH. — GENERAL FRIANT, WITH FORCES REDUCED TO FIFTEEN HUNDRED MEN, MAKES INEFFECTUAL
ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT THEIR LANDING. — A REINFORCEMENT OF TWO BATTALIONS TO THE DIVISION WOULD
HAVE SAVED EGYPT. — TARDY CONCENTRATION OF THE FORCES ORDEREO BY MENOU. — ARRIVAL OF THE DIVI-
SION OF LAVU9SE, AND SECOND BATTLE WITH INEFFICIENT STRENGTH, OK THE 13tH OF MARCH.— MENOU
ARRIVES AT LENGTH WITH THE MAIN BODY OF THE ARMY. — SAD CONSEftUENCES OF THE DIVISIONS AMONG
THE CENEBAL8.— PLAN OF A DECISIVE BATTLE. — THE INDECISIVE BATTLE OF CANOPUS FOUGHT ON THE 2IST
OF MARCH — THE ENGLISH REMAIN MASTERS OF THE PLAIN OP ALEXANDRIA. — LONG DELAY, DURING WHICH
MENOU MIGHT HAVE RF,TR1EVED THE FRENCH FORTUNES, BY MANtEUVBING AGAINST THE DETACHED CORPS
OP THE ENEMY.- MENOU DOES NOTHING. — THE EN<iLISII MAKE AN ATTACK UPON ROSETTA, AND SUCCEED IN
TAKING POSSESSION OP ONE OF THE MOUTHS OF THE NILE.— THEY ADVANCE INTO THE INTERIOR.— THE LAST
CHANCE OF SAVING EGYPT AT RAMANIKH IS LOST BY THE INCAPACITY OF GENERAL MENOU.— THE ENGLISH
SEIZE UPON BAMANIEH, AND CUT OFF THE DIVISION OF CAIRO FROM THAT OF ALEX ANDRI A.— THE FRENCH
ARMY, THUS DIVIDED, HAS NO CHOICE BIT TO CA PITULATE.— SURRENDER OP CAIRO BY GENERAL BELLIARD.
— MENOU IS SHUT UP IN ALE.XANURIA, AND DREAMS OF A DEFENCE SIMILAR TO THAT OP GENOA. — EGYPT IS
FINALLY LOST TO FRANCE.

The object of the first consul in assuming the
direction of the affairs of state was now nearly
attained. Tranquillity prevailed tlirougliout the
French dominions ; there was satisfaction upim
every mind, for a treaty of peace was signed at

Lundvillc with Austria, Germany, and the Italian
powers, and peace was re-established, in fact, with
nnssiu, and negotiating in London with England.
Once formally signed with these last two powers,
and the traiuiuiliity would be universal. In the

232

General policy of the
Russiau court.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Embarrassing position of 1801.
M. Kalilclieff. April.

space of twenty-two months, young Bonaparte
would have accomplished liis noble task, and liave
made his country the grandest and happiest on the
globe. It was necessary, therefore, in order to
complete this mighty t;isk, to conclude the peace
with England; because, while that power was in
arms, the sea was closed to France; and, what was
of more serious consequence, the continental war
might be renewed, under the corrupting influence
of English subsidies. The universal exhaustion,
it is true, left but a small chance for England to
arm the continent anew against Fi-ance; while she
had even recently seen the greater part coalesced
with France against her maritime power : and had
not the deatli of Paul so opportunely occurred,
she might liave paid dearly for her violence
towards the confederated neutrals. But his sud-
den decease was a new and serious event, which
could not fail to alter the e.xisting situation of
affairs. What influence, then, would the cata-
strophe at St. Petersburg exercise upon European
politics ? This was the question which the first
consul was impatient to discover. He had sent
Duroc to St. Petersburg, in order to obtain this
information as early and as correctly as possible.

A little before the decease of Paul, the relations
of Russia with France had presented very con-
siderable difficulties, owing to the excessive arro-
gance of Piiul, and an arrogance in his representa-
tive, M. Kalitcheff, not less than that of his master.
The defunct czar, as already stated, wished to
dictate to France the conditions of a peace with
Bavaria, Wurtomberg, Piedmont, and the Two
Sicilies, states of which he was made the protector,
either spontaneously of his own accord, or by
obligation, arising out of treaties which had been
managed under the second coalition. At the same
time, he was for regulating the relations of France
with the Porte, and pretended that the first consul
was bound to evacuate Egypt, because tliat pi'o-
viuce belonged to the sultan, and that there were
no just grounds for depriving him of his territory.

This ally, full of ardent hatred as he was against
England, was still a very dangerous friend ; be-
cause a misunderstanding with him might easily
arise. That, too, which only appeared to be a
fruit of madness in the emperor Paul, was a sin-
gular indication of the progress of Ru.ssian ambi-
tion during three-quarters of a century. There
were scarcely eighty years elap.sed, since Peter the
Great attracted the attention of Europe for the
firet time, limiting the extent of his influence to
the north of the continent, in contesting against
Charles XII. the honour of the election for a king
of Poland. Forty years afterwards, Russia, already
pushing her ambitious designs into Germany, fought
against Frederiik, with France and Austria, in
order to prevent the fonnation of the Prussian
power. Some years later, in 1772, she partitioned
Poland. In 1778 she took another step, and on
an equality with France, regulated the affairs of
Germany ; she interpo.sed her mediation between
Prussia and Austria, that were ready to make war
about the Bavarian succession; and had the dis-
tinguished honour to guarantee, at Teschen, the
Germanic constitution. Lastly, before the end of
the century arrived, in 1799, she sent one hundred
thousand Russians into Italy, not to contest a
question of territory, but a moral question — for

the preservation, she said, of social order, threat-
ened by the French revolution.

Never, in so short a time, is there exhibited in
history so great a degree of aggrandizement ac-
cruing to any single state. Paul, who would fain
be the arbitrator of every thing, as the price of his
alliance with the first consul, was only, therefore,
the unconscious tool of a policy which was the re-
sult of profound design in the Russian cabinet.
His ambassador at Paris requested, in cold and
unvarying Iniughtiness, that which his master de-
manded with his accustomed excitement, when
he desired to have his will. He even affected,
clumsily enough, to institute himself the protector
of the smaller states, which, after having offended
her, were now at the mercy of France. The
court of Naples had sought to place itself under
Russian protection : but this had not met with
success, because M. Gallo had been sent from
Paris, and his court obliged to submit, at Florence,
to the terms of the first consul. M. St. Marsan,
who was invested with the same powers from the
house of Savoy to the Fi'ench republic, having
attempted the same thing as M. Gallo, had been
sent away in a similar manner.

M. Kalitcheft" hastened to support the claims of
the courts of Naples and Turin, to whom his
master had guaranteed their territories ; and he
understood, in signing a treaty with France, that
he was not to confine himself to the condition of
the re-establishment of a friendly understanding
between the two empires, which, indeed, had no
dispute by land or sea to settle, but to regulate the
affairs of Germany and Italy, in nearly all their
details, and even those of the East, if he persisted
in demanding the restoration of Egypt to the
Porte.

In spite of the desii-e of France to be on an
amicable footing with the emperor Paul, his am-
bassador was answered w ith firmness. A public
treaty had been agreed upon by France, which
simply re-established amity and peace between
the two countrii-s ; but a secret convention was
added, in which it was undertaken to concert with
Russia the regulation of the Germanic indemnities,
and to favour, in particular, the courts of Baden,
Wurteniberg, and Bavaria, which were either in
Russian I'elationship or alliance ; and to reserve
an indemnity to the house of Savoy, if not re-
instated in its dominions; but without stipulating
when, where, or to what extent, because the first
consul had already harboured the design of keep-
ing back Piedmont for France. This was all that
could be yielded. As to Naples, the treaty of
Florence was declared to be irrevocable ; and in
respect to Egypt, the i-esolution was adopted not
to listen to a word upon that subject.

M. Kalitcheff having insisted in a tone and
manner altogether unaccountable upon these points,
the matter was terminated by making no more
replies to his (juestions, and by leaving him at
Paris, tolerably embarrassed in his official cha-
racter, and in the engagements he had entered
into with the smaller states. Matters were in this
situation when the intelligence arrived of the
tragical end of Paul I. ISI. Kalitcheff, without
waiting for the commands of his new sovereign,
was anxious to get out of the false position in
which he had placed himself, and, therefore, ad-

1801. His communications with

April. Talleyrand.

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Character of the emperor
Alexancer.

233

dressed a peremptory nnte to M. Talleyrand, on
the 2Gtli of A|iril, to which he requested an im-
j mediate reply u|)<in all the points of the negotiation,
complaining that the things accorded in Berlin
between general Benrnonville and M. Krudener
were disputed at Paris. He seemed to insinuate,
that if the weaker states were not better treated
by France, tiie glory of the first consul would
suflTer, and that his government would come to be
cor.founded with the revolutionary governments
that had i>receded it.

M. Talleyrand answered immediately that liis
communication was very much out of place; that
it was very deficient in the respect due from in-
dependent powers to one another ; that he could
not place it under the eyes of the first consul
without offending his dignity ; that M. Kalitcheff
might, therefore, consider it as not having been
forwarded; and that the reply it solicited, in the
name of his cabinet, would not be made, until the
request should be renewed in other terms, and in
another despatch.

Til is severe lesson bad its due effect upon M.
Kalitcheff. He appeared to feel alarmed at the
consequences of his own act. Already the petty
states tliat had sought a shelter behind him,
felt apprehensive of liis protection, and began to
regret that they had confided their interests to his
hands. M. Kalitcheff, reduced to the necessity of
reproducing bis demands in a better form, or re-
maining without a reply, wrote a second despatch,
in which he reiterated his request for an explana-
tion, but confined himself to an enumeration of
each head, without any remark, or without com-
plaints or com])linients. The despatch was cold;
but not objectionable. He was then duly informed
by M. Talleyi-.uid, that in this new form his ques-
tions should be submitted to the first consul, and
should receive their due reply. It was added hy
M. Talleyrand, that the last despatch only sliould
be preserved in the arehives of the foreign-office,
and that the first shotdd be destroyed.

A few days afterwards, .M. Talleyrand answered
M. Kalitcheff in |)olite, but very decided terms.
He went over all the points settled by the French
cabinet, and added the very natural reflection,
that if France had consented, in regard to many
of the most importint affairs of Europe, to concert
them amicably with Russia, and had appeared
disposed to do tint which she had desired, it was
in consideration nf the intimate alliance contraeti-<l
with Paul I. against the jjolicy of England ; but
that since the accession of the czar Alexander, it
Tvas needful to understand whether the new em-
peror woidd enter into the same view.s, and afford
tiic s-amc certainty that France would find in him
an ally equally as constant as the deceased em-
peror.

After that day M. Kalitcheff remained perfectly
inactive, awaiting instructions from his new master.

The i)rince, wlio had just a-scended tiie throne
of the czars, was a singular character, — singular, as
tlie greater part of the princes have been who, for
a century past, have governed in Russia. Alex-
ander was twenty five years of age, till of stature,
having a mild and noble countenance, though his
features were not ])erfectly regular; lie possessed
an acute mind, a generous heart, and complete
grace of manner, tjtill tliere might be perceived

about him traces of paternal infirmity. His mind,
lively, changeable, and su.sceptible, was continually
impressed with the most contrary ideas. But this
remarkable prince was not always led away by
such momentary impidses ; he joined with his
extensive and quickly-changing comprehension, a
depth of mind that escaped the closest observation.
He was well-meaning, and a di.ssemblerat the same
time, capable of acting with deep subtilty; already
some of these excellencies and defects had begun
to exhibit themselves in the tragical events which
had preceded his arrival at the throne. Let care
be taken, however, not to calumniate this illus-
trious ])rince ; he had been under a complete de-
lusion in regard to the design of count Pahlen; he
had believed, with the credulity natural to his age,
that the abdication of his father was the only ob-
ject in view, and would be the sole result of the
conspiracy, the secret of which had been entrusted
to him. He had believed, that in aiding it, he
should save the em])ire, his mother, his brothers,
and himself from unknown violence. Become well
acquainted with that event, he detested the error
of which he had been guilty, as well as those who
had led him into it.

This young emperor, in short, of noble aspect,
gracious manners, witty, enthusiastic, changeable,
artificial, difficult to penetrate, was endowed with
the charm of great personal attraction, and was
destined to exercise over his contemporaries the
mo.st seductive influence. He was even destined
to exercise this seductive influence uiion the extra-
ordinary man, so difficult to deceive, who then
governed France, and with whom he was one day
to have such great and terrible animosities.

The education of this young i)rince was a strange
one. He had been a pupil of colonel La Harpe,
who had inspired him with the feelings and notions
of Swiss republicanism. Alexander liad given way
to tiie influence of his teacher with his customary
flexibility, and the effect was visible when he as-
cended the throne. While he was yet an imperial
prince, subjected to the severe rule, first of Cathe-
rine, and tlien of Paul I., he formed an intimate
acquaintance with some young per.sons of his own
age, such as Paid Strogonoff, Nowosiltzoff, and above
all, prince Adam Czartorisky. This last descended
from one of the most ancient families in Poland,
and much attached to his native land, was at St. Pe-
tersburg as a sj)ecies of hostage: he served in the
i-egiment of guards, and lived at court with the
young grand dukes. Alexander, drawn towards
him by a species of analogy in sentiments and ideas,
comnuniicated to him all the dreams and hopes of
his youth. Both in secret deplored the misfortunes
of Poland, a thing very natural in a descendant of
the Czartoriskys, but rather surprising in the
grandson of Catherine. Alexander' solemnly vowed
to his friend that when he ascended the throne, he
would restore her laws and liburty to unhappy
Poland.

Paul, who had observed this intimacy, felt of-
fended at it, and exiled prince Czartorisky, by
naming him his minister to the king of Sardinia, a
king without a realm. Scarcely was Alexander
seated upon the throne, when he sent off a courier
to bis friend, then resident at Rome, and recalled
him to St. Peter.sbiirg. He also unite<l near his
person, Nowosiltzoff and Paul Strogonoff. These

. Associates of the emperor.
"■^^ His ostensible ministers.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. ^"/ett-.S'°" "' ''•

April.

formed a sort of occult govei-nment, composed of
young men without experience, animated by the
most generous feelings, and full of illusions, little
proper, it must be said, to dii-ect a great govern-
ment, iu a difficult conjuncture of the times. They
were impatient to free themselves from the old
Russians, who had, until then, held the reins of
government, and with whom they had no kind of
sympathy. One personage alone, older and more
serious than themselves, the prince Kotschoubey,
mingled in this young society, and tempered by a
riper I'eason their youthful vivacity. This prince
had travelled all over Europe, acquired a vast deal
of knowledge, and engaged his sovereign's attention
U]3on every opportunity with the ameliorations
which he believed it would be very usefid to effect
in the interior government of the empire. All alike
censured the course of policy which led at first to
the making war upon France on account of her
revolution, and afterwards in carrying it on against
England in behalf of a thesis about the law of na-
tions. They were against a war of pi-inciples upon
France, or a naval war upon England. The great
empire of the north, according to them, was best
employed in holding the balance between the two
powers, that threatened to swallow up the world in
their quarrel, and by this means to become the
arbitrator of Europe, and the support of the feeble
states against the strong. More generally, how-
ever, they directed their attention much less to
exterior politics than to the interior regeneration
of the empire. They did not do less than meditate
giving her new institutions, modelled in part upon
those they had seen in civilized countries ; they
had, in a word, the generosity, inexperience, and
vanity of youth.

Tlie ostensible ministei*s of Alexander, were the
old Russians, prejudiced against France, and warm
in behalf of England, besides which they were
much disliked by the sovereign. Count Pahlcn
alone, thanks to his firm judgment, did not share
the prejudices of his colleagues, and wished that
Russia should be free from every influence, re-
maining neuter between France and England. In
this view his ideas agreed with those of the new
emperor and his friends. But count Pahlen com-
mitted the mistake of treating Alexander as a
youthful prince, whom he had set upon the throne,
directed, and would fain still direct. The sensitive
vanity of his young master was thus fi-equently
wounded. Count Pahlen behaved too with great
harshness towards thedowager empress, whoshowed
much ostentatious sorrow, and a deadly hatred to
her husliand's murderers. In a religious establish-
ment of her own foundation, she placed an image
of the Virgin Mary, witii Paul at her feet, implor-
ing the vengeance of Heaven upon his assassins.
Count Pahlen ordered the image to be removed,
in spite of the cries of the empress, and the dis-
pleasure of her son. An ascendancy, exercised in
such a manner as this, could not be of very pro-
longed duration.

At the commencement of the reign of Alexander,
count Panin continued to preside as foreign mi-
nister ; count Pahlen still remained the most in-
fluential, holding a share in all the branches of the
government. Alexander, after taking tiie advice
of his friends, went and transacted business after-
wards with his ostensible ministry. Under these

different influences, sometimes in opposition to
each other, they determined to treat with England,
and to commence by taking off' the embargo on
British conmierce, an embargo, according to Alex-
ander, which was a most unjust measure. It was
then decided that such a maritime treaty should
befoi-med through lord St. Helens with England, as
should, if not protect the rights of neutrals, at least
I secure the interests of Russian navigation. Alex-
ander, i-anking among his father's irrational notions
the pretension to the grand-mastersliip of the order
of St. John of Jerusalem, announced that he would
merely be the protector of that order, until the dif-
ferent languages of which it was composed should
be able to reassemble and to choose a new grand-
master. This resolution easily got rid of all tlie dif-
ficulties, whether with England, who set a great
value upon Malta on the one hand, or France upon
the other, that was not inclined to carry on a war
for ever, in order to restore the island to the knights,
or with Rome and Spain, who had never consented
to acknowledge for the grand-master of St. John
of Jei-usalem a schismatic prince.

In order to put an end to another contested sub-
ject, it was resolved that the evacuation of Egypt
should no longer be insisted upon with France, since
in reality Russia was as little interested in seeing
that country in the hands of the French as of the
English. As to Naples and Piedmont, Russia was
bound to these states, so it was said, by solemn
treaties, and Alexander, on commencing his i-eign,
was desirous of exhibiting to the world a grand
idea of his good failli. It was agreed that he
should no longer stipulate iu behalf of Naples for
the abrogation of the treaty of Florence, but for
the guarantee of her present dominions, and at a
peace for the evacuation of the Gulf of Tarentura
by the French. As to Piedmont, Russia was re-
solved to demand for the house of Savoy either
Piedmont itself, or a proportionate indemnity in
case of default. Alexander also had the intention
of regulating, in concert with France, the indem-
nity promised to the German pi-inces, that had
been deprived of territory on the left bank of the
Rhine. Nothing here presented any difficulty, the
first consul having given his consent to those
points already. M. Kalitcheff" was recalled, and
M. Markoff" was chosen to be his successor; a man
of considerable talent, but in respect to a know-
ledge of official forms, in no way superior to his
predecessor.

Duroc, sent to congratulate the new emperor
u])on his accession, on his arrival at St. Peters-
burg, found that all these questions had been
determined ; he obtained from the ministers as
well as the monarch himself a very favourable
reception. His intelligence and elegance of man-
ner succeeded in Russia as they had done iu
Prussia, and he secured for himself both the esteem
and confidence of the Russians. After his formal
audiences were over he obtained several private
interviews, during which Alexander made a sort of
display in the revelation of his sentiments to the
representative of the first consul. On one par-
ticular occasion in a public garden at St. Peters-
burg, the prince perceived Duroc, went up to him,
addressed him with a graceful familiarity, bade his
attendants remain at a distance, and conducting
him to a retired spot, appeax'ed to open his mind

1801.
April.

Conversation between the
emperor and Duroc

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Negotiations between England

and France. — Territories ac- 235
quired by England.

witli perfect freedom : " I am," said he, " a friend
of France in my heart, and for a long while have
admired your new chief: I appreciate what he
has performed for the peace of Europe and for the
maintenance of social order. He need not appre-
hend from me a new war between the two coun-
tries. But let him second ray sentiments, and
cease to furnish pretexts to those who are jealous

IS powt

You see I have made concessions.

I say no more about Egypt ; I had rather it be-
longed to France than to England ; and if, un-
hajfpily, the English should take it, I will join
with you to snatch it out of their liands. 1 have
given up Malta, in order to remove one of the diffi-
culties which was in the way of a European peace.
I am in alliance with the kings of Naples and
Piedmont : I know that their conduct to France
has not been correct ; but how could they act
differently, surrounded and governed as they have
been by England I I shall see, with great morti-
fication, the first consul seize upon Piedmont, as
some recent acts of his administration tend to make
me believe is his inti ntion. Naples complains of
being deprived of a portion of her territory. This
is ail unworthy of the first consul, and dims his
glory. He is not charged, like the governments
which have preceded him, with threatening social
order, but he is accused of wishing to invade every
state. This is injurious to him, and exposes me,
myself, to the clamours of the minor states, by
wiiom I am besieged. Let him cease to suffer
these difficulties to exist between us, and wo shall
live in future under a perfectly good understanding."
Alexander, unbosoming himself still more, added :
" Say nothing of all this to my ministers ; be dis-
creet ; employ none but trustworthy couriers. Tell
general Bonaparte to send me men ujjon whom I
can rely. The most direct relations will be found
the best for establishing a good understanding be-
tween the two governments." Alexander added a
few words more relating to England. He affirmed
that he would not yield up to her the dominion of
the seas, the common property of all nations ; that
if he had removed the embargo on English vessels,
it was.from a .sense of justice. Preceding ti-eaties
had stipulated, that in case of a rupture, a year
should be allowed to the English merchants for
the purpose of settling their affairs ; it was, there-
fore, a gross injustice to seize upon their property.
" I will not be guilty of such an act," Alexander
exclaimed strongly ; " my sole motive was to do
justice. I do not intend to deliver myself up to
England. It depends entirely upon the first con-
sul wliether 1 bliall continue to be his ally, — his
friend."

During this conversation the young emperor
appeared to have a confiding spirit, devoid of pre-
tence, d<?8irous evidently to make little of his minis-
ters, and to sliow that he had his own views, and a
personal system of policy.

Duroc left .St. Petersburg loaded witli the favours
and proofs of regard he had received from the
emperor.

It was clear from these communications that
Russia would no long<r be any great help against
Englanil, but still tliat there would in future bo a
much less difficulty in arranging the general affairs
of Europe. The first consul, now b(Mng certain of
coming to a good uiulerstanding witii the Russian

court, did not hasten to terminate the negotiation,
because time seemed every day to smooth the diffi-
culties that had subsisted between the two nations.
England, in fact, exhibited at the moment but
little interest in the houses of Naples and Pied-
mont ; and if, as there was ground to believe, she
no longer made their concerns one of the conditions
of the peace, it would be much more easy for
France to act as she saw fit in regard to these two
houses, when England herself had given them
over to the first consul.

The negotiation with England now became the
main question, and, indeed, almost the only one
left to arrange. In order to conduct it coi-rectly,
it was not only necessary to negotiate in London
with ability, but also to push forwax-d with alacrity
the war in Poi-tugal, and as well as to dispute Egypt
with the British forces; because the issue of events
in •those two countries could not fail to exercise
a great influence ujjon the future treaty. The
first consul also, wishing to throw more weight
into the scale, made additional preparations with
much ostentation at Boulogne and at Calais, in
order that it might be thought that the extreme
measure of an invasion of England, long meditated
by the directory, was neither beyond his calcu-
lations nor his means. Numerous bodies of troops
were put in march towards that part of France,
and on the coasts of Normandy, Flandei's, and
Picardy, a great number of gun-boats were assem-
bled, strongly built and well-armed, capable of
can-ying troops, and of crossing the channel at
Calais.

In consequence of their arrangements previously
made, lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto were em-
ployed about the middle of April, 1801, or Germi-
nal, year ix., in diplomatic conferences. Accord-
ing to customai-y usage, the first demands were
excessive. England proposed a simple arrange-
ment as a basis, namely, the titi possideatis ; that is
to say, that each should retain whatever acqui-
sitions the chances of war had thrown into their
hands. England, in fact, profiting by the long
contest of Europe against France, was herself en-
riched while her allies wci'e exhausted, and h.ad
captured the colonies of every other nation. She
had seized the entire continent of India, as well as
the most important commercial positions in the
four quarters of the globe. From the Dutch she
had taken Ceylon, that large and rich island, ])laccd
at the extreme of the Indian peninsula, and form-
ing to it so desirable a pendant. She had acquired
the other Dutch possessions in the Indian sea.s,
except, it is true, the large colony of Java. She
had taken from them between the two oceans the
Cape of Good Hope, one of the best situated nutri-
tiine stations on the globe. Her contiimed efforts
had not succeeded in wresting the Mauritius
from France, which she had never ceased to
liold. In South America she had deprived the
unfortunate Dutch, the most ill-treated power of
all during the war, of the territory of Guiana, ex-
tending between the Amazons and Orinoko, con-
taining Surinam, Bcrbice,Demerara, and Esscquibo;
7uagnificent countries, the agricultural and com-
meicial development of wliich were not tiien and
have not yet been developed, but wliich are one
day destined to attain wonderful prosperity ; aiul
wliich presented besides the advantage of being the

Conquests made by Eng
-•J" land and France.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Basis of negotiation pro-
posed by England. —
IBonaparte's answer.

1801.
April.

first step gained towards the great Spanish colonies
on the American continent. England coveted these
colonies. She had entertained the design of aid-
ing them in the attainment of their independence,
in order to avenge herself for what had happened
in North America ; and slie flattered herself be-
sides, reasonably enough, that, being independent,
they would soon become the prey of her commerce.
It was for this reason that she set a great value
upon the conquest of one of the West India islands
from the Spaniards, one of the Antilles, the fine
island of Trinidad, situated close to South America,
a sort of footing, as well disposed for contraband
trade as for aiigression upon the Spanish posses-
sions. She had made another grand and valuable
acquisition in the Antilles, in the French island of
Martinique. The manner in which she captui'ed
this island had not been very legitimate, because
the colonists, dreading an insurrection of the
slaves, had placed themselves, for a temporary
purpose, in her hands ; and of a voluntary deposit,
she had made them a property. I'ngland held fast
Martinique on account of the fine harbour belong-
ing to that island. She had taken besides in the
Antilles St. Lucieii and Tobago, islands of far less
consequence than the others, and towards the fish-
ing station, St. Fiei-re, and Miquelon. Lastly, in
Europe she had taken the best of the Balearic
islands from Spain ; and from the French, who
had captured it from the knights of St. John of
Jerusalem, Malta, the queen of the Mediterranean.

After these conquests, it may be well said that
there was little left for her to dispute about with
the maritime nations, the continental possessions of
the Spaniards in the two Americas excepted. It
is true that the English threatened, if the French
persisted in marching into Portugal, she would
recompense herself by the seizui-e of Brazil.

To balance these vast maritime acquisitions,
Fi-ance had taken the finest portions of the Eu-
ropean continent, much more important than all
those distant maritime territories. But she had
restoi-ed all with the exception of that portion com-
prised between the great lines of the Alps, the
Rhine, and the Pyrenees. She had conquered
besides a colony, which to her alone was a compen-
sation for all the colonial greatness which England
had obtained — that was Egypt. No other posses-
sion was of equal value to that. If it was thouglit
necessary to shake the new empire of England in
India, Egypt was the most certain road to ai-rive at
it. If it were only contemplated which was the
wiser plan, to bring to the ports of France a part
of the commerce of the East, Egypt was still the
natural road of that commerce. For peace as for
war, then, it was the most precious colony in the
world. If at that moment the head of the French
government had considered alone the interests of
France, and not that of his allies, he might have
accepted the terms pro|)osed by Enghind ; since
Martinique itself, the sole direct loss worthy of
attention that France suffered during the war, was
of little or no moment compared to Egypt, the real
empire placed between the east and west, com-
manding, and, at the same time, shortening the
communications between the seas. But the first
consul considered himself bound in honour to re-
store to the allies of France a great part of their
possessions. It did not depend upon him to sjjare

Holland for all the sacrifices to which she was con-
demned by the defection of her navy, which had,
as is well known, followed the stadtholder to Eng-
land ; but it was the duty of the first consul to
restore the Cape and Guiana. He wished that
Spain, which had acquired nothing during the war,
should lose nothing ; and that Trinidad and the
Balearic islands should be restored to her ; lastly,
it was determined, at no price, to cede Malta ;
because that would weaken the conquest of Egypt,
and render its possession precarious iu the hands of
Fi'ance.

The intention of the first consul was to leave
Indostan to the English undisturbed, including the
small factories of Chandernagore and Pondiclierry,
which were of no moment to France; even to give
up Ceylon, the pi-operty of the Dutch: but to de-
mand the restoration of the Cape, Guiana, Trinidad,
Martinique, the Balearic islands, and Malta ; and
to retain Egy|)t as an equivalent for the conquest
of India by the English. It will be seen how he
conducted himself to attain this end, during a
negotiation which continued for five entire months.

To the idea of adopting the uti pvzsideatis as the
basis of the future peace, the Fi'ench negotiator
was ordered to reply by the most explicit argu-
ments : " Would you lay down the principle," he
said to lord Hawkesbury, " that each nation should
keep its conquests ; in that case France should
keep, in Germany, Baden, Wurtemberg, Bavaria,
and three-fourths of Austria; she should keep in
Italy, the whole country, the ports of Genoa, Leg-
horn, Naples, and Venice. She should keep
Switzerland, which she intends to evacuate as soon
as she has established a proper order of things
there; she should keep Holland, occupied by her
armies, where she might build and fit out the most
powerful navy. She should take Hanover, and be-
stow it as a compensation to certain powers upon
the continent, and by this means attach them to
her for ever. She could, finally, push on the cam-
paign against Portugal, and indemnify Spain out
of that country, securing new ports for herself.
How important would these naval stations be, ex-
tending from the Texel to Lisbon and Cadiz, from
Cadiz to Genoa, from thence to Otronto, and from
Otronto to Venice. If abstract principles were to
be laid down as the basis of the negotiations, peace
\\ould be impossible. France had restored the
greater part of her conquests to their respective
governments : to Austria she had given back a
part of Italy; to the court of the Two Sicilies the
Idngdom of Naples; to the pope the Roman states
entire; she had given Tu?cany, which it was easy
for her to have kept, to the house of Spain; she
had re-established Genoa in her independence; she
Imd confined herself to making Lombardy a
friendly rej)ublic ; and was preparing to evacuate
Switzerland, Holland, and even Hanover. It was
necessary, therefore, that England should give up
a part of her conquests. Those which France de-
manded (lid not affect herself directly, but her
allies. France held it her duty to get them back,
in order to give them to their real owners. Be-
sides, if India and Ceylon were conceded to Eng-
land, the possessions demanded to be I'estored
could be of little consequence. If England would
make no concession, she should say as much, and
declare that the negotiation was only a deception.

ISUl.
April.

Negotiations between

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

England and France.

237

The world sliould know through whose fault it was
that peace became impossible. France would then
make a last effort, a difficult and perilous effort,
but which would, perhaps, be fatal for England;
because the first consul did nut despair of being
able to cross the straits of Calais at the head of a
hundred thousand men."

Lord Hawkesbury and Mr. Addingtou nego-
tiated with the desire to make an advantageous
peace for themselves, which was perfectly natural;
and they wished it to be speedy. They were
aware of the foi-ce of the arguments used by the
French cabinet, and felt the stern resolve con-
tained in its words. They set themselves at once
to lower their pretensions, and to open the way to
a reconciliation. They first answered the argu-
ments of the first consul, respecting the conquests
given back by France, that if she had abandoned
a part of her conquests, it was because she was
unable to retain them; while no navy in the world
was able to take from the English those colonies
which she had acquired. That if France did re-
store a portion of the territory occupied by her
armies, she kept Nice, Savoy, the banks of the
Rhine, and, above all, the mouths of the Schelde
and Antwerp, which were a considerable aggran-
dizement, not only by land, but sea ; that it was
necessary to re-establish the equilibrium of Europe,
if not wholly on the continent, at least upon the
ocean; that if France desired to preserve Egy|)t,
India was no longer a sufficient compensation for
England; and that the British cabinet would then
retain a great part of its new acquisitions. Still,
added lord Hawkesbury, we nave only made the
first proposition ; we are ready to give way upon
any point which may be shown to be too rigorous.
We will restore some of our conquests; only state
to us those of which the restitution appears to you,
at least, most desirable.

The first consul replied in an animated manner
to these arguments of the Englisli ministry. It
was not correct to say, according to liini, that Eng-
land could keep all her maritime conquests, while,
on the other hand, France wiis unable to retain here
on the continent of Europe. The continental war
being closed, either by the complete exhaustion of
the allies of England, or by the distaste which others
had formed for her alliance, France, aided by the
resources of Holland, S|)ain, and Italy, might have
done whatsoever she desired upon the continent ;
and she was in a state to do much more upon the
ocean than the British ministers would believe.
France, without doubt, could not have kept the
centre of Germany and three parts of Austria
without a convulsive overturn of all Europe; but
8he could have made a much less moderate peace
than that of Lun^ville; she would have been able,
Austria being so exhausted after Hohenlinden, to
have kept all Italy and Switzerland, without the
slightest opjxmition from any quarter. In respect
to a continental e({uilibriuin, that had been de-
stroyed upon the day wiien Prussia, Russia, and
Austria j)arti^ioned the large and fine kingdom of
Poland among themselves, without the slightest
equivalent for any other power. The banks of the
Rhine and the slopes of liie Alps were scarcely an
equivalent to France for what these, her rivals,
had acquired upon the continent. Over sea,
Egypt was scarcely a compensation to her for the

conquest of the Indies. It might be doubted, if,
even with that colony, France could keep her an-
cient maritime proportions in regard to England.

These arguments had reason on their side, and
fortunately the arm of strength, for both one and
the other "are necessary in a negotiation. The basis
of the treaty was soon agreed upon. It was settled
that Engliind in having undisturbed jwssession of
India, should restore a part of the conquests she
had made from Fi-ance, Spain, and Holland. The
detail of the particular territories she was to keep
or restore will be next considered.

Without granting the formal possession of Egypt
to France, a point which the English negotia-
tor reserved as doubtful, he jiroposed two hypo-
theses, one in which France preserved Egypt, and
another in which she renounced it, whether she
lost it by force of arms or voluntarily gave it up.
On the first hypothesis, that of the retention of
Egypt by France, England, retaining India and
Ceylon, as well as Chandernagore and Pondicherry,
would require in addition, the Cape of Good Hope,
a part of the Guianas, that is to say, Berbice, De-
meriira, Essequibo, Trinida<i, and Martinique in
the Antilles; finally, and above all, Malta, in the
Mediteri-anean. She would give up the smaller
Dutch possessions of India, Surinam, the insignifi-
cant islands of St. Lucia, Tobago, St. Pierre, Mi-
quelon, and finally, Minorca. Under the second
hypothesis, in w Inch the French were not to remain
masters of Egypt, England demanded India and
Ceylon, but consented to give up the small colo-
nies of Pondicherry and Chandernagore, the Cape
of Good Hojie, Martinique or Trinidad, whichever
France might |)refer,she keeping the other. Lastly,
she demanded Malta, but not peremptorily.

These restitutions, in the o])inii.n of the first
consul, were not sufficient. The negotiation not-
withstanding approximated at last towards an ac-
commodation, and after a month of discussion,
arrived at the following ])ropositions, which were
at bott<im the real views of both governments.

England insisted in any case upon India and
Ceylon. If the French evacuated Egypt, she was
to leave them the small factories of Pondicherry
and Chandernagore. She restored the Cape to the
Dutch upon the condition of its being declared a
free port. She restored to Holland also Berbice,
Demerara, and Essequibo, on the American con-
tinent; and the colony of Surinam : she restored
one of the two great islands in the Antilles, Mar-
tinique or Trinidiid ; and rendered back St. Lucia,
Tobago, St. Pierre, and Mi(|uelon, and lastly,
Malta and Minorca. Thus, as the result of the
war she gained, if France did not keep Egypt,
the continent of India, Ceylon, and one of the
two principal Antilles, Trinidad or Martinique.
If the French kept Egypt, she obtained besides
Chandernagore and Pondicherry, the Cape, Mar-
tinique, Trinidad, and finally, Malta. That is
to say, England, in the second case, deemed it a
necessary precaution to deprive France of her
footing at Chandernagore and Pondicherry, places
in the peninsula of India, and as an indemnity,
Trinidad, which threatened S|)aiiish America,
Martinique, which has the best port in the An-
tilles, and finally, Malta, the best port in the
Mediterranean.

In regard to the Cape, Marthiique, or Trinidad,

238 Degraded state of i

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Preparations for the in- 1801
vasion of Portugal. April

and JIalta, demanded over and above in case the
French possessed Egypt, they were far from being
as valuable as that important possession; and al-
though it would have been most expedient to eon-
sent at once had tliis condition been unavoidable,
the first consul had still the hope to keep Egypt,
and pay less dearly for its possession. He hoped
that if the English ai-my sent towards the Nile
should fail, and that if the Spaniards pushed with ra-
pidity the war against Portugal, ho should be able
to obtain the Cape for the Dutch, Trinidad for the
Spaniards, and Malta for the order of St. John of
Jerusalem, thus obliging England to remain con-
tent with India, Ceylon, a part of the Guianas, and
one or two of the lesser Antilles.

Every thing tlierefore depended upon the events
of the war ; and the English, hoping it would ter-
minate to their advantage, were not reluctant to
avert the issue which could not remain long un-
settled, because it rested only upon the knowledge
whether the Spaniards would venture to march
upon Portugal, and whether the English troops on
board lord Keith's fieet in the Mediterranean
could make good their landing in Egypt. In order
to be acquainted with these two results, a month or
two was all the time necessary. Thus, on both one
side and the other great care was taken not to break
off the negotiation, which both were sincerely
anxious should terminate in peace. Each took the
step of gaining time; to this end the numerous and
complicated nature of the subjects which they had
to discuss, furnished a very natural means, without
having recourse to much of the finesse of diplo-
macy.

"All depends," wrote Otto, "upon two things —
will the English army be beaten in Egypt ? Will
Spain marcli freely against Portugal ? Hasten; ob-
tain these two results, or one of them, and you will
make the finest peace in the world." " But I must
inform you," he added, "that if the English minis-
ters have a dread of the soldiers in our army of
Egyi)t, they have very little of the resolution of the
court of Spain."

The first consul made continual efforts to arouse
to action the old court of Si)ain, and to obtain its
concurrence in his two great designs, which on
one part consisted in seizing upon Portugal, on the
other, in directing towards Egypt the naval forces
of the two countries. Unluckily the resources
of the Spanish monarchy were nearly exhausted.
A good-hearted king, but blinded and absorbed by
the most viilgnr cares, little worthy of a monarch,
a queen given up to the most shameless debauch-
eries, a vain, frivolous, incai)ablo favourite, wasted
in reckless exce.sses the last resources of the mon-
archy of Charles V. Lueien Bonaparte, despatclied
as ambassad ir to Madrid, for the purjiose of in-
demnifying him for the loss of the ministry of the
interior, Lueien, e:iger to rival the diplomatic success
of his brother Joseph, laboured in Si)ain to serve
the cause of the first consul with credit and bril-
liancy. It is true tiiat he obtained some influence,
thanks to his name, and to the successful boldness
with which he neglected the ostensible ministers,
and put himself in communication with the real
head of the government, the prince of the peace.
Placing before the prince the resentment or favour
of the first consul as a choice, he had excited in
him a more than common zeal for the interests of

the alliance, and had made him adopt to the full
extent the plan for the invasion of Portugal.
Lueien had said to the court of Spain : " You wish
for peace, and you wish it to be of advantage to
yourselves, or at least not injurious; you desire
that it shall terminate without the loss of any of
your colonies ; aid us then in securing pledges,
of which we will make use to obtain from Eng-
land the larger part of her maritime conquests."
These reasons were good; but they were not the
most convincing to the prince of the peace. Lueien
had devised others much more efficacious. " You
are every thing here," he said to the favourite ;
"my brother knows that well; he will lay at your
door alone the failure of the plans of the alliance.
Would you have the Bonapartes friends or ene-
mies 1" Tliese arguments, first employed to push
the war with Portugal, were every day used to
hasten the preparations. Still, whatever arguments
were used to urge forward the prince of the peace,
he did not betray the interests of his country. He
was, on the contrary, in no way better enabled to
serve them than by the war against Portugal, he-
cause that was the sole mode of obtaining from
England the restitution of the Spanish colonies.

The preparations were therefore accelerated as
much as possible, and the last I'esources of the
monarchy were applied to its conii)letion. Who
could believe that tliis great and noble nation, the
glory of which has filled the world, and of which
the patrifjtism was soon to appear with great lustre,
unhappily for France, — who could believe that it
was with great difficulty she was able to assemble
twenty-five thousand men ? — she, with her mag-
nificent harbours and ports and her numerous
vessels, the relics of the fine reign of Charles III.
— who could believe she was even embarrassed to
pay a few workmen in the arsenals to set afloat a
man of war or two ? and more, that it was out of
her power to victual her fleet ? Who could credit
that her fifteen ships/ blockaded in Brest for two
years, were the whole of her 'navy, at least, of her
navy fit for service ? The want of the precious
metals, in consequence of the interruption of her
trade with Mexico, had reduced her to a paper
currency, and that paper currency was at the lowest
point of depreciation. An api)lication was now
made to the clergy, who did not possess at the
moment the funds for which thei-e was an imme-
diate necessity; but possessing a credit which was
accorded to the crown, and applying it to the ob-
ject, the preparations that had been begun were
completed.

Twenty-five thousand men, not very badly
equipped, were at length sent on the march to-
wards BadajoZ; but they were not sufficient. The
prince of the peace I'.ail declared that without a
division of French troops he would not dare to
enter Portugal. The first consul had united such
a division in haste at Bordeaux. They had soon
traversed the Pyrenees, and were in rapid march
upon Ciudad Rodrigo. The prince of the peace
wished to enter Portugal with the Spaniards by
Alentejo, while the French divisions penetrated
by the provinces of Tras-os-Montes and BeYra. Ge-
neral St. Cyr, who commanded the Freiich, had
gone to Madrid to arrange the operations with the
prince of the jieace ; and although that officer was
not well fitted to humour the temper of others.

1801. Portujal resistsjh'' demands
Aiiril. of Spain and i- ranee.— Tlie

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

French ami Spanish nrmies march.
Naval preparations at Cadiz.

having none himself, he succeeded in concerting
with tiie prince a pmper plan of operation.

Portugal, seeing itself thus pressed, had sent
JI. Ai-anjo to Madrid, to which place he had been
refused liberty to proceed. He then went to France,
and met there with the same refusal. Portugal
was ready to submit to any conditions rather than
shut her ports against the English merchant ships.
These offers were repelled. It was determined
that Portugal should exclude all English vessels,
both of war and trade ; tluit three of her provinces
should be occu])ied as a security until a general
peace; and that she should pay the expenses of the
expedition.

The troops of the two nations set out on theif
march, and the prince of the peace quitted Madrid,
his head filled with wild visions of glory. The
court, and even Lucien Bunaiiarte, were to accom-
pany him. The first consul had ordered the most
e.xact discipline to be preserved among the French
troops ; he had ordei-ed that they should attend
mass on Sundays, that the bishops should be visited
upon passing through the chief towns of the dio-
ceses, and, in a word, that the French should
conform to all the Spanish customs. He was
anxious that the sight of the French in place of
estranging them from the S])aniards, should cause
them to approximate niore closely in feeling.

Every thing in this quarter, therefore, prospered
according to the wishes of the first consul in aid of
the negotiation then going forward in London.
But there yet remained much to be done relative
to the employment of the naval forces. It has
been already shown in what manner the three
navies of Holland, FiMiice, and Spain had been
directed to one common purpose. Five French,
Dutch, and Spanish vessels, fifteen in all, filled
with troops, were intended to threaten Brazil or
retake Trinidad. The rest of the tmited naval
force was designed for Egypt. Ganteauine sailed
from Brest with seven vessel.s, conveying consider-
al)le succours, and was on the voyage to Alexandria.
The other vessels remained still at Brest, in order
to keep alive the continual threat of an expedition
to Ireland, while a second expedition sailed from
Rochefort uniting with five Spanish men-of-war at
Ferrol, and six other men-of-war from Cadiz, that
were to follow Ganteaume to Egypt.

This last dcMgn had been concealed from Spain
for fear of her indiscretion. It was only requested
of her to suffer the ships in Ferrol to proceed to
Cadi/. The court of Spain remonstrated in warm
temis against the passagCj on account of danger
from the English ships of war which were nu-
irterous about the straits and in the neighbourhood
of Gibraltar. The vessels in Ferrol were besides
scarcely in a fit state to put to sea, so much had
their (wiuiiinunt been retarded. Lucien, without
speaking of the Egyptian design, hinted at the
necessity for a commanding force in the Medi-
terranean, of the possibility of attempting some-
thing that might be of use to both nations ; an ex-
pedition, j)orhaps, to retake Minorca. At last, he
obtained the requisite orders, and the Siianish fleet
at Ferrol was to be joined by the French ships
from Rochefort, which were to conduct them to
Cadiz. This was not all. Spain, a« it will bo
remembered, agreed to present six vessels to France
as a gift. The time when this condition was to bo

carried into eflect had been disputed; but as Tus-
cany was about to be delivered up to Spain when
Louisiana was placed in the hands of France, it
was but proper that the ships of war should be
givtn immediately. The Spanish minister, finally,
decided to choose six then lying in the arsenal at
Cadiz, and to give them up immediately ; lut they
would not give them armed and victualled. It
was impossible to send to France for guns and
biscuit. These were very trivial things to contest
in the face of the common enemy, that it was ne-
cessary by all means to combat, if his pretensions
were to bo lowered. The difficulties were at liist
overcome in the mode the first consul wished.

It has been stated that the French admiral,
Dumanoir, had gone first to Cadiz in order to
watch over the equipment of the Spanish vessels
now become French property, and to take the com-
mand of them. This admiral had visited the ports
of Spain and found them all in disorder, the whole
exhibiting a scene of reckless oinilence and disor-
ganized destitution. Thnugh still in possession of
the remnants of magnificent establishments, of
stores, and of materials lor building vessels, and of
numerous fine but dismantled ships, there was not
at Cadiz, for want of pay, a single sailor, or a work-
man to get the ships ready for sea. Every thing
was given up to waste and pillage '. The French
minister sent admiral Dumanoir letters of credit
upon some of the richer houses in Cadiz, and by
means of ready money that officer contrived to
overcome the jirincipal obstacles. After choosing
from the vessels tliose which had suffered least
from time and Spanish neglect, he armed them by
taking guns and stores from those which I'emained;
and he procured French sailors, some of whom
were emigrants in consequence of the revolution,
and others escaped from English prisons; he re-
ceived a certain number fi-om France, sent in small
vessels, and got leave to enter some Spaniards, and,
by offers of liigh wages, some Danes and Swedes.
The fiag and other officers, required to organize
the whole, came by post across the peninsula.
Detachments of French infantry were marched
from Catalonia to complete the complements. This
division, those of Ferrol and Rochefort, formed
about eighteen sail, and were designed to proceed
to Egyjit, after touching at Otranto to embark ten
thousand men at that place. The objects, already
mentioned, were now putting into execution.

To force Sjjain to the feeble efforts which were
obtained with so nmcli trouble, the fii-st consul had
fulfilled all he had promised with remarkable
fidelity, and had even gone beyond. The house of
Parma had received, in place of its duchy, the fine
country of Tuscany, which had for so long a time
been the ardent wish of the court of iMadrfd. It
was necessary to obtain for that the consent of
Austria, and it had been procured. The duchy of
Tuscany had further been erected into the kingdom
of Etruria. The old reigning duke of I'arina, a reli-
gious devotee, nn enemy to all the novelties of the
day, was the brother, as before stated, of the queen
of Spain. His son, a young nuin very ill educated

> The reports of the admiral, which exist in the arcliives,
not of the navy, hut of the ofllce for foreign affairs, "Her a
most curious picture of what may hcfal a large kinKdom con-
fided to improper hands.

Affairs of Parma and Tus-
240 cany. — Proceedings of
admiral Ganteaume.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

He sails from Brest 1801.

during a storm. April.

and brought up, had married an infanta, and lived
at the Escuriai. For this jounj; couple tiie kingdom
of Etruria was designed. Still the first consul
having pi-omised this kingdom only in exchange
for the duchy of Parma, was not bound to deliver
up the one until the other was vacant. This could
not happen until the death or abdication of the old
reigning duke ; but he would neither die nor abdi-
cate. Notwithstanding the interest which the first
consul had in getting quit of such a guest in Italy,
he consented to tolerate him in Parma, and to
place the infants upon the throne of Etruria. Ho
only required that they should come to Paris to
receive the crown from his hands, as of old time
vassal monarchs came to ancient Rome to receive
the crown from the hands of the people-king. It
was a singular and grand spectacle which he thus
wished to give to republican France. The young
princes quitted Madrid on their way to Paris at the
same moment that their parents were travelling
towards Badajoz, in order to afford the favourite
the pleasure of beholding him at the head of an
army.

Such were the cnm])laisant means by which the
first consul hoi)ed to secure the zeal of the court of
Spain, and to make it concur in liis designs.

At this moment all eves were directed towards
Egypt. It was to this point the efforts, the regards,
the fears, and the hopes of the two great belligerent
nations, France and England, were now directed.
It seemed as if, before laying down their arms,
these two nations wished for the last time to ter-
minate as gloriously and advantageously as possible
for each, that terrible war which for ten years had
been ensanguining the whole earth.

Ganteaume was left endeavouring to sail from
Brest, on the 23rd of January, 1801, or the 3rd of
Pluviose, during a furious storm. The wind had
been for a good while contrary or too light for his
purpose. At last, during a gale from the north-west
which blew on the coast, he had set sail in obedience
to the aid-de-camp of the first consul, Savary, who
was at Brest with orders for him to overcome every
resistance. This perhaps was imprudent ; but how
was it possible to put to sea in presence of the
enemy's fleet, which, continually blockaded Brest
roads, and never withdrew except when the weather
rendered keeping tlie station impossible. It was
necessary, therefore, not to sail out at all, or to sail
in bad weather when the English had withdrawn.
The squadron consisted of seven shii)S of the line,
two frigates, and a brig, all good sailers, carrying
four thousand men, an immense mass of stores,
and numerous workmen, wiio with their families
imagined they were bound for St. Domingo. They
extinguished all the fires on board the squadron
that they might not be perceived, and set sail with
the greatest apprehensions. A north-west wind was
the most dangerous of all tor working out of Brest.
The wind blew at the moment with extreme force,
but fortunately did not reach its utmost violence
until they had cleared the pas.sages and were fairly
on the ocean. They then encountered terrific squalls
and a fearfully heavy sea. The sciuadron sailed in
order of battle, the Indivisible, being the admiral's,
led the van, and was followed by the Formidable,
which bore the flag of rear-admiral Linois. The rest
of the squadron were in line ; eacli vessel cleared
for action in case the enemy should heave in sight.

They were scarcely at sea before the wind increas-
ing carried away the three topsails of the For-
midable, and theraain-top-mast of the Constitution.
The Dix-Aout and the Jean-Bart, which were
near aft, took up their stations larboard and star-
board of the Constitution, and kept her in sight
until the morning, in order, if needful, to render
her assistance. The Vautour brig took in water so
fast, that she was on the point of foundering had
she not received timely assistance. During the
storm and darkness of the night the squadron had
dispersed; the next morning, at break of day, the
Indivisible lay to, admiral Ganteaume remaining
on the look-out for the purpose of rallying his
squadron; but fearing the return of the English
fleet, which up to this time had not shown itself,
and relying upon the rendezvous appointed for all
the vessels, he set sail for the place agreed upon.
The place of meeting had been fixed for fifty leagues
west oft' Cape St. Vincent, one of the most salient
capes on the western coast of Spain. The other
ships of the squadron, after having buffetted the
gale, repaired their damages at sea by means of
the stores on board, and they all subsequently
rejoined each other, except the admiral's ship,
which after lying to for them had sailed to the
place of rendezvous. The only incident on the pas-
sage was an encounter of the French frigate the
Bravoure with the English frigate the Concord,
which was watching the course of the division.
Captain Dordelin, wlio commanded the Bravoure,
Iboi-e up to the Concord and offered her battle. He
ran alongside of her and poured several broadsides
into her, which caused a frightful execution upon
her decks.- Captain Dordelin was preparing to
board her, when the English frigate manoeuvring
on her side to escape the danger, got clear by
making all sail '.

The French frigate rejoined the squadron, andi
all the vessels became again united under the
admiral's flag at the meridian indicated. In this
manner they steered for Gibraltar, after escaping
by a miracle the enemy and the dangers of the
sea. The squadron was highly animated, and those
on board began to guess where they were bound,
each desiring to have a share iii the glorious mis-
sion of saving Egypt.

It became imjiortant to use all speed, as the
fleet of admiral Keith, assembled in the Bay of
Macri upon the coast of Asia Minor, was only
awaiting the last preparations of the Turks, who
are always slow to set fcail, and then to carry an
English army to the mouths of the Nile. It was
neces.';ary to hasten before them, and circumstances
seemed to aid the attempt in the most fortunate
manner. The English admiral, St. Vincent, who
commanded the fleet, blockading Brest, hearing too
late of the sailing of Ganteaume, sent admiral
Calder in pursuit with a force equal to the French
squadron, seven sail of the line and two frigates.
The English, who did not imagine the French
would dare to penetrate into the Mediterranean in
the midst of so many of their vessels, deceived

' The English pretend that it was the French frigate which
withdrew from tlie action. I received the inloniiation from
two superior otlicers who still survive, and were in the
squadron ; they leave me no reason to douht of the truth of
the recital which I have here given.— ATo/c o/ the Author.

1801.
April.

Anxiety of admiral Gan-
uauiiie. — Errors iu
coiuequence.

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Dreadful action between two
frigates. — Uanieaume tn- 241

ters Toulon.

besides by tbe reports in circulation, believed that
the French had sailed towards St. Domingo. Ad-
miral Calder went to the Canaries, intending to
sail from thence to the West Indies. During this
Ganteaume had arrived at the straits, antl was
steering along the coast of Africa to keep out of
sight of the English cruisers about Gibraltiir. The
wind was not sufficiently favourable, but the
moment was highly promising for the success of
his object. Admiral Warren, who was contiimally
on the watch, cruising between Gibralfcir and Port
Mahon, liad only four ships, all the remainder of
the British force being engaged in tiansporting
troops destined for the landing in Egypt, under
admiral Keith. Unfortunately Ganteaume was not
cognizant of all this, and the serious responsibilities
which weighed ujioii him, caused him an anxiety
which all the cannon-balls of the enemy would
never have kindled in his intrepid bosom. An-
noyed by two enemy's vessels, the Sprightly cutter
and Success frigate, which approached him too
near; he gave them chase, and captured both.
He passed the straits, and entered the Mediter-
ranean. He liad now nothing more to do than to
spread all sail towards the east. Admiral Warren,
iu fact, was snug in the harbour of Port Mahon,
and admiral Keith, embarrassed with two hundred
transports, had not yet quitted the coast of Asia
Minor. The shores of Egypt were, therefore, ])er-
fectly open, an<l the succour, for which the French
were waiting impatiently, and which had been so
long promised, mi^ht have been landed. But Gan-
teaume, always disquieted about the fate of his
squadron, and still more about that of the nume-
rous soldiers whom he had on board, was appre-
hensive at the sight of the smallest vessel that
come in his way. He constantly imagined there
was an enemy's fleet bttweeii himself and Egypt,
which in reality was not the fact. Above all, he
was apprehensive of the state of his vessels, and
feared that if it should be necessiiry to carry all
sail bifore a superior force, ho should not be able
to do it with liis masts damaged by the storm, and
only hastily repaired at sea Dissatisfied with the
Bravoure frigate, which did not sail as he wished,
he desired to get rid of her, and sent her into
Toulon. But in |)lace of sending her alone to ])ort,
and proceeding himself from the westward to the
east along the African coast, he committed the
error of hUmdiug to the northward, and getting
nearly in siijht of Toulon. His intention being to
escort the Bravoure a part of the way to prevent
her falling into the hands of the enemy's cruisers ;
certainly a very poor reason, because it was a hun-
dred times bettei- to expose the frigate to hazard
than the entire object of the expedition. In con-
se(|uencc of this luult he was diseoverd by admiral
Warren, who immediately left Port Mahon. Gan-
teaume, to deceive him, at once gave chase. The
gallant captain Bergeret, commanding the Dix-
Aofit, sailing faster than the rest of the S(|uadron,
reconnoitred the Knglish within a very shoit dis-
tance, and saw tli.it lliero wi to ouiy four line of
battle ships and two Irigates. Highly pleased at
this discovery, ho thought, that being so superior to
the English, (ianU-aumi; would have borne down
ujion them, and give'i battle, but on a sudden he
saw the signal made to give up the pursuit, and to
rejoin the squailron. That brave ollicer, much

mortified, immediately commnnieated to Gan-
teaume tliat he was deceived by his watch, and
that there were only four vessels of the line. It
was in vain ; Ganteaume thought he saw seven or
eight, and determined to make sail northwards.
N vertheless it was certain, as the reports «)f ad-
miral Warren afterwards proved, that there were
only four of the enemy's vessels in sight'. Gan-
teaume then approached the gulf of Lyons, in order
to protect the Bravoure, and again getting in sight
of the English squadron, he ran into Toulon in
consternation. There he was alarmed by the fear
of having incurred the di.spleasure of the first con-
sul, indignant at discovering that the object of the
expedition had been thus compromised at the
moment when it promised complete success. This
fatal resolution was the cause of the loss of Egypt,
which at that moment might have been saved *.

While Ganteaume was beating up between the
coast of Africa and Port Mahon, two frigates, the
Justice and Egyiitienne, sailed eastward from
Toulon with four hundred soldiers and munitions
of war, anil reached the port of Alexandria without
seeing an English vessel. Two other frigates, the
Reg^n^ree and the Africaine, left Rochefort,
crossed the sea, and passed through the straits into
the Mediterranean without any accident. Unhap-
pily they were separated. The R^ge'ner^e arrived
before Alexandria on the 2nd of March, IJJOl, or
Venlose, year ix. The Africaine fell in with an
English frigate in the night, and stopping to en-
gage, was taken. She had three luimlred troops
on board, who, anxious to take a part in the battle,
occasioned a frightful disorder that, after an heroic
defence, became the cause of her defeat ■". Thus,
as was seen, out of four frigates which left Toulon
and Rochefort, three arrived without accident, and
found the coast of Egypt fi^ee from the enemy, and
so easily accessible, that they entered tlie poit of
Alexandria without firing a shot : thus difficult is it
for vessels to meet on the immensity of the ocean,
and so greatly does courage stand in aid of a brave
officer who ventures to risk his flag in the achieve-
ment of a great duty.

Ganteaume entered Toulon on the 19th of Feb-
ruary, or 30th Pluviose, worn down with fatigue
and anxiety, experiencing, as he wrote to the first
consul, every kind of torment at the same moment*.

I See the report of admiral Warren of tlie 23rd of April,
1801, in^erlcd in the Monileurot the 27tli Messidur, year ix.,
doul)le tiumlicr, 2!)G and 2a7.

* If p"8silile at all, not possible unless Ganteaume had
arrived there before the end of Fel)ruary. Ganic.iunie
airived at 'I'oiilon only on the lllth of l-'ebrnary. The Eng-
liiili \ver<- nif tlic E^'yplian coast on the 28ili, and in si)^t of
/Alexandria on the 1st of March, llionnh the weather pir-
nrtted no landing until the 8th. They were at anchor in
Ahoukir Uiy on the 2nd. Ganteaume li.nd to run to Alex-
■indria from Toulon in nine days to be there brfme the Kng-
lish ; he could scarcely have got through the di.stance unless
with a vry fair wind. — Translator.

' It was a slaughter, not a battle, a brave and useless do-
ftncp, arising from the crowded state of the Africaine. with
71.5 on board. She had 200 killed and 1 13 wounded. The Eng-
lish frigate, the Piicrbe. one killed and twelve wounded. ■Hie
Fn-n. h fired at the rigging, the English at the hull. Nothing
so Icaifiil in frigates occurred during the viar.— Translalnr.

* See his letter written on the 19th of February, or 30lh of
Pluvidse, ihe day of his entry into Toulon, preserved in the
archives of the navy.

R

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

first consul.-
Egypt.

1801.
April.

This might well be after thus committing interests
of groat importance. The first consul, naturally
irritable, could little restrain his feelings, when
his plana were thus thwarted through those em-
ployed to carry them into effect. But he knew
man ; lie knew human nature ; he knew that it
was not wise at the moment when action was every
thing, to exhibit marks of his dissatisfaction too
strongly, because it was more necessary to animate
than to disliearten : he knew that Ganteaume stood
in need of encouragement to be sustained, and
not reduced to despair by those ebullitions of rage
wliich at that time were feared by all as tlie great-
est possible misfortune. Far, therefore, from re-
proaching the admiral, he sent his aid-de-camp,
Lacue'e, to comfort and reanimate him, to place
funds in his hands, troops, and provisions, and to
urge him to ])roceed to sea without a moment's
delay. The rebuke he received was limited to a
mild censure for having quitted the coast of Africa
for the Balearic Islands, and for having drawn
admii'al Warren in pursuit of him.

Ganteaume was a brave man, a good sailov and
officer ; but the situation of his mind at that
moment shows how much more responsibility will
weaken the spirit, than even the dangers of can-
non. This is honourable to such men; and proves
how much more they fear to commit the interests
trusted to their hands, than to hazard their own
lives. Gant'jaume, thus encouraged by the fii'st
consul, went to work, but lost time in repairing
his vessels, or waiting for a favoui-able wind. More
than one propitious opportunity liai>pened. Ad-
miral Warren had sailed towards Naples and
Sicily. Admiral Keith was, it is true, apjjroach-
ing Aboukii- with the English army ; but it was
not impossible to deceive his vigilance, and to dis-
embark tiie French troops, either beyond Damietta,
or more on this side, twenty or twenty-five leagues
from Ak'xandi-ia, which would have enabled them
to reach Egypt by a march or two across the
desert.

While the exertions of the first consul were
thus directed to hasten the second departure of
Ganteaume, fresh letters were sent from Paris,
])ressing the organization of the squadrons at
Rochefort, Ferrol, and Cadiz, in order to convey
succour to Egypt by several different channels at
once. At last, Ganteaume, encouraged by the
exhortations of the first consul, -together with
numerous marks of his kindness, set sail again on
the 19th of March, or 28lh of Ventose ; but at the
moment of going out, the Constitution got aground,
and two days were required to get her afloat.
On the 22nd of March, or 1st of Germinal, this
squaHron, consisting of seven sail of the line and
several frigates, again hoisted sail for the coast of
Sardinia, without being perceived by the English.

It was very desirable that these attempts should
be crowned with success, at least in part, because
the French army in Egypt, left to its own re-
sources, was tiireatened by the united forces of
the East and West. Still, although reduced in
strength, it could have conquered the multitude
of its enemies, (as it hail done on the plains of
Aboukir and Ileliopolis,) if it had been well com-
manded. Unhappily, Bonaparte was no longer
at its head ; Desaix and Kl^ber were no more.

The state of Egypt must now be described from

the time when the blow of the poignard laid low
the noble figure of Kle'ber, of which, the appear-
ance alone, on the shores of the Rhine as well as
of the Nile, sufficed to inspire the hearts of our
soldiers with courage, to make them forget past
perils, the misery, and the suffering of their exile.
The prosperous state of the colony must be ex-
plained, as well as the sudden disaster which over-
took it. This is demanded ; because it is highly
useful to offer to the eyes of a people the spectacle
of its reverses as well as its successes, that it
may become a wholesome lesson. Certainly, in
the midst of the unequalled prosperity of the
consulate, the fruit of a most admirable and
sagacious course of conduct, a single disaster can-
not obscure the brilliancy of the picture which has
been delineated ; but it is necessary to give our
warriors and generals, yet more than to our sol-
diers, the painful lesson contained in the latter
period of the French occupation of Egypt. May
it occasion them to reflect upon their too common
tendency to disunion, more particularly, when
there is no powerful hand to ensure subordination,
and to direct against the common enemy their
mental energy, and the impetuosity of theii" natural
temperament.

When Kle'ber expired, Egypt appeared in entire
submission to the French arms. Having seen
the army of the grand vizier dispersed in the
twinkling of an eye, and the revolt of three hun-
dred thousand of the inhabitants of Cairo sup-
pressed in a few days, by a handful of soldiers,
the Egyptians regarding the French as invincible,
considered their establishment upon the banks of
the Nile as the decree of irresistible destiny.
JMoreover, they began to get more familiar and
more accustomed to their European guests, and to
leel that the new yoke was much lighter than the
old one had been. They paid fewer taxes than under
the Mamelukes, and did not receive the blows of
the bastinado at the time of the collection of the
miri, as they did when under the dominion of their
co-religionists, whom the French had dispossessed.
Murad Bey, that Mameluke prince of so chival-
rous and brilliant a char.acter, and who had, at
last, become attached to the French, held Upi)er
Egypt of them in fief. He showed himself a faith-
ful vassal, paid his tribute punctually, and ad-
ministered, with great care, the police government
of the Upper Nile. He was an ally that might be
depended upon. One single bi'igade of two thousand
five hundred men, placed in the neighbourhood of
Bini-Souef, and for whom it was always easy to
fall back upon Cairo, was sufficient to keep Upper
Egypt in subjection ; a great advantage, consider-
ing the very limited number of effective troops.

The army having, on its own side, shared in the
mistake of its gener.al at the time of the conven-
tion of El-Arisch, and having repaired the error
as well as he had done in the plains of Heliopolis,
had preserved a sense of this fault, and was not
disposed to fall into it again. Well aware that they
had to give an account to the republic of so noble
a possession, the soldiers no more di-eamtd abciut
its evacuation. Besides, Bonaparte, being at this
time the supreme chief of the republic, that fact
explained easily tlie motive of his departure, and
they no more regarded him as one who had de-
serted them. They thought thepiselves continually

1801.
April.

Egypt advances in prosperity. EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Fiiuiiicial resources.

243

in presence of their former general, and had no
more any disquietude about their future fortunes.
Thanks to the foresight of the first consul, whicli
had made him charter sailing-vessels in every
port, there did not pass a single week without
some vessels, small or large, entering the port
of Alexandria, bringing stores, the products of
Europe, newspapers, correspondence irom families,
and government despatches. In consequence of
this continual intercourse, their country was for
ever present in the imagination of the troops.
Without doubt regret was soon awakened in their
minds, whenever any peculiar circumstance arose
to touch their feeHngs. At the death of Kleber, for
example, when Menou tool; the command, every
eye was directed at once towards France. A ge-
neral of brigade, in i>resenting his officers to
Menou, asked him whetiicr he intended, at last,
to tike them back to their country. Menou gave
him a reproof, and proclaimed, iu the order of the
day, his formal resolution to conform to the in-
tentions of his government, which were to retain
the colony for ever ; and every i-ank at once sub-
mitted. But moi-e than all, general Bonaparte
held the reins of power ; this was, for the old
soldiers of Italy, the best ground both of hope and
confidence.

The pay was regularly issued, while every thing
was at a low price. In place of settling with the
troops in rations they were paid in cash. They
were merely provided with corn. Thus they had
the benefit of a low market, and lived in the midst
of an abundance of every thing, often eating poultry
in place of butcher's meat. Cloth wa;; deficient,
but the warmth of the climate was great, and they
supplied that want for the princi])al part of their
dress with calico, of which in Egypt there was
always agi'cat plenty. For the rest of their cloth-
ing they took all the cloth brought into the east in
the course of traffic without regarding the colour :
hence there was variety enough in their uniforms.
In some regiments, for example, the men were seen
dressed in blue, red, or gre(Mi ; but they were all
clothed, and presented a fine soldierly appearance.
The learned colonel Conto rendered groat .services
to th'j army by the fecundity of his inventive
powers. He had brought with him to Egypt a
company of aerostiers, the remnant of the aerostiers
of Fleurus. It was a union of all trades organized
under military discipline. By their aid he esta-
blished at Cairo machinery for weaving, fulling,
and carding cloth ; and as wool was not deficient,
it was hojied he would soon be aide to su|)ersedo
there the sup[)ly of cloth from Europe. It was the
same with gunpowder. The manufactories of that
article at Cairo, l)y .M. Ch:impy, had already sn[i-
plied OH nmcli as was demanded for all the neces-
Hitii'9 of the w.ir. The internal traiie was visibly
increasing, 'i'iie caravans, well guanled, began to
arrive from the heart of Africa. The Arabs t)f the
lied Sea visited the ports of Suez and Cosscir,
where tlx-y exchanged coffee, perfumes, and dates
for the corn and rice of Egypt. The Greeks, avail-
ing themselves of the Turkish Hag, and better
sailers than the English cruisers, brought to Da-
niietta, llosetta, and Alexandria, oil, wine, and
other similar productions. In a word, nothing
was wanting for the present; while great resources
were preparing for the future. The officers, seeing

that the definitive occupation of Egypt was deter-
mined upon, took the best steps possible to establish""
themselves in the most comfortable manner they
were able as permanent residents. Those who
lived at Alexandria or at Cairo, and they were by
far the larger number, found very commodious
quarters. Syrian, Greek, and Egyptian women,
some purchased of the dealers in slaves, others out
of their own inclination, came and partook of their
accommodations. Melancholy was banished. Two
engineers erected a theatre at Cairo, and the of-
ficers themselves got up French pieces, playing the
characters themselves. The soldiers did not live
worse than their officers, and, thanks to the facility
of the French character that enables it to famiharize
itself with every nation, they were soon seen
smoking and drinking coffee with the Tux'ks and
Arabs.

The financial resources of Egypt, carefully ad-
ministered, were adequate to all the necessities of
the army. Egypt had paid under the sway of the
Mamelukes, as the taxes were more or loss rigor-
ously levied, from :{(i,000,000 to 40,000.000 f. »
She now paid no more than from 20,000,000 f. to
25,000,000 f. ^, and the collection was therefore less
oppressive. This 20,000,000 f. to 25,000,000 f. suf-
ficed for the expenses of the colony, because all the
expenses united seldom exceeded 1,700,000 f. * per
month, or 20,400,000 f. * per annum. The collec-
tion improved as time drew on, and became more
regular, and at the same time the burdens became
more easy to the people. The resources of the
army were thus gradually augmented, and it was
not erroneous in consequence to calculate upon a
surplus of 3,000,000 f. or 4,000,000 f. * per annum,
which would have formed a small fund applicable
to extraordinary circumstances, or to construct
works of defence or utility. The army still amounted
to twenty-five or twenty six thousand individuals,
including those attached, whose duties were not
strictly military, the women and children of the
troops, and persons in the army employ. Of this
number, twenty-three thousand might be counted
as soldiers, of whom six thousand, less efficient,
wei-e still in a state to defend the fortresses, and
seventeen or eighteen thousand were capable of
the most active service. The cavalry was superb ;
it equalled the Mamelukes in bravery, and far sur-
passed them in discipline. The flying artillery
was rapid in its motions, and well served. Tho
dromedary regiment had been brought to the
highest degree of perfection. It scoured tlie desert
with extraordinary speed, and completely sickened
the Arabs' desire of pillage. The loss of men was
very small in the eonmion average of mortality ;
there were only six hundred sick out of twenty-six
thousand imlividuals. Still, in the snp])osition of a
war long protracted, there wo\dd, perliaps, Iiavc
been a want of men ; but the (.Ireeks were eager
to serve, the Copts were the* same. The negroes
themselves, i)nrcliased at a low price and remark-
able for their faithfulness, formed excellent re-
cruits. The army in time might have received

' From £I,'1'10,000 .iterlinR to £l,600,00(i.

2 From £800,000 stcTliiig to £1,000,000.

3 About £(i8.000.
■< Or £S 10,000.

5 Or from £120,000 (o £IG0,00O.

. Character of Menou, com-
-•*■* niaiider-iu-chief.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Character of general 1801.

Reynier. April.

into its ranks ten or twelve thousand brave soldiers.
Confident even to e.\cess in its bravery and mili-
tary experiinee, it did not doubt itself capable of
driving tlie Turks or the English into the sea, sent
against them out of Asia or Europe. It is certain
that, well commanded, these eighteen thousand
men, properly concentrated, and bearing down
upon a mass of troops just landed, might have re-
mained, whatever opposition was made, the masters
of the Egyptian shore. But it was requisite they
should have been well commanded ; it was as
requisite for this same army as it would be for any
other.

Suppose KMber, or who would have been better
still, Desaix, the sagacious, the brave Desaix, left in
Egypt, from wiience, unfortunately, he was \vi(h-
drawn by tiie kind regard of the first consul : sup-
pose Klelier, esca])ed from the poignard of the
Mussulman, administering the government of the
country for several years ! Who can doulit but he
would have converted it into a flourishing colony, —
that he would have founded there a magnificent
empire ! A healthful climate, without a single
fever, a country of inexhaustible fertility, a sub-
missive peasantry attached to the soil, voluntai-y
recruits, — wliat a vast superiority of elements over
the establishment we are at this day founding in
Africa !

But in place of Desaix, in place of Kle'ber, it
was Menou who had become the general-in-chicf
of the army by right of seniority. This was an
irrei)arable misfortune for the colony, and it was a
fault on the part of the first consul not to have
replaced him. Not certain of his orders arriving
in Egypt at the proper destination, the first consul
was afraid that if the order containing the nomi-
nation of the new general fell into the hands of the
English, it would only serve to disorganize the exist-
ing command. They would have stated that Menou
was de|>rived of his command, but would not have
transmitted the order which appointed his suc-
cessor. The command would have been kept more
or less long in a state of uncertainty. Still this
motive does not excuse the first consul, if he were
cognizant of the incapacity of Menou in a military
point of view. One reason decided in favour of
that general was his known zeal fur the preserva-
tion and colonization of Egypt. Menou, in fact,
resisted in the strongest manner the scheme of
evacuation, combated the influence of the officers
of the army of the Rhine, and, in fact, made him-
self the head and chief of the colonist party. He
liad pushed his enthusiasm so far as to become a
convert to Islamism, and had married a Turkish
woman. He called himself Abdallah Menou ; and
these eccentricities made the soldiers, naturally
given to raillery, very merry at his expense ; but
they did no misciiief to the colony in the sight of
the Egyptians. Menou was possessed of intelli-
gence, much acquired knowledge, great application
to business, a taste for colonial establishments, and
all the qualities required for administrative duties,
but none of the qualities of a general. Destitute
of experience, quick perception, and determination,
he was, besides, very unfortunate in his personal
appearance. He was short-sighted, corpulent, and
looked miserably on horseback. He was a com-
mander, on the whole, very ill selected for soldiers
as alert and well-seasoned as the French were.

More than all, he wanted strength of character,
and under his feeble authority the heads of the
army, being divided among themselves, soon be-
came the ]>rey of the most fatal discord.

Under Bonaparte, there was but one will and
one mind in Egypt. Under Kleber, there were
two, the colonists and anti-colonists, or those who
wished to remain in Egypt, and those who wished
to dei)art. But, after the affront which the Eng-
lish attempted to inflict upon the French soldiers,
an affront gloriously avenged at Heliopolis, after
the necessity for remaining became known, every
thing became orderly. Under the imposing autho-
rity of Kleber there was order and union. But the
time between the victory of HeliopoHs and the
death of Kle'ber was too short— far too short.
From the moment Menou took the command order
and union ceased to exist.

General Reynier, a good staff-officer, having
served with credit in that capacity in the army of
the Rhine, but cold, with no personal ajipearance,
or ascendancy over the soldiers, was still generally
esteemed. He was considered as one of the officers
best qualified to appear at the head of the army.
He was the oldest officer next to Menou. The same
day on which Kle'ber died, a lively altercation en-
sued between Menou and Reynier, not as to which
should take the command, but which should de-
cline the burden. Neither of them wouW accept it,
;ind for that day the situation of affairs was most
alarming. They were both under the belief that
the blow of the poignard which had struck down
general Kleber, was but the signal for an exten-
sive insurrection, organized throughout Egypt by
the influence of the English and Turks. The heavy
duty of the command at such a critical moment,
might have been reasonably dreaded. Menou gave
way at last to the entreaties of general Reynier, and
the other generals, and consented to become chief
of the colony. But the French were soon set right
upon the actual state of things, by the perfect
tranquillity that contiimed after Kleber's death,
and the conmiand, just refused, became afterwards
a subject of regret. Reynier novv wished for that
which he had begun by declining. Under his cold,
modest, and even timid bearing, he concealed ex-
cessive vanity. The authority of Menou was in-
su|)portable to him. Until then quiet and submis-
sive, he became thenceforth a grumbler and a
fault-finder. He discovered a fault in every thing.
Menou accepted the command at the request of
his companions in arms, and assumed the title of
conmiander-in-chief ad interim. Reynier criticized
the title Menou had adopted. At the funeral of
Kidber, Menou had assigned the four corners of
the coffin to the generals of division, and placed
himself behind, at the head of the staff'; Reynier
charged him with playing off the viceroy. Menou
had requested the illustrious Fourier to jironounce
a eulogy over the grave of Kleber ; Reynier pre-
tended that it was a slight to the memory of KIt'lier,
to suffer it to be done by another. A delay in a
subscription opened to raise a monument to the
memory of Kle'ber, difficulties in the succession or
administration to the genei-al's property — very tri-
vial indeed, as the property was of the noble war-
riors of that period; these and other puerilities
were interpreted by Reynier, and by those who
followed his example, in the most factious maimer.

1301.
. April.

Administration of Menou
in Egypt.

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

His system of taxation.

These miserable incidents would not be cited, un-
wortliy of liistory as they are, if their very little-
ness were not instructive by showing to what paltry
meannesses motiveless discontent will sometimes
descend. Reynier now became an insubordinate,
culpable, and foolish lieutenant. He was joined by
general Damas, the friend of Kle'ber, and chief of
tlie general staff, who bore in his heart all the
jealousies of the army of the Rhine against the
army of luily. The spirit of opposiiinn had its
abode in the staff itself. Menou would not suffer it
60 near him, and resolved to take from Danias the
post which he had oecujiied under Kle'ber.

The opponents of Menou being thus disconcerted,
endeavoured to parry the blow by sending the
brave and clever general Friant to negotiate on
their behalf with their commander-in-chief. Friant,
absorbed in his military duties, a stranger to all
their divisions, interfered only for the purpose of
healing them. Menou, firmer than was customary,
would not yield, and ai)i>ointed general Lagrange
in place of general Damas. By this step he found
himself less encumbered than before by his oppo-
nents ; but they were not the less irritated ; on
the contrary, the dissensions among the chiefs of
the army only became more disgraceful and more
alarming. Men of reflection saw with pain, the
shock which must result to the chief authority ;
lamentiible enough any where, but far more lament-
able at a far distance from the supreme power, in
a position surrounded with continual danger.

Meni)U,a bad general, but a laborious administra-
tor of a government, worked day and night at what
he denominated the " organization of the colony."
He effected many good measures, and s >me that
were bad ; but, above all, he attempted to effect
too much. First, he employed himself in settling
the arrears of pay, and employed for this purpose
the contribution of 10,000,0001'. which Kl^ber had
exacted from the Egyptian cities as the penalty for
their late revolt. This was one mode of keeping
up peace and subordination in the army ; for at the
time of the convention of El-Arisch, some marks of
insubordination had manifested themselves, arising
in part from the pay being in arrear ; Menou, in
consequence, regarded the regular pay of what was
due to the soldier as a security for good disci[)line,
and he had reason u|)on his side. But he took the
bold step of paying the soldier always, before any
other expense, forgetting what urgent circum
stiinces war might originate. He employed him-
self in improving the soldiers' bread, and he ren-
dered it of excellent quality. He put the hospitals
in perfect order ; and very carefully applied him-
self to introduce clearness and order into the public
accounts. Menou was a man of the most strict in-
tegrity, given a little to lecturing. He so often
expressed in the order of the day his intention to
establish strict honesty in the army, that he hurt
the feelings of the generals. They asked, with
some bitterness, if nothing but pillage had existed
before .Menou, and if integrity dated from his com-
mand of the army. It w;us very true, that but few
malversations iiad been committi'd during the oc-
cnjjation of Egypt. The army had taken, after the
dissolution of the treaty of El-Arisch, a very con-
Hi<lerable prize in the port of Alexandria ; it con-
sisted of numerous vessels that had come, under
the Turkish flag, to transport the French army to

its own shores ; and they were nearly all filled with
merchandise. A commission was appointed to sell
them for the profit of the colonial treasury. Menou
appeared discontented with the operations of the
commission, and with general Lanusse who com-
manded at Alexandria. He recalled Lanusse, in a
manner that seemed to cast a reHection upon his
character, and appointed gener.l Friant in his
place. General Lanusse was deeply wounded at
this, and, upon his return to Cairo, increased the
number of the disaffected. Menou did not rest
here ; he tried to change the system of contribu-
tions, and in this conmiitted a great mistake. It
was not to be doubted that, in time, a reform might
have been operated in the Egyptian finances. By
means of a fair rei)artition of the land revenues,
with a few taxes levied judiciously upon articles
of consumption, it would have been easy to relieve
the Egyptian people, and increase the receipts of
the treasury. But at the moment when the French
were exposed to attacks from without, it was not
politic to increase the difficulties within, and to
make the peojile suffer from changes of which they
would not at first be convinced of the benefit. The
collection of the former taxes justly and in due
course, was enough to establish a comparison be-
tween the Mamelukes and the French — a compa-
rison greatly to the advantage of the last, and to
increase considerably the funds applicable to the
ai'my. Menou conceived the idea of a genei'al
valuation of property, a new system of land-tax,
and, above all, the exclusion of the Copts, who, in
Egypt, are the farmers of the revenue, and act
nearly the same part there which the Jews do in
the north of Europe. These designs, very proper
for future consideration and use, were at that mo-
ment very ill-advised. Menou, most fortunately,
had not time to put his plans into execution ; but
he carried into effect the creation of new taxes.
The sheiks, El-Beled, or municipal magistrates of
Egypt, at certain times were invested with the
nmnicipal power, and obtained as presents either
pelisses or shawls from the investing authorities.
They returned, for these presents, gifts of horses,
camels, or cattle. The Mamelukes renewed this
ceremony as fre(juently as possible, for the sake of
the profit which they obtained. Some of them had
commuted the gift into one of money ; Menou
thought of making the measure general all over
Egypt. He levied upon the .sheiks, El-Beled, a
tax of about 2,500,0001.1 They were generally
rich enough to pay this sum, and to some it was a
lightciiing of the existing burthen. But the sheiks
had great interest in tiie two thousand five hun-
dred villages that were under their authority ; and
the French ran the chance of turning the opinion
of the peiii)le against them, if they levied an abso-
lute, unil'iirm, uncompensated- tax, involving in it
the sujjpression of a usage of which the effect was
morally useful.

Menou possessed the idea of assimilating Egypt
to France, which he styled "civili ing " it, by
establishing an octroi or species of excise upon the
town consumption of various articles. Egypt had
already a duty upon articles of consumption, col-
lected in the okels, a sort of warehouses, in the
east, where merehandiso is dei)osited in the course

> Or £100,000 sterling.

Alterations of Menou.
24C — Malcontents in the
army.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Menou confirmed i
command.

1801.
April.

of its transport from one place to another. This
mode of collection was simple and facile. Menou
wished to change it into a tax collected at the town
gates, which were very numerous in Egypt. Inde-
pendently of the derangement this occasioned to
the inhabitants of the country, the effect was to
raise the price of provisions upon the French
garrisons, to throw by this means a considerable
part of the charge upon the army, and to excite
new miirraurings. Lastly, Menou resolved to levy
contributions upon the rich merchants, who escaped
the payment of the public taxes, such as the Copts,
Greeks, .Jews, Damascenes, Franks, and others. He
imposed upon them a capitation tax of 2,500,000 f.
per annum. The burden was not too weighty, at
least for the Copts, who had been enriched by the
farming of the revenue, but the Copts had been
very ill-ti'eated during the revolt of Cairo. Besides
the French had need of them; because it was to
tliem alone that recourse must be had for a loan,
or for any sum of money wanted upon an emer-
gency. It was not prudent, therefore, to alienate
them from the French any more than the Greek
or Eui'opean merchants, who, approximating to the
French in manners, usages, and mental qualities,
should have been iniermediatc agents between
them and the Egyptians. Lastly, Menou created a
duty on successions or upon bequeathed property,
which was to extend to the army; and this became
a fresh cause of discontent for the grumblers.

This mania for assimilating a colony to the mo-
ther country, in the belief that ar<jusing the preju-
dices of a people is the act of their civilization,
Menou had in common with all those who colonize
with narrow views, more eager to travel quickly
than well. To achieve this object, Menou esta-
blished a private council. This body w:is not com-
posed of five or six military chiefs, but of about
fifty civil and military officers taken from different
grades of society. It was a real parliament, that
ridicule prevented from assembling. He, lastly,
established an Arabic newspaper for the purpose
of making officially known to the army and the
Egyptians, the acts of the French authorities.

The soldiers paid little attention to these altera-
tions ; they lived well, laughed at Menou, and
applauded his good-nature and solicitude for their
benefit. The Egyptians were submissive, and found
after all that the yoke of the French was much
more ea.sy than that of the Mamelukes. But amidst
all this there were some who were irritable, and
these were the malcontents in the army. By doing
absolutely nothing, Menou would alone have had a
chance of escaping their envenomed criticisms, and
then he would have been censured for his inaction.
But Menou was too much occupied with his
schemes of organization not to supply ample mat-
ter for their critical censures. Of these schemes
they took advantage, and went so far as to project
the deposition of the commander-in-chief; an insen-
sate act which would have destroyed the colony,
and turned the army of Egypt into an army of
praetorians. The officers in the different regiments
were actually sounded for this purpose. For-
tunately, they were found to be so prudent and so
little inclined to revolt, that the idea of the deposi-
tion of Menou was given up. Reynier and Damas
had gained Lanusse ; all together they had drawn
in Belliard and Verdier. General Friant excepted.

all the generals of division became united in their
unhappy opposition. Two of the old members of
the convention, whom Bonaparte had taken with
him to Egypt for the sake of giving them employ-
ment, Isnard and Tallien, returned to their old
habits, and became most violent agitators. The
plan of deposing the commander-in-chief being
recognized as impracticable, these general officers
determined to present themselves to Menou in a
body, and to make their observations upon certain
of his measures which there could be no doubt me-
rited censure. They went to him without giving
him the least notice of their intention, and he was
naturally much surprised at their sudden appear-
ance. They laid before him the grievances of which
they thought they had reason to complain, and he
heard them; but not without great displeasure, and
at the same time not without showing considerable
dignity. He gave them a promise to consider seve-
ral of their observations, but he had not the strength
of mind to reprimand them at the moment for the
great impropriety of their conduct. This proceed-
ing caused a great mischief to the army, and was
severely censured. The result was that Isnard and
Tallien had the blame placed upon their shoulders,
and were embarked for Europe in consequence.

Just at this critical conjuncture the order of the
first consul arrived, confirming Menou in his post,
and invested him in a very decided manner with
the office of commander-in-chief in Egypt. This
expression of the will of the supreme head of the
government at home came at a very opportune
moment, and had the effect of recalling a part of
the malcontents to their duty. Unfortunately new
disputes arose, and things very soon got again into
their previous state. It was in such miserable
squabbles, that these discontented persons, soured
by e.xile, and encouraged by the feebleness of the
commander-in-chief, employed their time, from the
battle of Heliopolis up to the present day, the space
of an entire year; a precious period of time, which
should have been passed in perfect unity, and in
making preparations by that unity to conquer the
formidable enemy that "as about to land in Egypt.

The waters of the Nile were retiring to their
bed, and the inundated land was beginning to dry
up. The time for landing had arrived. The month
of February, 1801, or Ventose, year ix., was close
at hand. The English and the Turks were pre-
paring to make a new attack upon the colony. The
grand vizier, whom Kleber had beaten at Helio-
polis, was at Gaza between Palestine and Egypt,
not having dai-ed to appear at Constantinople from
the day of his defeat ; and having with him no
more than ten or twelve thousand men of his whole
army, devoured by plague, living upon plunder,
and having every day to figlit the mountaineers of
Palestine, who had risen against such visiters.
That enemy could be no cause of apprehension for
a good while to come. The capitan pacha, the foe
of the vizier and a favourite of the suitan, was
cruising with a squadron between Syria and Egypt.
He was desirous of renewing the convention of El-
Arisch, placing little reliance upon conquering
Egypt by force of arms, and having a distrust of
England, that he much suspected of a desire to
seize upon this fine country from the French for
themselves. Lastly, eighteen thousand men were
assembled at Macri in Asia Minor, partly English,

AprU.

Projected invasion of Egypt. EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Incapacity of Menou.

Others Hessians, Swiss, Maltese, and Neapolitans,
commanded by officers exclusively English, and in
a fine state of discipline, were about to be em-
barked on board lord Keith's squadron, to be
landed in Egypt under an excellent general, sir
Ralph Abcrcronibv.

To these eighteen thousand European soldiers,
six thousand Albanians were to be added, whom
the capitan jiacha was at that moment conveying
in his squadron, and six thousand sepoys were
crossing from India by the Red Sea. About twenty
thousand bad soldiers of the east were to join the
ten thousand Turks under the grand vizier in Pa-
lestine. Thus there were above sixty thousand
men whom the army of Egypt was likely to have
upon their hands. Still there were enough, and
even more than were wanted, if they had been
commanded by a skilful and judicious leader.

First, there was no danger of a surprise, be-
cause the intelligence was received from all parts.
It came from the Archipelago by Greek vessels, as
well as fr<im Upper Egypt through Murad Bey,
and from Europe itself by the despatches of the
first consul. All these accounts gave notice of an
approaching expedition, composed both of Euro-
peans and Orientals, ilenou, with a ileaf ear to
the warning, took no steps at the most critical
moment, neglecting every thing necessary iu the
existing state of his position.

Sound policy naturally counselled the keeping up
a good understanding with Murad Bey by treating
him with cautious regard, because he commauded
Upjier Egypt, and also preferred the French to
the English or the Turks. ]\Ienou neglected all
this, and replied to the information which he re-
ceived from Murad Bey, in a manner calculated to
alienate him from the If'rench if it had been pos-
sil>Ie to do so. Good policy demanded that Menou
should avail himself of the distrust of the Turks
towards the English, and without repeating again
the disgraceful convention of El-Arisch, delay their
operations by a pretended negotiation, which, by
occupying their attention, migiit relax theii" cflorts.
Menou neither thought of thi.-j mode of proceeding,
nor of any other.

In regard to the administrative and military re-
sources required under such circumstances, he.
was wholly unable to imagine any that were to the
purpose. He ought to have collected at Rosetta,
Damietta, Ramanieh, and Cairo, in short, at every
place where the army was likely to assemble, a
large magazine of warlike supplies, always easy to
obtain in a country as abundant as Egypt. Menou
refused to do this, not being willing to divert the
money from the payment of the soldiers which he
had promised them they should punctually receive
on the day it was* due,— a thing which the dilRculty
of collecting the new taxes barely enabled him to
do at the moment. It Wius necessary to remount
the cavalry and artillery, as they were the most
efficacious means of opposing an army just dis-
embarked, and most commonly destitute of these
two arms. He refused to do this on the same
financial grounds as before. So far did he carry
his want of foresight, that lie Helected the same
moment to cut the artillery horses, which were
entire, and by their spirit very troublesome to
govern.

Lastly, Menou was opposed to the concentration

of tlie troops, which the health of the soldiers at
that season rendered very desirable, even if no
danger had threatened Egypt from without. Some
cases of plague had already appeared. To encamp
the men and take them out of Ihc towns was
urgently required, besides keeping them more dis-
posable in case of a sudden demand for their ser-
vices. The army, scattered in garrison, uselessly
congregated in Cairo, or employed in the collection
of the miri, was in a condition to act no where with
effect. Still by the good disposal of twenty-three
thousand men, of whom seventeen or eighteen
thousand were capable of active service, Menou
had the means in his power to defend Egypt at
every point. He might be attacked by the side of
Alexandria, because it was situated near the roads
of Aboukir, and always, thei-efore, prefeiTed as a
landing-place ; by tlie side of Damietta, another
jjlace fit for a landing, though less favourable than
that of Aboukir ; or, thirdly, by the way of the
Syrian frontier, where the grand vizier was sta-
tioned with the remains of his ai-my. Of these
three, there was only one point seriously threatened,
namely, Alexandria and Aboukir roads, — a cir-
ciinistiince easy to be foreseen, because every one
was of that ojiinion, and it was openly expressed
in the army. The shore of Damietta was, on the
other hand, of difficult access, and so little united,
by a few narrow points to the Delta, that an in-
A'ading army, if it disembarked, could be easily
blocked up and forced to re-cmbark. It was not
at all probable that the English would approach by
the way of Damietta. On the side of Syria there
was but little serious danger to be apprehended
from the vizier. He was too weak, and too full of
the recollection of Heliopolis, to take the lead in
an attack. He would only venture to advance
upon the successful landing of the English. Under
any circumstances it would not be im])rudent to
suffer him to advance, as the nearer to the French
he did so the more certain he would be to commit
himself. The main subject for the consideration
of the commander-in-chief, in fact that which
should have wholly occupied his attention, ought
to have been the English army, the landing of
which was ex])ected to take place very shortly. In
the existing posture of affairs, a strong division of
four or five thousand men should have been left
around Alexandria, independently of the sailors
and the depots necessary to guard the fortified
l>lacts. Two thousand would have been sufficient
for Damietta. The dromedary regiment would
have sufficed to keej) guard upon the Syrian fron-
tier. A garrison of three thousand men at Cairo,
which would have been joined by two thousand
from Upper Egyi)t, and reinforced several thou-
sands from the depots, would have been ample to
keep in subjection the population of C:iiro, even if
the vizier had appeared under the walls. These
various duties absorbed eleven or twelve thousand
men out of seventeen or eighteen thousand effec-
tives. There would then remain six thousand
chosen troops in reserve, of which a large camp
ought to have been formed exactly between Alexan-
dria and Damietta. There did, in fact, exist such a
point, uniting every object requirf-d, and that was
at Ramanieh, a healthy site on the border of tlio
Nile, not far from the sea, easy to be i)roviKioned,
at the distance of a day's march from Alexandria,

Activity of general
Friant.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. ^"iL\?''C''°" '"*"" A^il

Aboukir Bay.

April.

and three or four from the frontiers of Syria. If
Menou liad eslubhshed at Ramanieh his reserve of
six thousand men, he would be able at the first
alarm to be in Alexandria in twenty-four hours,
and in Damietta in forty-eight; and, if it had been
necessary, in three or four days on the frontiers of
Syria. Such a force would have rendered vaiu all
the attempts of the enemy.

Menou did not think of any of these modes of
action; and not only was he thoughtless of them,
but rejected the advice of those who urged others
upon his attention. Good advice came upim him
from every side, and more especially fmm the
generals who were in opposition to Irim. To do
them justice, these last, and with them Reynier,
more accustomed than the others to great military
dispositions, informed him of his peril, and pointed
out to him the measures best to be adopted ; but
they had all lost their influence over the com-
mander-in-chief by their late intemperate oppo-
sition to his measures; and now, when they had
reason upon their side, they were not more regarded
than when they had been in the wrong.

The brave Friant, a stranger to these disastrous
bickerings, zealously set about putting Alexandria
in a state of defence. He had already organized
the sailons, and the troops in the depots, with the
object of intrusting to them the defence of the
forts; but this being completed, he had scarcely
more than two thousand effective men, whom he
could collect at the place of disembarkation,
wherever it might be. It was necessary to employ
a part of these to garrison the different points upon
the coast, such as the fort of Aboukir, the Maison
Car^e, and Rosetta. After placing garrisons in
these posts, he had about twelve hundred men
left. Fortunately, a frigate, from Rochefort, the
Reg^n^rde, brought three hundi'ed men from
Rochefort, with a considerable supply of military
stores. Owing to this unexpected circumstance,
the disposable force of general Friant was raised
to f.fteen hundred men. It may be imagined what
assistance, at such a moment, the squadron of
admiral Ganteaume would have been, if, trusting
a little more to fortune, that admiral had landed
here just at this moment the four thousand chosen
men which were embarked on board his fleet.

General Friant, although his force was so de-
ficient, applied for only two battalions more, and
a regiment of cavalry. In fact, this force would
have sufficed ; but it was a step of too much
temerity, in such a conjuncture, to trust to a re-
inforcement of only one thousand men. It is too
true, that the self-confidence of the army con-
tributed greatly to its defeat. The French troops
in Egypt had been in the habit of fighting one
against four, sometimes one against eight; and thej'
had formed no correct idea of the means by which
the English would effect a landing. They believed
that they would only land a hundred or two of
men at a time, without artillery or cavalry; and
they imagined, too, that the English could not
withstand a charge of the bayonet. This was a
fatal illusion. Still, this reinforcement, requested
by Friant, weak as it might be, would have saved
the colony : subsequent events prove this •.

• This is a sinpular illusion of our author, even under his
very incorrect statement of the proceedings of the English
army. — Tratulator.

On the 28th of February, 1801, or 9th of Ven-
tose, year ix., there was perceived, not far from
Alexandria, an English pinnace ^, which appeared
to be i-econnoitring. Some boats were sent in
pursuit of her, and she was captured with the
officers who were on board. The papers found
upon them left no longer any doubt of the inten-
tion of the English. Almost immediately after-
wards the English fleet of seventy sail of vessels
ajipeared in sight of Alexandria; but owing to the
batiness of the weather, it was obliged to stand out
to sea again. Fortune still left another chance for
the preservation of Egypt from the English, since
it was not likely their landing would be attempted
for several days to come. The intelligence trans-
mitted by Friant to Cairo reached that place on
the 4tli of March, or I3th of Ventose, in the aftex'-
noon. If Menou had, without losing time, taken
a decisive and prompt resolution, all might still
have been repaired. If he had ordered the entire
army to fall back towards Alexandria, the cavalry
would have arrived there in four days, the infantry
in five; that is to say, between the 8th and 9th of
March, or 17tli and 18ih of Ventose, from ten to
twelve thousand men might have been assembled
on the sands of Aboukir. It was possible that
by this time the English would have been dis-
embarked; but it was impossible for them to have
got their artillery, ammunition, and stores on shore,
or to have strengthened their ])osition ; and our
troops would have ai-rived in time to have driven
them into the sea. Reynier, who was at Cairo,
wrote to Menou, on that day, a letter of the most
convincing character. He advised him to dis-
regard the vizier, who would not take the lead in
offensive operations, and also Damietta, which was
not the point threatened, and to push the great
mass of his force upon Alexandria. Nothing was
better than this advice. In any case, there could
be no harm done by marching upon Ramanieh,,
since, on his arrival there, if the danger were in
Damietta or Syria, he could, with perfect ease,
direct himself upon either of these two points.
Not a day would be lost in such a case, and he
would be so much closer to Alexandria, where the
real danger was threatening; but it was absolutely
necessary to decide that moment, and to set out
on the march that night. Menou was deaf to this
reasoning, and became peremptory in his orders;
while, at the same time, he was unsettled how he
should act. Not being able to distinguish, to his
own satisfaction, the point that was threatened,
he sent a reinforcement to general Rampon, at
Damietta. He sent general Reynier, with his
division, towards Bclbe'is, to oppose the vizier
upon the Syrian border. He sent the division of
Lanusse towards Ramanieh ; yet he did not send
all that division, but kepi at Cairo the 88th dcmi-
brigade. At the moment he merely sent off' the
17th chasseurs. General Lanusse was ordered to
proceed to Ramanieh, and, according to the in-
formation he might there obtain, he was, if needful,

* This took place in Aboukir Bay, not off Alexandria.
The officers were majors M'Karras and Fletcher of the royal
engineers, who, some time before the expedition, sailed from
Marmora, having gone down in tlie Penelope frigate to survey
the coast. They were surprised in a very small boat. Major
M'Karras was killed by the Vteac\\.— Translator.

1801.
April.

Description of the couDtr;^. EVACUATION OF EGYPT. Landing of the British troops. 249

to march from that place upon Alexandria. Me-
nou remained in Cairo, with a large proporticm of
his forces, awaiting later intelligence, in a position
at such a distance from the coast. It was impos-
sible for incapacity to proceed further.

During this time, events rapidly succeeded e.ach
other. The English fleet was composed of seven
sail of the line, a great number of frigates, brigs,
and large vessels belonging to the East India com-
pany, in all seventy sail. They had on board
a great many flat-bottomed boats. As has al-
ready been observed, lord Keith commanded the
naval forces; sir Ralph Abercromby those of the
land. The place which they chose for their dis-
embarkation was that which had always been
selected before, — tlie road of Aboukir. It was
there that the French squadron was moored in
1798: there that it was discovered and destroyed
by Nelson; it was there that the Turkish squadron
landed the brave janissaries, thrown into the sea
by Bi)na])arte,on the glorious day of Aboulcir. The
English fleet having been obliged to keep off" for
some days,— a delay, fatal for them, and fortunate
for the French, if Menou had known how to profit
by it, — came to an anchor in the Aboukir roads on
the 6th of March ', or 15tli Veutose, about five
leagues from Alexandria.

Lower Egypt resembles Holland and Venice, in
being a country of marshes and pools. Like all
countries of the same nature, it presents a cha-
racter, which it is necessary to examine closely, if
one desires to comprehend the military operations
of which it may become the scene. At the place
where all the great rivers enter the sea, they form
banks of sand in their estuaries ; these the sea
drives back, and thus driven by two opposite force-s,
they extend themselves parallel with the shore.
They form those bars so much dreaded by navi-
gators, always so difficult to pass upon entering or
leaving rivers. They rise, scarcely perceived, in
succession, to the level of the water, and in time
get above it, j)rcsenting a long bank of sand,
beaten, from without, by the arms of the sea,
while, within side, tluy are perpetually washed by
the rivers whose currents they impede in their
progress. The Nile, in flowing into the Mediter-
ninean, has formed, before its numerous mouths,
a vast semicircle of these sand-banks. This semi-
circle, which has an arch of seventy leagues at
lea.st, from Alexandria to Pelusium, is scarcely
interrupted near llosetta, Dourloz, Damietta, and
Pelusium, by some channels, passing through
which, the waters of the Nile flow into the sea.
On one side bathed by the Mediterranean, it is
wa.Hhed on the other by the lakes Mareotis,
Madieli, Edko, Bourioz, and Menzaleh. Every
disembarkation in Egyjit must be necessarily ef-
fected upon one of these sand-banks. Led by
example and by necessity, the English chose that
which forms the bank or i>laiii of Alexandria.
Tiiis bank, about fifteen leagues long, runs between
the Mediterranean, on one side, and the lakes
Mareotis and Madieh on the other, and lias, at
one of its extremities, the city of Alexandria, and
at the other, forms a re-entering semicircle, which
terminates at llosetta. It is this re-entering semi-

' It came to anchor there on the 2n(l, not the 0th. The
tea was too high to land until the 8th. — Traiutalor.

circle whicli makes the road of Aboukir. One of
the sides of this roadstead was defended by the
fort of Aboukir, built by the French, and com-
manded, by its fire, the surrounding sands. A
number of small sand-hills skirted the entire shore,
and were lost in the distance on the other side of
the road, in a level sandy plain. Bonaparte had
ordered a fort to be construi-ted 011 these hills.
Had his orders been carried into eff'ect, to disem-
bark here would not have been practicable.

It was in the midst of this roadstead that the
English squadron came to an anchor in two lines.
They waited at anchor until the swell becoming
less, pennitted them to land. At length, on the 8tii,
in the morning, or 17th Venl6.se, the weather
being calm, lord Keith distributed five thousand
men* in three hundred and fifty boats. These
boats, disposed in two lines, and led by captain
Cochrane, advanced towards the shore, having on
each of their wings a division of gunboats. These
boats exchanged with the shore a vigorous can-
nonade.

General Friant had gone to the spot and formed
at some distance from the shore, in order to shelter
his men from the English artillery. He had thrown
between the fort of Aboukir and the ground which
he had taken up, a detachment of the 25tli demi-
brigade, with several pieces of cannon. On his
left he had stationed the 75th, two battalions strong,
concealed by the sandhills ; in the centre, two
squadrons of cavalry, one the 18th, and the other
the 20tli dragoons; lastly, upon his right he placed
the Gist demi-brigade, also two battalions strong,
which was ordered to defend the lower part of
the beach. His whole force was fifteen hundred
men. An advanced party occupied the landing-
place, and the French artillery, placed at the
salient points of the shore, swept the plain with
their fire.

The English pulled towards the land, the sol-
diers lying down in the bottoms of the boats, and
the sailors standing up* working their oars with
vigour, and taking with perfect coolness the fire
of the artillery. When the sailors fell they were
instantly replaced by others. The mass moved on
as if by one impulse, and ap|)roached the land. At
length the boats touched the beach. The Eng-
lish soldiers arose from the bottoms of the boats
and sprang on shore. They formed, and rushed up
the sandy slope which bordered the sea. General
Friant, discovering this from his outposts falling
back, came up a little late. He, notwithstanding,

* They were six thousand, not five thousand, in each
division; and two divisions of that number were landed the
same day, and in the same manner. Their arilllery was
taken in the launches with each division, under '.he care of
six naval captains, who conducted the covering gun-boats un
the Hanks.— Translalor.

s The want of information of our author upon naval affairs
is visible again here. The soldiers did not lie down in the
bottoms of the boats, nor did tlie seamen stand to low. The
outermost transports were from five to six miles ofl"j and to
reach the rendezvous, a mile from the shore, some had been
in the lioats from three in tlie mornirig. The soldiers, in
such a case, must have been packed like bales upon each
other. Seamen ttanding to row for five hours is n thing
out of the question. The soldiers sal wiih their muskets be-
tween their knees, placed perpendicularly; the stamen sat
as usual. — Translator.

.,- Engagement between the
.0(1 two armies. — Retreat of

directed the /oth to tlie left, against the sand-hills,
and the Gist to the right, towards the lower part
of the shore. This last regiment rushed upon the
English with bayonets at the charge, as they
were on that side without support. They pushed
them with vigour, drove them into their boats, and
even got into the boats with them. The grena-
diers of the same demi-brigade seized upon twelve
of the boats, and used them to pour a murderous
fire u[)on the euemy. The 75th, which received
their orders too late, had given the English time
to seize upon the position on the left, and advanced
to dislodge them. Exposed by this movement to
the fire of the gun-boats, it received a terrific dis-
charge of grape-shot, which killed thirty-two men,
and wounded twenty. It at the same moment re-
ceived the ten-ible fire of the English infantry.
This brave demi-brigade surprised for an instant,
and not fighting upon firm ground, advanced to the
attaelc in some confusion. General Friant, wishing
to support it, ordered a charge of cavalry upon the
English centre, which was now forming in the
plain, having overcome the first obstacles that pre-
sented themselves. The commander of the ISth
dragoons was several times sent for by the general
to receive his orders, after having made liim wait.
General Friant, in the midst of a hailstorm of balls,
pointed out to him the precise point of attack.
Unfortunately the irresolution of the officer caused
him, in place of advancing directly against the
enemy, to lose time in making a circuit; the charge
was badly made, and the lives of many men and
horses sacrificed without making any impression
on the English, and without disengaging the 75th,
that was struggling to retake the sand-hills on the
left. There was a squadron of the 20th remaining,
commanded by a brave officer, named Boussart;
he charged at the head of his dragoons, and over-
turned all that were opposed to him. At this in-
stant the 61st, which towards the right had been
njasters of the shore, though unable of themselves
to overpower the mass opposed to them, now in-
vigorated, followed the 20th dragoons close, and
pushed the left of the English upon its centre, soon
forcing them to re-embark. The 75th on its own
side, under a dreadful fire, fought with renewed
courage. If at that moment general Friant had
had the two battalions of infantry, and the regi-
ment of cavalry which he so many times requested,
the battle had been won, and the English had been
driven into the sea. But a troop of twelve hun-
dred chosen men, composed of Swiss and Irish,
turned the sand-hills, and attacked the 75tli in
flank. Tliis regiment was obliged to give way
anew, leaving tiie 61st on the I'ight, determined to
conquer, but endangered by its own excess of
courage.

General Friant, seeing that the 75th was obliged
to retreat, and that the 61st would bo surrounded,
ordered its retreat, which was effected in good
order. The grenadiers of the 61st, animaied by
the carnage and by the success, reluctantly obeyed
the order of their general, and in retiring kept
back the English by si^veral vigorous charges.

This unfortunate combat of the 8th of March, or
17th of Ventose, decided the loss of Egypt. The
gallant general Friant had taken up his position,
perhaps, a little too far from the shore ; he had
also, perhaps, counted too much upon the supe-

1801.
April.

riority of his men, and supposed that the English
could only disembark a few at a time. But this
confidence was very excusable, and, after all, it
was justified; becau.se if he had had but one or
two battalions more, the English would have been
repulsed, and Egypt saved. But what can be said
in behalf of the commander-in-chief, who, for two
mouths aware of the danger througli many chan-
nels, neglected to concentrate his troops at Ra-
manieh, which would have enabled him to unite
ten thousand men before Aboukir on that decisive
day ? who, informed again on the 4th of March,
in the most positive terms, which reached Cairo on
that day, did not send any troops ? They would
then have arrived on the morning of the 8th, and
would, in consequence, have been in time to repel
the English. What can be said of admiral Gan-
teaume, who could have landed four thousand men
in Alexandria the same day that the Re'ge'n^re'e
frigate brought three hundred, who fought at
Aboukir ? What can be said of this timidity, neg-
ligence, error of every kind, unless that there are
some times when every thing accumulates to con-
tribute to the loss of battles and the min of em-
pires ? »

The battle was sanguinary. The English com-
puted their loss at eleven hundred killed and
wounded out of five thousand that had landed i.
We had four hundred killed and wounded out of
fifteen hundred. The troops had then fought well.
General Friant retired under the walls of Alex-
andria, and sent oft' the state of affairs to Menou
and the generals stationed near him, pressing them
to come to his assistance.

Still, all might have been repaired, if the time
that remained had been profitably employed in
bringing up the disposable force, and had advantage
been taken of the difficulties in which the English
found themselves placed, having taken up their
position upon the sandy plain.

In the first place, they had to disembark their
army, then to land their guns, ammunition, and
baggage, which would be a labour of some time. It
was then necessary for them to advance along the
sand- bank in order to approach Alexandria, with
the sea on the right, and the lakes Madieh and
Mareotis on the left ; supported, it is true, by

' The English did not compute their loss in the amount
tlie author states ; but it was as follows : seamen, 22 kilUd ;
7 officers, 65 men wounded, 3 missing; total navy, U7. Tlie
return of the army loss was 4 officers, 4 serjeants, 94 privates,
killed; 26 officers, 34 serjeants, 455 privates, wounded;
1 officer and S3 privates missinjj. Of these last, 14 were of
the Corsican rangers made prisoners ; tliese were probably
the "Swiss" alluded to above, because there was no other
foreign regiment in the British service in the landing of the
first division. The total, therefore, was 124 killed, and 625
wounded. The action was warmly contested at the moment.
The French cavalry charged the British left as it came out
of the boats, and before it could form, causing a confusion
impossible to avoid, and instantly remedied. The combat
was never for a monient doubtful. The 23rd and 40th, that
ascended the sand-hills in the centre, carried all before them,
and were never once checked. The French force was rated
by good judges, who were able to observe the proceedings,
at from 2500 to 3000. General Abercromby estimated them
at 2500. Eight French pieces of cannon out of fifteen were
taken, a waggon with ammunition, and a number of horses.
■^Translator.

1S01.
April.

Delay of Menou —
Movements of the
British.

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Friant and Lanusse re-
solve to fight.— They
are repulsed.

their gun-boats, but without cavalry, auJ haviii-
no other artillery than they were able to drag by j
hand. These operations, it was clear, would be j
tedious, and soon become very difficult when they
had arrived before Alexandria, reduced to the |
necessity either of taking that city, or marching
over narrow dykes, by which alone they could com-
municate with the interior of Egypt, and get out of
the coafined promontory upcm winch tiiey had
landed. If the Frencli wi^shed to check their ad-
vance, they ought to have avoided partial and un-
equal battles, which only inspired their enemies
with C()nfidence, made the troops lose their cus-
tomary reliance upon themselves, and reduced
their numbers, already too few. Without fighting
at all the French were certain, by choosing good
positions, to obstruct the English march com-
pletely. One useful thing alone, therefore, re-
mained to be undertaken, and tb.at was to wait until
Menou, whose blindness to his own danger had
now been overcome by facts too strong to be re-
sisted, had concentrated his forces under the walls
of Alexandria.

But general Lanusse had been sent to Ramanieh
with his division. Having then learned what had
passed on the side of Aboukir, he at once marched
upon Alexandria. He brought with him three
thousand men ; Friant had lost four hundred out of
fifteen hundred who were in the battle of the 8th
of March ; but having called in his small outposts,
extending from Alexandria to Rosetta, he had still
seventeen or eighteen hundred men. The forts of
Alexandria were gari'isoned by the seamen and
soldiers of the depots. With the division of La-
nusse coming up, a force of about five thousand
men could be mustered. The English had landed
sixteen thousand exclusive of two thousand seamen.
It would have been wiser not to have engaged yet
in a second battle ; but the two generals were hur-
ried into action by extraordinary circumstances.

The long bank of sand ui)on which the English
had landed, separated by the lakes Mudieh and
Mareotis from the interior of Egypt, is only joined
to it by a long dyke passing between the two lakes,
and terminating at Ilamanieh. This dyke carries,
at the same time, the canal which supplies the
city of Alexandria with fresh water from the Nile,
and the high road leading from Alexandria to
Rimanioh. At this moment there was great dan-
ger of its being occupied by the English, as they
had very nearly reached the place where it joins
the s;ind-bank upon which Alexandria is situated.
The English were busy on the 9th, 10th, and 11th
of March, or 18tli, lath, and 20th of Ventose, in
disembarking and organizing their troops. On the
12th their array began to advance, marching slowly
and iieavily through the sands, the artillery being
dniwn by the sailors of the 8(iuadron, and sup-
ported right and left by gun-boats. On the night
of the I2tli they were very near the point where
the dyke and canal form a junction with the site
upon which Alexandria stniids.

Generals Friant and Lanusse thought there was
gi'cat danger in permitting the English to occu|)y
that point, and tlms jilao; in their possession tlie
road to Ilamanieh, by which Menou must arrive.
Still, if that road were lost,tlnre remained another
long one, it is tru<', ami very (Utticuit for artillery
to pass, that was the bed itself of lake Mareotis.

This lake, more or less in a state of inundation,
according to the rise of the Nile, and the season of
the yeai", left uncovered a large space of marshy
ground, through which an army might be certain
to track out a siimous march. There was, in con-
sequence, no sufficient reason for fighting with
everj- chance against success.

Generals Friant and Lanusse, nevertheless, ex-
aggerated the danger to which their communi-
cations were exposed, and determined to fight.
They had the means of diminishing very consider-
ably the error they thus committed, by remaining
upon the sand-hills, which rise across the whole
width of the bank upon whicli the battle was
fought, these very hills abutting upon the head of
the dyke itself, and commanding it. By remaining
in this position, and making a wise use of their
artillery, with which they were much better pro-
vided than the English, they had the advantage of
acting upon the defensive, of compensating for j
their inferiority of number ; and would have suc-
ceeded, it is probable, in protecting the i)oint, for
the preservation of which they were about to give
a second battle, deeply to be regretted.

It was then agreed upon to give battle between
generals Friant and Lanusse. The last was an
officer of good natural abilities, of great bravery,
and even audacity. Unhappily he was too little
disposed to attend to the dictates of prudence. He
had mingled too in the dissensions prevalent in the
army, and was full of delight at the prospect of
gaining a victory before the arrival of Menou.

On the 13th of March, or 22nd of Ventose, in the
morning, the English appeared. They were divided
into three corps; that on the left followed the shore
of lake Madieh, thus threatening the head of the
dyke, supported by gun-boats ; that of the centre
advanced in the form of a square, having battalions
in close columns upon its Hanks in order to resist
the French cavalry, which the English much feared;
the third corps marched on the side of the sea,
supported also by gun-boats.

The corps destined to take the head of the dyke
was in a,dvance of the two others. Lanusse, seeing
the left wing of the English venture alone along
the side of the lake, could not resist the desire of
throwing himself upon it. He descended the heights
below which he was to attack it ; but at the same
moment the formidable square forming the Englisii
centre, before concealed from view by .some of the
sand-hills which it had cleared, appeared suddenly
upon that side. Lanusse was thus obliged to turn
fi-om his original object ; he marched directly to-
wards the square, which at some distance was pre-
ceded by an advanced line of infantry. He ordi.-red
up the 22nd chasseurs, which charged the line of
infantry at full gallop, cut it into two parts, and
iorceil two battalions to lay down their arms. The
4tli light dragoons, advancing to susttiiti the 22nd,
completed this first success. While this was going
forward, the square which had arrived within mus-
ket shot, conunenced that fire of well-sustained
musketry, by which the French army suffered so |
nmch upon the landing at Aboukir. The 18th light
next came up, but was received with the samo
murderous volleys, which threw its ranks into con-
fusion. At this moment the right body of tlio
English was seen advancing from the sea-shore
upon its way to sustain the centre. Lanusse, who

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. ^T/enlag/ment'""

I80I.
Aprii.

had only the GDih to support the 18th, tht-u ordered
a retreat, fearing to engage in so unequal a contest.
Friant on his side, astonished to see Lanusse de-
scend to the plains, followed in order to support
him, and pushed forwards to the head of the clylce,
against the English left. He was exposed a long
while to a very animated fire, which he returiie<l
with equal spirit, wlun he perceived the retreat of
his colleague. He then retreated in his turn, to
prevent being left to contend alone against the
entire English army. Both after this short engage-
ment regained the position which they had com-
mitted the error of quitting.

This was on the whole but a mere reconnolssance,
although a very useless one, because the army
ought to have been spared, and the result was a
new loss of five or six hundred men ; a loss very
mucli to be regretted, because the French had not,
like the English, the means of obtaining i-einforce-
ments, and were reduced to the necessity of giving
battle with a force not exceeding five thousand or
six thousand men. If the losses of the English
could have compensated for those of the French,
they were sufficiently great to satisfy them. They
lost thirteen or fourteen hundred men ^.

It was now resolved to await the arrival of
Menou, who had at last determined upon dii-ect-
ing the army on Alexandria. He had ordered
general Rampon to quit Damietta, and march upon
Ramanieh, and he bi-ought with him the main body
of the troops. Yet there still remained in the pro-
vince of Damietta, and in the vicinity of Belbeis
and of Salahieh, in Cairo itself, and in Upper
Egypt, troops which were not as useful in the
places where they were left as they would have
been before Alexandria. If Menou had ordered
the evacuation of Upper Egypt, and had confided it
to Murad Bey, and if he had left the city of Cairo,
but little inclined to insurrection, to the soldiers in
the depots, he would have had two thousand men
more with which to face the enemy. Such an addi-
tional foi-ce was not surely to be despised, because
the all-important object was to beat the English.
The Egyi)tians were very far from the idea of
revolting, and did not require that any precautions
should be taken against them. They were only to
be feared in case of the French being decidedly
vanquished.

Menou, having reached Ramanieh, discovered
the whole extent of the danger threatening him.
General Fi-iant had sent forward two regiments of
cavalry. The genci-al thought, with good reason,
that being for some days shut up within the walls
of Alexandria, he had no great need of those regi-
ments, and that, on the contrary, they would be
highly useful to Menou to clear the country upon
Ills march.

Menou was obliged to make long circuits in the
bed of lake Mareotis, in order to gain the plain of
Alexandria. He succeeded with some trouble,

' The exact loss of the English was 6 officers, 150 men,
and 21 horses, killed; 6G officers, 1015 men, and 5 horses,
wounded; 1 man alone was missing: total, 1231. The
French continually underrate their losses. The English
army continued their advance, and the French retired mider
the protection of the fortified heights of Alexandria, while
general Hutchinson, with the reserve, occujjied a position
wiih his right to the sea, and his left on Uie canal of Alex-
andria, about a league from the city. — Translator.

above all with his artillery. The trrojjs arrived
on the 19th and 20th of March, or 28ih and 29th
Ventose. He arrived himself on the 19th, and was
then able to appreciate with his own eyes the great
fault that had been committed in allowing the
English to effect a landing.

The English had received several reinforcements
and a good di al of materiel. They had taken up
their position upon the same sandy heights which
had been occupied by generals Lamisse and Friant
on the 13th of March. They had thrown up some
redoubts, and mounted them with heavy guns. To
drive them from their position would have been a
difficult task.

The English were besides very superior in num-
bers. They had seventeen thousand or eighteen
thousand men against fewer than ten thousand.
Friant and Lanusse, after the affair of the 22nd of
Ventose, had barely four thousand five hundred
effective men. Menou did not bring with him more
than five thousand. The French had therefore but
ten thousand men to oppose eighteen tliousand in
an intrenched position. All the chances which
might have been on the French side in the first,
and even in the second afi'air, were now against
them. After having attempted in vain to drive the
English into the sea with fifteen hundred men, and
afterwards with five thousand, it would have been
extraordinary not to have attempted it with ten
thousand, or in other words, with all the force we
could collect at the same point.

It is not to be disguised that there was another
part to play, which should have been followed
after the first landing, before the useless battle
which generals Lanusse and Friant fought. This
was to leave the English upon the tongue of land
which they occupied, and to throw up works rapidly
around Alexandria, which would have made it ex-
tremely difficult to take that place; to have confided
the defence to the seamen and the soldiers of the
dejiot, reinforced with two thousand good men
taken from the active army. To evacuate all the
posts excejit Cairo, where three thousand men
might have been left in garrison, having the citadel
for a stronghold. Then to have kept the field with
nine thousand or ten thousand men, in the view of
falling upon the Turks if they should make their
appearance by way of Syria, or upon the English if
they should advance into the interior along the
narrow dykes traversing Lower Egypt. The French
had the advantage over their enemies, in that they
were able to avail themselves of every arm, cavalry,,
infantry, and artillery, with the exclusive benefit
of commanding all the provisions in the country.
The English might thus have been blockaded, and
probably forced to re-embark. But for such a mode
of proceeding a mucli more able general was re-
quired than Menou, much better versed than he
was in the art of animating his troops. In short,
there was necessary a commander different fi'om
him, who, having all the chances of the campaign
in his favour upon its commencement, had com-
ported himself in such a manner, that he had turned
them all to his own disadvantage.

Still to fight the English, now they were in the
country, was but a natural resolution, consequent
ui)on all that had been done since the camj)aign
opened. But having determined to make a decisive
exertion, it was proper to attempt it as quickly as

Position of the two armies. EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Battle of Canopus.

253

possible, in order not to give the Turks, on their
way from Syria, the ojiportunity to press the French
forces too clusely.

In order to light a battle it was necessary to
agree upon some plan of opei-ations. Menou was
not competent to invent such a plan, and his situa-
tion with his generals scarcely admitted of his
meeting them in consultation upon the subject.
Notwithstanding this, Lagrange, the cliicf of the
staff, requested Reynier and Lanusse to furnisli
one, which should be laid before Menou for his
approbation. This they did, and it was adopted by
him almost mechanically.

The two armies were in presence of eacli other,
occupying a bank of sand about a league broad and
fifteen or sixteen long, upon which the English had
landed at first. The French army was posted in
front of Alexandria, upon elevated ground. Before
their position extended a sandy plain, and here and
there sand-hills, which the enemy had carefully
intrenched, in such a manner as to form a con-
tinued chain of positions from the sea to the lake
Mareotis. On the French left, over against the sia,
an old Roman camp stood ; it was a square species
of construction, still entire ; at a little distance
in front of this camp was a small sand-hill, on
which the English had thrown up a work. There it
was that they had stationed their right, supported
by the double fire of this work and a division of
gun-boats. In the centre of the field of battle, at
an equal distance from the sea and lake Mareotis,
there was another sand-hill, larger than the pre-
ceding, more elevated, and crowned with an in-
trenchment. This the English had constructed for
the support of their centre. To the full extent of
our right, on the side of the lakes, the ground
slanted downwards to the head of the dyke, about
which the battle had taken place some days before.
A succession of redoubts connected the central
position with the heail of the dyke. The English
had protected their left, as well as their right, with
a division of gun-boats, introduced into lake Mar-
eotis •. The front of attack presented in its whole
length the space very nearly of a league ; it was
defended by heavy artillery, which men had drag-
ged to the spot, and i)y a part of the English army.
The larger part of this army was disposed in order
of battle in two lines behind the works.

It was agreed to move forward on the morning
of the 2lst of March, or 30th of Venlose, before
daybreak, in order to conceal the movements of
the troops, and expose them less to the enemy's
fire from the inirenchments. The intention of
the French was to attack and carry the woiks by
a sudden dash forward, then to j)a83 them by, in
order to attack the front of the English army,
ninged in order of battle beiiind them. In con-
sequence, the ri«ht, under Lanusse, was to move
down in two columns upon the right wing of the
English, which was supported by the sea. The
first of the two columns was to advance directly
and rapidly against the work erected ujion the
sand-hill in front of the old Roman camp. 'J'lie
second, passing a-s quickly as possible between this
work and the sea, was to attack the Roman camp,
and take it by assault. The centre of the French
army, conmiaiided by general Rampon, had orders

' Qucrc, Lake tiad'ieh 1—Tramlalor.

to advance some way beyond the place of this
attack, to pass between the Roman camp and the
great redoubt in the centre, and to attack the
English army beyond the works. The right wing
was composed of the divisions of Reynier and
Friant, but under the command of Reynier, and
that wing was ordered to open out in the plain upon
the right, and to make a feint of a formidable at-
tack on the side of lake Mareotis, to deceive the
Engli.-sh into a belief that the grand danger was
upon that side. In order to strengthen this belief,
the dromedary corps was to make an assault on
the head of the dyke, by traversing the bottom of
the lake Mareotis for that purpose. It was hoped,
too, that this division would render the sudden at-
tack intended by Lanusse on the side of the sea,
more facile of execution.

On the 24th, or 30ih of Ventose, before day-
break, the army was in motion. The dromedary
regiment performed the duty which was assigned
to it with perfect success. It rapidly passed over
the dry parts of the bed of the lake Mareotis,
alighted before the head of the dyke, took the re-
doubt, and turned the artillery against the enemy.
This was sufficient to deceive the English, and
draw their attention towards the lake Mareotis.
But to execute the plan agreed upon, on the side
of tiie sea, demanded a precision very difficult to
obtain, when the operation was to be executed in
the dark; and still more difficult, when, at the head
of the enterprise, there was no single ruling mind
to direct the whole, competent to calculate time
and distance with precision.

The division of Laimsse, manoeuvring in the
obscurity of tlie night, advanced without order,
and threw into confusion the troops in the centre.
'I'he first column, umler the orders of general
Silly, marched up resolutely to the redoubt placed
in advance of the Ronuiii camp. Lanusse directed
it in person, and led it on to the redoubt. He now
discovered, on a sudden, that the second colunui
had missed its way, and that in place of proceeding
along the sea-shore, to attack the Roman camp, it
had approached too near to the first. He went
towards it for the purpose of directing it to the
point designed. Unfortunately, at the same mo-
ment, he received a wound in the thigh, which
proved mortal ; a fatal event, which was attemled
with the most deplorable consequences. The
troops suddenly deprived of their active and ener-
getic officer, the si)irit of the attack decreased.
Day began to dawn, and indicated to the English
towards what ])oint they should direct their fire.
The French, attacked at once by the fire from the
gun-boats, the Roman camp, and the redoubt,
showed admirable patience and courage. But
very soon, all their superiors being wounded, they
were left without leaders, and fell back behind
some sand hills, scarcely high enough to shelter
them. While this was occurring, the first column,
which Lanusse had left to proceed towards the
second, had carried the first redan of the redoubt,
thrown up on the hill towards the right. It then
pushed on against the ])rineipal work, intending to
slorm it; but being di feated in the attempt uiion
the front, wheeled round to attack it in flank. The
centre of the army, tmder Rampon, seeing the
cidumn thus bafHed in the assault, turned from
its own object, in order to tender support. The

The French compelled to
264 retreat. — Loss on both

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

sides.— Death of Aber-
croinby, Lanusse, and
other generals.

March.

32nd demi-brigade, detached from the centre,
came up also to storm this fatal redoubt. These
concurrent efforts caused a species of confusion.
They strove against this obstacle; and thus the rapid
operation which, at first, was intended to carry, in
succession, the line of works, became changed into
a long and obstinate attack, in which much precious
time was consumed. The 21st demi-brigade, which
belonged to the centre, leaving the 32nd occupied
before the redoubt so warmly contested, executed,
by itself, the original plan, passed the line of in-
trenchments, and boldly advancing, opened out in
the face of the whole English army. It received
and returned a most dreadful fire. It required
support ; but Menou, during this time, incapable
of commanding, rode up and down the field of
battle, ordering nothing, and leaving Reynier to
extend his line uselessly in the plain on the right,
with a considerable force wholly unemployed.

Menou was now advised to make an attempt
with his cavalry, which was twelve hundred strong,
and of incomparable courage, upon the mass of the
English infantry, that the 24th had advanced to
encounter by itself. Menou, adopting the advice,
gave the order to charge. The gallant Roize
placed himself at the head of the twelve hundred
horse, passed with rapidity the destructive lines of
the enemy's fire, crossing right and left, from the
guns of the two redoubts, which the French infantry
vainly tried to carry by storm, opened on the other
side, found the 21st demi-brigade closely engaged
with the English, and at once charged home. This
gallant cavalry first leaped a ditch which sepa-
rated them from the enemy, and then dashed, with
high courage, upon the first line of the English
infantry, overturned and sabred a great number,
forcing them back iu disorder. The enemy was
thus obliged to give way. If Menou, at this mo-
ment, or better still, Reynier, in his commander's
place, had taken the right wing to the support of
tl)e cavalry, the centre of the English army, thus
disordered and repulsed beyond their works, had
left the French a certain victory. The works,
isolated, would have fallen into our hands. But
the case was very different. Tlie French cavalry,
after having broken the first line of the enemy,
seeing other lines yet to be overcome, and having
only the support of the 21st demi-brigade, fell
back, repassing the exterminating fire of the
redoubts.

From this moment it was impossible that the
battle could have had a successful termination.
The left, deprived of all s])irit by the death of its
leader, gave out a useless fire upon the intrenched
positions, which returned it with a more mnrd(?r-
ous effect. The right formed in the plain to make
a diversion near lake Marcotis, which had now no
more any object, since the engagement, become
general, had fixed every one in his post — the right
rc-ndered no service. An energetic genei-al, there
is no doubt, would have recalled it to the centre,
and with such an additional force, renewing by
that means tlie attack of general Roizc, have
attem])ted a second dash at the English mass. The
result might have changed the fate of the battle.
But general Menou gave no commands ; and Rey-
nier, who would have been, on this occasion, able to
take the initiative, that he so often took, when he
should not, in civil affairs, confined liiniself to

lamenting that he had no orders from the com-
mander-in-chief. The only thing to be done in
such a situation was to retreat. Menou gave the
order; and his divisions fell back, keeping up a bold
front, but sustainuig fresh losses from the fire of
the redoubts.

What a spectacle is war, when the lives of men,
and the fate of empires, are thus entrusted to in-
capable or divided leaders, and when blood flows
in proportion to the incapacity or the dissensions
of those who wield the chief authority in directing
its operations !

It cannot be said that the battle was lost, the
enemy not having made a single step in advance ;
but it was virtually lost, inasmuch as it was not
completely gained : for it was essential that the
.success should be so complete as to drive back the
English towards Aboukir, and constrain them to
re-embark. The loss was great on both sides. The
Englisli had about two thousand men killed and
wounded ', among others the brave general Aber-
cromby, who was carried on board the fleet in
a dying state. The loss of the French was pretty
nearly upon an equality. Exposed during the
whole action to a downward fire in front and flank,
they suffered severely. The spirit with which the
cavalry charged filled the English with surprise
and admiration. The number of officers and gene-
rals wounded was far more than is commonly the
case. Generals Lanusse and Roize were killed ;
the general of brigade. Silly, commanding one of
the columns of Lanusse, had his thigh shot away ;
and general Baudot was so severely wounded as to
leave no hope of his recovery ; general Destaing
was badly wounded, and general Rampon had his
uniform riddled with bullets.

The moral effect of the battle was still more
mischievous than the physical. Thei-e was no
longer any chance of forcing the enemy to re-
enibark. Soon the Frpnch would have upon their
hands, besides the English who had landed at Alex-
andria, the Turjjs from Syria ; the cajiitan pacha,
who would arrive with a Turkish squadron, bring-
ing six thousand Albanians to (he coast of Aboukir,
and six thousand sepoys brought from India by
the Red Sea, and ready to land atCossc'irin Upper
Egypt. What was to be done in the midst of so
many enemies, with troops whose courage was
no doubt undiminished when called into action ;
but who, when the affairs of the colony did not
proceed well, were too ready to exclaim that
the expedition had been a brilliant act of folly,
and that they were uselessly sacrificed to a wild
chimera ?

In the three engagements* of the 8th, 13th, and
21st of March, nearly three thousand five hundred
men had been lost to the service, of whom a third

' In all 1395. The English general, Hutchinson, who sue
ceeded sir Ralph Abircromby, stated that the French were
not pursued because the English had no cavalry; and that
they retreated so quickly within their fortifiid lines, that
it would have been useless. Sir llaliih Abercroniliy died of
his wound seven days afterwards. Four other British gene-
rals were wounded, but not seriously; 10 ofTners, 2.'i3 men,
and 2 liorses, were killed; GO officers and ll3.i men were
wounded ; and 29 missing; belonging to the army : I'l sailors
were killed and wounded. The English made 200 prisoners,
not wounded ; cajjtured the colours of a distinguished French
rcL;iinfcnt, and two 1\e\d-pieces.— Translator.

ISOl.
April.

Unfortunate delay of Gan-

teaume.

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Death of Miirad Bey.
Intentions of the Knglish.

255

I

were killed, and another third seriously wounded,
while the rtmainder would be incapable of duty
for weeks to come. Aitltoush the army was much
weakened, it could even now, as at the Leginiiiug
of the campaign, manoeuvre rapidly between the
different bodies of the enemy tiiat were tending to
form a junction, beat the vizier if he entered by
way of Syria, the capitan pacha if he tried to pene-
trate to ilosetta. the English if they attempted to
march along the narrow tongues of land which
communicate with the inferior of Egypt. The
three thousand five hundred men lost made this
l)lan now more difficult than ever of cxecutioh. If
three thousand men were left in Cairo, and two or
three thousand in Alexandria, there remained
scarcely seven or eight thousand to manoeuvre iu
the field, even supi)osing that all the disjiosable
force was united, and the secondary posts, without
exception, were evacuated. With a very resolute
and able general, the success of such an operation
would still be uncertain, though possible — but what
was to be expected from ^lenou and liis lieu-
tenants 1

There remained one hope of retrieving the for-
tunes of the war — it was not to be despaired of,
for it was announced day after day. This resource
was Ganteaurae with his vessels, and the troops
which he had embarked on board. Four thousand
men arriving at this moment would have saved
Egypt. A despatch-boat had been sent to the
admiral for the purpose of informing liim where lie
might disembark his men out of sight of the Eng-
lish on a point of land upon the coast of Africa,
twenty or thirty leagues west of Alexandria.
Three thousand men might then have been left in
that city ; and uniting those who could be spared
with those that were in Cairo, ten or twelve thou-
sand might have manoeuvred in the open country.
But Ganteaume, though far superior to Menou, did
Wit, in the present circumstances, act much better.
After having repaired at Toulon the injury his
fleet had sustained in sailing from Brest, he had,
as already 6een, sailed from Toulon on the 19th of
March, or 28th of Ventose, re-entered the port a
second time in conseiiuence of the Constitution,
a ship of the line, getting on shore ; and he had
again gone to sea on the 22nd of Marcli, or 1st of
Germinal. This time he made sail towards Sar-
dinia. The wind was favourable ; a bold impulse
of mind would have taken him V) the coast of
Eu'Vpt, beeauHe he had succeeded in adroitly es-
fiping admiral Warren by altering his course,
ill! Wits already only fifteen leagues from Cape
Carbonara, the extreme point of Sardinia, ready
to enter the channel which separates Sicily from
Africa. Unfortunately on the evening of the 2Gtli
of March, or 5th Germinal, one of the captains
conniianding the Dix-Ao£it, in the absence of cap-
tain Btrgerct, who was ill, had the unskilfulne.'ss
to run foul of the Indomptable,to receive consider-
able injury, and to inflict as nmch upon the other
vessel as that ship herself received. Alarmed at
the damage thus sustained, Ganteaume did not think
himself in a condition to keep at sea any longer,
and put back to Toulon again im the 5lh of A]>ril, or
15tli Germinal, just fifteen days after the battle
of Canopus.

Tiie French in Egypt were ignorant of the details
of these proceedings at this dale, and in spite of

the time that had passed, they preserved a rem-
nant of hope. At the appearance of the smallest
sail they ran to see if it were not Ganteaume. In
this anxious state they took no decisive step, but
waited in fatal inaction. Menou caused some works
to be thrown up around Alexandria, in order the
better to resist any attack from the English, but
he did no more. He had given an order for the
evacuation of Upper Egypt, from whence he with-
drew Donzelot's brigade as a reinforcement for
the other troo])s in Cairo. He had sent some
troops from Alexandria to Ramanieh to watch the
movements taking place on the side of Rosetta. To
complete the misfortune, Murad Bey, whose fide-
lity to the French was unshaken, had been taken
ill of the plague, and had just expired, his Mame-
lukes coming under the command of Osman Bey,
upon whom no reliance was to be placed. The
]>lague began its ravages at Cairo. Thus every
thing went on as ill as possible, and seemed tend-
ing towards an unfortunate conclusion.

The EngUsh on their side, fearful of the army
before them, would not risk any thing. They pre-
ferred moving onward slowly but surely. They
were waiting too until their allies, the Turks, in
whom they had little confidence, were in a condi-
tion to second them. They had now been landed
a month, without having attempted any thing more
than the capture of the fort of Aboukir, which,
gallantly defended, had sunk under the crushing
tire of their vessels. At last, about the beginning
of April, or middle of Germinal, they determined
to abandon their state of inactivity, and that spe-
cies of blockade in which they had been obliged to
live. Colonel Spencer was ordered with a corps of
some thousand English, and the six thousand Alba-
nians of the capitan pacha, to cross by sea the
roads of Aboukir, and to disembark before R6-
setta. Their intention was to ojien by this means
an access to the interior of the Delta, and thus to
procure the fresh provisions of which they stood in
need, and, in addition, to form a connexion with
the vizier, who was advancing at the other extre-
mity of the Delta, by the frontier of Syria. There
were no more at Rosetta than a few hundred
French, who could oppose no resistance to that
force, and falling back they ascended the Nile. They
joined, a little way in advance, a small body of
troops sent from Alexandria. This body was com-
posed of the 21st light, and a comi)any of artillery.
The English ami Turks, masters of one of the
mouths of the Nile, by which provisions could
reach them, and having the way open to them into
the interior of Egypt, began to think of profiting
by their success, but witlu>ut being in too great a
huiry, because they waited still twenty days before
they marched in advance. For an army sagacious
and" prompt it was an excellent opi)ortiniity to
attack them. General Hutchinson, the succes.sor of
Abercromby, had not dared to diminish the num-
ber of his troops before Alexandria. He had sent
scarcely six thousand English and six thousand
Turks to Rosetta, although he had received rein-
forcements to cover his losses, and had twenty
thousand men at his disposal. If General Menou,
employing his time well, had devoted the past
month to construct around Alexandria the works
which were indisijensable, had he thus frugally
managed his means, so as to have left few troops

Further errors of Menou.

256 — Occupatiiinor Rama-

nieh.— Loss of Rama-

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

nieh. — CommunicationK
cut (iff between Cairo and
Alexandria.

1801.
May.

there, tlien he might Iiave directed si.K ihnusand men
upon Ramnnieh, and drawn upon that jioiiit all
the troops not necessary at Cairo, he might have
brought into the field eight or nine thousand men
against the English, who had just penetrated to
Rosetta. This was force enough to drive them back
to the mouth of the Nile, to elevate the spirit of
the army, to secure the submission of the Egyp-
tians, to retard the marcii of tlie vizier, to replace
the English in their real state of blockade on the
plains of Alexamlria, and to bring back fortune.
This was the last chance. lie was advised to un-
dertake tliis movement ; but, always timid, he
never followed l>ut half the advice that was given
to him. He sent general Valentin to Ramanieh
with a force pronounced inefficient. Then lie .sent
a .second, under the chief of his staff, general La-
grange. The whole united force did not amount to
four thousand men. He never commanded the
march of the troops down from Cairo, and general
Lagrange, who was besides a brave officer, was not
a man equal to sustain himself with four thousand
men before six thuusand English, and the same
number of Turks. Menou ought to have united at
least eight thousand men under his best general.
He was able to do this by a strong concentration
of his forces, and by every where making a sacri-
fice of the accessory to the principal.

General Morand, who conmianded the first de-
tachraeiit sent to Rosetta, ha<l posted himself at
El-Aft, on the banks of the Nile, near the town of
Foueh, in a position which possessed some defen-
sive advantages. At that spot general Lagrange
joined him. The English and the Turks, masters of
Rosetta and the mouth of the Nile, had covered
that river with gun-boats, and would have quickly
taken the small undefended town of Foueh. It be-
came necessary, therefore, to fall back upon Ra-
manieh, during the night of the 8th of May, or
18th of Flordal. The site of Ramanieh did not
offer any great defensive advantages, the strength
of the place being scarcely sufficient to counter-
balance the numerical superiority of the enemy.
Still, if it were required to offer any where a des-
perate resistance, Ramanieh was the place for that
purpose : because that position lost, the detached
corps of general Lagrange would be se])arated from
Alexandria, and compelled to fall back on Cairo.
Thus the French army would be divided in two,
one-half being shut up in Alexandria, the other
half in Cairo If, when it was united it was not
equal to disputing the fiehl with the English, it was
impossible, cut in two, that it should oppose any
effectual resistance. In such a case it had no alter-
native but to sign a capitulation. The loss of Ra-
manieh, therefore, would be the definitive Inss of
Egypt. Menou wrote to general Lagrange that he
would come to his succour with two thousand men,
which at least jirovcs that he had that number at
his disposal. There were not less than three thou-
sand at Cairo ; in consequence nine thousand,
or at least ei^ht thousand men, might have been
assembled at Ramanieh. Thus, in an open
country, with an excellent cavalry, and a fine light
artillery, and with the resolution to conquer or
die, success was certain. But Menou never came,
and Belliard, who commanded at Cairo, received
no orders. General Lagrange, at the head of four
thousand men under his command, supported his

rear upon Ratnanieh, and the Nile, which washes
with its current the houses of that little town. In
that position he had at his back the English gun-
boats, which were upon the river, and fired a
shuwer of bullets into the French camp ; and he
had in front on the plain, without any thing for a
cover but some, field-works, the main body of
the English and Turks. There were twelve thou-
sand against four thousand. The danger was con-
siderable; still it was better to fight, and if over-
powered, to surrender at evening on the field of
battle, after fighting the whole day, than to abandon
such a position without a struggle. P'our thousand
men, all seasoned troops, had still some chances of
success. But the chief of Menou's staff, though
devoted to his general's views, and to the preser-
vation of the colony, did not weigh the conse-
quences of his retreat. He evacuated Ramanieh,
and fell back upon Cairo, on the 10th of May, or
20th of Flore'al. He arrived in the city on the 14lh,
in the morning, or on the 24th of Flor^al. He
sacrificed at Ramanieh a convoy of immense
value, and what was more serious still, the ammu-
nition of the army.

From that day nothing more that happened in
Egypt is worthy of recox'd, and scarcely of notice.
The men thus descended with their fortunes, even
below themselves; they exhibited in every thing the
most shameful weakness, with the most deplorable
incapacity. But in speaking of the men, it is only
to the commanders that these terms are intended
to apply ; because the soldiers and the inferior
officers, always admirable in their behaviour before
an enemy, were, from the first to the last man, ready
to die in the field. They never were seen, in a sin-
gle instance, to do any thing unworthy of their
former reputation and glory.

At Cairo, as at Alexandria, there remained no-
thing more to be done than to capitulate. They had
no other merit to acquire than to retard the capitu-
lation as long as possible. Sometimes we aeem in
appearance only defending our homes, when we
really save our country. Mass^na, in prolonging
the defence of Genoa, had made the victory of Ma- i
rengo practicable. The generals who occupied j
Cairo and Alexandria, in protracting a resistance I
beyond hope, were still able to second very usefully \
the serious negotiations then proceeding between
France and England. They did not know of their
existence, that is very true ; but then when un-
aware of the services men may render to their |
country by prolonging a defence, it is proper to j,
listen to the voico of honour, which conunands I
them to hold out to the last extremity. Of the two
generals now blockaded, the most unfortunate was :
! Menou, because he had committed the greater
I faults; yet even he, by his obstinate protraction nf 1
I the defence of Alexandria, was still useful, as it
j will be seen, to the interests of France. This was
j his consolation at a later pei'iod, and his main
; excuse to the first consul.

When the troops detached from Ramanieh had
entered Cairo, there was an immediate consultation
upon the conduct to be pursued. General Belliard
was commander-in-chief, from his superior rank in
the service. He was a cautious man, more cautious
than resolute. He called a council of war. There
were seven thousand effective men left, more than
five thousand or six thousand sick, invalids, and

ISOI.
May.

EVACUATION OF EGYPT.

Council of war.— Dissension
among the officers.

257

persons employed about tlie amiy •. The plague
was at that time raging ; there was but a small
stock of money or provisions, and a city of im-
mense e.\tent to defend. Seven thousand men were
too few to guard the whole extent. In no part of
the circuit was there any work fit lo make a resist-
ance to European engineers. The citadel, it is true,
was a defended work, but wholly insutticieiit to hold
out against the heavy artillery of the English. Such
a post was only calculated to make a successful de-
fence against the jiopulation of Cairo. Tliei-e evi-
dently remained but two tilings to do ; either to
endeavour, by a bold march, to descend into Lower
Egypt, accomplish the passage of the Nile by sur-
prise, and rejoin Menou in Alexandria; or to retire
upon Daniietta, which would have been the surest
and easiest course to pursue, more especially on
account of the multitude of pei-sons who, attached
to the army, must have been takcjn with it. There
it would h;ive been found, that in the midst of tlie
Jagoons, communicating with the Delta by narrow
tongues of land, seven thousand men of the army of
Egypt mi;;ht defend themselves against an enemy
three or four times superior in number. There, too,
an abundance of every thing was certain of being
procured ; the province w;is covered with cattle,
the town of Damietta overflowed with corn, and
the lake Menzaleh abounded with the best fish,
well adapted food for the troops. As it was simply
' a question when to capitulate, the city of Damietta
permitted the retardatiim of that melancholy result
for six months. The officer of engineers, Hautpoul,
proposed having recourse to this wise step; but in
order to undertake it, the difficult question of the
evacuation of Caix'o was to be decided upon. Gene-
ral Uelliai-d, who was ca|)able a few days afterwards
of giving up the city to the enemy, by means of a
lamentable capitulation, would not consent to do it
that day voluntarily, as the consequence of a forci-
ble and clever military opinion. He accordingly
determined to i-emain in the Egyptian capital,
without knowing what he should do. By the left
bank of the Nile the English and Turks were
ascending from Ramanieh to Cairo; by the right
bank the grand vizii-r, with twenty-five thousand
or thirty thousand follower.s, collected from all
sorts of miserable oriental troops, was coming
from the side of Syria, by the road of BelbcYs, upon
Cairo. General Helliani, remembering the trophies
of HeliopolJH, wihhed to march out and meet the
fjrand vizit-r, upon the route followed by Kleber.
He left Cairo at the head of six thousand men, and
advanced towards the heights of Elnienair, about
two days' nuirch distant. Sometimes enveloped by
a cloud of cavalry, he sent his light artillery after
them, that here and there reached a few of them
with its ballH; but this was the utmost result which
ho could obtain. The Turks, this time well com-
manded, would not hazard a second battle of He-

' The number In Cairo for which embark.-ition to Europe
was required nf the ICiiitlisli commander — an exact criterion
—was l.l.SOO, of wliom 8000 were tit for duty, lOOO were sick,
and the remaimler invalided, persons in Ihe cin|iloy of ilie
army or civil service, intludioK foliowert. Tlic miliiary were
in all 10,000; not more than .'lOO wrre Greeks or Copis.
There were emiiarked on lake Bourlos 700, belnx the garri-
son of Damietta; and 8000 soldiers and 1300 tailors from
Alexandria; besides upwards of a thousand made prisoners
in the forts and other placet.— rroni/a/or.

liopolis. There was but one mode of coming at
them, and that was to attack their camp at BelbeYs.
But general Belliard, received in every village by
the fire of musketry, saw the number of liis
wounded increase every step of his advance, the
distance, too, widening that separated liim from
Cairo. He began to fear that the English and the
Turks might enter the city in his absence. He
ought to have foreseen all this danger before he
quitted Cairo, and have asked himself if there was
time to reach Belbeis. Having left Caii'o without
knowing what he would finally undertake, he re-
turned in the same mind, after an operation with-
out a result, which made it appear to the eyes of
the inhabitants of Cairo as if lie had been beaten.
As with all the inhabitants of countries recently
subjugated, the Egyptians turned with fortune, and
though not discontented with the French, were
mucli inclined to abandon them. Still there was no
fear of an insurrection, unless the city had been
condemned to sustain the horrors of a siege.

The French army, sickened at the humiliations
to which it was exposed through the incapacity of
its generals, became wholly possessed with the old
feelings which induced the convention of El-Arisch.
It consoled itself under its misfortunes with the
idea of a return to France. If a resolute and skilful
general had given the example which was given to
the garrison of Genoa by Massc'na, the troops
would have followed it ; but a similar course was
not to be expected of general Belliard. Pressed on
the left bank of the Nile by the Anglo-Turkish
army from Ramanieh, and on the right by the
grand vizier, who had accompanied it step by step,
he offered the enemy a suspension of arms, which
was eagerly accejited, beiause the English were
more eager to obtain useful advantages than mere
renown. That for which they were most anxious
was the evacuation of Egypt, no matter by what
means it was brought about. General Belliard then
assembled a council of war, at which the discussions
were very stormy. Grievous complaints were di-
rected ag.".;nst his conduct as commander of the
Cairo division. He was told that he had not under-
stood when to evacuate Cairo in time to take up a
position at Damietta, nor to maintain the capital of
Egypt by well-concerted operations ; that he iiad
only made a ridiculous sally to fight the vizier,
without succeeding in getting near him ; and that
now, not knowing which w;iy to turn, he took the
advice of his officers, whether he must negotiate or
fight to the last, when he had previously resolved
the question for himself, by the s])ontaneous open-
ing of the negotiation. All these reproaches were
made with much bitterness, more jjarticularly by
general Lagrange, the friend of Menou, and a warm
advocate for the ])reservation of Egypt. Generals
Valentin, Dur.inte;iu, and Dupas, all three asserted
that, for the iionour of tiieir eolouis, it was abso-
lutely necefsaiy to fight. Unhappily, this was no
longer possible, without cruelty to the troops, and
nu)re |>atticidarly, without cruelty to the numerous
sick, and to the per.sons attached to the anny.
They had bcdore tliem not less than forty thousand
enemies, without coiuitinu the sepe.ys, wlio, dis-
embarkeil at flosseir, were descending the Nile
with the Mamelukes, th.it no longer owned alle-
giance to the French, since Murad Bey was no
more. There was in their rear a semi-barbarous
S

258 Capitulation of Cairo. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Siege of Alexandria.
Arrest of Reynier
and Damas.

1801.
June.

population of three hundred thcjusand souls, in-
fected with the l>laf,'ue, threatened with famine, and
to the last man ready to rise against the French.
The lines around the city were too extended for
defence with seven thousand men, and too feeble to
resist European engineers. Th'e place might be
cari-ied by assault, and every Frenchman put to
the sword. It was in vain that some of the officers
raised their voices against a surrender that would
dishonour the French arms; there was then no
alteniative. General lieiliard, wishing to show
himself ready for any thing, again raised the ques-
tion whether a retreat to Damietta was practicable,
a step now become too late to adopt; and to this he
added another question, equally singular, as to
whether a refuge might not be found by a retreat
into Upper Egypt. The last proposition was per-
fect folly. It was only a ruse of his own mental fee-
bleness, seeking to conceal its confusion under the
false semblance of boldness. It was then determined
to capitulate ; nothing else could be effected, unless
they all desired to be put to the sword after a
ferocious assault.

Commissioners were sent to the Anglo-Turkish
camp for the purpose of negotiating a capitulation.
The enemies' generals accepted the proposition
with much gratification : so much even then did
they dread a turn of fortune. They acceded to the
most favourable conditions for the army. It was
settled that the French should retire with the
honours of war, with their arms and baggage, their
artillery *, horses, in fact all they possessed ; that
they should be transported to Fi-ance, and fed
during the voyage. Such of the Egyptians as de-
sired to follow the army, and there were a certain
number compromised by their relations with the
French, were to be allowed to join them, and to
have the liberty of disposing of their property.

This capitulation was signed on the 27th of
June, 1801, and ratified on the 28th, or 8th and
9th of Messidor, in the year ix. The pride of the
old soldiers of Italy and Egypt was deeply wounded
by it. They were about to re-enter France; not
as they had entered it in 1798, after the triumphs
of Castiglione, Areola, and Rivoli, proud of their
glory, and of the services rendered to the republic.
They were now to return almost conquered ; but
still they were going to return, and for hearts
suffering after a long exile, there was an involun-
tary pleasure, which almost overcame them, even
amid their reverses. There was, at the bottom of
every heart, a satisfaction that was not avowed,
but which still disjjlayed itself in their coun-
tenances. Their connnanders alone appeared
thoughtful, from imagining the judgment which
the first consul would give upon their conduct.
The despatches which accompanied the capitula-
tion were impressed with the most humiliating
anxiety. There were chosen for the bearers of
these despatches, such persons as, by their conduct
and actions, had been most free from blame.
These were llautpoul, the officer of engineers, and
Champy, who made himself so useful to the colony.

Menou was shut up in Alexandria, and, like

1 This refers only to field-pieces, two 12-pounders to each
battalion, and one to each squadron, with the carriages and
ammuniiion belonging to tliem. The horses and camels
■were to be given up, at the place of embarkation, to the
British.— Translator.

Belliard, he had nothing to do but to surrender.
Thei-e could be with neither the one nor the other,
more than the difference of the time in tlie way
of question. The plague had already taken off
several persons in Alexandria ; provisions were
wanting, in consequence of the fault committed in
the beginning of the siege, by not laying in a suffi-
cient supply. It is true, that the Arab caravans,
attracted by interest, still brought them some
meat, butter, and grain. But they wanted wheat,
and were obliged, in part, to make their bread of
rice. Scurvy every day diminished the number
of men capable of doing duty. The English, in
order to isolate them completely, devised the
emptying of the lake Madieh into that of Mareotis,
which was half dried up, thus surrounding Alex-
andria with a continued sheet of water, and then
to encircle it with gun-boats. To this end they cut
the dyke which runs to Ramanieh from Alex-
andria, forming the separation between the two
lakes. But as the difference of the level was
only nine feet, the flowing of the water fi-om one
lake into the other proceeded slowly; and, in fact,
the operation, desirable for the object of separating
general Belliard from Menou, was no longer of the
same utility, since the late events at Cairo. If it
extended the space of action for the gun-boats, it
had, for the French, the advantage of narrowing
the front of attack; because the long plain of sand
upon which Alexandria is built, communicates, by
its western extremity, with the Libyan desert.
The English were, therefore, desirous of com-
pleting the investment of the place; for this pur-
pose, about the middle of August, or end of
Thermidor, they embarked troops in their gun-
boats, and landed not far from the town of Mara-
bout. They also besieged the fort of the same
name. From this moment the place, completely
invested, could not hold out long.

The unfortunate Menou, thus reduced to idle-
ness and inactivity, had ample leisure to ponder
over his faults, with censures showered upon him
from all parties. He consoled himself, notwith-
standing, with the notion of an heroic resistance,
like that of Mass^na at Genoa. He wrote to the
first consul, and assured liim that a memorable
defence should be made. Generals Damas and
Reynier were shut up in Alexandria without troops.
They made use of the most offensive language, and
even in these last scenes of all, could not keep
themselves under becoming restraint. One night,
Menou had them arrested, in the most public
manner, and ordered them to be embarked for
France. This act of vigour, coming so late, pro-
duced but little effect. The army, with its usual
good sense, severely censured Reynier and Damas;
but did not esteem Menou the more. The only
favour which they conferred upon him was that of
not hating him. Hearing with coldness his pro-
clamations, in which he announced his determi-
nation to die sooner than suri-ender, they were
still ready, if needful, to fight to the last extremity,
but did not believe it was worth doing in the
existing state of circumstances. The army too
well understood the result of what had occurred
at Cairo, not to foresee the approach of a capitu-
lation; and in Alexandria, as in Cairo, they con-
soled themselves for their reverses by the hope of
speedily returning to France.

1801.
Aug.

Reflections on Napoleon's EVACUATION OF EGYPT. sclieme for colonizing Egypt. 259

From that time, nothing more of importance
signalized the presence of the French iu Egypt ;
and the expedition may be said, in a certain sense,
to have terminated. Praised as a prodigy of talent
and boldness by some pei-sons, it was condemned
by others as a showy chimera, more particularly
by such as affect to weigh every thing in the
balance of frigid impassive reasoning.

The last opinion, with the appearance of wisdom,
was, at bottom, but little founded in good sense or
justice.

Napoleon, in his long and wonderful career,
never devised any scheme more grand nor more
likely to be eminently useful. Without doubt, if
we feel that France has not preserved the Rhine
nor the Alj^s, it must be granted, that Egypt, sup-
posing we had held it for fifteen yeai"S, would at
last have been taken from us, as well as our con-
tinental frontiers, or as that old and fine possession,
the Isle of France, for which Fi-ance was not in-
debted to the wars of the revolution. But to
judge thus of these things, we might go so far as to
ask whether the conquest of the line of the Rhine
was not itself a folly and a chimera. In order
to judge properly of such a question, it must be
sui)posed, for a moment, that the pi-otracted wars
of France were differently terminated from the
mode iu which they actually were, and then inquire
whether, in such a case, the possession of Egypt
was possible, desirable, and of great importance
or not. To the question thus put, the reply can-
not be doubtful. In the first place, England was
very nearly resigned, iu 1801, to consent to the
retention of Egypt Ijy France, upon receiving
equivalent compensations. These compensations,
with which the French negotiator was made ac-
quainted, had nothing in them unreasonable nor
extravagant. It is not to be doubted, that during
the maritime peace which followed, of which the
conclusion will shortly be stated, the first consul,
foreseeing the brevity of the peace, would have
sent to the mouth of the Nile immense reinforce-
ments iu men and materiel. It is clear, that the
splendid army sent to St. Domingo, where it was
despatched to find an indemnity for the loss of
Egypt, would have served to protect the new
colony for a long time from any hostile attack.
Such a general as Decaen or St. Cyr, who joined
military skill and experience with talents for ad-
ministrative governing, having, besides the twenty-
two thousand men which remained in Egypt of the

first expedition, the thirty thousand which perished
SQ uselessly in St. Domingo; thus established with
fifty thousand French, and an inmiense materieJ,
under a climate perfectly healthy, and a soil of ex-
haustless fertility, cultivated by a peasantry submis-
sive to every master, and never keeping a musket by
the side of the plough;— a general, it may be said,
like Decaen or St. Cyr, would have been able, with
such means, to defend Egypt triumphantly, and
to found there a superb colony.

The success was incontcstably attainable. We
may add, that in the maritime and commercial
contest that France and England maiutained against
one another, the attempt was in a certain sense
i-equired. England had just conquered the con-
tinent of India, and had thus gained a supremacy
in the Eastern seas. France, until that time her
rival, was she to yield up without dispute a similar
supremacy ? Did she not owe it to her glory, to
her destiny, to contend for it \ The politician can
give no other answer to this question than the
patriot. Yes, it was the duty of France to attempt
a struggle in the region of the East, that vast field
of ambition to maritime nations ; it was proper
France should strive to obtain some acquisition
tliat would counterbalance that of pjugland. This
truth admitted, let the whole world be searched
over, and who will say there is any where an
ac> I uisition better adapted than Egypt to the end
prnposed ? It is of more value in itself than the
finest countries ; it borders upon the richest and
most fertile, and those v/hich are furniBhcd with
the fullest means for foreign trade. It would
bring back into the Mediterranean, which would
then be our sea, the commerce of the East; it
would be, in one word, an equivalent for India,
and, in any case, was the road to it. The conquest
of Egypt was then for France, for the independence
of the seas, and for general civilization, an immense
service. Thus too, as will be seen soon, the suc-
cess of France was desired more than once by the
cabinets of Europe, in the short intervals of time
when mutual hatred did not trouble the peace
of cabinets. For such an object it was worth
while to lose an ai-my, and not only that which
was sent the first time to Egypt, but those that
were sent to perish uselessly at St. Domingo, in
Spain, and in the Calabrias. Would to Heaven,
that in the flashes of his vast imagination. Na-
poleon had projected nothuig more ili-adviacJ nor
imprudent !

260 Last attempt of Ganteaume. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Further misfortune*.

1801.
May.

BOOK XI.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

LAST UNStlCCESSFUt ATTEMPT OP GANTEAUME TO PUT TO SEA. — HE TOUCHES AT DERNE, BUT DARES NOT tAND TWO
THOUSAND MEN WHOM HE HAS ON BOARD. — HE PUTS BACK TO TOULON. — CAPTURE OF THE SWIFTSORE ON THE PAS-
SAGE.— ADMIRAL LINOIS, SENT FROM TOULON TO CADIZ, IS OBLIGED TO ANCHOR IN THE BAY OF ALGESIRAS. — BRIL-
LIANT ENGAGEMENT OFF ALGESIRAS. — A COMBINED FRENCH AND SPANISH saUADRON SAILS FROM CADIZ, TO ASSIST
LINOIS' DIVISION. — RETURN OF THE COMBINED FLEET TO CADIZ. — ACTION BETWEEN THE REAR DIVISION AND
ADMIRAL SAUMAREZ. — rREADFUL MISTAKE OF TWO SPANISH SHIPS, WHICH, IN THE NIGHT, TAKING EACH OTHER
FOR ENEMIES, FIGHT WITH DESPERATION, AND ARE BOTH BLOWN UP.— EXPLOIT OP CAPTAIN TROUDE. — SHORT
CAMPAIGN OP THE PRINCE OF THE PEACE AGAINST PORTUGAL. — THE COURT OF LISBON SENDS A NEGOTIATOR
IN HASTE TO BAUAJOZ, AND SUBMITS TO THE UNITED WILL OF FRANCE AND SPAIN.— EUROPEAN AFFAIRS IN
GENERAL SINCE THE TREATY OF LUNEVILLE.— INCREASING INFLUENCE OF FRANCE.— VISIT TO PARIS OF THE
INFANTS OP SPAIN DESTINED FOR THE THRONE OF ETRURIA.— RENEWAL OF THE NEGOTIATION IN LONDON
BETWEEN M. OTTO AND LORD HAWKESBURY. — THE ENGLISH PRESENT THE aUESTION IN A NEW FORM. — THEY
DEMAND CEYLON IN INDIA, MARTINIQUE AND TRINIDAD IN THE WEST INDIES, MALTA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. —
THE FIRST CONSUL REPLIES TO THESE PRETENSIONS, THREATENS TO CONQUER PORTUGAL, AND, IN CASE OF NEED,
TO INVADE ENGLAND. — WARM DISPUTE BETWEEN THE " MONITEUR " AND THE ENGLISH JOURNALS. — THE
BRITISH CABINET GIVES UP MALTA. — RENEWS ALL ITS DEMANDS, AND REQUIRES THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD. —
THE FIRST CONSUL, TO SAVE THE POSSESSIONS OP AN ALLY, OFFERS TOBAGO — IT IS REJECTED BY THE
BRITISH CABINET. — FOOLISH CONDUCT OF THE PRINCE OF THE PEACE, WHICH FURNISHES UNEXPECTEDLY A SOLU-
TION OF THE DIFFICULTY : HE TREATS WITH THE COURT OF LISBON, WITHOUT ACTING IN CONCERT WITH
FRANCE, AND THUS DEPRIVES THE FRENCH LEGATION OF THE ARGU.MENT DRAWN FROM THE DANGER OF POR-
TUGAL.— IRRITATION- OF THE FIRST CONSUL, AND THREAT OF WAR AGAINST SPAIN. — TALLEYRAND PROPOSES
TO FINISH THE WAR AT THE EXPENSE OF THE SPANIARDS, BY GIVING UP THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD TO THE
ENGLISH.— M. OTTO IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE THAT CONCESSION IN THE LAST EXTREMITY. — DURING THE
NEGOTIATION, NELSON MAKES THE GREATEST EFFORTS TO DESTROY THE FRENCH FLOTILLA OFF BOULOGNE. —
SPLENDID ACTIONS OFF BOULOGNE BY LATOUCHE TREVILLE AGAINST NELSON. — DEFEAT OP THE ENGLISH.— JOY
IN FRANCE, ALARM IN ENGLAND, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THESE TWO ENGAGEMENTS. — RECIPROCAL TENDENCY TO
A RECONCILIATION. — THE LAST DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME, AND PEACE CONCLUDED IN THE FORM OF PRELIMI-
NARIES, BY THE SACRIFICE OP THE ISLAND OP TRINIDAD. — UNBOUNDED JOY IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE. —
LAURISTON, SENT TO LONDON WITH THE RATIFICATION OF THE TREATY BY THE FIRST CONSUL, IS DRAWN
ABOUT IN TRIUMPH FOR SEVERAL HOURS. — MEETING OF A CONGRESS IN AMIENS, TO CONCLUDE A DEFINITIVE
PEACE. — SERIES OF TREATIES SUCCESSIVELY SIGNED.— PEACE WITH PORTUGAL, THE OTTOMAN PORTE, BAVARIA,
AND RUSSIA — FETE IN CELEBRATION OF THE PEACE FIXED ON THE 18tH BRUM AIRE. — LORD CORNWALLIS,
PLENIPOTENTIARY TO THE CONGRESS AT AMIENS, IS PRESENT AT THE FETE.— HIS RECEPTION BY THE PEOPLE
OP PARIS. — BANQUET IN THE CITY OF LONDON. — EXTRAORDINARY DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY GIVEN AT
THIS TIME BY BOTH COUNTRIES.

While the army in Egypt succumbed for the want
of an able commander and seasonable reinforce-
ments, admiral Ganteanme made a third attempt
to leave the port of Toulon. Tlie first consul had
scarcely allowed the necessary time for the repair
of the Di,\-A()ut and of the Indomptable, and Gan-
teanme was forced to put to sea almost immediately.
Admiral Ganteaume sailed on the 25th of April, or
5th Flordal. He had orders to pass close to the
island of Elba, in order to make a demonstration
before Porto Eerrajo, to facilitate its occupation by
the French troop.s. The first consul intended to
take this island for the purpose of annexinjj it to
France, to which it was secured by treaties with
Naples and Etruria ; there was a small garri-
son in the island half Tuscan and half English.
The admiral obeyed his orders, fired a few guns
at Porto Ferrajo, and passed on lest he mi;;ht
hazard, by exposing himself to injury, the great
end of his expeditinn. Had he proceeded at once
to Egypt, he might have still been useful to the
army thei.-e; because, as has been shown, the po-

sition of Ramanieh was not lost until the 10th of
May, or 20th Flore'al. He had yet time, therefore,
departing on the 25th of April, to hinder the army
from being cut in two, and obliged to capitulate
one division after another. To do this he ouglit
not to have lost a moment. But a species of
fatality attached to all the operations of admiral
Ganteanme. He has been seen coming out suc-
cessfully from Brest, entering more fortunately
still into the Mediterranean, suddenly losing con-
fidence, taking four vessels for eight, and entering
Toulon. He has been seen sailing again from that
poi-t in March, esc.-iping admiral Warren, passing
the southeruiiist point of Sardinia, and stopped
once more by the J)ix-Aout and Indomptable run-
ning foul of each other. This was not the end of
his inisfortnnos. Scarcely had he quitted the sea
around the isle of Elba, when a contagious disorder
broke out on board his squadron. Judging it im-
prudent and useless to carry to Egypt such a num-
ber of sick, he divided his squadron, confiding
three vessels to rear-admiral Linois, and placing

1801. Vain altempt to land.

June. Capture of the Svrifisire.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

his sick soldiers and seamen in those three vessels,
he sent them back to Toulon. He continued his
voyage to Egypt with four sail of the line and two
frigates, carrying only two thousiind soldiers. But
he was no longer in time to be of service, because
it was near the middle of May, and at that time
the French army was li)St. Generals Belliard
and Menou were separated from each other, in
consequence of the abandonment of Ramanieh.
Of this admiral Ganteaume wiis ignonint. He
passed Sardinia and Sicily, showed himself in the
channel of Candia, contrived several times to elude
his enemies, sailing even into the Archipelago to
escape them, and finally moored on the coast of
Africa at Derne, a few marches distant from Alex-
andria to the westward, designated in his in-
structions as the place proper for disembarkation.
It was thought that by giving the troops pro-
visions and money for the hire of camels from the
Arabs, they might be enabled to cross the desert,
and reach Alexandria in a few marches. This
was only a hazardous conjecture. Admiral Gan-
teaume cast anchor at this place for some hours,
and hoisted out a part of his boats. But the
inhabitants came down to the shore, and opened
upon them a fire of musketry. Jerome Bonaparte,
the brother of the first consul, was with the troops
about to disembark. Vain efforts were made to
gain over the natives, and conciliate them. The
little town of Derne must have been destroyed,
and the troops must have marched to Alexandria
without water, and almost without provisions, fight-
ing the whole distance. It would have been a
foolish attempt without an object, because but one
thousand at most of two thousand would reach the
end of their journey. It was not worth while
to sacrifice so many gallant men for the sake of so
small a reinforcement. Besides an event, very
ea-sy to be foreseen, terminnted all doubts. The
admiral believed he saw the English fleet ; he then
deliljerated no longer, took his boats on board, did
not allow himself time to weigh his anchors, but
cut his cables, not to be attacked at anchor, and
then set sail ; he escaped being overtaken by the
enetny.

Fortune, which had behaved ill before, because
she seconds, as has been often said, only adven-
turous spirits who repose confidence in her — fortune
had in store some compensation for him. In
crossing the channel of Candia, he fell in with an
English ship of the line ; it was the Swiftsure. To
give chase to her, to surround, cannonade, and
take her, was the work of a few moments'. It

' The extreme inaccuracy of our Parisian author in what
relatcii to naval aflairs, must stand excused by the English
reader. M. Thiers observes most Justly, in his chapter on
" the neutrals," to apologize for his revelations of that scene
of Russian barbarism, the assassination of Paul I., " C'est
que la verite est le premier devoir de I'histoire." Such a
Just sentiment will, therefore, excuse a quotaiion from the
statement of the Rallant captain Hallowell of the Swiftsure,
74, respecting this rencontre with the high minded, fine-
spirited Ganteaume, of whom captain Hallowell spoke In
the highest tcnns, as well as of his officers. The Swiftsure
had on board fifty-nine sick of a had fever, caught from the
army in Eg>'pt. She was eighty-six short of her complement
of men, and was going to Malta wilh all speed. The Swift-
eure was only seven leagues from Derne whi-n she dUtin-
gulshed an enemy's squadron, and endeavoured to escape,

was the 24th of June, or 5th Messidor, that this
fortunate rencontre took place. Admiral Gan-
teaume entered Toulon with this species of trophy,
a poor compensation for his bad success. The
first consul, inclined towards indulgence for those
who had run great risks with hmi. was willing to
accept this compensation, and published it in the
Moniteur.

However, all these naval movements terminated
in a mode less annoying to the French navy.
While admiral Ganteaume was returning to Toulon,
admiral Liiiois, who had gone into that port to land
his soldiers and sailors sick of the fever, had sailed
again, according to the express orders of the first
consul. Linois, as quickly as possible, got on board
fresh seamen, and embarked more troops, after
white-washing the interior of his vessels, and then
he got under weigh for his new destination. A
despatch, which he was only to open at sea, com-
manded him to proceed to Cadiz, to form a junction
with six more vessels at that port, fitted out under
the orders of admiral Dumanoir, and five Spanish
vessels from Ferrol, which, with the three of admi-
ral Linois', would form a squadron of fourteen sail
of tlie line. It was possible that the squadron from
Rochefort, under admiral Bruix, might have arrived
there, in which case a fleet of more than thirty sail
of the line would be collected ; and this fleet, for
some months mistress of the Mediterranean, would
take the troops from Otranto, and carry immense
succours to Egypt. They were at this time unaware
in France that it was too late, and that Alexandria
was the only place left to defend ; but to preserve
that place was no indiff'erent matter.

Admiral Linois, in perfect obedience to his or-
ders, set sail for Cadiz. On his passage he gave
chase to several English frigates, which he was
nearly capturing. He met with contrary winds at
the entrance of the straits; but at length, about the
beginning of July, or middle of Messidor, he was
enabled to enter them. The English Gibraltar
fleet was watching Cadiz; and this being made
known to him by signal, he put into the Spanish
port of Algesiras, on the 4th of July, or 15th Mes-
sidor, in the evening.

Near the straits of Gibraltar, in other words,
towards the southernmost cape of that peninsula,
the mountainous coast of Spain opens, and taking
the form of a horse-shoe, forms a deep bay, the

but found the ships were superior sailers ; the Swiftsure prac-
tised every manoeuvre in vain to get clear of them. At half-
past three p. m. the Indivisible of eighty guns, and the Uix-
Aout, seventy -four, were within gun shot. They soon
opened their fire, and a warm action ensued, the Swiftsure
siill in vain trying to get to leeward of them, and escape. At
half-past four, p. m. the Jean Bart and Constitution, of
seventy-four guns each, closed fast. The Indivisible on her
larboard bow, and the DIx-Aoiit on her larboard quarter,
were soon warmly engaged. "Our fore-yard and forctopsail-
yard were shot away, all our running, and part of our stand-
ing rigging cut to pieces, the fore-mast, mizzen-mast, and
main-yard badly wounded, the deck lumbered with wreck
and sails, all hope of succour cut off. I thought further re-
sistance, in our crippled state, would be exposing the lives
of valuable men without advantage. I ordered his majesty's
colours to be struck, after an action oj one hour and Jin-
minutes." The ship was obliged to be taken in tow, and,
with all haste made to repair her, it was six days before shi-
could be got under sail. — Translator.

262 Action between Saumarez THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, and Linois off Algesira«.

1801.
July.

opening of which is towards the south. On one of
the sides of tliis bay stands Algesiras, and on the
other Gibraltar ; in such a manner that Algesiras
and Gibraltar are opposite to each other, at about
four thousand fathoms distance, or about a league
and half. From Algesiras all that passes at Gib-
raltar may be distinctly seen with a common
telescope. There was not a single English vessel
lying in the bay ; but the English rear-admiral,
Sauraarez, was not far off, as he was watching the
port of Cadiz, with seven sail, where there were at
that moment several naval squadrons, French and
Spanish. Advertised of what had occurred, he
hastened to avail himself of the opportunity of
destroying the squadron of Linois, because he was
able to oppose his seven vessels to three ; he had
detached one, the Superb, to watch the mouth of
the Guadalquiver ; he made the signal for her to
join him, but the weather being unfavourable, he
sailed for Algesiras with only six.

Admiral Linois, on his side, had received notice of
his danger from the Spanish authorities; and there-
fore had recourse to all the precautions which the
nature of the circumstances permitted him to take.
On the side of Algesiras, in the bay of that name,
situated as has already been said, right over against
Gibraltar, the coast appears rather a roadstead
than a port. It consists of a shore with scarcely
any projection; but running quite .straight, from
south to north, without any point or shelter for ves-
sels. At the two extremities of the anchorage alone,
there were two batteries ; the one to the north of
Algesiras, on an elevated spot upon the shore, was
known under the name of the battery of St. Jago.
The other battery, to the south of Algesiras, was
on an island, called Isia Verde. The battery of St.
Jago was mounted with five eighteen -pounders,
and that of the Isla Verde with seven eighteens.
This was no great help; more particularly because
of the negligence of the Spaniards, who had left all
the forts on their coasts destitute of ammunition and
artillery-men. Nevertheless, admiral Linois placed
himself in communication with the lociil authoi-ities,
who did the best they were able to succour the
French. The admiral ranged his three ships and
his frigate along the shoi-e, supporting the extremi-
ties of his short line by the two batteries of St.
Jago and the Isla Verde. The Formidable was
placed first to the north, supported by the St. Jago
battery ; next was the Desaix ; in the centre and
southernmost was the Indomptable, towards the
battery on the Isla Verde. Between the Isla Verde
and the Desaix, the Muiron frigate was stationed ;
a number of S]ianish gun-boats were intermingled
Avith the French ships.

On the 6th of July, 1801, or 17 Messidor, year ix,
about seven o'clock in tlie morning, rear-admiral
Saumarez, coming from Cadiz with the wind west-
north-west, approached the bay of Algesiras,
doubled Cape Carnero, entered the bay, and bore
towards the line of the French anchoi-age. The
wind, which was not favourable to the English
vessels, separated them one from the other, and
fortunately did not permit them to act together in
the way most desirable. The Venerable, which
took the lead, dropped astern, and the PompcJe
took her place, running along the whole French
line, passing under the battery of the Isla Verde,
the Muiron frigate, the Indomptable, the Desaix,

and Formidable, giving each of them her broad-
sides, and taking up her station within musket-shot
of the Formidable, bearing the flag of admiral
Linois. An obstinate action took place between
these two vessels almost within point-blank dis-
tance. The Venerable, unable to beat up to her
place in the line, still endeavoured to assist the
Ponipe'e. The Audacious, the third of the English
ships, destined to attack the Desaix, could not
fetch so high, dropping anchor before the Indompt-
able, and commenced a heavy cannonade against
that ship. The Csesar and Spencer, the fourth and
fifth English ships, were one of them behind and the
other forced into the bottom of the bay by the wind,
which was blowing from the west to the east.
Lastly, the sixth, the Haninbal, was driven at first
towards Gibraltar; but after much manoeuvring to
approach Algesiras, endeavoured to turn the flag-
ship, the Formidable, and so get between her and
the land. The engagement, with such ships as
could come up, was very obstinate. In order not
to drift towards Gibraltar from Algesiras, the
English cast anchor. The French admiral, in the
Formidable, had two enemies to fight, the Porape'e
and the Venerable, and would soon have had a
thii'd, if the Hannibal had succeeded in getting
between her and the .shore ^ The captain of the
Formidable, the gallant Lalonde, was killed by a
cannon-shot. The action continued with great
spirit amid cries of " The republic for ever ! Long
live the first consul 1" Admiral Linois, who was on
board the Formidable, brought the broadside of
that ship to bear upon the Pomp^e, at a lucky
moment, when she presented only her bow to him,
and was successful in raking, dismasting, and very
near disabling her. Taking advantage of a change
of the breeze at the moment, which had veered
round to the east, and blew upon Algesiras, he
made the signal to his captains to cut their cables
and suffer their ships to run aground, so as to pre-
vent the English frcma passing between the vessels
and the shore, and placing the French between
two fires, as Nelson did at the battle of Aboukir.
This grounding was attended with no inconve-
nience to the French ships, as it was ebb tide, and
they wei-e sui'e to be got off again at high water.
The order given at the proper moment saved the
squadron. The Formidable, after having dismantled
the Pompee, took the ground without any shock of
moment; for the wind, as it had changed its direc-
tion, had died away. In avoiding the danger by
which she was threatened from the Hannibal, the
Formidable gained, in respect to that ship, a most
advantageous position. Moreover, the Hannibal in
manoeuvring had got aground herself and remained
immovable under tlie fire of the Formidable, and
the battery of St. Jago. In this perilous situation
the Hannibal made every effort to get off ; but as
the tide ebbed she became irremediably fixed in

' On the trial of captain Ferris, by a court-m.irtlal, for tlie
loss of his ship, it was deposed that he was endeavouring to
take up a position to rake the Formidable, when the Han-
nibal grounded. He had made no attempt to get between
tlie Formidable and the shore, and thus expose himself so
close to the fire of the batteries, of the Formidable, and even
of the British ship the Pomp6e, which lay outside the For-
midable, the shot of which must have reached him. Captain
Ferris was most honourably acquitted. — Translator.

1801.
July.

Capture of the Hannibal.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

The I^ench sail for Cadiz.

her position, and received a tremendous discharge
of artillery, as well from the shore as from the
Formidable, aud from the Spanish gun-boats. She
sunk one or two of the gun-boats; but the fire she
returned was not equal to that which was poured
into her. Rear-admii-al Linois, not thinking tliat
the battery of St. .Jago was well served, disem-
barked general Devaux with a detachment of
French troops which he had on board '. The fire
of this battery was then redoubled, and the Han-
nibal was overcome. But a new adversary com-
pleted her defeat. The second French ship, the
Desaix, which was near the Formidable, in obeying
the order to run on shore, and executing the order
but slowly, in consequence of the slight breeze,
thus found herself somewhat out of the line, and
equally in reach of the Hannibal and Pomp^e,
which the Formidable, until her going on shore,
had covei-ed from her fire. The Desaix, pi-ofiting
by her new position, poured in a first broadside, and
80 handled the Ponipe'e as to oblige her to strike her
colours. The Desaix then directed her guns upon
the Hannibal. The balls grazing the sides of the
Formidable, made dreadful havoc on board the
Hannibal, which being no longer able to sustain
she struck her flag. Thus were two English vessels
out of six forced to surrender. The four others, by
dint of manoeuvring, got into line once more,
near enough to engage the Desai.t and Indompt-
able. The Desaix, before she went on shore, had
resisted them ; while the Indomptable and the
Muiron frigate, in going slowly towards the shore,
had replied with a well-directed fire. These two
last vessels had placed themselves under the bot-
tom of the Isla Verde, the guns of which were
worked by French soldiers who had been landed
for the purpose.

The action lasted for several hours with great
fierceness. Admiral .'^aumarez, having lost two
ships out of six, and Laving no hope of any result
from tiie action, for lie could not get closer to the
I'rench without ruining the risk of grounding, as
they did, hoisted the signal for retreat, leaving the
French in the possession of the Hannibal, but de-
termined to carry off the Pompe'e, which, quite
dismasted, lay likit a Imlk on the scene of action.
Admiral Sauniiiiez, liaving sent to Gibraltar for
boats, towed av. ly the hull of the Ponipee, which
the French ve-^els, being on shore, could not pre-
vent. The Hannibal remained a prize.

.Such was t'.ie battle of Algesiras, in which three
French vessels fought six English, destroyed two,
and kept one as their prize. The Fi'ench were
filled with joy, although they had sustained a
severe loss. Captain Lalonde, of the Formidable
was killed ; captain Moncousu, of the Indomptable,
also perished gloriously. Upwards of two hundred
men were killed, and three hundred wounded ; in

' Here the .lullmr is at variance with tlie first consul's
account o( the alTair in the Monitcur, which staccd that
Devaux and his troops were landed in the nii/lil, — the night,
it is to be presumed, before the action; the natural course,
after the French admiral had found the deficiency of defen-
sive means in possession of the Spaniards. The Pompve
never struck her flag. Ilcr riK^inf; wan much cut up by the
well-directed fire from the batteries, and she was partly dis-
masted, or her masts so injured, that it became necessary to
replace them. — Trantlalor.

all, five hundred officers and men out of two thou-
sand in the squadron. But the English had nine
hundred men struck down by the French fire ; and
their ships completely riddled *.

However glorious this action was, the business
was not yet completed. It was urgently necessary,
under the injury which the French ships had
sustained, to withdraw from the anchorage of
Algesiras. Admiral Saumarez was enraged, .and
swearing to avenge himself as soon as Linois left
his aiKjhorage to proceed to Cadiz, made great
pi'eparations. He employed all the vast resources
of the port of Gibraltar to get his squadron ready,
and even prepared fire-ships to burn the French
vessels if he could not draw them out to sea. Ad-
miral Linois had nothing wherewith to repair his
damages, than such supplies as Algesiras could
furnish, which were next to nothing. The arsenal
of Cadiz, it is true, was close by ; but it was no
easy matter to bring what was wanted by sea, on
account of the English, nor by land from the diffi-
culty of transpoi't ; yet tlie yards of the French
vessels were carried away, and some of their masts
were gone, or otherwise much injured. Hardly
any thing necessary for dressing the wounded
could be obtained, and the French consuls in the
ports near were obliged to send surgeons and
medicines by post overland to them.

There happened to be at this moment in the
harbour of Cadiz, just arrived from Ferrol, a
Spanish squadron, besides the six ships given to
France, and hastily equipped by admiral Dumanoir.
The strength of these two divisions in regard
to number was, no doubt, great enough ; but the
Spanish navy, always worthy by its bravery of the
illustrious nation to which it appertains, had par-
taken of the general negligence. The squadron of
admiral Dumanoir was ill-manned with seamen of
all kinds, and was not capable of inspiring nutch
confidence. None of the ships which composed it
equalled those of Linois' division, exercised by
long cruises, and elevated by its recent victory.

It was necessary to make the most urgent ap-
peals to induce admiral Mazzaredo, the Spanish
commander at Cadiz, ill disposed towards the
French, to afi"ord aid to admiral Linois. On the
9th of June, or 20th Messidor, he detached to
Algesiras admiral Moreno, an excellent officer, full
of courage, and well experienced, with five Spanish
ships from Ferrol, one of the six vessels which
Spain had given to France, and three frigates.
The squadron took with it all of whicli Linois
stood in need, and reached in one day the an-
chorage at Algesiras.

They worked day and night in repairing the three
vessels which had fought so glorious a battle. They
were all three again afloat on the first high water.
Their rigging was refitted in the quickest mode
possible. Topmasts were made for them out of the

- Our author's faith is of a most confiictinR character, ns .i
naval historian, to give such returns as ilieso. The Frcnoli
must have well known the loss of the Hannibal, havinR got
her as a prize; and she lost thrice any other I'.nglish sli:]i
She had 75 killed and r>8 wounded ; the Audacious, 8 killed
and 32 wounded ; the Venerable, 8 killed and 25 wounded ;
the Spencer, 6 killed and 27 wounded; the Cicsar, 8 killed
and 34 wounded; the Pumpee, IS killed and CO wounded.
Total, 375.— Tranilalur.

264 Admiral Saumarez pursues THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, the French and Spaniards

1801.
July.

gallant-masts, and on the 12th they were ready for
sea. Tiiey bestowed the same care upon the Eng-
lish prize, the Hannibal, which was also to be taken
to Cadiz.

Ou the morning of the 1 2th the combined squa-
dron put to sea with the wind east-north-east,
wiiich carried it out of the bay of Algesiras into
the straits. The squadi'on sailed in order of battle,
the two largest of the Spanish vessels, the San
Carlos and San HermenegiJda, each of one hundred
and twelve guns, bringing up the rear. The two ad-
mirals, after the Spanish custom, were in a frigate,
the Sabina. At nightfall the wind fell. They would
not sail back to the anchorage at Algesiras, because
it was a dangerous position to occupy in presence
of an enemy's squadron, and the more, as it was
feared the English squadron might be reinfoi'ced,
which it was well known they expected. It was
determined to leave the Hannibal behind, because
she made no way although towed by the Indienne
frigate, and she was sent back to the anchorage
at Algesiras. The squadron then lay to in the
hope that during the night the wind might rise.
Admiral Saumarez, on his side, had ordered his
squadron to set sail. He had but four vessels, for
he had lost the Hannibal, and the Pompde was un-
fit for service. But he was now joined by the
Superb, which made his division five vessels, be-
sides many frigates, and some light vessels tilled
with combustibles'. He had carried his malice so
far as to put on board his ships furnaces for heat-
ing red-hot shot. Though he had but five ships of

' Sir James Saumarez had with him only the Caesar 80,
Spencer 74, Audacious 74, Venerable 74, and Superb 74;
total, 376 guns. He had also the Thames frigate. The rig-
ging of the Poinpee was not yet completed. He had no
vessels with combustibles, no furnaces for red hot shot,— a
thing impossible to be used on board any ship; this report
was invented by the French. They had nine sail of the line,
viz. the San Carlos 11 2, Sun Hermenegilda 112, San Fernando
84, Argonauto 80, San Augustino 74 (Spanish); the Formid-
able 84, Indomptal)le84, Desaix 74, St. Antoine 74 (French :
total, 778 guns ; four frigates, and the Wanton lugger of 12
guns. The French, our author says, were elated with vic-
tory, and yet they dared not come about and engage Sauma-
rez. The British came up with the Franco-Spanish squa-
dron in the evening. The Superb was the headmost ship,
followed closely by the Ceesar; the other British ships were
still behind. The Superb attacked the San Carlos about
eleven o'clock, others of the allied vessels firing on the
Superb, and striking each other. The Superb passed on, and
engaged the St. Antoine, a French 74, which very quickly
hauled down the tricolored flag; the Superb having only fifteen
men wounded in the action. In the meanwhile the Csesar
came up to the San Carlos, which the Superb left to her
care, and had scarcely opened her guns when it was seen
that the Spanish vessel was on fire ; the Caesar at once ceased
firing. In a short time the San Carlos was in a blaze, and
the flames communicating to the San Hermenegilda, which
was near and to leeward of the San Carlos, she took fire too,
and both blew up. A very few men only were saved in a
boat, and got on boaid the Superb. The other three British
ships were by this lime come up ; but it began to blow hard,
and in the morning the Venerable 74 and Thames frigate
were the only ships seen ahead of the Caesar, together with
one of the French ships, the rest having made their escape
into Cadiz. 'J'he Venerable was the only British ship near
enough to chase the Formidable with a chance of success.
The iinaginative affair about combustibles and red-hot shot,
reported by M. Thiers, is best answered by the following
communication, for which history is indebted to the present

the line, and the allies nine, lie determined to brave
them to make up for his humiliating check at Alge-

lord Saumarez. In a letter dated "Cheltenham, May 19th,
1845," lord Saumarez, after denying that the Ponipee ever
struck, or any thing of the kind, answers the slander about
the red-hot shot by stating that his father, theji sir James
Saumarez, wrote to the Spanish naval eoniniander at Cadiz,
contradicting in the fullest way the malignant charge. Ad-
miral Mazzaredo replied like an honourable man and high-
minded officer : —

"Isle of Leon, August 17, 1801.
" Esteemed Sir — The reports which have betn current that
the burning of the two royal ships on the night of the 12th and
13th of July, arose from the use of red-hot balls which were
fired at them, have existed only among the ignorant public,
and have not received credit from any persons of condition,
who well know the manner of combating in the British navy.
At the same time, they give the greatest credit to the asser-
tion of your excellency, that nothing could be more foreign
from the truth, from the characteristic humanity of the Bri-
tish nation, and from what I have myself experienced of the
particular conduct of your excellency. I will avail myself of
every occasion to assure your excellency of the esteem and
consideration which 1 profess for your person.
" God grant you may live a thousand years.

" Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) "Joseph Mazzarebo.

" To his excellency rear-admiral Saumarez." .
The author's ignorance of naval matters, and his reliance
upon unfounded statements in consequence, is very unfortu-
nate. A friend to the freedom of the press, M. Thiers has him-
self shown (see p. 212) that the government dictated to the
Moniteur all that was to be said on military and naval affairs.
As to England, where the liberty of the press flourished, the
false statements of naval and military commanders — any
thing wrong that came before the notice of those serving under
them — would be srire to reach home, and they would be cor-
rected in the newspapers A false return of killed or wounded
on board ship, for example, would be detected and told.
In France the Muniteur was the unchallenged authority
for every thing, true or false, that could be made to serve an
end. It will not be amiss to see how the first consul dic-
tated the aflJair of Algesiras, and the flight into Cadiz. The
following is the government report from the Moniteur, car-
rying fraud upon its face. It was read at the theatres, and
made Paris alive with joy : —

" On the 4th of July rear-admiral Linois had anchored in
the Bay of Algesiras, expecting to be attacked the next
morning. In the night he landed the general of brigade
Devaux, with a part of the troops, to man the batteries of
the harbour. On the 5th, at 8 a. m., the cannonade com-
menced against the six English ships, which came without
delay, and brought their broadsides to bear within gun-shot
of the French ships ; the battle then began to be warm.
The two squadrons appeared to be equally animated with
the desire of conquering. If the French squadron had some
advantage from its position, the English had double the
force, and several ninety-gun ships. The Hannibal 74 placed
herself between the French squadron and the land. It was
half-past eleven ; this was the decisive moment. For two
hours the Formidable, on board of which rear-admiral Linois
was, made head against three English ships. One of the
ships of the English squadron, which was stationed with her
broadside to one of the French ships, struck her fiag at three-
quarters past eleven. An instant after, the Hannibal, ex-
posed to the fire of the batteries and of three French ships,
which poured broadsides upon her from both sides (.'J, also
struck her flag. At half-past twelve the English squadron
cut their cables, and made s;iil. The Hannibal was towed
by the Formidable. Of her crew of six hundred, three hun-
dred were killed. The first English ship of the line which
had struck her flag was disengaged by a great quantity of
gun-boats and other embarkations sent from Gibraltar. The
battle covers the French with glory, and proves what they

1801.
July.

Dreadful explosion of two
Spauish vessels.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

Bravery of Captain Troude.

siras, and save liimself from the much dreaded
censure of the English admiralty. He followed
closely the Franco-Spanish squadron, waiting for
the fii-st favourable moment to fall upon the rear
ships witii his refitted vessels.

Towards the middle of the night the wind blew
fresh, and the combined squadron made sail again
for Cadiz. The order of sailing was a little changed.
The rear division of the fleet was formed of three
ships in a single line, the San Carlos to the right,
the San Hermenegildo in the middle, and the St.
Antoine, a seventy-fnur, the last a French ship, on
the left. They sailed at but a small distance from
each other, the darkness of the night was very
great. Admiral Saumarez ordered the Superb, a
good sailer, to make all haste and attack the French
rear ships. The Superb soon came up to the
Franco-Spanish squadron. She had extinguished
her lights, that she might be less liable to be i)er-
ceived, keeping a little astern of the San Carlos,
but on one side, she gave that -ship the whole of
her broadside ; then repeating it without any in-
terval, a second and a third time, firing red-hot
shot. The flames instantly took the San Carlos.
The Superb perceiving this remained astern, taking
in sail. The San Carlos, a prey to the flames, ill-
managed in the confusion, went to leeward, and in
place of remaining in the line fell astern of two of
her neighbours. She fired in all directions ; her
balls reached the San Hermenegildo, the crew of
which taking her for the English luading vessel,
poured all her fire into their own ship. Then a
fearful mistake was committed by the two Spanish
crews taking each other for enemies. They both
ran up alongside each other, so close as to en-
tangle their rigging, and engaged in an obstinate
contest. The fire, become more violent on board
the San Carlos, communicated itself soon to the
San Hermenegildo, and the two vessels in that state
continued to cannonade each other with fury. The
oi)posing squadrons were etiually ignorant in the
darkness of the night as to what was proceeding
around them, and, except the Superb, that must
have known of the fatal error, because she had
caused it, no vessel dared to approach another, not
knowing which was Spanish or which English,
which they ouglit to assist or attack. The St. An-
toine, a French ship, had moved away from the
dangerous neighbourhood. The mass of flame soon
became immense, and cast a dull light over the
whole surface of the sea. It would seem as if the
fatal illusion which armed these ))rave S|)aniards
against each othor was now dissipated, though too
late. Tlie San Cirlos blew up with a terrible explo-
sion, and in a few minutes afterwards the San Her-
menegildo followed, and struck terror into the two
squadrons, that were utterly ignorant to what ves-
sels the disaster had occurred.

The Supi-rb, perceiving the .St. Antoine sepa-
rated from the others, bore up, and boldly attacked
lier. This vessel, but recently fitted out, defended
herself without tliat coolness and order which are
indispetmable to the movement of those vast en-

can do. Hear admiral Linois it at Cadiz wilU the Hannibal,
to repair it."

Not a «yllable oflhc tliKht to Cadiz of llie nine sail from
five, nor of the St. Antoiiic's loss, nor of the burning of the
Spanish »hip«, is here told '.—Tranilator.

gines of war. She suff"ere(l most severely ; and
two new advei-saries, the Ciesar and Venerable,
coming up at the moment, made her defeat in-
evitable. She struck her flag after being a com-
plete wreck.

Admiral Saumarez was thus cruelly avenged
without much glory to himself, but with a great
loss to the Spanish navy. The two admirals,
Linois and Moreno, on board the Sabina, kejit
themselves as near as possible to this frightful
scene, but were unable to distinguish, in the dark-
ness, what was passing, or to give an order. At
break of day, they found themselves not far from
Cadiz, with their squadron rallied, but lessened by
three ships, the San Hermenegildo and San Carlos,
which were blown up, and the St. Antoine, which
had been captured.

A fourth vessel of the combined squadron re-
mained in the rear, the Formidable, admiral
Linois' vessel, which was covered with glory in
the battle of Algcsiras, and which still felt the
effects of that engagement. Compelled to carry
diminished sail in consequence of the loss of her
masts, and sailing slowly, being near two of the
burning vessels, and dreading the fatal mis-
takes of the night, she had kept in the rear, not
believing it in her power to be of use to any of the
vessels in action. It was thus, that in the morn-
ing she found herself alone, surrounded by the
English, and attacked by a frigate and three
vessels. Admiral Linois, having gone on board
the Sabina, had left the command to one of his
officers, captain Troude, of the Formidable. This
able and valiant officer, judging with rare presence
of mind, that if he tried to escape by making sail,
he should be overtaken by vessels that sailed better
than his own, resolved to find his safety in a skilful
manoeuvre, and in a courageous engagement.
His crew shared in his feelings, not one of them
would consent to the loss of the laui'els of Alge-
siras. They were old sailors, well trained by long
service at sea, and well accustomed to fighting,
a thing much more necessary at sea than on land.
The worthy captain Troude did not wait until his
enemies, wlio pursued him, should be united
against the Formidable; he bore down upon that
which was nearest, namely, the Thames frigate,
and poured such a terrible fire into her that he
soon sickened her of the unequal contest. The
Venerable, an English seventy-four, was coming up
at full sail, the captain, thinking he was superior
to her, his ship carrying eighty guns, waited until
she came up, while the two other English vessels
endeavoured to gain the advantage of lier upon
the wind, and cut her ofl" from entering Cadiz.
Ably manoeuvring, and making his redoubtable
broadside, thick with guns, to bear upon the un-
armed bow of the Venerable, joining to his su-
perior weight of metal, sent home with full effect,
he riddled her with his sliot, first struck down ono
mast, and then another, then a third, and made a
mere hulk of her, lodging many shot between
wind and water, which jmt iier in danger of sink-
ing. The unfortunate shij), horribly mauled, ex-
cited the alarm of the rest of the English squadron.
The Thames frigate brought her lielp, and the
two other English vessels, which had endeavoured
to place themselves between Cadiz and the For-
midable, soon came about. They were desirous of

266

Glory acquired by th«
French navy.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Campaign in Portugal.

1801.
July.

saving the crew of the Venerable, which they were
afraid would go down, and, at the same time, of
overwhelming the French ship, which made so
noble a resistance. The latter, confident in his
seamanship and his good fortune, fired successively
into them the most rapid and well-directed broad-
sides; he discouraged them, and sent them off to
the succour of the Venerable, ready to turn bottom
upwards, if they did not come to her assistance
speedily'.

The brave captain Troude having disembarrassed
himself of his numerous foes, sailed triumphantly
into Cadiz. A part of the Spanish population,
attracted by the cannonade and the explosions
during the night, had gone down to the shore.
They had seen the danger and triumph of the
French vessel, and in spite of the sorrow naturally
felt, for the loss of the two Spanish vessels was
well known, they sent forth the most joyous accla-
mations at seeing the Formidable enter the harbour
victorious.

The English could not deny that the glory of
these engagements was u]ion the French side. If
the French had lost one vessel, and the Spaniai-ds
two, the English had left one vessel in our power,
and had had two so ill treated that they were quite
unfit for further service. The battle of Algesiras and
the return of the Formidable were among the num-
ber of the finest feats known to the French naval
history. But the Spaniards were downcast; al-
though admiral Moreno had behaved well, they
were not indemnified by a brilliant action for the
loss of the San Carlos and San Hennenegildo.

Still the events in Portugal were of some conso-
lation to them. We left the prince of the peace pre-
paring to commence hostilities against Portugal, at
the head of the combined forces of the two nations.

> The fact was as follows. The Venerable 74, at daybreak,
found herself a great way ahead of the English squadron,
and approaching a ship the last of the combined nine line of
battle ships and frigates not destroyed, taken, or escaped
into Cadiz. She gave chase. Captain Hood said in his
letter to Sir James Saumarez, " I could perceive her to be
an 80-gun ship. At half-past 7 a. m.. being within point-
blank shot, the enemy commenced firing his stern chase-
guns, which I did not return, for fear of retarding our pro-
gress, until light and baflling airs threw the two ships broad-
side to, within musketshot, when a steady and warm con-
flict was kept up for an hour and a half, and we had closed
within pistol-shot, the enemy principally directing his fire at
our masts and rigging. I had at this time the misfortune
to see the main-mast go overboard, and fore and mizzen-mast
nearly in the same state," &c. The Venerable now got on
shore, the affair being close in land, near the castle of Sanie
Petre, and the Formidable made her escape. So that they
were the stern chase-guns of the Formidable that were
brought to bear on the Venerable's bows, as she endeavoured
to get away, not her redoubtable broadside. The Thames
frigate was never hurt, man or timber, by the Formidable ;
and the well-directed broadsides given as a caution to the
other two English line of battle ships, were fired in the air,
if fired at all, for the other English vessels were not come up
■within range. Our author seems ill informed in matters con-
nected with maritime affairs, or he would have asked him-
self—as those who read his work must do— why, with nine
powerful lin; erf battle ships, and four fine frigates, Linois did
not engage and capture five English ships of inferior rates,
and one frigate ; this would be the sensible mode of such
a victorious commander as Linois in treating with an enemy
not half as strong.— rra^fs/a/or.

in the design, long ago explained, of influencing the
negotiations that were cari-ying on in London.

According to the plan agreed upon, the Spaniards
were to operate on the left of the Tagus, and the
French upon the right. Thirty thousand Spaniards
were assembled before Badajoz, on the frontier of
Alentejo ; fifteen thousand French were marching
by way of Salamanca upon Tras-os-Montes. Thanks
to the speedy efforts made, and to the loans ad-
vanced by the clergy, as well as the general sacri-
fices offered from all branches of the public service,
provision was made for the equipment of thirty
thousand Spaniards. But the train of artillery was
very backward. The prince of the peace, calculating
with reason upon the moral effect of the union
between the French and Spaniards, was eager to
proceed to hostilities at once, being anxious to
gather his first laurels. He wanted to carry away
all the honoiu-s of the campaign, and keep the
French as a reserve, upon whom he could fall back
in case of his meeting with a reverse. The French
could well afford to leave the prince the pleasure of
such a gratification. The French at that moment
were not seeking for glory, but only to bring about
useful results ; and these results consisted in occu-
pying one or two provinces of Portugal, in order to
have new securities against England. Easy as the
war a]ipeared to be in regard to its object, there
was still a danger to be feared, and that was lest it
might become national. The hatred of the Portu-
guese against the Spaniards might have produced
the most unpleasant results, if the approach of the
French, placed a few marches in their rear, had
not dissipated these dawning desires at i-esistance.
The prince of the peace hastened to pass the fron-
tier, and to attack the fortified places in Portugal,
with field artillery in place of a battering train. He
occupied Olivenga and Jurumenha without diffi-
culty. But the garrisons of Elvas and Campo-
Mayor, shut themselves up and made a show of
defence. The prince of the peace ordered those
places to be invested, and during the interval
marched forth to meet the Portuguese army, com-
manded by the duke d'Alafoens. The Portuguese
made no resistance, and fled towards the Tagus.
The blockaded towns opened their gates. Campo-
Mayor surrendered ; and the siege of Elvas was
undertaken in a regular manner, a park of artillery
having arrived from Seville. The prince of the peace
followed the enemy triumphantly, traversing rapidly
Azuniar, Alegrete, Portalegre, Castello deVide, Flor
de Rosa, and arrived at last on the Tagus, behind
which the Portuguese had hastened to seek a re-
fuge. He succeeded in making himself master of
nearly the whole province of Alentejo. The French
had not yet passed the frontier of Portugal, and it
was plain enough, that if the Spaniards succeeded
alone in obtaining such results, the Spaniards and
the French united must, in a few days, be masters
both of Lisbon and Oporto. The court of Portugal,
which had always refused to believe that an attack
upon that country was seriously meditated, now
saw that it had taken place, and hastened to ten-
der its submission, and sent M. Pinto de Souza to
the Spanish head quarters, to accept any conditions
which it pleased the two combined armies to impose
upon it. The prince of the peace, desiring that his
master and mistress should be witnesses of his
glory, influenced the king and queen of Spain to

1801.
July.

Consequences of the foregoing
events.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

French ascendancy
politics.

European

2C7

oome to Badajoz to distribute rewards to the army,
and to hold there a species of congress. Thus
this court, once so great and haughty, was dis-
honoured by a dissolute queen, and by an incapa-
ble but all powerful favourite, who was endeavour-
ing to indulge in the illusion that he was directing
the weightiest affau-s. Lucicn Bonaparte had fol-
lowed till- king and queen to Badajoz. Such were
the events that had occurred up to the end of June
or beginning of July.

The battles of Aigesiras and Cadiz, which were
achievements calculated to give confidence to the
French navy, the short campaign in Portugal,
which proved the decisive influence of the first
consul in the peninsula, and the power that he pos-
ses-sed of treating Portugal like Naples, Tuscany,
or Holland, compensated, up to a certain point, for
the events so far known relative to Egypt. Neither
the battle of Canopus, nor the capitulation signed
at Cairo, nor the inevitable capitulation of Alexan-
dria, had then been heard of. News was not at that
time conveyed by sea with the same rapidity that
it is at present. It was a month, and sometimes
more, sometimes less, before an event taking place
in the Nile was known at Marseilles. The only
fact heard respecting Egypt, was the landing
of the English, and the first battle on the plains
of Alexandria ; no notion could then be formed of
what had afterwards occurred, and the ultimate
termination of the strugn;le was still involved in
doubt. The weight of France in the negotiations
depending had in no way diminished ; on the con-
trary, it was increased by the influence which day
by day she acquired in Europe.

The treaty of Lune'ville produced its inevitable
consequences. Austria, disarmed and become
powerless in the eyes of other countries, left France
free to pursue her own objects. Russia, since the
death of Paul I., and the accession of Alexander,
was not disposed to act energetically against Eng-
land, it is true, but she was not inclined, upon the
other hand, to resist the objects of France in the
west. Therefore the first consul took no pains
to conceal his views. He determined to convert
Piedmont into a French de])artment, without trou-
bling, himself about the remonstrances of the Rus-
sian negotiators. He had declared that as to
Naples, the treaty of Florence should remain the
rule by which affairs with that country should be
regulated. Genoa had submitted her constitution
to him, that it might receive certain alterations,
which were calculated to strengthen the executive
authority. The Cisalpine republic, composed of
Lombardy, the duchy of Modena, and the Lega-
tions, 80 constituted for the first time by the treaty
of Campo-Formio, and a second time by the treaty
of Lun^ville, was now newly organized into an
allied state, dependent upon France. Holland,
after tho example of Liguria, submitted her con-
stitution to the first consul, in order that more
strength might be given to the goveinment, a spe-
cies of reform, which was at that time effected in
all the republics that sprung from that of France.
Lastly, the minor negotiators, who not long before
sought support from M. Kalitcheff, tho arrogant
minister of Paul 1., were now sorry they had
sought his protection, and demanded only of the
first consul the favour of his ameliorating their
condition. More particularly the r'presentatives

of the German princes, showed in this regard the
most pressing eagerness. The treaty of Lune'ville
had aiTanged the secularization of the ecclesiastical
estates, and their division among the heredi-
tary princes. The ambition of all was kept awake
to their future parlicipations. The great as well as
the smaller powers, each aspired to obtain for itself
the most advantageous portions. Austria and
Prussia, although they had lost little on the left
bank of the Rhine, wished to participate in the
promised indemnities. Bavaria, Wurtemberg,
Baden, the house of Orange, all besieged the new
chief of France with their solicitations; because,
being the principal party to the treaty of Lune'ville,
he would have the greatest influence in the execu-
tion of that treaty. Prussia herself, represented
in Paris by M. Lucchesini, did not disdain to
descend to the part of a solicitor, and to give a
higher character to the first consul by the mean-
ness of her solicitations. Therefore, although the
six months passed since the treaty of Luneville had
been distinguished by reverses in Egypt, it was
true but imperfectly known in Europe, the ascend-
ancy of the French government had supported
itself, and time had only rendered that government
more clear and effective. This concatenation of
circumstances could not but have its influence
upon the negotiations which had been left to lan-
guish for a moment, but which were about to be
renewed, as if by common consent, with increased
activity, through a singular conformity of ideas in
the two governments. The first csnsul, upon
learning the past proceedings of Menou, had
looked upon Egypt as being lost, and he wished,
before that result happened, which he clearly fore-
saw, to sign the treaty of peace in London. The
English ministers, incapable of seeing, as clearly as
he did, the termination of these events, and not
less fearing some stroke of vigour on the part of
the Egyptian army, so renowned for its valour,
were desirous of profiting, by the first appearance
of success, to push forward the treaty, in such a
manner, that as both had been at one time inclined
to temporize, so they were now equally inclined to
conclude the negotiation.

But before again entering anew into the laby-
rinths of this great negotiation, wherein the most
important interests of the universe were about to
become the subjects of discussion, an event must
bo narrated which at the same moment occupied
the attention of Paris, and completed the singu-
larity of the spectacle which the consulai* govern-
ment of France presented to the world.

The infants of Parma, destined to reign over
Tuscany, ([uitted Madrid at tlu; same time that the
royal family of Spain left that city for Badajoz, and
they had just reached the frontiers of the Pyre-
nees. The first consul considered it was of great
importance that they should visit Paris before they
went to Florence to take possession of the new
throne of Etruri.a. All sorts of contrasts wero
agreeable to the lively and expanded imagination
of Bonaparte. Ho greatly enjoyed this truly
Roman scene, a king formed by himself with his
own republican hands ; he also liked to show that
he had no apprehensions from the presence of a
Bourbon, and that his own glory placed him above
all comparison with the ancient dynasty in the
place of which he stood. Ho enjoyed also in tho

Their reception. — Enter-
268 '^'of Etruria ^""" THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. tIu"' Tand^'^'" ^^

1801.
Julj.

sight of all the world, even in Paris, so recently
the scene of a sanguinai-y revolution, the display of
a pomp and an elegance worthy of monarclis. All
this must lead still furtlier to an observation of the
sudden change wliich had been operated in France
mider his restorative government.

The minute and exact foresight which he knew
so well how to apply to a great military operation,
he did not disdain to employ in these magnificent
pageantries, in which he himself and his glory
were to be displayed. He took the trouble to regu-
late the smallest details, to provide every thing
applicable to the occasion, to arrange every one in
his proper place ; since all this was required to be
done in a state of social order entirely new, created
out of the wrecks of a world destroyed. Every
thing to be re-edified again, even to matters of
etiquette, of which there must be some forms even
in a republic.

The three c(msuls deliberated for a long while
upon the mode in which the king and queen of
Etruria should be received in France, and what
ceremonies should be observed towards them. In
order to obviate many difficulties, it was agreed
they should be received under the assumed titles
of the count and counte.ss of Livorno, and that tiiey
should be treated as guests of distinction, in the
same way as had been done in the last century in
regard to the young czar, afterwards Paul I., and
the emperor of Austria Joseph II.; thus by means
of an incognito, there was avoided the embarrass-
ment to which the official rank of a king and queen
would have given birth. Orders, consonant with
this arrangement, were given, in consequence,
over all the route of the expected pei\sonages, to
the civil and military authorities in the depart-
ments.

Novelty delights the people of every age. This
was a novelty, and one of the most surprising, to
see a king and a queen, after twelve years of a
revolution, which had overturned and threatened
so many thrones ; it was one, more particularly,
that highly flattered the French people, because
this king and queen were the fruit of their vic-
tories. Every where the infants were received
under the liveliest acclamations; vAth infinite regard
and respect. No disagreeable circumstance on their
journey led them to feel that they ti'avelled in a
country that just before had been wholly con-
vulsed. The royalists, who were in no way flattered
by this monarchical piece of workmanship of the
French revolution, were the only individuals who
seized upon the opportunity to exhibit their ma-
lignity. At the theati-e of Bordeaux they shouted
loudly, with affected emphasis, " Long live the
king!" and they were answered by the cry of
" Down with kings I"

The first consul himself moderated, by letters
from his own cabinet, the over excessive zeal of
some of his prefects, because he did not wish too
much noise to be made about the appearance of
the royal couple. They arrived in Paris in June,
to remain an entire month; and they were to take
up their residence at the mansion of the Spanish
ambassador. The first consul, although but the
simple temporary magistrate of the republic, re-
presented the Frencli peo])Ie ; before this preroga-
tive, all the privileges of the blood-royal gave way.
It was agreed, that these two young sovereigns,

making the first consul acquainted with their ar-
rival, should visit him, and that he should return
the visit on the following day. The second and
third consuls, who could not be said to be, to the
same extent, the representatives of France, were
to pay the first visit to the infants. Thus, with
respect to the last, the honours of birth and rank
were fully established. On the day following that
of their arrival, the count and countess of Livorno
were conducted to Malmaison by count Azara, tlie
Spanish ambassador. The first consul received
them at ths head of that exclusively military
household which he had established there. The
count of Livorno, feeling a little youthful embar-
rassment, flung himself into the fii-st consul's arms
like a child, who, in consequence, embraced him
with warmth. He treated the young couple with
parental kindness and the most delicate attention,
at the same time supporting all that superiority
which belonged to difference of years and to his
own i^ower and glory. On the following day, the
first consul rsturned the visit at the hotel of the
ambassador. The consuls, Carabac^res and Le-
brun, fulfilled, on their parts, the duties prescribed,
and obtained from the young princes the attentions
to which they were entitled.

It was arranged that the presentation of the
young princes, by the first consul, to the people,
should take place at the opera. On the day ap-
pointed for tliat purpose the first consul was in-
disposed. The consul Cambac^res supplied his
place, and attended the royal infants to the opera.
On entering the consuls' box, he took the young
count of Livorno by the hand, and presented him
to the audience, who answei-ed by unanimous ac-
clamations, wholly unmingled with any thing ma-
licious or offensive. Still the idle part of the
public, accustomed to give out their own wise
interpretations to the commonest events, put a
hundred different constructions upon the journey
of these princes. Those who were only for show-
ing their wit upon the subject, declared that Cam-
baceres had just made a present of the Bourbons
to France. The royalists, who were obstinate in
their expectations, that Bonaparte would do that
which he neither could nor would effect, declared
that all this was, upon his part, only a mode of pre-
paring the public mind for a return to the old dynasty.
The republicans, on the other side, asserted that
by such royal pageantry he was preparing France
for the re- establishment of the monarchy, but only
for his own benefit.

The ministers were ordered to be lavish of fetes
and entertainments to the royal visiters. Talley-
rand did not require the hint to be given to him.
Considered a model of good taste and elegance
under the old regime, he was still better entitled
to that claim under the new. He gave, at his
chateau of Neuilly, an entertainment of a most
magnificent character, at which all the best society
of France attended, the names of many of whom
had long ceased to be announced in the circles of
the capital. When night came on, in the midst of
a most brilliant illumination, the city of Florence
appeared all at once, repi-esented with uncommon
skill. The Tuscans were seen dancing and singing
in the celebrated plaza of the Palazzo Vecchio,
and offering flowers to the young sovereigns, and
garlands of triumph to the first consul. This

1801.
July.

Fetes. — Incapacity of the
young prince.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

Renewal of the negotiations
for peace.

1119

magnificent spectacle cost a large sum of money.
It united the prodigality of the directory to the
elegance of other times, and that decorum in
manner, which a severe master laboured to im-
press upon revolutionary France. The minister
at war imitited the minister for foreign affairs,
and gave a military fete, in coniinenioration of
the battle of .Marengo. The minister of the in-
terior and the second and third consuls received
the royal visiters in a most magnificent manner ;
and for a whole month the capital bore the aspect
of a continued rejoicing. The first consul did not
wish the i-oyal couple to be present at the re-
publican ceremonies in the month of July, and he
therefore made the necessary dispnsitions lor their
departure from Paris before the anniversary of the
14th of that month.

In the midst of these brilliant representations,
the first consul attempted to give some advice to
the royal cnuple, who were about to ascend the
tiirone of Tuscany. But he was struck with the
utter incapacity of the young prince, who, when at
Alalmaison, gave himself up, in the waiting-room
of the aids-de-camp, to amusements that were
scarcely worthy the most ignorant boy. The
princess seemed to possess some intelligence, and
to be attentive to the advice offered by the fir.st
consul. He accordingly judged very indifferently
of the future career of these new sovereigns, who
were thus designed to govern a part of Italy, and
easily- foresaw that he should be obliged to inter-
meddle too often in the affairs of their kingdom.
" You see," said he, publicly enough to several
members of the government ; " you see what these
princes are, sprung from old blood, and more par-
ticularly those who have been educated in southern
courts. How can we trust them with the govern-
ment of nations ! No matter; we have done no
harm in exhibiting to the French people this
specimen of the Bourbons. They will be able to
judge from them, whether the members of these
ancient dynasties are up to the level of the diffi-
culties connected with such an age as the present."

Every one who had seen the young prince had
made the same observation as the first consul.
General Clarke was given to the young couple, to
act a-s their Mentor, under the title of the minister
of France at the court of Etruria.

In the midst of such pressing occupations, amidst
ffites, which in themselves were almost public busi-
ness, the great obji-ct of a maritime peace had not
been neglected. The negotiations carrying on in
London between lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto
were become public. They were kept the less
Hfcret now, as both parties were more desirous of
coming to a conclusion. As already observed, to
the wi.sh of temporizing had succeeded the desire
of terminating the business; because the first con-
sul auguifd ill of the events which were passing
on the banks of the Nile, and the English govern-
ment dreaded some unexpected exploit by the
army of I'^gypt. The new English minister, more
particularly, wished for peace, because it was the
sole rea.son for iiis going into office. If the war
should be continued, Pitt was much more fit than
Addington to be at the helm of affairs. All the
events which had occin-red, whether in the north
or the east, though they might have improved the
position of England, were only viewed by the

minister as so many means for the attainment of
a peace, more advantageous, more easy to be jus-
tified in parliament, than from any increasetl desire
for the peace itself. They regarded, on the con-
trary, the occasion as most favourable, and were
desirous of not imitating the fault with which Mr.
Pitt was reproached — of not treating prior to the
battles of Marengo and Hohenlinden. The king
of England, as already shown, had come round to
pacific views, through esteem for the first consul,
and, it is probable, a little anger against Pitt. The
people, suftering from want, and" fond of change,
hoped to see, with the termination of the war,
some amelioration of their existing condition.
Reasonable people, without exception, found that
ten years of sanguinary warfare was enough, and
that an obstinate cnntinuance of the war would
only furnish France with an opportunity for still
further aggrandizement. Besides, they were not
free, in London, from all apprehension on the score
of invasion, the preparations for which were visible
in the ports of the channel. One only class of
men in England, who were absorbed in great
maritime speculations, and who had subscribed to
the enormous loans of Pitt, seeing that peace,
opening the seas to the flags of all nations, and to
that of France more particularly, would take from
them the monopoly of commerce, and i)ut a stop to
the great financial operations by which they had
gained — these were little inclined to support the
peaceful policy of Addington. They were all de-
voted to Pitt and his policy; they all encouraged
a feeling for war when Pitt began to consider
peace as necessary. But these rich speculators of
the city were obliged to be silent before the cries
of the people and of the farmers, and above all,
before the unanimous opinion of the reasonable
men of the country.

The English ministry, therefore, was resolved
not only to negotiate, but to do so promptly, in
order to be able to present the result of the nego-
tiations at the approaching meeting of parliament
in the autumn. They had concluded a treaty with
Russia ui)on very advantageous conditions. Eng-
land had only a simple (juesiion of maritime law to
arrange with that court. She had made some con-
cessions to the new emperor, and obtiiined some
from Russia, which this yung inexperienced
prince, anxious to satisfy the party wluch had
placed him upon the throne, and more anxious to
give his attention tranquilly to the idea of an
interior reform, had tlie weakness to suffer to be
extorted from him. Of the four essential princi-
l)les of maritime law Russia had abandoned two,
and established two. By a convention signed on
the I7li> of June between count Panin, the vice-
chancellor, and lord St. Helens, the following
articles were agreed upon : —

First, neutrals might navigate freely between
all ports in the world, even those of belligerent
nations. They were able to import every thing
according to usage except articles contraband of
war. The definition of this contraband was de-
cidedly favourable to Russian interests ; inasmuch
as grain an<l naval stores, formerly proliibited to
neutral vessels, were not to be treated as con-
tral)and of war. This was of great conseciuence to
Russia, which produces hemp, tar, pitch, iron,
masts, and corn. Upon this point, one of the most

270

British convention with
Kussia

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Propositions of the Eng-
lish and French nego-
tiators.

July.

important in maritime law, Russia had defended
the freedom of general commerce in defending the
interests of her own.

Secondly, the flag was not to cover the goods,
unless such goods had been acquired on account
of, and thus become the property of a neutral
trader. Thus coffee, coming from a French colony,
was not to be seized if it had become Danish or
Russian property. It is true, that in practice this
reservation saved a part of the neutral commerce ;
but Russia sacrificed the first principle of maritime
law — " the flag covers the merchandise ;" and did
not sustain the noble character which she had
borne under Paul I. and Catharine. This pro-
tection of the feeble, which Russia was so am-
bitious to display upon the continent, she sadly
abandoned upon the ocean.

Thirdly, the neutrals, although permitted to
navigate freely, were not, according to usage, to
enter a blockaded port, that is a port so bona fide,
the blockade of which it would be really dangerous
to force. On this head, the great principle of a
real blockade was rigorously maintained.

Lastly, the right of search, the origin of so many
disputes, and tlie cause of the formation of the last
league in the north, was to be understood in a way
little honourable to the neutral powers. Thus it
had always been contended that merchant vessels
convoyed by a ship of war of the state to which
they belonged, that by its presence attested their
national character, and, aljove all, there being
nothing contraband on board, should not be visited.
The dignity of the military flag did not, in fact,
admit that the captain of a ship, perhaps an ad-
miral, should be stopped by a privateer provided
only with a simple letter of marque. The Russian
cabinet thought to preserve the dignity of its flag
by means of a distinction here. It was decided
that the right to visit in relation to vessels under
convoy, should not be exercised by all vessels in-
discriminately, but solely by vessels of war. A
privateer furnished only with a simple letter of
marque, had not longer the riglit to stop and
examine a convoy escorted by a ship of war. The
right of search could only, therefore, be exercised
by one equal upon another equal. There was no
doubt that in this mode of proceeding some incon-
venience was escaped, but the foundation of the
principle was sacrificed. This was the more dis-
creditable to the court of St. Petersburg, as it was
the particular principle of the four in dispute for
which Copenhagen had been bombarded three
months before, and for which Paul I. had tried to
stir up all Europe against England.

Russia had thus sacrificed two great principles
of maritime law, and had gained two. But England,
it must be acknowledged, had made concessions,
and in her desire to make peace, had desisted from
enforcing a part of the arrogant pretensions of
Pitt. The Danes, the Swedes, and the Prussians
were invited to give their assent to this convention.
Delivered from any anxiety about Russia, and
having obtained a first success in Egypt, England
desired to obtain for an amelioration of her situa-
tion, a more speedy peace with France. Lord
Hawkesbury sent for M. Otto to the foreign-office,
and authorized bim to make to the first consul the
following proposition : — Egypt is at this moment
invaded by our troops ; considerable reinforce-

ments must soon join them; their success is very
probable. The struggle is not over, we are ready
to admit. Stay this effusion of blood ; let us agree
on both sides not to attempt the permanent occu-
pation of Egypt, which we will mutually evacuate,
and restore to the Porte.

To this proposition lord Hawkesbury added the
right to keep Malta; because, he said, Malta was
not to be evacuated by England, but in the event
of the voluntary evacuation of Egypt by France.
The abandonment of Egypt by France being no
longer a voluntary concession upon her part, but a
forced consequence of the events of the war, there
was no longer any reason for England handing
over Malta as an equivalent.

In the East Indies the English minister in-
sisted upon Ceylon, but was content with that only.
He offered to restore the Cape of Good Hope to
the Dutch, and beyond that the territories taken
from Holland in South America — Surinam, De-
merara, Berbice, and Essequibo. But he de-
manded a large island in the West Indies, Mar-
tinique or Trinidad, either the one or the other, as
France might prefer.

Thus the definitive result of the ten years of
war w'ould be for England, independently of Hin-
dostan, and the isle of Ceylon in the East Indies,
the isle of Trinidad or Martinique in the Antilles
or West Indies, and the isle of Malta in the Medi-
terranean. The French cabinet had, in this mode,
to make a free grant to England's pride in each of
the three most important seas.

The first consul answered at once to the British
offer thus tendered, that much Avas made of the
events in Egypt to elevate the English demands ;
to oblige them to lower their pretensions, he dwelt
upon the events which were going forward in
Portugal. " Lisbon and Oporto," he replied to
lord Hawkesbury, " will soon fall into our hands,
if we are inclined to take them. They ai'e at this
moment negotiating a treaty at Badajoz, having
for its object to save the provinces of the most
faithful ally of England. The Portuguese propose
to redeem their territory, but they will exclude
England fro)n their ports, and i)ay besides a heavy
war contribution ; and Spain is willmg enough to
agree to this concession. But every thing depends
upon the first consul. He is able to accept or
reject this treaty; and he is about to reject it, and
will take possession of the chief provinces of Portu-
gal, unless England consents to a treaty upon
reasonable and moderate terms. The English re-
quire the evacuation of Egypt by the French; let
it be so, but let England, upon her side, abandon
Malta; let her no more require Trinidad nor
Martinique, but content herself with the island of
Ceylon, a fine acquisition, fornung a grand ap-
pendage to the superb empire of India."

The English negotiator replied in a manner that
could be but little satisfactory for Portugal, con-
firming, what was already well known, that Eng-
land had very little regard for the allies whom she
had comjiromised. " If the first consul should in-
vade Portugal in Europe," lord Hawkesbury
answered, " England will hivade the territoi-y of
Portugal beyond the seas. She will capture the
Azores and Brazil, and will take to herself se-
curities, which in her hands are worth much more
than the Portuguese continental possessions in the

1301.
July.

PoUtical papers in the 3forii<f«r THE GENERAL PEACE.

written by the first consul.

271

hands of France." This plainly signified, that in
place of defending her ally, England sought to
avenge hei-stlf upon Portugal for the new acqui-
sitions that France might make at her expense.

The first consul perceived that upon this occa-
sion he must assume an energetic tone, and show
what was passing at the bottom of his heart ; in
other words, his determination to struggle foot to
foot with England, until he had brought her to
more moderate terms. He declared that he would
never consent to give up MalUa upon any con-
dition; that Trinidad belonged to an ally, whose
interests he would sustain equally with his own,
and he would not abandon this colony to the
English ; that they ought to be content with Cey-
lon" which made so perfect the conquest of the
Indies ; that none of the points contested, Malta
excepted, were to be put into the scale witlj the
sufifering that would be inflicted on the world by
the shedding a single drop of the blood which was
about to flow.

To these diplomatic explanations he added public
declarations in the Moniteur, and the recital of the
armaments which he was preparing ou the coast of
Boulogne. Divisions of gun-boats, in fact, sailed
from the ports of Calvados, the Seine Inferior,
the Somme, and the Escaut or Schelde. They
coasted along the shore to Boulogne, and many
succeeded in reaching that port in spite of the
English cruisers. The first consul had not then
fixed, as he did at a later period, on the plan of a
descent upon England ' ; he only wished to intimi-
date that power by the noise and extent of his pre-
parations ; in short, he had made up his mind to
complete his arrangements, and to carry his threats
into efi"ect if the rupture should definitively happen.
He went into a long explanation of his views upon
the subject during a deliberation of the council, at
which the consuls alone were pres 'nt. Placing
full confidence in the devotion of his colleagues,
Cambacdres and Lubrun, he opened his whole
mind to them. He told them, that with the arma-
m'-nts actually in existence at Boulogne, he had
not yet the means of attempting, with a chance of
success, a descint upon England, an operation in
war full of difficulty ; that his object in making
th'.se preparations was to let England know what
he contemplated doing ; in othir words, that he
intended a direct invasion ; upon the success of
which lie, Bonaparte, should not hesitate to risk
his life, his glory, and his fortune : that if he did
not succeed in obtaining from the British cabinet
some reas<jnable concessions, his |)art was taken —
he should complete the Boulogne flotilla so as to
receive one hundred thousand men, and embarking
with them him«elf, run all the chances of a terrible
but decisive blow.

Desirous of gaining over public opinion to his
aide in Europe, and even in England itself, he
attached to the notes of his minister, negotiating
in England, addressed to the British ministry, a
number of artii les in the Moniteur, which wei-c
designed for the entire European public. These
articles, which were models of neat and forcible

' The first flotilla atiempteJ in 1801 tnunt not be confused
with the great naval and military orKanization known under
the celebrated name of llic " camp of BouloKnc," which hap-
pened in 1804.

argument, were written by himself, and devoured
by the readei-s of all nations, whose attention was
fixed upon this singular scene, he flattered the
English ministers then in office, whom he repre-
sented as wise, reasonable, well-intentioned men,
too much intimidated by the violence of the ex-
ministers, Pitt, and, more particularly, Windham.
He heaped sarcasms upon these last, more par-
ticularly upon Windham, because he regarded him
as the head of the war party. In these articles
he sought to quiet Europe upon the subject of
PVcncli ambition, and to show that his own con-
quests were scarcely equivalent to the acquisitions
Prussia, Austria, and Russia had made in the par-
tition of Poland; that France had restored three
or four tunes the extent of territory she had re-
tained; that England, in like manner, was bound
to restore a large part of her conquests; that in
keeping possession of the continent of India, she
remained in ])osscssion of a superb empire, to
which the islands in dispute were nothing worthy
of notice; that it was not worth the cost, for such
islands, to continue to shed human blood; that if
France, it was true, appeared to insist so strongly
upon them, it was from a principle of honour in
supporting her allies, and to preserve some few
harbours in distant seas ; that, on the other hand,
if England was determined to continue the war,
she might, most certainly, conquer more colonies,
but that she had more already than her trade re-
quired; that France had made around her entire
frontiers, acquisitions of great value, which, with-
out designating, were obvious enough to all the
world, since her troops occupied Holland, Switzer-
land, Piedmont, Naples, and Portugal ; that, in
fact, the contest might be more simplified, and
rendered less burthensome to other countries, by
confining it to a contest between France and Eng-
land alone. The first consul, in writing, took
great care not to wound the national pride of
England; but he did not fail to let his last resource
of a descent be understood, and that, if the English
ministry desired that the war should terminate by
the destruction of one of the two nations, there
was not a Frenchman who was reluctant to make
a last and strenuous effort to decide this long dis-
pute, in a manner that should end in the eternal
glory and advantage of France. " But why put
the matter upon this desperate ground? Why not
terminate the misfortunes of humanity ? Why
thus risk the destiny of two great nations ? " The
first consul finished one of those articles by these
beautiful and singular words, which, at a later
time, were so sadly applicable to himself : —
" Happy, most happy, are those nations, that, ar-
rived at a high degree of prosperity, are blessed
with wise rulers, who will not expose the many
a<lvantage3 they po.sses3 to the caprices and vicis-
situdes of a single stroke of fortune ! "

These articles, remarkable for powerful logic
and a vigorous style, attracted general attention,
and produced a dee|) sensation upon the public
mind. Never had any government held such open
and startling language.

The language of the first consul, accompanied
by very serious demonstrations along the coasts of
France, was calculated to produce, and did jiro-
duce a great efl'ect on the opposite side of the
channel. The formal declaration that France

272

Progress of the negotia-
tions.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMriRE.

Conduct of the prince
of the peace.

1801.
Aug.

would never give up Malta to England, made a
great impression, and the British government
stated its willingness to renounce the island, upon
its being restored to the knights of St. John of
Jerusalem; but, in that case, they demanded the
Cape of Good Hope. They would also give up
Trinidad, and even Martinique, if they obtained
a part of the Dutch continent of America, of De-
merara, Berbice, or Essequibo.

The abandoimient of Malta was a step gained
in the negotiation. The first consul would not
cede either Malta, the Cnpe, or the Dutch posses-
sions on the continent of America. In his view,
Malta was to be considered as the equivalent for
Egypt, if France retained that conquest ; when
the occupation of Egypt ceased to be a question
for the French, that of Malta could not be ad-
mitted for the English, nor any similar equivalent.

The English cabinet finally gave up insisting
upon Malta, but revived its demand for one of the
great West Indi.a islands; and as it could no longer
dare to speak of the French isle of Martinique, it
demanded the Spanish island of Trinidad.

The first consul was as little inclined to cede
Trinidad as Martinique. It was a Spanish colony,
which furnished England witli a dangerous footing
upon the vast continent of South America. He
kept his good faith so far towards Spain, as to
offer the small French island of Tobago, in place
of Trinidad. It was not an important colony; but
England had an interest in it, because all the
planters were English. With a feeling of exalted
pride, only to be allowed to one who had raised
his country to the highest jjitch of glory and great-
ness, he added : " It is a French colony; this ac-
quisition must please the pride of the English,
which will be flattered thus to obtain, as a prize,
one colonial spoil belonging to us ; and the con-
clusion of the peace will thus become more easily
effected*."

By this time it was ab<int the end of July or
commencement of August, 1801. The prepai-ations
making in France wi-re imitated in England. The
militia were exercised; and cars were constructed

1 "The minister of foreign affairs to M. Otto, commis-
sioner of the Frencli republic in London.

" 20th Tliermidor, year ix., or 8th of Aug. 1801.

" In regard to America, as affects the peremptory instruc-
tions contained in the nole, I furilier add liere ; The British
government wishes to retain in the West Indies one of the
newly-acquired islands, and ihis under the plea that it will
be necessary to the preservation of iicr former possessions.
This can in no way ai)i)ly to the island of Trinidad Avoid,
therefore, any discussion upon that topic. Trinidad, l)y its
«ituation, would be, not a means of defence for the colonies
of England, hut a position fur the att.ick of the Spanish con-
tinent. The acquisiiion of the island would, besides, be for
the British government of an importance and value scarcely
conceivable. The discussion can only take place about Cu-
rafoa, Tobago, St. Luria, or fome other island of that class.
Though these two latter are French islands, still this govern-
ment might be induced to abiindim one, and perliaps the
national pride of England be flattered, by thus retaining
some one of our colonial spoils. You will not fail, citizen,
to praise highly the value of the islands to the cession of
which we give consent, and particularly Tobago. This
island not long back belonged to the l-nglish, and is still
inhabited by English planters ; all its relations are English.
The soil is unbroken, and the commerce of the island is
susceptible of great increase."

for the conveyance of troops, to enable them to
reach more rapidly the points threatened by hostile
attack. The English journals of the war party
were filled with the most outrageous language.
Supposed to be encouraged by Windham, some of
them proceeded so far as to excite the people
against M. Otto, and the French prisoners. M.
Otto at once demanded his passports ; and the
first consul caused the insertion in the Moniteur
of the most threatening articles.

Lord Hawkesbury went to M. Otto, and insi.sted
upon his not going away. With some difficulty he
succeeded, by giving him reason toexpecta speedy
conclusion to their negotiation. Still the national
animosity seemed awakened so, that a rupture was
anticipated. All the moderate i)ersons in England
deprecated and wished to ]n-event it. They almost
despaired of success, because the first consul would
not give way in surrendering the possessions of his
allies, which the English persisted in keeping.

While the first consul was fighting the battle of
Spain's noble colonies, the prince of the peace,
witli the thoughtlessness of a vain and frivolous
favourite, made the king, his master, adopt the
most unhappy step, and disengaged the first consul
from every tie of friendship towards Spain.

It has not been forgotten that M. Pinto, envoy
of Portugal, had arrived at the S|)anish head-
quarters, to submit to the law laid down by Spain
and France. The prince of the peace was anxious
to terminate a campaign, of which the beginning
had been so brilliant and easy of achievement; but
of which the continuance might be attended with
difficulties, which, without the aid of the French,
might become insurmountable. If he desired to
get possession of Lisbon or Oporto, the aid of the
French would be indispensable. The enterprise,
now a simple ostentatious display, would then be-
come a serious affair, and require another body of
French troops. Foreseeing this necessity, the first
consul had spontaneously made ten thousand men
in addition march u|ion Spain, which increased
the total number to twenty-five thousand. But
the prince of the peace, who needlessly demanded
this auxiliary aid, was now alarmed at what he
had done, when he saw the troops arrive. Still
they had preserved the most exact discipline, and
shown towards the clergy, the churches, and the
ceremonies of public worship, a respect which was
by no means among them a common occurrence;
Bonaparte alone had been able to inspire them with
such a course of conduct. But now they were
really on the soil of Spain, the people were ridicu-
lou.sly al.armed at seeing them. Either Spain
si)ould have abstained from inviting them there,
or having invited them herself, she should have
employed them in the object for which they came.
Tills object could not have been merely the dis-
persion of a few bands of Portuguese, to obtain
some millions in a contribution, or even to .shut the
ports of Portugal against the English. It evidently
consisted in obtaining valuable pledges, wiiieh
might serve to force from England tlie restitutions
which she would not otherwise make. In order to
do that it was necessary to occiii)y some of the
provinces of Portugal, particularly that of which
Oporto was the capital. This was the surest means
to influence the British cabinet, by influencing the
great city merchants too, who wei'e deeply con-

1801. Treaty hastily signed between
Aug. France, Spain, and Portugal.

THE GExNERAL PEACE.

Anger of the first consul.

273

cerneil in the Oporto trade. Thus it was ; the
matter had been previously arranged in ^ludrid
between the governments of Fniuce and Spain.
Still, despite all which had been stipulated, the
prince of the peace determined to accept the con-
ditions of Portugal, and to be satisfied on behalf of
Spain with the cession of 01iven9a, a fortified
place, adding a contribution of 30,000,000 f. or
40,000,000 f. to be paid to France, and for the two
allied powers the exclusion of all English vessels
of war and commerce. For such stipulations the
campaign thus begun was perfectly childish. It
wjis no more than idling away time ; a thing got up
to amuse a favourite overloaded with royal boun-
ties, and seeking military glory in the most ridicu-
lous mode possible, C(imi)letcly on a level with his
own culpable and foolish levity.

The prince of- the peace awakened in the breast
of his royal superiors paternal feelings not difficult
to e.xcite. But it must be said they were e.\cited
too late or too soon. He contrived to fill their
bosoms with alarm at the presence of the French ;
an alarm tardily experienced, and in evei-y view
wholly groundless. It was impossible to be sup-
posed by any human being that fifteen thousand
Frenchmen could conquer Spain, Or protract their j
stay thei'e in a mode to create uneasiness. To
suppose such an intention was to su|)pose that, of
which the minutest germ never entered into the
iiead of the first consul ; it had nothing to do with
projects conceived at a later period, subsequently
to events wholly unparalleled, which at this time
neither the first consul nor any one else could
foresee. At this moment he thought of one thing
only, which was to extort from England another
island, and that island a .Spanish c<>lony.

In accepting the conditions proposed by the
court of Lisbon, which c<insisted merely of the
cession of Oliven(;a to Spain, 20,000,000 f. to
France, and the exclusion of the English from the
Spanish ports, care had been taken to provide two
copies, one to be signed by Spain, and the other by
France. The prince of the i>eace affixed his sig-
nature to that destined for his own court, wliich
was dated from Badajoz, because all the affair
had been completed in that city. He then |)ro-
cured the ratification of the treaty by the king,
who was on the spot Lucien Bonaparte signed
on his part the copy that wiis destined for France,
and sent it away immediately to receive his
brother's ratification.

The first consul received the communication at
the moment when the negotiations of London were
in their most rxcited state of discussion. The irri-
tation which th<.-y caused him it is not difficult to
conceive. Though his natural affection for his
family was cinied at times to weakness, he iiad a
less command over his temper with his relations
than with other persons ; and most assuredly
if he liad cause for an{rer he might be pardoned
for its exhibition upon the present occasion. In
this particular instance he bmkeout into a jjassion
almost without bounds at the conduct of his brother
Lucien.

But the first consul hoped that the treaty might
not yet hi; ratified, ami sent oK extraordinary
c<>\iri(.rs to lladajoz to announce the refusal of the
ratification by France, and to intimate the fact to
Spain. But "the couriers found the treaty ratified

by Charles IV., and the engagement became irre-
vocable. Lucien was mortified and confounded at
the embarrassing and humiliating character re-
served for him to play in Spain. His brother's
anger he answered by an access of ill-humour,
which was not uncommon with him, and he sent in
his resignation to the minister for foreign affairs.
On his side the prince of the peace became arro-
gant, and allowed himself the use of language
which was senseless and ridiculous towards such a
man as at that time governed France. He first
announced that all hostilities against Portugal had
terminated, and then dem.mded the withdrawal of
the French troojis; adding, that if fresh forces
passed over the frontier of the Pyrenees, their
passage would be considered a violation of the
Spanish territory. He demanded further the re-
turn of the Spanish fleet blockaded in Brest, and
an early conclusion of a general peace, in order to
]iut a stop as soon as possible to an alliance that
was bectmie burdensome to the court of Madrid '.
This conduct was highly improper, and contrary to
the true interests of Spain. It must be observed,
on the other hand, that the frightful misfortime
which had befallen the two Spanish ships had
struck the nation with grief, and contributed to the
angry bearing that manifested itself in a manner
at once so intemperate, and so adverse to the
interests of both caliiuets.

The first consul, in the highest state of irritation,
replied instantly, that the French should remain
in the peninsula until peace was concluded be-
tween Portugal and France in particular ; that if
the army of the prince of the peace made a single
step of approach to the fifteen thousand French
who were stationed at Salamanca, he would con-
sider it as a declaration of war ; and that if in
addition to unbecoming language, they added
any act of hostility, the last knell of the Spanish
monarchy should sound 2. He oi-dored Lucien to

1 Note of July 26th.

2 The first consul wrote short and animated notes, de-
signed to furnish the leading ideas of the instructions he
intended for his ministers, when they transmitted orders to
the ambassadors abroad. The following is a note sent to the
office for foreign affairs, to serve for the ground of a despatch
which was to be fiirwar(l?d to Madrid. Talleyrand, who had
gone to take the waters, had bt«.n replaced by M. Caillard : —

"To the minister for foreign affairs.

"21 Me^sldor, year ix., or 10th July, ISOl.

" Make known, citizen minister, to the ambassador of the
republic at Madrid, that he is to repair to that court, and to
assume the character necessary under the circumstances,
lie will state—

" That I have read the note of the general prince of the
peace; that it is so ridiculous, it does not merit a sorious
answer; but that if ihia prince, bought over by Kn^land,
itiduces the king and queen to take measures contriiiy to
the honour and to the interests of the republic, the lust
knell of the Spanish monarchy lias sounded.

"That my intention is, that the French troops shall re-
main in Spain un'il the moment when the republic hat
made peace witli Portugal.

" That the least movement of the Spanish troops with the
object of approaching nearer to the French forces, will be
considered as a declaration of war.

" That still I desire to do all that is possible to reconcile
the interests of the republic with the conduct niul- inclina-
tions of his catholic majesty. IT''"'
T

274 Correspondence relative THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

to the Spanish treaty. ]^'"'

return to Madrid, there to await ulterior orders in
his character of ambassador. This was enough to
intimidate and restrain the worthless courtier, who
with so much recklessness compromised the most
important interests in the world. Soon afterwards
he wrote most cringing letters in order to be agam
regaidod with favour by the man whose influence
and authority over the court of Spain he so much
feared. . .

Still it was necessary to take some decisive
course in consequence of this strange and un-
accountable conduct on the part of the cabinet of
Madrid. Talleyrand was at the moment absent
on account of ill health, having gone to take the
waters. The first consul sent him all the papers
which had passed, and received in reply a sen-
sible letter containing his opinion upon this very
serious matter.

In the opinion of Talleyrand a paper war would
produce no satisfactory conclusion of the difference,
however triumphant might be the arguments ad-
duced on the side of France, grounded upon the
engagements so plainly laid down and the promises
mutually entered into. A war against Spain would
postpone tlie desirable object of a European peace;
it was besides at utter variance witli the sound
policy of France, and ridiculous in the present

"That come -what may, I will never consent to the
I articles 3 and G.

I " That I do not object to the negotiations being renewed
' between M. Pinto and the ambassador of tlie republic, with
a proto' ol of the negotiations drawn up day by day.

" Tliat the ambassador must endeavour to make the
prince of tlie peace clearly comprehend, and the king and
queen as will, that words and offensive notes, where friend-
ship subsists to the extent it does between us, may be passed
by as mfie family differences; but that the smallest act, or
the least demonstration, will be without a remedy.

" That in respect lo the king of Etruria, a minister was

tendfretl to liim on account of his having no one near him ;

and to govern men, some knowledge is necessary. That in

the hope ho will find at Parma men capable of advising him,

I I do not longer insist upon that point.

" That relative to the French troops in Tuscany, it is
proper to let them remain there for two or three months,
until the king of Etruria can himself organize his army.

" Tliat state atfairs can be carried on without falling into
excitement; and that in other respects, my wishes to do
something agreeable to the court of Spain wou'd be ill re-
turned, if the king suffered the corrupting gold of England,
at the moment when, after so much toil and anxiety, we are
about entering the port, to disunite two great nations ; that
the consequences must be fatal and terrible.

" That at this moment, less precipitation in making peace
■with Portugal, would have been the means of accelerating
very considerably a peace with England, &c.

" You know the cabinet; you will therefore say in your
despatch every thing that may serve to gain time, to hinder
precipitating measures, to procure a renewal of the negotia-
tion, and, at the same time, to produce an effect, by placing
in their view the serious state of the affair, and the inevitable
consequences of inconsiderate proceedings.

" Make the ambassador of the republic understand, that
if Portugal would consent to leave the province of Alentcjo
in the hands of Spain until the peace, that would be a mezzo
(ermine, l)ecause by that means Spain would s^c that the
preliminary treaty was executed to the letter.

" I would as soon accept of nothing as 15,000,000 f. in
fifteen rr.oiiths.

" Despatch the courier whom I send you with this directly
to Madrid. IJonapakte."

pitiable state of the Spanish monarchy, with the
French troops in the lieart of Spain, and her fleet
at Brest. That there was a much better mode of
punishing her, wliich would be to concede the
island of Trinidad to England, the sole and last
difficulty through which the peace of the world
had been withheld. Spain had clearly absolved
France from all obligation to her or devotion to
her interests. In this case we must lose time in
Madrid and gain it in London, accelerating the
negotiation with England by the cession of Trini-
dad \

1 The following is the curious letter of Talleyrand :—

" 20th Messidor, year ix., or 9th of July, ISOl.
" General — I have read with all the attention of which
I am capable the letters from Spain. If we desired to make
it a matter of controversial dispute, it is very easy for us to
prove we are in the right, simply by referring to the literal
meaning of three or four treaties which we have this year
entered into with that power ; for these documents would
establish our case de factum*. We must try whether this
is not a favourable moment for the adoption of some defini-
tive plan respecting the conduct of this our shabby ally.

" I start with the following data: Spain, to quote her own
words, has made an hypocriiical war against Portugal ; she
desires to make a peace definitively. The prince of the peace
is, by what we learn,— and I can readily credit, — carrying on
conferences with England; the directory thought he was
bought over by that power. The king and queen are wholly
dependent upon the prince's will. He was before only a
favourite ; now, in their opinion, he is a perfect statesman,
and a great military character. Lucien is in an embarrass-
ing position, from which it is absolutely necessary to free
him. The prince makes a clever use of the words : ' The
king has decided to viake war upon his children.^ This mode
of expression will produce an effect upon public opinion. A
rupture with Spain is a ridiculous threat when we have her
vessels in Brest, and our troops in the heart of the kingdom.
It seems to me that such is our position with Spain ; that
granted, then, what are we to do?

" At this moment I feel that, for the last two years, I
have not been accustomed to think by myself ; and being no
longer with you, my judgment and imagination are without
any guidance. Thus I am probably about to write poor
stuff; but it is not my fault; I am no longer perfectly myself
when I am apart from you.

" It appears to me that Spain, upon the conclusion of
every peace, has been a weight upon the cabinet of Ver-
sailles, through her enormous pretensions ; she has in the
present instance greatly relieved us. She has herself di-
rected how we should proceed ; we are now able to act with
England as she has acted about Portugal. She lias sacrificed '
the interest of her ally; which is placing at our disposal the
island of Trinidad in the stipulations with England. If you
should adopt this opinion, the London negotiation must he
pushed onwards, while at Madrid we must have recourse to
diplomacy, or rather to wrangling, being careful to maintain
throughout all a mild tone of discussion, amid amicable ex-
))lanations; making them easy respecting the position of the
king of Tuscany, and speaking only of the interests of the
alliance, &c. In fact, lose time at Madrid, and hurry it on-
wards in London.

" To change our ambassador under existing circum-
stances would be to attract an attention that should be
avoided, if you would temporize as 1 propose. Why not
permit Lucien to pay a visit to Cadiz, to ins|)ect the arma-
ments there, and also in the other ports ? During his journey
the business with England would proceed. You would not
allow England lo make conditions for Portugal ; and Lucien

* Whether this be the diplomatic Latin of Talleyrand, or
the Franco-Latin of the author, it stands thus in the French
edition. — Translalor.

1801.
Aug.

Nelsou's attack upon

THE GENERAL PEACE.

the Boulogne flotilla.

•275

This advice was grounded in sound reason, and
appeared in that Hght to tlic first consul. Still,
deeming it a matter of lionour to defend an ally as
long a-s possible, though that aily had broken his
faith, he informed M. Utto of the new view of
France i-cspecting Trinidad, exhibiting his dis-
position to sacrifice that island, not immediately,
but only at the last extremity. The first ct>nsul,
therefore, ordered M. Otto again to induce Eng-
land to accept Tobago if possible.

Most unfortunately the strange conduct of the
prince of tiie peace had much weakened the argu-
ments of the French negotiator in London. News
recently received of the surrender of general Bel-
liard in Cairo, liad weakened them more. Still
the resistance of general Mennu in Alexandria,
supported a doubt favourable to French pretension.
To the flotilla at Boulogne the honour was due
of terminating tjie difficulties of this protracted
negotiation.

Tiie minds of the people of England had never
ceased to be occupied with the naval preparations
made upon the shores of the channel. h\ order
to calm the public, the English admiralty had
recalled Nelson from the Baltic ', and given him
the command of the naval forces along the coasts.
These were composed of frigates, brigs, corvettes,
and light vessels of cvei'v dimension. The en-
terprising spirit of this celebrated English seaman
led him to hope, that he should be able to destroy
them by some bold stroke. On the 4th of August,
or loth of Tliermidor, he appeared, at break of
day, before Boulogne, with about thirty small
vessels. He hoisted his flag in the Medusa frigate,
and took up a position about two miles from the
French line; that is, out of reach of our artillery,
and only within range of our heavy mortarfi. His
object was to bombard the flotilla. This flotilla
had for its commander a brave seaman, full of the
natin-al genius and ardour for war, and destined,
if he had lived, to rise to the highest honours in
his jirolession ; this was the admiriil Latouche-
Trcville. lie exercised the gnu-boats evci'y day,
and accustomed our soldiers and seamen to em-
bark and disembark at a moment's notice, with
celerity and precision. Ou the 4tli, the French
flotilla was formed in three divisions, in a single
line, at anchor, i)arallel with the shore, from which
it was distant about five hundred fathoms. It
was composed of large gun-boats, supported at
intervals by brigs. Tliree battidions of infantry

would be ill Macliid in timt suflkient to treat deliiiilivoly of
the pence with her.

" I fcir, gtnexhl, that you will (ind my opinion smills not
a little or the shower-baths and waters which I take with
Rfcat recMlarity. In seventeen days I am certain to be in
better health, and shall then l>e most happy to renew to you
the assurance of my respect and attachment.

" Ch. MaUH. TALLEVnAND."

' Nelson was not recalled for this purpose ; he came home
with part of the llaliic fleet, in ronsequencu of their pre-
sence bcmK no Ioiik'T required in the north. Sweden linviii);
admitted ICnxiish vessels, and proclalined all hostile fetliii};
to have ceased, on the 20th of May, two or three weeks
aflerwards the Khijis returned. The first boinbardment of
the Houlo;;ne flotilla wax on the 4th of AiiKUkt, when several
were defctmyed. " The whole of //;<! affair," caid XeUon,
" II of nn further contequcncr Ihan In tlmw Ihe tnrmif Ihrij
cannot with impunilij come oiiltiite their jiurtt." — Tramlalor.

were embarked in these vessels, to second the
bravery of our seamen.

Nelson arranged a division of bomb-vessels in
front of his squadron, and opened his fire about five
o'clock in the morning. He hoped, by showering
his bombs, to destroy the flotilla, or, at least, Oblige
the boats to enter the port. Ho threw an amazing
quantity during the eiitiro day. These projectiles,
thrown from heavy mortars, passed, for the most
part, over the French line, and fell harmless upon
the sands. The French soldiers and seamen, im-
moveable under this incessant fire, which was
more alarming than dangerous to life, showed
wonderful coolness, and nmch gaiety of spirit.
Unfortunately, they had no means of returning the
fire. The bomb-vessels, built in a hurry, could
not resist the recoil of the mortars, only firing
some ill-directed shots. The powder, taken from
the old stores in the ai'senals, was destitute of
strength, and did not send the projectiles the
proper distance. The crews eagerly desired that
they might be allowed to advance within gun-
shot, or to board the enemy. But the gun-boats,
awkwardly built, without the experience exhibited
at a later period in their construction, were not
easily manoeuvred, with the wind, at that moment,
blowing from the north-west. They would have
thus been driven, by wind and current, upon the
English line, and obliged, in order to rejoin the
coast, to present their sides to the enemy, when
the guns were placed in their bows. They were,
therefore, obliged to remain under this shower of
projectiles for sixteen hours. The troops and sea-
men bore it all courageously, and laughed at the
shells that passed over their heads. The brave
commandant, Latouche-Treville, was in the middle
of them, with colonel Savary, the aid-de-camp of
the first consul. Thousands of shells were thrown
among them, and, by a sort of miracle, no one was
seriously wounded. Two of the boats were sunk,
without losing a man. One gun-boat, the jNIe'chante,
commanded by captain Margoli, was shot through
in the middle. This brave oflicer put his crew on
board the other boats, and then, keeping two
sailors with him, made for the land as she was
sinking, and ran her on shore, before that event
could occur.

The English, in spite of the di.sadvantage of the
French position and the bad quality of their ])ow-
der, had suffered more than the French. They
had three or four men killed or wounded, by the
explosion of the French shells '.

Nelson retired, threatening to return in a few
days with more certain nteans of destruction. He
was accordingly expected to rc-a])pear, aiul the
Fi-ench admiral prepared to give him a warm re-
ception. He reinforced the lino, ])rovided the
best ammunition, animated the soldiers and sailors,
who, besides, were full of ardour, and cpiitc proud
of having braved the English upon their own ele-
ment. Three picketl battalions, selected from the
4(»lh, 57th, and l()»th demi-brigades, were placed
on board the flotilla, to serve in the same manner
as ill the battle of the 4tli.

Twelve days after, ou the Kith of August, or

' Captain Fyers, of the royal artillery, was very slightly
wounded, as well as two seamen, by the bursting of a shell.
There was no other casualty.— yV"n»'a/or. ,
t2

276 Nelson's second attack upon THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. the Boulogne flotilla.

1801.
Aug.

28th Thermidor, Nelson made his appearance with
a naval division, much more considerable than the
former. Every thin"; indicated his intention to
make a serious attack by boarding ; tlie French
desired nothing better.

Nelson had thirty -five vessels, many boats, and
two thousand chosen men. About sunset he ai--
ranged his boats around the jMedusa, distributed
his men, and gave the necessary instructions.
These boats, manned by English marines, -were,
during the night, to advance under oars, and make
themselves masters of our line by boai-ding. They
were formed into four divisions. A fifth, com-
posed of bomb-vessels, was to be stationed, not in
front of the French flotilla, as before, a position
which showed such little execution during the
bombardment of the 4tli of August, but on one
side of the flotilla, in order to attack it in flank.

About midnight, these four divisions, commanded
by four intrepid officers, — captains Somerville,
Parker, Cotgrave, and Jones, — pulled rapidly
towards the slioi-e at Boulogne. A small Frencli
vessel, manned by eight hands only, had been left
as an advanced post. She was surrounded and
boarded; the sound of her musketry, as she bravely
defended herself before she submitted, served to
give notice of the presence of the enemy.

The four Englisli divisions approached as fast as
their oars could pull. As soon as they were per-
ceptible, a fire of musketry and grape was opened
upon them. The division that came foremost was
taken away to the eastward by the tide, out of its
course, and beyond the right wing, which it was
designed to attack. The two divisions of the
centre, under captains Parker and Cotgrave, row-
ing at once agai.ist the iui(klle of the line of de-
fence, were tlie first to reach it, about one o'clock
in the morning, and they attacked it maniully.
Tiie division of cajitain Parker, after exchanging
a sliarp fire with the French line, attacked one of
tlie large brigs, wliicli had been stationed among
the boats to support them. This was the brig
Etna, under the command of captain Pevrieu.
Six boats surrounded Iter, with the intenti(jn of
taking her by boarding. The English boldly
mounted her sides, headed by tlieir officers, and
were received by two hundred infantry soldiers,
and driven into the sea at the point of the bayonet.
The brave captain Pevrieu, having engaged, in
succession, with two English sailors, killed them
both, altliougli wounded, first with a poignard, and
then with a pike. In a short time, the attacking
party wci-e thrown overboard, and a fire com-
menced upon the boats, which killed the greater
number of those who were in them. The French
boats resisted, with the same courage, those who
attacked them, with bayonets and axes. A short
way off, the division of captain Cotgrave bravely
attacked the French line without success. A large
gun-boat, the Surprise, surrounded by four English
boats, sunk the foremost, took the second, and
obliged the others to retreat. The soldiers rivalled
the sailors in this manner of fighting, so well suited
to tlieir lively and audacious characters.

While the second and third English divisions
were thus received, the first, which liad attempted
the assault on the right of the French, carried
away to the eastward by the tide, could not get
to the scene of action until a very late period.

IMaking every eff'ort to get from the east towards
the west, it seemed to threaten the extremity of
the French line of defence, and to be endeavouring
to get between the land and the French vessels,
a very common manoeuvre of the English. This
was, in the present case, rather an eft'ect of their
position than of their calculation. Some detach-
ments of the lOlJtli, posted along the shore, opened
upon them a very effective fire. The English
seamen, not at all discouraged, attacked the Vol-
cano gun-boat, which pi-otected the left of the
French line. The ensign commanding it, whose
name was Gue'roult, an officer full of courage, met
the boarders, at the head of his sailors and
some infantry soldiers. He had an obstinate
combat to sustain. While he was defending hhn-
self on the deck of his boat, the English, who were
around her, endeavoured to cut her cable, and
carry away the boat itself. Fortunately, it was
moored with a chain, which resisted every effort
to break it. The firing kept up from the shore
and the other French boats upon the English,
obliged to them quit her. This attack was suc-
cessfully repelled, as well as those upon the two
other points.

Tlie day broke ; the fourth division of the enemy
wiiich had been designed to attack the French left,
having to make a considerable way to the westward
in spite of the tide, which ran in the opposite
direction, did not arrive in time. The bomb ves-
sels of Nelson, thanks to the darkness of the night,
did not do much mischief. The English were
every where repulsed ; the sea was covered with
their dead bodies, and a considerable number of
their boats were taken or sunk'. Daylight be-
coming stronger rendered their retreat necessarj'.
They retired about four o'chjck in the morning.
The sun arose to lighten up their flight. This
time it was not an unsuccessful attempt, but a posi-
tive defeat.

The crew were delighted. The French had not
lost many men, and the English, on the contrary,
had suffered considerably. That which added still
more to the joy occasioned by this brilliant action
was, that they had beaten Nelson in person, and
had rendered vain all the menaces of destruction
which he had publicly promulgated against the
French flotilla.

The conti-ary effect was produced on the other
side of the channel. Although this combat with
the French vessels at anchor did not prove what a
similar flotilla would be able to do on the sea wlien
it had (in board one hundred thousand men, still
the confidence of the English in the enterprising
genius of Nelson was greatly diminished, and the
unknown danger which threatened them alarmed
them in a still greater degree.

But the vicissitudes of the most important nego-

' On the '..5th, Nelson, thinking he could cut outa numhcr
of the Ilotilla, made a serious attack. The French were ap-
prized of his intention. They had used cliains in place of
rope for moorings, which could not be cut, and filled the boats
with soldiers, as well as lined the shore close to which the
boats lay, who fired upon the English boats, and often into
their own ve>sels. The English were repulsed, and lost 44
killed and 128 wounded, bringing away only IG soldiers and
seamen and a lieutenant made prisoners. One boat in a
sinking state was abandoned, from the leakage owing to
the shot-holes. — Translator.

[

Nesotiztions resumed.-
Trinidad given up.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

Preliminaries of the treaty of
peace.

277

tiation between tlie two nations began to approach
their limit. Bein;; decided by the conduct of the
Spanish cabinet, the first consul ordered M. Otto
to !;ive up Trinidad. This concession and the two
engagements ofF Boulogne concluded the hesitation
of the Britinh cabinet. It consented to the pro-
posed bases, with the exception of some difficulties
in detail which yet remained to be overcome. The
English cabinet, in giving up Malta to the order of
St. John of Jerusalem, sti])ulated that the islaml
should be placed under the jjrotection of some
power which should secure its independence ; be-
cause they had very little belief in the power of
the order of St. John to defend it, even if the
knights were successful in reestablishing them-
selves. They did not agree with France as to
wiiat state .should be the power having this
guarantee. The pope, Naples, and Russia, had
been successively proposed, and rejected. In the
last place, the drawing up of the words of the
treaty exhibited some difficulty. As the effect of
the treaty upon public oi)inion would naturally be
eonsidenible in lioth countries, upon both sides
there was as nmch attention to be given to the
appearance as to the reality. England made no
objection to enumerate in the treaty the numerous
possessions which she restored to France and its
allies, but at the same time desired that those she
had definitively acquired should be stated also.
This wiis a just demand, more so than that of the
first consul, who wished that the objects restored to
Holland, France, and Spain, should be enumerated,
and that the silence which should be kept in regard
to the others should be for England the only man-
ner of her acquiring a title to them.

Besides these difierences, not very important in
reality, there were othei-s accessary, relative to
])risoners, to debts, sequestrations, and more par-
ticularly to the allies of the two contracting parties,
and the character they should assign to them in
the protocol. Nevertheless it was necessary for
the negotiators to conclude the matter, and thus
])ut an end to the anxieties of the world at large.
On one side the English cabinet wished to bring
the affair to a conclusion before the meeting of
parliament ; on the other, the first consul feared
every moment to hear of the surrender of Alex-
andria, because the prolonged resistance of that
place still left open a doubt which was useful to
the negotiation. Impatient for great results, he
longed for the day when he should be able to make
F"rance listen to words so novel, so magical, not of
peace with Austria, with Pru.ssia, or Russia, but of
a general peace with all the world.

In consequence it was agreed to secure im-
mediately the great results already olitained, and
to leave to an ulterior negotiation any difficulties of
detail and form. To this end it was agreed at
once to draw up the preliminaries of peace, and to j
sign them immediately afterw.irds, desiring the
pleni[)otentiarit s to embody a ddinitivo treaty at
leisure. Every difficulty, not of a fundamental
character, the settlement of which might cause
delay, was to be left for arrangement under the de-
finitive treaty. In order to be more certain of all
being quickly finished, the first consul wished to
confine the negotiation to a fixed period. It wan
then the middle of Frmtidor, the year ix., or the
middle of September, IHOl ; he gave them until

the 2nd of October, or 10th of Vendcmiaire, year
IX. At the end of that term he said he was' re-
solved to avail himself of the fogs of autunm in aid
of his designs against the coasts of Ireland and
England. This was uttered with all the regard due
to the feelings of a great and jiroud nation, but with
that peremptox'y tone which left no doubt of the
intention.

The two negotiators, M, Otto and lord Hawkes-
bury, were sincere men, and really wislied for
peace. They not only wished it for its own sake,
but also from the ambition, natural and legitimate,
of placing their names at the bottom of one of the
most renowned treaties in the history of the world.
Thus every facility compatible with their in-
structions was, on their part, bestowed to the ar-
rangement of the preliminaries.

It was agreed that England should restore to |
France and her allies, in other words, to Spain and |
Holland, all the maritime conquests she had made,
with the exception of the islands of Ceylun and Trini-
dad, which she had definitively acquired.

Such was the form adopted to conciliate the self-
love of the two nations. In short, England re-
tained the continent of India, which she had con-
quered from the native princes; the islaiid of
Ceylon, which she had taken fi-om the Dutch, a
necessary apitendagc to that vast continent ; lastly,
the isle of Trinidad, taken from the Spaniards in
the West Indies. There was enough there to
satisfy the fullest national ambition. England
restored the Cape, Demerara, Berbice, Essequibo,
and Surinam to the Dutch ; ISIartiiiique and Gua-
dalou])e to the French ; Minorca to the Spaniards ;
and Malta to the order of St. John of Jerusalem.
As to the last, the guaranteeing power was to be
designated in the definitive treaty. England
evacuated Porto Ferrajo, which, with the isle of
Elba, was to be restored to France. In compensa-
tion for this the French were to evacuate the state
of Najiles, in other words, the gulf of Tarentum.

Egypt was to be abandoned by the troops of botli
nations, and to be restored to the Porte. The in-
de))endence of Portugal was secured.

Thus if (inly the great points arc considered,
putting aside all the minor restitutions so warmly
disputed, and yet neither diniini.shing nor augment-
ing much the advantages obtained, the following
may be considered the result of the treaty. In
this contest of ten years England had acquired the
empire of India, without the aciiuisiiion of Egypt
by France to counterpoise it. But on the other
hand, France had clnmged to her advantage the
face of the European continent ; she had conquered
the formidable line of the Al]is and of the Rhine,
and repelled Austria from her frontiers by the ac-
(juisition of the Low countries ; she had snatched
from that power Italy, the object Austria con-
tinutdly coveted, and which had now nearly all
j)as.sed under French domination ; she had by the
piinciple established by the secularization, con-
siderably enfeebled the inipi rial house in Gernniny
to the gain of the Injuse of Brandenburg ; she had
checked Ru.ssia for her interference in the afiairs
of the west; she was all potent in Holland, Swit-
zerland, Spain, and Italy. No j)ower in the world
exercised an influence t([ual to hers ; and if Eng-
land was aggrandized on the ocean, France had
still added to her coasts, those of Holland, Flan-

sequences of the peace.

Great joy of both
countries.

1801.
Oct.

ders, Spain, and Italy, countries completely under
lier influence. These were vast means for the
attainment of maritime ijower*.

This was all secured to France by England,
when she signed the preliminaries of the peace in
London, at the expense, it is true, of the continent
of India. France was hardly able to consent to
this ; her allies, \ve\\ defended by her, recovered
nearly all they had lost by the war. Spain was
deprived of Trinidad by her own fault; but she
gained Olivenfa in Portugal, and Tuscany in Italy.
Holland abandoned Ceylon, but she recovered her
colonies in India, the Cape, and the Guianas ; she
was delivered from the stadtholder.

Such were the consequences of this peace, the
most noble and most glorious for France that her
annals can exhibit. It was but natural that the
French negotiator should have been impatient to
complete the treaty. The 30th of September had
arrived, and there were still some difficulties in
drawing up the document. All these were finally
overcome; and in the evening of the 1st of October,
the day before that fixed by the first consul as the
fatal term, M. Otto had tlie infinite satisfaction of
placing his signature beneath the preliminaries of
peace — a satisfaclion so great as to be unequalled,
because no negotiator before him had ever the
happiness of securing, by such an act, equal ad-
vantage and glory to liis country. It was arranged
that this news should be kept a secret in London
for twenty-four hours, in oi'der that the coui'ier of
the French legation might be able to be the first
to announce it to his government. This fortunate
courier quitted Lond(m in the night, on the 1st of
October, and arrived on the 3rd, or 11th Vende'-
miaire, at Malmaison, about four o'clock in the
afternoon. At the same moment, the three consuls
were holding a council. Upon opening the des-
patches, the sensation experienced was very great;
they left off" their business, and embraced each
other. The first consul, who threw off" all reserve
most heartily, when he was with those in whom
he placed full confidence, freely gave way to the
feelings of which liis heart M'as full. So many
results obtained in so short a time,— order, victory,
peace, given to France by his genius and unflagging
efforts, — all this in two years ; these were benefits
from which he was most assuredly entitled to feel
himself very happy and very proud. Amid their
effusions of mutual satisfaction, Cambace'res said
to him, " Now that we have made a treaty of
peace with England, we have only to conclude a
treaty of commerce, and thus remove all cause of
disi)ute between the two countries." " Not quite
so quick," answered the first consul, with anima-
tion ; " political i)eace is made ; so much the
better ; we will enjoy it. As to a commercial
jjcace, we will make one, if we are able. But I
will not, at any price, sacrifice French industry ;
I can remember the distress of 178G." 'I'his sin-
gular and instinctive regard for the interests of
French industry must have been deeply rooted, to

' Our author seems very much mistaken about the means
by wliich a formidable naval force is to be obtained. The pos-
session of porls, and even of ships in addition, will go but a
little way witl\out seamen made by long habitude on tlie
ocean, througli the means of a great commercial navy.—
— Translator.

have displayed itself at such a time. But the
consul Cambaceres, with his usual sagacity, had
touched upon the difficulty which, at a little later
period, was again to embroil the two countries.

The intelligence was immediately sent to Paris
to be made public. Towards evening, the sound
of cannon resounded along the streets, and every
body inquired what fortunate event had occurred
to occasion the rejoicings thus manifested. People
ran to the public places, where commissaries of
the government had received orders to make
known the news, that the preliminaries of peace
were signed. Tlie same night the intelligence was
announced in all the theatres, in the midst of a
general joy, without example, for a very long time.
This joy was perfectly natural, because peace with
England was in truth universal peace; it consoli-
dated the tranquillity of the continent, supj)ressed
the ground of the European coalitions, and laid open
the whole world to French commerce and industry.
Paris was illuminated the same evening.

The first consul immediately ratified the pre-
liminary treaty, and commissioned his aid-de-
camp, Lauriston, to proceed with it to London.
If the joy in France was great, in England it was
almost carried to a pitch of delirium. The news,
at first kept secret by the negotiators, at last
trans|)ired, and they were obliged to notify it to
the lord mayor, by a special letter. Tiiis com-
munication produced the greater effect, because,
just before, there had been a rumour that the
negotiations were broken off". The people at once
gave themselves up to those violent transports of
joy, which are so peculiar to the passionate cha-
racter of the English. The public conveyances,
upon leaving London, were marked with chalk, in
large letters, " Peace with France." At every town
they were stopped, the horses were detached, and
they were drawn about in triumph. They thought
that all the misery, from the scarcity and dearness
of things, would at once be terminated. They
dreamed of unknown, immense, impossible benefits.
There are times when nations, like individuals,
become weary of mutual hate, and feel a strong
desire for a reconciliation, however illusive and
transient it may ultimately prove. At this mo-
ment, unhappily so short, the English people were
almost persuaded that they loved France ; they
praised the hero, the sage, who was at the head of
the government, and cried with transport, " Long
live Bonaparte !"

Such are the joys of humanity ; they are only
lively and intense in proportion to man's ignorance
of the future. Let us thank God, who, in his wis-
dom, has thus closed to our sight the volume of
mortal destiny ! How every heart would have
been chilled that day, if the veil which concealed
the future could have been suddenly withdrawn,
and the English and French could have been en-
abled to see in the future, fifteen years of atrocious
hate, an obstinate and wasteful war, the continent
and ocean inundated with the blood of both nations !
How would France have been stricken with con-
sternation, if, at the moment, when she thought
herself at the summit of greatness — unchanging
greatness — .she had then seen, in a page of the
terrible book of destiny, the treaties of 1815. The
hero so victorious and wise, who then governed,
how he would have been surprised and struck

ISOl.
Oct.

Ilatificatioii by the first
consul. — Surrender of
Alexandria.

THE GENERAL PEACE.

Lord Cornwallis and Joseph
Bonaparte to meet at
Amiens.

27a

with consternation, if, in the midst of his noblest
achievements, lie could have observed his enor-
mous errors; if, in the midst of the most merited
prosperity, he could have read his fearful fall — his
martyrdom ! Oh, yes. Providence, in the depth of
its mysterious workings, has done wisely to dis-
close to man no more than the present : full enough
for his weak heart to know ! We, who now know
all that tlien passed, and tliat has since been ac-
complished, we will endeavour to cover ourselves
in the ignorance of that day, in order to compre-
lieud and partiike in its lively and powerful
emi>tions.

A slight doubt still prevailed in London, and
somewhat troubled the public expression of pleasure,
because the ratification of the preliminaries by the
firet consul had not yet arrived, and there was an
apprehension of some unforeseen and sudden re-
solution on the part of a character so ])rompt,
proud, and exacting in every thing relative to his
country. This state of suspense was painful ;
until it was suddenly learned in London that one
of the first consul's aids-de-camp, one of his com-
panions in arms, colonel Lanriston, had arrived at
tlie liouse of M. Oito, and that he was the bearer
of the ratified treaty. The people, relieved from
the only doubt which they felt before, no longer
restrained themselves, and their delight was un-
bounded. They ran to the house of JNI. Otto, and
found him entering his carriage, with colonel
Luuriston, on his way to lord Hawkesburv, for the
purjiose of exchanging the ratifications. The people
took out tlie horses, and drew the two French-
men all the way to lord Hawkesbury's house.

From lord Hawkesbury's the two negotiators
had to proceed to Mr. Addington's, and frfun
thence to the admiralty, to pay a visit to lord St.
Vincent. The peo])le were still obstinate to draw
the carriage from the residence of one minister to
that of another, and last of all, to the admiralty,
where the crowd became so great, and the con-
fusion so extraordinary, that lord St. Vincent, being
apprehensive of some accident occurring, placed
him.self at the head of the procession ', fearing the
carriage would be overturned, and this extravagance
of joy end in some painful accident. Several days
))a.ssed in this state of excitement, testifying the ex-
traordinary public satisfaction.

One fact worthy of remark is, that some houi"s after
the signature of the preliminary treaty, a courier
arrived in London from Egypt, bringing the news
of the surrender of Alexandria, which took place on
the :iOth of Aiigust, 1801, or 12th Fructidor. "This
courier," said lord llawkesbury to M. Otto, "hius
arrived eight hours after the signature of the treaty:
HO much the better. If he had arrived sooner, we
should have heen forced to have been more exacting
in deference to public opinion, and the negoti:ition
would very proi)ably have been broken off". Peace
is of more consequence than an island, more or
Ics.H." Tills minister, a very excellent man, had

• Lord St. Vincent only went to the Rardeii-ijatc of the
admiralty to receive colonel Laurixton and M. Otto ; and he
there addressed the mob, ursine them to be careful : " Gen-
tlemen, gemlemcn ! let me request you to be as orderly as
possible i and if you are delcrmined to draw the gentleman
accompanied by M. Otto, I request you to be cautious, and
not to overturn the carriage." — Tramlalor.

reason on his side. But tliis is a proof that the
resistance of Alexandria had been useful, and that
even in a despei'ate cause, the voice of honour
counselling the longest possible resistance, should
always be heard.

It was agreed that the plenipotentiaries should
meet in the city of Amiens, an intermediate point
between London and Paris, in order to draw up
tlie definitive treaty. The English cabinet selected
an old and distinguished military officer, lord Corn-
wallis, who had had the honour of commanding the
English armies in America and India, one of the
most celebrated mfen of his time. He had been
governor-general of Bengal, and viceroy in Ireland
at the clo.se of the last century. Lord Cornwallis
had arranged a visit to Paris, in order to pay his
compliments to the first consul, before he took up
his post at the scene of negotiation.

The first consul, on the other hand, made choice
of his brother Joseph, for whom he had a very
particular aff"ection, and who, by the amenity of his
manners and mildness of his chjiracter, was singu-
larly well adapted for a peacemaker, an office
which had been constantly reserved for him. Jo-
seph had signed the treaty of peace with America
at Morfoutaine ; with Austria at Lundville; and
now was about to do the same with England at
Amiens. The first consul thus made his brother
gather the fruit whidi he had himself cultivated
with his own triuni])! -.ant hands. Talleyrand, see-
ing all the ostensible honour of these treaties
devolve upon a per.-onage who was nearly unac-
quainted with the arts of diplomacy, was unable to
repress a passing sense of his vexation, which,
though he made every effort to hide it, did not
escape the keen eyes and invidious observations of
the diplomatists resident in Paris, and it became
the subject of more than one despatch. But the
cautious minister well knew that it would be impo-
litic to make the family of the first consul his ene-
mies, and besides, after granting what was due
to the part acted by that great man, if any part of
the glory remained for another concerned in these
brilliant negotiations, the people of Enropj would
decree it to the minister for foreign attairs.

The negotiations proceeding with difl'erent states,
and not yet concluded, were terminated almost im-
mediately. The first consul understood well the art
of producing striking eftects upon the imaginations
of men, because he himself possessed a very power-
ful imagination. He settled every difficulty with
all the other courts, as if lie desired to overwhelm
France with all kinds of satisfaction in succession;
to raise her wonder, and even to intoxicate her by
the extraordinary results which he worked out for
her advantage.

He settled the treaty with Portugal, and ordered
his brother Lucien to sign at. Madrid the condi-
tions which he had refused at Badajoz, with only a
lew unimportant modifications. He no longer in-
sisted upon the occupation of one of the Portuguese
lu-oviiiccs, because the bases of the treaty of peace
with England having been settled, since Trinidad
had been relin(|uished, there was no reason for re-
taining the ))ledgcs with which at first he had been
so anxious to furni.sh himself. An iigreemeiit was
made regarding the expenses of the war ; some
commercial adv.-mtages were secured, hucIi iw the
introduction of French cloths, and French products

280 Treatie. with Bavaria THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1801.
Oct.

were placed upon the footing of the most favoured
country. The exclusion of EngHsii vessels of all
kinds was formally stipulated until the conclusion
of the peace.

The evacuation of Egypt terminated all the dif-
ferences with tlie Ottoman Porte. Talleyrand con-
cluded at Paris the preliminaries of peace with the
minister of tiie sultan, which stipulated the restitu-
tion of Egypt to the Porte, the establishment of the
former relations between tlie two governments, and
the activity of all the anterior treaties of commerce
and navigation.

Similar conventions were signed with the regen-
cies of Tunis and Algiers.

A treaty was signed with Bavaria, by which that
eoiHitry was replaced in regard to the French re-
public, in the same state of alliance which formerly
existed between the court and the old French mo-
narchy, when that monarchy extended her protec-
tion to all the German states of the second rank
against the ambition of the house of Austria. It
was but a renewal of the old treaties of Westphalia
and of Tesclien. Bavaria abandoned to France
directly all that she had formerly held upon the
left bank of the Rhine. In return, France pro-
mised to employ her weight in the negotiations of
which the affairs of Germany would soon become
the subject, to procure for Bavaria a sufficient
indemnity conveniently situated. Fi-ance also gua-
ranteed the integrity of the Bavarian territory.

Lastly, to achieve the great work of general
pacification, the treaty with Russia, which legalized
that peace to the letter which was already in exist-
ence, was signed, after .a long discussion between
M. Markoff and Talleyrand. The new emperor
had shown, as before seen, less energy in his resist-
ance to the maritime pretensions of England, but
at the same time less ostentaticm, and less determi-
nation in tiie mode of protection extended to the
minor German and Italian states, tiiat had been
parties to the coalition against France. Alexander
never raised difficulties in regard to Egypt; but in
any case these would have ceased in consequence
of the late events in that country. He no more
pretended to the grand mastership of the knights
of Malta, which rendered easy the reconstitution
of the order upon its old footing, agreeably to the
arrangements whicli had been made with England.
The only differences of moment with Alexander
were relative to Naples and Piedmont. By per-
sisting in her views, and by gaining time, France
had vanquished the principal difficulties relative to
these two states. The evacuation of the road of
Tarentum had been promised to the English. Rus-
sia was satisfied upon tiiis point, regarding it as the
accomplishment of a condition essential to her own
honour, in the integrity of the Neapolitan territory.
Of the isle of Elba, Russia had ceased to say any
thing. In regard to Piedmont, every day added to
the silence of England upon the subject during the
negotiations in London, had emboldened the first
consul to refuse this important province to the king
of Sardinia. Ru.ssia invoked the promise which
had been made to her upon that subject. The first
consul replied by saying, that Russia had promised
in the same manner to maintain inviolable the ma-
ritime law in all its tenor, and that she had aban-
doned a part of it to England. An article was
agreed upon, by which they bound themselves in a

friendly way to consider favourably the interests of
the king of Sardinia, and " to regard them so far
as might be compatible with the existing state of
things." This was taking a great freedom in rela-
tion to that prince, and particularly that of indem-
nifying him one day with the duchy of Parma or
Piacenza, as the first consul had then thought of
doing. The conduct of the king of Sardinia, and
his devotion to the English during the last cam-
paign in Egypt, had deeply irritated the head of
the French government. The first consul, however,
was governed by a better reason than his anger.
He considered Piedmont as one of the finest Italian
provinces for France its possessor; it always allowed
of an army entering Italy, and the keeping an
army continually there. It would be for France,
in fact, what the Milanese had for a long while
been for Austria.

The views of France had constantly been in
agreement with those of Russia respecting the
affairs of Germany; there was in consequence no
difficulty upon this last subject.

The treaty was drawn up, therefore, upon these
bases, in conjunction with M. Markoff, the new
negotiator recently ai-rived from St. Petersburg.
A public treaty was signed in the first instance, in
which it was plainly and simply stated, that a good
understanding was re-established between the two
governments, and that they would not permit emi-
grants, who were subjects of either nation, to com-
mit offences considered culpable in their former
country. This article struck at the Poles on one
hand, and at the Bourbons on the other. To this
treaty was added a secret convention, in which it
was declared that the two empires having acted in
unison in the affairs of Germany at the epoch of
the treaty of Tesclien, now again united their in-
fluence to effect in Germany such arrangements of
territory as would be most favourable to the equili-
brium of Europe; that France should endeavour to
pi'ocure an advantageous indemnity for the elector
of Bavaria, the grand duke of Wurtemberg, and
the grand duke of Baden (this last had been added
to the proteges of Russia because of the new em-
press, who was a princess of Baden) ; that the
state of Naples should be evacuated at the mari-
time peace, and in case of a war enjoy a neutrality;
and that lastly, they should understand each other
respecting the interests of the king of Sardinia,
when it shall be needful, and " in the manner most
compatible with tlie existing state of things."

The first consul immediately sent his aid-de-
cam]), Caulincourt, to St. Petersburg, to be bearer of
a clever and courteous letter, in which he congra-
tulated the czar upon the conclusion of peace, also
communicating to him, with a species of com-
plaisance, a multitude of details, appearing as if he
was ready mutually to unite with him in the direc-
tion of the more important affairs of the world.
Caulincourt was designed to fill the place of Duroc,
who had returned in too nmch haste from St. Pe-
tersburg, and he was to remain until an envoy
was appointed. The first consul had sent to Duroc a
considerable sum of money, with an order for him
to attend the coronation of the emperor, and to
represent France upon the occasion with becoming
brilliancy. Duroc, iiaving departed, had not re-
ceived tiie order. He had been induced to return
from another cause. Alexander had sent him a letter

1801.
Nov.

Lord CornwaUis arrives at Paris. THE GENERAL PEACE. Rejoicings at Paris and l-cndon.

inviting him to attend at his coronation; but count
Panin li.i J not ti-ansniitted the invitation. At a later
period an explanation upon the subject having
taken place, the emperor, mortified at his orders
not being executed, sent count Panin to his estates,
and he was rejilaced by M. Kotschoubey, one of
the members of the occult council. Thus the young
emperor began to disembarrass himself of the men
who had contributed to his coming upon the throne,
and v'ho sought to draw him into a system of po-
licy exclusively English. Every thing now pre-
saged an amicable state of affairs with Russia. The
delicate attention and flattery of the first consul
could not fail to render this result more certain.

The different treaties which thus completed the
peace of the world, were signed nearly at the same
time as the preliminaries of London. The satisfac-
tion of the public was at its height, and it was de-
termined to give a grand festival to celebrate the
general peace. The day fixed was the 18th of Bru-
maire. It was not possible to choose a better day,
because it was to the revolution of the 18tii of
Brumaire that all these glorious results were to
be attributed. Lord CornwaUis was invited to he
present. He arrived in Paris on the 16th Bru-
maire, or 7th of November, with a great number
of his countrymen. Scarcely were the prelimi-
naries signed, when the applications for passports
to M. Otto became exceedingly numerous. Tiiree
hundred had been sent over to him, but they were
not sufficient, and it became necessary to furnish
him with an unlimited number. The owners of
vessels intended to be sent to France for French
commodities and to export those of England, were
alike eager to obtain the same permissi<ms. All
these demands were granted with perfect good
will, as the relations between the two countries
were re-established immediately, with a prompti-
tude and an alacrity almost incredible. By the
18th of Brumaire, Paris was already full of Eng-
lish, impatient to see the new France, that had

become at once so brilliant; above all, to see the
man, who at that moment was the admiration of
England, as he was of the whole world. The illus-
trious Fox was one of the first of the English who
started for France. On the day of the festival that
was rendered so tine by the peaceful and profound
joy of all classes of the citizens, carriages were
prohibited fx-om passing along the public streets.
No exception was made except in the case of lord
Cornwallis. The crowd opened rcspectlully before
the honourable representative of tiie English
armies, .who came to make peace between France
and his own country. He was surprised to find this
same France so ditt'erent from the hideous picture
which the emigrants had painted of it in London,
All his countrymen partook of the same feeling,
and expressed themselves to the like effect with un-
disguised admiration.

While this entertainment was celebrated at Paris,
a superb banquet was given in the city of London,
and there, amidst the loudest acclamations, the fol-
lowing toasts were given : —

" The king of Great Britain."

" The pvince of Wales."

" The ftberty and prosperity of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland."

" The fii'st consul, Bonaparte, the liberty and
happiness of the French republic."

Loud and imanimous applause accompanied the
last toast.

France had thus made peace with all the na-
tions of the world. There was still another peace
to conclude, more difficult i)erhaps than that just
made, because it demanded a different order of
genius from that which commands in battle-fields.
It was also very desirable, because it would esta-
blish peace in the minds of men, and unanimity in
families. This peace was that of the republic with
the church. The moment is now arrived to narrate
the laborious negotiations with the representative
of the holy see which had this for their object.

282 The first consul's desire for THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, peace with the church.

1801.
March.

BOOK XII.

THE CONCORDAT.

THE CATHOLIC CntJRCH DURING THE REVOLUTION. — THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY DECREED BY THE
CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY. — THIS CONSTITUTION, IN ASSIMILATING THE ADMINISTRATION OF RELIGION TO THAT
OF THE REALM, ESTABLISHES A DIOCESE IN EACH DEPARTMENT, DECLARES THE BISHOPS ARE TO BE ELECTED
BY THE FAITHFUL, AND DISPENSES CANONICAL INSTITUTIONS. — OATH OF FIDELITY TO THE CONSTITUTION
EXACTED OF THE CLERGY. — REFUSAL OF THE OATH, AND SCHISM. — DIFFERENT CLASSES OF PRIESTS, THEIR
CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE. — INCONVENIENCE OF THIS STATE OF THINGS. — MEANS THAT IT FURNISHED TO
THE ENEMIES OF THE REVOLUTION TO TROUBLE FAMILIES AND THE STATE. — DIFFERENT SYSTEMS PROPOSED
AS A REMEDY FOR THE EVIL. — THE SYSTEM OF INACTION. — THE SYSTEM OF A FRENCH CHURCH OF WHICH THE
FIRST CONSUL SHOULD BE THE HEAD. — SYSTEM OF STRONG ENCOURAGEMENT TO PROTESTANTISM.— OPINIONS OF
THE FIRST CONSUL ON THE DIFFERENT SVSTEJIS PROPOSED. — HE FORMS A SCHEME FOR THE RE-ESTABLISH-
MENT OF THE CATHOLIC RELIUION, ADAPTING ITS DISCIPLINE TO THE NEW INSTITUTIONS OP FRANCE. — HE
WISHES FOR THE DEPOSITION OF THE ANCIENT TITULARY BISHOPS, AND A LIMITATION COMPRISING SIXTY
SEES IN PLACE OF ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-EIGHT; THE CREATION OF A NEW CLERGY, COMPOSED OP
RESPECTABLE PRIESTS OF ALL THE PARTIES ; THE STATE TO HAVE THE REGULATION OF THE FORMS OP
WORSHIP. — SALARIES FOR THE PRIESTS IN PLACE OF LAND ENDOWMENTS. — SANCTION BY THE CHURCH OF THE
SALE OF NATIONAL PROPERTY. — AMICABLE RELATIONS BETWEEN POPE PIUS VII. AND THE FIRST CONSUL. —
MONSIGNOR SPINA, CHARGED WITH THE NEGOTIATION AT PARIS, RETARDS IT THROUGH THE TEMPORAL
INTEREST OF THE HOLY SEE. — SECRET WISH TO RECOVER THE LEGATIONS. — MONSIGNOR SPINA FINDS THE
NECESSITY OF PROCEEDING MORE RAPIDLY. — HE CONFERS WITH THE ABBE BERNIER, WHO IS CHARGED WITH
THE BUSINESS ON BEHALF OF FRANCE. — DIFFICULTIES OF THE PLAN PROPOSED IN SIGHT OF THE ROMAN
COURT.— THE FIRST CONSUL SENDS HIS PLAN TO ROME, AND REttUESTS THE POPE TO EXPLAIN IT. — THREE
CARDINALS CONSULTED. — THE POPE, AFTER THIS CONSULTATION, WISHES THAT THE CATHOLIC RELIGION BE
DECLARED THAT OF THE STATE ; THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED TO DEPOSE THE ANCIENT TITULAR
BISHOPS, NOR OTHERWISE THAN BY HIS SILENCE SANCTION THE SALE OF THE CHURCH PROPERTY. — DEBATES
WITH M. DE CACAULT THE FRENCH MINISTER AT ROME. — THE FIRST CONSUL, TIRED OF THE SLUGGISHNESS OF
THE PROCEEDINGS, ORDERS M. DE CACAULT TO ttUIT ROME IN FIVE DAYS, IF THE CONCORDAT IS NOT
ADOPTED AFTER THAT DEL AY.— TERROR OP THE POPE AND CARDINAL GONSALVI. — M. DE CACAULT SUGGESTS TO
THE PAPAL CABINET THE IDEA OP SENDING CARDINAL GONSALVI TO PARIS. — THE CARDINAL SETS OFF FOR
PRANCE, AND HIS APPREHENSIONS —HIS ARRIVAL IN PARIS, AND KIND RECEPTION FROM THE FIRST CONSUL.
— CONFERENCES WITH THE ABBE BERNIER.— UNDERSTANDING UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF A STATE RELIGION. —
THE CATHOLIC RELIGION DECLARED TO BE THAT OF THE MAJORITY OF FRENCHMEN. — ALL THE OTHER CON-
DITIONS OF THE FIRST CONSUL, RELATIVE TO THE DEPOSITION OF THE ANCIENT TITULARS, TO THE NEW
BOUNDARIES, TO THE SALE OF THE CHURCH PROPERTY, ARE ACCEPTED, EXCEPT SOME ALTERATION OP TERMS
IN THE COMPILATION. — DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT UPON ALL THESE POINTS.— EFFORTS MADE AT THE LAST
MOMENT, BY THE OPPONENTS OF THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF WORSHIP, TO HINDER THE FIRST CONSUL FROM
SIGNING THE CONCORDAT. — HE PERSISTS, AND GIVES HIS SIGNATURE JULY 15, 1801. — RETURN OP CARDINAL
GONSALVI TO ROME.— SATISFACTION OP THE POPE. — THE RATIFICATIONS SOLEMNIZED. — CHOICE OF CARDINAL
CAPRARA AS LEGATE A LATERE. — THE FIRST CONSUL WOULD HAVE WISHED TO CELEBRATE PEACE WITH THE
CHURCH AT THE SAME TIME AS PEACE WITH ALL THE EUROPEAN POWERS.— NECESSITY OF APPLYING TO THE
FORMER TO OBTAIN THEIR RESIGNATIONS, CAUSES A DELAY. — A DEMAND FOR THIS RESIGNATION ADDRESSED
BY THE POPE TO ALL THE OLD BISHOPS, CONSTITUTIONAL OR NOT. — WISE SUBMISSION OP THE CONSTITUTIONAL
BISHOPS.— NOBLE RESIGNATION OP THE MEMBERS OF THE OLD CLERGY.— ADMIRABLE ANSWERS. — THE ONLY
RESISTANCE IS FROM THE EMIGRANT BISHOPS IN LONDON. — EVERY THING READY FOR THE RE-ESTABLISH-
MENT OF WORSHIP IN PRANCE, BUT A WARM OPPOSITION IN THE TRIBUNATE CAUSES FRESH DELAY.— NECES-
SITY OF OVERCOMING THIS OPPOSITION BEFORE GOING FURTHER.

The first consul would have wished that on the
anniversary of the 18th of Brumaire, devoted to
the celebration of peace between France and the
rest of Europe; it had also been possible to cele-
brate the reconciliation of France with the church.
He had made great efforts in order that the nego-
tiations with the holy see might terminate in due
time for the admission of religious ceremonies,
?.mid the national rejoicings. But it is much less
easy to treat with the spiritual powers than with
the temporal, because the winning of battles is not
sufficient : but it is to the honour of the human

mind that force cannot overcome it, unless that
force be accompanied by persuasion.

It was the difficult task of joining persuasion
and force that the conqueror of Marengo and
Rivoli had attempted in regai-d to the Roman
church, in order to reconcile it with the French
rejniblie.

Tile revolution, as has been already several
times said, had in many things passed the desirable
limit. To make it go back in these matters with-
out going beyond or stopping short of the object
in view, was a legitimate and salutary act which

State of the Catholic
clergy during the

THE CONCORDAT.

revolution,
cleryy.

283

the first consul had undertaken, and which he ren-
dered adiuiniblc by the wisdom and ability he
employed for the purpose he had ia view.

Religion was clearly one of those things respect-
ing which the revolution had exceeded all limits
that were just and reasonable. In no case was
there so much reparation demanded as here.

There had existed under the old monarchy a
clergy of great power and influence, in jiossession
of a large part of the land. It consisted of those
who sui)ported no p.irt of the public expenditure,
who presented sueli gifts as they pleased to the
royal treasury ; who were a constituted political
body, and formed one of the three orders that in
the states-general expressed the national will.
The revolution had swept away the clergy and
their fortunes, influence, and privileges ; it had
sent with them the nobility, the parliaments, and
the throne itself. It was impossible for it to have
done otherwise. A clergy, the members of which
were i)roprietors of land, constituting a political
j)ower, might have been well enough adapted to so-
ciety in the middle ages, and at that time have been
useful to civilization; but it was inadmissible in the
eighteenth century. The constituent assembly had
done well in abolishing it, and substituting in its
place a clergy devoted solely to the functions of
religious worship, a stranger to political delibera-
tions, and salaried iu place of being landowners.
But it was exacting too much from the holy see,
to request its approbation of all these changes. If
it was needful to obtam this consent, it would
have been proper to stop there, and not to furnish
the papal authority with a legitimate ground for
Kiying, that religion itself was attacked in all which
it held sacred and immutable. The constituent
assembly, pronii)ted by a desire for the regularity
of system, so natural to a reforming spirit, assimi-
lated the administration of the church to that of
the state without hesitation, ^ome of the dioceses
were too large, and others too limited ; that body
wished that the ecclesiastical boundaries should be
the same as those adopted in the civil adminis-
tration, and that dioceses should be created de-
partinentally. Rendering elective all the civil and
judicial functions, the ecclesiastical functions were
also to be rendered elective. This arrangement
a|)peared besides to be in conformity with, and a
return to the times of the primitive church, when
the bishops were elected by the faithful. The
same. blow struck down the canonical institution,
or, in other w(frds, the confirmation of the bishops
by the pope ; with all these dispositions there was
constiluteti what was denominated the civil con-
stitution of the clergy. The individuals who thus
acted were animated by the most religious inten-
tions; they were true believers, fervent Jansenists,
but of narrow minds, their lieads heated with
theological disputations, and in consequence dan-
gerous persons to direct human aftairs. To com-
plete this error, they exacted of the Trench clergy,
that they should take an oath of fidelity to the civil
constitution, a measure which could only give birth
to a scrujjle of conscience among the more sincere,
and a pretext to the badly-disposed priests. It
was, in one word, to open the door to a schism.
Rome, already aggrieved by the misfortunes of the
throne, was now irritated at the infliction upon the
altar. She interdicted the oath. A part of the

clergy, faithful to the holy see, refused to take the
oath ; another part consented, and formed under
the name of the '■ sworn clergy '," or the consti-
tutional, that part which was acknowledged by the
state, and alone admitted to the e.\ercise of their
sacred functions. The priests were not yet pro-
scribed ; they were contented to interdict them
from the exercise of their professional duties, and
to invest with them those who had tjiken the oath.
But the discarded priests were the men who, for the
most part, were preferred by those faithful to the
doctrines of the church. For the conscience in
religious persons is susceptible, quickly alarmed,
and, above all, distrustful of arbitrary power. Here
it inclined towards those ecclesiastics who passed
for orthodox, and who appeared to be undergoing
persecution. It turned away instinctively from
those whose orthodoxy was in doubt, and who were
supported by the government. There was conse-
quently at the same time a public and a clandestine
worship, the last having more followers than the
first. Those whose sentiments were opposed to
the revolution, leagued themselves with the party
whose religious feelings had been outraged, and
precipitated it into the errors of the spirit of
faction. This schism soon led iu the contest of La
Vendee to a frightful civil war. The revolutionary
government did not remain behind it, and from the
simple privation of the ecclesiastical functions, it
in a little time proceeded to persecute. It pro-
scribed and transported the clergy. Then came
the abolition of every form of worship, and in its
place the proclamation of a Sui)reme Being. Then
priests, sworn or unsworn, were one and the other
treated alike, and all sent to perish upon the same
scaffold, where royalists, constituents, Girondins,
constitutionalists, and Mountains, all went to their
death together.

Under the directory these sanguinary pro-
criptions ceased. A variable course was pursued,
now inclining to indiflerence, now to rigour, and
keeping the church still in a state of great anxiety.
The first consul, by his power, and the continued
evidence of his reparatory intentions, insjiired hope
in the ministers of religion who had sutt'ered, on
whatever side they were, and nuide them leave their
places of concealment, or return home from their
exile. But in thus bringing them forth to day-
light, he rendered the schism more sensible to
observation, perhaps more distasteful. To abrogate
the difficulty about the oath, he ceased to exact it,
substituting in its place a simple ju-omise of sub-
mission to the laws. This promise, which Cj)uld
not alarm the conscience of the priests, had facili-
tated their return to France, but in some degree
had added new divisions to those already in ex-
istence, by creating in the body of the clergy an-
other and an additional class.

There were thus the constitutional or "sworn"
priests, legally invested with the sacerdotal functions,
and having the u.se of the edifices devoted to religion,
which had been given back to them in virtue of a
decree of the consuls. There were the " unsworn"
priests, who, not having taken any oath, and after
having lived in exile or in prison, appeared once
more in a great number during the beginning
of the cunsalate, but who only officiated in the

' Clirge anserment*.

__ . The constitutional and
•^o'* orthodox clergy.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Disturbed state of the 1«P1,

French church. March.

houses of private individuals, and declared the
wor-ship performed in the chui-ches to be of no
effect. Finally, tlie " unsworn" priests were divided
into those who had not pi-omised to take the oath
and those who had. The last were not completely
approved by the orthodox. Rome was addressed
upon this subject; but out of deference to the first
consul she had declined giving any explanation.
Cardinal Maury, who had retired into the Roman
states, where he became bishop of Montefiascone,
and the intei-mediate agent between the pope and
the royalist party, having no desire at that moment
to favour tlie submission of the priests to the new
government, had interpreted the silence of the
pope in his own manner, and sent to France on the
subject of " the promise," disapproving letters,
which caused new troubles to scrupulous con-
sciences.

The priests, thus divided, had, each party, its
own peculiar hierarchy. The constitutional priests
obeyed the bishops elected under the civil consti-
tution. Among these bishops some had died by
violence, some by a natural death. Those who
died were replaced by bishops who, not having
been regularly elected, in the midst of the time
of the proscriptions which struck alike at all forms
of religion, had usurped their authority, or were
elected by the clandestine chapters, a species of
religious coteries, without any moral or legal au-
thority. Thus the authority of the constitutional
bi.shops themselves, regarded in their relation to
the civil constitution, was contested among their
own body, and brought into disrepute. There
were among this body of clergy a certain number
of i-cspectable individuals; but in general they had
lost the confidence of the faithful, because they
were known to be at variance with Rome, and
because they had lost the dignity <if the priesthood
by mingling themselves up in the religious and
political disputes of the time. Some were, in fact,
violent club-spouters, destitute of moral worth.
The good among them were sincere men, whom
the fury of Jansenism had driven to be schismatic.

The pi'etended orthodox clergy had also their
bishops, who exercised a less public authority, but
one more real, and exceedingly dangerous. The
" unsworn" bishops were nearly all emigrants.
They had gone to Italy, Spain, Germany, and,
above all, to England, whither they were attracted
hy the allowances afforded them from the British
government. Corresponding with their dioceses,
by means of grand-vicars, chosen by themselves,
and approved by Rome, they governed their sees
in distant exile, under the impulses and passions
to which exile naturally gives birth, and often to
the advantage of the enemies of France. Those
who were dead, and of these, in the course of ten
years, the number was considerable, were every
where replaced by concealed administi'ators, de-
riving their powers from the court of Rome. The
mode of administering to vacant sees by the chap-
ters, and not by the agents of the holy see, was
one of the wisest precautions, as well as the more
ancient, of the Galilean church ; it was now com-
pletely abandoned. The Galilean church was thus
robbed of its independence; because it came to be
governed directly by Rome when it ceased to be
under the bishops who had emigrated. In a little
time more, the emigrant bishops being all dead.

the entire of the French church would have been
placed under ultramontane authority.

There are some who regard but little the moral
aspect of a social community torn to pieces by a
thousand sects, who are of opinion that the govern-
ment should treat them with disregard, as strangers
to their policy, or else respect as sacred all religious
differences alike. There are grounds, however,
which forbid the display of this arrogant indif-
ference, as, in case of society being deeply troubled,
and, more particularly, wlien the disturbance is
ever ready to change into physical disorganiza-
tion.

Each of these divisions of the clergy endeavoured
to establish its power over the consciences of the
orthodox in its own view. The constitutional
clergy had very little i)o\ver ; they were merely
subjects of recrimination for the Jacobins, who
were in the habit of declaring that the revolution
was every where sacrificed, more especially in the
persons of the only priests that had supported its
cause. In this, however, the goverimient could
evidently do nothing; because it did not belong to
the rulei's to dispose of the faithful, in favour of
one part of the clergy above another. But the
clergy reputed to be orthodox operated upon the
minds of their flocks, in a sense contrary, entirely,
to all established order. They endeavoured to
estrange from the government all those, who,
W'earied out by the turmoil of civil dissension, felt
inclined to rally around the first consul. If it had
been possible to awaken the bad passions that had
led to the civil war in La Vendee, they would have
done it. Through their efforts, discontent and mis-
trust were sown all over the country. The south,
in a less submissive state to the government than
La Vendue, was kept in continual commotion; and
in the mountainous districts, in the centre of
Fi-ance, the population gathered tumultuously
around the orthodox priesthood. Every where
the clergy alarmed the consciences and disturbed
the peace of families, persuading those who had
been baptized or married by the sworn priests,
that they were out of the pale of the orthodox
communion; that if they wished to be true Chris-
tians, they ought to be baptized and married over
again, or give up the state of concubinage. In
this mode the state of families, not indeed in any
legal point of view, but in a religious sense, was
brought into question. There were more than
ten thousand married priests, who, led on by the
rage of the time, or through terror, had sought in
marriage, the one the gratification of passions they
could not control, the others an abjuration of
their vows, to escape the scaffold. They were
husbands, the fathers of numerous families, and
yet had no refuge from public contempt, as long as
the pardon of the church was withheld from them.

The purchasers of national property, a body of
men whom the government had the deepest in-
terest in ])rotecting, were living in a state of anxiety
and oi)pression. They were assailed on the bed
of death by the most sinister suggestions, and
threatened with eternal damnation, if they did not
consent to such an arrangement of their affairs as
would despoil them of all their property. Con-
fession thus became a powerful weapon in the
hands of the emigrant priests, for att.acking the
rights of property, public credit, and, in a word,

1801.
March.

Necessity of a national religious
belief.

THE CONCORDAT.

Enduring character of the Christian
religion.

one of the most c.s,<!ential princii)les of the revohi-
tioii, the inviolability of the sale of the national
property. The policy of the state and the power
of the law were alike inert against evils of this
character.

Such disorders as these it was impossible for
any government to regard with indifference. When
religious seels produce no other effect than to mul-
tiply over a vast territory, like that of America, in
an endless succession, not leaving behind them
more than the pa.ssing remembrance of ridiculous
inventions or indecent practices, it may be imagined,
that, to a certain extent, the state may continue
inactive and indifferent. Society pi-esents a de-
plorable moi-al aspect, but ])ublic order is not
seriously affected. It was not thus in the midst
of the old French society of ItJOl. It was not
possible, without very great danger, to deliver
over the care of souls to factions that were inimical
to the stite. It was not ])ossible to abandon to
their hands the torch of civil war, with the liberty
of applying it, whenever they saw fit, in La Vendue,
Britany, or the Cevennes. It was not to be per-
mitted, that the i-epose of families should be
troubleil, the beds of the dying be besieged, to
e.vtort iniquitous conditions, to place in jenpardy
the credit of the government, and, finally, to shake
one class of properly, which the revolution had
stamped with perpetual inviolability.

The first consul's mode of thinking, in regard to
the constitution of society, had too much depth as
well as justice, to permit his observation of the
religious disorders of France at this moment wiili
an indifferent eye. He had, besides, other reasons
of a more elevated nature than those already
mentioned, fur his interference in the present cir-
cumstances, if indeed there can be more elevated
reasons than public order and the tranquillity of
families.

Tiiere must be a religious belief ; and some kind
of worship must be extant in every state of human
society. Man, cast into the midst of the universe,
without a knowledge whence he comes or whither
he will go, why he suffers or wherefore he exists;
unknowing what rewards or what punishments
may await llie long struggles of life ; besieged by
the contradictions of his fellow-beings, some of
whom tell him that there is a God, the profound
and wise author of all things, and some that there
is no God at all; one maintaining that there is a
law of right and wrong, by which his conduct is to
lie regulated; another that there is neither good
nor evil, but that these are inventions of the great
and powerful and selfish of the earth — man, in the
midst of these contradictions, finds the imperious
necessity of having some fixed standard of belief.
Whether true or false, sublime or ridiculous, he
must have a religion. Every where, in all times
and countries, in the days of antiquity as in those
more modern, in civilized as in barbarous nations,
he is found a worhhip|)er at some nlt;ir, either
venerable, ignoble, or sanguinary. Wherever
there is no dominant fonn of belief, a thousand
sects, given to obstinaUj disputatirms, as in America,
or a thousand shameful suix^rstitions, as in China,
agitate and degrade the hinnan mind ; or thus,
as in France, in ITXi, when a passing commotion
swept away the ancient religion of the country,
at the vcrj- moment that lie vowed his belief

in nothing, man forswore liimself directly after-
ward.«, by the insensate worship of the goddess of
Reason, inaugurated at the side of the scaffold, as
if to prove that his vow was as vain as it was im-
pious.

To judge man, therefore, by liis constant and
ordinary conduct, he has need of a religious be-
lief ; and such being the fact, nothing cail be more
desirable for a civilized society than a national
faith, founded on the real feelings of the human
heart, conformable to the regulation of a jture
morality, hallowed by time, and which, without
liersecution or intolerance, can unite, at the foot
of a venerable and respected altar, if not the uni-
versality, at least the large majority of the
citizens.

A creed of tiiis nature cannot be invenied for
the purpose, it nmst be the growth of ages. Phi-
losophers, even the most sublime, may "be able to
create a new system, and may act, through science,
upon the age which they honour; but they can only
make men think, not believe. Warriors, covered
with glory, may be able to lay the foundations of
an empire, but they cannot found a religion. In
past times, sages and heroes, there is no doubt,
attributing to themselves celestial communications,
have en.slaved the popular mind with systems of
belief. In modern days, the founder of a new re-
ligion would be regarded as an impostor; whether
surrounded by the terrore of Robespierre, or the
glory that encircled young Bonaparte, the attempt
would equally terminate in ridicule.

There was nothing to be invented in 1800. The
pure, moral, ancient faith existed; the old religion
of Christ — the work of God according to some, of
man according to others; but under all views, the
profound work of a sublime reformer, a reformer
connnented upon for eighteen centuries, by coun-
cils, consisting of assemblies of eminent men of
every age, occupied in discussing, under the title
of heresies, every system of philosophy, adopting,
successively, on each of the great problems upon
the destiny of man, the most plausible opinions,
and those most suited to society, and adopting such
opinions by what might be called a majority of the
human race. Thus, at last, they arrived at the pro-
duction of that unvarying doctrine, often attacked,
and ever triumphant, the Catkolic Unity, at the
foot of which the first men of genius prostrated
themselves. That religion still existed; it was the
same that had extended itself over every civilized
people, formed theii manners, inspired their songs,
iurnishcd the subjects of their poesy, their pictures,
and statues; whose traces were stamped upon all
national recollections, whose sign was emblazoned
upon their colours, alternately vanquished and vic-
torious. It had for a moment disappeared, during
a raging tem])est of the human mind ; but that
U'mpest blown over, the necessity of a religion
returned, and it was found deei)ly seated in the
bottom of the soul, the natural and indispensable
faith of France and of Europe.

What more was indicated as necessary in 1800,
than to raise up again the altar of St. Louis, of
Charlemagne, and of Clovis, which had been for a
moment overturned? Bonaparte would have ren-
dered himself ridiculous if he had set himself up
for a prophet or a dealer in revcdation ; he was in
the truo si)here assigned him by Providence, for

^j,_ Bonaparte's opinions upon
-''" religion. — He proposes to

re-establish the Catholic

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, religion.-

his plan.

elevating again their venerable altar with his own
victorious liands, and bringing back to the faith, by
bis own example, the population that for a time
had wandered from its way. His glory alone was
equal to such a task. Men of the greatest genius,
not only among philosopher.s, but kings, Voltaire
and Frederic of Prussia,bad thrown contempt on the
Catholic i»eligion, and by their example gave origin
to the railleries cast upon it for fifty years. General
Bdiiiiparte, who had as much mind as Voltaire,
while he excelled Frederic in glory, was able of
himself, by his example and aspect, to put to
silence the'jcors of the last century.

Upon this .subject, he had in his mind not the
smallest doubt. The double motive of re-establish-
ing order in the state and in private families, of
satisfying the mere want of souls, inspired him
with the firm resolution to restore the Catholic
religion to its former footing, deprived, indeed, of
its political attributes, for he regarded these as
altogether incompatible with the existing state of
French society.

Is there then any necessity, with such motives
for his guide, to inquire whether he acted through
the inspiration of a religious faith, through
policy or ambition I He acted under the influence
of wisdom, in fact, through a profound knowledge
of the human heart ; that may suffice : the ■ rest
remains a mystery, that cm-io.sity, always natural in
ob-serving the conduct of a great genius, may endea-
vour to penetrate, but which in reality imports
little. It nnist still be observed thus far, that the
moral constitution of Bonaparte inclined him to
religious ideas '. An intelligence of a superior cast
is always, in proportion to its innate superiority,
struck by tlie beauties of creation. It is intellect
which discovers and penetrates into the intellect of
the universe ; a great mind is more capable than
an inferior one, of seeing the Supreme Being
through his works. Bonaparte willingly entered
upon controversial discussions upon questions oF
religion or philosophy with j\Ionge, Lagrange, and
Laplace, men of learning whom he greatly honoured
and esteemed ; and he often embarrassed them in

' Bonaparte, upon his own authority, was much touched
by early associatiotis, as all men of genius are. This, if any
thing ber.ides but the sound policy that directed his conduct,
will fully account both for the restoration of the Catholic
church — verj' dilferent in constitution from that the Revolu-
tion destroyed, it must be admitted — without attributing to
liim any participation in its peculiar doctrines. He was a
believer in a Supnnie Cause, but not in the doctrines of a
Christian church, as the sense of our author would seem
distinctly to leave to be inferred. Bonaparte said at St.
Helena: "Every thing proclaims the existence of a God,
t/iai cannot lie questioned; but all our religions are evidently
the work of men. Why are they so many ? Why has ours
not always existed ? Why does it consider itself exclusively
the right one? What becomes, in that case, of all the vir-
tuous men that have gone before us ? Why do tbe.se religions
revile, oppose, exterminate one another? Why has this
been the case ever and every where? Because men are
ever men ; because priests have ever and every where intro-
duced fraud and falsehood. However, as soon as I had the
power, I immediately re-estaljlished religion. I made it the
ground-work and foundation upon whicli I built," &c.
Again: "I am assuredly very fir from being an atheist;
but I cannot believe all I am taught, in spile of my reason,
■without being false and an hypocrite." Las Cases' St.
H^i^EV A.— Translator.

their incredulity by the clearness, originality, and
strength of his arguments. To this it must be added,
that he was brought up in an uncultivated and
religious country, under the eyes of a pious mother;
and the sight of an old catholic altar awakened in him
the recollections of his infancy, always so powerful
in a sensitive and lofty imagination. In respect to
ambition, to which certain detractors have ascribed
his conduct in this circumstance, he had no other
at the time than to act as was best for his object in
every thing ; and without doubt if he saw that any
augmentation of power would accrue in the way of
recompense, for a work so well accomplished, he
may be well excused for indulging tlie feeling.
It is the noblest, most legitimate, ambition, which
seeks to ground its power in satisfying the real
necessities of a nation.

The task which he proposed to perform, though
apparently very easy, because it was directed to the
satisfaction of a public want, was a very hard one.
Those who surrounded him were, nearly all without
exception, very little inclined to the re-establish-
ment of the old system of wor.ship. They were men
who, whether magistrates, soldiers, men of litera-
ture or science, had been among the founders of
the French revolution, the true and staunch de-
fenders of the revolution now decried, and they
were those with whom it was required to carry it
out to completion, by tlie reparation of its errors
and the definitive hallowing of its rational and legi-
timate results. The first consul was thus compelled
to act oj)i)osite to his colleagues, supportei's, and
friends. These individuals, belonging to the ranks
of the moderate revolutionists, liad never, with
Robespierre and St. Just, spilled human blood.
There was no difficulty in their disavowal of the
frantic excesses of the rev(ilution; but they had
become involved in the errors of the constituent
assembly, and were accustomed to repeat, laugh-
ingly, the pleasantries of Voltaire. It was not easy
for them to be made to acknowledge that they had
mistaken, for so lung a time, the stronger truths of
social order. Men of learning, like Laplace, La-
grange, and above all, Monge, said to the first con-
sul, that he was going to lay at the feet of Rome all
the dignity of his government and of his age.
Rcfiderer, the most furious monarcjiist of tliC day,
\\ ho would have royalty restored in its most perfect
form as quickly as possible, saw with trouble the
project for the restoration of the old forms of wor-
ship. Talleyrand himself, the industricjus promoter
of every thing that might make the present ap-
jiroximate to the past, and France to the other
states of Europe ; Talleyrand, the second labourer
in, and a useful and zealous labourer too, at the work
of the general peace, even he regarded with great
coolness what was usually denominated the religious
l)eace. He was opposed to any further persecution
of the priests, but he felt chagrined at certain per-
sonal recollections, and was not at all desirous of
the re-et'tablishmcnt of the old Catholic church,
with its discipline and regulations. The comrades
in arms of the first consul, the generals who had
fought under him, destitute, as most of them were,
of the first rudiments of education, brought up
amidst the vulgar railleries of camps, some of them
declainiers in clubs, were repugnant to the restora-
tion of worship. Although covered with glory,
they appeared to appi'ehend the ridicule that would

His ar,?umeiits against his
opponents.

THE CONCORDAT.

Inaction in religious affairs
repudiated.

287

fall upon them at the foot of the altar. Lastly, the
brothers of the first consul, who as.sociated a great
deal with littrarv men, and were jet more imbued
with the spirit of the writings of the preceding cen-
tury, wereappreliensive on account of their brothers
power, fearing every thing that bore the aspect of
offering a serious resistance, and not discovering
that beyond the interested or ignorant resistance of
those who were in opposition to tlie government,
there was a real want, already felt by the popular
masses — they endeavoured to dissuade their bro-
ther from what they deemed an imprudent and
premature reaction.

The first consul was besieged with every kind of
advice. Some wished to dissuade him from toucli-
ing upon religious mattei-s at all, to limit him-
self to putting a stop to the persecution of tlie
priests, and leave the sworn and unsworn clergy to
arrange their own differences. Others, who were
aware of the danger of inaction and indifference,
urged him to seize the occasion, and by making
himself innnediately tlie head of the French church,
prevent the immense influence of i"eligion being
used in France by a foreign authority. Many
propiised to him to urge on France to protestant-
ism, saying, that if he would set the example of
becoming a protestant, France would quickly fol-
low his example.

The first consul resisted, with tlie utmost efforts
of his reasonmg and eloquence, these vulgar coun-
sels. He had formed, for his own use, a small
library of religious books, exceedingly well selected,
the greater part relating to the history of the church,
and above all to the relations of the church with
the state. He had the Latin works of Bossuet
upon this subject translated. He read all these
with greiit earnestness in the short intervals wiiich
his j)ublic duties allowed him, and supplying with
his genius that of which he was ignorant, as he did
when he drew up the civil code, he astonish d
every body by the ju.stice, variety, and extent of
his knowledge upon the different forms of worship.
According to his usual custom, when a thought
<)ccui)ied his mind, he entered upon its discussion,
day after day, with his colleagues, the ministers, or
the legislative body, in fact with all and every one
with whom he believed it useful to regulate and
coiTect an opinion. He successively refuted the
eiToneous systems proposed to him, and he did so
with lucid, fair, and decisive arguments.

To the system, wliich consists in not meddling
with religious affairs. In; answered that tiie iiidilfer-
ence so |)rcached up by certain disdainful persons,
w;i8 of small account with a people whom they had
very recently seen, for example, take possession of
a church by force, and thnraten to pdlage it be-
cause the rites of sepulture had been denied to an
actress, who had been a public favourite. How was
it possible to remain indifferent in a country where-
with the pretension of indifference to religiitn there
was so little indifference in reality ? The first con-
sul asked besides, how it was possible to avoid in-
terfering, when the priests, " sworn" and " un-
sworn," were continually disputing with each
other for the religious edifices, and calling inces-
santly upon the government for its intervention to
eject those in possession, and put their op])onent8
in their places. He demanded what lie was to do
when the constitutional clergy, already little at-

tended by the religious part of the community,
should be entirely abandoned, and the party who
I had refused to take the oath, should alone be lis-
I tened to and followed, and should be exclusively in
I possession of the privilege of performing duty, as
' had happened already, and of performing it too in
the midst of clandestine congregations. Would it
not be an imperious duty to restore the temporal
part of the woi-ship to those who could alone exer-
cise the spiritual '. Would not that be an interfer-
ence ? And then the priests, whose provisions in
land had been seized during the revolution, must
have the means of living, be placed on the list of
state pensioners in the budget, or be permitted to
organize, under the name of voluntary contribu-
tions, a vast system of taxation, the jiroducc of
which would be 30,000,000 f. or 40,000,000 f., the
entire distribution of which would remain in their
own hands, perhaps in the hands of foreigners, and
go some day, without the knowledge of the govern-
ment, to the support of the old soldiers of the civil
war in La Vendee. However, it might be consi-
dered, the government would be soon forced,
despite its inaction, to take some part either for
the support of good order or for the disposal of the
edifices of worship, for paying the j)riests itself, or
watching the mode in wliich they exacted their
remuneration. Thus, there would be incurred the
charge of governing without the advantages, with-
out being able, whieli it would be prudent to do,
by an arrangement with the holy see, to secure
to itself the religious administration, to bring back
the clergy to the government, associate them in
the work of reparation, re-establish the quiet of
families, tranquillize the minds of the dying, the
possessors of national property, the married priests
and others: indeed all who had l}een committed by
the part they had acted in the revolution.

Inaction, then, was a complete dream, according
to the first consul, and it was, besides, no more
than an excuse, devised by those who had no prac-
tical notion of the art of governing.

As to the plan of creating a French church free
of all foreign supremacy, like that of England, hav-
ing, in place of a spiritual head abroad, a temporal
head at home, which could be no other than the
government itself, or, in other words, the first con-
sul, that was eiiually vain and contemptible. What
he, a soldier wearing a sword and sjinrs, giving
battles — he the head of a church, a species of pope
regulating discijiline and dogma ! They would not
surely attem])t to make him as odious as Robes-
l)ierre, the inventor of the worship of the Supreme
Being, or as ridiculous as Larcveillere Le|)eaux,
the inventor of the theo-philanthrojiy ! VVho, in
suclj a case was he to have for his disciples ?
Who would compose his fiock of the iaithful ?
They would not, most assuredly, bo orthodox Chris-
tians, to whom the majority of Catholics belonged,
but who had an aversion to following excellent
))riests, who had no other fault than that of taking
the oath prescribed by the law. The jinly follow-
ers for whom he could hope, wouhl be a few bad
priests, a few runaway monks out of the convent^,
habituated to clubs, that, having led bad lives, ami
wishing to continue in the same course, awaited
the head of the new church to obtain for the
priests permission to marry! Ho could not, for his
part, hope to number among his Hock the abbe

Bonaparte rejects

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

protestantism.

Gregoire, who, in demanding in all things a return
to the primitive church, still clung to continuing
in communion with the successor of St. Peter !
He could Hdt have Lare'veillere Lepeaux, who
wanted to confine republican worship to some reli-
gious staves, and a few fl(jwers strewed upon an
altar ! Was such tiie clmrcli of which they desired
to make him the chief or head ! Was that the cha-
racter to which they were desirous he should be
reduced, the victor at Rivuli and Marengo, the re-
storer of social order ? Yet, was this scheme pro-
posed to him by friends jealous of liberty ! But in
supposing that such a scheme might succeed, wliich
was besides impossible to be the case, suppose it to
succeed, and that to his temporal power, already
so great, they should unite the spiritual, the first
consul would become the most formidable of
tyrants; he would be master of body and soul, not
less than the sultan at Constantinople, who is at
once the head of the state, of the army, and of the
faith ! Again the hypothesis was vain ; he could
only be a ridiculous tyrant, because he could only
be successful by producing the most foolish schism
of all. He who wished to be the pacificator of
France and of the world, to terminate all the reli-
gious and i)olitical divisions, was he to become the
founder of a new schism, only a little more absurd,
and not less dangerous, than those that had pre-
ceded it ? " Yes, without doubt," said the first
consul,'" a pope will be necessary for me; but a
pope who will reconcile in place of dividing men's
minds; who will i-euuite them, and gain them to
the government sprung fi-om the revolution, as the
price for the protection which they will obtain. For
this purpose the real pojjc, catholic, apostolic, and
Roman, he, whose seat is in the Vatican, will suit
me. With the French armies and due considera-
tion, I shall always be sufficiently his master.
! When I shall again raise up tlie altars, protect the
priests, feed them, and treat them as ministers of
religion deserve to be treated in every country,
I he will do all I require of him for the interest of
the general tranquillity. He will calm men's minds,
reunite them under his own hand, and place them
under mine. Less than this is only a continuance
and an aggravation of the desolating schism which
is eating us up, and towards me points a great
ineffaceable ridicule."

The idea of urging protestantism upon France,
.appeared to the first consul beyond being ridiculous;
it was odious. First, he thought he should succeed
no better with it ; according to him, people were
wrong who fancied that in France it was possible
for him to di) what he wished. It was an error by
no means honourable for ttiose who fell into it, for
.it implied that France was destitute of opinion and
conscience. He did what he wislied, some said: —
"Yes," lie would reply, " but only in the sense of
her real and sensible wants." France had been
in deep troubles, and he had conducted her to per-
fect peace ; he liad found iier the j)rey of anar-
chists, wlio even began to forget how to defend her
against foreigners, and he had dispersed those
anarchists, re-established order, sent at a distance
from the frontiers the Austrians and Russians ;
given the peace for which she was so earnest ; had
put a stop, in a word, to the scandals of a feeble
and dissolute government; was it at all astonishing
that France had permitted him to do these things ?

Again, recently the opposition in the tribunate had
desired to refuse him the means of clearing the high
roads of the robbers which infested them. Yet after
that tliere were some persons who pretended that
he could do what he pleased. It was a mistake.
He was able to do that which the necessities and
opinions predominant in France gave him power
to do, and no more. He could act better, more
powerfully than another, but he could do nothing
against the actual movement of opinion. That
movement pointed towards the re-establishment of
all things essential to society; and religion was the
foremost. " I am very powerful at present," cried
the first consul ; " very well — were I to wish to
change the old religion of France, she would array
herself against me and conquer me. Do you know
when the country was hostile to the catholic reli-
gion ? It was when the government, in conjunction
with it, burned books, and sent to the wheel Calas
and Labarre; but you may be sure, that were I to
become an enemy to religion, the entire country
would join her. I should change those who wei-e
indift'erent into staunch catholics. I should be a
little less jested upon, perhaps, for desiring to push
on protestantism, than if I set myself up for the
patriarch of the Gallican church; but I should soon
be an object of public hatred. Is protestantism the
old religion of France ? Is that the faith which
after long civil wars, after a thousand contests, was
definitively fixed as the faith most in conformity to
the manners and genius of our nation ? Is it not
easy to be seen, that it is doing violence to desire
to force one's opinion upon a people, to create for
them usages, tastes, and recollections which they
cannot feel ? A princiiml charm of religion is in
the recollections it recalls." " For my part," said
the first consul one day in conversation, " when I
am at Malmaison, I never hear the sound of the
bell from the neighbouring village without emotion ;
who in France would be thus moved in those
chapels were no one had ever gone in his infancy,
and of which the cold and severe aspect accords .so
ill with the manners and feelings of our country."
It may be thought advantageous, perhaps, not to be
dependent upon a foreign head of the church. It
is an error. Every where, and for all, there must
be a head. There is no more admirable institution
than that which maintains a unity of faith, and
prevents, as n)uch as possible, religious disputes.
There is nothing moi-e offensive than a crowd of
sects disputing together, dealing out invectives,
combating with arms in their hands, if in their
first excess of passion; or if tliey have acquii-ed the
habit of living side by side, regarding each other
with a jealous eye, forming coteries in the state
which sustain each other, urging on their own par-
tizans, keeping rival sects at a distance, and giving
the government numerous embarrassments. 'I'he
quarrels of religious sects are insupportable. Dis-
putation is the province of science ; it animates,
sustains, and conducts it to discoveries. To what
do religious disputes lead, if not to the uncertainty
and ruin of all belief? Besides, when the spirit is
directed to theological controversy, the controvei'sy
is so absorbing, that the mind of man is turned
away from all useful research. Rai'ely do we en-
counter theological controversy combined with any
great mental operation. Religious quarrels are
criiel and sanguinary, or dry, bitter, and unfruitful

1801.
March.

Bonaparte's opinions

THE CONCORDAT.

concerning religious systems.

— none are more odious. Inquiry in mattere of
science; faitli in mattei-s of rtli<5ion. Such is the
truly useful coui-sc. The institution which sup-
ports a unity of faith, that is to say the pope, as
the guardian of catholic unitj-, is an admirable
institution. This head of the church is reproached
for being a foreign sovereign. He is so, and it is
right to thank Heaven for it. What— can there be
imagined in any country a parallel authority by the
side of the temporal government of the state ?
Thus united, such an authority would be the sultan's
despotism ; separate, hostile perhaps, to the poli-
tical government, it must generate a fearful and
intolerable rivalry. The pope is out of Paris ; so
far it is well. He is neither in Madrid, nor in
Vienna; and it is on that account we support his
spiritual authority. At Vienna and Madrid they
congratulate themselves for the same reason. Do
you think that if he were in Paris, the Viennese,
the Sjianiards, would pay attention to his decisions ?
It is fortunate that lie does not i-eside among us,
and that in residing away from us, he does not
dwell among our rivals ; that he hihabits the
ancient Rome, afar from the hands of the empe-
rors of Germany, afar from the kings of France or
Spain, holding the balance between the catholic
sovereigns, inclining a little always to the strongest,
but soon recovering from that position if the strong-
est becomes an oppressor. Centuries have brougiit
this about at last, and have done it well. For ilie
government of souls it is the best, the most benefi-
cent institution that one can imagine.

" I do not maintain these opinions," said the first
consul, "with the warmth of a devotee, but by the
rule of reason." " Listen," one day he said to
Monge, whom he most liighly esteemed of all the
learned of that day, and whom he had constantly
with him, " my religion, and such as mine, is very
simple. I look at this universe so great, so com-
plicated, so magnificent; and I say to myself, This
could not have been produced by chance, but is the
work, for whatever tnd intended, of an all-power-
ful, unknown Being, as superior himself to man, as
the universe is superi(jr to man's noblest machines.
Search, Monge ; get the assistance of your friends,
the mathematicians and philosophers, you will not
find one more powerful or more decisive argument
than this ; and whatever you may do to combat it,
you caimot weaken its force. Yet this truth is
too succinct for man. He wishes to know all
about hiniHelf, about the future, and a whole crowd
of secrets wiiich the universe does not disclose.
Allow religion, th< ii, to inform him of all of which
he feels th<' want of knowledge, and respect that
which she will disclose. It is true, that what one
creed advances as infallibly correct, is contradicted
by another. As for me, I come to a different con-
clusion from M- Volney. Iiiasnmch as there are
different creeds, which naturally draw conclu.sions
against each other, he concludes that all are bad.
I should rather find them all good, because all at
bottom say the same thing. They are wrong only
when they wish to proscribe one another : that
must be prevented by good laws. The catholic
religion is that of our country, that in which
we were born ; it has a government wisely con-
ceived, which hindirs disputes as much an it i->
possible to do so und«;r the disputing temper of
men ; this government ia out of Paris, that we

must applaud ; it is not at Vienna, it is not at
Madrid, it is at Rome ; therefore it is accept-
able. If, since the uistitution of the papacy, there
be any thing equally i)erfect, it is the relation of
the Galilean church with the holy see, submissive
and independent at the same time : submissive
in matters of faith, independent in the policy of
worship. The catholic unity and the articles of
Bossuet show the true form of religious govern-
ment. It is that we must re-establish. As to
protestantism, it has a right to the strongest pro-
tection of the government ; those who profess it
have an absolute right to an equal participation in
social advantages; but it is not the religion of
France: this centuries past have decided. In pro-
posing to make it the prevalent system, you propose
an act of violence, and an impossibility. Besides,
what is more frightful than a schism? What
is more enfeebling to a nati<in ? Of all civil wars,
that which enters most deeply into the heart, which
troubles families most i)ainfully, is a religious war.
We must finish all chance of this. Peace with
Europe is concluded : let us maintain it as long as
we are able to do so ; but religious peace is the most
pressing of all. That once concluded we have no
cause for fearing any thing. It is doubtful if
Europe will leave us long at peace ; that she will
be satisfied to see us always as powerful as we
are now. But when France, as one man, shall
be united ; when the Vende'ans and the Bretons
shall march in our armies with the Burgundians,
the Lorrainese, and the Franc-Comptois, we shall
have no more to fear from Europe, though it be all
in union against us."

Such were the kind of conversations continually
held by the first consul with his more intimate
counsellors, Cambaceres and Lebrun, who were of
his opinion, and with Talleyrand, Fouche', and
Roederer, who were opposed to him on this ques-
tion, also with a number of the members of the
council of state, and of the legislative body, whose
ideas generally differed from his. He spoke, in these
discussions, with a warmth and jierseverance of
purpose quite unexampled. He saw nothing that
appeared so useful, so urgent, as the ])ntting an
end to those religious differences and divisions, and
he applied himself to the business with all the
ardour with which he was accustomed to regard
what was of pre-eminent importance.

He had decided upon his jilan, which was simple,
and wisely conceived. It lias been successful in
terminating all the religious divisions of France.
The unfortimate disputes, which the first consul,
when he became emperor, had, at a later period,
with the court of Rome, occurred between him,
the pope, and the bishops, and did not affect the
religious peace established among the p<>pulation
of France. There was never seen to arise, in
France, even when the pope was a prisoner at
Fontainebleau, two different forms of worship, two
orders of the clergy, and two classes of the faitiiful.

The first consul devised a scheme to reconcile
the French republic and the Roman church, by
treating with the holy .see, on the basis of the same
principles as were laid down by the revolution.
The clergy were no longer to constitute a poli-
tical power ; there was to be n<. longer a clergy
endowed with landed property ; this, in l.'KKt, bad
become an impossible thing. The plan of the hist
U

290 Bonaparte's scheme to THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

re-establish the ca- 1801.

tholic church. March.

consul consisted in a clergy devoted solely to tlieii-
professional duties, receiving their incomes from
the state — named by the state, but confirmed or
ratified by the pope ; a new boundary or circum-
scription of dioceses, which should consist of sixty
in place of a hundred and fifty-eight, existing for-
merly on the territory of old and new France ; the
regulations of the places of worship transferred to
the civil power, the jurisdiction over the clergy to
the council of state in place of the parliaments, no
longer in existence. This was the civil constitution
of 1790, but modified so as to render it in some
degx-ee more acceptable to Rome. In other words,
with the bishops nominated by the government and
instituted by the pope, in place of being elected
by their flocks. There was to be a general pro-
mise of submission to the laws in place of the oath
exacted from the different religious communities,
which served as a pretext to ill-disposed or timid
priests to raise up conscientious scruples. In fact,
it was the true reform in public worship, to which
the revolution should have confined its changes, in
order that they might have been rendered agree-
able to the pope, a thing not to be lost sight of,
because without the consent of Rome any effective
religious establishment would be impossible.

It has been asserted ' that a point of great import-
ance was omitted; this was that the bishops nomi-
nated by the civil power should be accepted by the
pope, whether he were inclined to accept them or
not. In such a case the spiritual government of
Rome would have been seriously enfeebled, which
was a matter by no means desirable. The civil
power, in nominating a bishop, indicates a subject
in whom, with the good moral character of a mi-
nister of religion, it recognizes the political cha-
racter of a good citizen, who respects, and will
cause to be respected, the laws of his country. It
is for the pope to say, that in such a subject he
recognizes the orthodox priest, who will teach the
real doctrine of the catholic church. To desii-e to
fix a delay of some months, after which the insti-
tution of the pope should be considered as validly
accorded, would have been to force the institution
itself, to take from the pope his spiritual authority,
and to renew no less an evil than the memorable
and terrible quarrel of investitures. There are two
authorities in matters of religion ; the civil autho-
rity of the country in which the worship is per-
formed, charged to watch and maintain the laws
and established authority, and the spiritual autho-
rity of the pope charged to watch over and support
unity of faith. It is necessary that both should
concur in the choice of the clergy. The religious
authority of the holy see, sometimes, it is true, re-
fuses institution to the bishops selected by the
state; it was thus made to violate the civil power :
such cases have been seen to occur, but they arc
no more than a floating inevitable abuse. The
civil authority may also, in its own turn, hang
back, and such cases liave been seen to happen
under Napoleon himself, the most enlightened and
courageous restorer of the catholic clnircli.

The plan of the first consul left notiiing more to
be desired for the dojfinitive establishment of pub-
lic worship ; but still it was necessary that he
should attend to the transition or the passage from

' L'Abbe de Pradt, in "The Four Concordats."

the present state of things to that which he was
about to create. What was he to do in respect to
the existing sees ? How come to an understanding
with the ecclesiastics of every grade, bishops or
simple priests, the one sworn and attached to the
revolution, publicly performing worship in the
churches ; the others unsworn, emigrants, or newly-
returned ministers, clandestinely exercising their
functions, and most of them in hostility to the
government ? Bonaparte devised a system, the
adoption of wliich was a very great difficulty at
Rome; since, for eighteen centuries, during which
it had existed, the church had never done that
which was about to be proposed for her sanction.
This was a system which included the abolition of
all the existing dioceses. To effect this, the former
bishops, who were yet living, were to be applied to,
and their resignation demanded by the pope. If
they refused, he pronounced their deposition ; and
when a tabula rasa was thus effected, there were
to be traced upon the map of France sixty new
dioceses, of which forty-five were to be bishoprics,
and fifteen archbishoprics. In order to fill them,
the first consul nominated sixty prelates, taken in-
discriminately from "the sworn and unsworn clergy,
but principally from the last class, which was the
most numerous, the most respected, and the most
highly esteemed among the faithiV.l. He was to
choose both the one and the other Uom among the
ecclesiastics most worthy of the confidence of the
government, purest in morals, and well reconciled
to the changes brought about by the revolution.
These prelates, nominated by the first consul,
were to be instituted by the pope, and immediately
enter upon their functions, under the superinten-
dence of the civil authority and of the council of
state.

Salaries, in proportion to their wants, were to be
allotted them from the budget of the state. In
return, the pope was to acknowledge as valid the
alienation of the property of the church, inter-
dicting the suggestions which the priests were in
the habit of making at the beds of the dying, re-
conciling the married clergy to the church, assist-
ing the government, and, in a word, puttmg an end
to all the calamities -of the time.

This plan was complete, and, with a few excep-
tions, as excellent for the present as for the future.
It recognized the church, as nearly as jiossible,
upon the same model as the state ; it fused to-
gether differing individuals, by taking from all
parties the wiser and more moderate men, who
estimated the public good above revolutionary or
religious hot-headedness. But it will be quickly
seen how difficult it is to do that which is good,
even when necessary, and even when the necessity
of the case is most urgent ; because, unhappily,
although it be necessary, it does not follow upon
that account, that it shall be a clear and evident
notion to others beyond the power of contestation.

In Paris there was still the party of scoffci-s, of
sectarists, still living in the philosophy of the
eighteenth century ; of old Jansenists become con-
stitutional priests; and lastly, of generals imbued
with vulgar prejudices : here were the obstacles
on the part of France. At Rome, tiiere were the
adherence to ancient prejudices; the fear of affect-
ing dogmas if discipline were touched ; religious
scruples sincere or affected; above all, an antipathy

Character of Pius VII.

His impressions of Bonaparte.

THE CONCORDAT.

Mission of Monsignor Spi)
Paris.

to the French revolution ; and, more particulai-ly,
a sort of complacence in respect to the French
royalist party, composed of emigrants, priests, and
nobles, some resident at Rome, othere in corre-
.spondence with her, and all bitter enemies of
France and the new order of things which had
begun to be established there : these were obstacles
ou the side of the holy see.

The first consul persisted in liis plan with a
firmness and a patience altogether invincible,
during one of the longest and most difficult nego-
tiations ever known in the history of the church.
Never did the spiritual and temporal powers meet
under circumstances of greater moment, and never
were they more worthily represented.

That young man, so sensible, and with such
depth of view, but so impetuous in his determina-
tions, who governed France, — that young man, by
a singular dispensation of Providence, found him-
self placed on the stage of the world, in presence
of a pontiff of mre virtue, of a physiognomy and
chai-acter angelic, but of a tenacity capable of
braving martyrdom, where he believed that the
interests of the faith or those of the court of Rome
were compromised. His countenance, animated
and mild at the same time, well expressed the sen-
sibility, somewhat elevated, of his mind. Aged
about sixty, feeble in health, though he lived to a
considerable age, holding down his head, endowed
with a keen and penetrating glance, in language
graceful and affecting, he was the worthy repre-
sentative, not more of the imperious faith that under
Gregory VII. commanded, and deserved to com-
mand, Eui'opean barbarism, than of that persecuted
religion, which, having no longer at command the
thunders of the church, was no longer able to
exercise over mankind any other power than that
of mild per.suasion.

A secret charm attached tlie pontiff to general
Bonaparte. They had already met, as elsewlnre
observed, during the wars of Italy, and in place of
tliosc feroi;ious warriors generated by the French
revolution, that had been painted in Europe as
profaners of the altar, and assassins of the emi-
grant priests, Pius VII., then bishop of Im()la,had
f'nind a young man, full of genius, speaking, like
himself, the Italian language, exhibiting sentiments
of great moderation, maintaining order, kce|)ing
the churches sacred, and, far from persecuting the
French priests, using all his influence to oblige the
Italian churches to receive and support them.
Surprised and delighted, the bi.shop of Imola re-
strained the insubordinate temper of the Italians
in his diocese, and returned to general Bonaparte
the services which lie had rendered to the church
upon his part. The impression jjroduced by this
fii-st acquaintance was never effaced from the
heart of the pon'titt', and influenced all his conduct
towards the general when he became consul and
empemr : a striking proof that in every thing,
great or small, a good action is never lust. At a
later time, in fai:t, when the conclave had as-
sembled at Venice to give a successor to Pius VI.,
who died a prisoner at Valence, the recollection of
the first acts of the general of the army of Italy
had influenced, in a manner that may be styled
providential, the choice of tlu! new pupe.

It will be in recollection, that at the same mo-
ment when Pius VII. was preferred by the cou-

clave, in the hope to find in him a conciliatoi-, who
would reconcile Rome with France, and thus, per-
haps, terminate the afHictious of the cimrch, the
first consul gained the battle of Marengo, and had
thus become, by the same stroke of fortune, master
of Italy and ruler of Europe, and that he had sent
an emissary, the nephew of the bishop of Verceil,
to announce his intentions to the pontiff then newly
elected. He had sent the pope word that while
ulterior arrangements were pending, peace should,
in real fact, exist between France and Rome, on
the footing of the treaty of Tolentino, signed in
1797; that there should no more be spoken of the
Roman republic invented by the directory; that
the holy see should be re-established and recog-
nized by the French as in former times. As to
the question of restoring to fhe church the three
great provinces which it had lost, namely, Bologna,
Ferrara, and Romagna, not a word was said. The
pope was replaced upon his throne, and had peace.
The rest he left to the care of Providence. The
first consul, moreover, commanded the Neapolitans
to evacuate the Roman states, which, in fact, they
had evacuated, except the enviroiis of Benevento
and Ponte-Corvo. Besides, in all the movements
of his armies around Naples and Otranto, the first
consul had given orders to respect the Roman
territories. He had himself sent Murat, who com-
manded the French army in Lower Italy, to bend
his knee at the foot of the pontifical throne. M.
Gonsalvi had thus guessed correctly, and he was
amply recompensed, because upon his arrival at
Rome, the pope had named him cardinal-secretary
of state, first minister of the holy see, a post which
he preserved during the greater part of the ponti-
ficate of Pius VII.

It was in the train of these events, in some sort
partaking of the miraculous, that the p'lpe, upon
the request of the first consul, had sent M. Spina
to Paris, a keen, greedy, devout, Genoese priest,
in order to treat of both religious and political
affairs. At first, M. Spina took no official title, so
much did the holy father, in spite of his partiality
for general Bonaparte, and his ardent desire for
a reconciliation, dread to avow any relation with
the French republic. But in a little time, seeing
come to Paris, in the train of the ministers of
Prussia and of Spain, who were already there, those
of Austria, Russia, Bavaria, and Naples, in fact,
of all the European courts, the holy father no
longer hesitated, and permitted M. Spina to take
u[)iin himself his official ciiaracter, and to avow the
object of his mission. Tiie emigrant party raised
a gn at outcry, and made useless efforts to impede,
by their remonstrances, the approximation of tlie
church to France, well knowing, that if they failed
to agitate the public mind under the plea of re-
ligious prejudices, the best offensive means would
be lost to them. But I'ius VII., although mor-
tified, sometimes even intimidated by their remon-
strances, showed a firm determination to place the
interests of religion and the church above all con-
siderations of party. One reason alone slackened,
in a slight degree, this excellent resolution, that
was the vague anil unwise hope of ncovcring the
Legations, lost under the treaty of Tolentino '.

' There is not in existence a more curious negotiation, or

one more worthy of meditation, tlian tliat of the concordat.

There is none in which the archives of France are richer,

v2

Delusive expectations of
-"2 the priests.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The abbe Bernier's pro-
posals to M. Spina.

Monsignor Spina, arrived in Paris, had orders to
gain time, tliat it iniglit be seen if the first consul,
master of Italy, as he was, and able to dispose of it
at pleasure, niiglit not entertain the fortunate idea
of restoring the Legations to the holy see. A word
that frequently dwelt upon the lips of the first con-
sul, had given birth to more hopes than he intended
it should bear--" Let the holy father only trust to
me, let him throw himself into my arms, and I will
be for the church a new Charlemagne." " If he is
a new Charlemagne," said the priests, little versed
in the affairs of their own time, " let him prove it
by giving back to us the patrimony of St. Peter."
They were unfortunately far enough out in their
reckoning, for the first consul believed he had dune
much in the re-establishment of the pope at Rome,
and in giving up to him, with his pontifical throne,
the Roman state, besides offering to treat with hini
for the restoration of the catholiii worship. In
fact, considering the state of the public mind in
France and in Italy also, he had done a vast deal.
If the French patriots, still full of the ideas of the
eighteenth century, saw with little satisfacti<m the
approaching re-establishment of the catholic church,
the Italian p-itriots saw with despair the govern-
ment of the priesthood once more set up over
them. It was impossible therefore for the first
consul to push his complaisance towards the holy
see so far as to give up the Legations to its authority
again, wliich could not be of service in supporting
the government of the priesthood, and were besides
a promised portion of the Cisalpine republic. But
the court of Rome, finding itself much distressed
since it was deprived of the revenues of Bologna, of
Feri-ara, and of Romagna, reasoned very differ-
ently. In other respects the pope, who lived in the
midst of the pomps of the Vatican like any an-
chorite, thought much less of terrestrial interests
than cardinal Gonsalvi, and cardinal Gonsalvi less
than monsignor Spina. This hist moved with a
stealthy pace in the negotiation, listening to all that
was said to him relatively to the religious ques-
tions, having the appearance of attaching to them
an exclusive importance, and still, by some random
words let out from time to time about tlie misery
of the holy see, attempting to bring back attention
to the sul)ject of the Legations. He did not succeed
in making himself understood, and protracted the
negotiations in order to obtain something which
would meet the false hopes imprudently indulged
by liis court.

To treat with M. Spina the first consul had made
choice, as alrearly said, of the celebrated abbe'
Bernier, the pacificator of La Vendee. This priest,
a simple curate in the province of Anjou, deprived
of the external attractions which are obtained by a
careful education, but endowed with a deep know-

because, besides the diplomatic correspondence of the Frenc h
agents, and, above all, the correspondence of the abbe Ber-
nier, there is ihe correspondence of ,M. Spina and of cardinal
Caprara wilh the pope and cardinal Gonsalvi. The last was
preserved by virtue of an article of the concordat, according
to which the archives of the Roman legation, in case of a
rupture, were to remiiin in France. The letters of ,\I. Spina
and of cardinal Caprara, written in Italian, are some of the
most curious monuments of Ihe time, and impart of them-
selves the secret of the religious negotiations of the period,—
a secret very little known at present, notwithstanding ihe
numerous works published relative to this subject.

ledge of human nature, of superior prudence, a
long time e.xercised in the midst of the difficulties
of a civil war, well versed in canonical affairs, had
been the principal author of the re-establishment
of peace in the western provinces. Attached to
this peace, which was his own work, he naturally
desire'l every thing which would confirm it, and
regarded the approximation of France to Rome as
one of the more certain means of rendering his
labour definitive and complete. He did not cease,
therefore, in addressing to the first consul the most
earnest instances to hasten forward the negotiations
with the church. Furnished daily with his in-
structions, he made known to the archbishop of
Corinth the propositions of the French government
already spoken of, namely, the dismission imposed
upon all the former titular bishops ; the new dio-
cesan circumscription ; sixty bishoprics in lieu of a
hundred and fifty-eight ; the composition of the
new clergy formed of ecclesiastics of all the differ-
ent parties ; the nomination of the bishops by the
first consul, and their institution by the pope ; the
promise of submission to the established govern-
ment ; the salaries out of the state budget ; the
renunciation of the property of the church, and com-
plete acknowledgment of its sale ; the police of
worship conferred upon the civil power rejire-
sented by the council of state ; r.nally, the pardon
of the church for those priests who had married,
and their reunion with the catholic communion.

M. Spina was loud in his exclamations upon
hearing these conditions announced ; he declai'ed
them exorbitant and contrary to the faith, assert-
ing that the holy father would never consent to
admit them.

First, he required that in the preamble of the
concordat, tiie catholic religion should be declared
the " state religion" in France ; that the consuls
should make a public profession of it, and that the
laws and acts contrary to this declaration of a state
religion should be abrogated.

As to the new circumscription of the dioceses, he
admitted the great number of the sees, but lie pre-
tended that the pope had no right to depose a
bishop ; that never had any of liis jiredecessors
dated to do so since the Roman church had existed,
and that if the holy father permitted such an inno-
vation he would create a second schism, directed
this time against the holy father himself ; that all
that he was able to do upon this subject was to
come to an amicable undei-standing with the first
consul ; those among the former bishfips which
showed themselves well inclined in regard to the
French government, should be simply replaced in
their dioceses, or in the diocese corresponding to
that which they had formerly filled ; and those, on
the contrary, which had or were conducting them-
selves still in a manner not to merit the counte-
nance of the government, should be left aside, and
until their deaths, which, considering their age,
could not be long, administrators chosen by the
pope and the first consul should govern the sees iu
the interim.

M. Spina, therefore, did not admit the idea of a
new clergy, taken from all classes of the priest-
hood, and from all parties, in order to fill the
vacant sees. Still, further, he did not wish that
the constitutionalists should share in it at all, unless
they should make one of those solemn recantations.

Proposals from the court of Rome. THE CONCORDAT.

The abbe Beriiier's reply.

293

which, a triumph for Rome, are also a recompense
for the pardon which she accords.

As to the nomination of the bishops by the head
of the repubhc, and their institution by the pope,
tliere was little difficulty. The negotiations natu-
rally commenced on the principle, that the new
government had at the court of Rome all the pre-
rogatives of tlie old, and that the first consul repre-
sented in every respect the king of France. On
that account the nomination of the bishops apper-
tained to him by right. Still the office of first
consul for the present at least was elective. Gene-
ral Bonaparte, actually invested with the dignity,
was of the catholic faith, but his successors might
not be of that creed ; and it was not allowed at
Rome that protestant sovereigns should nominate
catiiolic bishops. M. Spina demanded that this
contingency should bo provided for.

Tluy were in agreement regarding the curds.
The bishop was to nominate them with the agree-
ment of the civil authority.

The promise of submission to the laws was ad-
mitted without exactly expressing the terms.

The sanction of the pope to the sale of the church
property was a heavy task for the Roman ne-
gotiator. He acknowledged fully the utter im-
jiossibility of recalling those sales; but he demanded
that the holy see should be spared a declaration
which would imply the moral ajiprobation of all
that had passed in their i-egard. Ho conceded a
renunciation of all ulterior examination, in refusing
the formal acknowledgment of the right of aliena-
tion. " This property," said M. Spina, " called
ToUi fitlelium, ]iiitnmunium paiiperum, sacrijicta pec-
caturum, this property the church herself has no
power to alienate. Still she is able to renounce all
attempts to jirosecute its recovery." In I'eturn
she demands the restitution of such domains as are
not yet alienated, and the faculty granted to the
dying of bequeathing in favour of religious establish-
ments, which implied the i*enewal of property in
mortmain, and recommenced the old order of
things, in other words, a clergy endowed with
lands.

L:istly, the pardon granted to the married clergy
and tlieir reconciliation with the church, was a
matter of mere indulgence, easy to be granted on
the part of the court of Rome, which is always dis-
posed to pardon, when the fault is acknowledged
by those who have committed it. Still, two classes
of priests were to be excepted, the old religious
belonging to orders who iiad taken vows of celi-
bacy and the bishops. This was no mode of con-
ciliating with the holy see the kind wishes of
Tallt-yrand, the minister of foreign affairs.

These pretensions of the court of Rome, although
they did not imply an utter impossibility of coming
to an un<ler8tanding with the French government,
at the same time implied serious difi'erences of
opinion.

The first consul perceived this, and exhibited
the greatest impatience. He ii.id several times
seen M. Spina, and had declared to him that he
would never depart from the fundamental princi|>le
of his design, which consisted in making a <a6«/«
rcua, in forming a new circumscription, and a new
clergy, in depo^ing the old titularies, and taking
their successors from every class of the jiriesthood.
He had told liim that tlie fusion of honest and ablu

men of every party was the principle of his go-
vernment; that he applied this principle to the
church as well as to the state; that it was the only
means he possessed to terminate the troubles of
France, and that he should invariably persist in the
same coui-se.

The abbe Bernier, who, to an avowed ambition of
being the principal instrument in the re-establish-
ment of religion, joined the sincere love of doing
good, addressed the most earnest entreaties to M.
Spina, to level the difficulties which were opposed,
on the part of the church of Rome, to the measure of
the first consul. " To declare the catholic religion,"
he said, " to be the religion of the state is impossi-
ble; contrary to the ideas prevaknt in France, and
will never be admitted by the tribunate and legis-
lative body in the wording of any law." It might
be possible, according to him, to replace such a
declaration by the substitution of the fact, that the
catholic religion was that of the majority of French-
men. The mention of that fact would be as useful
as the declai-ation desired by Rome. To insist on
what was impossible, more out of i)ride than prin-
ciido, was to compromise the real interests of the
church. The first consul might attend in person
at the solemn rites of the church, and the presence
of such a man as he was at these ceremonies
was an important thing ; but it was necessary
to renounce the demand of his going through
certain practical forms, such as confession and
communion, as being beyond the limits within
which it was proper he should confine himself
with the French public. It was necessary to gain
back opinion, not to shock it, and above all, not to
afford subjects for ridicule. The demand of the
resignation of their sees, addressed to the former
bishops, was quite simple, and was a consequence
of the step which they had taken in regard to
Pius VI. in 1790. At that period, the French
prelates, in order to make their resistance appear
to be on account of the interest of the faith, and
not their own peculiar intei-ests, had declared that
they accepted the pope for an arbitrator, and ihat
they resigned their sees into his hands ; that if he
believed it was their duly to abiindon them in
favour of the civic constitution, they submitted.
There was now nothing more to do than to take
them at their words, and exact the :iccom])lishment
of their solemn offer. If some among them, in-
fluenced by personal motives, stood in the way of
so great a benefit as the I'estoration of public wor-
ship in France, they must no more be regarded as
titular bishops, but he considered as having re-
signed their sees in 1700. The abb(? Bernier added,
that tiiere was a precedent in point of the same
kind in the church, namely, the resignation of
thre(! hundred bishops together in Alrica, agreed
to for the purpose of putting a termination to the
schism of the Uonatists. It was true they had not
been deposed. Then as to the new selections ; the
])rincii)le of the fusion nmst be conceded to the
first consul. The principle the first consul applied
more particularly to the advantage of the unsworn
priests ; ho would choose two or tiiree who were
constitutionalists, solely for the sake of example, but
in the main he would select only the orthodox. The
French negotiator here advanced on iiis own ac-
count more than he was justified in doing. It is
true that the first consul had very little esteem for

294

Embarrassment of
M. Spina.

the constitutional bishops, who were for the larger
part bigoted Jansenists, or declaimers at the clubs;
it is true that he only esteemed in that portion of
the clergy the ordinary priests, who had in general
taken an oath of submission to the laws for the
purpose of pursuing the objects of theii' sacred
ministry, and had not sought to gain by the agita-
tion of the period, an elevation to the sacerdotal
dignity. Still, if he had but small respect for the
constitutional bishops, he adhered to his principle
of fusion, and did not sell quite so cheaply as the
abbe' Bernier appeared to announce for him, the
claims of the sworn clergy. These things were
said by the abbe Bernier to favour the success of
the negotiation. In regard to the nomination of
the bishops by the first consul, it was needful only
to sui-mount, according to the abbe Bernier, a diffi-
culty very remote and very improbable, in having,
at some time or another, a first consul who should
be a protestant. There was no necessity, according
to him, to glance at an event so little probable.
In relation to the property of the clergy, it was
necessary to lose no time, in settling the foi'm of
its disposal, as they were agreed upon the principle.
The restitution of the unsold church property and
testamentary bequests of hous'S and lands, were
totally at variance with the political principles pre-
valent in France, which were wholly opposed to
property in mortmain. The court of Rome must
be content, in this regard, with the single concession
of the validity of donations of annuities from the
public funds.

" The time," said the abbe, " is now come for a
conclusion, since the first consul is beginning to
appear discontented. He believed that the pope
had not strength of mind to break with the emi-
grant party in order to give every thing to France,
and he would end the matter by renouncing the
good which he had at first the idea of doing, and
without persecuting the priests, leave them to
themselves ; he would leave the church to become
what it could in France, without calculating that
he should be holding in Italy a conduct hostile to
the Roman court. It was," continued the abbe,
" to have lost all discernment, not to profit by the
dispositions of so great a man, the only man capa-
ble of saving religion. He had also great difficulties
to overcome in regard to the revolutionary party;
and for aiding him in vanquishing them, an oppo-
site conduct should be pui-sued, by making such
concessions as were needful to him for gaining over
opinions little disposed in France to favour the
catholic faith."

M. Spina began to be much embarrassed. He
was convinced, but his covetousness overcame his
convictions. Incessantly demanding wealth for his
court, his most ardent desires were to make her as
rich and prodigal as she was of old. The small
success of his insinuations about the lost provinces
singularly discouraged him. He perceived that
the first consul, as wily as Italian priests were,
would not explain himself to those who would not
explain themselves. He saw, Ijesides, all the other
courts at his feet ; he saw M. Kalitsclieff, the Rus-
sian negotiator, who had wished in such an insolent
mode to protect the petty Italian princes, depart
in disapi)ointment ; all Germany de])endent upon
France for the j)artition of the territorial indemni-
ties ; Portugal in submission, and England hei-self

fatigued into peace. In front of such a state of
things, he was convinced that he had no other
resource than to submit and to rely upon the will
of the first consul alone, for all of which he was
desii'ous. Disposed to concede, M. Spina was still
fearful to adhere to the absolute conditions of the
French cabinet, laid down with the evident reso-
lution of not departing from them, because they
were established upon the imperious necessities of
her existing situation.

The first consul, with his accustomed ability,
drew out the Roman negotiator from the em-
barrassment of his position. It was the moment,
already described a little way back, when all the
negotiations were proceeding together, especially
with England. Thinking with a species of joy on
the prodigious effect which a general peace must
produce, that should even comprehend the church
itself, he wished to finish all by a prompt and de-
cided step. He had the plan of a concordat drawn
up to be offered definitively to M. Spina. This bu-
siness was arranged by two ecclesiastics who had
thrown up holy orders, Talleyrand and Hauterive,
who were both in the office for foreign affairs.
Happily between these two was interposed the able
and orthodox Bernier. The plan drawn up by
Hauterive, and reviewed by Bernier, was simple,
lucid, and decided. It contained, in the style of a
law, every thing which the French legation had
proposed. It was then presented to M. Spina, who
was much troubled about it, and offered to send it
to his court, declaring he was not able to sign it
himself. " Why," they said to him, " do you refuse
to sign ? Can it be you have no powers ? If so,
what have you been doing in Paris for six m(mths !
Why do you put on the character of a negotiator,
and yet cannot carry it out to the necessary terra
of its conclusi<jn ? Perhaps you think the condi-
tions inadmissible ? If so, be bold enough to tell
us ; and then the French cabinet, which can agree
to no other conditions, will cease to negotiate with
you. It may or may not break with the holy see,
but it will have done with M. Spina."

The cunning prelate knew not what to answer.
He affirmed that he possessed powers. Not daring
to state that he thought the French terms inadmis-
sible, he alleged that in matters of religion, the pope
surrounded by his cardinals was alone able to ac-
cept a ti-eaty, and he in consequence renewed his
offer of sending the document to his holiness :
" Let it be so," some one said to him, " but declare
at least in sending your own approval of it." M.
Spina refused on his own part any approbatory for-
mula, and answered that he would impress upon
his holiness the adoption of a treaty which would
contribute to the restoration of the catholic faith in
France.

A courier was then sent off to Rome with the
scheme of the concordat, and an order to M. Ca-
cault, ambassador of France at the holy see, to
submit the document for the immediate and defi-
nitive acceptance of the pope. The same courier
was the bearer of a present wliich caused great
joy in Italy, the famous wooden virgin, the image of
our lady of Loretto, taken away in the time of the
directory from Loretto itself, and deposited as a
curiosity in the national library at Paris. The
first consul knew that, among many sincere and
irritable believers, the placing this famous relic iu

1801.
April.

THE CONCORDAT.

Difficulty regarding the deposition
of the bisliops.

295

the national library, was deemed a matter of great
scandal, and he ordered the pious restitution to
precede the concordat.

This present was received in Romagna with a
degi-ee of joy difficult to be understood in France.
The pope received the concordat better than was
expected. This worthy pontiff, more occupied with
the interests of the faith than with his own tempo-
i-al advantages, did not see in that instrument any
thing absolutely inadmissible, and believed that with
some changes in the drawing up, hcisliould be able
to satisfy the first consul, an object which he re-
garded as of the utmost importance, since the re-
establishment of religion in France was, in his
view, the greatest and most essential part of the
affairs of the church.

He appointed the cardinals, Cavandini, Anto-
nelli, and Gerdil, to make a first examination of
the plan thus sent from Paris. The cardinals An-
tonelli and Gerdil passed for the two most learned
personages in the chui-ch. Cardinal Gerdil had
himself become French, because by birth he apper-
fciined to Savoy. The ])ope enjoined it on all three
to hasten this proceeding. The first examination
over, they were to make their i-eport to a congre-
gation of twelve cardinals, chosen from among
those who were at Rome, who best understood the
interests of the Roman church. They were required
to be secret by a promise made on the Evangelists.
The pope, fearing the plots and outcries of the
French emigrants, sought to keep from all party
influence the decision of the sacred college. Upon
his part the effort was made with perfect sincerity.
He had near him a French minister entirely to his
liking, in M. Cacanlt, a man of sensibility as well as
of understanding, partaking in the recollections of
the eighteenth century, to which he belonged by
age and education, and equally in the feelings
wliich Rome inspires in all those who live in the
midst of her ruined grandeur, and her religious
jiomps. On leaving Paris, M. de Cacanlt asked the
first consul for his instructions. He received in
reply this noble remark : " Treat the pope as if he
had two hundred thousand soldiers." M. de Ca-
cault loved Pius VII. and general Bonaparte ; and
by his kind offices disposed them to love one an-
other. " Confide in the first consul," said he to
the pope, " he will arrange your affairs : but do
what he asks of yon, for he has need of what he
asks of you in order to succeed." He said also
to the first consul, " Take a little patience. The
]Ki[ie is the most holy, tlie most attaching of men.
He hxs the wish to satisfy you, only give him time.
It is necessary to habituate his mind, and those of
the cardinals, to the arbitrary proposals which you
send hither. They are at Rome much more con-
fiding than you think. This court must be led by
gentle means. If we ruffle lier, we shall confuse
her head. She will fix herself in the resolution
of martyrdom, the sole resource for one in her
situation." These wise counsels tempered the im-
petuosity of the first consul, and disposed him to
suffer i)atiently the fastididus examination of the
matter by the court of Rome.

Lastly, when the busiiiess wius completed, the
pojte, and cardinal Gonsalvi, had several interviews
with M. de ("acault. They eomnnniieated to him
the Roman scheme. Finding it too distant from
that of Fi-ance, he made reiterated efforts to obtain

modifications. It became necessary a second time
to have reference to the congregation of the twelve
cardinals, which occupied much more time, in such
a manner that without obtaining any important
results, M. de Cacault contributed himself to the
loss of an entire month. The parties at length
came as near as possible to an agreement ; and all
ended in a plan, the differences of which with that
of the first consul were as follow :

The catholic religion was to be declared in
France the "religion of the state:" the consuls
were to profess it in a pnblic manner : there was to
be a new diocesan i-econstructiou and only sixty
sees, according to the first consul's wish. The pope
was to address the former bishops, demanding
their voluntary resignation, on the ground of their
offer of resignation made to Pius VI. in 17flO. It
was probable that a very great number would give
in, and then the sees vacant by death or resigna-
tion would furnish the French government with an
ample list of nominations to fill up. In regard to
those who might refuse, the pope would take con-
venient measures that the administration of the
sees should not remain in their hands.

The excellent pontiff said to the French consul,
in an affecting letter which he ^Tote to him :
" Spare me the public declaration, that I shall
depose the old prelates, who have suffered cruel
persecutions in the cause of the church. First, my
right to do so is doubtful ; and secondly, it grieves
me to treat in this manner ministers of the altar in
misfortune and in exile. What reply would you
give to those who might require yon to sacrifice the
generals by whom you are surrounded, whose de-
votedness has rendered you so often victorious ?
The result which you wish will be the same in the
end, because the greatest part of the sees will be-
come vacant by death or by resignation. You will
fill them up, and as to the small number that may
remain occupied in consequence of refusing to re-
sign, we will not yet nominate bishops to them ;
but we will administer to tl;em by vicars, worthy
of your confidence and our own."

Upon the other points, the Roman scheme was
very nearly conformable to that of France. It
granted the nominations to the first consul, except
the first consul should hai>pen to be a i)rotestant;
it contained the sanction of the sales of church
property ; but, while it persisted in demanding
that the clergy might receive testamentary gifts
of houses and lauds, it granted to the married
clergy the indulgence of the church.

Evidently the most serious difficulty was in the
deposition of the former bishops, who might refuse
to resign. This sacrifice was heavy to the pope,
because it was no other than immolating, at the
feet of the first consul himself, the old French
clergy. Still this immolation was indispensable, in
order that the first consul might in his tin-n sup-
press the constitutional clergy, and out of the dif-
ferent sects of ])riests make only one, composed of
]iersons who were esteemed by all the sects. It was
one of these occasions when upon every such con-
juncture in every age, the jiapaey had never iiesi-
tated to save the church by taking strong resolutions
for that end. But at the moment of resolving, the
benevolent and timorous mind of the pontiff was
a prey to the most grievous perplexities.

Whilst tho time was thus employed at Rome,

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Embarrassing position of
the Roman court.

1801.
May.

wliether in conferences of the cardinals among
themselves, or in conferences of the secretary of
state with M. de Cacault, the first consul at Paris
h:id lost all patience. He began to fear that the
court of Rome might be carrying on an intrigue
either with the emigrants or foreign courts, more
particularly with Austria. To his natural mistrust
was joined the suggestions of the enemies of reli-
gion, who endeavoured to persuade him that he
was deceived, and that he himself, so f;ir-seeing
and able, was the dupe of Italian cunning. He
was but little disposed to believe that this wariness
was greater than his own, but he wished to throw
the lead into that sea which they had told him was
so deep. On the same day that the courier, bearing
the despatches of the holy see, was leaving Rome,
he made at Paris a menacing demonstration.

He sent for the abbe Bernier, M. Spina, and M.
Talleyrand, to Malmaison. There he informed
them that he had no longer any confidence in tiie
dispositions of the court of Rome ; that the desire
of deferring to the emigrants was evidently over-
bearing the desire to be reconciled to France — the
interest of party being above the interest of reli-
gion ; that he did not understand why they con-
sulted Courts that were known to be inimical, and
perhaps even the heads of the emigrants them-
selves, to know whether Rome ought to treat with
the French republic; that the church might receive
through him immense benefits, and was bound to
accept or refuse them at once, and not to retard
the good of the people by useless hesitations, or by
consultations still more out of place; that he would
do without the holy see, since his efforts were not
seconded by her ; that he certainly would not
expose the church to the persecutions of days gone
by, but would deliver the priests over to one
another, confining himself to the chastisement of
the turbulent, and leaving the rest to live as they
were best able ; that he considered himself rela-
tively to the Roman court as free of all engage-
ments towards her, even from those in the treaty
of Tolentino, since, in fact, the treaty was void the
day war was declared between Pius VI. and the
directory. In saying these words, the tone of the
first consul was cold, positive, and repellant. He
gave it to be understood, by the explanations fol-
lowing this declaration, that his confidence in tlie
holy father was always the same, but that he
imputed the delays which so annoyed him to car-
dinal Gonsalvi, and those who were more imme-
diately around the pope's person.

The first consul had obtained his end, but the
unfortunate Spina left Malmaison in a real disorder
of mind, and went with all haste to Paris, in order
to write to liis own court despatches full of the
same fears which agitated himself. Talleyrand, on
the other hand, wrote to M. de Cacault a despatcii,
conformable to the scene at Malmaison. He en-
joined upon him to visit the pope and cardinal
Gonsalvi directly, and declare to them that the
first consul, full of reliance upon the personal
character of the holy father, had not the same
feeling towards his cabinet ; that he was resolved
to break off a negotiation much too insincere, and
that he, M. de Cacault, had orders to quit Rome in
five days, if the plan of the concordat were not im-
mediately adopted, or were not adopted with cer-
tain modifications. M. de Cacault had instructions

to proceed to Florence without delay, and to wait
there until the first consul should make known to
him his futui'e determination.

Tills despatch arrived at Rome about the end of
May. It much mortified M. de Cacault, who was
afraid, by the news of which he was the bearer, he
should disconcert, perhaps push the Roman court
to desperate resolutions. Above all, he feared
to afflict a pontiff for whom he had been unable
to escape feeling a sincere attachment. Still the
orders of the first consul were so absolute, that
he had no means of evading their execution. He
therefore went to the pope and to cardinal Gon-
salvi, and showed them his instructions, wliich
caused to both very great distress of mind. Car-
dinal Gonsalvi, in particular, seeing himself clearly
designated in the despatches of the first consul, as
the author of the interminable delays in the nego-
tiation, was i-eady to die with affright. Yet he was
little to blame; and the superannuated forms of the
chancery, the oldest in the world, were the sole
cause of the slowness of which the first consul
complained, at least since the matter had been
transferred to Rome. M. de Cacault proposed to
the pope and to cardinal Gonsalvi, an idea which
at first troubled and surprised them, but which at
last appeared to them the only way to a safe con-
clusion. " You do not wish," said M. de Cacault,
"to adopt the concordat, with all its expressions as
it is sent from Paris. Very well : let the cardinal
himself go to France, furnished with full powers.
He will become known to the first consul, and will
inspire him with confidence ; he will then obtain
from him the indispensable changes required, and
which you desire. If any difficulty should occur,
the cardinal will be on the spot to obviate it. He
will prevent, by his presence there, the loss of
time, which so much irritates the impatient cha-
racter of the head of our government. You will
thus be extricated from great peril, and the inter-
ests of religion will be saved."

It was a great trouble thus to pai't with a minis-
ter with whom he could not well dispense, and
who alone gave him strength to bear the pain of
the chief government. He was plunged into great
perplexity, feeling the advice of M. de Cacault to
be wise, but the separation proposed a cniel hard-
ship.

That implacable faction, composed not only of
emigrants, but of all those in Europe who detested
the French revolution, that faction, which desired
to support an eternal war with France, which had
seen with sorrow the termination of the war in La
Vende'e, and which saw with no less sorrow the
approaching end of the schism, besieged Rome
with letters, filled it with absurd talk, and covered
its walls with placards. It was said, for example,
in one of these placards, that Pius VI., to preserve
the faith, had lost the holy see, and that Pius VII.,
to preserve the holy see, had lost the faith '. These
invectives, of which he was the object, did not
move this sensible pontiff, who was devoted to his
duties, and his resolution to save the church, in
spite of any party ; but he suffered severely from

Pio VI., per conservar la fede,

Perde la sede ;
Pio VII., per conservar la sede,

Perde la fede.

Cardinal Gonsalvi reluctantly-
quits Uome.

THE CONCORDAT.

He arrives at Paris.

297

I

them. Cardinal Gonsalvi was his confidant and
friend, and to separate from him was a poignant
grief. The cardinal, upon the otlier hand, feared
his own presence in Pai'is, in that revolutionary
gulf, which had swallowed up, as he had been told,
so many victims. He trembled at the idea only,
of finding himself in the presence of the formidable
general, the object at once of so much fear and
admiration, whom M. Spina had depicted to him
as most of all irritated against the Roman secretary
of state. These unfortunate and terror-stricken
priests had formed a thousand unfounded notions
in regard to France and her government ; and
ameliorated, even improved as it was, they trem-
bled only at the thought of remaining for a mo-
ment in its power. The cardinal decided to go,
but his decision was just that wliich any one
feels who is determined to brave his deatli.
" Since they must have a victim," said he, " I
will devote myself, anl be all resignation to the
will of Trovidence." He had even the imprudence
to write letters to Na])les, in conformity with these
notions, letters, which were communicated to the
first consul, who fortunately regarded them rather
as subjects for ridieule than anger.

But the journey of the secretary of state to Paris
was very far from removing all the difficulties and
anticipating all the dangers. The departure of M.
de Cacault, and his retreat to Florence, where the
liead-quarters of the French army were situated,
might be viewed pei-haps as a fatal manifestation
for the two governments of Rome and Naples.
These two governments were, in fact, continually
threatened by the repressed but always ardent pas-
sions of the Italian patriots. That of the pope
was always odious to men who were unwilling to
have priests any longer for their governors, and
the iminber of such persons in the Roman states
was very considerable ; the government of Naples
was detested for the blood which it had spilled.
The departure of M. de Cacault would, it was possible,
be considered as a species of tacit permission to the
evil-minded Italians to make some dangerous de-
monstration. This was feared also by the pope.
It was agreed, therefore, in order to prevent such
an interpretation being put upon his departure, that
M. d(! Cacault and cardinal Gonsalvi should set out
together, and be travelling companions as far as
Florence. M. (h? Cacault, on quitting Rome, left
there hi.s secretary of legation.

The cardinal and M. de Cacault left Rome on
the 6tli of June, or 17th of Prairial, and t(Jok the
road towards Florence. They travelled in the
same carriage, and wherever they stopped the
cardinal dt'signated M. de Cacault to the people,
saying, " Tiiis is the French minister," so anxious
w;is he to avoi<l having it supposed there was any
rupture between the two powers. The agitation in
Italy was lively enough upon the occasion; but it
produced no vexatious consequences at the mo-
ment, because most persons waited for a more dis-
tinct explanation of the dispositions of the French
government before they attempted to make a
change. Cardinal Gonsalvi ' s<-parated from iM. de
' " Frativois (.'acnult, niitiikter plenipotentiary of the

French republic at Home, to the citizen minister for

foreign afliiirs.

" Florence, 19 Prairial, year tx.
" Citizen mimisteb — Here I am at Florence. The car-

Cacault at Florence, and took the road towards
Paris with fear and trembling.

During this interval the first consul, on receiving
h\m\ Rome the amended scheme, and discoveiing
that the differences were more those of form than
essence, became more calm upon the affair. 'J'he
news that cardinal G<ins.ilvi was coming himself to
endeavour to place in harmony the court of Rome
with the French republic, comi)letely satisfied him.
He now saw the certainty of the ai)proacliing
arrangement, and prepared accordingly to give the
best reception to the prime minister of the Roman
court.

Cardinal Gonsalvi arrived in Paris on the 20th
of June, or 1st Messidor. The abbe' Bernier and
M. Spina hastened to receive him, and to assui-e
him of the kindly disposition of the, first consul.

dinal secretary of state left Rome along with me. He called
for me at my house. We have made tlie journey together in
the same carriage. Our servants followed after the same
fashion in a second carriage ; and the expenses were paid by
each of our separate couriers respectively.

" We were looked upon every where with an air of surprise.
The cardinal greatly feared that they would imagine I was
going away in consequence of a rupture. He said to every
body continually, ' This is flie French mijiisler!' This
country, crushed by the miseries of the past war, shudders
at ihe least idea of the movement of troops. The Roman
government has yet greater fear of its own disiontented
subjects ; above all, of those who have been tempted to take
authority and to plunder by the sort of revolution gone by.
We have thus prevented, and, at the same time, dissipated,
mortal fears and rash hopes. I do not think that the tran-
quillity of Rome will be troubled.

"The cardinal spent here the ISIh in great and manifest
friendship with general Murat, who gave him a residence
and a guard of honour. He offered me the same. I have
accepted nothing. I am accommodated at an inn.

" The cardinal set out this morning for Paris. He will
arrive shortly after my despatch, for he will travel with great
rapidity. The poor man feels that If he fails in his object he
will be lost beyond all hope, and all will be lost for Rome.
He is anxious to know his doom. I have made him under-
stand, that a great means of saving every thing is to use all
speed, because the first consul had the most serious and
weighty reasons for concluding quickly and executing
promptly.

" I tried at Rome to get the pope to sign the concordat
alone; and if he had conceded this point to me, I should
not have left Rome ; but this idea did not succeed w itli uie.

" You judge well that the cardinal is not sent to Paris
to sign that which the pope has refused to sign at Rome;
but he is his first minister and favourite; it is the soul
of the pope that is about to enter into a communication
with you. I trust that^nn agreement will result respecting
these modifications. It is a question of phrases, of words
that may be turned in so many ways, that, in the end, a
good one may be seized upon.

" The cardinal bears to the first consul a confidential
letter from the pope, and the most ardent wishes for the
termination of the business. He is a man of a clear
mind. His person has nothing imposing; he is not made fcr
grandeur; his elocution, somewhat verbose, is not attractive;
his character is mild, and his soul will open itself to an over-
flow, provided he is encouraged by mildne.^s to repose con-
fidence.

" I have written to Madrid, to Ihe ambassador Lncien
Ilona])arte, in outer to explain the meaning of the noisy re-
ports of cardinal Gonsalvi's journey to Paris, and of my retire
ment to Florence. In like manner, I have made known to
the ministers of the emperor and of the king of Spain at
Rome, that there is no likelihood of war with the pope.

" I salute you respectfully. Cacault "

298 *^;1lrBo„°a"paIte'"°**"'*' THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, ^^i^ns" "' *''' "'^'""" JuSe!

The costume was settled in which he was to be
presented at Malmaison, and he went thither with
considerable emotion at the idea of seeing general
Bonaparte. The first consul, being aware of this,
would not add to the cardinal's uneasy feeling. He
displayed all that sldll in language with which
nature had endowed him, to impress himself upon
the mind of his interlocutor, to explain to him his
whole intentions frankly, benevolent as they were
towards the cluircli, to make him sensible of the
weighty difficulties attached to the re-establishment
of |)ublic worship in France, and particularly to
make him comprehend that the interest which
he himself had in yielding to French opinion, was
of much more consequence than that which he
would have in administering to the resentments of
priests, of emigrants, or of deposed princes, despised
and abandoned by all Europe. He declared to
cardinal Gonsalvi,"that he was ready to reconsider
certain details in the drawing up which were
obscure to the Roman court, provided in the
main she would accord that which he regarded
as indispensably needful to the creation of an
ecclesiastical establishment entirely new, which
might be liis undertaking, and which might reunite
the wise and respectable priests of all parties.

The cardinal left the first consul greatly en-
couraged by this interview. He seldom exhibited
himself in Paris, supporting a very becoming re-
serve, equally distant from an overdone severity,
and from that Italian freedom, which is so much
the reproach of the Roman priesthood. He ac-
cepted a few invitations from the consuls and
ministers, but constantly refused to show himself
in public places. He went to work with the abbe
Bernier to resolve the last dilHculties of the nego-
tiation. Thei-e were two points which more par-
ticularly formed an obstacle to the agreement of
the two governments : one relative to the title of
the " religion of the state," which was sought to be
obtained for the catholic religion ; the second
regarded the deposition of the former bishops.
Cardinal Gonsalvi wished that to justify the great
concessions thus made in the face of all Christen-
dom, they might be able to allege a solemn de-
claration of the French republic in favour of the
catholic church ; he wished that at least the
catholic i-eligion should be declared the " dominant
religion," and that an abx'ogation of all the laws
opposed to it should be proclaimed or promised ;
and, lastly, that the first consul should personally
profess it. His example would be regarded as
before all others puissant on the mind of the
multitude.

The abb^ Bei'nier, on the other side, replied,
that to proclaim a "religion of the state," or a
" dominant religion," would be to alarm the other
religious persuasiims, and create the apprehension
of a return to an opi)ressive, intolerant, plundering
religion, and so on ; tliat it was imi)0ssible to go
beyond the declaration of the one plain fact, that
the majority of the French people were catholics.
He added, that to abrogate anterior laws, it was
necessary to have recourse to the agreement of the
legislative power, and that this would throw the
French cabinet into an inextricable embarrassment;
that the government, as a government or ruling
body, could not make a profession of any particular
faith ; that the consuls might individually profess

such, but that this circumstance could not appear in
a treaty, as it was an individual, and, in some
respects, a private act. That as to the personal con-
duct of the first consul, the abbe' Bernier said in an
under tone, that he would attend at a " Te Deum"
or a mass ; but that as to the other practices of
religion, it was not necessary to require them
of him, and that there were things of which the
cardinal ought to abandon the exaction, because
they would produce an effect more vexatious than
salutary. At last a preamble was agreed upon,
which nearly met the views of the two legations, in
union with the first article.
It ran thus :

" Tlie government recognizing that the catholic re-
ligion is the religion of the great majority of the

French "

" The pofe, on his part, recognizing that this religion
had derived and still expected at this moment th^ greatest
good from the re-establishment of th£ catholic worship
in France, and from the particular profession which

the consuls of the republic made of it "

From this double motive, the two authorities, for
the good of religion and the maintenance of internal
tranquillity, laid it down: —

Article 1st. — That the catholic religion should be
exercised in France, and thai its worship should be
public, in conformity to the regulations of the police,
judged necessary for the maintenance of tranquil-

'llty "

Article 2nd. — That there should be a new arrange-
ment of dioceses "

This preamble sufficiently met the intentions of all
parties, because it proclaimed loudly the re-esta-
blishment of worship; rendered the profession of it
as public in France as it was formerly; made the
profession of this faith by the consuls an individual
act, personal to the three consuls in its exercise,
and placed the allegation in the mouth of the pope
and not in that of the chief of the republic. These
first difficulties then appeared to be happily ovei'-
come. Next came the contested points relative to
the deposing of the former bishops. In the main
these were agreed to by both parties; but cardinal
Gonsalvi demanded that the pope should be spared
the pain of pronouncing the depositions by a public
act of the old bishops. He jjromised that those
who refused to give in their resignation should no
longer be considered titularies, and that the pope
would consent to give them successors ; but he did
not wish that this should be formally stated in the
concordat. The first consul was inflexible upon
this point, and, without giving the precise terms,
required that it should be positively stated, that
the pope would address himself to the former
bishops, demanding from them the resignation of
their sees, which he expected with full confidence
from their love of religion, and that if they refused
the sees, —

" Should be provided with new titularies for their
government under the new circumscription."
These were the true expressions of the treaty.
The other conditions did not become a matter of
contest. The first consul was to name, and the
pope to institute the new bishops. Still cardinal
Gonsalvi x-equired and the first consul conceded
one reservation, by which it was stated that m case
of a protestant first consul, a new convention should
be had in order to regulate the mode of nomination.

ISOI.
June.

Opposition in France to the
concordat.

THE CONCORDAT. Character of the abbe Gregoire.

299

It was stipulated that the bishops should nominate
the cures, and that they should be chosen from
among such subjects as were approved of by the
government. The question of the oath was resolved
by the simple adoption of that formerly taken by
the bishops to the kings of France. The holy see
claimed with justice, and it was accorded without
difficulty, the right of establishing seminaries for
the supply of the clergy, but without the obligation
of any state endowment. The engagement that
the holdei*s of national property should not be
troubled by the clergy was formed, and the owner-
ship of acquired property was distinctly acknow-
ledged. It was said that the government would
take measures that the clergy should receive
suitable incomes, and that the old religious edifices,
and all the parsonages not alienated, should be re-
stored to them. It was agreed that the permission
to make pious donations should be granted to the
faithful, but that the state should regulate the form
of them. Upon this form it was secretly agreed
that the pajTuent should be out of the public funds,
since the first consul would on no account hear of
the re-establishment of property in mortmain.
This arrangement was to be found in the ulterior
regulations of the police for regulating the forms of
worship, which the government had the sole power
to make.

In regard to the married priests, the cardinal
gave his word that a brief indulgence should be
immediately published; but he requested that an
act of religious charity emanating from the clemency
of the holy father, should pursue its free and spon-
taneous character, and not pass as a condition
imposed upon the holy see, and this was conceded
accordingly.

Both parties had now finally agreed upon every
thing, and on reasonable bases, guaranteeing at the
same time the independence of blie French church,
and a perfect union with the holy see. Never had
a more liberal convention, and at the same time
one more orthodox, been made with Rome; but it
must be acknowledged, that one weighty resolution
had been forced upon the pope, perfectly justifiable
under the circumstances, that of deposing the
former titularies who might refuse to resign. It
was necessary, therefore, to be satisfied, and to
conclude.

Agitation was at work all this time about the
first consul in order to defeat his definitive consent.
Men, who had access to him in the customary man-
ner, and who enjoyed the privilege of giving Lim
their advice, combated his determination. The
constitutional part of the clergy made a good deal
of strife for fear of being sacrificed to the unsworn
clergy. It had obtained the right of assembling and
of forming a sort of national council in Paris. The
first consul had granted these powers for the purpose
of stimulating the zeal of the lioly see, and making
it feel the danger of delay. In this assembly many
senseless things on the customs of the primitive
church were debated, to which the authors of the
civil constitution wished to bring back the French
church. They asserted that the episcopal functions
ought to bo conferred by election, and that if this
was not exactly possible, it was at Iciwt desirable
that the first consul should choose subjects from a
list presented by the faithful in each diocese; that
the nomination of the bishojis should be confirmed

by the metropolitans, in other words by the arch-
bishops, and that of these last only by the pope;
but that the papal institution should not be granted
to tlie holy see arbitrarily ; but that after a certain
determined time it should be compelled to ratify
them. This was equivalent to a complete extinction
of the rights of Rome. Every thing which was
advanced in this sort of council, was not so destitute
as this of practical reason. Some sound ideas
were presented there upon the circumscription of
dioceses, and the emission of bulls, and on the ne-
cessity of not allowing any publication emanating
from the pontifical authority without the exjjress
permission of the civil power. They had an in-
tention of uniting all these diff'erent observations
in the form of votes, which should be presented
to the first consul for the purpose of explaining
their resolutions. That which they were fond of
repeating very frequently in this assembly was,
that during the reign of terror the constitutional
clergy had rendei'cd great services to the proscribed
faith, that it had never fled nor abandoned the
churches, and that it was not just to sacrifice those
to them who, during the persecution, had assumed
the pretext of orthodoxy to evade the dangers of
the priesthood. All this was correct, more particu-
larly as respected the ordinary priests, of which the
larger part really possessed the virtues attributed
to them. But the constitutional bishops, some of
whom merited respect, were for the most part men
of disputation, true sectarists, that ambition in
some, and pride of theological arrogance in others,
had completely enchained, and they were far in-
ferior in worth to the simple and unostentatious
men who were their inferiors. The individual at
their head, who showed himself the most restless,
the abbe Gregoire, was the leader of a sect. His
morals were pure, but he was of a narrow spirit,
had excessive vanity, and his political conduct was
marked by a painful recollection. Without being
exposed to the impulses or the terrors which gained
from the convention a vote of death against Louis
XVI., the abbe' Gregoire, then absent, and free
to hold his tongue, addressed a letter to the assem-
bly which bore sentiments very little conformable
to religion or morality. He was one of those to
whom a return to sound ideas was the least adapted,
and who endeavoured, though in vain, to combat
the tendency imprinted upon every thing by the
consular government. He had taken care to form
attachments in the family of Bonaparte, and thus
to lay before the head of that family a multitude of
objections against the resolution in the course of
preparation. The first consul allowed the constitu-
tionalists to talk and act, and was ready to arrest
their agitation if it proceeded to a scandal; but he
was not sorry to make their presence disagreeable
to the holy sec, and apply that as a stimulant to its
slowness. Although lie had little taste for this part
of the clergy, because they were in general theo-
logical wranglers, he wished to uphold their rights,
and to impose upon the pope as bishops, those who
were known by their pure manners and humility
of s|)irit. More than this was not asked by the
greater number, for they were far from repugnant
to a re-union with the holy sec. They rather
desired it as the most sure and honourable means
for them to escape from a life of agitation, and a
state of too little consideration with their flocks.

Government discussion
300 upon the concordat.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

That important treaty-
signed.

1801.
July.

The greater number did not, in fact, resist an ar-
rangement with Rome but through the fear of being
sacrificed in a body to the former bisliops.

There was a yet more formidable opposition
near the first consul, produced in the ministry
itself. Talleyrand, wounded by the spirit of the
Roman court, which had shown itself less easy and
less indulgent than he had at first believed it, had
become cold and ill-disposed towards it. He evi-
dently acted counter to the negotiation, after be-
ginning with right good will, when he regarded it
as only another peace to be concluded. He had set
out to take the waters, as has been already mentioned,
leaving the first consul a plan completely laid down
— a scheme of an arbitrary form, beautiful without
utility, — which the court of Rome would not agree
to on any consideration. M. d'Hauterive was
charged to continue to fill Talleyrand's part, and
lialf engaged in holy orders, from which he had
freed himself at the time of the revolution, he was
but little favourable to the wishes of the holy see.
He opposed a thousand difficulties to the drawing
up of the plan agreed upon between the abbe
Bernier and cardinal Gonsalvi. In his 0])inion,
there should be announced in it, in a manner far
more expi'ess and plain, the destitution of the old
bishops; there ought to be mentioned in it that
pious bequests could only be made through the
funds, and there should have been a formal article
to specify there-instatement of the married priests,
with similar matters. M. d'Hauterive thus re-
animated the very difficulties in the drawing up,
before which the negotiation had nearly failed.
Even on the day of the signing, he again sent, on
these different points, a memorial to the first
consul.

These discussions being all terminated, there
was an assemblage of the consuls and the ministers,
in which the question was definitively argued and
resolved upon. There the objections already
known were repeated ; great weight was laid upon
disturbing the French mind; upon adding to the
budget the new charges ; upon putting, they said,
the national property in peril ; upon awakening
amongst the old clergy to be established in their
functions more hopes than any one would be will-
ing to satisfy. A scheme of simple toleration was
spoken of, which should only consist in restoring
their edifices to the faithful, as well to the unsworn
as to the sworn clergy, and for the government to
remain a peaceable spectator of their quarrels,
except in any case in which they might materially
disturb the public peace.

The consul Cambaceres, a very strong advocate
for the concordat, expressed himself upon the sub-
ject with much warmth, and triumphantly met
every objection. He argued that the danger of
disturbing the French mind was only true in re-
gard to some of the livelier spirits among the
opposition; but that the masses would welcome
most willingly the re-establishment of public wor-
ship, and already felt a moral want of it ; that the
consideration of the expense was a very con-
temptible matter in such a case; that the national
property was, on the contrary, to be guaranteed
more sacredly than ever, by the sanction of the
sales obtained of the holy see. Cambaceres here
was interrupted by the first consul, who, always
inflexible wheu the national property became a ques-

tion, declared that he made the concordat precisely
for the interest of the holders of that property ; that
he would crush, with all his weight, those priests
who were foolish or ill-disposed enough to abuse the
great act about to be carried into effect. The
consul Cambaceres, in continuation, observed how
ridiculous it was, and how difficult of execution,
was a scheme of indifference towards all religious
parties, that would dispute among each other for
the confidence of the faithful, the edifices of worship,
and the voluntary gifts of public piety; who would
give the government all the fatigue of active in-
terference and not one of its advantages, and would
end, perhaps, in the re-union of all the sects in one
single hostile church, independent of the state, and
dependent upon foreign authority.

The consul Lebrun spoke in much the same
language ; and, lastly, the first consul gave his
opinion in a few words, but in a lucid, precise, and
peremptory manner. He acknowledged the diffi-
culties, even the perils of the undertaking ; but
the depth of his views went beyond some few
momentary difficulties, and he was resolved. He
showed himself so by his words. Thenceforwai-d
there was no more resistance, no more disap-
provals, except occasional grumblings at his re-
solution out of his presence. Submi.'ssion followed,
and the order was issued to sign the concordat,
that the abbe Bernier and cardinal Gonsalvi had
definitively drawn up.

According to his custom to reserve for his elder
brother the conclusion of the more important acts,
the first consul designated as plenipotentiaries,
Joseph Bonaparte, Cretet, the councillor of state,
and lastly, the abbe' Bernier, to whom the honour
was so justly due, for the pains he had bestowed,
and the ability he had displayed, during this long
and memorable negotiation. The pope's plenipo-
tentiaries were the cardinal Gonsalvi, M. Spina,
and the father Caselli, a learned Italian, who had
accompanied the Roman legation with the view of
lending aid by his theological knowledge. They
met together out of form at the house of Joseph
Bonaparte; the documents were read over, some
petty changes were made in the details, always
reserved to the last moment, and on the I5th of
July, 1801, or the 2Cth of Messidor, this great act
was signed, the most important that the court of
Rome had ever concluded with that of France, or
perhaps with any Christian power, because it ter-
minated one of the most frightful tempests that
the catholic religion had ever encountered. For
France it put an end to a deplorable schism, and
brought about this end by placing church and
state in a suitable position of union and indepen-
dence.

Much remained to be done after the signature
of the treaty, which has since borne the title of
the Concordat. It was necessary to demand its
ratification at Rome, then to obtain the bulls which
nmst accompany the publication, as well as the
briefs addressed to all the former bishops, calling
for their resignation ; it was needful, in the next
place, to trace out the new circumscription of the
dioceses ; to choose sixty new prelates, and in
every thing to proceed in full accordance with
Rome. It was still an uninterrupted negotiation,
down to the day when they were at hist able to
chant a Te Deum in Notre Dame, to celebrate the

1801.
Aug.

Its cold reception by the council
of state.

THE CONCORDAT.

Cardinal Gonsalvi returns to Rome.
Satisl'actiun of the pope.

301

re-establishment of the catholic worship. The
first consul, eager to arrive at the result in every
thing, wished that all this should be promptly
pcrieeted, to celebrate at the same time the peace
concluded with the European powers, and the
peace with the church. The accomplishment of
such a wish was difficult. The greatest haste
was made in expediting the details, in order to
retard as little as possible the great act of the re-
storation of public worship.

The first consul did not at first make public the
treaty concluded with the pope; it was previously
necessary to obtain the i-atifications : but he com-
municated it to the council of state, in the sitting
of the 6th of August, or 18th Thermidor. He did
not communicate the act in its tenor, but contented
himself with giving a substantial analysis, and ac-
companied this analysis with an enumeration of
the motives which had decided the government in
its conclusion. Those who heard him on that day
were strucU with the precision, vigour, and lofti-
ness of the language he used. It was the eloquence
of a magistrate, the chief of an empire. _ Still, if
they were struck at his sin)])le, nervous, elo-
quence, which Cicero styled in Ctesar rim Cwsaris,
they were little reconciled to the proceeding of the
first consul '. They remained dumb and sullen, as
if they iiad seen perishing with the schism one of
the works of the revolution the most to be re-
gretted. The act was not then submitted to the
deliberations of the cotmcil; it neither discussed
nor voted upon it. Nothing broke the silent cold-
ness of the scene. They were dumb ; they sepa-
rated without siiying a word, without expressing
a single suffrage. But the first consul had shown
what was his will, from thenceforth irrevocable,
and that was enough for a great number of ()er-
sons. It wa-s, at least, the assumed silence of those
who would not displease him, and of those also
who, respecting his genius, and valuing the im-
mensity of the good that he had conferred upon
France, were decided to pass over even his errors.

The first consul, thinking that he had now sti-
mulated the court of Rome sufficiently, deemed it
neces-sary to put an end to the pretended council

' Letter from Monsignor Spina to cardinal Gonsalvi,
lecretary of state :

" Paris, 8th August.

" Thursday last, the first consul being in llie council of
state, and informed that in Paris the conveiiiion which he
had concluiled wiih his holiness was the general .suliject of
conversation; that every one, although ignorant of its pre-
cise tenor, spnkc of it and (ommented upon it, each after his
own fancy, tnerefore look the opportunity of cdinmunicating
to the council i'self the whole details. ] know for certain
that he spoke for an iiour and a half, showing the necessity
and advaniage of it, and I have been told that he spoke most
admirably. ,As he did not ask for the opinion of the council,
all the memliers of the council remained silent, i have not
yet been able to learn wliat impression was produced upon
the minds of the councillors in general. The good were dc-
linhicd at it, but their number is very limited. I sliall en-
deavour to find out what impression was made upon those
who were adverse to it. It appears that the first oonsul is
desirous of preparing' the mindi of those who arc hosille to
the measure, with the view of clisarming their opponition ;
but he will not succeed, unless he adopts some more ener-
getic proceedings against the constitullonalists, nor while he
leaves the catholic worship exposed to the lash of the minister
of police."

of the ecclesiastical clergy. In consequence, he
commanded them to separate, and they obeyed;
since not one among them would have dared to
t)ftend an authority that l)ad sixty bishoprics to
be distributed, elevated, this time, by pontifical
institution itself. In separating, they presented to
the first consul an act of a suitable form, which
embodied their views relative to the new religious
establishment. It contained the propositions which
have been already detailed.

Cardinal Gonsalvi had left Paris to return to
Rcmic, and to bring back M. de Cacault to the
l)resence of the holy see. The pope was longing
for this double return, because Lower Italy was
dangerously agitated. The Italian patriots of
Naples and the Roman state awaited with im-
patience the opportunity of a new disturbance,
while the old Ruffo |)arty, the cut-throats of the
queen of Naples, desired nothing better than some
pretext for falling upon the French. These men,
so different in their intentions, were ready to unite
their efforts to I'un every thing into confusion.
The news of the accordance between the French
and Roman goveriimeiits, the cei'tainty of the in-
tervention of general Murat, placed in the neigh-
bourhood, at the head of an army, restrained the
bad spirits, and prevented these sinister designs.
The pope was overjoyed at seeing cardinal Gonsalvi
and the French minister return to Rome. He
immediately convoked a congregation of cardinals,
in order to submit to them the new work ; and
he caused the bulls, the brief's, in fact, all the
acts necessary in consequence of the concordat,
to be prepared. The worthy pontiff was pleased,
but agitiited. He felt the certainty of having
done well, and of immolating nothing but the in-
terests of a faction to the general good of the
church. But the censures of the old throne and
altar party broke forth at Rome with great vio-
lence, and although the holy father had put away
from his presence all the evil-disposed, he heard
their bitter language, and was disturbed by it.
Cardinal Maury, judging, with his usual superiority
of acuteness, that the cause of the emigrants was
lost, and already seeing, perhaps with a secret
satisfaction, the moment when all in a state of
exile, far from fheir country, and sighing to return,
would be again restored, kept himself at a dis-
tance, in his bishopric of Montefiascone, solely
occupying himself in the care of a library, which
formed the charm of his solitude. The pope, in
order not to give umbrage to the first consul, had,
besides, made the cardinal understand, that his
absolute retreat at Montefiascone was, at that mo-
ment, a convenience to the pontifical government.

The pope then was satisfied, but full of emotion ',

' Letter of M. de Cacault, minister plenipotentiary of the

French republic at Rome, to the minister for foreign alfairs.

" Rome, 8th August, 1801, or 20 Thermidor, year ix.

" Citizen Minister, — To inform you of the state of the
afl^air of the pope's ratilication, expected at Paris, I can do
no better than transmit you an original letter which 1 have
just received from cardinal Gonsalvi.

" 'J'hc cardinal having been obliged to keep his bed, his
holiness came to work to-day nt the house of his secretary
of state.

" The sacred college is to concur in the ratification; all
the doctors of the first order are employed and in mt rcnient.
The holy father is in agiiation— the agitation anc? the de-

302 ^YelTe^^/aJer? ^'^^°'°'^'^ THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. His reception at Paris.

legate a latere.

and pressed forward the completion of the business
so fortunately begun. The congregation of cardi-
nals was entirely in favour of the concordat, since
it had been revised, and accordingly pronounced
itself in an affirmative manner. The pope, thinking
that he nuist henceforward throw himself into the
arms of the first consul, to accomplish with eclat
an undertaking which had so noble an end as the
re-establishment of the catholic worship in France,
desired that the ceremony of the ratification should
be surrounded with splendour and great solemnity.
In consequence he gave the ratifications in a
grand consistory, and in order to add still more to
the brilliancy of this pontifical ceremony, he named
three cardinals. He received M. de Cacault in
full pomp, and displayed, in spite of the narrow-
ness of his finances, all the luxury that befitted the
occasion. Having to make choice of a legate to
send into France, he designated the most eminent
diplomatist in the court of Rome, the cardinal
Caprara, a personage distinguished by his birth,
being of the illustrious family of the Montecuculi,
remarkable by his intelligence, his experience, and
his moderation. Formerly ambassador to Joseph
II., he had witnessed the troubles of the church in
the last century, and had often by his ability and
his readiness of mind saved the holy see from
inconvenience. The first consul had himself ex-
pressed his desire of having near his person this
prince of the church. The pope hastened to satisfy
this wish, and made, on his own part, great efforts
to overcome the resistance of the cardinal, who
was old, ill, and little disposed to recommence the
laborious career of his early youth. At length his
repugnance was vanquished by the earnest solici-
tations of the holy father, and the overwhelming
interest of the church. The pope wished to confer
upon cardinal Caprara the highest diplomatic dig-
nity of the Roman court, that of legate a latere.
This legate has powers of the most extended cha-
racter ; the cross is alwaj's borne before him ; lie
has power to do every thing able to be done afar
from the pope. Pius VII., upon this occasion,
renewed the ancient ceremonies, in which was
remitted to the repi-esentative of the holy father,
the venerated sign of his mission. A grand con-
sistory was convoked anew ; and in presence of
all the cardinals and of all the foreign ministers,

sire of a young spouse, ■who dares not be merry on the im-
portant marriage-day. Never has the pontifical court been
seen more collected, more seriously and more secretly occu-
pied with the novelty which is on the point of breaking
forth, while France, for which all this is done, for whom
they labour, neither intrigues, promises, gives, nor shines
here in the way of ancient usage. The first consul will
soon enjoy the accomplishment of his views in regard to an
accordance with the holy see, and that will take place in a
novel, simple, and truly respectable mode.

" This will be the work of a hero and a saint, for the pope
is a man of real piety.

" He has said to me more than once, ' Depend upon it,
that if France, in place of being a dominant power, were low
and fallen in the regard of its enemies, I should not do less
for her than I am granting to-day.'

" I do not think it can have ever happened, that so great a
result, on which the tranquillity of France and the welfare
of Europe will in future mainly depend, could have been
thus attained without violence and without corruption.

" 1 have the honour respectfully to salute you.

" Cacault."

the cardinal Caprara received the sacred cross,
which he was bound to have carried before him in
that republican France which had for so long a
time been a stranger to the pomps of Catholicism.

The first consul, sensible of the cordial conduct
of the pope, testified towards him in return the
kindest consideration. He enjoined it upon Murat
to spare the Roman States from the passage of
troops ; he made the Cisalpine republic evacuate
the little duchy of Urbino, which it had seized
upon under the pretext of some dispute respecting
boundaries. He announced the approaching eva-
cuation of Ancona, and pending that evacuation
remitted money there to pay the garrison, in order
to relieve the papal treasury from the expense.
The Neapolitans having persisted in keeping pos-
session of two of the territories bordering upon
their frontier belonging to the holy see, namely,
Benevento and Ponte Corvo, were ordered to eva-
cuate them. The first consul also caused one of
the fine hotels of Paris to be prepared and fur-
nished with every luxury for the purpose of lodg-
ing, at the expense of the French treasury, the
cardinal Caprara.

The ratifications had been exchanged ; the bulls
approved ; the briefs were in course of being expe-
dited throughout all Christendom, to request the
resignations of the former titularies. Cardinal Ca-
prara hastened his journey to Paris, notwithstand-
ing his advanced years. Orders were every where
given to the authorities to receive him in a manner
fully consonant with his exalted dignity. They had
done so with solicitude ; the population of the pro-
vinces seconding their zeal, had given to the repre-
sentative of the holy sec, such marks of respect as
proved the influence of the old religi(jn over the
country population. There was some fear about
putting to the same proof the jeering people of
Paris ; every thing was arranged so that the car-
dinal should enter the capital at night. He was
received with every possible attention, and lodged
in the hotel prepared for him. He was also given
to undei'stand, in the most delicate manner in
which it could be stated, that a part of the ex-
penses of his mission would be borne by the French
government ; and that this was a dii)loinatic cus-
tom it was intended to establish in favour of the
holy see. The first consul sent to the residence of
the legate two cari-iages drawn by his finest horses.
Cardinal Caprara was received as a foreign am-
bassador ; not yet as a representative of the
church. This last reception was adjourned until
the time of the definitive re-establishment of the
worship. To initiate the new bishops, chant the
2e Deiim, and tender to the cardinal legate the
oath which was necessary to the fii*st consul, was
reserved for the same time.

The indispensable formalities which it was need-
ful should jirecede the concordat, had taken much
more time than it was thought they would occupy
at the commencement, and had histed up to the
period when the preliminaries of peace were signed
in London. The first consul wished to be able to
establish coineidently the/tte of the 18th Brumaire
and the general peace with the great religious
solemnization of the i-estoration of worship. But
it was necessary that the resignations of the former
titularies should be received at Rome, before the
approval there of the new diocesan circumscription

The measure carried into effect. THE CONCORDAT.

Resignation of the bishops.

303

conld take place, together with the choice of the
new bishops. The resignations demanded by the
pope of the ancient French clergy, were at tliat
moment the object of general attention. There
was a desire in all quarters to see how this great
act of the pope and the first consul would bo
received, holding each other by the hand, and thus
demanding of the old clergy, of the friends or
enemies of the revolution, scattered over Rassi:',
Germany, England, and Spain, the sacrifice of their
position, their party affections, their pride of doc-
trine itself, that the unity of the church should
triumph, and peace be established in the interior of
France, llow many of them would be found so
far influenced by this double motive as to immolate
so many personal feelings and sentiments at once.
The result proved the wisilom of the great act
which the pope and the first consul at that moment
executed ; it proved the dominion which the love of
good can exercise over souls so nobly incited by a
saintly pontiff and a hero.

The briefs addressed to the orthodox bishops and
to the constitutionalist bisliojjs were not alike. The
briefs addressed to the orthodox bishops who had
refused to acknowledge the civil constitution of the
clergy, considered them as the legitimate titularies
of their sees, demanded from them that they
should resign in the name and for the interests
of the church, in virtue of an offer made formerly
to Pius VI., and, in case of refusal, declared
them deposed. The language was affectionate,
melancholy, but full of authority. The brief ad-
dressed to the constitutional bishops was equally
paternal, and breathed the mildest indulgence of
spirit, but made no mention of resignation, seeing
that the church had never recognized the consti-
tutional as legitimate bishops. It requested them
to abjure their former errors, to enter into the
bosom of the church, and to terminate a schism,
which was at the same time a scandal and a
calamity. This was a manner of inducing their
resignation without demanding it, since to demand
it would have been a recognition of their title by
the holy sec, which it was unable to grant.

Equal justice should be rendered to all those
who facilitated this great act of unity. The con-
stitutional bishops, of whom some had an inclination
to resist, but of whom the majority, better advised,
sincerely desired to second the wishes of the first
consul, resigned in a body. The brief though
lii(jlily cordial was annoying to them, because it
oiiiy spoke of their errors, and not of their resigna-
tions. They devised a form of compliance with
the wUhes of the pope, which, without involving
any retractation of the past, still implied their
submission and resignation. They declared that
they adhered to the new concordat, and as a con-
sequence deprived themselves of their episcopal
dignity. Tliey were in number fifty ; and all .sub-
milted except bishop Saurine, a man of an ardent
imagination, and a zeal stronger than it was en-
lightened; but at the same time a jiriest of ])ure
morals, whom the first consul afterwards called to
the e])i8copal dignity after he had been made
accoptabi(! to the pope.

This part of the task wax not the more difficult.
It was besides that which it was th(! easiest to
realize immediately, because the constitutionalists
were nearly all in I'aris under the arm of the first

consul, and the influence of the friends who had
constituted themselves their defenders and guides.

The unsworn bishops were scattered through all
Europe, but still a certain immber of them were at
this time in France. The great majority gave
a noble example of piety and evangelical submis-
sion. Seven were resident in Paris, and eight in
the provinces, in all fifteen. Not one hesitated
about Iiis answer to the pope, and to the new head
of the state. They replied in language worthy of
the best times of the church. The old bishop
of Belloy, a venei-able prelate, who had replaced
M. de Bclsuiice at Marseilles, and who was the
model of the ancient clergy, hastened to give his
brethren the signal of abrogation. " Full," said
he, •' of veneration for, and obedience to the decrees
of his holiness, and wishing always to be of one
heart and one spirit with him, I do not hesitate to
deposit in the hands of the holy father my resigna-
tion of the bishopric of Marseilles. Itsuftices that he
esteems it necessary for the preservation of religion
in France that I should give in my resignation."

One of the most learned bishops among the
French clergy, the historian of Bossiiet and Fene-
lon, the bishop of Alais, wrote : " Hai)])y to have
the will to concur by my resignation, as much as is
in my power, with the views of wisdom, peace, and
conciliation, which his holiness has adopted, I pray
God to bless his pious intentions, and to spare him
the contradictions which would afflict his paternal
heart."

The bishop of Acqs wrote to the holy father :
" I have not a moment hesitated to immolate
myself, as soon as I was aware that this painful
sacrifice was necessary to the peace of the country
and the triumph of religion. 0 may she arise
glorious from her ruins ! May she be elevated
I will not say alone upon the wrecks of my dearest
interests, of all my temporal advantages, but on
my ashes themselves, if I could serve as her ex-
piatory victim ! May my fellow-citizens return to
concoi'd, to the faith, and to holy morals. Never sb.all
I form other desires during my life, and my death
will be too happy if I see them accomjjlished."

It must be confessed that it is a beautiful insti-
tution which commands such sacrifices and lan-
guage. The more ancient names of the old clergy
of France, the Rohans, Latours du Pin, Castellanes,
I'olignacs, Clermonts Tonnerre, Latours d'Au-
vergne, were found in the list of the bishops who
had resigned. There was a general enthusiasm
which recalled to recollection the generous sacri-
fices of the old French nobility on the night of the
4th of August. It was this wish to facilitate by a
great act of abrogation the execution of the con-
cordat, that M. de Cacault had called the labour of
a hero and a saint.

The bishops that had taken refuge in Germany,
Italy, and Sj>ain, for the most ])art followed their
examples. There remained the eighteen bishops
\vho had retired into England. These last were
waited for to see whether they would escape the
influence of the enemies that surrounded them.
The British government, at that time actuated by
no unfriendly spirit towards France, wished to
have nothing to do with their determination. But
the princes of the house of Bourbon, the chiefs of
the Chouans, the instigators of the civil war, the

General submission of the
«»"* clergy.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Bonaparte's anger at a
temporary delay.

Nov.

his associates were in London, living on the means
given to emigrants. They surrounded the eighteen
prelates, determined to prevent them from giving
in their adhesion, and thus completing the union of
the French clergy around the pope and Bonaparte.
Long deliberations took place. Among the num-
ber of the refractory was numbered the archbishop
of Narbonne, to whom they attributed very tempo-
ral interests, because with his see he would be
deprived of immense revenues ; also the bishop of
St. Pol de Leon, who had carved out a post for
himself, reported to be lucrative, that of distributor
of the British subsidies among the exiled priest-
hood. Tliese acted upon the bishops, and giiined
over thirteen of them ; but they encountered a
noble resistance from the other five, at the head of
whom were two of the most illustrious and imposing
members of the old clergy. M. de Cice', archbishop
of Boi'deaux, the old keeper of the seals under
Louis XVI., a ])erson who possessed a superior
political mind ; M. de Boisgelin, a learned bishop,
and hird of great possessions, who had formerly
displayed the attitude of a worthy priest, faithful to
his religion, though by no means an enemy to the
enlightenment of the age in which he lived. These
sent in their adhesion with their three colleagues,
D'Osmond, De Noe, and Du Plessis d'Argentre.

Nearly all the old clergy had submitted. The
work of the pope was accomplished with less bitter-
ness of hea"t than he had at first feared. All
these resignations successively .inserted in the
Moniteur, by the side of the treaties signed with
the Euri>pean courts, with Russia, England, Ba-
varia, and Portugsil, produced a great effect, of
which contcmj)oraries ret;iin a strong recollection.
If any thing made the influence of the new govern-
ment felt, it was this respectful, earnest submission
of the two inimical churches ; the one devoted to
the revolution, but corrupted by the demon of dis-
putation; the other piond, haughty in its orthodoxy,
and in the greatness of its names, infected with the
spirit of emigration, animated with sincere loyalty,
and besides thinking that alone would suffice to
render them victorious. This triumph was one of
the finest, most deserved, and most universally felt.

The I8ih of Brumaire, fixed upon for the grand
festival of the general peace, was approaching.
The first consul was seized with one of those
personal feelings, which in man are too frequently
mingled with tlie noblest resolutions. He wished
to enjoy his labour, and to be able to celebrate the
re-establishment of religious peace on the 18th of
Brumaire. To do this, there were two things
needful : first, that the bull relative to the dio-
cesan aiTangements should be sent from Rome ;
and secondly, that cardinal Caprara should have
the faculty of installing the new bishops. If these
things had been done, the sixty bishops might
have been nominated and consecrated, and a so-
lemn Te Deum been sung in the church of Notre
Dame, in their presence. At Rome they had
waited, most unfortunately, for the rejijy of the
five French bishops, retired into the north of Ger-
many ; and as to the faculty of canonical investi-
ture, it had not been imparted to cardinal Caprara,
because such a power had never been deputed, not
even to a legate a latere. It was now the 1st of
November, or 10th Brumaire, and there remained
but a few days. The first consul sent for cardinal

Caprara, and spoke to him in the bitterest manner,
and with a warmth neither becoming nor merited,
of the little iis-sistance he obtained of the pontifical
government towards the accomplishment of liis
objects, and thus produced in the excellent cardinal
a deep emotion '. But he very quickly perceived

' Letter from cardinal Caprara to cardinal Gonsalvi : —
" Paris, 22nd November, 1801.

" Returning from Malmaison about eleven o'clock at
night, I sit down to detail to you the result of an interview
I have had with the first consul. He did not utter a word
upon the five articles which 1 attached to my letter of the 1st
ol November; but with the proper vivacity attached to his
cliaracter, he broke out into the bitterest complaints against
all Romans, saying ttiat they wished to lead him in a dance,
tliat they were trying to ensnare him by their eternal ,pro-
crasiination in expediting the bull of circumscription, and
tliat they added lo the delay by not sending the pope's letters
to the bisliops in proper time, and further, by not sending
them by couriers, as every government would do that felt an
interest in a negotiation of this kind ; that they were endea-
vouring to entrap liim, for they tried to make a manikin of
him, to frighten the pope from agreeiiig to the nominations
which he might make of the constitutional bishops ; and
continuing to pour I'orlh his words like a torrent, he repeated
every thing exactly that the councillor Portalis told me yes-
terday night in presence of Monsignor Spina.

" After an assault so vehement and in language full of
invective, I took upon myself the part of justifying the Ro-
mans whom he acc'.U'?d; when he said, interrupting me, ' 1
will listen to no justifiiation. I make but one exception,
and that is the pope, for whom I feel respect and affection.'
As it appeared to me that he w;is now somewhat less trans-
ported than at tlie beginning of the conversation, I tried to
make him sensible that, entertaining an affection for his
holiness, he ought to give him some proof of it, by sparing
him the pain of nominating the constitutional bishops.
Upon my making this suggestion, he put on again his former
an^ry tone, and answered me, ' The constitutional bishops
shall be appointed by me, and their number shall be fifteen.
I have yielded all in my power ; I will not deviate one par-
ticle from the determination to which I have come.'

" As to the chiefs of the sectarians, counsellor Portalis,
who was present, assured me tiiat I might be at ease on that
head, as well as upon the matter of the subordinates. On the
subject of the submission being started, the first consul ex-
claimed, ' It is arrogance to demand such a thing, and it
would be cowardly to yield to it.' Then without waiting for
a reply, he entered into a wide space of discursive argument
upon canonical institutions ; and throwing aside entirely his
military character, he discoursed for a long while in a mode
well worthy of a canon. I will not assert that he tried to
convince me, but only to keep me at a distance. At last he
concluded by the observation, ' But the bishops do not
make profession of faith, nor take the oath.' Counsellor
Portalis having replied, ' Yes, they do ;' ' Well, said he, ' that
act of obedience to the pope is of more value than a thou-
sand submissions.' Then turning,' round to me, he said,
' Endeavour to arrange that the bull of circumscription may
be here soon ; and that the other, respecting which I ad-
dressed you on a former occasion, may not meet at Borne
with the same destiny which the pope's letters to the bishops
have experienced, and which I learn were not received by
any of the several parties in Germany until the 21st of last
month.'

'■ Here the interview closed. I ought still to add, that at
its conclusion, about one o'clock in the day, he took an airing
with madame, and Wits absent about an hour; but he insisted
previously that I should stay and dine, although I was
already engaged with his brother Joseph, to whom, however,
he sent off word. Without th" smallest exaggeration, from
dinnertime till ten at night, he never ceased talking to me,
walking nearly all the time up and down the room, his cus-
tomary way, and discoursing on every imaginary topic in
politics and economy that concerned us."

Completion of the concordat.

THE TRIBUNATE. Opposition in France to that measure. 305

his errors, and as quickly sought to repair them.
He felt instantly that he had done wrong, and
desiring to soften the eft'ect which his warmth and
vehemence had produced, he kept tlie cardinal at
Malmaison the whole day, charming him by his
grace and kindness, and consoling him for his
liastiness of conduct in the morning.

Despatches were written to Rome, and a respect-
able priest was sent off to Germany, the curate of
St. Sulpice, M. de Pancemont, since bishop of
Vannes, for the purpose of obtaining the answer of
the five prelates, whicli was awaited so impa-
tiently. Nevertheless, the 18tli Brumaire passed
without the arrival of the acts so much desii-ed.
The brilliancy of that day was still great enough to
make the tii-st consul forget what might have been
wanting in this addition. At last the answer
arrived from Rome; the ])ope always inclined to do
what he, whom he styled his "dear son," requested,
sent the bull for the arningement of the dioceses,
and the power of instituting the new bishops, con-
ferred upon the legate in an unprecedented man-
ner. As a c<mipensatioii for so much condescen-
sion, the pope desired only one thing, which he
confided to the judgment of cardinal Caprara,
which was, that he might be spared the chagrin
of appointing constitutionists.

After this, nothing more opposed the proclama-

tion of the great religious act, thus laboriously
accomplished, but the propitious moment had been
permitted to slip by. The session of the year x.
was opened, according to usage, reckoning from
the 1st Fiimaire, or 22nd of November, 1801.
The tribunate, the legislative body, and the senate
were assembled; a warm resist;ince was announced,
and scandalous speeches made, against the con-
cordat. The first consul did not like that such an
outbreak should trouble so august a ceremony, and
resolved to wait, in order to celebrate the re-esta-
blishment of public worship, until he had brought
back the tribunate to its senses, or crushed it
altogether. Now the delays were to come from
his side, and it was the holy see that was to show
itself urgent in going forward. However, the sud-
den obstacles which he was likely to encounter,
proved the merit and courage of his resolve. It
was not to the concordat alone that a warm oppo-
sition was expected, but to the civil code itself, as
well as to some of the treaties which had just
secured peace to the world. Proud of his labour,
strong in the public opinion, the first consul was
resolute in proceeding to the last extremities. He
spoke only of crushing those bodies that might
resist him. Thus human pa-ssions were about to
mingle their stimulants with the finest works of a
great man and of a great epoch.

BOOK XIII.

THE TRIBUNATE.

INTERIOR ADMISISTHATION. — THE GREAT ROADS CLEARED OF HIGHWAY ROBBERS, AND PUT INTO REPAIR. — REVIVAL
OP COMMERCE.— EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF THE YEAR 1801. — M ATERl AL RESULTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AS
REGARDS AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, AND POPULATION.— INFLUENCE OF THE PREFECTS AND SUB-PREFECTS ON
THE ADMINISTRATION.— ORDKR AND SPEED IN THE DESPATCH OF BUSINESS.— COUNSELLORS OF STATE ON CIRCUIT.
— DISCUSSION OF THE CIVIL CODE IN THE COUNCIL OF STATE. — BRILLIANT WINTER OK 1801-2. — EXTRAORDINARY
INFLUX OP FOREIGNERS TO PARIS. —COURT OF TH E FIRST CONSUL. — ORG ANIZATInN OF HIS CIVIL AND MILITARY
ESTABLISHMENTS.— THE CONSULAR GUA RD.— PREFECTS OF THE PALACE AND LADIES OF HONOUR. — SISTERS OP
THE FIRST CONSUL. — HORTENSE BEAUHARNOIS MARRIES LOUIS BON APARTE.— FOX AND DE CALONNE VISIT PARIS.

— PROSPERITY AND LUXURY OF ALL CLASSES.— APPROACH OP THE SESSION OF THE YEAR X — WARM OPPOSITION
TO SOME OF THE BEST PLANS OF THE FIRST CONSUL.— CAUSES OF THIS OPPOSITION SHOWN, NOT ONLY AMONG
THE MEMBERS OF THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLIES, BUT AMONG THE DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OF THE ARMY.

— CONDUCT OF GENERALS LANSE8, AUGEREAU, AND MOREAU. — OPENING OF THE SESSION.— DUPUIS, AUTHOR OF
THE WORK ON THE ORIGIN OF ALL RELIGIONS, IS ELECTED PRESIDKNT OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY.— BALLOT
FOR THE VACANT PLACES IN THE SENATE. — NOMINATION OF THE ABBE GREGOIRE, CONTRARY TO THE PROPO-
SITIONS OF THE FIRST CONSUL. — VIOLENT EXPLOSION IN THE TRIBUNATE, ON ACCOUNT OF THE WORD "SUB-
JECT" INTRODUCED INTO THE TREATY WITH RUSSI A.— OPPOSITION TO THE CIVIL CODE.— DISCUSSION IN THE
COUNCIL OF »TATE RESPECTING THE COURSE TO BE ADOPTED UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. — IT IS RESOLVED TO
AWAIT TH'E discussion OF THE FIRST SECTIONS OP THE CIVIL CODE. — THE TRIBUNATE REJECTS THE FIRST
SECTIONS. — RF.SULT OF THE BALLOT FOR THE PLACES VACANT IN THE SENATE.— THE FIRST CONSUL PROPOSES
OLD GENERALS, MOT SELECT! D PROM AMONG HIS CREATURES. — TH E TRIBUNATE AND LEGISLATIVE BODY
REJECT THEM, AND AGREE TO SUPPORT M. DAUNOU, KNOWN FOR HIS OPPOSITION TO THE GOVEIINMENT. —
VEHEMENT SPEECH MADE BY THE FIRST CONSUL TO A MEETING OF SENATORS. — THREATS OF AN ARBITRARY
MEASURE.— THE OPPONENTS INTIMIDATED, SUBMIT, AND PLAN A SUBTERFUGE TO ANNIHILATE THE EFFECT
OF THE FIRST BA LLOTS — CA M BACEKES DISSUADES THE FIRST CONSUL FROM ANV M.LKCiAL MEASURE, AND
ADVISES HIM TO GET '.LEAR OF THE OPPOSITION MEMBERS BY MEANS OF ARTICLE XXXVI 1 1 . OF THE CONSTITU-
TION, WHICH PRESCRCBES THAT THE FIRST FIFTH OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY AND THE TRIBUNATE SHOULD
00 OUT IN THE YEAR X — THE FIRST CONSUL ADOPTS THE IDEA. — SUSPENSION OF ALL THK LEGISLATIVE
LABOURS.— AN ADVANTAGE TAKEN OF THIS SUSPENSION TO ASSEMIILK AT LYONS AN ITALIAN DIET, UNDER THE
TITLE OF THE "CONSULTA." — SEFOHK LEAVING PARIS, THE FIRST CONSUL DESPATCHES A FLEET WITH XaOOP*

Interior administration.
Suppression of robbery.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Improvempnt of the
roads. — Revival of
commerce.

POR ST. DOMINGO. — PLAN TO RECONftUER THAT COLONY. — NEGOTIATIONS AT AMIENS. — OBJECT OF THE CONSULTA
CONVENED AT LXONS. — VARIOUS C0NSTITT3T10NS PROPOSED FOR ITALY. — PLANS OF THE FIRST CONSUL RELATIVE
TO THIS POINT. — CREATION OP THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC. — BONAPARTE PROCLAIMED PRESIDENT OF THE B.E-
PUBLIC. — E.STHUSIASM OF THE ITALIANS AND FRENCH AT LYONS. — GRAND REVIEW OF. THE ARMT OF EGYPT. —
RETURN OF THE FIRST CONSUL TO PARIS.

We have seen by what persevering and skilful
efforts, the first consul, after overcoming Europe
by his victories, had succeeded in reconciling it to
France by his policy : we have seen by means of
what efforts, not less meritorious, he reconciled
the church with the French republic, and put an
end to the miseries of schism. His efforts to re-
establish the security and perfection of the roads,
to impart activity to commerce and industry, and
to restore ease to the finances, and order in their
administration, to draw up a code of civil laws
appropriate to French manners, to organize, finally,
every part of French society, had not been less
continued nor less fortunate.

That race of I'obbers, which was formed out of
deserters from the army and the licentious soldiers
of the civil war, who attacked the rich landed pro-
prietors in the country, the ti-avellers on the high
roads, pillaged the public chests, and spread terror
thi'ough the country, had been repressed with the
utmost rigour. These robbers had chosen the
moment when nearly all the troops wei'e beyond
the frontier, and the interior of the country was
deprived of the means of defence, to spread them-
selves over it. But since the treaty of Lune'ville,
and the return of a part of the troops to France,
the situation was no longer the same. Numerous
moveable columns, accompanied at first by military
commissioners, and after wai'ds by those special
tribunals of which the establishment has been
already stated, had scoured the roads in all direc-
tions, and chastised, with pitiless energy, those
who infested them. Sevei'al hundreds among them
had been shot during six months, without a single
voice having been heard in favour of those mis-
creants, the impure remains of civil war. The
others, completely discouraged, had sent in their
arms, and made their submission. Security was
established on the high roads, so that, though in
the months of January and February, 1801, it was
hai'dly possible to travel from Paris to Rouen, or
from Paris to Orleans, without running the chance
of being murdered, at the end of the year it was
possible to travel through the whole of France
without being exposed to such an accident. There
might still have been some remains of these ban-
dits in the remoter parts of Britany, and in the
interior of the C^vennes at the utmost ; but it
was not long before all these were completely dis-
persed.

It has already been seen how ten years of trou-
ble had nearly iiiterrujited the ])assage of the roads
of France by their neglect ; how the ancient corvee
had been replaced by a toll at the different bar-
riers; how, under the system of this incommodious
and insufficient tax, at the same time, the roads
had fallen into a state of con)plete ruin ; how,
finally, the first consul, in the last Nivose, had
devoted an extraordinary subsidy to the rejiair of
twenty of tlic principal highways traversing the
surface of the republic. He liad him.self watched
the employment of this subsidy, and by continued
attention to the matter, had excited, in the highest

degree, the zeal of the engineers employed. Each
of his aids-de-camp, or of the great functionaries
who travelled in France, was questioned as to
whether his orders had been duly executed. The
funds this year had been voted rather late; the
end of the year had been rainy, and there was also
a deficiency of hands. This was caused by the
bringing into cultivation at this time immense
tracts of land, and above all, by the civil war.
These various causes had retarded the progress of
the work ; but still the improvement already made
was obvious. The first consul devoted a new sub-
sidy, taken from the year x., or 1801-2, to the
repair of forty-two other roads. Reckoning two
millions not employed in the year ix., ten millions
extraordinary assigned to the year x., and sixteen
millions produced by the tax, the total sum devoted
to the roads for the current year, would be twenty-
eight millions. This was double or triple the sum
devoted to them in anterior pei-iods. Thus the
repairs proceeded with great rapidity, and every
thing announced in the course of 1802, that the
roads of France would be restored to a state of
perfect convenience for travelling. Orders were
issued for making new communications between
different parts of old and new Fi-ance. Four great
roads were in the course of formation between
Italy and France. That of the Simplon, several
times alluded to, advanced rapidly towards com-
pletion. The road designed to unite Savoy and
Piedmont, was begun, passing over Mount Cenis.
A third, by Mount Genevre, to connect the south
of France and Piedmont, was ordered to be made,
and the engineers were traversing the ground to
complete the jilans. The repair of the great road
by the Col de Tende, traversing the maritime
Alps, was undertaken. Thus the barrier of the
Alps, between Fi-ance and Italy, was about to be
lowered, by means of four roads, practicable for
the heaviest civil or military transport. The
miracle of the passage of the St. Bernard had
become useless for the future, whenever it should
be required to pi'oceed to the succour of Italy.

The canal of St. Quentin was in course of execu-
tion. The first consul had been himself to see the
canal of Ourcq, and had ordei-ed the resumption of
the work. The canal of Aigucs-Mortes, at Beau-
caire, confided to the care of a company, was in
the course of execution. The government had
encouraged a com])any by making over to it large
grants of land. The new bridges over the Seine,
granted to an association of capitalists, were nearly
completed. These numerous and fine undertakings
attracted the public attention in a remarkable
manner. The minds of men, always lively in
France, now directed themselves with a species of
enthusiasm from the splendour of war to the splen-
dour of peace.

Commerce had already made great advances
during the year ix., 1800-1, although the naval
war had continued thmugli the whole of that year.
The imports, which in the year viii. had been
only 325,000,000 f. amounted in the year ix. to

Exports and imports.— Population. THE TRIBUNATE.

Forests. — Rural administration.

307

417,000,000 f. An incre.ase of nearly a fourth in
the space of a single year. Tliis augmentation was
due to two causes: the rapid consumption which
had accrued of colonial products, and the introduc-
tion of a quantity of raw materials adapted to
manufactures, such as cotton, wool, and oil ; an
evident sign of the revival of the manufacturing
interests. The exportations had felt much less
this general movement towards increase, because
the foi-eign commerce of France was in the year
IX. 1800-1, not yet re-established, and because
the manufacture of productions must of necessity
precede their exportiition. Still the sum totsil of
the exports, which in the year viii. amounted to
no more than 271,000,000 f., had arisen in the vear
IX. to 305,000,000 f. This increase of 34,000,000 f.
was mainly owing to the extraordinary export of
wines and brandies, which had produced a con-
siderable mercantile activity at Bordeaux. Here
may be remarked also what a difference had
been jjroduced between the exports and imports by
the ten years <>f naval warfare, since the imports
amounted to 417,000,000 f., and the exports only to
the sum of 305,000,000 f. But the restoration of
the manufactures would soon make up for this
difference.

The silks of the south again began to flourish.
Lyons, the favourite city of the first consul, again
applied itself to the manufacture of its beautiful
productions. Of fifteen thousand looms formerly
employed in the weaving of silk, only two thousand
remained at work during the time of the late
troubles. Seven thousand were already re-esta-
blished. Lille, St. Quentin, Rouen, all participated
in the like movement; and the sea-ports, about to
be set free from blockade, were equippuig nume-
rous vessels. Tiie first consul, on his part, was
making preparations for tlie re-establisliment of
the colonies to an extent which will be vei'y shortly
exhibited.

It was desirable to discover the actual state in
which the revolution had left France as far as re-
spected agriculture and population. Statistical
researches, rendered impossible while collective
administrations managed provincial business, were
become practicable since the institution of prefec-
tures and sub-prefectures. Orders were given for
a census, which returned very singular results,
confirmed in fact by the councils-general of the
departments whicii had met for the first time in the
year ix. The returns of the population for sixty-
seven departments out of one liimdred and two,
into which France was at that time divided,
amounting in 17'!0 to 21,170,243, had increased in
1800 tr) 22,237,443, being an increase of 1,100,000
souN, or about a nineteenth. This result, scarcely
crediM"- lirid it not been confirmed by a number of
cr)unciU-general, proves that after all, the evil pro-
duced by great social revolutions is more apparent
then real, as far at least as material things are
concerned, and that, at any rate, the mischief is
made good with prodigious nipidity. Agriculture
was found to be every wliero in advance. Tlio
suppression of the rangi-rshipsliad been exceedingly
beneficial in the greater part of ilic provinces. If
in destroying the game, it had destroyed tiie least
objectionable plea.sur(Sof the richer classes; it liad,
upon the other liand, delivered agriculture from
ruinous vexations. The sale of a number of large

estates had caused considerable tracts of land to
be brought into cultivation, and made highly
valuable a part of the soil before nearly unproduc-
tive. Much of the landed property of the church,
which had jia.ssed out of the hands of a negligent
holder into those of an intelligent and active pro-
prietor, augmented every day the general mass of
agricultural produce. The revolution, which had
thus been made in landed projierty, and which, in
dividing it among a thousand hands, had so pro-
digiously augmented the number of landed pro-
prietors, as well as the extent of cultivated land;
this revolution was now accomplished, and was
already producing great results. Doubtless, the
process of culture was not yet sensibly improved,
but the extent of tillage was increased in an extra-
ordinary manner.

The forests, whether belonging to the state or to
the communes, had suHered from the disorder in
the administrative management of the times. This
was an object to which it was of the utmost im-
]iortance to attend ; lands planted w ith wood were
cleared, while neither the property of the state
nor of individuals was spared. The administra-
tion of the finances possessing a great quantity of |
fox-ests by the confiscation of the property of the
emigrants, did not yet know how to take care of
them, or manage them to advantage. Many pro-
prietors, absent or intimidated, abandoned the care
of the woods of which they were the possessors,
soiuit really, others fictitiously, on account of the
proscribed families. This w-as the consequence of
a state of things which was, fortunately, about to
cease. The first consul had given great attention
to the preservation of the forest riches of France,
and had ali-eady begun to restore order and re-
spect for property. A rural code was every where
x-equired, in order to prevent the injury done by i
the cattle. !

The new institution of prefects and sub-prefects,
created by the law of Pluviose, year viii., had pro-
duced immediate results. To the disonler and negli-
gence of the collective administrati<in had succeeded
regularity and promptitude of execution, conse-
quences foreseen and necessary to the unity of power.
The affairs of state and of the communes had equally
profited, for they had, at last, found agents who
attended to them with continued assiduity. The
completion of the assessments and the collection
of the taxes, formerly so neglected, were now no
way retarded. Order began to be restored in the
revenues and expenses of the communes. Yet
many ]iarts of their administration still reciuired
correction. The hos])itals, for exam|ile, were in
a very de])Iorablc condition. The deprivation of
a part of their revenues by the sale of their pro-
perty, and by the deprivation of many of the rates
now aboli.shed, reduced them to extreme distress.
In several towns they had recour.sc to the octroi,
and attempted the re-establishnieiit of the duties
of the indirect contributions upon a small scale.
But those duties, as yet badly placed, were neither
sufficiently nor generally enough employed. The
foundling department also partook of the general
disarrangement. Great numbers of deserted chil-
dren were to be seen, for whom jiublic charity
made no ])rovision, or who were eommitted to the
charge of unfortunate nurses, whoso wages were
not paid. The re-establishment every where oi
X 2

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Instructions givi
aids-de camp.

the former sisters of charity was desirable for the
service of the hospitals.

Tlie civil registers, taken from the clergy and
given to the municipal officers, were very negli-
gently kept. It was necessary to set in order this
part of the administration, so important for the
state of families ; there were demanded not only
zeal and vigilance on the part of the administrators,
but improvements in the law, which was yet in-
sufficient and badly regulated. Tliis was one of
the objects which it was necessary the civil code
should regulate, then actually under discussion in
the council of state.

The too great division of communes was much
complained of, as well as their infinite number,
and the union of several of them into one was de-
manded. This beautiful system of French admi-
nistration was then devised, which is now achieved,
and surpasses in regularity, precision, and vigour
every other European administration; it was or-
ganized rapidly under the healing and all-powerful
hand of the first consul. He had devised one of
the most efficacious means to be informed of every
thing, and for carrying into this vast machine those
improvements of which it was thought to be sus-
ceptible. He commissi(jned some of the more able
counsellors of state to travel through France, and
observe, on the spot, the mode in which the admi-
nisti-ation worked. These counsellors, on ai-riving
at any given point, called together the prefects of
the neighbouring departments and the chiefs of
the different services, and thus held councils, in
which these officers m;ide statements to them of
difficulties which could not have been foreseen, the
unexpected obstacles which arose out of the nature
of things, and the deficiencies in the laws or regu-
lations made during the preceding ten years. They
examined, at the same time, if this hierarchy of
prefects, sub prefects, and mayors, fulfilled its
functions with order and facility; if the individuals
were well selected, and if they showed that they
were well impressed with the intentions of the
government, — if they were, like the government,
firm, laboi'ious, impartial, free of all factious spirit.
These tours produced the best effect. The coun-
sellors thus sent stimulated the zeal of the func-
tionaries, and reported to the council of state many
useful matters, either for the decision of current
business, or the digesting and improving the ad-
ministrative regulations. More especially incited
by the energy of the first consul, they did not
hesitate to denuunce to him the feeble or incapable
agents, or those who were animated by a wrong
spirit.

The solicitude of the first consul was not limited
to this review of the country by the counsellors of
state in turn. The nuinei'ous aids-de-camp whom
he despatched, now to the armies, now to the sea-
ports, to connntinicate to them the energy of his
own will, had orders to observe every thing, and
to re|)ort every tiling to their general. Colonels
Lacu^e, Lauriston, Savary, sent to Antwerp, Bou-
logne, Brest, Rocliefort, Toulon, Genoa, or Otranto,
had a commission, on their return to stop at every
place, to hear, see, and take notes of every thing
and to report on every thing, — the condition of the
highways, the progress of conmiercial affnirs, the
conduct of functionaries, the wishes of the people,
and the public opinion. None of them hesitated

to obey, for none feared to speak the truth to his
just and powerful chief. This chief, who then
thought of nothing but good, because that good,
infinite in diversity an 1 extent, sufficed to absorb
the ardour of his soid, welcomed, with wai'mth, the
truth which he required, and turned, consequently,
to profit, whither he struck at a culpable function- '
ary, repaired a defect in new institutions, or turned
his attention to an object which, until then, had
escaped his indefatigable observation '.

' Here are some specimens of tlie instructions given to
his aids-de-camp on

" To citizen Lauriston, aid-de-camp.
" Paris, 7th Pluviose, year ix., January 27, 1801.

" You will proceed, citizen, to Rochefort. You will in-
spect most minutely tlie port and the arsenal, addressing
yourself for that purpose to the maritime prefect.

'• You will bring back, to me memorials on the following
subjects : —

" 1. The number of men exactly detailed on board the
two frigates which are about to sail, and the inventory of
every thing belonging to the artillery and other things which
those frigates have on board. You will stay at Rochefort
till they have sailed.

" 2. How many frigates are left in the road?

" 3. A report respectively of each of the three ships, 'the
Foudroyant,' the • Duguay-Trouin,' and the ' Aigle,' to-
gether with the time in which eacli of those ships will be
ready to sail.

" 4. A particular report respecting the frigates, ' La Vertu,'
'LaCybele,' ' La Volontaire,' 'La Thetis,' ' L'Embuscade,'
and 'La Franchise.'

" 5. A return of all the muskets, pistols, swords, and
cannon balls, which have arrived in that port for maritime
equipments.

" 6. Are there in the magazines provisions sufficient to
supply six ships of the line for six months, independently of
the three above-mentioned?

" 7. Lastly, have all measures been taken for recruiting
the sailors, and for obtaining from Bordeaux and Nantes,
provisions, cordage, and whatever is necessary for the equip-
ment of a squadron ?

" If you foresee tliat you shall have to stay at Rochefort
more than six days, you will send me your first report by
post. You will not fail to inform tlie |)refect that I am of
opinion that the minister of marine has taken the necessary
measures to enable nine f.ail to put to sea from Rochefort at
the be^'inning of Ventose. You must observe that this must
be said to the prefect in great secrecy.

" You will avail yourself of every circumstance to collect,
in all places through which you pass, particulars relative to
the march of the administrations and on the state of public
feeling.

" If the departure of the frigates is delayed, I authorise
you to go to Bordeaux, and to return by Nantes. You will
bring me a report upon the frigates which are equipping.
" I salute you. Bonaparte."

" To citizen Lacuee, aid-de-camp.

" Paris, 9th Ventose, year ix., Feb. 23, 1801.

" You will go, citizen, with all speed to Toulon ; you will
deliver the accomjianying letters to rear-admiral Ganteaume.
You will inspect all the ships of the squadron, as we'.l as the
arsenal. You will take care to ascertain yourself the force
and the number of the English ships blockading the port of
Toulon. If less than that of rear-admiral Ganteaume, you
will urge him not to allow himself to be blockaded by an
inferior force.

" If circumstances decide general Ganteaume to continue
his mission, you will prevail upon him to take on board at
Toulon as many troops as he can carry. For this purpose

Instructions ^iven to the
aids-de-camp.

THE TRIBUNATE.

Exertions of Bonaparte in pre-
paring the civil code.

A specticle at this moment attracted universal
attention : this was tlie discussion upon the civil
code in the council of state. The necessity of such
a code was certainly the most urgent of the neces-
sities of France. The ancient civil legislation,
composed of the feudal law, the common, and the
Roman law, was no longer applicable to a society
completely revolutiouizfd. The old laws respecting
marriage, and those which had been enacted re-
specting divorce and succession were not adapted

you will see the military commandant, to remove all ob-
stacles, so that the troops may be furnished for him.

" You will give rear-admiral Uaiiteaume to understand
that he has been, in general, a little b'amed for his cruise to
Mahon, because lie has roused the attention of rear-admiral
Warren, whose only object was to defend Mahon.

" If rear-admiral Gaiiteaume decides to complete his mis-
sion, you will stay at Toulon four days after his departure.

" If, on the contrary, news from sea should lead you to
think that he will remain loo long, you will return to Paris,
after staying fifteen days in Tnulon, six at Marseilles, four
at Avignon, and five or six at Lyons.

" You will take care to bring back to me a return of every
thing that lias been put on board each ship: of the ships
and frigates that have sailed from Toulon since the first
Vendemiaire, year ix. ; of the state of the arsenal; and
notes relative to the public functionaries of the country
through which you will pass, and also to the feeling that
prevails there.

" You will take advantage of all the couriers despatched
by the maritime prefect, to (»ive me news of the squadron,
of the sea, and of the English.

" You will encourage in your conversation all the captains
of the vessels, and point out to them of what immense im-
portance their expedition is to the general peace.

" 1 salute you. Bqsaparte.''

" To citizen Lauriston.
" Paris, 30th Pluviose, year ix., Feb. 19, 1S02.

" I have received, citizen, your different letters, and your
last of the 25tli Pluviose. I beg you to make secret in-
quiries concerning the administration of the provisions, the
service of which seems to excite complaints.

" Contrive to bring me, on your return, a detailed state-
ment of the northern merchandize furnished in the course
of the year x. by Lecliie and Co. They pretend to have, at
this moment, 1,700,000 francs' worth in store.

" What quantity of timber has arrived at Havre since the
peace; and are they at last at work finishing the five ships
that are building f

" In repassing to L'Orient, see how many ships are build-
ing there, and the time when each will be ready for sea.
Inspect all the gunners and grenadiers of the coast guard,
that you may be able to give me an account wli;.t sort of
men they are, and what it will be possible to do with them
at the moment of the definitive peace.

" Lastly, see at Nantes to ascertain what northern stores
have been received in the year x., and what hemp there is
left; and if the shipment of limber for Brest is going on.
Stop two days at Vannes, to make suitable observations on
the public feeling.

"In all the'^e observations endeavour to see for yoursel.'',
and without the advice of the authorities.

" Let me know what character one Charron has left at
L'Orient; and slop there three or four days, to observe the
conduct of the administration in that port.

" In short, miss no opportunity of seeing for yourself, and
fixing your opinion respecting the civil, naval, and military
administration.

" Inform yourself in every department what pros[>ect there

is of the next harvent. I suppose you will bring me notes

relative to the manner in which the troops are pa'd and

clothed, and of the state of the principal military hniipllah.

" I salute you. IIosapakte."

either to a new state of society, or to an order of
things regular and moral. A commission, com-
posed of Piirtalis, Tronchet, Bigot de PrtJameneu,
and Malleville, had drawn up the plan of a civil
code. This plan had been sent to all the tribunals,
in order to be made the subject of their exami-
nation and observations. In consequence of their
examination, and these observations, the plan had
been modified, and finally submitted to the council
of state, which had to discuss it, article by article,
for several months. The first consul, present at
all these discussions, had displayed, while pre-
siding at them, a method, clearness, and often a
depth of view, which was a matter of surprise and
astonishment to all. They were not surprised to
find one who had been accustomed to direct armies
and to govern conquered provinces, an adminis-
trator of civil government, because this quality is
indispensable in a great general; but to discover
that he should possess the qualities of a legislator
appeared to them most extraordinary. His educa-
tion in this matter was rapidly acquired. He
interested himself in every thing, because he un-
derstood every thing. He asked the consul Cam-
baceres for certain law books, and especially for
the materials prepared during the time of the
convention, for drawing up the new civil code.
He had devoured the.se documents, as he did the
books of religious controversy, with which he had
provided himself when he was busy with the con-
cordat. Classifying quickly in his mind the great
principles of civil law, joining to these some ideas
rapidly collected, his own profound knowledge of
man, and his perfect clearness of understanding,
he had soon rendered himself adapted to direct
this important work, and he even furnished the
discussions with a great number of new, just, and
profound ideas. Sometimes a deficient acquain-
tance with the details made him sujjport singular
notions; but he permitted liimself to be led back
quickly to the truth by the learned men who were
around him ; bilt he was master of them all when
it became necessary to extract from their conflict-
ing opinions the most natural and rational con-
clusions. The principal service which the first
consul rendered, was that of bringing to this fine
monument a firm mind and a will for persevering
application, thereby conquering tlie two main ditti-
culties which had so far defeated ])receding at-
tempts,— the infinite diversity of opinions, and the
impossibility of working uninterruptedly at the
task amidst the troubles and agitations of the time.
Wjien the discussion, which often happened, had
been long, diffuse, and obstinate, the first consul
knew how to sum up and decide by a word; and
what was more, he obliged every body to toil by
toiling himself for whole days together. The
minutes of these remarkable meetings were printed
and published. Before they were sent to the
Mon'iteur, the consul Cambacdrcs revised them,
and suppressed what was not adapted for publi-
cation : either when the first consul expressed
opinions sometimes singular, or treated of ques-
tions relating to maimers with a familiarity of
language, which ought not to go beyond the limits
of a privy council. There was left, therefore, in
these minutes, nothing but tin; ideas of the first
consul, sometimes rectified, often discoloured, liut
always striking. The public wa« struck, and came

310 ^'of Bonapane7 ^'"'"''' THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

'he consular guard.
Court of the first
consul.

to regard him as the sole author of every thmg
great and good that was done in France ; it even
took a kind of pleasure in seeing him as a legis-
lator whom it had seen as a general, diplomatist,
and ruler, and in those vei-y different characters
constantly superior.

The first book of the civil code was completed,
and was one of the numerous measures which
were about to be submitted to the legislative body.
The pacification of France and its internal re-oi-ga-
nization were in this mode proceeding at an equal
rate. Though all the evil of civil war was not repaired,
nor all the good accomplished, still the comparison
of the present with the past, filled the minds of men
with hope and satisfaction. All the good effected
was attributed to the first consul, and not unjustly;
for, according to the testimony of his fellow-
labourer Cambaceres, he directed the whole of the
proceedings, attended himself to the details, and
"effected more in every department than those to
whom it was especially committed."

The man who governed France from 1709 to
1815, had, in the course of his career, no doubt,
days of intoxicating glory ; but neither he nor
France, which he had seduced, ever saw days like
the.se, when greatness was accompanied by more
wsdom, and above all by that wisdom which gains
the hope of an enduring character. He had given
after victory a most gloi-ious peace, and what he
never could again obtain, a maritime peace ; he
had given after chaos the most perfect order ; he
had still left a certain liberty, not all that was
desirable, but as much as was possible on the day
after a sanguinary revolution ; he had done nothing
but good to every party only excepting the trans-
portation of the Imndred and odd proscribed revo-
lutionists, condemned without trial, after the affair
of the infernal machine ; he had respected the
laws ; and that act itself, culpable because of its
illegality, was not thought about in the immensity
of good effected. Finally, Europe reconciled to
the republic, feeling, yet not saying, she had been
wrong in her interference with a revolution which
did not concern her, and that the unparalleled
greatness of France was the just consequence of an
iniquitous aggression heroically repelled — Em-ope
came with eagerness to deposit her homage at the
feet of the first consul, happy to be enabled to say,
for the sake of her own dignity, that she had made
peace with a revolutionist full of genius, the
glorious restorer of social principles.

If it were possible to stop at the wonders of
the.se past times, most certainly history, in speak-
ing of this reign, would say that nothing greater or
more complete had been seen upon earth. All
this was written in the eai-nest admii'ing faces of
the men of all ranks and of all nations who pressed
around the first consul. An extraordinary influx
of strangers had an-ived in Paris to see France
and Bonaparte ; and the greater part of them
were presented to him by the ministers of their
government. His court, for he had formed one,
was military and civil at the same time ; austere
and elegant. He had added to it somewhat since
the preceding year ; he had composed a military
household for himself and the other consuls, and
had given a princely establishment to madamc
Bonaparte.

The consular guard was formed of four bat-

talions of infantry, each consisting of twelve hun-
dred men, some grenadiei-s, others chasseurs, and
two regiments of cavalry, the first of horse grena-
diers, the second of horse chasseurs. Both the one
and the other wet-e composed of t)ie finest and
bravest soldiers in the army. A numerous and
well-served artillei-y completed tlie guard, and
formed a perfect war division of si.x thousand men.
A brilliant staff commanded these superb troops.
There was a colonel to each battalion, and a briga-
dier-general to every two united battalions. Four
lieutenants-generals, one of infantry, one of cavalry,
one of artillery, and one of engineers, commanded
alternately the entire corps for one decade, and did
duty about the consuls. The whole was a corps
composed of picked men only, wherein the best
soldiers found a recompense for their good con-
duct, and surrounded the government with a splen-
dour perfectly in conformity to its warlike charac-
ter, presenting on the day of battle an invincible
reserve. It will not be forgotten that the battalion
of grenadiers of the consular guard had nearly
sa^■ed the army at Marengo, To this particular
staff of the consular guard the first consul added a
military governor in the palace of the Tuileries,
accompanied by two officers of the staff with the
title of adjutants.- This governor was Duroc, the
aid-de-camp always employed in the more delicate
missions. No officer was better adapted to main-
tain in the palace of the government that order and
decorum which was so much in consonance with
the taste of the first consul and the spirit of the
time. But it was needful to temper this entirely
military appearance by that which should be of a
civil cast. A counsellor of state, M. Benezech, had
been appointed during the first year of the consul-
ship to preside at the receptions, and to receive
with their proper honours, either the foreign minis-
ters or the high personages who were admitted to
the presence of the consuls. Four civil officers,
who bore the appellation of " prefects of the
palace," were nominated successors to M. Benezech
in this duty. Four ladies of the palace were given
to madame Bonaparte, as assistants in doing the
honours of the first consul's drawing-room. When
it was known that this new organization of the
palace was in the course of preparation, numerous
candidates offered themselves even from among
the families attached to the ancient dynasty. They
were not yet the high nobility, those who fonnerly
filled the palace of Versailles, that thus offered
themselves as solicitous for place ; the moment for
their submission had not yet come. Still they
belonged to families of distinction that had figui-ed
in past times, but not among the emigrants, who
thus were the foremost to approach a powerful
government, that by its glory rendered service
near it honourable for all the world. Bonaparte
chose four prefects of the palace, M. Benezech,
who had already performed the duties, M. Didelot
and M. de Lu5ay, who belonged to the old finance
department, and M. de Re'musat, of the magistracy.
The four ladies of the palace charged with the
honours at the side of madame Bonaparte were
mosdames de Lujay, de Lauriston, de Talhouet,
and de R^musat. The greatest slanderers among
the emigrants in the Paris drawing-rooms could
find no fault with the correctness of these selec-
tions ; and reasonable men, who require no more

1801
Nov.

Sisters of Bonaparte :
Eliza, Caroline, and
Pauline.

THE TRIBUNATE.

Marriage of Hortense Beau-
harnois with Joseph Bona-
parte.

in courts than just what decorum may make neces-
savy, had no point for severe criticism in the mili-
tary or civil organization of the present. In a
republic, as in a monarchy, the palace of the chief
of the state must be guarded and surrounded by an
imposing display of the police force ; in the in-
terior of the palace there must be men and women
selected to do the honours of the residence, either
to illustrious strangers or to distinguished citizens
who are admitted to the first magistrate of the
republic. In this respect the court of the first
consul was imposing, and worthy of him. He
received from his wife and sistei-s a certain grace;
all being equally remarkable either for manners,
understanding, or beauty. The brothei-s of the
first consul have been before adverted to; the
present may be a proper place to notice his sistei-s.
The eldest sister of the first consul, madame Eliza
Bacciochi, not remarkable in person, was if woman
of a very superior understanding, and attracted
around her the most distinguished men of letters of
the time, such as Suard, Morellet, and Fontanes.
The second, Caroline Murat, who had married the
general of that name, was beautiful and ambitious ;
intoxicated with her brother's glory, she strove to
make the best use of it she could for herself and
her husband's advantage : she was one of the
females who gave to the new court the most
elegance and animation. The third sister, Pauline,
who had married general Leclerc, and afterwards
a prince Borghese, was one of the most conspicuous
beauties of her day. She had not then so much
provoked slander as she did subsequently, and
if her thoughtless conduct was sometimes a grief to
her brother, the great affection which she felt for
him touched his heart, ami rendered his severity
powerless. Madame Bonapax-te was above them
all as wife of the fir t, consul, and she delighted
and charmed, by h ;• exquisite graces, both the
French and the str: .igers admitted into the palace
of the government. Rivalries, inevitable and
already visible between members of a family .so
near to the throne, were repressed by general
Bonaparte, who, though he loved his relations,
treated with military roughness those who were
troublers of tin peace which he desired to see
reign around liun.

An event (i some importance had just passed
in the consul. ■• family, and this was the marriage
of Hortense Beauhamois with Louis Bonapai'te.
The first < msul, who tenderly loved the two
children of his wife, had wished to maiTy Hortense
to Duroc, as he imagined that a reciprocal attjich-
ment existed between the.se young hearts ; but
this match being disapproved by madame Bona-
parte, was not to be carried into effect. Madame
Bonaparte, always tormented by the fear of a
divorce, since she had no longer any hope of
having more children, was for marrying her
daughter to one of her husband's brothers,
thus fiattering herself that the offspring of such
a marriage, bound to the new chief of France
by a double tie, at the same time might serve
him for heirs. Joseph Bonaparte was married ;
Lucicn lived in a very irregular manner, and con-
ducted himself to his siHter-in-la\v like an enemy;
Jerome was on board ship, expiating some youthful
faults ; Louis was the only one who suited the
views of madame Bonaparte, and she selected

him. He was prudent, intelligent, but ill hu-
moured, and not matched in disposition \<sith his
destined wife. The first -consul, knowing this,
resisted the match at first, but finally yielded,
to a marriage, which was not to make the new
cou])le happy, but which seemed, for the^moment,
likel)' to give heirs to the empire of the worlds

The nuptial benediction was given by cardinal
Caprara, and in a private house, as wasihen the
practice with all the ceremonies of religion, when
those priests officiated who had not taken the oath.
•In the same occasion the benediction was given to
Murat and his wife Caroline, who had not yet
received it, as was the case with many other
husbands and wives of that time, whose marriages
had only been contracted before the civil magis-
trate. Bonaparte and Josephine were in the same
circumstances. The last pressed her' husband
repeatedly to add the religious to the civil tie
which already united them ; but whether from
foresight, or the fear of avowing openly the incom-
plete obligations which united him to madame
Bonaparte, he would not consent.

Such was then the consular family, since become
the imperial. These personages, all on various
accounts remarkable, happy in the prosperity and
glory of the chief who made their greatness, con-
stituted by him, and yet not spoiled by fortune,
presented an interesting spectacle, which did not
pain the sight like that directorial court, the
honours of which were done for several years by
Barras the director. If a few envious or disdain-
ful Frenchmen, who were frequently under obliga-
tions to it, persecuted it with their sarcasms,
foreigners, more just, paid it a tribute of curiosity
and commendation.

Once in every decade, as elsewhere remarked,
the first consul received the ambassadors and the
foreigners, who were presented to him by the
ministers of their nation. He went dowii the
ranks of the assemblage, always numerous, fol-
lowed by his aids-de-camp. Madame Bonaparte
followed him, accompanied by the ladies of the
palace. It was the same ceremonial as was ob-
served in other courts, but with a less train of
aids-de-camp and ladies of honour, but here with
the incompai'able brilliancy that surrounded the
name of Bonaparte. Twice in the decade ■ he
invited to dinner the eminent personages of France
and of Europe, and once in the month he gave,
in the gallery of Diana, a banquet, at- which some-
times a hundred guests were invited. On such
days he held a drawing-room at the Tuileries hi
the evening, and admitted near him the high
funotionju'ies, the ambassadors, and persons of the
highest French society, who were favourable to
the government. Always carrying calciflations
into the minutest things, he prescribed to his
family certain dresses, with the object of getting
them generally worn through imitation. He
ordered silk to be worn, for the purj)ose of encou-
raging as nmch as possible the maimfactures of
Lyons. He reconmiendcd to madame Bonaparte
th(! stuff' called lawn {linoii), in order to favour the
manufacture of St. Quentiu '. As to himself, sini-

• Here is |jart-of a letter written from St. Quentin to the
conxul C'anibactrCs':— "

" St. Quentin, 21 Pluviose, year ix., or Feb. 10, 1801.

'■ The interesting manufacture* of St. Quentin and its

Fox and Calonne at
Paris.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

[nterviews between Fox 1801-2.
and Bonaparte. Kov.

pie in every thing, he wore the plain dress of a
chasseur of the consular guard. He obliged his
colleagues to wear the embroidered dress of a
consul, and to hold drawing-rooms in their apart-
ments, for the purpose of repeating there, although
with less brilliancy, what was done at the
Tuileries.

The winter of 1801-2, or the year x., was
extremely brilliant, from the satisfaction which
prevailed among all classes, some happy to enter
France, others to enjoy perfect security, or to see
in the maritime peace the unbounded prospect of
commercial prosperity. The foreigners contributed,
by their influx, to the brilliancy of the winter /t7«.
Among the personages that appeared in Paris at
this epoch, there were two tliat excited general
attention ; the one was an illustrious Englishman,
the other an emigrant, whose name was fomierly
much celebrated.

This illustrious Englishman was Fox, the most
eloquent of English orators ; the celebrated emi-
grant was M. de Calonne, foi-merly minister of
finance, whose ready and fertile mind in expe-
dients, continued to conceal for a few moments
from the eyes of the court of Vei-sailles, the abyss
towards which it was rapidly hurrying. Fox dis-
played considerable impatience to see the first
consul, towards whom, in spite of his British
patriotism, he was attracted irresistibly. He arrived
in Paris immediately after the signature of the
preliminaries of peace, and was presented to the
first consul by the English minister. He came to
see France and its chief, and also to consult the
French diplomatic archives, because at that mo-
ment the great Whig orator was occupying his
leisure time in writing a history of the two last
Stuarts. The first consul gave orders for all the
archives to be thrown open to Fox, and gave
him such a welcome as would have been sufficient
to conciliate an enemy, but which charmed a friend
whom he had acquired by his glory alone. The
first consul threw aside all forms of etiquette on
his own side with the generous stranger, brought
him into close intimacy, and had with him long
and frequent interviews, as if he seemed desirous
to make in his person the conquest of the English
people themselves. They were often of a different
opinion. Fox was endowed with that warm ima-
gination which makes attractive orators, but his
intellect was neither positive nor pi'actical. He
was full of those nolde illusions which the first
consul, although he had as much imagination as
depth of mind, had either never partaken or par-
took no longer. The young general Bonaparte was
disenchanted, as any one is likely to be, after a
revolution, begun in the name of humanity, and
shipwrecked in blood. He had s-haken off all the
first enchantments of the revolution, except one,
and that was greatness, which he pushed to an
excess. He was too little of a liberal to please the

environs, which employed seventy thousand persons, and
brought into France more than fifteen million francs, have
decreased five-sixihs. It is desirable that our ladies should
bring lawn into fashion, without giving such an absolute
preference to muslins. The idea of reviving one of the
most interesting manufactures which we exjjusively pos-
sess, and of giving bread to such a vast number of French
families, is, in fact, well calculated to bring lawn into fashion ;
besides, have not lawns been long enough in disgrace ?"

chief of the Whigs, and too ambitious to suit the
English taste. Each, therefore, sometimes mffied
the other, by contrary opinions. Fox made the
first consul smile by a simplicity, an inexperience,
which were singular in a man nearly sixty years of
age '. The first consul sometimes learned the
British patriotism of Fox, by the vastness of his
designs, which he took no care to dissimulate.
They were still in perfect harmony, in heart and
understanding, and were enchanted with each
other. The first consul took infinite care to make
Fox acquainted with Paris, and sometimes was
pleased to accompany him to the public establish-
ments. There was then open an exhibition of the
products of French industry, the second since the
revolution. PDvery body was surprised at the pro-
gress of the French manufactures, which, amid
the genei-al commotion, had still participated in
the impulse given to the public mind, and a num-
ber of new processes and improvements had been
invented recently, or had been introduced. Fo-
i-eigiiers, particularly the English, were particularly
struck, the English being good judges of these
things. The first consul took Fox to the halls
fitted up for these exhibitions in the court of the
Louvre, and sometimes enjoyed the surprise of his
illustrious guest. Fox, amidst the attentions of
which he was the object, suffered a sally to escape
him which did honour to the sentiments and spirit
of this noble personage, proving that in him
justice towards France was joined to the most
susceptible patriotism. There was in one of the
halls of the Louvre a terrestrial globe, very fine
and large, constructed with great skill, iind de-
signed for the first consul. One of the pei-sonages
who followed the first consul making the globe
turn round, and placing his hand upon England,
made this ill-timed remark, that England occupied
a very small space upon the map of the world.
" Yes," exclaimed Fox, wai'mly, " yes, it is in that
island which is so small that the English are born;
and it is in that island that they wish to die; but,"
added he, extending his arms about the two oceans,
and the two Indies, "during their lives, they fill
the entire globe, and embrace it with their power."
The first consul applauded this reply, so proud and
appropriate as it was.

The personage next to Fox, who occupied public
attention, was M. de Calonne. The prince of
Wales had solicited and obtained permission for
him to visit Paris. M. de Calonne held, from the
time of his arrival, a language wholly unexpected,
and which made a sensation among the royalists.
He said he had no intention to serve the new
government. He could not do it, attached as he
had been to the house of Bourbon ; it was his duty
to speak the truth to his friends. No man in
Europe was capable of making head against the
first consul ; generals, ministers, kings, were his
inferiors and dependents. The English had passed
from hatred of him to enthusiasm in his favour.
This sentiment was now prevalent among all classes
of the English population, and was carried to the
extreme, as were all sentiments among the English.
Europe must, therefore, not be calculated upon for
overthrowing general Bonaparte ; nor ought they
to dishonour the royal cause by detestable plots,

' Just turned fifty years, being born in 1749. — Translator.

1801-2.
Nov.

Unfounded reports concerning
M. de Calonne.

THE TRIBUNATE.

Rising opposition to tlie first

which filled honest men throughout the world with
horror. They must submit and hope every tliinjj,
from time, and from the double difficulty of govern-
ing France without royalty, and of founding royalty
without the Bourbon family. The infinite vicissi-
tudes of revolutions could alone bring about the
claims which did not now exist in favour of the
exiled princes. But let whatever would happen,
it was necessary to await from France alone, from
France become enlightened, the return of better
feelings, and nothing from foreigners or conspira-
tors. This language, singular on account of its
wisdom, above all from the mouth of M. de
Calonne, caused real astonishment, and led to the
belief that M. de Calonne would not be long before
entering into relations with the consular govern-
ment. He had seen the consul Lebrun, who, with
the consent of the first consul, received royalists,
and had held a conversation with him upon the
affairs of France. It wjis even asserted that he
was about to become in the finances what Talley-
rand was in diplomacy, a reclaimed noble, lending
his name and experience to the first consul. The
surmise was unfounded; and besides, the first con-
sul had less need of a brilliant mind, than of that
application which M. de Calonne had never exhi-
bited, but which the first consul had found in M.
Gaudin, who had introduced the most perfect order
into the finances. Nevertheless, upon this vague
rumour a crowd of persons, recently entered into
Fi-ance, surrounded M. de Colonne, wishing to help
out tlieu: fortunes by getting into office, and think-
ing that they could not find near the new govern-
ment a fitter person to inti'oduce them, or one who
could better justify by his example their adhex'ence
to the first consul '.

< There were agents of some of the exiled princes in Paris,
and among these were men of talent and very well in-
formed. These agents sent almost diurnal reports, to
which allusion has been already made. The subjoined is an
extract from one of thtse reports, relative to M. de Culonne.

" M. de Calonne returned to Paris about a month since.
He had an interview with the ministers before he left Eng-
land, and was perfectly well received by them. He was
asked if, in reiurning to Paris, he did not intend to join the
administration. He answered, that his principles, his con-
duct during the revolution, and Ins attachment to the royal
family, all forl)ade him absolutely to accept a place at the
hands of the new government ; but that, attached to France
by taate and by interest, he should not refuse to give his
advice if it were asked, and if he believed it were of advan-
tage to his country.

" His arrival in Paris has made a great sensation. He
is every day beset by visiters and surrounded by creatures,
as at the most brilliant time of his fortune and credit. The
opinion that he is about to be raised to the ministry brings
crowds of applicants to him, and to rid himself of them he is
obliged to fly into the country. It does not seem, however,
that this op'inUln is well founded ; and if it is ever realized;
it will not be at present. All that is known is, that he was
to be presented a few days ago to Bonaparte, and to have a
secret confi.-rence with him.

" He sees all hit old friends, and opens himself to them
with perfect freedom. Having been a witness of the weak-
ness and nullity of foreign powers, he does not believe that
there is to be found in them the smallest guarantee against
revolutionary invasion, and still less any elllcacious protec-
tion for the cause of the king. He repeats that which we
have a long time known, th.it the men who govern In
Europe are men without mean* and without clinrartcr, who
we unacquainted with the times in which, they live, who

Who could believe that in the presence of so
much good as was already effected, or was about
to be so, that an opposition, and a hot one, too,
would be raised ? An opposition was nevertheless
in preparation, and one of the most violent possible,
against the measures of the first consul. It was
not among violent partizans radically opposed to
the goverimicnt of the first consul, royalist or revo-
lutionary, that this opposition was formed, but
iiinong the very same party that desired and
seconded the overthrow of the directory as in-
efficient, and called for a new government that
should be at the same time fimi and able. The
subaltern revolutionists, men of disorder and of
bloodshed, were repressed, submissive, or trans-
ported, and were sinking daily deeper and deeper
into obscurity, never more to emerge. The mis-
creants of royalty had a pressing necessity for
drawing breath since the affair of the infernal
ntachine, and they kept quiet ; and besides that
portion of them which liad infested the high roads,
had been put to death. The royalists of high rank,
while holding in the saloons of Paris the most
impertinent conversations, began, notwithstanding,
to exhibit already the disposition which led them
afterwards to play ; the men, the part of chamber-
lains, the women that of ladies of honour, in the
jialace of the Tuilexnes, which the Bourbons no
longer inhabited.

But the moderate revolutionary party called to
compose the new government was divided, as is
almost always the case, with every victorious party,
which goes about to form a new government, and
disagrees about the manner of its constitution.
From the first days of the consulate, this party,
which had concurred in various ways in the 18th
of Brumaire, had appeared divided between two
contrary tendencies, the one consisting in making
the revolution terminate in a democratic and mode-
know not how to judge of the present or to foresee the fu-
ture, and who are alike destitute of the courage which incites
to undertake, and the firmness which qualifies for persever-
ance. He considers them as all delivered over to Bona-
parte, trembling before him, and ready to execute humbly
all his commands. Thus he is persuaded that in France
only is it possible to labour for the restoration of the mon-
archy, not by putting oneself forward and fomenting foolish
and ridiculous plots, — more adapted to dishonour a cause
than to prepare the way for real success,— but by striving,
without noise and show, to re-establish public opinion, to
destroy prejudice, to diminish fears, to unite all the servants
of the king, and to keep them in readiness to take advan-
tage of every thing in his favour, by all those events which
the natural course of things must effect.

" M. de Calonne asserts that in England the enthusiasm
for Bonaparte is i.ot only general, but carried to a point of
excess of which it is difficult to form an adequate idea. The
court and city, the capital and the country, all classes of the
citizens, from the minister to the artizdn, are eager to pro-
claim his praises, and outvie each other in chanting his vic-
tories, and the splendour of his power. Moreover, this en-
thusiastic feeling is not peculiar to England ; the whole of
Europe is, so to say, infected by it. From all parts people
hasten to Paris, that they may sec the great man at least
once in their lives; and the police have been obliged to
threaten to apprehend certain Danes, who had publicly bent
the knee before him whenever they saw him.

" This is one of the main causes of his strength and of
his enormous power. How could the French dare to oppose
him, as long as they see the powers of Europe thus prostrate
at his feel !"

Agitation in the tribunate. Opposition of the abbe

314 -Defects in the cousti- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Sieyes and his

tution. friends.

1801-2.
Nov.

rate republic, sucli as Washington liad established
in America ; the other, in making it end in a
monarchy bearing more or less a resemblance to
that of England, or if it must be the old French
monarchy, divested of its old prejudices, without
the feudal system, but retaining its grandeur. The
consular government had now begun its third year,
and, as usual, these two tendencies continued to
exaggerate by the very contradiction of themselves.
Some became once more almost violent revo-
lutionists, upon seeing how things were going
forward, observing the authority of the iirst consul
on the increase, monarchical ideas spreading, a
court formed at the Tuileries, the catholic worship
restored, or nearly so, and emigrants retui-ning in
shoals. The others, become almost the royalists of
the old time, were so eager to react and to re-
found a monarchy, that they were disposed to
tolerate an enlightened despotism for the result of
the revolution. In fact, an enlightened despotism,
such as that which was at the same moment arising
in France, had so much of genius in it, and insured
such a sweet repose, that its seduction was great.
Still the contradiction between the two was pushed
so far on one side and the other, that a crisis
might be soon expected to ensue.

The tribunate, during the preceding session,
much agitated, at one time on account of the law
of finance, at another on account of the special
tribunals, was much more so this year at the aspect
of all that was going forward, and at the sight
of the government marching so fast towards its
object. The concordat, above all, roused its in-
dignation, as the most counter-revolutionary act
that could well be imagined. The civil code was
not, according to that assembly, sufficiently con-
formable with equality. The treaties of peace
themselves, which comprehended the greatness of
France, gave umbrage at their wording, as will
very shortly be seen.

M. Sieyes, while endeavouring to prevent agi-
tation by means of his constitutional precautions,
as has been seen, liad not prevented any ; because
constitutions do not create human passions, and
are powerless for their destruction : they are thus
only the stage upon which the passions appear. By
placing all the weight, all the activity of public af-
fairs, in the council of state, and the noise, declama-
tion, and idle animadversion in the tribunate ; in
reducing the last to the character of a pleader for or
against the acts of tiie government, before the legis-
lative body, which could only answer yea or nay; in
placing above an idle senate which, at long in-
tervals, elected the men who had the duty of play-
ing two vain chai'acters in the legislative assem-
blies ; in selecting the individuals of the govern-
ment in the same spirit ; in placing men fit for
business in tiie council of state; men fit for public
speaking, inclined to noise, in the tribunate ; the ob-
scure and superannuated in the legislative body,and
the superannuated of a higher order in the senate —
M. Sieyes had hardly hindered the passions of the
time from exploding ; he had even added, it must
be confessed, a certain jealousy of these bodies
towards one another. The tribunate felt the de-
clamatory vanity of its character ; the legislative
body felt the ridiculous nature of its silence, and
contained besides many who were formerly priests,
who had quitted orders, organized by the abb^

Grdgoire, into a silent but vexatious opposition.
The senate itself, which M. Sieyes had intended
should represent an opulent quiet old man, was not
so quiet as he had intended it to be. That body
was a little wearied of its idle dignity ; because the
senators were deprived of public functions, and
their electoral power, so seldom exercised, was far
from filling up their time. All of these were
jealous of the council of state, which alone partook
with the first consul the glory of the great things
that were daily accomplishing.

Thus this social body, which M. Sieyes had
thought he should lull into a species of aristocrati-
cal stupoi', after the example of Venice and Genoa,
still restless, like one who has upon him the i-e-
mains of fervour, and might be calmed and con-
trolled by a master, could not be cast into a peace-
ful slumber as its maker had hoped.

It was singular that M. Sieyes, the inventor of
all these constitutional arrangements, by virtue of
which there was so much activity on one hand,
and so little on the other, — M. Sieyes began to
weary himself of his own inaction. Moderate, and
even monarchical in his opinions, he ought to have
approved the acts of the first consul ; but causes,
some inevitable, others accidental, c( mmenced to
embroil them. That great speculative mind, limited
to seeing every thing and doing nothing, could not
but feel jealous of the active and puissant genius,
which was evei-y day gaining the mastery of France
and of the world. M. Sieyes, in the magnificent
accomplishments of general Bonaparte, already
observed the germ of his future errors, and if he did
not yet indicate this openly, he sometimes showed
it by his silence, or by some phrase as profound as
his own thoughts. It is possible that if attention
had been constantly paid to him, they might have
calmed and attached him to the first consul. But
Bonaparte considered himself acquitted with M.
Sieyes somewhat too early by the gift of the estate
of Crosne ; and being, moreover, absorbed in im-
mense labour, he had neglected the superior man
too much, who had so nobly yielded to him the
first place on the 18th Brumaire. Sieyes, idle,
jealous, mortified, had faults to pick out even in
the vast mass of present good, and showed himself
a morose and chilling censurer. The fii-st consul
was not master of his temper sufficiently to leave
all the wrong upon his adversaries. He spoke
cavalierly of the metaphysics of Sieyes, of his
impotent ambition, making a thousand remarks
upon the subject, which were immediately re-
peated and envenomed by the malerolent. Sieyes
had some friends at his side, such as M. de Tracy,
a man of superior mind, but not religious, an
original philosopher in a school that had but little
originality, and a very respectable character ;
M. Gai'at, an eloquent ))hilosopher, more pretend-
ing than profound ; M. Cabani.s, given to the study
of material man, and seeing nothing beyond the
limits of matter ; M. Lanjuinais, a sincere, pious,
vehement man, who had so nobly defended the
Girondins, and was now equally warm in resisting
the new Cajsar. These surrounded Sieyes, and
already formed a perceptible opi)osition in the
senate. The concordat seemed to them, as to
many other persons, the strong proof of an ap-
proaching counter-revolution.

The first consul, seeing France and Europe en-

Opposition in the army.— In-
discretion of Lannes and
Augereau.

THE TRIBUNATE.

Moderation of the first consul.

chanted with his proceedings, could not understand
how it occurred that the only persons who ex-
claimed against these proceeilings should be found
precisely around him. Despite this opposition, he
called the members of the senate, fi-om whom it
proceeded, idealogists, led on by a pouter, who
grieved for the e.tercise of the supreme power, of
which he was incapable ; he styled the membei-s
of the tribunate busy-bodies, with whom he should
know how to break a lance, and prove he was
not to be frightened with noise ; ho called the
discontented, more or less numerous of the legis-
lative body, priests unfrocked, Jansenists, whom
the abbe' Gr^goire, in accord with the abbe' Sieyes,
was striving to organize into an opposition against
the government ; he declared that he would break
down all these oppositions — that tlicy should not
stop him, and prevent the good which he was
endeavouring to accomplish. Never having lived
among assemblies of men, he was ignorant of the art
of winning them over, which Ciiosar himself, powerful
as he was, did not neglect, and which he learned
in the Roman senate. The first consul expressed
his displeasure boldly and publicly, with the full
sense of his strength and his glory, scarcely listen-
ing to the wise Cambaceres, who possessed great
skill in managing public assemblies, and ui'ged
him to use sootliing and moderation. " You must
prove to these peo])le," replied the first consul,
" that you arc not afraid of them ; and they will
be frightened, on condition that you are not
frightened yr)urself." Here were already, as may
be seen, the manners and ideas of genuine royalty
in proportion as the moment approached when
royalty became inevitable.

The opposition was not only seen in the bodies
of the state, but also in the army. The mass of
the army, like the mass of the nation, sensible
of the great results obtained during the last two
years, was wholly devoted to the first consul. Still
among some of the chiefs there were discontented
men, some really so, others merely jealous. The
sincerely discontented were the staunch revolu-
tionists, who saw with mortification the return
of the emigrants, and the obligation they were
under to go and exhibit their uniforms in the
churches. The discontented out of jealousy, were
those who saw with chagrin an equal, who having
in the first place surpassed them in renown, was
now on the eve of becoming their master. The
former belonged, for the most part, to the army of
Italy, which had always been completely revolu-
tionary ; the last to the army of the Rhine, calm,
moderate, but somewhat envious.

The chiefs of the anny of Italy, for the most
part devoted to the first consul, but ardent in their
sentiments, had a dislike both to priests and emi-
grants; they complained that they were to be made
churchmen ; all this being spoken in the origi-
nal, and not very becoming maimer of soldiers.
Augereau and Laimes, bad jioliticians but heroic
soldiers, especially the second, who was a most
accomplished soldier, held the most singular con-
versations. Lannes, become commander-in-chief
of the consular guard, administered the military
chest with a prodigality known and authorized by
the first consul. A mansion was sumptuously fur-
nished for the accommodation of tho staff of the
guard. There Lannes kept an open table for all

his brother officers, and delivered invectives agauist
the proceedings of the government. The first con-
sul had no fear that the devotion of these idle
soldiers towards himself personally was diminished.
At the first signal he was certain to recal them all
to him, and Lannes before the rest. Still it was
dangerous to suffer such heads and such tongues
to go on, and he sent for Lannes. Habituated to a
great familiarity with his general-in-chief, he gave
way to his passion, which was very soon suppressed
by the calm superiority of bearing of the first con-
sul. Lannes retired sorry for his fault, and
regretful of the displeasure he had caused. From
an honourable and susceptible feeling, he deter-
mined to liquidate the sums drawn from the chest
of the guard, though with the consent of the first
consul. But after all his campaigns in Italy, he
scarcely possessed any property, Augereau, almost
as inconsiderate as himself, but possessing an ex-
cellent heart, lent him a sum, being all which he
possessed in the world, saying, " Here, take this
money ; go to that ungrateful fellow for whom we
have spilled our blood ; give him back what is due
to the chest, and let neither of us be under any
obligations to him." The first consul could not
permit his old companions in arms, at once heroes
and children, to throw off their affections towards
him. He dispersed them. Lannes was destined
to a profitable embassy in Portugal ; Cambace'res,
the consul, being charged with the arrangement:
Augereau had orders to be more careful for the
future, and to return to his army.

These scenes, highly exaggerated by the malevo-
lence w'hich propagated and disfigured them, pro-
duced a mischievous effect, more especially in the
provinces. No voice, it is true, was raised against
the first consul, whom every body was disposed to
think must be right in the teeth of every opponent;
but they excited uneasiness and apprehension of
there being weighty difficulties in the way of the
supreme authority, the re-establishment of which
was so ardently desired ^

The differences with the officers of the army of
Italy, were scenes between friends who fall out one
day and the next embrace. They «ere of a more
serious character with the officers of the army of

> Here is a passage in a letter of Talleyrand, who had
gone some time afterwards to Lyons, for the organization of
the Italian consulta :

" Lyons, rth Niv6s(?, year x.,or Dec. 28th, 1801.

" General, — I have the honour to inform you of ray
arrival at Lyons to-day, at half-past one in the morning.
The road through Burfiundy, with the exception of six or
eight leagues, is not very bad; and the prefects of the line
of comnuiiiicalion have availed themselves of the enthu-
siastic moment caused by the hope of your passage, to cause
the active repair of the roads. Whenever I came to com-
munes or habitations, I heard cries of ' Vive Bonaparte ! '
For the last ten leagues which I travelled in the middle of
the night, every one came as I passed, light in hand, to
repeat these words. It is an expression which you are
destined continually to hear.

" The story about general Lannes has spread, and appears
to occupy much attention. The sub-prefect of Autun and
a citizen of Avallon talked to me about it, but with diflerent
circumstances, which letters from Paris had reported to
them as anecdotes. I have had occasion to remark anew to
wh.it a degree all that relates to your person retains the
l>ublic attention, and is immediately the subject of conversa-
tion thioughout France."

316

Rupture between Moreau
and Bonaparte.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Opening of the
of the year x

Nov.

the Rhine, who were more cool and malicious.
Unfortunately, a fatal division now began to ap-
pear between the general-in-ehief of the army of
Itr.ly, and the general-in-chief of the army of the
Rhine, or between Bonajtarte and Moreau.

Moreau, since the campaign against Austria, the
success of which he owed at least in part to the
first consul, who gave him the command of the
finest army of France — Moreau was reputed the
second general of the republic. Really no one was
mistaken respecting his worth ; he was well known
to possess a mind of moderate power, incaiiable of
great combinations, and wholly destitute of political
knowledge ; but stress was laid upon his real
qualities of a wise, prudent, and vigorous general,
in order to make of him a very superior com-
mander, capable of meeting the conqueror of Italy
and Egypt. Parties have a wonderful instinct for
discovering the weak points of eminent men. They
abuse or flatter them alternately, until they have
found a way to jienetrate into their hearts, and
infuse into them their own poison. They had soon
found out the weak side of Moreau, which was
vanity. While flattering him, they had inspired
him with a fatal jealousy of the first consul, which
was one day destined to be his destruction. The
females of the families of Bonaparte and Moreau
had quarrelled about some of the miserable mat-
ters for which women will fall out with one another.
The family of Moreau endeavoured to persuade him
that he ought to be the first and not the second ;
that Bonaparte was ill-disposed towards him ; that
he endeavoured to depi-eciate him, and make him
play a secondary part. Moreau, who was wholly
destitute of fii-mness of character, had listened too
much to this kind of dangerous suggestion. The
first consul, on his side, had never in any way done
liim wrong ; on the contrary, he had loaded him
with distinctions of all kinds ; he had aff"ected to
speak of him higher than be thought, above all, in
respect to the battle of Hohenlinden, which he in
public proclaimed a master-piece of military art,
whereas he considered it privately rather a piece
of good luck, than a deliberate scientific combina-
tion. But when Moreau had once the idea that he
was wronged, he would not be behindhand, and
with the ordinary promptitude of his character, he
promptly resented it. One day Bonaparte invited
Moreau to accompany him to a review ; Moreau
drily refused, that he might not be last in the first
consul's staff, alleging as an excuse that he had no
horse. The first consul, vexed at this refusal, soon
returned it in the same way. On one of the great
entertainments, which he was frequently obliged to
give, all the liigli functionaries were invited to dine
at the Tuileries. Moreau was in the country, but
returning the day before the dinner, upon some
kind of business, he called upon Cambac^res, to
speak to him about it. This consul, who continually
made his business to conciliate, received Moreau
with the utmost cordiality. Being surprised to see
him in Paris, he ran to the first consul, and urged
him, with some warmth, to invite the commander
of tlie army of the Rhine to the grand dinner that
was to take place on the day following. " He has
given me one public refusal," i-eplied the first con-
sul, " I will not hazard the risk of receiving a
second from him." Notliing could .shake this
determination. The next day, while all the gene-

rals and high fimctionaries of the republic were
seated in the Tuileries, at the table of the first
consul, Moreau avenged himself for having been
neglected, by going publicly, in plain clothes, to
dine at one of the most frequented restaurants of
the capital, with a party of malcontent officers.
This circumstance was much noticed, and produced
a very mischievous effect.

From that day, being in the autumn of 1801,
the generals Bonaparte and Moreau shmved an
extreme degree of coldness towards one another.
The public were soon cognizant of this, and the
hostile )iarties lose no time in turning it to advan-
tage. They began by extolling Moreau at the
expense of Bonaparte, and laboured to fill the
hearts of both with the poison of hatred. These
details may appear below the dignity of history.
Yet whatever may serve to extend the knowledge
of men, and the lamentable littleness even of tlie
greatest, is not unworthy of history, since every
thing that is capable of imparting instruction
belongs to it. It is not possible too strongly to
warn persimages of note against the frivolous
nature of the motives which too often embroil
them, more especially when these differences
become those of their country.

The o))ening of the session of the year x. took
place on the 1st Frimaire, or 22nd of November,
1801, in accordance with the command of the con-
stitution, which fixed that day for the purpose.
Certainly, if ever any man had a right to feel
pride in presenting himself before a legislative as-
semblage, it was that which the consular govern-
ment carried with it. Peace concluded with
Russia, England, the German and Italian powers,
Portugal, and the Porte, and concluded with all
these powers upon such glorious conditions ; a
plan for conciliation with the church, which ter-
minated the religious troubles, and which, in re-
forming the church according to the principles of
the revolution, still obtained the adhesion of the
orthodox to the results of that revolution; a civil
code, a monument since admired by the whole
world ; laws of high utility I'especting public in-
struction, the legion of honour, and an infinite
number of other important matters; financial plans
which placed the expenses and the revenues of the
state in perfect equilibrium — what more complete,
more extraordinary, than such an assemblage of
results to lay before the nation ! No matter, all
these things, as will soon be seen, were very thank-
lessly received.

The session of the legislative body was opened
this time with a certain solemnization. The minis-
ter of the interior was charged with the presidency
of the opening. Formal opening speeches were
made on both sides, and there appeared some in-
tention to imitate the forms customary in England
on the opening of parliament. The new cere-
monial, borrowed from constitutional royalty, was
commented upon malevolently by the opposition.
The tribunate and legislative body constituted
themselves, and then commenced that kind of
manifestation by which assemblies willingly reveal
their secret sentiments, the election of members.
The legislative body chose for its -president M.
Dupuis, author of the celebrated work, " Sur I'Ori-
gine fie tons leg Cultes." M. Dupuis was not so
strong an oppositionist as might be supposed from

ISOl.
Nov.

The civil code presented to the
legislative bodie:i.

THE TRIBUNATE.

Election of three senators to
supply vacancies.

317

his work; he had acknowledged to the first consul,
in convei-sation, that the reconciliation with Rome
was needful: but his name had a considerable sig-
nification at a moment when the concordat w:is
one of the principal grievances alleged against the
consular policy. The intention it was <asy to infer;
and it was comprehended by the public, above all,
by the first consul, who, even in his own mind,
exaggerated its importance.

The two assemblies exercising the legislative
power, in other words, the tribunate and the legis-
lative body, being constituted, three counsellors of
state presented an exposition of the situation of
the republic. This exposition, dictated by the first
consul, was simple, yet noble, in language, but in
regard to subject, magnificent. It made a strong
impression on the public mind. Or. the day fol-
lowing, a numerous train of counsellors of state
brought up such a. series of bills as any govern-
ment has rarely an occasion to present to its
assembled chambers. They were bills designed to
convert into laws the treaties with Russia, Bavaria,
Naples, Portugal, America, and the Ottoman Porte.
The treaty with England, concluded at London
previously, under the form of preliminaries of
peace, was on the point of receiving, at this mo-
ment, in the congress of Amiens, the form of a
definitive treaty, and could not yet be submitted
to the deliberations of the legislative body. As
for the concordat, it was not thought right to ex-
po£_ '.i at once to the ill-nature of the opposition.
Portalis, the counsellor of state, then read an ad-
dress, which has ever since remained celebrated,
upon the entire of the civil code. The three heads
of that code were brought up at the same time
by three counsellors of state : the first related to
" the publication of tlie laws ;" the second, to " tlie
enjoyment and the privation of civil rights ;" the
third, to " the acts of the civil state."

It would seem that such <a list of legislative la-
bours ought to have put to silence every opposi-
tion; but it did nothing of the kind. When, ac-
cording to usage, the bills were presented to the
tribunate, the communication of the treaty with
Russia produced a most violent scene. The third
article of the treaty contained an important sti-
pulation, which the two governments liad devised
in order to secure each other, in case of the evil-
disposed working mischief reciprocally in either
country. They liad nmtuaily promised, according
to Article in., "not to suffer any of their siihjccts
to carry on any correspondence whatsoever, whe-
ther direct or indirect, with the internal enemies
of the governments of the two states, to pro])agate
tiierein principles contrary to their respective con-
stitutions, or to foment troubles." In this the
French government had the emigrants in view,
and the llussian government the Poles. Nothing
was more natural than such a precaution, more
particularly on the part of the French government,
which had to fear the Bourbons, and to wateh
them continually. In alluding to the i)articular
clfiRs of individuals who might attempt to disturb
the repose of the two countries, the negotiators
had used the word which most naturally oceinred,
as that oftcnest adopted in the language of <li|ilo-
matists, namely, the word "subjects." It had
been used without any intention, because it was
the word commonly employed in all treaties, as it

was as usual to say the "subjects" of a republic
as the "subjects" of a monarchy. Scai'cely was
the reading of the treaty comjdeted, than Thibaut,
a tribune, one of the opposition meniber.s, demanded
to speak. " There has slipped," he said, " into
the text of the treaty, an expression inadnnssible
in our language, and which ought not to be tole-
rated. 1 mean the word 'subjects,' applied to
the citizens of one of the two states. A republic
has no ' subjects,' but ' citizens.' Doubtless it was
an error of the writer — it should be rectified."
These words produced a very great agitation, such
as is certain to be the case in an assembly pre-
viously excited, and in expectation of some event,
and which is electrified by every circumstance, no
matter how slight, that has ju'e-oecupied the minds
of the members. The president cut short the ex-
planations about to be made, by the remark that
the deliberations were not at that moment opened,
and that such observations ought to be reserved
for the time when, on the re])ort of a commission,
the treaty presented would be submitted for dis-
cussion. This appeal to the regulations hindered
the tumult from breaking out at the moment, and
a connnission was innnediately named.

This display increased the agitation which pre-
vailed in the great bodies of the state, and irritated
still more the first consul. These manifestations
were continued through the character of the per-
sons to be elected. There were several places in
the senate to be filled up. One was vacant by
the death of the senator Crassous. There were
two othei's to be filled up, in virtue of the consti-
tution. The constitution, as it will be remembered,
had at first provided but sixty places for senators
out of the eighty, which formed the total number.
To reach this last number, two were to be ap-
pointed every year for ten years. At this time
there were three places to be given .awa^', counting
in that which was vacant by the death of the
senator Crassous. According to tlie rules <if the
constilntion, the first consul, the legislative body,
and the tribunate, were each to name a candidate,
and the senate w-ere then to choose from among
the candidates thus ])resented.

The scrutiny was begun for this object as well
in the tribunate as in the legislative body. In the
tribunate the oppositinii supported M. Daunou,
who had publicly quarrelled with the first consul,
on the matter of the special tribunals, so much
discussed in the preceding session. From that
time he would not attend the meetings of the tri-
bunate, saying that he shoidd remain a stranger to
any of the legislative proceedings, "as long as the
tyranny endin-ed." In fact, he had kept his word,
and had not been seen there afterwards. The op-
position therefore had chosen M. Daunou, as being
the candidate the least agreeable to the first consul.
The decided ])artisans of the goveinment, in the
same body, supported one of the framers of the
civil code, M. Bigot de Prdameneii. Neither the
one nor tlic other were elected. The majority of
the votes were united in favour of a candidate of
no note, the tribune Desnieuniers, a moderate per-
son in his sentiments, and wlm, through his rela-
tions, was not a stranger to the fii'st consul. 'I'he
legislative body nuire decidedly spoke out its sen-
timents, and elected the abbd Or^goiro as its own
candidate to the senate. This choice, after the

Senators nominated by
Bonaparte.

The ahbe Gregoire elected. ,pni
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. -Violent opposition in '»"'■

the tribunate.

gift of the presidency to M. Dupuis, was a re-
doubled manifestation against the concordat. M.
Bigot de Pr^ameiieu had in the assembly a cer-
tain number of votes that nearly amounted to
two-fifths.

The first consul wished, on his side, to make a
significant proposition. He might have waited
until the two bodies, authorized to present can-
didates concurrently with the executive powers,
had chosen tliose for the two places which re-
mained to be filled up. It was probable that the
legislative body and the tribunate, not willing to
break definitively with a government so popular as
that of the first consul, liable also to the oscillating
movement of all assemblies, that ever fall back on
the morrow when they have advanced too far the
day before, would make a less obnoxious choice,
and even adopt, for the two remaining candidate-
ships, persons acceptable to the government. Thus
M. de Desmeuniers, for example, was a person
whom the first consul could perfectly approve, be-
cause he had promised to recompense his services
by the place of senator. It was probable that the
name of M. Bigot de Pre'ameneu might issue in
one of the ballots of the legislative body or the
tribunate. The first consul would then be al)le
to present, on his own account, those candidates
adopted by the assemblies that would best suit his
views; and, in that case, a name presented by two
authorities out of three would almost have the
certainty of being chosen by the majority of the
senate. The consul Cambace'res advised this line
of conduct; but it partook of that kind of manage-
ment in its nature much used in representative
governments, to which the first consul had a sove-
reign rei)ugnance. The magistrate-general, a
sti-anger to such a form of government, would not
thus place himself, as it were, behind the legisla-
tive body and the tribunate, and await their
opinion before he manifested his own. In con-
sequence, he immediately presented to them, not
one candidate alone, but three at once, and he
chose three generals. Notwithstanding the hopes
previously given to M. Desmeuniers, the first
consul, displeased with him, because he had not
pronounced his sentiments decidedly, left him out,
and presented generals Jourdan, Lamartilliere, and
Berruyer. It is true that these selections were well
suited to the moment. General Jourdan had ap-
peared an opponent of the 18th Bnunaire, but lie
enjoyed general respect; he had conducted himself
with i)rudence, and had received, subsequently,
the government of Piedmont. In presenting him
to the senate, the first consul proved the real im-
partiality which became the head of the govern-
ment. As to general Lamartilliere, he was the
oldest officer of artillery, and had made all the
revolutionary campaigns. General Berruyer was
an old officer of infantry, who, after having borne
a part in the seven years' war, had been wounded
in the republican armies. These were not, there-
fore, his own creatures, whom the first consul
thus determined to reward, but the old servants of
France under all the governments. This proud
and decided conduct adopted, it was impossible to
make a more worthy choice. A circumstance still
more singular is, that this choice was justified as
to motive, in a pi'eamble. The sense of the pre-
amble had a strong meaning : — " You have peace,"

the government said to the senate ; " you are in-
debted for it to the blood which your generals have
shed in a hundred battles ; prove to them, that in
calling them to your bosom, the country is not
ungi-ateful towards them."

The senate assembled, and Avas much agitated
by intrigues. Sieyes, who commonly lived in the
country, left it upon the present occasion, to mingle
himself up in them. Many pei-sons very well dis-
posed, like old Kellermann for example, were
misled by being told that the legislative body, in
case the abbe Gr^goire, its own candidate, were
preferred, would return the compliment, by pro-
posing for the second vacant place, general Lamar-
tilliere, one of the three candidates nominated by the
first consul, and that then, by choosing the general
a little later, it would satisfy the authorities at
once, the legislative body, and the government.
These manoeuvres succeeded; the abbe Gr^goire
was elected by a large majority.

While these elections were in agitation, and
causing great pleasure to the opposition, the dis-
cussions in the tribunate and legisldtive body as-
sumed a most mischievous character. The treaty
with Russia, on account of the word " subjects,"
had become a ground of the most violent discus-
sions in the committee of the tribunate. M. Costaz,
the reporter of that committee, who did not belong
to the opposition party, had applied to the govern-
ment for certain explanations. The first consul
had received him, and explained to him the real
meaning of the article, so much attacked, and the
motive of its insertion in the treaty; and as to the
word "subjects," he proved to M. Costaz, by a
reference to the dictionary of the academy, that
the word in diplomacy, applied to the citizens of
a republic as well as of a monarchy. He recounted
to him, in order to his complete edification, the
different details relative to emigrants concerning
France and Russia. M. Costaz, convinced on the
evidence of these explanatioi;s, made' his report
favourable to the article in question ; but, intimi-
dated by the violence of the tribunate, he censured
the employment of the word "subjects," and
related these things in a manner sufficiently awk-
ward, and liable to give Russia the appearance of
a very feeble government, delivering up the emi-
grants to the first consul, and to the first consul
the appearance of a persecuting government, pur-
suing the emigrants into their most distant refuge.
M. Costaz, as often happens to circumspect men,
who wish to conciliate all parties, displeased the
first consul and his opponents in an equal degree,
and compromised the former with Russia.

The day of the discussion arrived, being the 7th
of December, 1801, or 16th Frimaire, when the
tribune Jard Panvilliers moved that the debate
should take place in a secret committee, and this
very wise proposal was agreed to. The tribunes
were no sooner left to themselves by the public,
which was by no means favourable to them, than
they gave themselves up to the most inconceivable
rage. They absolutely wanted to reject the treaty,
and propose its rejection to the legislative body.
If there was ever a culpable act, it was this;
because for one word, right besides, and perfectly
innocent, they would reject a treaty of such a
nature, so long and so difficult to conclude, and
which secured a peace with the first continental

1801.
Dec.

Debates in the tribunate.
— The treaty with Russia
ratified.

THE TRIBUNATE.

Ill consequences of th's opposi-
tion. — Discussions concern-
ing the civil code.

319

power — it was acting liije fools and madmen. Clie-
nier and Benjamin Constant delivered the most
declamatory and violent speeches. Cheiiier went
so far as to state, that he had important things to
say upon this question, but that he could only state
them at a public sitting, because he wished that all
France might hear them. He was answered that
it was better he should communicate them to his
own colleagues. He shrunk back from doing this,
and an unkiuown member of the tribune, a simple,
sensible man, restored the minds of his colleagues
to their senses, in a short speech. " 1 know no-
thing," said he, "of diplomacy; I am a stranger
alike to the art and the language ; but I see in the
proposed treaty a treaty of peace. A treaty of
peace is a precious thing, and must be adopted
entire, with all the words it contains. Do not
believe that France would ever pardon you for its
rejection; the responsibility resting upon you would
be terrible. I demand that the discussion termi-
nate, the sitting be declared public, and the treaty
be immediately put to the vote." After these few
words, delivered with simplicity and calmness, the
assembly was about to vote, when the opposition
members moved an adjournment until the next
day, on account of the lateness of the hour. The
adjournment was carried. The following day the
tumult was as great as it had been the day befurc.
Benjamin Constant delivered a written speech,
very lucid and very subtle. Che'nier declaimed
anew, with great vehemence, saying that five mil-
lions of Frenchmen had died that they might cease
to be "subjects," and that this word ought to have
remained buried among the ruins of the Bustile.
The majority, wearied by these violent proceed-
ings, were about to terminate them, when a letter
from Fleurieu, councillor of state, addressed to the
reporter, M. Costaz, arrived. M. Costaz had
treated as official the explanations which he had
given in his report, and had made the assembly
I understand that they came from the first consul.
I "Furnish the proof positive of that!" wastheanswer
made to him. He had thus forced a declaration
I from M. Fleurieu, who was the councillor of state,
I ai)pointed to support the bill or "project." M.
i Fleurieu, after having received the orders of the
fir.-<t consul, sent the declaration desired, accom-
])anied by many declarations, which the report of
M. Costaz rendered indispensably needful ; this
revived the debate. OinguentJ terminated it by an
epigrammatic and not very fitting motion. Ac-
knowledging that it was difficult, on account of an
unpleasant word, to reject a treaty of peace, he
proi)osed a vote in these words : " For the love of
p<ace, the tribunate adopts the treaty concluded
with the court of Russia."

M. dc Girarilin, who was one of the most rea-
sonable and intelligent members of the tribunate,
induced the assembly to pass over all these jiropo-
sitions, and to go immediately to the vote. After all,
the majority ot the tribunate intended to give the
first consul signs of dissatisfaction by the choice of
individuals ; it had no desire to enter into a strug-
gle, above all, in rtlaiion to a treaty of which the
rejection would have drawn upon itself much
public remark. It was ado|)ted by seventy -seven
votes to fourteen. Its adoption in the legislative
body occtirred without tunmlt, tiianks to the forms
of tiic institution.

In Paris this scene produced a painful effect.
The first consul was not considered there as a
minister exposed to the law of a majority, and no
fear was in consequence felt for his political exist-
ence. He was considered a hundred times more
necessary than a king in an established monarchy.
But they saw with chagrin the least appearance of
new troubles, and the friends of a wise liberty
asked themselves how, with a character similar to
that of Bonaparte, how, with a constitution, in
which the framer had neglected to admit the power
of dissolution, such a contest would terminate if it
should be prolonged.

In ettect, if a dissolution had been admitted, the
difficulty would soon have been cleared away,
since France, when convoked, would not have
re-elected one of the enemies of the government.
But obliged to live together until the renewal of
one-fifth, the different powers were liable, as they
were under the directory, to some violence, the one
from the other; and if such a thing occurred, it
was evidently neither the tribunate nor the legis-
lative body that could triumph. It needed but an
arbitrary action of the first consul to bring to
nothing, both the constitution and those who made
it .serve such a purpose. Thus every wise man
trembled at this state of things.

The discussion of the civil code did but increase
these apprehensions. Now that time has obtained
the esteem of all the world for this code, it is
hardly possible to conceive all the objections at
that time urged against it. The opposition ex-
pressed at first great astonishment at finding the
code so simple, and that it had so little novelty,
" How," said they, " what is that all ? — there is in
that no new conception, no great legislative crea-
tion, which is particularly adapted for French
society, or able to mark it with a peculiar and
enduring character ; it is only a translation from
the Roman and the common law. Its authors
have taken Domet, Pothier, the institutes of Jus-
tinian, and digested into French all that they con-
tain ; they have divided this into articlea by num-
bers more than by a logical deduction ; and then
they have presented this compilation to France, as
a monument which has a claim to its admiration
and respect." Benjamin Constant, CluJnier, Gin-
gucn^, Andrieux, all of them men who might liave
employed their intellects to a better purpose, ral-
lied the councillors of state, saying they were
lawyers, under the direction of a soldier that had
made this mediocre compilation, so pompously
called the civil code of France.

M. Portalis and the men of sense, who were his
assistants, re|>lied, that on the matter of legislation
the object was not to be original, but lucid, just,
and wise ; that here there was no now society to
be constituted as with Lycurgus or Moses, but an
old society to be reformed in some points, and in
many others to be restored ; that the French law
had existed for ten centuries ; that it was, at the
same time, the )>roduct of Roman science, of the
feudal system, of the monarchy, and of the modern
mitid, acting together for a long space of time upon
French manners ; that the civil law of France,
resulting from these different causes, it was neces-
sary to adapt in the present day to a society which
had ceased to be aristocratic, in order to become
democratic ; that it wjw necessary, for example, to

320 Discussions relative to THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

review the laws upon marringe, upon paternal
authority, upon succession, in order to divest them
of every thing that was repugnant to the spirit of
the present time ; tliat it was necessary to purge
the laws upon property of all feudal services, to
draw up this mass of prescriptions in precise plain
language, which would allow no room for am-
biguities or for endless disputes, and to put the
whole in excellent order ; that this was the only
monument to be erected, and that, if contrary
to the intention of the authors, it should chance
to surprise by its structure, if it should please
a few scholars by new and original views, in place
of obtaining the cold and silent esteem of lawyers,
it would fail of its real object, though it might
suit a few minds more singular than judicious in
their sentiments.

All this was perfectly reasonable and true. The
code under this view was a master-piece of legis-
lation. Grave lawyers, full of learning and ex-
perience, knowing well the language of the law,
under the direction of a chief, a soldier, it is true,
but of a superior mind, able to decide their doubts,
and to keep them at work, composed this beautiful
digest of Fi'ench law, purged of all feudal law.
It was impossible to do otherwise, or to do better.

It is true that in this vast code it is possible
to substitute here and there one word for another,
to transpose an article from one place to another —
this might be done without much danger, and also
without much utility ; and that it is which even
the best intentioned assemldies are fond of doing,
only to impress their own hand on the work which
is submitted to them. Sometimes, in fact, after
the presentation of an ifliportant bill, mediocre
and ignorant minds get hnkl of a legislative mea-
sure, the result of profound experience and long
labour, alter this, and spoil it, making of a well-
connected whole, a formless incoherent thing, with
relation to laws ah'eady in existence, or to the real
facts of the case. They often act thus out of no
spirit of opposition, but only from a taste for
retouching the work of another. Only let it be
imagined of vehement tribunes, persons of little
infoi-mation, exercising themselves in this sort of
way upon a code of some thousand articles ! It
was enough to make the authors renounce their
work.

The preliminary essay had to sustain the first
assault of the tribunes. It had been sent before a
commission, of which the tribune Andrieux was the
reporter. This part contained, save in some few
and unimportant differences in the verbal part, the
same dispositions as were definitively adopted, and
which now form what may be stjled the preface to
that fine monument of legislation. The first article
related to the promulgation of the laws. The
ancient system had been abandoned, in virtue of
which the law could not be executed until the
parliaments and tril)un:ils had granted the regis-
tration. That system had produced formerly a
contest between the parliaments and royalty ; a
contest which had, in its day, been a useful cor-
rection of absolute monarchy, but which would
have been a great blunder at a time when repre-
sentative assemblies were in existence, commis-
sioned to grant or refuse taxes. There lias been
substituted for this system the simple idea of the
promulgation of the law by the executive power,

rendering it in full force in the chief place of the
government twenty-four hours after its promul-
gation, and in the departments after a delay pro-
portioned to their distances. The second article
interdicts to the laws all i-etrospective effect. Some
great errors of the convention upon this point
rendered this article useful, and even necessary.
It was requisite to lay it down as a strong princi-
ple, that no law should be permitted to disturb the
past, but only to regulate the future. After having
limited the action of the law as to time, it was ne-
cessary to limit its action as to place ; to declare
what laws should follow Frenchmen out of the
territories of France, and bind them in all places,
as those for example which regulated marriages
and successions ; and what laws should be obli-
gatory in the territoi-y of France only, and on that
territory binding upon foreigners as well as natives
of France. The laws relative to police and to
property were to come under the latter category :
that was the object of article three. The fourth
article obliged the judge to try, even when the law
might appear insufficient. This case had occurred
more than once in the transition from one legis-
lation to another. Often, in fact, the tribunals,
from the fault of the laws, had been really em-
barrassed how to give judgment ; often, too, they
had fraudulently witluh-awn themselves from the
obligation to render justice. The court of cassa-
tion and the legislative body were encumbered
with addresses, praying interpretations of the laws.
It was necessary to prevent this abuse, by obliging
the judges to decide in all cases ; but it was at the
same time needful to prevent them from con-
stituting themselves legislators. This was the
object of article five, which forbade tribunals from
deciding any thing but the especial case submitted
to them, and to pronounce in the way of a general
disposition. The sixth, and last article, limited
the natural faculty which all citizens have to
renounce the benefit of certain laws by particular
agreements. It rendered it absolute and impossi-
ble to elude the laws relative to public order,,
to the constitution of families, and to good man-
ners. It decided that no one could withdraw
himself from them by any particular agreement.

These i)reliminary dispositions were indispensa-
ble, because it was necessary to declare somewhere
in legislation how the laws wei'e to he promulgated,
at what moment they became in full force, and how
far their effects extended in regard to time and to
place. It was necessary to prescribe to the judges
the general mode in which the laws applied, to
oblige them to try, but to interdict their consti-
tuting themselves legislators ; it was necessary,
lastly, to render the laws imniutable which consti-
tuted social order and morality, and to restrain
them from the variations of particular agreements.
If it was indispensable to write these things, where
was it more so than at the head of the civil
code, the first, the most general, and the most
important of all the codes ? Would they have
been better placed, for example, at the head of the
code of commerce or of civil procedure ? Evidently
these general maxims were necessary, well written,
and well placed.

It would be difficult at the present time to form
an idea of the censures directed by M. Andrieux
against the preliminary title of the civil code,

Discussions concerning

THE TRIBUNATE.

the civil code.

321

in the name of the commission of the tribunate. In
the fii-st place, according to him, these dispositions
might be placed any where : they belonged no
more to the civil code than to any other. They
migiit, for example, be placed at the head of tiie
constitution as well as at the head of the civil code.
That was true ; but when no one had thought
of placing them at its head, which was natural,
because they had no political character, where
couM tiiey be better jjlaced than iu the code which
might be denominated the social code ?

Secondly, the order of these six articles, ac-
cording to M. Andrieux, was arbitrary. It was
as easy to i»ut the lirst last, as the last tirst. Tiiis
was not exactly correct; for on a close examination
it was easy to discover a true logical deduction in
the manner in which they were disposed. But
in any case what matter is the order of the articles
if one order be just as good as another ? The last
order, is it not that which eminent lawyers, after
the most conscientious labour, have preferred ?
Were there not natural difficulties enough in this
great work, without adding to them those which
were puerile?

Lastly, according to M. Andrieux, the maxims
were general, theoretic, appertaining more to the
science of law than to positive law, which disposes
and commands. This was false, because the form
of the promulgation of the laws, the limit given to
their effects, the obligation of the judges to judge
and not to make regulations, the interdiction of
certain particular agreements contrary to the laws,
— all that was imperative.

The critical censures, then, were as empty as
they were ridiculous. Nevertheless they made an
im|)ression on the tribunate, which judged them
worthy of the greatest attention. The tribune
Thiessd considered the disposition which inter-
dicted to the laws a retractive effect as extremely
dangerous, and counter-revolutionary. It was, he
said, up to a cert;iin point, annulling the conse-
quences of the night of the 4th of August ; because
the iddividuals born under the system of the law
of |)riniogeniture and of substitutions would be
able to Kay that the new law on the equality
of jiroperty was retracted as regarded tlieni, and in
consequence void as far as they were attectid by it.

Such absurd objections were supported, and the
preliminary part wius rejected by sixty-three votes
against fifteen. The opposition, delighted with
their comm'.ncement, determined to follow up this
first success. According to the constitution, the
tribunate nominated three speakers or orators to
sustain against three councillors of state, the dis-
cussion of I he laws before the legislative body.
Tliicss^, Andrieux, and Favard were, in consu-
quenee, charged to demand the rejection of the
preliminary ti^le. They obtained one hundred and
forty-two voices against one "".unired and tliirty-
nine.

Thi^^ result, together with the different votes at
the election of the proposed members, and tlio
scene upon the word " subjects" was very serious.
It was reported as nearly certain that two other
parts alrciidy presented, that "On th • enjoyment
of civil n;;htH," and "On the form of the acts of
the civil stjil«;," wouM also be rejected. The
rejiort of M. Simeon " On the enjoyment and
privation of civil rights," was in favour of its

rejection. M. Simeon, that ordinary-minded, dis-
creet pei-son, had, among differejit animadversions,
stated that the px'oposed law iiad neglected to say
that the children born of French parents in the
French colonies were by right born Frenchmen.
This singular objection is quoted here because it
excited astonishment and anger in the tirst consul.
He convoked the council of state to advise with it
what was best to be done in such an emergency.
Was the govennnent to go on in the coui'se it had
adopted or not ? Must it change the mode of
presentation to the legislative body 1 Would it
not be best to put off this great work, so anxiously
and impatiently expected, until another time ? The
first consul was exasperated. " What would you
do," he cried, "with persons who, before discus-
sion, say that the councillors of state and the con-
suls are nothing but asses, and that their labours
ought to be flung at their heads ? What will you
do when such aii one as Simeon accuses the law of
being incomplete, because it does not declare that
infants born of Frenchmen in French colonies are
French ? In truth, one stands astounded in the
midst of these strange mental aberrations. Even
with all the good faith brought to this discussion in
the bosom of the council of state, we have had the
greatest difficulty to come to an agreement ; liow
is it possible then to succeed in an assembly five or
six times more numerous, discussing with no sin-
cerity at all ? How is an entire code to be drawn
up under such circumstances ? I have read the
speech of Portalis to the legislative body, in reply
to the orators of the tribunate ; he has left them
nothing to say ; he has drawn their teeth. But let a
man be ever so eloquent ; let him speak twenty-
four hours in succession, he can do nothing against
an assembly which is prejudiced and determined to
listen to nothing."

After these complaints, expressed in bitter and
warm language, the first consul asked the advice
of the council of state on the best mode to be
adopted to ensure the passing of the civil code by
the tribunate and legislative body. The subject
was not a new one in the council. It had already
been foreseen there, and different means proposed
for getting over the difficulty. Some had imagined
that general ])rineiples only should be presented,
on which the legislative body should vote, with the
understanding that the developments should after-
wards be added in the way of regulations. This
was hardly to be admitted, because to comprehend
the general principles of laws is difficult with the
developments separately drawn up. Others pro-
posed a more simple plan, which was to present
the whole code at once. " You would havo. no
more trouble," they said, " this way, for the three
books of the code than for one. The tribunes
would attack the first heads ; they would then get
fatigued, and let the rest pass, 'i'lie discussion
would be shortened this way by its very im-
mensity." This was the most ])laiiHililo and tho
wisest course to take. Unha|ipily, in order to
make it succeed, there were many eonditions want-
ing. The assemblies had not thru llio facnlt.v of
amending tho propositions of the government,
which permits such small sarriHees, by nu-ans
of which the vanity of some is satisfied and tho
Mcrnples of others disarmed, during the ameliora-
tion of the laws. There wanted also to tho opjio-
Y

322

Opposition to the civil
code.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Disputes concerning the 1802.
election of senators. Jan.

sition a little of that good faith, without which all
serious discussion is impossible ; and, lastly, there
wanted to the first consul himself that constitutional
patience, which the habit of contradiction Jmpai'ts
to men fashioned under a representative govern-
ment. He would not admit that good, honestly
intended and toilingly prepared, should be delayed
or spoiled to please " the babblers," as he styled
them.

Some resolute spirits went so far as to propose
that the civil code should be presented as treaties
are presented, with a law of acceptance at its side,
thus to get it voted in the mass by a "yea" or
"nay." This method of proceeding was thought
too dictatorial, and not seriously debated.

Under the opinion of the most enlightened
members, more especially Ti'onchet, it was de-
termined to wait and see what would be the fate of
the other two heads presented in the tribunate.
" Yes," said the first consul, " we call hazard two
more battles. If we gain them, we shall continue
the march that has commenced. If we lose them,
we must go into winter-quarters, and consider
what course we shall adopt."

This plan of conduct was adopted, and the re-
sult of the two discussions was awaited. Public
opinion began to operate strongly against the tri-
bunate. Then the leadei-s bethought themselves
of a means to moderate the effect of these succes-
sive rejections, and that was to intermingle them
with an adoption. The head relative to "the
keeping of the acts of the civil state," pleased them
greatly in itself, because it more strictly sanctioned
the principles of the revolution in res])ect to the
clergy, and absolutely forbade them the registration
of births, deaths, and marriages, in order to attach
the duty solely to the municipal officers. The
head presented by the councillor of state, Thibau-
deau, was excellent, but that would not have saved
it had it not contained dispositions against the
clergy. They decided upon its adoption. But in
the order of presentation it should have come in
the third place. It was introduced second, and
voted without difficulty, to render more certain the
rejection of the head entitled, " On the enjoyment
and privation of civil rights." The last in its turn
coming on for discussion was rejected by an
immense majority of the tribunate. The rejection
of it by the legislative body was not to be doubted.
Thus the series of difficulties foreseen reappeared
in entierty. These difficulties could not fail to be
much increased when the laws upon marriage,
upon divorce, and iipon the paternal authority,
came to be de])ated ; as to the concordat, and
to the bill relative to public instruction, there
was evidently no chance of success in getting them
adopted.

But tliat wliich pushed things to the extreme
was a new ballot for members, which put on the
character of direct hostility against the first consul.
The election of the abb^ Grdgoire as senator, had
been carried in opposition to the wishes of the
government, and to afford a sign of disapproba-
tion of its religious policy. There were, as just
seen, two places to fill, and not only were tiie
assemblies desirous of filling them, contrary to the
propositions already known as having been made
by the first consul in favour of three generals, but
they were determined to make the choice which

should be most disagreeable to him. This choice
was that of M. Daunou. They endeavoured to
force the obtainment of M. Daunou by the two
legislative authorities at once, by the tribunate and
legislative body, which rendered his nomination by
the senate nearly an inevitable consequence.

The greatest activity was displayed, and votes
were requested with a degree of boldness which
excited wonder in every body, when in opposition
to so formidable an authority as the first consul.

M. Daunou was balloted for in the legislative
body with general Lamartilliere, the government
candidate. There were repeated ballotings. At
last M. Daunou received one hundred and thirty-
five votes to one hundred and twenty-two for
general Lamartilliere. He was, accordingly, pro-
claimed the candidate of the legislative body for
one of the vacant places in the senate. In the
tribunate M. Daunou had again general Lamartil-
liere for an opponent, and he obtained forty-eight
voices in place of thirty-nine given to the general.
He was proclaimed the candidate. He had conse-
quently two presentations for one. The scrutiny
took place on the 1st of January, 1802, the 11th
Nivose, the same day as the rejection of the head
of the civil code on the " enjoyment and privation
of civil rights."

According to the ordinary rules of the repre-
sentative system, it ought to have been said that
the majority was lost. But in that case, the per-
son who must have retired was the first consul,
since he was the great object of the admiration of
France, as well as of the hatred of his enemies.
Still no one had come forward to exclude liim,
because there was no one had the means of so
doing. It was, therefore, a real piece of trickery,
wholly unworthy of men in earnest. It was the
most puerile, and, at the same time, the most dan-
gerous piece of spite, because they were urging to an
extremity a violent character, full of the feeling of
his own strength, and capable of any thing. Cam-
baceies himself, commonly so moderate, regarded
these pi'oceedings as decidedly out of all order: he
repeated that such pointed hostility could not be
suffered; and that, for his own part, he could not an-
swer for his success in calming the anger of the first
consul. The anger of the first consul was, in fact, ex-
treme ; and he loudly announced his determination
to break down the obstacles which they were
endeavouring to place in the way of all the good
which he was desirous of effecting.

On the following day, the 2nd of January, or
12th Nivose, was the day of the decade, when
he gave an audience to the senators. A great
number attended, and among them many who had
acted against him. They came, the one party out
of curiosity, the other out of weakness, and to dis-
avow, by their presence, their partici[)ation in what
had happened. Sieyes was found in the number of
those who were present. The first consul was,
according to custom, in uniform ; his countenance
appeared animated, and all expected some violent
scene. A circle was formed around him. " You
ai'o determined then to nominate no more gene-
rals ?" said he. " Yet you are indebted to them
for peace ; this would be a good time for showing
them your gratitude." After these introductory
words, the senators Kellermann, Fran9ois de Neuf-
cliateau, and others, were severely lectured, and

Violent measures of the first
consul repressed by Cam-

baccres.

THE TRIBUNATE.

Cambactrt's' plan to dissolve
the opposition.

made pooi- defences. The conversation then be-
came general once more, and the fir.^t consul, look-
in;]; towards Sieves, again began in a very loud
tone : " There are people who want to give us
a grand elector, and who are thinking of a prince
of the house of Orleans. This system has its sup-
porters I know, even in the senate." These words
had relation to a scheme truly or falsely attributed
to Sieyes, and by his enemies reported to the first
consuf. Sieyes, upon hearing these offensive words,
retired blushing. The first consul, then addressing
the senators around him, said : " I declare to you,
that if you nominate M. Daunou a senator, I will
take it as a personal affront ; and you know that I
have never yet put up with one.''

This scene frightened most of the senators pre-
sent, and afflicted the wise portion. They saw
with pain, a man, so necessary and so great, with
sucli little command over himself when in a state
of irritation. The malevolent went away, saying
that never had the members of any body in the
state been treated with more insupportable inde-
cency. Still the blow told home. Fear had pene-
trated into their spiteful but timid minds, and their

noisy opposition was soon

destined to humble itself

sadly, before the man it had attempted to brave.

The consuls debated among themselves upon the
course which should be taken. General Bonaparte
seemed bent upon some act of violence. Had he
possessed the legal power of dissolving the tribunate
and legislative body, the difficulty would have been
easily overcome in a regular way by a general
election, and a majority would liave been obtained
favourable to the ideas of the first consul. It is
true that a general election would have excluded
the mass of men belonging to the revolution, and
have brought'forward new candidates, more or less
animated by royalist sentiments, such as those
against whom it had become neecssjiry to act on
the 18tli Fructidor, which would have been a mis-
fortune of another kind. Thus true it is that on
the morrow of a sanguinary revolution, which had
so dee|)ly irritated men against each other, the free
play of constitutional institutions was impossible.
In order to escape from the hands of the unreflect-
ing revolutionists, the government must fall into
the hands of bad-intentioned royalists. But here
in any case the resource of a dissolution was not to
be found in the laws, and some other means must
be discovered.

Tiie first consul wished to withdraw the civil
code, an<l to let the legislative body an<l the tribu-
nate keep holyday, submitting to them nothing but
the laws of tinance ; then when he liad made all
Franco feel tliat tiiese asstiiiblies were the sole
cause of the interruption experienced in the benefi-
cent operati<ins of the government, to seize an
opportunity for breaking tlni inconvenient instru-
nieiits" which the constitution liad imposed u))on
him. Cambac(?rcs, a man skilful in expedients,
found milder means, and of a legality perfectly
defensible, ami in fact the only means practicable
at the moment. He dissuaded the general, his
colleague, from every illegal and violent measure :
" You can do any thing," wiid he; " people will jmt
up with it from you. They even hllowcd the
directory to do what it pleased — the directory
which hail not the advaiitjige of your glory, iK.r of
your moral ascendancy, nor of your immense mili-

tary and political successes. But the arbitrary
proceedings of the 18tli Fructidor, necessary as
they might have been, ruined the directory. It
rendered the directorial constitution so contempti-
ble, that no one would afterwards take it in earnest.
Ours is much better. For having the art to use it,
much good may be effected with it. Let us not
then deliver it up to public contempt, by its viola-
tion, on account of the first obstacle which it pre-
sents to us."

Cambac^res admitted that it would be right to
withdraw the civil code, interrupt the session,
place the deliberate bodies in idleness, and lay
upon their shoulders the weight of so grave a
reproach, the forced inaction to which the govern-
ment was reduced. But this inaction was an im-
possible strait, out of which they must get. Camba-
ceres found the means of escape in article 38 of the
constitution, which was thus conceived: "The first
renewal of the legislative body and of the tribunate
will not take place until some time in the course of
the year x."

It was then the year .\., 1801-2. The govern-
ment had a right to clioose any period of the year
it might select for the renewal. It was able, for
example, to jjroceed in the course of the winter,
in Pluviose or Ventose. Then to dismiss one-fifth
of the tribunate and of the legislative body, which
would be twenty members for the tribunate, sixty
for the legislative body: to remove in tins man-
ner the moi'e hostile, and fill their places with pru-
dent, peaceable men ; and next to open an extra-
ordinary session in the spring, in order to obtain the
adoption of the laws, the passage of which was now
arrested by the bad will of the opposition. This
was clearly the best way of jiroceeding. By ex-
cluding twenty members of the tribunate, and sixf;^-
of the legislative body, the government would dis-
place those restless men who drew in the inert
mass, and intimidate such as might be tempted to
resist. But if it wished to succei^d in (his plan, it
would be necessary to gain tlie consent of the
senate to two things. Firstly, as to the inter-
pretation of article 38, in the sense of the design
jn-ojected : secondly, the exclusion of the opponent
members, and the filling up of their places by men
devoted to the government. Cambacdres, well
knowing the senate, and that the mass was timid,
and the opposition of little courage, answered for it
that the senate, when it saw to what an extent it
was likely to be drawn in, beyond the limits of rea-
son and prudence, would lend itself to all that the
government desired of it. Article 38, the interpre-
tation of which was become such an important
point, did not specify the mode to be employed for
the designation of the fifth part of the members
that were to go out. Under the silence upon that
point in the article, the senate charged to choose
might, if it pleased, prefer the use of the ballot to
that of the lot. Against such an interpretation of
the law, it might be urged that the constant usage,
when it was necessary to renew an assemldy par-
tially, was to have recourse to the lot, in order to
decide tile portion which should be first excluded,
'i'o this it might be answered, that recourse is lia<l
to the lot when no other mode can be ado])ted. It
is not i)ossible, in fact, to denianil of several hun-
dred electoral collei;<s the disignation of a fifth
that is to go out, for to address any one of such
Y 2

The civil code withdrawn
from the legislature.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

would be to designate oneself that fifth ; to address
all would be to have recourse to a general election,
and in a general election it is impossible to fix
beforehand on the number of those excluded, for
that would again be to designate oneself the fifth
to be removed. The lot, therefoi-e, is the only
resource in the common system of election by the
electoral colleges. But liaving here the senate,
charged to elect, and easily able to designate, by
ballot, the fifth to be excluded, it was more natural
to have recourse to the clearsightedness of its votes
than to the blind authority of any kind of chance.
It made, for that is truth, the senate the arbiter of
the question ; but it conformed in this to the real
spirit of the constitution ; because in confei-ring
upon the senate all the prerogatives of the electonil
body, it would be rendered a judge of the conflicts
wliich might arise between the legislative majori-
ties and the government. In a word, it was re-
establishing by a subterfuge, the faculty of disso-
lution, indispensable in every regular government.

The most important reason in favour of the step
was, that the government got out of its embarrass-
ment without extensively violating the constitution.
The first consul said that he would admit this or
any other plan, if it only got rid of persons who
prevented him from ])ursuing measures that were
conducive to the interests of France. Cambaceies
took the charge of drawing up a memorial upon
the subject. A message was prepared as well,
which should announce to the legislative body, that
the civil code was withdrawn. Bonaparte under-
took to draw it up himself, in a noble and austere
style.

Already they began to dread tlie outbreak of his
anger, a manifestation of which it was rumoured
would be spee<lily displayed. The day following
the scene with the senators, tlie 3rd of January,
or lOih Nivose, a message was sent, by tlie pre-
sident, to the le;rislative body. It was read in the
midst of a profound silence, which indicated a
species of terror. The message was couched in
these terms : —

" Legislators, — The government has resolved
to withdraw the bills of the law of the civil code.

" It is with pain that it finds itself obliged to
delay until another period, laws awaited with so
much anxiety by the nation ; but it is convinced
that the time is not yet come, when such important
discussions can be carried on with the calmness
and unity of purpose whieii they demand."

This deserved severity produced the strongest
effect. Every government was not able and ought
not to use such language ; but it must still be
permitted to do so when it has reason, when it
has conferred upon a country inmiense glory and
great benefit, and finds itself repaid by an incon-
siderate opposition.

The legislative body, recoiling from the blow,
fell at the feet of the goveninient in a manner not
very honourable. They demanded, while still
sitting, that tiie ballot should take place for the
presentation of a candidate for the third and last
vacancy in the senate. Will it be credited ? the
same men who had so spitefully jjer.sisied in pre-
senting Gr^goire and D.iunou, voted at the same
instant for genera I Lamartilliere, and he ^ot two
hundred and thirty-three out of two hiindreil and
fifty-two votes. It was impossible for them to

comply more quickly with the desires of the first
consul. In consequence, general Lamartilliere was
declared the candidate of the legislative body.

This presentation furnished an expedient to the
senate to satisfy tlie first consul without too deep
a humiliation. They did not dream any more
about the choice of M. Daunou, subsequent to the
scene before the senators, at the audience of the
2nd of January. Siill, W. Daunou had been pi"e-
sented by two of the state assemblies at the same
time, the legislative body and the tribunate. To
prefer the candidate of the government to a can-
didate who had upon his side the double presenta-
tion of the two legislative assemblies, was throwing
themselves on their knees to the first consul a
little too openly. They had recourse to a paltry
subterfuge, which by no means preserved the dig-
nity of the senate, and which served only to put
their embarrassment in acleai-er light. The senate
assembled on the following day, the 4th of January,
or 1 4th Nivose. The presentation of M. Daunou,
by the legislative body, had been determined upon
on the 30th of Decemlier, that of general Lamar-
tilliere on the 3rd of January. The senate affected
to suppose that the resolution of the 30th of De-
cember had not been communicated, while that of
the 3rd of January only had been, and that, there-
fore, general Lamartilliere was, in consequence,
the only recognized candidate of the legislative
body. It joined to this subterfuge a trick still
more base. It filled up the second of the three
]ilaces vacant. Now general Lamartilliere was the
first, and general Jourdan the second, on the first
consul's list. It affected, therefore, to consider
general Jourdan as the government candidate for
the place still vacant. The senate thus drew up
its decisions : —

" Having seen the message of the first consul of
the 25tli of Frimaire, by which he presents gene-
ral Jourdan; having seen the message of the tri-
bunate of the 11 ih of Nivose, by which it presents
the citizen Daunou ; having, lastly, seen the mes-
sage of the legislative body of the 13th of Nivose,
by which it presents general Lamartilliere, the
senate adojits general Lan)artilliere, and proclaims
him a member of the conservative senate."

By this mode the senate appeared to have
adopted, not the candidate of the first consul, but
that of the legislative body. This was adding to
the shame of submission the disgrace of a lie
which dec ived nobody. Certainly it was wise to
give place to an indispensable man, without whom
France would have been plunged into phaos, with-
out whom not one of his opponents was secure of
keeping a head upon his shoulders; but people who
knew that they were not able to carry out the
aft'ront, .should, at least, have taken care not to
afiVont him.

The ojtposition in the tribune uttered loud cries
against the weakness of the senate, — a weakness
wliiih they were soon to imitate themselves, and
even sm-piiss.

Tlie plan adopted by the government was im-
mediately carried into execution. The legislative
labours were suspended, and it was publicly an-
nounced that the first consul quitted Paris to go
to Lyons, on a journey wliich would last nearly a
monti). The oiiject of this journey was marked
by tlie customary quietness of the acts of Bona-

Measures witlulrawn by the
government.

THE TRIBUNATE.

parte. It was undertaken in order to constitute
tiie Cisalpine republic; anil five hundred deputies
of every a^^e and rank, were about passing the
Alps, in that rigorous winter, to form at Lyons a
grand diet, under the name of a consulta, to receive
fronj the hands of general Bonaparte, laws, magis-
trates, and an entire government. It had been
agreed that they should meet him iialf way, and
Lyons had been deemed, next to Paris, the most
convenient place for such a rendezvous. Vast
preparations liad already been made in this city
for an imposing public spectacle. He was also to
be surrounded by a great military display, since
twenty-two thousand men, the i-emainder of the
army of Egypt, disembarked at Marseilles and
Toul n by the English navy, were on their march
upon Lyons, to be there reviewed by their former
general.

Nobody now thought any tiling more of the
legislative body and the tribunate. They were
abandoned to a state of total inactivity, without
any sort of explanation of the plans which the
government might have conceived. The consti-
tution no more contained the faculty of prorogation
than that of dissolution. The two assemblies were
neither dismissed nor furnislieil with employment.
The government had widulrawn, besides the bills
of the civil code, a law relative to the re-establish-
ment of bi-anding for the crime of forgery. This
crime, in consequence of the circumstances of the
revolution, had increased to a frightful extent.
Such a number of papers were required by the
new regulations for the security of officers ac-
countable to the government ; so many certificates
of civism, formerly absolutely needful for those
who would not be considered suspected ; so many
certificates of presence demanded on the part of
emigrants, to clear themselves of the efiect of
emigration ; so many verifications of every kind
required and furnished in writing, had given birth
(o a detestable class of crimin;ds, that of forgers.
They infested the avenues of business as bandits
infest the highways. The first consul designed to
have a special punishment for them, as he had
wished to jiave a special juribdiction for the rob-
bei"8 on the liighway, and he had proposed brand-
ing. "The crime of forgery enriched," he said,
" a forger, who has undergone his punishment;
he returns into society, and his wealth causes
his crime to be forgotten. 'J'here ought to be an
indelible mark .set ujxin him by the executioner's
hand, which would forbid those complacent per-
sons, who always pay their court to opulence, from
sitting at the table of the enriched forger." This
proposition had encountered tile same difficulty as
tiie civil code. It was wiilnlrawn, and there no
longer remained any thing for deliberation, because
the laws relative to luibhc instruction and the re-
CHlablishment of worship had not been presented.
As to the law of the finances, that was reserved
to form the pretext for an extraordinary session
in the spring. This species of parliament there-
fore was left, neither dissolved n<ir prorogued, idle,
U8ele8.s, embarrassed by its inaction, and carrying,
in the sight of France, the responsibility of a com-
plete inlerru|>tion of the good and useful labours of
the government.

It was arranged during tlio absence of the
first consul, that Cambaceres, who had a peculiar

skill in managing the senate, should take care to
get such an interpretation as was desiralile put
u|)on article 38 of the c(mstitutioii, and that he
should himself superintend the exclusion of the
twenty and sixty members, that it was the design
to remove from the tribunate and legislative bodies.

Before setting out, the first consul had to super-
intend two important affairs, the expedition to St.
Domingo, and the congress at Amiens. The second
detained him beyond the term fixed for his de-
parture.

The desire to hold possessions at a distance
was an old French ambition, that the reign of
Louis XVI., very favourable to the navy, had
aroused, and which the subsequent naval reverses
of France lia<l not yet extinguished. Colonics were
then an object of ardent desire on the part of all
coinmereiiil countries. The expedition to Egypt,
conceived for the purpose of disputing with Eng-
land the possession of India, was a consequence of
that general wish, and its unsuccesslul issue had
rendered very strong the desire of compensating
f(ir the loss in s<in)e other manner. The first consul
had prepared two measures fur that ])iirpose : one,
the possession of Louisiana; the other of St. Do-
mingo. He had given Tuscany, that fine and
jirecious jiart of Italy, to the court of Spain, iu
order to obtain Louisiana in exchange, and he was
at this moment jiressing the execution of the en-
gagement entered into by that court. He was, at
the same time, determined to recover the island
of St. Domingo. This island was, before the re-
volution, the first and most important of the An-
tilles, (jr West Indies, and the most desired among
all tlie colonies which produce sugar and coffee.
It furnished the French ports and shipping with
the most imjxirtant articles of traffic. The im-
]irudeiice of the C(instituent assembly caused the
slaves to revolt, and led to those lamentable scenes
of horror by which the liberty of the blacks was
first signalized in the world. A negro, endowed
with real genius, had completed at St. Domingo
S(nnetliing similar to what Bonaparte had done in
France. He had quieted and governed the i-e-
volted population, and established a species of
order. Thanks to him, the negroes no longer
slaughtered each other in St. Domingo, and were
beginning to work. Tou.ssaint conceived a con-
stitution, which he liad submitted to the first
consul, and he showed for the mother country a
sort of national attachment. This negro had a
strong aversion to an English connexion; he de-
sired to be free and to be French. The first consul
at first acquiesced in this state of things ; but
he soon conceived doubts of the fidelity of Tous-
saint rOuverture, and, without desiring to bring
back the negroes to slavery, lie devised the pro-
fiting by the maritime armistice resulting from
the preliminaries of jieace signed in London, to
expedite a squadron of ships and an army to St.
Domingo. With regard to the blacks, the first
consul's plan was to retain them in the stmic situ-
ation as they had been ])lac<Ml in by the course of
events. Ho wished, in all the colonies, where the
revolt had not appeared, to continue the same
slavery, but to relax its rigour ; at St. Domingo ho
would allow the freedom which could not be again
constrained. Still he intendeil to establish tho
authority of the mother country in the island, and

Objects of the expedition.
— Preparations.

Distrust of tlie British
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, ministry. - Negotia-

tions at Amiens.

to keep an army there for the purpose. In the
event of the blacks, on remainhig free, beeomhig
unfaithful subjects, or of the English renewing the
war, he intended, wliile respecting the freedom of
the blacks, to restore tlieir old possessions to the
colonists, who filled Paris with their miseries, their
complaints, and imprecations against the govern-
ment of Toussaint I'Ouverture. A considerable
number of the French nobles, deprived already of
their property in France by the revolution, were,
at the same time, colonists of St. Domingo, de-
spoiled of the rich habitations which they had
formerly possessed in that island. Their estates
in France were refused them, from having become
national domains ; but it was possible to restore
them their sugar houses and coffee plantations in
St. Domingo, and this was a compensation that
might in some measure satisfy them. Such were
the various motives that govei-ned the proceedings
of the first consul. To recover the finest of the
French colonies; to hold it, not by the doubtful
fidelity of a black raised to dictatorial power, but
by force of arms ; to keep possession of it against
the blacks and the English; to restore the ancient
colonists to their property, cultivated by free
labour; to join, finally, to that queen of the An-
tilles, the mouths of the Mississippi, by acquiring
Louisiana ; such were the combinations of the first
consul, combinations to be regretted, as will soon
be seen, but required, so to say, by a general dis-
position of the public mind, general in France at
that moment.

It was of importance to hasten, because although
the definitive treaty of peace, negotiating at that
moment in Amiens, was nearly certain to be con-
cluded ; yet it was necessary in all events, in case
the English should raise new and inadmissible
pretensions, to take advantage of the existing
interval, to despatch the fleet while the sea re-
mained open. The first consul caused a large
armament to be prepared at Flushing, Brest,
Nantes, Rochefort, and Cadiz, consisting of twenty-
six ships of the line and twenty frigates, capable of
embarking twenty thousand men. He gave the
command of the squadron to admiral Villaret
Joycusc, and the command of the army to general
Leclerc, one of the best officers of the army of the
Rhine, become the husband of his sister Pauline.
He insisted that his sister should accompany her
husband to St. Domingo. He loved her with the
tenderest aff'ection ; he therefore sent thither one
of the oVijects dearest to him, and had no intention
at the time, as party rancour since charged him,
with transporting to an unhealthy climate, sub-
ject to dangerous fever, those soldiei-s of the army
of the Rhine who had given him offence. Another
circumstance shows the intention which directed
him in the corps sent to St. Domingo. As the
peace seemed likely to become general and solid,
military men began to fear that their professional
cai-eer would be tei-minated. A great number
applied to be employed in the exjiedition, and it
was a favour which he was obliged to bestow
among them with a sort of i-egard to justice and
equality. The brave Richepanse, that hero of the
German army, was given as a lieutenant to general
Leclerc.

The fii'st consul api)lied himself to the prepa-
rations with his customary celerity, and pressed as

much as possible the departure of the naval di-
visions, in ports from Holland to the southern
extremity of the peninsula. Still, before the squa-
dron could set sail, he was under the necessity
of explaining to the English ministry, to whom this
large armament caused considerable misti-ust. He
had some trouble to satisfy them on the point,
although they were rather desirous the expedition
should proceed. They were not then as ardent
for negro emancipation as British ministers have
since appeared. The sight of the freed negroes of
St. Domingo made them apprehensive for their
colonies, above all, for Jamaica. They therefore
wished success to the French enterprise ; but the
extent of the means disquieted them, and they
would have preferred that the troops had been
sent over in transports. They became accessible
to reason ; and were at last resigned to let this
vast armament pass, at the same time despatching
a squadron of observation. They even promised
to place all the provisions and ammunition, which
the resources of Jamaica commanded, at the service
of the French army, of course subject to payment
for whatever might be supplied. The chief naval
division, formed at Brest, set sail on the 14 th
of December, the others followed at a short dis-
tance of time afterwards. At the end of Decem-
ber the whole armament was at sea, and would
consequently arrive at St. Domingo, whatever
might be the result of the negotiations at Amiens.
These negotiations, conducted by lord Cornwallis
and Joseph Bonaparte, proceeded slowly, without
giving any reason to fear a ruptui-e. The first
cause of delay had been in the composition of the
congress, which it was necessary should consist
not only of French and English plenipotentiaries,
but also of plenipotentiaries from Holland and
Spain ; because, after the preliminaries, the peace
should be concluded between the two great bel-
ligerent nations and all their allies. Spain, which
from an extreme of friendship had nearly gone
into animosity, thwarted the first consul by not
sending a plenipotentiary to the congress. A.s, at
bottom, Spain knew that the peace was certain,
and that she would only figure • in the pi-otocol
as surrendering Trinidad, she was in no hurry
to send a negotiator. The English, on their side,
desired to see at the congress of Amiens a Spanish
plenipotentiary, in order to obtain a formal cession
of the island of Trinidad. She announced that
she would not negotiate, if a Spanish plenipoten-
tiary were not present. The first consul was
obliged to take with the court of Spain a tone
which should rouse it from its apathy. He ordered
general St. Cyr, the ambassador in place of Lucien,
to lay before the king and queen the extravagant
conduct of the prince of the peace, and to declax'e
to them, that if they " continued to conduct them-
selves on the same system, it would terminate in a
thunder-stroke '."

■ Here is a letter very important in order to appreciate the
relations of France witli Spain at this time :—

" 10th Frimaire, year x., or 1st December, ISOl.

" I can understand nothing, citizen ambassador, of the

conduct of the court of Madrid. I specially charge you to

take every step to open the eyes of this cabinet, so that it

may adopt a regular and becoming conduct. The subject

1802.
Jan.

Negotiations relative to

THE TRIBUNATE.

the peace of Amiens.

327

The Spanish minister designed to figure in the
congress of Amiens, M. Campo Arlange, was ill in
Italy. Spain finally decided to give to M. Azara,
ambassador in Paris, an order to proceed to the
congress. This difticulty over with the Spaniards,
there was another with the Dutch to overcome.
The Dutch plenipotentiary, M. Schimmelpenuiuck,
would not admit the base of the preliminaries,
tliat is to say, the cession of Ceylon, before know-
ing how Holland would be treated with respect to
the restitution of the ships in the possession of
England ; how with regard to the indemnities laid
claim to on behalf of the stadtholder dispossessed ;
relative, finally, to some questions of limits on the
French side. Joseph Bonaparte was ordered to

has appeared to me so important, that I have thought it my
duty to write you myself upon tlie matter.

" The most intimate union subsisted between France and
Spain when his majesty thought proper to ratify fhe treaty
ofBadajoz.

" The prince of the peace sent at (hat time to our am-
bassador a note, a copy of which I have ordered to be sent
to you. This note was too full of offensive terms for me to
pay it the least attention. A few days afterwards he sent to
the French ambassador at Madrid a note, in which he de-
clared that his catholic majesty was about to make a sepa-
rate peace with England. I have also ordered a copy of that
note to be sent to you. I then felt how little I was able to
count upon the support of a power, the minister of which
expressed himself so imbecomingly, and exhibited so much
inconsistency in his conduct. Knowing well the intentions
of the king, I would liave had him acquainted immediately
with the ill conduct of his minister, if his majesty's illness
had not interfered with my intention.

" I several times intimated to the court of Spain, that its
refusal to execute the convention of Madrid, in other words,
to occupy a fourth of the Portuguese territory, would lead to
the loss of Trinidad. No attention was paid to these re-
marks.

'• In the negotiations which have taken place in London,
France discussed the interests of Spain as she would have
done her own; but as finally his Britannic majesty has
never refrained from insisting upon Trinidad, I could no
1 .nger retain it, more especially as Spain, in an official note,
threatened France with opening a separate negotiation : we
could then no longer rely upon her succour for the con-
tinuation of the war.

'• The congress of Amiens is sitting, and a definitive peace
will be promptly signed ; still his catholic majesty has not
yet published the preliminaries, nor made known in what
mode he is willing to treat with England. It becomes,
nevertheless, highly essential for his consideration in the
eyes of Europe, and for the interests of his crown, that he
should immediately decide; without doing which, the defini-
tive treaty will be promptly signed, and he will not be a
participator.

" It has been reported to me, that at Madrid they wish to
abroKate their bargain 'n the cession of Louisiana. France
has never been wanting in the fulfilment of any treaty
made with her, and kIic will never allow any power to be
wanting on that point towards her. The king of Tuscany
is upon his throne and in possession of his states ; and his
catholic majesty knows too well how to keep faith in his en-
gagements, to refuse much longer our being put in posses-
sion of Louisiana.

" I desire that you will make known to their majesties
my extreme discontent, and the unjust. and inconsistent
conduct of the prince of the peace

" During the lait month, that minister hag not spared
cither intuiting notes or hazardous proceedings. Ali that
lie is able to do against France he ha% done. If this system
be proceeded in, tell the queen and the prince of the peace,
boldly, that it will end in some unexpected tliundcr-slroke."

notify to M. Schimmelpenninck, that he would only
be received at the congress on the condition of his
first admitting the preliminaries of London as the
basis of the negotiation. Lord Cornwallis having
expressed himself satisfied with this formaUty, the
congress thus became constituted.

Still the English were anxious to introduce Por-
tugal, under the pretext that she was an ally of
England. The secret motive was to obtain an
exemption for the court of Lisbon, from the con-
tribution of 20,000,000 f., which had been imposed
upon her by one of the articles in the treaty of
iladrid. The first consul refused, by declaring
that peace had been made between France and
Portugal, and consequently there was nothing
more to be done. This pretension disposed of, the
congress set at work, and the basis was soon agreed
upon.

To avoid incalculable difficujties, it was agreed
that every demand out of the letter of the prelimi-
naries should be rejected. " Nothing more nor
less than the articles of London," was the recipro-
cal maxim admitted. The English had, in eftect,
brought into the discussion the abandonment by
France of the island of Tobago. The first consul,
on his side, had demanded an extension of territory
in the region of Newfoundland, in order to benefit
the French fisheries.

These claims were mutually rejected; and in
order to finish, it was agreed not to entertain any
claims in the way of concession, that were not con-
tained in the preliminary treaty. Otherwise, by
reviving difficulties, heretofore hap])ily overcome,
peace itself might be hazarded. This principle
once adopted, it only remained to fix it, by the
drawing up formally the stipulations of London.

There were two important ])oints to be resolved;
the payment of the expenses of the jn-isoners, and
the government to be imposed upon Malta.

England had maintained a great many more pri-
soners belonging to France than France held of
England, and she claimed to bo reimbursed the
difference. France replied that the principle gene-
rally acknowledged was that each nation main-
tained the prisoners whom they took ; that if a
different principle were admitted, France would
have to demand reimbursement for the Russians,
Bavarians, and other soliliers in the pay of Eng-
land, whom she had taken and supported ; that
the combatants in the pay of England ought to
figure in the number of prisoners which she was
bound to maintain. " Besides," the French i)leni-
potentiary added, "that is a mere question of
money, which can be settled by means of com-
missioners, especially appointed for the liquidation
of such balances."

In regard to Malta, the question was of a more
serious import. The English and French were
here at open mistrust. They seemed to have a
glance into futurity, and to fear that at some future
period, the island would fall into the hands of one
or the other.

The first consul, by a singular instinct, proposed
to destroy the military establishments of Malta to
the very fonndationa, and to suffer nothing to
remain but the dismantled town ; to create there a
sort of neutral lazaretto, common to all nations,
and to convert the order into an hospital, order,
or foundation, which would mod no military force.

328 Negotiations at Amiens. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

ourney of the first consul 1802.
to Lyons. Jan.

Tlie English were not satisfied with this pro-
posal. They said that the rock was naturally so
strong a defence, that even deprived of the fortifi-
cations accumulated there by the knights, it would
still be a fDrmidable place. They alleged the
resistance of the Maltese population to the total
destruction of tiieir fine fortresses, and they pro-
posed the reconstitutiun of the order, on a new
and solid basis. They were willing to have a
French language, provided that there should be
instituted an English language, and also a Maltese,
the last being granted to the population of the
island, to give it a part in its government ; they
wished that this new establishment should be
placed under the guarantee of some great power,
Russia for example. The English hoi)ed that with
an English and a Maltese languiige, each of which
would be devoted to them, they would thus get
strength in the island, and hinder the French fi'om
having a hold upon it.

The first consul insisted upon the destruction of
the fortifications, saving that at present the order
would be very difficult to reconstruct; that Bavaria
had already seized upon their property in Ger-
many; that Spain, since Russia had extended her
protection to Malta, contemplated acting in the
same manner, and to take possession of the pro-
perty in her dominions ; tliat the in.stitution of
proteslant knights would be a decisive reason for
so doing in her eyes ; that the pope, already very
adverse to every thing which was done respecting
the order, would not consent, at any cost, to tlie
new arrangements, and that, finally, France was
unable to furnish a French language, in conse-
quence of her existing laws in no way admitting
the re-establishment of any institution of nobility.
The first consul was ready, if it were made a ques-
tion, to agree to the re-establishment of Malta,
upon its former footing, with the preservation of
the existing fortifications, but without either a
French or English language, and under the gua-
rantee of the nearest court, that of Naples. Rus-
sia he rejected as a guaranteeing power.

None of the continental arrangements had been
spoken about. The first consul had forbidden any
thing relating to them to be said by the French
legation. Still, as the king of England took a
warm interest in the Ikjusc of Orange, now de-
prived of the i>ost of stadtholder, the first consul
was not unwilling to secure to that prince a terri-
torial indemnity in Germany, when the question
of the German indemnities should come under
consideration. He demanded, in return, the
restitution, either in the sliips or in money, of
the Batavian Heet, which had been taken away
by the English.

On the whole, there was in all this nothing
absolute, nothing irreconcilable, because the ques-
tion of the ])risoners was one of money, always
easy to be settled by means of two arbitrators.
The question of Malta was the most difficult,
because it was a matter of reciprocal mistrust.
It was needful, and this was possible, to discover
a plan which should render all parties secure
against the contingency of a sudden occupation
by either of the two great maritime nations. As
to the affair of the stadtholder, nothing was more
easily settled, because both parties were in pretty
close agreement upon the subject.

The first consul wished to conclude affairs as
soon as possible. He wished to have the treaty
quite ready against his return from Lyons, seeing
that he proposed to present the state document of
the general peace, with the concordat, and the law
of finances to the renewed legislative body. He
therefore gave orders to his brother Joseph not to
place any difficulties of detail in the way of the
completion, but to get the treaty signed as quickly
as possible.

The first consul left Paris on the 8th of January,
or 18lh Nivose, with his wife, and a part of his
military household, in order to reach Lyons. Tal-
leyrand had gone there before him, in order to
arrange every thing in such a manner, that upon
his arrival he should have nothing more to do than
to give his sanction to the results by his presence.
The winter was very rigorous, and yet all the
Italian deputies were already assembled there.
They were impatient to see general Bonaparte, the
great object ot their journey to France.

The moment had arrived to regulate the affairs
of 1 taly, and to constitute, a second time, the Cis-
aljiine republic. Talleyrand was very adverse to
such a constitution. He alleged the difficulty of
making the business of the government run on
smoothly in a republic, citing the republics of
Batavia, Helvetia, Liguria, Rome, and Parthenope,
and the embarrassments which had occuri-ed and
were still occurring in their regard. He said there
were quite enough of these children of the French
republic, and that not one more was necessary; and
proposed a principality or a monarchy, like that
of Etruria, which might be given to some friend or
dependent upon France. He would not have ob-
jected to give this state to a prince of the house
of Austria, — to the grand duke of Tuscany, for
example, who was about to be indemnified in Ger-
many, if he were not indemnified in Italy. This
arrangement, highly agreeable to Austria, would
attach her more strongly to the peace. It would
equally satisfy the German powers who, by this
plan, would have had one claimant less to in-
demnification with the lands of the ecclesiastical
princes. It would, above all, be pleasing to the
pope, who hoped that the Legations would be
restored to him, when France was relieved from
the pi-omises made to the Cisalpine i-epublic. This
combination, in one word, was in unison with the
taste of every body in Europe, because it extin-
guished a republic, left one territory more to be
a]>propriated, and made a correspondent diminu-
tion of one state the less under the direct dominion
of the French re|)ublic.

It was certainly a weighty reason for such a
measure to render the greatness of France more
supportable to Europe, and thus to give a better
cliiince of the duration of jieace. Now that France
had the Rhine and the Alps for her frontier; now
that she had under her immediate influence, Swit-
zerland, Holland, Spain, and Italy; when she ex-
ercised her power directly upon Piedmont, by the
general, but.tacit, consent of all the powers; when
she had arrived at that degree of greatness, the
more moderate policy was, from that moment, the
more prudent and rational. In this view of things
Talleyrand had reason upon his side. Still, after
all that had been effected, France was compelled,
by her engagements, to reconstitute Italy ; and a.s

EstablUhmeut of

THE TRIBUNATE.

the Cisalpine republic.

Austiia had been already deprived of it, there was
a necessity ior irrevocably detaching it from her,
a result which couiil only be attained by consti-
tuting it in a mode that would render it strong
and indepem' it. By this act, the danger of a
collision with Austria alone was increased ; and
one of the hundred battles since fought to create
French kingdoms in Europe, would have sufficed
to secure the definitive existence in Europe of the
state of things which France chose to establish in
Italy.

Under tliis system, France must have renounced
the possession of Piedmont, because, if the Italians
preferred the French to the Germans, they loved,
in reality, neither tlie one nor the other, becjtnse
both the one and the other were strangers to them.
This was a natural and legitimate sentiment. The
French protecting Italy without keeping possession
of it, would have attached it for ever to them-
selves, and would not have prepared the way for
those sudden revulsions of opinion, of which it
has so frequently given the exam|)le ; since, ban-
died from one to another, the Italians have done
nothing but change masters. Under this arrange-
ment, Etruria ought not to have been given to a
Spanish prince. Uniting Lombardy, Piedmont,
the duchies of Parma and Modena, Mantua, the Le-
gations, and Tuscany, a noble kingdom might have
been formed, extending from the maritime Alps to
the Adige, and from Switzerland to the Roman
states. It was easy to detach, either in Tuscany
or Romagna, a portion of territory to indemnify
the pope, whose attachment to France could not
last long, uidess, sooner or later, something was
done to relieve his poverty. It would bo needful,
in Buch a case, to unite the difl'erent provinces
under one federal government, in which the exe-
cutive power should be strongly constituted, that
it should be able to assemble its forces jjromptly,
and give the French armies time to come to its
assistance. The alliance, in fact, ought to be close
between this state and France, because it could
only sustain itself through her means; and Rome,
on her part, would always have an immense and
invariable interest in its existence.

An Italian state of ten or twelve millions of in-
habitants, j)ossessing the finest frontiers, washed
by two rivei-s, having, on the first favourable war,
the chance of increiuiing its territory by the addi-
tion of the Venetian states, and of extending itself
along the natural frontiers of Italy, that is to say,
to the Julian Alps, would be able, subsequently, to
comprehend, by means of a sim|)lc federative tie,
which left to each principality its own indepen-
dcnc<', the (Jenot-se republic newly constituted, the
po|K', with the conditions necessary to his political
and religious existence, and the state of Naples,
delivered from an incapable and sanguinary court ;
such a state, so constituted, and with the accessions
which the future could not fail to prepare, would
be the foundation of Italian regeneration, and give
to Europe a third federation, wliieh, added to the
two already in existence, the German and Swiss,
would not fail to render immense service to the
general balance of power.

In respect to the difficulty of governing lUily,
that could be resolved by its being placed under the
protectorate of France, which, if it extended over
her for one entire reign, would thus conduct her

by the hand in her first step to liberty and inde-
pendence.

The plan followed at this moment did not ex-
clude this bright future, because Piedmont might
be one day I'estored to the new Italian state, and
the duchy of Parma, at the decease of the duke, an
event in all probability then not far distant; Etru-
ria itself might be restored if it were fiund needful.
It was easy then to adopt this plan at an ulterior
period; and a firm and extensive foundation was
now laid, by making an independent republic of
the Cisalpine. Besides, it was, perhaps, better at
that moment, not to avow openly the entire plan
of Italian regeneration, in order not to fiigliien
Europe. But to parcel out the fine provinces
actually in our jiossession, as was ]n"oposed by
M. Talleyrand, to construct a little Austrian mo-
narchy, for the advantage of an Austrian prince,
was to give Italy to Austria, because this |)rince,
however things might appear to be, would be al-
ways Austrian ; and the people themselves, whose
hopes Would have been dishonestly betrayed, would
conceive towards France a well-merited hatred, and
turn back towards the Germans, incited by despair
and resentment.

Bonaparte, who had acquired his first, and per-
haps his greatest glory, in the deliverance of Italy
from the hands of Austria, would not permit him-
self the commission of this fault. He adopted a
middle course, which did not forbid at a later
time a vast system of Italian indepeiulence, and
which indeed might even now be at its commence-
ment.

He bestowed, therefore, upon the Cisalpine re-
public all Lombardy as far as the Adige, the
Legations, the duchy of Modena, all, in fact, that
it possessed at the treaty of Canipo-Formio. The
duchy of Parma remained in suspense ; Piedmont
at the moment belonged to France. The Cisal-
pine, as thus constituted, counted nearly five mil-
lions of inhabitants. It could easily be made to
produce a revenue of 70,000,000 f. or 80,000,000 f.,
and to support an army of forty thousand men,
which would not absorb more than half the re-
venue, and leave resources sufficient to pay the
other ex|)enses of the state very easily. It was
covered in front by the Alps and the Adige ; it
had on the left Piedmont, now become French, on
the right the Adriatic, in the rear Tuscany, |ilaced
under the protection of France. It was thus on
every side surrounded by her powerful jiroteetion.
Immense fortified works, ordered by general Boiia-
I)arte, with a (juiekiuss and justness of view as to
the nature of the country, which no one possessed in
an equal degree, would i-ender it impregnable
to the Austrians, and always att'ord time to render
French succour available. The Adige was fortified
from Rivoli to Legnago in such a numner that it
was impossible lo be forced. The environs of the
lake of Garda, and more especially the Rocca
d'Anfo, were so well closed, as to jirevcnt thep<is8i-
bility of the lino of the Adige being turned. The
Mincio formed a second line in the rear. I'esehiera
and Mantua, with a large augmentation of terri-
tory, added greatly in strength to this second line
of defence. Manttui more especially, improved
under every aspect both of defence and healthiness,
might defend itself if the Adige were forced.
Other works erected had also fur their object

Constitution of

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. theCisalpii

-ePuMie. '1^:

to gain time for the arrival of the French armies.
They were able to enter first hy the Valais and
the "Milanese, following the road of the Simplon ;
secondjj-, by Savoy, or Provence, and Piedmont,
following the routes of Mount Cenis, Mount Ge-
ne vre, and the Col de Teude. It has been seen
that works were ordered to render these four
roads, approaching the country, practicable for
every kind of transport. It was necessary also to
create solid points of support and vast military
establishments adapted both to receive the French
army, which might be suddenly forced to evacuate
the country, or, if necessary, to serve the same
army as an outlet when in a state to resume the
offensive. For this two places had been chosen,
and were become objects of great expense : the
one was the outlet of the road of the Simplon, the
other at the opening of the three roads of Mount
Cenis, ]\Iount Genevre, and the Col de Tende.
The first, and the least of the two, was situated at
the extremity of Lago Maggiore. As it was marked
out, it was sufficiently ample to contain the sick,
the wounded, the materiel of the army in retreat,
as well as a flotilla on the lake, so as to be able to
defend itself for three or four weeks, until an
army, traversing the road of the Simplon, could
place itself in advance for its assistance. The
second and the largest work, designed to restrain
Piedmont, to receive all the resources of the
French armies, and to serve for a point of support,
and the means to descend at any time into Italy —
this second, as large as Mayence, Metz, or Lille,
capable of enduring a long siege, was constructed
at Alexandria itself. This point, bordering on the
field of battle of Marengo, was i-ecognized as the
most favourable to the great military combinations
of which Italy might become the theatre. Turin
was too much under the influence of a numerous
population, in some cases hostile. Pavia was be-
ycmd the Po. Alexandria, between the Po and the
Tanaro, at the real outlet of all the roads, united
the greatest advantages, and was preferred upon
that account. Vast works were ordered. These,
being in Piedmont, were to be executed at the
expense of the French treasury ; all the others
were to be executed at the cost of the Cisalpine
government, because they belonged more imme-
diately to, and were intimately concerned with the
security of that state.

From these ari-angements, France was always in
a position to succour the Cisalpine republic, liaving
under her hand middle and upper Italy, and by
her influence iniling over the south. She was able
to send to Rome and to Naples her less ostensible
commands, but they would be punctually obeyed,
as at Turin or Milan.

It was necessary to give a civil government to this
Cisalpine republic. A commencement had been
made by composing provisional authorities, con-
sisting of an executive council of three members,
M. de Somma-Riva, M. Visconti, and M. Ruga,
with a consulta, a species of legislative assembly,
not numerous, chosen from the wisest and most
devoted men. But such a state of things could
not be long continued.

The first consul had with him in Paris M. Ma-
rescalchi, and as well Messrs. Aldini, Serbelloni,
and Melzi, envoys in France for the affairs of
Italy. They were persons of the utmost considera-

tion in their own country. He consulted them
upon the organization to be given to the new
republic, and, in concurrence with them, he drew
up a constitution, resembling both the French and
the ancient Italian.

In place of the notables of Sieyes, which began
to be undervalued in France, the first consul and
his colleagues devised three electoral colleges,
permanent for life, and filling up their own vacan-
cies in case of death. The first to be composed of
great proprietors of land to the number of three
hundred ; the second of commercial persons to the
number of two hundred ; the third of literary and
scientific men, and the more distinguished ecclesi-
astics, to the number of two hundred. These
three colleges, or bodies, were to choose each from
its own body a commission of twenty-one members,
called the " commission of the censorship," whose
duty it was to elect all the bodies of the state, and
to perform the same electoral duty which the
senate fulfilled in France.

This creative authority was afterwards to nomi-
nate, under the title of the "state consulta," a
senate of eight members, charged, like the French
senate, to watch over the constitution, to deliberate
under extraordinary circumstances, to order the
arrest of dangerous individuals, to place out of the
pale of the constitution any department that might
require it, to deliberate upon treaties, and to name
the president of the republic. One of these eight
members was to be the minister for foreign affairs
by right.

There was to be a council of state under the
name of the legislative bodj'. composed of ten
members, who were to draw up laws and regu-
lations, and, finally, to support them before the
legislative body, consisting of seventy-five mem-
bers ; which was to select from this number fif-
teen orators, whose ^duty it would be to discuss
before it the laws upon which it might be after-
wards required to vote.

Lastly, at the head of the republic there was to
be a president and vice-president, named for ten
years. They were, as has just been stated, to be
nominated by the " state consulta," or senate ; but
all the other authorities could only be made on the
choice of the " commission of censorship."

Considex'able incomes were destined to the func-
tionaries of all ranks.

It may be seen that this was the French consti-
tution with certain corrections, which were emen-
dations of the work of Sieyes. For the list of
notables were substituted three electoral colleges,
which were constituted for life. The senate, or
"state consulta," had nothing to do with the
elections; it only nominated the head of the executive
power, but it deliberated upon treaties, which
by their means were withdrawn from tumultuous
examinations by the assemblies. The tribunate
was confounded with the legislative body, and iu
place of three consuls, there was no more than a
president.

When the first consul and Messrs. Marescalchi,
Aldini, Melzi, and Serbelloni, had agreed upon the
plan, it was necessary to occupy themselves with
the personal relations of the new government. The
choice of these was of the more importance, be-
cause the permanence of the principal bodies was
greater, and the good or evil resulting from their

Establishment of

THE TRIBUNATE.

the Cisalpine republic.

coniiH)sitioii must be of the longer duration. Italy
too was divided, like France, into parties difficult
to conciliate. At one extremity were found the
partisans of the past, devoted to the Austrian
government ; at the other extreme the outrageous
patriots, ready, as every where else, for the most
violent excesses, but who had not yet shed blood,
from which they had been restrained hitherto by
the French armies. Lastly, between the two were
found the moderate liberals, charged with the
weight of the government, and the unpopularity
which attached to it, more especially in a time of
war, wlieu heavy burdens unavoidably pressed
upon the country. With these different iiarties
the elections could not, any more than hi France,
give very satisfactory results. The first consul, in
order to supply the place of the elections, hit upon
a plan which was not, on his pai-t, the impulse of
ambition, but the inspiration of sound sense. This
was to nominate the personal portions of govern-
ment himself, in the same mode as he had decided
upon the structure, and for the first time to make
all tiie nominations of his own authority. He was
only impelled iu the present case by a sentiment of
good, and, in any case, he had a perfect right
to act thus; because the new state had birth in his
own pure act and will, and in creating it in this
sponUuieous manner, he had a right to create it
conformably to his own idea, which, upon this
occasion, was just and elevated.

But among all tliese nominations the most diffi-
cult to make was that of the president. Ituly,
always governed by priests or strangers, had never
been in a situatiim to produce statesmen ; she had
not produced, of this class of men, one single name
before which the oiliers would consent to give up
their pretensions. The first consul, therefore, had
the idea of conferring upon himself the title of pre-
sident, and of naming a viee-in-esident chosen from
among the )>rincipal personages of Italy, to whom
he might delegate the distail of affairs, and reserve
to himself the superior directions. In the infancy
of the republic this was the sole practicable system
of government. If it had been handed over to its
own choice, and to an Italian president, it would
soon have become, like a vessel without a compass,
abandoned to the mercy of the waves. Governed,
on the conti'ary, by Italians, and directed from a
distance by the man who was its creator, and who
would be for a long time its protector, it had a good
cliance, under this system, to be at the same time
both independent and well governed.

For the foregoing end a solemn, imposing in-
auguration was necessary, during which the con-
stitution should be given to the new state in projier
form, and all the authorities be proclaimed. This
creative act c<iuld not make too much noise. It
was necessary it should speak at the same time to
Italy and to Europe. The first consul devised the
plan of a great mitling of all the Italians at Lyons,
because it was too far for them to come to Paris,
and too far for him to proceed to Milan. The city
of Lyons, placed at the reverse of the Alps, and in
which Italy in former days had assembled in coun-
cil, was the place most naturally indicated. More
than this, the first consul took a real interest in
seeing mingled together in society the French and
Italians. He believed, at the same time, that he
served the re-cstablishnient of the commerce of the

two countries, because it was at Lyons that, fox*-
merly, the produce of Lombardy was exchanged
for the pi-oduce of the eastern provinces of France.

Some portion of these views was communicated
by Talleyrand to the Italians in Paris, or, in other
v.ords, to Jlessrs. Marcscalchi, Aldini, Serbolloni,
and Melzi. He was silent only upon the project
of conferring the presidency upon the first consul.
This he wished to obtain from the consulta by an
outbreak of enthusiasm at the moment when it
should assemble together. The views of the first
consul were too conformable to the true interests
of the entire country of Italy not to be welcomed.
These individuals set out for Lyons accordingly,
accompanied by M. Petiet, the minister of France
at Milan, a wise and influential person, to labour
at the accomplishment of the plan of organization
which had been agreed upon at Paris.

The plan of the constitution met with no objec-
tion. It was received with great satisfaction, be-
cause the peoj)le were eager to leave the precarious
existence in which they had lived, and to acquire the
political existence which would be assured to them.
The executive committee of the consulate, chai'ged
with the duties of the provisional government,
accepted the plan with eagerness, save in some
slight modifications of detail, which were trans-
mitted to Pai'is, and accepted. But they were
much puzzled how to give the new constitution
vigorous motion, and as to the choice of the persons
who were to set it going. M. Petiet communicated
in secret to several influential pei'sonages tlie idea
of giving to the first consul the entire nomination
of the individuals who were to take a part in the
government, from the president to the three elec-
toral colleges. Scarcely was this idea of a supreme
arbitrator, so well situated as not to partake in any
of the passions which divided Italy, and having no
desire but for her happiness — scarcely was this idea
communicated to them, than it met instant success,
and the provisional government gave to the first
consul the power of selecting all the authorities.

A message was addressed to him for the purpose
of announcing the acceptance of the constitution,
and of expressing to him the wish of the Cisalpine
population, that the first magistrate of the French
republic should himself choose the magistrates of
that of Italy.

There was nothing more than this said — not a
word of the presidency. But it was necessary for
this purpose to induce the Italians to come to
Lyons, and that became the subject of a new com-
munication to the members of the provisional go-
vernment. They were niade sensible of the great
difticulty of constituting the Cisalpine i-epublic,
with the first consul remaining in Paris, and of
selecting seven or eight humlred jiersons far from
the individuals and their I'csidences ; the difiicnlty,
on the other hand, for the first consul to go from
Paris to Milan; the advantage, on the contrary, of
dividing the distance, of uniting the Italians at
Lyons in a body, and of the first consul meeting
them there ; the forming a sort of Italian diet, in
wliich the new republic should be constituted, with
a pomp and brilliancy which would give more of
solemnity to the engagement made by the first con-
sul upon its formation, to maintain and defend it.
This i<lea had in it something great, which couid
not fail to please the Italian imagination. It sue-

332

The consulta assemble at
Lyons.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Arrival of the first consul
at Lyons.

ceeded, as all tlie other ideas formed beforehand
had done, and it was immediately adopted. A plan
was prepared, and immediately converted into a
decree by the provisional government. Deputa-
tions were selected from the clergy, the nobility,
the great landed ])r<)prietors, commercial men, the
universities, the tribunals, and the national guards.
Four hundred and fifty-two persons were designated,
among the number of whom were found, venerable
prelates, weighed down with years, of whom some
might even succumb mider the fatigues of the
journey. They left in the month of December, and
traversed the Alps during one of the most rigorous
winters that jiad for a long time been experienced.
All were anxious to attend at this proclamation of
the independence of their country by the hero who
had achieved it. The roads of the Milanese, of
Switzerland, and of the Jura, were literally en-
cumbered with travellers. The first consul, who
thought of every thing, had given orders that
nothing should be wanting, as well upon the i-oads
as in Lyons itself, to the representatives of Italian
nationality, who had come to recal by their pre-
sence the' recollection of his first and most bril-
liant triumphs. The prefect of the Rhone had
made immense preparations to receive them, and
had fitted up grand and noble halls for the solem-
nities which were about to take place. A part of
the consular guard had been sent to Lyons. The
army of Egypt, formerly the army of Italy, and
recently disemlmrked on their return, were on
the point of arriving also. They hastened to clothe
them magnificenily, and in a manner adapted to
the climate of France, which seemed quite new to
these soldiers, embrowned by the sun of Egypt,
and transformed into real Africans. The Lyonnese
youth had been collected, and formed a body of
cavalry, with the arms and colours of the ancient
city of Lyons. Talleyrand, minister for foreign
affairs, and Chaptal, minister of the interior, liad
preceded the first consul to receive the members
of the consulta. General Murat and M. Petiet
had hastened from Milan, as well as M. Mares-
•calchi from Paris, to this common rendezvous.
Tiie prefects and authorities of twenty departments
were collected at Lyons. The first consul kept
them all in attendance at Lyons, because of the
congress of Amiens, of which the negotiations had
required his presence in Paris for some days
longer. The Italian deputies began to be impa-
tient. In the view of occupying them, they were
divided into five sections, one for each province of
Ihe new state, and the project or scheme of the
new constitution was submitted to them. They
made many useful observations, that Talleyrand
was requested to hear, to weigh, and to admit,
■.unless they were calculated to affect the funda-
mental principles of the project. Except some
dispositions of detail, which were modified, the new
constitution obtained the general assent. It was
proposed to the Cisalpine deputies, in order to
■ beguile their impatience, to make out lists of can-
didates, with the view to aid the first consul in the
numerous selections which he had to make. This
turning over of names usefully occupied their
time.

The first consul arrived on the 11th of January,
. 1 802, or 21st Nivose. The popuhiticm of the country,
collected along the roads by which he passed, had

waited for him by day and night. They assembled
around immense fires, and ran in advance of all the
carriages coming from Paris, crying, "Long live
Bonaparte!" The first consul at length appeared, and
travelled the road to Lyons in the midst of continued
transports of enthusiasm. He entered the city in the
evening, accompanied by liis wife, his adopted
children, and his aides-de-camp, and was received
by the magistrates, the civil and military authori-
ties, an Italian deputation, the Egyptian staff, and
the young Lyonnese cavalry. The city, all over
illuminated, was as resplendent as at noon-day.
He passed under an arch of triumph, that sur-
mounted a noble emblem of consular France, — a
sleeping lion. He descended at the Hotel de Villa,
which had been so fitted up as to serve him for a
very convenient residence.

On the following day the first consul was em-
ployed in receiving all the departmental deputa-
tions, and after them, the Italian consulta, which
reckoned four hundred and fifty members present,
out of four hundred and fifty-two, a rare examjile
of exact attendance, if the number of persons, the
season, and the distance are considered; and still
more, wlien it is known that one of the two ab-
sentees was the respectable archbishop of Milan,
who had died of an apoplectic attack at the resi-
dence of Talleyrand. The Italians, to whom the
first consul spoke their own language, were de-
lighted to see him again, and to find united in him
at once both the French and the Italian.

On the following days they all proceeded to the
last labours of the consulta. The modifications
prepared in the constitution having been agreed to
by the first consul, the lists of candidates were
stated. The plan was proposed of a committee of
thirty members, taken out of the entire consulta,
to discuss with the first consul the long series of
selections which were to be made. This labour
occupied several days, during which the first
consul, after having employed a part of the day
in seeing and entertaining the Italians, occupied
himself also with French business, received the
prefects, the departmental deputations, heard the
expression of their wishes and their necessities,
and thus learned, by seeing with his own eyes, the
true state of the republic.

The enthusiasm daily increased, and in the midst
of this general excitement it was, that the French
and Italians, communicating with each other, the
idea was promulgated of naming the first consul
president of the Cisalpine republic. MM. Petiet,
Marescalchi, Murat, and Talleyrand, saw, every
day, the members of the committee of thirty, and
conferred with them on the choice of a president.
When they conceived that they were much em-
barrassed and greatly divided in their choice,
which was, in reality, a very difficult matter, it was
liinted to them in a manner as if to lead them out
of their embai-rassment, that they might confer
the post of vice-president upon any Italian they
might select, and then cover his insufiiciency by
the glory of the first consul, who might be named
president. This idea, so simple, and still more useful
to the Cisalpine, even more important to its exist-
ence and to the administration of its affairs, than
to the greatness of the first consul, was generally
approved, but still with the condition of an Italian
vice-in-esident. They then decided that citizen

Bonaparte nominated president of
the Italian republic.

THE TRIBUNATE.

He returns to Paris.

333

Meizi should be charged with the vice-presidency
under the first consul. All being ready, one of the
members of the committee of thirty, made this
priii)()sition to the committee. It was received
with joy, and in a moment turned into the draft of
a decree. No time was lost ; and on the following
day, the 25th of January, or 5lh Pluviose, the pro-
ject was presented to the assembled consiilta. It
was welcomed with acclamation, and Niipoleon
Bonaparte was proclaimed the president of the
Italian republic. This was the first occasion in
which the two names of Napoleon and Bonaparte
were used togetht^r. The general was now to add
to the title of fii-st consul of the French republic,
that of president of the Italian republic. A depu-
tation wiis sent to him accordingly, in order to ex-
pres.s this desire.

While this affair was under deliberation, the
genei-al of the armies of Italy and Egypt passed
his old soldiers in review. Tlie demi- brigades of
the army of Egypt, which there had been time to
assemlile, had been united with the consular guard,
nimierous detjichments of troops, and the Lyonnese
militia. On that day, the fogs of winter were in
a moment dissipated by a brilliant sun, amidst
intense cold. Bonaparte passed along the ranks
of his old soldiei-s, who received him with trans-
ports of joy almost inconceivable. The soldiers of
Egypt and Italy, delighted to find this child of
their labours grown so great, hailed him with tlieir
sliouts, and endeavoured to make him know that
they bad never ceased to be worthy of him, al-
though led for a moment by chiefs unworthy of
themselves. He called some of the old grenadiers
from the ranks, spoke to then) of the battles in
which they had fought, and of the wounds they
had received; he recognized here and there officers
whom be had seen in more than one battle, shook
hands with them all, filling them with a sort
of intoxication, of which he himself could not
escape the contagion, in the presence of so many
brave men who had helped, by their devotedness,
to produce the marvellous good fortune which he
enjoyed, and which Finance enjoyed with him.
Tliis scene occurred amid the ruins of the Place
B«^llecour, and effaced the sad recollections of that
spot, as glory effaces those of unhappiness.

It was on entering the Hotel de Ville after this
review, that the first consul found the deputation
of the con.HuIta, received the ex))ression of its
wishes, declared his assent, and intimated, that
the next day he would make liis reply to this new
act of the confidence of the Italian people.

The next day, being the 26tli of jamiary, or Gth
riuvioso, the first consul proceeded to the place
wheie the general sittings of the consulta were
held. It w:w a large church, disposed and de-
corated for the especial purpose. Every thing
paased there in the same way of ceremony as is
observed in Fnince or England, when the monarch
is present at a sitting. The fii-st consul, sur-
rounded with his family, tiie French ministers,
and a great number of gi-nerals ami prefect-s, wa.s
upon a dais, lli; spoke in the Italian language,
which he pronounced jierfectly well, a speech, pre-
cise and sinipli', in which he announced his ac-
ceptiiMce of the dignity, his views regarding the
government and prosperity of the new republic,
and then proclaimed the principal selections which

he had made, conformably to the wishes of the
consulta. His woi'ds were drowned in cries of
"Long live Bonaparte!" "Long live the first
consul of the French republic ! " " Long live the
president of the lUilian republic!" The consti-
tution was then read, as well as the list of citizens,
of all ranks, who were to carry it into effect. A
long-continued acclamation expressed the harmony
that prevailed between the Italian people and the
hero who had freed them. This sitting was very
imposing and solemn ; it commenced in a worthy
manner the existence of the new republic, which
was thenceforth to be called the Italian Republic.
On this occasion, as upon many others, there could
be only one thing to wish in favr)ur of general
Bonaparte; namely, that the genius of preservation
had accompanied, with this favourite of fortune,
the genius which created.

The first consul had now been twenty-one days
at Lyons. The government of France demanded
his presence in Paris, because he had given orders
for the signature of the definitive treaty of peace,
which was negotiating at the congress of Amiens.
During this interval of time, the consul Camba-
ceres and the senate were labouring to disem-
barrass themselves of the unruly members who
had SI) violently opposed the first consul at that
moment of his career when he least deserved
opposition. He was now about to be in a position
to resume the long series of works which consti-
tuted the grandeur and happiness of France. He
was therefore pressed to return to Paris, in order
to proceed with his customary occupations, and,
]irobably, to receive there, as the price of his
labours, a new gi-eatness, the just and most noble
recompense of the most fertile ambition that ever
actuated the spirit of man.

He set oft" on the 2«th of January, or 8th Plu-
viose, leaving behind him the enthusiastic Italians,
full of hope, leaving, too, the Lyonnese delighted to
have possessed, for a few days, the extraordinary
man whose name filled the world, and who ex-
hibited for their city such ii marked predilection.
He had received from the emperor Alexander the
reply to a letter, in which he requested from that
monarch some advantages for the manufacturers
of Lyons. This letter, which amiounced the best
dispositions on the part of Russia, was published,
in substance, and produced the most lively satis-
faction. Upon his de])arture, the first consul pre-
sented three scarfs to the three mayors of the city
of Lyons, in memory of that glorious visit. The
inhabitants of Bordeaux sent a deputation to him,
requesting he would jjass their city walls. He
n'ade tliem the promise they desired as soon as
the definitive peace should allow him a little
leisure time '.

Passing by St. Etienne and Ncver.s, lie arrived
in Paris on the 3Ist of January, or 11th Pluviose.

• The followinp are some extracts from the correspondence
of tlie lirjit consul during hiu stay at L} ons : —

To tlic consuls Cambaciris and Lcbrun.

" Lyons, 2<th NivOse, year x. (Mlh January, 1802.)

" I have received, citizen ronsulu, your letter of the 21st.

The weather in rxcesxively cold here, and I pass the morii-

in;{ii, from noon till xtx o'clock, in receiving the prelects

and the notables of the neiglibourini; departments. You

334 Letters from the first consul THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. while at Lyons.

know that at this sort of conferences one must talk a long
while.

" This evening the city of Lyons gives a concert and ball.
I am going there in about an hour.

" The labours of the consulta are in progress.

" The troops of the army of the east are now arriving in
strength at Lyons ; I am taking steps to have them clothed ;
I I hope to review tbem on the 28th.

" I continue to be extremely satisfied with every thing I
see, hoth with the people of Lyons, and with those of the
south of France.

'■ The negotiations at Amiens appear to me advancing.

" I congratulate you on the manner in wliich every thing
in your hands proceeds.

" Joseph writes me from Amiens that lord Cornwallis told
him that the British cabinet has received favourable news
about the French array at St. Domingo, and thn: division
had manifested itself in Toussaint's forces."

To the same,
" Lyons, 26th Nivose, year x.(lGth of January, 1S02.)

" I have received, citizen consuls, your despatches of the
22nd and 23rd Nivose. The Lyonnese have given us a most
magnificent fete. Annexed you will find the details, with
the songs sung on the occasion.

" I proceed very slowly in my operations, because I
pass the whole of my mornings in receiving the deputations
of the neiglibouring departments.

" It is very fine to-ilay, but very cold.

" The well-being of the republic, during the last two
y«ars, is observable. The population of Lyons has increased
during the years viii. and ix. more than 20,000 souls ; and
all the manufacturers that I have seen from St. Etienne,
Annonay, &c., tell me that their works are in great activity.

" All minds seem to be full of activity,— not that which
disorganizes empires, but that which re-establishes them,
and conduces to their prosperity and riches.

" I shall, in a few days, review nearly six demi-brigades
of the army of the east."

To the consul Cambaceres.
" Lyons, 28th Nivose, year x. {18th of January, 1802.)
" I have just received, citizen consul, a deputation from
Bordeaux. It has presented me a petition, soliciting me to
visit their city, which I have promised to do, as soon as
their relations with the Antilles and the Isle of France shall
be in full activity.

" Your letter of the 25th communicates to me the deli-
berations of the senate. I beg you particularly to see that
the twenty, and the sixty unruly members whom we have
in the constituted authorities, are everyone got rid of. The
wish of the nation is, that the government should not be
obstructed in its endeavours to do well, and that the head
of filedusa shall not show itself any more, either in our
tribunes, or in our assemblies.

" The conduct of Siey^s on the present occasion com-
pletely proves that, having contributed to the destruction of
all the constitutions since 17&1, he wants now to try his
hand against the present. It is very extraordinary that he
cannot see the folly of it. He ought to burn a wax candle
to our Lady, for having got out of the scrape so fortunately,
and in so unexpected a manner; but the older I grow, the
more I perceive that each man must fulfil his destiny.

" I take it for granted that you have taken the proper
measures for demolishing the Chatelet.

" If the minister of marine has need of the frigates of the
king of Naples, he may make use of them. Indeed, it will
be as well to despatch them to America as soon as possible.
Every thing shall be arranged afterwards with the king of
Naples.

" The cold is much diminished to-day.
" General Jourdan, who has arrived to-day from Pied-
mont, gives me a very satisfactory account of the state of
that province.

" The operations of the consulta are in an advanced state,
all their organic laws are arranging.

" I have been occupied part of the morning in a confer-
ence with the prefects.

" I recommend you to see the minister of marine, to
ascertain whether the provisions for St. Domingo have been
sent off."

To the consuls Cambaceres and Lebrun.

"Lyons, 30th Nivose, year x. (20th of January, 1S02.)
" I should wish, citizen consuls, the minister of the
public treasury to send Roger to tlie 16th military division,
to examine into the accounts of the paymaster, and of the
principal receivers of the departments composing that
division.

" I also wish the minister of the public treasury would.
send to Rennes some individual like citizen Roger, to per-
form the same duty in the 13th military division.

" Despatch also the councillors of state Thibaudeau and
Fourcroy, one to the 'Sth military division and the other to
the 16th, to inspect these divisions, in the same way as they
did on their preceding mission. One part of the complaint
is, that the minister of war has not caused the compensation-
money, in lieu of forage and lodging, for the first three
months of the year x., to be paid over to the officers; that
the receivers keep the funds a long time, and that the pay-
masters pay it as late as they can. The paymasters and the
receivers are the greatest plagues in the state."

To the same.
" Lyons, 30th Niv5se, year x., or 20th Jan. 1802.

" I have received, citizen consuls, your letter of the 26th
and ?7th. At Lyons, as at Paris, the weather has become
considerably milder.

" Yesterday I visited several factories. I was pleased
with the industry and with the severe economy which I
thought I perceived exercised by the manufacturers in the
employment of their workmen.

" I ought to-day to have held my grand review, but I
have postponed it till the Sth Pluviose. The troops of the
army of the east have not yet been clothed anew ; I am in
hopes that by the Sth they will be all ready, so that they
will present a satisfactory appearance.

" I perceive, with much pleasure, the decision you have
come to about the Ciiatelet. If the weather should become
severe. I do not think the step you have taken, of allowing
four thousand francs per month for the extraordinary work-
shops, will be sulficient.

" Besides the hundred thousand francs which the minister
of the interior grants monthly to the committees of bien-
faisance, it will be necessary to add twenty-five thousand
francs extraordinary for the distribution of wood; and if the
cold weather continues, it will be necessary, as in '8y, to
light fires in the churches and other great buildings, to warm
a great many people.

" I calculate on being back in Paris in the course of the
decade. I beg you to consider whether it will not be ex-
pedient to insert in the Moniteur the last message to the
senate, and to add two lines at the end, to state that the
senate has appointed a commission, which made its report
in the sitting of the . . . , it is decided upon to proceed to a
renewal of the chamber, in conformity with the 38th article
of the constitution, &c. S:c.

" Many rumours which have reached me lead me to be-
lieve that Caprara requires the priests to sign formula or
professions of faith, couched nearly in these words: 'We
rejoice, moreover, in heretiy making a solemn profession of
filial respect, of complete submission, and perfect obedience
to,' &c. &c.

" This information has reached me, amongst the rest,
from Maestricht. I beg you to confer with Portalis. This
I formula appears to me quite inconceivable."

1802,
Jan.

Letters from the first consul

THE TRIBUNATE.

wliile at Lyons.

To the same.
" Lyons, 2nd Pluviose, year x., or 22nd Jan. 1802.

" I only received to-day, citizen consuls, your letter of the
29th Nivose, which reached me about three o'clock in the
afternoon. Tlie thaw and the inundations retarded your
courier some hours.

" The forage department is entirely disorganized in the
department of the Drome. Ten thousand francs must be
retained out of the ordonnance of Pluviose until this branch
of the service is in due course.

" The civil hospitals which are allowed only fourteen sous
per day for the sick military, complain that they have not
yet received any thing for the year x. That of Valence de-
mands, besides the whole year x., an arrear for the month
of Fructidor, ix.

" The order issued for the organization of the Piedmontese
troops, which I signed more than a month ago, has not yet
reached Turin, which occasions uncertainty amongst the
troops. Generally speaking, there is a good deal of back-
wardness, and little activity, in the war department ; this is
the general opinion amongst all who have any thing to do
with that department.

" It is indispensable that the minister of war should send
a good and experienced commissary to Turin.

" All the most important arrangements of the consulta
are decided upon. I still depend upon reaching Paris in the
course of the decade.

" It would be desirable for the senate to name a dozen
prefects, either to the tribunate or to the legislative body.
The prefect of Mont Blanc should be amongst them.

" I should wish you to insert in the journals some articles
respecting the roguery of Fouilloux, to turn into ridicule the
foreign gulls who spread absurd reports founded on the
manuscript bulletin of a small rogue, who was in want of
a dinner, and duped them. It would be as well to recur
to this subject several times."

To the same.
" Lyons, 6th Pluviose, year x., or 2Cth Jan. 1802.
" I have received, citizen consuls, your letter of the 2nd
PluviBse.
" I had to-day a grand review on the place Bellecour. The

weather was superb ; the sun shone as if it were the month
of Floreal.

" The consulta has appointed a committee of thirty indi-
viduals, which has made a report to the effect that, consider-
ing the interior and e.\terior circumstances of the Cisalpine
republic, it was indispensable to leave me to perform the
duty of the chief magistracy, until circumstances should
permit, or I should deem it expedient, to appoint a suc-
cessor. To-morrow I calculate upon presenting myself to
the assembled consulta. The constitution will be read, with
the list of the appointments, and every thing will be con-
cluded. I shall be in Paris on decade."

To the same.

" Lyons, 6th Pluviose, year x., 26th Jan. 1802.

" I have received, citizen consuls, your letter of the 3rd
Pluviose. I think it will be well to wait till the peace of
Amiens is signed before we raise the state of siege of the
city of Brest.

" At two o'clock I went to the hall of the sittings of the
extraordin*y consulta. I delivered a short speech in
Italian, of which you will find enclosed a French translation.
The constitution was read, the first organic law, and one re-
lating to the clergy. The different nominations were pub-
lished.

" I will send you to-morrow a minute of the whole pro-
ceedings of the consulta, in which will be found a copy of the
constitution. The two ministers, four counsellors of state,
twenty prefects, with the general and superior oflScers, ac-
companied me. This sitting exhibited both majefty and
great unanimity ; and I hope from the congress of Lyons all
the results which I anticipated.

" I think it is useless, unless false reports are circulated
about the congress of Lyons, to publish any thing before the
arrival of the courier whom I shall send you to-morrow.
Only in case of its being rumoured that the consulta has
nominated me president, you can print the two papers en-
closed, which will make known the exact turn that matters
have taken.

" I .<ihall be occupied to-morrow in bringing the whole
business to a close, and I shall start in the night. On
decade I shall be in Paris . . . ."

336 Objects of Bonaparte's THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, journey to Lyoni realized.

BOOK XIV.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

ARRIVAL OP THE FIRST CONSUL IN PARIS.— SCRUTINY OP THE SENATE, WHICH EXCLUDES SIXTT MEMBERS OP THB
LEGISLATIVE BOOT AND TWENTY OF THE TRIBUNATE. — THE EiCLUDED MEMBERS REPLACED BY PERSONS
DEVOTED TO THE GOVERNMENT. — TERMINATION OF THE CONGRtSS OF AMIENS. — SOME DlFPK'lfLI lES ARISE AT
THE TERMINATION OP THE NEGOTIATION, IN CONSESUENCE OF JEALOUSIES EXCITED IN ENGLAND.— THE FIRST
CONSUL OVERCOMES THESE DIFFICULTIES BY HIS MODERATION AND FIRMNESS. — THE DbFlXITIVE TREATY
SIGNED ON THE 25rH OF MARCH, 1802. — ALTHOUiM THE FIRST ENTHUSIASMS ABOUT PEACE ARE COOLED
BOTH IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND, THEY WELCOME WITH NEW JOY THE HOPE OP A SINCERE AND DURABLE
RECONCILIATION. — EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE YEAR X., DESTINED TO CONVERT INTO LAWS THE CON-
CORDAT, THE TREATV OF AMIENS, AND DIFFERENT BILLS OF GREAT IMPOHTANCE. — THE LAW REGULATINQ
WORSHIP ADDED TO THE CONCORDAT UNDER THE TITLE OF "ORGANIC ARTICLES "—PRESENTATION OP THAT
LAW AND OF THE CONCORDAT TO THE RENEWED LEGISLATIVE BODY AND TRIBUNATE. — COOLNESS WITH WHICH
THOSE DOCUMENTS ARE RECEIVED, EVEN AFTER THE EXCLUSION OF THE OPPOSITION. — THEY ARE ADOPTED. —
THE FIRST CONSUL FIXES UPON THE FIRST DAY OF EASTER FOR THE PUBLICATION OP THE CONCORDAT, AND
THE FIRST CEREMONY OF THE RE-ESTABLI.MIED WORSHIP —ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW CLERGY. — PART GIVEN
TO THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS IN THE NOMINATION OF THE BISHOPS.— CARDINAL CAPRARA RLFUSES, IN THE
NAME OP THE HOLY SEE, TO INSTITUTE TH K CONSTITUTIONALISTS. — FIB .MNEbS OF THE FIRST CONSUL, AND SUB-
MISSION OF CARDINAL CAPRAR A.— OFFICIAL RECEPTION OF THE CARDINAL AS LEGATE A LATKRE. — CONSECRA-
TION OF THE FIRST PRINCIPAL BISHOPS AT NOTRE DAME, (N PALM SUNDAY. — CURIOSITY AND I-.MOTION OP
THE PUBLIC. — THE VERY EVE BEFORE EASTER DAY, AND OF THE SOLEMN TE DEUM WHICH WAS TO BE
CHANTED IN NOTRE DAME, CARDINAL CAPKARA WISHES TO IMPOSE ON THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS A HUMILIAT-
ING RETRACTION OF THEIR PAST CONDUCT. — NEW RESISTANCE ON THE PART OF THE FIRST CONSUL. — CAPRARA
DOES NOT YIELD UNTIL THE NIGHT IS ADVANCED BEFORE EASTER DAY. — UEPUGNAvCE OF THE GENERALS
TO PROCEED TO NOTRi: DAME.— THE FIRST CONSUL OBLIGES THEM TO GO. — >OLEMN TE DEUM AND OFFICIAL
RESTORATION OF RELIGION .— ADIIERI-NCE OF THE PUBLIC, AND JOY OF THE FIRST CONSUL ON SEEING THE
SUCCESS OF HIS EFFORTS. — PUBLICATION OF THE " GESIE DU CHRISTI.ANISME." — PROJECT OP A GENERAL
AMNESTY WITH RE .ARD TO THE EMIGRANTS. — THIS MEASURE HAVING BEEN DISCUSSED IN THE COUNCIL OF
STATE, BECOMES THE OBJECT OF A SENATUS CONSULTUM. — VIEWS OF THE FIRST CONSUL UPON THE ORGANIZA-
TION OF SOCIETY IN FHANCE. — HIS OPINIONS ON SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS AND ON THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH. —
TWO PROJECTED LAWS OF HIGH IMPORTANCE, ON THE INSTITUTION OP THE LEGION OF HONOUR AND ON
PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. — DISCUSSION OF THESE TWO PROJECTS IN A FULL COUNCIL OF STATE.— CHARACTER OP
THE DISCUSSIONS OF THAT GREAT BODY. — LANGUAGE OF THE FIRST CONSUL. — PRESENTATION OF THE TWO
PROJECTS TO THE LEGISLATIVE BODY AND TO THE TRIBUNATE.— ADOPTION. BY A LARGE .MAJORITY, OF THE
PROJECT OF LAW RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.— A LARGE MINORITY PRONOUNCES AGAINST THE PROJECT
RELATIVE TO THE LEGION OF HONOUR. — THE 'IREATY OF AMIENS PRESENTED LAST, AS THE CROWNING WORK
OP THE FIRST CONSUL.— RECEPTION GIVEN TO THE TREATY.— THEY TAKE THIS 0( CASION TO SAY EVERY WHERE
THAT A NATIONAL RECOMPENSE OUGHT lO BE DECREED TO THE AUTHOR OF ALL THE BENEFITS WHICH
FRANCE THUS ENJOY'S. — THE BROTHERS AND PARTIZANS OF THE FIRST CONSUL MEDITATE THE RE-ESTABLISH-
MENT OF THE MONARCHY.— THIS IDEA APPEARS To BE PREMATURE.— THE IDEA OF THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE
MORE GENERALLY PR EVAILS.— THE CONSUL CAMBACERES OFFERS HIS INTERVENTION WITH THE SENATE. —
DISSIMULATION OP THE FIRST CONSUL, WHO WILL NOT AVOW THAT OF WHICH HE IS PESIROUS. — EMBARRASS-
MENT OP THE CONSUL CA M BACEKES.— HIS EFFORTS TO INDUCE THE SENATE TO CONFK.R THE CONSULSHIP ON
BONAPARTE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. — THE SECRET ENEMIES OF BONAPARTE PKOFIT BY HIS SILENCE, TO
PERSUADE THE SENATE THAT A PROLONGATION OF THE CONSULATE FoR TUN YKARS SHOULD SUFFICE.—
VOTE OF THE SENATE UPON THIS CONSTRUCTION. — DISPLEASURE OF THE FIRST CONSUL. — HE THINKS OF
REFUSING. — HIS COLLEAGUE CAMBACERES DISSUADES HIM FROM SO DOING, AND PROPO-ES AS AN EXPEDIENT
TO APPEAL TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE NATION, AND TO PUT THE aUESTION TO FRANCE, '' IP BONAPARTE
SHALL BE CONSUL FOR LIFE?" — THE COUNCIL OF STATE CHARGED TO DRAW UP THE OUESTION.— OPENING OP
REGISTRIES IN THE MAYORS* OFFICES, THE TRIBUNALS, AND OFFICES OF THE NOTARIKS PUBLIC. — EAGERNESS
OP ALL THE CITIZENS TO TENDER AFFIRMATIVE VOTES. — CHANGE WROUGHT IN THE CONSTITUTION OP SIEYES.
— THE FIRST CONSUL RECEIVES THE CONSULSHIP FOR HIS LIFE, WITH POWER OF APPOINTING HIS SUCCESSOR. —
THE SENATE IS INVEsTKD WITH THE CONSTITUENT POWER.— THE LISTS OF NOTABILITY ARE ABOLISHED, AND
REPLACED BY ELECTORAL COLLEGES FOR LIFE.— THE TRIBUNATE REDUCED TO BE A SECTION OF THE COUNCIL
OP STATE. — THE NKW CONSTITUTION BECOMES COMPLETFLY MONARCHICAL. — CIVIL LIST OF THE FIRST CONSUL. —
HE IS PROCLAI.MED SOLEMNLY BY THE SENATE. — GENERAL SATISFACTION AT HAVING FOUNDED AT LAST A
POWERFUL AND DURABLE GOVERNMENT. — THE FIRST CONSUL USES THE NAME OF NaPOLEON BONAPARTE. —
HIS "moral" POWER IS NOW AT ITS CULMINATING POINT.— RECAPITULATION OF THIS PERIOD OF THREE
YEARS.

The journey of the first consul to Lyons, liad for
its end the constitution of the Itali;in republic, and
to secure himself the government, for tlie interest
of Italy and that of France. He had also the
object in view to embarrass the o|)])osition, and to
bring it into discredit, by leaving it idle; thus

]>rovinc; that it was impossible to carry out good
while it stood in the way ; finally, ti> nive the con-
sul Cambace'res time to exclude from tiie legislative
body and from the tribunate the more restless and
troublesome members.

All thus desired was realized. The Italian

Measures taken Tor re-
newing the fifth of

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

the tribunate and legis-
lative body.

:«7

republic, constituted with pomp, found itself bound
to the course of French policy without losing
its own defined object. The opponents in the tri-
bun:ite and in the legislative body, struck by the
message which withdrew the civil code, left in
Paris without a single projected law to discuss,
did not know how to extricate themselves from
their embarrassment. It was laid to their charge
every where, that they interrupted the best labours
of tlie government ; every where they were cen-
sured for imitating misihievously, and without
reason, the agitators of the old time ; and while
thus situated, Cambac^res gave them the last blow
by the ingenious cdmbinatiou which he had con-
ceived. He sent for M. Tronchet, the learned
lawyer, introduced into llie senate by his influence,
and enjoying in that body the double weight of
wisdom and character. He communicated to him
his i)lan, and obtained his assent to it. It has
been seen in the preceding book what this plan
was ; it has been seen that it consisted in the in-
terpretation of article 38 of the constitution, which
fixed the year x. for the going out of the first fifth of
the tribunate and the legislative body, and gave to
the senate lire designation of the fifth which was
to retire. There were many reasons for and
againpt this mode of the interpretation of ar-
ticle 38. The best of ail was the necessity of sup-
plying to the faculty of dissolutiim that which the
constitution had not attributed to the executive
power. M. Tronchet, a wise man and excellent
citizen, admiring and fearing at the same time the
first consul, but judging him indispensable, and
judging with Cambac^res, that if he were not
delivered from the imi)ortunale opposition of the
tribunate, he would have recourse to violent mea-
sures even from his anxiety to effect the good
which he was thus prevented from effecting —
M. Tronchet entered into the views of the govern-
ment, and charged himself with the task of pre-
paring the senate for the ado])tion of the projected
measures. He succeeded without trouble, because
the senate felt that it had been made the accom-
plice and dupe of tlie bad humour of the opposition.
This body had already receded with great haste
and little dignity in the business of the candidate-
ships. Ruled by that love of repose and power,
which had seized upon every body, it consented to
turn out the oppositionists, whose plans it had
at first a|)provcd and seconded. The scheme was
well received by the principal persons of the body,
LaccJpede, Laplace, Jac(|iieniinot, and others, and
they proceeded without delay in its execution,
under a mess:ig<-, dated the 7lh of January, 1802,
or 17th Nivox-, yar x.

" Senators," said the message, " the article 38
of the constitution commands that tlie renewal of
the first-fifth of the hgislative body and of the
tribunate shall take jilace in the year x., and we
touch <in the fourth month of that year. The
consuls have believed it their duty to call your
attention to the cin-umstanee. Your wisdom will
find in it the necessity of taking into consideration,
without delay, the operaiioim wliieli Mil be neces-
BJiry tr) precede this ren('wal."

This message, the intiiilion of which it was easy
to divine, struck with surprise tlic opposilion in lh<-
two legislative asKemblieH, and naturally excited
among them a great degree of irritation. From

levity, or by impulse, they had thrown themselves
into the career of opposition without foreseeing the
result, and they were strangely suri)rised at the
blow which impended, a blow which would have
been more severe but for the inteivention of the
consul Cambaceres. They met for the purpose of
drawing up a memorial, and they presented it to
the senate. Cambace'res, who knew nearly all of
them, addressed himself to those who were the
least compromised. He made them sensible that
in further distinguishing themselves by their re-
sistance, they would not fail to attract indi-
vidually the attention of the senate, and the
power of exclusion, with which that body was to be
invested. This observation quieted the greater
part of them, and they waited in silence the de-
cision of the supreme authority. In the sittings of
the 15th and 18th of January, the 25th and 28th
of Nivose, the senate resolved the question arising
out of the message of the consuls. By a very
large majority it decided that the renewal of the
first-fifth in the two legislative assemblies should
immediately take place, and that the designation of
this fifth should be made by ballot and not by lot.
But a change of form was adopted, and in place of
balloting for those who were to go out, it was
decided that the ballot should be on the names
of those who were to remain members. The mea-
sure had thus the appearance of a preference in
place of that of an exclusion. By means of this
softening of the mode of proceeding, they set
about the designation of the two hundred and
forty members of the legislative body without
delay, and of the eighty-eight members of tho
tribunate destined to continue in tlie legislature.
The senators more immediately under the influence
of the government, were in secret i)ossession of the
names of the members who were to be preserved |
from exclusion, and during the last days of
January, or the end of Nivose, and commencement
of Pluviose, the ballots constantly repeated in the
senate, effected the separation of the partisans and
adversaries of the government. Sixty members of
the legislative body, who had exhibited the greatest
resistance to the projected miasures of the first
consul, above all, to the project for the re-establish-
ment of worship, and twenty of the most active of
the tribunate, were excluded ; or, according to the
term used at that time, were " eliminated." The
principal among these twenty were Chc'nicr, Gin-
guend, Cliazal, Bailleul, Comtois, Ganiel, Daunou,
and Benjamin Constant. The others, less known,
men of letters, or business, ancient conventionals,
or ]iriests, had no other title to enter the tribunate
than the friendship of Sieyes and his pai-ty ; the
same title sent them out of it.

Such was the end not only of the tribunate,
which continued to exist for some lime longer, but
of the momentary importance which tliat body
had ac(|uin(l. It was desirable that the first con-
sul, so lull of (ilory, so indenmified by the universal
adhesion of France for an unbecoming oi)position,
could have resigned himself to bear lor a moment
with a few impotent detractors. Tliis resignation
would have been more worthy of him, and also
1.S8 hurtful to the species of lib. rty which ho
would have been able to leave to France at that
lime, in ortl.r to prepare her at a later jieriod fc.r
a genuine liberty. But in this world wisdom is

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Lucien Bonaparte, , ono

Carnot, and Daru, ,"„

selected. "'^"•

much more rare than ability, more perhaps than
even genius, because wisdom implies a victory
over our own passions, a victory of which the
great men are no more capable tlian the little. The
first consul, it must be acknowledged, wanted wis-
dom upon this occasion, and one single excuse can
alone be offered in his favour ; it is, that such
an opposition, encouraged by his patience, would
perhaps become more inconvenient, more danger-
ous, and even insurmountable, if the majority
of the legislative body and of the senate had at
last borne a part in it, which was very possible.
This excuse has a certain foundation, and it proves
that there are times in which a dictatorship is
needful even to a free country, or one destined to
be so.

As to this opposition of the tribunate, it did not
merit the praises which have been so frequently
given to it. Uncertain and shuffling, it resisted
the civil code, the re-establishment of the altars,
the best acts of the first consul, and regarded
in silence the proscription of the unhappy revo-
lutionists, banished without a trial, on account
of tlie infernal machine, of which tliey were not
the authors. The tribunes were silent then, be-
cause the terrible explosion of the 3rd of Nivose
had frozen them with fear, and they dared not
defend the principles of justice in the persons
of men, of whom the greater part were blood-
stained. The courage which they could not ex-
hibit to censure a flagrant injustice, they found too
sadly in order to impede excellent public mea-
sures. If, on the other hand, a sincere sentiment
of liberty inspired many of them, among others
there may be perceived the vexatious feeling of
envy which animated the tribunate against the
council of state, the men reduced to do nothing,
against those that had the power to do all things.
Tlicy committed then very serious faults, and un-
happily provoked those not less serious upon the
part of the first consul : a deplorable chain of
circumstances, that histoi-y so often obscures in
our agitated universe, the passions of which are in
eternal motion.

It was necessary to replace the excluded fifths
in the legislative body and the tribunate. The
majority of the senate which had pronounced the
exclusions, nominated the new admissions, and did
so in a manner the most satisfactory to the con-
sular government. They made use for the new
elections of the lists of notability, invented by
Sieyes as a principal basis of the constitution.
Despite the eff'orts of the council of state to dis-
cover a convenient manner of forming these lists,
none of the systems it devised had redeemed
the inconvenience of the principle. They were slow
and difficult to form, because they inspired little
zeal in the citizens, wh(j could not see in this vast
mass of candidates, any very direct and immediate
means to influence the composition of the first au-
thorities. They were, in reality, only a mode of
saving appearances, and of dissiimilating the neces-
sity then inevitable, for the comjiosition of the great
bodies of the state through themselves ; since
every election turned out badly, in other words,
went to extremes. They had the greatest ditti-
culty in completing these lists; and out of a hun-
dred and two departments then existing, of which
two, those of Coraica, were beyond the rciicli of

the law ; those on the left bank of the Rhine were
not organized, eighty-three only had sent in their
lists. It was agreed, therefore, that the selections
should be made fi-om the lists sent in, with a re-
servation of indemnity, by subsequent elections, to
the departments which had not yet executed the
law.

There were called to the legislative body a great
number of the larger proprietors of land in the
country, whom the new security, which they had
been recently made to enjoy, had brought to quit
the retirement in which they had hitherto en-
deavoured to live. There were also called to it
some prefects and magistrates, w-lio had been, for
three years past, training to the practice of public
business, under the direction of the consular go-
vernment. Among those introduced into the tri-
bunate, was numbered Lucien Bonaparte, returned
from Spain, after an embassy more agitated than
useful, affecting to desire nothing more than a
quiet existence, employed to serve his brother in
one of the great assemblies of the state. With him
was introduced Carnot ', who had just quitted the
ministry at war, where he had not possessed- the
art of pleasing the first consul. The last was not
more favourable to the consular government than
the tribunes i-ecently excluded; but he was a grave
personage, universally respected, whose opposition
could not be very active, and whom the revolution
could not have laid aside without odious ingratitude.
This nomination was a last homage to liberty.
After these two names the most noted was that of
M. Daru, a capable and upright administrator of
a sage and cultivated intellect.

During the time that these operations ^yere in
execution, the first consul had reached Paris, after
an absence of twenty-four days. He arrived on
the 31st of January, in the evening, or on the 11th
of Plnviose. Every where there was submission,
and that singular movement of resistance, that had
not long before been seen in both legislative as-

' " After the ISth Brumaire, Carnot was recalled by the first
consul" (he had fallen in Fructidor), "and placed in the war
department. He had several quarrels with the minister of
finance, Diifresne, the director of the treasury; in wliich, it
is but lair to say, that he was always in the wrong. At last
he left the department, persuaded that it could not longer
go on for want of money. When a member of the tribunate,
he spoke and voted itgainst the establishment of the empire;
but his conduct, open and manly, gave no uneasiness to the
administration. At a later period he was appointed inspector
of reviews, and received from the emperor, on his retire-
ment from the service, a pension of twenty thousand frsncs.
As long as public affairs went on prospering, tlie emperor
heard nothing of Carnot ; but after the campaign of Russia,
at the time of the disasters of France, Carnot asked for em-
ployment. He was appointed to command the town of
Antwerp, and he behaved well in his post. On liis return
in 1S15, tlie emperor, after a little hesitation, made liim
minister of the interior, and had no reason to repent of liis
choice, having found him faithful, laborious, full of probity
and sincerity. In the month of June, 1815, Carnot was
named one of the commission of the provisional govern-
ment, but he was duped.'.' Such was Napoleon's account of
him. He wrote upon projectiles, and started a new theory,
■which Napoledh proclaimed to be fallacious in practice.
Carnot died in 1823, exiled by the Bourbons. He was one
of the comparatively few men, wlio figured during the whole
revolution, of whom France may be proud. He was a
scientific, cool, sincere, courageous, patriotic, and inde-
pctidcnt man. — Translator.

Bonaparte returns to Paris.
—State of his projected
measures.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Negotiation at Amiens i
question of Malta.

33y

semblies, was now completely ended. The new
authority with which the first consul was clothed
had itself acted strongly upon the public mind. It
was not much, most assuredly, in addition to the
power of the first consul, that the Italian republic
Imd been added to that of France, which could
thus vanquish and disarm the world; but it was
that exaniplc of deference given to the genius of
general Bonapai'te by an allied people, which had
produced this great effect. The bodies of the state
all came eagerly to ofter him their felicitations,
and tiv address to liim speeches, in which was per-
ceptible, with that exaltation of language which he
coninionly inspired, a tone of marked respect. It
seemed as if there were already seen, on that do-
minating head, the double crown of France and
Italy.

He had all the power now for the organization
of France, which was his first object, and for his
personal aggrandizement, which was his second.
He had no more to fear that the codes which he
liad drawn up, and which he had again caused to
l)e revised, that the arrangements concluded with
the pope for the restoration of the altars, would be
defeated in intention by ill-will or the jircjudices
of the great bodies of the state. These plans were
not the whole which he contemplated. For some
months he had been preparing a vast system of
public education, in order to fashion the young, in
some sort, to the system of the revolution. Ho
projected a plan of national recompenses, which,
under the military form, adapted to the time, and
to the warlike imagination of the French, might
also serve to remunerate the great civil as well as
military actions of the French. This was the
legion of honour, a noble institution, for a long
time meditated in secret, and certainly not the
least ditticult of the labours that the first consul
would fain make agreeable to republican France.
He desired also to put an end to emigration, one
of the greatest and deepest maladies of the re-
volution. Many Frenchmen were still living in
foreign countries, imbibing there those bad senti-
ments which are inherent in exile, destitute of
family, fortune, and country. With the design to
efface the traces of the great discords of France,
and to preserve all that the revolution possessed
which was good, while discarding all which was
evil, emigration was not one of the results which
could bo ptift'ertd to remain in existence. Still, on
account of those who had acquired national ])ro-
perty, who were ever susceptible and distrustful,
this measure was one of the most difficult, and de-
manded the most cour.age. Nevertheless, the time
approached when such an act was likely to become
pohsible. Finally, if, as it was said every where, it
was necesfary to consolidate the power iu the
hands of. the nmn who had exercised it in so ad-
mirable a manner ; if it was necessary to inii)art
to his authority a new character, more elevated,
more durable, than that of a magistracy, of which
ten years, three had already pasHcd away, the mo-
ment was again come ; for the public prosperity,
the fruit of order, victory, and pesice, was at its
full ; it was felt at the instant with a force that
time might cool, but could not lesHcn.

Still those designs for the public good and per-
sonal aggrandizement, that iio nourished at the
same time, needed for their accomplishment a last

act, in the definitive conclusion of a maritime peace,
then negotiating in the congress of Amiens. The
preliminaries of London had laid down the basis of
the peace; but as long as those preliminaries re-
mained unconverted into a definitive treaty, the
alarmists interested in disturbing the public repose,
did not fail to i-eport weekly, that the negotiation
was broken, and that the country would soon be
plunged into a maritime war, and by a maritime
war into a continental one. Thus, after his return
to Paris, the first consul impressed fresh activity
upon the negotiations at Amiens. " Sign," he wrote
every day to Joseph ; " because, since the pre-
liminaries are agreed upon, there is no more any
serious question to debate." That was true. The
])reliminaries of London had settled the only im-
portant question, iu stipulating the restituti^i of
all the maritime conquests of the English, except-
ing Ceylon and Trinidad, which the Dutch and
Spaniards were to sacrifice. The English had,
as we have seen, demanded, at the congress of
Amiens, the little island of Tobago; but the first
consul had held it fast, and they had renounced it.
From that time, there had been no further differ-
ences beyond questions altogether accessai-y, such
as the support of the prisoners, and the government
to be given to the isle of Malta.

The di^culty relative to the prisoners has
already been explained. It was a pure question
of money payment, always easy to arrange. The
government to be given to Malta presented a diffi-
culty more weighty, and a reciprocal mistrust
rendered the views of the two powers exceedingly
complicated. The first consul, by a singular pre-
sentiment, wished the fortifications of the island to
be demolished, to reduce it to a rock, and make it
a lazaretto common to all nations. The English,
who regarded Malta as a half-way step to Egypt,
said that the rock was of itself too important to be
left always accessible to the French, that from Italy
they might pass to Sicily, and from Sicily to Malta.
They wished the re-establishment of the order upon
its ancient basis, with the creation of an English
language and a Maltese language, the last composed
of the inhabitants of the island who were devoted
to them. The first consul had not admitted these
conditions, because, from the state of manners in
France, it was not possible to hope for the compo-
sition of a French sufficiently numerous to counter-
balance the creation of an English language. At
last this point was arranged. The order was to be
re-establishe<l without having any new language.
Another grand master was to be named, because
M. de Ilompesch, who had in 179'J delivered up
Malta to general Uonaparto, would not do for a
governor again. During the time that the order
was re-organizing, it was decided to demand of the
king of Naples a garrison of Neaiiolitan soldiers,
who were to occtipy the island on the evacuation
of it by the English. In the way of additional
precaution, it was desirable that sonio great power
should guarantee this arrangement, iu order to
shelter Malta from any of those enti rprises which
in five years had made it fall at one time into the
power of France, at another into that of Englaiul.
It was at first thought of re<|iiesting this guarantee
of Russia, founding the ric|neHt upon the intenst
which this power had tistified for the order untlcr
Paul 1. On all these points the two parties agreed

340 English jealousies aroused. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Conduct of Pitt.

1802.
feb.

at the time of the departure of the first consul for
Lyons. The fisheries established on tht-ir for-
mer footing, the territorial indemnity promised
in Germany to the house of Orange for the loss of
the stadtholdership, the peace and integrity of ter-
ritory assured to Portugal as well as to Turkey,
only presented questions already resolved. Slill,
since the return of the first consul to Paris, the
negotiation appeared to languish ; and lord Corn-
wallis, inquieted, seemed to draw back a step at
every movement made by the French negotiation
towards a coiutlusion. It was impossible to suspect
lord Cornwallis, a good and estimable soldier as he
was, who only wished for an amicable termination
of the difficulties of the negotiation, joining to his
great military services a great civil service, by
giving peace to his country. But his instructions
were become all of a sudden more rigorous, and
the pain that he felt upon this account was very
clearly delineated in his visage. His cabinet had,
in effect, enjoined it ujjon him to be more par-
ticular and more vigilant in the woi-ding of the
treaty, and had imposed upon him conditions in
detail, which he did not feel easy in submitting to
the haughty and distrustful humour of the first
consul. This brave soldier, who had thoughts to
crown his career by a memorable action, had rea-
son to dread the sight of his old renown being
tarnished by the part he might be forced to play
in a negotiatiiin scandalously broken off. In his
mortification he opened his mind frankly to Joseph
Bonaparte, and made with him the sincerest efforts
to vanquish the obstacles opposed to the conclusion
of the treaty.

It will be demanded what motive could have all
at once destroyed, or, at all events, cooled the
pacific disposition of Mr. Addington's cabinet. The
motive it is very easy to comprehend. It had
made a sort of tack about, an ordinary thing in
free countries. The preliminaries had been signed
for six months, and in that intermediate state,
which, save the sound of cann(m, was near to war,
little of the benefit of peace had been perceived.
The greater commercial men who, in England,
were the class most interested in tlie I'enewal of
hostilities, because tbe war secured to them a uni-
versal monopoly, had been in hopes to repay them-
selves for what they were losing by making large
shipments to the ports of France. They had met
there with prohibitory regulations, which had ori-
ginated during a violent contest, and which there
had not been time to ameliorate. The i)eo|)le, who
hoped for a fall in the price of provision, had
not thus far seen their hopes realized, because it
required a definitive treaty to overcome the specu-
lators who kept the price of corn at a high standai'd.
Lastly, the great landowners, who wished a reduc-
tion of all the taxes, and the middle classes, who
demanded the repeal of the income-tax, had not
yet gathered tlie promised fruits from the i)acifica-
tion of the world. A little disenchantment had
therefore succeeded to that infatuated desire for
peace, which six months before had so suddenly
seized upon the English people — a people as subject
to infatuation as the French. But, more than all
the rest, the scenes at Lyons had acted on its
jealous imagination. The taking possession of
Italy, thus made manifest, had appeared for France
and for her chief something so great, that British

jealousy had been warmly excited by it. It was
another argument for the war party, which already
did not miss saying, that France was always
aggrandizing hei-self, and England lessening in
proportion. The recent news spread abroad acted
equally upon their minds, namely, that of the con-
siderable acquisition made by the French in
America. Tuscany, it has been seen, was given
away, under the title of the kingdom of Etruria, to
an infant, without the price of this gift to Spain
being made known. Now that tlie first consul
claimed at Madrid the cession of Louisiana, which
was the equivalent stipulated for Tuscany, this
condition of the treaty was divulged ; and the fact,
joined to the St. Domingo expedition, revealed new
and vast designs in America. To all this was to
be added, that a considerable jjort was acquired
by France in the Mediterranean, that of the Isle
of Elba, exchanged for the duchy of Piombino.

These different rumours, spread abroad at once
while the consulta, assembled at Lyons, was de-
creeing to general Bonaparte the government of
Italy, had given some strength to the war party
in London, which had been before obliged to keep
itself in extreme reserve, and to greet with hypo-
critical welcome the re-establishment of peace.

Pitt, who had quitted the cabinet the year before,
but who was still more powerful in his I'etirement
than his upright and feeble successors were, when
in full possession of their power, was silent upon the
subject of the preliminaries. He i)ad not saiil any
thing of the conditions, but he had approved of
the fact of the peace itself. His old friends, very
inferior to himself, and, consequently, less moderate,
Windham, Dundas,and Grenville, had censured the
weakness of the Addington cabinet, and declared
the preliminary conditions disadvantageous to Great
Britain. On learning the departure of the fleet,
carrying twenty thousand men to St. Domingo,
tiiey cried out aloud at the dupery of Addington,
which had ])ermitted a squadron to pass which
would not fail to re-establish tlie French power
in the Antilles, before the signature of the defini-
tive treaty of peace. They prophesied that he
would be the victim of his imprudent confidence.
At the news of the e^-ents at Lyons, of the cession
of Louisiana, and of the acquisition of the island of
Elba, they exclaimed still louder, and lord Carlisle
made a furious onset upon the gigantic ambition of
France, and the feebleness of the new cabinet of
England.

Pitt continued silent, thinking that it was ne-
cessary to suffer this attachment to peace, with
which the London public appeared to be smitten,
to wear itself out, and that it became him to pro-
tect, at least for a time, the cabinet destined to
satisfy, in all ])robability, a passing taste. The
English cabinet itself appeared to be moved by the
effect thus produced upon public opinion ; but it
much more dreaded what would be said if the
peace should be broken as soon as it was entered
upon, and if a formal treaty were not to rejilace
the preliminary articles. It confined itself there-
fore to sending out some ships of war to tlie West
Indies, which had been prematurely re-called, in
order to observe the French fleet, which had sailed
to that quarter; and it sent to lord Corr.wallis in-
structions, which, without changing the foundation
of any thing, aggravated certain conditions, and

Feb.

New demands of the
KnglUli cabiiic-t,

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

and the first consul's
reply.

341

overloaded the definitive treaty with precautions,
useless or disparaginj; to the dignity of the French
government. Lord Hawkesbury wished for a pre-
cise stipulation of tlie money to be paid to England
for tlie prisoners which she had to maintain; he
wisiicd that Holland should pay tlie house of
Orange a money indemnity, independently of the
territorial indemnity promised in Germany; he
wished it to be formally stipulated, that the old
grand master shoidd not be again placed at tlie
liead of the order of MalU. He wished, above all,
that a Turkish plenipotentiary should figure at
the congress of Amiens, because always full of the
recollections of E^'ypt, the British cabinet held
itself determined to check the daring of the first
consul in the East. Ho wished, in line, to be an
instrument which might enable Portugal to escape
the stipulations of the treaty of Badajoz— stipula-
tions by virtue of which the court of Lisbon lost
Olivenza in Europe and a certain territorial space
in America.

Such were the instructions sent to lord Corn-
wallis; still there was one proposition which was
reserved to be made directly by lord Hawkesbury
to M. Otto. Tills related to Italy : " We see,"
siiid lord Hawkesbury to M. Otto, " that there
is nothing to be got from the first consul touching
Piedmont. To make any demand on that head,
would be asking what is impossible. But let the
first consul grant to the king of Sardinia the
smallest territorial indemnity in any corner of
Itiily that he pleases, and in return for this con-
cession, we will acknowledge at the same moment
all that France has done hi that country. We
will acknowledge the kingdom of Etruria and the
Ligurian republic."

The changes requested, whether by lord Corn-
wallis or by lord Hawkesbury, consisting more in
form than in substance, were neither vexatious to
the |)ower nor to the pride of France. Peace was
too fine a thing not to accept it as it was ofTered.
But the first consul, unable to discover if these
new tlemands were oidy a pure precaution of the
Engli-sh cabinet, with the intention of rendering
the treaty more presentable to parliament, or if in
effect this going back from points already con-
ceded, accompanied by maritime armaments, con-
cealed a secret idea of a rupture, acted, as he
always did, by going resolutely to the mark. He
conceded what he thought should be conceded, and
flatly refused the rest. Relatively to the pri-
soners, he repelled the stipulation of the precise
sum to be [)aid to England, but agreed to the
formation of a conmiission which was to regulate
the auKiunt of the expenses, considering German
or other HoldierH who had been in the English
servici", as Englisii prisoners. He would not agree
that Holland should p:iy the stadtholder a single
florin. 'He consented in a formal manner to the
nomination of a new grand master for Maltii, but
without any expression applicable to M. de Hom-
pesch, which might induce the idea that France
allowed the abamlonmcnt of any who had done her
service to be imp'sed upon her. Ho wished that
the guarantee of Maltii should be also demanded of
Austria, Prussia, and Spain '. Finally, without ad-

■ At tlic possession of the island of Malta was one of
those points upon wlilch the two countries had the greatest

mitting a Turkish or Portuguese plenipotentiary, he
consented to an article in whicli the integrity of

difficulty in completing the treaty, that part which related
to it will make the subject hetter understood : —

" The islands of Malta, Gozo, and Coniino, shall be re-
stored to the order of St. John of Jerusalem, to be held on
the same condition on which it possessed them before the
war, and under the following stipulations : —

" 1. The knights of the order whose languages shall con-,
tinue after the exchange of the ratifica'ion of the present
treaty, are invited to letinn to Malta as soon as the ex-
change shall have taken place. They will there form a
general chapter, and proceed to the election of a grand
master, chosen from among the natives of the nation which
preserve their language, unless that election lias been al-
ready made since the e.\cliange of the preliminaries. It is
understood that an election made subsequent to that epoch,
shall alone be considtred valid, to the exclusion of any other
that may have taken place at any period prior to that
epoch.

" 2. The governments of the French republic and of
Great Britain, desiring to place the order and island of
Malta in a state of entire independence with respect to
them, agree that there shall not be in future eilher a French
or English language, and that no individual belonging to
eitlier the one or the other of these powers shall be admitted
into the order.

" 3. There shall be established a Maltese language, which
shall be supported by ihe territorial revenues and commercial
duties of the island. This language shall have its peculiar
dignities, an establishment and an h6:el. Proofs of nobility
shall not be necessary for the admission of knights of this
language; and ihey shall be moreover admissible to all
offices, and shall enjoy all jirivileges, in the same manner as
the knights of the other languages. At least half of the
municipal, administrative, civil, judicial, and other employ-
ments depending on the government, shall be tilled by in-
habitants of the islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino.

"4. The forces of his Britannic majesty shall evacuate the
island and its dependencies within three months from the
exchange of the ratifications, or sooner if possible. At that
epoih it shall bft given up to the order, in its present state,
provided the grand master, or commissaries fully aulhorized
according to the statutes of the order, shall be in the island
to take possession, and that the force which is to be provided
by his Sicilian majesty, as is hereafter stipulated, shall have
arrived there.

" 5. One-half of the garrison, at least, shall be always com-
posed of native Maltese; for the remainder, the order may
levy recruits in those only w hich lontinue to jiossess the lan-
guage (possedur Ics langiies). The Maltese troops shall have
Maltese officers ; the commander-in-chief of the garrison, as
well as the nomination of the cfficers, shall pertain to the
grand master; and this right he cannot assign, even tempo-
rarily, except in favour of a knight, and in concurrence with
the council of the order.

" G. The independence of the isles of Malta, Gozo, and
Comino, as well as the present arrangement, shall be placed
under the protection and guarantee of France, Great Britain,
Austria, Spain, Russia, and Prussia.

" 7. The neutrality of the order, and of the island of Malta,
with its dependencies, is proclaimed.

" 8. The ports of Malta shall be opened to the commerce
and navigation of all nations, who shall there pay equal and
moderate duties; these duties shall be applied to the sup-
port of the Maltese language, as specified in jiaragraph 9;
til that of the civil and military establishments of the
islands as well as to that of a general lazaretto, open to all
ensigns.

" U. The states of Barhnry are excepted from the condition
of the preceding paragrajihs, until, by nuans of an arrange-
ment to he procured by the contracting parlies, the system
of hostilities which 8Ul)Bi8ts between the states of Barlmry
and the order of St. John, or the powers possessing the Ian-

Signature of the

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. treaty of Amiens.

March.

the Turldsh and Portuguese territory should be
formally guaranteed.

As to the acknowledgment of the Italian, of the
Ligurian republic, and of the kingdom of Etruria,
he declared that he would pass it by, and that
he would not purchase it by any concession made
to the king of Piedmont, whose dominions he was
determined to keep definitively.

After having sent these answers to his brother
Joseph, with ample liberty as to the settlement, in
regard to the mode of drawing up, he i-ecom-
mended him to act with great prudence, in order
to have a sufficient proof that the refusal to sign
the»peace came from England, and not fi-om him.
He- caused it to be intimated, whether in London
or at Amiens, that if they would not accept what
he proposed, they ought to terminate the affair _:
and that at the same moment he would instantly
re-arm the old Boulogne flotilla, and form a camp
opposite to the English coast.

The rupture was not more wished in London
than in Paris or Amiens. The English cabinet
felt that it must succumb under the ridicule, if
a ti'uce of six months, following the preliminaries,
liad only served to open the sea to the French
fleets. Lord Cornwallis, who knew that the English
legation was not to be justified, because it was that
which had raised the last difficulties, lord Corn-
wallis was highly conciliatoi-y in the drawing up.
Joseph Bonaparte was not less so, and on the 25tli
of March, 1802, in the evening, or 4th Germinal,
in the year x., the peace with Great Britain was
signed upon an instrument marked with all sorts of
corrections.

It took thirty-six hours for the translation of
the treaty into as many languages as there were
powers concerned. On the 27th of March, or
(Jtli Germinal, the plenipotentiaries met together
at the Hotel de Ville. The first consul wished
that all should take place with the greatest parade.
A good while before there had been sent to
Amiens a detachment of the finest troops newly
dressed ; he had all the roads from Amiens to

guageSj or concurring in the composition of the order, shall
have ceased.

" 10. The order shall he governed, hoth with respect to
spirituals and tempor.ils, by the same statutes which were in
force when the knights left the isle, as far as the present
treaty shall not deroftate from them.

" U. The regulations contained in paragraphs 3, 5, 7, 8,
and 10, shall be converted into laws and perpetual statutes
of the order, in the customary inanner : and the grand mas-
ter, (or if he shall not be in the island at the time of its
re.storation to the order, his representative,) as well as his
successors, shall be bound to take an oath for their punctual
observance.

" 12. His Sicilian majeffy shall be invited to furnish two
thousand men, natives of his states, to serve in garrison of
the different fortresses of the said islands ; that force shall
remain for one year, to bear date from their restitution to
the knights; and, If at the expiration of this term, the order
should not have raised a force sulhcient in the judgment of
the guaranteeing powers to garrison the island and its de-
pendencies, such as is specified in the paragraph, the Nea-
politan troops shall continue there until they shall be replaced
by a force deemed sufficient by the sai<l powers.

" 13. The different powers designated in the 6th paragraph,
viz., France, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, and
Prussia, shall be invited to accede to the present stipula-
tions.'

Calais, and Amiens to Paris, newly repaired, and
sent relief to the labourers of the country deprived
of work, iu order that nothing might inspire the
negotiator of England with an unfavourable idea
of France. He prescribed certain preparations in
the city of Amiens itself, in order that the sig-
nature might be given with a sort of solemnity.
On the 27th, at eleven o'clock in the morning,
detachments of cavalry went to the residences of
the plenipotentiaries, and formed an escort to the
Hotel de Ville, where an apartment had been pre-
pared for their reception. It took them a certain
time to revise the copies of the treaty, and about
two o'clock admittance was given at last to the
authorities and to the people, who were eager to be
present at the imposing spectacle of the two first
nations in the universe becoming recimciled in the
face of the world — becoming reconciled, alas ! for
too short a period ! The two plenipotentiaries
signed the peace, and then cordially embraced
each other amid the acclamations of those present,
full of emotion, and transported with joy. Lord
Cornwallis and Joseph Bonaparte were reconducted
to their i-esidences in the midst of the loudest
acclamations of the multitude. Lord Cornwallis
heard his name blessed by the French people, and
Joseph entered his house hearing on all sides the
cry, which was to be for a long time, and which it
was possible might have alwaj's been the cry
of France, " Long live Bonaparte !"

Lord Cornwallis set out immediately for Lon-
don, in spite of the invitation which he had re-
ceived to visit Paris. He feared that the facilities
in drawing up the treaty, to which he had lent
himself, might not be approved by his government,
and he wished to secure the ratification of the
treaty of peace by his presence.

The happy issue of the congress of Amiens, if it
did not excite among the English people the same
transports of enthusiasm as the signature to the
preliminaries had done, still found them joyful and
elated. This time, they said, they were going to
enjoy the reality of the peace, the low price of
in-oduce, and the abolition of the income-tax.
They believed it, and showed themselves truly
satisfied.

The eff'ect was just the same on the side of
France. Less of external demonstration, but not
less of real satisfaction ; such was t)ie spectacle
afforded by the French people. Finally, it was
felt that true peace, that of the seas, was procured,
the necessary and certain condition of a continental
peace. After ten years of the grandest, the most
terrible contest that was ever seen among men,
they had all laid down their arms ; the temple of
Janus was shut.

By whom had all this been performed ? Who
had rendered France so great and prosperous,
Europe so calm ? One sole man by the power of
his sword, and by the depth of his policy. France
proclaimed this, and the entire of Europe echoed
to her. He had subsequently conquered at Jena,
at Friedland, at Wagram, he )iad conquered in a
hundred battles, had dazzled, startled, subdued the
world ; but he was never so great as then, because
he was never so wise !

Thus all the great bodies of the state came to
tell him anew, in speeches full of sincere enthu-
siasm, that he had been the victor, and that he was

Addresses of public
bodies to the first
consul.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Regulations of the police of
worship. — The "Organic
Articles."

now the benefactor of Europe. The young author
of so much good, the possessor of so much glory,
was very far from thinking he approached the end
of his laboui-s. He hardly enjoyed what he had
done before he was impatient to do more. Devoted
passionately to the works of peace, without being
certain that peace would last long, he was anxious
to complete what he denominated the organiza-
tion of France, and to reconcile what was good
and true in the revolution with what was useful
and necessary at all times in the old monarchy.
That which he had most at heart at this time was
the restoration of the catholic worship, the organiza-
tion of public education, the i*eeal of the emigrants,
and the institution of the legion of honour. These
were not the only things that he contemplated ;
but they were, in his view, the most ui;gent. Mas-
ter, for the future, of the minds of those who com-
posed the great bodies of the state, he used the
prerogatives of the constitution to order an extra-
ordinary session. He had returned on the 31st of
January, 1802, or 11th of Pluviose, from the con-
sulta held at Lyons ; the treaty of Amiens had
been signed on the 25th of March, or 4th of Ger-
minal; the promotions to the legislative body and
the tribunate were finished several weeks before,
and the uewly-elected members had taken their
seats ; he therefore convoked an extraordinary
session for the 5th of April, or 15th Germinal. It
was to last until the 20t.h of May, or 30th Flore'al,
that is to say, about six weeks. This would suffice
for his plans, however great they might be, be-
cause the contradiction which he was likely to
encounter for the future would not occasion him
the loss of nmch time.

The first of these projects submitted to the
legislative body was the concordat. It was still
the more difficult of them to get adopted, if not by
the pojjular masses, at least by tiie civil and
niiiit^iry individuals who surrounded the govern-
ment. The holy see, which had been so slow to
grant the principles of the concordat at one time, at
another the bull of the circumscriptions, and again,
the faculty to institute the new bisliojis, liad long
since sent all that was necessary to cardinal
Caprara, that he might be able to display the full
I)owers of the holy see, at the moment that the
first consul should judge most opportune. The
first consul himself liad thought with reason that
the proclamation of the definitive treaty of peace
was the moment when he should bo able, under
the favour of the public joy, to aff"ord, for the first
time, tho spectacle of the republican government
prostrate at the foot of the altar, thanking Pro-
vidence for the blessings which had been conferred
upon it.

He made every disimsition for the dedication of
thi- first day of Easter to this iniiiortant solemnity.
But the fifteen days which preceded this gnat act
were not less critical nor less laborious than that
day was likely to be. It was, in the first j)lace,
necessary, besides the treaty called the concordat,
which, under the name of a treaty, was to be voted
by the legislative body, it was necessary to draw
up and to [jrescnt a law which sliould regulate the
police of worship, in unison with the principles of
the concordat and of tin- Galilean church. It was
necessary to appoint the new (;lergy who wciv;
designed to replace tlio former bi8lioi>s, whose re-

signation had been required by the pope, and
almost universally obtained. Sixty sees were to
be filled up at one time, by the selection, from
priests of all parties, of the most respectable in-
dividuaks, taking every pi-ecautiou not to give
ofi'ence to religious opinions by those selections, nor
to renew schism through an excess of a similar
zeal to that used for its extermination.

Such were the difficulties that the tenacity, en-
veloped in mildness, of the cardinal Caprara, and
the passions of the clergy, as great as those of
other men, rendered vex-y serious and very dis-
quieting, up to the latest moment, even to the
evening before the day when the great act of the
re-establishment of the altars was to be consum-
mated.

The first consul began with the law designed to
regulate the police of worship, or that which, in
the French code, bears the title of '• Organic Ar-
ticles."' It was voluminous, and regulated the
relations of the government with all religions,
whether catholic, protestant, or Hebrew. It rested
on the principle of the liberty of worship, granted
to it security and protection, imposing on all re-
spect and toleration to each other, and submission
towards the government. As to the catholic re-
ligion, that which embraced nearly the totality of
the population of the country, it was regulated ac-
cording to the principles of the Roman church,
sanctioned in the concordat, and the principles of
the Galilean church, as proclaimed by Bossuct.
It was first established that no bull, brief, or
writing whatever of the holy see, could be pub-
lished in France without the authority of the
government; that no delegate from Rome, except
him whom she publicly sent as her official repre-
sentative, should be admitted, recognized, or tole-
rated : this caused the disappearance of tlte secret
mandatories that the holy sec employed to govern
the French church clandestinely during the revo-
lution. Every infraction whatsoever of the rules,
resulting either from treaties with the holy see or
from the laws of France, committed by a member
of the clerical body, was denominated an "abuse,"
and referred to the jurisdiction of the council of
state, a political and administrative body, animated
by a sound spirit of government, whieli could not
feel towards the clergy the hatred which the
magistracy had avowed towards it under the an-
cient monarchy. No council, general or particular,
could be held in France without the formal order
of the government. There was to be one catechism
only, approved of by the public authorities. Evei-y
ecclesiastic who devoted himself to the education
of the clergy was to make profession of the de-
claration of 1682, known under the name of the
" Propositions of Bossuet." These propositions,
as it is well known, contain those fine i)rinciple3
of submission and independence, which so parti-
cularly characterize the Gallican church, while
she, always submissive to the catholic iniity, made
it triumphant in France, and defeixled it in
Europe ; but independent in her internal govern-
ment, faithful to lier sovereigns, she has never
ended in protestantism, like the German and Eng-
lish churches, nor in the incpiisition, like that of
Spain. Submissive to the head of tho universal
church in spirituals, submissive to the head of the
state in temporals, such was the double principle

Alteration in the decade,
344 and Sunday acknow-
ledged.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Advances of cardinal
Caprara refused by
the first consul.

1802.
April.

upon which the first consul desired that the
French church sliould rest established. For this
reason he formally stipulated that the clergy should
be instructed in the propositions of Bossuet. It
was arranged, iu consequence, in the organic ar-
ticles, that the bishops, nominated by the first
consul, and instituted by the pope, should choose
the cure's; but before installing them, they should
be obliged to submit them to the approval of the
government. Leave was granted to the bishops
to form chapters of canons in the catiiedrals and
seminaries of the dioceses. Every appointment of
professors in these seminaries was to be approved by
the public authoritj'. No pupil of these seminaries
could be ordained a priest until he was twenty-five
years of age, unless he brought forward pniof that
he possessed })roperty to the amount of 300 f. per
annum, and that was approved of by the admi-
nistration of public worship. This condition of
property could not, in reality, be carried out ' ;
but it was desirable, had it been practicable, be-
cause, in that case, the spirit of the clergy would
have sunk less than it has since been seen to do.
The archbishops received 15,000 f. of revenue; the
bishops, 10,000 f. ; the cures of the first class,
1500 f.; those of the second class, 1000 f., but
without the addition of ecclesiastical pensions,
which many priests enjoyed in compensation for
alienated ecclesiastical property. The casual, or
iu other words, voluntary contributions of the
faithful, for the administration of certain sacra-
ments, was reserved, on condition of being re-
gulated by the bishops. In all other cases it was
stipulated that the offices of religion sliould be
gratuitously administered. The churches were
restored to the newly-appointed clergy. The pres-
byteries and the gardens attached, called, among the
rural population, the " cures' houses," were the
only portions of the former goods of the church
which were restored to the priests, on the under-
standing that this formed no precedent regarding
such a ])ortion of tlie goods of the church as had
been sold. Tlie usage of bells was re-established
for the purpose of calling the people to church ;
but they were forbidden to be used for any civil
purpose, at least, without permission from tlie au-
thorities. The sinister recollection of the tocsin
had caused this precaution to be adopted. No
fete or holiday, except that of Sunday, could be
established without the authority of the govern-
ment. Worship was not to be performed exter-
nally, that is, outside the buildings, in towns
where there were edifices belonging to different
religious denominations. Lastly, the Gregorian
calendar was, in part, made to coi-respond with
the republican calendar. This was, certainly, the
most serious of the difficulties. It was impossible
to abolish completely the calendar, which I'ecalled,
more than any other institution, the remembrance
of the revolution, and which liad been adapted to
the new system of weights and measures. But it
was not possible to establish the catholic religion
again without the re-establishment of tlie Sunday,
and with the Sunday, that of the week. In otiier
respects, manners had already done that which
the law dared not yet undertake, and the Sunday
had again become every where a religious lioliday,

1 It was not abolished until February, 1810.

more or less observed, but universally admitted as
an interruption to the labour of the week. The
first consul adopted a middle term. He decided
that the year and the month should be named after
the republican calendar, and the day and week
after the Gregorian. That there should be said,
for example, for Easter Sunday, Sunday, 28th
Germinal, year x., which answered to April 18,
1802. Lastly, he exacted that no one should be
married in a church without the production, pre-
viously, of the writ of civil marriage; and as to
the registers of births, deaths, iind marriages, that
the clergy had continued to hold from usage, he
caused it to be declared that these registers should
never be of any value in courts of justice. In the
last ])lace, every testamentary or other donation,
made to the clergy, was to be constituted in the
public funds.

Such is the substance of the wise and profound
law which bears the name of " organic articles." It
was for the French government wholly an internal
act which regarded itself alone, and which, under
this title, was not to be submitted to the holy see.
It sufficed that it contained nothing contrary to
the concordat, so that the court of Rome had no
reasonable ground to complain. To submit it to
Rome would be to prepare insurmountable difficul-
ties— difficulties greater and more in number than
had been encountered in the concordat itself. The
first consul took care that he would not expose
himself to these difficulties. He knew that when
once religious worship was publicly re-established,
the holy see would not come to a rupture of the
peace between France and Rome on account of
matters which concerned the interior policy of the
republic. It is very true that, at a later period,
these articles became one of the grievances of the
court of Rome against Napoleon ; but they were
more a pretext than a real grievance. They had,
besides, been communicated to cardinal Caprara,
who did not appear to revolt at reading them •, if
a judgment can be formed of his opinion by what
he communicated in writing to his own court. He
made some reservations, advising the Iioly father
not to afflict himself about them, hoping, he said,
that the articles would not be too rigorously exe-
cuted.

The law of the organic articles being drawn up
and discussed in the council of state, it was neces-
sary to give some attention to the individual ap-
pointments of the clergy. This was a task requiring
considerable labour, because there was a multitude
of selections to be made, each to be closely ex-
amined prior to a definitive decision. Portalis,
whom the first cf>nsul had ai)])ointed to take charge
of the administration of worsliip, and who was emi-
nently proper either to treat with the clergy, or to
represent that body in the council of state, and to
defend it with a mild, brilliant eloquence, impressed
with a certain religious unction, Poi-talis ordinarily
resisted the holy see with a respectful firmness.
On this occasion he made himself in some respects
an ally of the cardinal Caprara in a pretension of
the court of Rome, that of completely excluding
the constitutional clergy from the new sees. The
pope, affected still at an act as exorbitant in his

' These assertions are founded upon the correspondence
of cardinal Caprara himself.

I

1802.
April.

Speech of the lirst consul THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

to cardinal Caprara.

own eyes as the deposition of the old titularies, wislied
at leiist to indemnifv himself for it by keeping from
tile episcopacy tlie ministers of tlie worsiiip tliat
had made a compact with tlie Frencli revolution,
and taken an oath to tlie civil constitution. Since
tile concordat was signed, tliat is to say, for about
eight or nine months, cardinal Caprara, who was
filling inakinUo the functions of legate a latere, and
who was continually seeing the first consul, insinu-
ated to him with mildness, but constancy, the
desires of the Roman church, advancing with more
boldness when the first consul was in a humour to
let him speak on, and retiring precipitately, with
humility, when he was of a contrary humour.
These desires of the Roman church, did not solely
consist in e.\cluding from the new composition of
the French clergy those priests whom he denomi-
nated intruders, but were directed to the recovery
of the lost provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, and
Romagna. " The holy father," said the cardinal,
" is very poor since lie has been despoiled of his
most fertile provinces; he is so poor that he can
neither pay troops to guard him, the administra-
tion of his states, nor the sacred college, lie has
lost even a part of his foreign revenues. In the
midst of his grievances, the re-establishment of
religion in Fi'ance is the greatest of his consola-
tions ; but do not mingle bitterness with this con-
s<ilation, by obliging him to institute priests who
have apostatized, thus depriving the faithful clergy
of the places already so much diminished by the
new circumscription."

" Yes," replietl the first consul, " the holy father
is poor; I will assist him. All the boundaries of
Italy are not irrevocably fixed ; those of Europe
are definitively arranged, but I caimot now take
away the pi-ovinces from the Italian republic
which has made me its chief. Meanwhile, the
holy father is in want of more money than he
posseases. He x'equires some millions, and I am
ready to give them to him. As to the intruders,"
he added, " it is another affair. The pope pro-
mised, when tlie negotiations arc sent in, to recon-
cile with the church all these without distinction,
who shall submit to the concordat. He has pro-
mised— he must keep his word. I shall remind
him of the matter; and he is neither a man nor a
[xjntiff if he break his word. Besides, my object
is not to make any one party triumph; my object
is to reconcile one party with another, holding the
balance equal between each. For a considerable
time you have obliged me to read the liistory
of the church. I have seen there that i-eligious
(luarrels do not differ materially from political
ones ; because you priests, and we military
men or magistrates, are all alike. They end
only by the intervention of some authority suffici-
ently strong to oblige the parties to draw together
and amalgamate. I shall therefore mingle some
constitutional bishops with those whom you de-
nomin.ite tin; faithful ; 1 will choose but a few,
and I will choose them well. You will conciliate
them with the Roman church; I will oblige them
to submit to the concordat, and all will go tm well.
This is a matter resolved upon — do not recur to it
again."

The "great consul," as the cardinal called him,
because he admired, loved, and f<;ared hitn in an
equal degree, said to the holy father, " Do not let

us irritate this man ! he alone sustains us in this
omntry, where every body is against us. If his
zeal be suffered to cool for a numient, or if unhap-
pily he should die, there would never more be a
religion in France."

The cardinal, when he did not succeed, obliged
himself to appear satisfied, because general Bona-
parte loved to see people content, and was out of
liumour when any one presented himself with
chagrin in his countenance. The cardinal always
showed himself serene and mild, and had, through
this means, discovered the art of pleasing him. He
observed, besides, the troubles wliich beset Bona-
parte, and he was not willing to add to them. The
first consul, in his turn, endeavoured to make the
cardinal comprehend the susceptibility and jealousy
of the Fi'ench feeling, and, notwithstanding liis
power, he made as strong efforts to convince his
mind, as the cardinal could make on his own side
to bring the first consul to his views. One day,
impatient at the solicitations of the legate, he made
him cease them by these words, not less gracious
than profound: " Hold, cardinal Caprara ? Do you
still pos.sess the gift of miracles ? Do you possess
it ? In that case employ it to do me a very great
service. If you have it not, leave me alone ; and
since I am reduced to human means, permit me to
use them as I understand how, in order to save the
church 1 ! "

It was a picture very striking and cui-ious, pre-
served entire in the correspondence of cardinal
Ca])rara, of this jiowerful warrior displaying by
turns a finesse, a grace, and an extraordinary
vehemence in persuading the old theological diplo-
matic cardinal to come into his views. Both had
thus reached the moment for the pultlication of th&
cinicordat without the one having worked conviction
upon the mind of the other. Portalis, who upon this
point alone agreed in opinion with the vievvs of the
holy see, did not dare, as he would willingly do, to
exclude altogether the constitutionalists from the
])ropositions for filling the sixty sees, but he only
presented two of them. Having had an under-
standing with the abbe' Bernier for the selections
to be made among the orthodox clergy, he had
|)roposed the wisest and most eminent members of
the old episcopacy for that purpose, and a suffi-
cient number of estimable cur^s distinguished by
their piety, their moderation, and the continuance
of their services during the reign of terror. He
asserted with the abbe Bernier, that not to call
any member of the old episcopacy, and to desig-

' It was what was called the faction of the "communes"
that wound up the crisis of materialism, and left the diflereiit
creeds tlie Irgacy of the last change. Thus during the
revolution, and prior to the above measure being effected by
lionaparte, there was the ultramontane Catholicism followed
by the refractory clergy, or orthodox or unsworn clergy,
divided into the unsworn and those who had promised ; there
were the Jansenlst, or constitutional, or sworn clergy; there
was deism, or the worship of the Supreme Being, instituted
by the committee of public safety; and there were, at last,
the materialists, who would worship only reason and nature
—the creed of the infamous " commune." There were thus
elements suniciently discordant on the subject of religion,
to require all the courage and ability of Bonaparte to over-
come them. There were, more or less, numerous professors
of all these opinions at that time in every part of France.—
Trinislatur,

Arrangements regarding
346 the sees.-Ecciesiasti- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.
cal appointments.

1802.
April.

nate none but cure's, would be to create a clergy
too new, and too destitute of authority : that on
the contrary, to nominate the old bishops alone to
the sees would be to neglect too much the inferior
clergy, wlio had rendered real services during the
revolution, and whose honest ambition would be
thus grievously wounded. These views were rea-
sonable, and were admitted by the first consul.
But as to the two constitutional prelates, he was
not at all satisfied about them.

" I mean out of these sixty sees," said the first
consul, " to give one-fifth to the clergy of the
revolution, or, in other words, to twelve. There
shall be two constitutional archbishops to ten, and
ten constitutional bishops to fifty^ which is not too
much." After having consulted with Portalis and
Beruier, he made with them the best selections
which could be conceived, saving one or two.
M. de Belloy, bishop of Mai'seilles, tlie oldest and
most respectable of the old French clergy, and the
excellent minister of a religion of charity, who
joined to a venerable appearance the most highly-
endowed piety, was nominated archbishop of Paris.
M. de Cice, keeper of the seals mider Louis XVI.,
formerly archbishop of Bordeaux, an ecclesiastic
of a firm and politic mind, was promoted to the
archbishopric of Aix ; M. de Boisgelin, a noble by
birth, an enlightened priest, well-informed, and of
a mild temper, formerly archbishop of Aix, was
made archbishup of Tours ; M. de la Tour-du-Pin,
formerly archbishop of Audi, received the bishop-
ric of Troyes. This worthy prelate, as illustrious
by his knowledge as by his birth, had the modesty
to accept a post so inferior to that which he had
resigned. The first consul subsequently recom-
pensed him with a cardinal's hat. M. de Roque-
laure, formerly bishop of Senlis, one of the most
distinguished prelates of the former church, by his
union of amenity and pure morals, obtained the
archbishopric of Malines. M. Cambace'res, brother
of the second consul, was called to the archbishop-
ric of Rouen. The abbe' Fesch, uncle of the first
consul, a proud priest, who made it his glory
to resist his nephew, was made archbishop of
Lyons, in other words, primate of the Gauls.
M. Lecoz, constitutional bishop of Rennes, a priest
of good moral character, but an ardent and un-
accommodating Jansenist, was nominated arch-
bishop of Besanjon. M. Primat, the constitutional
bishop of Lyons, formerly an oratorian, a well-
instructed and mild priest, having occasioned
sad scandal in regard to schisms, but none in
respect to morals, was promoted to the archbishoj)-
ric of Toulouse. A distinguished cure', M. de
Pancemont, much employed about the affair of the
resignations, was taken from the parish of St. Sul-
pice to be sent to Vannes as a bishop. Lastly, the
abb^ Bernier, the celebrated cure- of St. Laud
d'Angers, formerly the hidden plotter in La Ven-
due, afterwards its pacificator, and under the first
consul tlie negotiator of the concordat, received
the bishopric of OrlfJans. That see was not com-
mensurate with the high influence which the first
consul had allowed him to take in the affairs of the
French church ; but the abbd Bernier felt that
the recollections of the civil war attaching to his
name, did not permit an elevation too sudden and
too mai-ked; that the real influence he enjoyed
was of more value than external honours. The

first consul had in view for him besides the hat of
a cardinal.

When these nominations were all arranged,
they were not to be published until after the con-
version of the concordat into a law of the state ;
they were communicated to cardinal Caprara, who
opposed to them a very warm resistance ; he even
shed tears, said that he was unprovided with
powers, though he had received from Rome an
absolute latitude, extending so far as to the extra-
ordinary faculty of instituting prelates without
having recourse to the holy see. Portalis and
Bernier declared to him that the will of the first
consul was iiTCvocable ; that he must submit or
renounce the solemn ceremony of the restoration
of the altar, announced to take place in a few days.
He submitted at last, writing to the pope that the
salvation of souls, deprived of religion, if he per-
sisted in his refusal, had in his mind obtained the
advantage over the interests of the faithful clergy.
" They will censure me," said the cardinal to
St. Peter, " but I have obeyed that which I be-
lieved was a voice from heaven."

He consented, therefore, but reserved to himself
the right of exacting from the newly-elected con-
stitutional clergy a recantation which might cover
this last condescension of the holy see.

All being in readiness, the first consul ordered
the concordat to be laid before the legislative
body, to be voted into a law, agreeably to the
prescribed rules of the constitution. To the con-
cordat were joined the "organic articles." It was
the first day of the extraordinary session, or
the 5th of April, 1802, or 15th Germinal, that the
concordat was presented to the legislative body by
the councillors of state, Portalis, Regnier, and
Reynault St. Jean d'Angely. Tlie legislative body
was not in session when the treaty of Amiens,
signed the 25th of March, had become known
in Paris. It had not in consequence been among
the authorities which had gone up to congratulate
the first consul. At this first sitting it was pro-
posed to send a deputation of twenty-five members
to compliment the first consul upon the occasion of
the general peace. In their propositions there
was no mention of the concordat, which exhibits
the spirit of the time, even in the heart of the
renewed legislative body. The deputation was
presented on the 6th of April, or 16th Germinal.

" Citizen consul," said the president of the legis-
lative body, "the first necessity of the French
people, attacked by all Europe, was victory, and
you have conquered. Their next dearest wish was
for peace after victory, and that you have given
them. What glory for the past — what hopes for
the future ! All this has been your work. Enjoy,
therefore, the eclat and happiness which the re-
public is m your debt !"

The president terminated this address by the
warmest expression of gratitude, but upon the sub-
ject of the concordat he was perfectly silent. The
first consul seized the opportunity to give him
a species of lesson upon the .subject, and to speak
to those who spoke only of the treaty of Amiens,
of the concordat alone. " I thank you for the
sentiments you express toward me," said the first
consul to the messengers of the legislative body.
" Your session begins with the most important
operation of all, that which has for its end to ap-

April.

Ceremonies on the

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE, proclamation of the concordat. 347

pease all religious differences. The whole of France
is solicitous to see an end to these deplorable dis-
putes, and to observe the re-establishment of the
altar. I hope that in your votes you will be
unanimous upon this question. France will see
with lively joy that lier legislators have voted
peace of conscience, peace in families, a hundred
times more important for the happiness of a people,
than that upon the occasion of which you have
come to felicitate the government."

These fine expressions produced the effect which
the first consul hoped ; the projected law, cai-ried
immediately from the legislative body to the tri-
bunate, was there seriously examined, even fa-
vourably, and discussed with warmth. On the
report of M. Simeon, it was declared to be carried,
by seventy-eight votes to seven. In the legislative
body it was carried by two hundi'cd and twenty-
eight for to twenty-one against the measure.

It was on the 8th of April, or 18th Germinal,
that these two bills were converted into laws.
There were no more obstacles. It was Thursday,
and the Sunday following was Palm Sunday; the
next would be Easter-day. The first consul wished
to devote those solemn days in the catholic religion
to the great festival of the re-establishment of
)mblic worehip. He had not yet received cardinal
Caprara officially as the legate of the holy see. He
assigned the following day, Friday, for this official
reception. The usage of legates a latere is to have
a gold cross carried before them. This is the sign
of the exti'aordinary power that the holy see dele-
gates to its representatives of this character. Car-
dinal Caprara wished, conformably to the views
of his court, that the exercise of worship might be
as public and pompous as possible in France, and
requested that, according to usage, on the day
when he went to the Tuileries, the golden cross
might be carried before liim, by an officer, dressed
in red, on horseback. This was a spectacle which
there was some fear about exhibiting to the Pari-
sians. A negotiation ensued, in which it was
agreed that this cross should be carried in one of
the carriages which. were to precede that of the
legate.

On Friday, the 9th of April, the cardinal re-
paired in full pomp to the Tuileries, in the carriages
of the first consul, escorted by the consular guard,
and preceded by the cross, borne in one of the
carriages. Then the first consul received him at
the head of a numerous circle of persons, con-
sisting of his colleagues, of many councillors of
state, and a brilliant staff. Cardinal Caprara,
whose exterior was mild and serious, addressed a
speech to the first consul, in which dignity was
mingled with the cxpreasion of gratitude. He took
the oath agreed upon, that he would do nothing
contrary to the laws of the state, and to vacate his
functions as soon as ho should be requested so to
do. The first consul re|)lied to him in elevated
languagi', destined, jjarticularly, to resound else-
where than in the palace of the Tuileries.

This external display was the first of all those
which were prepared, and it wsvs but little noticed,
because, the peojile of Paris not being aware of it,
were unable to yiehl to their ordinary curiosity.
The next day but one w.-is Palm Sunday. The
first consul had already made the cardinal consent
to the uomiuation of some of the principal prelates

before agreed upon< He wished that their con-
secration should- take place upon Palm Sunday, in
order that they might be able to officiate on" the
Sunday following, which was Easter-day, in the
great solemnitj' which he had projected. These
were il. de Belloy, nominated archbishop of Paris,
JI. de Cambac^res, archbishop of Ilouen, M. Ber-
nier, bishop of Orleans, and ^I. de Pancemont,
bishop of Vannes. Notre Dame was still occupied
by the constitutional clergy, who kept the keys.
It required a foi-mal order before they would de-
liver them up. That fine edifice was found in a
sad state of dilapidation ; and nothing there was
prepared for the consecration of the four prelates.
They provided for this omission by means of a
sum of money, furnished by the first consul, and
it was done in such a hurfy, that when the day
of the ceremony came, there was no place found
fitted up for a sacristy. A neighbouring house
was obliged to be applied to tliis purpose. There
the new prelates arrayed themselves in their pon-
tifical ornaments, and in this dross had to cross
the open sjiace before the cathedral. The people
having been informed that a grand ceremony was
in course of preparation, repaired to the spot, and
behaved quietly and respectfully. The counte-
nance of the venerable archbishop Belloy was so
fine and noble, that it affected the simple hearts
of those who composed the crowd, and all of them,
both men and women, bowed respectfully. The
cathedral was full of that class of serious persons,
who had grieved over the misfoi-times of religion,
and who, belonging to no faction, received with
thankfulness the present made thera that day by
the first consul. The ceremony was affecting, even
from the very defect of pomp by the sentiments
which attached to it. The four prelates were con-
secrated in the customary manner.

From this time, it must be stated, that the
satisfaction among the mass was general, and the
approbation of the public was secured to the great
manifestation that was fixed for the following
Sunday. Except party men, revolutionists hotly
obstinate in their own systems, or factious royalists,
who .saw with mortification the lever of revolt
slipped out of their hands, all approved of what
was passing; and the first consul was able to re-
cognize already, that his own views were more
correct than those of his councillors.

Tiie Sunday following being Easter Sunday, was
designed for a solenni Te Deum, in celebration, at
the same time, of the general peace, and of a re-
conciliation with the church. This ceremony was
announced by public authority, as a truly national
festival. The preparations and the programme of
it were published. The first consul wished to pro-
ceed to it in grand state, accompanied by all that
was most elwated in the government. Through
the ladies of the palace it was conveyed to the
wives of the higher functionaries, that (hey would
satisfy one of his most ardent wishes, if they would
attend the metropolitan church upon the day of
Te iJeum. The greater number did not requii'o
to be pressed to attend. It is well known what
frivolous motives are joined to those which are
most pious in character, to augment the influx of
attendance upon those solenmities of religion. The
most brilliant women of Paris obeyed the wishes
of the first consul. The principal among them

Objections of the military.
348 — ^^^'^ demand of cardi-
nal Caprara — The first

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

consul opposes the car- ,_,„
dinars demands. — Pro- ''*"y
cession to Noire Dame. ■''I"'"-

made the Tuileries the rendezvous, in order to
accompany Madam Bonaj)arte in the carriages of
the new court. The first consul had given a for-
mal order to his generals to accompany him. This
was the most difficult tiling of all to obtain, because
it was every where said that they held very un-
worthy and almost factious language. The con-
duct of Lannes has been already noticed. Auge-
reau, tolerated at Paris, was actually one of those
who spoke loudest. He was charged by his com-
rades to go to the first consul, and to express to
him their wish not to attend at Notre Dame. It
was at a consular sitting, in the presence of the
three consuls and the niinistei-s, that Bonaparte
chose to receive Augereau. He stated his message,
but the first consul recalled him to a sense of his
duty, with that haughtiness of manner that he so
well knew how to assume, more particularly with
military men. He made him sensible of the im-
propriety of his conduct, and recalled to his re-
collection that the concordat was then the law of
the land, and that the laws were obligatory upon all
classes of citizens, as well upon the military as
upon the humblest and most feeble citizen ; that
he should watch their execution, in his double
capacity of general and chief magistrate of the
republic ; that it was not for the officers of the
army, but for the government, to judge of the
adaptation of the ceremonies ordered for Easter
Sunday; that all the authorities had orders to be
present, the military as well as the civil authorities,
and tliat all should obey; that as to the dignity of
the army, he was himself as jealous of it, and as
good a judge of it, as any of the generals his com-
panions in arms ; and tliat he was sure he did not
compromise it by assisting in person at the cere-
monies of religion ; that, to put an end to the
question, they had not to deliberate, but to execute
an ordei", and that he expected to see them all on
Sunday at his side in the metrojjolitan church.
Augereau made no reply, and carried to his
comrades only the embarrassment of having
done a thoughtless act, and the resolution to obey
orders.

Every thing was ready, when, at the last mo-
ment, the later thoughts of cai'diual Caprara were
nearly defeating these noble designs of the first
consul. The bishops chosen from the constitu-
tional party had gone to the residence of cardinal
Caprai-a, for the pruces inforinatif, which is drawn
out in behalf of every bishop presented to the
holy see. The cardinal had required from them a
retractation, by which they abjured their former
errors, characterizing in the most self-condemna-
tory way, their adhesion to the civil constitution
of the clergy. This was a very humiliating step,
not only for them, but for the revolution itself.
The first consul, upon hearing it, would not allow
it, and he enjoined the clergy not to yield, pro-
mising to support them, and to force the represen-
tative of the holy see to renounce such unchristian
pretensions. The cardinal had found no other
excuse for his condescension, if he instituted those
whom he called "intruders," than in a formal re-
cantation of their past errors. But the first consul
did not understand it in that point of view. " When
I accept for bishop," said he, " the abbd Bernier,
the apostle of La Vende'e, the pope may be satisfied
with Jansenists and oratorians, who have had no

other fault than that of abiding by the revolution."
He directed them to confine themselves to a simple
declaration, which consisted in saying that they
adhered to the concordat, and the wishes of the
holy see expressed in that treaty. He insisted,
with justice, that as the concordat contiiined the
principles upon which the French and Roman
churches agreed, no more was to be exacted,
without an intention to humiliate one party to the
advantage of another, which he declared he would
never allow.

On the Saturday night, the eve of Easter, this
dispute was not terminated. M. Portalis was then
charged to go to the cardinal and announce that
the ceremony of the following day should not take
place, nor slioukl the conconlat be published, but
that it should remain without effect, if he continued
longer to insist upon the recantation thus demanded.
This resolution, furthermore, was serious, and the
first consul, in showing himself full of condescen-
sion for the church, would not give way upon such
points as appeared to compromise the end itself,
that is to say, the complete fusiim of parties. He
knew that it was necessary to be energetic, to be
a conciliator, since it is nearly as costly to bring
the parties to agree as it is to conquer them.

At last, the cardinal gave way, but not until the
night was far advanced. It was agreed that the
prelates newly elected from among the constitu-
ti(mal clergy, should go through the proces infor-
matif at the cardinal's house, and that tliey should
profess, viravoce, their sincere um'on to the church,
and that, as a consequence, a declaration should be
made that they and the church were reconciled,
without saying how, or on what terms. It is a fact
that the demanded recantation was not made.

The next day, being Easter Sunday, the 18th of
April, 1802, or 28tli Germinal, year x., the con-
cordat was published in all quarters of Paris, with
grand parade, and by the principal authorities.
While this publication took place in the streets of
the capital, the first consul, who wished to solemnize
on the same day all that was for the good of France,
was exchanging at the Tuileries the ratifications of
the treaty of Amiens. This important formality
accomplished, he set out for Notre Dame, followed
by the chief bodies of the state, and a great num-
ber of functionaries of every class, a brilliant staff,
and a crowd of ladies of the highest rank, who
accompanied Madam Bonaparte. A long train of
carriages composed this magnificent assemblage.
The tniops of the first military division, united in
Paris, formed a double line from the Tuileries to
the cathedral. The archbishop of Paris came in
procession to meet the first con.-.ul at the door of
the church, and presented him with the holy
water. The new head of the state was conducted
under a dais, in a place reserved for him. The
senate, the legislative body, and the tribunate were
arranged on each side of the altai'. Behind the
first consul were seen standing, the generals in
full uniform, more obedient than converted, and
some of them aiTecting a demeanour not very
becoming. As to himself, dressed in the red
uniform of the consuls, motionless, with a severe
expression of countenance, he displayed neither
the perplexity of some, nor the devout expression
of others. He was calm, grave, in the attitude of
the chief of an empire, who was performing a great

1802.
April.

The first consul rebukes his
generals.— New work of
M. Chateaubriand.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Project for the return of the
emigrants.

34.9

act of liis will, and commanded by his look submis-
sion from every body.

The ceremony was long and dignified, despite
the bad humour of those wlmm it had been deemed
necessary to nssemble together there. In other
respects the efffct of it was destined to be decisive,
because the example once given by the most im-
posing of men, the former religious habits would
be resumed, and all opposition to them would
subside.

There were two motives for this fete, the csta-
blisliment of worship, and the general peace. The
satisfaction w;is natuially general, and all who
had not bad party feelings in tlieir hearts, were
happy at the public welfare. On that day there
were grand dinners given by the ministers, at
which the principal members of tlie different
administrations attended. The representatives of
the foreign powers were the guests of the minister
for foreign affairs. There was a brilliant banquet
at the first consul's, to which were invited cardinal
Caprara, the archbishop of Paris, the principal of
the new iler/y just aj^pointed, and the highest per-
sonages of the slate. The first consul talked a long
while with the cai'dinal, and testified to him his
delight at having achieved so great a work. He
was proud of his courage and of his success. One
light cloud passed across iiis noble brow for an
instant, and that was when casting a glance at
certain of his generals, whose attitwle and lan-
guage had not bt-come tlic occasion. He expressed
liis discontent to them, with a firmness of maimer
which admitted of no reply, and which left little
fear of a return of such conduct.

To complete the effect which the first consul
had wished to produce on this day, M. de Fontanes
gave an accomit, in the Moniteur, of a new book,
which at that moment made a great noise ;— the
" Genius nf Christianity." This book, written by a
young Breton gentleman, M. de Cliatcanbriand,
related to .Malesherbes, and long absent from liis
country, desi-ribed, with infinite brilliancy, the
beauties of Christianity, and extolled the moral
ami poetical iuflueiice of religious practices, which
had been exposed, for twenty years, to the bitterest
raillery. Criticised severely by Ch^nier and Giii-
guend, who charged it with false and extravagant
colouring, and praised excessively by the Jiarty
attached to religious restoration, the " Genius of
Christianity," like all remarkable books, very much
praised and very much attacked, produced a deep
impression, because it expressed a real feeling,
general at tliat mimient in French society ; this
was the singular indefinable regret for that whicli
no longer exists — for that which in possession was
disdained or destroyed, and for which, when lost,
there is such a melancholy desire. Such is the
human heart ! That which exists fatigues and
oppresses it, and that whith has ceased to e.xist
acquires suddenly a powerful charm. The social
and religious customs of the old time, odious and
ridiculous in 17"^, because then they were in all
their force, and were also oftentimes oppressive,
now that the eighteenth century, changing towards
its close into an impetuous torrent, had swept them
away in its devastating course, these now returned
to the recollection of an agitated g<'neration, and
affected its luiart, disposed to emotions by firt<;en
years of tragic scenes. The work of a young

writer, strongly tinctured with this pri.found feel-
ing, acted at the moment on men's minds strongly,
and was marked with peculiar favour by the man
who then dispensed all the glories. If it did not
exhibit the jjiire taste, the simple and solid faith of
the writers of the age of Louis XIV., it painted, as
with a charm, the old religious manners that were
no more. There is no doubt but the work might
be censured as the abuse of a fine imagination; but
after Virgil and Horace, there remained in the
memory of mankind a place for the ingenious
Ovid, and for the brilliant Lucan ; and alone,
perhaps, among the books of its day, the " Genius
of Christianity " will live, sti'ongly linked, as it is,
to a memorable era ; it will live as an ornament,
sculptured upon the marble of a frieze, lives with
the edifice that bears it.

In recalling the priests to the altar, and in draw-
ing them out of their obscure retreats where they
practised their I'eligion, and often conspired against
the government, the first consul had remedied one
of the most vexatious disorders of the time, and
satisfied one of its greatest moral necessities. But
there remained still another disorder of a very sad
character, which gave to France the aspect of a
country torn up by factions; this was the exile of a
considerable number of Frenchmen, living in fo-
reign lands in indigence, sometimes in hatred of
their country, and receiving from an enemy's hand
the bread that many among them paid for by un-
worthy acts towards France. Exile is a frightful
invention of civil discord ; it renders the banished
man uidiappy; it denatui-alizes his heart; it leaves
liiin to an aims doled out by a stranger, and exhi-
bits afar the afflicting picture of the troubles of his
native land. Of all the traces of a revolution, this
is that which should be the first effaced. Bona-
parte considered the recal of the emigrants as the
indispensable compliment to a general paciticator.
It was an act of reparation of which he was impa-
tient to brave the difticulties, and gather the glory.
There already existed for the emigrants a system
of recal very incomplete, ])artial, and irregular,
which had all the inconveniences of a general mea-
sure, and yet had not its high character, or its
eclat of beneficence ; this was the system of the
evasures, which were accorded to the emigrants best
recommended, under the pretence that they liad
been unduly ])hiced upon the lists. The amnesty in
this mode was not always given to the most excus-
able or the most deserving.

The first consul formed the resolution, therefore,
of permitting the return of the emigrants in the
mass, with certain exceptions. Serious objections
were made against this measure. At first all the
constitutions, and principally the consular consti-
tution, stated formally that the emigrants should
never be recalled. They said this more particu-
larly on account of the acquirers of national pro-
perty, who were very suspicious, and regarded the
exile of the former jjosseswors of this jjroperty afl
needful for their safety. The first consul considered
himself as the firmest supporter of these holders;
having always expressed his determination to de-
fend them, the only mortal having the power to do
so, ho bt'lievfd himself strong enough in that i)ub-
lic confidence with which he had inspired all, to
be able to open the doors of l-'rancc to the emi-
grants. He, therefore, ordered a resolution to bo

Difficulties of the question.
3r.O —Resistance of the coun- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

oil of state to the first

consul's measure re-
specting emigrants'
property.

1802.
April.

prepared, of which the first clause purported
to be tlie new and h-revocable consecration of the
sales made by the state to the acquirers of the
national property. He then had inserted in the
same document a provision, by which all emigrants
■were recalled in a body, on their submitting to the
surveyoi-ship of the high police, and those who
should at any time have provoked such an applica-
tion, submitting to this surveyorship for the whole
of their lives. There were still some exceptions to
this general recai. The benefit was refused to
those who had commanded armies against the
republic, to those who had accepted mink in the
armies of the enemies of France, to the individuals
who had jdaces or titles in the households of the
princes of the house of Bourbon, to the generals
or representatives of the people who had entered
into a compact with the enemy (this related to
Pichegru and certain members of the legislative
assemblies), and finally, to such arclibishoiis and
bishops as had refused the resignations demanded
of them by the pope. The number of excluded
persons wa's, therefore, very inconsiderable.

The most difficult question to resolve was that
which related to the property of the emigrants
which had not yet been sold. If, with all reason,
the sales made by the state should be declared
irrevocable, it might appear hard not to restore to
the emigrants that portion of their property still
resting entire in the hands of the government.
" I do nothing," said the first consul, " if I restore
these emigrants to their country, and do not restore
to them their patriniony. I wish to eff'ace the
traces of our civil wars, and in filling France with
returned emigrants, who will remain in poverty
while their property is under the sequestration of
the .state, I create a class of discontented persons,
who will not leave us any rest. And these proper-
ties, kept under a state sequestration, who do you
thiidi will purchase them in presence of their
former owners, now returned home V The first
consul was, therefore, resolved to restore all the
unsold domains, except houses or edifices used for
the public service.

This resolution, thus drawn up, was submitted
to a privy council, composed of the consuls, minis-
ters, a certain number of councillors of state and
I of senators. It was warmly discussed in this
assembly, and seemed to excite considerable jea-
lousies. ' Still, in the general bent towards repara-
tory measures, which tended to efface the traces of
past troubles, the prestige of the general peace,
tlie positive will of the first consul, all these causes
in union led to the adoption of the principle of the
recal of the emigrants. But there was care taken to
insert in the resolutions the word "amnesty," in or-
der to attach to emigration the character of a crimi-
'lal act, that a victorious and hajipy nation was will-
mg to forget. Tlie first consul, wishing to do al!
things in the most complete way, was repugnant to
the employment of the word "amnesty." He said
that iliey ought not to humiliate those whose
reconciliation with France they would fain bring
about, and to treat them as criminals receiving
pardon, would be to humiliate tliem deeply. He
was answered, that emigration had originally been
a crime, since it had for its principal object to
make war upon France, and that it was needful
it should remain condemned by the laws. The

warmest contest took place relative to the property
of the emigrants. The councillors called upon to
deliberate, obstinately refused the restitution of
the woods and forests, that the law of the 2ud
Nivose, year iv., had declared inalienable. It was
in their opinion, to remit immense riches into the
hands of the great emigration, depriving the state
of enormous resources, and above all, of forests
indispensable for the service of war and of the
navy. Notwithstanding all his efforts, the first
consul was obliged to give way ; and he thus kept,
without thinking of it, one of the most powerful
means of influence over the ancient French no-
bility, that which afterwards served to bring them
back to him almost wholly : this means was an
individual restitution, which at a later period he
made of their properties, to those of the emigrants
who submitted to his government.

The resolution thus modified, it remained to
know how a legal character should be conferred
upon it. It was the desire to make it a law, yet it
was intended if possible to give it the most elevated
character. The idea was suggested of making it
a senatusconsultum. The resolution affected the
constitution itself, and in that sense it appeared
more particularly to appertain to the senate. Al-
ready that body, by two considerate acts, that
which had proscribed the Jacobins, falsely accused
of the infernal machine, and that which had in-
terpreted the 38th article of the constitution, and
excluded the oppositions in the two legislative
assemblies, had acquired a species of power supei'ior
to the constitution itself, because it had made ex-
traoi-dinary measures lawful, and new constitutional
dispositions, of which the government believed it
had need. After having ])erformed these rigorous
acts, it could not be otlierw^ise than agreeable to
the senate to be charged with an act of national
clemency. It was then decreed that the resolution
pronouncing the recal of the emigrants, should be
first discussed in the council of state, as were the
regulations, laws, senatorial consultations, and then
be submitted to the senate, to be there deliberated
upon as a measure aff'ecting the constitution itself.

The thing was thus performed. The projected
amnesty, discussed in the council of state of the
IGih of April, or 2Gth Germinal, two days before
the publication of the concordat, was carried ten
days afterwards to the senate on the 26th of April,
I 1802, or 6tli of Flore'al. It was then adopted
without any contest, and with some remarkable
reasons.

" Considering," said the senate, " that the pro-
posed measure is commanded by the actual state
of things, by justice, by the national interest, and
that it is in conformity to the spirit of the consti-
tution:

" Considering that at different epochs, when the
laws relating to emigration were enacted, that
Franco, torn by intestine divisions, sustained
against nearly the whole of Europe, a war of which
historj' offers no example, and which caused a
necessity for rigorous and extraordinary measures:

" That to-day peace being made abroad, it is of
importance to cement it at home, by every thing
which can rally Frenchmen, tranquillize families,
and cause to bo forgotten the evils inseparable
from a long revolution:

'• That nothing is better to consolidate peace at

1802.
April.

Reasons of the senate for
agreeing to the return
of the emigrants.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

The first consul's reasoning (
honorary distinctions.

351

I

home than a measure which tempers the severity
of the laws, ami causes to cease the uncertainty
and delay n-sultiug from the forms established for
their erasures:

" Considering that this measure can only be an
amnesty which grants piirdon to the greater num-
ber, always more misled than culpable, and that
may e.\tend punishment to the principal culprits,
by keeping them definitively upon the list of
emigi*ants:

" That this amnesty, prompted by clemency,
is, however, granted only upon conditions, just in
themselves, tranquillizing for the public safety, and
wisely combined with the national interest:

" That particular conditions of the amnesty, by
defending from all attack the acts performed by
the republic, consecrates anew the guarantee of
the sales of the national property, of which the
maintenance will be always a particular object of
the solicitude of the conservative senate, as it is
that of the consuls, the senate adopts the proposed
resolution."

This courageous act of clemency was certain to
obtain the approbation of every wise man who sin-
cerely desired the end of the civil troubles of
France. Tiianks to the new guarantees given to
the acquirers of national property — thanks to the
confidence with which they were inspired by the
first consul, this hist measure of the government
did not cause them too great an inquietude, and it
satisfied that honest mass, fortunately the most
numerous, of the royalist party, which received
with a murmur the benefit conferred upon it. It
encountered no inquietude but wiili the men of the
highest class of emigrants, who were living in the
saloons of Paris, and there paying in bad language
for the benefits they received from the government.
According to them, this act was insignificant, in-
complete, and unjust, because it made certain dis-
tinctions between the persons — because it did not
restore the property of the emigrants, sold or un-
sold alike. The approbation of these idle talkers
could be well passed by. Still tlie first consul was
so greedy of glory, that these miserable censures
sometimes disturbed the pleasure which he I'eeeived
in the universal assent of France and of Europe.

But his ardour in doing well did not depend on
praise or censure, and scarcely had he consum-
mated the grand act which has just been stated,
when he began to prepare others of the highest
social and political importance. Disembarrassed
from the obstacles presented to his fertile activity
by the resistance of the tribunate, he was resolved,
during this extraordinary session of Germinal and
Flordal, to terminate, or at least to advance con-
siderably the re-organization of France. It is
right to relate his ideas in this respect.

By the acts of the first consul already known,
abovo all, by the establishment of worship, it was
easy to divine what was the ordinary tendency of
his mind, and his particular manner of thinking
upon questions of social organization. In general
he was disposed to oppose the narrow or exagge-
rated systems of the revolution, or, to sjicak more
correctly, of some revolutionists, because in its first
movements the revolution bad always been gene-
rous and true. It had desired to abolisli the ir-
regularities, the cajirices, the unjust distinctions,
derived from the feudal system, in virtue of which,

for example, a Jew, a catholic, a protestant, a
noble, a priest, a citizen, a Burgundian, a Pro-
veufal, a Breton, had not the s;ime rights, the
same duties, did not support the same burdens,
nor enjoy the same advantages, in a word, did not
live under the same laws. To make them all French-
men, whatever was their religion, theii' birth, or
natal province, equal citizens in rights and duties,
eligible to every thing according to their individual
merit — here was what the revolution intended to
do in its first starting, before contradictions had
irritated it even to delirium; this is what the first
consul wished to do, since that delirium had given
place to reason. But that chimerical equality, of
which demagogues had been for a moment dream-
ing, that it was necessary to place all men upon the
same level, which scarcely admitted the natural
inequalities arising from a difierence of mind or
talent, this equality he despised, either as a
chimera of the spirit of system, or as a revoltmg
sense of envy.

He wished then for a social hierarchy, on the
different grades of which all men, without dis-
tinction of birth, should place themselves accord-
ing to their merit, and in the grades of which
should remain fi..\ed those whom their ancestors
had borne there, but without any obstacle what-
ever to the new comers, who tend to elevate them-
selves in their turn.

To this species of social vegetation, arising from
nature itself, observed in all countries, and at all
times, he intended to afford free play in the insti-
tutions that he occupied himself in founding. As
with all powerful minds that apply themselves to
discover in the sentiment of the masses the real
instinct of humanity, and are fond of opposing
that sentiment to the narrow views of the spirit
of system, he searched in the dispositions mani-
fested under his eyes, by the people itself, for the
arguments in support of his opinions.

To those who, in matters of religion, had coun-
selled indifference, he had opposed the popular
movement, which liad been recently exhibited at
the door of a church to force the priests to give
the rights of sepulture to an actress. " See," he
said to the partizans of indifference, " mark how
indifferent the people are! And yourselves! — why
have you proclaimed the Supreme Being in the
midst of a great revolutionary paro.xysm ? because
at the bottom of the people's hearts there is some-
thing, no matter what, that inclines them to have
a God."

" In respect to the manner of classing men in
society," he said to those who would have no dis-
tinction," wherefore then have you decreed nmskcts
and sabres of honour ? Is not this a distinction ?
an invention ridiculous enough, since men do not
carry a musket or sabre of honour on the breast,
and in such cases men like what is seen at a dis-
tance." The first consul had observed a singular
fact, and would voluntarily remark iq)on it to those
with whom ho was in the habit of conversing.
Since France, the object of the respect and atten-
tion of Europe, hati become filled witli the minis-
ters of all the powers, or with strangers of distinc-
tion, who had come as visiters, ho was struck with
the curiosity with which the populace, and even
persons above the i)opulace, followed these foreign-
ers, and were anxious to see their rich uniforms

352 The first consul's reasoning THIERS" CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, on honorary distinctions.

1802.
May

and brilliant decorations. There was often a crowd
assembled in the court of the Tuileries to attend
their arrival and departure. " See," he observed,
" these futile vanities that strong minds so much
disdain; the populace is not of their opinion. It
loves those many-coloured cordons as it loves reli-
gious pomps. The democratic philosophers call
that vanity idolatry, and let it be vanity and idola-
try. But that idolatry, that vanity, aro weak-
nesses common to the whole human race, and from
one and the other great virtues may be made to
spring. With these baubles, so much despised,
heroes are made! To the one as to the other of
these pretended feeblenesses external signs are
necessary ; there must be a worship for religious
sentiment, and there must be visible distinctions
to inspire the noble sentiment of glory."

The first consul determined to create an order
which should replace the old honour of arms,
which might have the advantage of being given
as well to the soldier as to the general, to the
learned as well as to the military man, which con-
sisted in decorations alike in form to those worn
throughout Eui-ope; and, in addition, useful endow-
ments— useful, above all, to the simple soldier
when he should return to his rural home. This
was, in his view, another means of putting new
France in relation with other countries. Since it
was thus that in all Europe services were marked
out for )niblic esteem, why not admit the same sys-
tem in France'? " Nations," he said, "should not
seek to be singular any more than individuals.
The affectatii'ii of acting differently from the rest
of the world is an affectaiion reproved by sensible,
and, above all, by modest persons. Cordons are
in use in every country, let them therefore be
used in France," said tlie first consul, "it will be
one measure more established in common with
Europe. In France alone they were not given ;
among our neighbours they are only given to men
of birth; I will give them to the men who shall
have served best in the army or in the state, or
who shall produce the finest works."

A remark piirticularly struck the first consul,
and became with him an object upon which he
much meditated; it was, to what extent the men of
the revolution had become disunited, without any
bond between them, and without a bond of strength
against their common enemies. While the old
nobles gave the hand to each other — while the
Vende'aiis were, although weakened and subdueil,
still secretly in coalition — while the clergy, although
re-constituted, still formed a powerful corporation.

• " The emperor observed, that abroad they had the useful
efTect of appearing lo be ;in aiiproxiination lo the old man-
ners of Eur' pe, wbilir, at the same time, tliey served as a
toy for amusiii); the vanities ol" nuiiiy individuals at home ;
'for,' said he, ' hnw maiiv really clever men are cliildreii
more than oii< e in tlieir lives.' The eni))eror revived deco-
rations of honour, and distributed crosses and ribands; but
instead of con(inin{j tliem to pirticular and exclusive classes,
he extended them to society in geneial. as rewards lor every
descripiion of talent and pulilic service. By a happy privilege,
perhaps peculiar to Napoleon, it happened tliat the value of
these honours was enhanced in proportion to the number
distiihuted. He estimated that he had lonCerred about
twenty-live thousand ilecoiations of the lepion of honour;
and the desire to obtain the honour, he said, increased, till
it became a kitid of mania."— Zm Catas' Notes.

and very equivocal friends of the government — the
men who had formed this revolution were divided
and even disavowed, it must be said by ungrateful
and deceived opinion. Scarcely had the elections
gone on alone before there were seen starting up
new i«i!Son:iges, to whom neither good nor evil
could be charged, or, on the other hand, furious
revolutionists, the recollection of whom inspired
terror. In the eyes of a new generation, which
bestowed no thanks for their efforts to those who,
from 1789 to ISdO, had suffered so greatly to en-
franchise France, the best claim was to have done
nothing. The first consul was convinced, and with
good reason, that if this movement were aided, there
would very soon not be one of the actors in the
rev(jlution left upon the stage. That there would
be seen soon a new class produced, easy to incline
towanls royalty, — that there would at some mo-
ment be a revolutionary reaction, which would
cause the reappeaiatice of the men of blood, — that
the electiotis efTected under the directory, alter-
nately royalist, after the mode of the club of Clicliy,
or revolutionist, tifter the fashion of BabtKuf, were
a proof of it, and that from convulsions to con-
vulsions all would terminate in the triumph of the
Bourbons and of the foreigners, or, in other words,
in a Complete comiter-revolution.

He regarded it, therefore, as indispensable to
retard the movement of free institutions, and by so
doing to mtiintain in power the generation that
had worked out the revolution, to maintain them in
it, with the exception only of certain individuals,
stained with blood, and even to secure to these
oblivion for their jtast errors and a subsistence ; to
found with this generation a tranquil, reguhir, and
brilliant society, of which he should be the head, of
which his companions in arms and his civil col-
leagues should form the higher class, the aristo-
cracy, if people would have it so, but an aristocracy
always open to rising merit, in which they and
their children should be placed, the men who h;id
rendered the gretitest services, and in which would
always be found to take their place, men capable of
rendering new services. The society thus formed,
after the eternal laws of nature, he would wish to
see surroutided with every kind of glory, and em-
bellished by the arts, to opjiose with advantage to
the old order of things, existing as a living device
in the recollection of the emigrants, existing as a
reality in all Europe ; and he hoped to attach to
it the emigrants themselves, when time shotild
have corrected thetn, and the attraction of high
employments should tempt them ; yet only upon
the condition that they should come, not as dis-
dtiinfnl protectors, but as useful and submissive
servants. What degree of political liberty would
he concede to a society thus constituted ? He did
not know. He thought that the present moment
was not much fitted for it, because all the liberty
conceded titrned into cruel reactions; and he be-
lieved that liberty would arrest his own creative
genius. In other res])ects, he then thought little
of the matter ; and the country, only anxious for
the restoration of order, did not allow much time
to think of it. He wished then to found this
society upon the principles of the French revolu-
tion, to give it go.rd civil liiws, a powerful govern-
ment, wealthy finances, and exterior greatness, in
other words, every good, save one alone, leaving for

1802.
May.

Constitution of the le^on
of honour. — Objects of

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

otliei-s, at a subsequent period, the care of inipart-
ing to it, or of letting it take, as much public liberty
as was convenient.

It was according to these notions that he con-
ceived liis system of civil and niihtary recom-
penses, as well as his plan of education.

The arms of jionour, devised by the convention,
had not succeeded, because they were not adapted
to the manners of the time. They had besides
attached to them administrative perplexities, on
account of tlie double pay attached to some, and
refused to others. The first consul imagined a
military order in form, but not destined for the
military only. He denominated it the "legion of
honour," wishing to impart the idea of a body of
men devoted to clierish honour, and to the defence
of certain principles. It was to consist of fifteen
cohorts; each cohort of seven great officers, twenty
commamlers, thirty officers, and three hundred
and fifty legionarits, in all six thousand individuals
of all ranks. The oath indicated to what course
the members were to devote themselves, when they
joined the legion of honour. Eacii member pro-
mised to devote himself to the defence of the
republic, the integrity of its territory, tlie principle
of e<iuality, and the inviolability of the national
property. It was in coiise<iuonce a legion wliieh
would pledge its honour to make the princijdes and
interests of the revolution triumphant. Decora-
tions and endowments were attaciied to every
grade. The great officers had an income of 5000f. ;
the commanders, 2000 f.; tlie officers, lOOOf.; and
the simple legionaries, 250 f. An endowment in
the national domains sufficed to cover these ex-
penses. Each cohort was to have its seat in the
province where its particular possessions were
situated. The united cohorts were to be governed
by a council, formed of seven members ; I he three
consuls first, and then four of the great officers, of
whom the first was designated by the senate, the
second by the legislative body, the third by the
tribunatp, and the f(Uirtli by the council of state.
The ciUMcil of the legion of honour,thus composed,
was ciiarged with tlie management of the property
of the legion, and with deliberating upon tlie choice
of the niembei's. Lastly, that whieli aided to com-
I)lete the in-iilution, and lo indicate its spirit, was
that civil services of all kinds, su li as the adniinis-
tniiion, government, sciences, letters, and arts, were
equally titles to admission with military service.
Stiirting from the existing state of things, it was
decided that the military, who had arms of honour,
sliould be ineinbcfs of the legion by right, and be
classid 4ii its ranks according lo their grade in the
army.

Tills institution numbers now not more than
forty years of existence, and it is already as much
Siinitioiicd as if it had been ages old; to such a
degree lias it become, in these forty years, the
recompirise of liiroinin, learning, and merit of
every kind ; so much has it been sought by the
great and the princes of Europe, the proudest of
thi-ir oi-igin. Time, the judge of institutions, has
therefore pronounced upon the dignity and llie
utility of this. Leaving aside the abuses which
may hiive sometimes bi-eii made o; such a recom-
pens4', by the different governments that have suc-
ceeded each oiher, abuses inherent in all recom-
peuses given by man to man, and recognizing what

was beautiful, profound, and new to the world
which it possessed, an institution which was to
place on the breast of the jjrivate soldier, of tlie
modest man of letters, the same decoration which
figured upon the breast of the heads of armies, of
princes, and of kings ; let it be acknowledged that
tiiis creation of an honorary distinction, was the
triumph the most brilliant of equality itself, not of
that which equalized in degrading men to a level,
but that which equalized in elevating them ; let it
be acknowledged, finally, that if for the great men
of the civil or military orders, it might only be a
mere vain gratification, an empty satisfaction, it
was for the simple soldier, returned to iiis native
fields, an aid to the comforts of the peasant, at the
same time that it was a visible proof of his heroism
and good conduct.

After this fine system of recompense, the first
consul employed himself, wiih not less zeal, upon a
system of education for the youth of France. Edu-
cation, at that time, was nearly null, or abandoned
to the enemies of the revolution.

The religious corporations, formerly employed
in bringing up youili, had disajipeared with the
ancient order of things. There was some tendency
towards their revival, but the first consul had no
intention of giving up the new generation to them,
as he considered them the secret workmen of his
enemies. The institutions by which the convention
had sought to replace them, hail proved no more
than a chimera, which had already almost wholly
disai)i)eared. The convention intended to give
priiuary instruction gratuitously to the people, and
secondary instruction to the middle classes, in such
a way as to make accessible, boih one and the
other, to every family. It had ended in doing
nothing. The comnmnes had given dwellings to
the primary instructors, in general the parsonage-
houses of the old country curds, but they had given
them no salaries, or had done so in assigiiats.
Poverty soon dispersed these unfortunate teachers.
The central schools, in which secondary instruction
was dispensed, placed in each chief place of the
ilepartment, were, in a certain sense, academic
establishments, in which public courses of lectures
took place, at which youth might attend some
lioui's in the day, and return afterwards to their
families, or to tlie boarding houses established by
private speculation. The nature of their studies
was conformable to the spirit of the times. Classical
studies, considered as an old routine, had been
nearly abandoned in them. The natural and exact
sciences, and living languages, had taken the jilace
of the ancient tongues. A museum of natural history
was attached to each sc-lmol. Such a mode of
instruction had little iiifliuiicc in lnruiiiig youth ;
a course that endured but one or two hours in
the day, is not llii^ mode lo make an impres-
sion iijion youth. Thus it was lelt for its mind to
be formed by the heads of the bo.-.r.iing-schooks,
for the most part, at that time, enemies to the new
order of things, or greedy speculators, treating
youth as an object of trading speeulalion, not as
a sacred deposit of the stale or of families. The
central schools, besides being pLiced in the hun-
dred and two deparlineiits. one in each chief ]ilaco
were too numerous. There were not scholars
enotigli for so many schools. Thirty two only had
succeeded in attracting auditors, and in becoming
A a

'S54

Scheme of Bonaparte
general education.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Composition of the school
on the new plan.

1802.
May.

nurseries of instruction. Some distinguished pro-
fessors had appeared in these, preserving still the
spirit of sound leai-ning. But the political vicissi-
tudes, there as well as elsewhere, had made their
baneful influence felt. The professoi-s, chosen by
the juries of instruction, had succeeded each other
as the different parties. in power had done, appear-
ing and disappearing in turn, and their profits with
them. In fine, these schools, without bond, without
unity, without a common direction, presented only
scattered fragments, and not a great edifice of pub-
lic instruction.

The first consul formed his design after the first
intention, with the resolution of mind which was so
natural to him.

At first, the finances of France did not permit
the furnishing every where, without charge, even
primary instruction to the people, who, on the
other hand, had not leisure to receive its benefits,
if the state had possessed money enough to bestow
them. It was as much as could be done to provide
for the expenses of the new clergy, and this it was
possible to do, owing to a partieuLir circumstance
of. the time, namely, the mass of ecclesiastical pen-
sions, which were paid, in lieu of. salaries, to the
greater part of the cure's. It was impossible to
pay a primary institution in each commune. They
were, therefore, contented to establish them amidst
those populations that were able of themselves to
defray their expenses. The commune gave a re-
sidence for the master, and a school-room, the
scholars paying a sum for their instruction, cal-
culated according to the wants of the teacher. This
was all that could be then done.

For the moment the most important was the
secondary instruction. The first consul suppressed,
in his plan, the central schools, which were no
more than public courses of lectures, without uni-
formity, and without effect upon youth. There
were thirty-two central schools, which had suc-
ceeded more or less. This was an indication of
the lack of instruction in the different parts of
France. The first consul projected thirty-two
establishments, which he named " Lyceums," a
name borrowed of antiquity. There were boarding-
schools, Avhere the youth lived, and where it was
retained during the principal years of adolescence,
subjected to the double influence of a sound literary
instruction and of an education, severe, masculine,
sufficiently religious, altogether military, and mo-
delled upo'n the system of civil equality. He wished
to re-establisii in them the old classical system,
which gave the first place to the ancient languages,
and only the second to the mathematical and
physical sciences, leaving to the special schools
the care of completing the education in these last.
He was right in that as in the rest. The study
of tjie dead languages is not only a study of words
but of things; it is the study of antiquity, with its
laws, its manners, arts, and history; so moral and
deeply instructive. There is one age in which to
learn these things, that of boyhood. Youth and
its passions overcome, its exaggerations and false
tastes, mature age, with its ))ositive interests, life
passes without a moment having been given to the
study of a world dead as the languages that o])en
the sources of its knowledge. If a tardy inclination
leads us to it again, it is through the medium of
faint and insufficient translations that this beautiful

antiquity is to be explored. And in a time when
these religious ideas are weakened, if the know-
ledge of antiquity disappear also, there would be
formed only a society without a moral tie to the
past, informed and occupied only about the pre-
sent; an ignorant society, debased, and fitted ex-
clusively for the mechanical arts.

The first consul, therefore, wished, that in his
scheme, the classical studies should resume their
place. The sciences should come afterwards. So
much of them was to be taught as is useful in all
the professions of life, and as much as was re-
quired to pass from the secondary to the special
schools. Religious instruction was to be given by
the chaplains, military instruction by old officers
of the army. All the movements were to be made
in the military step to the sound of the drum.
This was necessary for a nation destined entirely
to handle arms, either in the army or the national
guard. Eight professors of ancient languages or
the belles lettres, a censor of the studies, a steward
charged with the care of the personal chattels, a
head-master, styled a proviseur, constituted these
establishments.

Such were the schools in which the first consul
wished to form the French youth ; but how was
it to be drawn to them. That was the difficulty.
The first consul provided for this by one of the
means, certain and bold, which he was accustomed
to employ when he wished seriously to obtain his
end. He devised the establishment of six thou-
sand four hundred gratuitous exhibitions, of which
the state should bear the expense, and which at a
moderate rate of from 700 to 800 f.^, would re-
present a total expense of five or six millions''',
at that time a very considei'able sum. This esta-
blishment of six thousand four hundred scholars
would be sufficient to furnish a fund for the
nucleus of the population of the Lyceums. The
confidence of families, which it was hoped after-
wards to acquire, would, at some after-time, dis-
pense with the state continuing such a sacrifice.
The produce of these six thousand exhibitions
formed at the same time a resource sufficient for
covering the greater part of the expense of the
new establishments.

The first consul wished to distribute in the fol-
lowing manner the exhibitions which the govern-
ment had at its disposition : two thousand four
hundred were to be given to the childi*en of such
retired soldiers as were most straitened in their
circumstances ; to those of civil functionaries who
had served the public usefully ; and to those
inhabitants of the provinces recently united to
France. The four thousand remaining were des-
tined for the establishments already in existence.
There were, in fact, a great number of these esta-
blished by private speculation. These the first
consul deemed it right to suffer to remain;, but he
bound them to Ins plan by the most simple and
efficacious means. These schools could not, in
future, subsist without the authorization of the
state; they were to be insjiected every year by the
agents of the government ; they were obliged to
send their sclirjlars to the courses at the Lyceums,
paying a trifling remunei'ation. Lastly, the four

' From £28 to £32 sterling.
2 From £200,000 to £250,000.

1802.
May.

Resistance to tlie first consul's

measure in the council of THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

state.

355

thousand exhibitions were, after an annual exami-
nation, to be distributed among tlic pupils of the
different schools, in proportion to the reeosnized
merit and good order of each school. Thus at-
taclied to a general plan, these boarding-schools
made, in every sense, a part of it.

Going next to special instruction, the first consul
employed himself in completing that organization.
The study of jurisprudence had perished with the
old judicial establishment ; he ci'eated six schools
of law. The schools of medicine, less neglected,
were three in number ; he proposed to increase
them to six. The polytechnic school existed; it
was attached to this organization. There was
added to these a school of public services, under
the name of the "School of Bridges and Roads;"
a school for the mechanical arts, at that time fixed
at Compeigne, afterwards at Chalons-sur-Marne,
being the first model of the schools of arts and
trades at the present day judged to be so useful;
lastly, a school of military art, intended to occupy
the palace of Fontainbleau.

There still wanted one thing to complete the
entire work, namely, a body of learned men, that
miglit supply these schools with instructors, which
should embrace them under its surveyorship; in
fact, what has since been denominated " the Uni-
versitv." But the moment for that had not
arrived. It was ahvady doing much to save from
shipwreck the establishments for public instruc-
tion, and to create, all at once, with actual pro-
fessors, colleges dependent upon the state, where
the youth of all classes, attracted by gratuitous
education, should be formed on one connnon, re-
gular model, conformable to the principles of the
French revolution, and to sound literary doctrines.
The first consul said to the learned Fourcroy,
" This is only a beginning; by and by we will do
more and better."

These two important projects were first taken
before the council of state, and were warmly dis-
cussed in that enlightened body. The first consul,
who did not like public discussion, because it
agitated those minds which had been too long in
a disturbed state, sought, and oven provoked it,
in the council of state, I'liis was his rejiresenta-
tive government. There ho was familiar and
elo(iuent ; there he permitted himself every lati-
tude, and permitted the same to others; and by
the collision of his own mind on that of his oppo-
nents, there was struck out more brilliant corrus-
cations than can be attained in a large assembly,
where th'j solenmity of the tribune, and the in-
conveniences of publicity, continually hinder and
repress true liberty of thought. This form of dis-
cussion would be the best for the elucidation of
puijlic affaii-8, if it ilid not depend upon an abso-
lute master to confine it to the limits which his
own \vH\ may dictate. But for an enlightened des-
potism, when it would be itself enlightened, it is
the best of all possible institutions.

Tiie council of state, conii)osed of all the men of
the revolution, and ol some of those who had more
recently sprang uj), offered in its < ntirety the differ-
ent shades of public opinion very little weakened, be-
cause if, on one |)art, tliei-e were Porialis, Rifderer,
Regnaud St. Jean d'Angely, and Devaines, repre-
Benting in it the [Kirty inclined to monarchical
reaction ; Thibaudeau, Berlier, Truguet, Eiinnery,

and Berenger, represented the party staunch to
tlie revolution, so much as even to defend some-
times its very prejudices. But within the council
of state, with closed doors, the discussions were
sincere, and eminently useful.

The plan of the legion of honour was violently
attacked. Here, as in the concordat, the first
consul was in advance perhaps of the intelligence
of the day. That generation which very quickly
afterwards threw itself at the foot of the altars —
that soon covered itself with decorations in puerile
vanity, resisted at the moment the re-establish-
ment of the altars and the institution of the legion
of honour !

It was discovered, even in the council of state,
that the institution of the legion of honour would
give a wound to equality, that it renewed the
destroyed aristocracy, and that it was too avowedly
a return to the ancient system. The object ele-
vated and positive, declared in the oath, in other
words, the maintenance of the principles of the
revolution, only slightly convinced its opponents.
They demanded if the obligations contained in the
oath were not common to every citizen, if all did
not agree to concur in defending the territory,
the principles of equality, the national property,
and the like ; if to particularise this obligation
for the one. was not to render it less strict upon
the others. They inquired whether this legion
had not too exceptional an object, as, for example,
that r)f defending a power to which it was attached
by a bond of benefits '. Others alleging the con-
stitution, objected that it spoke only of a system of
military recompenses. They added, that the in-
stitution would be better understood, that it would
raise fewer objections, if it had for its object to
I'ecompense warlike actions exclusively; that these
actions were of a positive character, easily ap-
preciable, and generally recompensed in all coun-
tries, so that no fault could be found if it were
limited to this clear definable object.

The first consul replied to all these objections with
the most forcible arguments. " What is there
aristocratic," he said, "in a distinction, merely
personal, given only for life, granted to a man who
h;is displayed civil or military merit, and to him
alone, not descending to his children ?■ Such a
distinction is contrary to aristocracy ; because it is
the property of aristocratic titles to be transmitted
from him who has earned them to one who has
never done any thing deserving of them. An
order is the most personal, the least aristocratic of
institutions. It may be said, ' After this some-
thing else will come.' That if- possible," continued
the first consul, " but let us see wjiat is now given
to us: we will judge of the rest by and by. It is
demanded what this legion, composed of six thou-
sand individuals, signifies ? Wiiat are its duties!
It is asked whether it has any other duties than
those devolving upon the universality of citizens,
all equally boimd to defend the trrritory of France,
the constitution, and e(|uality i Firstly, to this
([uestion it may be answered, that every citizen is
bound to delend the common country, and still
there is an army upon which this duly is more
particularly imposed. Would it then be so very
astonishing if in that army there should be a choice
corps, from whjcli more devotion to its duties
should bo expected, more of a disposition to niako
A a 2

356 Objections answered by THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

the first consul.

May.

the great sacrifice of life ? But do you want to
know what tiiis legion is to be ?" cried the first
consul, returning to his fuvourite idea; "here it is
— an attempt at an organization for the men,
authors, or partizans of the revolution, who are
neither emigrants, Vendeans, nor priests. The
anc'ien regime, so battered about by the revolution,
is much more entire than it is believed to be. All
the emigrants take each other by the hand ; tlie
Vende'ans are still covertly enrolled ; and with the
words, legitimate king and religion, there might
be assembled in a moment thousands of arms
which wduld be raised to strike, be sure of that,
if their fatigue and the strength of the government
did not restrain them. Tlie priests form a body,
having at the core very little love for us all. It is
necessary that on their side the men who have
taken a part in the revolution should unite, bind
themselves together, form, on their part, a solid
body, and cease to depend upon the first accident
that might strike one single liead. It was but
little that was wanting to fling you back into
chaos by the explosion of the 3rd of Nivose, and
deliver you without defence to your enemies. For
ten years we have made nothing but i-uiiis; it is
now necessary to construct an edifice for ourselves,
in which we may establish ourselves and live.
These six thousand legionaries made up of all the
men who eff'ected the revolution, who have de-
fended it after having made it, who wisli to con-
tinue it in all which is just and reasonable — these
six thousand legionaries, military men, civil func-
tioniiries and magistrates, endowed with the na-
tional property, that is to say with the patrimony
of the revolution, will be one of the strongest
securities wliich yovi can have for the new state of
things Then too, depend upon it, the contest in
Europe is not finished ; you may be certain tlint it
will recommence. Is it not well to liave in our
hands so easy a means to sustain and to excite the
bravery of our soldiers ? In ])lace of that chimeri-
cal thousand million of francs, which you would
not dare even to ))romise again, you may, with
only three millions of revenue in national property,
raise up as many heroes to uphold the revolution
as there were found for undertaking it."

Such were the arguments used by the first con-
sul. There were others which he had designed
for those who demanded that the new order should
be purely military, and only given to the army.
" I am not inclined," he replied, " to form an army
of pretorians ; I will not recompense the military
alone. My idea is, tluit the meritorious of ail kinds
should be bretlircn ; that the courage of the ])resi-
dent of the convention resisting the populacer,
should mid; with that of Kle'ber mounting to the
assault of St. Jean d'Acre. Some sj)eak of the
terms of the constitution. People ought not to
sutler themselves to be so tied down by words.
The constitution wished to say every thing, and
liiis not always been able to do so : it is for you to
supply the dt ficiency. It is right that civil virtues
should have their sluire of reward as well as mili-
tary ones. Those who op|)ose this, reason like
barbarians ; they recommt nd to us the religion of
brute force. Intelligence has iis rights before
force ; force itself is nothing without intelligence.
In the heroic times, the general was the strongest
and most dexterous man in body ; in civilized

times, the general is the most intelligent of the
brave. When we were at Cairo, the Egyptians
could not understnnd how it was that Kl^er, with
his imjiosing person, was not the commander-in-
chief. When Murad Bey had closely observed
our tactics, he comprehended that it was myself,
and not another, who must be the general of an
army so conducted. You reason like the Egyptians,
when you would confine recompenses to military
valour. The soldiers," added the first consul,
" reason better than you. Go to their bivouacs ;
listen to them. Do you think that among their
officers he who is largest and most imposing in
stature, inspires them with the highest considera-
tion ? No, it is the bravest. Do you believe that
it is even the bravest that is precisely the first
man in their minds ? No doubt they would despise
him of whose courage they were suspicious ; but
they would place above the bravest him whom they
believed most intelligent. Then as to myself, do
you suppose that it is only because I am reputed
an able general, that I command in France 1 No,
it is because they attribute to me the qualities of
a statesman and a magistrate. France will not
tolerate a government of the sabre ; those who
believe it strangely deceive themselves. There
must be fifty years of subjection before it would
come to tliat. France is a country too noble, too
intelligent, to submit merely to a material power,
and to inaugurate wiili her the worship of brute
force. Honour, in a word, then, intelligence, virtue,
the civil qualitits, in all the professions; recom-
pense them equally in all."

These reasons, stated with warmth and energy,
and coming from the greatest soldier of modern
days, enchained and charmed the entire council of
state. They were, it must be owned, sincere and
interested at the same time. The first consul was
desirous that it shouhl be well understood, above
all, by the military, that it was not as a general
only, but as a man of genius and intellect that lie
was the ruler of France.

As it was not possible to make him renounce his
project, he was exhorted to adjourn it, by telling him
that it was too soon ; that iiaving advanced per-
haps before the public intelligence in regard to the
concordat, it would be needful to stop a moment,
and give to opinion some short resjiite. He would
listen to none of these counsels. His nature was
ever, in all things, to be impatient of results.

His project relative to a system of public educa-
tion, encountered also .serious objections in the coun-
cil of state. The party that was for monarchial reac-
tion was not far from the desire of seeing religious
corporations again established. The opposite party
su]ipi>rted the central schools, and rather desired
the amelioration than the abrogation of the sys-
tem. This last party also discovered some dis-
trust on the subject of the six thousand four
hundred exhibitions left to the disposal of the
goverrnnent.

"The ancient corporations do not belong to
these days," said the first consul ; " besides, they
are enemies. The clergy accommodate tliemselves
to the actual government, they prefer it to tiie
convention or the directory, but they would much
more j)refer the Br>urbons. As to the central
schools, they no longer exist ; they are a cipher.
A vast system of public education must be created

I

i

1802.
May.

Opinion delivered by tlie first
consul on the lyceunii.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Reception of the project of the
legion of honour.

357

and or<;anized in France. Some may imagine that
it was for the sake of influence these exhibitions
were created. Tliis is to view the matter in a
very narrow way. Tlie actual government has
more influence tlian it desires ; tliere is notliing,
in fact, whicli it cannot do at this moment, espe-
cially if it proposes to act -igainst the revohition — to
destroy wiiat that created, and to re-establish that
which it destroyed. This is called for on all sides.
It is attacked by confidential writings of all kinds,
in which each proposes the restoration of some
[lart of the old system. It is needful to heware
of yielding to such an impulse. Here six thousand
exhibitions are necessary to organize a new society
and to imbue it with the spirit of the age. In the
first place it is needful to provide f..r the military
and their children, for to them we owe every thing.
They have not yet touched the thousand millions
promised them. The least that can be done for
tliem is to secure them the necessaries of life. The
exhibitions are an indispensnble supplement to the
smallness of their jiay. The civil functionaries
deserve, in their turn, to be rewarded and en-
couraged, when they sliall have served well and
faithfully. They are, besiiles, as poor as the
militjiry. Both will give us their children to
educate, and fashion under the new system. The
five thousand exhihitioiis which we take in the
boartling-schools, will be a nursery of subjects,
which we shall secure for the same end. We are
bound to form a new society, npt.n the principles
of civil equality, in which every one finds his
place, neither presenting the injustice of the
feudal system, nor the confusion of anarchy. It is
urgent to lay the foundation of this society, be-
cause no such thing exists. In order to found
it, materials are necessary ; the sole good ones are
the young. We must consent to take them ; and if
we do not draw them to us by the attraction of
gratuitous education, the parents will not give
them to us of their own accord. We are all sus-
pected as authors, accomplices, or defenders of
the revolution ; so nmch do people change — so
much are they fallen away from the illusions of
1789. We shall not easily get the children of good
families unless we take the measures to attract
them. If we form lyceums without exhibitions,
they will be yet more deserted than the central
schools — a hundred times mr)re, for parents can
semi their children without fear to a public course,
in which Latin and mathematics are tiiught ; but
they would not be sent, without relucUmce, to
Loardiiig-schools, in which the supreme authority
wholly governed. There is but one way of attract-
ing them, and that is by exhibitions ; and then the
inhabitants of the departn)ents recently united to
France will become French also. To accomplish
this end, tliere is again only one way, and that
is t«) t;ike their children, even Hometliing against
their will, and to i>lace them with the sons of your
officcrH, of your functionaries, and of your families
in narrow circumsUmceB, that the advantage of a
gratuitous education shall have disposed to a confi-
dence whicii they have not natui-ally. Then these
children will learn tiie French language ; and they
will imbibe the French spirit. We shall thus min-
gle together the French of the former time with
those of today : the French of the centre, the bor-
dere of tlie Rhine, the Escaut and the I'o."

These sound reasons, repeated at more than one
sitting, and under a thousand different forms, of
whicli this repetition is only the substance, obtained
the acceptance of the projected law. M. Fourcroy
was commissioned to carry it to the legislative
body, and to support it in the discussion.

This project and that of the legion of honour,
were presented to the legislative body at nearly
the same time, because the first consul would not
suff"er this short session to ])ass over without having
laid the principal basis of his vast edifice. The
law of public instruction did not meet any great
obstacle, and supported by M. Fourcroy, who, after
the first cimsul, was half its author, it was adopted
by a considerable majority. In the tribunate it
obtained eighty white balls to nine black; in the
legislative body, two hundred and fifty-one against
twenty-seven. But it was not thus with the law
relative to the legion of honour. This encountered
in the two assemblies a resistance equally warm.
Lucien Bonaparte was nominated reporter ; and
by the warmth with which he urged its defence, it
was but too evident that it was a family idea. The
institution was strongly attacked in the tribunate
by M. Savoie-Rollin and M. de Cliaiivelin, the last
making a species of pretension to defend the prin-
ciple of equality, in spite of the name which he
bore. Lucien, who had the gift of public speaking,
but who had not sufficiently practised it, answered
with too little temper and moderation, whicli much
contributed to dispose the tribune niii'avourably.
Notwithstanding the purgation to which the body
had been submitted, the project obtained only
fifty-six white balls to thirty-eight black. In the
legislative body, the discussion, although entirely
leaning one way, since the tribunate, having adopted
the proposition of the government, had sent only
orators to supjiort it, was not successful in gaining
over many minds. There were there only a hun-
dred and sixty-six favourable votes to one hundred
and ten against it. The project of law was then
ado[)ted; but it was rare that the majority had
been so weak and the minority so stron;,', even be-
fore the opposition members were expelled. This
arose from the shock which had been given to the
feeling of equality, which was the only one that
survived, and was still upiiermost in the hearts
of the men of that time '. This sentiment was

' The following remarks are stated by Mignet to be taken
from Thil)audeau's unpublished memuirs, and exhil>it the
ideas of Bonaparte upon this measure. Thibaudeau was a
councillor of state.

" In discussing this project of law in the council of state,
he fearlessly made known his aristocratic intentions. Ber-
licr, a councillor of stale, having disapproved of an institu-
tion so contrary to the spirit of the republic, said that ' di.<i-
tinctions were the baubles of monarchy." ' 1 defy you,' re-
joined the first consul, ' to show nic a republic, ancient or
modern, in which there were no distinctions. Vou spoke of
baubles. Well, it is by baubles that we delude mankind. I
should not say Ibis to a tribune, but in a council of s.igcs
and statesmen we ought to 8<iy every thing. I do not believe
that the French people love liberty and equality. The
French are not changed by ten years of revolution ; they
have only one sentiment— honour. We muNt, therefore,
give aliment to this sentiment ; we must create distinctions.
Do you see how the people prostrate themselves before the
ribl)ons and stars of the foreigner-. I they ha\ e been surprised
by it ; neither do they fail to wear them. We have destroyed
everything; we must now rebuild. Wc have a government.

Proposition to confer THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. the consulate for life.

May.

assumed erroneously, there can be no doubt, be-
cause there can be nothing less aristocratic than
an institution which has for its object to decree to
the soldiirs and to the learned a distinction purely
for life, and the same that was to be borne by
generals and princes. But every feeling which is
too lively is susceptible and distrustful. The first
consul proceeded too i-apidly, and he admitted this.
" We ought to have waited," he said; "that is
true. But we were right; and when we are right
we ought to be able to venture something. Besides,
the project was badly supported, and the best ar-
guments were not well urged home. If they had
known how to urge them with truth and vigour,
the opposition would have yielded."

The end of this session, so abundant in business,
approached, and still the treaty of Amiens had
not been laid before the legislative body to be con-
verted into a law. This great act had been re-
served for the last. It was intended to be, in a
degree, the crowning measure of the first consul's
labours and of the deliberations of this extra-
ordinary session ; and, more, it was deemed a
fitting occasion for exhibiting the gratitude of the
public towards the author of the blessings which
were then enjoyed by the nation.

For some time, in fact, people had been asking
if there should not be given to the man who, in
two years and a half, had drawn France out of a
chaos, and had reconciled her with Europe, the
church, and herself, having already organized her,
some great testimony of the national gratitude.
This sentiment of gratitude was as universal as it
was well-merited. It was easy to make this feel-
ing subservient to the latent desires of the first
consul, which were bent towards the obtainment,
in perpetuity, of that power which had been en-
trusted to him for ten years only. The minds of
most people too were already made up upon the
subject, and except a small number of Jacobins
and royalists, no one wished to see the supreme
power lodged in any otlier hands than those of
general Bonaparte. The indefinite continuation
of his authority was regarded as a simple and
most inevitable thing. To convert this notorious
disposition of the popular mind into a legal act
was, therefore, an easy matter ; and if, eighteen
months before, when the famous " parallel between
Csesar, Cromwell, and general Bonaparte," too
early provoked the discussion of this question,
which then encountered considerable opposition,
this was now no longer the case. It required now
that only the word should be suddenly spoken,
offering to the first consul a real sovereignty, under
whatever title might be chosen. It was sufficient

we have powers; but the rest of the nation, what is it?—
grains of sand. We have in the midst of us ancient privi-
leges, organized from principles and interests, and which well
know what they want. I can reckon our enemies ; but as
for us, we are scattered without system, without union,
without contact. So long as I live I can answer for the
welfare of the republic ; but we must provide lor the future.
Do you believe the republic is finally settled ? you would find
yourselves greatly mistaken. We are able to do it ; but we
have not, nor shall we, if we do not throw upon the soil of
France some masses of granite.' Bonaparte announced in
these declarations a system of government directly opposite
to that which the revolution proposed to establish, and which
the new state of society demanded." — Mir/net's Hislory,

to choose any fitting occasion, and to announce
such a proposition, that it should be immediately
welcomed for adoption.

The moment when many memorable acts suc-
ceeded each other so rapidly, was that, in reality,
which the first consul, in his calculations, and his
friends, in their intej-ested impatience, and minds
gifted with foresight, in their considerations, had
designated, and that the public, sincere and plain
in its sentiments, was i-eady to accept for a grand
manifestation. General Bonaparte wished for the
supreme power, which was natural and excusable.
In dohig good he had followed the bent of his
genius, and in so doing he had hoped for his re-
ward. There was nothing blameable or culjjable
in such a desire; besides the conviction of the truth
that in fully achieving this good, an all-powerful
chief would be required for a long while to come.
In a country which could not dispense with a
strong and creative authority, it was perfectly law-
ful to aspire to the supreme power, when a man
was the greatest of his age, and one of the greatest
men of ail ages. Washington, in the midst of a
democratic republican society, exclusively com-
mercial, and for a long while pacific — Washington
was just in exhibiting little ambition. In a society,
republican by accident, monarchical by nature,
surrounded by enemies, military in consequence,
and not able to govern or to defend itself, without
unity of action, Bonaparte had right upon his side
in aspiring to the supreme power, no matter under
what title. He was in error, not in taking the
dictatorship, then necessary, but in not having al-
ways employed it when he did take it, as in the
first years of his career.

General Bonaparte concealed in the profoundest
depths of his heart those desires which all the
world, even the simplest of the people, plainly per-
ceived. If he mentioned his wishes to his brothers,
it was as much as he ever did. He never said that
the title of first consul for ten years had ceased to
satisfy him. Without doubt, when the question pre-
sented itself under a theoretic form, when the neces-
sity of a strong authority was spoken of in a general
way, he came out, and spoke his thoughts fully upon
the matter; but lie never concluded by asking for
a prolongation of his own power. At the same
time dissimulating and confiding, he communicated
certain things to one, certain things to others,
and concealed something from all. To his col-
leagues, above all to Cambaceres, of whose great
prudence he had a high opinion ; to Talleyrand
and Fouch^, to whom he conceded a great share
of influence, he spoke out fully of all that con-
cerned public aflairs, much more than to his
brothers, to whom he was far from entrusting the
secrets of state. Of those things which personally
concerned himself, he said little to his colleagues
or to his ministers, but much to his brothers. Still
he did not discover to them the secret ambition of
his heart ; but it was so easy to guess, and his
family were so anxious to bring it about success-
fully, that they spared him the trouble to be the
first to declare it. They spoke to him of it con-
tinually, and left him in the more commodious
position of having rather to temper than to excite
a zeal for liis aggrandizement. They asserted to
him, therefore, that the moment was come to con-
stitute in his behalf something better than an

1802.
May.

Proposition to confer the
consulate for life.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Apprehensions of Madam

Uoiiaparte. — Advice of 359
Fouche.

ephemeral and fleeting power ; that he ought to
think of attaching to himself a solid and durable
authority. Jo.-seph, with the peaceable mildness
of his character, and Lucien, with his natural
petulance, tended openly to the same object. They
had for confidants and co-operators tlie men with
whom they lived in intimacy, who, whether in the
council of state, or in the senate, partook their
sentiments, from conviction, or from the desire
to please. Regnaud, Laplace, Talleyrand, and
Roederer, the last always most ardent iu the cause,
were firmly of opinion that monarchy must be
restoi-ed as soon and ^^s completely as was possible.
Talleyrand, the calmest, and not the least active
among them, was strongly attached to a monarchy,
as elegant and brilliant as it had been in the palace
of Versailles, but without the Bourbons, with whom
he believed it to be then incompatible. He re-
peated incessantly, with an authority which could
belong to no one but him, that to negotiate witli
Europe it would be much easier to ti-eat in the
name of a monarchy than in that of a republic;
that the Buurbons were, for kings, just like un-
accommodating and disestecmed guests; that ge-
neral Bonaparte, with his glory, his power, his
courage in repressing anarchy, was the -most de-
sirable for them, and the most e.xpected of all sove-
reigns ; that as to himself, minister for foreign
aflaiirs, he affirmed, that to add, no matter how,
to the existing authority of the first consul, was to
conciliate Europe in place of offending her. Those
intimate confidants of the Bonaparte family had
much debated among themselves the question of
the moment. Still, to leap at one spring into an
hereditary sovereignty, whether to royalty or to an
empire, would be too great a temerity. It would,
perhaps, be better to reach it by passing through
several intermediate stages. But without changing
the title of first consul, which was much more con-
venient, it would be possible to give him an equi-
valent for the royal power, and even an equivalent
for the hereditary succcbsion : this was the con-
sulate for life, with the power to designate his
successor. In making a few modifications in the
constitution, — modifications easy to obtain of the
senate, which had become a sort of constituting
power, it was possible to create a true sovereignty
under a republican name. There would even be
given to him the faculty of appointing a successor,
tl'.e only advantage of an hereditary succession
actually desirable ; because the fii-st consul not
having children, and having only brothers and
nejiliews, it would be better to confide the right of
choice to those among them whom hesliould judge
most wortliy of succeeding to the power.

This idea appearing the wisest and the most
prudent, seemed to be that adopted by consent in
tiie Byiiaparte family as preferable. This family
was at the moment in a state of singular agitation.
The brothers of the first consul, who had on their
foreheads a ray of hi» glory, but which they did
not deem sufficient, desired to see him become a
real monarch, in order that they might be princes
by right of blood. They were restless, complaining
that they were nothing ; that they had aided in the
elevation of their brother, and had no rank in the
state in proportion to their merits and seryicea,
Joseph, more peaceable in character, satisfied be-
sides with the character of ordinary negotiator of

peace, wealthy, and held in consideration, was less
impatient. Lucien, who gave himself out for a
republican, was still of all the brothers he who
showed himself that he most desired to see tlij^
sovereign power of his brother elevated upon the
ruins of the republic. Very recently he had re-
fused to dine with Madam 13onaparte, sayijig that
he would go when there should be a place there
marked out for the brothers of the first consul.
In the bosom of that family, jMadam Bonaparte,
the more worthy of interest, since she felt none of
those ambitious longings, and had. her apprehen-
sions of them, she, on the contrary, was, according
to her usual custom, more afraid than satisfied at
the changes which were in preparation. She
feared, as has been alroiidy observed, that her
husband would be urged to ascend too soon the,
steps of the throne where she had beheld thet
Bourbons sit, and upon which it seemed incredible-
to her that any other person should be seated.
She feared that his inconsiderate I'elatives, anxious
to partake the grandeur of their brother, would
imprudently hasten on his elevation, and by making
him ascend too fast, precipitate her, him, and
themselves, all, in fact, together into an abyss.
In a certain degree relieved by the tendei-ness of
her husband from the apjireheusion of a speedy
divorce, she was haunted at the moment by one
image alone, that of a new Ctesar, struck by the
blow of a dagger at the moment when he at-
tempted to place the diadem' upon his brow.

Madam Bonaparte honestly avowed her fears
to her husband, who made her hold her tongue by
imposing silence sharply upon her. Repulsed here,
she addressed herself to those who had some
influence over him, supplicating them to combat the
counsels of his ill-advised and ambitious brothers,
and thus she gave to her dislikes and apj)rehen-
sions a vexatious notoriety, which was displeasing
to the first consul.

Among the personages admitted to the interior
of the family, the minister Fouche entered more
than any other into the views of ^Iadan\ Bona-
parte. Not that he had more pride of feeling than
the other men by whom Bonaparte was sur-
rounded, or that he was the only one among
them all who was careless about pleasing his
inevitable master, it was not that ; but he was
endowed with great good sense, and observed with
apprehension the impatience of the Bonaparte
family. He heard nearer than any other person
the sullen, stifled cries of the vanquished republi-
cans, few in number, but indignant at such a
])rompt usurpation ; even he himself, amid the
agitation of the hour, felt some emotions on ac-
count of what was about to be undertaken. Al-
though he did not desire to lose the confidei\ce of
the first consul, which he was more than ever
desirous of retaining, since the first consul was
more than ever to become the arbiter of all
destinies, he still permitted others to guess a part
of what he thought. Intimate as a friend with
Madam Bonaparte, he had listened to her cx-
jiression of the apprehensions with which she was
assailed and. fearful of the resentment of her
husband, had endeavoured to tranquillize them.
" Ms^dam," lie said, " remain calm and (juiet.
You cro.ss your hu.sl)and to no pnri)ose. He will
be consul for life, king, or emperor, all that is

360 Conduct of Cambaceres THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, on the consulate for life.

1802.
May.

very pofsible to occur. Your fears annoy him ;
my counsels would wound his feelings. Let us
remain in our places, and leave those events to
their accomplishment, which neither you nor I can
prevent."

The winding up of this agitated scene approached,
in proportion as the term arrived of the extraordi-
nary session of the year x., and the leaders of the
party for the measure were heard repeating oftener
and louder, that it was necessary to give stability
to power, and a testimony of acknowledgment to
the benefactor fjf France and of the world. Still
they would not have been able to bring about the
last act in a safe and natural manner, without the
aid of one man in particular, and that man was the
consul Cambaceres. His occult but real influence
and able management of the mind of the first con-
sul has been already alluded to. His power over
the senate was equally gi-eat. That body had a
real deference for the old lawyer, become the con-
fidant of the new Caesar. Sieyes, creator in some
respect of the senate, had at first enjoyed there a
certain ascendancy. But soon his evident inten-
tion of turning that body into an opposition having
been detected and foiled, Sieyes was no more than
he had always been, that is to say, a superior
mind, chagrined, impotent, reduced at last to the
part of finding fault with every thing at his seat of
Crosne — the vulgar price of his great services.
Cambaceres, on the contrary, had become the
secret director of the senate. In the actual con-
juncture, Bonaparte was not able to proclaim him-
self consul lor life or emperor, having need in con-
sequence of somebody that should take the initiative
— this was evidently the senate, and in the senate,
the person who directed it was evidently the man
of the greatest importance.

Cambacdres, although devoted to the first consul,
could not see witii any great degree of pleasure
the change which tended to place him at yet a
greater distance from his illustrious colleague.
Still knowing well that things could not remain as
they were, that it would be trouble lost to throw
an obstacle in the way of general Bonaparte, and
that besides, within tlieir actual limits, these de-
sires were legitimate, Cambace'res determined to
interfere spontaneously in order to cause all this
internal agitation to terminate in a rational result,
and to impart to the government a stable form,
which ought to satisfy the ambition of the first C(msul
without effacing too much the republican forms,
which were still cherished in many hearts.

While those who surrounded the first consul
were in lively conversation upon this subject, he
himself listening, and even affecting to keep silence,
Cambacdres put an end to the state of constraint,
by speaking the first to his colleag\ie upon the sub-
ject of what was passing. He did not dissimulate
to him the danger of precipitation in an affair of
such a nature, and the advantage there would be
in preserving a modest and republican form alto-
gether, to a power as real and as great even as his
own. Nevertheless in off"ering him, in his own
name and in the name of the thii'd consul Lebrun,
a devotedness without reserve, he declared to him
that they were ready, both one and the other, to do
whatever he wished, and to spare him the inter-
vention of his own person in the matter, particu-
larly under circumstances in which he ought to

appear to receive and not to take the title himself,
which it was in contemplation to give him. The
first consul expressed his gratitude for such an
overture and at such a moment ; he conceded the
danger that there would be in going too fast, and
doing too much ; he declared that he had formed
no particular desire, being content wiih his exist-
ing position ; that he had not pushed forward any
change, and should take no steps to quit it ; that
siill the constitution of the supreme power of the
state was in his view precarious, and did not ])re-
sent a character sufficiently solid and enduring ;
that in his opinion there were several changes which
ought to be effected in the form of the government,
but that he was too directly interested in the ques-
tion to mix himself up in it ; that he would, there-
foi'e, wait, and not take any initiative.

Cambaceres answered the first consul, that with-
out doubt his personal dignity demanded much
reserve, and interdicted him from ostensibly taking
the initiative, but that if he would fully and clearly
ex])lain himself to his two colleagues, and make
them clearly acquainted with his innermost
thoughts, they would spai'e him, when once his
intentions were clearly understood by them, the
trouble of manifesting them, and would go to work
without delay. Whether he felt a certain degree
of embarrassment which prevented his saying what
he desired, or whether he desired more than was
then destined for him, perhaps the sovereignty, the
first consul covered himself with a new veil, and
was contented to repeat that he had no fixed idea
on the matter, but that he should see with pleasure
his two colleagues watch over the movement of the
public mind, and even direct it, in order to prevent
those imprudent actions which might be committed
by unskilful friends.

The first consul would never avow his thoughts
upon the matter even to his colleague Cambaceres.
To the natural restraint he felt in such a matter,
he added an illusion. He thought that without
any interference upon his own part, the ])eople
would come and lay a crown at his feet. This was
an error. The public, tranquil, happy, and grate-
ful, was disposed to sanction whatever might be
done by the government ; but having in a certain
sense abdicated every participation in the affairs of
the state, it was not forward to mix itself up with
them even to testify the gratitude of which it was
full. The bodies of the state, save with the ex-
ception of the interested leaders, were taken all at
once with a sort of modesty, at the idea of coming
in the face of heaven, to abjure the republican
forms, which they had again recently sworn to
maintain. Many individuals, little versed in politi-
cal secrets, went so far as to believe that the first
consul, satisfied with the omnipotence which he
possessed, above all, since he had disencumbered
l)imself of the opposition of the tribunate, had con-
tented himself with the ])ower to do all that he
pleased, and to assume to himself the easy glory of
a new Washington, with much more genius and
glory than he of America. Thus when the ma-
nagers and leaders in the matter asserted that
nothing had been done for the first consul, who
had done every thing for Prance, certain simple-
minded persons answered in this innocent way :
" What would you have us do for him ? What
would you have us offer him ? What recompense

1802. Honours moved in tlie Iri-
May. bunate to the first consul.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE. The proposition adopted.

361

would be proportioned to the services which lie
has rendered to us I His true recompense is his
glory."

Cambac^t-es was too wise to reveng;e himself for
the dissimulati i of the first consul, by leaving
things in a sta-nunt state. He felt it necessary to
finish the matter, and determined to set about the
task immediately. In his opinion, and in that of
many enlightened men, a prolongation of jiower
for ten years granted to tlie first consul, whiili
with seven years of the first term yet remaining,
would carry up to seventeen years the duration of
his consulship, was fully sufficient. This would, in
fact, whether in Fntnce or in Europe, be crossing
the enemies who had calculated on the existing
legal term of his power. But JL Cambaceres well
knew that this woulil not content the first consul,
that something more nuist be offered him, and
that with the consulshi|> for life must be accom-
panied the right of naming iiis successor ; all the
advantages of an hereditary monarchy would be
thus attained without the inconvenience of a change
of title, and without the displeasure that this
change would cause to many persons of good in-
tentions and honest feelings. He, therefore, stopped
at this idea, and endeavoured to propagate it in the
senate, the legislative body,and the tribunate. But
if there were members ready to vote any thing,
there were others that hesitated, and would go no
further tlian a prolongation for ten years.

The first consul had deferred until now, with the
full intention of so doing, the presentation of the
treaty of Amiens to tiie legislative body, to be con-
verted into a law. Cambace'res, comprehending
that this was the circumstance to use for drawing
out a species of general approval of the proposed
changes, disposed every thing in order to bring
about such a result. The 6th of May, or 16th of
Flor(?al, had been chosen to carry up to the legis-
lative body the treaty w Inch comjileted the general
peace. The president of the tribunate, who was
M. Chabot de I'Allier, was one of the frieiuls of the
consul Cambac(?res. This last sent for him, and
arranged with him the steps to be taken. It was
settled between them, that when the treaty
should be carried from the legislative body to the
tribunate, M. Simeon should propose a deputation
to the first consul, in order to testify the satisfac-
tion of the assendjly ; tluit then the president, M.
Chabot de r.\llier,should quit the chair,and should
propose the following vote : —

" The senate is invited to give to the consuls a
testimony <if the national gratitude.'

Things being disposed in this manner, the pro-
ject of law was carried on the 6th of May, or 16tit
of I'lordal, by three councillors of the legislative
body. These councillors were M. Roederer, ad-
miral Bruix, and M. Beilier. In the ordinary
course of things, the projects were communicated
jjurely and simply by the legislative body to the
tribunate ; this time, seeing the importance of the
subject, the governuunt determined to commimi-
cate directly to thi; tribunate the treaty submitted
to the legislative deliberations. Thre<! councillors
of state, Regnier, Thibaudeau, and Bigot Prdame-
neu, were cliarged with tliis duly. .Scarcely had
they finished making the comnmnieation, wlien the
tribune Simeon a-skijd leave to speak. " Since the
government," said he, " has communicated to us, in

a manner so solemn, the treaty of jieace concluded
with Great Britain, it is our duty to answer this
|iroceeding by one of a similar natin-e. I propose
that a deputation be addressed to the goverimient,
to congratulate it upon the re-establishment of the
general peace." This ])roposi:ion was immediately
adopted. The pre.sident, M. Chabot de I'Allier,
having given up tlie chair, and been replaced by
M. Stanislaus de Girardin, and placing himself in
the tribune, spoke as follows : —

" Among all nations public honours have been
decreed to those men who, by their brilliant acti<ins,
have honoured their country and saved it from
great dangers.

" What man has ever had a greater right than
I general Bonaparte to the national gratitude 1

" What man, whether at the head of armies, or
at the head of the government, honours his country
more, or has rendered it more signal services ?

" His valour and his genius have saved the
French people from the excesses of anarchy and
the evils of war. The French people are too great,
too magnanimous, to suffer such benefits to remain
without some grand recompense.

" Tribunes ! be you its organs. It is to us,
above all others, that it belongs to take the lead,
when the object is to express, under circumstances
so memorable, the sentiments and will of the
French people."

At the conclusion of his sjieech, M. Chabot de
I'Allier proposed to the tribunate the vote of some
great manifestation of the national gratitude to-
wards the first consul. He j)roposed, besides, to
communicate this wish to the senate, the legislative
body, and to the government. The proposition was
unanimously adopted.

This deliberation was soon known in the senate,
and that body decided immediately upon forming a
special commission, in order to present its own
ideas respecting the testimony of national gratitmle
which it would be suitable to give to the first
consul.

The deputation which Simeon, the tribune, had
proposed to send to the government, was received
on the day following, the 7th of May, or 17th Flo-
real, at the Tuileries. The first consul was sur-
rounded with ids colleagues, a great number of
high functionaries and generals. His attitude was
modest hiid serious. M. Simeon spoke : he cele-
brated the great exploits <if general Bonaparte ;
the marvellous things effected by his government,
more gieat ihan those achieved by Ids sword. He
attributed to him the victories of the republic, the
jieace which followed them, the re-establishmcnt of
order, the return of prosperity ; and terminated at
length with the following words : " I must break
off in haste. I fear I shall appear to praise,
when I only endeavour to be just, and to express
in a few words a profound feeling, that ingratitude
could alone liave stifled. Wo expect the first body
in the nation to become the interpreter of tho
general sentiment, the expression of which it is
only permitted to the tribunate to desire and to
vote."

The first consul, after having thanked the tri-
bune Simeon for the scntimenis which he had just
testified in his behalf ; after having said that he-
saw in it only the result of the more intimate com-
munications established between the government

302 The first consul's reply. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The consulship voted
for ten years by the
senate.

1802.
May.

and the tribunate, — making tl)us a dii-ect allusion
to the changes operated in that body, — the first
consul finished in these noble words : —

" As for me, I receive with the deepest gratitude
the wish expressed by the tribunate. I desire no
other glory than that of having fulfilled to the
fullest extent the task imposed upon me. 1 have
no ambition for any other recompense than ;the
affection of my fellow-citizens ; happy if they are
well convinced that the evils which they may
encounter will always be to me the most serious of
misfortunes ; that life is dear to me only for the
services that it may enable me to render to my
country; that death itself has no bitterness for me,
if my last glances will but enable me to see the
happiness of the republic as well assured as its
glory."

It now only remained to fix upon the testimony
of national gratitude to be given to general Bona-
parte. No one was deceived about its nature ;
every body well knew that it was by an extension
of power that the illustrious general must be paid
for the immense benefits which had been received.
Some simple-minded pei-sons imagined when voting
that the public testimony in contemplation was a
statue or monument. 13ut those simple people
were few in number. The mass of the tribune
and senators perfectly well knew how it was to
express its gratitude. During that day and the
day following, the Tuileries and the hotel of Cam-
bac^res, who resided out of the palace, were
thronged with people. The senatcjrs came in
great numbers, eager to know how they should
act. Their zeal was very warm ; it was only
necessary to speak the word, and they were ready
to decree whatever was desired. One of them even
went so far as to say to the consul Cambace'res,
" What does the general wish ? Does he wish to
be king ? Only let him say as much ; I and my
colleagues of the constituent body are quite ready
to vote the re-establishment of royalty, and more
willingly too for him than for other.s, because he is
more worthy the honour." Curious to know the
real sentiments of the first consul, the senators
approached as near to him as they were able, and
tried in a hundred ways, to have at least one word
from his mouth, however trifling and insignificant.
But he constantly refused to I'eveal his wishes,
even to the senator Laplace, who was one of his
particular friends, and who for that reason was
charged to fathom his secret wishes. He uniformly
answered, that whatever they did he should receive
with gratitude, and that he had not fixed his mind
upon any thing. Some wished to know if a pro-
longation of ten years of his consulship would be
agreeable. He replied with affected humility, that
any testimony of the public confidence, that or any
other, would be sufficient for him, and satisfy his
wishes. The senators learning little from these
communications of the fii-st consul, returned to the
consuls Cambacdres and Lebrun, to get informa-
tion as to the conduct which they had to pursue.
" Name the consul for life," they replied, " that is
the best step you can take." " But it is .said he
does not desire it," replied the more sim))le of the
enquirers, "and that a prolongation for ten years
will satisfy him — why go beyond his own wishes ?"

Lebrun and Cambac^res had difficulty to per-
suade them. The consuls apprized Bonaparte of

it. " You are wrong," they said, " not to explain
yourself. Your enemies, for you have enemies
left in spite of your services, even in the senate,
will abuse your reserve." The first consul neither
appeared surprised nor flattered by the officious-
ness of the senators. "Let them alone," he re-
phed to Cambace'res; "the majority of the senate
is always ready to do more than is demanded of
them. They will go further than you would
believe."

Cambacdres replied that he was mistaken. But
it was impossible to overcome this obstinate dis-
sembling, and as will be seen, the consequences
were singular. Despite the advice of Cambacdres
and Lebrun, many good people who deemed it
more convenient to give less than more, believed
that the first consul thought a prolongation of the
consulship for ten years a sufficient testimony of
the public confidence, and a grand consolidation of
his power considerable enough. The party of
Sieyes, always spiteful, awoke up on this occasion,
and acted secretly. The senators who were secretly
allied to his party, circumvented their uncertain
colleagues, and affirmed that the idea of the fii'st
consul was well known, and that he was contented
with a prolongation of ten years, which he pre-
ferred to any thing else, that every body knew
besides that it was better in itself; that by this
combination, the public power was consolidated,
the republic maintained, and the dignity of the
nation preserved. As in the afiair of the elections
of the senate, the gallant Lefebvre was one of those
who listened to these persuasions, and who be-
lieved that in voting for a ten years' prolongation,
they were doing that which general Bonaparte
wished. They had been forty-eight hours de-
liberating, and it was necessary to conclude the
matter. The senator Languinais, with all the
courage of which he had given so many proofs,
attacked that which he styled the flagrant usurpa-
tion with which the republic was threatened. His
speech was heard with pain, and considered as
somewhat superfluous. More able enemies had
proposed a better manoeuvre. They had gained a
majority in favour of the plan for prolonging the
powers of the first consul for ten years. This reso-
lution was in fact adopted on the 8th of May, or
18th Floreal, towards the evening of the day.
Lefebvre ran one of the first to the Tuileries, to
announce what had taken place, believing that
he brought the most agreeable of intelligence.
It soon arrived from all quarters, and caused a
surprise as unforeseen as it was painful.

The first consul, surro\mded by his brothers
Joseph and Lucien, learned this result with great
displeasure. At the first moments he thought of
nothing less than of refusing tlie proposition of
tiie senate. He sent for his colleague Cambac(?res
immediately. He came to him forthwith. Too
discreet and prudent to triumph at his own fore-
sight and the fault of the first consul, he said that
what had occurred was without doubt very vexa-
tious, but it was easy to remedy ; that before all
things it was necessary not to exhibit any ill
humour; that in twice twenty-four hours all might
be altered, but that it was necessary in order to do
that to give the affair an entire new face, and tliat
he would take the matter upon himself. "The
senate offers you a prolongation of power," said M.

I

, oAo The exped lent of Cambacerts

to annml the vote of the THE CONSULATE F(JR LIFE,
senate.

May.

AUIitional questions of
M. Koederer.

Cambace'res ; " answer that you are most gi-ateful
for tlie pro]iosition, but that it is not from the
senate, but from the suffrages of the nation alone
that you should hold your authority ; that it is
from the nation alone that you should receive
the prolongation ; and that you wish to consult
the nation by the same means which were em-
ployed for the adoption of the consular constitution,
or in other words by registers opened all over
Frajice. We will then have drawn up by the
council of state, the formula wliich shall be sub-
mitted to the national sanction. By thus making it
an act of deference to the jjopular sovereignty,
we shall obtain the substitution of one plan for
another. Wc will propose tlie question, not so as
to know if general Bonaparte ought to receive a
prolongation for ten years of the consular power,
but if he ought to receive the consulate feu- life. If
the first consul were to do such a thing himself,"
continued M. Carabace'ies, " decorunj would be
wounded. But I, who am the second consul, and
wholly disinterested in the matter, am able to give
the impulse. Let the general set out in a public
manner for Malmaison ; I will remain alone in
Paris ; I w ill convoke the council of state, and by
the council of state it is that I will have the new
proposition drawn up, which shall afterwards be
submitted for the national acceptance."

Tliis able expedient was adopted with great satis-
faction by general Bonaparte, and by his brothers.
Cambace'res was heartily thanked for his ingenious
combination, and the eutii'e affair abandoned to
him. It was agreed that the first consul should
set out on the following day, after having himself
agreed with Cambaceres upon the draft of the
answer to be made to the senate.

The draft was made the next morning, being the
9th of ilay, or 19th Flor^al, by Cambaceres and
the first consul, and addressed immediately to the
senate, in reply to its message.

" Senators," said the first consul, " the honour-
able proof of esteem delivered in your deliberation
of the 18 th, will remain for ever engraven in my
heart.

" In the three years which have just terminated,
fortune has smiled upon the republic: but fortune
is incoastant; and how many men whom she has
loaded with her favours have lived a few years too
long!

" The interest of my glory, as well as that of ray
happiness, seems to have marked the term of my
public life at the moment when the peace of the
world is proclaimed.

" But tlie glory and happiness of the citizen
ought to be silent, when the interest of the state
and the |)ublic kindness d^'mand him.

" You judge tiiat I owe to the people a new
sacrifice; I will make it, if the will of the people
command what your suffrages authorize."

Tlie first consul, witiiout an explanation, in-
dicated clearly enough that lie did not exactly
accept such a resolution of the senate, lie set out
for .Malmaison immediately, leaving to his col-
league Cambacdrcs to terminate the great business
conformably to his wishes. Cambaceres summoned
those of the council of state who were the most
li.abituatcd to second the views of the government,
and concerted with th<ni the measures which it
would be best to adopt at the meeting of the

council. The following day, being the lOlh of
Jl.ay, or 20th of Flordal, the council of state had an
extraordinary meeting. The two consuls and all
the ministers, except FouclnJ, attended. Camba-
ceres presided. He announced the object of the
meeting, and appealed to the understanding of
that grand body, under the important circum-
stances in which the government was placed.
Bigot de Prdameneu, lloederer, Rcgnaud, and
Portalis, at once spoke in turn, and alleged that
the stability of the government was, at present,
the first necessity of the state ; that the foreign
powers, to treat with France, that public credit,
commerce, industry, and a return to prosperity,
had need of confidence ; that the perpetuity of the
power of the first consul was tlie most certain
means to inspire it ; that this authority, conferred
for ten years only, was an ephemeral authority, —
without solidity, without grandeur, because it was
without duration ; that the senate, limited by the
constitution, had not thought it possible to add more
than a prolongation of ten years to the power of
the first consul; but that in addressing the national
sovereignty, as had been done before for all the
anterior constitutions, there was no more limiting
by the existing law, for then they should mount
to the source of all the laws, and that it was
necessary purely and simply to put this question, —
"Shall the first consul be consul for life?"

The prefect of police, Dubois, a member of the
council of state, a man of a character independent
and decided, stated the opinion generally held by
the people of Paris. On all sides the proposition
of the senate was deemed ridiculous ; every body
said that it was necessary France should have a
government ; that one had been found at last,
strong, able, fortunate, and that such an one ought
to be preserved; that there ought to have been no
necessity for touching the constitution; but if it
wci-c to be interfered with, it had better be done
once for all, and the government be so organized
as to be always preserved. That which was thus
stated by Dubois was true. Opinion was so fa-
vourable to the first consul, that the people were
for settling the question at once, and giving to his
power the duration of his life. After having heard
the different speeches, Cambaceres in(iuired whether
any member had objections to make to the pro-
posed step; btit the oppositionists remaining silent,
being only five or six in number, as Bertier, Thi-
buuileau, Emmery, Dossoles, and Bercnger, the
resolution was put to the vote, and adopted by an
immense majority. It was then agreed that a
public vote should be taken upon the questiori, —
Shall Napoleon Bonapaiite be consul for life ?
This resolution being jtasscd affirmatively, llie-
derer, who was the boldest of all the members on
the monarchical side, pri>|K>sed to add a second
question to the first ; it was the following : — Shall
the first consul have the faculty of desig-
nating his successor?

Up(ni this question M. lloederer was extremely
tenacious, and with reason. If they acted with
good faith, if they contealod no after-thought of
returning at some" future time to what they were
doing that day, if tli.y wished to constitute de-
finitively a new jiower, the faculty of designing a
successor was the best erpiivalcnt to hereditary
succession; sometimes superior to the effects of

Decree of the consuls.
— The appeal lo llie

THIERS' CONSULATE AND" EMPIRE.

people in favour of the 18n2.
consulship for life. May.

hereditary succession itself, because it was by that
means that the reign of the Antonines was given
to the world. A consul for life, with the power of
naming his successor, was a real monarchy under
a republican appeamnce. It was a fine and power-
ful government, which, at least, saved the dignity
of the existing generation, which had sworn to live
a republic or to die. M. Roederei', who was ob-
stinate in favour of his own ideas, insisted upon
the second question being put. It was put and
adopted as the (ireceding had been.

It was necessary, in consequence, to decide on
the form to be given to both. Some thought that
this appeal made to the French people by means
of registers opened in the communes, was an act
which should belong to the government, because
it was, so to say, a simple convocation; that it was
natural, therefore, that it should be debated in the
council of state; that the publication of this deli-
beration, which had taken place in presence of the
second and third consuls, and in absence of the
first, preserved all decent appearances, and that
it was only necessary to find a suitable form of
drawing up. A commission, composed of sevei-al
councillors of state, was charged, during the sitting,
with the drawing up of the result of the delibera-
tion. This commission proceeded immediately to
the task, and returned an hour after, with the act
destined to be published on the following day.

The following was the document : —

" The consuls of the republic, considering that
the resolution of the first consul is a striking
homage paid to the sovereignty of the people; that
the people, consulted upon their dearest interests, onght
to know no other limit than its interests themselves;
decree as follows :" &c. &c. " The French people
shall be consulted upon these two questions : —

" 1. Shall Napoleon Bonaparte be consul for

LIFE?

" 2. Shall he have the faculty of appointing
his successor?

" Registers will be opened to this effect at all
the mayoralties, at the offices of the clerks of all
the tribunals, at the houses of the notaries, and
those of all public offices."

The period allowed for giving the votes was
three weeks.

Cambac^res went off immediately to the first
consul, to submit to him the resolution of the
council of state. The first consul, from a disposi-
tion of mind difficult to account for, obstinately
resisted the second question.

" Whom," said he, " would you that I should
appoint for my successor ? my brother ? But
France, which has so well consented to be go-
verned by me — would France consent to be
governed by Joseph or Lucien ? Shall I nominate
you consul, Cambac^res ? Will you venture to
undertake such a task ? And then the will of
Louis XIV. was not respected; is it at all probable
that mine would be ? A dead man, let him be
whom he may, is nothing." The second consul could
not get over him upon this point ; he was even
angry with Roederer, who, without taking the
opinion of any one, and following the impulse of
his own mind, had put forward the idea. He,
therefore, ordered the second question, relative to
the choice of a successor, to be struck out.

The motive of thte first consul in the foregoing

matter is very obscure. Did he wish, by leaving
a vacancy in the organization of the government,
to manage so as to have a sure pretext to say
another time, and at a period a little later, that
the governnient was without a future, without
greatness, and it would be necessary to convert
it into an hereditary monarchy ? Did he dread
family rivalries, and the troubles that would come
upon him from possessing the faculty of choosing
a successor from among his brothers or nephews ?
To judge of his language upon the occasion, this
last conjecture appears to be the most probable.
However it was, he struck out the second question
of the act as it emanated from the council of state;
and as they would not lose time by assembling the
council ajiain, the resolution, thus shortened, was
sent to the official journal.

It ajipeared on tlie morning of the lith of May,
or 21st Flore'al, in the Mouiteur, two days after
that of the senate. To announce that such a ques-
tion was put to France, was to announce that it
was determined upon. If public opini<in become
passive, did not take the initiative of great reso-
lutions, it might be counted upon for sanctioning
every thing with interest that might be proposed
to it in favour of the first consul. It had for liim
confidence, admiration, gratitude, all the senti-
ments that a lively and enthusiastic people is
capable of feeling for a great man, from whom it
has received at tme time so many benefits. Doubt-
less, if the questions of form had preserved any
importance, at a time when constitutions had been
seen to be made and remi.de so often, it would
have been deemed strange that the senate, having
proposed a simple prolongation of ten years, this
proposition emanating ircjm the sole authority
which had the power to make it, should be con-
verted into a proposition of a consulship for life,
made by a body that was neither the senate, nor
the legislative body, nor the tribunate, but only a
council dependiint upon the government. It is
true that the council of state had at that time
a high degree of importance, which rendered it
nearly the equal of a legislative assembly ; that the
appeal to the national sovereignty was a species of
corrective, which covered all the irregularities of
tliis mode of proceeding, and gave to the council of
state the apparent character of a simple arranger
of the question to be submitted to France. Be-
sides, at that time people did not examine so
closely into matters. The i-esult, that is to say,
the consolidation and perpetuation of the govern-
ment of the first consul was agreeable to all the
world ; and that which conduced to such a result
in the most direct way possible, appeared the most
natm-al and the best. The senate was exposed to
some raillery, in fact, it was tolerably confused and
ashamed, at not having been better acquainted
with the wishes of general Bonaparte; and it kept
silence, having nothing suitable to say nor to do,
because it was unable either to recall its determi-
nation or to appi'opriate to itself the resolution
of the council of state. ' As to offering any oppo-
sition, it had not the means, nor even the idea.
Without doubt, the torrent was not so general but
that censure was to be heard in some places; for ex-
ample, in the obscure retreats where the faithful re-
jmblicans hid their despair, in the brilliant liotels of
the faubourg St. Germain, where the royalists were

1802.
May.

Presentation of the financial
law.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Slate of the budget.

3C5

detesting tlie new power in the government whicli
they hail iiot yet began to serve. But this cen-
sure, nearly indistinguishable in the chorus of
pi-aises that from all sides arose around the first
consul, aixl mounted even to his own ear, was
of very little moment. Reflecting men only, and
these are always very few in number, were capable
of making singular reflections upon the vicissitudes
tif revolutions, upon the inconsistency of this gene-
r.iti'.n overturning a royalty of twelve centuries,
endeavouring in vain, anndst its delirium, t>i over-
throw all the monarchies of Europe, and then
reverting fr.>m its first enthusiasm to rebuild a
ruined throne piece by piece, and eageily seeking
some one on whom to bestow it. Hii|)pily it had
found for this purpose an extraordinary man.
Nations, under sudi a necessity, do not always en-
counter a ni.ister who ennobles in the same degree
tlieii- inconsistencies. The enibarr.issment of mo-
desty had at the moment seized upon every body ;
the m.oster himself, not daring at first to avow his
wisjies himself, the senate afterwards not daring to
guess, and hesitating to satisfy them, until the
council of sUite, throw jng off sill its false shame, had
the courage to avow what was needful to be said
an<l (lone by all.

These temporary difficulties soon gave jilace to
a true ovation. The legislative body and the
tribunate determined to go to the first consul,
in oriier to give the signal of adhesion, by voting in
a body the power into his hands for a perpetuity.
The object to colour the step which they had
devised was, that the members of the legislative
body and of the tribunate being detained during
this extraordinary session in their seats as legis-
lators, were not able to be in their communes
to give their votes there. This was deemed a
valid reason, and they repaired to the Tuileries
accordingly in a body. M. de Vaublanc sjioUe in
the name of the legislative body, and M. Chabot
dWllier in the name of the tribunate. To quote
here the speeches made upon this occasion would
be tedious. They all exjiresseil alike the same
confidence in the government of the flrst consul.
Such an example would not have failed to draw
after it the citizens to the same vote had it been
at all needful ; but such a strong impulse was not
necessary. Tlie |)eople went with alacrity to the
mayoralties, to the notaries, and to the oflices
of the clerks of the tribunals, to inscribe their
votes of approbation in the registers ojien tor their
reception.

The end of FloriJal had arrived, and the govern-
ment made haste to close this short and memorable
session by the presentation of the financial law.
The budget pro|>osed was most satisfactory. All
the sources of revenue were discovered to have
augmented, for which the peace nmst b» assigned
as the cause, while, at the same time, the expenses
of the army and navy were much diminished.
Th.- budget of the year x. amounte.l to 500,000 OOOf.,
or 2G,000,000 f. iJss than that of the xar ix.'; it
was raised to 5J(;,000,000 f. by the more recent
estimates; and if to this be added the additii>nal
centiiucB for the service of the departments, wliicli

I The amount for the year ix. was at firit fixed at
4IS,r>U0,0li0 r, then at i2C,000,000 f., and finally at
ftl5,U0O,U0Of.

at that time were separately calculated, and
amounted to CO ,000,000 f. ; if ihere were added
the expenses of collection, which were not carried
to the general budget, because each de|)artment of
the taxes paid its own expenses, whieli amounted
ti> 70,000.000 f, the total might be estimated at
025,000,000 r. or 030.000,000 f., the definitive budget
of France at that moment.

Peace brought with it an economy or saving in
some branches of the |)ublic service, and an increase
in others ; but by elevating considerably the
])rodnct of all the taxes, it jirepared the way for
the re-establishment of an even balance between
the revenue and expenditure, a balance so much
ilesired, and so far from being ftireseen two years
before. The war administration, divided into two
branches, that of the personal, and that of the
wath-iel, was to cost 210 000,0001". in lieu of
250,0(10,000 f. It will, no doul.t, appear astonish-
ing that there should be lure no more than
40,000,0011 f. between a state of war and that of
peace ; but it nnist be recollected that the vic-
torious French armies had lived upon a foreign
soil, and that having returned home, with the
exception only of one hundred thousand men, they
were now supported out of the French treasury.
The navy, which it had at first been deemed right
to estimate at 80,('00,000f., had, since the conclusion
of the peace, been raised to 105,000,000 f. by the
first consul, whose opinion it was that a time
of peace was most advantageously eniijloyed in
organizing the navy of a great empire. Other
expenses consideiably reduced, proved, by their
reduction, the fortunate advance of credit. The
obligations of the receivers-general, of which the
origin, utility, and success have been seen, had at
first been discounted at only one per cent, per
month, and afterwards at three-quarters. These
were now discounted at one-half per cent, per
month, or six per cent, per annum. Hence the
government had been able, without injustice, to
reduce the interest of the securities from seven to
six per cent. All these savings had operated to
the reduction of the costs of the treasury nego-
tiations from 32,000.000 f. to 15,000,000 f. There
was no reduction which did so much honour to the
government, nor better proved the high credit
which it enjoyed. The five per cents., which had
I'isen fii"st from twelve to forty or fifty francs,
were at that moment at sixty.

With these diminutions of expense there oc-
curred some augmentations, which were the conse-
quence of the wise financial arrangements pro-
posed in the year ix., and so unjustly censured in
the tribunate. The government had wished, as
has been said in the proper place, to complete the
inscription of the consolidated third, in other
word.s, the third of the old debt, the only one
excepted from the bankruptcy of the directory.
In regard to the " mobilized" two-thirds, that is ti>
say, the unli(iuidateil |)ortion of the debt, it li.id
wihlied to give ihat a sort of value, by admitting it
in payment for certain national property, or by
permission lo convert it into five per cent, consoli-
dated, at the rate of oiie-twentieih of the capital
which corrcspondeil wiih the actual currency. The
first consul, desirous of tcrniiiiaiing lliese nrrangc-
ment« as soon an pofsible, had it decided under the
law of the finances for the year X., that the two-

36G Details of the budget. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Details of the budget.

1802.
May.

thirds, "mobilized," should be converted by com-
pulsion into the five per cent, stock, at the i-ate
fixed in the law of Ventose, year ix. The defini-
tive inscription of the consolidated thirds, the con-
version of the two-thirds, "mobilized," into five
per cent., other liquidations which remained to
make for the old credits of the emigrants, and for
the transfer into the great book of the debts of the
conquered countries, would cai'ry the total amount
of the public debt to 5a,000,006 f. or 60,000,000 f.
of five per cent, annuities. In the mean time
it was of importance to satisfy the public mind
regarding the sum to which these various liqui-
dations were likely to raise the public debt. It
was in consequence decided by an article of the
budget itself of the year x., that it should not be
carried, whether by loan, or whether in conse-
quence of terminating payments, beyond 50,000,000f.
of annuities. It was hoped that the redemption of
the sinking fund, largely endowed with national
property, would absorb, before it had time to be
produced, that foreseen excess of 9,000,000 f. or
10,000,000 f. But in any case, by an article of the
budget to be added, at the moment when the
inscriptions should exceed 50,000,000 f., such a
portion would be created for redemption, as should
in fifteen years absorb the sum exceeding the
amount thenceforward fi.\ed for the national debt.

Tlie title of this was also to be properly regu-
lated. The different denominations of " consoli-
dated thirds," " mobilized two-thirds," " Belgian
debt," and others, were abolished, and replaced by
the unique title of " five per cent, consolidated." It
was arranged that this debt should be the first in-
scribed in the budget; that the interest of it should
be paid before any other expen.'je, and miiformly in
the month following every half year. It was esti-
mated that the life debt, at that instant amounting
to -10,000,000 f., might ascend to 24,000,000 f. ; but
it was imagined that the extinctions jjroceeding as
fast as the new liquidations, it would always be
kept on the level of 20,000,000 f. The expenses
which were susceptible of greater augmentation,
were those of the interior, for the roads and public
works ; those of the clergy, for the successive
establishment of ne»v cures, — expenses rather to
be greeted than regretted. As for those of public
instruction and the legion of honour, they were
lately provided for, as before seen, by means of an
endowment out of the national domains.

In regard to these increasing expenses, the pro-
gress of the revenue afforded the prospect of an
income still more rapidly accruing. The customs,
the posts, the registration, the domains of the
state, gave a con.siderable surplus. ' Besides these,
there remained as a I'esource, tlie indirect taxes,
which had been re-established at this time only for
the advantage of the towns and the service of the
ho.spitals. Heavy complaints had been made in
the legislative body and in the tribunate this year,
of the burden of the direct contributions, and new
arguments had been urged for the re-establishment
of taxes upon articles of consumption. Accurate
calculations had exhibited, in a stronger light than
ever, the enormous proportion of the direct con-
tribu lions. The tax on land and houses reached
210,000,0001'.; on personal and moveable pro-
perty, to :}2,000,000 f. ; on doors and windows, to
16,000,000 f.; on patents, to 21,000,000 f. ; total,

270,000.000 f., more than one-half, consequently, in
a budget of receipts of 502,000,000 f. The public
compared these sums with those paid during the
administration of Turgot and of Necker, and de-
manded the re-establishment of a more just pro-
portion between the diff"ereut taxes. Before 1789,
in fact, the land and personal tax had produced
221,000,000 f. ; the indirect taxes, 294,000,000 f. ;
in all, 51 5,000,000 f. The natural conclusion from
all these complaints, was the re-establishment of
the old duties upon provisions, — tobacco, salt, and
the like. The first consul lieard these remon-
strances with pleasure ; they furnished him with a
potent reason for a new financial creation, which
he had long secretly resolved upon in Ills mind,
but which was not yet fully matured.

The situation of the finances was, therefore, ex-
cellent, and it was every day becoming better regu-
lated. The 90,000,000 f. directed, by means of a
creation of stocli, for clearing oft' the ari'ears of the
years v., vi., and vii., before the consulate, were
found to be competent to that purpose ; the
21,000,000 f. devoted to the liquidation of the
debts of the year viii., the first year of the con-
sulate, sufficed equally for acquitting the entire
service for vhich that sum was designed. Lastly,
the service of the year IX., the first which had
been regularly established, although amounting to
520,000,000 f.,in place of 415,000,000 f., was wholly
liquidated by the extraordmary increase in the
product of the revenue. It has been already seen
that the estimates of the current year, that of the
year x., exactly balanced in income and expen-
diture.

To simi up, a debt in perpetual stock of
50,000,000 f., perfectly regulated, and reduced to
one denomination, provided for by a sufficient en-
dowment in the national d<jmains; a debt in life
annuities of 20,000,000 f. ; in civil pensions, to the
amount of 20,000,000 f. ; 21 0,000,000 f; assigned to
the war department ; 105,000,000 f. to the navy ;
these composed, with other expenses less in amount,
a budget of 500,000,000 f.; not excluding the.addi-
tional centimes and expenses of the collection ; a
budget covered by a revenue, which was manifestly
increasing with rapidity, and that without reckon-
ing the re-establishment of the indirect contribu-
tions, left as a resource for new necessities that it
was possible might subsequently arise.

Thus after a war of ten years, and after splendid
conquests, the estimates returned a budget of
500,000,000 f., the budget of 1789, with this differ-
ence, that the debt composed a A'ery small portion
in a comparison with the revenue ; and that this
amount of 500,000,000 f., raised to 625,000,000 f.
by the additional centimes and the cost of collec-
tion, represented the entire outgoing of the country,
in fact, all the cliarges ; while the revenue of
500,000,000 f. of the budget of Louis XVI. omitted,
not only the expenses_of the collection, but the re-
venues of the clergy, the feudal rights, the corv^es,
that is to say, many hundreds of millions of charges
more. If in' 1802 France paid 025,000,000 f. equally
divided, Fiance paid in 1789 from 1 100,000,000 f.
to 1200,000,000 f., with a territory one-quarter less.
The revolution, without reckoning the benefits of a
complete social refoi-m, had therefoi-e produced, at
least in a most important point of view, something
besides calamity. In all this prosperity iu the

Result of the appeal to
the people.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Changes in the constitution
niaUe by Uonaparte.

367

finances there was but one thing to be regretted,
this was the bankruptcy, the result of paper-money ;
but this was m no way imputable to the consular
government.

These financial propositions were not now re-
ceived as those of tiie year ix. had been, by a vio-
lent opposition ; they were satisfactory to the two
legislative assemblies, and were voted merely with
some observations on the direct and indu-ect con-
tributions,— observations such as the government
itself would have dictated, if they had not been
thus spontaneously elicited.

The foregoing was the last act of this session of
forty- five days, consecrated to these great and im-
portant objects.

The tribunate and the legislative body separated
on the 20th of May, or 30th of Flordal, leaving
France in a state in which she had never been
before, and perhaps never will be again.

At this time the population was flocking to the
mayoi'altie.s, to the offices of the clerks of the tri-
bunals, and to the notaries, for the purpose of
giving an affirmative reply to the question put to
the country by the council of state. The number
of votes which were or were about to be given, was
estimated at between three and four millions. This
is apparently but a small proportion out of a popu-
lation of thirty-six millions of souls; but it is a large
one, larger than is expected, and such as was not
obtained in the greater part of the known constitu-
tions, in which three, four, or five hundred thou-
sand votes at most expressed the national will. In
fact, of thirty-six millions of persons, one-half
belong to the sex which has no political rights. Of
the remaining ei>,'htecii :nillions, there are old
people and children *, who reduce the valid popu-
lation of the country to twelve millions at most. It
is therefore an extraordinary number, if the men
who labour with their hands are considered mostly
illiterate, and scarcely knowing under what govern-
ment they live ; it is an extraordinary number, that
four millions out of twelve, were thus brought to
form an opinion, and not only to form an opinion,
but to express it.

It is true, there were republicans and royalists
who were di.ssentients, and came to express a nega-
tive to the question, while they attested by their
lirescnce at such an act, the perfect freedom left to
the public upon the matter. But it was a small
and almost imperceptible minority. As to the rest,
whether voting pro or con, they were tranquil, and
produced by their attendance upon the act no sen-
sible agitition, so satisfied and peacefully disposed
were the peo|)le.

Around the government, on the other hand, there
existed a species of fermentation of mind, on ac-
count of the changes which were sure to be made
in the constitution, in consequence of the prolouga-

> According to the returni of the English population, of
10,000 males living:, 5038 would be twenty years of age and
undf-r, 988 only being in their twentieth year. If this pro-
portion be app.ied to 18,000,000 of males in France, who at
twenty years of age and ui.iler could hardly exercise political
rights, the rcnuli will be O.OOn.uOO above twenty years old.
Prom these the inlirin. very aged, dissentient politically, and
the lowest and most iniioiaiil clans, nuiiil still be deducted.
The number does then-f ire appear very considerable, proving
the great popularity of Uonaparte at that moment— the mo-
ment of his brightest ^\oTy.—Trntiilator.

tion of the consulship for life. A thousand difi'erent
rumours were spread abroad relating to the sub-
ject, having an origin in the wishes of each par-
ticular party.

The brothers of Bonaparte, Lucien in particular,
had not entirely renounced his idea of a regular
monarchy, which might immediately confer upon
the brothers the rank of princes, and place them
beyond a level with the great functionaries of the
state. Roederer, the friend and confidant of
Lucien, was, of all others, the person who was
most ready to give his opinion, being the most
advanced in monarchical advocacy, much more
from his natural inclination than through any in-
terested suggestion. He was a councillor of state,
who had the charge of public instruction, under
Chaptal, the minister of the interior ; and he made
use of his post in order to address circular letters
to the prefects, which were totally in opposition to
the nature of his office, and had a direct relation
to the questions which at that moment occupied the
attention alike of the government and the public.
These circulars, in which particulars of a certain
kind were contained, requiring a reply, and requir-
ing it in a truly monarchical sense, not emanating
from the minister himself, but still being issued by
a very distinguished authority, seemed to reveal
some concealed scheme, that perhaps had its origin
in a higher authority. They agitated the minds of
the people in the provinces, and gave place to a
thousand reports.

Roederer, and those who were of his opinion,
would, if possible, have raised in the departments
a sort of spontaneous wish, that would authorize
more boldness than had been recently exhibited.
They did not fail to address the first consul with
most earnest solicitations to arrange, in a more
courageous mode, the questions which had 1 i en
mooted. But the first consul was fixed. He
believed with all the more discreet and prudent
friends of the government, that it was sufficient,
at least for the present, to establish the consulship
for life ; that it was perfect monarchy, more par-
ticularly if the power of designating a successor
was appended to it. A movement of opinion easily
enough perceptible among the men surrounding
the supreme power, and even among the most
devoted, had warned the first consul that no more
ought to be attem|)ted. He therefore determined
to halt; and he qu."ijified as most indiscreet, all that
was said and done by the ill judging friends about
him, whose zeal was far from displeasing him, but
was not partaken enough by others to meet
approval.

In the mean time he employed himself to make
certain changes in the constitution, which appeared
indispensable to him. Although ho was per-
fectly disposed to censure the work of Sicjes, he
thought it right to preserve the groundwork of it,
adding to it merely some conveniences for the
government that were new.

A singular disposition of mind was produced in
some i)ersoii8. They demanded that the monarchy
should be re-established, since the force of circum-
Btimccs seemed to re(iiiiro it ; but that in return
there should be granted to France those liberties
which in a monarchy .ire compatible with loyalty,
that is to say, that there should be given to it
purely and simply the English monarchy, with on

Bonaparte's ideas on the THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

English constitution. j^^^

liereditary royalty, and two independent chambers.
Upon this subject M. Camiile Jordan had pub-
lished a work, very much a suliject of remark by
the small number of persons who still intermingled
with political questions, because the large mass of
the people had no other mind in the matter than
to let the first consul do as he pleased. Thus this
idea of a representative monarchy, that at the
opening of the revolution had presented itself to
Lally Tollendal and to Mounier, as the form
necessary for the government of France, and
whidi fifty years later was designed to become
the last form, this idea again appeared to some
persons like one of those elevated and far-off
mountains, that in a long journey are perceived
more than once before they are reached.

The sincere royalists who wished for a monarchy,
even that of the Bourbons, if that of the Bourbons
were not discovered to be impracticable, and with
general Bonaparte, if it were not practicable with-
out him, were strongly of this opinion, so were
those also of the royalist party, but these last from
different motives. They hoped that with the
elections and a free press, every thing would soon
fall into confusion, as was the case under the
directory, and that fnmi such a renewal of the
chaos, there would finally arise the legitimate mo-
narchy of the Bourbons, as the necessary term to
the calamities of France.

The first consul had no idea of adhering to such
a project, although it might bring with it royalty
to his own person. It was not only out of his dis-
like to resistance towards his objects that would
make him oppose such a form of government ; it
was from the sincere conviction of the impossibility
of such an establishment in the existing state of
things.

Those who are unwilling to see in him any
other than the soldier, or at most an administrator
of the government, not the statesman, imagine that
he had no idea of the English constitution. This is
a complete error. Seeing in England the only
formidable enemy France had in Europe, he
kept his eyes constantly fixed upon her, and he
had penetrated into the most secret relations of
her constitution. In his frequent conversations
upon matters of g.ivermTient, he reasoned with
rare sagacity. One thing much displeased him in
the English constitution, and he expressed his sen-
timents in its regard with that vivacity of language
which was peculiar to him ; this was, to see the
great affairs of slate, such as demand, in order
to ensure success, long meditation, a great suc-
cession of views, profound secrecy in the execu-
tion, laid open to publicity and to hazard through
intrigue or eloquence.

"Let Fox, Pitt, or Addington," he said, "be
more clever one than the other in the management
of parliamentary intrigue, or more eloquent in one
sitting of parliament, and we shall have war in-
stead of peace ; the world will be on fire anew ;
France will destroy England, or she will be de-
stroyed by her. Give up," he exclaimed angrily,
"give up the fate of the world to such inHueiices!"
That great mind, exclusively preoccupied with
the condition of a perfect execution in the affairs
of state, forgot that if those affairs are not sub-
mitted to parliamentary inffuences, which are only,
after all, the national inffuences, represented by

passionate men, fallible there is no doubt, as all
men are, they fall under inffuences, miscliievous
enough in a different way, under those of a Madam
de Maintenon in an age of devotees, or of a Madam
de Pompadour in a dissolute age, and even if a
nation has the transient good fortune to possess <\
great man, like Frederick or Napoleon, they fall
under the influence of amliitii n, which will waste
it to exhaustion in the chance of ba tiles.

This error aside, an error very natural with
Bonaparte, he was struck, he agreed, with that
liberty, free from stoi-nis, that the British constitu-
tion conferred upon England. He appeared only
to doubt whether it would suit the French charac-
ter, so hasty and lively. In this jioint of view he
was in complete uncertainty. But he regarded it
as perfectly impossible to suit France under exist-
ing circumstances.

The first consul insisted that such a constitution
required in the first place a strong dose of lieredi-
tary right; that it required hereditary |)eers and an
hereditary king; that in Fiance these notions were
cast aside ; that the people in Fiance were ready
to take him (Bonaparte) for a dictator, but that
they would not lake him as an hereditary monarch,
(whiih at that moment was true enough,) that it
was the same thing with the senate, to which no-
body would agree to grant hereditary rank, although
ready to grant it an extraordinary constituent
jjower ; that the want of siaiiility was felt so much
by France, as that she would readily grant to any
body the most extensive authority, but it must
only be for life ; that such was really the disposi-
tion of tlie public mind ; that Fiance had not
within reach the elements of English royalty,
because it had neither king nor peers ; that the se-
nators of Sieyes, aristocrats of yesterday, the greater
part without fortune, living up<in )uil)lic salaries,
would become ridiculous if it were attempted to
convert them into English lords ; that if in default
of these the great landed proprietors should be
selected, that would be to ffing themselves into the
arms of their most formidable enemies, because
they were royalists in their hearts, more friends of
the English and the Austrians than the French,
thus they had not wherewith to make an upper
chamber ; that by takiiig the speakirs from the tri-
bunate, and dumb members of the legislative body,
there might be found materials, in name at least,
for forming a lower chamber; but that to render it
seriously an imitation of England, there must be a
tribune, jiress, and elections free, all these would
recommence again the four years of ilie directory,
of which he had been a witness, and which would
never be blotted from his memory ; that there
were then seen formed in the electoral colleges a ma-
jority, which under the pretext of dispersing the
men stained with blood, would only elect royalists
moi-e or less openly avowed ; that there had been
seen at the same time a hundred journals, all filled
with raging royalism, all moving in the same sense,
and that but for the 18t,h of Fructidor, without the
assistance lent to the diieciory by the army of
Italy, they would have aided in the triumph of
this disguised counter-revolution ; that soon, by an
inevitable reaction, those royalist th ctioiis were
succeeded by terrorist elections, which had alarmed
all hduest men, who demanded that they should be
annulled ; that if the way was again opened to

I

Bonaparte's conversations on
the government needful
for France.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

these people, the country would go on from con-
vulsion to convulsion, to the ultimate triumph of
tiie Bourbon and the forei;;ner ; that it was neces-
sary to arrest the torrent and terminate the revo-
lution, by maintaining in authority the man who
had accomplished it, and by consolidating, in wise
laws, its just and necessary principles.

On this occasion, the first consul repeated his
favourite thesis, which consisted in his saying,
that in order to preserve the revolution, it was
necessary first to prot<'Ct its authors, and place
them at the head of affairs; and that without his
aid they would, by this tinie, have all disappear d,
through the ingratitude of the existing generation.
" See," cried he, " what have become of Rewiiell,
Barras, La Rdveillere ! where are they ? Who
thinks of them ? None have been saved but those
I have taken by the hand, placed in power, and sup-
ported despite the movement that drags us along.
See Fouehd, what labour I had to defend hiui ;
Talleyrand cries out loudly against Fouchd ; but
the Malouets, Talons, and Calonnes, who offered
me their places and aid, they would have quickly
got rid of Talleyranil, ha<l I chosen to lend myself
t> them. They spare military men a little because
they fear them, and because it is not easy to take
the place of Lannes or Massena at the head of an
army. But if they spare them to-day, they will
not do so much long;!-. As to myself, I cannot
tell what they would do with me. Have they not
proposed to get me named constable to Louis
XVII [. J Doubtless the spirit of the revolution
is immortal ; it will survive the men of the time.
The revolution will be completed triumjjhaiitly ;
but by the hands of the society of the Manege ?
No; for there would be continually reactions, con-
vulsions, and, for the conclusion, counter-revolu-
tion !

" At present," added the first consul, " it is
necessary to make a government first with the
men of the revolution, of those who have ex-
perience, and performed services ; of those whi»
have no blood upon their garments, unless it be
the blood of the Russians and Austrians; next, to
join with them a small number of men who have
newly arisen, experienced judges, or men of the
old times, if you will, tiiken from Versailles, |)ro-
vided they are men of cajiacity, provided they will
come in as submissive adherents, not as disdainful
protectors. The constitution of Sieyes is good,
with some modifications, for the attainment ot this
objrct. It is necessary, above all, to consecrate
the great principle of the French revolution, which
is civil ef|uality, that is to say, equal jusiice in
every thing, in legislation, the tribunals, the ad-
ministration, the taxes, the iiiilit;iry service, the
distribution of cfn))loymentH, and so on. At pre-
sent, each department is on an equality with
another department; every Frcnchnian is on an
e(|uality with any other Frenchman; every citizen
tdicys the same law, appears before the s.ime
judge, submits to the same pnnislnnent, receives
the same recompenco, pays the same taxes, fur-
nishes the same military service, arrives at the
name rank, whatever be his parentage, his religion,
or the place of iiis origin. Here are the grand
social ri'sults of the revolution, which are well
worm the trouble we have suffered in attaining
them, and which must be niaintjiincil invariably.

After the.se results there is yet another that must
be maintained with equal energy, and that is the
greatness of France. The efforts of the press, the
speeches of the tribune, do not now tjike our side;
in other times they may be turned round in our
favour. Now we must needs have order, repose,
prosperity, well-conducted affairs, and the pre-
serviition of our external greatness. To preserve
this greatness, the contest is not over, it will re-
commence; and to sustain ourselves, we shall have
need of great strength, and the utmost unity of
govenmient."

Such is the substance of successive conversations
of the first consid, with those whom he admitted
to communicate to him their ideas, and with whom
he contemplated modelling anew the consular
Constitution.

1 1 is easy to recognize here his habitual manner
of thinking. Without gainsaying what the future
might present, and only disquieting himself about
the present, he saw that the welfare of France
consisted in the amalgamation of all parties, and in
the maintenance and completion of the social re-
form brought about at the revolution; and, finally,
in the development of the power acquired by the
French arms. In regard to liberty, he rejected it
as a return to the past troubles of France, and as
an obstacle to all the good he wished to perform.
It left in his mind the impression of a difficult
problem, to solve which was no business of his,
since twelve years of agitation had laid by the de-
sire and necessity of it for a long while to come.
Sieyes, with his aristocratic constitution, borrowed
from the republics of the middle age when in their
decline, with his senate clothed in the electoral
power, with his lists of notability, a sort of un-
changeable golden boolc, had discovered the con-
stitution best adapted to the situation.

The first consul took care not to touch the
senate; he wished, on the contrary, to render it
more powerful; but he projected a primary altera-
tion, which, in appearance at least, was a conces-
sion to the jjopular influence.

Tlio lists of nolabilitv, which contained the five
hundred thousand persons, from amongst whom
it, was necessary to choose the councils of the ar-
rondissements and of the departments, and the
legislative body, the tribunate, and the senate itself,
which lists were never altered, save for the |)ur-
pi.se of filling up the places of those who had died,
or those caused by the names of parties struck out
as im worthy, such as bankrupts, for instance; the
lists of notability appeared too illusory, and left
the government, as would be remarked at the pre-
sent time, without any tie in common with the
country. They were, besides, very difficult to
form, because the citizens took no interest what-
ever ill a mutter of such trifling importance to
themselves.

The first consul thought that the augmentation
of authority which he was destined to receive, ami
some other mollifications favourable to the power
about to strengthen the ci>n8titutioii, ought to be
repaid by some po|)ular concession, at least in ap-
pearance. He therefore determined to establish
electoral colleges.

In conse(|ueiice, several kinds of colleges were
di'vised. At first, meetings ol the cantons were
to be created, composed of id I the inhabitants of
B D

370 ^^-iieMloUegeT^'°''' THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Changes in the senate.

July.

the canton that possessed the age and quality of
citizens, who were charged to choose two electoral
colleges, one of the arrondissement, the other of
the department. The college of the arrondisse-
ment was to be formed according to the popula-
tion, and to be composed of one individual out of
five hundred. The college of the department was
to be formed in the same mode, but of one only
in a thousand persons. But the number of electors
was not to exceed six hundred of those who were
rated highest to the public taxes.

These two electoral colleges of the arrondisse-
ment and the department were to be elected for
life by the central assemblies, which having once
performed the duty of a general nomination, would
have nothing more to do but to replace the de-
ceased or excluded members.

The government ap[)ointed the presidents of all
tliese assemblies, whether of those of the cantons
or of the electoral colleges. It was to possess the
power of dissolving an electoral college. In this
case, the assemblies of the canton were to be con-
voked, to compose anew the college that had been
dissolved.

These cantonal assemblies and the two electoral
colleges of arrondissement and department, were
to present candidates to the consuls, for the offices
of justices of the peace', and the municipal and
departmental authorities. The colk-ge of arron-
dissement presented two candidates for the vacant
places in the tribunate; the college of department
two candidates for the vacant places in the senate.
Each of these two -colleges presented two candi-
dates for the vacant places in the legislative body,
which made four togethei-. Thus the tribunate
originated from the council of the arrondissement;
the senate from the council of the department, and
the legislative body from both.

The senate still possessed the right of choosing
the members of the tribunate, the legislative body,
and also its own members, from the candidates
thus presented.

Thus the kind of change made in the constitution
may be easily perceived. In place of the various
lists of notability, completed or modified, as time
might render necessary, by the universal body of
citizens, electoral colleges, chosen for life by the
same univei'.sal body, were now to elect the candi-
date.s, and from tliese the senate was to select
those whom it saw fit as being the body which
generated all the rest. The alteration thus effected
was not very considerable, because the electoral
colleges chosen for life, sometimes modified, it is
true, when death or bankruptcy might cause a
vacancy, were very nearly as immutable as the
lists of notability, but still they occasionally assem-
bled to elect candidates. Under this operation
the citizens might be said to have recovered some
l)art of the power of the composition of the de-
iibex'ative assemblies. Electoral tumults there
was very little reason to apprehend with such
a composition of citizens.

The legislative body and the tribunate were to
be separated into five series of membcr.s, going
out in turn one after another every year. The
senate replaced the portion which went out, taking
those for selection from among the candidates pre-

1 Justices de Paix.

sented to them. The colleges for life replaced
afterwards the candidates that the election of the
fifth had absorbed out of their numbei'.

After this concession, which at that time ap-
peared so exorbitant that all the colleagues of the
first consul went so far as to say, that he must
feel very conscious of his own power, and very
secure in his post, to yield so much to the popular
influence ; they went at work to complete the
various powers of the senate conformably to the
indications drawn from the recent events.

The senate was to retain at first the privilege of
electing all the bodies of the state. It was further
wished to confer upon it besides a more perfect
constituent power. Already the government had
made it exercise that power, by giving it the riglit
of interpreting the 38th article of the constitution,
in calling upon it to decide upon the recall of the
emigrants, and in making it demand a prolongation
of the authority of the first consul. It was ex-
ceedingly convenient to have at hand a constituent
power, always ready to create that for which there
might be any necessity.

It was then settled that the senate, at any time,
by means of a seiiatus-consuUum, denominated " or-
ganic," should have the faculty of interpreting the
constitution for the purpose of completing it, and,
in short, to do every thing that was necessary
to make it work in its due course.

It was also arranged that by the senatus-consuUum
simply, the senate might pronounce the suspension
of the constitution, and of trial by jury in certain
departments, and determine in what cases an indi-
vidual, confined on any extraordinary occasion,
should be sent before the judges for trial in the
ordinary way, or be detained in jirison. Lastly, there
were delegated to this body two extraordinary attri-
butes, the one appertaining to royalty in a mo-
narchy, the other not attaching to any power in a
regularly constituted state ; the first was the
faculty of dissolving the legislative body and the
tribunate ; the second, that of cancelling the judg-
ments of the tribunals, whenever they migiit be
thought dangerous to the safety of the state.

The last attribute would be inconceivable if the
circumstances of the times had not explained it.
Certain tribunq,ls had, in fact, pronounced judg-
ments in cases relating to the national pi-operty,
which were sufficient to drive to des[)air the nume-
rous and powerful class of persons who had become
possessed of it.

It was next decided that the senate, which in
the course of ten years was to be increased from
sixty to eighty members by means of two nomi-
nations annually, should be at, once advanced to
eighty. There were fourteen nominations to be
made immediately. The first ccmsul, in addition
to these, had the power of appointing forty new
senators, thus raising the number to a hundred
and twenty. By these means the government was
i-elieved from new inconveniences, such as those
which it sustained at the commencement of the
session of the year x.

The tribunate and the council of state were
equally modified in their organization. While the
council of state might be raised to fifty members,
the tribunate was to be reduced to fifty, by the
successive extinction of the members, and was to
be divided into sections, answering to the sections

1802. ftuestion of a council of
July. state.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Regulations of the succession.
—Summary of the changes 37I

of the council of state. It was to make a fii-st
examination in sections, with closed doors, of the
different laws preferred, which might be submitted
to them afterwards in a general meeting of tiie
whole body. These bills were still to be discussed
by the three orators before the silent legislative
body, opposed to three councillors of state, or on
the same side with them, according as the project
of the law might be approved or disapproved.

Henceforth, therefore, the tribunate was no
more than a second council of state, whose duty it
was to criticise with closed doors, and in conse-
quence without energy, such measures as the first
consul miglit prepare.

Finally, the prerogative of voting treaties was
taken away from the legislative body and from
the tribunate. The first consul recollected what
liad happened to the treaty with Russia, and would
not again be exposed to a scene of the same kind.
He devised a privy council composed of consuls,
ministers, two senators, two counsellors of state,
and two members of the legion of honour, having
the rank of great officers, the one and the other
alike designated by the first consul for each im-
portant occasion. This privy council alone was to
be consulted upon the i-atification of treaties. It
was also empowered to draw up the organic smatus-
consultum.

The creation of a privy council was a wrong
done to the council of state, because it touched
upon its duties; and of this that body appeared
sensible. By such means the first consul withdrew
from the cognizance of th.e council of state the
treaties which it had before been accustomed to
consider, because he began to think that thirty
or forty individuals were too many to receive com-
munications of this nature.

It remained to organize the executive power
upon the new basis of the consulate for life. The
first consul wished that the same power which was
given to him for life, should also be conferred upon
his colleagues for the same term. " You have
done enough for me," he said to the second consul
Cambaceres, " I ought now to assure to you your
position." The principle of the contiimance for
life was then fixed in regard to the two other
consuls, as well for the present as for the future.
The great question of the designation of a succes-
sor to the first consul, remained still to be ar-
ranged, for by this the right of hereditary succes-
sion Wius in the present case to be determined.
General Bonaparte wished at first to decline the
power which it wa.s desired to confer uj)on him of
designating his successor. At Icngtli he yielded,
and it was agreed that he should have the power of
Buch a designation during his life. In case of such
an appointment, the person named was to be pre-
sented in great state to the senate ; he was to t:ike
aa oath to the republic before the senate, in
presf^nce of the consuls, the ujinisters, the legis-
lative body, the tribunate, the council of state, tho
tribunal of' cassation, the archbiHlio|)s and bishops,
the presidents of the electoral colleges, the great
officers of the legion of honour, and the mayors of
twenty-four great cities of the republic. After
this Holeiunily he was adopted by the existing con-
sul and the French nation. He was to take rank
in the senate with the consuls immediately after
the third.

If, however, to spare the feelings of his family,
the first consul should not during his life-time
nominate a successor, and should only nominate
him by will, in such a case he was, before his
decease, to remit his will, so nominating his suc-
cessor, sealed with his seal, to the other consuls, in
presence of the ministers and the presidents of
the counsellors of state. This will was to be
deposited in the archives of the republic. But in
that ease it was necessary that the senate should
ratify the voluntary testament which had not been
produced during the life of the testator.

If the first consul should not have made liis
adoption during his life, or if he should not leave a
will, or the will should not be ratified, then the
second and third consuls were empowered to dp-
))()int a successor. They were to propose him to
the senate, whose duty it was to elect him.

Such were the forms employed for securing iJhe
regular transmission of the consular authority. It
was a substitute in place of hereditary succession;
but there was nothing to prevent its being hefe-
ditarj', because the chief of the state was left free
to select his own son if he had one. He was only
empowered to propose naming his heirs, or h\ni
whom he should deem to be most worthy.

The consuls were, by right, members of the
senate, and were to preside at the sittings.

One grand prerogative was added to the power
of the first consul. He received the right of grant-
ing pardon lor offences. This was to assimilate as
much as possible his authority to that of royalty
itself.

On the accession of a new first consul, a law was
to fix his allowance, or, to speak more correctly,
his civil list. On the present occasion, the sum of
(5,000,000 f.i was fixed for the first consul, and
1,200,000 f.2 for his two colleagues, both sums were
to be provided for in the budget.

To all these dispositions there were some new
ones added, which concerned the regulation of the
tribunals. The duties of the administrative govern-
ment were better conducted tlian those of justice,
because the former depended more immediately
upon a firm and impartial master; the oflicials
being revocable every moment by him, the
ministers went forward exactly in his s])irit. Hit
justice used its independence, as all the liberty
conceded by the state was used, in delivering itself
over to the ])assions of the day. In some places it
persecuted the acquirers of national i)roperty, in
others unjustly favoured them. But no where did
it exhibit that discipline and regularity which liiis
been seen since, and which giive to the great body
of the magistracy a dignified, but still a defercntiAl,
authority. To the disposition conferred in parti-
cular cases upon the senate of reviewing the jud]g-
inents of the tribunals, a disposition quite extraor-
dinary, and fortunately not permanent, a further
power of regulating them was added. The tri-
Itunals of the first instance were jilaeed inider tho
regulation of the courts of ap])eal, nn<l the ti^i-
bunals of appeal under those of tho tribunal 'of
cassation. A judge who was wanting in his duty
might bo called before a superior tribunal, a/id
reprimanded or 8us])cnded. At tho head of the
whole magistracy, a "grand judge" was to be

About £250,000.

b2

2 Nearly £50,000.

_^^ The senate made a

•>7^ mere iiisiruinent

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EilPIRE.

of the first consul.-
Refleclions.

1802.
July.

placed, having the power to preside at tlie tri-
bunals if iie saw ht, whose duty it was to watch
over them, and to regulate them. He was thus
minister of justice, while he was a public magis-
trate.

Such were the modifications introduced into the
consular constitution, some devised by the first
consul himself, others proposed by his councillors.
They were all collected in the form of an organic
senatus-consultum, which was to be presented to the
senate, and ailopted by that body.

They consisted, as already seen, in substituting
for the lists of notal)ility that vast, inert, and
deceptive candidateship, electoral colleges chosen
for life, which assembled at certain times to pre-
sent canilidates to the choice of the senate ; to
give to the senate already charged with electoral
functions, and the care of watching over the con-
stitution, the power of modifying that constitution,
of perfecting it, and of removing every obstacle in
its way; in tine, the power to dissolve the tribunate
and the legislative body ; to confer on general
Bonaparte the consulship for life, with the faculty
of designating his successor ; to give him besides,
the finest of the prerogatives of royalty, the right
of pardoning criminals ; to take from the tribunate
its numerical strength, and nearly that of all pub-
licity, making it in lact a second council of state,
charged with censuring the labours of the first; to
carry away from the legislative body and the
council of state to a privy council, certain im-
portant public affairs, such for example as the
approbation of treaties; finally, to establish among
the tribunals a discipline and a hierarchy.

It was still tlie aristocratic constitution of Sieyes,
apt to turn round to aristocracy or despotism,
according to the hand which directed it ; at this
moment turning towards absolute power, under
the hand of general Bonaparte, but after his
decease, as capable of bting transformed into a
complete aristocracy, if before his death he did not
precijiitate the whole into an abyss.

In conferring for his own convenience such high
attributes upon the senate, the first consul had
insured to himself for life a most devoted instru-
ment, by means of which he was able to do any
thing which he desired ; but after his death, that
very instrument become independent, in its own
turn would be all-powerful. Under a successor
less great, less glorious, with the minds of men
awakened, after a long slumber, an entirely new
spectacle would present itself. The departmental
aristocracy, of which the electoral colleges for life
were composed, and the national aristocracy of
which the senate was formed, one presenting can-
didates to the other, would be very well able, by a
concurrence of objects, natural and even necessary,
to create in the legislative body and the tribunate
a majority which could not but be invincible to the
monarchical power qualified as first consul, and thus
to cause the renewal of a species of liberty, an
aristocratic liberty it is true, but which is one,
under ordinary circumstances, not less haughty,
nor less consistent, nor the least durable of all
others. Moreover, liberty is always secured when
the ])o\ver is divided, and its exercise subjected to
the deliberations ot an assembly. 'I'here cannot be,
in effect, more than two plausible opinions i-egard-
ing the important interests uf a country. If the

executive power has in its front an authority
capable of resisting it, this last, aristojyatic or
otherwise, embraces, by an irresistible propensity
for contradiction, the opinions which tlie former
has repelled. It tends to peace in the jiresence of
an executive which leans to war, and tends to-
wards war in presence of an executive j)ower that
leans towards peace : it adopts a liberal policy
wlun the government is inclined to conservative
views. In a word, there exists contradiction, from
whence arise discussion and liberty ; as liberty in
all countries principally consists in the free and
bold discussion of the affairs of state, by the citi-
zens, pro or con, no matter how it originates. This
constitution of Sieyes, therefore, might, it is possi-
ble, at some future day, return to its primitive end,
but at this moment it was no more than a mask for
a dictatorship. A constitution, of whatever kind,
always yields results conformable to the existing
state of public opinion. There are times when
opposition is the prevalent bias ; there are others
when there is a general tendency to support the
governing power. At this time public opinion was
inclined to adhere to the government ; the form of
the government in reality at the moment, was a
matter of indifference.

It must be admitted that this nominal republic
possessed unusual greatness; it recalled, in some
respects, the Roman republic converted into the
empire. The senate had the power of the ar.cient
Roman senate, a power that it resigned to the em-
peror when he was strong, and took back for its
own purposes when he was weak or liberal. The
first consul had, in fact, the power of the Roman
emperors; he had the hereditary succession, that
is to Siiy, the choice between the appointment of
his natural or adopted successors. It may be
added, that he enjoyed nearly the same power
over the world.

The new constitution, thus remodelled, was now
ready; the votes demanded of all the French citi-
zens were given. The consul Cambac^ies, ever
conciliatory, proposed to the first consul a very
wise step, which was, to confide to the senate the
duty of counting the collected votes, and of i)ro-
clainiiiig the numbers. " It is," said he, with
sound reason, "a very natural mode of extricating
a great body from a false position, caused by a
mistake." The senate liad, in fact, proposed a
])rolongation of ten years, and the first consul had
assumed the consulship for life. Since that time
the senate had become silent, and had not taken,
because it could not take, any steps for giving that
body the task of proclaiming the result ; it would
be made a jiarty to the measure, and would be
drawn out of the embarrassed slate in wjiich it
was placed. " Come," said Cambacdres to the first
consul; *' come to the assistance of men wjio made
a mistake in endeavouring to guess your wishes."
The first consul smiled with a little more ot sar-
castic expression in his face than was customary,
at the prudence of his colleague, and quickly con-
sented to the politic propo.sal thus made to liim.

The registers in which the votes had been en-
tered were sent to the senate, to be counted and
made uj). A total of 3,577,259 citizens had voted,
and out of that number, 3,6G8,8Ji5 had voted for
the consulate for Hie. In this enormous mass of
approving voters, there were only eight thousand

i

July.

Result of the popular voting. THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE. Result of the popular voting. 373

ai)d some Innulred dissentients; an almost imper-
ceptible minority. Never iiad any government
obiaiiied such an assent ; and none ever, in an
equal degree, deserved it.

This result being verified, tlie senate issued a
teiia.'us-cotisultum, in three articles. The first of
these articles was thus stated : —

" Tiie French people nominate, and the senate
proclaints Napoleon Bonaparte first consul for
life."

It was from this period that the prcnomen of
Napoleon began to ajipear in the public acts of
the gnvernmeiit, togetiier with the family name of
lionajjarte, which last was only, up to that mo-
ment, known to the world. This brilliant i)re-
numen, that the voices of nations have so often
repi-ated since, had been, until this time, but once
empl()ye<l, namely, in the constituent act of the
Italian republic. In approximating to the sove-
reignty, the prenomen, being gradually separated
fmin the family name, was soon to figure alone
anil conspicu Hihly in the universal language of the
world; and the general Bonaparte, called for one
moment Napoleon Bonap.irte, was soon to be
called Napoleon, conforaiably to the manner of
designating monarchs.

The second article of the senatus-consultum de-
creed that a statue of peace, holding in one hand
the laurel of victory, and in the other the decree
of the senate, should attest to posterity the grati-
tude of the nation.

Finally, the third article declared that the
senate, in a body, should go and present to the
first consul, with this senatus-consultunt, the ex-
pression of the " confidence, love, and admiration"
of the French people. These three expressions
are those of the decree itself.

A day for a grand diplomatic reception was
fixed upon, when the senate should proceed to the
Tuileries. It was on the morning of the 3rd of
August, 1802, or loth of Thermidor. All the
ministei"s of the different courts of Europe, now at
peace, were assembled in a spacious hall, where
the first consul had been accustomed to receive
them, and where foreigners of distinction were
presented. The levee had hardly begun when the
senate was announced. At the same moment the
entire body was introduced, when the president
Bartlielemy spoke as follows : —

" The French people," said he, addressing the
first consul, *' the French people acknowledge
with gratitude the immense services which you
have rendere<i it, and is desirous that the first
magistracy should remain immoveably in your
hands. In securing that ofticc to you during the
term of your life, it only expresses the desire of
the senati-, as explained in the senattis-consuUitm of
the IHtli Floreal. The nation, by this solemn act
of gratitude, imparts to you tlio duty of consoli-
dating our institutions."

Alter this exordium, the president briefly enu-
merated the grand actions of general Bonaparte,
both ill war and j)eace; predicted prosperity for
tiin future, without the niisfortiineH that no one
then foresaw; and repeated, finally, that which, at
the moment, was proclaimed by the utmost voice
of fame. The president then read the text of the
decree; and the first consul, bowing to the senate,
repHcd in these fine words : —

" The life of a citizen is the )>roperty of his
country. The French people will that mine should
be entirely consecrated to its service. I am obe-
dient to its will.

" By my efl'orts, by your aid, citizens, by the
assistance of all the authorities, by the confidence
and the will of this great people, the liberty, the
equality, the prosperity of France, will be sheltered
from the caprices of fortune and the uncertainties
of futurity. The best of jieople will be the most
happy, as it is most worthy of being, and its hap-
piness will contribute to that of all Europe.

" Content thus to have been called by the com-
mand of that power from v, hich all emanates, to
bring back to this land, order, justice, and equality,
I shall attend my last hour without I'egret and
without inquietude, reposing upon the opiiiiou of
future generations."

After receiving the afTectionate thanks of the
senate, the first consul accomjianied that body
back to the ante-chamber, and continued his re-
ception of strangei-s, who were i)iesented to him
by the ministers of England, Russia, Austria,
Prussia, Sweden, Bavaria, Hesse, Wurtemberg,
Spain, Naiiles, and America, for the whole world
was, at that moment, at peace with France. On
the same day, lords Holland and Grey, the same
that are known to the present genei'ation, were ])re-
sented to the first consul, with a number of other
individuals of distinction.

On the following day, the 4th of August, the
new articles, containing the modification of the
ci institution, were submitted to the council of state.
The first consul presided at this solemn sitting ;
he read the articles one after another, and ex-
plained the motives for each with energy and pi-e-
cision. He expressed his ideas upon each article,
as has been already stated. Ho even started ob-
jections to them, and answered them himself. On
the designation of a successor, there was a short
discussion, in which might be perceived still some
traces of the resistance which he had before oft'ered
to the arrangement. Petiet and Rojderer asserted
that the designation of a successor, made by will,
should be as binding as if it were made by a so-
lemn adojition, in ])resence of the great bodies of
the state. The first consul would not agree that
such a will was as binding upon the senate, for the
reason, that when a man was dead, however great
he had been, he was then nothing ; that his hist
will might be set aside or disobeyed, and that in
submitting it for the ratification of the senate, he
should only yield to an unavoidable necessity.
Upon this occasion, there were some singular ex-
jire.ssioiis which he let fall, which prove that, for
the instant, he thought nothing more of hereditary
succession. He remarked, when speaking of it, at
least in substance, that it was not in accordance
with ]>revailing manners and o])iiiioiis. His nature
did not lead him either to falsehood or hyixicrisy;
but placed as men always are under the inlluonce
of the jji'csent moment, he re|itll('d the idea of
hereditary succession, because he perceived that
the minds of the people were very little disposed
towards its adoption; and that, invested as ho was,
besides, with a power altogether monarchical, ho
was satisfied with the reality without the title. To
judge from his language in this respect, ho had
frankly stated his mind upon the subject.

„_ . Conduct of the Bonaparte
•^74 family.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Fouche loses his post.

1802.
Aug.

There were certain objections afterwards made
against the institution of the privy council, on the
part of the council of state, the power of which
was' somewhat diminished by that institution.
Upon this subject the first consul discovered a
little embarrassment, respecting a body which he
had always so far treated with a marked predilec-
tion, and that he thus seemed to despoil of a pai-t
of.'its importance. He said that the privy council
wis only instituted for very rare cases, which re-
quired a rigorous secrecy, impossible to preserve
in a body of forty or fifty individuals; that still
the council of state would preserve continually the
saAne importance as before, and take cognizance of
all great affairs.

After some modifications of detail, the senatus-
cotisultum was carried to the senate, and after a
species of homologue, converted into an organic
seiiatus-constillum. The following day, being the
5lh of August, or 17th Thermidor, it was published
with the customary forms, and thus became the
supplement to the consular constitution.

France exhibited the deepest satisfaction. The
family of the first consul had seen neither all their
\\^shes nor all their fears accomplished ; yet still
it? shared in the general contentment. Madame
Bonaparte began to be more tranquil, now all
thoughts of royalty seemed to have evaporated.
This species of hereditary succession, which left to
the chief of the state the cai'c of choosing a sue-'
cesser, was all which she desired, because she had
no child by general Bonaparte, and possessed a
beloved daughter, the wife of Louis Bonaparte, who
was about to become a mother. She wished to
have, and she flattered herself she should have, a
grandson. She tliouglit to see in him the successor
to the sce])tre of the world. Her husband shared
it her views. The brothers of Napoleon — he will
henceforth be called by that name — were less satis-
fied, at least Lucien, whose continual activity of
mind nothing would keep quiet. But an arrange-
ment had been devised to please them, by an intro-
duction into the organic articles. The law of the
legion of honour had enacted, that the grand council
of the legion should be composed of three consuls,
and one representative from each of the great
bodies of the state. The council of state had no-
minated Joseph Bonaparte to this post ; the tribu-
nate, Lucien. A disposition of the senahis-coimiltum
enacted, that the members of the grand council of
the legion of honi'ir should be senators by right.
The two brothers of Napoleon were then principal
personages in that noble institution charged with
the distribution of all the recompenses, and they
were, as members of the senate, naturally called to
exercise a great influence in that body. Joseph,
moderate in his wishes, seemed to desire nothing
more. Lucien was only half contented, and it was
not in his nature to be more so. The first consul,
in getting his colleagues Cambaceres and Lebrun
made consuls for life, had endeavoured to keep
near his person imlividuals who were pleased at
his own elevation. He had succeeded. One per-
sonage alone at this period, so favourable to the
advancement of every other person, was rather
ill used ; this was Fouche, the minister of police.
Whether his advice, personal with regard to the
schemes of the Bonaparte family, was noticed, or
whether the efforts made to injure him with the

master were successful, or, which is more probable,
that the first consul wished to add to all his recent
acts of clemency and reconcilement, a measure
which had still more than others the aspect of con-
fidence and oblivion, the ministx-y of police was
suppressed.

This minister, as has been said elsewhere, then
possessed an importance which he could never
have had under a regular regime, thanks to the
arbitrary power with which the government was
invested, and thanks to the funds of which he
disposed without controul. Emigrants returned
or about to return, Vendeans, republicans, priests
unsworn, he had to watch all these agents of mis-
chief, and he performed his duty with no scrupu-
lous feelings. But although Fouche executed the
duties of his oflice with tact and a great deal of
intelligence, he was still odious to the parties whom
he thus kept under restraint. The first consul
suppressed the ministry, and contented himself
with making of the police merely a general direc-
tion attached to the ministry of justice. Real, the
councillor of state, was charged with that direction.
The administration of justice was taken from M.
Abrial, a clever man, wholly devoted to his busi-
ness, but whose slow and laboured method of ful-
filling his official duties was disagreeable to the
first consul. His place was given to M. Regnier,
afterwards duke of JNlassa, a learned and eloquent
magistrate, who had inspired the chief that dis-
])osed of the fortunes of all with regard and con-
fidence. M. Regnier received with the adminis-
tration of justice the title of grand judge, a title
newly created by the organic senatus-consultum.
The nature of his qualifications rendered him little
proper to direct M. Re'al in the difficult investiga-
tions of the police ; and thus M. R^al, transacting
business immediately with the first consul, became
well nigh independent of the minister of justice.
Unfortunately, with ^I. Fouche was lost a know-
ledge of men, and of their relations with different
parties, which he alone possessed in the same
degree. This sacrifice, hastily made in subser-
vience to the ideas of the hour, was made with
too little reflection, and, as will soon be seen,
consequences followed to be regretted. Still it
must not be .supposed that M. Fouche was to
appear disgraced. A place was reserved for him
iu the senate, as well as for M. Abrial. In the
act which nominated him a senator, M. Fouche
obtained a flattering mention of his public ser-
vices. It was even stated in the document, that
if the necessities of the time should cause a re-
construction of the office, then suppressed, M.
Fouche would be sought for to fill his old office
of police minister, even on the benches of the
senate.

There were some other changes in the personal
part of the government. Roederer, who did not
very well coincide with M. Chaptal, the minister
of the interior, in his views upon public instruc-
tion, which duty was confided to his care, gave up
the post to the learned Fourcroy, and received, as
Fouche and Abrial had done, a seat in the senate
as an indemnity. The first consul also raised to
the senate the respectable archbishop of Paris, M.
de Belloy. In acting thus, he had no design to
give the clergy any influence in political affairs,
but he wished that all the great social interests

1802.

Aug.

THE CONSULATE FOR LIFE.

Bonaparte inhabits St. Cloud.
— Summary of events.

375

should be represented in the senate, the interest of
religion a.s well as every other.

On the loth of August, or 27th Theriindor, for
the first time, the birth-day anniversary of the
first consul was celebrated in France. This was
the progrte-sive introduitioii of monarchical usages,
in making the birth-day of the sovereign a national
festival. On the moi-ning of that day, the first
consul i-eceived the senate, the tribunate, the
council of state, the clergy, the civil and military
authorities of the capital, the diplomatic bodies,
who came to congratulate him on the public joy,
and his own private happiness. A Te Dettiii was
sung at noon in the church of Notre Dame, and in
all the churches of the republic. In the evening,
there were brilliant illuminations, rciu-esenting in
Paris, here a figure of victory, there one of jjcace,
and further on, upon one of the towers of Notre
Dame, the sign of the zodiac, under which was
born the author of all these benefits, for which the
nation had to be thankful to Heaven.

Some days afterwards, on the 2lfet of August, or
3rd Fructidor, the first consul went in great pomp to
take possession of the presidency of the senate. All
the troops of the division were formed en hale, from
the Tuileries to the palace of the Lu.\emburg. The
carriage of the new master of France, escorted by
a numerous staft", and by the mounted consular
guard, was drawn by tight magnificent horses, as
were formerly the carriages of the French kings.
No one partook with him the honour of its occupa-
tion. In the carriages which followed came the
second and third consuls, the ministers and presi-
dents of the council of state. On arriving at the
Luxemburg, the first consul was welcomed by a
deitutatiou of ten senators. Seated upon a chair
very similar to a throne, he received the oaths of
liis two brothers, Lucien and Joseph, become
senators by right, in their quality of members of
the grand council of the legion of lionour. After
this formality wius completed, the councillors of
state, chosen especially for that purpose, presented
five j>rojects, each in the shape of a senatiis-con-
hiUhih, relative, the first to the ceremonials to be
observed by the great authorities ;tlie second, to
the renewal, by series, of the legislative body and
of the tribunate ; the third, on the mode to be fol-
lowed in case of the dissolution of these two assem-
blies ; the fourth, on the designation of the twenty-
four great cities of the republic ; and, lastly, the
fifth, upon the union of the isle of Elba with the
French territory.

In order to attach to tlie senate the influence
promised it, in the greater affairs of state, Talley-
rand read a report of great moment, upon the
arrangements which were preparing in Ciermany,
under the direction of France, for indenniifying
with the ecclosiaHtical princijialilies the hereditary
princes who had been dispossessed of property on
the left bank of the Uliine. This was, as will sub-
Heijucnlly be seen in the course of this history, the
greatest affair of the time. That business being
once concluded, the world, it Hcenicd ])robable,
would remain at rest for a crjuhiderable time. In
publishing t<j the senate in this rejiort the views of
France, the first consul announced to Europe his
ideas ujxm this important subject ; or, to be more;
explicit, he intimated his will, because it was well
known that ho was not a man to withdraw from

I givin;j effect to a resolution which he had once
I publicly announced. The reading of the report
I finished, Napoleon withdrew, leaving to the senate
' the care of examining the five scnatus-consuUa
wliich had been submitted to them.

Accompanied back again by the ten senators
who had received him upon his arx-ival, and
greeted on his way by the acclamations of the
people of Paris, the first consul reentered the
palace of the Tuileries like a constitutional mo-
narch who had just held a royal sitting.

The summer was now far advanced, and the end
of August approaching. The first consul took pos-
session of the chateau of St. Cloud, which he had
refused when it was first offered him for a counti'y
residence. Having changed his determination upon
the matter, he had ordered repairs to be made in
the building, which, at first inconsiderable, soon
extended over the whole chateau. They had been
just finished. The first consul, therefore, profited
by such a moment to take up his residence in that
beautiful edifice. There he received, on fixed
days, the great functionaries of the state of all
classes, foreigners, and ambassadors. On Sunday
mass was said in the chapel ; and those who had
opposed the concordat soon began to attend, as
in former times they had attended at Versailles.
The first consul, accompanied with his wife,
heard a short mass, and afterwards held conver-
sations in the gallery of the chateau with those
who were on a visit to him. These, arranged in
two lines, awaited him, and listened to his words as
they listened to those of royalty, or to those of men
of genius. In this circle no one was heard or re-
garded but him. No potentate upon earth ever
obtained or merited in the same degi-ee the pure
homage of which he was at that time the object,
both on the part of France and of the whole world.
It was already the imperial authority which he
subsequently assumed, but it was with the universal
consent of the people, with forms less regal, but
more worthy of that dignity, as there still remained
a certain republican modesty, which agreed well
with the new authority, and which reminded the
spectator of Augustus, retaining, amidst the su-
preme power, the external habits of a Roman
citizen.

At times, after pursuing a long route over a very
extensive and beautiful country, the traveller stops
for a moment upon some elevated spot, in order to
contemplate the district over which he has jour-
neyed : let us imitate his example here, let us
pause for a moment, and casting a glance at the
past, contemplate the prodigious labours of Bona-
parte subsequently to the IJhh lirumaire. What
a profusion of events, what variety, what greatness
of achievement are displayed !

After traversing the seas by a miracle and at-
taining France, surprised and delighted at his sud-
den re-appearance, he overthrew the directory,
took the reins of i)ower, acce])ted the constitution
of Sieyes, modified in regard to the executive
power in some measure, and having introduced a
degree of order into the ailministration, re-esta-
blished on a fresh system tlic! collection and pay-
ment of the taxes, he raised public credit, sent off
the first relief to the armies then in a state of pri-
vation, profited by the winter season to overwhelm
La Vendue by a sudden union of troops, rapidly

376 Summary of events. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Summary of events.

1802.
Aug.

brought these troops back to the frontier, and in
the midst of the apparent confusion of tliese move-
ments, created at the foot of tlie Alps, wholly un-
noticed, an improbable army, destined to fall
suddenly in the midst <>f the enemy that still re-
fused to credit its e.xistence. Every thing being
ready to enter upon the campaign, he had offered
to Europe the choice of peace or war, and war
having been preferred by Europe, he had ordered
the passage of the Rhine to take place, sent Mo-
reau on to the Daiuibe, placed Massena in Genoa,
there to stop and i-etain the Austrian forces ; then
Moreau having thrown general Kray ujion UIra,
Massena having upon the other side kept Melas
before Genoa by his heroic defence of tliat place,
he had himself on a sudden jiassed the Alps over
an unbeaten track, with his artillery drawn in the
excavated trunks of trees, appeared in the centre
of astonished Italy, cut off the retreat of the Aus-
trians, and in one decisive battle, sevei-al times
lost and gained, had taken their army, crushed all
the designs of the coalition, and e.Ktorted from
Europe, in a state of utter consternation, an ar-
mistice of six months' duration.

It was during these six months of truce that the
labours of the first consul became even more sur-
prising still. Negotiating and attending to tlie
government ot the same time, he had changed the
political aspect of things, turned the affections of
Europe towards France and against England, gained
the heart of Paul I., brought the uncertain court of
Prussia to a decision, inijjarted to Denmark and
Sweden the courage to resist maritime violence, of
which their commerce was the object, united the
league of the neutral powers against Great Britain,
closed against her the ports of the continent from
the Texel to Cadiz and from Cadiz to Otranto, and
])repared immense armaments for the succour of
Egypt. While performing all these things, he had
completed the re-organization of the finances, re-
stored credit, ])aid the obligations of the state in
hard coin, created the bank of France, repaired
the roads, repressed highway robbery, opened mag-
nificent communications over the Alps, founded
hospitals on their summits, undertaken the great
fortifications of Alexandria, improved Mantua,
opened canals, erected new bridges, and com-
menced the compilation of the codes of law. At
length, Austria still hesitating to conclude a peace,
he pushed Moreau in advance, and that general,
after destroying the ])Ower of Austria in the me-
morable battle of Hohenlinden, had forced the pro-
mise of that peace under the very walls of Vieima,
which was soon afterwards signed at Lun^ville.

It was at this moment that a frightful crime, in
the infernal machine, put into hazard the life
of the first consul, and having irritated his fiery
spirit, he was urged to the commission of the only
fault of which he was guilty during the time when
he exhibited such unequalled talent and mode-
ration, this was the transportation, without trial, of
the hundred and thirty revolutionists. Sad are
the vicissitudes of violent men in revolutionary
times ! Tlie assassins of September, in their turn
thus struck down, neither found laws nor courage
for their defence ; while the tribunate, which
opposed itself to the best measures of the first
consul, did not dare to offer one word on behalf of
these proscribed persons.

All powerful on the continent, having thrown
into discredit and then expelled from office the
two ministers who had formed all the coalitions
against France, M. Thugut of Vienna, and Pitt of
London, the first consul had thrown upon Eng-
hind the entire of Europe. Nelson, by the blow
inflicted on the Danes in Copenhagen, and the
Russians by assassinating their em|)eror, had
saved England from the disasters which threatened
her ; but in thus saving her from these disasters,
they had not imparted to her the courage or the
means to carry on the war.

The English nati<m, struck alike with fear and
admiration of the achievements of Bonaparte, had
finally consented to the peace of Amiens, the finest
ever concluded by France.

The temijle of Jaims was thus closed; and then
the first consul wished to add to the peace with
the European powers a peace with the church.
He hasteiie<l, therefore, to negotiate the concordat,
to reconcile Rome with the revolution, to i"e-erect
the altars, to render to France all that was neces-
sary to civilized society ; and having arrived at the
third year of his consulship, he presented himself
to the two legislative assemblies, bearing peace in
his hand, both on land and sea, peace with heaven,
an amnesty to all proscribed persons, a magnificent
code of laws, an effectual system of public edu-
cation, and a glorious scheme of public honour.s.
Although he presented himself with his hands full
of tliese gifts, he h;id still encountered an unex-
|)ected, violent, and senseless opposition, arising
out of good and evil feelings, from envy in
some, and in others from the desire of a liberty
impracticable at that time. Delivered from this
by the cleverness of his colleague Cambaceres,
which, in his anger, he would else have violently
crushed, he had at this point attained the end of
his toils, and had succeeded in procuring the
national assent to the treaties concluded with
Europe, to the concordat, to his system of lay and
national education, and to the legion of honour,
and in receiving, as the recompense of his ser-
vices, the consular power for life, and the greatness
of a Roman emperor. At this moment he resumed
the labour of forming the codes of law, became
arbiter of all the clashing continental interests,
reformed the German constitution, and distributed
the territories to the different princes, with an
equity .and justice acknowledged by all Europe.

Now, if forgetting all which has passed subse-
quently, we imagine for a moment this dictator,
then so necessary to France, remaining as discreet
as lie was powerful, uniting those ojiposite qualities,
which God, it is true, has never yet united in the
same individual, that vigour of genius which consti-
tutes the great soldier, with that patience which is
the distinctive trait in the founder of an empire,
calming, .by a long pea<je, the agitated state of the
French social body, and preparing it by degrees
for that freedom which is both the honour and
necessity of modern nations ; then after having
made France so great, appeasing in place of irri-
tating the jealousies of the European nations ;
changing into permanency the general policy and
the territorial demarcations settled at Luudville
and Amiens, finally terminating his career by an
act worthy of the Antonines, by finding, no matter
where, the most worthy successor to himseli, and

1802.
Aag.

Summary of events.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

Summary of events.

:i77

leavinj; to him this organized France, prepared to
enjoy liberty, and for ever aggrandized ; what man
would have equalled him ! But this man, in war
great as Caesar, politic as Augustus, virtuous as
M.ircus Aurelius, would have been more than man;
aiid Providence has given the world no divinities
to be its rulers.

Yet still at this pei-iod he appeared so moderate
after luiving been so victorious ; he exhibited him-
self so profound a legislator after proving his
greatness as a soldier ; he showed so much love
fur the arts of peace, having so much excelled in
those of war, that he might well be able to raise
illusions in France and in the world. Only a few
among those who were iu his councils, and were

capable of observing the future through the pre-
sent, wei-e affected with uneasiness as well as
admiration in observing the indelatigable activity
of his mind and body, the energy of liis will, and
the impetuosity of his desirts. They trembled
even at seeing him do good in the way he per-
formed it, so great was his impatience to acconi-
j>lish it rapidly, and upon such an extended scale.
The wise Tronchet, notwithstanding, who at once
admired and loved him, regarding him as the
saviour of France, observed one day to Camba-
ceres, with melancholy feeling, " This young man
has commenced like Caesar ; 1 fear that he will end
like Caesar."

BOOK XV.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

CONCRATULATIOSS ADDRESSED TO THE FIRST CONSUL BY THE FOREIGN CADIKETS, UPO!J HIS ACCESSION TO THE
CONSULATE FOR LIFE. — FIRST EFFECTS OF THE PEACE WITH ENGLAND. — ENGLAND DESIRES A TREATY OF COM-
MERCE WITH FRANCE —DIFFICULTY OF RECONCILING THE MERCANTILE INTERKSTS OF THE TWO COUNTRIES. —
PAMPHLETS WRITTESJ IN LONDON BY THE EMIGRANTS AGAINST THE FIRST CONSUL. — RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF A
COOU ONDERSTANDING WITH SPAIN.— THE DUCHY OF PARMA BECOMES VACANT, AND THE COURT OF MADRID
WISHES TO ADD THAT DUCUY TO THE KINGDOM OF ETRURIA. — THE NECESSITY OF ADJOURNING ANY RESOLU-
TIOS UPON THE SUBJECT. — DEFINITIVE UNION OF PIEDMONT WITH FRANCE. — ACTUAL POLICY OF THE FIRST
CONSUL I.S REGARD TO ITALY.— GOOD UNDERSTANDING WITH THE HOLY SEE.— MOMENTARY DISPUTE ABOUT
THE PROMOTION OF FRENCH CARDINALS — THE FIRST CONSUL OBTAINS THE GRANT OF FIVE AT ONCE. — HE
-MAKES A PRESENT TO THE POPE OP TWO BRIGS OF WAR, CALLED THE " ST. PETER " AND "ST. PAUL." —
aUARREL WITH THE DEY OP ALGIERS PRO.MPTLY TERMINATED. — TROUBLES IN SWITZERLAND. — DESCRIPTION OF
THE COUNTRY AND ITS CONSTITUTION.— THE UNITED AND THE OLIGARCHICAL PARTIES. — JOURNEY TO PARIS OP
THE LANDAMMAN REDING. — HIS PROMISES TO THE FIRST CONSUL SOON BELIED BY EVENTS. — EXPULSION OP
THE LANDAMMAN REDING, AND RETURN OF THE MODERATE PARTY TO POWER.— ESTABLISHMENT Op THE CON-
STITUTION OF THE 2UTH OF MAY, ASD DANGER OF NEW TROUBLES, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE FEEBLENESS OP
THE HELVETIC GOVERNMENT.— EFFORTS OF THE OLIGARCHICAL PARTY TO DRAW THE ATTENTION OF THE
GREAT POWERS TOWARDS SWITZERLAND. — THEIR ATTENTION DRAWN E.XCLUSIVELY TO THE AFFAIRS OF GER-
MANY—STATE OF GERMANY AFTER THE TREATV OF LUNEVILLE. — PRINCIPLE OF THE SECULARIZATIONS LAID
DOWN BY THAT TREATY.— THE SUPPRESSION OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL STATES BRINGS WITH IT GREAT CHANGES
IS THE GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. — DESCRIPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION.— THE PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC
PARTIES; PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA; THEIR VARIOUS PRETENSIONS. — EXTENT AND VALUE OF THE TERRITORIES
TO PE DISTRIBUTED.— AUSTRIA ENDEAVOURS TO OBTAIN INDEMNIFICATION FOR THE DOMAINS OF WHICH THE
ARCHDUKES HAD BEEN DESPOILED IN ITALY, AND MAKES USE OF IT TO DISPOSSESS BAVARIA OF THE TERRI-
TORY FROM THE INN TO THE ISAR. — PRUSSIA, UNDER THE PRETEXT OP INDEMNIFYING HERSELF FOR WHAT
SHE HAS LOST UPON THE RHINE, AND TO INDEMNIFY THE HOUSE OP ORANGE FOR ITS LOSSES, IS IN HOPES TO
CREATE FOB ITSELF A CONSIDERABLE ESTABLISHMENT IN FRANCONIA. — DESPAIR OF THE SMALLER COURTS,
THREATENED BY THE AMBITION OP THE GREATER ONES. — ALL IN GERMANY FIX THEIR REGARD UPON THE
FIRST CONSUL.- HE DETERMINES TO INTERFERE, IN ORDER TO SEE THE PROPER EXECUTION OP THE TREATV
OP LUNEVILLE, AND TERMINATE A BUSINESS WHICH MIGHT IN A MOMENT EMBROIL ALL EUROPE. — HE
(HOOSES TO ALLY HIMSELF WITH PRUSSIA, AND SUPPORT TO A CERTAIN EXTENT THE PRETENSIONS OP THAT
POWER— THE SCHEME OF INDEMNITY AGREED UPON, IN CONCERT WITH PRUSSIA AND THE LESSER GERMAN
PRINCES. — THIS SCHEME COMMUNICATED TO RUSSIA. — AN OFFER MADE TO THIS COURT TO CONCUR WITH
PRANCE IN THE GREAT MEDIATORY INTERFERENCE.— THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER ACCEPTS THE OFFER. —
FRANCE AND RUSSIA PRESENT TO THE DIET AT RATI8BON, IN QUALITY OP MEDIATING POWERS, THE SCHEME
OP INDKMNITV AGREED UPON AT PA RIS.— DESPAI R OF AUSTRIA, ABANDONED BY ALL THE OTHER CABINETS,
AND HER RESOLUTION TO OPPOSE TO THE SCHEME OF THE FIRST CONSUL, THE HLUGGISHN ESS OF THE GER-
MANIC CONSTITUTION.— THE FIRST CONSUL DEFEATS 1HI8 CALCULATION OP AUSTRIA, AND OBTAINS THE ADOP-
TION, BY AN EXTRAORDINARY DEPUTATION, OF THE PROPOSED PLAN, WITH SOME MODI FICATIONS.— AUS-
TRIA, TO INTIMIDATE THE PRUSSIAN PARTY, THAT FRANCE SUPPORTS, OCCUPIES PA8SAU.— PROMPT RESOLU-
TION OP THE FIRST CONSUL, AND HIS THREAT TO HAVE RECOURSE TO ARMS.— GENEl
TINUATION OP THE N EGDTI ATION. — DEBATES IN THE DIET.— THE SCHEME SHACKLED

•IMIDATION. — CON-
MOMENT BY TUB

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. the consulate for life.

1802.
Aug.

AVIDITY OF PRUSSIA. — THE FIRST CONSUL, TO PUT AN END TO IT, MAKES A CONCESSION TO THE HOUSE OF
AUSTRIA, AND GRANTS TO IT THE BISHOPRIC OF AlCHSTEDT. — THE COURT OF VIENNA YIELDS, AND ADOPTS
THE TERMS OP THE DIET.— THE REGISTRY OF THE RESOLUTIONS OF FEBRUARY, 1803, AND DEFINITIVE REGU-
LATION OF THE AFFAIRS OF GERMANY. — CHARACTER OF THIS FINE AND DIFFICULT NEGOTIATION.

The elevation of general Bonaparte to the supreme
power, under the title of " consul for life," neither
surprised nor tli-spleased the European cabinets.
The larger part among them, on the contrary, saw
in it a new pledge of repose for every state. In
England, where they observed with suspicious
attention every thing that passed in France, the
premier Addington expressed himself to M. Otto
the satisfaction of the British government, and the
entire approbation with which it saw an event
destined to consolidate order and government in
that country. Although the ambition of Bonaparte
began to inspire some fears, he was still so far
pardoned, because at that moment he was employed
in rendering dominant the French republic. The
re-establishment of the altars, and the recall of the
emigrants, had delighted the English aristocracy
and the pious George III. in particular. In Prus-
sia the evidences of the same thing had not been
less significant. This court, compromised in the
esteem of the European diplomacy for having con-
cluded a peace with the national convention, felt
itself proud to maintain relations of amity with
a government so full of genius, and esteemed itself
happy to see the affairs of France definitively
placed in the hands of a man of whom it hoped to
obtain the concurrence in its own ambitious objects
regarding Germany. M. Haugwitz addressed the
warmest congratulations to the French ambassa-
dor, and he went so far as to say, that it would
have been more simple to have finished at once,
and to have converted into an hereditary sove«
reignty that life dictatorship which had been con-
feri-ed upon the first consul.

The emperor Alexander, who affected to appear
a stranger to the prejudices of the Russian aris-
tocracy, and who carried on with the head of the
French government a frequent and amicable cor-
I'espondence, expressed himself, as far as regarded
the later changes, in terms of courtesy and appro-
bation. He complimented the new consul for life
with as nmeh earnestness as frankness. The
ground of these congratulations was always the
same. They were as full of praises in Petersburg
as in Berlin or London, at seeing order secured in
France in a manner that promised to be durable
through the indefinite prolongation of the authority
of the first consul. At Vienna, where they were
fuller of resentful recollections, besides those arising
from the blow struck by the sword of the con-
queror of Marengo, a sort of good feeling seemed
to be generated towards him. The hatred to the
revolution had been so great in that capital of the
old Germanic empire, that the victories of the
general were pai'doned to the energetic and obeyed
chief magistate. They even affected to consider
his government as altogether oi)po.sed to the revo-
lution, when in reality it was no more than repara-
tion. The ai'chduke Charles, who then governed
the war department, said to M. Cliampagny, that
the first consul had made himself, by his cam-
paigns, the greatest soldier of modern times ; that
by his administration of the government for three
years, he had shown liimself the most able of

statesmen ; and that in thus joining the merit
of good government to that of arms, he had put tlie
seal to his glory. That which seemed more re-
mai'kable still was, that the celebrated queen of
Naples, Caroline, mother of the empress of Austria,
a determined enemy of the French revolution,
being in Vienna, and seeing there M. Champagny,
charged him with her hearty congratulations for
the chief of the French republic. " General Bona-
parte," she said, " is a great man. He has done
me much mischief, but the mischief he has done
do' s not pi-event my acknowledgment of his ability
and genius. In repressing disorder in your coun-
try, he has rendered a service to us all. If he has
arrived to be the head of the state in his own
country, it is because he was most worthy of the
honour. I constantly hold him up as the model
for the young princes of the imperial family ; I
exhort them to study the conduct of thatextraordi-
nai-y personage; to learn from him how to govern
nations — how, by the power of genius and glox-y, to
render "supportable the yoke of authority."

No suffrage in his favour could certainly be so
flattering to the first consul as that of this queen, a
vanquished enemy, as remarkable for her talent as
for the warmth of her passions. The holy fathei-,
who had joined in common with the first consul in
putting a hand to the great work of re-establishing
public worship, and who, despite many things to
produce a contrary idea, deemed this the glory of
his reign— the holy father himself was delighted to
see mount, step by step, towards the throne, the
man whom he regarded as the most solid support
of religion against the irreligious prejudices of the
age. He expi-essed his satisfaction with a feeling
of true paternal affection. Finally, Spain, where
the frivolous and disjointed policy of the favoui-ite
liad for a moment estranged Fi-ance, did not
remain silent upon this occasion, and showed itself
satisfied at an event which she agreed with the
other courts in regarding as fortunate for all
Europe.

It was, therefore, in the midst of the applauses
bestowed upon him by all the world, that this
repairer of so many evils, this author of so much
good, laid hold of the new power with which the
nation was about to invest him. He was treated
as the real sovereign of Fi-ance. The foreign
ministers spoke of him to those of France witli
such forms of respect as are only employed when
speaking of monarchs themselves. The etiquette
already observed was nearly monarchical. The
French ambassadors had taken the livery of the
first consul, which was green. This was found a
simple, natural, and necessary thing. The unani-
mous adhesion to an elevation so sudden and pro-
digious, was sincere. Some secret apprehensions
mingled here it is true ; but they were in any case
prudently dissimulated. It was possible, in fact,
to discover in the elevation of the first consul his
ambition, and in his ambition the approaching
humiliation of Eurojje ; but tiiey were only those
minds which were most gifted with foresight that
were able to penetrate thus deeply into the futui'e;

1802. Discontent of the English

Aug. mtrciiants.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

Addinj^ton presses a commercial
treaty.

but these were the minds that felt most strongly
the imnien.sity of the benefit already received from
the consular' government. Still congratulations
are but passing things ; real business, as in the
case of individuals, conies back to load the exist-
ence of govornmenls, with its uniform and heavy
preponderance.

In England they began to be sensible of the
real ett'ects of peace. These effects, as almost
always happens in the world, did not answer to
the expectiitions formed of its benefits. Three
hundred British vessels arrived at once in the
French ports, but were not able to dispose of their
entire cargoes, because they brought over mer-
chandize prohibited by the laws of the revolution.
The old treaty of ]TS(i, having opened impru-
dently the French markets to the productions of
Great Britain, those of France, more particularly
the cotton manufacture, had iu a little time been
destroyed. Since the renewal of the war, the pro-
hibitory measures adopted by the revolutionary
government hail operated as a principle of new
life to the manufactures of the country, that iu the
midst of the most fearful political convulsions had
renewed their flight, and soared to a remarkable
elevation. The first consul, as already noticed
here, at the moment of the signature of the pre-
liminary treaty in London, had taken care nut to
alter this state of things, nor to renew the evils
which had resulted from the treaty of 1786. Im-
portations friini England were in consequence ren-
dered very difficult of entry, and the merchants of
the city of London made heavy complaints. Still a
contraband trade remained, which was carried on
to a great extent, either by the frontiers of Bel-
gium, which were ill guarded, or by way of Ham-
burg. The merchants of this last place, while
introducing English merchandize on the continent,
and disguising its origin, managed as well to pene-
trate into France, as into the countries placed
under its power. Despite the legal prohibitions,
which attended the import of British goods into
French ports, the contraband trade was able to
discover inlets for itself. The manufactures of
Manchester and Birmingham were disposed of
with great activity.

This activity, tlie low price of bread, and the
announced suppression of the income-tax, were
subjecti of satisfaction, which, to a certain point,
balanced the discontent of the larger merchants.
But this discontent was considerable, because the
larger merchants profited little by speculations
founded upon contraband trade. They found the
.sea covered with the flags of rivals or enemies ;
they were deprived of the monopoly of navigation,
which secured trade during the war, and had
now no longer an indemnity for them.selvcs in the
financial operations of Mr. I'itt. Thus they com-
plained loudly enough of the illusions of the policy
that Bupporte<l peace, its inconveniences for Eng-
land, and its exclusive aflvaiitages for France. Tlie
disanning of the fleets left idle an immense! number
of seamen, to whom the commercial marine of
England couhl not, at that nioment, give employ-
ment; these unfortunate men were seen wandering
about on the wliarls of tin- Thames, sometimes
even reduced to great misi ly ; a Hpectncle as
afflicting to the Euglihli as it would be for the
French to sec the victors of Mai-engo and Ho-

henlinden begging their bread in the streets of
Paris.

Addington, always actuated by amicable feelings,
had made the first consul sensible of the necessity
of making some commercial arrangements which
should be satisfactory to the two countries, and
had pointed it out as the means most capable of
consolidating the peace. The first consul partook
iu the disposition of Addington ; he had consented
to nominate an agent for the purpose, and to send
him to London, in order to seek, in concert with
the English ministers, what would be the best
manner to adjust the interests of both nations, with-
out sacrificing French industry.

But this was a problem difficult to solve. The
impression upon the public mind in London was
such regarding every thing which concerned the
commercial arrangements, that the arrival of the
French agent made a great noise. He was called
Coquebert ; they called him Colbert ; they said
he was a descendant of the great Colbert, and
nmch commended the suitableness of such a choice
for the conclusion of a treaty of commerce.

Despite the capacity and good will of this agent,
a hap|)y result from liis labours was hardly to be
hoped. Both on one side and the other, the sacri-
fices to be made were considerable, and nearly
destitute of compensation. The manufactures of
iron and cotton constitute, at this day, the better
portion of the riches arising from the industry
both of France and England, and are the principal
objects of commercial rivalry. The French have
succeeded in forging iron, in spinnmg and weaving
cotton, in an immense quantity, and at a very low
price, and are naturally little disposed to sacrifice
these two branches of manufacture. The manu-
facture of iron was, at that time, not very con-
siderable. It was, above all, in the weaving of
cotton and in hardware that the two nations sought
to rival each other. The English demanded that
France should open her markets to their cotton
and iron goods. The first consul, sensitive to the
alarm of the French manufacturers, and impatient
to develop in France manufacturing wealth, refused
every concession which was contrary to these pa-
triotic intentions. The English, on their side, were
then no more inclined than they are now, to favour
the special products of France '. The wines and
silks of France were the articles which Fr&nce
wished to introduce into England. They refused
to admit them for two reasons : the treaty binding
England to give a preference to Portuguese wines,
and the desire to promote the silk manufacture
in England, which had begun to develop itself
there. Whilst the interdiction of the connnuni-
cations between the two countries liad made the
cotton manufacture valued in France, the English,
in like manner, had set a value upon the manufac-
ture of silk. It is true, that the development of
the manufacture of cotton in France had become
immense, because nothing hindered its complete
success; while that of silk in England, on the con-
trary, found only a middling success, in consc-

' Tliis is hardly correct. French wine now pay* no more
duty than that of other coiintricB. Then it paid a higher
duty than I'orluKUcbc, nndcr a treaty cxhibiliiiR a deplor-
ahlc ignorance of the first principles of commerce, happily
now au more. — Tramtalor.

380

Scheme for a commercial

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Scheme for ;
treaty.

commercial 1802.
Aug.

quence of the climate, and because of a certain
inferiority of taste. Yet, still, the English would
not Siicrifice to France either the Methuen treaty,
which bound them to Portugal, nor their be-
ginning silk nianufactui-e, of which they had con-
ceived sucli exaggerated lio|)es.

To adjust such clashing interests was well-nigh
impossible. It had been proposed to establish, upon
the entry into both countries, on the merchandize
imported into either the one or the other, duties
equal to the benefits which the conti'ab;indist i-e-
ceived, in such a mode as to render free and pro-
fitable to the treasury of the public a commerce
very beneficial to the smuggler. This iimposiiion
alarmed the French and English manufacturers.
Besides tliis, the first consul, convinced of the ne-
cessity of gre;it means to i)i-oduce great results,
considering at this time the interests of the cntton
manufacturers to be the principal, the most de-
sirable of all, determined to insure to it the vast
encouragement of an absolute prohibition of the
rival manufacture.

To escape all these difficulties, tlte French agent
conceived a system very seducing at first sight, but
nearly imjjracticable. lie ])roposed to suffer tlie
entrance into France of the productions of Eng-
land, whatever they might be, with moderate
duties, on the condition, that the ships whicli in-
troduced them should immediately export an equi-
valent value in Frencli productions '. It was to be
the same for the vessels of France ju-oceeding to
England. This w^as, in a certain manner, to en-
courage the national industry in the same propor-
tion as that of the stranger. There was, iu this
combination, another advantage, it was to take
from the Englisli a means of influence, of which they
made a formidable usage in some cnuntiies, thanks
to their vast capital — a means of influence which
consisted in giving credit to the nations witli which
they traded, and thus rendering them creditors in
considerable sums, and in some sort make them-
selves masters of their commerce. This conduct
they had held in Russia and in Portugal. They
were become possessors of a part of tlie caj)ital
circulating in these states. In giving this credit,
they encouraged the consumption of their n)er-
chandize, and assm-ed themselves besides of the
supei-iority of him who lends over him who bor-
rows. The impossibility that the trade of Russia
should pass out of their hands, an impossibility so
great, that the emperors wei'e not free in tlie
choice of peace or war, nnle.ss they chose to die
under the i)oignard, sufficiently proves the danger
of this sui)eriority.

The Combination proposed, which tended to in-
close the commerce of England within certain
limits, presented, unfortunately, so many difficul-

' A remarkable example of the ignorance of true com-
mercial principles existing at that time is found liere. How
is all trade carried on but by the exchange of manufactures
in the same way, only the operation is less direct, and not
being perceptible, is on that account not credited? Wine
is even now Irequently exchanged for coals, directly con-
veyed from England to tlie souih of France, in the natural
course of trade, wliich is tlie same thing as if directly
brought about by a .similar treaty. They did not acknowledge
this in 1802; and many do not think now, on the continent,
that all trade is but this same exchange more indirectly
Translator.

ties in the execution, that it was not possible to
adopt it. But, in the meanwhile, it employed the
imaginations of the public, and left a certain hope
to spread itself abroad. This incompatibility of
commercial interests did not in itself suffice to
cause the renewal of the war between the two
countries, if their political views could be con-
ciliated, and above all, if Mr. Addington should
succeed in sustaining himself against tlie ministry
of Mr. Pitt.

Mr. Addington, regarding himself as the author
of the peace, well knew that it was his sole advan-
tage against Mr. Pitt, and he wi.>-hed to preserve
the advantage. In a long conversation with M.
Otto, he had spoken upon the subject in the most
sensible and amicable manner. A treaty of com-
merce, he said, would be the safest guarantee, and
the most lasting for the duration of the peace. In
the mean time, it must be understood, that some
management of the first consul, upon particular
heads, will be found necessary to keep up a good
disposition in the English public towards France.
You have, in reality, taken possession of Italy by
uniting Piedmont to France, and in conferring upon
the first consul the jiresideney of the Italian repub-
lic; your troops occupy Switzerland; and you re-
gulate the political affairs of Germany. Let us pass
over all these extensions of the power of France;
we leave to you the continent. But there are
countries about which, at certain times, the minds
of the English people are vei-y apt to get into an
excitement ; as Holland and Turkey. You are
masters of Holland; this is a natural consequence
of your position upon the Rhine. But do not add
any thing ostensible to the real dcmination which
you actually exercise in that country. If you
would wish, for exam]ile, to do as you have already
done in Italy, by seeking to manage for the first
consul to obtain the presidentship of that republic,
the commercial men of England will see in that
a manner of uniting Holland to France, and will
become at once in a state of great alarm. As to
Turkey, any new manifestation whatever of the
ideas that produced the expedition to Egypt will
cause iu England a sudden and a universal ex-
plosion. I pray you then, do not create for us
any difficulty of that nature; conclude an arrange-
ment upon the subject of our commercial affiiirs;
obtain the guarantee of the powers for the order of
Malta, so that we may be able to evacuate that
island, and you will see the ))eace consolidated,
and the last signs of animosity disappear ^.

These words of Mr. Addington's were sincere, and
he gave a proof of it in making use of the utmost
diligence to obtain from the different powers the
guarantee of the new order of things constituted at
Malta by the treaty of Amiens. Unfortunately
M. Talleyrand, by a negligence which he suffered
sometimes to prevail in the most important busi-
ness, had omitted to give to the French agents the
proper instructions relative to the subject, and he
left the English agents to solicit by themselves the
guarantee which was the previous condition of the
evacuation of Malta. Hence there resulted the
most vexatious slowness, and still later the most

• These words are an exact summary of several conversa-
tions given in the despatches of M. Olio.— Note of the
Author.

Aug! Conduct of Pitt and his party. THE SECULARIZATIONS. Conduct of the press in England. 381

disagreeable cniiseqiiences. Mr. Aildiiigton was
therefore in piod taitli in liis desire to inaintaiii
peace. Pri>vi(led lie was not overcome by tlie
ascendancy of Mr. Pitt, he was justified in ho])ing
for its preservation. But Mr. Piit out of the
cabinet was as powerful as ever. Wliile Dundas,
Wyndliani, and Grenville, had pubhcly attacked
the prehniinaries of London and the treaty of
Amiens, lie kept himself at a distance, leaving to
his friends the odium of these open provocations to
war, profiting by their violence, keeping an im-
posing silence, preserving uniformly tlie sympathies
of the old majority of which he had had the sup]>ort
during eighteen years, and abandoning it to Mr.
Addington when lie believed the moment came for
liis retirement. He did not allow himself to per-
form any act which could be construe<l into the
resemblance of an hostile bearing towards the
minister. He always called Mr. Addington his
friend, but he knew at tiic same time he liad oidy
to give the signal for the overthrow of parliament.
Tiie king hated him, and wished him to remain
out, but the commercial men of England were de-
voted to him, and had confidence in him alone.
His friends, less pru<lent than he, carried on an
undisguised war against Mr. Addington, and they
were believed to be the true organs of Pitt's I'eal
o|)inions. To this tory opposition there joined,
without any understanding with him, and even
while combating it, the old whig opposition of Fox
and Sheridan. These had constantly called for
peace, and s:nce he had procured it, had obeyed
the common inclinaiioii of the human heart, always
tending to love that least which it has in its pos-
session. They seemed to appreciate no longer this
peace, before so nuich cried up, and they suffered
the exaggerating friends of Mr. Pitt to talk as they
liked when they declaimed against France. Be-
sides, the French revolution, under the new ami
less liberal form which it had assum(d, appeared
to liave lost a part of the sympathy of the whigs.
Mr. Addingt<in bad therefore two species of adver-
saries, the tory opposition and friends of Mr. Pitt,
who had always com])lained of the peace and
assailed it, and the whig ofiposition, which had
begun to assail it but little less. H' the ministry
had been overturned, Pitt was the sole person who
could have become minister, and with him a re'nrn
to war would appear inevitable, an exasperated, cruel
war, without any other end than th • ruin of one of
the two nati<ins. By a misfortune, one of those
faults which the imiiatieiice of oppositions often
makes them commit, had jirocurcd for Mr. Pitt an
unheard-of triinn|)h. Although attacking alreatly
the minister Addingttm, in common, though not in
concert, with the ajigiavating friends of Pitt, the
whig opposition iiad f.»r the last an implacable
hatred. Sir Francis Burdett made a motion tend-
ing to provoke an iii(|ulry into the actual situation
in which Pitt had left tli'- coinitry at tlie end of his
long administration. The friends of the minister
rose with great warmtli, and for this proposition
substituted another, which coiiHistcd mainly of a
motion to demand from the king some mark of
national gratitude for the great HUitesman who had
saved iho English constitution and doubled its
power. These were for going at once to the vot(!.
The opposing parly then drew back, and demanded
an adjournment of some days. Pitt ajjrued to

grant the adjournment with a sort of disdain. The
motion was ultimately resumed, and Pitt thought
jiroper to be absent, and in his absence, after a
very warm discussion, ?in immense majority re-
jected the motion of Burdett, and substituted one
which contained the finest possible expression of
national acknowledgment for the ex-minister. In
the middle of the contest the minister Addington
disappeared. Pitt then became aggrandized by the
hatred of his enemies, and his return to the head
of affairs was at once a hazard for the repose of
the world. Still more was supposed than was real,
from the want of kimwledge of his designs, while
he never let fall a word from which it was possible
to infer that he intended peace or war.

The English news])apers, without returning to
their former violent language, were evidently more
cool towards the first consul, and began to declaim
anew against the amhition of France. They did
not, however, make any approach to the odious
violence to which they descended at a later period.
This character was left, it must be sixiken with
sorrow, to the French emigrants, whom the peace
had de]irived of all their hopes, and who sou;;ht
in outrages upon the first consul and their country,
to revive the discord between two nations, whom
it was but too easy to irritate against one another.
A pamphleteer, named Peltier, devoted to the
service of the Bourbon princes, wrote against the
first consul, against his wife, his sisters, and bro-
thers, the most abominable pamphlets, in which
he attributed to them all, every sort of vice. These
])ainphlets, received by the English with a disdain
which a free nation, accustomed to the freedom of
the press, condemned for its excesses, produced
an effect in Paris totally different. They filled
with bitter resentment the heart of the first consul;
and vulgar writers, the instruments of the basest
passions, had the power of reaching, amidst his
glory, the greatest of men; like those insects that,
by their nature, direct themselves to torment the
noblest animals in the creation. Happy is the
nation a long while accustomed to that freedom!
The vile agents of defamation are there dejirived
of the means of effecting mischief ; they are there
so known, so despised, that they have no more
the power to annoy gretit minds.

With these outrages were joined the intrigues
of the famous Georges, and those of the bishops of
Arras and of St. Pol de Leon, who were at the
head of the recusant bishops. The police had sur-
prised the emissaries of the party < arrying about
jiamphlets in La Vend<;t', and endeavouring to
arouse the hatred and animosity not yet quite
extinct. These causes, despicable as they were,
nevertheless produced a truly uneasy feeling, tind
finished by a demand on the part of the Fr(>hch
cabinet, very embarrassing for that of England.
The first consul, too sensitive to these attacks,
more Worthy of scorn than anger, rciimsted, in
virtue of the alien bill, the expulsion of Peltier,
Georges, and the bishops of Arras iind Si. Pol
from Englaml. Mr. Addington, place<l in tlio
midst of adversaries ready to reproach him with
iho smallest condescension towards I'ranco, <lid
not i)recis(tly refuse what was thus desired, and
was fully authorized by the English law; but he
eudeavoiin cl to temporize, and alleged tin; neces-
sity of managing public opinion, remarkably bus-

Affairs of Spain.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Inconsiderate conduct
of Spain.

1802.
Aug.

ceptible in England, and at the moment ready to
shift under the influence of pai'ty declamation.
The first consul, accustomed to despise parties,
but little comprehended such reasons, and com-
plained of the feebleness of Addington, the English
minister, in a way so haughty, as to be nearly
offensive. During all this time, the relations of
the two cabinets did not cease to be friendly. Both
did their utmost endeavour to prevent a renewal
of the war, scarcely just before terminated. Mr.
Addington attached to that his honour and his ex-
istence as a minister. The first consul saw in the
continuance of the peace, the ground of new glory
for himself, and the accomplishment of noble ideas
connected with the public prosperity.

Spain had begun to breathe after its long
misery. The galleons were, as formerly, the sole
resource of the government. Large quantities of
dollars, kept, during the warj in the captain gene-
ralship's treasuries in Peru and Mexico, had been
now brought into Europe. There had already
been near three hundred millions of francs re-
ceived. If any other government than that of an
incapable and careless favourite had l)een in charge
of her destiny, Spain had been able to redeem her
credit, to restore her naval power, and to place
herself in a state to appear in a manner worthy
of herself in the wars with which the world was
still threatened. But the metallic wealth of Ame-
rica, received and dispensed by the most unskilful
hands, was not employed for the noble purposes to
which it should have been directed. The smallest
part served to sustain the credit of the paper
money; the larger pax-t to pajt the expenses of the
court. Nothing, or nearly nothing, was devoted
to the arsenals of Ferrol, Cadiz, or Carthagena.
All that Spain knew how to do, was to complain of
the French alliance, to impute to it the loss of Trini-
dad, as if she had to impute to France the dis-
graceful part that the prince of the peace had
played her, whether in war or in negotiation. An
alliance is not profitable, unless it brings to an ally
a real strength, which the ally appreciates, and
which it is obliged to regai'd as of great conse-
quence. But Spain, when she made common cause
with France, drawn into a maritime war by the
clearest evidence of her own interests, did not
know how to support that cause in which she was
engaged; became almost an embarrassment rather
than a help to her ally, and so conducted herself
subsequently as to be always discontented with
herself and with others. It was thus that she
passed, by little and little, from a state of intimate
connexion to a state of hostility in regard to
France. The French division of the army sent
into Portugal, had been treated with indignity, as
has been shown, and it had required one of the
thundering menaces of the first consul to jiut a
stop to the consequences of this insensate conduct.
From that time the relations between the two
countries had become a little better. There liad
been between the two powers, besides general in-
terests, which for a century were common to both
countrie.s, certain interests of tiie moment, which
were strongly borne in the hearts of the king and
queen of Spain, and which were of a nature to
make them draw near to the first consul. These
were the interests arising out of the creation of the
kingdom of Etruria.

The court of Madrid complained of the tone of
superiority which the minister of France, general
Clarke, assumed at Florence. The first consul
had rectified this complaint, ordering general
Clarke to give fewer counsels and milder advice to
the young infants who had been called in to reign
there. In regard to the court of Spain, the first
consul had suffered the old grand duke of Parma,
the brother of queen Louisa, to die in full enjoy-
ment of the grand duchy. That prince being no
more, the grand duchy belonged to France, in
virtue of the treaty by whicli the kingdom of
Etruria was constituted. Chai'les IV. and the
queen, his wife, coveted Parma ardently for their
children, because by this addition Etruria would
become the second state in Italy. The first consul
did not absolutely oppose by a direct refusal the
wishes of the royal family of Spain, but he de-
manded time, not to give too much offence to the
greater courts bj' doing an all-powerful act. By
keeping this duchy in reserve, too, he left to
the cabinets, Avliicli protected the old rulers of
Piedmont, the hope of an indemnity for that un-
lucky dynasty ; he left the pope to see the hope of
an amelioration in his present condition, so painful
to him after the loss of the Legations; he left the
affairs of Italy, in fact, to their repose for a short
time, having been so much before the eyes of
Europe for many years ])ast. Although differing,
the new transactions on the subject of Parma had
soon brought the two cabinets of Paris and Madrid
back again towards one another. Charles IV. had
gone to Barcelona with his queen and court in
gi-eat pomp to celebrate a double marriage, that of
the presumptive heir of the crown of Spain, Fei'di-
nand VII., with a princess of Naples, and that of
the heir of the crown of Najjles with an infanta of
Spain. There was exhibited in the capital of
Catalonia upon this occasion the most extraordinary
luxury, much too costly for the existing state of
the Spanish finances. From this city the most
gracious professions of kindness were exchanged
with the consular government. Charles IV. was
impressed with the idea of announcing this double
marriage of his childi'en to the first consul as to a
sovereign friend. The first consul had answered
with the same earnestness, and in a tone of the
most frank cordiality. Always occupied with grave
interests, he had profited of that moment to ame-
liorate the commercial relations of the two coun-
tries. He had not been able to obtain the intro-
duction of the cotton goods of France, because the
government of Charles IV. wished to nurture the
incipient manufacturers of Catalonia, but he had
obtained the establishment of the old advantages
accorded in the peninsula to the larger part of the
productions of France. He was, above all, de-
sirous of succeeding in the introduction into France
of the fine races of Spanish sheep, an object in liis
sight of the greatest importance. Anterior to this,
the national convention had had the happy idea of
inserting in the treaty of Basle a secret article, by
which .Sjiain should be obliged to permit to pass
out of that country, for five years, a thousand ewes,
a hundred merino rams per aimum, with fifty
stallions, and a Imndred and fifty Andalusian
mares. In the midst of the troubles of that time,
neither sheep nor horses had been purchased for
that purpose. By an order of the first consul, the

1802.
Aug.

Negotiation with Algiers.
— Tlie dey of Algiers
makes his submission.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

State of Italy.— Union of
Piedmont to France.

•.i83

minister of the interior was ordered to send agents
into tlie peninsula, with the mission of purL-hasin<^
in one year that which it had been agreed to
execute in five. The goverament of Spain, always
jealous about the exclusive possession of these fine
animals, obstinately refused what liad been thus
required of it, and alleged as an excuse the great
mortality of several preceding yeare. There were
still seven millions of these merino sheep calculated
to be i-eraaining, and five or six thousand it could
not be difficult to find. After a considerable re-
sistance, the Spanish government gave way to the
wishes of the first con.sul, stipulating for some
delays in the acconiplishnient. The relations be-
tween the two courts had thus become all at once
amicable. General Beurnonville, recently ambas-
sador at Berlin, quitted that city in order to take
up his residence at Madrid. He was invited to
attend the festivities of the royal family given at
Barcelona.

The security of navigation in the Mediterranean
in a ])articular manner occupied at this time the
siilicitude of the first consul. The dcy of Algiers
had been so ill advised as to treat France as he
treated the Christian powei*s of the second order.
Two French vessels had been stoi)i)ed on their
voyage, and conducted to Algiers. A French
officer had been molested in the road of Tunis
by an Algcrine officer. The crew of a vessel,
wrecked on the coast of Africa, had been retained
prisoners by the Arabs. The fishery for coral was
interrupted, and, in fact, a Neapolitan vessel had
been captured by African corsairs, in the waters
of the Hyeres Isles. On being questioned upon
these diflerent occurrences, the Algerine govern-
ment dared to demand, in order to do France
common justice, the payment of the same tribute
a-s that exacted from Spain and the Italian powers.
The first consul, indignant, sent oft" instantly an
officer of his palace, the adjutant Hullin, with a
letter for the dey. In that letter he reminded him
that he had destroyed the empire of the Mame-
lukes, and announced to him that he would send a
s<juadron and an army ; he threatened him with
the conquest of all that part of the coast of Africa,
if the French and Italians were detained, and the
captured vessels were not immediately restored,
:ind if a promise were not made to respect in
future the flags of France and Italy. " God has
ilecided," he wrote, " that alHhosc who are unjust
tiiwards me shall he pimished. I will destroy
your city and your port ; I will invade your shores
myself, if you do not respect France, of which I
am chief, and Italy, where I command."

That which he thus said, the first consul had
thoughts of executing, because he had before made
the remark, that the north of Africa wiis a country of
great fertility, and was able to admit of cultivation
by the hands of Europeans, in place of serving for
the abode of a den of jjirates. Three vessels left
Toulon, two were in the road, and five were
ordered from the ocean up the Mediterranean.
But all the ])r(paratiiinH were useless. The dey
soon leaniing with what sort of power he was
dealing, threw himself at the ff-et of the conqueror
of Egypt, gave up all the ChriMtian captives whom
he haij deUiined, the Neapolitan and French ves-
sels which had been tjiken, pronouncerl Hcntcnco of
death against the agents of whom the French had

to complain, and only granted them their lives
u])on the demand made for mercy towards them
by the minister of France. He re-established the
coral fishery, and promised for the French and
Italian flags an equal and perfect respect.

Italy was quite tranquil. The new Italian re-
public had begun to be organized under the direc-
tion of the president which it had chosen, and who
by his powerful authority repressed the disorderly
movements to which a new republican state is
always exposed. The first consul had at last de-
cided the official union of the Isle of Elba and
l'iedm<int with France. The Isle of Elba was ex-
changed with the king of Etruria for the princi-
jiality of Piombino, that had been obtained of the
court of Naples, and had now been evacuated by
the English. It had also been declared a part of
the French territory. The union of Piedmont,
consummated in fact two yeais before, ^^as passed
over in silence during the negotiations of Amiens,
admitted by Russia herself, who was bound to de-
mand some kind of indemnity for the house of Sar-
dinia, it was suffered as an inevitable necessity by all
the great courts. Prussia and Austria were ready
to confirm it by their adhesion, provided tliev were
promised a good portion in the distribution of the
ecclcsiasticai states. This union of Piedmont,
officially announced by an organic senatus-consultum
of the 24th Fructidor, year x., or September 1 1,
1802, astonished nobody, and was scarcely noticed
as an event. Besides, the duchy of Parma was
left vacant, as a hope for all the interests that had
suffered in Italy. The fine country of Piedmont
was divided into six departments : the Po, the
Doire, Marengo, the Sesia, the Stura, and the
Tanaro. These sent six deputies to the legislative
body. Turin was declared one of the great cities
of the republic. This was the first step taken by
Napoleon beyond that limit which may be styled
the natural boundary of France, in other words,
beyond the Alps, the Rhine, and the Pyrenees.
In the eyes of the cabinets of Europe, an aggran-
dizement is never a fault, to judge at least by their
ordinary conduct. But there are still aggrandize-
ments which are real faults, and the sequel of the
present history will show this. They may be so
considered when they jiass the limits that are ea.sy
to be defended, and when they injure i-espectable
and resisting nationalities. But it must be ac-
knowledged, that of all the extraordinary acquisi-
tions made by France in a quarter of a century,
that of Piedmont was least to be censured. If
it had been i)ossibl,e to constitute Italy immediately,
that which it would have been wisest to do was to
unite it entirely in one national body ; but however
powerful the first consid was at that lime, he was
not then sufficiently master of Europe to jiermit
himself the creation of such a kingdom. He had
been obliged to leave a part of Italy to Austria,
which possessed the ancient Venetian states as far
as the Adige ; another jjart belonged to Spain,
which had required for its two infants the forma-
tion of the kingdom of Ktruria. He was bound to
support the papal existence for the interest of re-
ligion, and the Bourbons of Naples for the interest
of the general jieacc. To organize Italy definitively
and con)pletely, was therefore iinp(ih.sible at that
moment. All that the first consul was able to do,
was to nnmage thhigs there in a transitory way.

Relations of France with

384 the pop?. — Two ships

presented by Fiance

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

to his holiness. — The
pope makes five French

18U2.
Aug.

better than in tlie preceding times, and pi-oper to
prepare for its future state. In constituting in tlie
iieart of Italy a republic wliich occupied tlic midst
of the valley of the Po, he had there deposited the
germ of liberty and of independence. In taking
Piedmont, he hnd formed a solid basis for opera-
tions in combating the Austrians. He also gave
them rivals when he called in the Spaniards. In
leaving the pope and trying to attach him, and in
supporting the Bourbons of Najiles, he fell in with
the ancient jiolicy of Europe, yet without sacri-
ficing to it the policy of France. That which
he actually did was, in one word, a beginning,
which excluded nothing at a later period,, but
prejjared, on the contrary, for a better and a
definitive state.

The relations of the first consul with the court
of Rome became every day better afi'ected. The
first consul heard with great kindness the com-
plaints of the holy father upon the subjects which
grieved him. The sensibility of the venerable
pontiff was extreme in ail that affected the affairs
of the church. The loss of the Legations had
much reduced the finances of the holy see. The
abolition of a number of dues formerly levied in
France, ati abolition which threatened to extend
itself to Spain, bad yet more impoverished his
holiness. Pius VII. complained bitterly of this,
not for himself, because be led the life of an. an-
chorite, but lor his clergy, whom it was with diffi-
culty he could sup|)ort. Still, spiritual interests
were, in the eyes of this worthy i)(mtiff, much
above temporal ones, and he complained with
mildness, but with a feeling of deep chagrin, of the
famous organic articles. It will be recollected, that
the first consul, having entered upon the treaty with
Rome, qualified, iu the concordat, the general
comlitions of the re-establishment of the altars,
and had throv.-n into a law all which related to the
police of worship. He had drawn up this law ac-
cording to the maxims laid down in the old French
monarchy. The i)rohibitio.n to publish a bull or
writing without the permission of the j)ublic au-
thority ; the interdiction to every legate of the
holy see to exercise his functions without the pre-
vious acknowledgment of his powers by the French
government ; the jurisdiction of the council of
state in appeal for abuses of the laws ; the or-
ganization of seminaries under severe reguUitions;
the obligation to profess the declaration of 1682;
the introducti<m of tiivorce into the Fi'ench laws;
the prohibition to perform the religious rites before
the civil bond of marriage; the complete and de-
finitive altaihment of the registers to the civil
power and the municipal magistrates; were also
objects upon which tiie pope addressed remon-
strances, that the first con.sul heard without being
willing to admit their validity, considering those
subjects iis regulated wisely and decisively by the
organic articles. The ])ope perseveringly remon-
strated, without yet having the desire to push his
remonstrances lo a rupture. Lastly, the religious
affairs of tlie Italian republic, the secularizations
in Germany, in consecjuence of which the church
would lose a portion of the German territory, put
the finish to his tmubles; and without the plesisurc
which the re-establishment of the catholic religion
in France brought to him, his life would have
been no more, he said, than a long martyrdom.

His language in other respects, breathed the sin-
cerest regard for the first consul.

This last suffered the pope to go on with his
complaints, showing an extreme patience under
them, foreign to his character.

As to the loss of the Legations and the impo-
verishment of the holy see, he thought of it fre-
quently, and nurtured a vague idea of increasing
the domains of St. Peter ; but he did not know
how to obtain them, placed as he was between tlie
Italian republic, which, far from being disposed
to part with the Legations, demanded, on the con-
trary, the duchy of Parma; between Spain, that
coveted the same duchy, and between the high
protectors of the court of Sardinia, who wished
to make it an indemnity to that house. Thus he
had offered money to the ])ope, until he could
ameliorate his position by extending his territories,
— an offer which the jjope would have accepted if the
dignity of the church had permitted him so to do.
In default of this kind of aid, the first consul took
good care to pay fur the support of the French
troops during their jiassage across the Roman
states. He ordered Ancona to be evacuated at
the same time as Otranto, and all the south of
Italy; he had forced the Neapolitan government
to evacuate Ponte-Corvo and Benavente. Lastly,
in the affiiii-s of Germany he showed himself dis-
posed to defend, to a certain extent, the ecclesias-
tical party, which the protestant party, or, iu other
words, Prussia, wished to weaken, even to de-
struction.

To the foregoing efforts for the satisfaction of
the holy see, he joined actions of the most conde-
scending courtesy. He bad made' the dey free all the
subjects of the pope detained at Algiers, and had
sent them to the holy father. As that sovereign
prince did not possess a single ship to keep bis
coast clear of the African pirates, the first c-on.«!!l
had taken from the Toulon arsenal two fine brigs,
had them completely fitteil out, armed, handsomely
decorated, named them the St. Peter and St. Paul,
and sent them as a present to Pius VII. As a
Scrupulous mark of attention, a corvette followed
these vessels to Civiia Veccliia, to bring back the
crews to Toulon, and spare the pontifical treasury
the smallest kind of expense. The venerable pon-
tiff wished to receive the French .seamen at Rome,
to show them the pomp of the catholic worship iu
the great church of -St. Petex", and to send them
back loaded with the modest presents which the
state of his fortune ))ermitted him to make them.

A wish of the first consul, prompt and strong as
were all those which he conceived, tended to raise
up a difficulty with the holy see, happily transient,
and soon passed away. He desired tliat the new
church of France should possess cardinals, as the
old church had done iu past times. France had
formerly reckoned as many as eight, nine, and
even ten. The first c<insul wished to have at iiis
disposition as many hats as then, or even more, if
it were ]>o.-^sible to obtain them, because he saw
through this means a valuable mode of influencing
the Fr«iich clergy, greedy of high dignities, and
further, a means of influence, still more desii-able,
in the .sacred college which elects the popes, and
regulates the great affairs of the church. In 17^!),
France counted five cardinals, de Bernis, la Roche-
foucauld, de Lom^uie, Ruhan, and Montmorency.

1802. The pope makes five Trench
A\ig. cardinals.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

The three fii-st of these were deail. M. de Rohan
had ceased to be a Frenchman, as his archbishopric-
had become a German one. Jl. de Montmorency
was one of those who had resisted the holy sec,
when the resignations were demanded. Cardinal
Manry, nominated since 1/^9, was an emigrant,
and then considered as an enemy. Belgium and
Savoy comprehended two others," cardinal Frank-
enborg, formerly archbishop of Malines, and the
learned Gerdil. The former ai-chbishop of Ma-
lines was separated from his see, and thought no
more of repairing to it again. Cardinal Gerdil
had always resided at Rome, plunged deeply in
theological studies, and not attached to any country.
Neither the one nor tlie other could he considered
French. The first consul wished that seven car-
dinals should be immediately granted to France.
This was many more than it was possible for the
pope to giant at the moment. He had, it is true,
several vacant hats, but the promotion of the
crowns approached, and he had to provide for
that.

The promotion of the crowns was a custom,
become nearly a law, in virtue of which the pope
authorized six Catholic powers to designate to him
a subject each, whom he might gratify with a hat
upon their presentation. These powers were
Austria, Poland, Venice, France, Spain, and Por-
tugal. Two of these no longer existed, namely,
Venice and Poland. Cut there still remained four,
comprising France, and he had not hats enough
vacant to till up these, and to meet the demands of
the first consul. The pope made this a valid rea-
son for resisting what was thus i-equired of him.
Tlio first consul, imagining that he had, beside the
difiiculty iirising from the number vacant, \Yhich
was real, the fear of cxhiljiting too much conde-
scension towards France, carried himself warmly,
and declared that if ho rel'used him the hats which
lie required, he should pa!<s over France in the
promotion of the crowns, because he would not
liave one only ; it was not to be stiffered that
the French church, if it had cardinals at all,
should have less than other Christian churches.
The pojie, who did not like to make the first consul
discontented, agreed, and consented to grant him
five cardinals. But as there were hats wanting
to suffice for this extraordinary promotion and
that of the crowns at tlu; same time, the popo
begged of the courts of .Vustria, Spain, and Por-
tugal, to consent to the adjournment of their just
pretensions, which they all three agreed to do with
nmch good feeling ami grace. They were pleased
thus to satisfy K])ontaneousiy tho.sc desires which
they would soon have been obliged to execute by
command.

The first consul consented to give the hat to ]\I.
do Bayanne, for a long time auditor of the rota for
I'rance and dean of that tribunal. He proposed
afterwards to the pope, M.de Belloy, archbishop of
Paris ; the abbe Fescli, arclibishop of Lyons, and
his imele ; M. Cambac^res, archbishop of Rouen,
brother of the second consul ; finally, M. do Uois-
gelin, archbishop of Tour.s. To these five he
would have joined a sixth, in the abbd Bernier,
aicnoisho]) of Orleans and pacificator of La Vinder,
the principal negotiator of the concordat. But the
Wca of including in a promotion so prominent and
signal a nan who had been bo much noted in the

civil war, much embarrassed the first consul. He
opened his mind upon the subject to the pope, and
begged him to decide, immediately, that the firet
vacant hat should be given to the' abb(J Bernier,
but to keep this i-esolution in petto, as they f-ay
at the court of Rome, and to write to the abb(5
Bernier the reason of the adjournment. This was
done, and it was this which became a matter of
much mortification to that prelate, so far very little
recompensed, considering the services he had ren-
dered; he knew the goo(l-will of the first consul to-
wai'ds him, but he suffered cruelly from the dis-
tress he felt to avow it ])ublicly : — the just punish-
ment for a civil war, fallen in other i-espects, upon
a man who by his services de.sei-vcd more than any
other the indulgence of the government and of the
country.

The pope sent to France the jirince Doria, as
the bearer of the cap to the cardinals nc^wly elected.
Frfim that moment the French church, clothed
with so large a |)art of the Roman purple, became
one of the most favoured and most glorious of
Christian churches.

There still remained the task of organizing the
Italian church, and of placing it in perfect union
with the holy see. The first consul made a de-
mand of the pope for a concordat in the Italian
republic; but upon this occasion the pope was not
to lie ovei'come, and maintained an inflexible re-
sistance to the request. The Italian republic com-
prehended the Legations, and having once been
the property of the holy see, to concede such a
point would have been, according to his holiness,
to acknowledge tlie abandonment of those pro-
vinces, because it would be entering into, a treaty
with the parties who had taken them away. It
was arranged, finally, to settle the business by
means of a succession of bi-iefs, addressed to the
regulation of each separate case in a special
manner. Lastly, pope Pius VII. entered entirely
into the views of the first consul in regard to the
definitive constitution of the order of l\lalta. The
l)riors or hVads of the order were assembled in the
differ(;nt parts of Europe, that they might pro-
vide for the electiim of tlie new grand master, and
ill order to facilitate the election, they agreed this
time to remit to the pope the power of choosing
their head. On the advice of the first consul, who
wished to organize the order as soon as possible,
that the island of Malta might be placed under the
grand master's authority, the jiojie cliose an Italian,
the bailiff Ruspoli, a Roman jirince of a high and
ancient family. The first consul preferred that a
Roman should fill the office rather than a German
or Neapolitan. The per.son thus cho.scn was, be-
sides, a discreet and enlightened individual, well
worthy of the honour wWch was adjudged to him.
The only fear was, that his acceptance of the ofiico
did not appear a jirobablo event. The greatest
haste was made to ascertain this by writing to
Hu^land, where he lived in rctiicineiit.

Th(! l"rcnch troojis had evacuated Ancona and
the gulf of Tarentuin. They had entered within
the limits of the Italian republic, which they were
to occupy until that re|iiiblie lia.l formed its army.
Th(! execution of th<- roads acro.sH the Alp.s, and of
the fortificatioiiH of AN'xandria, Mantua. Legnngo,
Verona, and Peschiera, was in full activity, .'^ix
thousand men wert! kept in Etruria, awaiting (he
Co

^ „ Chanpe in the Swi
uoG cantons.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. state of Switzerland.

1S02.
Aug.

arrival of a Spnnish corps. All tlie conditions of
the treaty of Amiens relative to Italy had, there-
fore, been executed on the part of Friuiee.

While the public mind in the greater part of the
states of Europe began to be calmed down under
the beneficent iiifluenee of the peace, in Switzer-
land traii(|uillity was far from being established.
The iuhabitants of the n)ountain country were
the last to be in a state of disturbance, and were
now in violent agitation. It might be said that
discord, driven from France and Italy by Bona-
parte, bad taken refuge in the inaccessible fast-
nesses of the Alps. Under the names of "Uni-
tarians" anil " Oligarchs," two parties had come to
blows, the party of the revolution and that of the
old order of things. These two parties balanced
pretty evenly in regard to strength, did not rest
in equililiriiun, but were in a continuous and uii-
liappy state of oscillation. During eighteen months
they "were, by turns, in possession of the chief
power, and exercised it without wisdom, justice,
or humanity. It will be pro])er to state, in a few
words, the origin of these parties, and their con-
duct from the commencement of the Helvetic
revolution.

Switzerland was composed, prior to the year
17}!9, of thirteen cantons. Six of these were de-
mocratic, Schwitz, Uri, Unterwalden, Zng, Claris,
and Appeiizel ; seven oligarchic, Berne, Soleure,
Zurich, Lucerue, Friburg, Bale, and Schaffhausen.
The canton of Neul'cbatel was a principality, de-
pendent upon Prussia. The Orisons, tlie Vaiais,
and Geneva, foi-med three separate republics, allied
to Switzerland, but living each under its own par-
ticular and independ nt government. The first of
these, that of the Orisons, by its geograi)liical
l»osition, was drawn into an attachment for Austria;
the two others, the Vaiais and Oeneva, for the
same reason, were attached to France.

The French republic brought .ibout a change in
this state of things. To indemnify itself for the
war, it seized U|)on the county of Bieinie, and the
ancient principality of Porentruy,and made of them
the dei)artment of Mont Terrible, adding a por-
tion of the former bishopric of Biile. It also took
Geneva, of which it formed the department of the
Leman. It iudenmified the Swiss by adding to
their territory those of the Orisons and Vaiais.
At the same time it reserved, in the Vaiais, the
right to a military road, which should pass from
the exti-cmity of the lake of Geneva towards Vilie-
neuve, ascend the valley of the Rhone, by Mar-
tigny and Sion, as far as Brigg, from which point
the celebrated road of the Siniplon commenced and
opened upon the Lago Maggiore. After these terri-
torial changes, which were the act of the French
republic, followed those which were the natural
consequence of their ideas of justice and e(|uality,
which the i-evolutionary party wished to see pre-
vail in Switzerland, in imitation of what had been
accomplished in France in tiie year 178!).

The revolutionary ])arty in Switzerland was com-
posed of all the men who were opjjosed to the
oligarchical regimen, and these aboimded as nu-
merously in the democratical as in the aristo-
cratical cantons, because they suffered as much
in the one as in the other. Thus in the small
cantons of Uri, Unterwalden, and Schwitz, where
the whole of the people assembled once a year,

chose their magistrates, and verified their ailmi-
nistration in a few hours, this universal suffrage,
destined to flatter for a moment the ignorant and
corrupt multitude, was nothing more than a de-
lusion. A small number of powerful families,
become masters of every thing through time and
corruption, arbitrarily disposed of every emjiloy-
ment, and governed all public affairs. In Schwitz,
for examjjlo, the family of Reding, at its own
pleasure, distributed the commissions of rank in a
Swiss regiment in the service of S|)ain'. These
were the great objects of solicitude in the canton,
because they were the sole objects of ambition
among all those wlio did not desire to remain
herdsmen or peasants. The small cantons had,
besides, a dependence, in the way of the Italian
bailwicks, and they were governed in the most
arbitrary manner like the subject countries. These
democracies, therefore, were not, as other pure
democracies had come to be in the progress of
time, oligarchies disguised under popular forms:
and this it is which explains how it happened tliat
even in the democratic cantons, the popular mind
was deeply averse to the former state of things.
Provinces thus subjected in the mode of Italian
bailwicks, were found belonging to more than one
canton. Thus Berne harshly governed the Pays
de Vaud and Argovia. Finaliv. in the aristo-
cratical cantons, the inferior citizens were ex-
cluded from all employments. Thus as soon as
the signal was given for the entry of the French
army into Switzerland in 1798, the insurrection
of tlie people was prompt and universal. In tlie
cantons that were subject provinces, the bailwicks
opj)ressed rose against the chief places that op-
pressed them ; while in the heart of the chief
governing cities, the middle class rose against tl.e
oligarchy. Of thirteen cantons they desired to
form nineteen, all equal, all uniformly administered,
and ])laced under a central single authority, re-
sembling the unity of the French government.
They were governed in this by the necessity they
felt for the even distribution of justice, and above
all, by the ambition to leave that state of nullity
peculiar to federal governments. The hope to
figure a little more actively on the world's stage,
was at that time very strongly felt in the hearts
of the Swiss, proud of their former fame as a
valorous people, and of the high character which
they had once sustained in J^urope, wearied, too,
of that perpetual neutrality which had compelled
them to sell their blood to foreign nations.

In this application to Switzerland of the ideas
of the French revolution, arising as much from the
necessity as from the spirit of imitation, they
broke up some cantons in order to make others,

' Tlicro were four Swiss regiments in the Spanish service.
The entire caiitcn of Schwitz contained but tliiriy six tliiiu-
sand souls, of which not a fourth pait were males in pos>cs-
sion of politlral rights. The larf?er part were ii.tiinent
peasantry. That two or three families, 1)} the influence of
property and poimlarity, .should possess considerable weight,
is not wonderful, witliout attnliuting corruption to tliis gal-
lant people. Another of tlie family in Spain, in 1808, de-
feated Dnpnnt, the French general, at Biiylen, and captured
his entire army. The Redings have ever been disiingnishid
for their patriotic conduct. The head of the family, Alojs
Reding, who died in I.'itS, was always o|)po.sed to Bonaparte.
— Tia7isl(itor.

State of Switzerland.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

Reasons for non-interference

by Fraiire.— Advice given 387

by tlie first consul.

as they liad joined several separate districts to |
make a single canton. They divided tlie territory
of IJerne, wliicli, with Argovia and tlie Pays do
Vaud, formed a fourth of Switzerland, and made ,
of Argovia and the Pays de Vaml two separate j
cantons. Uri was detached from tlie Italian bail-
wicks, to create with these tlie canton of Tessin.
Tiie lanton of Appeiizel was increased, liy joining
to it St. Gail, the Tokenburg, and the Rheinthal;
to the canton of Claris the bailwicks <>f Sargans,
Werdcnberg, Ga.ster, Uznach, and Riipei-schwill,
were ad<led. These additions granted to the can-
tons of Appenzel and Claris had for their object
to destroy for ever the ancient democratic system
of rule, and to make tin m of such an extent as
sliniild render a return to such a system impos-
sible. These nineteen cantons were constituted
dependent upon a legislative body, which gave
tlieni uniform laws, and an executive power that
executed those laws for all and in all the cantons.
They had a ministry, too, in Switzerland, with ])re-
fects and sub-|>refects.

The opposing party, against which all this uni-
formity was directed, adopted the contrary plan, |
and sought to establish the federative order of
things, in its most e.\aggerated cluiracter, with the
iiio>t extraordinary irregularities, ami a complete
isolation of tlie federal states, the one in respect
to the other. They desired it also, because, under
favour of these irregularities and of this isolation,
each little oligareliy would bo able to retain its
own dominion. The aristocracies of Heme, Zurich,
and Bale, made an alliance with the democracies
of Siliwitz, Uri, and Unterwalden, and among
thcmselvts perfectly unnerrftood each other, be-
cause, at bottom, they all desired the same thing,
in other words, tlie domination of several powerful
fiimilies, as well in the little mountainous cantons
as ill the more opulent cities. The one party was
known under the appellation of " O.igarclis;' the
others, wiio desired to see justice and equality in
the uniformity of the government, received the
name of " Unitarians." Both the one jiarty and
the other had been scufHing lor years, without
ever being able to govern the unfortunate Swiss
with something of moderation and constancy. Con-
Htiuitions had succeeded each other as rajddly as
in France, and at this moment they were agitated
about the fabrication of a new one.

One circuiustaiice rendered still more serious
the troubles in Switzerlanil, and that was, the
disposition of parties tiiere to seek for support
from foreigners, — a circumstance which always oc-
cui-s ill a country too feeble to elevate itself, iind
tfto iiiiporUint, from its geograjibical position, to
be regarded with an indifl'ereiit i-yo by its neigh-
bours. The oligarchical jiarty iiad considerable
connexions in Vienna, Lon<ion, and even St.
Petersliurgh, where a Swiss, colonel la Harjie, had
formed the mind and iucliiied the lieart of the
young emperor, and besieged all the courts, in the
iiMist pressing manner, on their hide. He suppli-
cated them not to suffer that l''raiic(?, in con-oli-
diiliiig in Sivitzerlami tiie revolutionary order of
things, should also make it submit to its inHiience,
a count ly which, in a military point of view, was
the most important upon the continent. The party
had also iutiinatc connexiouH in England. The
citizens of Berne, and of several governing towns,

had lodged the capital of their municipal economies
in the bank of London, a step which did them
great honour, because while the free cities through-
out Europe, and more especially in Cermany, were
iiTecoverably in debt, the cities of Switzerland ha^
amassed considerable sums. The English govern-
ment, under pretext of tlie French occupation of
the country, had, without scruple, seized upon the
funds thus deposited. Since the |)eace, the money
had not been restored. The oligarchs of Berne
sui)plicated England, that if it did not come to their
aid, it would, at least, retain the money they had
remitted to the bank of London. They had con-
fided to the bank of England ten millions, and two
millions were lodged in that of Vienna.

The revolutionary ])arly naturally sought its
support from France; ami it was easy to avail it.self
of this aid, when the Frcncli armies had not ceased
to occupy the Helvetic territory. But a similar
occupation could not be continued for a long time.
Switzerland must soon be evacuated as Italy had
been. For though the obligation to evacuate it
was not as formally stipulated as the obligation to
evacuate Italy, still the treaty of Luneville gua-
ranteed the independence <if Switzerland; and the
fulfilment of the treaties must be regarded as
imiierfeet and the i)eace as tmsafe, until the French
troops had been withdrawn. Thus the political
observers of things had their eyes fixed upon
Switzerland most particularly as well as upon
Cermany, where the division of the ecclesiastical
states was taking jilace, in order to discover if the
attempt at a general i>aeification just attempted
was likely to be durable. 'J'lie first consul had
formed the i-esolution in the plainest manner not to
Compromise peace, on account of what might hap-
pen either in one or the other of these countries,
at least while the counter-revolution, of which
lie would have none on the Fieiich frontiers, did
not attempt to establish itself in the middle of the
Alps. He would have had no ob.stacle in getting
himself accepted as the legislator tor Helvetia, as
he had been for the Italian republic, but the con-
sulta of Lyons had jirodiiced such an effect in
Europe, particularly in England, that he dared not
re])eat the same spectacle a second time. He kept
himself therefore to tendering his ndvice, wjiicli
had been heard, but was litle followed, notwith-
standing the presence of the Fremii troops. He
advised the Swiss to renounce the chimera of an
absolute unity ; a unity impossible in a country so
uncertain as theirs, insup|)ortable besides to the
little cantons, that could neither pay iieavy taxes,
like those of Bale ami Berne, nor bind themselves
under the yoke of a common government. He
reeommended them to create a central govern-
ment for the exterior business of the confederation;
and as to the interior affairs, to havi; to the local
governments the care of orgnnizing them, accord-
ing to the soil, the m;iniiers, and mind of the
inhabitants. He advisrd them to lake from the
French revolution that wbieh was i.eneficial and
iiicontestably useful, erpiality between all classes of
the citizens, equality in all parts of the territory ;
to leave detached ft'oui each oilier those provinces
de<"med incompatible, sin h as V.-md and Berne,
and the Italian bailwicks of Uri. I'Ut to renounce
ei'rlain junctions of territory, which would de-
nationalize several cantons, huch as tho.so of Ap-
cc 2

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Opposition of the lesser i802.
cantons. Aug.

penzel and Glari.s ; to put a stop in tlie large
cities to the alternate domination of the oligarchs
and the populace, and to finish by a government of
the middle class of citizens without the systematic
exclusion of any class ; in fine, to imitate that
policy in action between all parties which had
given France tranquillity. This advice, understood
and felt by those of a clear comprehension, but
contemned by pa.ssionate persons, who always form
the largest number, remained without effect.
Meanwhile as this advice tended to leave the
revolution somewhat behind, the oligarchical fac-
tion, at that time oppressed, welcomed it with
pleasure, nourishing illusions very similar to those
made by certain French emigrants in Paris, and
believing, because he was moderate, the first con-
sul wished in reality to establish the old oi-der of
things.

A question relating to territory added a serious
complication to this position of affairs. During
the revolution, Switzerland and France being to a
certain extent confounded one with anotlier, had
passed fnmi a system of neutrality to one of offen-
sive and defensive alliance. Under this system
she had not hesitated to concede to France, by the
treaty of 179^, the militai-y road of the Valais
bordering upon the foot of the Simplon. In the
later treaties, Europe had not ventured to remon-
strate against this state of things, the result of
a long war ; it had limited itself to a stipulation
for the independence of Switzerland. The first
consul, preferring upon system the neutrality of
Switzerland to its alliance, intended to use the
road of the Simplon, without being reduced to
,traverse the Helvetic tijrritory, which was incom-
patible with its neutrality, and he therefore con-
ceived the design for that jjurpose of obtaining
possession of the property in the Vahiis. Tliis was
no great demand, because it was through France
that Switzei'land held the Valais, which had be-
fore been independent. But the first consul did
not ask it without a compensation : he offered in
exchange a province that Austria had ceded to
him by the treaty of Lun^ville. This was the
Frickthal, a small territory, very important as
a frontier, containing the road of the Forest Towns,
and extending fi'om the confluence of the Aar with
the Rhine as far as the limit of the canton of
Bale, and connecting in consequence that canton
with Switzerland. This little country, fronting
the Black Forest, had besides its own value, a
value arising from convenience by no means of
small moment. By means of this exchange, France
become proprietor of the Valais, had no necessity
of the Helvetic territory for the passage of her
armies, and would be enabled to return from the
system of alliance to one of neutrality. The Swiss,
as well the unitarians as the oligarclis, talked
loudly upon the subject, having botli one and the
other the same wish. They were not willing at
any price to cede the Valais for the Frickthal.
They demanded other concessions of territory,
along the Jura more particularly, the country of
Bienno, Erguel, and some detached portions of
the Porentruy. This was to give up to them a
part of the department of Mont Terrible. Even
under these conditions they were repugniint to
cede the Valais ; and as under the interests do-
nominated "general," there are often concealed

those which are very " particular," the little can-
tons, dreading the rivalry of the Simjjlon road
over that of the St. Gothard, positively refused the
proposed exchange. The first consul had i)ro-
visionally oceuoicd the Valais with three batta-
lions, and W(]uli! not take any further step until
the, general arrangement of the Helvetic affairs.

In awaiting the definitive organization of Swit-
zerland, there had been formed a temporary go-
vernment, composed of an executive council and a
legislative body, small in number. Different pro-
jects for a constitution had been drawn up, and
secretly submitted to the first consul. He had
preferred one among the others, which appeared to
liim conceived in the wisest way, and had sent it
to Berne accompanied with a species of recom-
mendation of its adoption. The provisional go-
vernment, composed of the more moderate patriots,
had themselves adopted this constitution, and had
presented it for the acceptance of a general diet.
The unitarian party increased, numbered a con-
siderable majority in the diet, or no less than fifty
votes out of eighty. It soon declared the diet
constituted, and drew up a new project after the
idea of an absolute unity, affecting even to brave
France, proclaiming the Valais an integral part of
the soil of the Helvetic confederation.

The rejjresentatives of the lesser cantons with-
drew, declaring that they would never submit
themselves to such a constitution. Masters of the
provisional government, the moderate patriots,
seeing how matters were proceeding, concerted
ujion the subject with the French minister Ver-
ninac, and issued a decree, by which they dis-
solved the diet for having exceeded its powers,
and having made itself a constituent assembly
when it had not been called upon to become .so.
They themselves placed in action the new consti-
tution of the 29th of May, 1801, and proceeded to
the election of the authorities which that consti-
tution instituted. These authorities were the
senate, the leiser council, and the landamman.
The senate was composed of twenty-five members ;
it nominated the lesser council, which was com-
posed of seven persons, and the landamman, who
was the chief of the republic. The senate not
only nominated these two authorities, but it also
advised them as a council. As the moderate
patriots had upon their hands the exalted uni-
tarians, who were dispersed upon the breaking up
of the diet, they were obliged to manage with the
opposite or oligarchical party. They chose from
among them the more sage and discreet, in order
to add them to their number and place them in the
senate. They mingled them with the revolutionists
in such a manner as to preserve a majority of the
last. But in their irritation, five of the revo-
lutionists i-efused to accept the offer made to them.
The majority on that account changed in a vexa-
tious manner, since when once formed, the senate
would proceed to complete itself. It did, in fact,
do this, and on the oligarchical side. Thus when
it came to nominate the landamman, and had the
choice of two candidates, M. Reding, who was the
chief of the oligarchical party, and M. Dolder,
who was at the head of the moderate revolutionists,
Reding carried the djiy by one vote. Dolder was
a discreet man, of considerable ability, but j>os-
sessed only of a moderate degree of energy

Aug.

Conduct of M. Reding and
the oligiirchy.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

The government of Reding
overturned.

Reding was an old officer, not very enlightened,
but energetic ; he had served in the Swiss troops
that were in foreign pay, and had carried on with
great intelligence the mountain war against the
French army in 1708. He belonged to (he little
canton of Schwitz, and was at the head of a privi-
leged family, which cli^llosed of all the commis-
sions in the regiment of Reding. The oligarchy
of Switzerland had adopted this head of a kind of
clan, and had given him its coniidence. Rough as
he was, Reding did not want a certain degree of
finesse. He was flattered with his new dignity,
and endeavoured to preserve it. He knew that he
would not long be able to retain it against the will
of France. In accordance with his parly, he de-
termined to proceed rapidly to Paris, to endeavour
to persuade the fii-st consul, that the oligarchical
party was that of honourable men, whom he ought
to suffer in power, and permit to have their way,
and that on these conditions he would find Switzer-
land devoted to France. The first consul received
M. Reding with consideration, and listened to him
witii some attention. Reding aff"ected to exhibit
himself destitute of all partiality, and more of a
Sfddier than an oligarch ; he appeared flattered at
the approbation of the first general of modern
times, disposed as he was to place himself above
parly i)assions. He off"ered to make certain ad-
justments, which were accei)ted in order to see
if his conduct answered to his promises. Accord-
ing to these adjustments, the senate was to be
increased to thirty members, and the choice of five
new ones was to be made exclusively among the
patriots. A second landamman was to be chosen
equally among that l)arty, and to hold the reins of
power alternately with t!ie first. Cantonal com-
missions, composed half by the senate, and half by
the cantons themselves, were to be charged with
the task of giving to each the constitution which
best fitted it. It was besides agreed, that Argovia
and the Pays de Vaud should remain detached
from Berne ; and in return, that the agglome-
rations of territories, which had disfigured certain
small cantons, should be revoked. Under the.se
reservations the first consul promised to acknow-
ledge the integrity of Switzerland, to replace it in
a state of perpetual neutrality, and to withdraw
the French troops. In order to assure to France
the military road which was required, the Valais
wa.s dismembered by ceding to France that por-
tion which is on the right bank of the Rhone.
France, in exchange, obliged herself to cede the
Frickthal and an arrondissement of the territory
on the side of the Jura. Reding left Paris full
of liope, believing lie had acquired the favour
of the first cou.sul, and would be enabled to do in
Switzerland thenceforth just what he chose.

But scarcely was the head of the oligarchical
party arrived at Berne, before, drawn in by his
friends. Reding became all that couhl and all
that might be expected under such intluences,
and will" ideas of government as little changed as
liis own. There were five n<w members added to
the senate, t;ikcn from the v« ry heart of the jiatriot
party, and a colleague was given to Reding,
charged to perform alternately «ith iiiin the func-
tions of landamman. This cullciigue was not M.
iJolder himself, but M. Rugg.-r, a coiiHiderable
personage among the moderate revolulioni.tts. The

newly chosen, that in the lesser coinicil charged
with the executive power, procured a m.njority
for the revolutionary party, left the majority in
the senate to the oligarchs. Further, Reding,
being landamman for this year, selected the au-
thorities in the interest of his own ))arty. He
sent, whether to Vienna or to other courts, agents
devoted to the cause of the counter-revolution,
with instructions hostile to France, which soon
bec:ime known to her. Reding more especially
demanded that there should be accredited to him,
rei)resintatives of all the powers, in order to
second him against the influence of M. Verninac,
the chargd d'affaires of France. The only agent
whom he did not venture to replace was M. Stap-
fer, the Swiss minister at Paris, a respectable man,
devoted to his country, who had known how to
obtain the confidence of the French government,
and for that reason difficult to recall. Reding
had promised to leave indejiendent the Pays de
Vaud and Argovia ; nevertheless, from every
part there came jjetitions to provoke the restitu-
tion of these jirovinces to the canton of Berne.
Despite the promise to free the Italian bailwicks,
Uri demanded, in a high tone, and with threats,
the Levantine valley. The cantonal connnissions
that were charged to draw up the particular con-
stitution of each canton, were, except two or three,
composed in a spirit contrary to the new order of
things, and favourable to the re-establishment of
the old. There was no more a qviestion made of
the Valais, nor of the road promised to France.
Finally, the Vaudois, seeing a counter-revolution
imminent, were in a state of insurrection, and
sooner than submit to the govermnent of Reding,
they solicited a reunion with France.

Thus unfortunate Helvetia, delivered over a
year before to the extravagances of the absolute
unitarians, was this year a prey to the counter-
revolutionary attempts of the oligarchs. The
first consul therefore took his ])art in regard to
the Valais, and declared that he detached it from
the confederation, :ind restored it to its former
indci)endeiice. This was evidently the best so-
lution of the diflicidty, because giving one bank
of the Rhine to France and another to Switzer-
land, was clearly contrary to the natural course of
things. In Raving it entirely to Switzerland, and
in creating a road and French military establish-
ments, the llelvelic neiitraliiy was rendered im-
possible. When he was a]>prised of this resolu-
tion. Reding made a noise about it, a.sserting that
the first consul had broken his primuses, which
was untrue; and he proposed to the le.s.ser council
a letter so violent, that the council drew back
from it in fear. The situation of the oligarchs of
the large and small cantons was not longer tenable,
labouring as tluy were to reconstruct the old order
of things, and the revolutionists, arisen in the I'ays
<le Vaud, to obtain a union with France. M. Dol-
der and his friends, in the lesser council, tmited
themselves. In thiii lesser council, charged with
the executive jHiwer, they were six against three.
They profited them.selvesof the absence of Reding,
who had gone for some days into the smaller can-
tons; they annulled all that had been done by him;
they broke up the cantonal conmiissionK.and called
together at Berne an asHcnibly of notables, eon-
bisling of forty-seven individuals chosen from

„- Withdrawal of the French
.iUO troops.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND E:VIPIRE.

Separation of the
Valais.

1802.
Aug.

among the most respectable and moderate men
of all opinions. They then submitted to them the
constitution of the •2yth of May, recommended by
France, making in it the modifications which were
judged indispensable ; and they immediately or-
ganized the public authorities according to that
same constitution.

To take from the oligarchical pnrty the support
of the senate, in which they had a majority, they
prnnounced the suspension of that body. On re-
ceiving intelligence of this event, Reding iiastened
to protest against the resolutions thus taken. But
deprived of the support of the senate, which had
been suspended, he retired, declaring that he did
not renounce his character of chief magistrate;
and he went into the smaller cantons in order to
foment the insurrection. They considei-ed him
as having resigned, and confided to citizen Rutti-
mann the office of first landamman. Thus the
Swiss, pulled about, in turn by the hands of the
absolute unitarians and by those of the oligarchs,
found themselves, by a succession of small coups
d'etat, replaced in the power of the moderate
revolutionists. Unfortunately, these last had not
at their head, as the nmderate French had when
they brought about the 18th Brumaire, a powerful
chief to give to their wisdom the aid of strength.
Still, enlightened by events, the partizans of the
revolution, whatever was their difference with each
other, were disjjosed to come to an understanding,
and to accept as a boon the constitution of the 29th
of May, introducing certain changes. But Reding
was at work in tiie small cantons to arouse them
into insurrectiiin, and the necessity of having re-
course to some powt-rfid external aid, because there
was none to be obtained in Switzerland, was at
last inevitable. However evident was this neces-
sity, no one dared to avow it. The oligarchs, who
saw in the intervention of France their assured
ruin, made it a crime in the revolutionists to desire
such an interference. These, in order not to supply
their adversaries with such a valid ground of com-
plaint, repelled the charge in lofty terms. Lastly,
the first consul himself, wishing to spare inquietude
to Europe, was decided, unless in case of any very
extraordinary event, not to compromise the French
troops in the trouliles of Switzerland. Thus, al-
though thirty thousai.d French were spread over
the middle of tiie A1|)S, none of their generals
obeyed the requisitions of the difierent parties;
and the French soldiers were present, with arms
idle on their shoulilers, amidst all these disordei-s.
Their immobility became a subject of reproach,
and the patriots said, with some appearance of
reason, that a general ])eace reigning in Euroi)e,
the French army not having to defend them
against the Austrinns, would not defend tin m
against internal insurrections, that they gatlnred
no otl-.er fruit Irom their presence, th;,n the trouble
of sustaining tliet.i, and the disagi-eeabie effect of
a foreign occupation. The retreat of the French
troops, therefore, became a sort of patriotic satis-
faction, that the moderate party tliought them-
selves obliged to agree to with all the other
parties; and they demanded it of the first consul,
while Reding aroused the flame of insurrection
in the mountains of Sehwitz, Uri, and Unter-
walden It seemed the more necessary to grant
the request thus made, because the separation of

the Valais, definitively resolved upon, was an act
that was a .sensible displeasure to the Swiss pa-
triots. The first consul consented to the evacua-
tion, willing to give to the moderate party the
fullest and most entire moral support possible, but
in I'cality nuich doubting the soundness of the ex-
periment which he was going to niake. Ordei-s for
the evacuation were immediately sent. There re-
mained at the disposal of the new government
three thousand Swiss troops. But there were left,
besides, near the frontiers, the Helvetic dtmi-
brigades in the service of France, and it was hojied
that recourse might be had to them if needful,
without any ulterior a])i)lication to the Frencli
army. A momentary cahu succeeded to these
agitated scenes. The constitution of the 29ih of
May, adopted with certain modifications, was every
where accepted. The lesser cantons alone refused
to ]iut it in force within their limits. Still they
appeared willing to remain tranquil, at least, for
the passing moment.

The se])aration of the Valais was accomplislied
without difficulty. This country was anew con-
stituted an independent state, under the protection
of France and the Italian republic. Fiance, as a
sole mark of sovereignty, reserved to herself a
military road, that she was to support at her own
expense, providing the magazines and barracks.
The road was declared to be e.xempt from every
kind of toll, a thir.g of immense benefit to the
Country. In thus ojiening the Simjjlon, there was
created that grand highway which now traverses
it. France thus made to the Valais a magnificent
gift, equal in value, most assuredly, to the price
which was exacted from her in obtaining it.

Thus the affairs of Switzerland remained in a
sort of suspense. The oligarchs, at first, joyful
at the retreat of the French troops, soon became
alarmed. They dreaded in thus losing no very
agreeable masters, that they had lost a useful pro-
tection in the ]>robalile contingency <if a revolu-
tionary convulsion. Those who thus reasoned were,
it is true, among the wiser and better informed.
The rest, flattering themselves that they should
again be able to oveiturn the rule of the moderate
patriots, ardi-ntty wished that the present evacua-
tion of the French should be final ; and through
the niediation of their secret agents, they lequested
the different European courts not to consent that
the French troops should again enter Switzerland.
They had, ihey said, been able to tolerate their re-
maining as a consequence of the war ; but their
return could oidy be considered— in case it should
so happen — as the violation of r.n independent ter-
ritory, the integrity of which was guaranteed by
all Europe.

The fiist consul was well acquainted with their in-
trigues, because the correspondence of the landam-
man Reding liad been discovered and forwarded
to Paris. It had little effect upon liis feeling; he
even explaintd his intentions freely and uncon-
strainedly upon the matter, as had been his custom
upon such occasions. He said that he did not want
to possess Switzerland, that he preferred a general
peace to the conquest of such a territory ; but that
lie would not suffer a government there which
should be at enmity with France ; that upon this
point his resolution was iiTevoeable.

In England the solicitations of the oligarchical

1802.

Aug.

Austria endeavours to
repair her dilapidated
linances.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

Conduct of Prussia and
Russia regarding Ger-
many.

391

p.irty were not applied without a considerable
effect; not, indeed, in the cabinet, but upon the
party of Grenville and Wyndhani, which endea-
voured, out of every thin-;, to raise up new grounds
of comphiint against France. In Austria and
Prussia they were too much occupied with tiie ter-
ritorial arrangements of Gerinany to minjjle them-
selves up witli the affairs of Helvetia ; they had
tliere too much need of the favour of the first
consul to dream of giving him tlie least ground oi'
offence. Cobentztl, at Vienna, went so far in his
attention as to show to the French ambiissador,
M. de Champagny, all the correspondence which
had been forwarded to him by the party of Reding,
and the replies which he had sent, discouraging
the pressing entreaties of that party. Russia, per-
fectly aware of the views and intentions of the first
consul, comprehended clearly enougii that the
troubles of Switzerland were a source of en>barrass-
nient to him, from which he would have been
njo-it willing to escape, much sooner th;in to find
ill it an opportunity, artificially prepared, to pro-
cure for himself further influence or additional
teiTJtory.

However serious in themselves were the affairs
of Switzerland, however serious, more particularly,
they might become if the French troops were
marched back upon the Helvetian territory, they
had not the power at the moment to detach the at-
tention of the great powers from the affairs of Ger-
many. It has been before seen, that the cession of
the left bank of the Rhine to France, had deprived
of tlu ir suites a crowd of princes, and that it was
agreed at Luiie'ville to indemnify them by seculariz-
ing the ecclesiastical principalities, of which old
Germany was full. This was the necessary course
of a general remodelling of the Germanic territory.
.Such an important question left no attention to be
spar d for any other in most of the northern
courts.

Austria, wasted by a long contest, endeavoured
to repair her dilapidated finances, and to elevate
the credit of her paper money. Tiie archduke
Charles had obtained all the influence which M.
Thugut had lost. This prince, who had commanded
in war with great distinction, wiis the declai'ed
partizaii of peace. He had seen in a moment the
1,'lory lie had acipiireil on the borders of the Rhine,
in combating tin- generals Jourdaii and Aloreau,
iffaced c)n the hanks of the Tagliamento, in con-
flicting with general Bonaparte, and he was not
inclined to make any new attempt against this for-
mid.ible ailversary. Motives still more elevated had
H share In influencing his political preilispositions.
He saw his own reigning house ruined by long and
sanguinary wars, which passion had more to do in
promoting than reanon ; and he said that Austria
was fortunate enough, although beaten, in finding
in the acquisition of the Venetian states, an indem-
nity for the loss of the Low Countries and of the
Milanese, which, in case of a third war, would, in
all probability, be t;iken from her witlu'Ut compen-
sation. This prince, now he was minister, set about
the formation of an army which should be better
organized, and be iess expensive than that which
Austria had possessed for ten years jireviously, and
opposed in vain to the troops of I'ranci'. The
emperor, of a sober and more soliil than brilliant
intellect, paitook in the opinions of the archduke,

and thought of nothing but of drawing the utmost
j)ossible ailvanlage from the business of the indem-
nities, hoping to find in that a favourable juncture
for repairing the later reverses of his house.

Prussia, that in 1795 separated herself from
the coalition, in order to conclude at Bale a peace
with the French republic, and which since that
time had re-establish. d her finances through the
medium of her neutrality, had gained new pro-
vinces in consequence of the last division of Poland,
now endeavoured to obtain a shai'e of the good
things belonging to the German church, and an
opportunity to aggrandize herself in Germany, — a
I sjiecies of aggrandizement which she preferred to
any other. She had a very young and discreet sove-
reign, who made it a matter of moment to pass for
an upright man, and who was so in effect, but
was unboundedly fond of territoi-ial acquisitions, on
condition, still, that they were not purchased by a
war ; besides, they possessed in Prussia a singular
means of explaining every thing in the most ho-
nourable way in his regard. All equivocal acts, or
such the uprightness of which might be contested,
were attributed to M. Haugwitz, to whom they
ordinarily im|)uted every thing which they could
not tell how to justify, while M. Haugwitz suffered
himself to be immolated to the reputation of the
king his master, with the utmost good grace. This
court having some degree of intellect and few pre-
judices, had known how to be on tolerable terms
with the French convention and dii-ectory, and on
very good terms with the first consul. On the
accession of the firsts consul, she had shown herself
willing for a moment to interfere between the bel-
ligerent powers, in order to force them to make
peace; and when the first consul had effected this
without her aid, she put forth the value of her good
intentions at the least. She fawned upon him
incessantly, and glanced at a treaty of offensive
and defensive alliance at a future time, provided
he favoured her m partitioning the spoils of the
German church.

Russia, wholly disinterested in the territorial
question that then occnpieil Germany, was neither
required nor authorized to mix herself up with
them by the treaty of Luneville, but she would
willingly jilay a character in the scene. To be
required as an arbitrator flattered the vanity of the
young emperor — a vanity which began to a])pear
through his apparent modesty and ingenuousness.
This prince at first suffered himself to be guided
by the two individuals who had placed him upon
the throne by means of a horrible catastrophe, the
counts Pahleii and Panin. But his integrity and
liride equally suHered umler such a yoke. It cost
him nmch to have irt his side continually the men
who recalled the most terrible recollections to his
mind ; and he felt humiliated to luivc ministers
who treated him as a prince that was still a minor.
It h;iM been already said that ho was surrounded
by the companions of his early years, l)e Strogo-
noff, Nowosiltzotf, and Czartoryski, with a friend
of riper age in M. Kotschoubey, but he delayed to
ponAess hnnself, in connexion with them, of the
management of public aH'airs. lit- took occasion
of an o|>portunity which ))resentcd its<ir, through
the imp(!rious characif-r of count Pahleii, to send
him into Courland. H(! did much the same thing
with count Panin, and he introduced M. Kots-

392^lL'iTniH'!,°^""^'""^" THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The indemnities explained, ,„.,
and patties to be indem- . , "

choubey into the cabinet. For his vice-chancellor,
he took a former member of the Russian govern-
ment, prince Kurakin, a statesman of an easy
temper, fond of the eclat of power, and willing
to lend his name, well known in Europe, with
perfect complacency to four or five young per-
sonages, who began to govern the empire in secret.
Under this singular association of a czar, twenty-
four years old, and some Russian and Polish
nobles of the same age, he indulged, as has been
already stated, very odd ideas about every thing.
Paul I. and Catherine herself vvere considered as
barbarous unenlightened sovereigns. The partition
of Poland was regarded as an outrage ; and the
war against the French revolution as the result of
blind prejudices. Russia in future was bound to
give her policy a new direction ; she was bound to
protect the feeble, to restrain the powerful, to
oblige France and England to keep themselves
within the bounds of justice, to force both to
respect the rights and intei'ests of other nations in
the midst of their disputes. Happy intentions —
noble ideas, if they had been real ; if they had not
resembled those liberal intentions of the French
nobility, brought up in the school of Voltaire and
Rousseau, ever expressing liberty and humanity,
up to the time when the French revolution re-
quired them to render their theory and their
actions conformable to each other ! Then these
philoso])hical nobles became the emigrants of Cob-
lentz. Thus too, as there liad been in France a
minority of the nubility faithful to the end to the
sentiments they first avowed, it was the same with
these young rulers of Russia ; two distinguished
themselves by their stable upright principles, and
by characters more in earnest. These were
prince Adam Czartoryski and M. Strogonoff. The
last exiiibited a mind equally sincere and solid.
Prince Czartoryski, steady, well instructed, an J
serious, was twenty-five years old, having gained a
species of ascendancy over Alexander, lie was full
of the hereditary feelings attaching to his family,
in other words, of the desire to restore Poland to
her rights, and he bent hiihself, as will soon be
seen, to make the combinations of the Russian
policy contribute to that end. These distinguished
youths, with the inclinations that moved them,
began to be anxious to commence in Germany
that ecjuitable and decided arbitration which was
so strongly seducing in their view. Austria, with
her usual ability, had well known how to discover
what were their dispositions, and had thought of
serving herself through them. Clearly perceiving
the predilection of the first consul for Prussia, she
turned herself to the emperor Alexander: flattered
him, and offered him the part of arbitrator in
German affairs. There was no lack of ambition in
the ('zar to take upon himself such a character ;
but it was not easy to take it in presence of general
Bonaparte, that a formal treaty invested with the
right and duty of interfering in the question of the
German indemnities, and who was not the man to
leave that for others to do which it appertained to
himself to perform. But the emperor Alexander,
although impatient to figure upon the woi-ld's great
scene, exhibited a reserve meritorious at his ago,
above all with the ambitious feelings of which his
heart was full.

It is neces.sary now to penetrate into the obscure

and difficult question of the German indemnities.
This question, entered upon at the congress of
Rastadt after the peace of Campo-Formio, aban-
doned in consequence of the assassination of the
French plenipotentiaries, and of the second coa-
lition, resumed after the peace of Luneville, often
begun, and never terminated, was a serious ques-
tion for Europe, a question it was impossible, when
placed before it, that it could know how to arrange.
It could not, in fact, be resolved but by the strong
will of the fii'st consul, because it was impossible
that Germany was sufficient of herself to settle it.

By the treaties of Caiupo-Formio and of Lune-
ville, the left bank of the Rhine became French
property from the point where that fine river
leaves the Swiss territory, between Bale and
Huninguen as far as where it enters the Dutch
dominions, between Emerick and Nimiguen. But
by the cession of this bank to France, the German
j)rinces of every i-ank and state, as well hereditary
as ecclesiastical, had sustained considerable losses
in territory and revenue. Bavaria had lost the
duchy of Deux Pouts, the palatinate of the Rhine,
and the duchy of Juliers. Wurtemberg and Baden
had been deprived of the principality of Mont-
beliard and other domains. The three ecclesiastical
electors of Mayence, of Treves, and of Cologne,
remained nearly without any estates at all. The
two Hesses had lost several lordships ; the bishops
of Liege and of Bale had been completely dispos-
sessed of their bishoprics. Prussia had been
obliged to renounce, for the advantage of Fi'ance,
the duchy of Gueldres and a part of that of Cleves,
as well as the little principality of Moeurs, terri-
tories situated on the inferior course of the Rhine.
Finally, a crowd of princes of the second and third
order had seen their principalities and fiefs disap-
pear. These were not all the losses brought about
by the war. In Italy two Austrian archdukes
had been forced to renounce the one Tuscany, and
the other Modena. In Holland the house of
Orange Nassau allied to Prussia, had lost the
stadtholdership, as well as a great quantity of
personal property.

According to the strict regulations of justice,
the German princes should .alone be indemnified on
the German territory. The archdukes, uncles or
brothers of the emperor, having for a long time
had the rank of Italian princes, had no claim
to the obtainment of establishments in Germany,
save from being relations of the emperor. But it
was the emperor who had forced unhappy Ger-
many into the w.ar, and thus exposed it to these
considerable losses of territory, and the emperor
now came to force it to indemnify his own re-
lations, thus drawn in, against their will, to take a
part in a foolish and badly-conducted war. The
same m.ay be said of the claim of the stadtholder ;
for if this prince lost his estates, it was not for
Germany to pay for the faults which he had him-
self committed. But the stadtholder was the
brother-in-law of the king of Prussia, and that
king, not willing to do less for his own family than
the emperor had done for his, demanded an in-
demnification in Germany for the house of Orange
Nassau. It was therefore necessary besides the
German princes, to indemnify as well the arch-
dukes deprived of their Italian estates, and Orange
Nassau dispossessed of the stadtholdership. It

1S02.
Aug.

The indemnities explained,
and parlies to be indem-
iiiued.

THE SECULARIZATIONS. Value of the secularizations.

had been demanded of France at tlie treaty of
Lune'ville, and before that at the treaty of Canipo-
Formio, to consent tliat the arclidiikes should
receive an indemnity in Germany. Prussia at the
congress of Bale, and England at that »)r Amiens,
liad exacted that the stadtholder should Le in-
demnitied without designating the [)lace, but with
the avowed intention of choosing that ])laee some-
where on the surface of the German territory.
France, that had only to consider the indenniities
in tiie point of view that atteeteil the general
balance — France, to whom it im])orted little that
it was a bisho]) or a prince of Nassau who was
established at Fulda, that it was an archbishop or
an archduke who might be indemnified at Salzberg,
had seen tit to consent.

The treaty of Lune'ville being ratified by tlie
diet, the weight with which the emperor pressed
upon the German territory was accepted with
regret, but in a formal maimer. The treaties of
Bale and Amiens, that stipulated an indemnity for
the stadtholder, were, it is true, strangers to the
confederation ; but England, with the influence
which procured her the possession of JIanover,
Prussia with her power in the diet, assured besides,
both one and the other, of the concurrence of
France, had not a refusal to apprehend in re-
quiring a territorial indemnity fur the stadtholder.
It was therefore agreed, by a consent almost
unanimous, that the stadtholder, as well as the two
Italian archdukes, should have a p:irt of the
secularized bishoprics. To indemnify the German,
Itiklian, and Dutch princes, there were certainly
line domains not wanting in Germany. There
were many of these very considerable, under the
ecclesiastical order. In secularizing them, there
would be found a vast extent of country, covered
with inhabitants, and rich enough in revenue to
furnisli states to all the victims of the war.

It would be difficult to tell the e.xact value in
territory, revenues, and inhabitants of the entire
of the German principalities susceptible of secu-
larization. The peace of Westphalia had already
secularized a great number; but iliose which re-
mained formed about one-sixth of Germany, pro-
perly so called, as well in regard to extent as to
l)opulation. In regard to reveime, if reported ac-
cording to the estimates of the day, very incom-
plete and nmch contested, it might amount to
thirteen or fourteen millions of Horins. But it
would be an error to consider this sum as the total
revenue of the principalities in (jnestion here. It
was tile revenue, making the deduction of the ex-
penses of collection and of administration; the
deduction also must be made of a nunrtjer of ec-
clesiastical benefices, such jus abbeys, canonicals,
and the like, wiiich are not comprised in the net
product thus announced, and which would, by the
secularization, appertain to the new possessor ;
that is to say, if the ])roduce of the country be
calculated its it was calculated in France in HiO'S;
atid as calculations are more accurately made in
the present day, it wouhl lead to an estimate three
or four times as considerable, and, consei|uently,
to forty or fifty millions of Horins, or from a hun-
dred to a hundred and twenty millions of francs.

It is, therefore, impossible to value exactly the
just amount of these csUitirs, otherwise than in
affirming that they conii>rised about the sixth part

of Germany, properly so called. It suffices, besides,
to cite them, in order to show that several of them
are composed, at the present time, of Hourishing
provinces, and some of them the finest of the con-
federatioii. Commencing on the east and south of
Germany, there are, in the Tyrol, the bishoprics
of Trent and of Brixen, that Austria considered as
belonging to her.self, and that for this reason, she
would not jiermit to figure in the mass of German
indemnities, but which had been arranged, in spite
of her opposition, in the number of the disposable
properties. The valuation of their product varied
from two hundred th.jusand to nine hundred thou-
sand Horins. In passing from the Tyrol into Ba-
varia, the superb bi.shopric of Salzburg presented
itself, now one of the most important provinces
of the Austrian monarchy, comprising the valley
of the Salza, producing, by one account, one million
two hundred thousand Horins, by another, two mil-
lion seven hundred thousand Horins, and possessing
a race of excellent soldiers, as able tirailleurs as
the Tyrolians. lit the bishopric of Salzburg was
comprised the ])revotal of Berchlolsgaden, valuable
by the production of salt. Ui)on entering directly
into Bavaria, there were encountered, upon the
Lech, the bishopric of Augsburg; on the Isar that
of Freisingen, and, finally, at the confluence of the
Inn and the Danube, that of Passau, all three
much desired by Bavaria, the territory of which
they would very advantageously complete. The
produce together of these was valued at about
eigjit hundred thousand Horins; but like the others,
ditferentiy valued, according to custom, by those
aspirants who disputed about them. On the other
side of the-Danube, in other words, in Franconia,
was found the rich bishopric of Wurtzburg, the
bishops of which formerly arrived at the title of
dukes of Franconia, and were opulent enough to
build at Wurtzburg a (lalace almost as fine as that
of Versailles. The revenue of this benefice was esti-
mated atone million four hundred thousand Horins,
and including the bishopric of Bamberg, which was
contiguous, at more than two million. This was the
lot which would best indenmify Bavaria for her im-
mense losses, and round oft' her territory exceedingly
well. Prussia had an eye upon these, because of their
value, and their contiguity with the niarquisates of
Anspach and Bareuth. The bishopric of Aich-
stedt, in the same province, might be added, very
inferior to the two preceding, but still very con-
siderable.

There remained, too, the archbishoprics of May-
ente, Treves, and Cologne, situated on the right of
the Rhine, archbishoprics and electorates at tin-
same time, having a revenue very difficult to esti-
mate. There remained portions of the electorate
of Alayence, enclosed in Thuringia, such as Erfurih,
and the territory of Eischsfeld. Then in descend-
ing towards Westphalia, the same duchy of West-
phalia, the revenue of which was estimated at four
or five hundred thousand florins ; the bishopries of
Paderborn, Osnabruek, and llildensheim, which
were each supposed able to return four hundred
thousand florins. And lastly, the vast bishopric
(d' Munster, the third in revenue of all Germany,
the most extended in territory, bringing in at tluit
time one million two hundred' thousand florins.

If to tinse arclihishopries, bishoprics, and
duchies, to the nund)er of lourteen, there bo joined

The German constitution.

elfctoral eoUese.— Forms

Aug.

tlie remains of the Jincient ecclesiastical electorates,
and the fragments of the hisimprics of Spires,
Worms, Strasburg, Bale, Constance, a quantity of
rich abbeys, finally, f irty-niiie free towns, which it
was not wished to secularize, hut to incorjiDriite in
the neighbouring states, which was then styled "to
mediatise" them, :in idea may be formed, somewliat
near exactness, of all the iiroi)erty which was dis-
posable, to make the secular princes forget the
misfortunes they had incurred by the war. It
must be .added, that if there had been no intention
to indemnify the archdukes and the stadtholtler,
who, among the three of them, would ask a ([uarter
part at least of the dis])osable domains, it would
not have been nece.ssary to suppress all the eccle-
siastical principalities, and that they would have
been enabled to sj)are to the Germanic constitution
the destructive blow by which it was soon to be
laid low.

It was, in effect, to give to the Germanic con-
stitution a very deep wound, thus to secularize all
the ecclesiastical statt-s at one time, because they
l)layed in that constitution a very considerable
part. Some details are necessary here, to make
known tills old constitution, the most ancient in
Europe, the must respectable after that of England,
ab<iut to perish by the cupidity of the German
piiiK-es themselves.

The Germanic em]>ire was elective. Although
for a long time the im]>erial crown had not been
borne out of the house of Austria, it was needful to
have a formal election at the coniniencement of
each reii;n. This iiad fallen to the heir of the
house of Austria, who was in his own right king of
Boliemia and Hungary, archduke of Austria, duke
of Milan, Carinthia, Styria, &c., but not chief of
the empire. The electitm was formerly made by
seven, and at the ejjocli now alluded to, by eight
princes electors. Of these, five were lay princes
and three ecclesiastical. The five lay princes wi re
the house of Austria for Bohemia ; the elector
palatine for Bavaria and the ])alatiiiate ; the duke
of Saxony for Saxony : the king of Prussia for
Brandenljurg; and the king of England lor Hanover.
Tiie three ecclesiastical electors were the arcli-
bisho]) of Mayenee, possessing a part of both banks
of tiie Riiine in the vicinity of Mayenee, the city of
Mayenee itself, and the banks of the Main as far
as above Aschaffenbiirg; the archbishop of Treves,
possessing the county of Treves, in other woi-ds,
'the valley of the Moselle fn.m the frontiers of old
France as far as the junction of that river with the
Rhine towards Coblentz ; lastly, the archbishop of
Cologne, possessing the left shore <if the Rhine,
from Bonn as far as the borders of Hollaml. These
three ai'chbishops, following the general custom of
the church, every wh< re when royalty had not en-
grossed the ecclesiastical nominations, were elected
by their ciiapters, save in canonical institution,
which was resei-ved to the jiope. The canons,
members of the chapters ami electors of their arch-
bishops, were chosen from among the highest of
the German nobility. Thus for Mayenee, they
must be members of the " imimdiate" nobility, in
other words, of the noliiliiy elevated directly by
the empire, and not by the territorial ])riuces witli
whom their domains might be situated. In such a
mode neither the arciibishop nor the caixins charged
ito elect, could be subjects dependent upon any prince

whatever, the emperor himself excepted. This pre-
caution was needful for so great a personage as the
archbishop elector of Mayenee, who was chancellor
of the confederation. He it was who presided at the
Germanic diet. The archbishops electors of Treves
and Cologne had no other title than that cf an old
function, which had passed away with time. The.
archbishop of Cologne was anciently chancellor of
the kingdom of Italy; the archbishop of Treves,
chancellor of the kingdom of the Gauls.

These eiy;ht princes decreed the imperial crown.
During the first half of the last century, and the
war of the Austrian succession, they were obliged to
choose for an emperor a prince of Bavaria; but they
soon returned, out of their old habits and a respect
for traditiiin, to the succession of the house of Ro-
doljihe of Hapsburg. Besides, the catholic electors
found themselves in a majority, that is to say, as
five to three ; and the preference of the catholics
for Austria was natural and secular. The empire
was not only elective, it wiis, — if it may be so ex-
jiressed in regard to an era having no analogy with
our own, — it was representative. The electors de-
liberated in a general diet, which met at Ratisbon,
under the presidency of the chancellor, the arch-
bishop of Mayenee.

This diet was composed of three colleges : the
electoral college, in which the eight electors sat
that have been just enumerated ; the college of
princes, iu which all the lay and ecclesiastical
princes sat, each of them for tiie territory of which
lie was the immediate sovereign, some houses
having several votes, accoi'ding to the importance
of the principalities which they repi-esented in the
diet, othei's, on the contrary, having but a part of
a vote, as for example, the counts of Westphalia;
thirdly and lastly, the college of the cities, where
they sat to the number of forty-nine, the repre-
sentatives of the free cities, nearly all ruined, and
having only a very slight influence in the govern-
ment of old Germany.

The forms adopted in collecting the votes were
extremely comjilicated. When the protocol was
opened, each of the three colleges voted separately.
The electors, besiles their representation in the
college of electors, had representatives in the col-
lege of ])rinces, and thus they sat in two colleges at
once. Austria sat in the electoral college for Bo-
hemia, and in the college of princes for the arch-
duchy of Anstiia Prussia sat in the electoral
college for Brandenburg, and in the college of
]u-inces for Anspach, Bareutli, &c. Bavaria sat
in the college of electors for Bavaria, and in the
college of ])rinces for Deux Fonts, Juliers, &c.,
and the like with the otiier powers. They dis-
cussed nothing in a jiarticular manner; but each
state, called in hierarchical order, verbally gave
its opinion through the intermediate agency of a
minister. The votes were several times taken, so
that each hail fiine to alter or modify its own.
When the colleges were of different opinions, (hey
held conferences for the purpose of coming to an
understanding. This was styled the "relative-
ness" and " correlativeness" between the colleges.
They then made concessions to each other, and
terminated by a common opinion, which was styled
a conchisiim.

The imiiortance of these three colleges was not
equal. That of the cities was scarcely reckoned

1802.
Aug.

Constitution of tlie electoral
colleges.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

DitTerences occasioned on the
division of the patrimony of 395
the church.

at all. Formerly, in the middle a^es, when all the
wealtli was ceiitred in the free cities, they had the
means, in givinj; and refusing money, of being
i heard, and of maintaining their due intluence. It
was no longer thus, since Nuremburg, Augsburg,
and Cologne, ceased to be the centre of commercial
and financial power. Besides, the forms employed
regarding them, forms which were humiliating,
made little attention be jiaici to their votes. The
electoi-s, in other words, the great houses, with
their votes in the college of electors, and with
their votes and patronage in the college of princes,
decided nearly all the questions for deliberation.

This constitution cannot be entirely understood,
without it be further remai'ked, that independently
of the general government, there was also one
which was local, for the protection of iiarticiilar
interests and a common partition of the charges
of the confederation. This local government was
that of circles. The whole of Germany was divided
into ten circles, of which the last, that of Bur-
gundy, was no more than an empty title, because
it comprehended provinces which, for a long space
of time, had been beyond the power or domination
of the empire. Tiie most powerful prince of the
circle was the director. He summoned the estates
which composed it to mt/et and delibHrate ; he
executed the resolutions there agreed upon, and
came forward to the succour of those that were
threatened with violence. Two tribunals of the
empire, one at Wetzlar, another at Vieima, ren-
dered justice among the members of a conleilera-
tion so different from each other,— kings, princes,
bishops, abbeys, and republics.

As it was, this constitution existed a venerable
monument of perished ages. It offered every one
of the characters which discriminate real liberty,
not that, indeed, which protects individuals in
modern society, but that which protects feeble
states against the aggressions of those which are
more powerful, by admitting of the defence, in the
midst of a confederation, of their existence, their
property, and their particular rights, and in ap-
pealing'from the most i)owerful tyranny to the
sense of justice in all. Hiiice there was germinated
a ccrtJiin development of opinion, a deep study of
the law of nations, a considerable skill in managing
the members in the assemblages, very much re-
sembling that, although with apparent differences,
which is practised in the re|)resentalive govern-
ments existing in our lime.

The secularizations could not but jiroduce in
such a constitution changes very c(uisiderable.
At first they caused the disaitpearance from the
electoral colleg'.*s of the three eccl(!siastical electors,
and from the cillegc of princis of a great number
»)f catholic members. The catholic m;ijority, which
ha<l existed in the si^cond college, of fifty voices
against forty-three, was thus changed into a mi-
nority, because the primres who were called in to
replace the ecclesiuslical votes were nearly all
jnoteHtants. This was a great grievance to the
constitution and to tin; balance of Ktrength. There
is no doubt but the toler.nico of the age has taken
away from the words catholic and protestaiit party
their old icligioUH siiinifii-ation ; but these words
had acquired a political signification of a very
grave character. Tlio proKfslant party signilied
the party of Prussia, the catholic that of Austria.

These two influences liad for a good while divided
Germany between them. It might be said that
Prussia was at the head of the opposition in the
empire, and that .\nstria was at the head of the
government party. Frederick the Great, in raising
Prussia to be a jiower of the first rank, by means
of the spoils of Austria, had kindled between the
two great German states a violent animosity. This
animosity towards each other, a moment neutral-
ized in presence of the French revolution, wiis
quickly revived when Prussia, separating herself
from the coalition, had made peace with France,
and enriched herself by her neutrality, during the
time that Austria was weakening herself to sup-
port the war that had been undertaken in common.
Now more particularly, the war being over, and
tiiat it was necessary to divide the patrimony of
the church, the greediness of the two courts added
a new fermentation to the hatred which they
nuitually partook.

Prussia naturally desired to profit by tlie occa-
.sion of the secularizations to enfeeble Austria for
ever. Austria was, at the end of the eighteenth
century, as she had been in the thirty years' war,
and in the wars of Charles V., the great support
of the catholic party; not, indeed, that in all cases
the protestants had supported Prussia and the
catholics Austria ; the jealousies of too close a
vicinity, on the contrary, often altered such a re-
lation to each other. Thus Jiavaria, fervently
catholic, but incessantly alarmed at the designs of
Austria upon her territory, connuonly voted with
Prussia. Saxony ', although protestant, was often
opposed to Prussia, in consequence of the jealousy
of her neighbourhood, and voted with Austria; but
in general, the supporters of Austria were the
catholic i)rinces, and above all, the ecclesiastical
states. These last voted in its favour when the
•juestion of the head of the empire was to be
settled; they also supported the same vote in the
assemblies, when the general affairs of Germany
were discussed. Not levying troops themselves,
tliey suffered the Austrians to recruit for soldiers
in their dominions; and further, they furnished
a])|ianages to the younger children of the imperial
house. The archduke Charles, for example, luid
received a rich benefice in the grand privilege of
the Teutonic order, which had recently been con-
ferred upon him. The bishop of Munster and the
archbishop of Cologne being dead, the chajjlers of
the two sees had named the archduke Antony to
replace these defunct prelates. As in all the
aristocratic countries, the church in Germany was
devoted to furnish places for the younger sons of
the higher fiimilies. Prussia naturally bore no good
will to the ecclesiastical states, that thus furnished
Austria with soldiers, appanages, and votes in tlie
diet.

Gnco engaged in constitutional reforms, the
German princes wci-e brought to effect other
changes still, more i)articularly the suppression of
the free cities and the " immediate" nobility.

The free cities owed their origin to the em-
I)erors. In the same way as the kings of France
had formerly freed the communes from the tyranny

1 It must at the same time bu ohservcd, that at tills
moment llie elector of Saxony was a catholic, while hu
peoiile were protestant, and were reckoned as iiich.

The free cities, their origin
396 and state. — The "imme-
diate " nobility.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Austria wishes further to
indemnify the twoarcli-
dukes.

1802.
Aug.

of the lords, the emperors had given to the Ger-
man cities, enriclied by industry and commerce,
an independent existence, acknowledged rights,
and oftentimes peculiar privileges. It was thus
that there liad been introduced into the vast Ger-
man feudality, by the side of feudal lords, and
sovereign priests carrying the coronets of counts
and dukes, democratic republics, known by their
wealth or their talents. Augsburg, Nuremburg,
and Cologne, for arts, manufactures, and coni-
mei'ce, had formerly well merited the praise of
Germany and of all mankind. All these cities had
fallen under the yoke of small local aristocracies,
and for the most yiart were very deplorably go-
verned. Those which had supported their trade
and commercial prosperity, had escaped the general
wreck of tlie past, and even presented republics
tolerably prosperous. But they became objects
of jealousy to the bordering princes, who coveted
them for additions to their territories. Prussia
particularly had the desire to incorporate Nurem-
burg in her own state, and Bavaria, Augsburg.
Both these cities were nnich decayed from their
ancient splendour.

The " immediate'' nobility had its origin in a
mode very similar to that of the free cities, be-
cause its title accrued from the imperial iJioteetion
granted to the lords who were too feeble to defend
themselves. Thus this species of nobility abounded
more particularly in Fiancoiiia and Suabia, be-
cause at the time of the destruction of the liouse
of Suabia, the lords of that country, finding tiiem-
selves without a sovereign, were attached to the
emperor. They were called " immediate," because
they held directly from the emperor, and not the
princes among whom their estates were situated.
The same title of "immediate" was given to every
State, city, fief, or abbey, holding directly of the
empire. They denominated "mediate" every
estate dependent directly upon the territory in
which it happened to be enclosed. This "imme-
diate " nobility, whose obedience was partaken
between the local lord and the emperor, whom
they acknowledged as their only sovereign, were
proud of tlieir more elevated vassalage, served in
the armies and in the imperial ch.ancelleries, and
gave over to the Austrian recruiting officers, the
population of the hamlets and villages which be-
longed to them.

The territorial princes, of whatever party they
were, desired tlie double incorporation into their
estates of the "immediate" nobility and of the
free towns. Austria, cool enough upon the main-
tenance of the integrity of the free towns, of which
she coveted a cei-tain number for herself, was, on
the contrary, ardent in support of the " immediate"
nobility, for which she showed the most particular
I'egard. Still she wished to preserve in its existing
state all that she was able to retain in that position.

In a modern point of view, nothing can appear
more natural and legitimate than the union of all
these and similar parcelled out territories, cities,
and lordships, with the body of every state. This,
there is no doubt, would have been still more
valuable, if, as in France in 1789, they had re-
placed in Germany these local liberties, by some
system of general freedom, guaranteeing at the
same time all the existences and all the laws
belonging to such a state of things. But these

incorporations only went to increase the absolute
power of the kings of Prussia, tlie electors of
Bavaria, and the dukes of Wurtembnrg. For
that reason the world cannot I'ail to view them
with i-egret.

In the history of European monarchies there
are two revolutions very different both in date and
object ; the first, that by means of which royalty
conquered from feudality the smaller local sove-
reignties, thus absorbing, to form a single state,
numerous ])articular existing ones ; secondly, that
by means of which royalty, after having formed a
single state, is obliged to reckon in accordance
with the nation, and to grant a degree of general
liberty, uniform and regular in its character, most
assuredly very preferable to the liberties ex-
clusively afforded under a feudal system. France,
in 178!), after having achieved this first revo-
lution, undertook the second. Germany, in 1803,
attempted the first, and she has not completed
even that at the present hour. Austria, without
any other object than ti> preserve her influence in
the empire, would defend the old Germanic consti-
tuti(jn, and with that the feudal privileges of Ger-
many. Prussia, on the contrary, eager for in-
corporations, wished to absorb the free cities and
the immediate nobility, became an innovator by
amliition, and aimed at giving to Germany tlie
forms of modern social life, or, in other words, to
commence, without the desire to do so, and without
the knowledge of the fact, the work of the French
revolution in the old Germanic emjiire.

Thus if the constitutional objects of these two
great jiowers were different, their territorial pre-
tensions were not less in uniformity.

Austria wished to indemnify largely the two
archdukes, and inuler that pretext to extend and
amend the irontier of lier own states. She troubled
herself but little about the duke of Modena, a long
while indemnified by the treaties of Campo-Formio
and Lune'ville, with the Brisgau, a small province
of Baden, which he regarded little, as he pre-
ferred more to enjoy in quiet at Venice his im-
mense wealth, accumulated by sterling avarice.
But Austria occupied herself in good earnest about
the archduke Ferdinand, the former sovereign of
Tuscany. She coveted in his behalf the fine arch-
bishojiric of Salzburg, which would again attacli
the Tyrol to the main body of the Austrian
monarchy, and, further, slie desired the provost of
Berehtolsgaden, enclosed in the archbishopric.
These two principalities were formally promiseil to
her, but she wished to obtain more. She wished
to get for the same archduke the bishopric of
Passau, which would assure to her the important
fortified town of Passau, situated at tlie confluence
of the Inn and Danube ; the superb bishopric of
Augsburg, extending lengthwise on the river Lecli
even to the middle of Bavaria ; and, finally, the
county of Werdenfels' and tiie abbey of Kempten,
two possessions placed on the slope of the Tyrolese
Alps, dominating both one and the other over the
sources of the rivers which traverse Bavaria, as
the Inn, Isar, Loisach, and Lecli. If to these be
added nineteen free towns in Suubi;i, twelve more
great "immediate'' abbtys, and if it is recollected

■■ This county was dependent upon the hishopric of
FieisinL'eii.

1S02.
Aug.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

of the indemnities.— Of the
ecclesiastical elec'.oratcs.

397

that Austria, independent of wliat she demanded
for the archduke in Suabia, had a number of old
possessions in that country, it is easy from tliat
circumstance to judge of her designs. Slie wished
by means of the pretended indemnity of the arch-
duke Ferdinanii, to take a position in the middle of
Bav.-iria by Augsburg, above by Werdenfels and
Kempten, and below by her posse.s.sions in Suabia,
and in thus grasjiing with the talons of the imperial
eagle, to obtain the cession of a part of the estates
which she had fur a long while coveted, that is to
say, the course of the Iiui, and perhaps also that of
the Isar.

It was one of the oldest desigitS of Austria to
extend tun- territory in Bavaria, in order to secure a
bett'.r frontier, and at the same time to prolong her
posts in the Tyrolean Alps as far as the frimtiers
of Switzerland. The jwssession of the line of the
Isar was the dearest of lier wishes, and would not
have been the last had it been gratified. To have
possession of the Inn, Austria would have to aban-
don to the house of Bavaria the bishopric and city
of Augsburg, and, further, all her posses-sions in
Suabia. Under this plan the city of Munich,
situated on the Isar, would be found on the fron-
tier, and could no longer be the seat of the Ba-
varian government; Augsburg would have been the
new capital offered to the elector ])alatine. But
this was to absorb nearly one-half of the electorate,
and throw back the pahitino house entirely upon
Suabia. In defaidt of the nonl'ulfilment of this
too beautiful dream, the course of the km would
console Austria for her misfortunes. She pos-
sessed iinly the lower jiart of the Inn from Braunau
as far as I'assau ; but above, between Braunau and
the Tyrolean Alps, Bavaria ])os.sesscd both banks
of that river. Austria would have preferred to
possess the Iim through its entire course, from its
entry into Bavaria at Kufstein as far as its union
with the Danube. This line would have embraced
less surface of country than that of the Isar, but it
was very much tinir, and, speaking in a militjiry
sense, much more solid. It was in the mode of
exchange that Austria proposed to herself to ac-
quire one or the other of these frontiers. Thus
she did not cea.sc, since the question of indemnities
had occupied the different cabinets, to besiege with
her offers, and when she was not listened to, with
her threats, the unfortunate elector of Bavaria,
who immeiliately communicated his anxieties to
his two natural protectors, France and Prussia.

The foregoing is the mode in which Austria
intended to save herself in the distribution of the
indemnities — the folhuving is the mode in which
she intended to distribute those of the other
claimants.

For the losses of Bavaria on the left bank of the
llhin<!, which Hurpassed those of all the other
(jennan priiicis, bicause that house had lost the
duchy of |)<-ux-I'ontH, the palatinate of the llhine,
the duchy of Juliers, the nianpiisate of Bergen-ap-
Zooni,and a nuiltitudeof est.-ites in Alsace, Austria
assigned her two bishoprics in Franconia, those of
Wurtzburg and Baniburg, very well placed in
situation in regard to Bavaria, because they were
close to the high palatinate, Itut scarcely «M|ual in
value to two-thirds of what she; ha<l lost. IVfliaps
Austria would have added to this lot the bishopric
of Freisingen, situated on the ls;ir, very near to

Munich. To Prussia, Austria intended to give a
large northern bishopric, Paderborn for example,
perhaps two or three abbeys besides, a-s Essen and
Werden ; lastly, to the stadtholder a territory
somewhere in Westphalia, or, in other words,
about a ipiarter of what the house of Brandenburg
desired lor itself and its relatives. After having
conceded to the two Hesses, to Baden, and to
Wurtemburg, some of the spoils of the inferior
clergy, and a certain number of abbeys to a crowd
of little hereditary princes, who, she said, would
think themselves happy to take what was tendered
to them, Austria wished with the three considera-
ble tci-ritorics in the north and centre of Gennany,
such as Munster, Osnabruck, Hildesheim, Fulda,
with the remains of the electorate of Cologne,
Mayence, and Treves, to preserve the three ec-
clesiastical electors, and thus save her influence in
the empire.

Of these three ecclesiastical electorates, the first,
that of Mayence, had passed to the coadjutor of
the last archbishop. Tliis new titulary, a member
of the house of Dalberg, was learned, ingenious,
and a man of the world. The elector-ate of Treves
belonged to a Saxon prince, still alive, who had
retired into the bishopric of Augsburg, of which he
had tlie title, with that of Cleves, forgetting, in the
assiduous observation of his religious duties, and in
the opulence that the pensions bestowed upon his
family had procured for him, his lost electoral
greatness. The electorate of Cologne was become
vacant by th.e death of the recent titulary. The
bishops of Munster, Freisingen, Ratisboii, and
the provost of Berchtolsgaden, were also become
vacant. Whether Austria was or was not an ac-
complice of the chapters, she had suffered the
nomination, in presence of an imperial commis-
sioner, of the archduke .\ntony, to the bishopric of
Munster and the archbishopric of Cologne. Prussia,
irritated, had complained loudly, saying that Aus-
tria, by this nomination of new titularies, wi.shed to
create obstacles to the secularizations, and hinder
the free execution of the treaty of Lune'ville. These
complaints had for their object to hinder the tilling
up, in the same niann< r, of the benefices of Frei-
singen, Ratisbon, and Berchtol.sgaden, which were
at that moment vacant.

An idea tolerably just may be formed of the
designs of Prussia, by considering them exactly as
counter designs to those put forward by Austria.
At first she ju<lged, with some reason, that the
losses of the archduke of Tuscany were exaggerated
to at !ea.st double the truth. It was juetended at
Vienna that he had sustained a loss of tour millions
of florins in revenue. This was an exaggerated as-
sertion, and was founded upon a confusion of the
rough with the net revenue. The net loss sus-
tained by the grand duke was two millions five hun-
dred thousaml florins, at most. Prussia asserted that
Salzburg, Passau, and Berchtolsgaden, i-qualled in
revenue, if they did not surpai^s, Tuscany ; without
the addition that Tuscany, deUiclu <l from the Aus-
trian monarchy, had in that relation no value of
position, while Salzburg, Herchlolsgailcn, and Pas-
sau, were closely atf.-iclicd to the very body of that
monarchy, gave it an cxci llent frontier, and in the
mountains of Sal/.burg a numerous military popu-
lation. It was thought that Austria would he able
to levy there twenty-five thousand men. There

Views of Prussia in reference . Prussia offers to a'ly herself ,an»

to ll.e secuUrizHtions— THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, to France, ifshe will assist '°"--
Her claims. her in her claims. ■""^'

was, therefore, no proper ground to add to tlie l<it
of the archduke the bishoprics of Au<;sburg, Aich-
stadt, the abbey of Kempten, tlie county of Wer-
denfels, as well as all the free towns and abbeys
demanded by Austria in Suabia. Still Prussia not
less insisted on tiie exaj;gerated pretensions of
Austria, than she insisted on tiie lawfulness of lier
own. She estimated at double their real value tlie
los.-ies which she asserted that she had sustained, and
diminished a full half the value of the territory she
claimed as an indemnity. At first she partook in
one of the desires of Austria, — that of carrying
herself towards the centre and south of Germany.
Siie wanted to do that in Francoiiia which Austria
endeavoured to do in Suabia ; she would double
her territory there if possible. It was the constant
atiiijition of these two great powers to take advanced
positions in the midst of Germany, whether against
one another or against France, or whether to keep
under their influence the states in the centre of the
ciinfederation. Under the first impulse of ambition,
Prussia had not demanded less than the bishoprics
of- Wurtzburg and Bamburg, contiguous to the
niarquisates of Anspach and Bareutli, and intended,
in the view of all the world, to indemnify Bavaria.
This demand met with so many objections, par-
ticularly in Paris, that she was obliged to re-
nounce it.

In default of Wurtzburg and Bamburg. Prussia,
which had only lost the duchy of Guildres, a
portion of the duchy of Cleves, the small princi-
pality of Moeurs, some tolls suppressed upon the
Rhine, and the enclosed territories of Savenaer,
Huissen, and Marburg, ceded to Holland, repre-
senting 700,000 florins of revenue according to
Russia, and 1,200,000 according to France, —
Prussia would have no less than a part of the
north of Germany, in other words, the bishop-
rics of Munster, Paderb^rn, Osnabruck, and Hil-
desheim, besides the remains of the electorate
of Mayence in Thuringia, such as Eichsfeld
and Erfurth ; then finally, Franconia, where she
had not given up her pretensions, the bishopric
of Aichstedt, and the celebrattd city of Nureni-
bur-.

Making in regard to the indemnity of the stadt-
holder the same kind of calculati..ns as Austria in
ri'gard to the indemnity for the duke of Tuscany,
she demanded for the house of Orange-Nassau an
establishment contiguous to the Prussian territory,
comprehending the following countries : — the duchy
of Westphalia, the coui\try of Recklinghausen, and
the remains of the electorates of Cologne and
Treves on the right of the Rhine. It therefore
resulted for the stadtholder, besides the advantage
to be backed by Prussia, — a great advantage both
for her and himself, — that he was placed as well
close to Hollanil, with the power of profiting on
the turn of fortune. Now, if the falsity of the
Prussian valuation is considered, if it is considered
that after having exaggerated nearly double or
even triple the amount of her losses, slie dissimu-
lated in the same proportion about the va ue of the
objects slie demanded as an indeinnifiiatinn ; that,
for example, she valued at 350,000 florins the
bisho]>ric of Munster, which in Paris, after the
most impartial calculations, was valued at 1.200,000;
that she estimated at 150,000 florins value that
which at Paris was valued at 309,000, and thus of

the rest, an idea may be formed of the idle exag-
geration of her pretensions.

She showed her.self a little more genei'ous than
Austria towards the princes of the second and
third order, because they were all protestants to
be introduced into the diet. She was of opinion
that the ecclesiastical electors of Cologne and
Treves should be suppressed, but that of Mayence
was to be suffered to remain in existence, with
the wrecks of his electorate on the right bank
of the Rhine ; to rejjlace the two ecclesiastical
electors thus suppressed by protestaut electors,
taken from among the princes of Hesse, of Wnr-
temburg, of Baden, or even of Orange- Nassau, if it
were possible. Tlie support of her pretensions
which Austria endeavoured to gain from Russia,
Prussia sought to obtain from France. She offered,
if the first consul would seciud her in her claims,
to unite her policy with that of the first consul ; to
engage herself to him by a formal alliance ; to
guarantee all the arrai.gements that had been
made in Italy, such as the kingdom of Etrnria, the
new constitution given to the Italian republic, and
the union of Piedmont with IVance. She made, at
the same time, the greatest efforts to bring the
negotiations to Paris, which Austria endeavoured
to carry to St. Petersburg. She knew that out of
Paris she would not be judged very favourably ;
that in all the other courts, they reproached her
with having abandoned the cause of Europe for
that of the French revolution ; that if the jireten-
.sions of the emperor were criticised, hers would he
judged with much more severity, because she
wanted the excuse of the great losses sustained by
the house of Austria during the last war; she
knew, finally, tiiat she had no hope of support but
on the side of France ; that to lend herself to the
displacing of the negotiation, would be to disoblige
the first consul, and to accept arbitrators ill dis-
j posed towards his views. Thus had she refused
j all the overtures of Austria, who in despair of the
cause, made the offer that they shoald come to an
understanding, take both one and the other the
lion's share, and sacrifice all the princes of the
second and third order, and then to address St.
Petersburg directly afterwards, in order to obt:iin
the sanction of the jiartition which they should
iiave made, with the object, before all «)thers,
of delivermg Germany from the yoke of the
French.

The German princes, following the example of
Prussia, addressed themselves to France. In
])lace of soliciting for their cause in London,
Petersburg, Vienna, or Berlin, tliey solicited in
Paris. Bavaria tormented by Austria; the dukes
of Baden, of Wurtemburg, and of Hesse, jealous
one of the other; tiie lesser families affrighted at
the avidity of the greater; the free towns threatened
with losing their privileges; the "immediate"
nobility exi)osed to the same danger as the free
towns; all, great and little; reimblics or hereditary
sovereigns; all pleaded their cau.se at Paris, the
one intermediately by their ministers, the othei-s
<liiectly and in person. The late stadtholder sent
his son there, the prince of Orange, since then
king of Holland, a distinguished pi-ince, whom the
first consul regarded with much favour ; many
other princes came there as well. All of them
sedulouslv attended the palace of St. Cloud, where

ISO?
Aug.

Conduct of the great
powers and of tlie
firsl consul.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

The views of the tirst consul
in reftrence to the alliuuce QQQ

tlie general of a republic was courted as the equal
of kinj]^.

Singular was the spectacle which Europe then
presented, — a striking proof of the uncertainty of
huniau passions, and of the depth of the designs of
Providence !

Prussia and Austria had drawn Germany into
an unjust Wiir against the Fi-eneh revolution, and
they had been vanquished. Fr.ince, by the l;iw
of victory, a law incontest^ible when the victorious
power has been attacked, had conquered the left
bank of the Rhine. A part of tlie Uerinan princes
tliu.s ft)Und themselves de|>rived of their estates.
It was natural that they sJiould be indemnified in
'jcrmany, and that they only shoiiM have an in-
demnity. Nevertheless, Prus.sia and .\ustria, which
had compromised them, wished to indemnify, at the
expense of this s;inie unfortunate Germany, their
own relatives, whether Italians, as the arcliduUe.s,
or Dutchmen, like the stadtholder; and that which
is more strange still, under the name of their re-
latives, they wished to indenmify themselves, but
always at the expense of Germany, the victim of
their faults. Tlien these indeumifie;itions — where
did they seek for them I Why, in the property of
the Church itself ! fn other words, the deleuilers
of the throne and altar, returned home after being
themselves beaten, undertake to indenmify iheiii-
.selves for the unfortunate issue of the war b_,
despoiling the aUar, which they went i)ut to defend
in the battle-field, and by imitating the Ftencli
revolution, which they were come back from at-
tacking. And a m(n*e extraordinary thing yet, if
it be possiljle, they demanded of the victorious
representative of this very revolution upon which
they had been making war, to divide among them
the spoils of their altiirs, which they were not
capable of dividing honestly among themselves !

Tlie first consul disturbed but little the move-
ment going on around him to draw the negotiations
to this or that place. He knew that it could take
place only in Paris, because it was his desire it
should do so, and that was the most decisive point.
Free in his movements since the signature of the
general peace, he listened successively to the
parties interested; to Prussia, which only desired
to act with him and by him ; to Austria, which,
while endeavouring to carry the negotiation to the
arbitration of St Petersburg, neglected in the
meanwhile nothing to dispose liiin in her favour;
to Uavaria, whicli requested counsel and supi)ort
against the threatening otters of Austria; to the
house of Oninge, which had sent itsj heir tcj Paris;
to the houses of Baden, Wurteiiiburg, and Hesse,
which proffered him their entire devotediiess if he
would act for their advantage ; lastly, to the lcs.ser
princes, who claimed from their old alliance with
France. After having heard the different pre-
tensions of the parties, the first c(misuI soon saw
that witli^t tlio intervention of a jjowerful will,
the repohf; of Germany, ami, as a coii»eqiieiico, that
of the whole continent, woulil remain indefinitely
in peril. Ho tlierelore decided to offer, and, in
reality, to impose his mediation, by i>re.seiiting
arrangements which might do justice to tlie wisdom
of France as well as her |)olicy.

Nothing could be mure sensible nor more ad-
mirable than the views of the fii«t consul at this
liuj'py period of his life, when with as much glory

as that with which he ever covered his name, he
had not enough of material force to contemn
Europe, and to dispense with a system of policy
profoundly calculated. He saw well that with
the disp,,sitioiis of England so very uncertain, it
would be right to consider and to prevent the
danger of a new and general war; that to this end
it w:is urgently iiecessjiry to manage for the pro-
vision of a solid continental alliance; that the al-
liance of Prussia was the most convenient; that
this court, ail innovator naturally, by origin and
by interest, had with the French revolution certain
afiinities, which noother court was likely to possess;
that in attaching it seriously, coalitions would be
rendered impossibli! ; because, according to the
degree of power which France hail attained, woulil
be that, more or less, which would venture to
attack her, when all the powers should be united
against her; but if one power was wanting to the
coalition, and if the power so wanting was gone
over to the side of Fiance, the chances of a new
war would not be tempted. Still, in considering
about allying himself with Prussia, the first consul
comprehended with a rare correctness of judg-
ment, that he must not make lier so strong as that
she might crush Austria, for then she would be-
come in her turn the more dangerous power, in
place of being a useful ally; that he must sacrifice
neither the lesser princes, the old friends of
France, nor the ecclesiastical &tates, without ex-
ception, estates little consistent, little military, and
preferable as neighbours to lay princes and sol-
diers; nor, in fine, the free cities, respectable by
the recollections attached to them, respectable
above all by the title of republics, for the republic
of France; that to sacriHce at the same time to
Prussia all the little states, hereditary, ecclesias-
tical, and rei)ublican, this was to favour the reali-
zation of that German unity, more dangerous for
the European equilibrium, if it were even con-
stituted, than all the Austrian jK)wer had been of
old; that in making the balance incline, in a word,
towards the innovating protestant l>arty, it would
only be needful to incline, and not to overturn it,
because that would be to push Austria to despair,
perhaps to hasten it to a fall, to re|)lace one enemy
by another, and in some future time prepare for
France a rivalry with the house of Brandenburg,
to the full as formidable as that which had caused
war with the house of Austria during several
centuries.

Full of these wi.so rpHections, the first consul
endeavoured to bring Prussia into more moderate
views. Arrived at an understanding with her,
lie wisheil to negotiate with the interests of the
second order, and to get them to be satisfied with
n just portion of the indemnity; he then designed
to open at once at St. Petersburg a negotiation
entirely courteous, to flatter the |uide of the young
emperor, which he had discovered clearly under a
feigned modesty, and ti> obtain his alliance, by fair
proceedings, to'the territorial airaiigements which
should be decree<l. \\'itli the concurrence of I'rus-
sia salislied, and of Russia flattered, ho hoped to
render ineviuible tin; assent of Austria, if, at the
Biime time, care were taken not to exnspcrato her
too much by the arrangements adopted.

Ill combinaiioiis ho veiy complicated, it was
necessary to wait, ami to pass over several plans

400 Different plans of action. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Mecklenburg refuses
the offers of Prussia
and France.

1802.

Aug.

before arriving at that which should be definitive.
The idea of the first consul relative to the distri-
bution of the German territory, had been, at first,
to separate one from the other of the thi-ee great
central powers of the continent, Austria, Prussia,
and France, and to place between them the entire
mass of the German confederation. In this view,
the first consul would have conceded to Austria,
not the total of her pretensions, that is, the course
of the Isar, because in that case it would be neces-
sary to transport the palatine house into Suabia
and Franconia; but he would have conceded the
Inn in its whole course, that is to say, the bishopric
of Salzburg, the provostship of Berchtolsgaden, the
country comprised between the Salza and the Inn,
and further, the bishoprics of Brixen and Trente,
situated in the Tyrol. Austria thus iiidenniified
on her own account and that of the two archdukes,
should have been bound to renounce all posses-
sions in Suabia; she would have been placed be-
hind the Inn entirely ; she would have been com-
pact, and covered by an excellent frontier ; she
would finally have found I'est, and have given it to
Bavaria, through the solution of tlie old question
of the Inn.

At the same time that Austria would have re-
nounced her establishment in Suabia, Prussia
would have been made to renounce liers in Fran-
conia, by demanding her abandonment of the
margraviates of Anspach and Bareuth. With the
margraviates and the contiguous bishoprics of
Wurtzburg and Bamburg, and witli the possessions
of which Austria had made the sacrifice in Suabia,
with the bishoprics of Freisingen and Aichstedt,
enclosed in the Bavarian dominions, there would
have been composed for the palatine house a terri-
tory well rounded, extending at once over Bavaria,
Suabia, and Franconia, capable of serving as a
barrier between France and Austria. At this
price the palatine house would have been enabled
to abandon the rest of the palatine on the Rhine
and the fine duchy of Bei'g, placed at the other
extremity of Germany, that is to say, towards
Westphalia. Prussia, separated from Franconia,
as Austria from Suabia, would have been carried
back entirely to the north. To be wholly carried
back it would be needful to remove the obstacle
which intervened, that is to say, the two branches of
the house of Mecklenburg; and these two families
might be established in the territories become
vacant in the centre of Germany. Prussia would
be found upon the shoies of the Baltic; she having
received, besides, the bishoprics of Munster, Osna-
bruck, and Hildesheim. Indemnified thus for her
losses, new and old, she would have to abandon all
the duchy of Cieves, of which a part, situated on
the left of the Rhine, had passed to Fi-ance, and
of which the part situated on the right bank would
have increased the mass of indemnities. Then,
ali'eady separated from Austria by the abandon-
ment of Franconia, she had been so from France
by her distance from the banks of tlie Rhine.

There would remain in the vacant duchies of
Cieves, of Berg, and of Westphalia, in the remains
of the electorates of Cologne, Treves, and Mayence,
in the enclosed de))endencics of Mayence, Erfurth,
and Eichsfeld, in the bishopric of Fulda, and other
ecclesiastical properties, in the fragments of the
palatinate of the Rliine, in a great number of

" mediate" and also of " immediate" allies, spread
over all Germany — there would remain enough of
which to compose a state for the house of Meck-
lenburg and that of Orange ; to indemnify tlie
houses of Hesse, Baden, and Wurtemburg, and a
crowd of inferior princes. Finally, in the sees of
Aichstadt, Augsburg, Ratisbon, and Passau, there
would have been enough to keep two of the ecclesi-
astical electors out of three, a thing which had been
contemplated by the first consul, because he did not
wish to change too much the Germanic constitution,
and he was pleased besides to protect the church
in every country.

In this plan, profoundly conceived, Austria,
Prussia, and France, were established the one at a
distance from the other ; the Germanic confede-
ration was united in one sole body, and placed in
the midst of the great continental powers, with
a useful character, important and honourable, of
separating them, and preventing collisions between
them ; the German states thus acquiring a perfect
limitation, the Germanic constitution was usefully
reformed, and not destroyed.

The pian which the first consul at first ]>ropoRed
to Prussia, was not immediately refused. It was an
advantage to this power to become as coniijact in
territory as possible, to border on the Baltic, and
to occupy all the northern part of Germany. Her
definitive consent depended upon the extent or
quantity of territory offered to her when the
details of the partition came to be settled. But if
the princes of the centre of Germany, whose states,
at that moment vested in them only upon the
changeable will of the negotiators, were al)le to be
moved with ease to the north or to the south,
the east or west, it became another matter for the
jjrinces confined to the northern part of the con-
federation like the princes of Mecklenburg, strongly
established in the midst of their subjects, whose
affection they had possessed for many ages, stran-
gers to all the territorial vicissitudes brought
about by the war, and difticult to be per.suaded
into a displacement so very considerable. Besides,
if they said a word to England, she would not fail
to make a scheme misca'rry which should deliver
over the shores of the Baltic to Prussia.

Spontaneously or not, the princes of Mecklen-
burg refused, in a peremptory manner, the ex-
change which was offered to them. Yet Prussia,
which had been charged with the opening o^' the
negotiation, had clearly hinted to them that France,
in making neighbours of them, wished also to
make them her friends, and would show herself
liberal towards them in the distribution of the in-
demnities.

Howsoever important that part of the plan of
the first consul might have been which was thus
refused, it was still worth while to carry out the
realization of the rest. It was always a good
object if possible to keep Austria behind the Inn,
and thus to concede to her for once the long con-
tinued object of her wishes ; it was always bene-
ficial to concentrate Prussia in the north of Ger-
many, and to exclude her from Franconia, wliere
her presence was of no advantage to any body, and
might possibly become dangerous to herself in ease
of a war, since the i)rovinces of Anspach and
Bareuth lay directly upon the route of the French
and Austrian armies, and thus it would be difficult

Aug.

Prussia renews her former pre-
tensions.— Her losses and
diminution of revenue.

THE SECULARIZATION."'

Termination to the preten-
sions uf Russia to the
inUenmitie!-.

to pay respect to her neutrality. The sequel of
this history will reveal the serious inconveuier.ee
of such a situation.

But Prussia and Austria were very exacting in
every thinj^ that concerned themselves. Though
Austria found the frontier of the Inn e.\ceediiigly
attractive, she was unwilling to cede any thing in
Suabia ; she made demands of possessions tliere,
even after she might acquire the frontier of the
Inn. She demanded besides Salzburg and Berch-
t.ilsgaden, and besides tiie country between the
Salza and the Inn, the bishopric of Passau. The
bish'ips of Bri.xen and of Trent, which would be
given over to her, were not in her view a gift,
because they were in the Tyrol, and to Austria all
which was in the Tyrol, all which was in that
country, appeared so much her own property, that
she affected to believe, in receiving them, she
received nothing new. Prussia, on her side, would
not depart from any of her pretensions in Franconia.
Under this aspect of things the first consul
adopted the plan of abandoning the beneficial for
the possible, a painful necessity, but often needful
in great and important affairs of state. He di-
rected himself to the object of a clear tinderstand-
ing ttitlv Prussia, in order to concert measures
subsequently with Russia, reserving for the latter
part of the negotiation the agreement with Austria,
that exhibited a despairing obstinacy in the mat-
ter, which it was not possible to succeed in over-
coming but by the accession of united adhesions to
the side opposed to her.

He announced primarily his firm resolution not
to suffer any interest to be sacrificed ; to give
nothing to the greater states at the expense of the
smaller ; not to suppress all the free towns, not
utterly to destroy the catholic party. General
Beurnonville, the French ambassador at Berlin,
was at the same moment upon leave in Paris. He
had been ordered in the course of May, 1802, or
Flor(?al, year x., to hold a conference there with
M. Lucchesini, the minister of Prussia, and to
sign a convention, in which should be stipulated
the particular arrangements for the houses of
Brandenburg and Orange.

Prussia now reproduced all her former preten-
sions, but she had no chance of treating advan-
tjigeously with anybody but with P'raiice. She
was then obliged to resign herself to an arrange-
ment, which, although much inferior to that she
desired to have, could not fail to ap|)ear to the
whole of Germany an act of great partiality to-
wards her.

This powfi- had lost, as already seen, the duchy
of Gueldres, on the left bank of the Rhine, a i)art
of the duchy of (Aleves, and the little principality of
Muiurs ; she had ceded to Holland some estates
enclosed in that territ<jry ; and lastly, she had
been deprived of the revenue arising from the
Udls on the Rhine, in consequence of a general
disposition relative to the navigation. These losses
united drew after them a diminution of revenue,
which Prussia valued at 2,0()(»,0(»0 ..f flcrins, that
Austria estimated at only 7'»'*'l'") II., Riis-sia at
1,000,00011., and France, wisliini; to favour her
clami, at 1,200,000 fl. or 1,300,00011. By a con-
vention, signed on the "JSrd i,{ May, 1802, or 3rd
Priarial, year x., France promised to dbtnin for
Prussia the bishoprics of Paderborn and llildes-

heim, a part of the bishopric of Munster, the terri-
tories of Erfurth and Eichsfeld, the remains of the
ancient electorate of Mayence, and, lastly, some
abbeys and free cities, the whole representing in
value about 1,800,000 florins of revenue, or just
500,000 florins more than the estimated amount of
the losses they were intended to compensate.
Prussia obtained nothing in Franconia, which was
to her a subject of deep regret, because her whole
ambition wa-s perseveringly directed to that quar-
ter ; but Eichsfeld and Erfurth were intermediate
points, which might serve for stations towards her
arrival in the provinces of Franconia. While
feigning to resign herself to enormous sacrifices,
she signed the treaty, satisfied at bottom with the
acquisitions which she had obtained. On the fol-
lowing day a particular convention was concluded
with iter for the indenniity of the house of Orange-
Nassau. This house was not placed in the state of
Westphalia, as it would have wished, but in that of
Upper Hesse. The bishopric and abbey of Fulda,
the abbey of Corvey, at a little distance from
Fulda, that of Weingarten and some others, com-
posed this indemnity. By this arrangement, without
being placed too near to Holland and the relations
of the stadtholdei-ate, it was, notwithstanding, suffi-
ciently near the country of Nassau, where all the
branches of this family were or ought to be in-
demnified.

These advantages were granted to Prussia and
to her relative with the object of insuring their
alliance. Thus, too, the first consul designed to
profit hy the opportunity — to obtain from her a
formal adhesion to all which he had done in
Euroi)e. He demanded and obtained from the
head of the house of Orange-Nassau, the acknow-
ledgment of the Batavian republic, and the re-
nunciation of the stadthoklerate ; he demanded of
Prussia an acknowledgment of the Italian republic
and of the kingdom of Etruria, and an implicit
approbation of the union of Piedmont to France.
The king, Frederick William, thus found him.self
bound to the policy of the first consul, in what
to all the rest of Europe was the most objec-
tionable. He still did not hesitate, but gave the
adhesions required in the same document which
iissigned to him his own share of the German in-
demnities.

After having thus put a terminaticm to the pre-
tensions of Prussia to the indenniities, the first
consul, faithful to his scheme of coming to an
understanding successively and individually with
the ])rincii)als interested, signed on the same day a
convention with Bavaria. He treated this coinitry
ill the convention as the old ally of France. He
insured to it all the ecclesiastical ])rinci])alitics
enclosed in its own territory, the Ijishopric of
Augsburg, but without the town, which was to be
preserved as one of the free citii s, and the bishop-
ric of Freisingen ; the ])hu"es brjnlering on tha
Tyrol, nmcli desired by Austria, such us the abbey
of Kemplen, and the country <if Werdenfels ; the
fortress of Passau, without the bishopric, enclosed
in the Austrian territfiry, and destined for tha
archduke Ferdinand ; the bishopric of Aichstadt,
on the borders of the Danube ; the two graiul
bishoprics of Wurtzburg and of Banibnrg, forming
a noted jiart of Franconia ; fiinilly, several fn-o
towns and abbeys of Suabia, that Austria, in her
D D

Partkipaiioii of Russia
4Q2 ill llie Germanic ne-

giitiatiuii.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Proposition of the first
ciiiibul to the em-
peror Alexander.

180)!.
Aug.

amliitidus ilreams. had demanded for herself, par- |
tic-iilaily Uhii, Meniniingeii, Biichorn, and olliers.
The question of the Inn between Austria and
Bavaria was not detemiined ; tlie case was left to
the two powers interested to decide in the waj' of
exchange. 'J'he jialatine house, concentrated in
Su:il>)a and Francouia, thus obtained a compact
territory. There was only the duchy < f Berg,
placed on the confines of Westphalia, which was
separated from the main body of the state. Willi
the view of agglomerating the Bavarian territory,
that state had been made to abandon all the pahi-
tinate of the Rhine; but it was comjjletely iiidem-
nifiid for all which was thus taken away, because
if it lost 3 000.000 of florins in revenue, it had
received 3,000,000 and several thousand florins
moi-e in the way of compensation.

The inili-miiities of Prussia and of Bavaria being
thus fixetl, the most difficult part of the labour was
coiicluileil. Two of the friends of France were
conti-nted, the two most considerable of the Ger-
man states after Austria. No insiirmouiitahie
opposilii'ii was alierwai'ds to be apprehended. It
remained still to make the agreement with Baden,
Wurteml ui^', and the two Hesses. Baden and
Wurtenibiirg were clients and relatives of Russia.
It was with Russia that their portion slnuld be
arranged. 1 1 entered into the first consul's jilaii,
as lias been already observed, to give the empeior
Alexander a participation in the German ariange-
nu-nis, to interest him by treating those he patron-
ized well, by flattering his pride, and by appearing
to make a great account oF his influence. First,
he was obliged to follow this course by the secret
articles annexed to the last treaty of peace, by
whii h he was bound to enter into the affair of the
German imlenmities in concert with Russia. The
first ronsul had thought it best not to leave the
emperor time to ]nit forward his right of interven-
tion, and in his personal correspondence with the
yotmg emperor, he unbosomed himself with the
utmost confidence regarding all the great affairs
of Europe, and demanded his intentions in regard
to the houses of Wnrlemburg and Baden, which
had the Imnoiir of being allied t() the imperial
family. In fact, the dowager empress, widow of
Paul I., mother of Alexander, was a princess of
Wiirtimburg, and the reigning empress, the wife
of Alexander, was a prinCess of Baden. This last
WHS one of the three brilliant sisters, born at the
little court of Carlsruhe, that were at this moment
seated upon the thrones of Bavaria, Sweden, and
Russia.

The czar, flattered at these advances, voluntarily
accepted the offers of the first consul, and did not
for a moment think of entering into the idea of
Austria, that wished the negotiation to juoceed at
St. Petersburg. However plea.sed he miglit have
been to see the most important business of Europe
transacted in the imperial city, he had the good
sense not for a moment to pretend that he should be
so. He authorized M. Markoff", his minister, to
ne;;otiate the matter in Paris. Wurtemburg and
Baden were for the emperor the last interests in
this negotiation. His essential interest was to ))ar-
ticipate ostensibly in the entire work. The first
consul left the emperor Alexander nothing to desire
in respect to the exterior of the character he dtsired
to play, and offered him a participation iu a man-

ner whicli alliiwed him to figure upon an equality
with the Cabinet of France, in |>roposing to liini
that France :iiid Russia should be constituted
mediating powers between the different states of
the Germanic confederation.

This idea was one of the most happy possible.
It was nece.s.sary, in fact, after having arranged
with the principals interested, the part which
should be made their own, to open a coumiunica-
lion with the Germanic body assembled at Katis-
bon, and to bring it to ratily the engagenrtnts
individually subscribed. The first consul had the
idea of uniting these arryiigeuunts in a gtneral
plan, and of ]iresenting them to the diet at R;itis-
bin, in the nanus of France and Russia spouia-
neously, ci iistituting themselves mediating poweis.
This lorm ot proceediiu wtiuld spare the dignity of
the Gei-mauic body, which would no nure apptar
to be dietatorially organized by France, but thi.t in
the eiiibarrassmcnt into which it had betu cast by
the ambitious rivals raised u|) iu its own bosom,
it acci pted as arbitrators the two greatest pi.weis
of the continent as the nioht disinteresteil. It was
nut iio.ssiblu to conceal under a form more agree-
able to Germany, more flattering to the young
sovereign, yet scarcely entered uiion the stage of
the world, the real will of France. 'J he first
c< nsul, in thus accepting an equality of character
with a laiiice who had yet done nothing, han.-eJf
covered with glory, consunmiattly versed in arms
and politics, had exhibited the most able conduct,
because owing to a little niauagement he had
briiiglit Europe into his views. The character of
a true jiolicy is alwaxs to ])lace the real result
before the exteri< r tfl'tct. Besides this, the effect
is inevitably productd when the i-eal result is
obtained.

The proposition of the first consul to the emperor
Alexander being acct|>ted, it was agreed to presiut
a note to the Girmanic diet, signed by the two
cabinets, and containing a rpoiitaneous offer of
their mediation. It then remained to ha\e an
undtrstauding upon the arrangements to be L-tated
in tlie note itsell. The first con.'-ul iiad niiicji
trouble to make M. ]\lark(tt' accept the stipnlatit.DS
already agreed upon with the principal German
[loweis, contrary to the views of Austria,, without
bei!:g seriously |)iejudiced. Whilst the y< ung Alex-
ander affected to jiartake in none of the passicus of
the Eniopeaii aristocracy, M. Markoff in Paris,
and M. Won.nzott' in Liiidoii, displayed without
any reserve all the jiassions that a Frei.cli emi-
grant, an English tory, or a grandee of Austria
could have exhibited. ]\1. Markoff' was a Ru.-sian
full of stateliniss, and wholly destitute of that
attractive flexibiiiiy which is so often met with
in the distiiigui.shed men of his o«ii country,
having .some mind, btit more pritle, and continually
giving of the power of bis own cabinet a picture
at that time altogether exaggerated. 1 he fiist
consul was not a man to tolerate the ridiiuhnis
haughtiness of M. Maiki.ff', and kiitw how to Keep
the ambassador in bis proper place, w bile observing
lor the sovereign he represented the jiropi r degree
of legard. The first consul offered lor Wurtem-
burg, Baden, and Bavaria, advantages ctrtainly
superior to the losses that these three houses had
sustained. But M. Markoff", indiffiient to the im-
perial relationship, eveu to the Uussiau policy,

Particulars of the indemnities. THE SECULARIZATIONS. Particulars of the indemnities. 403

which begun after the peace of Teschen, to favour
the smaller German powers, in his zeal for the
cjuise of old Europe, exhibited himself not Russijin
but Austrian. It was for Austria that he appeared
to interest himself exclusiveh-. Prussia was odious
to him ; he contested all its statements, admitted
on the contraiy those of Austria, and demanded
for that power as much as they would have asked
for in Vienna. The bishopric of Salzburg, the
prevost of Bercht"lsgaden, accorded by general
consent to the archduke Ferdinand, produced very
nearly as much as Tuscany, or in other words,
2,500,000 florins. There were added further to
thtse two principalities the bishoprics of Trent
and Brixen. But M. Markoff would not admit of
this addition going into the account. These last
bishoprics were in the Tyrol, and on that account,
according to him, so much Austrian, that it was to
toke them away from the emperor to give them to
an archduke. This was answered by tlie statement
that Trent and Brixen were ecelisiastical j)rin-
cipalitifs, wholly independent, although enclosed in
the Austrian territories, and that they could not
become Austrian property until they should be
formally conft-rred upon her.

Austria wished to have besides the bishopric of
Pas>au, which would secure to her the important
fort e&s of Passau, situated at the confluence of the
Inn and the Danube, and forming a fortified bridge-
head towards Bavaria. It was agreed to give
Austria the bishopric without the town, which was
very possible, and at the same time convenient,
because the territory of this bishopric is entirely
comprised witiiin the dominions of Austria, and the
fortified town of Passau in Bavaria. To give Pas-
sau to Austria would be to give up to her a threat-
ening offensive position iii regard to Bavaria ;
nothing, therefore, was more consistent nor more
natural, than to grant the bishopric to the archduke
Ferdinand, and Passau to the elector i)alatiiie.
But Austria rt-'.jarded Passau as a capital position,
and M. Markoff sup|)orted its grant to Austria with
extreme warmth. However, it became necessary
to terminate this long negotiation ; and M.Markoff
feeling the pi>ssibility that it might finish without
Rus.sia, consented at l;ist to agree, and went into
an arrangement with M. Talleyrand upon the de-
finitive plan.

The advantages already conceded by the first
consul to Prus^iaand the house of Orange, although
warmly contested by M. Markoff, were inserted
entire in the definitive plan. These were, as has
l»eeii already slated, for Prussia the bishoprics of
Hildcsheim, Paderborn, and Munstcr ; this took
only in part Eichsfeld, Erfiirth, and some abbeys
and free towns besides: ami for the house of
Orange- Nassau, P'ulda and Corvey. Tiurc was
inserted in the same plan the coiulilions already
Ktipulated for Bavaria, in other wordrf, the bishop-
rics of Freisingen and Augsburg, the county of
Wifilenfels, ihu abbey of Keniplen, the city of
P.iMsau without the bishopric, the bishoprics of
AichstJidt, Wurlzburg, and Bamburg, with several
free towns and abbeys of Suabia.

Austria was to r<(!eive lor the archduke of Tus-
cany, the bishopries of Biixen, Trent, Salzburg,
and E'aHBiin, the l.-ist without the lortress', and the
j.revost of B irehtolsgaden. This was a revenue of
3,500,000 florins, as an indcnuiity for a net revenue

of 2.5(10,000, with the advantage of a contiguity of
territory which was not oflered by Tuscany. Aus-
tria obtained nothing in Suabia, but she kept her
old possessions there. It was at lier option to
exchange these for the frontier of the Inn. The
Brisgau was, as in anterior treaties, insured to the
duke of Modeiin.

The house of Baden was very well treated, a
matter that seemed to interest M. Markoff in a
very moderate degree. The house had lost various
lordships and estates in Alsace and Luxemburg,
representing in value a sum of 315,000 florins of
revenue at the utmost. Baden was secured terri-
tories at its own doors, such as the bishoiiric of
Constance, the remiumtsof the bishoprics of Spii'es,
Strasburg, and Bale, the baihvicks of Ladenburg,
Bretten, and Heidelburg, which amounted to
450,000 florins of revenue, without adding the
electoral dignity which it was destined to receive.

The house of Wurteinbiirg was iiot treated less
favourably. To this was conceded the prevost of
Ellwangen and difTerent alibeys, forming a revenue
of :i8O,60O florins, in compensation fur the 250,000
that it had lost.

The houses of Hesse and of Nassau were equally
indemnified by means of territories situated at
their own dr)ors, and proportioned to their losses.
The inferior princes were carefully defended by
France, and preserved revenues pretty nearly
equivalent to those of which they had been de-
spoiled. The houses of Aremburg and Solms were
placed in Westphalia. The counts of Westphalia
obtained the low bishopric of Munster. There was
little notice taken of England in this matter; she
did not seem to take any great interest in the ques-
tion of the German indemnities. Still it was not
forgotten that George 111. was elector of Hanover,
and that he set a great value upcjii this ancient
inheriuince of his family. He regarded it even as
a last resource in moments of melancholy, when he
believed that he saw England overturned by a re-
volution. It was wished lo dispose him favourably
to the measure : ami as he was also requested to
abandon certain rights in favour of the cities of
Bremen and Hambuig. and to make some small
sacrifices in favour of Prussia, he received as an
inde^nnity the bishopric of Osnabruck, contiguous
to Hanover, an iodenmity very snjierior to all that
he had lost, but which had for its object to interest
him in a streimous way in the success of the nego-
tiation.

A certain number of the " mediate " abbeys was
reserved to complete the indenniities of the princes
who might have been ill treated in the first parti-
tii II, and also to fiunish pensions to the members
of the suppres.std clergy. In general, the princes
who received the ecclesiastical i>roperty were bur-
dened with the payment of the pensions to all the
living titularies, bisho| s, abbots, membei-s of chap-
ters, and oflicers attached to their service. It was
the most obvious duty of humanity towards the
incumbents from whom they look the jiroperty, and
of whom they destroyed ilie princely rank. But if
the suppressed clergy on tin- right bank of the
Khine were thus piln ided (..r, there remained
those dispossessed n|»>n (lie hit lank; and these
being, in conse(|uenci; <if treaties, without any re-
source against France, they wore without the means
of u livelihood. It was for the sustenance of ihcBo
D d 2

The division of the
indemnities.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Organization of the
colleges.

1802.
Aug.

that a good many of the " mediate " abbeys re-
served were destined.

Such were the territorial dispositions agreed
upon witli M. Markoff. There had been distributed
nearly 14.000,000 of florins in indemnities, to meet
13,000,000 of loss. That which well exhibits the
greediness of the great courts, is the fact that
Austria took nearly 4,000,000 for the arclidukes ;
Prussia two for herself and half a million for
the stadtholder ; Bavaria 3,000,000, the exact
equivalent of her loss ; Wurtemburg, Baden, the
two Hesses, and Nassau, about two; all the smaller
princes united, about two and a half. Austria and
Prussia tliei'efore obtained the larger part for them-
selves, or for princes who made no part of the
Germanic confederation.

The constitutional dispositions still remained to
be made, and it was necessary to complete them.
The first consul was at first inclined to preserve
two ecclesiastical electors, but was afterwards
thwarted by the obstinacy of Austria ; deprived of
resources by the greediness of the great courts, he
found himself reduced to the preservation of only
one. The elector of Cologne was dead, and was
replaced, for form's sake alone, by the archduke
Antony, but without any intention on the part of
Austria to make the election valid. The elector-
archbishop of Treves, a Saxon prince, i-etired to
his second benefice, the bishopric of Augsburg, iuid
nothing of which to complain or regret. Tliere
was adjudged him a pension of 100,000 florins.
The actual elector of Mayence was a prince of the
house of Dulbui-g, of whom mention has been
already made. He liad, independently of his per-
sonal qualities, a claim to be maintained by the
importiince of his see, to which was attached the
chancellory of the empire of Germany, and the
presidency of the diet. The quality of arehchan-
cellor of the empire was therefore preserved to
him, as well iis the presidency of the diet. The
bishopric of Ratisbon was given to him where the
diet held its sittings. Bt-sides the bailwick of
Aschaffenburg, he iiad left him the remains of the
ancient electorate of Mayence ; and it was agreed
to make up for him, by means of reserved pro-
perty, a revenue of a million of florins.

There would in consequence remain out of the
three ecclesiastical electors, and with the five lay
electors, in all but six. The first consul wished to
augment the number, and to render it unequal ;
he proposed to have nine electors. The title was
conferred on the margrave of Baden, for the good
conduct of that prince towards France, and from
his relationshii) with Russia ; on the duke of Wur-
temburg and landgrave of Hesse, from their weight
in the confederation. These were three protestant
electors more, which made six protestants against
three catholics. The majority was thus changed
in the electoral college to the advantage of the
protestant side ; but it was not, on that account,
any way nearer taking away its legitimate influence
from Austria, because Austria was at all times
certain of the votes of Bohemia, Saxony, and May-
ence, most frequently of that of Hanover, and in
certain cases of those belonging to Baden and
Wurtemburg.

It was agreed upon, that the princes indemnified
with the ecclesiastical lands, should sit in the col-
lege of princes for the lordships of which they had

acquired the title. This step yet more changed
the majority in the college of princes to the advan-
tage of the protestant party ; but thanks to the
i-espect inspired by the house which had for so long
a time been impei-ial, and thanks to the interest
that the ])etty princes have in preserving the Ger-
manic constitution, the protestant votes newly in-
troduced were not all hostile votes to Austria. If
it be supposed that the protestant or Prussian
])arty, as it shall be called, had, in consequence of
the new arrangements, acquired a numerical ma-
jority in the colleges of electors and princes, Aus-
tria, with the old prestige with which she was
surrounded, with the prerogatives attached to the
imjierial crown, with her influence directed on the
elector (if Ratisbon, with the power of ratification
which she possessed in regard to all the resolutions
of the diet, would have still the means to counter-
balance the opposition of Prussia, and to remain
sufficiently powerful to prevent anarchy from in-
troducing itself into the Germanic body. It is esti-
mated that in taking fi'om Austria the numerical
majority, there had been taken from her, in a
greater or less degree, the power to domineer over
Germany at her will, and to draw it into war on the
promptings of her pride or her ambition. This
was the opinion of the new arclichancelJor, who
was well versed in the practical knowledge of the
German constitution.

It was needful to organize, lastly, the colleges of
the cities, having little influence at any former
time, and destined not to have more in the time to
come. Altliough the treaty of Luneville had not
spoken of the suppression of the free towns, but
only of the suppression of the principal ecclesiastics,
still the existence of many of these towns was so
illusory, their administration so onerous for them-
selves, the exception that they formed in the midst
of the Germanic territory so troublesome and so
i-epeated, that it became necessary to suppress the
greatest number. The protection which they had
sought of old in their quality of " intermediate"
cities, that is to say, cities dependent oidy upon
the emperor, tliey now found in the sense of justice
belonging to the present day, and in the observa-
tion of laws much more punctually executed than
formerly. Still, to sujipress all would have been
too rigorous; yet it may be affirmed, that but for
the first consul, the most celebrated would have
sunk under the ambition of the surrounding
governments. But he held it a matter of honour
to preserve the principal among them. He would
maintain the cities of Augsburg and Nuremburg,
because of their historical celebrity; Ratisbon, on
account of the presence of the diet; Wetzlar, from
the imperial chamber being held there; Frankfort
and Lubeck, because of their commercial impor-
tance. He devised the junction of two, which,
although considerable, even the most considerable
of all, Hamburg and Bremen, had not the rank of
iini)erial cities. Bremen depended upon Hanover.
It was detached at the jirice of a part of the
bishopric of Osnabruck. Hamburg enjoyed real
independence, but it had no voice in the college
of cities. It was now comprised among them, and
the first consul added some useful privileges to the
excejjtional existence of the free towns left. They
were declared neutral for the future in the wars
of the empire, exempt from all military charges.

1802.
Aug.

France combines with Russia
to perfect the seculariza-
tions.

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

Interview between the
sovereigns of Russia

I

such as reciniiting, financial contingents, and the
quartering of troojis. Tliis was a means of legiti-
matizing and rendering respected the neutrality
which had been granted to them. Another benefit
which they were to enjoy beyond any part besides
of the Germanic states, was the suppression of
the tolls, vexatious and onerous as they were,
established on the great rivers of Germany. The
feudal tolls on the Rhine, the Weser, and Elbe
were .euppressed. The losses which resulted from
this suppression by the states bordering on these
rivers had been calculated and compensated for
beforehand. Some princes who had a property in
certain free towns, such as Augsburg, Frankfort,
and Bremen, were obliged to renounce them at the
price of an augmentation of indemnity. It is to
France alone, and its obstinate efforts, that these
benefits were due. Thus the number of these
cities was reduced in regard to such as had lost
their importance, and augmented as to those that
were ricliest, which until then had remained with-
out the like advantages. Their position was aggran-
dized and improved ; while they were placed in a
situation to render great services to the freedom of
trade, and to gather the benefits.

This work when completed, was embodied in a
convention, signed on the 4th of June by M. Mai--
koft" and by the French plenipotentiary. Austria,
informed day by day of the proceedings of M.
Markoff, held herself back. On his side, the first
consul having considered the matter a little, de-
tennined, as he had done at the beginning, to
obtain tlie consent of the individual ])arties, in
order to overcome the reluctant, by the gather-
ing together of the consenting voices. With this
view, direct conventions made with Wurtemburg
and the other states, finished the details of the
])lan, as well as the particular or separate treaties
of France with the countries indemnified.

M Markoff would only enter into a conditional
engagement, and refer it to his court. It was
agreed upon, that if his court accepted the projjosed
plan, the note which should contain the accejjtance
should be immediately taken to Ratisbon, and pre-
sented to the diet in the names of France and
Russia, constituting the mediators to the Germanic
body. The first consul, in thus joining Russia to
his project, in accord besides on the same thing
with Prussia, Bavaria, and the jirincipal states of
the second and third order, would not fail to over-
come the resistance of Austria. But lie was fearful
of the efTorts she might make in St. Petersburg to
stagger the young emperor in his resolution, to
awaken his scruples, and interest his justice against
his vanity, flattercil as it was by the part he had
been offered to play. He therefore desired general
H<5douville, the French ambassador at Petersburg,
to declare that he could not wait longer than ten
days for the consent of the Russian cabinet, and the
ratification r)f the convention of the 4th of Jime.
He was to make this declaration in cautious but
positive terms. It clearly signified, that if Russia
di<l not ai)iircciato sufficiently the honour of regu-
lating, ill common with Fnincc, the new state of
Germany, that the first consul would pass on, and
constitute himself flic sole mediator. There ha<l
not been leas of ability tlian timelinr-ss in the con-
descension exhibited towards the court of Russia ;
and there had not been less in the firmness which

was thus shown at the end of the negotiation
entered upon in conjunction with her.

At this moment, the emperor Alexander was
absent from St. Petersburg ; he had had an inter-
view at Memel with the king of Prussia. Although
the Russian diplomacy was entirely favourable to
Austria, and unfavourable to Prussia, of which it
severely criticised the ambition and condescension
towards France, the emperor Alexander did not
participate in these dispositions. He was per-
suaded, without well knowing wherefore, that
Prussia was a much more formidable power than
Austria; he believed that the secret of the great art
' of war had remained, since the death of Frederick
II., in the ranks of the Prussian army, and he
■ remained of that opinion even up to the time of the
I battle of Jena. He had heard the world speak of
the king who governed Prussia, of his youth, his
virtues, his enlightened opinions, and his resistance
to his ministers ; and he believed he saw between
that king's position and his own, more than one
analogy ; he had also conceived the wish to be
personally acquainted with him. In consequence he
had proposed an interview at Memel. The king of
Prussia had met the proposition with much eager-
ness, because lie was ever full of his design of
being a mediator between Russia and France, and
always persuaded that he could exercise a useful
influence upon their relations, that he could make
them live in perfect harmony, that holding the
balance between them, he held that of Europe, and
that to the importance of such a character was
added that of the certainty of preserving peace, of
which the maintenance was become the most con-
stant of his occupations. This character, of which
he dreamed for a moment, under the emperor
Paul, became much more easy of attainment under
Alexander, of whom the age and inclinations
seemed to approximate to his own. Confirmed
in these ideas by M. Haugwitz, he wont to Memel
with his head full of the most honourable illu-
sions.

Frederick William and Alexander having met,
ap[)eared to agree well together, and they swore
eternal friendship for each other. The king of
Prussia was simple in his nianners, and a little
awkward ; the emperor Alexander was neither
simple nor awkward ; he was, on the contrary,
amiable, forward, and prodigal of demonstrations.
He did not at all fear making some advances
towards the descendant of the great Frederick, and
to express towards him the kindliest affection. The
beautiful queen of Prussia was present at this in-
terview ; the emperor Alexander directed towards
her from that time an attention respectful and
chivalrous. They separated perfectly charmed
with each other, and fully convinced that they
loved one another not as kings, but as men. It
was, in fact, a known pretension of the emperor
Alexander to appear a man niion the throne.
He returned, repeating to all those who came near
liim, that he had at last found a friend worthy of
him. To all that was stated to him regarding the
Prussian cabinet, its greediness and ambition, he
answered by the common ex|)la nation constantly
employed when people spoke of Prussia, that what
was remarked was very true of M. Haugwitz, but
false ap|>lied to the young and virtuous king. He
could nut have desired a better thing than to see

406

The emperor Alexander
unites with France in

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

repulating German
affairs.

ISO?.
Aug.

explained in the same mode all the actions of the
court of Russia.

At the moment when the two monarchs were on
the point of takin;; leave of each other, a courier
arrived at Meniel, ami brought a letter to the king
Frederick William from tlie first consul. This
letter contained a mention of the advantages
accorded to Pnissin, and of tlie definitive plan
agreed upon with M. Markoff. "All now depends,"
added the first consul, " upon the consent of the
emperor of Russia." The king Frederick William,
delighted at such a result, wished to profit by the
occ:isii)n, and to speak of German affairs to his
young friend, whom ho believed he ha<l secured for
life. But this friend evaded the topic, refused to
listen, yet promised to reply as soon as he had
received from his ministers a communication of
the plan agreed upon in Paris.

It was the middle of June, 1802, or the end of
Priarial, year x., and couriers awaited the emperor
Alexander in St. Petersburg, where general He'dou-
ville, very exact in his obedience, had already pre-
sented one note to announce, that if at the end of
the time fixed fur the delay, there was no explana-
tion made to him, pro or con, he would consider
it a negative reply, and send word to Paris. The
vice-cliancellor Kurakin, who was better disposed
towards France than his colleagues, requested
general Heilouville to rec:ill his note, in order not
to offend the emperor Alexander, promising that
on the ai-rival of that monarch, the matter should
be immediately submitted to him, and a re))ly be
given without delay. The emperor, on his return
to the capital, heard what his ministers had to say,
and was much |>ressed by several simong them to
refuse his assent lo the proposed plan. The cabinet
appeared divided, but still more disposed for Aus-
tria than for Prussia. Alexander, seeing well
enough with his precocious finesse, that the master
of the affairs of the west abantloned to him but
the appearance of a character of which he himself
kept the reality ; although he well understood that
the conditions whi,li were to be dictated in com-
mon at Ratisbon, had arrived ready-made from
Paris, Alexander was moved liy the external show
of respect observed towards his empire, and satis-
fied with a precedent, which, added to that of
TeSchen, established in future the right of Russia^,
to mingle itself uj) in German affairs. He was
convinced that the first consul would go on without
him if the Russian cabinet hesitated longer ; fur-
ther, the pretensions of Austria, which made at
that moment their last efforts at St. Petersburg,
appeared to him entirely unreasonable; and finally,
the letters of the kmg of Prussia were every day
more pressing : from all ihese motives, he decided
in favour of the pmposed plan, and ratified the
convention of the 4ih of June, it may be said, in
spite of his ministers. While he gave his consent,
the prince Louis of Baden arrived in St. Peters-
burg, to invoke the cause of his relatives, and
obtain approval of a plan which augmented his
fortune and the titles of his house ; but he found
his wishes already granted. Some days afterwards
this unfortunate prince died in Finland, through
an accident to his carriage, in going from visiting
his sister the empress of Russia, to see his bister
the queen of Sweden.

Tlie emperor Alexander, though he had given

his consent, had made two reservations, not ex-
pressly, but verbally, which he left to the courtesy
of the first consul to take into consideration. The
first was relative to the bishop of Lubeck, duke of
Oldenburg, and his uncle. This prince lost by the
suppression of the toll of Elsfleth on the Weser a
considerable revenue, and requested an augmenta-
tion of indemnity. There were some thousands of
florins to be made up. The second reservation of
the emperor was in relation to the electoral dignity,
which he wished to have conferred upon the house
of JNIecklenburg ; he did not mucli regard the
course of events as to the other states. This was
more difficult, because the new favours bestowed
ali-eady, carried to six the number of electors, and
placed another i)rotestant in the electoral college.
This was a point, however, to be rectified at an
ulterior time by the diet.

All had been disi)osed in such a way, that the
couriers returning from St. Petersburg, were to
make their route by Ratisbon, and remit the orders
of Russia and France to act immediately. Russia
had appointed as her minister-extraordinary for
this negotiation M. Biihler, her r)rdin:iry repre-
sentative at the court of Bavaria. The fii-st consul,
on his side, had chosen for the same post M. de
Laforest, minister of France at Munich. M. de
Laforest, to his knowledge of German affairs and
his activity, united qualities well adapted to the
difficult functions with which he was charged.
The note announcing the mediation of the two
courts had been drawn up beforehand, and sent to
the two ministers of France and Russia, that they
might be able to present ihem on the return of the
couriers from St. Petersburg. Both ministers had
orders to quit Munich in order to ])roceed imme-
diately to Ratisbon. M. de Laforest executed the
order immediately, and il. Buhlev engaged to
follow him without delay.

They arrived at Ratisbon on the 1 6th of August,
or 28tii Thermidipr.

The diet had disburthened itself of the difficult
labour of the new Germanic organization, by an
extraordinary deputation composed from each of
the principal German states. This was in imita-
tion of that which had been done at other times
and in similar circumstances, more i)articularly at
the peace of Westphalia, The eight state- chosen
were Brandenburg by Prussia ; Saxony, Bavaria,
and Bohemia, by Austria ; Wurtembui-g, the Teu-
tonic order, by the archduke Charles ; Maytiice,
and Hesse-Cassel. Tlie.se eight states were repre-
sented in the extraor<liuary deputation by the min-
isters transacting the business according to the
instructions of their respective governments.

All the niiuistei's were not present ; M. de La-
forest had great efforts to make in order to induce
them to come to Ratisbon, — efforts the more labo-
rious, because Austria, reduced to despair, bad
taken the determination to oppose to the vivacity
of French action, ihe delays available in the Ger-
manic constitution. The note before alluded to, in
the form of a declaration, was delivered, in the
name of the two courts of France and Russia, on
the 18th of August, or 30th Thermidor, to the
directorial minister of the diet, who had the duty
of presiding over all the official conmiunicatioiis.
A copy was also given to the imperial plenipoten-
tiary, because there was placed in the grand depu-

1802.
Aug.

Noie of France and Kussia. THE SECULARIZATIONS.

Austria occupies Passau.

407

tatinn, as well as in tlie diet itself, a plenipoteiitiisry
exercisiii}; the imperial premgative, wiiith preroga-
tive cojiMstetl in receiving cnnimuiiications of pro-
positions addressed to the confederation, in ex-
aminiiiij them, and in nitifving or rejecting them
on the emperor's behalf.

The note of the mediating powers, excellent,
amicable, but firm, staled simply that the G. rnum
states not having yet been able to come to an un-
dei-staniling for the execution of the treaty of Lune-
ville, and the whole <if Europe being interested that
the work of the peace should receive its last coui-
plinient in the arraugetni'nt of the affairs of Ger-
inMuy, France and Russia, powers i'riendly and
disinterested, had offered their mediation to the
diet, had presented it with a plan, and had de-
clared : —

" That the interest of Gemiany, the consolidation
of the peace, ami the general tran(inillity of Eurojie,
demanded that all which concerne<l the regulations
of the Gernuinic iiulemnitien, should be terminated
within the space ol two months."

The time to be thus fixeil hail in itself something
iniperiotis, without doubt, but it made the proceed-
ings of the two courts more serious in aspect; and,
under all the bearings of the case, it appeared to
be indis|iensable.

This declaration must have produced a very
great effect. The directorial minister, in other
words the president, immediately transmitted it to
the (Ktraordinary deputation.

While things proceeded in this determined man-
ner at llatisbi'ii, an official j)roceeding took place
at Vienna on the part of the French ambassador,
in order to communicate to the Austrian court the
scheme of the mediating powers, to declare that
they had no intention willingly to liurt its feelings,
nor wished to do so now ; but that the impossibility
of coming loan understanding with her had obliged
them to take a definitive part. — a part imp riously
demanded f r the repose of Europe. It was in-
sinuated at the s:nne time, that the plan did not
regulate every thing in an irrevocable manner ;
that there remained besiiles means enough to serve
tin; court of Vieima, whether in its negotiations
with Bavaria, or in its efforts for seeming to the
grand duke the succession of the 'i'eutonic order
and of the last ecclesiastical electorate ; that in all
these things the condescension of the first consul
would be proportioned to the condescension of the
empiTor. As to the rest, M. de Champagny, the
Fie ch ambassailor, had orders not to go into any
di'tail, but to state, so as to be clearly comprehended,
that all s'-rious discussion should be exclusively
entered u|ion at Ilalisboii.

In the midst of thew; inevitable delays of diplo-
macy, the indemnified princes were very impatient
to occupy the territories which had devolveil upon
I hem by virtue <.f the arrangements made ; and
they jiad demanded their inunediate possession.
Frane(; had consenteil, in order to render the plan
proposed as nearly as possihlo irrevocable. Imme-
diately Prussia occupi<-<l iiiidesheini, I'aderhorn,
Minister, Kichsfeld, and Erfurth. VVurtemburg
and liavaria wen? not le h impatient than Prussia,
and Sent detachments of troops into the ecch-sias-
lical principalities which were assinned to them.
The resiHtancc on the part of the priucipaliiieR could
not be considerable, because they were in the liaiids

I of old jirelates, or of chapters administering vacant
j benefices, not having means nor will to defend
them. The hardship to these occupants was i-ec-
koned of no moment, — a hardship which, in a case
of a sim lar kind, was made a rei)roach formerly
against the French revolutionists. The natural
protector of these unhappy ecclesiastics was Aus-
tria, whose duty it was to exercise the imperial
power. But the greater part of those who suffered
were placed far away from the Austrian territory ;
and those that were near its frontiers, as the bishops
of Augsburg and Freisingen, were not able to re-
ceive succour without a violation of the Bavarian
territory, which would have been an act of the
gravest character. In the mean lime, there was
one of those bishoprics that it was easy enough to
protect from Bavarian occupation, — the bishopric
of Passau. To undertake its defence was an act of
vigour well adapted to elevate Austria from her
very abased situation.

The geographical position of this bishopric has
been already indicated. Entirely enclosed in Aus-
tria, it had only one i)oint on the Bavarian terri-
tory, and that was the city of Passau. The court
of Vienna wished, as already shown, that this place
should be given to the archduke with the bishopric
itself. • The Austrian troops were at the gates of
Pas.sau, and had oidy one step to take in order to
enter the city. The tem|)tation was great, and the
pretext was not wanting. In fact, the unliai)py
liisliop, on seeing the Bavarian troops approaching,
had addressed himself to the emperor, the natural
protector of every state in the empire exposed to
such a violence. The plan which gave his bishopric
partly to Bavaria, and partly to the archduke
Ferdinand, was as yet only a project or scheme,
not a law of the empire; and until it was so, the
execution of the plan might be considered an
illegal act. Acts of a similar kind, it is true, were
conmiitted throughout all Germany; but where it
was possible to prevent them, why not do so— why
not give some sign of spirit and vigour ?

Austria had aroused herself to the highest pitch
of exasperation. She complained of every one ;
of France, that without saying ii word had nego-
tiated with Russia the phin which changed the
face of Germany; of Russia herself, that, at St.
Petersburg, had kept secret her adoption of the
plan of mediation; of Prussia and her confederates,
who sought their supiiort fnun foreign govern-
ments to overturn completely the German empire,
'i'liese complaints had very little foimdation in fact.
She had no one to reproach but herself, her ex-
aggerated jiretensions, and her own ill-managed
craftiness, for the state of abiindonmeiit in which
she was left at that moment. She had wished to
negotiaie with Russia, concealing it from France,
and France hail negotiated with Russia, ci ncealing
it from her. She Jiad been desirous of introducing
foreigners into tin; affairs <if the empire, in having
recourse to the emperor Alexander of Russia; and
Prussia and Bavaria, imitating her example, had
called in France; with this difference, that J'russia
and Bavaria had obtained the intervention of a
power friendly to the Germanic body, and bound
to interfere by the obligations of treaties them-
selves. 'J'hen as to the previous occupations, they
were premature measures, it is true, and in the
Blrictueas of the law, iUegal ; but unfortunately for

408 Austria occupies Fassau. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1802.
Sept.

the logic of Austria, she had herself occupied Salz-
burg and Berchtolsgaden.

However these things might be, still Austria,
exasperated, determined to show that her courage
was not lowered by a coincidence of unfortunate
circumstances, and she did an act, in consequence,
little in unison with her ordinary circumspection.
She commanded her troops to pass the suburbs
of Passau, and to occupy that fortress ; at the
same time she acconipaiiied her act with ex-
planations tending to extenuate their effect. She
declared that in acting thus, she answered only
the formal demand of the bishop of Passau; that
she did not intend to decide by force one of the
litigated questions submitted to the Germanic diet;
that she only intended to do an act purely con-
servative ; and that as soon after the decision
of the diet as possible, she would withdraw
her troops, and leave the contested city to the
proprietor who might be legally invested with
it, by the definitive plan of the general indem-
nities.

The troops of Austria entered Passau on the
18th of August. While they were marching there
the Bavarian troops approached on the opposite
side. Little more was necessary to produce a
serious collision, which might have set all Europe
in a flame. Fortunately, tlie prudence of the
officei's charged with the execution of this duty
prevented sucli a misfortune ; the Austrians re-
mained masters of the place.

This was rather bold conduct, the bolder in that
the place did not belong to Austria, and it was on an
important point, opposing a formal act of resistance
to the declarations of the mediating powers. The
effect produced by this act at Ratisbon was very
great, among the numerous public men of Ger-
many who were there assembled. There were in
that city representatives of all the states ; those
maintained or sui>pressed, satisfied or discontented,
searching, the one to support and carry into effect
the proposed plans, the others to change them in
relation to what concerned themselves. Magis-
trates of free towns, abbots, prelates, and "im-
mediate" nobles, were there in great abundance.
The immediate nobles, above all, who filled the
armies and the chancellories of the German courts,
figured in great numbers as ministers of the diet.
Even those who represented the courts which were
benefited by the change, and which, under the
circumstances, had appeai-ed to be content, pre-
served notwithstanding their personal passions,
and like German nobles, were very far from being
perfectly satisfied. M. Goetz, for example, the
minister of Prussia at Ratisbon, was the partisan
of the plan of indemnities on account of his court;
but in his quality of an " immediate" nobleman, he
deeply regretted the loss of the old order of things.
Several other ministers of German courts were in
the same situation. These personages composed
in themselves an impassioned public body, leaning
strongly in favour of Austria. It was not from
France that they wished for more, because they
saw jilainly that she was wholly disinterested
about the whole matter, and had no other end but
to put a term to the conflicting affairs of Germany;
but they cast the severest blame upon Prussia and
Bavaria. The greediness of these courts, their
connexion with France, their desire to destroy the

old Germanic constitution, of these they spoke in
terms of unqualified bitterness.

The news of the occupation of Passau produced
in the midst of such a public body the most lively
and grateful sensation. There was a necessity,
they said, for a vigorous step ; France had no
troops on the Rhine; the peace with England was
not so solid that France was able to engage herself
easily in the affairs of Germany; besides, the first
consul had received a sort of monarchical au-
thority, as a recompense for the peace procured
for the world; he would not so soon withdraw a
benefit for which so high a price had been paid.
They had only, therefore, to show energy, to pass
the Inn, and give a lesson to Bavaria, and thus
lower the numerous hands lifted up at the mo-
ment for the destruction of the Germanic consti-
tution.

The effect thus produced at Ratisbon was soon
spread over all Europe. The first consul, who
had been attentive to the progress of the nego-
tiations, was much surprised. Up to this time
he had carefully abstained from every step that
might have a chance of causing injury t<> the
general ])eace. His object had been to consulidate,
not to put into peril. But he was in no humour
to suffer himself lo be publicly braved, and above
all, to have a result compromised, which he had
pursued with so much labour and with the best
intentions. He felt what effect this hardihood of
Austria might possibly produce at Ratisbon, if he
did not repress it, above all, if he appeared to
hesitate. He immediately sent for M. LucchesinI,
the Prussian minister, and M. Cetto, the minister
of Bavaria. He made them both sensible of the
importance of a prompt and energetic resolution,
in presence of the new attitude which Austria had
thought fit to take, and the danger to which the
plan of indemnities would be exposed in conse-
quence, if, under the circumstances, the least hesi-
tation were exhibited. These two ministers felt,
as well as any person, that the interest of their
courts sufficed to enlighten their minds upon such
a subject. They adhered without a moment's
consideration to the ideas of the first consul. He
proposed to them to bind liimself by a formal
agreement, in which it should be declared anew,
that he was disposed to emjjloy all the necessary
means to carry into effect the plan of the mediation,
and that if in the sixty days assigned for the pur-
pose of the labours of the diet, the city of Passau
should nut be evacuated, France and Prussia would
unite their arms to those of Bavaria, to secure to
the last the territory promised her in the plan of
indemnity. This convention was signed the even-
ing of the same day when it had been proposed,
that is to say, on the 6th of September, 1802, or
18tli Fructidor, year x. The first consul did not
send for iM. Markoff, because he would have raised
a thousand difficulties upon his own part, caused
by the interest he felt for the house of Austria.
The first consul had not, besides, any need of the
assistance of Russia to perform an energetic act.
The convention itself became more threatening,
thus signed by two powers, the convention that
each of the two was seriously resolved to execute.
The first consul therefore contented himself with
communicating the fact to M. Markoff, and re-
quested him to transmit a copy to St. Petersburg,.

1802.
Sept.

The extraordinary deputation THE SECULARIZATIONS.

assembles at Ratisbon.

40 a

in order that his cabinet might be able, if it saw
fit, to adhere to the resolution.

On the following day the fii-st consul sent off his
aid-de-canip, Lauriston, with the convention which
had been signed, and with a letttr for the elector j
of Bavaria. In this letter he requested the elector
to be assured, that he guaranteed to him anew all |
that part of the indemnity whicli had been pro-
mised him, and announced to him, that at tiie
time fi.xed a French army should enter Germany,
to make tlie faith of France and of Prussia re-
spected. The aid-de-camp, Lauriston, had ordere
to visit Passau, to see things for himself, and to
judge with his own eyes what might be the number
of Austrians that liad been assembled upon the
frontiere of Bavaria. He was after this to show
himself at Ratisbon, to go to Berlin, and to return
through Holland. He was the bearer of despatches
also for most of the German princes.

This was more than was necessary to operate
powerfully on the minds of the Germans. Colonel
Lauriston set off immediately, and arrived at
.Munich without losing a moment. His presence
there was the occasion of great joy to the unfortu- j
nate elector. All the details contained in the
despatch from the first consul were repeated from
mouth to mouth. Colonel Lauriston continued his !
tour without delay, made certain with his own i
eyes the conviction that the Austrians were in too i
few numbers upon the Inn, to do any thing more j
than exhibit in bravado, and he then proceeded to |
Ratisbon, and from Ratisbon to Berlin. j

This promptitude of action surprised Austria ;
struck with alarm all the oppositionists in the diet,
and jiroved to them that a power like France had
not jtublicly engaged herself with another power
like Prussia, in the success of a plan which she
did not seriously desire to effect. Besides, the
intention of the mediators was so evident, it had
so nnich for its aim the repose of the continent, by
terminating the disputed affairs nf Germany, that
reason must have united itself with the sentiment
of a superior force, to make futile all resistance.
There remained to be overcome, it is true, more
formal differences, of which Austria had availed
herself to delay the adoption of tin; plan, at least
until she liad obtained some concession which
might alleviate her chagrin, and preserve the
dignity of the hca<l of the empire, which had been
so much compromised upon this occasion.

The extraordinary deputation, which had been
charged by the diet to prepare a coiiclusum for sub-
n)ission to the body, was at the same moment
assembled. The eiglit stiites which composed it,
Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria, Bohemia, Wur-
temburg, the Teutonic order, Mayence, and Ilessc-
Cassel, were present in tlie persons of their minis-
ters. The protocol was opened, and each began
to give his opinion. Of the eight states, four ad-
mitted, without hesitation, the i)lan of the medi-
ating powers. Brandenburg, liavaria, Hesse-CasscI,
and VVurtcmburg, ex|>re88ed their gratitude to the
great jiowers, which had been inclined to come to
the succour of the Germanic body, and to draw
them out of their cmbarra.s«ment by a disinterested
arbitration ; declaring, be»i<le8, that the plan pro-
posed was wise, acceptable in its contents, save in
some petty details, in regard to which, the grand
dc])ut;ition w.mld be able, without inconvenience,

to give its opinion, and to propose useful modi-
fications. They added, finally, relatively to the
delay fixed, that it was urgent to finish as soon as
possible, as much for the peace of Germany as for
that of Europe. Still the four approving states
did not explain themselves in a precise manner
about the term of two months, which had been
fixed for limiting their proceedings. It would
have been a compromise of their dignity to i-eeall
that rigorous term, or propose to submit them-
selves to it, but they were right in what they were
understood to intend, when they recommended to
their brother states to finish their proceedings as
soon as possible.

It was proper to await the approval of Mayence,
when that old ecclesiastical electorate was the only
one ]>reserved, and provided with a revenue of
a million of florins. But the baron Albini, the
representative of the archbishop elector, a man of
mind, and very adroit, wishing from the bottom of
his heart full success to the mediation, was very
embarrassed to give his approval, in presence of
all the ecclesiastical party, to a plan which an-
nihilated the old feudal church of Germany, and
to ap])rove it alone, because the electorate of his
archbishopric was preserved. More than this, the
archbislioi> was not perfectly satisfied at the com-
binations which related to himself. The bailwick
of Aschaffeuburg, the last fragment of the electorate
of Mayence, formed the sole poi-tion of the re-
venue secured to him, arising out of territorial
acquirement. The rest was to arise fi-<>m different
assignments on the reserved goods of the church ;
and for this part of the promised million, by far
the most considerable portion, as the bailwick of
Aschaffeuburg, .scarcely reached 300,000 florins in
value, he was therefore not without much dis-
quietude.

^I. Albini, for Mayence, therefore, gave in an
opinion somewhat ambiguous, thanking the high
mediating powers for their amicable intervention,
deploring at length the unhappy circumstances of
the German church, and distinguishing in the plan
two different heads, one comprehending the dis-
tribution of the territories, the other the general
considerations which accompanied it. As to the
distributions of the territory, except the smaller
indemnities, the minister of Mayence ajiproved the
propositions of the mediating jiowers. In regard
to the general considerations, containing the indi-
cation of the regulations to be made, he thought they
wei'e insufficient, and the pensions of the clergy in
a more particular manner did not seem to him suffi-
ciently well secured. Under this head, it is jiroju-r
to acknowledge that the observations of the repre-
sentative of Mayence were not destitute of reason.
His opinion, therefore, did not convey a formal
approbation.

Saxony requested to reserve her vote at present;
this was a step fi'equently adopted in the delibera-
tions of the Germanic diet. As the suffrages were
several times taken, it was possible for any mem-
ber to reserve tlie statement of his opinion until a
subsequent sitting. This state, very disinterested
and discreet, commonly acting under the influence
of Prussia, but in its heart giving a preference to
Austria, being also catholic as respected the re-
ligion of its prince, although the people were pro-
testant, suH'ered painful scruples, divided as it was

410

Complaints made by
Austria.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1802.
Sept.

between reason and inclination — its inclination,
which clung to old Germans, and its reason, which
spoke strongly for the plan of the mediating
powers.

Bohemia, and the Teutonic order, were states
altogether Austri;in. As to the first, it was more
suitable to its position, the emperor being king of
Bohemia ; and in relation to the second, the cause
was equally evident, when the archduke Charles,
the brother of the emperor, his generalissimo, and
his minister at war, was the grand master of the
Teutonic order. They affected, both at Vienna
and Ratisbon, to make a difference between the
minister oF Bohemia, for example, and the im-
perial minister. The minister of Bohemia, es-
pecially representing the house of Austria, was by
this enabled to deliver himself up freely to the
ex|)restiion of the ))assions of that family ; thus he
was made to say the most cutting things regarding
the question under consideration. The imperial
minister, speaking in the name of the emperor,
aff'ected a much more grave expression, and
made it a point of view to address iiimselt' to the
general interest of the empire. He was less faith-
ful to the truth, and nmch more pedantic. M.
Sfhraut was the minister for Bohemia, M. Hugel
for the emperor. The last was the most consum-
mate of formalists ; he was besides this very
crafty, as most of those Germans are who have
grown old in the diet, and who under the ridicu-
lous pedantry of these forms, conceal all the cun-
nijig of the inmates of the ])alace. In respect to
the minister of the grand master of the Teutonic
order, M. Rabenau, he submitted entirely to the
Austrian deputation, that instructed him even in
his notes, in the sight and to the knowledge of the
diet ; from the character which this estimated
minister thus played he felt much, and complained
openly himself. M. Hugel, the minister for the
emperor, directed the Austrian votes ; he was
ordered to struggle wiih artific sand delays against
the Prussian party and the mediating powers.

During the first sitting, M. Schraut, on the part
of Bohemia, complained in high terms of the con-
duct shown towards Austria, and answered wiih
bitterness the reproach which had been addressed
to his court, of never liaving drawn towards a
conclusion, a reproach on which was ])rincipally
grounded the interference of tiie mediating powers.
This minister declared that foi- nine months pre-
viously, the imperial cabinet had not been able to
obtain a smgle reply on the part of the French
cabinet to the overtures it had proffered ; that it had
been left in the most coni])lete ignorance of all that
had been treated of in Paris ; that its ambassador
had not been able to obtain an initiation into the
secret of the mediation, and that the jjlan of the
same mediation had not been known to Austria
until the same moment when the communication
had been made at Ratisbon. M. Schraut after-
wards complained ol the lot assigned to the arch-
duke Ferdinand, pretended that the treaty of
Lun^ville was violated, because the treaty secured
to the archduke an indenmiiy for the entire of his
losses, and he had been assigned as an equivalent
for the 4,000,000 of florins he had lost, 1,350,000H.
at most. Salzburg, according to M. Schraut, pro-
duced no more than 900,000 florins, Merchtols-
gaden 200,000 ti., Passau 250,000 fl. This was a

pure falsehood. To finish, Bohemia did not concur
in the plan.

The Teutonic order, more moderate in its lan-
guage, would only admit the plan as a docunient
which the diet might discuss.

There were thus four approving votes, Branden-
burg, Bavaria, Hesse-Cassel, and Wurtemburg ;
one, that of Mayence, which at bottom was ap-
proving, but which it was necessary to bring i-ound
to be so openly ; one. Saxony, which would follow
the majority, when that majority was clearly pro-
nounced ; lastly, Bohemia and the Teutonic order
opposed the plan wholly as far as concerned the
satisfaction given to Austria.

This result was immediately communicated to the
first consul. As soon as he became acquainted
with the sentiments put forth by Bohemia, which
imputed to the obstinate silence of France the
impossibility of putting an end to the negotiations
upon the affiiirs of Germany, he became de-
termined not to remain silent under such an im-
putation. He replied immediately by a note, which
iM. de Laforest was commanded to comnmuicate to
the diet. In this note he expre.ssed his regret
to be forced to publish any thing relating to nego-
tiations, which, from their nature, should have
remained secret ; but, he added, that he was
obliged to do so, because his intentions had been
publicly calumniated ; he declared that the pre-
tended overtures of Austria to the French cabinet
had, for their object, not the general arrangement
of the affair of the indenmities, but the extension
of the Austrian frontier from the Isar as far as
the Lech, or, in other words, the suppression of
Bavaria from the number of German powers ;
that the pretensions of Austria, taken from Paris,
where they had not succeeded, to St. Petersburg,
where they had succeeded no better, finally, to
Munich, where they had become thi-eatening, had
obliged the mediating powers to intervene, in order
to secure the jjcace of Germany, and with the
peace of Germany, that of the entire contine..t.

This reply, so well merited, but in one point
exaggerated, namely, the imputation that Austria
had endeavoured to extend herself to the Lech, she
liaving in fact s])oken only of the Isar, very nmch
mortified the imperial cabinet. That cabinet now
saw clearly that it was doing business with an ad-
versary as resolute in politics as he was in war-
fare '.

' Tlie following is a copy of the document itself,— a re-
markable one of the coiibular era : —

" The undersigned minister-extraordinary of the French
republic lo ihe diet of ihe Germanic en.pire, lias taken the
earliKSt opportunity of traiismiiting to his goveriinient the
rescript communicated liy the sub-delegate of Boheniia to
the extraordinary deput.Uion of the empire in the sitiing of
the 241 h of August, and communicated also to the under-
sianed on the 28ih of tlie said month. He is charged lo
transmit lo the deputation Ihe following observations. The
first consul has bem much affected to see that liis inteniions
for Securing the peace and prosperity of the Germanic body
have been misunderstood, since they reproaih him with not
having answered the overtures made by liis imptiial and
royal majeslj since the conclusion of the treaty of Luneville,
anil having thus retaided to Germany, that imercsting por-
tion of Europe, the advantages of the peace; he must de-
clare that the o\eriurcs which, though confulential and
(■ecret, are at pieseiit publicly alluded to by the court of
Vienna, fur from being calculated to procure the execution

Mayence decides against Austria. THE SECULARIZATIONS. Mayence decides against Austria. 411

Nevertlieless, it was neces.sary to proceed with
the iieg<)tiati.in9,aiid M. de L;if..rest, wiih the autho-
rity ol' liis cabinet, employed the requisite ineaiis to
bring about Mayence to give a decided vote. He
l)roniised M. Aibini, the representative ot the elector
of Mayence, to secure liis revenue to tlie archbishop
chancellor, not in the stocks, but in the "immediate"
territories not taken Ironi any of the jjiiiices. To
this promise, which wsis made iu a formal manner,

of the 9th article of the treaty of Luneville, could tend only
to remove, rather than to iiidicaie, the means of providing
for the indemnification of so many bceular uriiices who had
su^tained such con»ideralile losses; their only object «as to
regulaie the indemnification c.{ the archduke Ferdinand, hy
employinR lay and hereditary dominions. The project of tlie
court of Vienna tended to exlenil its territory beyond tlie
Lech, and their effect con?equently would have been, to
erase Bavaria from ihe number of the powers. Justice and
generosity, which are always the first heard in the heait of
Ihe first consul, made it a law with him to forget what
wrong.1 the elector might have done to the republic, and not
to suffer to perish a state weakened and threatened, but,
however, hitherto secuied by the policy of the governments
interested in maintaining a ju»t equilibrium in Germany.
For if the equilibrium ol Europe requires that Austria should
be great and powerful, that of Germany requires that Bavaria
should be preserved entire, and protected from all further
invasion. What would become ot the Germanic body if the
principal states which compose it bh.uild see their inde-
pendence every moment endangered ? And would not the
honour of that ancient federation suffer, by weakening a
prince whose house has concurred, in so honourable a man-
ner, to the establishment and support of the Germanic con-
stitution? It is not, then, at Paris that the insinuations of
the court of Vienna, in rejiard to the affairs of Germany,
could be received ; and though it lias since renewed them at
St. Petersburg, they could not meet with better success;
the great and generous soul of the emperor Alexander could
not permit him to negUct the interests of Bavaria, which
were recommended to liim also by the ties of blood, and by
every consideration of sound policy. Having been unable
to succeed cither at St. i'eterslmrg or Paris, the court of
Vienna nevertheless pursued at Munich the execution of iis
project.'; and it was the communication of his uneasiness,
made by the elector to the French and Russian govern-
ments, which contributed above all to make them leel the
necessity of uniting their influence to protect the hereditary
princes, secure the execution of the I7ih article of the treaty
of Luneville, and not to suffer to fall to the lowest rank one
of the oldest, and not long auo one of the most pnwerful,
houses of Germany. 1 he undersigned, therefore, is chaiged
to declare to the deputation, that the states of his serene
highness the elector palatine of Bavaria, as well as the pos-
sessions destined to him as indemnities, and as necessary
for re-establishing Ihe equilibrium of Germany, are naturally
and indispensably placed under the protection of the medi-
ating powers; that the first consul, personally, will not
suffer the important place of Fasxau to remain in the hands
of Austria, nor allow it to obtain any part of the territories
which Bavaria possesses on Ihe ri«hl of the Inn ; (or he con-
siders that there would be no independence for Bavaria the
moment when the troopt of Annlria khonld be near its
capital. It remains lo the undersigned to express to the
deputation ihe regret whirli the first con*.,, feels fordivulgiiig
n-gntiations which took p'acc only under ihc seal of con-
fidence, and the secrecy of which ought eonsequi^ntly to have
remained sacred ; hut he ha» bc-n coiiHtralned lo it by just
reprisals, and by the value which he atinches lo the opinion
and esteem of the brave and loyal German people.

(Signed) La FOREST.

[The Russian document wjis shorter, nearly to the same
eflecl, but less circumstantial; it bore the same dale, and
was signed by the baron De Buhler ]

were ailded certain threats, very intelligi nt in their
character, in case liie plan .should be rendered abor-
tive. Thus the vote of M. Albiiii was decided. But
still it was not possible to obtain the pure and sim-
ple admission of the jjliin. The honour of the
Uernianic body demanded that the exiraordiiiiiry
deputation, in setiiiiig upon it as the basis of its
labours, should at least introduce some small altera-
tions. 'J'he interests of several of the i)etty princes
demanded many modifications iu detail; and Prus-
sia besides, from motives scarcely avowable, was
of accord with Mayence in desiring to separate the
general consideraiions of the ])lan itself, and to
draw it up under a new form. In these considera-
tions there was in fact one discoverable, relative to
the "immediate" property of the church, which
had been reserved to serve either to complete
several of the compliments of the indemnity, or for
ecclesiastical pensions. Many of these particular
properties were enclosed in the Prussian territory,
and that jiower, iilready so favourably treated,
cherished the hope to preserve them to herself by
some new assignment, and thus exclusively api>ro-
priate them. She therefore entered into the itieas
of Mayence, and agreed with that state to remodel
the |iart of the plan which included these general
eoiisiilerations; but she agreed at the same time to
adopt the principal basis of the territorial partition,
in a previous cundtisum, stating that the charges
which were there made, were in common agree-
ment with the ministers of the mediating powers.
It was further to be understood, that the entire
labour was to l)e terminated by tiie 24th of Octo-
ber, 1802, or 2iid Brnmaire, year xi., which just
made two months, to be dated, not from the day of
the declaration of the powers, but the day when
their note had been dictated to the deputation, that
is to say, read and transcribed in the proces verbal
of the diet.

On the 8tli of September, or 21st Fructidor, this
previous covclusum was adopted in spite of all the
efforts of the imperial minister, M. Iliigel. Bran-
denburg, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Hesso-Casbel,
Mayence, or five states out of eight, admitted the
jirevious cti«c/«s«t«(, comprehending the whole of the
plan, and some accessory modifications, that were
introduced in accordance with the ministers of the
mediating powers. In this sitting. Saxony took a
step, and gave an opinion between the two ex-
tremes. This state desired that the plan might be
received as a clue of directions iu the labyrinth of
indemnities.

Bohemia and the Teutonic order were opposed
to tile adoption of the conclusum. According to the
constitutional forms, the minister was bound to
hiivc communicated the cundusum thus voted to the
mediating ministers. M. Hugel was determined
to do nothing of the sort. In other respects, he
unceasingly endeavoured to excuse himself for tlio
obstacles wiiich he had caused in the negotiiition,
and made every possible effort to obtain an amica-
ble overture from the ministers of Franco and
Russia, every day repeating to them that the least
ailvantagH conceded to tiie house of Austria, for
the purpose of saving its iionour at least, would
d(!ciil<; it in suffering the labour to be concluded.
The whole of iis policy now consiHted in tiring out
the two legations of France and Russia, in order to
wring Iroiii the first consul a concession of territory

412

Provisions made for THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. the arch-chancellor.

on the Inn, or a combination of votes iu the three
colleges, which should secure to Austria the preser-
vation of her influence in the empire. The con-
duct M. de Laforest, consummate in this species
of tactic, adopted, and that he made liis cabinet
adopt, was to march determinately forward to the
end, in spite of the Austrian legation; to concede
nothing at Ratisbon, but to send the Austrian
minister to Paris, by saying that there perhajjs
they might obtain something of what they desired,
not before, but after the facilities which might be
obtained from them in the future course of the
negotiation.

The imperial legation, in order to gain time to
negotiate in Paris, directed itself to the object of
passing a newly-modified conchtsum, which should
be sent to the mediating ministers, in order to
ome to an understanding with them upon the
changes which it appeared most convenient to
adopt. This attempt ended in nothing, but to
impart a sort of ill-humour to the Saxon legation,
and to attach that member of the grand deputation
to the majority of six voices which had already
been given.

Although the imperial plenipotence interposed
itself '• firm as a wall," according to the despatches
of M. de Laforest, between the extraordinary depu-
tation and the mediating ministers, because she
was still obstinate in not communicating to them
tlie acts of the extraordinary deputation ; it was
nevertheless agreed that the reclamations addressed
to the diet by the petty princes, should be officiously
communicated to those two ministers, that all this
might be done by simple notes, and that the modi-
fications, admitted in consequence of such reclama-
tions, should be introduced into the resolutions, of
which the whole together would form the definitive
conclusiim.

As soon as the road was open for reclamations,
they did not lag behind, as it may be well imagined;
but tliey came from the petty princes only, because
the greater houses had made them in Paris during
the time the general negotiations were pi'oceeding.
These petty princes moved heaven and earth to
get themselves secured. Unhappily, and it was
the only thing to be regretted in this memorable
negotiation, the persons in the employment of the
French, individuals brought up amid the disorders
of the directory, suffered their hands to be soiled
by pecuniary gifts, that the German princes, impa-
tient t(i ameliorate their condition, lavished upon
them without discernment. For the most part, the
miserable agents who received those gifts, sold a
credit which they did not possess. M. de Laforest,
a man of the strictest integritj^, and principal
representative of Fi'ance at Ratisbon, listened
little to the recommendations that were addressed
to him in favour of such or such a house, and he
denounced them to his own government. The first
consul, made aware of it, wrote many letters to the
minister of police, in order to put a stop to so
odious a traffic, which could only make dupes,
because these pretended recommendations, ])aid
for in money, would not exercise the least influ-
ence over the arrangements concluded at Ratisbon.

The greatest difficulty to be encountered did not
by any means consist in regulating the supplemental
indemnities, but in burthening the reserved pro-
perty with them, which was designed for the pen-

sions of the clergy who had lost their places. The
efforts of Prussia, to save from this double chai-ge
the property situated in her territory, caused great
contests, and lowered exceedingly the dignity of
that court. It was necessary at first to find' the
sums required to make up the revenue promised to
the prince arch-chancellor the elector of Mayence.
A means was devised to satisfy this demand.
Among the number of the free cities preserved,
were Ratisbon and Wetzlar, the last maintained in
its character of a free city, because of the imperial
chamber which met there. Badly governed, both
the one and the other, as the greater part of all
the free towns were, they had no very desirable
existence longer in that character. Tiiey were
assigned to the prince arcii-chancellor. There was
in this a real convenience, because Ratisbon was
the place where the diet sate, and Wetzlar that
where the supreme court of the em])ire held its
meetings. It was natural to give this to the prince
director of the affairs of Germany. These two
cities, that of Ratisbon before all, were rejoiced at
their new distinction. The prince arch-chancellor,
possessing Aschaffenburg, Ratisbon, and Wetzlar,
had 650,000 florins of revenue secured in territory.
It was necessary to find him three hundred and
fifty thousand more. It was also required to have
fifty-three thousand for the house of Stolberg and
Isemburg; and ten thousand for the duke of Olden-
burg, uncle and ward of the emperor Alexander.
There was thus in all 413,000 florins to press upon
the reserved property of the church, independently
of the ecclesiastical pensions. Baden and Wnrtem-
burg had already accepted the part to be paid from
the reserved property situated in their states.
Prussia and Bavaria had each to support half the
charge of 413,000 florins remaining deficient.
Bavaria was heavily charged in lier finances, both
by the number of pensions that had fallen to her,
and by the debts which had been transferred fi-om
the old states upon the new. Prussia would not
even support the payment of 200,000 florins out of
the 413,000 still wanting. She had devised a means
of procuring them, which was to lay the burthen of
these 413,000 florins upon the free cities of Ham-
burg, Bremen, and Lubeck, of which she was
extremely, jealous. This greediness of spirit
caused much scandalous talk at Ratisbon, and
the minister of Prussia, I\I. Goertz, was so much
mortified at it, that he was very near giving in hi?
resignation. M. de Laforest only restrained him
on account of the interests of the negotiation itself.
The power of reclamation accorded to the petty
princes, renewed a number of almost forgotten
pretensions. Another cause had contributed to
the renewal : this was the rumour, already very
largely bruited abroad at Ratisbon, that Austria
was obtaining in Paris a supplementary indemnity
in favour of tlie archduke Ferdinand. Hesse-
Cassel, jealous of what had been done for Baden,
Hesse-Darmstadt, of all that had been done for
Hesse-Cassel, Orange- Nassau, of what was ru-
moured to be done for the former duke of Tuscany,
demanded supplementary indemnities to such an
extent, that the other claimants would have been
unable to obtain any. The occupation of the
diff'erent territories by force of arms, continuing
without interruption, added to the general confu-
sion. The Germanic body found itself exactly ia

Efforts made by the
mediating ini::is-

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

413

the state wliicli tliey had experienced in Fi-ance
under the constituent ussemhly at the moment of
the aboHtii)n of the feudal regime. The margrave,
who iniierited Manheitn, fornjerly the property of
the house of Bavaria, was in dispute with the last
house about a collection of pictures. Detachments
of troops behinging to the two princes had just missed
coming to bhiws. To ctmi])lete this sad spectacle,
Austria, having over a number of estates in Suabia
certain pretensions of feudal origin, had the posts
torn up with the arms, in the different towns and
abbeys assigned in the plan of the indemnities to
Baden, Wurtemburg, and Bavaria. Lastly, Prus-
sia seized tlie bisliojtric of Munster, and would not
put in possession the counts of the empire, co-part-
ners with herself in that bishopric.

In the midst of these disorders, Austria feeling
that she must ultimately agree, ottered immediately
to adhere to the plan of the mediating powers, if
the bank of the Im^i was conceded to her, provided
she would abandon all her possessions in Suabia
in favour of Bavaria. She proposed anew to this
power the making Augsburg its capital. She de-
manded another thing in the creation of two new
electors, of which one should be the archduke of
Tusc.iny, now made the sovereign of Salzburg, and
the other the archduke Charles, the actual grand
master of the Teutonic order. Upon these condi-
tions, Austria was ready to regard the archdukes
as sufficiently indemnified, and to give herself up
to the wishes of the mediating powers.

The first consul was no hmger able, after what
had passed in regard to Passau, to bring Bavaria
to consent to cede the frontier of the Inn ; and,
above all, it would be difficult for him to make
. GeiTOany accept three electors at once, taken alone
I from the house of Austria — Bohemia, Salzburg, and
the Teutonic order. He was not willing to sacrifice
the free town of Augsburg. He rejilied, that dis-
posed to demand some sacrifices of Bavaria, it was
impossible for him to exact from her the conces-
sion of the frontier of the Inn. He insinuated
that he might ])erlia|)s go as far as to propose to
Bavaria to abandon a bishopric like that of Aich-
stadt, but that it was impossible to go beyond that
cession.

The time passed away; it was now Venddmiaire,
or October, and the final term ap])roached, fixed
for the 2nd Brumaire, or 24th of October. The
mediating powers were in a hurry to finish the
affair. They had lieard all the petty reclamations,
received all those which were worthy of hearing,
and put all in order, as well as the regulations
which were to accompany the distribution of the
territories. The electoral dignity, requested by
the cmperr)r of Russia, had not ajipeared to any
one proper to be granted, because it was a new
protcstant electorate added to the six which already
existed in a college of only nine. The dispivjpor-
tion was too great to be increased yet further.
This reclamation was therefore discarded. A new
distribution had been made of the " virile votes,"
for thus the votes in the college of princes were
denominated ; and they had transferred to the new
states the voles of the princes dispossesst^d upon
the left bank of the Rhine. There resulted in the
college of the princes as in that of the electors, a
considerable change in favour of the protcslants,
because they had replaced tho prelates or abbots

by secular princes of the reformed religion.
Finally, to establish a sort of counterpoise, they
had attached new votes to Austria, Salzburg,
Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia. But the catholic
princes wanted the principalities, which might
serve them as a pi-etext for the creation of new
voices in the diet. In spite of all that they had
done, the proportion which w^as formerly, as has
been said, fifty-four catholic voices against forty-
three protestants, was now actually tliirty-one
catholics against sixty-two protestants. Still it
must not be concluded that Austria was inferior
in proportion to these numbers. All the protestant
suffrages, as before said, were not suffrages secured
to Prussia ; but with the imperial prerogatives
with respect to the house of Austria, which was
still in power, and with the fears that the house of
Bi-andenburg had begun to inspire, the balance
was able still to be kept up between the two i-ival
houses.

As to the college of the cities, it had been
organized in an independent manner, and had
attempted to render it less inferior to the other
two. The eight free towns were reduced to six,
when Ratisbon and Wetzlar had been granted to
the archbishop chancellor. Prussia wished to sup-
l)ress the third college, and to attribute to each of
the six cities a voice in the college of princes.
This would have been a means of suppressing one
or two more, especially Nuremburg, of which
Prussia was ambitious to have possession. The
French legation refused to agree to this, and gave
a determined negative.

Nothing was said upon the state of the "imme-
diate" nobility, which remained in the most cruel
anxiety, because Prussia and Bavaria threatened
them openly.

At last, the term of the 2nd Brumaire appi-oach-
ing, the new plan was submitted for deliberation in
the extraordinary deputation. Brandenburg, Ba-
varia, Hesse-Cassel, Wurtemburg, and Mayeiice,
approved of it. Saxony, Bohemia, the Teulonie
order, declared that they would fake it into consi-
deration, but that before they pronounced defi-
nitely, tliey desired to wait the terminatior. of the
negotiation going on in Paris on the i)art of Aus-
tria, because otherwise, they said, they should be
exposed to vote for a plan that it would be needful
to modify subsequently.

The extraordinary deputation had to deliver its
definite vote, and there remained only three or
four days to complete the term of the two months'
delay. It was needful for the honour of the great
mediating powers, to obtain the adoption of their
j)lan within the time fixed. M. de Laforest and
M. Buhkr, who moved forward freely in accord-
ance, made the greatest efforts in order that on the
2yth Venddiniaire, or 2.1st of October, the cunchisum
should be finally adopted. They encountered infi-
nite diHiculties in consequence of M. Hugel rcpoit-
ing every where that a courier from Paris, bringing
imi)ortaiit alterations, was every moment expected
to arrive; that at Paris even they wished for delay.
He went so far as to threaten M. Albini, telling
him that according to jiosilive advices, orders
would be received by him Iroiii the elector of
Mayence, disavowing his conduct, and enjoining it
upon him not to vote. This was done to shako
one of the five favourable votes, and thus far one

414 The cor.ci«.Bm adopted. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Alteration of feeling ISOJ.
towards Austria. Nov.

of the most faitliful. Tlie«e menaces were pushed
SI) far tliat M. Albiiii became ofteniled, and in con-
sequence becanie mure firm in the resohition he
had laken. To increase the embarrassment 4>f the
time, Prussia commenced at the latest instant to
create new obstacles ; she desired sucli a dii;est of
the business as sliould dispense witli her furnishing
out of llie reserved priiperties her part of the
4i:{,000 florins, which remained to be made up.
Slie even aspired to self-appro] iriate certain (le|)en-
dencies of the ecclesiastical property enclosed within
her territories, and attrihiiied to different i)rincts
by tiie plan of the indemnities. She had, in a
Word, a thousand pretensions, more vexations, more
out of ])lace the one than the other, whiili arising
in a iiKist unpx])ected manner, at the conclusion of
the negotiations, were of a nature to make tlie
whole proceeding miscarry. It was not the mitiis-
tei- of Prussia, M. Goeriz, a very worthy personage,
who thus cast a blush ui)on the cliaracter which he
WMs made to play, it was a financier whom tliey
hail made his adjimet that caused these difficulties.
At length, M. de Ltiforest and M. Buhlir gave a
last impulse to the affair, and on the 29th of Ven-
ilemiaire, or 21st of October, the definitive con-
clumm was adopted by the extraordinary deputa-
tion of tlie eight states, and the mediation mi;ilit
Ite said in a certain sense to be accomplished,
within the term assigned by the mediating powers.
On the last day, Saxony voted with the five states,
forming the ordinary majority out of respect to
ih.it majority.

There still remained a number of details to be
arranged. The partition of the territ' ries and the
regulations for the organization did not form the
same act. It was required that the two sliould
form but one resolution, which should take a title
already known in the Germanic piotocol, as that
of ihe recez, a term applied by custom to the regis-
tration of the resolutions of tile impei-ial diet.
.Mterwards, the labours of the deputation being
accomiilished, it was necessary to caii-y the result
to the Germanic diet, of which the extraordinary
deputation was only a commission. Tlie ])i'ecautioii
had been taken in the declaration of the difjoiiive
coiiclusum, of slating that the recez woidd be directly
coinimmicaied to the mediating ministers. They
desired by this means to prevt iit the n-fusal of the
communication being made on the part of the ini-
peiial ministers to the niediating ministers, a re-
fusal which had already been llie cause of the most
vextitious delays.

They now set to work immediately to resolve
into one sole digest the principal act and the regu-
lations. This was a now i pportonity for M. Huge!
to raise up embarr.issing iiuestions. Thus, on the
proposal for the definitive digest being com|)ieted,
liK obstinately demanded, if there was imt to be
coini)rehended in the registry the charge on the
.salary of 413,000 florins, ilue to 'he arch-chancellor,
to the duke of Oldenburg, and to the houses of
Isi'inburg and Stolburg ; he dtnianded if this was
not the moment to provide the |)insious of the
archbishop of Treves, the bishops of Lii ge. Spires,
and Strasburg, the states of which had gone with
the left bank of the Rhine to France, and «ho did
not know to whom to address ihemselves to obtain
a provision ; if no indeinnity was to be accorded to
the " immediate" nobility for the loss of their feu-

dal rights, a loss for which they liad an anterior
promise of an indemnity.

To all the demands of new allocations, Prussia
replied by refusals, or by referenjces to the free
cities. Bavaria said, and with reason, that she
was much in debt, and that she saw her resources
still further lessened by what would be accorded to
Austria, in the treaty carrying on at Paris. M.
Hngel replied, that it was not in this manner that
people should meet their sacred debts.

These dis|)utes produced at Ratisbon an ex-
tremely vexatious effect. They com])lained there
above all things of the avidity of Prussia, and of
the complaisant conduct of France towards lier ;
we no longer acknowledge, people said, the great
character of the first consul, which ])ermits his
mime and favour to be so abused. Every mind
reverted towards Austriti, even those which did
not commonly lean towards her side. People said,
that in submitting to a preponderating influenc'> in
the empire, it was better to submit to that of the
ancient house of Austria, that without doubt had
formerly aliused its supremacy, but had at the
same time as often jirotected as oppressed the
Germans. There s])rung up among tlie states of
the second order, such as Bavaria, Wurtenibiirg,
the two Hesses, and Baden, a disposition to form a
league in the centre of Germany, for resisting, as
well the power of Prussia, as that of Austria.

At length, in spite of every art to extend these
difficulties, the recez was digested and adopted by
the extraordinary dt'putation, on the 2nd Frimaire,
year xi., or 23id November, 1802. No resnurte
was indiciited to supjily the payment of the 413,0(10
florins, which yet remained without assignment.
All wished al.so to know, before they put the last
hand to the work, the result of the negotiations
between Fiance and .Austria.

The imperial legation saw itself, therefore, van-
quished at last, by the activity and constancy of
the mediating niinisti r.s, who proceeded invariably
on their way, supported upon their majority of five
votes, sometimes even of six out of eight, when
Saxony was brought back agtiin to the mjijoriiy by
the obstinate resistance of Austria. M.llugel de-
cided to let tilings alone. It was necessary to
carry the recez of this specitil commission, called
the " extraordintiry deputation," up to the diet
itself. In order to ])ass it from one to the other
of these bodies, the decision was taken to pass it
intermediately, if the ministers of the emperor
refused to transmit it. Nevertheless, the Ger-
mans, even those most favourable to the plan of
indemnity, were inclined towards the exact and
faith lul observation of the constitutional regula-
tions. They thought that the empire was quite
sufficiently sluikeii, and besides, in the overturn
of the constitution, they discovered a new .species
4>f domiiitition, which was altogether more formid-
able than that which existed before. Evenih- se
who were originally the ])artisans of Prussia, now
rallied with tliose who had always venerated Aus-
tria as the most perfect rejiresentative <if the old
order of things. They had arrived at that point,
a jioint soon arrived at in revolutions, where the
new masters are distrusted, and the old ones a
little less hated. 'J'liey did not wish, therefore,
that the imperial ministers should be passed over
in the matter, and the intelligence of a conlerence

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

The first consul closes with

at Paris, between Austria and tlio first consiil,
gave birili to tlie hope of :iii iirraiigeinent, wbiuli
woiiKl be i-eceived witii ]ny by every body.

AI. Hii«;el, at last brought back to a system of
condescension, consented to coiunuiuicate the aits
of the extraordinary deputation to the mediating
ministers, to tiie end that tiie last should be able to
address the diet, and recjuire the adoption of the
reciz, as the law of the empire. But with the
narrowness of mind of an old formalist, M. Huge!
refused to send the recez itself, invested in the
ini|ierial colours ; lie conmiunicated a simple im-
pression, with a despatch guaranteeing its authen-
ticity.

Wiihont losing time, on the 4tli of December, or
13th Frimaire, tlie two ministers of France and
Russia coninumicated the reccz to the diet, declar-
ing that they entirely approved of it in the name of
their respective courts ; that they retjuested it
should be immediately caUeii into consideration ;
and, as soon as possible, that it be adopted as a
law of the empire. This promptitude to get hold
of the diet was a means to bring in the ministers of
the Germanic states that were absent, or the in-
Kti-uctiuus of those who had iiot yet reoeived
them.

New precautions at this moment became neces-
sary in relation to the coiuposition of the diet. To
admit to vote all the states on the left bank of the
Rhine suppressed by the French conquest, and on
the right bank by the system of secularizations,
was to expose the diet, on their part, either to an
invincible opposition, or else to condetnn them to
jironotince themselves their own suppression. It
was agreed with the directoritil minister, or in
other wolds, with the archchancellof, to convoke
eKolusively'those states which were preserved to
the empire, whether their title was changed or
wlieiher it w;is not. Thus they did not convoke
the electors of Treves nor of Colonne to the college
of electors ; but they convoked Mayence, of which
the title was constituted ex jure vuro. In the col-
lege of princes there were some suppressed whose
territories had been incorporated in the French or
Helvetian republics ; such, for example, as the
secular and ec. lesiastical jirinces of Ueux-Ponts,
M<nitljalliard, Liege, Worms, Spires, ilale, and
strasburg. Tho-e princes were i)rovision:illy main-
tained, who had g^iined new principalities, save in
the regulation of the titles, at a later time, and the
makin;,' tliem transfer themselves to the secularized
terriioriiH wiiich had devolved u[ion them. There
were suppressed in the college of cities the whole
niiWH of incorporated places; only six titles were
preserved, — Au;,'»l>ur(;, Nuremburg, Frankfort,
UrenuMi, Hamburg, ami Lubeck.

Tlie»e precautious were indispensable, and they
obt.:i ned the result which they awaited. None of
the 8U|>preMsed states miuie their appearance. In
the hint days of January the fliet coinmeiiced their
deliberations. The protocol was opened. The
8t4iles in tli(! three colleges were snecessively called.
The one gave their opinions immediately, tlur others
reserved llnirs until a Inter period, according to
the custom of the diet. They waited to piiniounco
(leKiiitively on the last sulimission of the vote of
the ppopos'd conclanum, until the negotiiitions eu-
tiTed into in I'aris lietwetMi France and the court
of Vieiuui should be completed.

Things had proceeded so far, that the first consul
it was wished should grant .'^ome satisfaction to
Austria, in strictness, they might iiave jiassed on
witiiout her good wishes to the end of the business,
and made the three colleges vote in si)ito of the
Austrian opposition. The Germans, even those the
uu)st mortified, felt clearly enough that it was
necessary to finish, and they were resolved to vote
for the ncez, after which, the different occupations
already consimniiated would have been clothed
with a species of legality, iiiul the refusal of his
sanction on the part of the emperor, would not
have been able to hinder those who had received
the indemnities from enjoying peaceably their new
territories. Still the opposition of the emperor to
the new constitution, however unreasonable it was,
would have placed the enipire in a false, uncertain
position, litilo coiilormable to the pacific intentions
of the mediating i>o\vers. It wjis better worth to
come to an agreement, and to obtain the adhesion
of the court of Vienna. This was the intention <;f
the first consul. He would not have waited so
long, had it not been for the purpose of having
fewer sacrifices to make to Austria, and fewer tti
exact of Bavaria ; because it was •i' the last, it
would be necessary to demand all that should be
granted to the former.

In efiect, towards tlic end of December the first
consul consented ti> hold a conference with M.
Cobeiitzel, and at last came to an agreement with
him upon some concessions in favour of the house
of Austria. Bavaria had shown an invincible re-
pugiuuice to cede the line of the Inn ; whether
bectiuse of the valuable stilt mines which are found
between the Inn and the Salza, or whether on
account of the situation of Municii, which would be
then too mar the new frontier, it had been deemed
necessary to renounce this plan of arrangement.
Then the first consul wiis reduced to cede the
bishopric of Aichstedt, placed upon the Damibe,
containing 70,000 inhabitants, with a rumoured
reveime of 350,000 Horins, and primarily destined
for the paUitine house. Provided this augmenta-
tion was acceded to the iirchdukc Ferdinand, the
liishoprics of Brixen iind Trent were to be taken
from his indemnification among the secularizations
to the profit of Austria. This power avowed, in a
maimer cle;ir enough, the interest which she kept
concealed out of zeal for her relation. It is true,
for the price of this seculnriziition, she took from
her own domains the little prefecture of Ortenau,
in order to increase the iiulemnity of the duke of
Modena, composed, as hits been already said, of
the Bris;;au. Ortenau was iii the country of
Baden, and near the Brisgau.

Austria had i'e(|uired the creation of two new
electors in her own house ; one was conceded in
the archduke Ferdiiuind, thus destined to be the
elector of Salzburg. Thus there were ten electors
in the room of nine, which was the niunber eon-
taincd in the plan of the mediating powers, in place
of eight, which hiul been the number inuler the old
Germanic constitution. This wiis an improvement
of the Austrian position in the electoral college.
There were now, in fact, four catholic electors —
Bohemia, Bavaria, Mayence, anil Salzburg — against
the six piiitestants of Brandenburg, Hanover,
Saxony, He.sso {'assel, Wurtembnrg, and Baden.

These eoiiditions were inserted in ;i convention

The first consul

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. closes with Austria.

1802.
Uec.

signed at Paris on the 2Gth of December, 1802, or
5th Nivose, year xi., by M. Cubentzel anJ Joseph
Bonaparte, M. Markoff was asked to accede in
the name of Russia; and there was no need of
begging it of liini as a favour, devoted as he was to
Austria. Prussia remained cool, but ofiered no
resistance. Bavaria submitted herself, demanding
to be indemnified for the sacrifice which was
exacted of her ; and above all, not to be forced to
pay any part of the 413,000 florins that nobody
else Would pay.

Austria had promised to oppose no further ob-
stacle in the way of the mediation, and she nearly
kept her word. Besides the concessions obtained
in Paris, she wished to obtain another, whicli she
was unable to negotiate any where but at Ratisbon
itself, with those who had drawn up the recez. This
coiicessi<in related to the number of virile votes in
the college of princes. While the protocol was
open in the diet, and they there expressed their
opinions one after the other, the extraordinary
deputation was sitting at the same time, and re-
considering once more the plan of the mediation
since the convention agi'eed upon in Paris. The
diet thus delivered its opinion upon the ])lan that
the grand deputation was daily reconsidering at the
same time. The territorial changes agreed upon
in Paris were included. They had comprised in
their proceedings the creation of the new elector of
Salzburg ; tliey had, in fine, introduced the new
virile votes, which changed the pi-oportion of the
catholic and ])rotestant votes in the college of
princes, carrying the votes to fifty-four catholics
against seventy-seven protestants, in lieu of thirty-
one against sixty-two. It was necessary to finish
all these questions, and particularly that which
related to the 413,000 florins. Bavaria, that had
lost 350,000 florins with Aichstedt, was not able to
pay 200,000. Siie had refused to pay this money,
and the refusal was but natural. But Prussia,
although she had lost nothing, was unwilling to
support her part of this light burden. " They will
not make war for 200,000 florins," said M. Haug-
witz ; sad words, which offended every body at
Ratisbon, and placed the character of Prussia far
beneath that of Austria ; which last, in her resist-
ance, at least defended her territories and her old
constitui ional principles.

The first consul, in point of fact, ought to have
beaten down this avaricious spirit; but having need
of Prussia, even to the last, in order to secure the
success of his plans, he was obliged to humour hei'.
They knew not how to pay neither the arch-chan-
cellor, the pensions of the ecclesiastics, nor some
other debts formerly assigned upon the reserved
property. To repartition this charge, under the
form of viois romains^, on the totality of the Ger-
manic body, was impossible, seeing the difficulty,
almost insurmountalde at all times on the part of
the confederation, to obtain the payment of the
common expenses. The state of the dilapidation
of the federal fortresses was a proof of this. They
were compelled to devise a means wliich somewhat
diminished the liberality of the first French plan
ill regard to the navigation of the rivers. They

• Mois rnmnini was the name of the common expenses
divided over the whole of the confederjition, after the old-
established proportions.

had suppressed all the tolls on the Elbe, the Weser,
and the Rhine. Still it was necessary to provide
for some indispensable expenses to keep things in
order ; such as the towing-paths, for exanjple,
without which the navigation would have been
soon interrupted. It was agreed to establish upon
the Rhine a moderate octroi, or duty, very inferior
to all the tolls of a feudal nature under which the
river had formerly been oppressed ; and upon the
excess left of this duty to take 350,000 florins for
the prince arch-chancellor, the 10,000 for the duke
of Oldenburg, the 53,000 for the houses of Isem-
burg and Stolburg,and some thousand florins more
yet, to place in accordance different princes who
sent in assignments. In this way was satisfied the
avarice of Prussia. The 200,000 florins were thus
discharged from Bavaria, that she was bound to
furnish for her part of the 413,000, thus reducing
the loss which slie had experienced in ceding Aich-
stedt ; and the ])riiniise made to the archduke
chancellor was fulfilled, securing to him an inde-
pendent revenue. All the Germans wished tliis to
be the case, because they judged that 1,000,000 of
florins of revenue was only just sufficient lor the
prince who had tlie honour to preside at the Ger-
manic diet, and who was the last representing the
three ecclesiastical electors of the holy empire.
He was constituted the only administrator of this
duty, in concert with France, that had the right to
watch over the expenditure laid out on the left
bank. Under this point of view, France had not
to complain of this arrangement, because from that
moment, the ])iince arch-chancellor had every in-
terest to maintain kindly relations with her.

Finally, the plan, revised for the last time, was
adopted on the 25th of February, or Gth Venlose,
year XI., as a final act, by the extraordinary depu-
tation, and sent immediately to the diet, where it
was voted, very nearly unanimously, by all three
of the C(dleges. It met with no opposition, except
on the ])art of Sweden, of which the monarch,
already beginning to exhibit the troubled mind
which precipitated him from the throne, astonished
Europe by his royal follies. He cast violent blame
upon the mediating and the German powers, who
liad concurred in making an attack .so serious u)>on
the ancient Gei'inanic constitution. This ridiculous
fi'eak of a jnince, of wliom nobody in Europe made
the least account, did not alter the general salisl'ac-
tion which was felt at seeing the long anxieties of
the empire terminated at last.

The Germans, even those who regretted the old
order of things, hut |)reserved some small remnant
of equity in their judgments, acknowledged that
they had gathered u])on this occasion the inevitable
fruits of an imprudent war; that the left bank of
the Rhine having been lost, in consequence of that
war, it had become necessary to make a new parti-
tion of the Germanic territory ; that the partition
was, without doubt, more advantageous for the
great than the small houses, but that without
France, this inequality had been much more in-
jurious still ; that the constitution, modified under
several heads, was still preserved in the base, and
could not be reformed in a clearer spirit of con-
servation. They acknowledged, in fact, that with-
out the vigour of the first consul, anarchy would
have been introduced into Germany, in consequence
of the pretensions of all kinds at that moment put

Austria seizes tlie funds

THE SECULARIZATIONS.

of the German princes.

417

forward. The circumstance which proves better
than mere words the sentiment thus indulged for
the chief of the French government is, tliat on the
consideration of several questions, still remaining in
susj)ense, they desired that his powerful hand
should not be too suddenly withdrawn from the
afiairs of Germany. They wished that France, in
the character of a guarantee, should be obliged to
watch over her work.

In point of fact, thei*e remained more than one
question, general and particular, which the me-
diation had not settled. Prussia was in an o])en
quarrel with the city of Nuremburg, and acted
towards it in the most tyrannical manner. The
same graspiiig power would not place the counts of
Westphalia in possession of their part of the
bishopric of Munster which it had seized. Fraidc-
fort was involved in a contest with tlie neighbour-
ing princes, about a charge which had been im-
posed upon it in their favour, in the way of com-
pensation for certain pi-opcrties ceded by them.
Prussia and Bavaria wished to take advantage of
tjie silence of the reccz, in order to incorporate in
their estates the "immediate" nobility. Austria
turned to her advantage in Suabia a quantity of
feudal claims, of an obscure origin, being an inva-
sion of the jurisdiction of the sovereignty of the
dukes of Wurtemburg, Bailon, and Bavaria. She
committed, more particularly, a violation of pro-
perty unheard of before. Tlie ecclesiastical prin-
cipalities recently secularized, deposited their funds
in the bank of Vienna, funds belonging to, and
arising out of, those principalities, which were to
pass, with the principalities, to the princes whom
tlii-y indemnified. The Austrian administration
laid its han<ls u[)on these funds, amoimting to no
K ss than 30,0110,000 of Horiiis, an act which nearly
reduced some of these ])rinces to despair. All
these acts of violence made it a matter exceedingly
desirable that an authority should be instituted,
which should watch over the execution of the reccz,
like that which was set on foot after the peace of
Westphalia. The recomposition of the old circles,
charged to watch over the defence of particular
interests, was at this time much desired. It re-
mained, finally, to reorganize the German church,
which having been deprived of its priucely exist-

ence, had need of receiving an organization alto-
gether new.

The first consul had not been able to take upon
himself the solution of these difficulties, because to
have done so, it would have been necessary that he
should constitute himself the permanent legislator
of Germany. He had only deemed it his duty to
oecu]iy himself with the preservation of the equili-
brium of the empire, which was a part of the
equilibrium of Europe, and for this purpose detcr-
inining what property should revert to each state,
whether in territory or influence in the diet. The
remainder that was to be done could only in per-
formance belong to the diet itself, which was alone
charged to exercise the legislative power. This
was fully sufiicient, seconded at times by Fi-ance,
to guarantee the new Germanic constitution, as it
had been able to do the old. The feeble tlu-eatened
by the strong, ah-eady invoked this guarantee. It
was for the more powerful courts of Germany, to
prevent by their moderation a new intervention of
a foreign jiower. Unhappily, it was not long that
it was possible to calculate thus, on observing the
actual conduct of Prussia and Austria.

The emperor, after having delayed his ratifica-
tion, sent it at last, but with two reservations : one
had for its object the maintenance of the privileges
of ail the "immediate" nobility; the other a new
distribution of the protestant and catholic votes in
the diet. This was to keep only half his word, as
given to the first consul, for the value received at
the convention of the 2Gth of December.

In other respects, the difliculties, which might
be truly denominated European, as those of terri-
tory, were overcome, thanks to the enei'getic and
prudent intervention of general Bonajiarte. If any
thing had rendered evident his ascendancy in the
affairs of Europe at this time, it was a negotiation
thus ably conducted, in which, united with justice,
address, and firmness, the ambition of Prussia, and
the pride of Russia were niade to serve by turns a
resistance to Austria, red\icing her power without
pushing her to despair. Thus had the first consul
imposed his own will upon Germany, for the benefit
alike of Germany and the repcise of the world ; the
.sole case in which it is permissible and useful to
interfere in the affaii-s of another couutry.

418

Remarks on the

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. European colonies.

1802.
Feb.

BOOK XVI.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

EPPORTS MADE BY THE FIRST CONSUL TO RE-ESTABLISH THE COLONIAL GREATNESS OF PRANCE. — THE SPIRIT OP
HER FORMER COMMERCE.— AMBITION OF ALL THE POWERS TO POSSESS COLONIES.— AMERICA, THE ANTILLES,
AND THE EAST INDIES. — MISSION OF GENERAL DECAEN TO INDIA.— EFFORTS MADE TO RECOVER ST. DOMINGO.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND. — REVOLUTION OF THE BLACKS —CHARACTER, POWER, AND POLICY OF TOUSSAINT
LOUVERTURE. — HE ASPIRES TO BECOME INDEPENDENT. — THE FIRST (ONSUL SENDS OUT AN EXPEDITION IN
ORDER TO SEtCRE THE AUTHORITY OP THE MOTHER COUNTRY.— DISEMBARKMENT OF FRENCH TROOPS AT ST.
DOMINGO, AT THE CAPE, AND AT PORT-AOPRINCE. — BURNING OF THE CAPE. — SUBMISSION OF THE BLACKS. —
MOMENTARY PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY. — APPLICATION OF THE FIRST CONSUL TO THE RESTORATION OF THE
MARINE. — MISSION OF COLONEL SEBASTIANl TO THE EAST. — CARE DIRECTED TO INCREASE THE INTERNAL
PROSPERITY OF THE COUNTRY.— THE SIMPLON, MOUNT GENEVRE, THE FORTRESS OF ALEXANDRIA.— CAM P OF
VETERANS IN THE CONQUERED PKOVINCES.-NEW TOWNS FOUNDED IN LA VENDEE. — ROCHELLE AND CHERPURG.
THE CIVIL CODE, THE INSTITUTE, AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CLERGY.— JOURNEY TO NORMANDY OF
THE FIRST CONSUL. — ENGLISH JEALOUSY INSPIRED BV THE GREATNESS OF FRANCE.— THE MONEY MKRCHANTS
OF ENGLAND MORE HOSTILE TO FRANCE THAN THE ARISTOCRACY. — OUTBREAK OF THE JOURNALS -WRITTEN BY
THE EMIGRANTS.— PENSIONS GRANTED TO GEORGES AND THE CHOUANS.— REMONSTRANCES OF THE FIRST
CONSUL.— EVASIONS OP THE BRITISH CABINET. — ARTICLES IN REPRISAL INSERTED IN THE " MONITEUR." —
CONTINUA IION OF THE AFFAIRS OF SWITZERLAND. — THE S.MALLER CANTONS REVOLT UNDER THE CONDUCT OF
THE LANDAMMAN REUING, AND MARCH UPON BERNE — THE MODERATE PARTY IN THE GOVERNMENT OBLIGED
TO FLY TO LAUZANNE. — THE DEMAND OF AN INTERVENTION AT FIRST REFUSED, BUT SUBSEQUENTLY AGREED
TO, BY THK FIRST CONSUL.— NEY ORDERED TO MARCH WITH THIRTY THOUSAND MEN.— THE DEPUTIES CHOSEN
FROM ALL THE PARTIES ARE SUMMONED TO PARIS, TO FRAME A CONSTITUTION FOU SWITZERLAND.— AGITATION
IN ENGLAND; CRIES OF THE WAR PARTY AGAINST FRENCH INTERVENTION.— THE ENGLISH CABINET, ALARMED
BY THE^E CRIES, COMMITS THE FAULTS OF COUNTERMANDING THE EVACUATION OF MALTA, AND OP SENDING
AN AGENT INTO SWITZERLAND, TO UPHOLD THE PARTY IN A STATE OF INSURRECTION. — PROMPTIIUDE OF THE
FRENCH INTEIlVKNTION. — GENERAL NEY MAKES THE SWISS SUBMIT IN A ^'EW DAYS. — THE SWISS DfPUTIES
INVIIED TO PARIS ARE PRESENTED TO THE FIRST CONSUL.— DISCOURSE WHICH HE HELD WITH THEM. — ACT
OF MEDIATION. — ADMIRATION OF EUROPE AT THE WISDOM OF THIS ACT. — THE ENGLISH CABINET IS EMBAR-
RASSED AT THE PROMPTITUDE OF THE PROCEEDING, AND AT THE EXCELLENCE OF THE RESULT. — WARM DIS-
CUSSION IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT.— VIOLENCE OP THE PARTY OF GRENVILLE, WYNDHAM, AND THEIR
FRIENDS. -^NOBLE SAYING OF FOX IN FAVOUR OF PEACE.— PUBLIC OPINION CALMED FOR A MO.MENT. — ARRIVAL
OP LORD WHITVVORTH IN PARIS, AND OP GENERAL ANDREOSSY IN LONDON.— GOOD RECEPTION OF THE AMBAS-
SADORS BV BOTH NATIONS RESPECTIVELY.— THE BRITISH CABINET REGRETS HAVING RETAINED MALTA, AND
WISHES, OUT DARES NOT, EVACUATE IT.— ILL-TIMED PUBLICATION OF THE REPORT OP GENERAL SEBAS-
TIANl OS THE STATE OF THE EAST.— MISCHIEVOUS tPFECT OF THIS REPORT ON ENGLAND.- THE FIRST CONSUL
WISHES TO HAVE A PERSONAL EXPLANATION WITH LORD WIIITWORTH —LONG AND REMARKABLE CONVERSA-
TION—THE OPENNESS OF THE FIRST CONSUL ILL COMPREHENDED AND BADLY INTERPRETED.— EXPOSE OP
THE STATE OF THE REPUBLIC, CONTAINING A PHRASE MORTIFYING TO THE PRIDE OF THE ENGLISH.— ROYAL
MESSAGE IN ANSWER. — THE TWO NATIONS ADDRESS TO EACH OTHER A SORT OF DEFIANCE. — IRRITATION OF
THE FIRST CONSUL, AND PUBLIC SCENE WITH LORD WHITWORTH IN PRESENCE OF THE DIPLOMATIC BODY. —
THE FIRST CONSUL PASSES SUDDENLY FROM IDEAS OF PEACE TO THOSE OF WAR — HIS FIRST PREPARATIONS.
— CESSION OF LOUISIANA TO THE UNITED STATES, FOR EIGHTY MILLIONS —TALLEYRAND SETS HIMSELF
TO CALM THE FIRST CONSUL, AND OPPOSES HIS EFFORTS CALCULATED ACCORDING TO THE INCREASING IRRITA-
TION OF THE TWO GOVERNMENTS. — LORD WHITWORTH SECONDS THE EFFORTS OF TALLEYRAND.— PROLONGATION

OF THIS Situation of things.— necessity for terminating it.— the British cabinet finishes it by

AVOWING THAT IT INTENDS TO KEEP MALTA.— THE FIRST CONSUL ANSWERS BY A SUMMONS TO EXECUTE
SOLEMN TREATIES. — THE MINISTER ADDINGTON, OUT OP FEAR OF BEING BEATEN IN PARLIAMENT, PEHSISTS
IN DEMANDING MALTA. — SEVERAL MEANS DEVISED TO ARRANGE WITHOUT SUCCESS. — OFFER OF FRANCE TO
PLACE MALTA AS A DEPOSIT IN THE HANDS OF THE EMPEROR ALI.XAN DER.— REFUSAL OP THAT OFFER. —
DEPARTURE OF THE TWO AMBASSADORS. — RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. — PUBLIC ANXIETY IN LONDON
AND PARIS— CAUSES OP THE BREVITY OP THE PEACE.— TO WHOM THE FAULT OP THE RUPTURE IS TO BE
ASCRIBED.

While tlie first consul regulated, as supreme ar-
biter, the iiffiiirs of the European coiiiineiit, liis
anient activity, einbracinj; two worlds, extended
as far as America and both Indies, with tiie view
of re-esiablisliing the former colonial greatness of
France.

At this day, when the nations of Europe are
become more of manufacturers than merchants ;

at this day, when they have arrived at the power
of iniita;in<f all they once sought beyond the seas,
if they do not surpass it ; at this day, in fine, that
the greater colonies, freed from the yoke of the
mother country, have arisen to the rank of inde-
j pendent states; the as|)ect of the world is becnnie
b(> altered, that it is difficult to recognize it. New
objects of ambition have succeeded to those which

Reigning 1

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. for manufacturing. 419

tlieii divided it, and it is not witlioiit trouble that
it is now p.iss.ble to conipnliend the niotives for
which, wiiiiin a century, the hlood of man was
jionred out so lavishiv. England possessed North
America under the mime of a colony ; Spain,
und<?r the sjune name, possessed South America ;
France possessed tlie principal Antilles, or ishinds
of tlie West Indies, and, indeed, the finest of all,
in St. Doniinjjo. EMj;l;ind iind Fiiince disputed
for India. Each of these powers imposed upon its
cfilonies the nblijjation not to export, save to itself,
the tmpical productions, nor to receive hut from
itself the productions of Europe, and only to ndniit
its vessels, and bring u|i seamen solely for its own I
marine. Each colony was thus a plantation, a |
market, and a close jiort. Eiighind wished to 1
driiw exclusively from her provinces of America |
the sugars, the timber, and the raw cottrm which '
siie wanted ; Spain would only permit herself to
extract from Mexico and Peru the ricli metals 1
BO desired in all countries ; llngland and France i
wished to domineer in India; to export thence \
the cotton thread, the nmslins, and the calicoes,
objects nnivpisally coveted ; they desired to fur-
nish their own jiroductions in exchange, and to
carry on that trade .solely imder their own flags.
At this day these ardent desires of the nations
liave given place to others. The sugar which it
was necessary to extract from a plant indigenous
to and cultivated in a land ninier the hottest suu,
is taken from a plant, culiivated on the Elbe and
Escaut. The cottons woven with such skill and
patience by Indian hanils, are woven in Europe
by machines, which are set in movement by tlie
combustion of fossil coal. Muslin is woven in the
mountains of Switzerland an<l of F'irez. Calicoes
woven in .Scotland, Ireland, Noruiamly, and Flan-
ders, printed in Alsace, fill America, and spread
over the world even as far as the Indies. Except
coffee and tea, pr.iductitms which art is unable to
imitate, all these things are efpialled in excellence,
if not surpassed. Europi-an cliemistry h.ns already
replaced most of the colouring materials which
were once sought for under the tropics. Metals
are produced from the sides of tlie European
mountains. Gol<l is brought from Oural ; and
Spain begins to find silver in her r)wn bosrjin. A
great political revolution has formed a coiijuuctiim
with these revolutions of industry. France favoured
the iiiHurrectioii of the EngliHli colonies of North
America ; Piugland contributed in return to the
insnrn-ctioii of ilie c<ilouieH in South America.
Both the Olio and the other are either great
natiiins, or are destined to become so. Under the
iiiHuenco of the same causis an Afiiean society,
the sUito of which is hid in the future, has de-
veloped itself ill St. D..miugo. Finally, India,
under the sway of England, is no other than a
Conquest ruined by the progress of European in-
dustry, and employed in hupporiing a iiuuiber of
ofH ers, cleiks, anil magistrates from the mother
country. In our days, natioim desire to produce
every thing for ihemselviH. To make their neigh-
iMiurn jioHsesHiiig 1<jss skill, accept the excess of
their produitions, and not to be satisfiid to borrow
more than the raw material, cvimi searching to
obtjiiii the material as iie.ir as possible to th«'
limits of their own territory : wiluess the efforts
making to naturalize cotton in Egypt and Algiers.

To the grand spectacle of colonial ambiiion there
has Succeeded, in this maimer, a spectacle of
manufacturing ambition. Thus the world changes
without ceasing, and each stage stands in need of
some efforts of memory and of intelligence to com-
prehend that which preceded it.

This immense, industrious, and commercial re-
volution, commenced under Louis XVI. with the
American war, was completed under Napoleon by
the continental blockade. The hug contest of
England and France had been the priiieipal cause;
because, while the first wished to monopolize to
lierself all the exotic productions, the second
avenged herself by imitating them. The inspirer
of this imitation was Napoleon, of whom the
destiny was thus marked out to renew, under
every bearing, the face of the world. But before
throwing France ujion the continental and manu-
facturing system, as ho did at a later time, Na-
poleon, the consul, full of the ideas <if the age
which was just comph'ted, more confident in the
French marine than he ever was afterwards, at-
tempted vast enterprises in order to I'estore the
colonial prosperity of France.

This prosperity had been formerly great enough to
justify the regrets and attemjitsof which it was then
the object. In 17(17, France drew from her colonies
to the value of 250,000,0li0 f. ]>er aimuiii, in sugar,
coffee, cotton, iiuligo, and similar proilneiions. She
consumed herself from JiO.OOO.OOof. to U)0,()00.000f.,
and re-exported I50,00(t,000f. This she disposed
of all over Europe, principally in the form of re-
fined sugar. It would be needful to double this
amount in value to find its corres|)oiideiit worth
in the present day; and most assuredly the colonies
were deserving of esteem, and should be placed in
the fir-st rank of the iiaiional interests, that thus
could furni.sh a sum of 5lt0,()00,()()0 f. to commerce.
France discovered in this commerce a means of
attracting to herself a portion of the money of
Spain, that gave her silver in exchange for colonial
and manufactured i)roductions. At the time of
which mentii.n is now making, that is to say, in
1802, France, dei)rived of colonial proiluce, and
more jiarticularly of sugar and coffee, not having
enough even for her own use, demanded it of the
Americans, the Hanaeatic towns, of liollaml, Genoa,
ami, after the jieace, of the English. She paid
lor them in bullion, not having as yet in her in-
dustry, scarcely re-established, the means to pay
in the pro<luce of her maiiul'actures. Money having
never, since the assignats, reappeared with its
former abundance, was often wanting; which was
shown by the continual ett'orts of the new bank to
acquire the dollars which got out of Spain in a
contraband manner. Thus there was nothing more
common among the inereliaiits and commercial
classes, than to hear complaints upon the rarity
of money, and on the inconveiiii nee of purchasing
with money, the sugar and coHee formerly drawn
from the French colonies. This kind of language
nmst, without doubt, bo attributed to some erro-
neous ide.-iH about the mode of establisliiiig the
balance of commerce. Hut it must be aitiibuted
also to a real fact, namely, the difficulty of pro-
curing colonial produce, and the yet greater diili-
eulty of paying for eiilu r in uK.ney, become scarce
Biiicc the assignats, or in the still less abundant
produce of French industry.
K e 2

420 The French West Indies THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. and their products.

180>.
Feb.

Tf there be added to this, the numerous colonists
formerly rich, now ruined, who at that time filled
Paris, and joined their complaints to those of the
emi<;rants, it will be easy to have a complete idea
of the motives which moved the mind of the first
consul, and dii'ected his attention towards great
colonial enterprises. It was under these powerful
influences, that he had given to Charles IV.
Etruria, in oi'der to possess Louisiana. The con-
ditions of the contract were accomplished upon
his side, when the infants were placed upon the
throne of Etrui'ia, and acknowledged by all the
continental powers; he now wished that the con-
ditions should be accomplished on the side of
Charles IV., and he demanded that Louisiana
should be immediately delivered to France. An
expedition of two vessels and of several frigates
was assembled in the waters of Holland, at Hel-
voetsluys, to caiTy troops to the mouth of the Mis-
sissip]ii, and place that fine country under the
dominion of France. The first consul, having to
dispose of the duchy of Parma, was ready to cede
it to Spain for the Floridas, and for the abandon-
ment of a small part of Tuscany, the .Siennese,
which he wished to have as an indemnity for the
khig of Piedmont. The indiscretion of the Spanish
government having suffered the knowledge of these
details of the negotiations to become known to the
English ambassador, the jealousy of England sup-
plied a thousand obstacles to the conclusion of this
new contract. The first consul at the same time
occupied himself with India, and had confided the
govei-nment of Pondicherry and of Chandernagore
to one of the most valiant officers u{ the army of
the Rhine, general Decaen. This officer, whose
intelligence equalled his courage, and who was
adapted to the greatest enterprises, had been
selected for the jiurpose, and sent to India, under
far-seeing and profound views. The English, the
first consul had said to general Decaen, in ad-
dressing to him his admirable instructions, the
English were the masters of the Indian continent;
they were restless and jealous in that country; he
must not give them any offence, but conduct him-
self with mildness and ))lainness, to support in
those countries every thing that honour allows to
be supported ; not to have with the neighbouring
princes any relations but what were indispensable
to the entertainment of the French troops, and
the objetts of the factories. " But," added the
first consul, " it is necessary to observe the con-
duct of these princes and people, who resign
themselves wiih grief to the English yoke ; to
study their manners, their resources, and the
means of coninuniicating with them in case of a
war ; to inquire out what European army would
be necessary to aid them to shake off the domi-
nation of the English ; with what vuitcrid such an
army should be provided; what, above all, should be
the means of subsisting it; to discover the port which
would be best adaptid for the jjlace of embarka-
tion of a fleet carrying troo])S ; to calculate the
time and means necessary to take such a i)ort by
a coup de main ; to digest, after six months' re-
sidence in the country, a fir.st memoir upon these
different questions; to send by an officer intelligent
and ca)>able of being relied upon, who having seen
every thing, is capable of a<l(ling verbal explana-
ticns to the written ones of which he will be the

bearer; six months afterwards to be able still to
throw light upon these same points, according to
the knowledge newly obtained, and to send this
other memoir by a second officer, equally sure and
intelligent; in order to recommence the same work
and the same kind of envoy every six months; to
weigh well, in getting up the memoirs, the value
of every expression, because a single word might,
it was possible, have an influence in forming the
gravest resolutions ; finally, in case of a war, to
act according to circumstances, either to remain in
Hindostan or to withdraw to the Isle of France,
sending several light vessels to the mother country,
to make known the determination come to by the
captain-general."

Such were the instructions given to general
Decaen, in the view, not of rekindhng tlie war, but
to profit ably by war, if it should be declared anew.

But the greatest efforts of the first consul were
directed towards the Antilles, the principal seat of
the colonial power of Fi-ance. It was witli Mar-
tinique, Guadaloupe, and St. Domingo, that French
commerce had formei'ly kept up its most advan-
tageous relations. St. Domingo, above all, figured
for three-fifths, at least, in the 250,000,000 f. which
France formerlj- drew from her colonies. St. Do-
mingo was then the most desired, and most envied
of all the French possessions beyond the seas.
Martinique had been fortunate enough to escape the
consequences of the negro revolt ; but Guadaloupe
and St. Domingo had been overturned from the
foundation, and nothing less than an entire army was
necessary to establish there, not slavery again,
which was become impossible, at least in St. Do-
mingo, but the legitimate dominion of the mother
country.

In this island, a hundred leagues long and thirty
wide, happily situated at the entrance of the Gulf
of Mexico, resplendent in fertility, adapted to the
culture of sugar, coffee, and indigo ; on this
magnificent island twenty and some odd thousand
whites were proprietors of estates. Twenty and
some thousand free men of colour, and four hun-
dred thousand slaves cultivated the ground, and
drew from the soil an amazing profusion of
colonial produce, valued at 1 50,000,000 f., which
thirty thousand French seamen were employed to
trans])ort to Europe, in order to exchange it for a
proportional value in the pi-oductions of the national
industry. What should we think at the present
day of a colony which should give France
300,000,000 f. in "produce, and procure for the
country 3(10.000,000 f. in value of exports, since
150,ii00.000 f. in 178.9, answers at least to
300,000,000 f. in 1845 ? Unhapijily, among these
whites, mulattos, and blacks, violent passions be-
came at work, owing to the climate, and to a state
of society in which the two social extremes met —
arrogant riches, and horrible slavei-y. There were
never seen in any colony whites so ojiulent and so
infatuated ; nmlattos so jealous of the superiority
of the white races ; nor blacks so detemiined to
fling oft" the yoke both of one and the other. The
opinions professed at Paris in the constituent as-
seml)ly, being again repeated in the midst of the
passions natural to such a country, could not fail
to provoke a frightful tempest, like the stoums
which are cau.sed in the sea by the sudden meet-
ing of contrary winds. The whites and mulattos

^®J'2; The French West Indies RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. and their products. 421

were scarcely sufficient to defend themselves if
tliey had been united, they were divided; and after
having coniinunicated to the blacks the ct)ntagion
of their passions, they had brought them to an
open insurrection. They had undergone at first
their cruelty, then their triumph, and, lastly, their
domination. There had tiien come to pass that
wiiieh happens in all societies where there arises a
war against classes ; the first had been vjin<iuished
by the second ; the first and second by the third.
But there was the difference here, not seen in such
cases elsewiiere, they ail bore on their visages the
marks of their different origins ; their hatred was
similar to thit connected with the violence of
physical instinct, and their rage was as brutal and
ferocious as that of the most savage animals. Thus
the horrors of this revolution in St. Domingo had
far surpassed all that had been seen in France in
1793, and despite the distance which commonly
attenuates sensation, Europe, so deeply stricken
by the spectacles which had been witnessed on the
continent, had been profoundly moved by the un-
paralleled atrocities, to which imprudent masters,
sometimes themselves cruel, ])rovoked the fero-
cious slaves. The laws of society, every where the
same, gave birth here as elsewhere, after long
storms, to that fatigue, which calls for a master to
rule, a superior intelligence, proper to become a
leader. Such a master was found who wore the
black colour of the triumphant race. He was
called Toussaint Louverlure. lie was an old
slave, not having the generous audacity of Spar-
tacus, but possessing deep dissimulation, and a
talent for government, altogether of the most
extraordinary kind. A middling soldier, knowing
more or less of the art of laying ambuscades in a
country difficult of access, and even inferior to
some of his lieutenants in this respect, according
to report, had by his intelligence and skill in
directing the entire mass of public affairs, ac-
quired a prodigious ascendancy. This barbarous
race, which it had been the will of Europeans to con-
t<inn, wa.s proud to have in its ranks a being of
whom the whites themselves acknowledged the
powerful mental faculties. It saw in him a living
claim to freedom, and to the consideration of other
men. Thus did he accept the iron yoke of toil,
a Inmdred times heavier than tliat of the old
coli>niHts, and endure the hard obligation to labour,
an obligation which, in a state of slavery, was that
which he liad most detested. This black slave
f>ecome dictator, had re-established at St. Do-
mingo a tolerable state of society, and accom-
plished things which one might venture to call
graml, if the theatre had been different, and if they
Iiad been less ephemeral.

Upon this land of St. Domingo, as in every
country that is a prey to a civil war, there was a
division made between the race of soldiers fit for
arms, and atlaehi,-d to the profession, and the
labouring race, less given to conHicts, easy to
bring back to labour, and ready to fling itself
anew upon danger if the public freedom hhould be
threatened. Very naturally the first class was ten
times h'HH ntmieroiis than th<! second.

Toussaint Louverturo composed with the first of
these classes a permanent army of about twenty
thousand men, organised in demi- brigades, on tiie
model of the French armies, having black oiKcers,

with some mulattos and whites. This force, well
fed and paid, sufficiently formidable under a
climate which they alone wei-e able to sustain, and
upon a broken surface covered with brushwood,
toui^h and full of thorns, was formed into several
divisions, and commanded by generals of his own
colour, the greater part intelligent enough, but
more ferocious than intelligent ; such were Chris-
tophe, Dessalines, MoYse, Maurepas, and Laplume.
All were devoted to Toussaint ; they acknow-
ledged his genius, and submitted to his authority.
The rest of the population, under the name of
cultivators, had been recalled to labour. They
kept their muskets, which might serve them in
case of need, or if the mother country should make
an attem])t upon their liberty ; but they were
constrained to return to the plantations abandoned
by the colonists. Toussaint bad proclaimed them
free, but obliged tliem to labour five years more
upon the estates of their old masters, with a claim
to one-fourth of the raw produce.

The white proprietors had been encouraged to
return, even those who, in a moment of despair,
had associated themselves with the attemjjt of the
English upon St. Domingo. They had been well
received, and obtained their habitations again,
covered with negi'oes, who called themselves free,
to whom they abandoned, according to the regu-
lation of Toussaint, a fourth of the raw j)roduee,
valued in usage in the most arbitrary manner. A
considerable immber of the former rich proprietors
of estates, whether they had fallen in the troubles
of the colony, or whether they bad emigrated with
the old French nobility, of which they had been a
part, had neither reappeared nor sent delegates.
Their property sequestered, as the national do-
mains had been in France, had been confirmed to
black officers, at a price which easily allowed them
to enrich themselves. Certain genei-als, as Chris-
tophe and Dessalines, had acquired in this manner
more than a milliim of francs in annual revenue.

These black officers had the quality given them
of inspectors of culture, in the arrondissement
where they happened to command. They made
continual turns of inspection under this duty, and
they treated the negroes with a severity peculiar
to new masters. Sometimes they watched to see
that justice was rendered them by the colonists ;
but more commonly they condenmed them to be
flogged for idleness or insubordination, and they
k(])t up a species of continued hunt, with the
object of making those return to culture who
had contracted a taste for vagabondage. Frequent
insi)cctions in the parishes proeui-ed a knowledge
of what cultivators had left their original habita-
tions, and thus was furnished the means to bring
them back. Often even Christophe and Dessalines
had them hung under their own eyes. Thus the
culture of the land recommenced with incredible
activity under the new chiefs, who employed to
their own ])rofit the submi.ssion of the blacks pre-
tending to b(! free; nor is it right to contemn such
a scene, because these chiefs knew how to im-
pose labour upon their own kind, even for tiicir
own exclusive advantage ; the negroes knowing
how to submit, without any great benefit to them-
selves, were indemnified solely by the idea that
they were free. This feeling inspires more esteem
than the sight of an ignoble and barbarous idle-

422 Prosperity of St. Domingo THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

under the blacks.

1802.
Feb.

ness, given by tlie negroes left to themselves, in
tlie colonies recently emancipated.

Thanks to the order established by Toussaint,
the grenter part of the forsaken liabitations had
been again occupied, and in 1801, after ten years of
trouble, the island of St. Domingo, watered with
so much blond, offered an aspect of fertility very
nearly equal to that which it presented in 1789.
Toussaint, independent of France, had given to the
colony a freedom of commerce very nearly perfect.
Such a state of liberty, dangerous in colonies of
only a middling fertility, that produce little at a
high cost, and therefore have an interest in taking
the produce of the mother country for the object
of her taking theirs— such a state of liberty is
excellent, on the contrary, for a rich and fertile
colony, having no need of any favour for the debit
of her productions, and interested from that circum-
stance in treating freely with all nations, and in
seeking objects of necessity or of luxury, where
they are best to be had, and at the lowest cost.
This was the case at St. Domingo. The island had
felt the effects of the free presence of foreign flags,
more particu arly that of America, and found it of
infinite advantage. Provisions were abundant ;
the merchandise of Europe was sold there at a
good price ; aiul the productions of the island were
taken off by purchase the moment they appeared
in the market. In addition to this, the new colo-
nists, some black, become what they were by the
insurrection ; others, white persons reinstated, all
free from their engagements towards the capi-
talists of the mother country, were not, like the old
colonists of 1780, borne down iy debts, and obliged
to deduct from their profits the interest of enor-
mous borrowed capitals. They were more opulent
with the less property. The towns of the Cape,
of Poi-t-au-Prince, of St. JIark, and Caves, had
recovered a species of splendour. The traces of
the war were neaily obliterated ; there were seen
in most of them elegnnt dwellings, constructed for
the black officers, inhabited by them, and resem-
bling in all respects the fine houses of the old
white proprietors of the island, formerly so arro-
gant, so renowned by their luxury and their fall.

The chief black of the colony had put the fini-h
to the recent prosperity, by the bold occupation of
the Spanish part of St. Domingo. This island was
formerly divided lengthways into two parts, of
which one to the east, first jiresenting itself on
coming from Europe, belonged to the Spaniards ;
the other part, placed to the west, turning towards
Cuba and the interior of the Gulf of Mexico, be-
longed to the French. This western ])art, com-
jjosed of two advanced promontories, which formed
besides a vast interior gulf, a multitude of roads
and small ports, was better fitted for planta-
tions than the other, as they have need to be
situated near the places of embarkation. Thus it
wa.s covered with rich establishments. The Span-
ish part, on the other hand, little mountainous,
presented few gulfs or inlets, and contained fewer
sugar and ci^ffee plantations ; but in return, it fed
numerous herds, horses, and nmles. United, these
two portions of the island were capable of render-
ing a great service to each other, while .separated
by an exclusive colonial government, they were
like two isles far distant, one having that of which
the other stood in need, and yet not being able to

help each other ivom their want of proximity.
Toussaint, after having expelled the English, had
turned all his ideas towards the occupaiion of the
Spanish ])art of the island. Affecting a scrupulous
submission to the mother country, every thing was
conducted accordinj; to bis sole will; he was armed
with the treaty of Bale, by which Spain ceded to
France tlie possession of the whole of the island of
St. Domingo, and he had summoned the authorities
of Spain to deliver up to him the province which
they had still retained. He found at the moment
a French commissioner at St. Domingo, because
since the revolution, the mother country had not
been i-epresented in the island, except by such
commissioners, who were scai'cely listened to.
This agent, dreading the comi)licalions which
might result in Euroi)e frcjm such a step, and
besides, not having received from France any
order upon the sul)ject, had uselessly endeavoured
to Combat this resohition of Tousfaiut. The last,
taking little account of the objections which were
addressed to him, had put in movement all the
divisions of his army, and had demanded from the
Spanish authorities, inca])alile of the smallest re-
sistance, the keys of Santo- Domingo. The ke\s
had been sent to him, and he proceeded liimself
at once to take possession of all the towns, mider
no other title than that of the representative of
France, but compoiling himself m i-eality as a
sovereign, and making himself be received in the
churches with holy waier and the dais.

The union of the two different jiarts of the island
under one government had pn duced great and
instantaneous results in favour of trade ai.d interior
good order. The French part, abundantly provided
with all the products of the two worlds, had given
a considerable quantity to the Spanish colonies, in
exchange for cattle, nmles, and liorses, of whicli it
had great need. At the same time, the negroes
who wished to withdraw from labour, by becoming
wandering vagabonds, no longer found in the Sjjan-
ish i)artof the island an asylum against the unceas-
ing researches of the black police.

It was by these united means that Toussaint had
made the colony again flnurish in the s-pace of two
years. No one could have had an e.xact idea of
his system of policy, if it had not been known at
the same time how he conducted himself between
France and England. This slave, become free and
a sovereign in power, preserved at the bottf.m of
his heart an involuntary sympathy for the nation
whose chains he had borne, and felt a great iej>ug-
nance to see the English in St. Domingo. Thus he
nuide noble efforts to expel them, and in this he
succeeded. His political com])reheusi< n, profound,
though uncultivated, confirmed him in his natural
sentiments, and made him understand that the
English were the most dangerous masters, because
they jiossessed a maritime ])ower which rendered
their authority over the island effective and abso-
lute. He would not, therefore, at any price, sub-
mit to their rule. The English, on evacuating
Port-au-Prince, had offered him the royal j.ower
in St. Domingo, and the immediate acknowledg-
ment of that power, if he would consent to insure
to them the commerce of the colony. He had
refused this, whether because he still clung fast
to the mother country, or whether, affrighted at
the news of the peace, he feared a I reuch expe-

1802.
Feb.

Character of

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. Toussaint Louverture. 423

dition, capable of reducing liis royalty to a cipher,
is imt known. Besides the vanity of belnngin^
to tiie first military nation in the world, the secret

f ratification to be a general in the service of
'ranee, under the hand even of the first consul
himself, had taken away Toussaint from all the
offei-s of the English. He wished then to remain
French, to liold the English at a distance, but
to live jieacefjlly with them ; to acknowledge the
nominal authority of France, and to obey her ju^t
so far as not to provoke any display of her forces ;
such wi»s the policy of this singular man. He had
received conmiissioners from the directory, and
they had sent him men, particularly general He-
douville, pretending that they had overlooked the
interests of the mother country, while they re-
quested of iiim things that could not be expected,
or that were unfortunate for her interests.

His policy within was not less worthy of atten-
tion ihan his policy out of the island. His manner
of acting towards all classes of inhabitants, blacks,
whites, or nnilattos, answered to that about to l)e
described. He detested the midattos, because they
bordered more upon his own race, and on the con-
trary, took extreme care to make much of the
whites, provided that he obtained a few testi-
monies of their esteem, which made him feel that
his genius caused his colour to )je forgotten. He ex-
liibited in this i-egard the vanity of a black upstart,
of which all the vanity of the white ujistarts of the
old world cannot afford an idea. As to the blacks,
he treated them with incredible severity, but still
with a due attention to justice ; he made use of
religion, which he professed with great energy,
and above all, he spoke of liberty, which he jjro-
raised to defend, even to death. Of this indeed,
he was for all men of his colour the glorious
image, because there was seen in him that which,
through liberty, a negro might become. His
savage eloquence charmed his nation. From the
elevation of the pulpit, where he often mounted,
lie bpoke to them of God, of the e(iuahty of the
human races, and in speaking of tlu^m, used the
strangest and most happy *innlitndes. One day,
for example, wishing to give them confidence in
themselves, he filled a glass with grains of black
luaise, and mingling with them some giains of
white, he then shook the glass, and made ihcm
remark how quickly the white grains disappeared
among the black ones : " There," he said, " are
the widtes in the nddst of you. Work ; secure
your well being by your labour; and if the whites
«)f the mother country wish to take from us our
liberty, w'e will resume our muskets again, and we
shall a^jaiii vanquish them." Reverenced for tin se
motives, he was at the same time feared for his
cxtraordinaiy vigilance. Endowed with a snr-
prining activity lor his age, he had placed in the
interior of the island relays of extremely fleet
horses, and thus he transported himself, followed
by several guards, with prodigious rajiidity, from
one part of the island to another, sonielimes
making f.irty leagues on hoi-seback on the same
day, coming to punish, like a thunder-clap, the
oft'ence of which ho had received an account.
Far-seeing and avaricious, he made hoards of
arms and money in the mountains of the interior,
where he buried them, it is said, in a place called
the '^ Monies du Chaos," near a habitation which

had become his ordinary dwelling. These were
resources for a coming time of combat, which he
did not cease to regard as probable and even ap-
pi'oacliing. Attached continually to imitating the
first consul, he gave himself a guard, and an enclosed
circle, with a sort of princely dwelling. He re-
ceived in this dwelling the proprietors of land of
all colours, above all the whites, and used the
blacks roughly who had not a bearing and manner
sufficiently good. Frightful to the sight, even
imder his dress of a lieutenant-general, he had
his flatterers, and his complaisant courtiers ; and
a thing melancholy to state, he obtained more than
once the white females belonging to the oldest and
w ealthiest families in the island, who gave up tlieir
persons to him in order to benefit by his pro-
tection. His courtiers jiersuaded him that he was
in America the equal to Bonajiarte in Europe, and
that he ought to occupy the same situation. At
the time when he heard of the si^jnature of the
peace in Europe, and that he bigan to foresee the
re-establishmeut of the iiuthority of the mother
country, he hastened to invoke a council in the
coliiny, for the purpose of digesting a constitution.
This council assembled, and did, in fact, draw up
the scheme of a constitution, that was sufficiently
ridiculous. According to the disi)ositions of this
crude work, the council of the colony decreed all
the laws, the governor-general sanctioned them,
and fulfilled the duties of the executive power in
full plenitude. Toussaint was naturally nominated
governor-general, governor for life, with the power
of designating his successiir. 'J'his imitation of
what had been done in France could not be
plainer nor more puerile. As to the authority of
the mother country, that was no longer a question
of any moment. The constitution ahine was to be
submitted to it for approval, but that ajiprobation
being once given, the mother country had no longer
any power over the colony, because the laws were
enacted by the council. Toussaint governed, and
was able, whenever he saw fit, to deprive the
commerce of Fi-ance of every advantnge it might
]iossess at the time; thus the state of things, which
at that moment existed, and which the war liad
rendered excusable, was that which could not be
tolerated for any longer time. When it was de-
manded of Toussaint wh.at were the relations be-
tween St. Domingo and France, he replied, " The
first consul will send commissioners to have a
conference with me." All his wiser friends, and
more especially colonel Francis Vincent, who had
imder his care the management of the fortifica-
tions, gave him advice in regard to the danger
incurred by this course of coinluct, telling him that
he should defend himself from flatterers of every
colour, that he would provoke the sending of a
French expedition to the island, and that, he would
fall before it. The self-love of this slave then be-
come his dictator, carried him away com])letely.
lie would have it, as he said, that the first of the
blacks should be, both by right and fact, at St.
Diimingo, that which the first of the whites was in
France, in other words, that he shoulil be chief for
life, with the power of naming his successor. He
despatched colonel Vinciiit to Fnrope, with the
view of explaining, and making the first consul
auree to his new constitutional establislnnent. He
demanded besides, the confirnmtiou of all the niili-

424 The expedition arrives THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

at St. Domingo.

1S02.
Feb.

tary grades which had been conferred upon the
black officers.

This imitation of his own greatness, and this pre-
tension to an assimilation with himself, made the
first consul smile, and had not, it may be supposed,
any effect upon his resolutions. He was ready to
let himself be called the first of the whites, by him
■who called himself the first of the blacks, on the
condition, that the tie of the colony with the mo-
ther country should be that of obedience, and that
the ownership of the island, which had been French
for centuries, should be real, and not nominal. To
confirm the military grades that belonged to the
black officers, was, iu the eyes of the first consul, a
point of no difficulty. He confirmed them all, and
made Toussaint a lieutenant-general, and com-
mandant of St. Domingo for France. But the first
consul would have thei'e a ca])tain-general, to whom
Toussaint should be the first lieutenant ; without
this condition St. Domingo could no longer be any
thing more to France than it was at that moment.
He resolved, therefore, to send out a general and
an army. The cohjny had begun to flourish again ;
and it was now worth all which it had been worth
in times gone by ; the colonists in Paris demanded
their property with loud entreaties; peace was at
present enjoyed, it might not be for a very long
time; there were plenty of idle troops, and of
officers full of spirit, who only wanted an occasion
to be on active service, no matter in what part of
the world; he could not therefore resign himself
to see such a fine possession slip out of the hands
of France, without some attempt to retain it by
means of the forces at his disposal. Such were the
motives of the expedition of which the departure
has already been stated. General Leclerc, the
brother-in-law of the first consul, received his in-
structions how to manage with Toussaint; to offer
him the post of lieutenant of France in the island,
the confirmation of tiie rank and property acquired
by his officers, a guarantee for the freedom of the
blacks, but all with the authority of the mother
country, represented by the captain-general. In
order to prove to Toussaint the fair intentions of
the government, his two sons, who were educated
in France, were sent over to him at the same time,
together with their preceptor, M. Coisiion. To this
the first consul added a noble and flattering letter,
in which, treating Toussaint as the first man of his
race, he appeared to lend himself, in a kind way,
to a comparison between the pacificator of France
and him of St. Domingo.

But the first consul had provided against re-
sistance to his intentions, and every measure was
taken to conquer obstacles, if necessary, by main
force. If he had been less impatient to pi-ofit by
the signature of the preliminaries of peace, in
order to pass the seas, now become free, the
squadrons would have been obliged to wait for one
another in some convenient place, in order that
they might arrive altogether at St. Domingo, and
thus have sui-prised Toussaint before he could place
himself in a posture for defence. Unfortunately,
in the uncertainty in which they were at the mo-
ment of the expedition, about the signature of the
definitive treaty of peace, it was necessary to send
the vessels from the portsof Brest, Rochefort, Cadiz,
and Toulon, without obliging them to wait for each
other, and with an order to arrive as soon as pos-

sible at the place of their destination. Admiral
Villaret Joyeuse, sailing from Brest and I'Orient
with sixteen vessels, and a force of about seven or
eight thousand men, had received orders to cruise
some time in the Gulf of Gascony, in order to attempt
a junction, if possible, with adnnral Latouche Tre-
ville, who was to sail from Rocliefort with six ships,
six frigates, and three or four thousand men.
Admiral Villaret, if unable to meet and join admiral
Latouche, was to pass on to the Canary Islands, in
order to discover there, if possible, the division of
admiral Linois coming from Cadiz, and the division
of Ganteaume, which was to sail from Toulon, both
the one and the other, with a convoy of troops. He
was, lastly, to visit the Bay of Samana, the first
presenting itself to a squadron arriving from Eu-
ro])e.

In conformity to the orders which they had tints
received, the dift'erent squadrons searching for
each other without losing time in uniting, arrived
at dift'erent periods at the common rendezvous at
Samana. Admiral Villaret appeared there on the
29th of January, 1802. Admiral Latouche followed
close after. The divisions which had sailed from
Cadiz and Toulon did not reach St. Domingo until
a very considerable time afterwards. But admiral
Villaret, with the squadrons from Bi-est and I'Orient,
and admiral Latouche Treville, with the squadron
from Rocliefort, did not carry less than eleven or
twelve thousand men. After a conference with the
commanders of the fleet, the captain-general Le-
clerc thought that it was of the utmost importance
not to lose time, and that it was the best course to
present themselves before all the ports at once, in
order to seize upon the colony before giving Tous-
saint time to take measures upon his own part.
Moreover, many tidings coming from the Antilles,
gave the exi)edition ground to fear a reception by
no means of an amicable character.

In consequence of these impressions, general
Kerversau, with two thousand men embarked in
frigates, was ordered to appear before the town of
Santo-Domingo, the capital of the Spanish part of
the islands. Admiral Latouche Treville, with his
squadron, which carried the division of general
Boudet, was to attempt Port-au-Prince ; lastly,
the ca])tnin-general himself, with the squadron of
admiral Villaret, was to make sail for the Cape,
and obtain possession of it. The French part
comprehends, with a considerable portion of the
island, the two promontories which, advancing
westwards, divide it into the departments of the
north, west, and south. In the department of the
north, the principal part was the Cape, as well as
the chief place ; in the department of the west it
was Port-au-Prince. The Cayes and Jacmel were
rivals in riches and inflnence in the south. In
occui)jing Santo-Domingo for the Spanish part,
with the Cape and Port-au-Prince for the French,
nearly the whole island was kept in hand, except,
it is true, the mountains of the interior, a conquest
of which time alone could insure the achievement.

These naval divisions next quitted the bay
where they had been moored, in order to proceed
to their appointed destinations during the first
days of February. Toussaint, informed that a great
number of vessels were anchored in the liay of
Samana, proceeded thither in person, in order to
judge with his own eyes of the danger with which

1802.
Feb.

The expedition lands RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

St. Domingo.

he was thus threatened. No longer doubting, at
the sight of the French squadron, the lot which
had fallen to him, he took the resolution of having
recourse to the last extremities sooner than submit
to the authority ■ f the mother country, lie was
a.ssured that the negroes would not be again dragged
into slavery ; he was not himself possessed with
such a belief ; but he thought that they might
place themselves in allegiance to France, and
this motive sufficed him to decide upon resistance.
He resolved, in consequence, to persuade the
blacks that their liberty was in danger, to bring
them back from agriculture to war, to ravage the
maritime towns, massacre the whites, burn tiie
houses, and then retire to the Mornes, a name
given to mountains of a peculiar form, with which
the French part of the island was every where
covered, and to wait in those retreats until the
climate weakened the whites so, that they might
be able to fall upon them and complete their ex-
termination. Moreover, hoping to stop the French
army by simple menaces, pei-haps also fearing, if
he too early commanded the performance of atro-
cious actions, he should not be punctually obeyed
by the black chiefs, who, following his example,
had imbibed a taste for forming connexions with
the whites, he ordered his officers to answer to the
firet summons of the squadron, that they had no
orders to receive those on board ; that then, if they
insisted on landing, to threaten them, in such a
case, with tiie total destruction of the towns,
and, finally, if the disembarkation was effected, to
destroy every thing, massacre all around them,
and retire into the interior of the island. Such
were the orders given to Christophe, who governed
in the north, to the ferocious Dessalines, chief in
the west, and to Lajdume, a more humane black,
commanding in the south.

The squadron of Villaret having arrived as far
as Monte Christo, demanded pilots to take the
shi])3 into the roads of Fort Dauphin and the Cape,
but had great trouble to |)rocure them. Uetaehing
the division of Magon towards Fort Dauphin, it
arrived on the 3rd of February, or 14th Pluviose,
before the Cape. All the drawbridges were ele-
vated, the forts armed, and a disposition to resist
every where demoiistrable. A frigate, sent to
effect a communication witli the land, received the
answer which Toussaint had dictated. He had
no instructions, was the reply of Christo|)he ; he
must await an answer from the commaiider-in-
chief, wlio was at that moment absent ; he would
resist by fire and nixssacre every attemi)t at dis-
embarkation by main force. The municipality of
the Cape, consisting of whites and men of colour,
went to express their terror to the captain-general
Leclerc. They were, at tile sa'ne time, happy to
see the soldiers of the mother country arrive,
and yet full of fear in considering the fearful
threats of Christophe. The mind of the captain-
general was much agitated, in finding himself
placed under the necessity of fulfilling his mission,
and at the same time exposing the white French
population to the fuiy of the blacks. He reflected,
he must land at all events. He therefore pro-
mised the inhaliitiints of the Cape that he would
act with promptituile and vigotn*, in such a manner
as to surprise Christophe, and not leave him time
to fulfil his horrible instructions. He exhorted

them strongly to arm in order to defend their
persons and property, and he sent on shore a pro-
clamation of the first consul, designed to make the
blacks acquainted with the object of the expe-
dition.

It became necessai-y afterwards to bear seawards
in conseijuence of the state of the wind, which in
that latitude is perfectly regular. The captain-
general, once out at sea, arranged a plan of dis-
embarkation with admiral Villaret-Joyeuse. This
plan consisted in ])lacing the troops in the frigates,
and landing them in the environs of the Cape,
j beyond the heights which command the town, near
a place called tho embarking place of Limb^ ;
then, while they attempted to turn the town of the
Cape, to penetrate with the squadron into the
passes, and thus to make at once a double attack
I by sea and land. It was hoped, that in acting
j with great celerity the town would be tjvken before
! Cliristo|)he had time to realise his sinister threats.
I Captain Magon and general Rochambcau, if they
I succeeded at Fort Dauphin, which they were
I ordered to occupy, were to second the movements
j of the captain-general.

I On the following day the troops were transferred
I to the frigates and light vessels, and they were
landed near the embarking i)lace of Limbe'. This
operation took up the whole day. The day follow-
ing, the troops moved on their march to turn the
town, and the squadron became engaged in the
passages. Two vessels, the Patriot and Scipio,
anchored before the Fort Picolet, which fired red-
hot shot, were soon reduced to silence. The
day was advanced ; the land breeze, which in the
evening succeeded that from the sea, obliged the
squadron to move again to sea, not to approach the
land until the morning. While they thus stood
out they had the grief to see a red light rise above
the waves, and in a little time the Hames had
destroyed the town of the Cape. Christophe, al-
though less ferocious than his commander, had still
obeyed his orders ; he had set fire to the principal
quarters, and limiting himself to the massacre of
a few whites, he obliged the others to follow him
to the Mornes. While a part of these unfortunate
whites expired under the swords of the negroes, or
were carried away by them, the rest, following the
municipality in a body, had escaped from Chris-
tophe, and sought for security by throwing
themselves into the hands of the French army.
j The anxiety was gi-eat during that horrible night
among the unfortunate jiersons exposed to so many
dangers, and among the troops on sea and land, who
saw the town on fire, and the frightful situation
of their countrymen, without the pi)wer of getting
to their succour '.

The day following, being the Cth of February,
while general Leclerc marched from all parts u|>on
the Cape, turning the heights, the admiral set sail
towards the port, and getting there, drop])ed
anchor. All resistance had ceased by tlu; retreat
of the negroes. He innnediately disembarked
twelve hundred seamen under the command of

' Nothing can exhiliit more tlic inferiority of the French
in naval affairs than this landiiiK at the Cape. It is worthy
of being compared by the reader with the landing of the
Englisli army in Egypt, see page 240, wlierc two divisions of
COOO men eacli were landed in one day, with their artillery,
in face ofa French army, bt two disembarkations. — Trans.

426 Leclerc lands at the Cape. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Cape Towj burned.

general Humbert, in order to succour tlie town
and snatch tl»e wrecks from the iiiry of tlie lilacks,
while a ccmiiexion was thus kept up with tlie
captain-general. The hist arrived on his side,
without being able to meet Christiiplie, wlio had
already taken flight. They found that i)art of the
hihaliitants which had followed the municii)aliiy
wandering about and cast down, but they were
soon restored to joy on seeing themselves prom])tly
aided and definitively saved from the danger which
threatened them. Tliey ran to the burning houses.
The marine force helped to extinguish the fire,
while the troops pursued Christophe into the
country. This pursuit, actively followed up, pre-
vented the blacks from destroying the rich (Ivvell-
ings oil the ])lains of the Cape, and enabled the
French to save from the enemy a number of whites
whom they had not time to carry away with them.

While these events were passing at the Cape,
the brave captniii Magon had disembarked the
division of Rochambeau at the entrance of the l^ay
of Maneenille ; he then jjenetraied with his ves-
sels into tile snme bay, to second the movement of
the troops. This vigorous conduct, which already
presaged that which he exhibited at Trafalgar,
concurred so well with the atiack of Rociiambiau's
division, that they were ciialiled to take Fort
Dauphin so suddenly, as to be masters of it before
tlie negroes were able to commit any ravages. This
second disembarknient achieved the work of driving
the enemy from the environs of the Cape, and
obliging Christophe to retire at ouce into the
Ml lines.

The captain-general Leclerc was established in
the tiwn of the Cape, where the fire had heen ex-
tinguished. Happily the disaster iiad not corre-
sponded to the fearful menaces of the lieutenant of
Toussaint. The sole fact was that the houses iiad
been burned. The number of whi es massacred
was not so great as there was at first reason to
apprehend. Many of them came back again suc-
cessively accompanied by their servants, who had
remained faithful to them. The rage of the hlack
hordes was above all glutted In' the plunder of the
rich magazines of tiie town. The troups and po))u-
lation employed themselves in the best way they
were able to efface the traces of tlie ruin wroiiglit
by the fire. An appeal was made to the iiusbandry
negroes, who were tired of the life of ravage and
bloodshed in which their countrymen would iiivohe
tiiem anew, and a number of them were now seen
to return to their masters and to their accustomed
labours. In a few days the town resumed a cer-
tain air of order and activity. The captain-gene-
ra! then sent vessels towards the continent of
America, to endeavour to procure provisions, and
replace the resources which had been destroyed.

During this interval the S(juadron of admiral
Latouche 'I'reville, which had gone to the west,
had doubled the point of the island, and had come
before the bay of Port-au-1'rincH, in order to dis-
embark a division of the ti-oo[)S there. A white,
engaged in the service of the blacks, named Age,
an officer full of good feeling, conimniided at that
jilace in the absence of Dessalines, residing at St.
Marc. His repugnance to execute the orders he
had received, the vigour of admiral Latouche Tre-
ville, the (iromptitude of general Bondct, the good
fortune, in fact, tlxat favoured this part of the ope-

rations, saved the town of Port-au-Prince from the
misfortunes which had befallen that of the Cape.
Latouche Treville ordered raits to be constructed
armed with artillery, then getting the troops dis-
embarked suddenly at the point of Lamentin, he
made sail in all haste towards Port-au-Prince.
During this quick movement of the vessels, the
ti-oops on their side advanced ujion the town. The
fort of Bizoton lay in their road. The.\ approached
it without firing: ''Let us kill without firing, if
possible," said general Bondet, "in order to pre-
vent a collisidu, and save if we are able our un-
happy countrymen from the fury of the blacks "
It was, in fact, the sole means to avoid the mas-
sacre with which the whiles were threatened. The
black garrison of the Fort Biznton, on seeing the
amicable and resolute attitude of the French
troops, surrendered, and took their place in the
ranks of the division of lioudet. They arrived at
Port-au-Prince at the same time as admiral La-
touche Treville approached it with his vessels.
Four thousand bhicks formed the garrison there.
Froiii the heights on which the army marched the
blacks were stt-n lining the jirincipal forts, or
jiosted in advance tif the walls. General Boudet
ordered the tOwn to be turned by two liattalions,
and with the main Iwd}' of his force marclud upon
the redoubts which covered it : " We are friends,"
the nearest black troojis cried out, " do not fire ! "
Trusting in these exehmiaii<.ns, the French soldiers
advanced wiih their arms on their sh<.uhlers. But
a discharge of musketry and giajie, given nearly
at the mnzzle, struck do'-n two liundred among
them, some killed, others wounded. The gallant
general Pamphile Lacroix was in the number of
the last. The French instantly sprung on these
miserable blacks with the bayonet, and immolated
all those that had not time to make their escape.
Admiral Latouche, who, during the passage had
said without ceasing to the gi nerals of the army,
that a S(|uadron was ]>y its file suiieiior to any
land ])osition, and that he would soon convince
them of it, ])laced himself under the batteries of
the blacks, and in a few moments .succeeded in
silencing them. The blacks cannonaded so near,
and assailed in the stn ets by the troops of Bou-
det's division, fled in disorder, without setting fire
to the place, leaving the ]iublic chest full of money,
and magazines containing an immense quantity of
colonial produce. Unfortunately they took with
them numbers of whites, treating them without
pity in their jirecipitate flight, and marking its
traces by incendiarism and the jiillage of the habi-
tations. Columns of smoke designated the line of
their retrejit in the distance.

The ferocious De.ssaliiies, on leartiing the dis-
embarkation of the Frencii, had quitted St. Mare,
passed behind Port-au-1'iince, and by a rapid
mardi occii|iied Leogane, in oriier to dispute with
the French the department of the South. General
Boiidet sent there a detachment, which chased
Dessalines from Leogane.

Inforination was received tliat general Laplnme,
less barbarous than liis frieJids, distrusting, besides,
a country full of mulattos, the implacable enemies
of tlie blacks, was disposed to surrender himself.
General Boudet, as soon as possible, despatched
emi.ssaries to him, and Laiilume surrendered him-
self, and gave over entire to the French troops

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

427

that rich department, comprclienJinji Leoganc, the
great and little Goave, Tibuion, the Cayes, and
Jacinel. This was a fortunate event. The sub-
mission of the black chief L:iplunie saved a third
of the colony fcom the ravages of the barbarians.

In the meanwhile the Spanish part of the island
fell under the dominjaion of the French troops.
General Kerversau, sent to Santo-Doniiiigo with
some frigates and two thousand men, disembai-ked
there. Seconded by the inhabitants and by the
influence of the French bishop Mauvielle, ho took
possession of one-half of the Spanish part, in which
Paul Louverture, the brother of Toussaint, was
the governor. On the other coast, captain l\lagon,
established at Fort Dauphin, had succeeded, by
adroit negotiations, and the influence of the same
bishop Mauvielle, in gaining over the mulatto gene-
ral Clervaux, and in securing the rich plain of
St. Jago.

Tliu-t, in the first six days of February, the
French troops occupied the flat country, the ports,
the chief places of the island, and the larger part
of the cultivated land. There remained ia Tous-
saint's possession no more than three or four
black denii-brigades, the generals Maurepas, Chris-
toi)lie, and Dessalines, with their treasures, and his
C'lllection of arms, hidden in the Mornes of the
Cliaos. But there were with him, most unfor-
tunately, a number of whites, carried away as
hostages, and cruelly treated, waiting until they
should either be massacred or surrendered. It
was necessary for the French to ])rofit by the
sejison, which was favourable, in order to complete
the reduction of the island.

The mountainous and itpturned region in which
Toussjiiut had shut himself up, is placed to the
westward, between the s:'a and mount Cibao, this
being the central knot to which are attached all the
mountain chains of the island. This region pours
forth its scanty waters by several streams into ihe
river of Ariibonite, which fails into the sea, be-
tween Gfinaives and Port-au-Prince, very near St.
Marc. It was necessary to march there from all
points at the same time, in such a way as to place
the blacks between two fires, and to drive them on
GonVives, in order to surround tlu-m there. But
to penetrate into the Mornes, it was needful to
pass through narrow gorges, rendered nearly im-
pitssable by the vegetation of the tropics, and in the
depths of which the blacks, lying close as tirailleurs,
presented a resistance difficult to surmount. Yet
the old soldiers of the Rhine, trans|)orted from
thence across the Atlantic, had nothing to tear
but the climate. That alone was able to overcome
them; that alone had overcome them in this heroic
age; they never succumbed exco|)t inider the sun of
St. Ditrningo, or upon the ice of .Moscow.

The captain-general Leclerc was resolved to
profit by the months of February, March, ami
April, in order to com|)lcto the occupation of the
island, because at a later p'-riod the extreme heat
and tlic rains made military operations imprac-
ticable. Thanks to the arrival of the naval divi-
sions from the Meiliierr.inean, commanded by
admirals G.inteaume and Linois, the army dis-
embarked wiiH now carrit!i| U|i to a force of seven-
teen or eighteen Ihonsaml miMi. Somu of the
troops were ill, it is true ; but there remained
fifteen thousand in a aUto fit for duty. Tlio cap-

tain-general, therefore, had all the means at hand
to accomplish his task.

Before proceeding to the execution of his pur-
pose, he determined to send a summons to 'J'ous-
saint. This black leader, who was capable of the
greatest atrocities in order to render his designs
successful, was, nevertheless, susceptible of the
natural affections. The captain-general, by the
orders of the first consul, had brought with him,
as already said, the two sons of Toussaint, grown
up in France, in order to try the influence of filial
solicitation upon his heart. The preceptor who
had charge of their education was designed to con-
duct them to their father, to take him a letter
from the first consul, and to try and attach him
to France, by promising him the second authority
in the island.

Toussaint received his two sons and their pre-
ceptor in his habitation of Ennery, his ordinary
retreat. He pressed them for a long while in his
arms, and appeared for a moment to be subdued
by his emotion. His old heart, devoured by am-
bition, was moved. The sons of Toussaint and
the respectable man whose pupils they had been,
then described to him the power and the humanity
of the French nation, the advantages attached to
a submission, which would leave yet greater still
his situation in St. Domingo, and which secured
to his children a future prospect so brilliant ; the
danger of a ruin almost certain, on the contrary,
if he continued to resist. The mother of one of
the youths joined them in attempting to overcome
Toussaint. Affected by these pressing entreaties,
he wished to take some days to consider, and
during these days he appeared to struggle greatly,
now startled at the danger of the unequal contest,
now governed by the ambition to be the sole
master of the fine empire of Haiti, now revolting
at the idea that the whites would perhaps replunge
the blacks into slavery. Ambition and the love of
liberty obtained the victory over |)aternal tender-
ness. He sent for his two children, he pressed
them in his arms again, ho left to them the choice
between France, which was inhabited by civilized
men, and himself, who had given them being, and
he declared that he should continue to cherish
tlicm, even if tliey belonged to the ranks of his
enemies. These 'unfortunate children, agitated
and afl'ected like their father, hesitated as he had
doni'. One of them, nevertheless, flmi'j; himself
on his neclc, and declared that he would die a free
black at his side; the other, uncertain, followed
his mother to one of the estates of the dictator.

The answer of Toussaint no longer left any
doubt of the necessity of the immediate resump-
tion of hostilities. The ca])tain-general Leclerc
made his preparations, and then commenced ope-
rations on the i7th of February.

His plan was to attack at one time, by the north
and tilt; west, the thicket-covered country, nearly
inaccessible, into which Toussaint had retired with
his black generals. Maurepas occupied the narrow
I' jrge called Three Rivers, which opened towards
the sea at I'ort-<le-Paix. ChriHtophe was esta-
blished on the sides of the Mornes towards the
plain of the Cape. Dessalines was at St. Marc,
near the mouth of the Artibonite, with onlers to
burn St. Marc, and to defend the Mornes du Chaos
ou the west and uouth. Ho had fur support a

428 Toussaint defeated, THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

and his artillery laken. j^j'^?^'

fort, well-constructed and defended, full of the
munitions of war, amassed by the foresiglit of
Toussaint. This fort, called Crete-a-Pierrot, was
placed in the flat country that the Artibonite
traverses and inundates, forming there a thousand
sinuous windings before it falls into the sea. In
tlie centre of this region, between Christophe,
Maurepas, and Dessalines, Toussaint held himself
in reserve with a clmsen band.

On the 17tli of February the captain-general,
Leclerc, marched with his army formed in three
divisions. On the left, the division of Rocham-
beau, leaving Fort Dauphin, was to march upon
St. Raphael .and St. Michel; the division of Hardy
was to march by the plain of the north upon Mar-
malade ; the division of DesCouriieanx, by the
Limbe', was to reach Plaisance. These three
divisions had narrow gorges to pass, and steep
heights to escalade, in order to penetrate into the
region of the Mornes, and to possess themselves
of the streams which form the up])er course of
the Artibonite. General Humbert, with a detach-
ment, was charged to disembark at Port-au-Paix,
rcmiiunt the gi>rgc of the Three Rivers, and
drive back the black, Maurepas, on ihe Gros
Jlorne. General Boudet had orders, while these
five corps marched from north to south, to re-
mount from south to north, and leaving Port-au-
Prince, to occu|)y Mirebalais, the Verettes, and
St. Marc. Thus assailed on all sides, the blacks
had no other refuge than towards the Gonaives,
where the French had the hope to enclose tiiem.

These dispositions would have been wise against
an enemy that it was desirable to surround and
pursue in front, rather than fight in a regular
way. Each of the French corps had, in fact, a
sufficiency of force to prevent it from receiving in
any i)art a serious check. But against an experienced
commander, iiaving European troops, able to con-
centrate themselves suddeidy upon a single corps
of their assailants, the plan would have been
defective.

Marching on the 17th, the three divisions of
Rochambeau, Hardy, and Desfourneaux, fulfilled
their task with great gallantry, scaling the most
frightful heights, they travelled through dense and
difficult thickets, and surprised the blacks by the
boldness of their march, scarcely firing at all on an
enemy that ])oured his fire upon them from all
parts. On the 18th, the division of Desfourneaux
was in the environs of Plaisance, the division of
Hardy at Dondon, that of Rochambeau at St.
Raphael.

(Jn the 19th, the division of Desfourneaux occu-
pied Plaisance, which was given up to him by Jean
Pierre Dumesnil, a black tolerably humane, who
surrendered to the French, with all his troops.
The division of Hardy penetrated by main force
into Marmelade, overturning Christophe, who was
at the head of two thousand four hundred negroes,
half of them troops of the line, the remainder cul-
tivators. Tiie division of Rochambeau cai'ried St.
Michel. The blacks wei-e surprised at so rough
an attack, not having before seen such troops
among the whites. One only of the black lea<lers
vigorously resisted the French. This was Maure-
pas, who defended the gorge of the Three Rivers
against general Humbert. Tiiis last, not liaving
troops enough, general Debelle had been sent by

sea to his aid, with a reinforcement of twelve or
fifteen hundred men. General Debelle was not
able to disembark until very late at Port-au-Paix,
and thwarted in his attacks by a frightlul rain, he
gained but little ground.

The ca])tain-general, after having remained two
days in the same place, in order to suffer the bad
weather to pass away, pushed forward the division
of Desfourneaux upon the Gonaives, the division of
Hardy upon Ennery, and that of Rochambeau upon
the formidable position of the Ravine aux Col-
leuvres. On the 23rd of February, the division
of Desfourneaux entered into Gonaives, which they
found in flames; the division of Hardy took Ennery,
the principal habitation of Toussaint ; and the gal-
lant division of Rochambeau carried the Ravine
aux Cullcuvres. To force this last position, it was
necessary to penetrate into a close gorge, bordered
with heights, as if cut with a tool, bristling with
gigantic trees and thorny bushes, and defended by
blacks, who were good marksmen. Then it was
necessary to open ujion a small plain, that Tous-
saint occupied with three thousand grenadiers of
his own colour, and all his artillery. Tlie intrepid
Rochambeau penetrated boldly into the goi'ge, in
spite of a very annoying fire from the black tirail-
leurs, scaled two high banks, killing with the bayo-
net those blacks tiiat were too late in retreat, and
then came out upon the plain. On arriving there,
the old soldiers of the Rhine completed the affair
by a single charge. Eight hundred blacks remained
on the field, and all the artillery of Toussaint was
taken.

During this contest, general Boudet, executing
the orders of the captain-general, had left in Port-
au Prince, general Pamphile Lacroix, with six or
eight hundred men for a garrison, and liad marched
himself, with the rest of his forces, upon St. Marc.
Dessalines was there, ready for the committal of
the greatest atrocities. He himself, torch in hand,
led the way in setting fire to a fine mansion, which
he possessed in St. Marc, and he was imitated by
his followers ; then, on retiring, they massacred a
party of whites, and dragged the rest after them
into the horrible refuge of the Mornes. General
Boudet could oidy occupy ruins iimndated with
human blood. While he pursued Dessalines, the
last, by a rapid march, appeared before Port-au-
Prince, which he imagined to be but feebly de-
fended, but it was effectively held by a very small
garrison. General Pamphile Lacroix united
his little troop, and warmly harangued them.
Admiral Latouche Tre'ville, learning the danger,
landed with his sailors, saying to general Lacroix :
"At sea, you are under my orders; on land I will
be under yours ; let us defend in common the lives
and properties of our countrymen." Dessalines,
repulsed, was tlius unable to satiate his barbarity,
and flung himself into the Mornes du Chaos. Gene-
ral Boudet, returning in all haste to Port-au-Prince,
found it saved by the union of the land and sea
forces ; but in the midst of these marches and
counter-marches, he had found it impossible to
second the movements of the general-in-chief.
The blacks they had not been able to surround,
nor to ])nsh on to the Gonaives.

No vertheless,the blacks were every where beaten.
The cajjture of the Ravine aux Colleuvres from
Toussaint had completely discouraged them. The

1802.
April

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. Toussaint Louverture. 429

captain-general Lcclerc, wished to put a finisli to
this (liscuuragement, by destroying tiie black gene-
ral jMauivpas, who ably sustained himself iigainst
generals Humbert and Debelle, at the bottom of
the gorge <if the Three rivers. Assailed on all
sides, the black Maurepas had no other resource
than to surrender. He submitted, witii two thou-
sand of the bravest blacks. This was the rudest
blow yet given to the moral power of Toussaint.

It yet remained to capture the fort of Crete-a-
Pierrot, and the Monies du Chaos, having forced
Toussaint in his last asylum, unless indeed he
should go and, retiring into the mountains of the
interi )r of the island, live as a partizan, deprived
of all means of action, and despoiled of every pres-
tige of j>ower. The captain-general ordered the
divisions of Rocliambeau and Hardy on one side,
and that of Boudet on the other, to march upon
the fort and the Monies. Several hundred men
were lost in attacking with too much confidence
tlie works of Crcte-a-Piei-rot, which were better
defended than could have been supposed. It was
necessary to undertake a species of regular siege,
to execute works of ai)proach, and to establish
batteries. Two thousand blacks, good soldiers,
commanded by some oflicei's less ignorant than
the othei-s, guarded this depository of the resources
of Toussaint, who endeavoured, seconded by Dessa-
lines, to interrupt the siege by night attacks ; but
they did not succeed, and in a little time the fort
was pressed so near that an assault became pos-
sible. The garrison in despair, then took the reso-
lution to make a nocturnal sally, to pass the lines
of the besiegers, and take to flight. At first, they
succeeded in deceiving the vigilance of the troops,
and in traversing the encampments ; but being
soon recognized, assailed on all sides, one part was
driven back into the fort, and the other destroyed
by the French soldiers. On taking this species of
arsenal, there was found a considerable quantity
of arms and warlike munitions, and a good many
whites cruelly assassinated.

The capt;iin-gencral immediately afterwards had
all the Monies around scoured over, in order not
to leave any asylum to the fugitive bands of Tous-
saint, and to reduce them before the great heats of
the season came on. At Verettes, the army was
tlie witness of a iiorrible sjiectacle. The blacks
had for a long time conducted with them troops of
white persons, whom they forced by beating to
march as fast as they did. Not hoping longer to
be able to k(rep iheni from the army that was
pursuing tiiem, and was tlu'U vt'ry near, they
massacred eiglit hundred, men, women, infants,
and aged persons. 'l"he ground was found covered
with this frightful hecatomb ; and the French sol-
diers, who wen; so generous, who had fought so
much ill all parts of the world, who had been pre-
sent at so many scenes of carnagi-, )»ut hail never
before seen women and infants massacred, were
struck with the deepest horror, and a degree of
anger from humanity, which became fatal to the
blacks whom they were able to overtake. They
hunted them down to the last, giving no quarter
to any whom they encountered.

It was Ai)ril. The blacks had no more resources,
at least for the present. Their discouiagement was
very great The chiefs, struck with the kind con-
duct of the captain -general towards thoao who had

surrendered, and to whom he had left their rank
and estates, thought of laying down their arms.
Cliristophe addressed himself to the captain-
general, tlirou;;h the medium of the blacks already
submitted, and oft'ered to give in his submission, if
the general would ])romise the same treatment to
him as to generals Laplume, Maurepas, and Cler-
vaux. The captain-general, who was possessed of
as mucli humanity as good sense, consented with
all his heart to the propositions of Cliristophe, and
accei)ted his offers. The surrender of Cliristophe
soon brought that of the ferocious Dessalines, and
finally, that of Toussaint himself. He was left
nearly alone, or only followed by a few trusty
blacks attached to his person. To continue his
wandering career u]) and down the interior of the
island, without attempting any thing important
which could retrieve his credit with the negroes,
appeared to him a thing altogether useless, and
only adapted to weaken yet more the zeal of his
former partizans. Besides, he was beaten, and
could preserve no ho])e of future success but such
as might be inspired by the fatal nature of the
climate. He had, in fact, been long accustomed
to see the Euroi)eans, and before all others, the
military, disappear under the action of that de-
vouring climate, and he flattered himself that he
should soon find the yellow fever his frightful
auxiliary. He then said to himself that he must
await in peace the propitious moment, and that
when it arrived, perhaps a new attempt, by force
of arms, would give him the success he desired.
In consequence, he oft'ered to come to terms. The
captain-general, who did not hope much that he
should be able to take him, even in pursuing him
to the utmost, throughout the numerous and re-
moter retreats of the island, consented to grant
him a capitulation, similar to that which he had
accorded to his lieutenants. He was restored to
his rank and his properly, upon condition that he
lived on a designated spot, and did not change his
residence, unless by the permission of the captain-
general. His habitation of Ennery was the j)lace
fixed upon for his retreat. The cajHain-general
Leclerc ha<l great dcmbts that the submission of
Toussaint was honest ; but he kept a good watch
upon him, ready to have him arrested on the very
first act that implied ui)nn his jiart a breach of faith.
To set ott' from ibis |)eriod of time, being the end
of April and commencement of May, order was
re-established in the colony, and the revival of that
])rosperity was seen returning which it had en-
joyed under the dictator. The regulations which
he had devised were put in force. The cultivators
had nearly all entered again upon their plantations.
A black genilarmerie pursued all idle vagabonds,
and brought them back to the estates to wliiih, in
virtue of the antirior census, they had been at-
tached. Tlu! troo|is of Toussaint, reduced in num-
ber, and submitted to the French authority, were
franiiuil, and showed no symptoms of any ilispo-
sition to revolt, if they were but preserved in their
existing state. Christo|ihe, Maurepas, Dessalines,
and Clervaux, maintained in their former rank and
property, were as rea<ly to iiccommodato them-
selves to the new order of things as they had been
to that of Toussaint Louverture. it only sufliced
for that purpose to secure to them the preservation
of their riches and their liberty.

430 ^'G^^lfouSe."""'"""'"" THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Colonel Sebastian! sent
to the East.

1802.
May.

The captain -general Leclerc, who was a brave
soldier, mild and discreet, applied himself to re-
establish order and security in the colony. He
had continued to admit foreijifn flags, in order to
favour the introduction of provisions and neces-
saries. He had assigned them four principal ports
of entry, the Cape, P<>rt-au-Prince, the Cayes, and
Santo-Domingo, forbidding them to touch else-
where, in ordei- to impede the landing of arms
upon the coasts. He had not restrained importa-
tion, except so far as related to European ]iroduce,
of which he li;id exclusively reserved the monopoly
to the French merchants of the mother country.
There had, in fact, arrived a great number of
merchant vessels from Havre, Nantes, and JJor-
deaux, and there was reason to hope that soon the
])rosperity of St. Domingo would be re-estnblished,
nut to the advantage of the English and the
Americans, as under the government of Toussaint,
but to the profit of France, without the colony
being deprived of any of its advantnges.

Still there was a double danger to be appre-
hended ; on one jjart there was the climate,
always fatal to European troops ; on the other,
there was the incurable mistrust of the negro
population, wliiL-h it was impossible, do all tluit
might be done, to prevent from appi'ehending a
return to slavery.

To the seventeen or eighteen thousand men
already transported to the colony, new naval equip-
ments, sailing from Holland inid France, had
added three (u* four thousand more, which raised
to twenty-one or twenty-two thousand the number
of soldiers sent ui)on the expedition. But four or
five thousand were already dead ; an equal inim-
ber was in the hospitals, and only twelve thousand
and a few more remained to meet a new contest, if
the negroes should again have recmu-se to arms.
The ciiptain-g 'neral took every care to procure
rest and ri-freshment for the troops, with salubiious
cantonments, neglectin'j nothing to render <lefini-
tive and complete the success of the expedition
which had been confided to his care.

At Guadaloupe the gallant Richei)ause landed
with a force of thi-ee or four thousand men under
his connnanil, had daunted the revcjited negroes,
and had again subjected them to slavery, after
having destroyed the heads of the revolt. This
species of counter-revolution was possible, and was
effected without danger in an island of so small an
extent as that of Guadaloupe ; but it jiroduced
this serious inconvenience, that it alarmed the
blacks of St. Domingo about the fate ultimately
reserved ffir them. In other respects the affairs of
the French Antilles, or West Indies, went on as
prosperously as could be hoped for in so short a
space of time. In all parts vessels were pre])aring
to recommence the rich traffic that France had
formerly carried on with these islands ; they were
principally fitted out in her great European com-
mercial ports.

The first ciinsnl, pursuing his task with great
perseverance, had sent to sea the depots of the
demi-brigades serving in the colonies. He con-
stantly forwarded recruits there, and availed him-
self of every c^unmercial or naval expedition to
send off fresh detachments. He bad augmented
the credits accorded to the naval service, and ha<l
carried to 130,000,000 f, the special budget of that

departmen*, a crmsiderable sum in a budget, the
total of which was but 58!),(IOO,00() f., which may
be reckoned equivalent to 72O,0(((>,000 f. in the
present day. He ordered that 20,000,000 f. should
be expended annually in the purchase of naval
stores and materials in all countries where they
were jjrocurable. He arranged besides for the con-
struction and launching of twelve vessels of the
line every year. He perpetually i-epeated, that it
was during the peace lie nmst create a navy,
because duiing j)eace, the sea, the field for ma-
noeuvring was free, and the road to provide all
things m-cessary was ojien. " The first year of the
minister," he wrote to admiral Decres on the 14th
February, 1803, " is y<iur year of apprenticeship.
The second c(mimences your ministry. You have
the French navy to re-establish : what a fine
career for a man in the full vigour of his age, ami
yet finer, because our i)ast misfortunes have been
stronger evidence for us of its necessity. Fulfil
your task without delay. Erery hour lost in tlie
epoch (lurivij which ice lire is irrepanible."

From thir Indies an<l America the active mind of
the first consul directed itself towards the Ottoman
empire, the approaching fall of which appeared
pi-oliable, and of wbich he was not inclined to see
the wrecks serve to extend the possessions of the
Russians and English. He had renounced all
thoughts oi E::ypt while England respected the
peace ; but if the peace were broken on their jiart,
lie kept himself free to revert to his original ideas
about a countiy which he always regarded as the
road to India. In other res])ects, he projected
nothing at the moment ; his intention was solely
to prevent the English from taking an advantage
of the peace, to establish themselves at the mouth
of the Nile. A formal engagement obliged them
to evacuate Eg.\pt within three months; but there
had passed twelve or thirteen fiom the signature
of the jireHminaries of London, and seven or eight
froni the signature of the treaty of Amiens, and
they (lid not yet seem dis])osed to quit Alexandria.
The first consul llien sent for colonel Sebasliani,
an officer endowed with great intelligence and
judgment, and ordered liim to embark on board a
frigate, and to sail along the shores of the Mediter-
ranean, to visit Tunis and Tripoli, in order to make
those slates acknowledge the flag (if the Italian
republic, and tin n to proceed to Egypt to examine
the positii^i of the Knglish tliere, and the nature of
their establishment ; to try and discover how long
this establishment was to continue ; to observe
what was passing between the Turks and Mame-
lukes ; to visit the Arab sheiks, and to complinunt
thtm ill the first consul's name; to go into Syria and
visit the Chiisiians, and place them under French
protection ; to have an interview with Djezzar-
Pacha, who had dei'euded St. Jean d'Acre against
the French, and to promise him the good friend-
ship of France, if he would well treat and protect
the Christians, and show favour to Frencii com-
merce. Colonel Sebastiani had orders, lastly, to
return by Constantinojile, to renew to general
Biune, tlie I'reiich ambassad(jr there, the in-
structions of his cabinet. These instructions en-
joined general Prune to display great magnificence,
1(1 make much of the sultan, to give him hopes of
the Continued support of France against all ene-
mies, whoever they might be, and, in one woid, to

1802.
June.

Estab!ishnieiit of
mi ii.Tiy colonies
in I'icdmiiiit.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

Completion of the

iKivifTiiiion of 431
the Blaviit.

neglect iKitliiiiir to render France imposing and
respectid in ilie E;ist.

Alihiiu^ii mucli occupied with these distant
enterprises, tlie first consul did not cease to f;ive
all due care to llie interior prosperity of France.
He had again taken up the dig -st of the civil code.
A section of the council of ^tat'e and one of the
tribunate united thenisidves daily at the house
of tiie second consul Canibac<Jies, to resolve the
difficulties natural to a work of such inai;nitnde.
The reparation of the roads had been followed up
with the sjinte dei^ne of aitivity. The first consid
had distributed them, as iias been already saiil, in
series of twenty each, reporting successively the
one to the other the extraordinary allocations
which they had been allolt^d. The execution <if
the canals of Ouic<i and of St. Qnentin, had not
been for a mom. nt interrupted. The works or-
dered in Italy, as well tlmse of ihe roads as of the
fortifications, had cnniinued to attract the atten-
tion of the first consul. He wished if (he mari-
time war should recommence, anl bring back a
continentid war, that Italy shoidd be definitively
allied to France by great public cummunlcations,
and by powerful defensive works. The ])ossession
of the' Valais liavhig facilitated the execution of the
great road of the Simplnn, that wonderful creation
was now very nearly completed. The works on
the Mont Cenis road had been slackened in order
to throw all the disposable strength possible upon
the I'oad of Mount Genevre, that at least one or the
other might be completed in 1803. As to the for-
tress of Alexandria, it had become a subject of
daily correspondence with the able engineer Chas-
sehiup. There were prepared in that place bar-
i-acks for a i)ermanent garrisou of si,\ thousand
men, l)0Ki>ilals for three thousand sick or wonndeil,
and magazines I'm- a large army. The recasting of
ail the Italian artillery hatl been commenced, with
the object to bring the calibre of the whole train
to six, eight, and twelve p'-vids. The first consul
recommended to the jnesident Melzi a great stock
of muskets to be made. " You have only fifty |
thousand stand," he wrote t<t him, "that is nothing.
I have in France five hundred thousand, inde-
pendently of those in the hands of the army. 1
shall not stf)p until I am in possession of a million."

The first consul lia<l begun to think of military
colonies, the idea of which was first borrowed
from the Romans. He had ordered a selection to
be ma<le in tin,' army of soldiers and olHccrs who
had served long, and receivetl honourable woinnls,
in order that tli'-y might be conducted into Pied-
mont, and receive a di.--triliulion of the national
domains situated arouml Alexandria, in a value
proportionate to their siinatiou, from the soldier up
to the otticer. These veterans thus endowed, would
many I'iedmoniese fei.iales. They would meet
twice a year to mana-uvre, and at the first alarm
of hostile danger fling thtmselves i<ito the for-
tress of Ab-xaiidria with their most valuable
property. This was a mode of introtlucing at ihe
BJiine time the blood ami feelingH of Frenchnnn
into Italy. The same kind of iimtitulion was dr-
BJgned to be esljiblished in the new departments of
the Rhine, near Mayenee.

The author of tins.! lino ideas meditated Fomo-
thing of a similar kiinl in the iirovinces of the re-
public still infected with a bad feeling of insubordi-

nation, such as La Vendee and Britany. He wished
to found there at the same time both great esta-
blishments and towns. The agents of Georges
coming from Englaml landed from the isles of Jer.«ey
and Guerns y. bordering on the northern coasts ;
traversed the peninsula of Britany by Loud^ac and
Poniivy, and spread themselves either over the
Morbihan or the Loiie Inferieure, in or<ler to keep
up distrust among the population, and, if need be,
pre|)are it for re\oIt.

The first consul, corresponding with the gen-
darmerie, and himself <lirecting the different
movements and researches that took place there,
foreseeing the possiliility of new troubles, liad
fhooght of constructing in the principal ]iassages
of the mountains and of the forests, towers sur-
mounted with a piece of artillery turning upon a
l)iv')t, and capable of coniaining a garrison of fifty
men, holding some provisions and anmiunitinu, in
order tti serve as a support to the moveable co-
lunnis. Full of the idea that he must tiiink of
civilizing a country as well as of retaining it, he
comuKinded the completion of the navigation of
the Blavet, in order to render the water-course
navigable as far as Pontivy. It was thus that he
formed tlie first de.-ii^n of that fine navigation
which passes along the coasts of Britany from
Nantes as far as Brest, penetrating by many na-
vigable channels into the interior of the country,
and assuring at all times the necessary provisions
and stores for the arsenal at Brest." The first
consul had determined to construct at Pontivy large
vessels to receive troojjs, a numerous staff, tribu-
nals, a military administration, and manufactories,
which he would create at the expense of the state.
He had ordere<l researches to be made of places
most i)roper for the foundation of new towns, whe-
ther in Britany or in La Vendee. He made the
works proceed at the .'^ame lime upon the fortitica-
lions of Quiberon, Belle Isle, and Isle Dieu. The
fort Bayard was begun, after his own plans, with
the object of niai ing the basin com])rised between
La Rochelle, Rochelort, the islands of Rhe' and
Oleron, one vast road, safe, and inaccessible to the
liiiglish. C'herburg naturally attracted all his no-
lice. Not ho])ing to be able to finish the d\kesoon
enough, he ordered the execution to be pressed
more particularly upon three points, in order to
make liiem approach in the water as near as pos-
sible to each other; and to establish three batte-
ries, capable of keeping an enemy at a respectlul
distance.

In the midst of these works, undertaken for the
maritime, connncrcial, and military greatness of
France, the first C'lisnl knew how to find time to
occupy himself wiih ihe business of the schools, of
the institute, tlie jjrogress of science, and the ad-
ministration of the clergy.

His sister Lliza and his brother Lucien formed,
with Sicard, Morellet, and Fontanes, what has been
styled in the literary history of France, a bureau
d\9prU. They affected there a great taste for the
recollections of jtast lime, above all for its literature ;
and it nmst be avowed, that if the taste of the past
time is to be ilefended in any thing, it is above all
for this branch of knowli il;,'e. But with n tiuly
legitimate taste they mingled other and very puerile
ones. They affected to pn ler the older* literary
bodies to the institute ; and they talked very largely

432

The first consul changes
one class of the Insti-
tute.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Refractory conduct
of some of the
bishops.

1S02.
Aug.

of a design to reconstruct the French Academy out
of tlie men of letters who had survived tlie revolu-
tion, and did not feel much love for it, such as
Sicard. La Harpe, Morellet, and others. The re-
ports upon this subject which got abroad produced
a very vexatious effect. The consul Cambace'res,
attentive to all the circumstances wjiich might pre-
judice the government, made the first consul ac-
quainted with what was passing ; and in his turn,
the first consul made his brother and sister ac-
quainted, in a rough way, with the displeasure
which this kind of affectation had caused him.

On this occasion he himself took liis place in the
Institute. He declared tiiat every literary society
which took any other title than that of the Insti-
tute,—that would, for example, call itself "The
French Academy," — should be dissolved, if it af-
fected to give itself any juiblic character. The
second class, that which then answered to the old
French Academy, remained devoted to the belles
lettres. But lie suppressed the class of moral and
political science, out of an aversion, before strongly
pronounced, not exactly against philosophy, — as it
will be seen hereafter vvhat his mode of tiiinking
was upon the subject, — but against certain persons
who affected to profess the philosophy of the
eighteenth century, in that which it held most con-
trary to the ideas of religion. He merged this
class in that devoted to the belles lettres, saying
that their object was a common one ; that philoso-
phy, politics, morals, and the observation of human
nature, were the foundation of all literature ; that
the art of writing was no more than the form ;
that it was not necessary to sejiarate that w hich
should remain united ; that a class consecrated to
the belles lettres would be futile indeed, a class
consecrated to the moral and political sciences very
pedantic, if they were to be separated in good
earnest ; that the writers who were not thinkers,
and the thinkers who were not writers, would be
neither one thing nor another ; and that, in fine,
an age even affluent in talent was able scarcely to
furnisli a single one of sucli establishments witii
members worthy of it ; they must therefore descend
for them to mediocrity.

Tliese ideas, true or false, were with the first
consul more of a pretext than a reason to defeat a
literary society which arose conti'ary to his political
views in regard to the estalilishment of public
worship. Of the two classes he made only one,
adding to it Sicard, Morellet, and Foiitanes ; and
he declared it to be the second class of the Institute,
answering to the old French Academy. While he
effected this union, lie requested of the learned
Haiiy an elementary work on pliysics, which was
yet wanting for public instruction ; aiitl he replied
to Laplace, who had addressed to him the dedica-
tion of his great work, the Mecanique Celeste, in
these words, so proudly elevated : " I thank you
for your dedication. I wish that the coming gene-
ration, when reading your work, may not forget the
esteem and friendship I l)ore towards its author '."

The first consul marked with attention tlie con-
duct of the clergy since the restoration of public
worsliip. The bishops a|)i>ointed were nearly all of
them established in their dioceses. Most of them
conducted themselves well; but some were still full

' Dated Nov. 2Cth, 1802.

of the sectarian spirit, and committed the error of
not carrying themselves with mildness in their new
functions, and with that evangelical kindness which
can alone put an end to schism. If de Belloy at Paris
de Boisgelin at Tours, Bernier at Orle'ans, Camba-
c^res at Rouen, and de Paneemont at Vannes,showed
themselves to be true pastors, pious and sage, there
were others who had suffered mischievous tenden-
cies to appear in the exercise of their ministry. The
bishop of Basaiiriiii, for example, a Jansenist and
old constitutionalist, wished to prove to the priests
that the civil constitution of the clergy was an in-
stitution truly evangelical and conformable to the
spirit of the primitive church. Thus troubles arose
in his diocese. It must still be acknowledged that
he was the only constitutionalist of whom there was
any reason to complain. The faults which were to
be com])lained of among the clergy principally, were
from the intolerance of the orthodox bishops.
Several of these affected the pride of a victorious
party, -and harshly repelled the unsworn priests.
The bishops of Bordeaux, Avignon, and liennes,
removed the priests from service in their parishes,
endeavoured to humiliate them, and thus came into
collision with that ])art of the population which was
personally attached to them.

Nothing could be more energetic upon this sub-
ject than the language of the fiist consul. He wrote
himself to certain of the bishop.'^, or obliged the
cardinal legate to write to them; he threatened to
take away their sees, and to call before the council
of state those jirelates w ho thus troubled the repose
of the new church. " I am willing," Jie said, " to
restore the altars thrown down, to put an end to
religious quarrels, but not to sufler one party to
triumph over the other,above all, that jiarty which is
the enemy of the revolution. When the constitutional
priests have been faithful to the regulations of their
estate, and observers of good morals ; when they
have caused no scandal, I ])refer them to their ad-
versaries, because, after all, they are only decried
for having embraced the cause of the revolution,
which is our own cause;" so he wrote to the pre-
fects. Cardinal Fcsch, his uncle, seeming, iu the
diocese of Lyons, to forget the instructions of the
government, the first consul wrote to him in the fol-
lowing terms: — "To wound the minds of the con-
stitutional priests, to remove them, is to be wanting
to justice, to the interest of the state, to my inter-
est, to your own, M. le Cardinal; it is to be wanting
to my express wishes, and to displease nie very
sensibly."

There was no limit in the extent of his gifts fo
the bishops who conformed to his firm and concili-
atory policy. To one he gave ornaments for his
church; to others furniture for their hotels; and to
all considerable sums for their poor. He granted
two or three times in a single winter fifty thousand
francs to M. de Belloy, to distribute himself among
the indigent in his diocese. He sent to the bisho])
of Valines, who was the model of an accomplished
prelate, mild, pious, and benevolent, ten thousand
francs to furnish his episcopal liotel; ten thousand
to remunerate the priests of whose conduct he ap-
proved; and seventy thousand to be given to the
poor, in the current year, that of the year xi., he
sent two hundred thousand francs to bishop Bernier,
for the purpose of secretly helping the victims of
the civil war in La Vendde, a sum of which that

1802.
Sept.

Napoleon visits Nor-
mandy.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. His reception there. 433

prelate made a humane and able employment. He
drew for these largesses upon the chest of the mi-
nister of the interior, aided by difterent sums that
did not then enter the treasury, and of which he
purified the source by devoting them to the noblest
purposes.

It was in the autumn of 1802; the weather was
superb; nature seemed to dispense to this happy
year a second spring. Owing to a temperature of
extreme mildness the trees budded a second time.
At this period the firet consul expressed a wish to
visit a district of which people had spoken to him
in many different ways, the province of Normandy.
Then, as at present, this fine country offered the
interesting spectacle of rich manufactures, existing
in the midst of the greenest and best cultivated
lands. Participating in the general activity which
at this time was awakened at once all over France,
it presented the most animated appearance. Still
some persons, and among them the consul Lebrun,
had endeavoured to ])ersuade the first consul that
Normandy was royalist in feeling. It was easy to
imagine this, upon recollecting with what energy
it declared itself against the excesses of the revolu-
tion in 1792. The first consul wished to proceed
there, to see things with his own eyes, and to ob-
serve what effect his jiresence would have upon the
inhabitants on appearing in the ordinary way.
Madame Bonaparte was to accompany him.

He employed fifteen days on his journey. He
passed through Rouen, Elbeuf, Havi-e, Dieppe,
Gisors, and Beauvais. He visited the open coun-
try and the manufacturing districts, examining
every thing himself, showing himself without any
guard to the population anxious to behold him.
The pressing attentions he received delayed his
journey. Every moment on his routelie found the
country clerjry presenting him with the holy water;
the niayoi"s offering him the keys of their towns,
and addressing to himself, and not only liimself,
but to madame Bonaparte, speeches such as they
formerly addressed to the kings and queens of
France. He was delighted at his reception, and
above all, at the rising prosperity which he every
where remarked. The town of Elljeuf pleased him
much by the increase which it had received.
" Elbeuf," lie wrote to his colleague Cambac<?res,
" is increased one-third since the revolution. It is
nothing else than one entire manufactory." Havre
struck him in a singular way ; he foresaw the
great commercial destiny to which that port was
to be called. " I find every where," he still writes
to Camt)aci?reK, " only the best spirit. Normandy
is not that which Lebrun represented to me. It is
frankly devoted to the government. F discover
here that unanimity «)f sentiment which rendered
so fine the days of 17H9."

What he thus caid was perfectly coiTcct. Nor-
mandy waM well selected to express to him the sen-
timenlH cif Franci'. She well represented the honest
and sincere population of '8fi, at first enthusiastic
for the ri'vohitiiin, then fearlul of its excesses, ac-
cused of niyalism by the pro-consuls, whoso mad
conduct bIk; coiideiiuied, and now enchanted to find
in a manner not hoped fur, order, justice, e(|ualily,
glory, liberty, lei-s, it is true, of the last, of which,
unhappily, she was out of conceit.

The first consul, by the middle of November,
was on his return to St, Cloud,

In imagining an envious person present at the
success of a formidable rival, an idea may be
gained approaching pretty near the truth, of the
sentiments which were at this time felt in England
at the spectacle of the prosperity of France. This
powerful and eminent nation had still enough left
of its own greatness to console it for the greatness
of another ; but a singular jealousy preyed upon it.
So far as the success of general Bonaparte had
been capable of use as an argument against Pitt,
they had welcomed it in England with a species of
applause. But since these successes, continued
and accumulating, were those of France, alone ;
since they had beheld her aggrandized by peace as
well as by war, through policy as well as arms; since
they had seen, in eighteen months, the Italian re-
public become, under the presidency of general
Bonaparte, a French province ; Piedmont added
to France with the agreement of the continent ;
Parma, Louisiana, added to the French possessions
by the sim])lo execution of treaties ; Germany, in
fine, reconstituted by the sole influence of France ;
since they had seen all this peaceably accomplished,
and naturally enough, as a thing flowing from a
situation of affairs universally accepted, a manifest
vexation seized upon every English lieart ; and
this vexation was not dissimulated, any more than
sentiments are ordinarily dissimulated among a
passionate j)eople, proud and free.

The classes which ])artook least in the advan-
tages of the peace suffered more than anj- others,
their jealousy too became visible. It has been
already observed, that the minuifaeturers of Bir-
mingham and Manclu'ster, recompensed by a con-
traband trade for the difficulties which they en-
countered in the French ports, complained very
little ; but the larger merchant.?, finding the seas
covered with rival flags, and the source of their
financial profits dried up with the loans which
were no longer necessary, regretted openly the
discontinuance of the war, and showed themselves
more discontented than even the aristocracy itself.
The aristocracy, ordinarily so proud and s6 pa-
triotic, that did not leave to any class in the nation
the honour of serving or loving more than it did
itself the greatness of England, was not displeased
upon this occasion to be distinguished fi-om the
mercantile interest by more elevated and generous
views. It regarded Pitt somewhat less than it
had done, since he was made so much of by the
commercial world ; it ranged itself with eagerness
around the prince of Wales, a model of the manners
and licentiousness of the aristocracy, and more
than all around Fox, who pleased them by the
nobleness of his sentiments and his incomparable
eloquence. But the mercantile interest, all power-
ful in London and the out-ports, having for its
organs in i)arliament, Windliam, Grenville, and
Uundas, smothered tlu; voices of the rest of the
nation, and reanimated all the i)assions of the
English jiress. Thus the Londun newspapers be-
gan to bo liostile, and abandoned to the papers
edited by French emigrants llie care of outraging
and maligning the first consul, his brotliers, sisters,
and all his family without leproof.

Unfortunately the ministei- Addington was des-
titute of all energy, and solleied every thing to
move before the tempestuous gah; that had begun
to blow. He committed, through his feebleness,
F V

434 Conduct of the English. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Feebleness of Addington.

Nov.

acts of the grossest want of faith. He still paid
Georges CadouJitl, whose perseverance in con-
spiring against the government of France was
notorious; he ))laced at his disposition considerable
sums of money for the support of his dependents,
of whom a number passed incessantly fi-om Ports-
mouth to Jersey, and from Jersey to the coast of
Britany. He continued to suffer in London the
presence of the pamphleteer Peltier, despite the
legal means wliicli he possessed in the Alien Bill
•of silencing him ; he treated the exiled princes
with a respect very natural, but he did not confine
himself in bis conduct to mere respect, they were
invited to reviews of troops, and were received
there with all the insignia of the former royalty.
He acted thus, it is proper to repeat, out of real
feebleness of mind, because no one doubted the
probity of Addington. Had he been delivered
from party influence, he would have been repug-
nant to such cond)ict. He well knew that in pay-
ing Georges he was supporting a conspirator ; but
he did not dare in the face of the party of Wind-
ham, Dundas, and Grenville, to send away, and
perhaps to alienate these old tools of the policy of
the English cabinet.

The first consul was deeply hurt at such con-
duct. To the reiterated demands for a treaty of
commerce, he replied by demanding the supjiress-
ing of certain journals, the expulsion of Georges
and Peltier, sind the sending av/ay of the French
princes. Grant me, he said, the satisfaction which
is due to me, and which you cannot refuse me
without declaring yourselves the accomjdices of
my enemies, and I will endeavour to find the
means to meet to your satisfaction the difficulties
which affect your commercial interests. But in
the demands of the first consul the English ministry
could find none which they had a right to make.
As to the sui)pression of certain journals both
Addington and Hawkesbury answered with reason,
the press is free in England ; imitate us, despise
its licentiousness. If yon wish we will institute a
prosecution, but it will be at your risk and peril iu
running the chance of procuring a triumph to your
enemies. In regard to Georges, Peltier, and the
emigrant princes, Addington liad no legid excuse
to make that was of any weight, because tlie Alien
Bill gave him the power to remove them whenever
he pleased to do so. He replied by observing
upon the necessity there was of managing public
opinion in England ; a very poor argument it
must be agreed, in regard to any of the parlies
whose expulsion was thus requested.

The first consul would not allow himself to be
thus beaten upon the point; at first, he said, "the
counsel that you give me to despise the licentious-
ness of the press would be good, if it aided me to
despise the licentiousness of the French press in
France. It can be understood that in one's own
country it n)ay be decided upon to su|)port the
inconveniences of the freeilom of the liberty of
writing, in c<msideration of the advantages that it
mav procure. 'I'hat is a question altogether of
interior policy, in which each nation is the best
judge of that which it is the most convenient for it
to do. But it ought never to be suffered that thi-
daily press should malign foreign governments, and
thus change the relations iietween stiite and state.
This is a serious abuse, a danger witiiout any com-

pensation, and the proof of tliis danger is in the
actual relations of France with England. We
should be at peace without the journals, and here
we are very nearly in a state of war. Your legis-
lation is therefore bad in relation to the press.
You are at liberty to permit what you please
against your own government, but not against the
goverimients of foreigners. Nevertheless, I lay
aside the libels of the English papers. I respect
your laws even in that which they have in them
vexatious for other countries. It is a disagreeable
thing arising out of our vicinity to which I must
resign myself. But the French, who niake in
London so odious a usage of your institutions, who
write such disgraceful and injurious things, where-
fore are they suffered to proceed in this way in
England ? You possess the Alien Bill, which
has justly for its object to jirevent strangers from
doing mischief; why not apply that law to them?
'i'lien there are Georges and his accomplices, as
shown in the conspiracy of the infernal machine ;
there are the bishops of Arras and St. Pol de Leon,
publicly exciting to revolt the population of Bri-
tany,— why do you refuse to expel them ? What
thus becomes in your hands of the treaty of
Amiens, which stipulates in express terms that no
underhand practices should be suffered in either
one of the countries against the other ? Yon give
an asylum to the emigrant princes, that is without
doubt considerate and kind. But the head of the
family is at Warsaw, why not let them all go to
him ? Wherefore, above all, permit them to carry
those decorations which the French laws no longer
acknowledge, and which are the occasion of very
great inconvenience, when they are borne by the
side of the ambassador of France in his presence,
and too frequently at the same table ? You ask
from me a treaty of commerce and of close re-
lations between the two countries ; begin then by
showing a less antipallietic spirit towards France,
ami then I shall be able to search out if there is
any mode of conciliating our nmtual interests."

There is nothing certainly that can be deemed
reprehensible in these reasonings, nothing but the
feebleness of a great man, who, governing in Eu-
rope, could give himself the trouble to put them
forih. Of what importance, in effect, to the all-
powerful victor of Marengo, were Georges, Pel-
tier, and the count d'Aitois with his royal decora-
tions? Against the daggers of the assassin he had
to oppose his good lortune ; against the outrages of
pam])hleteers he had to oppose his glory ; against
the legitimacy of the Bourbons he had to place
the enthusiastic love of France. Yet, 0 the weak-
ness even of great minds ! this man, placed on
6u<;h a jiiimacle, annoyed himself by what was
really so contemptible. H.s error in this respect has
been already deplored, and we are unable to pi-e-
vent ourselves from again deploring it on aj)-
proaching the moment when it produced such
unhappy consequences.

The first consul could no longer keep his temper,
and he avenged himself by replies inserted in the
Mon'Uevr, often written by himself, and when so,
easily recognised in their origin by their incom-
parable vigour of style. He complained of the com-
plaisance of the British ministry for the conspirator
Georges and the lihellcr Peltier. Ho demanded
why such guests were suffered in England, why

Troubles in the

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

Swiss cantons.

435

such acts were pcrniitteil towards a friendly go-
vernment, wIk'II to remove tliem Iiad become a
duty by treaties, and an existing law allowed the
means of repressing tlieni ? The first consul went
yet further, and addressing the English government
himself, he demanded in the articles inserted in the
itoniteur, if the government approved, if it wished
to see these odious practices continued, these in-
famous diatribes, when it thus tolerated them ; or
whetiier, if it did not wish to see them, it was too
feeble to hinder them ? And he concluded that
no government could exist, where they were not
able to repress calumny, prevent assiissination,
and protect social European order.

Then the English ministry complained in its
own turn. They said that the journals in Eng-
land, the language of which was so offensive, were
not official ; we are unable to answer for them ;
but the Monitcur is the avowed organ of the French
government, ami it is besides easy to discover in
tlie language the source that inspires it. It calum-
niates us every day ; we also, — and with much
better ground, — we demand satisfaction.

These are the lamentable recriminations with
wliich, during many months, the despatches be-
tween the two govenmients were filled. But all
oil a sudden events nmch more serious intervened,
which furnished to the irascible dispositions of
both a more dangerous subject it is true, but at
lea.xt one nmch more worthy.

Switzerland, snatched from the hands of the
oligarch Reding, liuil fallen into those of the lan-
dannnan Dolder, the h< a-i of the party of the mo-
derate revcjlutioiiists. The retrtat of the French
troops was a concession made to tlii.s ))arty in
order to confer upon it poimlarity, and to furnish
a proof of the impatience of the first consul to
disembarrass himself of the affairs of Switzerland.
Still he did not gather the fruits of his good in-
tentions. Nearly all the cantons liad adopted the
new constitution, and welcomed the men who were
charged to carry it into vigorous execution ; but
in the little cantons of Scliwitz, Uri, Unterwalden,
App»^nzell, Claris, and the Orisons, the spirit of
revolt, eJccited by Reding and his friends, had
soon aroused all the inliabiUiiits of the mountains.
The oligarchs flattered themselves that they shoidd
be able to carry every thing by force, since the
Fi-ench troops had left the Swiss territory. Tliey
had HMSi-mbled the people in the churches, and had
led them to reject the proposed constiintion. They
had spread the rumour abroail, tliai Milan was be-
biegcd by an Anglo- Russian army, and the French
rej)ulilic was as ni ar its fall as in 1790.

The coiiHtitutioii being thus rejected, they had
still not been able to push evenU forward so far
OH to conmicnco a civil war. 'i be little cantons
limited themHelves to sending d<p-itie8 to Berne,
to declare to the Fn ncli minister there, Verninac,
that they had no intention to overturn the new
government, but that tli-y wished to separate
tlieraselves from the ll<lvetic confederation, to
cons'.itutc their own government apart in the
mountains, and to return to their own suitiMc
Hystem, wliich was a pure deinocmcy. Tliey even
requesUrd to regulate tli<ir new relations with the
central gr)vernmint estal-li^'licil at H<riie, inich-r

L-ry

natuiiillv the

the auspices <if France,

nister Verninac had thought it his duty to refuse

to listen to these communications, and to declare
that he Icnew no other Helvetic goveruuient than
that whieli sat at Berne.

In the Orisons there were passing scenes of
tumult, which revealed better than any thing else
the influences under which Switzerland was at that
time set in a state of agitation. In the middle of
the valley of the superior Rhine, that was culti-
vated by the superior Orison mountaineers, is the
lordship of Bazuns, belonging to the emperor of
Austria. This lordship conferred uimn the em-
peror the rank of a member of the Orison league,
and gave him a direct action upon the coni|iowition
of the government. He chose the landamnian of
the country from three can<iidates that were pre-
sented to him. Since the Orisons had been united
by France to the Helvetic confederati'^n, the em-
peror remained the proprietor of Bazuns, but
managed his property by a superintendent This
superintendent had phued himself at the head of
the Orison insurgents, and had taken a part in all
the meetings, in which tliey had declared that they
would separate themselves from the Helvetic eon-
federation, in order to return to the ancient order
of things. He had received and accepted the
mission to bear their wishes to the feet of the
emperor, and with their wishes, the (irayer to be
taken immediately under his protection.

Certainly nothing could more clearly show upon
what European party these Swiss endeavoured to |
support themselves. To all this mental agitation
there was joined something still more serious ;
they took up arms; they rejiaired the muskets left
by the Austrians and Russians during the last
war; they ottered and jiaid eighteen sous per day
to the old soldiers of the S\\i^s regiments which
were exi)elled from France, and gave ilieni the
same officers they had before. The poor inh.abit-
ants of the mountains, believing in their simple
minds that their religion and iiulepeudence were
threatened, came tumultuousiy to fill the ranks
of the insurgent troops. Money was scattered
about in abundance, advanced by the rich Swiss
oligarchs, out of the millions deposited in London,
and soon to be realized if ihey were triumphant.
The landamnian Reding was declared the chief
of the league. Morat jiinl S. mjiach were the re-
collections recalled by these new martyr.s for
Helvetic inde])eiidence.

It is scarcely possible to com]ireheiid an great
an independence upon their part ; for the French
army lay bordering njion every side of the Swiss
frontiers. But they had ln-en persuaded that the
first consul had his hands tied ; that the great
powers would intervene, and that he wrjuld not be
able to send a regiment into SwitKerlaiid, without
exposing himself to a general war. a menace that
he certainly would not brave, merely to sustain the
landamnian Dolder and his co|lea<;ius.

Meantime, in spiie of this agnation, the poor
mountaineers of Ori, Scliwitz, and Unterwalden,
those most engaged in this siiil ad* eiiture, had not
cnme forward as last as their chi< Is di-wired, and
they had declared that they would not leave their
caiitoiin. The Hilvelie goveiimieiit had nt its
disposal about four or live thousand nun, of whom
a thousand or twelvt; homlred were employed to
guanl Berne; some hinnlitds wt re disnibuted in
different garrisons, and three lhou»atid in the ctui-
Pf2

436 The Swiss in open revolt. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

A truce agreed upon by 1802.
the government. Nov.

ton of Lucerne, upon the border of Unterwalden ;
the last were designed to watch the insurrection.
A troop of the insurgents was posted close in the
village of Hergyswil. In a little time they came
to firing at eacii other, and there were some men
killed and wounded on both sides. While this
collision took place on the frontier of Unterwalden,
general Andei-matt, commanding the government
troops, wished to place some companies of infantry
in the city of Zurich, in order to guard the arsenal,
and preserve it from the hands of the oligarchs.
The aristocratical citizens of Zurich resisted this,
and shut the gates of the city against the soldiers
of general Andermatt. He fired some shells into
the city in vain ; the citizens answered him, that
they would sooner burn it than surrender, and
thus deliver Zurich to the oppressors of tlie inde-
pendence of Helvetia. At the same moment, the
partizans of the ancient aristocracy of Berne, in
the county of Argovia and in Oberland, became so
agitated, that there was reason to fear they were
on the pcjint of open insurrection. In the Pays de
Vaud, the ordinary cry was heard for a union with
France. The Swiss government knew no means
of extricating itself from this perilous situation.
Combated with open force by the oligarchs, it had
neither on its side the ardent patriots, who desired
an absolute unity, nor the peaceable masses, who
were enough inclined for a revolution, but that
they knew nothing of such an event save the
horrors of war, and the presence of ibreign troops.
It may hence be judged what was the value of the
popularity acquired at the pi'ice of the retreat of
the French army.

In this embarrassment the government con-
cluded an armistice with the insurgents, and then
addressed itself to the first consul, soliciting, in a
most pressing maimer, the intervention of France,
which had been demanded by the insurgents in
like manner upon their side, when they wished
that their i-elations with the central government
should be regulated under the auspices of the
minister Verninac.

When tliis demand of an intervention was made
known in Paris, the first consul repented himself
of having listened too readily to the ideas of the
party of Dolder, as well as to his own wishes to
get clear of Swiss affairs, and thus prematurely
withdi-awn the French troops. To make tliem
re-enter now in presence of England, so malevo-
lently disposed, complaining as she was already of
the action of Fi'ance being too manifest upon the
Continental states, was an act extremely serious.
Besides, he knew not yet all that had taken place
in Switzerland, nor to what an extent the pi"o-
vokers of the movement in the little cantons had
revealed their real designs, in order to sliow what
they really were, in other words, the actors in a
counter-European revolution and the allies of
Austria and England. He, therefore, refused an
intervention, universally demanded, of which the
inevitable consequences would liave been the re-
turn of the French troops into Switzerland, and
the military occupation of a state, the independence
of \vl#cli was guaranteed by all Europe.

This reply threw the Helvetic government into
consternation. At Berne they knew not what to
do, tlireatened as they vvere by the approaching
rupture of the armistice, and an insurrecti(jn of

the peasants of Oberland. Some members of the
government proposed the sacrifice of M. Dolder,
the landamman, and head of the moderate party,
who under this title was detested equally by the
oligarchs and the unitarian patriots. Both the
one and the other promising to become tranquil
upon this condition. They went to citizen Dolder,
and committing a sort of violence upon him, ob-
tained his resignation, which he had the weak.:ess
to give up to them. The senate, behaving with
moi'e firmness, refused to accept his resignation;
but citizen Dolder persisted in giving it. Then
they had recourse to the means ordinarily adopted
in assemblies that know not what resolution they
shall come to. They named an extraordinary
commission, authorized to discover the best means
to be adopted. But at this moment the armis-
tice was bi'oken ; the insurgents advanced upon
Berne, obliging general Andermatt to retii-e be-
fore them. These insurgents were composed of
peasants, to tlie number of fifteen hundred or two
thousand, carrying crucifixes and carbines, and
preceded by the soldiers of the Swiss regiments,
formerly in the service of France, old wrecks of
the 10th of August. They soon appeared at the
gates of Berne, firing some rounds of cannon with
the bad pieces they had drawn after them. The
municipality of Berne, under the pretext of saving
the city, interfered and negotiated a capitulation.
It was agreed that the government, in order not
to expose Berne to the horrors of being stormed,
should retire with the troops of general Andermatt
into the Pays de Vaud. This capitulation was
immediately executed; the government pro'-cedod
to Lausanne, where it was followed by the French
minister. Its troops, concentrated since it had
ceded the country to the insui-gents, were at Payern,
to the number of four tliousand men, very well
disposed, encouraged, besides, by the dispositions
which prevailed in the Pays de Vaud; but they
were incapable of reconquering Berne.

The oligarchic party soon established itself at
Berne, and to make the state of things more com-
plete, reinstated the "avoyer," or magistrate, who
was on duty in 1798, at the same epoch when the
first revolution took place. This avoyer was M.
de Mulinen. There wanted nothing then to this
counter-revolution, neither the foundation, nor the
form ; and without the silly illusions of parties,
without the ridiculous reports, spread abroad in
Switzerland, on the unfounded want of power in
the French government, it is impossible to com-
prehend an attempt so exceedingly extravagant.

Still things being brought to this point, it was
not possible to count much longer upon the pa-
tience of tiie first consul. The two governments
sitting at Lausanne and Berne, both came to the
resolution of despatcliing envoys to him ; the one
party to supplicate for his intervention, the other
to conjure him to do notiiing in their affairs. The
envoy of the oligarcliical government was a mem-
ber of the same family of Mulinen. He was com-
missioned to renew those promises of good conduct
of which M. Reding had been so prodigal, and
which he had so badly kept, as to confer at the
same time with the ambassadors of all the powers
at Paris, and to put Switzerland under theu- special
protection.

Supplications to do or not to do, were henceforth

Resolutions taken by
Bonaparte respect-
ing Switzerland.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

The French troops

marrh towards 437
Switzerland.

useless, made to the fii-st consul. In presence of a
flagrant counter-revolution, which liad for its ob-
ject to deliver over the Alps to the enemies of
France, he was not the man to hesitate about
action. He refused to receive the agent of the
oligarchical govenmient ; but he answered the
intermediate party, ordei-ing him to say to the
agent of Berne, that his resolution was taken : " I
cease," said he, " to be neuter and inactive. I have
wished to respect the independence of Switzerland,
and to spare the suscepiibiiitits of Europe; I pushed
my scruples to a real fault in the retreat of the
French troops. But that is condescension enough
for the enemies of France. As long as I have seen
in Switzerland any conflicts which could alone ter-
minate in rendering one party a little stronger than
another, I have thought it my duty to leave it to
itself; but now, when a privileged counter-revolu-
tion is agitated, accom|plished by soldiers for-
merly in the service of the Bourbons, and since
passed into the pay of England, I will not suffer
myself to be cheated. If these insurgents wish to
keep me under an illusion, they nmst let their con-
duct be marked with a little more dissimulation,
and not place at the head of their colunms the
soldiers of the regiment of Bachmann. I will not
suffer a counter-revolution any where, neither in
Switzerland, Italy, Holland, nor in France itself.
I will not deliver over to fifteen hundred mercena-
ries, paid by England, ' the formidable bastions of
those Alps,' that the European coalition was in two
campaigns unable to snatch from our toil-worn
soldiers. They speak to me of the will of the
Swiss people; I cannot see it in the will of two
hundred aristocratical families. I esteem that
brave people too much to believe that they wish to
be under such a yoke. But in any case, there is
something which 1 place to more account than the
will of the Swiss people, and that is the safety of
forty millions of souls over whom I rule. I shall
go to declare myself the mediator of the Helve-
tie confederation, and give to it a constitution
founded upon etiual riglils and the nature of the
soil. Thirty tiiousand men will be on the frontier
to insure the execution of my beneficent intentions.
But if, contrary to my hope, I am not able to se-
cure the repose of this interesting people, to whom
I would fain do all the good wiiich they merit, my
part is taken. I will unite to France all that part
whicli, by the soil and manners, resembles Franche-
Comtc' ; I will unite the rest to the mountaineers
of the small cantons, giving them the same govern-
ment which they had in the fourteenth century,
and thus leave them to themselves. My principle
Lb iienceforth fixed ; either Switzerland the friend
of P' ranee, or no .Switzerland at all."

The first consul enjoined upon Tallcyr.and to
order the envoy of Berne to leave Paris in twelve
hours, and U) inform him that he was no better
able to serve those who sent him any where than ho
would be at Berne, by counselling them to separate
that moment, if they would not bring a French army
int<i Switzerland. He then wrote with his own
hand a proclamation to the Helvetic people, sliort
and energetic, couched in the following terms : —

"Inhabitants of Helvetia, you have oflered for
two years an afflicting spectacle. Opposing fac-
tions iiave HuceesHively seized upon the govern-
ment ; they have signalized their inilc by a system

of partiality which proves their feebleness and
incompetency.

'' In the course of the year x., your government
desired that the small number of French troops
that were in Helvetia should be withdrawn. The
French government voluntarily seized upon the
occasion to do honour to your independence ; but
soon afterwards your different parties became agi-
tated with fresh fury : the blood of the Swiss
flowed by the hands of the Swiss.

" You have disputed among yourselves for three
years withdut understanding each other. If you
are left much longer to yourselves, you will de-
stroy each other for three years to come, without
coming to an understanding. Your history proves
besides, that your intestine wars you have never
been able to terminate w ithout the intervention of
France.

" It is true that I had determined not to mingle
myself in your affairs ; I have seen constantly your
different rulers demand advice of me and not fol-
low it, and sometimes abuse my name, according to
their interests or their passions. But I am not
able, nor ought I to remain insensible to the mis-
chief of which you are a prey; I recall my deter-
mination. I will be the mediator of your dififer-
ences ; but my mediation shall be efficacious, such
as will be consonant with the great people in the
name of which I speak."

To this noble preamble were joined certain im-
perative dispositions. Five days after the notifica-
tion of this proclamation, the government which
had taken refuge at Lausanne had transported
itself to Berne, the insurrectional government had
dissolved itself, all the assembled armies, except
that of general Andermatt, had dispersed them-
selves, and the soldiers of the old Swiss regiments
had deposited their arms in the coiumimes to
which they belonged. In fine, all those men who
had exercised public functions for three years, to
whatever party they belonged, were invited to
come to Paris, in order to confer with the first
consul on the best means to terminate the troubles
of their country.

The first consul ordered his aide-de-camp, colo-
nel Rapp, to go immediately to Switzerland, in
order to carry the proclamation to all the legal or
insurrectionary authorities, to proceed first to Lau-
sanne, then to Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne; every
where, in fact, where he found there was any
resistance to be overcome. Colonel Rapp was
besides to concert measures for the movement of
the troops with general Ney, who conunanded
them. Orders were already" issued for the troops
to march. The first detachment assembled at
Geneva, was drawn from the Valais, from Savoy,
and the departments of the Rhone, and consisted
of seven or eight thousand men. Six tltousand
were united at Pontarlicr, six thousand at Hunin-
guen and Bale. A division of equal force was
concentrated in the Italian republic, in order to
be introduced into Switzerland by the Italian bail-
wicks. General Ney was to wait at Geneva the
advices that he would receive from colonel Rapp,
and at the first signal from the colonel, march into
the Pays do Vaud with the colnimi formed at Ge-
neva, joining in its march that which had penc-
tnited by PontJirliir, and so to march upon Berne
witli twelve or fifteen thousand men. The troops

The French army enters
43o Switzerland.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

English intrigues with ,„.,
Austria respecting " '
Switzerland.

Nov.

coming from Bale had orders to join in the smaller
cantons tlie detachment which would arrive by the
Italian bailwicks.

All these dispositions were arranged with extra-
ordinary promptitude, because in forty-eight hours
the resolution was taken, the proclamation drawn
up, and the order to march expedited to all the
different corps, in which time colonel Rapp had set
off for Switzerland. The first consul awaited with
audacious tranquillity the efTeet which would be
produced in Europe by so bold a resolution, which,
added to all that he had done in Italy and in
Germany, contributed to render yet more apparent
a power that already obscured all eyes. But let
what would result, even war itself, his resolution
was an act of wisdom, because he performed it for
the purpose of keeping the Alps out of the reach
of an European coalition. Energy employed iu
the service of prudence, is the finest spectacle that
can be presented in the science of politics.

The agent of the Bernese oligarchy sent to Paris,
had not missed, seeing himself so rudely received,
addressing himself to the ambassadors of the courts
of Austria, Russia, Prussia, and England. M.
Markoff", although he every day declaimed against
the conduct of France in Europe, did not of himself
dare to reply. All the other representatives of the
powers were also silent, except Mr. Merry, the
minister of England. The last, after having a
conference with the envoy of Berne, immediately
despatched a courier, in order to inform his court
of all which had passed in Switzerland, and to
announce that the Bernese government formally
invoked the protection of England.

The courier of Mr. Merry arrived at lord
Hawkesbury's at the same time that the French
papers i-eached London. Immediately there was
wotliing but a cry all over England in favour of the
brave ])eople of Helvetia, who were defending, it
was said, their religion and liberty against a barba-
rous oppressor. This emotion, which we have seen
in our own d.iys communicated to the whole of
Europe, in favour of the Greeks massacred by the
Turks, they affected to feel in England for the
Bernese oligarchy, that had been exciting the un-
happy peasants to arm in behalf of their aristocra-
tical privileges. They affected in England great
zeal for the Swiss, and opened subscriptions for
them. Still the emotion was too factitious to be
general ; it did not descend below the elevated
classes, who ordinarily set themselves in agitation
upon the political affairs of the day. Grenville,
Windham, and Dundas commenced in turn to
alarm the jjublic mind, and attacked with fresh
vehemence that which they denominated the fee-
bleness of Addington. Parliament was about to be
dissolved and to be again assembled, in consequence
of a general election. The English cabinet, between
the Pitt party, which began sensibly to withdraw
its support from the measures of Addington, and
the Fox party that, somewhat milder since the
peace liad been concluded, did not cease to be its
opponent, was at a loss to know where it should
look for support. It very much dreaded the first
meeting of the new parliament, and it deemed
itself bound to take certain diplomatic steps, that
might serve as arguments to be used against its
adversaries.

The first step thus undertaken was to transmit

a note to Paris, to remonstrate in favour of Swiss
independence, and to protest against all active
intervention on the part of France. This was not
a mode to put a stop to the proceedings of the
first consul, and was only a means of simply ex-
citing an exchange of disagreeable communica-
tions. But the cabinet of Addington did not
sto]) here ; it sent an agent to the spot, j\Ir. Moore,
with a commibsion to see and come to an under-
standing with the insurgent leaders, in order to'
judge whether they wei-e well resolved to defend
themselves, and to offer them in that case pe-
cuniary aid from England. He had an order for
the purchase of arms in Germany, that they
might be sent forward to them. This j>roceed-
ing was, it must be acknowledged, neither in good
faith, nor easy to be justified. Communications,
fe'till more serious in import, were addressed to the
Austrian court, in order to awaken its old aversion,
and to iri'itate its recent resentment against
France in consequence of the affairs of Germany,
and, above all, to alai'm it on account of the fron-
tiers of the Alps?. It went so far as to offer Austria
a subsidy of 100,000,000 florins, or 225,000,000 f.
if she would take a decided part in behalf of
Switzerland. This is, at least, the information
which was sent to Paris by M. Haugwitz himself,
who had taken great care to observe every thing
passing wjiich could in any way be of moment to
the maintenance of peace. A less open attempt
was made on the emperor Alexander, who was
well known to be deeply enough engaged in.
supporting the policy of France, in pursuance of
the mediation which both had exercised at Ralisbon.
England took no account of the Prussian cabinet,
which was then notoriously attached to the first
consul, and which on that account was treated with
I'eserve and coldness.

These proceedings of the British cabinet, how-
ever little agreeable they were in a period of per-
fect peace, could not then have any material
consequence, because that cabinet had found all
the courts of the continent more or less leagued
in the policy of the first consul ; the one, as with
Russia, because they were at jjresent associated in
his labours, the others, as Prussia and Austria,
because they were at the moment endeavouring to
obtain from him advantages altogether personal.
It was, in fact, the moment when Austria solicited
and ftnished by obtaining an extension of indemni-
ties in favour of the archduke of Tuscany. But
the English cabinet conmiitted a much more serious
act, and one wiiich had at a later period the most
momentous consequences. The order to evacuate
Egypt had been sent out ; that for evacuating
Malta had not been yet forwarded. The delay so
far arose from excusable motives, and was more
imputable to the French tlij^n to the English
chancellory. Talleyrand, as must be borne in mind,
had neglected to complete the sequel to one of the
stipulations of the treaty of Amiens. This stipu-
lati<m purported that a demand was to be made on
Prussia, Russia, Austria, and Spain, for their con-
sent to guarantee the new order of things esta-
blished at jMalta. From the first days of the
signature of the treaty, the English ministers
jiressed to obtain this guai'antee, beibre the evacua-
tion of Malta, had shown tlie greatest activity in
endeavouring to obtain it from all these courts.

1303.
Nov.

Neglect respecting
guardiitce of
Malta.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

English ministry
remonstrate
with France.

439

Bat the French agents had received no instructions
frona their government. JI. de Cliampagny hud
tlie prudence to act at Vienna as if he had re-
ceived tiic order, and the guarantee of Austria was
given. The young emperor of Russia, on tiie con-
trary, partaking very httle in the passion of his
father for any thing which comerned the order of
St. Joini of Jerusalem, thought the guarantee
wliich liad been demanded of him a bui'densomc
thing, because it might, sooner or hiter, draw him
into the obligation of tiiking a part against one
power or the other, against either France or Eng-
land, and he was not then well disposed to give
what was thus demanded of him. Theamlassador
of France having no instructions to sicond the
English minister in the business, would not ven-
ture to act in the matter, and the Russian cabinet
was thus not pressed to explain itself, and took
advantage of that circumstiince to give no answer
at ail. The same circumstance, and from the same
motive, occurred at Berlin. Owing to tiiis negli-
gence, prolonged for many months, the question of
the guarantee had remained in su.spense, and the
English ministers, without any ill intention, were
fully authorized to defer the evacuation. The
Neapolitiin garrison, wliich, according to the treaty,
WHS to be sent to Malta, to be there during tlie
time of the reconstitution of the order, had been
received and landed, but it remained wiihoutside
of the fortifications. The French chancellory was
at liist set ill motion, but it was too late. This
time the emperor of Russia, upon being pressed
for an explanation, refused his guarantee. An-
other embarrassment had supervened. The grand
master nominated by the pope, the bailly Riispoli,
alarmed at the fate of his predecessor, M. Hom-
pesch, seeing too that the cliarge of the oi-der of
Malta no longer consisted in combating the in-
fidels, but in holding the balance in equilibrium
between two great maritime nations, with the cer-
tainty ill the end to fall a prey either to the one or
the other, was unwilling to accept the onerous and
empty dignity which was thus tendered to h'm,
and resisted all the entreaties of the Roman court,
as well as the pressing invitations of the first
consul.

Such were the circumstanceswhich had caused the
evacuation of Malta to be deferred until November,
1802. Theretlien resulted the dangerous temptation
to the English cabinet of defening it yet longer. In
point of fact, on the same day when its agent
Mo re left England for Switzerland, a frigate sailed
for the .Mediterranean, to carry an order to the
garri«<»n of .Malta to remain there. This was a
BerioUH fault on the part of the English minister
who wished to preserve the peace, because it
went to excite in England a national covetousness,
which no one would be able to resist after being
once excited. What wa-s more, it was a formal
breach of the treaty of Amiens, in presence of an
adversary who had taken a pride in executing
it with piiiKrtiiality, and who had set himself yet
further upon sj-eing that it was executed by all
who had signed it. It was a conduct at the same
time imprudent and irregular.

The retnoiistraiiccs of the British cabinet in
favour of the independenc<* of Switzerland were
very ba<lly received in the Fn-nch cabinet, and the \
consequences uf this bad reception it wsia easy to 1

foresee ; the first consul was not for a moment
shaken. He persisted more than ever in his reso-
lution. He reiterated his orders to general Ney,
and prescribed to him the most prompt and de-
cisive execution of them. He desired to prove that
this pretended national movement of the Swiss was
no more than a ridiculous attempt, provoked
through the interest of certain families, and as
soon repressed as it was attempted.

He was convinced that he obeyed in this in-
stance a grand national interest ; but he was again
excited to it by a species of defiance wliich was
thrown at him in the face of Europe, because the
insurgents said loudly, and their envoys every
where repeated, that the first consul had his hands
bound, and that he would not venture to act. The
reply, addressed by his orders to lord Hawkesbury,
had something of the truth in it, which was very
extraordinary. It is here given in substance,
without imagining that it will be ever imitated :
'• You are desired to declare," wrote Talleyrand to
M. Otto, " that if the British ministry, for the in-
terest of its parliamentary situation, has recourse
to any notification or any publication, from which
it niiiy be inferred that the first consul has not
done such or such a thing, because he has been
prevented, at that very moment he will not fail to
do it. In other respects, as to Switzerland, what-
ever may be said or not said, his resolution is
irrevocable. He will not deliver the Alps to fif-
teen hundred mercenaries in the pay of England.
He will not have Switzerland converted into an-
other Jersey. The first consul has no desire for
war, because he believes that the French people
will find in tiic extension of their commerce as
much advantage as in the extension of their teri'i-
tory. But no consideration shall arrest it if the
honour or the interest of the republic demand that
he shall take up arms. You will not speak of
war," Talleyrand wrote to M. Otto, " but you will
not permit that it shall be spoken of to you. The
least menace, however indirect it may be, must be
taken with tlie greatest haughtiness. With what
kind of war besides do you threaten us ? With a
maritime war '. But our commerce has as yet
scarcely had time to renew itself, and the prizes
which we shall thus resign to the English will be
of very small value. Our West India islands are
provided with acclimated soldiers ; St. Domingo
alone contains twenty-five thousand. They will
blockade our ports, it is true ; but at the same
instant that war is declared, England will find
her.stif blockaded in her turn. The coasts of
Hanover, Holland, Portugal, Italy, as far as Ta-
rentuni, will be occupied by our troops. Those
countries which we are accused of governing too
ojieiily, Liguria, Lombardy, Switzerland, and Hol-
land, in place of being left in an uncertain situa-
tion, by which they occasion us a thousand embar-
rassments, will be converted into French provinces,
from which we shall draw immense ivsources; and
we shall thus be forced to realize that empire
of the Gauls, with whieli Europe will never
eea.se to be attrighted. And what would nexthap-
|)en if the first consul, quilting I'.nis for the pur-
po.se of establishing liiinsell at Lillet or St. Omer,
uniting all the fiat-bottomed boats of Flanders aii*l
of Holland, preparing the nunns of lrans|)nrt for a
hundred thousand men, should make England live

Singular demonstra-
440 tion of the first

consul.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Angry reply of the
■ first consul to
England.

1802.
Nov.

in the fear of an invasion, always possible, and
very nearly certain to be accomplished ? Can
England support a continental war ? But where
will she find allies ? Is it in Prussia or Bavaria,
who owe to France the justice which they have
obtained in the territorial arrangements of Ger-
many ? It is not surely in Austria, already worn
out by having volunteered to serve the cause of
British policy ? In any case, if the war on the
continent be renewed, it will be England that will
have obliged us to conquer Europe. The first
consul is but thirty-three, he has not yet destroyed
any states but those of the second order. Who
knows what he may be made to do in time, if
he is forced, to change anew the face of Europe,
and resuscitate the empire of the west !"

All the miseries of Europe, and all those of
France, were contained in these formidable words,
which it might be believed were written after the
blow was struck, they are so very prophetic^.
Thus it was that the lion become full grown, felt
his strength, and made himself ready to exert it.
Covered by the barrier of the ocean, England was
pleased thus to excite him. But this barrier it
was not impossible to pass over ; it wanted but
very little that it was not passed ; and if it had
been, England had bitterly mourned the excite-
ment to which she had been carried by an in-
curable jealousy. It was, besides, a cruel policy
in regai'd to the continent, because that had to
suffer all the consequences of a war provoked, on
its own part, without reason or justice.

M. Otto had ordei's neither to speak of Malta
nor of Egypt, because it was not to be even sup-
posed tliat England would violate a solemn treaty
signed in the face of the whole world. He was
limited to the circumscription of the wjiole of the
French policy in these words : " All the treaty of
Amiens ; nothing but the treaty of Amiens."

M. Otto, who was a very discreet individual, and
very submissive to the first consul, but capable, in
regard to a useful object, of putting a little of his
own discretion into the performance of the orders
he received, softened very considerably the haughty
words dictated by his government. Nevertheless,
even with this softened reply, he much embarrassed
lord Hawkesbury, who, alarmed at the approach-
ing meeting of parliament, wished to have had
something satisfactory to say. He therefore in-
sisted on having a note, which ]M. Otto had ordei's
to decline giving, and consequently refused him,
declaring, at the same time, that the meeting of
the principal citizens of Switzerland at Paris had
by no means for an object the imitation of the
ceremony which had taken place at Lyons,
where the Italian consulta was held there, but
merely to give to the Swiss a wise constitution,
based upon justice, and adapted to the nature of
the country, witliout suffering one party to triumph
over another. Lord Hawkesbury, who during
tliis conference with M. Otto was expected by the
English cabinet, assembled at this moment to re-
ceive the answer of France, felt himself much
troubled and discontented. To the declaration :

' The despatch here spoken about, and of which the sub-
stance is thus given, is dated the 1st of Brumaire, year x. ;
it is written by Talleyrand to M. Otto, under the dictation
of the first consul.

" All the treaty of Amiens, nothing but the treaty
of Amiens," of which he well comprehended the
drift, because it made the allusion to Malta, he
replied by another maxim as follows : " The state
of tlie continent at the epoch of the treaty of
Amiens, nothing but that state."

This manner of placing the question provolced,
on the other side from the first consul, a reply
immediate and to the purpose. " France," said
Talleyrand, by his orders, " France is ready to
accept the conditions proposed by lord Hawkes-
bury. At the time of the signature (5f the treaty
of Amiens, France had ten thousand men in Swit-
zerland, thirty thousand in Piedmont, forty thou-
sand in Italy, and twelve thousand in Holland — is
it desired that all these shall be placed upon the
same footing again ? At this time the offer was
made to England to place her in an understanding
upon the affairs of the continent, but it was upon
the condition that she should acknowledge and
guarantee the states newly constituted. She re-
fused this ; she chose to remain a stranger to the
kingdom of Etruria, and to the Italian and Ligu-
rian republics. She had thus the advantage of
n(jt giving her guarantee to the new states, but
then she lost also the right to mix herself up
afterwards in what concerned them. In other
respects, she knew all that was already done, all
that was to be effected. She knew of the presi-
dency conferred by the Italian republic upon the
first consul ; she was well aware of the design to
unite Piedmont to France, seeing that it had been
refused when an indemnity was demanded for the
king of Sardinia, and in the front of all she signed
the treaty of Amiens ! Of what then does England
complain ? She sti; ulated one single thing, the
evacuation of Tarei^tum in three months, and
Tarentum was evacuated in two. Then in regard
to Switzerland, it was w ull known that France had
laboured to constitute the government there, and
was it to be im:i;:iiied by any one that France
would suffer a counter-revolution to be effected
in that country ? But in any case, even under the
view of strict right, what is there to object to it ?
The Helvetian government had claimed the media-
tion of France. The little eantons had also claimed
that mediation, by demanuing, under the auspices
of the first consul, the estal lishmentof their rela-
tions with the central authority. The citizens of
all the parties, even those of the oligarchical party,
as M. de Mulinen and M. d'Affry, are in Paris
conferring with the first consul. Are the affairs of
Germany new to England ? Are they not the
literal execution of the treaty of Lune'ville, well
known to the world, having been published before
the treaty of Amiens ? Wherefoi-e has England
signed the arrangements adopted in regard to
Germany, if she thought it was a wrong step to
secularize that country ? Why did the king of
Hanover, who is also king of England — why did
lie approve of the Germanic negotiation, by ac-
cepting the bishopric of Osuabruck 1 Wherefore,
besides, was it that the house of Hanover was so
largely endowed out of the indemnities, if it was
not in consideration of England ? The British
cabinet lias not for six months mingled itself up
in the affairs of the continent; it chooses to do
so now ; let it do as it pleases. But has it more
interest in the affairs of the continent than Prussia

Angry reply of the
tiist consul to
England.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENt

441

Russia, or Austria I Very well, tlien these three
powers give in their adhesion at that moment to
all that is passing in Germany. How is England
more able to judge of the interests of the continent
than these states? It is true that in the great
Germanic negotiations, the name of the king of
England has not appeared. There is no question
about that, and it may perhaps mortify his people,
who desire to hold, and who have a right to hold,
a great place in Europe. But whose fault was it,
if not that of En^lanil hei-self ? The first consul
desired nothing better than that friendship and
confidence should be exhibited, to resolve in
common with England the great questions that he
had settled in unison with Russia ; still for friend-
ship and confidence shown there must be some
return. But he finds shouted in England only
cries of hatred towards France. They say that
the English constitution is the reason why things
are so. So be it ; but that cimstitution does not
command that there be suffered to live in London
French pamphleteers, the inventors of the infernal
machine, or that the reception and treatment of the
Bourbon priucts should be with all the honours
due to the sovereignty of the members of that
house. When England shall show better feelings
towards the first consul, lie will be brought to
exhibit other feelings also, and to divide with
England that European influence which he has
hitherto partaken with Russia."

Unknowing whether or not our patriotic sen-
timents obscure our eyes, most assuredly, in
searching out the truth, without sutt'ering national
considerations to prevail, it seems to us that there
is no reply to be made to the vigorous reasoning of
the first consul. England, when signing the treaty
of Amiens, was not at all in ignorance that the
influence of France domineered in the bordering
states, in Italy, Switzerland, and Holland, occupied
too by her troops, nor that France was about to
proceed to the settlement of the German indemni-
ties; England was not ignorant of these things, and
pre&sed to make peace, she signed it at Amiens,
without at all embarrassing herself with the inter-
ests of the continent. Yet as soon as the peace had
less attraction in her view than during the earlier
days after it was concluded ; now that her com-
merce found none of the advantages which she
had at first hoped for ; now that the party of Pitt
began again to lift its head ; now, finally, that a
calm succeeding to the agitations of the war, per-
mitted lier to perceive more distinctly the power
and the glory of France, England was seized with
a fit of jealousy, and without the power to produce
any single violatiou of the treaty of Amiens, she
ventured the thought of its violation upon her
own part, in the most audacious and unheard of
manner.

It would seem that M. Haugwitz, with his rare
correctness of judgment, had well appreciated the
British cabinet, when u])on one occasion he re-
marked to the French ambassador, "That feeble
minister, Addington, was so pressed to conclude
a peace, that he pjuiscd over every thing without
making any objection ; he now perceives that
France is great and powerful, that siio draws
consequences from her greatness, and he would
tear to pieces the treaty which ho signed,"

During the interchange of such warm communi-

cations between France and England, Russia, that
had received the remonstrances of the Swiss insur-
gents, and the complaints of the English cabinet,
had written to Paris a very cautious despatch, in
which, without reproducing any of the recrimina-
tions of England, she insinuated, notwithstanding,
to the first consul, that it was necessary in order
to preserve the peace, to calm certain distrusts
excited in Europe by the increased power of the
French republic, and that it appertained to him,
by his moderation, and by his respect for the inde-
pendence of the neighbouring states, to do away
with those suspicions. This was very wise counsel,
that implied a hint at Switzerland, which had
nothing of a nature to wound the first consul, and
which suited well the character of the impartial
moderator, a character that the young emperor
seemed at that time willing to make the chief
glory of his reign. As to Prussia, she had declared
that she fully approved of the conduct of the first
consul, in not suffering, Switzerland to be made the
focus of English and Austrian intrigues ; that he
had reason for hastening, and for not permitting
his enemies to obtain time to profit by similar
embarrassments ; that he would thus have a better
reason still, if he took away from them every pre-
text to complain of him, and kept himself from
renewing in Paris the consulta of Lyons. As to
Austria, in the last place, she affected not at all to
mingle lierself up in the question, and she did not
dare to do it, having need of France still, in order
to wind up the affairs of Germany.

The first consul was of the opinion of his friends:
he wished to act quickly, and not to imitate at
Paris the consulta of Lyons, that is to say, not to
make himself be proclaimed the president of the
Helvetian republic. As to the rest of the affair,
this desperate resistance, which the patriotism of
the Swiss might oppose to liini, he said, had been
only that which might be expected, an extravagant
story of the emigrants. As soon as colonel Rjtpp
arrived at Lausanne, he presented himself before
the advanced jjosts of the insurgents, without being
followed by a single soldier, and bringing with him
only the proclamation of the first consul, he found
all the party very well disposed to submit. General
Bachmann expressed his regret not to have had
twenty-four hours more time left, in order to fling
the Helvetic government into the lake of Geneva;
nevertheless, he retired upon Berne. There,
colonel Rapp found some disposition to resistance
on the part of the oligarchs. This party wished
France absolutely to employ force, believing they
should thus compromise her with the other
European powers. Their desires were on the
point of being satisfied, since force now arrived in
great haste. In effect, the French troops placed
upon the frontiers, under the orders of general
Ney, entered the country, and from that moment
the insurrectional government no longer hesitated
to dissolve itself. The members of which it was
composed withdrew themselves, declaring that they
only gave way to force. They every where sub-
mitted easily, except in the little cantons, where
the agitation was greater, and where, indeed, it
liad begun. Still, as well as in the others, the
opinions of the reasonable people prevailed here at
the ai)proach of tlie French troops, and all serious
resistance ceased in their presence. The French

442 The S^wUs deputies assemble THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. ^|jhVsv^s"rpu^

general Serras, at the head of some battalions,
seized upon Lucerne, Stanz, SL-hwitz, and Altorf.
M. Rediug was arrested with several other agita-
tors ; the insurgents suffered themselves to be
successively disarmed. Tiie Helvetic government,
wliicli had taken refuge at Lausanne, returned to
Berne, under the escort of general Ney, who went
thither in person, followed only by one demi-
brijrade. For a few days, the town of Constance,
in wliich the English agent, Moore, had placed
himself, was full of emigrants bdonging to tlie
oligarchical party, returning after having uselessly
expended their money in England, and declaring
aloud the ridiculous character of the whole enter-
prise. Mr. Moore returned to London, to give an
account of the bad success of this Vende'an-Helvetic
insurrection, which he had endeavoured to support
among the Alps.

This promptitude of submission had one great
advantage, since it proved that the Swiss, of whose
courage there could be no doubt, even against very
superior forces, did not feel bound, either in honour
or interest, to resist the intervention of France.
Tliere thus fell to the ground at once every reason
u])()n which the remonstrance of England was
grounded. It was necessary to achieve this im-
portant work of the pacification, by giving a con-
stitution to Switzerland; founding that constitution
upon reason, and upon tiie nature of the country.
The first consul, to take away from the mission
of general Ney the too military character which
it appeared to possess, conferred upon him, in
place of the title of general-in-chief, that of Fi-ench
minister, giving him at the same time very precise
instructions to conduct himself with moderation
and mildness towards all the parties. He had, be-
sides, no more than six thousand men in Switzei'-
land; the rest remained upon the frontiers.

Tlie first consul assembled at Paris the indi-
viduals of all shades of opinion, ardent revolutionists
as well as decided oligarchists, provided they were
individuals of influence in the country, and en-
titled to some C(jnsideration. The revolutionists
of every colour, designated by the cantons, came
without hesitation. The oligarchs refused to name
representatives. They wished to remain strangers
to all that was passing in Pai'is, and thus to re-
serve the right to protest against the proceedings
there. It was needful that the first consul should
designate himself the parties that were to repre-
sent them. He chose several; three of those
chosen were very well known, M. de Mulinen, M.
d'Affry, and M. de Watteville, all distinguished by
their families, talents, and characters. These in-
dividuals persisted in not attending. Talleyrand
made them understand that it was, on their part,
only mistaken spite ; that their presence was
not requested with any view of making them
parties to the sacrifice of opinions which were
dear to them; that, on the contrary, they would
thus hold the balance equal between them and
their opponents; that they were good citizens, men
of understanding, and that they ought not to
re'"use to contribute their aid to a constitution,
by which it was endeavoured, in good truth,
to conciliate all the legitimate interests, and by
which, besides, the fate of their country would be
settled for a long time to come. Moved by this
invitation, they were ia a good disposition to re-

strain themselves from the influence of faction,
and they answered the honourable appeal thus
made to them, by setting out immediately for
Paris. The first consul received them with great
distinction, informed them what were his wishes,
that all the moderate men of every side ought to
be of his opinion, because he wished the constitu-
tion to be of such a character as nature herself
had designed f<ir the Swiss, that was to say, the
old one, with less inequality between citizen and
citizen, canton ami canton. After having en-
deavoured to encourage them, and particularly the
oligarchical parly, because it was against that he
had been obliged to employ force, he designated
four members of the senate, Bartlielemy, Rcederer,
Fouche, and Demeunier, and charged them to
assemble the Swiss deputies, to confer with them,
separately or together, and to bi'ing them back as
expeditiously as possible to reasonable views, i-e-
serving to himself always, it was to be clearly
understood, the decision of those questions, upon
which they had been unable to arrive at a mutual
agreement.

Before they commenced their labours, the first
consul gave an audience to the principal of those
deputies, who were chosen by their colleagues for
the purpose of being there presented, and he ad-
dressed them in an off-hand speech, which was
full of good sense, of depth, and of originality of
language. It was taken down at the instant by
several persons, in order to be transmitted entire
to the whole deputation.

"It is necessary," he told them in substance,
" to remain as nature designed you, that is to say,
in a union of petty confederated states, different
in the rule of your internal government as you
differ in soil, attached the one to the other by a
sim])le federal lien — a lien which shall neither be
onerous nor expensive. It is also necessary to put
a stop to the unjust domination of canton over
canton, which goes to render one territory subject
to another : the govei'ument of the aristocratic
citizens must be put an end to. This in the great
towns occasions one class to be subject to another
class. These are among the barbarisms of the
middle ages, that France, called upon to give you
a constitution, cannot tolerate in your laws. It is
more important that true and real equality, such
as that wliich is the glory of the French revo-
lution, should triumph among you, as it has done
among us ; that every territory, every citizen,
should be the equal of another in the sight of the
law and in his social duties. This being granted,
you will not admit inequalities, save the difterences
that nature herself has established between you.
I do not imagine for you an uniform and central
govei-nment like that of France. None will per-
suade me that mountaineers, the descendants of
William Tell, are capable of being governed like
the rich inhabitants of Berne or Zurich. There
must for the former be an absolute democracy, and
a government without taxation. Pure democracy,
on the other hand, would be for the last class con-
trary to common sense. Besides, what good is a
central government ? Is it to possess greatness ?
It will no more come to you thus, than through the
dreams of ambition of your unitarians. Would
you have greatness after the mode of that in
France ? It must then be a central government,

Address of Bona-
parte to the Swiss
deputies.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

richly endowed, having a permanent army. Would
you pay for all this — would you be able to do so I
And then by the side of France, that counts five
hundred thousand men ; by the side of Austria,
that reckons three hundred thousand ; or by that
of Prussia with two Imndred thousand; what would
you do with fifteen or twenty thousand permanent
and regular troops \ You made a figure with great
brilliancy in the fourteenth century against the
dukes of Burgundy, because at that time all the
states of Europe were parcelled out, and their
forces disseminated. To-day Burgundy is hut a
point in France. You must measure your strength
with France or with Austria entirely. If you
desire this species of greatness, do you know what
it will infallibly do— it will make you become
French, confound you with a great people, make
you participator in the cost to obtain its advan-
tages, and then you will be associated in all the
chances of its high fortunes. But you do not wish
it ; and more, I am not willing it should be so.
The interest of Europe connnands very differently.
You have a greatness of your own, and it is well
worth any other. It is your duty to be a neutral
people, wiiose neutrality will be respected by all
the world, because it will oblige all the world to
pay it respect. To be in one's own home, free,
invincible, and re.';pected, is the noblest mode of
Imman existence. To this end the federal system
is the most valuable. It has less of that unity
which dares, but it has more of that inertia which
resists. It is not to be vanquished in a day like a
central government, because it resides every where,
in every part of the confederation. For the same
reason a militia i.s better for you than a standing
army. You are bound to bo all soldiers the
moment that the Al\is are threatened. Then the
permanent army is tlie entire people, and in your
mountains your intrepid chasseurs are a force
respectjible both by sentiments and numbers. You
need no soldiers jiaid and permanent like tho.se you
see exist among your neighbours, in order to teach
you the military art. A confederation that leaves
to each his native indei)endence, the differt-nce of
his maiHiei*s, and of his soil, such a confederation
is invincible in the mountains ; liore is your true
moral grandeur. If I was not a .sincere friend to
Switzerland — if I thought to retain it dependant
upon myself, I should desire a central govenmient,
which could unite every part in one entire wliole.
In such a case I should say, ' do this' — ' do that,'
or I shall pass your frontiers in twenty-four hours.
A federal government, on the contrary, preserves
itself even by the impossibility of replying promptly;
it saves itself by its very slowness of action. In
gaining two months of time, it escapes from all
external exigency. But in wishing to remain in-
dependent, do not forget that it is necessary you
be the friends of France. Her friendship is neces-
sary to you J you have had it for many centuries,
and to her you are indebted for your indepeinlencc.
It must not be allowed, at any price, that Switzer-
land should become a focus of intriguers, and
dumb hostility ; that she be to Franche-Comte
and to Alsace that which the IhIcs of Jersey and
Guernsey arc to Brilany and La Vendee. She
neither owes it to lierseU nor to France. Besides,
I will never suffer it. I spi':ik now only of your
geuei-al constitution : in that I have spoken what

I know. About your cantonal constitutions, it is
you who are to enlighten me, and to put me in
possession of what you stand in need. 1 will liear
you ; I will endeavour to satisfy you ; by re-
trenching at times in your law.s tlie barbarous
injustice of days that are past. During all, do not
forget that you must have a just government,
worthy of an enlightened age, confoi-mable to tho
nature of your country, simple, and, above all,
economical. On these conditions it will endure,
and I wish that it should endure ; because, if the
government which we are about to constitute to-
gether should fail, Euro])e will say either that
I have willed it, in order to seize upon Switzerland
myself, or that I did not know how to do better ;
but I am not willing to leave it the power to doubt
my good faith, any mni-e than my knowledge'."

Such was the exact sense of the words of the
first consul. We have not changed the languttge
except for its abridgmi nt. Jt was impossible to
think with more strength, justice, or loftiiuss.
The hand was iiumediattly set to the work. The
federal constitution was discussed at a meeting of
all the Swiss deputies. The cantonal constitutions
were prepared by the deputies of each canton
themselves, and then revised in the general as-
sembly of all. When the passions are cooled, and
good sense is supposed to prevail, the constitution of
any people is easy to form, because it only consists
in uniting some just ideas, which are found to
dwell in the minds of all the wiirid. Tiie passions
of the Swiss were far from being completely
ai>peased ; but their deputies at Paris were al-
ready much calmer. The change of place, the
presence of a supreme authority, beneficent, and
enlightened, had sensibly nioditied their feelings.
The more as this authority was there to impose
upon them just ideas, few in number, which would
subsist alone after the stormy passions of the time
had subsided.

The following dispositions were agreed upon : —
The chimera of the unitarians was discarded ; it
was settled that each canton should have its own
constitution, its civil legislation, its judicial forms,
and its own system of taxation. The cantons were
confederated only for the common interests of all
the confederations, and more particularly for the
relations of the country with foreign states. This
confederation was to have for its representation a
diet, composed of an envoy from each canton ; and
this envoy was to enjoy one or two voices in the
deliberations, according to the extent of the popu-
lation which he re|)reKented. The representatives
of Berne, Zurich, Vaud, .St. Gall, Argovia, and the
Grisons, of which the population was more than
one hundred thousand souls, was to possess two
voices. Tho other ciintons were only to possess
one each. Thus the diet consisted of twenty- five
members. It was bound to sit for one month in
every year, and each year to change its residence
alternately in tho following cantons : Friburg,
Berne, Soleure, Bale, Zurich, and Lucerne. The
canton in which the diet sat was for tho year the

1 This speech wns taken down by several persons; there
exist diO'en.'nt versions of it. of which two are found in the
arcliives of foreign alTnirs I have put toRethrr that which
wan common to all. and tlial whiili aftrees with the letters
written upon tlic subject by the (irst consul.— .iuMor'* note.

444 The new Swiss constitution. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Division of the cantons.

directing canton. Tlie chief of that canton, avoyer
or burgomaster, as he niii^ht be, was for that year
landamman for the whole of Switzerland. He
received the foreign muiisters, accredited the Swiss
ministers abroad, convoked the militia, exercised,
in one word, tlie functions of the executive power
of the confederation.

Switzerland was to have at the service of the
confederation a permanent force of fifteen thousand
men, carrying an expense of 490,300 f. The divi-
sion of the amount of tiiis contingent for each can-
ton, both in men and money, was made by the con-
stitution itself upon all the cantons, in the due
proportion of their population and their i-iches.
But every Swiss of sixteen years of age was a
soldier, a member of the militia, and could, if
required, be called to defend the independence of
Helvetia.

The confederation had only one class of money
common to the whole of Switzerland.

It had no longer any tariffs or customs' duties,
save at the general frontiers, and the duties thus
levied must be approved by the diet. Each can-
ton placed to the account of its profits the sums
which it might have collected on its own frontier.

The tolls of a feudal character were wholly
suppressed. None remained but such as were
necessary to keep the roads in order and preserve
navigation. A canton which violated a decree
of tlie diet, could be brought before a tribunal,
composed of the presidents of all the criminal
tribunals of the other cantons.

The attributes of the central government were
very much restrained in power. The other attri-
butes of the sovereignty, not stated in the federal
act, were left to the care of the sovereignty of the
cantons. There were nineteen cantons formed
altogether, and the questions of territory, so much
debated and disputed between the former sovereign
states and the subject ones, were resolved into the
separation or advantage of the last. Vaud and
Argovia formerly subjects of Berne ; Thurgovia
formerly subject to SchafFhausen ; the Tessin
formerly subject to Uri and Unterwalden, were
constituted independent cantons. The small can-
tons, such as Glaris and Appenzel, which had been
enlarged in order to change their character, were
disembarrassed of the inconvenient additions which
had been made to them. The canton of St. Gall
was composed of all that territory which had been
bestowed upon Appenzel, Glaris, and Schwitz.
Schwitz alone retained some addition of territory.
If to the nineteen cantons which follow, viz.,
Appenzel, Argovia, Bale, Berne. Friburg, Glaris,
Grisons, Lucerne, St. Gall, Schafi'iiausen, Schwitz,
Soleure, Tessin, Thurgovia, Unterwalden, Uri,
Vaud, Zug, and Zurich, Geneva be added, then a
French department, the Valais, constituted sepa-
rately, and Neufchatel, a principality belonging to
Prussia, there are the twenty-two cantons which
are at present in existence.

In regard to the particular system of govern-
ment imposed upon eacii canton, this was made
in all respects conformable to the former consti-
tution of each state, with the exception that it was
purged of all feudal and aristocratical abuses. The
landsgemeinde, or assemblage of all the citizens of
the age of twenty years, who met together once
annually, to determine all public matters, and to

nominate a landamman, was re-established in the
small democratic cantons of Appenzel, Glari.s,
Schwitz, Uri, and Unterwalden. They could do
no otherwise than reject this assemblage during
the revolt. The government of the citizens was
re-established in Berne, Zurich, Bale, and the
cantons of the same character, but on condition
that it remained open to all ranks of citizens.
Provided th.at an individual possessed a property
of 1000 f. 1 income at Berne, and 500 at Zurich 2,
he might become a member of the body of govern-
ing citizens, and eligible to all the public functions.
There were in the cities, as formerly, a great
council, to which the charge of making the laws
was committed, and a little council, whose duty
it was to see that they were properly carried into
execution, an avoyer or burgomaster being charged
with the executive functions, under the superin-
tendence of the lesser council. In the cantons in
which nature had given rise to particular adminis-
trative divisions, as the Rhodes interior and exterior
in Appenzel, and the Lhjues in the Grisons, these
divisions were respected and maintained. The
whole was, in fact, the ancient Helvetic constitu-
tion, corrected after the principles of justice and
the superior knowledge of the time. It was old
Switzerland remaining federative, but having iti
addition, the subject-countries raised to the rank
of cantons, maintained in a state of pure demo-
cracy, in those places where nature had clearly
marked out that it should be so, and in the state
of citizen government, but not exclusive of rank,
where the nature of things seemed to require that
form.

In this undertaking, so just and so wise, each
party gained and lost something — gained what
it wished that was just, but lost that which it
desired if it were unjust and tyrannical. The uni-
tarians saw their chimera of unity and absolute
democracy disappear, but they gained the freedom of
the subject-territories, and the opening of the ranks
of the citizenship in the oligarchical cantons. The
oligarchs saw the subject-cantons disappear, Berne
particularly, losing Argovia and Vaud, they saw
the patrician pretensions put aside ; but they ob-
tained the suppression of the central government,
and the consecration of the rights of property in
the rich cities, such as Zurich, 13ale, and Berne.

Still this work remained incomplete, inasmuch as
that, in arranging the form of the institutions, they
did not at the same time settle the choice of the
individuals who were to put it into action. In pre-
senting the French constitution to the country in
the year viii., and the Italian constitution in the
year x., the first consul had designated in the con-
stitution itself the individuals who were charged
with the great constitutional functions. This was
wise, because when lie was acting for the purpose
of placing a country long agitated in a state of
peace, the men who were to contribute to that
object were not of less importance than the things.

The ordinary tendency of the first consul's con-
duct was to remit every thing immediately to its
own proper place. To recall the higher classes of
society to power, without making the men descend
who, by their merit, had elevated themselves in
the social body ; and to secure to all those who

About £41 \Zt. id.

About £20 16f. 8i. sterling.

M. Affry made Lan-
damman.

RUPTURE OF TIIU PEACE OF AMIENS.

The deputies sent back
to Switzerland.

should at a later time be worthy of it, the means to
elevate themselves in their turn, — here is the sys-
tem that he would have immediately followed in
France if he had been able. But he had not
attempted it, because the old aristocracy of France
had enii!i;ratcd, was scarcely returned from emigra-
tion, and from having been emigrant, w'as wholly
strange to the country, its feelings, and puhlic
business. More than this, he was obliged to take
his points of support in France itself, out of one of
the parties into which the country was dividoil ;
and naturally he had chosen tiiat point of support
in the revolutionary party which was his own. In
France, then, he was exclusively surrounded, at
least during that time, by men belonging to the
revolution. But in Switzerland he was more free
to act ; he had not to search for support in an
exclusive party, because he acted from without,
and from the 'summit of French power ; he had
no more any thing to do with an emigrant aristo-
cracy. He "did not therefore hesitate in giving way
to the natural bent of his inclination, and he called
into power, accordingly, an equal portion of the
partizans of the old and new order of things.
Commissions nominated in Paris were sent into
each canton, in order to carry into effect the can-
tonal constitution, and to choose there the indivi-
duals who were designated to take their i)lace
among the new authorities. He had taken care to
place equal numbers in each, thus balancing in
equal strength the revolutionists and oligarchs.
Having finally to choose the landamman of the
Helvetic confederation, being the first who was to
execute that office, he boldly selected the most dis-
tinguished personage, but the most moderate of
the oligarchical party, M. Affry.

M. Affry was a discreet but firm man, devoted
to the profession of arms, formerly belonging to the
service of France, a citizen of the canton of Fri-
burg, at that time the least agitated of the cantons
of the confederation. In becoming landamman,
M. Affry elevated his canton to the dignity of can-
ton director. He was a man of the olden times,
rational, military in his habits, attached to France
by feeling, and the member of a tranquil canton.
These were in the sight of the first consul very
decisive reasons for the preference, and he nomi-
nated M. Affry. Besides, after iiaving braved all
Europe by his intervention, it was not necessary to
multiply before it any more painful impressions, by
installing in Switzerland the demagogues and their
turbulent chiefs. He did not think it needful to
do that, nor to attribute to himself the ])residency
of the Helvetic republic, as he had attributed that
of the Italian republic. To settle Switzerland in a
state of wise and discreet reform, to snatch it out
of the hands of the <iieniie8 of Fi-ance, and to
leave it neuter and indepcmlent, such was the
problem to be resolved, and it was resolved in a
few days, courageously and prudently.

When this fine work, which, under the title of
the " Act of Mediation," had procured for tiie Swiss
a longer period of re|mse and good government
than they had enjoyed for fifty years before — when
this great work was finished, the first consul as-
8cmble<l the united deputi.-s in Paris, and remitted
it to tluni in presence of the four senators who had
presided over the progress of the undertaking ;
made to them a short and energetic address ; re-

conimeniled to them union, moderation, impar-
tiality, the same conduct, in fact, which he had
adopted himself in France ; and then sent them
back to their own country, to replace the provi-
sional and impotent government of the landamman
Bolder.

In Switzerland there was astonishment enough ;
tlie feelings of some were deceived, distrust re-
mained with many ; but in the masses, uniformly
susceptible of the real truth, there was submission
and gratitude. This sentiment was more parti-
cularly conspicuous in the smaller cantons, that
having been defeated in their object, were not
treated as if they had been so. M. Reding and
his friends were immediately set at liberty. In
Eui'ope there was as much surprise as of admira-
tion at the promptitude of the mediation, and at
its perfect equity. It was a new act of moral
power, similar to those which the first consul had
accomplished in Germany and in Italy, but much
more able, and more meritorious still, if it be pos-
sible, because Europe was braved and respected in
the performance of tlie act ; braved as far as that
act willed the interest of France, respected in its
legitimate interests, which were the independence
and the neutrality of the Swiss people.

Russia congratulated the first consul warmly on
having made so prompt and so good an end to an
affair so difficult. The Prussian cabinet, through
the medium of M. Haugwitz, expressed its opinion
to him in terms of the strongest appi'obation. Eng-
land was stupified and embarrassed at being de-
prived of a grievance about which she had made
such a great noise.

Parliament, so formidable to Addington and
Hawkesbury, had consumed in animated discussions
that time which the first consul had employed in
reconstituting Switzerland. These discussions had
been stormy, brilliant, and particularly worthy of
admiration, when Fox made the voice of justice
and humanity heard against the burning jealousy
of his countrymen. They had revealed beyond a
doubt the insufficiency of the Addington cabinet ;
but they had made reappear with fresh violence
the war party, which had been for the moment
much weakened in j)arliament, and that Adding-
ton now somewhat strengthened. According to that
minister, the peace had recovered every one of its
lost chances.

It was the speech from the throne, delivered on
the 23rd of November, which had become the
theme of these discussions.

" In my relations with foi-eign powers," his Bri-
tannic majesty iiad said, " I have been hitherto
animated with a sincere desire to maintain the
pi ace. But still it is impossible, in my view, to
lose sight, for a single instant, of that wise and
ancient system of ])olicy which so intimately bound
up our own interests with the interests of other
nations. I camiot therefore be indifferent to any
change in this strength, and in this relative posi-
tion. My conduct will be regulated invariably by
a just appreciation of the actual situation of Eu-
rope, and by a vigilant solicitude for tli<- permanent
good of my people. You will, wiilidut doubt, think
with me, that it is our duty to adopt those mea-
sures of security which are the most proi>er to give
to my subjects, the hofie of preserving the advan-
tages of peace."

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. British parliament.

To this speed), which designated the new posi-
tion taken by the British cabinet in respect to
France, there was found joined a demand for sup-
plies in order to carry out the peace armament to
the extent of fifty thousand seamen, an armament
wliich, in agreement with the previous statements
of Addington, was only to consist of thirty thou-
sand. The ministers asserted, that in less than one
month, on the first occasion that required it, they
should be able to send to sea front the ports of
England fifty sail of the line.

The debate was long and stormy, and the minister
was now well able to perceive how very little he
had gained by any of his concessions to the party
of Grenville and Windham. Pitt affected absence.
His friends took upon themselves, on his behalf,
that violent character which he disclaimed. " How,"
cried Grenville and Canning, " how have the mi-
nistry conie at last to discover that we have in-
terests upon the continent, and that the care of
those interests has ever been an important part of
English policy, and that those important interests
have not ceased to be sacrificed since the deceptive
and fraudulent peace has been signed with France ?
What! is it then the invasion of Switzerland which
has led the ministry at last to jierceive this? Is it
only now that it has begun to discover that we were
excluded from the continent, and that our allies
were there immolated to the insatiable ambition of
this pretended French republic, Which had not
ceased to threaten the whole of European society
with a denuigogical overturn, before it threatened
to govern it with a military despotism ? Your
eyes," they said to Addington and Hawkesbury,
" were your eyes closed to the truth during the
time that you negotiated the preliminaries of peace
— during tiie negotiation of the definitive treaty,
and during the time that treaty began to be
carried into effect? You had scarcely signed the
preliminaries of London, before our eternal enemy
seized openly upon the Italian republic, under the
pretext that it had decreed to him the presidency;
adjudged Tuscany to himself under the pretext that
it was conceded to the infant of Sjiain; and as the
price of this false concession, seized upon tiie finest
part of the American continent in Louisiana. Here
is what was openly done on the very morrow of the
preliminary treaty, while you were occupied with
your negotiations in the city of Amiens, and even
this never carried conviction to your sight. You
had scarcely signed the delinitive treaty, the wax
with which you had stamped upon that treaty the
arms of England was hardly cold, when already our
indefatigable enemy witlnlrevv from concealment
the intentions which lie had so adroitly hidden
from yon, united I'iedmont to France, and de-
throned the worthy king of Sardinia, that constant
ally of England, who remained invariably faithful
to her during a contest of ten years; who, when
enclosed in his ca])ital by the troops of general
Bmaparte, was unable to save iiimself but by a
capitulation, which he was unwilling to sign, be-
cause it contained an obligation to declare war
against Great Britain! When Portugal and even
Naples closed their ]>orts against us, the king of
Sardinia opened his, and he fell, because he was
willing to have kept them always open to our ves-
sels. But this is not all: the definitive treaty was
concluded in March; in June, Piedmont was united

to France; and in August the consular government
merely signified in plain and simple terms to Eu-
rope, that the Germanic constitution had ceased to
exist. All the German states were confounded,
shared out in the lots that France distributed to
whom she pleased; and Austria, the sole power,
n])on the strength and perseverance of which we
had reason to count to restrain the ambition of our
enemy, has been so much enfeebled, abased, and
humiliated, that we scarcely know whether she will
ever be able to lift up her head again ! Then the
stadtholder, to whom you had promised an indem-
nity should be made equal to his losses, this stadt-
holder has been treated in a manner utterly
ridiculous towards himself — ridiculous on your
part, that constituted yourselves the protectors of
the house of Orange. This house received for the
stadtholderate a miserable bishopric; it is the same
with the house of Hanover, which is seen disdain-
fully despoiled of its personal property. It has
been often said," rejieated lord Grenville, "that
England has heretofore suffered on account of
Hanover; it need not be said this time, because it
is on account of England that Hanover has suffered.
It is because he is king of Engkind that the king of
Hanover has been thus despoiled of his ancient
])atrimonial i)i()])erty. They liave not even ob-
serve<l the forms of civility, which have been the
usage among all powers of the same rank; there
was no conmRUiication made to your sovereign,
that Germany, his former country, at this diiy bis
associate in the confederation — that Germany, the
largest couniry on the continent, was about to be
overturned from the loundations. Your sovereign
knew nothing — nothing but what he was able to ac-
quire in the way of information through a message
from the minister Talleyrand to the conservative
senate! Germany is nut therefore one of those
countries of which the situation is of any importance
to England. Omitting that, the ministers tell
us out of his majesty's mouth that they will not re-
main insensible to every considerable change in
Europe, having now quitted their stupor and in-
sensibility. Finally, within a few days, Parma
has disapi)eared from the list of independent
states— Parma is become a territory of which the
first consul of the French republic is free to do as
he jileases, or to dispose of at his own will. All
tin se things were accom|)lished under your own
eyes, and nearly without interruption. Not a
month since the fruition of this unhappy peace —
not a month has ])assed away without being marked
by the fall of an allied slate, or friend of England.
You have seen nothing — perceived nothing of all
this! Now on a .sudden you awaken — wherefore ?
Why now ? in favour of what object? In favour
of the brave Swiss — a deeply interesting people
most assuredly, and well worthy of all the sym-
pathy of England; but are they more interesting,
more worthy of sympathy, than Piedmont, Lom-
bardy, or Germany ? What have you discovered
there so very extraonlinary, so very injurious, above
all wliich has been passed over during the last
fourteen months? What! nothing attracted your
attention on the continent, neither Piedmont, Lom-
bardy, nor Germany ? Why do the Swiss alone
bring you to think that England ought not to
i-cmain insensible to the equilibrium of the Euro,
pean balance of power?" *' You have shown your-

Speech of Fox in the RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. British parliament.

selves," said Ginning, " tlie most incapable of men;
since, in renionsiraiiiig about Switzeiliiml, you
have made England look ridii-ulous, you liuvo ex-
posed your coumry to the contempt of your enemy.
At Const;ince there was an Enj^lish :igent\vell known
to every ImkIv; will you favour us with an account of
what he dij tlure, of what the character was
which he playt-d I It is publicly notorious that you
have addressed remonstrances to tlie fii-st consul of
the French republic in favour of Switzerland ; will
you favour us with the answer which he made to
you \ What we all know is, that since your re-
monstrances, the Swiss have laid down their arms
before the French troops; and that the deputies of
all the cantons, asst-mlded in Paris, have received
laws fi-om the lii-st consul. You remonstrate then
in the name of England, without requiring that you
shall be listened to ! It woidd be better to have
been silent, as you were when Piedmont disap-
peared, and when Gt-rniany was overturned, rather
than to remonstrate without being heaid. And it
must be thus, when that is inc<jnsiderately spoken
which should be concealed ; when jjcople speak
without having prepared the means to be heard
— without having a tluet, an ai-my, or an ally. It is
necessary to be <|uiet, or to elevate the voice with
a certainty of being heard and comprehended. The
dignity of a great nation ought not thus to be \nit
in hazard. You demand supplies from us; to what
purpose do you mean to apply them ? If they are
for peace, you ask t<io nmch; if they are for war,
you do not ask for enough. We will, nevertheless,
grant them to y<.u; but it must be upon the condi-
tion, that you leave the care of employing them to
him whom you replaced, and who is alone aiiie to
save England in the crisis into which you have so
imprudently brought b<r."

The English njinisters did not obtain even
the price of their conressions to the party inimical
to the peace, because it rei)roached them for their
remonstraiices in favour of Switzerland ; and it
must be a»know iedged, they had only that fault, but
then that fault was too well foumled not to justify
the reproacliis of their adversaries. Their con-
duct under that head had been very puerile.

Still, ill the midst of these declamatory speeches,
lord Gnnville had advanced something of a serious
diameter, and particularly mo for a former minister
of foreign aH'airs. In repi-oaching Addington and
Hawkehbiiry lor having laid uji the fleet, dismissed
the army, cvacuateil E'^ypt am! the Cape, he
pniised th.;m f.r one point, which was, that of not
liaving yet willhlrawn the English tr<iops from
MaltJi. " B'- it bv n'-;;ligence or by fickleness that
you havo acted ui this way," he said; "fortunate
fickleness, the only thing that we are able to ap-
prove in your con-luct! We hope that you will
not let this last ple<lg« escape you, remaining by
accident in our han<ls, but tliat you will retain it,
in order to indenniify us for all the infractions of
the treaties comtnitted by our insatiable enemy."

It was iin|>oHHiblir to (iroclaini more openly or
boldly the violation of any treaty.

In the midst of thin outr.ig<-<uis language, the
eloqueiit and generous Fox made liis voice be
heard on the hiile of ^ood Hense, moderation, and
the national honour, in tho real acceptance of this
l&Ht word. " I have litilu of relation with tho
tiicmbers of the cabinet," said he, on addressing

himself in reply to Grenville and Canning; "and
I am, besides this, very little habituated to Uiking
up the defence of his majesty's ministers; but I
confess my astonishment at all that I now hear;
I am astonished still more at reflecting upon
the individuals who speak these things. I am
certsvinly sorry, moi-e so than any of the honourable
colleagues and friends of Mr. Piit, at the increasing
greatness of Finance, which every day extends, both
in Europe and America. I regret it, although I
do )iot partake in the prejudices of the honourable
members against the French republic. But, in
fact, this extraordinary increase of power, wliich
so surprises you, which so alarms you, when was
it produced ? Was it under the ministi-y of Mr.
Addington and l^rd Hawkcsbury, or under that
of Mr. Pitt and 1 .rd Grenville? Under the
ministry of Pitt and Greinillo, had not France
acquired the line of the Rhine, overrun Holland,
Switzerland, and Italy, as far as Naples ? WaS
it because she had not been resisted, because she
bad been suffered to act, through remissness on
the part of others, that she had thus extended her
vast arms ? It appeai-s to me not; because Mr.
Pitt and lord Grenville had united the most for-
midable of coalitions, in order to put a stop to this
ambitious France ! They besieged Valenciennes
and Dunkirk, and had already designated the first
of these towns for Austria, the second for England.
This France, w hich is so accused of interfering by
force in the affairs of ariothcT countiy, they en-
deavoured at that time to conquer themselves for
the ])nri)0se of imposing upon her a regime to
which she would not submit — to make her accept
the fan>ily of the Bourbons, wiiose yoke she re-
pelled : an<l by <me of those mighty movements,
of which history will preserve the eternal recid-
lection and advise the imitation of the example,
France drove out her invaders. They did not
succeed in seizing Valenciennes and Dunkirk ;
they did not dictate laws to France ; she, on the
contrary, dictates them to others ! Very well;
we, although deeply attached to the cause of
England, we experienced an involuntary move-
ment of sympathy for that generous effort of
liberty and ])atrioiism, and we are far from wish-
ing to conceal such a fact. Did not our fathers
applaud the resistance that Holland made to the
tyranny of the Spaniards? Did not old England
applaud every nolile effort of free inspiration in
every nation? And yon, who to-day deplore the
greatness of France, is it not you yourselves who
have provoked her victorious career? Is it not
you, who, in endeavouring to take from her
Valenciennes and Dunkirk, brought her to con-
quer Belgium; you, who in wishing to impose laws
upon her, have made htr give them to half the
continent? Yon speak of Italy; but was not that
in lh(! power of I'rance when you entereil into a
treaty with her ? Did yon not know it ? Was not
that one of yiuir lamen'tations ? Did this circum-
stance prevent your signing the treaty of peace !
And you, colleagues of Mr. I'itt, who then felt that
this peace was l)ecoine necessary, from the suffer-
ings of a war of ten years' duration, how nmch it
was needful to heal the evils which were the work
of your own hands, you were consenting parti(K
to all that which the existing ministers signed for
you ! Wliy did you not oppose them then ? And

448 Speech of Fox in the THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

British parliament.

1802.

Nov.

if you did not then oppose them, why not suffer them
now to carry out the stipulations, and to execute
the conditions which you approved 1 The king
of Piedmont seems strongly to interest you : be it
so ; but Austria, of whom he was a closer ally
than he was yours, Austria had given him up.
She did not even mention him in the negotiations,
for fear that the indemnity which would be
granted to that prince should diminish the portion
of the Venetian states, which she coveted for her
own use. England had no pretence for the main-
tenance of the independence of Italy to i)lace by
that of Austi'ia ! Y(ju speak of the overturn of
Germany; but what has been done in Germany?
They have secularized the ecclesiastical states to
indemnify the hereditary princes, in virtue of a
formal article in the treaty of Luneville, — a treaty
signed nine months before the preliminaries of
London, and more than twelve months before the
treaty of Amiens, — and signed at what period ?
Why, during the time that Mr. Pitt and lord
Grenville were ministers of England ; when Mr.
Addington and lord Hawkesbury came into power,
this pretended partition of Germany was arranged,
promised, decreed, in the sight and to the perfect
cognizance of all Europe. This, in your under-
standing, is the overturning of all Germany ; jou
should complain also, in this instance, of Russia,
who with France consummated one-half of the
affair. The elector of Hanover, you say, because,
unhappily for him, he was king of England, has
been very ill-treated. I have never heard it said
before that he was very discontented with his lot
in Germany ; because, without any loss, he has
obtained a rich bishopric. As to the rest, I
strongly suspect that those who interest them-
selves so strongly for the elector of Hanover, who
show so much solicitude upon his account, are
seeking to obtain, by that intermediate means, the
confidence of the king of Enghmd, and by this
medium to worm themselves into his councils.
Without doubt France is great, nmch greater than
a good Englishman wishes to see her ; but her
greatness, of whicli the English ministers were the
authors, we all knew before the preliminaries of
London were signed, and before the negotiations
at Amiens, and that ought not to be a motive for
violating solemn treaties. Watch over the exe-
cution of those treaties; if they are violated, re-
claim against broken faith : it is your right and
your duty. But because France ai>pears in your
view to-day to be too great, greater than you had
at first thought her to be, to break a solemn en-
gagement, to retain Malta, for example, it would
be an unworthy broach of faith, and would com-
promise the honour of England. If, in truth, the
conditions of the treaty of Amiens are not fulfilled,
and as far as it may be the case that they are not,
we may keep Malta ; but not a moment longei-.
I hope that the ministry are not able to say among
themselves, that which was said by the French
ministers after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, that
they signed it with the secret determination to
violate it upon the first opportunity. I believe i
Mr. Addington and lord Hawkesbury incapable j
of doing this ; it would be a blot on the honour of ,
England if they were. After all, these continual I
invectives against the greatness of France, those ;
torrors which it is continually endeavoured to

excite, they can only serve to nourish troubles and
hatred between two great people. I am certain
that if there were in Paris an assembly similar to
that which meets for discussion here, it would
speak of the English navy, and of the dominion
of the seas, as we speak here in this place of the
French armies, and of their domination over the
continent. I comprehend well enough a noble
rivalry between two powerful nations ; but to
think of war, to propose it been use any nation be-
comes great, because it prospers, would be sense-
less and inhuman. If it was announced to you
that the first consul had made a canal to bring the
sea from Dieppe to Paris, there are persons who
wiiuld believe it, and who, I doubt not, would im-
mediately propose a war on that account. The
manufactures of France and their progress are
si)oken about. I have seen those manufactures,
and I have admired them; but if I must speak my
real sentiments, I fear them no more than I fear
the French navy. I am certain that the English
manufactures will bear off the prize when a con-
test is established between them and the French.
Let them then essay their strength ; let them but
sustain the combat at Manchester and St. Quentin.
It is in those jjlaces that tiie lists are open; it is
in those close fields that the two nations sliould
try their strength. To make war to ensure success
either for one side or the other, would be bar-
barous. We reproach the French that they in-
terdict our j)roduce arriving in their j)orts ; but
is that not the right which you yourselves exer-
cise ? And you complain ; is there any nation
which issues prohiljitions as actively as you have
done yourselves ? A ]nirt of our commerce may,
it is possible, suffer in consequence; but that is
the result seen at every similar period, after the
peace of 1763, and after the peace of 1782. There
were then certain products of industry developed
by the war above their ordinary proportion, which,
at the peace, were found to enter within narrower
limits, and thei-e were others which in their turn
partook of a more extended develojiment. What
of all that ? Should we, to gratify the ambition
of some of our merchants, shed torrents of Eng-
lish blood ? As for me, my side of the question is
taken. If it is necessary for the gratification of
the mad passions of men, that millions be immo-
lated, I will go back to the madness of antiquity;
because I prefer sooner that blood should be spilled
in the romantic expeditions of an Alexander, than
in gratifying the gross cupidity of a few traders
greedy of sordid gain."

These few words, in which the most sincere
patriotism could not overshadow the dictates of
humanity, because the two sentiments should be
conciliated in eveiy generous lie:irt, produced a
great effect in the English parliann nt. They had
l)rodigiou8ly exaggerated the French manufactures
and navy. Both the one and the other had no
doubt commenced flourishing ; but they spoke of
that as done and accomplished which was but just
commenced ; and these exaggei-ations, .spread
abroad by the higher class of merchants, were
rumoured in a most unhappy manner among all
classes of the British people. Tiie eloquent and
wise rea.sonings of Fox came at a j>?'oper moment
to weaken the force of such mischievous reports,
and they were accompanied with good effects,

1802.
Nov.

The affairs of
England.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

4-19

while tlicy wounded the national sympathies. Be-
sides, althoujjh discontented, and alarmed at the
greatness of Fi-ance, they were not yet willing to
go to war. The party of Grenville and Windham
compromised itself by its violence. Fox was
honoured by lending a support to the cabinet.
Some thougiit he was approximating to office by
this conduct, so entirely new. It was pretended
that he would soon support more openly the
feeble minister, who had played in debate a cha-
racter full of mediocrity and uncertainty, ap-
proving all that was said on behalf of the peace,
without daring to speak himself in its defence. In
other respects, the address proposed in answer to
the speech from the crown, was adopted without
any amendment ; and the supplies were voted in the
same way. For a certain time the ministry ap-
peared to be saved, a thing which pleased Adding-
ton, although ho had little ambition, but was more
pleasing to lord Mawkesbury, who earnestly de-
sired to keep a minister's place. This species of
success disposed these two statesmen to better
relations with France, because they desired peace,
knowing well that they had not come into office
without it, and that if it passed away they should
go out of office immediately. In fact, at the
firing of the first cannon, Pitt could not fail to be
called to take the reins of government by all classes
of the nation.

The Swiss business terminated wisely and
promptly, and removed the principal grievance.
Lord llawkesbury too desired that genei-al
Andreossy, the French ambassador, might be
directed to proceed to London, offering at the
same time to send lord Whitworth to Paris, as
ambassador from Great Britain. The firet consul
readily agreed to the request, because, not with-
out some feelings of anger which had been excited
in his mind by the bad spirit shown towards him
in England, and in spite of the images of unequalled
greatness which he sometimes fore.saw in the event
of a war, his mind was entirely directed to peace.
When he was provoked or irritated, indeed, he
would bring himself, at times, to say, that after
all, war was his natural vocation, his original
calling, perhaps his only destiny ; that he knew
how to rule in a superior way, but that before
governing he had known how to fight ; that it was
his profession, " par excellence ; " and that if Mo-
reau, with a French army, had reached as far as
the gates of Vienna, he could go beyond that.
He repeated these things too often, and, in fact, at
this moment Rini:'il.ir visions sometimes arose in
liis mind. He saw empires destroyed, Europe
remodilled, and his consular power clianged into
a crown, whiih should not be less than the crown
of Charlemagne ; whosoever threatened or in-itated
hiro, raised, one after another, in the vast extent of
his intellect, fatally seducing images of power and
grandeur that b< come ascendant. It was easy to
perceive these in the singular elevation of his
daily convei-sation, in the despatches which he
dictated to his miniKU^r for foreign affairs, in the
thousand Utters, in fact, which he addressed to the
different agents of the government. At times he
would remark, that this greatmss would certainly
not be wanting to him, sooner or later; but he found
that the peace had been of too short a duration,
that St. Domingo was not definitively conquered,

that Louisiana was not occupied, that the French
marine was not re-estiiblislied. According to his
own opinion, he wanted, before war should be re-
commenced, four or five yeai-s to come of continual
efibrts in the bosom of profound peace. The fii-st
consul shared in that passion for constructing great
works, which has been deemed a part of the natu-
ral character of flie founders of empires; he took a
great interest in the strong fortresses which he
constructed in Italy, in the extensive and grand
roads which he cut through the Alps, in the plans
of the new towns which he ])rojected in Britany,
and in the canals, by means of which it was his
intention to unite the waters of the Seine and
Escaut. He enjoyed absolute power, and attracted
universal admiration, and all this in the midst of a
state of profound peace, which could not but be
acceptiible to him after haviiig fought so many
battles, traversed so many countries, and com-
mitted to so many hazards his fortune and his
life.

The first consul, then, was sincerely desirous of
the preservation of the jjcace, and he consented
readily to every thing which might contribute to
ensure its duration. In consequence of this wish,
he sent off general Andreossy to London, and
received lord Whitworth with great distinction
in Paris. This personage, designed to represent
George III. in Fi-ance, was a ti-Ue English gentle-
man, simple in himself, although magnificent in his
x-epresentative character, discreet, straightforward,
but stiff and proud, as his countrymen in general
are found to be, and wholly incapable of that nice
and delicate system of management which was so
necessary with a character, by tui'ns passionate
and kind, as was that of the first consul. There
was wanted in such a position a man of ingenuity
and comprehension rather than a great lord, and
both one and the other blended, if it had been
possible, in order to act successfully, in contact with
a new government, which had need of being
fiattered and managed. Still it was not at the
first instant that these defects of character exhi-
bited themselves in their relations with each other.
At the commencement, all passed oft" well. Lord
Whitworth was received with marvellous distinc-
tion'; his wife, the duchess of Dorset, a high-born

' "Lord Wliitwortli's presentation to the first consul took
place on the 5th of December, I8U2, and was marked l)y
the most distinguished lionuurs. He was received wiih every
possible attention which could be paid to the representative
of the British sovereign. There were no less than eighty
foreinners presented the same day, among whom were thirty-
twi) English ; but the English ambassador occupied nearly
tic whole of the first consul's care and respect; and the
chief magistrate of the French republic seemed particularly
anxious to give the most public and satisfactory proofs of
his sincere desire to preserve unimpaired (he established
relations of peace and amity between llie t«o countries."
Such is the account of his lordship's reception from a peri-
odical work published at the time in England. Our author
is correct in his tharacler of lord Whitworth, who was a
plain common-sense English gentleman, kulHcicntly stilT,
arislocratical, and well bred, but no more. Lord Curnwallis,
or some man of a higher order of mind, and more accus-
tomed to deal with newly-founded governments, was re-
quired fur such an embassy, a man of a hirgc scope of mind ;
a mere English otiicfal gentleman was a nonentity in such a
position. — TruHildlor.

Go

450 Russia and Prussia assent THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

to the guarantee.

English lady, was the object of the most distin-
guished and scrupulous atteniii>n. The first oonsul
gave to the ambassador aiid his lady splendid en-
tertainments, lioth at Versailles and at the Tuileries.
Talleyrand, in order to do them the utmost honour
in liis power, disjjlayed for their recejition all that
elegance and perfect good breeding for which he
was so distinguished. The two consuls, Camba-
cdres and Lebrun, liad orders to show every
attention to them, and they did the best that was
in their power. To all this was added the more
flattering mark of respect in publishing these
attentions.

There entered into the feelings of England in
regard to France, a great deal of wounded piide,
although interest had much to do in giving them
their bias. These attentinns, lavished by the first
consul u|)()n the British ambassador, produced the
most sensible effect upon the i)ublie mind in Lon-
don, and recalled for a moment better feelings
and sentiments in every heart. General Andreossy
felt the effects of the same momentary reaction, and
was receivfd in a most flattering manner, in every .
way similar to that widi which lord Wliitworth
had been received in Paris. The montlis of De-
cember and January renewed a species of general
tranquillity. The funds, which in both countries
liad fallen, rose considerably, and stood at the
rate at which they had been during the time that
the greatest conHd<nce liad i)revailed. The five
per cents, were at 57 f. and 58 f. iu France.

The winter of i80;{ was nearly as brilliant as
that of 1802. It even appeared to be more calm,
because within tin; limits of France every thing
went on in a smooth course, whilst in the preceding
year, the ojjposition of the tribimatc, without caus-
ing any thing fearful, occasioned a certiiin degree
of uneasiness. Ail the hi;;h functionaries, consuls,
and ministers, had orders to keep open their houses,
as nmcli for the reception of those employed under
them as for that of the society of Paris, and for
foreigners who might be in the capital. The com-
mercial classes were well satisfied with the general
position and aspect of affairs. A sensation of well-
being was every where prevalent, and finished by
gaining over even the circles of the returned emi-
grants. Every day there w:!S seen some personage
bearing a great name, detaching himself from the
idle, agitated, calumniaiing group of the ancient
French nobility, in order tn go and solicit a place,
either magisterial or financial, in the grave and
monotonous diawing-rooms of the consuls, Cam-
bace'res and Lebiuii. Others went as far as to
S(dicit madam Bonajjarte to ask places for them
in the new court. Those who had obtained them
were spoken of contcmi)tuously by those who at the
bottom envied them, and were not very far behind
iu following their example.

This state i>f things had endured a part of the
winter, and would have lasted longer still, but for
a circumstance which began to make embar-
rassment be felt ill the British cabinet ; this was
the delay whii.li had occurred in the evacuation of
Malta. In committing the serious error of coun-
termanding the evacuation, tjiere had been gene-
rated with the Engli.sh people a temjiiation exceed-
ingly difticidt to overconie, namely, that of keeping
a posiiiou which should domineer over the Mediter-
ranean. It was necessarjr to have either a powerful

ministry in England, or a concession on the part of
France, to render pcs-sible the aliandonment of so
precious a pledge. But a powerfi^l ministry did
not exist in England, and the first consul was not
inclined to be so accomwiodating as to create facili-
ties for that which did exist, by making sacrifices.
All that could be obtained from him, under exist-
ing circumstances, was, that he sliould not uisist
upon the execution of the treaty with a precipita-
tion too great for their position.

A new circumstance rendered yet more pressing
the danger of the present situation of things. Until
now there had been a pretext for deferring the
execution of the treaty of Amiens in regard to
Malta ; this was the relusal of the Russian cabinet
to become one of the guarantees of the new order
of things established in that island. But the Rus-
sian cabinet, a])preciating the danger of its refusal,
and wishing sincerely to concur in the maintenance
of the peace, h:tstened to recall its first determina-
tion, by a movement of good feeling which did
honour to the young Alexander. Solely in order
to afford some motive for his change of opinion, he
had attached some insignificant conditions to the
guarantee, such as the acknowledgment by all the
])Owers of the sovereignty of the order of the island
of Malta, the introduction of natives into the go-
verimient, and the suppression of the Malte.se lan-
guage. These conditions changed nothing in the
treaty, becau.se they are found nearly all contained
in it '. Prussia being also equally impressed with
Russia upon the necessity of preserving peace, had
equally with her reviewed her first determination,
and gave her guarantee in the same terms as
Russia. The first consul was equally inclined to
adhere to the new conditions, added to the article
of the treaty of Amiens, and accordingly he formally
adojited them.

The English cabinet could no more keep back; it
must acce})t the gtiarantee as it was given, or it
would ])lace itself in the ]iosiiion of evident bad
faith, because the new clauses devised by Russia
were in themselves so insignificant, that they were
not able, with any show of rea.son, to decline them.
Altluuigh embarrassed by the difficulties which
they had created themselves, they wei'e still dis-
posed to seize upon this last act of the Russian
government as a natural excuse for evacuating
Malta, save in exacting some apparent precautions
ill regard to Egypt and the east, when there came,
all on a sudden, an unfortunate incident, which
served as a ])retext for their bad faith, if it was
bad faith, and not a scarecrow to their feebleness,
if it was only feebleness.

It has been already seen, that colonel Sebastiani
had been sent to Tunis, and from Tunis to Egyjit,

' If the reader will turn to page 241, he will find intro-
duced in a note by the translator, the stipulations reKariiing
Malta annexed to the iirlicle X. of the treaty. These stipu-
l.itioiis, signed by Jo.sepli lioi.aparie and lord Ccrnwallis,
expre.-sly stntc lliat a M;iltese languaj;e shall be establiblied,
to be supported out of the land revenues of the island. Vide
Stipulation 3 Alexander could liave no right to change llie
slipulaiioiis of a treaty as a rrservaiion of his guarantee,
unless Prance and England as^enttd to the .'.Iteration. The
guarantee thi:s proffered was tlierefore no guarantee at all,
without England's express consent. How then can the
author say, that conditions changed nothing in a treaty which
violated its express stipulations t— Translator.

1803.
Jan.

Colonel Sebastian!
report.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

Perplexity of the Eng-
lish iiiiiiistry.

451

to examine whether tlie English were or were not
ready to evacuate Alexandria; to observe all that
was passing between the Mamelukes and Turks ;
ta establish a Fieneli protection to the Christians ;
and to take to general Brune, the French ambas-
sador at Constantinople, the new contirniati(»n of
Ills former instructions. The colonel had properly
fulfilled his mission; he Iiad found the Englisji still
established in Alexandria, and making no prepara-
tions to leave it; the Turks engaged in an obstinate
war with the Mamelukes ; and the Fremii deejjly
regretted, since the inhabit;ints had now a com-
parison of their system of government with that of
the Turks, the east resounded still with the name
of general Boniipnrte. He had stated all these
things to his government, and had added, that in
thej)rescnt situation of Egypt, ])l;tced between the
Turks and Mamelukes, it would not require six
thousand French to reconquer it. This rejiort,
although made in measured terms, it was impos-
sible to publish without producing disagreeable
effects, because it had been written confidentially
and solely for the government, and there were
many things stated in it wliiih it was only proper
should be said to the government itself. For ex-
ample, colonel Sebastiani ci>m|)lained bitterly of the
English general Smart, who then comnianiled in
Alexandria, and who, by his discourse respecting
him, had nearly got him assassinated at Cairo.
This report showed that the English did not yet
think of evacuating Egypt'. The last circumstance
made the first consul come to the decision to insert
an article in the Monilintr which related to the sub-
jwt. He found that the English had taken great
liberties in relation to the execution of the treaty of
Amiens; and although ho had not yet w shed to
sImw himsi.lf pressing upon the subjects of Malta
and Alex.indria, still he was not .sorry to put the
English in their proper lii;lu, by niakiog known a
document, showing their shiggislnuss in fulfilling
their engagements, and the bad will their officers
bore towards those of France. This refjort was in-
serted in the Moniteur of the :iOth of January.
Very little noticed in France, it prodncetl in Eng-
l.inil a »<nsiition iis striking as it was nnroreseen.
The expedition to Egypt had left in the English
nil extreme susceptibility for all that related to ih:.t
country; and ihey coiuinually believed they saw an
army of Frenchmen always reaily to embark at
Toulon for Alexandria. Tlie recital of an ofKcer
exposing the miserable state of the Turks in
Egypt, the facility with which they might be ex-
pelled, and the fri-hliness of the recollection lij't
behiml them by the French, and above all, the
vouiplaint of the bad conduct of a Uritinli officer,
aliiriiied, hurt them, and took them out of that state
of calm feeling into which they had begun to re-
enter. Still this aspect would have been onlv a
puMsing thing if the spirit of parly had not set
aUiut the t;isk of aggr.ivating it. Winilham, Dun-

duH,aiid Gleliville, sirt theiimelvcH re laboriously

at wuric than ever, and sniothertd the voices of the

' Tfic EnRliBli were bound by llio treaty of Amiens to
evariiatc E^ypt in three niunili^ after tlii.- Amv ufilic iri-iity,
or after the 27lli of Mnrcti, 180'.'. It wiii nrariy a year
after ihe iiiciiiiture, lliiil lord Whituortli imnoinu'ed lu
lisvliig oreiirrrJ . this wan un-loubtcdly iin iiifr.icliuii ol tliu
treaty. — Traiitlalor.

I more generous and unprejudiced men, as Fox and
Iiis friends were. These last wearied themselves
vainly in saying, that there was nothing in the re-
port so very extraordinary; and if the first consul
had designs ujjon Egypt, he would not thus make
them public to all the world. They would not hear
these truths ; they declaimed only more violently ;
they said that the English army was insulted, and
that there must be a public reparation made to
avenge its outraged honour. The impre.ssion thus
produced in London returned to Paris, as if it Iiad
resounded there by numberless echoes. The first
consul, wounded to see his intenii< ns continually
misinterpreted, lost all patience at last. He found
it singular, that iiidiviiktals, who were themselves
so behindhand upon two essential points of the
treaty, the evacuation of Egypt and Malta, were so
ready to complain when there were, on the con-
trary, any complaints to be ])referred against them-
selves. He therefore ordered Talleyrand at Paris,
and general Andreossy at Lond<in, to conclude all,
and to have a categorical explanation upon the exe-
cution of the treaty deferred lor so long a time.

The demand for an explanation came very
awkwardly at that moment. The English minis-
ters, scarcely daring to evacuate Malta before the
publication of colonel Sibastiani's report took
place, were still much less capable of effecting
it afterwards. They refused to enter into' any ex-
planation, resting their refusal ujion motives that,
for the first time, suffei-ed the sus))ieion of their
intentions to be perceived. Lord Whitvvorth was
ordered to state, that some compen.-.ation was due
to England for every advantage obiained by France;
that the treaty of Amiens had been founded upon
this principle, because it was in consideration of
the con<iuests made by one of these two powers in
Europe, that there had been granted to the other
numerous posse.ssisiis both in America and India;
that France having been adjudged, since the peace,
new territories ancl a new extensi^m of influence,
there were equivalents due to England; that from
this motive England would have been justified in
refusing to give up Malta; but iliat from the de-
sire to preserve peace, she was ready to evacuate
that island, without the idea of demanding any
such compensation, when the report of colonel
Sebastiani made its appearame; an<l that since the
publicatiim td' that report, the British cabinet had
iletermiiujd to agree to nothing in relation to
Malta, but on the condition of receiving a double
satislaciion; first, for the outrage committed by it
upon the I'^nglish army ; tiixl .secondly, on the
views of the first consul in regard to Egypt— views
which were expressed in the re port in question in
Hueh A manner as to injure iind disquiet his Bri-
tannic majesty.

When ibis declaraticm was aildressed to Talley-
rand, he discov<ri-d the most extraordinary sur-
pri.se. Ahhough he well eompreliended the dis-
trust whieh was certain to be eaosid in England
by all that related to Egypt, \\v was » holly unable
to imagine that the inelinaiion to );ive up Malta
being true, this iiielinatioti could be changed for
a motive so insigiiifieaiit as thtr report ui colonel
Sebastiani lie connnunieateil the matter to the
first consul, who was. in his turn, eipially surprised,
and as well, afti-r his natural clnnaeter, greatly
irritated. Ho judged, and Tulle^rand with hiui,
o 'i 2

452 Conversation between lord THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Whitworth and Bonaparte.

1803.
Jan.

that he must remove himself from a situation so
intolerable, so painful, and so much worse than
war. The first consul at once said, that the
English wished to keep Malta, and that all their
recriminations were but pure pretexts, desia;ned to
conceal that desire, that he must himself enter
into an explanation clearly and fully with them,
and give them to understand, that upon this sub-
ject to cheat liim, tire him out, or move him, was
equally im;iossible; that if, on the contrary, the
uiquietude which they stated they felt was really
sincere, he should be able to remove thtir fears by
making them acquainted with his intentions in
language so true, that they could not remain in the
least uncertainty upon the matter. He therefore
resolved to see lord Whitworth, and to speak to
the ambassador with unlimited frankness, in order
to convince him that his mind was made up upon
two points, the evacuation of Malta, which he was
determined to exact absolutely and imperatively,
and the peace, which he desired to maintain in
perfect good faith, when he once obtained the exe-
cution of the treaty. This was a new essay which
he was thus about to make; that of speaking out
all, absolutely all, even in that wliich he had not
otherwise ever said to an enemy, with a view to calm
their mistrust, if they were really mistrustful, or to
convict them of falsehood, if they wei'e of bad faith.
From this resolution there resulted, as will be
observed, a very strange scene.

On the 18th of February, in the evening, lie
sent an invitation to lord Whitworth to come to
the Tuilleries, and he received the ambassador
there with perfect kindness. A large writing-
table occupied the middle of his cabinet ; he made
the ambassador sit at one end of this table while
he took his seat at the other •.

Bonaparte observed to lord Whitworth, that he
had wished to see him in order to converse with
him directly, with the object of convincing him of
what were his real intentions and feelings, that
none of his ministers could so well express as he
could himself. He then immediately recapitulated
his relations witii England from their commence-
ment, the care he had taken to make the tender of
peace the same day that he had come to the con-
sulate, the i-efusal witii which his offer had been
met, the eagerness with which he had renewed the
negotiations as soon as he was able to do so with
honour, and, finally, he spoke of the concessions he
had made in order to arrive at the conclusion
of the treaty of Amiens. He next expressed the
disappointment he experienced to see all his efforts
to live in amity with Gi'eat Britain meet with so
ill a return. He recalled to recollection the bad
proceedings which had immediately followed the
cessation of hostilities, the outi'ageous abuse in the

• The first consul recited this conversation the same day
to the minister for foreign afTairs, in order that he might
make it known to tlie ministers of France at foreign courts.
He also spoke of it to his colleagues, and to many persons
who preserved it in memor)'. Lastly, lord Whitworth trans-
mitted it in its proper state to his own cabinet. It was cir-
culated througliout all Europe, and was reported in many
different ways. It is from these versions, and by taking that
which was ineontestably true, as far as I can judge, that I
have reproduced it here. I give not the exact words, but
the real 8en^e of the passages, of which I guarantee the cor-
rectness.—./iulAor'* note.

English papers, the license given to the journals
of the emigrants, a license unjustifiable by the laws
of the British constitution ; he spoke of the pen-
sions granted to Georges and his accomplices, of
the continual descents of the Chouans from the
Isles of Jersey and Guernsey ; of the treatment
shown to the French princes, who were received
with the insignia of former royalty in France ; of
the sending agents into Switzerland and Italy,
in order every where to increase difficulties to
France. " Every bi-eeze," said the first consul,
" every breeze that blows from England brought
me nothing but hatred and outrage. Now," he
added, " we are in a situation from which we must
absolutely get out. Will you or will you not
execute the treaty of Amiens ? I have on my own
part executed it with scrupulous fidelity. The
treaty obliged me to evacuate Naples, Tarentuni,
and the Roman states, in three months ; and in
less than two months the French troops had quitted
ail these countries. There are ten months passed
away since the exchange of the ratifications, and
the English troops have not yet evacuated Malta
and Alexandria. It is useless to endeavour to
deceive us in these facts : will you have peace or
war ? If you will have war, it is only for you to
say as much ; we will make it with obstinacy until
one nation or the other is ruined. Do you desire
peace 1 then you must evacuate Alexandria and
Malta. Because," said the first consul in the ac-
cent of unshaken resolution, "this rock of Malta, on
which so many fortifications have been constructed,
has, there is no doubt, a very great maritime
importance; but it has in my view a much greater
importance than that — it is the interest it has
connected with the highest point of French honour;
what would the world say if we suffered the vio-
lation of a solemn treaty entered into with us ?
It would cast doubts upon our strength, upon our
energy. As to me, my part is taken ; I would
much sooner see you in possession of the heights of
Montmartre than of IMalta !"

Portentous words ! Unfortunately but too truly
realized to the misfortune of France.

Lord Whitworth, silent, and fixed to his seat,
not understanding sufficiently the scene in which
he was a performer, replied briefly to these decla-
rations of the first consul. He alleged the im-
possibility of calming in a few months the feelings
of hatred that a long war had generated between
the two nations ; he made much of the impedi-
ment of the English laws in not giving the means
of repressing the licentiousness of writers ; he ex-
plained, lastly, that the pensions given to the
Chouans were a remuneration for past services,
but not as rewards for those to come (a singular
avowal in the mouth of an ambassador !) ; that the
reception given to the emigrant princes was an act
of liospitality towards the unfortunate, an hos-
pitality customary with the British nation. All
this did not justify the toleration afforded to
Fx-ench emigrant pamphleteers, the pensions al-
lotted to assassins, nor the insignia of the old
regime permitted to be woni by the Bourbon
princes upon public occasions. Tiie first consul
remarked to the ambassador how little tenable liis (
reply was upon all these ])oints, and then returned
to the more immediate object, the deferred evacua-
tion of Egypt and Malta. In regard to the evacua-

ConverMtionoflord RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. Whitworth and Bonaparte. 453

tion of Alexandria, lord Whitworth asserted, that
it had taken place while it was the subject of the
present conference. In regard to Malta, he ex-
plained that the retardation had arisen from the
difficulty of obtaining the guarantees of the great
powers, and through the obstinate refusal of the
grand master Ruspoli ; but, he added, that they
were on the point of finally evacuating the island,
when changes, unlooked for in Europe, and, above
all, the report of colonel Sebastiani, had raised
new difficulties. Here the first consul interrupted
the English ambassador by saying : " Of what
changes do you speak — surely not of the presi-
dency of the Italian republic, which was conferred
upon me before the signature of the treaty of
Amiens I It cannot be the erection of the kiiig<lom
of Etruria, which was well known to you before
that same treaty, because it was asked of yon, and
you gave hopes of your approaching acknow-
ledgment of that kingdom ; it cannot be of that
which yon speak ? Is it of Piedmont ? Is it of
Switzerland? In truth, it can scarcely be these,
since these two incidents have added little to the
reality of existing things. But, however, it may
be, you have not the right to complain, because,
as regards Piedmont, even before the treaty of
Amiens, I stated to all the world what it was my
intention to do ; I stated it to Austria, to Russia,
to you. I have never consented, when it has been
requested of me to promise the re-establishment of
the house of Sardinia to its states ; I liave never
even been willing to stipulate in its behalf for a
determinate indenmity. You were then well ac-
quainted with my intention of annexing Piedmont
to France ; and besides, this arrangement changes
nothing in my influence upon Italy, which is
absolute : I wish it should be so, and so it will
remain. In regard to Switzerland, you must be
well aware that I will never suffer a countei--
revolution to take place in that country. But all
these allegations can never be seriously intended.
My power in Europe, since the treaty of Amiens,
is neither more nor less than it was at that time.
I should have called upon you to have taken a
part in the affairs of Germany, if you had exhibited
tf)ward3 mo different sentiments. You well know
that in all which I have done, I have ever wisiied
to complete the fulfilment of the treaties, and to
secure the general peace. Now look, examine ; is
there any part of any state that I have threatened,
or of which I am contemplating the invasion ?
There ia none, you arc aware there is none. That
of which you speak in relation to colonel Sebas-
tian!, is not worthy of mention in the relations of
two great nations with each other. If you have
suspicions regarding my views upon Egypt, njy
Irird, I will attempt to remove your ai)prehensions.
Yes, I have thought nnicli upon Egypt, and I
shall yet think about it, if you oblige mu to com- j
menco war. But I shall not connnit the peace
which wo have enjoyed for so short a lime, in }
order to attempt tlio re-conquest of that country. |
The Turkish empire is threatened with ruin ; for
myself, I shall contribute to make it endure as I
long as possible ; but if it gives way, I shall wish
that France should have her share. For all that,
be you sure that I shall not precipitate events. If
I had wished it, the extensive armament which I
sent t-; St. Domingo, I could have directed upon

Alexandria. The four thousand men which you
have there would have been no obstacle in my
way. They might have been, upon the contrary,
my valid excuse. I might have invaded Egypt
on a sudden, and this time you would not have been
aijle to snatch it from me any more. But I never
imagined any thing of such a character. Do you
believe that 1 deceive myself in regard to the
power which I exci'cisc at present upon the opinion
of France and Europe ? No, that power is not
sufficiently great to allow me to cnnunit with impu-
nity any motiveless aggression. The public opinion
of Europe would innnediately turn against me if
I did ; my jiolitical ascendancy would be lost ;
then as to Fi'ance, I am under the necessity to
prove to her that war has not been made by
me, that I have not provoked it, in order to obtain
from her that impulse, that enthusiasm which I
should wish to excite against you, if you bring me
back to the contest. It is necessary that you cari-y
all the wrong, and that I have not a single one to
answer for. I do not meditate a single aggression.
All that I had to do in Germany and Italy is
done ; and I have done nothing that I had not
announced, avowed, or arranged beforehand by
treaty. Now if you doubt my desire to preserve
])eace, hear me, and judge how far I am sincere.
Still toll rably young, I have arrived at a degree of
))()wer, at a degree of renown, to which it will be
difficult to add any thing. This power, this re-
nown, do you believe I am waiting to risk in a
desperate contest? If I have a war with Austria,
I know very well how to find the way to Vienna.
If I go to war with you, I shall take from you
every continental ally ; I shall interdict your ac-
cess from the Baltic to the gulf of Tarentum. You
will blockade us, but I will blockade you in turn ;
you will make the continent a prison for us, but I
shall make one for you upon the extent of the
ocean. Nevertheless, to end the mattci", more
direct means are necessary. I must assemble a
hundred and fifty thousand men, an immense
flotilla, attempt to pass the straits, and perhaps
bury at the bottom of the ocean my fortunes, my
glory, and my life. It is a singular temerity, ray
lord, to attempt a descent upon England !" After
thus speaking, the first consul, to the great as-
tonishment of his interlocutor, begun to eiuimerate
himself the difficulties and the dangers of such an
enterprise ; the quantity of material, of men, of
vessels which he must throw upon the sti'aits,
which he would not fail to throw there to attempt
the destruction of England ; and always at the
same time insisting more, always showing that the
chance of perishing was superior to the chance of
success. Then ho added, with an accent of extra-
ordinary energy, " This temarity, my lord, is so
great a temerity, that if you oblige me, I am re-
solved to tempt it. I shall thus expose to loss my
army and myself; but with me this great enterprise
will obtain chances of success which it would iu>t
have with another. I have passed the .\lps in
winter ; 1 know how to render that possible which
appears impossible to men in general ; and if 1
succeed, your latest descendants will deplore in
tears of blood tiie resolution which you have forced
me to take. Consider, if it bo probable, j)oworful,
contented, peaceable as I now am, that I should
desire to risk power, iiappiucss, and quiet, in such

Opening of the session of
454 the le;;i.-lative body by
the tirst consul.

TIIIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Annual expose of the , „„,

stale ofihe French '^X

republic. ■^''"•

an enterprise, and if when 1 say that peace is my
desire, 1 must not be sincere !"

Then in a calmer tone the first consul added, —
" It will be best for you and for me, to give the
satisfaction prescribed by treaty. Let ]\lalta be
evacuated ; do not suffer those who attempt my
assassination to have an asylum in England ; let
me be libelled if you will by the English news-
papers, but not by the miserable emigrants who
so dishonour the protection which you have ac-
corded to them, and whom the alien bill permits you
to expel from England. Act cordially towards
me, and I promise you, on my part, the most cor-
dial and entire i-eturn : I promise you continual
efforts to conciliate our interests wherever they
are reconcileable. Consider what a powerful in-
fluence we might exercise over the world, if we
could attain the nearer approximation of the two
nations! You have a navy that in ten years of
consecutive efforts, and in employing all my re-
sources, 1 should not be able to equal; but I have
five hundred thousand men ready to march under
my orders, wherever I choose to lead them. If
you are masters of the sea, I am master of the
land. Think, tlien, sooner of our becoming united
than of making war upon each other, and we may
at will regulate the destinies of the v/orld. Every
thing is possible within the interest of humanity
with our double power, — France and England in
union."

This language, so extraordinary by its frankness,
surprised as well as troubled the English ambas-
sador, who, unfortunately, though a very poliie,
obliging man, was not capable of ajipreciating the
greatness and the sincerity of the language of the
first consul. It would have been necessary for the
two assembled nations to have lieard a similar
conversation and to have replied to it.

The first consul had not failed to inform lord
Whitworth that he was going, in two days, to open
the session of the legislative body, confornuibly to
the presci'iption of the consular constitution, that
fixed this opening for the 1st of Ventose, or 20tli
of Februai-y ; that according to usage, he \\ve-
sented upon that occasion an annual expose of the
state of thj repuldic, and that they nmst not feel
surprised in England, if they saw expressed
therein, as freely, the intentions of the Frtiich
government, as they had been expressed to the
ambassador hitnself. Lord Whitworth then with-
drew to send an account to his own cabinet of all
he had just Si'en and heard.

The fact was, tlint the first consul had himself
drawn up the statement of the situation of the
republic; and it rtiust be acknowledged, that the
government never had to make so fine a statement
of its situation, an<i never made it in terms and
language so noble. The calm which had entered
into every grade of the jiublic mind ; the re-
establishment of public worsliip, completed with
wonderful promptitude, and without any disturb-
ance ; the traces of civil discord every where
effaced ; coni:nerce resuming its activity ; agri-
culture makini; great progress; the revenue of the
state increasing to the sif^ht; the jinblic works
develo|)ing themselves with jtrodigious rapidity ;
the defensive works upon the Alps, on tlie Riiine,
on all sides, moving ibrward with equal ra|)i(lity;
Europe directed entirely by the influence of

France, and without being under a difference witii
any power except England : such was the j)icture
which the first consul had to present, having
traced it with the hand of a master. The day
following the oi)ening, the 21st of February, or
2nd of Vent6.se, three of the government orators
took the document to the legislative body, accord-
ing to the custom under the consulate, and the
reading produced that startling effect which it pro-
duced every where else. But the passage relative
to England, the object of the general curiosity,
was pregnant with haughtiness little softened, and,
above all, was marked with a precision so cate-
gorical, that it could not fail to bring a quick
explanation. After having retraced the happy
conclusion of the afi'airs of Germany, the pacifica-
tion of Switzerland, the conservative policy of
Turkey in relation to the Turkish empire, the
document added, that British troops still occu])ied
Alexandria and Malta; that the French government
had a right to complain; that it had, nevertheless,
heard that the vessels charged to transi>ort the
garrison of Alexandria to Europe were in the
Mediterranean. That as to the evacuation of
Malta, it did not say if that event was a])proaching
or not; but it added these significant words : —

" The government guarantees to the nation the
peace of the continent, and it allows itself to hope
i'or the continuation of a maritime peace. Such a
|)cace is required and wished by every i)eo|>le.
In order to preserve it, the goverimient will do
whatever is compatible with the national honolir,
essentially connected with the strict execution of
treaties.

" But in England two parties dispute for power.
One has concluded the peace, and appears de-
cidedly inclined to maintain it ; while the other
has sworn an implacable hatred to France. From
this arises tlnit fluctuation in opinion, and in the
councils that attitude which is at once pacific and
threatening.

" As long as this contest of parties continues,
there are certain prudential measures necessary
on the part of the government of the republic.
Five hundred thousand men must and will be
re;idy to defend and avenge it.

" What a strange necessity is imposed by
miseralile passions upon t«o nations, whose at-
tachment arises from the same intere.st, and an
equal inclination attaching them to peace !

" But whatever m;iy be the success of intrigue
in London, it will not succeed in drawing other
nations into new leagues ; and the government
informs it, with well-founded pride, that alone,
Eii'^land cannot now contest against France !

" But let us entertain lietter hopes, and rather
believe, that in the British cabinet there will be
nothing heard but the counsels of wisdom and the
voice of humanity.

" Yes ; without dimbt the peace will be con-
solidated, and the connexion between the two
governments will assume that character of good-
will, so congenial to their mutual interests ; a
happy repose will cause the long calamities of a
disastrous war to be utterly forgotten, and France
and England, by contributing to their reciprocal
hapjiiness, merit the approbation of the whole
world."

To judge well the character of this document,

^lessase of (leorce III.

to the- liritish house RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

of commons.

Dilemma of the Eng-
lit^h ministry.

455

we must not compare it with what is called in the
present day, both in France and Engiaml, the
"speech from the crown," hut rather with the
*' message" of the president of the United Slates.
In that were explained and justified the different
details of public business into which the first con-
sul had entered. He had wished to speak abso-
lutely of the parties which divided England, to the
end of having the means of expressing himself
freely to his enemies, without it being possible to
apply liis words to the English government itself.
It was a manner of acting, both bold and danger-
ous, thus to intermeddle himself in the affairs of
a neiglibouring country; above all, it was to inflict
upon British pride a wound equally sevei-e and
useless, by advancing the pretension, in such
haugiity terms, that Enijland was not able, re-
duced to her own forces, to combat France. The
first consul thus inflictiil an injury, in form, at
least, although it was really nothing at bottom.

When this document, describing the situation
of the rei>ublic, fine as it was in display, but too
lini:-lity, arrived in London, it |)i-oduced a far greater
effi-ct than the report of colonel Sebastiani had
done, much more too than the ticts which the fii-st
consul was reproached with having done in Italy,
Switzerland, and Germany '. These intemperate
words, on the inability of England to encounter
France alone, aroused all the spirit of the English
people. Added to this, the first consul had ac-
companied this last document with a note, which
demanded of the Hritish government a definitive
e.xplanation relative to the evacuaiion of Malta.

The English cabinet was at last obliged to re-
solve npon something, and to declare to the first
ci'nsul its intentions in regard t>i the island -so
much disputed, and the cause of such great events.
Its embarrassment was veiy great, because it
Would not avow its intention to violate a solemn
treatv, nor give a promise of the evacuation of
tlie island, become impossible through its own
feebleness. Presse<l by piil)lic opinion to do some-
thing, and not knowing what to dn, it determined
to send down a message to parliament, — a step
Kometimcs tiken in representative govcrmnents, —
a.s a way of occupying the jmblic mind, and de-
luding its impatience, but a step wliiiii may pos-
sibly become very dangerous, when it is not clearly
known liow far it may go, or to what end it may
had, and is only put forward in order to discover
anil procure n moinentJiry satisfaction.

In tiie ](arliami'ntjiry silting of the 8lh «)f March,
the following mci«K»ge was brought down to the
liouse of commons : —
"CmncE Rex,

" His maj<'Hty tiiinks it necessary to acquaint the
house of commons, that as very considerable mili-
tiry i)rei)ar»tionH are carrying on in the ports of
France and Holland, he had judged it expedient to
adopt additional nicasurcH uf prccauliuii for the

■ I have qfiyf-lf heard n (treat perionngc, and one ot the
moat rcspectalile meml.cr» nl lli« Eni!!!-.!! di|ilomatic body,
•late, after forty yiurK, when time had clTuicd iu hiui all llie
panniiitiii of that epoch, th.it (lioc MonlH— where it wax said
Ihiit England, alone. wa« not ahle to toml.at nitaoxt France
— bail aniuud all the ipirit of the EiiKliili, mid that dalin;;
fyotn that day, the declaration of war was considereil a* iii-
evlUble.

security of his dominions. Though the pi-epara-
tions lo which his majesty refers are avowedly
directc'l to the colonial service, yet as discussions
of great impintance arc now subsisting between
Ills majesty and the French government, the result
of which must at present be uncertain, his majesty
is induced to make this communication to his faith-
ful commons, in the full persuasion that, whilst
they jiartake of his majesty's earnest and imvary-
ing solicitude for the continuance of peace, he may
rely with jierfect confidence on their jiublic sjiirit
and liberality, to enable his majesty to adopt such
measures as circumstances may appear to require,
for supporting the honour of his cmwn, aud the
essential interests of his people. — G. R."

It is impossible to imagine a message more
untimely, or more ill conceived. It rested its
whole tenor upon errors in fact, and had besides
something exceedingly offensive to the good faith
of the French goveriiment. In the fir.st place,
there was not a single disposable vessel in any of
the French ports ; all the nation possessed, in a
state fit for sea, were at St. Domingo, armed, the
greater part of them, en flute, and employed in the
transport of troops. Many were, it is true, upon
the stocks, and that was no mystery to any one ;
but there was no thought of the equi|)nient of a
single vessel. France po.ssessed in the Dutch port
of Helvoetsluys alone, a weak expedition of two
sail of the line, and two frigates, carrying three or
four thousand men, notoriously destined for Louisi-
ana. They had been detained some months by the
ice, and the object of the voyage was well known to
all Europe. To say that these armaments, in ap-
pearance destined for the colonies, had another
object in view, was an insiiuiation ^if a most offen-
sive character. To jiretend, too, that there existed
discussions of great importance between the two
governments, was exceedingly imprudent, because,
up to that time, all discussions bad been limited to
some few words relating to Malta, jiut by France,
and remaining unanswered by England. To make
a contested matter of these was to declare at once,
that England refused to fulfil the treaty she had
signed, for it caimot be iirctended that some expres-
sions taken out of tin; rejiort of colonel Sebastiani,
or from the document cx|)lanatory of the state of the
French republic, constituted a sufficient grievance
to oblige the whole of the forces of England to be
set in activity. This message, therefore, would not
bear a scrniiny, and was at the same lime both
incorrect and injurious.

Lord Whitworth, who now began to be a little
better acquainted with the goverinnent to which
he had been accredited, divined instantly the ini-
jiression that the message to the parliaim'iit would
))roiliice on the mind of Bonaparte. He did not
deliver a copy to M. de Talleyrand without ex-
pressing ft deep regret, and pressing that minister
to go to the general to calm him, and jiersuade
him that it was not a declaration of war, but oidy
a simple measure of precaution. Talleyrand went
off immediately to the Tuileries, and did not very
well succeed with the furious nuister who occupied
that palace, lie found him deejily angry at the
iintiativo so sharply taken up by the Hritish cabi-
net, because this strange message, for which there
was no cause, seemed to be intended oh a provoca-
tion, delivered in the face of all tlie world. H©

Anger of the first consul,
and his intemperate

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

address to the English
ambassador.

1803.
Feb.

felt himself publicly braved, he believed himself
grossly outraged, and demanded very justly where
the British cabinet had been able to gather all the
glaring falsehoods contained in the message, be-
cause there was not in existence, he said, a
single armament in all the^ports of France, and
there liad not been even a declared subject of
difference between the two cabinets.

M. de Talleyrand obtained the concession fi-om
the first consul, that he should put a rein upon his
resentment, and that if war was to be resorted to,
he should leave to the English the onus of the
provocation. This was the intention of the first
consul himself, but it was exceedingly difficult to
make him bridle his resentment, so much did he
feel himself injured. The message was communi-
cated to parliament in England on the 8th of
March, and it was known in Paris on the 11th.
Unhappily, the next day but one was Sunday, the
day on which the diplomatic body was received at
the Tuileries. A very natural curiosity had at-
tracted to the court all the foreign ministers, who
were very curious to see the attitude which the
first consul would assume under the circumstances,
and above all, that of the English ambassador.
While waiting the moment for the audience, the
first consul was standing near madam Bonaparte,
in his apartment, playing with an infant, which
would then have been his heir, the newly-born son
of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnois.
M. de Remusat, prefect of the pakice, announced
to the first consul, that the circle was formed, and
among other names, reported that of lord Whit-
worth. The name thus suddenly pronounced,
made a visible impression upon the first consul ;
he left the infant with which he had been playing,
hastily took the hand of madam Bonaparte, passed
through the door which opened into the drawing-
room where strangers were received on state occa-
sions, passed along before the foreign ministers, who
pressed upon his footsteps, went straight up to the
ambassador of England, and said to him, in a state
of extreme agitation, —

" My lord, have you news from England ? "

Then, without scarcely awaiting a I'eply, he con-
tinued : —

" You wish for war, then 1 "

"No, general," replied the ambassador, with
much deliberateness of manner, " we feel too much
the advantages of the peace."

"You wish for war, then," continued the first
consul, in a very loud tone of voice, and in such a
way as to be heard by all who were present; "we
have fought for ten years — you wish, then, that we
should fight for ten years to come ? How can they
dare to say that France is arming itself ? They
have imposed upon the world. There is not a
vessel in our ports; all the ships cai)able of service
have been sent to St. Domingo. The sole arma-
ment that exists is at this moment in the harbours
of Holland, and no one has been ignorant for four
months past that it is destined for Louisiana. They
say there is a difference between France and Eng-
land ; I know of none. I only know that the isle
of Malta has not been evacuated within the pre-
scribed time ; but I do not imagine that your
ministers will be wanting in good faith on the part
of England, by refusing to execute a solemn treaty.
At least, they have not yet made the assertion. I

cannot suppose, further, that by your armaments,
you have any desire to intimidate the French peo-
ple ; it is possible to kill them, my lord, but never
to frighten them ! "

The ambassador, surprised, and somewhat con-
founded, in spite of his presence of mind, replied
that England neither wished for the one nor the
other ; but that, on the contrary, she would en-
deavour to live on a good understanding with
France.

" Then she must respect treaties," replied the
first consul ; "evil be to them who do not respect
treaties ! "

The first consul then passed on befoi-e M. Azara,
and M. Markoff, and said to them, in a voice suffi-
ciently elevated, that the English would not eva-
cuate Malta, that they refused to hold by their
engagements, and that hereafter it would be neces-
sary to cover the treaty with black crape. He
continued to pass on, and perceiving the minister
of Sweden, whose pi-esence recalled to his mind
the ridiculous despatches addressed to the Ger-
manic diet, and at that moment made public, he
said, —

" Your king forgets, then, that Sweden is no
longer as she was in the time of Gustavus Adol-
phus— that she has descended to the third rank
among the powers of Europe ? "

He went round the circle, completed it, continu-
ally in agitation, his glance sparkling and alarming
as that of power is .when in anger, and wholly des-
titute of the calm dignity which usually sat so well
upon him.

Feeling, nevertheless, that he had gone out of
the proper track, in completing the circle, he
came again to the English ambassador, and made
enquiry, in a mild tone of voice, for the duchess
of Dorset, his wife, expressing the hope that,
after having passed the bad season in France,
she might be able to pass the good there ; he
added, "that this did not depend upon him, but
upon England ; and that if recourse was obliged
to be had to arms, the responsibility wholly and
entirely, in the eyes of God and man, would rest
upon those who refused to fulfil their engage-
ments ^"

1 There is something of difference between the statement
of our author as to this dialogue, and that put forth at the
time in the English government papers. It is very probable
that the latter exaggerated the language used ; for there was
at that moment so much prejudice, and so little of reason
prevalent, to say nothing of the disregard of facts in party
statements of all kinds at the time, that our author may
very probably be correct. The statement given in the go-
vernment papers of England was as follows :—

" Bonaparte entered with an unusual alertness of manner,
and after saluting the company he addressed liimself to lord
Whitworth, in a tone sufficiently loud to be lieard by all
present. ' You know, my lord, that a terrible storm has
arisen between England and France.'

"Lord Whitworth.— ' Yes, general consul ; but it is to be
hoped that this storm will be dissipated without any serious
consequences.'

" Bovaparte.—' It wni he dissipated when England shall
have evacuated Malta; if not, the cloud will burst, and the
bolt must fall. The king of England has promised by treaty
to evacuate that place; and who is to violate the faith of
treaties ?'

" Lord TfAJtoor/A (surprised at finding himself questioned
in this manner, and before so many persons).—' But you

Desiim of Bonacarte

England.

of RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

He makes prepara-
tions for war.

457

This scene must needs have deeply irritated the
self-love of the English people, and brought about
a vexatious reciprocity of ill-feeling. The Eng-
lish were wrong in the main, because their ambi-
tion, so little dissimulated in regard to Malta, had
become a real scandal. It was more proper to
have left the real wrong upon them, and not to
have laid npnn himself that of mere form. But
the first consul, when ofttnded, felt a species of
gratification in the outbreaks of his anger being
re-echoed from one end ot the world to another.

The scene with lord Wliitworth soon became
public, because nearly two hundred persons were
witnesses of it. Each rendered it in his own man-
ner, and exaggerated it as he saw fit. It caused
a very painful feeling throughout Europe, and
adiled greatly to the perplexity of the English
cabinet. Lord Whitworth, ottended and hurt, com-
plained to Talleyrand, and declared that he would
never again appear at the Tuileries unless he re-
ceived the formal assurance that he should no
more be subjected to similar treatment. Talley-
rand replied verbally to these just complaints. It
was in such circumstances that his calmness of
mind, address, and self-confidence, were a great aid
to the political business of the cabinet, compromised
by the natural vehemence of character of the first
consul.

A sudden revolution at this time took place in
the changing and passionate mind of Napoleon.
From the perspective views during a fruitlul and
laborious peace, with which he recently loved to
feed his active imagination, he passed at once to

know, general consul, the circutnstances which have hitherto
delayed the evacuation of Malta. The intention of my
sovereign is to fulfil the treaty of Amiens. And you also
know '

" Bonnparte. — ' You know' (with impetuosity) 'that the
French have carried on the war for ten years, and you can-
not doubt but they are in a condition to wage it again. In-
form your court, that if on the receipt of your despatches
orders are not issued for the immediate surrender of Malta,
then war is declared. I declare my firm resolution is to see
the treaty carried into cfTcct; and I leave it to the ambassa-
dors of the several powers that are present to decide who is
in the wrong. You flattered yourselves that France would
not dare to show her resentment whilst her squadrons were
at St. Dnminuo; I am happy thus publicly to undeceive you
on that head.'

"Lord Whitworlh. — 'But, general, the negotiation is not
yet broken ; and there is even reason to believe '

" Bonofiarlr. — 'Of what negotiation docs your lordship
■peak ? Is it necesiary to negotiate what is concluded hy
treaty — to negotiate the fulfilment of engagements and the
duties of good faith ? ' (L<ird Whitworth was about to reply,
Bonaparte made a sign with his hand, and continued in a
less elevated tone.) ' My lord, your lady is indisposed ; she
may proliably breathe her native air rather sooner than you
or I expected. I wish most ardently for peace; but if my
Just demand be not instantly complied with, then war must
follow, and Go<l will decide. If tieaties are not (uflicicnt to
bind to peace, then the van(|uished must not be left in a
condition to ofT.r injury.'"

The al>ove statement, that Bonaparte waved his hand in
the mirUt of the dialogue, is not so consonant with proba-
bility as the statement of M. Thiers, that he came back to
lord Whitworth, with whom he had begun the conversa-
tion, upon the completion of his going round the circle in
attendance. Moreover, it w,is nut Malta, but the king's
threatening message, that caused the conversation. — Trant-
lalnr.

the future views of war, to the greatness that
might be obtained by victory, to the renewal of
the face of Europe, and to the re-establishment of
the empire of the west, which presented itself too
frequently to his mind. He suddenly flung him-
self from one of these objects towards the other.
The benefactor of France and of the world, he
had once flattered himself with becoming, he now
wished to become its astonishment. A degree of
anger, at once personal and patriotic, seized upon
him; and to conquer England, to humiliate, to
humble, to destroy her, became from that day the
passion of his life. Persuaded that all things are
possible to man, having the circumstances granted
of sufficient intelligence, followers, and a deter-
mined will, he suddenly took up the idea of passing
the straits of Dover, and of carrying into England
one of those armies which had vanquished Europe.
He had said to himself three years before, that the
St. Bernard and the snows of winter, reported in-
vincible obstacles by men in connnon, had not been
so for him; he repeated the same thing of the arm
of the sea which is between Dover and Calais, and
he applied himself to consider the mode of crossing
it, with the deepest conviction of success. It was
from that moment, in other words, from the day
when the message of the king of England was
known, that he dated his first orders; and it was
then that this extraordinary mind, which the convic-
tion of its own power led astray in politics, became
again a prodigy of human nature, when it acted in
foreseeing and surmounting all the difficulties of a
vast enterprise.

He at once sent off colonel Lacu^e into Flanders
and Holland, to visit the ports of these countries,
to examine their form and extent, their population
and naval stores. He enjoined it upon him to
procure a statement, approaching as near as pos-
sible to fact, of all the vessels usid for the coasting
service and for the fishery, from Havre-de-Grace
to the Texel, and capable of following under sail a
squadron of men-of-war. He sent other officers to
Clierburgh, St. Malo, Granville, and Brest, with
orders to make an examination of all the boats
serving for the larger fisheries, in order to ascer-
tain their number.^, value, and total tonnage. He
began to commence the repair of the gun-boats
which had composed the old Boulogne flotilla in
lUOI. He ordered the engineers of the navy to
present him models of flat-bottomed boats capable
of carrying heavy camion; and lie required from
them the plan of a large canal between Boulogne
and Dunkirk, with the object of putting these two
[lorts in communication. He ordered the arma-
ment to proceed along all the coasts and tlie islands
from Bourdeaux as far as Antwerp. He prescribed
an immediate inspection of all the forests which
bordered upon the coasts of the channel, with the
object of examining the nature and quantity of
timber which they contained, and to discover what
l)art it might be possible to use for the construction
of an immense warlike flotilla. Hearing from cer-
tain rumours that the emisssaries of the English
government bought the wood of the Roman states,
ho despatched agents there, with the necessary
funds to buy that wood, and with recommendations
which did not leave the pope but little will in the
choice of piu'chaserH.

Tiiree things ought, according to him, to sig-

458 Duroc sent to Berlin. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Louisiana sold to the
United States.

1803.
March.

nalize tlie commeiicenieiit of hostilities; the occu-
pation of Hanover, of Foitujjal, and of tiie Gulf of
Tai'entuin, in order to effect immediately the abso-
lute shutting up of the coasts of the continent, from
Dunlcirk to the Adriatic. With this view he began
by the coniposition at Bayoiine of the artillery of a
corps of the army; he united at Faenza a division
of ten thousand men, and twenty-four pieces of
cannon, designed to i)ass into the kingdom of
Naples; he landed the troops embarked at Helvo-
etsluis for Louisiana. Tiiinking that it was too
dangerous to send them to sea on the eve of a
declaration of war, he directed a part of tliem
upon Flushing, a port aiipertaining to Holland,
but placed under the power of France while she
was in the occupation of that country. He sent
there a military officer, with a commission to put
on all the powers which belong ti a military com-
mandant in time of war, and ordered him to arm
the place without delay. The i-est of the troops
Were sent to Breda and Nimigueii, two ])oints of
assemblage intended for the formation of a cori)S
of twenty-four thousand men. This corps, placed
inuler the orders of general Mortier, was to invade
Hanover upon the first act of hostility cunnnitted
by England.

Still it was not a thing politically easy to invade
Hanover. The king of Englan<l, on the part of
Hanover, was a member of the Germanic confede-
ration, and had a right in certain cases to the pro-
tection of the ciuilederated states. The king of
Prussia, the director of the circle of Lower Saxony,
in which Hanover was comprised, was the natural
protector of that state. It was necessary, there-
fore, to have recourse to him for his consent,
which coidd not fail to cost him much trouble,
because to consent would be to compromise the
uiprtli of Germany in the formidable quarrel in
which France was about to be engaged, and per-
haps to exjiose the Elbe, the Weser, and the Oder,
to be blockaded by the English. The cabinet of
Potsdam had affected, it was true, much attach-
ment to France, which had procured ibr it such
extensive indemnities; this atiachmeiit would, no
doubt, be able to secure a refusal, on the part of
Prussia, to all the objects of a coalition, and, in
fact, infinence that court to make every effort to
prevent it, and even go as far as to indnce it to
give th-; first consul notice of such an intention;
but in the existing state of things this intimacy was
not converted into a positive alliance, so that, if
France had neetl of some great devotional act, it
might be seriously counted upon in the ijerform-
ance.

The first consul, in consequence, made his aide-
de-camp Duroc leave Paris immediately for Berlin,
knowing well Jis he did the Prussian court; and he
gave him the commission to state to that conn the
danger of an a|i|iroaching rupture between England
and Frince; the intention of the French govern-
ment to push the war to the utmost extremity, and
its oljject of seizing upon Hanovei-. General Duroc
was ordered to add, tliat the first consul did not
wish to make war lor the sake of war, and that if
the monarchs who were strangers to the quarrel,
as the king of Prussia and the emperor of Russia,
could find a means of arranging the differences,
and of bringing England to pay a respect to trea-
ties, he would instantly put a sU>p in a road lead-

ing to the unsparing hostility into which he was
ready to precipitate himself.

The first consul believed that he was hound thus
to make a step agreeable to the emperor of Russia.
He had treated up to this time with that sovereign
upon some of the most weighty affairs of Europe,
and he now desired to interest him on his own side
and cause, and to constitute him a judge of what
passed between France and England. He wrote
him a letter, of which colonel Colbert was to be the
bearer, and in which, recalling all the past events
from the treaty of Amiens, he showed himself dis-
])0sed, without directly demanding it, to submit
himself to the emperor's mediation, in case Great
Britain would submit upon her side; so much did
he reckon, he said, upon the goodness of his cause,
and the justice of the emperor Alexander.

To all these determinations, so i>romi)tly taken,
another and last must bo added relative to Loui-
siana. The four thousand men destined to occupy
that country were to be disembarked. But what
was to be done — what part taken in regard to that
valuable j)ossession? There was no reason to be
alarmed about the other colonies. St. Doiuingo
was full of troops, and there had been embarked in
haste, in all the trading vessels ready to sail, the
disposable soldiers of the colonial depots. Guada-
loupe, Martinique, and the Isle of France, were
also provided with strong garrisons, and it would
have demanded iiumense expeditions to have dis-
puted them with France. But Louisiana did not
contain a single soldiei-. It was a vast province
that four thousand men Avere not sufficient to
occupy in time of war. The inhabitants, although of
French origin, had so often changed masters during
the century past, that they regarded nothing more
than their inde])endenee. The North Americans
were little satisfied to see the French in possession
of the mouths of the Mississippi, and of their prin-
cipal passage with the Gulf of Mexico. They were
even at the moment making advances to France,
with the object of managing their commerce and na-
vigation upon advantageous conditions of transit, in
the port of New Orleans. It was, therefore, neces-
sary to I'eckon if France wished to keep Louisiana,
upon great efforts against the colony upon the part
of the PJnglish ; upon perfect indifference on that
of the inhabitants; and upon real ill-will on the
])art of the Americans. These last in reality only
wished to have the Spaniards for neighbours. All
the colonial visions of the first consul had vanished
therefore upon the a])pearance of the message
of George 111., and his resolution was immediately
formed in consequence at tliat very moment.

" I will not keep," said the first consul to one of
the ministers, "a possession which will not be
secure in our hands, that may jierhaps embroil
me with the Americans, or may place me in a state
of coolness with them. 1 shall make it serve me,
on the contr.iry, to attach me to them, to get them
into differences with the English, and I shall
create for them enemies who will one day avenge
us if we do not succeed in avenging our.selves. My
determination is fixed ; I will give Louisiana to
the United States. But as they have no territory
to cede to me in exchange, I shall demand of them
a sum of money to pay the expenses of the extra-
ordinary armament that 1 am projecting against
Great Britain." The first consul would not con-

1«03.
March.

Ratification of the
treaty lor the sale
of LouUiana.

Politic conduct of Talley-

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS, rand. - Diilicuiiies of 459

the English ministry.

tract a loan ; he hoped with a large sum which he
should jnocure by extraordinary nu-ans, by a
moderate augmentation of the taxes, and by some
sales of national |iro])erty slowly carried into
effect, to support the expenses of the war. He
sent for M. de Marbois, minister of the treasury,
formerly employed in America, and for M. Dccres,
minister of the marine, and wished, alihough he
had made up liis mind, to listen to their rea.soning
upon the subject. M. de Marbois sjjoke in favour
of the alienation of the colony, and M. Dccres
against it. Tlie first consul listened to them very
attentively, without appearing to be aft'ected the
least in tli«< world by the reasoning either of one or
the other ; he heard them as he would often do,
even when he had already made up his own minil,
in order to convince himself that he had not been
ignorant of some great point of the question sub-
mitted to his judijnunt. Confirmed rather than
shaken in his determination by what he had hciird
stated, he requested -M. de Marbois to call, without
losing a moment, upon Mr. Livingston, the Ameri-
can minister, and to enter into a negotiati<in with
him upon the subject of Louisiana. Mr. Monro
liad just arrived in Europe to regulate with the
English the question of maritime law, and with the
French flie question of the transit on the Jlissis-
sip|ti. Upon his arrival in Paris, he was wel-
comed with the unexpected proposition of the
French cabinet. He was offered not merely some
facilities of transit in passing through Louisiana,
but tlie addition of the whole territory to the
United States. He was not embarrassed a moment
by any defect in his powers ; lie treated imme-
diately, except as far as the ratification of his
government was concerned.

M. de Marbois demanded the sura of 00,000,000f.,
of which 20,000,000 f. were to indemnify the
Americans for the cultures illegally made during
the last war, and CO 000,000 I. for the French
trea-fury. The '20,000.000 f. devoted to the first
object would assure to France the good will of all
the merchants of the United States. Li regard to
the other sum of 60,000,000 f. designed for France,
it was agreed that the cabinet of Wiushington should
create annuities, and that they should be nego-
tiated with Dutch houses at an advantageous price
some little di.^tance from par. The treaty was,
therefore, c included on this basis, and sent to
Washington in order to be ratified. It was thus
that the Americans acquired this vast territory,
which has completed their domination in North
America, and rendered them masters of the Gulf uf
Mexico now an<l for all future lime. They are
therefore indebted for their rise and their great-
neiw to the long conteHt between France and Eng-
land. To the lii-st act in this contest they owe
their in<lepind'-nce ; to the second, this large
addition to tlnir territory. We shall see soon to
what use this 00,000,000 f. was applied, and of what
result it mit.sed the attainment.

These precautions once taUen, tho first consul
followed out with more patience the winding up
of the negotiation. The invohmlary fit of anger
which he wa-H unable to defend, on receiving the
n>es.saL'e of the king of England, being pas.sed, he
pnimised himself to maintain in future an unalrer-
able modenition, to sufler hinjwdf even to proceed
to the end bu openly, that Franco and all Europe

could not po.ssibly deceive themselves about the
real authors of the war.

Talleyrantl, under the existing circumstances,
conducted himself with rare wisdom, and con-
tributed more than any to inspire the fii>t consul
with new dispositions. This mini.ster well under-
stood that a war with England, looking at the
difficulty of making it decisive, and seeing that the
iuHucnce of British subsidies soon making it conti-
nental, would be but the renewal of the war of
the revolution with Europe, for the purpose of ]>re-
venting the miscliief of a universal conflagiatit)n,
decided to make use of the inertia, which he had
sometimes found to serve with the first consul, as a
jet of water cast upon an ardent fire to moderate
its violence. If on some occasiims this inertia had
its inconveniences, it was this time a succour of
very great importance ; and with any other cabi-
net than that which then reigned so feebly in
England, it would have succeeded in preventing a
rui)ture, or at least in retiuding one for a lung
while to come. In consequence, after having had
an interview with, and brought the first consul to
agree, he drew up a calm, frank communication to
the British cabinet, having for its object to make
known to that cabinet that military precautions
would commence on the side of France, but com-
mence (Mily from that day, in other words, from the
date of the message of George HI. to parliament.
When arming is Ijcgun in England, said M. de
Talleyrand, the British cabinet must not be sur-
prised if Switzerland, which was just on the point
of being evacuated, is not so : if a body of troops
be set in march towards the middle of Italy with
the view of occupying Tarentum ; if a corps of
twenty thousand men .should enter Holland, and
take up the nearest possible position to Hanover ;
if the matirid of a military division is united at
Bayonne, to act in case of need against Portugal ;
if, in fine, works of mere construction in the French
ports are changed into those of armament ; doubt-
kss there will result a redoubled movement of the
pnlilie mind in England, the ordinary exciters of
public opinion will conclude again that France
meditates fresh aggressions — but what to do ?
There it nmst resign iiself ; when, in fine, the
British cabinet has taken the initiative, by its own
measures of precaution, which finish by being
really nn-asures of provocation. \\\ facft, they arc
arming actively in England, and press-gangs are
at work on tho quays of the Thames in the very
heart of the city of London. They are there pre-
paring to send to sea fifty sail of the line, that
according to the announcement made in parlia-
ment, will be ready iii case of rupture, to set sail
upon the tlay of the declaration of war !

The minister Addington, feeling that he was not
equal to the circumsumces of his position, liad
made some overtures to Pitt, in order to engage
him to enter the cabinet, but Pitt had repelled his
overtures with great haughtiness, and continued
to live nearly always far from London, and the
agitations of party. Feeling his own strength,
foreseeing the events which would arise to render
it necessary, he much preferred relying upon the
power of those events, than on the feeble ministers
who wer<! the ephemeral holders of his place. He
refused their iitters, leaving them, by his refusal,
in a Hlalu of cruel embarrassment. The ministry

Embarrassment of the
English ministry.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. New proposition.

had taken these steps witliout the consent of
George III., wlio would have desired to keep his
existing cabinet, because he had for Pitt a dislike
scarcely to be overcome. He found in Pitt, with
opinions that were his own, a minister who was
nearly his master. He found in Fox, with his
noble and attractive character, opinions which
were odious to him. He did not wish to have
either the one or the other. He desired to keep
in Addington, the son of a physician, of whom lie
was fond ; lord Hawkesbury, the son of lord Liver-
pool, his intimate confidant ; he wished also to
preserve the peace unbroken, if it were a thing
possible to be done, and if not possible, he then
would resign himself to a state of war, which to
him was become a sort of habit, but then he
wished it to be carried on with the existing minis-
try. Addington and Hawkesbury were strongly
of this opinion ; still they would wish if possible a
reinforcement of strength ; and after having been
a ministry of peace, to constitute themselves a war
administration. In default of Pitt, who had re-
fused to join them, it was not practicable to unite
themselves with Windham and Grenville, because
their violence far surpassed the opinion of the
English public. Addington and Hawkesbury would
willingly have addressed themselves to Fox, whose
pacific ideas were in consonance with theirs ; but
liere the will of the king was an insurnioimtable
obstacle, and they were reduced at last to remain
as they were, alone, feeble, isolated, in parliament,
and on that account kept at bay by the different
parties. But the party which had at that moment
the greatest strength, because it displayed the
national passions, was that of Grenville, which on
account of its violence had begun to be distin-
guished from that of Pitt, and which avenged itself
for not arriving at the ministry, by obliging those
in power to do that which, if there, it would have
done itself. Tlie feebleness of the cabinet then
would bring on the war with nearly as much cer-
tainty as if it had numbered among its members
Windham, Grenville, and Dundas.

Addington and Hawkesbury were now much
embarrassed on account of all the noise they had
made, whether about the events which had taken
place in Switzerland, whether on the question of
the retention of Malta, or in making answer to a
hauglity phrase of the first consul, by a message to
parliament. They would have been heartily willing
to find some expedient which might relieve them
from their embarrassment ; but unhappily they
were placed in a situation jfrom which any thing
sliort of the definitive con(iuest of Malta would
appear insutticient in England, and provoke an
outrage under which they would have succumbed.
As to Malta, there was no hope of obtaining that
island with the consent of the first consul.

Talleyrand, to afford them aid, hinted to them
the proposal of a convention, in which there might
be arranged, for example, the evacuation of Swit-
zerland and of Holland as the ])rice of the evacua-
tion of Malta, in whicli there should be an engage-
ment to respect the integrity of the Turkish
empire, as a means of calming public opinion in
England, and of dissipating its suspicions.

This proposition did not answer the expectations
of the English ministers, because Malta was the
absolute condition which the masters of their

feebleness had imposed upon them. It was ne-
cessary either to satisfy the covetousuess which
was brought about by their own fault, or to succumb
before the parliament. Nevertheless, they felt
that they should finish by covering themselves
with ridicule in the sight of England, of France,
and of all Europe, if tliey continued to remain in
an equivocal position, not daring to say a word
which they wished to say. They produced their
pretensions at last on the I3th of April, 1803.
The first consul had given them inquietude upon
the subject of Elgypt, .and it was necessary, they
said, to have possession of Malta as a means of
overlooking that quarter to be capable of securing
themselves. They offered two hypotheses ; either
the possession by England of the forts of the island
for ever, leaving the civil government of the island
to the order ; or the possession of the island for
ten years, and to give up the forts, not to the
order, but to the Maltese themselves. In cither
case France should oblige itself to second a nego-
tiation with the king of Naples to obtain the
consent of that monarch to cede to England the
island of Lampedosa, situated at a short distance
from Malta, for the avowed end of forming there a
naval establishment '.

Lord Wliitworth attempted to gain the assent
of M. Talleyrand to these demands, and addressed
himself the same request to the brother of the first
consul. Joseph, who feared no less than M. Tal-
leyrand the chances of a desperate contest, in
which must be risked perhaps all the greatness
of Bonaparte, Joseph promised to use with his
brother all his influence, but at the same time
without holding out a chance of succeeding. The
only proposition which appeared to him to have
any prospect of success, was to leave some time,
but only for a short time, the possession of the
fortresses of Malta to the English, maintaining the
existence of the order with great care, in order
that it might be possible to give up the fortresses
to it soon, and to grant to France, in the way of
compensation, the immediate acknowledgments of
the new states of Italy. In consequence, Joseph

I The following is the statement put forth by the Adding-
ton ministry in England as the proposal on their part alluded
to above, and also in page 4e3 : —

1. The French government shall engage to make no oppo-
sition to the cession of the island of Lampedosa to his ma-
jesty by the king of the Two Sicilies.

2. In consequence of the present state of the island of
Lampedosa, his majesty shall remain in possession of the
island of Malta until such arrangements shall be made by
him as may enable his majesty to occupy Lampedosa as a
naval station, after which period the island of Malta shall
be given up to the inhabitants, and acknowledged as an in-
dependent state.

3. The territories of the Batavian republic shall be evacu-
ated by the French forces within one month after the con-
clusion of a convention founded on the principles of this
project.

4. The king of Etruria and the Italian and Ligurian re-
publics shall be acknowledged by his majesty.

5. Switzerland shall be evacuated by the French forces.
G. A suitable territorial provision shall be assigned to the

king of Sardinia in Italy.

Secret Article.— His majesty shall not be required by
the French government to evacuate the island of Malta
until after the expiration often years. Articles ■), 5, 6, may
be entirely omitted, or must all be inserted.

1803.
April.

Its refusal by the
first cunsul.

Defence of the Addington
RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. ministry for not evacu- 461

ating Malta.

Bonaparte and M. <le Talleyrand made the greatest
efforts ill their ])o\vcr to move the first ei>nsul to
assent t<> this state of things. They made it a
point with him to maintain the order of St. Jdlin
of Jerusalem as an evidence before the eyes of the
public that the occupation of the forts was but
temporary, by this means preserving the dignity
of the French <;overmnent.

To this the first consul opposed an unflinching
and obstinate resistance. All these tamperings
with the question appeared beneath his character.
He said that it was much better to give uj) the
island of Malta purely and simply to the English ;
that this would be a sort of indemnification granted
voluntarily to England for the pretended encroach-
ments of France since the treaty of Amiens ; that
the concession thus explained had something frank,
clear, and offered rather the appearance of an act
of justice voluntarily accorded than the appearance
of a weakness ; that, on the contrary, the pos-
session of Malta granted in reality (because the
forts were in fact all the island, and some years
were the same as for ever), and thus covered by
dissimulation, was unworthy of him ; that nobody
should delude him, and that even in the efforts
which he would make to dissimulate such a con-
cession, the sentiment of his own weakness would
be recognised. "No," said he, "either Malta or
nothing ! But Malta, it is the dominion of the
Mediterranean. No person can believe that I can
consent to give up the dominion of the Medi-
terranean to the English without its being supposed
that I fear to contest it with them. I lose at one
time the most important sea in the world in the
opinion of Europe, which gives credit to my energy,
which believes it superior to every danger." —
" But," observed Talleyrand, " after all, the English
hold Malta, and in breaking with them, you will not
take it from them." — " Yes," replied the first
consul, " but I shall not ceile it without a contest
at an immense advantage ; 1 shall dispute it with
arms in my hanrls, and I hope to bring the English
to such a state that they will be forced to give u|)
Malta and more than that ; without counting that
if I arrive at Dover, it is all finished with these
tyrants of the seas. Besides, when one must com-
bat, sooner or later, with a people to whom the
greatness of France is insupportable, very well, it
is better worth doing it to-day than at a later time.
The national energy has not been enervated by a
long peace : I am young : the English are in the
wrong, more in the wrong than they have ever
been ; I should love better to finish now. Malta
or nothing," he npeated unceasingly, " I am re-
solved— they shall not have Malta."

Still the first consul consented that the cession
of Lampedosii to the EiigliHli should be negotiated,
or any otlxr small iHhiiul in the north of Africa, on
the condition that Malta shonld be immediately
evacuated. " That they should be given," sjiid he,
"a harbipur in the .Mi-iliierrnnean, well and good.
But I will not constiit that they shall iiave two
GibralL'irs in that sea, one at tiie entrance, and one
in the middle."

This reply caused groat disappointment to lord
Whitworlh, and acconnnodatingas he showed him-
self at first, when her lia<l hopes of suecesH, ho
l)ecame stiff, haughty, and alniost unbecoming.
But M. dc Talleyrand promised lie would do all

he could to support him, to prevent, or at least to
delay, the rupture. Lord Wliitworth told M. de
Talleyrand, that whether the first consul regarded
it as a matter of honour or not, was of little im-
portance to England; that she was not one of those
petty states to which he was able to dictate his
will, and force submission to all his modes of
explaining honour and policy. Talleyrand replied
with calmness and dignity, that England, upon her
side, had no right, under the pretext of distrust, to
exact the abandonment by France of one of the
most important points on the globe; that there was
no power in the world that had a right to impose
upon others the consequences of its own suspi-
cions, whether well founded or not ; that a similar
course would be a very commodious vay of making
conquests; and that in such a case it need only be
said, one party suffered disquiet, to be authorized
to place a hand upon any territory.

Lord Wliitworth communicated this reply to the
English cabinet, which seeing itself placed between
the evacuation of JLalta, which it regarded as its
own downfall, or to commence war, took the culpa-
ble resolution of preferring war — a war against the
only man who was able to run England into the
most serious perils. This resolution once taken,
the cabinet thought that it must, in order more to
please the party under whose domination it was
placed, be hasty, arrogant, and prompt to come to
a rupture. Lord Wliitworth was enjoined to de-
mand the occupation of Malta', at least for ten

• The defence made by the Addington ministry for not
evacuating Malta is in the main embodied in the following
extract of its own declarations against France.

" Whilst his Britannic majesty was actuated by these
sentiments, he was called upon by the French government
to evacuate the island of Malta; his majesty had manifested
from the moment of the signature of the definitive treaty, an
anxious disposition to carry into full effect the stipulations
of the treaty of Amiens relative to that island. As soon as
he was informed that an election of a grand master had
taken place under tlie auspices of the emperor of Russia,
and that it had been agreed by the different priories as-
sembled at St. Petersburgh to acknowledge the person
whom the court of Rome should select out of those who had
been named by them to be grand master of the order of
St. John, his majesty proposed to the French government,
for the purpose of avoiding any diflicuUics which might
arise in the execution of this arrangement, to acknowledge
that election to be valid ; and when, in the motith of August,
the French government applied to his majesty to permit
the Neapolitan troops to be sent to the island of Malta, as a
preliminary measure for preventing any unnecessary delay,
his majesty consented without liesitation to thi.s proposal,
and gave directions for the admission of the Neapolitan
troops Into the island. His majesty had thus shown his
disposition not only to throw no obstacle in the way of the
execution of the treaty, but, on the contrary, to facilitate the
execution of it by every means in hii power.

" His majesty cannot, however, admit that nt any period
since tlie conclusion of the treaty of Amiens the French
I government have had a right to call upon him, in conformity
to the stipulations of that treaty, to withdraw his forces from
the island of Malta. At the time when this demand was
made by the French government, several of the most im-
portant stipulations remained uncxet uted. The election of
a grand matter had not been riinied Into efTect. The lOth
article had siipulated ihat tlie Independence of the island
►hould be placed under the guarantee and protection of
(ireat Ilritaln and France, Austria, Russia, Spain, and
Prussia. The emperor of Germany had acceded to the

Defence of the Addint;ton
4g2 imriistry for not evacu-
aiing Malta.

Fresh negotiation between
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, lord whUworth and M.

de TiUeyrand.

May.

years, the cession of the isle of Lampedosa, tlie
immediate evacuation of Switzerland and Holland,
a precise and determined indemnity for tlie king of
Sardinia, and in return, an acknowledgment of the
Italian stales. To tisese orders to the ambassador
were added, an injunction to demand his passports

gu.iranfee, but only on condition of a like accession on the
part of the otiier powers specified in the article. The
emperor of Russia liad refused his accession except on the
condition tliat tlie Maltese lan^'uage should be ahrogated;
and the king of Prussia had given no an>wer whatever to
the aiiplication which had been made to him to ace, de to the
arrangement. But the fundamental principle, upon the
existence of which depended the execution of the oiher
parrs of the article, had been defeated by the changes which
had taken place in the constitution of the order since the
com lu.^ion of the treaty of peace. It was to the order of
St. John o; Jerusalem that his m jesty was, by the first
stipulation of the lOih article, bound to restore the island of
M.ilta. The order is defined to consist of those languages
which were in existence at the conclusion of the treaty, the
tliiee French languages having been abolished, and a Mai
tese language added to the institution. The order con-
si-ted therelbre at that time of the following languages,
viz., the languages of Arragon, Casiile, Germany, Bavaria,
and Russia. Since the conclusion of the definitive treaty,
the languages of Arragon and Casiile have been separated
(rom tlip order by Spain ; a part of the Italian language hns
been abolislied hy the annexation of Piedmont and Parma lo
Fiance. There is strong reason to believe that it has been
in contemplation to sequestrate the property of the Bavarian
languages, and the inie'ition has been avowed of keeping the
Russiiin languages within the dominions of the emperor.
Under these circumstances, the order of St. John cannot
now he considered as that body to which, according to the
stipulations of the treaty, the island was to be restored; and
the funds indispensably necessary for its support, and fur
the maintenance of the independence of the island, have
l)een nearly, if not wholly, sequestered. Eien if this had
arisen irom circumstances which it was not in the power of
any of the contracting parties to control, his majesty would
nevertheless have had a right to defer the evacuation of the
island hy his forces until such time as an equivalent arrange-
ment had been concluded for the preservaliun of the inde-
pendence of the island. But if these changes have taken
I)la e in consequence of any a':ts of the tjlher parties to the
treaty; if the French government shall appear to have pro-
ceeded upon a system of rendering tht- order whose indepen-
dence they had stipulated, incapable of maintaining that in-
dependence, his majesty's right to continue in the occupa-
tion of the island under such circumstances will hardly be
c mtested. It is indisputable, the revenues of the two
Spanish languages have been withdrawn from the order
by his catholic majesty ; a part of the Italian language
has, in fact, been ahnlished hy France, through the unjust
anni'Xation of Piedmont, Parma, and Placentiii, to the
I'reiich; the elector of Bavaria has been instigated by the
French tiovernment to sequestrate the property of the order
within his territories; and it is certain they have not only
sanctioned, but encouraged, the idea of the propriery of sepa-
rating the Russian languages from the remainder of the
order. As the conduct of the governmenis of Frame and
Spain have, therefore, in some instances directly, and others
indirectly, contributed to the changes which have taken
place in the order, and thus destro>ed its means of support-
ing its independence, it is to these governments, and not to
his majesty, the non-execution of the lOtli article of the
irea-y of Amiens must be ascribed. Such would he the just
conclusion if the lOth article of that treaty were consiaered
as an arrangement by itself. It must be observed, however,
that tins article forms a part only of a treaty of ])eace, the
wlnde of which is connected together, and the stipulations
of which must, upon a principle Common to all treaties, be
construed as having a reference to each other.

immediately, if the conditions of England were not
accepted.

The despatch was dated the 23rd of April, and
reached Paris upon the 25tli. The 2nd of May
was tlie fatal term. Lord Whitworth made several
attempts to accommodtite affairs with M. de Talley-
rand, because he was equally tilarmed at the effects
of such a rupture. M. de Talleyrand, on tlie otlier
hand, made him understand, that there was no hope
of his obtaining Mtilta, neither for ten years, nor
for a less term, and tlitit he must think of some
other arrangement. But in the meanwhile, he
applied himself so to word his despatches, as to
evade an immediate conclusion. Lord Whitworth,
entering entirely into his views, was still resolved
not to extend the term beyond the 2nd of May.
There was, in fact, nobody, however bold he might
be, who did not contemplate with dread the conse-
quences of such a war. There were none who
were unshaken in mind about a conflict that the
English ministers would inflict upon the world, in
order to become the price of their miserable exist-
ence, and the first consul, braving all the chances
of a frightful conflict, would sustain for the honour
of his government, and the preponderance of
France in the Mediterranean. Lord Whitworth
and M. de Talleyrand reached the seventh day
without a rupture.

Finally, on the 2nd of May, lord "Whitworth, not
daring to disobey the orders of his court, demtinded
his passports. T'llleyrand, in order to gain a little
more time, replied that he was about to submit his
demand for passports to the first consul, exhorted
him not to be too much in a hurry in any thing,
affirming, that perhaps by dint of effort, some un-
foreseen mode of arrangemv'iit might be discovered.
Talleyrand had an interview with the first consul,
iiud a long confert nee with him, and from this con-
ference, in order to keep the peace, there arose a
new, and it may be tidded, a very ingenious jiropo-
sitioii. This pro])osition was lo place the isltind of
Malta in the hands of the "iiiperor of Russia, and
to let it rem.'iin in his possession as a deposit to
iiwait the conclusion of the unexpected differences
between France and Engliind. Such a combina-
tion ought to deprive the English of all ground of
mistrust, beciiuse the good faith of the young em-
peror could not for a moment be tontestetJ, and
that might constitute him a good judge of the
difference between the two countries. By a sort
of a])t concurrence of events, this prince had writ-
ten, in reply to the communiciitioiis of the first
consul, that he was quite ready to offer his media-
tion, it it would be the means of preventing a war;
and the king of Prussia, ptirtaking in the same
wish, had joined the enii)eror in making the same
offer. It was, therefore, very certain that both
these monarchs would be found disposed to take
upon themselves the task of mediating between the
two iiiitions. If the off"er were relustd, it was suffi-
ci-^nt to prove satisfactorily, that liiere were no
real fears interposed, neither regarding Malta nor
Egypt, when an impartial depositary for the island
could not succeed in removing their fears, but
thiit the ministry wished to have a triumph for the
nation, as well as an acquirement and an argument
to use in parliament.

Talleyrand, thinking himself fortunate to have
hit upon such an expedient, went to loi'd Whit-

ISO."). Continuation of the
May. nrgotiatiiins.

RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS.

Lord Wliiiworlhtle-
niaiKls liis pass- 4fJ3
piiris.

wortli, in order to pci-suade him to defer his depar-
ture, and to request him to transmit a r.ew propo-
sition to liis cabinet. The ordei-s wliicli the am-
bassador of England iiad ivceived were so positive,
that he liid not dare to disobey them. Still lie
suffered himself to be moved by the fear of adi>pt-
in;; pcrliaps an irreparalde step in inunediately
Uiking his passports. He therefore despatelied a
courier to Lond'Mi, to transmit these hist offers of
the Frencii cabinet, and to excuse himself for the
delay whicli he had permitted himself to use in the
execution of the orders of his court.

M. de Talleyrand, in like manner, sent off a cou-
rier to general Andreossy, who had not seen the
En;;lish ministers since lluir last commnnieation,
and ordered him to make them a decisive offer.
General Andreossy was not wanting in obedience,
and made them listen to the voice of an honourable
man. If it was not Malta which they wished to
acquire, in defiance of treaties, it was not possible
they could have any motive for refusing to deposit
this precious |)ledge in hands powerfid enough,
disintereste<l, and perfectly safe. Addington ap-
peared to be nuich moveil, because in reality he
wished for a pacific termination of the affair. The
head of the cabinet replied, in terms plain enough,
that he desireil to be better imornied on the mat-
ter, expressed his regret not t.» be sufficiently so
for sueh a serious jimcture. and remained sus-
pended between tlic double fear of committing an
act of weakness, or of provokim; an unhappy war.
Loi-d Hawkesbury, more ambitious and firmer,
exhibited himself unshaken. The cabinet liaving
deliberated, refuseil the proposition. The desire
to gratify the national ambition, and to resi;;n
Malta into the hamls of a tiiird and disinterested
party, was to miss the end they had in view. Be-
sides, to give up the islanil to a third party, was
most probably to lose it for ever ; because it was
very well known that there was no arbitrator in
the world who would have decided in favour of
England upon a similar question. They employed,
in order to colour this refusal of the last projiosi-
tion tendered, an argument which was altogether
false. They had, they said, the certain knowledge
that Russia wi.uld not accept the conunissinti with
which it was projioscd to charge iier. But the
contrary was really the fact, because Russia had
Clime forward to offer her mediation; and, at a
later period, on learning the last proposition of the
French government, she had hastened to declare
her assent, notwiilistanding the dangers attached
to the deposit, which it was at the titne coutem-
plating U} coimnit into her hands.

The Ennlish ministers, however, still reserved
to themsi-lves another expedient, by which tht-y
liad another chance of keeping Malta, and ihey,
in coiiMequence, devised an expedient which it was
impossible to accept. Judging of ihc fiist consul
by themselves, they beli<;ved that he was anxious
to keep the treaty re-pectiiig .Malta solely out of
fear of the public opinion. They proposed, there-
fore, in adding several patent articles to the
treaty of Amiens, to throw into the treaty a
secret article, which should make it obligalory
upon the English troops to remain in .Malta. The
articles |)ropoHed were to sUiio that Switzerland
nnd Holland should he innnedialcly evacuated;
that the king of Sai-dinia should receive a terri-

torial indcnmily; that the English sin uld obtain
the island of i^ampedosa; and, finally, that they
should remain in Malta. The secret article was
to limit their occupation of the island lo ten years.
This answer, the result of a deliberation on the
7th of May, was sent off on the same day, and
arrived in Paris on the 9th ; on the 10. h. lord
Whitworth conmmnicated it in writing to Talley-
rand, with whom he was imable to have a i)er-
sonal interview, that minister being detained with
the first consul's illness, caused by tiie overturn-
ing of his carriage. When this proposal was
made to the first consul, he rejected at once the
idea of a secret article, repulsini; it haughtily al-
together, an 1 would not again stiffer it to be spoken
of under any consideration. In his turn, he de-
vised a last expedient, which was an adroit mode
of maintaining the ambition of both nations in
equilihrium, not in regard to any real advantages,
so much as to those which were apparent. This
expedient consisted in leaving the English in
Malta an indeterminate space of time, on condi-
tion that the French, during the same space of
time, should occupy the Gulf of Tarentum. In this
there were advantages (|uite great enough on the
side of consisten:y. The English ministers ob-
tained that s]>ecies of pledge which they had
formed in obtaining Malta ; the French would
occujiy an equal position in the Mediterranean ;
very soon all the other powers woidd be tempted
to intervene, and force the English to leave Malta,
and the French to abandon the territory which
belonged to Naples. Still, the first consul would
not propose this new arrangement unless he had
the hope to see it accepted. Talleyrand was,
therefore, instructed to use, in this last proposal,
an extreme measure of caution.

The following day, or the 11th of May, M de
Talleyrand saw lord Whitworth at noon, and told
him that a secret article was not acceptable, be-
cause the first consul wcnild not consent to deceive
the people of France abuut the extent of the con-
cessions which were accorded to England in the
treaty; that, nevertheless, he had one jiroposition
ntore to present, the residt of which would be to
cede Malta, on the condition of an equivalent
cession to France. L<>rd Whitwurth declared
that he was unable to admit any jiropositimi cx-
cc|)t that which had been sent by his own cabinet;
and that after having taken ui)on himself to defer
his departure once, he was not able to retard it a
second time, without a formal adliesion to the jiro-
posal made by his government. M. de Talleyrand
made no reply to this declaration ; and the
ministers quilted each other, both very des)ioiiding
at not having been :iblc to bring about an accom-
modalion. Lord AVbitworth demanded his pass-
jiorls for the follow ing day, saying he should travel
slowly, and that he should liiive time to write to
London and to reciive an answer, before he should
be able to embark at Calais. It was agreed that
the ambassadors shonhl be exchanged on the
frontiers, and that lord Whitworth sliould wait at
Calais until general Andreossy had arrived at
Dover.

Curiosity in Paris was on Iho tiptoe of expecta-
tion. A u-owd pressed around the door of the
hotel of the English ambassador, in i rder to ob-
scrvc wliether he madi; preparations for his

Departure of the Eng-
lish and French am-
bassadurs :

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

And final termina-
tion of the peace
of Amiens.

1803.

May.

journey. On tlie following daj', the 12th of May,
after liaving waited during the whole day, and
left the French cabinet all the time possible for
reflection, lord Whitworth set out on the road to
Calais by easy journeys. The rumour of his de-
parture produced a great sensati(jn in Paris, and
everybody foresaw that great events would soon
signalize the new period of approaching war.

Talleyrand had sent a courier to general An-
dx-eossy to carry to him the new proposition, to let
Tarentum be occupied by the French, in compen-
sation for the occupation of Malta by the English.
It was by M. Schimmelpenniuk, minister of Hol-
land, that this new proposition was made, and
not in the name of France, but as a personal idea
of the minister of Holland, and of the success of
which he was well assured. The idea, submitted
to the British cabinet, was not received favourably,
and general Andreossy had no choice but to quit
England. The an.\iety manifested at Paris was
not greater than that manifested in London. The
house of commons was filled for several days suc-
cessively, every one demanding of the ministers
what was the news relative to the negotiation.
At the moment of this great attention to the state
of things, the bolt of war fell, and all were as-
tonished while they dreaded tiie consequences of an
exasperated contest. The people of London little
desired the renewal of the war. The Grenville
party and the trading money-lenders were alone
satisfied.

General Andreossy was accompanied on his de-
parture; from England with great respect and very
sensible regret. He aiuived at Dover at the same
time that lord Whitworth reached Calais, on the
17th of May. Lord Whitworth was conveyed
across the straits. On the moment of his arrival
he hastened to visit the French ambassador, paid
him the greatest testimonies of his esteem, and
conducted him on board the vessel himself, in
which lie was about to return to France. The two
ambassadors separated in presence of a crowd of
persons, moved at the scene, both disquieted and
saddened. In that solemn moment, the two
nations seemed to bid adieu, no more to be visible
to each other until after a frightful war, and the
overturn of the whole world. How very different
had their destinies been, if, .as the first consul said,
these two powers, the one maritime and the other
continental, had been in coini)lete and perfect
union for the purpose of regulating in peace the
interests of the universe ! General civilization
would have made more rajiid strides ; the future
independence of Europe would have been for ever
assured; and the two nations would not have pre-
pared a domination for the north over a divided
west.

Such was the melancholy termination of the
short peace of Amiens.

We do not dissimulate the vivacity of our
national sentiments : to give blame to France
we reckon upon ; we shall do it without hesi-
tation, if she seems to us to merit its reception ;
and we know how to do it when unhappily she
should receive it, because truth is the ftr.st duty of
the historian. Nevertheless, after long reflection
upon a subject so serious, we are wholly unable to
blame France for the renewal of tlie war between
the two countries. In this instance the first con-

sul conducted himself with the most perfect good
faith. He committed, we are ready to avow, faults
in form, but of these faults even he did not com-
mit all. In a single essential point he was not to
blame. The complaints of England, bearing upon
the changes operated in the relative situation of
the two states subsequent to the peace, were with-
out foundation. In Italy the Italian republic had
chosen the first consul for a president ; but this in
reality did not change any thing in the state of
dependence of that republic upon France, which
existed but by means of France, and could not
exist without her support. Besides, this event
took place in February, and the treaty of Amiens
did not take place until the month of March, 1802.
The constitution of the kingdom of Etruria, the
cession of Louisiana and of the duchy of Parma to
France, were all well-known jiublic facts before
the same period of March, 1802. It must be
added, that England, at the congress of Amiens,
had well-nigh given her promise to recognize the
new Italian states. The union of Piedmont was
equally known and avowed in the negotiations at
Amiens, when the English negotiator made several
efforts to obtain an indemnity in favour of tlie
king of Piedmont. Switzerland and Holland had
never ceased to be occupied by French troops,
whether during the war or since the peace ; and
in more than one conversation, lord Hawkesbury
had acknowledged that the influence of France
over those states was a consequence of the war ;
that provided their independence was definitively
recognized, there would be no ground of complaint
made. England could not then imagine that
France would suffer a counter-revolution to be ac-
complished in Switzerland or in Holland, in other
words, at her own door, without interfering with it.
As to the secularization, that was an act obliged to
be executed by treaty, an act full of justice and
moderation, in part executed as well by Russia,
consented to by all the states of Germany, com-
prising Austria herself, and enforced by the ad-
hesion of the king of England himself, who had, as
king of Hanover, adhered to a partition of the
indemnities, extremely advantageous for himself.
For what then had France upon the continent
merited to be reproached { — for her greatness oidy,
a greatness secured by treaties, and admitted by
England in the congress of Amiens, become, it is
true, more sensibly witnessed during the tran-
quillity of the peace, and in the midst of nego-
tiations, that her influence and ability decided in
an irresistible manner.

The rei)roach of jiretended designs upon Egypt
was a false pretext, because the first consul had
none at the time, and colonel Sebastiani had been
sent merely to observe what was g<jing forward,
with the sole end of discovering whether the
English were ready to evacuate Alexandria. The
examination of the more secret documents of this
missicm leave not the least doubt upon the matter.

On what then were they able to found a charge
of that strange violation of the treaty, of Amiens
relative to Malta? It is necessary, in order to
explain more fully, to recall to memory the events
which had occurred during fifteen months.

The English, pas.sionate, as all great nations are,
wished in 1801, after ten years of war, to have
some respite, and they desired it ardently as tliey

May! Summaryof the chapter. RUPTURE OF THE PEACE OF AMIENS. Summary of the chapter. 465

would desire every change from the actual state of
things. This feeling, rendered stronger by the
misery of the working-classes in 1801, became one
of those impulsions that, under free governments,
overturn or raise up ministries. Pitt retired from
oflRce ; the feeble minister Addington succeeded
him, and the peace was made upon the clearest
and most explicit conditions, perfectly well known
to the nation and to the whole world. It conceded
the advantages acquired by France during the
preceding ten years, because on other conditions
the peace would have been impossible. After
several months, this peace did not seem to bring
all the benefit which was expected to the country :
has it ever occurred that the reality is equal to
the anticipations of hope ? The English came to
France, grown great by the war, become great by
negotiation, and great by her works of manu-
facture aj.d trade. Jealousy was anew lit up in
their hearts. They demanded a treaty of com-
merce, which the first consul refused to grant,
convinced that the French manufactures, recently
created, could not sustain themselves except under
a strong protection. Notwithstanding this, the
English manufacturers were satisfied, because the
contraband trade opened to them still an outlet
sufficiently large for their products. But the
monied merchants of London, affrighted at the
appearance which threatened them from the flags
of France, Spain, Holland, and Genoa, being once
more upon tlie seas, deprived of the advantnge of
loans and contracts, allied themselves with the war-
party of Pitt, Windham, and Grenville, thus be-
coming openly hostile, more hostile than the Eng-
lish aristocracy itself. It had intimate connexions
with Holland, and complained continually of the
influence which France exercised over that coun-
try. A counter-revolution taking place in Switzer-
land, owing actually to the good faith of the first
consul, who had been too hasty in evacuating that
country, he was again necessitated to enter it.
TliLs was a new pretext. Very soon the whole

discontent broke loose ; and the war-party, com-
posed of the monied men, having Pitt at their head,
absent from parliament, and Grenville present at
every discussion, pushed affairs visibly on towards
a rupture. The press of England gave itself up to
frightful outrages, and the French emigrant press
took the opportunity of greatly outdoing all the
violence of the English papers.

Unfortunately a feeble ministry, wishing to have
peace, but in continual dread of the war-party,
affrighted at the noise which had been made about
tlic invasion of Switzerland, committed the fault of
countermanding the evacuation of Malta. From
that moment peace was irrevocably sacrificed,
because this rich prey of Malta at once became an
object indicated to English ambition ; and it was
no longer possible to deny the gratification. The
promptitude and moderation of the French inter-
vention in Switzerland having dissipated the
grievance which it had created, the English mi-
nistry would have been willing to evacuate Malta,
but it dared not take such a step. The first consul
summoned them, in the language of justice and of
wounded pride, to execute the treaty of Amiens ;
and summons upon summons only led to the de-
plorable rupture which has been just related.

Thus the English commercial ai-istocracy, much
more active in the matter than the old aristocratic
nobility, leagued with the ambitious among the
Tory party, aided by French emigrants, ill re-
strained by a debilitated minister, — this commercial
aristocracy and its associates excited to the utmost
a character natui'ally impetuous, full of the double
sentiment of the justice of his cause and of its
strength ; such were the rea( authors of the war.
We believe ourselves to be correct and just in
signalizing them under this view to that posterity
which, in other respects, will weigh our wrongs to
all in balances much more exact than our own ;
we say more exact, because it will hold them with
cold and impassive hands.

I„

Hb

466

Difficulties of a

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

^ar with England.

1803
June.

BOOK xvn.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

MESSAGE OF THE FIKST CO>'SUI. TO THE GREAT BODIES OF THE STATE, AKD REPLT TO THE MESSAGE. — WORDS OF
M. FOKTANES. — VIOLENCE OF THE ENGLISH NAVY IN ITS CONDUCT TO J-RENCH MERCHANT VESSELS. — RE-
PBISALS. — THE rOMMUNES AND DEPARTMfNTS, BY A SPONTANEOUS MOVEMKNT, OFFER TO THE GOVERNMENT
FLAT-BOTTOMED BOATS, FRIGATES, AND SHIPS OF THE LINE.— GENERAL ENTHUSIASM. — RETURN OP THE FRENCH
NAVY TO THE EUROPEAN SEAS — STATE IN ^VHICH THE WAR PLAt'ED THE COLONIES — SEQUEL OF THE EXPEDI-
TION TO ST. DOMINGO. — ATTACK OF THE YELLOW FEVER. — DESTRUCTION OF THE FRENCH ARMY. — DEATH OF
THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL LECLERC —INSURRECTION OF THE BLACKS.— DEFINITIVE RUIN OF THE COLONY OF ST.
DOMINGO. — KETURN OF THE SQUADRONS.— CHARACTER OF THE WAR BETWEEN FKANlE AND ENGLAND. — FORCES
OF THE TWO COUNTKIES COMPAEED. — THE FIRST CONSUL RESOLVES BOLDLY TO ATTEMPT A DESCENT. — HE PRE-
PARES F0.1 IT WITH EXTRAORDINARY ACTIVITY. — CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS IN THE DIFFERENT PORTS AND
IN THE INTERIOR BASINS OP THE HIVERS. — FORMATION OF SIX CAMPS WITH TROOPS, PROM THE TEXEL
TO BAYONNE — FINANCIAL MEANS. — THE FIRST CONSUL WILL NOT HAVE RECOURSE TO A LOAN. — SALE OF
LOUISIANA. — SUBSIDIES OF ALLIES. — CONCURREN'^E OF HOLLAND, ITALY, AND SPAIN. — INCAPACITY OF SPAIN. —
THE FIRST CONSUL DISPENSES WITH THE EXECUTION OF THE TREATY OF ST ILDEFONSO, UPON THE CONDITION
OP A SUBSIDY.— OCCUPATION OP OTRANTO AND OF HANOVER. — MANNER OF THINKING AMONG ALL THE
POWERS ON THE SUBJECT OF THE NEW WAR. — AUSTRIA, PRUSSIA, AND RUSSIA.— THEIR ANXIETIES AND VIEWS.
— RUSSIA PRETENDS TO LIMIT THE MEANS OP THE BELLIGERENT POVTERS- SHE OFFERS HER MEDIATION,
■WHICH THE FIRST CONSUL ACCEPTS WITH CALCULATING EAGERNESS. — ENGLAND REPLII-S COLDLY TO THE
OFFERS OF RUSSIA. — DURING THESE INTERCHANGES OF COMMUNICATION, THE FIRST CONSUL SETS OUT ON A
JOURNEY TO THE COASTS OF FRANCE, IN ORDER TO PRESS FORWARD THE PRl PARATIONS FOR THE GRAND
EXPEDITION. — MADAM BONAPARTE ACCOMPAMES HIM.— THE MOST ACTIVE LABOUR IS MINGLED WITH THE
POMPS OF ROYALTY.— AMIENS, ABBEVILLE, BOULOGNE.— MEANS DEVISES BY THE FIRST CONSUL TO TRANSPORT
AN ARMY FROM CALAIS TO DOVER.— THREE SPECIES OF VESSELS. — THEIR QUALITIES AND DEFECTS.— FLOTl LLA
OF WAR AND FLOTILLA OF TRANSPORT. — IMMENSE MARITIME ESTABLISHMENT RAISED AT BOULOGNE, AS IF BY
ENCHANTMENT — PROJECT TO CONCENTRATE TWO THOUSAND VESSELS AT BOULOGNE, WHEN THE CONSTRUCTION
SHALL BE COMPLETED IN THE PORTS AND RIVERS. — PREFERENCE GIVEN TO BOULOGNE BEFORE DUNKIRK OR
CALAIS.— THE STRAITS, THE WINDS, AND THE CURRENTS.— EXCAVATIONS OF THE PORTS OF BOULOGNE, ETAPLES,
WIMEREAUX, AND AMBLETEUSE. — WORKS DESTINED TO PROTECT THE ANCHORAGE.— DISTRIBUTION OF TROOPS
ALONG THE SEA-SHORE. — THEIR LABOUR AND MILITARY EXERCISES. — THE FIRST CONSUL, AFTER HAVING SEEN
AND REGULATED ALL THINGS NECESSARY, QUITS BOULOGNE in VISIT DUNKIRK,' CALAIS, OSTEND, AND ANTWERP.
—PROJECTS REGARDING ANTWERP. — SOJOURN AT BRUSSELS.— ASSEM BLAGE IN THAT CIIY OF MINISTERS, AMBASSA-
DORS AND BISHOPS.— CARDINAL CAPRARA IN BELGIUM.— JOURNEY OF M, I.IMBARD TO BRUSSELS, THE SECRE_
TARY OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA.— THE FIRT CONSUL ENDEAVOURS TO REMOVE THE FEARS OF KING PREDE.
RICK WILLIAM, BY THE FRANKNESS OF HIS COMMUNICATIONS. — RETURN TO PARIS — THE FIRST CONSUL TER-
MINATES THE MEDIATION OF RUSSIA, AND ANNOUNCES WAR TO THE UTMOST EXTREMITY AGAINST ENGLAND. —
HE IS AT LAST OBLIGED TO OBTAIN AN EXPLANATION FROM THE KING OF SPAIN, AND TO FORCE THE EXECU-
TION OP THE TREATY OF SI. ILDEFONSO, LEAVING HIM THE CHOICE OF THE M FANS.- STRANGE CONDUCT OF
THE PRINCE OP THE PEACE.— THE FIRST CONSUL TAKES THE STEP, IN REGARD TO THE KING OF SPAIN, OF
DENOUNCING TO HIM THE FAVOURITE AND HIS BASENESS. — MELANCHOLY ARASKMENTOF THE COURT OF SPAIN.
— SHE SUBMITS, AND PROMISES A SUBSIDY. — CONTINUATION OF THE PREPARATIONS .AT BOULOGNE. — THE FIRST
CONSUL FEELS DISPOSED TO EXECUTE HIS ENIERPRIZE IN THE WINTER OF 1S03.— HE MAKES FOR HIMSELF A
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE NEAR BOULOGNE, AT PONT-AUBRIQUES, WHERE HE FREQUENTLY MAKES HIS VISITS. —
CNION IN THE CHANNEL OF ALL THE DIVISIONS OF THE FLOTI LLA. — BRILLIANT COMBAT OF THE GUN-BOATS
AGAINST THE BRIGS AND FRIGATES.— CONFl DENCE ACQUIRED IN THE I- XP 1 DITION. — INTIMATE UNION OF THE
SOLDIERS AND SEAMEN. — HOPE OF THE APPROACHING EXECUTION OF THE DESUN.— UNEXPECTED EVENTS,
WHICH FOR A MOMENT RECALL THE ATTENTION OF THE FIRST CONSUL TO THE AFFAIRS OF THE INTERIOR.

The taste for war wliich it may be naturally sup-
posed was possessed l>y tlie first consul, would liave
tended to render him suspected by the public
opinion of France, and perlia])s made him be
accused of too much precipitation in coming to a
rupture, if England, by the manifest violation of
the treaty of Amiens, had not completely acquitted
him of tiie charge. For it was evident to every
mind t!i:it she had not been able to resist the
temptation of ap|)riipriatiiig Malta to lierse'f, and
thus of procuring some compeiisatiou lor French

jrreatness by means not very legitimate. The
French people then accepted the rupture as a
necessity both of honour and interest, although
they maile no allusion to the consequences. It vviis
well known tluit a war with England might always
become a war with Europe ; that its duration was
as incalculable as its extent, because it was not as
facile to go and finish the contest in London as it
was to go and terminate at the gates of Vienna a
quarrel with Austria. Such a war, it was more,
could nut fail to du a mortal injury to commerce,

Address of M. Fon-
taiies to I he fIr^t
consul.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Decree of tlie first cimsiil, and
delentioii of ihe English ia 4fJ7

because the sea would soon be closed. Nevertlieless,
tliere were two considei'ations wliieli much lessened
the chagrin of France. Under such a chief as
Napoleon, war could not any more be the sij^nal
tor new internal disordei-s, and ]>eo|)le flattered
themselves, that by the a.ssistance of soniethiiii^
marvellous in his genius, a sin;;le blow might tenni-
uate the long rivalry of the two nations.

The first consul, who upon this occasion wished
to take great care in managing public opinion,
conducted himself as he would have been enabled
to do in the representative government that was
more anciently established. He convoked the
senate, the legislative body, and the tribunate, and
communicated to them all those papers relating to
the negotiation which it was necessary should be
known. He was able, in fact, to dispense with ail
concealment in what, with the exception of some
display of warmth in temper, he had in reality
nothing with which to reproach hiniself. The
three bodies of the stJite replied to the .idvances of
the first consul, by means of their deputations,
which were ordered to carry to the head of the
government the most complete apiu'obation of his
measures. An individual, who excelled in that
species of eloquence, studied and grave, which sits
so well on one who is at the heail of a great as-
sembly, M. de Fontanes, recently introduced into
the legislative body through the infKience of the
IJonaparte family, came to express to the first
consul the sentiments of that body, and addressed
him in terms fit to be recorded in history.

" France," said he, " is ready a^'ain to place
herself under the protection of tlmse weapons
which have before vaiiqnifthed Eiu-ope. Evil befall
the ambitious government which recalls us to
the field of battle, and, envying humanity so short
an interval of repose, would again jjlunge it into
the calamities from which it h;id but just befme
escaped. England will no more be able to say that
she defends the conservative principles of society —
menaced in their very foundations ; it is we who
are now able to u-^e that language, if the flame of
war be again kindled ; it is we who shall then
avenge the rights of the people and the cause of
humanity in repelling the mijnst attack of a nation
which enters into a negotiation for the purpose of
deception; that asks for peace only to reconuncnce
war, and signs treaties fur the object of breaking
them alone. Do not doubt if the signal is once
giv(-n, that Fninee will rally at a unanimous
movement around the lu-ro w!)om she admires.
Every party that he holds in silent respect around
him will dispute no more except in ze;il and
couRigc. Ail think that they have need of his
geniuH, and acknowledge that he alone is able to
bear the weight and the greatness of our new
de-^tinieR.

" Citizen first consul, the French people will in
future have sentiments as lofty and heroic as vonr
own. It conqueied before in order to obtain
peace ; it desired it as you do, but, as with you, it
will never feel appreheuHion from the chances of
war. England believes herself well protected by
the ocean; why will site not reflect that the world
sometimes |>roduces men of rare power, of whom
their genius executcH that which, before they made
their a])])e:>i-ancc, was deemed impoHsible to human
skill} And if one of these rare men bhould now

have Clime before the world, ought she to bid him
an iin|>rndent di fiance, and force him to obtain all
th:it justice from his good fortune «liieli he had a
ri^lit to expect he should receive at her hsinds ? A
trrcat people are capable of performing every thing
with a hero at their head, determiin-d never to se-
jiarate from him its glory, interests, and liap-
l)iness."

In this brillinnt and pointed language it is not
possible to recognize the enthusiasm of 1789, but
there tnay be traced in it the innnense confidence
that ail the world reposed in the hero who held in
his liiuid the destinies of France, and from whom
it awaited that humiliation of England which was
so ardently (iesired. One circimibtj\nce, easy bc-
sitles to foresee, singularly increa.sed the public
indignation. • Almost at the moment of the de-
parture of the two amba.ssadors, before any regular
manifestaticm or any notice whatever of the com-
mencement of hostilities, the vessels of th.- English
navy were let loose upon the commerce of France.
Two frigates, in the bay of Andierne, captured
Slime merchant vessels that were seekinj; a shelter
in the harbour of Brest. To these acts there were
soon added many others, of which intelligence was
received in all the ports. This was a violence little
in conformity with the law of nations. There had
been a formal stipuhition on the subject in the last
treaty signed between America and France on the
30th of September, 1800, art. 8; there was no
parallel example, it is true, in the treaty of Amiens.
That treaty did not stipulate, in c:ise of rupture,
any delay in commencing hostilities against the
commerce of either country. But this delay natu-
rally resulted from the moral iiriiuiples of the law
of nations, which must be jilaced f;ir above all
their written stipulations. The first consul, in
whom this new sitnntion of aR'airs called up all the
natural ardour of his character, determined to use
rcpris:ils at the same moment, and drew up a
decree which declared prisoners of war all the
English who were travelling in France at the
moment of the rupture. When they nia<le fall upon
simple merchants, innocent of the politics of their
own government, the consequences of those po-
lities, the government is fully authorized to re-
taliate, and to assure itself the nieiins of exchange
by constituting prisoners of war the subjects of
England actually remaining upon the French soil.
This measure, although prompted by the conduct
of Great BriUiin, nevertheless presented a cliiii-iicter
of rigour which it was probable might shock public
opinion, and rai.se the fear of a ntnrn to the
violences of the last war. Cambacifrfes remonstrated
.'itrongly on the snbjict with the first consul, and
olit;iiued a modificaticm of the |i!djeeted dispo-
sitions. Thanks to these efforts, the dispositions
only applied to those British subjects who served
in the militia, or who held any connnission what-
ever from their goveriuneut ; these were to be
prisoners of war ; the rest were >imply to be
prisoners upon their parole in difl'erent foriifieil
towns,

■ This decree was dated Pariit, May 2Slh, 1803, and wan h
fullowM : —

" The maritime prefect of BrcKt having announced the
capture liy ilie English of two vcKHel:* in the bay of Audierne,
it in in coii9e()Ucncc decreed a» folluwii : —

" .\rt. 1.— ll is prcBtribtd to evety comraander of a squa
II h 2

Vessels presented by the
cities and communes
for invading England.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Patriotic gifts towards
the Boulogne flotilla.

A considerable commotion was soon visible
throughout all France. Since the last century,
that is to say, since the English navy had appeared
to gain an advantage over the French, the idea of
terminating by an invasion the maritime rivalry of
the two nations had entered into every mind.
Louis XVI. and the directory had made prepara-
tions for such a descent. The directory, more
especially, had kept during many years a certain
number of flat-bottomed boats on the coasts of
the channel ; and it must be remembered, that in
1801, not long before the signature of the preli-
minaries of peace, the admiral Latouche-Tre'ville
had repulsed the reiterated efforts of Nelson to
carry away by boarding the flotilla of Boulogne.
It was a sort of tradition become popular, that
with flat-bottomed boats an army might be trans-
ported from Calais to Dover. By a move altoge-
ther electric, the departments and the large towns,
each according to its means, offered the govern-
ment flat-bottomed boats, corvettes, frigates, and
even vessels of the line. The department of Loiret
was first taken with this patriotic idea. It im-
posed upon itself a sum of 300,000f. in order to
construct and arm a frigate of thirty guns. At
this signal the communes, the departments, and
even the corporations, answered to the same call,
at one universal impulse. The mayors of Paris
opened subscriptions, which were soon covered
with a multitude of signatures. Among the models
of the boats proposed by the navy, there were
many of different dimensions, costing each from
8000f. to SO.OOOf.

Each locality was enabled in consequence to
proportion its zeal to the means which it possessed
of meeting it. The small towns, such as Coutances,
Bernay, Louviers, Valogne, Foi.x, Verdun, Moissac,
gave simple flat- bottomed boats of the first or
second dimensions. The more considerable towns
voted frigates, and even vessels of the line. Paris
voted a vessel of a hundred and twenty guns,
Lyons one of a hundred, Bordeaux one of eighty,
and Marseilles one of seventy-four. These gifts of
the cities were independent of those made by the
departments; thus, although Bordeaux had offered
a vessel of eighty guns, the department of the

dron or division of republican ships, to attack all those of
the king of England and his subjects, and to bring them
into the ports of the republic.

" Art. 2— Commissions shall be delivered to the owners
of French privateers, conformably to the existing laws and
regulations.

" Art. 3.— All the English enrolled in the militia between
the ages of eighteen and sixty, or who hold commissions
from liis Britannic majesty, now in France, sliall be imme-
diately constiiuted prisoners of war, to answer for tlie citi-
zens of the repubhc who may have been detained and made
prisoners by tlie vessels or subjects of his Briiannic majesty
before the diclaration of war. It is with re uctance that the
government of the republi-; has seen itself compelled, in
order to make reprisals, to declare prisoners of war all the
English who are in the French torriiory. It will leave to
England the task of commencing every thing ill beral ; but
the French people are bound to act towards England as
England ans with respect to France."

Every officer bearing an English commission and a pri-
soner of war, was entitled to and had his parole. What dif
ference our author can make between these and others in
this trealmi-nt, it is not easy to discover; there was rially
none. — Translator,

Gironde subscribed l,600,000f. to be employed in
naval construction. Although Lyons had given a
vessel of a hundred guns, the department of the
Rhone added a patriotic gift, amounting to one-
eighth of its contributions in taxes. The depart-
ment of the Nord added a million to the funds
voted by the city of Lille. The departments
generally imposed ui)on themselves a gift from
200,0001'. up to DOO.OOOf. or a million. Some
brought their contributions in merchandize of the
country which was necessary for naval jiurposes.
Thus the department of the Cote d'Or made a pre-
sent to the state of a hundred pieces of cannon of
large calibre, which were cast at Creuzot. The
department of the Lot and Garonne agreed to an
addition of five centimes to their direct contribu-
tions, during the payments of the years xi. and
xii., to be expended in sail-cloth in the depart-
ment. The Italian republic, following this im-
pulse, made an offering to the first consul of four
millions of francs in Milanese currency, to con-
struct two frigates, to be called the President and
the Italian Republic, and twelve gun-boats, to bear
the names of the twelve Italian departments. The
great bodies of the state would not remain behind,
and the senate presented on its own part a vessel
of a hundred and twentj- guns. The simple com-
mercial houses, as the house of Barillon, the per-
sons employed in the finance department, such as
the receivers-general for example, offered flat-
bottomed boats. Such a resource was not to be
despised, because it amounted in value altogether to
40,000,000f., which, upon a budget of 500,000,000f.,
was of very great importance. Joined to the
price of Louisiana, which was 60,000,0001., to the
different subsidies obtained from the allies, and to
the natural augmentation of the produce of the
taxes, it enabled the government to dispense with
having recourse to any expensive means of raising
money, and nearly impossible at such a moment
that of borrowing upon stock.

The creation of the flotilla will shortly be de-
tailed. It was to be capable of carrying one hun-
dred and fifty thousand men, four hundred pieces
of cannon, and ten thousand horses, which could
not fail to complete in a moment the conquest of
England, if it made the passage. For the present
it suffices to state, that the conditions imposed by
the navy for the dimensions of the flat-bottomed
boats of all sizes were, that they should not draw
more than six or seven feet of water when all was
on board, and when empty not more than three
or four. They were thus able to be set afloat
upon all the rivers of France, and to descend to
their mouths, to be afterwards united in the ports
of the channel, and sent along the coast. This was
a great advantage, because the ports of France
would not have been equal, from their want of
timber, planks, and workmen, to the construction
of 1500 or 2000 vessels, which it would be
necessary to complete in a few months. By con-
structing them in the interior of the country, this
difficulty was removed; the banks of the Gironde,
of the Loire, the Seine, the Somme, the Oisc, the
Schelde, the Mouse, and the Rhine, were suddenly
covered with timber-yards. The workmen of the
country, directed by the masters' mates of tiie
navy, sufficed perfectly well to achieve these singular
creations, which at first astonished the population.

1803.
June.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Breaking out of the plague
amongst the Fieiich
troops.

469

at times furnishing them witli subjects of rail-
lery, but that soon, nevertheless, became for Eng-
land the cause of serious alarm. At Paris, from
La Rape'e to the Invalids, there were ninety gun-
boats building, in the constructioji of which were
employed more than a thousand workmen.

The first care taken upon the breaking out of the
new war was to rally the French navy, then spread
over the West Indies, and occupied in reducing
the colonies under the authority of the mother
country. It was to this that Napoleon had
directed his first thoughts. He felt himself obliged
instantly to recall the different squadrons, ordering
tiiem to leave at Martinique, at Guadaloupe, and
at St. Domingo, all that they could spare of men,
munitions, and stores. The frigates and light
vessels were alone to remain in the islands. But
it was not possible to deceive himself. The war
with England, if she were unable to capture the
smaller islands, such as Guadaloupe and Marti-
nique ', must infallibly occasion the loss of the
most precious of them all, that for the preservation
of which an army had been sacrificed, it is need-
less to say, that allusion is here made to St. Do-
mingo.

It has already been seen, that the captain-general,
Leclerc, after operations exceedingly well conducted
upon his part, but with the loss of a considerable
number of men, had become master of the colony,
and able to flatter himself that he had restored it
to France; that Toussaint had retired to his habi-
tation of Ennery, regarding the month of August
as the term of the reign of the Europeans on the
soil of Hayti. This terrible black had predicted
justly, in foreseeing the triumph of the climate of
America over that of the soldiers of Europe. But
he was not to enjoy his triumph, since he was
destined to succumb himself under the rigour of
the French climate. Melancholy retaliation in
the war of two races, obstinate in disputing between
them the regions of the equator !

Scarcely had the army begun to re-establish
itself, than the plague, so common in these burning
regions, but this year more murderous than ever,
made its appearance, and struck down the noble
soldiers of the Rhine and of Egypt, who had been
conveyed to the Antilles. Whether the climate
this year, by some unknown decree of Providence,
was more destructive than ordinary; whether its
action was more great and rapid upon the fatigued
and toil-worn soldiers, accumulated together in
considerable numbers, thus forming a more power-
ful r<cus of infection; or whatever might be the
cause, death seized upon them with a rapidity
and violence of the most frightful character.
Twenty generals were taken oH" nearly at the same
time; the officers and soldiers perished by thou-
sands. To twenty-two thousand men that arrived
in the various expeditions, of whom five thousand
had fallen in action, and five thousand had been
attjicked with vari.ius disorders, the first consul
had added, towards the end of 1U02, about twelve
thousand men mr)re. Those who had newly ar-
rived were attacked at the moment of their dis-
embarkation. Fifteen thousand men perished in

' Roih were subBequently loit lo France, but came Into
her pomicidion again by restoration In the peace of 18M.—
Trantiator.

less than two months, and the army was reduced
to nine or ten thousand only, acclimated, it is true,
but the greater part of them convalescent, and
very unfit at the moment to take up arms '.

(3n the first ravages of the yellow fever, Tous-
saint Louverture, enchanted to see his sinister
predictions realized, seemed to feel the renewal of
all his hopes. From the retirement of his i-esi-
dence at Ennery, he set himself to correspond
secretly with his confidential friends, ordering
them to keep ready, recommending them to in-
form him exactly what progress the sickness was
making, and more particularly of the state of
health of the captain-general, upon whose head
his cruel impatience was eager for the fever to
strike the blow. His secret practices were not so
Weil concealed but that some of them reached the
ears of the captain-general, and more particularly
the black generals. These hastened to inform the
French authorities of it. They were jealous of
Toussaint, though all of them obeyed him, and
this feeling had not a little cimtributed to their
prompt submission. Those "gilt blacks," or noirs
dores, as they were denominated by Napoleon, were
content with the ease and the opulence which they
enjoyed. They had no desire to recommence the
war, and they feared to see Tous^^aint, agam be-
come all powerful, make them expiate their deser-
tion of his cause. They therefore made known
what they knew to general Leclerc, in order to
engage him to seize the recent dictator. The con-
cealed act contemplated by Toussaint, revealed
itself in an alarming manner. The negroes who
formerly composed his guard, and who were scat-
tered abroad among the colonial troops which had
passed over to the service of the mother country,
quitted their ranks to return, they said, to the
cultivation of the ground, but in reality, to throw
themselves into the Mornes around Ennery. The
captain-general, pressed between a double danger,
the yellow fever, which destroyed his army, on one
hand, and on the other by the revolt, which was
announced on every side as about to take ])lace,
having also instructions from the first consul,
which enjoined him, on the first sign of dis-
obedience, to disembarrass himself of the black
chiefs, resolved to have Toussaint arrested. Be-
sides these orders, intercepted letters sufficiently
authorized this step. But it was necessary to
dissimulate in order to seize this potent chief,
surrounded as he was already by an army of in-
surgents. A demand was made of him in the
way of advice, regarding the best means of making
the negroes who liad escaped from the cultivation
of the land return to their duty, and about the choice
of the best stations for re-establishing the health
of the army. This was the means of drawing
Toussaint to an interview, because it attracted
his vanity to be thus consulted. " You see," said

' Tliis is an enormous mortality, even for the West Indies,
and must be ascribed to some unusual cause, besides the
landing at an improper season. At a period of more than
usual sickness in Jamaica, the deaths of the soldiers at Up
Hill Camp, for six years, averaged only one in Ave, in
otiier stations one in six, seven, or eight; in the healthier
stations of the island, one in ten, fourleeii, or sixteen ; and on
the heiglitof Maroon town, in the interior, only one in sixty-
four. One in three have died on sovero visits of fever in a
very unhealthy season.

Apprehensions of tlie blacks
470 irom slavery being re-ebta- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

blislieu at Guadaloupe.

Suspicion of the
blacks, and the
result.

1803.
June.

he, " tliese whites cannot get on without old Tous-
saint." He attended the phice of rendezvous
accordingly, surrounded by a troop of blacks.
Scarcely had he arrived before he was laid iiold
of, disarmed, and conducted as a prisoner on board
a vessel. Surprised, abashed, yet resigned, he
said nothing but a few fine words: — " In over-
throwing me, you have only overthrown the trunk
of flie tree of negro liberty ; but the roots remain ;
they will jiush out again, because tiiey are nume-
rous, and go deep into the soil." He was sent to
Europe, where lie was kept in the fort of Joux.

Unhappily, the spirit of insurrection had pro-
pagated itself among the blacks; it had entered
into their hearts, from a distrust of the object of
the whites, and with the h(>])e to con(|uer them.
The news of what had happened at Guadaloupe,
wiiere slavery had been re-established, had reached
as. far as St. Domingo, and had produced there a
most extraordinary impression. Certain words
pronounced in the tribune of the French legisla-
tive body, on the re-establishment of slavery in
the Antilles, — words which could only be a]ipli-
cable to Martiniiiue and Guadaloupe, but whicli
they were able, with a little mistrust, to extend to
St. Domingo, had contributed to inspire the blacks
with the conviction that it was intended to reduce
them again into slavery. From the simple culti-
vators of the ground up to the generals, the idea
of tilling again under the yoke of slavery made
them tremble wiiii indignation'. Some of the
black officers, more civilized, more worthy of new
fortunes, such as Laplume, Clervaux, even Cliris-
tophe, who did not aspire, as Toussaint had done,
to be dictators in the island, acconmiodated them-
selves perfectly to the state of things, that gave
the predominance to the mother country, jirovided
she would respect the liberty of their race; and
they expressed themselves with a warmth which
did not permit any doubt of the real state of their
sentiments. " We are willing," they said, " to
remain French and submit ; to serve the mother
country faithfully, because we do not desire to
recommence a life of rapine; but if the mother
country intends to make slaves of our brethren
and our children, she must make up her mind to
slaughter us to the last man." Genei-al Leclerc,

' What coulil 1)6 more natural than such an effect? It
was a just inference, that those wiio had restored slavery in
the other isl'inds, from the facility of its restoraiion there,
would restore it in St. Domintro, if tliey possessed the power.
It was also an irresistible conclusion, that thi se who made
professions based only upon the inability of acting opposite
to tliem at the moment, would take the first opportunity of
violating those professions; and tlierefore the blacks were
justified in securin;{ themselves l)y every means. Had the
French, establishing tlieinselves by their overwhelming force
in Guadaloupe and Martiiiitiue, made the slaves in those
islands free labourers, they would i)ave kept St. roiiiiii(,'o.
England may congratulate herself on her own wisdom in
slave emanci;iaf.on, when !.he contemplates this picture of a
government acting justly only upon compulsion, and unjustly
upon choice ; preferring policy to justice in a matter of
humanity, and by adopting a conduct morally wrong on the
same question in one place, from possessing power to do so,
and morally right in another, from not havinu' the power of
doing wrong, commending the poisoned chalice to its own
lips. Would, in thcatrairs of allgovernmeuis, the result could
be. the anme, then there might at last be seen that analogy
80 long desired between moral and political justice ! — Tram.

whom their fidelity much affected, put them in con-
fidence for some days, when he declared, upon his
honour, that the intentions ascribed to the whites
were utterly unfounded; but at bottom the distrust
had become incurable. Although the general-in-
cl lief did this, it was impossible to ti'anquillize them.
If Laplume and Clervaux, sincerely attached to the
mother country, reasoned as is here stated, Dessa-
lines, a real monster, such as might well be sup-
])0sed to have been formed by slavery and by
revolt, only thought of urging on with deep perfidy
the blacks u|)on the whites, and the whites ujjon
the blacks, to irritate the one by means of the
other, and to triumph in the midst of the general
massacte, in order to re])lace Toussaint Louver-
ture, of whom he had been the first to demand the
arrest.

In tliis fearful perplexity, the captain-general
having no more than a feeble part of his army
left, of the remains of which he saw some perish
every day, menaced at the same time by an ap-
proaching insui'rection, believed it was his duty
to disarm the negroes. This measure appeared
but reasonable and necessary. The black chiefs
wh'i were faithful, as Laplume and Clervaux, a])-
proved of it; the black chiefs, filled with perfidious
])nrposes, such as Dessalines, urged the mea.sure
iorward with warmth. It was proceeded with
inmiediately, and demai;ded a degree of violence
to succeed. Many of the negroes fled away into
the Monies, others sooner sufi'ered themselves to
be tortured than r< sign their muskets, which they
regarded as identical with their liberty itself.
The black officers, in particular, showed them-
selves unrelenting in tliis' sjiecies of search and
exaction. They had many men of their own
colour shot; some acting in this manner in order
to |)revent a renewal of the war, and others, on the
contrary, to excite it. There were procured in
this way, notwithstanding, about thirty thousand
muskets, the greater part of English make, ])ur-
cliased through the foresight of Toussaint. These
vigorous proceedings excited insurrections in the
north and in the west, even to the environs of
Port-au- Prince. The nephew of Toussaint, Clntrles
Belair, a black, who had a certain superiority, like
those of his rehitive, in his manner, mind, and in-
telligence, and who, for these reasons, his uncle
would have made his successor, — Charles Belair,
irritated at some executions which had taken
place in the western department, threw himself
into the Monies, and raised the flag of revolt.
Dessalines, then resident at St. Marc, requested
very earnestly to be ordered in his pursuit, and
thus gave a double occasion of showing the de-
ceptive zeal which he put on, at the same time
avenging himself upon a rival, who had been the
cause of great suspicions to himself. He therefore
directed agtiinst him a war of the most obstinate
character. He succeeded in capturing Belair and
his unfortunate wife, and sent both one and the
other before a military commission, which ordered
these two unfortunate persons to be shot. Dessa-
lines excused his conduct to the blacks by alleging
the unrelenting purposes of the white people, and,
at the same time, jirofiting not less by the occasion
to get rid of one whom lie abhorred. Horrible
atrocities, which prove tliat the passions of the
human heart are every where the same, and that

Treachery of Dessalin

THE tA.MP OF BUULUCiNt:. Dtssalines joins the revolters. 471

climate, time, or the differences of visage, do not
make a sensible difference in the character of
man! All now seemed to portend a revolt of
the blacks; the sombre mistrust which made itself
apparent among them, t!ie vigorous precautions
it was necessary to t^ike in regard to them, and
the ferocious passions wjiich divided them, — pas-
sions which were obliged to be suffered, and often
even to be employed.

To these unfortunate circumstances in situation,
there were faults, due to the confusion that reigned,
that the sickness, the danger appearing every
where at the same time, and the difficulty of com-
municating between one part of the island and
another, had begun to introduce into the colony.
General Boudet had been before taken from Port-
au-Prince, in order to be sent to the windward
islands, that he might replace general Rieliepanse,
who had died of the yell<iw fever. General Ito-
chambeau had then been substituted for him, a
brave soldier, as intelligent as he was intrepid, but
lie had C(jntracted in the colonies in which he had
served, all the prejudices of the Creoles who inha-
bited them ; he hated the mulattos as did the
former colonists themselves. He declared them
dissolute, violent, and cruel. He said that he loved
the blacks better, because, according to him, tliey
were more simple, more sober, more hardy in war.
General Rochambeau, commanding at Port-au-
Prince and in the south, where mulattos abounded,
showed regarding them, on the approach of the
insurrection, as much mistrust as he had of the
blacks, and imprisoned them in great numbers.
He still more increased,their irritation hy sending
away general Rigaud, the former chief of the
mulattos, for a long while the rival and enemy of
Toussjiint, vanfjuished and expelled by him, who na-
turally profiting by the victory of the whites to
return to St. Domingo, was entitled to hope for a
giMjd reception. But the error which the whites
had committed in .St. Domingo at the commence-
ment <»f the revolution, in not having allied them-
selves with the people t)f colour, they persisted in
to the end. General Rochambeau repelled general
Rigaud, and ordered him to embark again for the
United Sutes. The mulattos, offended and ag-
grieved, tended from that time to unite themselves
to the blacks, which was a vexatious thing, more
especially in the south, where they were the most
numerous class.

Theitu causes united, made the insurrection gene-
ral, which at first was only partial. In the north,
Clervaux, Maurepas, and Ciiristophe, fled into the
MorncH, not without expressing their ngret, but
led on by a sentiment much stronger in their
bosoms, the love of their liberty, wiiich was threat-
ened. In the west, the barbarous Dessalines,
flinging off the m;ihk, joined those who were in a
Slate of revolt. In like south, the mulattos uniting
themselves with the blacks, gave themselves to the
ravage of that fine province, which until then had
stood untouched and flourishing, a» in the fintst
times of the colony. No one remained faithful but
Laplume, definitively attached to ihe mother coun-
try, preferring it to the barbarous government of
the nien of his own colour.

Tlie French army, reduced to eight or ten thou-
sand men, scarcely in a state to serve, possessed no
more territory in the north than the Cape and some

of its surrounding positions ; in the west, Port-au-
Prince and St. Marc; and in the south. Lis Cayes,
Jeremie, and Tiburon. The anguish of mind of the
unfortunate giuoral Leclerc, was extreme. He had
his wife with him, whom he had sent to Turtle
Island, in order to keep her out of the way of the
p.stilcnce. He had seen perish the wise and able
M. Benezech, with some of the most distinguished
generals of the armies of the Rhine and Italy ; he
had just learned the death of general Rieliepanse ;
he was present every day at the deaths of his most
valiant soMiei-s. without the power to aid them, and
now felt the moment rapidly approaching, whew he
should no longer be aide to defend against the
blacks the small part of the territory that remained
in his possession. Tormented by these grievous
reflections, he was more exposed than any other
person to the attacks of tlie malady that was
destroying the army. In fact, he was at last seized
in his turn. After a short illness, which, taking
the eharac'ter of a continued fever, finished by de-
stroying all the strength he had left, he expired,
never ceiising to speak in the finest manner, and
not appearing occupied with any thing but his wife
and his companions in arms, that he left behind
him in such a frightful situation. He died in No-
vember, 1802.

General Rochambeau took the command, as the
officer of senior rank. It was not bravery nor
military talent that was wanting to the new go-
vernor of the colony, but the jjrudence, and the
coo.'ness of a chief who was a stranger to all the
[vassions of the tropics. General Rochambeau
thought to be able to repress the insurrection
every where ; but he had now no time for such a
purpose. At most, if he liad concentrated his
forces at the Cape, and abandoned the west and
south, he might have been able to sustain himself
there, but dpsiring to keep a front upon all points
at once, he was able to do no more on any than to
make energetic and unavailing efforts. He had
returned to the Cape in order to take the chief
command. He arrived there at the .same moment
as Ciiristophe, Clervaux, and other black chiefs of
the north, had made an attack, and attempted to
take this capital of the island. General Rocham-
beau had no force to defend the jilace except a few
hundred soldiers and the national guard of the
Cape, composed of landed proprietors, brave as all
the men cf tho.se countries are. Ciiristophe and
Clery:'.ux had already taken one of the forts ; gene-
ral Rocliamhcau retook it with uncommon gal-
lantry, seconded by the energy of the national
guards, who comported themselves so well, that
the blacks, thinking a fresh army had reinforced
the island, beat a retreat. During this heroic
ilefence, there passed in the roads a most frightful
seine. Upwards of twelve hundred blacks had
belli sent on board the vessels, as it was ni>t known
how to guard them on shore, and to suffer them to
go away would have been to reinforce the enemy.
Tlie crews of the ships, decimated by the fever,
were become weaker than their piisonej-s. At the
moment of the attack on the Cape by the blacks,
daring to be murdered by them, the cn-ws, it must
be stated with horror, throw overboard a good part
of their prisoners, and tiny periHJiud in the waves.
At the same time, in the soullurn part of tin-
inland, a mulatto, iiameil Banlit, was subjected lo

472 St. Domingo evacuated THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

the same treatment, being drowned merely from
an unjust and atrocious mistrust of his intentions.
From that day the mulattos, until then wavering,
joined the negroes, slaughtered the whites, and
completed the ravage and ruin of the fine southern
distinct of the island.

Terminating here these gloomj' details, in which
history has nothing more useful to record — at the
epoch of the renewal of the war between Fi-ance
and England — the French, shut up at the Cape, at
Port-au-Prince, and Aux Cayes, defended them-
selves with great difficulty against the blacks and
mulattos united. The European war then came to
add to their despair. They had only to choose be-
tween the blacks, more ferocious than evei',andthe
English, who were before the island, and they
were obliged to surrender to them, being sent as
prisoners to England, after having been despoiled
of the wrecks of their property '.

Of from thirty to thirty-two thousand men sent
from the mother country, there did not remain
more than eight thousand at the end of September.
More than twenty generals perished, among them
was Richepanse, the most regretted of them ail.
At the same time, Toussaint Louverture, that
sinister projihet, who had predicted and heartily
hoped for all these evils, died of C(jld in France,
a prisoner in the fort of Joux, while the French
soldiers were succumbing beneath the effects of a
burning sun. But a deplorable compensation this
death of a black chief of genius and talent for the
loss of so many heroic whites !

Such was the sacrifice made by the first consul
to the old commercial system of France, a sacrifice
with which he was bitterly reproached. Still, to
judge truly of the actions of the chiefs of a govex-n-
ment, it is necessary to keep in recollection ail the
circumstances under which they have acted. When
peace had been made with the whole world, when

' The French held out until Septemher, with a tonstancy
and bravery worthy of a better cause. St. Marc was be-
sieged by Uessaliiies, and the place reduced to the last ex-
tremity of misery. Captain Walker, of tlie Vanguard, seventy-
four, being off the coast, interfered to prevent his putting
the garrison to death. He engaged the black chief to march
the garrison to the Mole, and he would take them off, and
secure the snipping; but the French commander, general
Hunin, sent a flag of truce on board, and then came off him-
self. The garrison was safely embarked ; it had long lived
upon horse-flesh. The number was 850. At Aux Cayes the
commander entered into a convention with the British
officers off the coast. Port Dauphin was taken by the The-
seus man-of-war ; the acting commandant, surrendering at
discretion, was embarked with most of the inhabitants, and
landed under a flag of truce at the Cape, liy captain Bligh of
that ship. He afterwards spiked the guns, and brought
away a frigate, called La Sagesse, which he had found there.
Captain Bligh was fortunate enough to recover general Du-
mont and suite, who had fallen into the hands cf the blacks,
and he was also sent to the Cape. General Rochambeau
behaved in a manner no way reflecting credit upon his clia-
racter, at the surrender of the Cape. He had entered into a
treaty with Dessalines for the surrender of the forts and
town, and after the blacks were partially admitted, treated
with the English, who were fortunately enabled to save the
garrison. Dessalines would have sunk them all with red-
hot shot ; they were saved with great difliculty by the Eng-
lish. General Noailles also surrendered to the British at the
Mole. The French troops were all sent to Jamaica, with
the frigates and other light vessels captured in the harbours.
— Translator.

the notions connected with the old commercial sys-
tem had re-acted like a torrent, when in Paris and
in all the ports the merchants and the ruined
colonists called aloud for the re-establishment of
the commercial prosperity of France, when they
required that the government should give back to
their country a possession which had formerly been
the source of riches and of pride to the old mo-
narchy, when thousands of officers saw with morti-
fication their active career interrupted by the
peace, and were offering to serve any whei-e that
there was a need of their employment, was it possi-
ble to refuse to the requests of the one, or to the
activity of the others, such an opportunity of re-
storing her old commercial advantages to Fi-ance ?
What did not England do to preserve North Ame-
rica 1 Spain to preserve South America ? What
did not Holland do to keep Java ? Nations do not
suffer any of their great possessions to escape
without attempting to retain them if they have no
chance of success. It will be seen if the American
war will serve as a lesson to the English, and if
they will not attempt to defend Canada the day that
this colony of the north shall give way to the natu-
ral feeling which draws it towards the United
States of America.

The first consul had recalled to Europe ail the
ships of the expedition to the West Indies, except
the frigates and light vessels. They had all come
into French ])orts, one squadron only excepted,
consisting of five sail, which had been obliged to
put into Corunna. A sixth vessel had taken re-
fuge in Cadiz. It was necessary to reunite these
scattered elements, in order to undertake a contest
strength to strength with England.

It was a difficult task for the most able and most
solidly-established govi rnment to enter into a con-
test with England. Mo;-^ assuredly it was ejisy for
the first consul to place himself under the safe-
guard of his own power; Init it was also as easy for
England to place herself under her own. England
and France had con([iii '.ed an empire pretty nearly
equal, the first on the sea, the second on the land.
Hostilities begun; England displayed her flag in
both hemispheres, took, perhaps, some of the Dutch
and Spanish colonies, and with more difficulty some
of the French. She attempted to interdict the
navigation of the ocean to every people, and to
arrogate it to herself exclusively. But by herself
she could do no more. The appearance of English
troops upon the continent had only been to her the
source of such disasters as that of the Haider in
1799. France, on her side, was able, either by
force or by influence, to interdict to England the
shores of the European continent from Copenhagen
to Venice ; to reduce her merely to touch the
shores of the Baltic; to oblige her to cause a de-
scent from the heights of the pole, of those colonial
productions of which, during war, she became the
sole depository '. But in this contest of two great

' The disadvantage here is greater to the continent than
to England. The carriage of goods or produce into the
Baltic from England is the merest trifle additional, which is
inevitably charged on the continental consumer, who has to
pay, in addition, for the internal carriage of such goods or
produce from the port where it is consigned ; so that
France, by this exclusive scheme, taxed the people of the
continent grievously, while she did little comparative mis-
chief to England. — Translator.

The design of the first
consul to pass the
straits of Dover.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

The first consul makes strenu-
ous efforts to restore the 473
French navy.

powers, that dominate each upon one of two ele-
ments, withdut tlie means of going bevond tlieir
bounds to combat eacli other, it was to be feared
that, as they were hardly induced to menace with-
out iitrikini,', the world, oppressed by them, would
not remain without revolting against one or the
other, with the object of putting an end to the
continuance of such a fearful quarrel.

In similar circumst.-mces, success would apper-
tain to that power which knew how to pass out of
the element in which she governed in order to
reach her rival; and if such an effort became im-
possible, to that which knew how to render her
cause sufficiently popular in the world to gain over
a party. To att;tch any of the nations to them-
selves was ditlictilt for either to effect, becaii.se
England, in order to monopolize commerce, had
been induced to trouble the neutral powers; and
France, in order t'> close the continent against the
commerce of England, had been induced to ofter
violence to all the European states. It was then
necessary, if the conquest of England was resolved
upon, to solve all of these problems; either how to
p:i.s3 the ocean and march to London, or how to
domineer over the continent, and oblige it, whether
by force or policy, to ivfiise all British produce; to
realize, in one word, either a descent or a conti-
nental blockade. It will be seen, in the course of
this history, by what a chain of events Napoleon
was successively carried from the first of these en-
terprises to the second; by what a chain of prodi-
gies he at first approached his object, and was near
its attainment; by what a combination of faults
and misfortunes lie subsequently fell away from it,
and finished. by succumbing. Happily, before the
arrival of that deplorable term, France had done
such things, that a nation to which providence has
permitted similar accomplishments must remain for
ever glorious ; perhaps the greatest among the
nations.

These are the proportional differences which the
character of the war between France and England
would inevitably take. The war had been from
1792 to 1801 the contest of the principles of de-
mocnicy against those of aristocracy ; without
ceasing still to carry that character, it had become,
umler Napoleon, the contest of one element against
another, with much more difficulty on the side of
the French than of the English, because the entire
continent, through its hatred for the French re-
volution, and from jealousy of the power of France,
hated France much more than the neutrals de-
tested England.

With his piercing glance the first consul soon
perceived how the war bore, atid he took his reso-
lution unhesitatingly. He formed the design of
pii.ssing the straits of Dover with an army, and of
tenniiKiting in London even the rivalry of the two
nati'iiiH. He will b<! seen during three consecutive
years ap|>lying all liis faculties 10 this prodigious
enterprise, and remaining calm, confident, even
liappy, HO much was lie filled witii confidence, in
the front of an attempt which must conduct him
eitlitr to the ubsoluti; mastersliip of the worhl, or
to the cngulfment of hinmelf, his army, and his
glory, deep to th<; bottom of tlie ocean.

It will be saiil, perhaps, that Louis XIV. and
Louis XVI. had not been reduced to such a neces-
sity for entering into a contest with England, and

that numerous fleets disputing on the plain of the
ocean with her were sufficient for their objects.
But it may be replied, that from the seventeenth
to the tigiitecnth centuries, England had not yet
seized upon universal commerce, nor acquired the
largest maritime population upon the globe, and
that the means of the two navies were much less
unequal. The first consul had decided to make
immense efforts to restore the French navy; but
he much doubted of success, although he possessed
a vast extent of sea-shore — alth((iii;li he had at his
disposition the ports and buiUling-yards of Holland,
Belgium, old France, and Italy. It is needless also
to add those of Spain, which were at that Jme too
miserably managed to be a useful ally. He had
not, counting all his naval strength, actually united
but little more than fifty ships of the line to send
to sea in the course of the year. He was able to
procure four or five in Holland; twenty-one or two
in Brest ; two at Lorient ; si.\ at Rochelle ; five in
port at Corunna; one at Cadiz; and ten or twelve
at Toulon ; in all about fifty. With the timber which
covered his extensive empire, and which arrived,
descending the rivers, at the ship-yards of Holland,
tlie Low Countries, and Italy, he was able to con-
struct fifty other vessels of the line, and to make
his glorious trieoloured flag be borne by a hundred
ships of the line. But then he must have more
than one hundred thousand seamen to man them,
and it was with the utmost pains he could muster
si.xty thousand. England had seventy-five sail of
the line quite I'eady to send to sea; it was easy for
her to carry her total armament to a hundred and
twenty sail, with a number of frigates and small
vessels in proportion. She was able to send to
sea one hundred and twenty thousand seamen, and
still more, if giving up terms with the neutrals, she
carried the impress into their commercial vessels.
She possessed besides experienced admirals, confi-
dent, because they had conquered, who comported
themselves upon the ocean as the French generals
Lannes, Ney, and Massdna did upon the land.

This disproportion of the two navies, resulting
from time and circumstances, was therefore very
considerable ; nevertheless, the first consul did not
despair. He wished to build vessels every where,
in the Texel, the Schelde, at Havre, Cherburgh,
Brest, Toulon, and Genoa. He thought of com-
prehending a certain number of land soldiers in
the composition of his crews, and by that means to
lessen the inferiority of the French maritime popu-
lation. He had been the first to perceive that a
vessel having a crew of six hundred good seamen
and two or three hundred well chosen landsmen,
kept for two or three years at sea, exercised in
manoeuvring and firing, was capable of meeting
any opposing force. But even in employing this
means and others besides, he said it would be
necessary to have ten years to create a navy. But
he was not able to wait ten years with his arms
crossed, that his navy, going to sea in small detach-
ments, might in time bo rendered fit to meet the
English in a day of battle. To emjilny fen years
in forming a fleet, without any thing of moment to
execute in the interval, would have been a long
confession of weakness grievous for any govern-
ment, and more insupjiortable for liini who had
made his fortune, and who had to continue it, by
dazxling the eyes of the world.

Formation of camps from
474 the lexel to the Pyre-

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Slate of the coiiscrip-

It became needful, tiierefore, to apply every
means to reorganize the French naval force, to
attempt boldly the passage of the straits, and at
the same time to serve himself by the fear which
his sword had inspired, in obliging Europe to shut
out England from all access to the continent. If
to his genius for the execution of great enterprises
he joined good policy, he thought he should be able
by these means united, cither to destroy in London
itself the British power altogether, or to ruin it
at length by ruining its commerce.

Many of the French admirals, more especially
the minister Decres, advised him to proceed bj a
slow recomposition of the French navy, which
should consist in forming small naval divisions,
and in sending them to sea until they should be
well enough skilled to manoeuvre in large squad-
rons ; and, at the same time, exhorted him to stop
there, regarding as very doubtful all the plans
devised for passing the channel. The first consul
would not come into these views of the subject; he
proposed as well to x"estore the French navy, but
at the same time to make a more immediate and
direct attempt to strike at England.

In consequence of this conclusion, he ordered
numerous vessels to be built at Flushing, of which
place he could dispose in consequence of his {)ower
over Holland ; at Antwerp, which was become a
French port ; at Cherl)iirg, Brest, Lorient, Toulon,
and at Genoa, which France occiqiied in the same
manner as Holland. He had tiie twenty-two sail
of the line at Brest put in repair and made ready
for sea ; he had the two at Lorient com])leted,
an<l the five at Rochelle set afloat and armed. He
demanded means from Spain to refit and revictual
the squadron that had sheltered in Corunna, and
sent from Bayonne all that it was possible to get
conveyed there by land in men, stores, and niimey.
He took the same precautions respecting the vessels
at Cadiz. He ordered the completion and arma-
ment of the fleet at Toulon, consisting of twelve
vessels. These different squadrons, joined to three
or four in Holland, thus carried up, as already
observed, the naval force of France to about fifty
sail of the line, without reckoning those which it
might be able to obtain at a later i)eriod from, the
Dutch and Spanish naval forces, or counting those
which it might be possible to construct in the ports
of France, armed with a mixttire of seami-n and
land soldiers. Still the first consul did not flatter
himself, with such a force as this, to conquer in
a regular battle the superiority or even a Kuiritime
equality in regard to England ; he wished it to go
to sea, and after visiting the cohmies, to return,
and open for a little time the straits of Dover,
through the movements of squadrons, of which the
deep combination will soon be judged.

It was towards the straits that he concentrated
all the efforts of his genius. Whatever were the
means of conveyance required, he must first have
an army, and he formed tiie design of composing
one which should leave nt)thing to desire in respect
to number and oi-ganization ; to distribute it in
several camps from the Texel to the Pyrenees, and
to dispose it in such a manner tiiat he miglit bo
able to concentrate it with great rapidity u|)on
points of the shore carefully selected for that i>ur-
pose. Independently of a corps of twenty-five
thousand men united between Breda and Nime-

guen, to march upon Hanover, he ordered the
formation of six camps, one in the environs of
Utrecht, a second near Ghent, a third at St. Omer,
a fourth at Compeigne, a fifth at Brest, and a sixth
at Bayonne, this last destined to overawe Spain
fi-om certain motives which will be subsequently
made known. He commenced '^y forming pai'ks
of artillery on each of the six points of assemblage,
a precaution which, he ordinarily took before any
other, saying that he found the artillery was always
the most difficult thing to organize. He then
directed upon each of the camps a sufficient number
of demi-brigadcs of infantry to carry the nun)bers
up at least to twenty-five thousand men each. The
cavalry was assembled more slowly, and in a less
proportion than is customary, because, on the
hypothesis of an embarkation, he would be able to
carry but very few horse. It was necessary that
the quality and quantity of the infantry, the ex-
cellence of the artillery, and the number of guns,
should compensate in such an army for the nu-
merical inferiority of the cavalry. In this double
relation the French infantry and artillery united
all the desirable conditions. The first consul had
taken care to assemble on the coast, and to form in
four grand divisions, all the dragoons. This class
of soldiers being able to serve on foot or on horse-
back, would embark only with their saddles, and be
useful as infantry until they were able to be
moinited as horsemen, when a sufficient number of
hoi'ses should be taken from the enemy.

The dis])ositions were made for arming and har-
nessing four hundred pieces of field artillery, inde-
pendently of a vast park of heavy guns for sieges.
The demi-brigades, which were then in three batta-
lions, were to furnish two vvar battalions, each of
eight hundred men, taking from the third battalion
to complete the two first. The third battalion was
left in de])6t, to receive the conscripts, instruct
and discipline t-liem. Still a certain number of
these conscripts was sent innnediately to the war-
battalions, so that among the old soldiers of the
republic should be mingled in a sufficient pro-
portion young soldiers, well selected, possessing the
ardour, vivacity, and docility of youth.

The conscri|)tion had been definitively inti'o-
duced into the French military legislation, and
regulated under the directory, on the proposition
of general Jourdain. The law which established it
still pi'esented some deficiencies, wliich had been
made up by a new law of the 26th of April, 1803.
The contingent had been fixed at sixty thousand
men per annum, levied at the age of twenty yeai-s.
This contingent was separated into two divisions,
of thirty thousand men each. The first was always
to be levied even in time of peace ; the second
formed the reserve, and might be called out, in
case of war, to complete the battalions. It was
the middle of the year xi., or June, 1803, that
the demand was made for a right to levy the
contingents of the years XI. and xii., without
touching the reserve of these two years. There
were then sixty thousand conscripts to take im-
mediately. In thus calling them out in advance,
thei'e was time to instruct tliem, and to accustom
them to the military service in the camps formed
along the coasts. It was possible to recur, if
needful, to the reserve of these two years, which
still presented sixty thousand disposable men,

Great preparations for
tlie iuva:>iuii ol Eng-
land.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

state of the French finances
on the couimenLetuenl of
the war.

475

whom it would not be reckoned needful U> c:ill
upon for service except in case of a cimtineiital
war. Thirty thousand men demanded from each
class was a trifling sacriHee, which could very liitlo
burthen the population of one hundred and nine
departments. I3esides, there remained to call out
the contingents of the years vm., i.\., and x.,
which had not been require<l, owing to the peace
enjoyed under the cunsiilate. An arrearof men in
this way is as difficult to recover as an arrear
of taxes. The fir.<t consul made, upon this matter,
a sort of liquidation of claims. He demanded on
the contingents in arrear a certain number of men,
chosen among the more robust, and the most dis-
posjtble ; he exempted a greater number on the
coast than in the interior, imposing upon the last
not called out, the duty of guarding the coasts. In
this way he was able to arm still an army of fifty
thousand men, older and stronger tlian the con-
scripts of the years .\t. and xii. The army was
thus raised to four hundred and eigiity thousand
men, spread over the colonies, Hanover, Holland,
Switzerland, It;ily, and France. Of this effective
body, about one hundred thousand employed to
guard Italy, Holland, Hanover, and the colonies,
were not maintained at the charge of the French
treasury. Subsidies in money, or provisions fur-
nished on tlie spot where the troops were stationed,
covered the expense of their maintenance. There
were three hundred and eighty-four thousand paid
wholly in France, and entirely at the public dis-
posal. The deficiencies in this number of three
hundred and eighty thousand, might be reckoned
forty thousand for the ordinary deficiency, in other
words, for the sick, those absent for a short time,
or en route, &c.; forty thousand for gensdarmes,
veterans, invalids, and instructors ; about three
Imudred thousand men might therefore be reckoned
upon as active and disposable, disciplined, and
capable of entering immediately upon active ser-
vice. If of the.se one hundred and fifty thousand
were destined for the contest in England, there
stilt remained one hundred and fifty thousand
more, of whom seventy thousand, An-ming the de-
pots, were sufficient to guard the interior, and
eighty thousand might proceed towards the Rhine,
in case of any inquietude arising in that part of
the continent. It is not of its numbers by wliicJi
tile value of such an anny is to be judged. These
three hundred thousand men, nearly all tried men,
broke in to the fatigues and toils of war, conducteil
by experienced officer.s, were worth six or seven
hundred thousand, or perhaps a million, of those
who aro found ordinarily at the close of a long
pence, because between a soldier tried and one
who is not, the difference is infinite. Under this
head, tlnrcfore, the first consul had nothing to
desire. Ho commanded the finest army in the
world.

The groat j>roblem next to be resolved was, the
union of the means of tranH|»ort, in order to trans-
port this army from Calais to Dover. 'J'ho first
consul had not yet <lefinilively arranged his ideas
in this respect. One thing alone was definitively
fixed upon after a long «< lies of observations, this
W!is tho form of the vtssels to be constructed.
Vessels with a flat bottou), adapted to run aground,
and to move with sail ami oar, appeared to all the
naval engineers the means best adajited for the

l)assage ; besides this, there was the advantage of
being able to construct them everywhere, even in
the higher basins of the rivers. But it remained
to unite them, and to shelter them in jicnts con-
veniently placed, to arm and equi|) tliem ; and,
finally, to discover the best system of manoeuvres
to move them in order before the enemy. It was
needful for that purpose to iiave a succession of
long and difficult experiments. The first consul
had the design of establishing himself in person at
Boulogne, on the borders of the channel, to live
there often and so long, as to study the jilaces, the
circumstances of the sea aiid weather, and to
organize himself all the vast enterprise which he
contemplated.

While waiting until the different works con-
structing in all parts of France were suffiujently
advanced to make his presence upon the coast
of service, he occupied himself in Paris with two
essential things, the finances and the relations
of France with the powers of the c<intinent, be-
cause on one i)art there must be funds sufficient
for his intended enterprise, and on the other,
there must be the perfect certainty of not being
troubled during the execution of his scheme by the
continental allies of England.

The financial difficulty was not the least of the
difficulties that presented themselves iii)on the
renewal of the war. The French revolution had
devoured, in the form of assignats, an innnense
mass of national property, and ended in bank-
ruptcy. All the national property had been nearly
consumed, and credit for a long time ruined. In
order to preserve from alienation the 400,000,000f.
of national property remaining in IfJOO, it had been
divided between different public services, such
as public instructi<in, the invalids, the lej;ion of
honour, the senate, and the sinking fund. Changed
also into dotations, it aided the budget of the state,
and presented an immense future value, owing to
the augmentation of the worth of landed property,
an augmentation constant at all times, but always
greater on the morrow of a revolution. The same
property too had been diminished by certain por-
tions restored to the emigrants, not very consider-
able indeed, because the property not alienated
had been in nearly its entire totality the i)roi)crty
of the church. There nnist be added to these
remains the property situated in Piedmont and in
the new departments of the lUiiriC, valued at about
50,000,000 f. or (;o,000,000 f. Sucli were the re-
sources disposable in national domains. In respect
to credit, the first consul was resolute in never
having recourse to it. It will be remembered, that
when he completed in the year ix. the liciuidation
of the past dibts, he took advantage of the ele-
vation of the public funds to ac(iuit in stock a ]>art
of the arrears of the years v., vi., vii., and vm.;
but this was the sole operation of the kind he was
ever willing to permit, and ho paid fully and in
money the liabilities of the years ix. and x. In tho
year X., the last budget voted, he laid it down as u
l)rineiple that the public debt shoidd never surpass
50,000,000 f. in stock, and that if such a cireum-
Htiineo should occur, theie should be created im-
mediately a resource to redeem the excess in
fifteen years. This precaution had been deemed
needfid in order to sustain confidence, because in
spite of a generally healthy state of things, credit

t^e Tlie budgets of the years
4/6 X. and XI.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Resources to meet the
expenses of the war

had been so mucli injured, that the five per cent,
stock arose but Utile above fifty-six, and had not
passed sixty at the moment when it was the
higViest at the peace.

For a long time in England, and for a little time
in France, the public funds have been an object
of regular traffic, in which the largest houses par-
ticipate, always disposed to treat with the govern-
ment, and to furnish it with the sums of which it
may stand in need. It was not so at the epoch in
question. No house in France would have ex-
pressed a wish to subscribe to a loan. It would j
have lost all credit in avowing that its business
was connected with the state; and if the boldest
speculators had consented, they would at the most
have given fifty francs for stock of five, which
would have exposed the treasury to support the
enormous interest of ten per cent. The first con-
sul would not have any thing to do with a resource
so costly. There was then another mode of bor-
rowing ; it was to get into debt with the great
companies of contractors, who had the duty of
supplying the armies, by not paying them up their
full demands. They indemnified themselves by
charging for the different services two or three
times more than the things supplied were worth.
Then the bold speculators, who were fond of deal-
ing largely, in place of attaching themselves to
loans, gave themselves up with eagerness to go-
vernment couti'acts. There was then the means
in consequence, upon addressing them, of getting
the supplies upon credit ; but this means was ytt
more expensive than that of the loans themselves.
The first consul meant to pay the contractors re-
gularly, in order to oblige them to execute their
contracts regularly, and at reasonable prices. He
would not avail himself of any resources arising
from the alienation of the national property, which
could not then be sold to advantage, nor of the
resource of loans, then too difficult to obtain and
too costly, nor of the great contractors, a mode
that brought in its train abuses difficult to cal-
culate. He flattered himself, with great order
and economy, added to the natural increase of
the product of the taxes, and some accessory
receipts which will be presemtly made known, to
escape the hard necessity to which speculators and
money -mongers make governments submit that are
at the time destitute of revenue and credit.

The last budget, that of the year x., or from
September, 1801, to September, 1802, had been
fixed at 500,000,000 f. or 620,000,000 f., with the
expenses of collection, and including the additional
centimes. The sum had not been exceeded, a
circumstance due to the peace. The taxes alone
liad exceeded in their produce the calculations
of the government. A revenue of 470,000,000 f.
had been estimated, and a very small alienation
of the national domains had been voted to make
the receipts and disbursements balance. But the
taxes had surpassed the estimate by 33,000,000 f.,
and from that fortunate circumstance the aliena-
tion had become useless. This unexpected aug-
mentation of the resources accruing from the
registering, which, owing to the number of private
transactions, had produced 1 72,000,000 f. in place
of 150,000,000 f. ; the customs duties, that owing to
the revival of conunerce, had produced 31,000,000 f.
in place of 22,000,000 f. ; finally, from the posts

and some other branches of revenue less impor-
tant.

In spite of the renewal of the war, it was hoped,
and the event proved there was no deception
in the expectation, that a similar augmentation
of the produce of the taxes would again happen.
Under the vigorous government of the first consul,
neither disorders nor reverses were apprehended.
Confidence continued to maintain itself, private
ti-ansactions, the internal ti-ade, the exchanges
every day becoming more considerable with the
continent, were all cei-tain to follow an increasing
pi-ogression. Maritime trade alone was ex-
posed to suffer, and the revenue of the customs,
which then appeared to return 30,000,000 f. to the
budget of receipts, expressed sufficiently that thei'e
could not result from this suffering any enormous
loss to the treasury. They counted, therefore,
and with reason, on more than 500,000,000 f. of
receipts. The budget of the year xi., or from
September, 1802, to September, 1803, was voted
in March, with the fear, but not with the certainty,
of war. It had been fixed at 589,000,000 f., with-
out the expenses of collection, but comprehending
a part of the additional centimes. This was,
consequently, an augmentation of 89,000,0001".
The navy was increased from 105,000,000 f. to
126,000,000 f.; the war department, raised from
210,000,000 f. to 243,000,000 f., had obtained a
part of this augmentation. The public works,
worship, the new civil list of the consuls, the fixed
expenses of the departments, inscribed this time
in the general budget, took up the remainder of
the increase.

This augmentation of the expenses had been
met, by the supposed increase in the produce of
the taxes, by the additional centimes before de-
voted to meet the fixed expenses of the depart-
ments, and by several foreign receipts coming
from the allied countries. The current budget,
therefore, might be considered as at an equilibrium,
except the excess indispensable for the expenses
of the war. It was not to be supposed, indeed,
that 20,000,000 f. added to the support and inci'ease
of the navy, and 30,000,000 f. added for the army,
would be sufficient to meet the demands of the new
position of affairs. The war with the continent
oi'diuarily cost little enough, because the vic-
torious troops of France, passing the Rhine and
Adige, from their entrance upon operations, were
fed at the expense of the enemy ; but here this
was not the case. The six camps that were esta-
blished on the coast from Holland to the Pyrenees,
were to be supported on the French soil up to the
day when the soldiery should embark to pass the
straits. It was necessary to provide, besides, for
the new expenses of the naval constructions, and
to place along the coast an enormous mass of
artillery. A hundred millions more per annum
were scarcely sufficient to meet the necessities of
the war with England. The following are re-
sources which the first consul intended to serve
for the purpose of meeting this increase.

There have been already mentioned some sums
as received from foreign countries, and cai-ried to
the budget of the year xi., in order to cover a
part of the sum of 89,000,000 f., at least, which
89,000,000 f. was the same sum the budget of the
year xi. surpassed that of the year x. These re-

Holland and Spain
allied with France
in the war.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Napok-un demands a
subsidy of Spain.

477

ceipts were from Italy. The Italian republic not
having yet formed an army, and not, therefore,
being able to do witliout the French in their coun-
try, still paid 1,600,000 f. per month, or 19.200,000f.
per annum for the French ai-niy. Liguria, in the
same position, paid 1,200,000 f. per annum; Parma,
2,000,000 f. This was a resource of 22,500,000 f.,
already carried, as before stated, to the biuluet of
the year xi. It remained, thei-efore, to find tiie
entire sum of 100,000,000 f., which would infallibly
be added to the 589,000,000 f. of the budget of the
year xi.'

Tiie voluntary gifts, the price of Louisiana, and
the subsidies of the allied states, these were the
means upon which the first consul calculated for the
foregoing purpose. Tiie voluntary gifts of the cities
and departments amounted to about 40,000,000 f.,
of which 15,000,000 f. were receivable in the year
XI., 15.000,000 f. in the year xii., and the remain-
der in the vears following. The ])rice of Louisiana,
alienated for 80.000,000 f., of which 60,000,000 f.
were lodged in H(ill;ind,to the credit of the French
treasury, and 54,000,000 f. might be immediately
made available, the expense of the negotiation
deducted, presented a second resource. The Ame-
ricans had not yet accepted the agreement in a
legal form, but the house of Hope already offered
to anticipate, by an advance, a part of the sum.
In distributing between two years this resource of
54,000,000 f., there were 27,000,000 f. added to the
15,000,000 f., accruing from voluntary gifts, which
would carry up to 42,000,000 f., or nearly the
annual supplemental expenses for the use of the
years xi. and xii., or from September, 1802, to
September, 1804. Finally, Holland and Spain
were to furnish the surjilus to be made up. Hol-
land, delivered from the stadtholderate by the
French army, defended against England by the
French di|)lomacy, that had secured the restoration
of the greater part of its colonies, would have now
been willingly freed from an alliance which involved
it anew in war. Holland wished to remain neutral
between France and Great Britain, and to make a
jirofit of a neutrality, liappily situated as she was
between the two countries. But the first consul
liad tiikcn a resolution of which the justice cannot
be denied : this wiis, to make all the maritime
nations concur in the contest of France against
England. Holland and Spain, lie said, were lost if
the French hhouM be vamiuished. All their colo-
nies ill India and in America would be taken,
de»troyeil,((r piislied into revolt by England. With-
out doubt these two ])Owers vvould have found it
exceedingly commodious to have taken no i)art, to
have aided in tlie defeat of the French, had they
been beaten, or to have profited by their victories,
if they came off victorious, because if the enemy
were beaten, it would be as much to their advan-
tage as lo that of France. But they knew it could
not be so ; they combated with France, and like
her on an equality. Justice sanctioned it, and also
tiieir own interests, because their resources were
indispensable to the success of France. It was at

' Tlilu sum appears very small, Judging after the amount
of the modern budgcls of Fraiicf ; but it is nece»i-ary al-
ways to rcft-r to the value of thlnus at the time, and to say
lh.it 100,000,000 f. then would answer, perhaps, to 200 or
250,000,000 f. at the present day, when It is applied to niilitar>-
expenses.

the most a question whether uniting their means to
all the rest, the French might be able to conquer
the rulers of the seas. Isolated, and each reduced
to its own strength, that of the French would be in-
sufficient for the contest, and be beaten. The first
consul, therefore, came to the conclusion, that
Holland and Spain must render their aid ; and it
may be said, with perfect truth, that when he
forced them to concur in his designs, he only
obliged them to look forward in contributing to
their own interests. However this may be, in
order to make the language of reason compre-
hended, he had the argument of force as respected
Holland, because the French troops occupied
Flushing and Utrecht, and in regard to Spain, he
had the ti-eaty of alliance of St. Ildtfonzo.

In other respects, at Amsterdam, all the en-
lightened and really patriotic minds, M. Schimmel-
penninck at their head, thought as the first consul
did. There was, therefore, no trouble in getting
their consent, and it was agreed that Holland
should give her assistance in the following manner.
She was to engage to feed and pay a corps of
eighteen thousand French and of sixteen thousand
Dutch soldiers, in all thirty-four thousand men.
To this land force she promised to join a naval
squadron, composed of ships of the line, and a
flotilla of flat-bottomed boats. The ships of the
line were to consist of five vessels, also five frigates
in addition, and vessels necessary to transport twenty-
five thousand men and two thousand five hundred
horses from the Texel to the coast of England. The
flotilla was to consist of three hundred and fifty flat-
bottomed boats of all dimensions, adiijited to trans-
port thirty-seven thousand men and fifteen hundred
horses, from the mouth of the Schelde to that of
the Thames'. In return, France guaranteed to
Holland her independence, the independence of
her empire, European and colonial, and in case
of success against England, the restitution of her
colonies lost during the later wars. The aid ob-
tained by means of this aiTangement was consi-
derable, both in regard to men and money, because
eighteen thousand men ceased at once to burden
the French treasui-y ; sixteen thousand Dutchmen
were added to the military force of France, and
finally, the means of transport for sixty-two thou-
sand men and four tiiousand horses were added to
the naval resources of the expedition. It will be
difficult to say for what sum such an aid might
figure in the extraordinary budget of the first consul.

It remained to obtain the coneui-reiice of Spain.
This power was still less disposed to devote itself
to the common cause than even Holland. It
has been already seen, under the capricious influ-
ence of the prince of the peace, that she wavered
about miserably in directions the most contrary,
now drawing towards France, in order to obtain an
establishment in Italy, now towards England, to
free herself from the efforts imposed upon In r by a
courageous and indefatigable ally, and by these
fluctuations losing the i>recious island of Trinidad.

I This pressure upon so small a territory as Holland, was
greatly out of proportion to her means and population as
compared with France, bciUK bound to find means for trans-
porting nearly half the numerical force of the expedition.
This aiul other burdens laid upon her by France were com-
plained of Hs almost insupportable under the circumstances
of the time.— 2rfafi»/a/or.

._„ Napoleon flemands :
4/0 subsidy of Spain.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Resources of France
recapitulated.

isns.

June.

As a friend or enemy equally powerless, it was
not possible to know wiiat to ninke of her, eitiier in
peace or war: not that this noble nation, full of
])ati-iotism, not that the magnificent soil of the
peniiisula, containing the jjorts of Feri-ol, Cadiz,
and Cartliagena, was to be contemned, this would
be a great niisiake to supi)Ose. But an unworthy
government betrayed, by its dejilorable incnpacity,
the cause of Spain and that of all the mariunie
nations. Therefore, having well reflected upon
the matter, the first consul thought only nf drawing
from the treaty of itUiance of St. Ildefonzo, nothing
more than a grant of subsidies. Tliis treaty,
signed in 1706, under the first administration of
tlie prince nf the peace, bound Spain to furnish to
France twenty-four thousand men, fifteen sail of
the line, six frigates, and four corvettes. The first
consul determined not to demand these succours.
He said, with reason, that to draw Spain into the
war was not to render any service to Siuiin nor
himself ; that she would make no very brilli;int
figure in the contest ; that she would find herself
immediately deprived of her only resource in the
dollars of Mexico, of which the arrival would be
interrupted ; that slie was unable to equi[) either
an army or a fleet ; th;it she could consequently
be of no service, wliile she would only furnish the
English with a pretext, a long while sought for, to
raise an insurrectiim in the whole of South Ame-
rica ; that if, in truth, the participation of Spain in
hostilities, ch;inged into shores inimical to the
English vessels all the coasts of the peninsula,
none of its ports could have a usefid influt^nce in
the contest, like those of Holland, in co-operation
for a descent upon Great Britain ; that from this,
the interest which she could have in such a dispo-
sitioii of attairs could not be great ; that under the
commercial aspect of tiie question, the Biitish flag
was already excluded from Spain by her tarifts,
and that the produce of France continued to find
there in peace its in war a decided ju'eference.
Under these united considerations, the first consul
spoke secretly to M. Azara, the amhiissador of
Charles IV. at Paris, and said that if his court
was repiigmint to the war, he would consent to its
remaining neuter, ui)on the conditions of its paying
to France a subsidy of 6,000,000 f. per month, or
72,000,000 f ' per annum, and the signature of a
treaty of commerce, which should open to the
French manufacturers a larger outlet for their
goods than they at present enjoyed.

This offer, so very moder:ite, did not encounter
at Madrid the reception which it merited. The
l)rince of the peace was then in intimate relation
with England, and openly lietrayed the alliance.
It was from this motive that the fir.st consul, sus-
pecting the treason, had ph^ced at Bayonne itself
one of six camps destined to operate against Eng-
land. He was resolved to declare war against
Spain, sooner than to permit her to abandon the
common cause. He ordered general Beurnonville,
his embassador, to explain himself in this respect
in the most peremptory manner. The English, in
usurping nn absolute authority over the ocean,
obliged him to exercise a similar authority upon
the continent, for the defence of the general in-
terests of the world.

' About £3,000,000 sterling per annum.

To the .aid of the allied states it was necessary
to join that which might be obtained from the
states inimical to France, or at least ill disposed
towards her. Hanover would suffice for the sup-
port of thirty thousand men. The division formed'
at Faenza, and on its inarch to the gulf of Taren-
tum, was to be su))ported at the expense of the
Court of Naples. Well informed by his ambassador,
the first consul knew very correctly that queen
Caroline, governed by her minister Acton, was
wholly in an understanding with England, and that
a long time would not pass before he should be.
obliged to expel the Bourbons from the territory
of Italy. He therefore did not refrain from ex-
pressing his determination freely to the queen of
Naples. " I will not suffer," he said, " the English
to be in Italy any more than in Sjjain and Por-
tugal. On the first act of concert with England, a
war shall do me justice for your animosity : 1 am
able to do you much good and a great deal of
mischief. It is for you to choose. I do not want
to take your territory from you ; it is sufficient for
my designs if it serve them against England ; but
I shall certainly take ()ossession of them if they
are employed so as to be useful to my enemy."
The first consul spoke with sincerity, because he
was not yet made the chief of a dyna-sty, and did
not think about conquerit)g kingdoms for his
brothers. He demanded, in consequence, that a
division of fiftei'n thousand men, established at
Tarentum, should be sup])orted by the Neapolitan
treasury. He considered this charge as a contri-
bution imposed upon his enemies, as well as that
which was also about to pi'ess upon the kingdom
of Hanover.

In recapitulating what has gone before, it will be
found, therefore, that the resources of the first
consul were the following : Naples, Holland, and
Hanover, were to support about sixty thousand men.
The Italian republic, Parma, Liguria, and Spain,
were charged with the payment of a regular sub-
sidy. America proposed to pay him the price of
Louisiana. The patriotism of the departments
and of the great towns furnished him with supple-
mental taxes which were altogether of a voluntary
character. Lastly, the public revenue promised
an augmentation of the produce of the taxes, even
during the war, thanks to the confidence inspired
by a vigorous government having the repute of
being invincible. It was with all these means that
till' first consul flattered himself to add to the
589,000,0001'. of the budget of the year xi. the
extraordinary resource of 100,000,000 f. per an-
num for two, three, or four years. He had, too,
for the future, the indirect taxes. He was thus
secure of the ability to support an army of one
hunilred and fifty thou.'<and men ui)on the coasts ;
another army of eighty thousand upon the Rhine ;
the necessary troops for the occupation of Italy,
Holland, and Hanover ; fifty vessels of the line; and
a floiilia of transports of unknown extent, without
example until the present time, by which he con-
tcmi)lated the embarkation of one hundred and
fifty thousand soldiers, ten thousand horse, and
four hundred pieces of cannon.

The world was agitated and afl'righted, it may
he truly said, at the preparations for this gigantic
conquest between the two most powerful nations
on tiie globe. It was difficult to suppose the con-

Anecdotes of Count Cobentzel THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

and of Francis II.

47!)

sequences tli:it woulil be tlie result; would llie war
remain solely between France and England, while
the neutrals were compelled to sustain the vexations
inflicted upon them by the British naval forces,
and would tiiey refrain from lending themselves to
the desifjns of the fii-st consul, eiilier in shutting
tlieir ports or in suffering incommodious and ex-
pensive occupations of their territories? In reality,
all the powers gave the wrong to England in pro-
voking the rupture. The claim to retain Malta
liad appeared to all, even to those least given to
judge in favour of France, as a manifest vi(ilation
of the faith of treaties that nothing had justitiLd
which had occurred in Eurojie since the peace of
Amiens. Prussia and Austria had sanctioned by
formal conventions all that ha<l been done iu Italy
and Germany, and approved by notes all that had
taken place respecting Switzerland, Russia had
little less decidedly expressed lier approbation of
the conduct of France, except, indeed, in certain
renvmstrances, in fonn of an appeal, made in behalf
of the iiidemni'y to the king of Sardinia, which
had been too long deferred ; she had, indeed, ap-
proved of nearly all France had done. She had
j)articulaily remarked u])on the intervention of
Fnince in'regard to Switzerland as having been
ably conducted and eiiniuibly terminated. None
of the three powers of the continent were able to
discover, in the events of the last two years, any
justification for the usurpation and appropriation
of MalUi, and they explained themselves freely
upon the subject. Still, in spite of this manner of
delivering iluir opinion, it was plainly to be seen
that they leaned more towards England than
France.

Although the first consul had taken every caro
in his power to suppress anarchy, the oilier powers
were unable to hinder themselves from contem-
plating in him the image of the French revolution
triumphant, and much more glorious, than it was
agreeable to their feelings to behold it, in its
cllects. Two among them, Prussia and Austria,
had too little of maritime interest to be much
touclied witii any great anxiety aliout the liberty
of the Bcas. The third, that is to say. Russia, had
an interest in this liberty too distant for it to pre-
occupy iier attention very strongly at this time.
All three were vuiy diHerently affected by the pre-
pon<lerance of the French on the continent than
by the preponderance of Englainl upon the ocean.
The niuriiime law which England desired to esta-
blish seemed to them an attack n|Min the justice
and the interest of connnerce in gener.il ; but the
domination that France alreaily exercised, and was
about to exercise still more in Europe, was an
immediate and pressing danger which troubled
them deeply, hm coming niorfc home to themselves.
Thus they were not pleased with Englaml for
having provokeil this new war, and they Siiid as
nmch alou<l ; but they returned to their ill dis-
position towards France, which tiie wisdom and
glory of the first consul had suspended for an
instant, by a sort of Hurprise that liis genius had
imparled to their aver«i.iii.

Several words escaped from llio great jx-rsonages
of the day which proved, better ih.in all which can
be Slid upon the subject, the senlimentH of the
European powers in regard to France. M. Philip
Cobeuti^cl, ambassador ut I'aris, said cousiu of M.

Louis Cobentzel, minister for foreign affairs at
Vienna, was in conversation at fcible with admiral
Deeres, who, by the liveliness and vivacity of
mind, jirovoked vivacity in the minds of other
I'crsons, when M. Cobentzel was not aide to prevent
liiniself from saying, " Yes, England is all in the
wrong ; she i)nts forth pretensions which cannot be
sustained, that is true. But, in frankness, you
have made all the world fear you too much to
think now of being afraid of England '."

The emperor of Germany, Francis II., who ter-
minated of kite years a long and good life, and who
hid great penetration imder the aiipearance of .sim-
plicity, one day S|)eaking to the French ambassador,
M. de Chanjpagny, resjjecting the new war, and
expressing his mortification with evident sincerity,
affirmed that he was, as far as regarded himself,
resolute to remain in peaee, but that he was seized
with an invohnitary uneasiness of which he .scarcely
dared to explain the motive. M. de Champagny
encouraging the emperor's confidence, he said,
after a thousand excu es and a thousand protes-
tations of esteem for the first consul, " If general
Bonaparte, who has accomplished .so UKiny miracles,
should not accomplish that which he is now pre-
paring ; if he should not |)ass the straits, it is we
who will be the victims, because he will throw
himself back upon us, and combat England iu
Germany."

The emperor Francis, who was timid, seemed to
regret advancing so far, and endeavoured to recall
his words ; but there was not time to do so. M.
de Champagny forwarded them to Paris imme-
diately by tlie first courier 2. This remark was
u])on the part of the empemr a proof of rare fore-
sight, which, however, was of very little service to
him, because it was he himself who came forward
at a later period to give Napoleon the opportunity
to combat, to use h;s own words, "England iu
Germany."

Furthermore, of all the great powers, Austria
was that which had least to dread the consequences
of the present war, if she had known how to resist
the suggestions of the court of Lonilon. She had
not, in fact, any maritime interest to defend,, be-
cause she neither possessed commerce, ports, nor
colonies. The sandy port of old Venice, which had
been just given to her, could not have created for
Austria any interest of this character. She was
not situated like Prussia, Si)ain, or Naples, the
sovereign of extensive coasts, that France desired
to occupy. It was an easy matter for her to have
rested quiet out of the quarrel. She had gained,
on the contrary, a full liberty of action in the
afiairs of Germany. France, obliged to turn her
front to England, was now unable to press with all
her weight upon Germany. Austria, on the con-
trary, WSI8 enabled to have her full play in regard
to the questions still remaining unsettled. She
wished, as has been seen before, to change the
number of voices in the college of princes, to appro-
priate to herself in a fraudulent manner all the
moveable wealth of the secularized estiites, to pre-
vent the incorporation of the " innncdiato " nobi-

' I read thin .nnecdolc in a n'<fo written in 'ho liand of M.
Decrts. ;in<l HildrcMied ininiedlat' ly aflerwardK to Napoleon.

* It need scarcely lie remarked, thin recital ii ua extract
from an authentic de«|iatcli of the French ambassador.

Policy of Prussia.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Russia offers her
mediation.

lity, to seize upon the Inn from Bavaria, and by
all these means united regain her supei-iority over
the empire. The advantage of resolving all these
questions as she desired might have well consoled
her for the renewal of the war, and without her
extreme prudence have served to inspire her with
high gratification.

The two powers of the continent who were at
this moment the most chagrined were Prussia and
Russia, from motives, it is true, very different, and
not in the same degree. The most affected was
Prussia. It is easy to comprehend, with the
known character of her monarch, who hated war
and expense, liow much the prospect of a new
European conflagration must have been painful to
him. The occupation of Hanover, besides, had for
his kingdom great inconveniences. In order to
prevent this occupation, he had attempted an
arrangement which would have been able to ac-
commodate both France and England. He offered
England to occupy the electorate with Prussian
troops, promising that it should be no more than
an amicable deposit, upon the condition that the
navigation of the Elbe and Weser should be allowed
to remain open. On the other part, he offered
the first consul to keep Hanover on account of
France, and to pay over into the French territory
the whole revenue of the country. This double
zeal, shown towards the two powers, had for its ob-
ject, first to preserve the navigation of the Elbe .and
Weser free from the blockade by England; secondly,
to spare the north of Germany the presence of the
French troops. These two interests were for
Prussia most important. It was by the Elbe and
Hamburgh, and by tl»e Weser and Bremen, that
he exported all the produce of his dominions. The
cloths of Silesia, which composed the largest part
of the exports, were bought by Hamburgh and
Bremen, and exchanged in France for wines, and
in America for colonial produce. If the English
blockaded the Elbe and Weser, all this trade would
be stopped. The interest in keeping the French
out of the north of Germany was no less important.
In the first place their presence disquieted Prussia.
Then she was exposed to the bitter reproaches of
that portion of the German princes which made
her patronage their support. They said, that allied
to France for ambitious purposes, she abandoned
the defence of the German soil, and even contri-
buted by her easy complaisance to attract the
invasion of the foreigner. Tiiey went so far as to
argue that she was, by the law of Germany,
obliged to intervene for the purpose of preventing
the French from occupying Hanover. These
princes were most assuredly wrong, according to
the rigorous principles of national law, because the
German states, altliough bound to each other by a
federal alliance, had the individual right of peace
and of war, and were able to be, each upon his
own account, in a state of peace or war with any
other power, the confedei-ation not finding itself in
the same circumstances with such a power. It
would iiave been, in fact, strange if king George III.
was able to call himself at war for England, which
is inaccessible, and to declare himself in peace for
Hanover, which is accessible. Tiiis manner of
understanding the state of public law would be
convenient, and the first consul, when they wislied
to make it valid, replied by an apologue equally

true and ingenious. " They had," said he, "among
the ancients a right of asylum in certain temples.
A slave sought a refuge m one of these temples
and had nearly passed the threshold, when he was
seized by the foot. They did not forget the law so
long established — they did not snatch the slave from
his place of refuge, but they cut off the foot that
remained outside the temple." Prussia negotiated
then before deciding definitively herself about the
occupation of Hanover, when it was announced be-
sides by the first consul as near and certain.

The rupture recently broken out between France
and England was a disagreeable surprise to the
court of Russia, in consequence of the cares with
which, at that moment, this court was taken up.
The young emperor had adopted a new step in the
execution of his projects, and delivered to liis
young friends a little more of tlie aftairs of the
empire. He had thanked the prince Kourakin for
his services, and had called to the head of his
councils a considerable personage in M. Woron-
zoft", the brother of count Woronzoff, who was
ambassador of Russia in London. He had given
to M. Woronzoft' the title of chancellor, mini.ster
of foreign affairs, and divided the government of
the state into eight departments of the ministry.
He applied himself to setting at the head of these
diffei-ent departments, men of well-known merit,
but taking care, at the same time, to place near
them as adjuncts, his friends prince Czartoryski,
M. Strogonoff, and NowosiltzofF. Tlius prince
Adam Czartoryski was attached to M. Woronzoff,-
as adjunct in the department of foreign affairs,
M. Woronzoff, on account of his health, was often.
obliged to be absent on his estate, and prince
Czartoryski became charged, almost alone, with
the external relations of the empire. M. Strogo-
noff was the adjunct in the department of justice ;
M. Nowosiltzoff, in that of the interior. These
eight ministers were to deliberate in common on
the affairs of the state, and render annual accounts
to the senate. It \yas a first and considerable
change to make the ministers meet in deliberation,
and a still greater yet, to make them give in their
accounts to the senate. The emperor Alexander
considered these changes as approximations
towards the institutions of free and civilized
countries. Entirely occupied with internal re-
forms, he was painfully affected to see himself
recalled into the immense and perilous field of
European politics, and showed a sensible dis-
pleasure to the representatives of the two belli-
gerent powers. He was discontented with Eng-
land, whose unreasonable pretensions and bad
faith in relation to the affair of Malta troubled
Europe anew ; he was also ill-contented with
France from other motives. France had made a
matter of no great moment of his demand, so often
reiterated, of an indemnity for the king of Pied-
mont; and more, in granting an apparent influence
to Russia in the aftairs of Germany, she had too
l>lainly arrogated to herself that which was real.
The young emperor had soon seen this. Exceed-
ingly jealous, young as he was, he began to mark
with a sort of displeasure the glory of the great
man who governed in the west. The disposition
of the court of Russia, therefore, was that of
general discontent with all the world. The em-
peror deliberating with his ministers and friends.

Russia offers her meiSaiion
bciwecii France and Eng-
land.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Napoleon agrees to ac-
cept the arbitration
of Russia.

decided ujion offering tlie mediation of Russia, in-
voked <)i)eiily emmgli as it litid been by France,
and thus u|)i.n attempting by that me;ins to pre-
vent a uuivei-sal quarrel, at the same time re-
solving to speak the trutli to all ; neither to dis-
simulate to England, how mueh her pretensions
to Malta fell short of being legitimate, nor of
making tlie first consul feel the necessity of ac-
quitting himself justly towards the king of Pied-
mont, and of managing kindly, during this new
war, the smaller powers, that composed dependants
or solicitors of the court of Russia.

In consequence, through the medium of M.
Woronzoff, conferring with general Hedouville,
and through M. Markoff to M. Talleyrand, the
Russian cabinet expressed its lively displeasure at
the new troubles brought to the general peace by
the ambitious rivalry of France and England. He
acknowledged that the pretensions of England to
Malta were ill-grounded; but he made it be under-
stood that the continual enterprises of France had
given birth t() these pretensions without justifying
them ; and he added, that France would do well
to moderate her actions in Europe, if she did not
wish to render peace impossible with all the
powers. He offered the mediation of Russia, how-
ever painful it was for her to intermeddle in
differences, that, being strange to him so far,
would perhaps end, if he meddled with them, in
becoming personal with himself. He excluded
by saying, that if, in spite of his good will, his
efforts to establish peace should be without succes.s,
he, the emperor, hoped that France would be
rea.sonable in her proceedings with the friends of
Russia, especially with the kingdom of Naples,
which became her ally in 1798, and the kingdom of
Hanover, guaranteed by Russia the title of a
German state. Such was the sense of the com-
munications of the Russian cabinet.

The youth brought up in dissipation is ordinarily
full of levity in his conversation; the youth bred
up seriously becomes too readily dogmatic, because
discretion is the most diflicult thing to youth. It
is this which fully explains how the young go-
vernors of Russia gave lessons to the two most
powerful governments u|)on the globe, one led by
a gicat man, the other by great institutions. The
first Consul smiled, since he had divined, for a
good wiiile, all the ine.xperience and pretensions
which the cabinet of Russia contained. But
knowing how to govern for the advantage of his
own viist drsigns, he would not render complicated
the afl'airs of the continent, nor raise uj) on the
Rhin r a war which should attract him from the
war for which he was preparing upon the borders
of the channel. Receiving, without appearing to
uiid'i-stand, the lessons which he received from
St. Pttfr.->liurg, he wan resolved to cut short all
the ri'iiroaclies of the young c/.ar, and to constitute
him tin; ah.solute arbitrator of the great (|uarrel
that then occupicfl the world. lie therefore
off.-red, by M. do Talleyrand and general Hedi.u-
ville, to the Russian cabinet, to bind himself by
a promise, in virtue of which he would engage
liiuisilf to submit, wliat(!ver the r« suit was, to the
decision of the emperor Alexander, trusting en-
tirely in his sense of justice. This propusition WitH
as wise as it was dexterous. If E igland refuseil,
she avowed that she mistrusted either her cause

or the emperor Alexander ; she would thus place
herself in the wrong; she would justify the first
consul in making war to the last extremity. The
closing of all the ports under the influence of
France, and the occupation of all the territory
ap])ertaining to England, became thus a legitimate
consequence of the war. Still, as regarded the
kingdoms of Na])les and of Hanover, the first consul,
taking the decided tone which suited his objects,
declared that he would do all the war that had
been begun required, that war which he had not
commenced.

After having adopted the altitude which to his
own mind appeared the best at the moment as re-
garded the continental powers, the first consul
proceeded immediately to attend to the occupations
already prepared and announced. General St. Cyr
was at Faenza in the Romagna, with a division of
fifteen thousand men, and a considerable artillery
materiel, such as he required for the defence of the
road of Tarentum. He received the command,
which he immediately carried into execution, to
traverse the Roman states in good order, and to
reach the extremities of Italy, jiayingfor all on the
road, not to incommode the holy father. After the
conclusion of a convention with the court of Naples,
the French troops were to be supported at the
expense of the Neapolitan government. General
St. Cyr, judged, as he merited to be, by the first
consul, that is to say, as one of the first generals of
his time, principally when he operated alone, had
an embarrassing position, in the midst of an
enemy's kingd(jm ; but he was capable of making a
front to all his difficulties. His instructions, be-
sides, left him an inmiense latitude of action. It
was prescribed to him, on the first sign of an
insurrection in the Calabrias, to quit those pro-
vinces and inarch at once upon the Ciipital of the
kingdom. Having already conquered Naples
once, he knew better than any other person how it
must be taken again.

The first consul ordered Ancona to be occupied
besides, after having given the ixipe all the
Siitisfaction which might tend to ameliorate so dis-
agreeable an act. The French garrison was to
pay rigidly for every thing which it consumed, in
nothing to trouble the civil government of the holy
see, even to aid against the disturber of the
peace, if there should be any such.

Orders had in the meanwhile been sent for the
invasion of Hanover. The negotiations of Prussia
had remained unsuccessful. England declared that
she would blockade the Elbe and Wescr if the
states of the house of Hanover were touched,
whuthor the troops employed were French or
Prussians. This was assuredly the most unjust
of pretensions. That she should hinder the French
flag from circulating in the Elbe and Weser was
perfectly legitimate ; but that she should stop the
trade of Brenten and of Hamburg, because the
French hud invaded the territory in the midst of
which these towns found themselves enclosed, that
she should exact that the entire of Germany
should bravo the war with France for the interests
of the house of Hanover, and that she should
punish a forced inaction in deslroyiog their com-
merce, was the most iui(|uitous conduct. Prussia
was reduced to complain bitterly of the injustice
of such a proceeding, and in the end to suffer the
I I

482

General Mortier invades
Hanover.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Surrender of the Hano-
verian army.

British flag at the mouths of tlie two Gerrnnn
rivers, as well as the presence of the Frendi in
the heart of Hani)ver. She had no more the same
interest in cliarging herself witli the occupation,
since her trade would be, in any case, met by an
interdiction. The first consul expressed liis regret
to Prussa, promised her not to pass tlie limit
of Hanover, but excused himself for the invasion
by the necessities of war, and tlie immense advan-
tage that it gave him in enabling liim to close
against the English tlie two greatest commercial
highways of the continent.

General Mortier had orders to march on. He
passed forwai'd with twenty-five thousand men
to the northern extremity of Holland, on tlie
frontier of the low bishopric of Munster, belonging,
since the secularizations, to the house of Aremberg.
He was well assured of the consent of that house,
and he passed from thence to the territory of tlie
bishop of Osnabruck, recently joined to Hano-
ver itself. By that road it was possible to dis-
pense with touching upon the Prussian territory, a
management on the march indispensalile towards
the court of Prussia. The first consul had recom-
mended to general Mortier to be Ciireful to act
well in the country through which he passed, and,
above all things, to show himself full of respect for
any Prussian authorities which he might encounter
upon the frontiers of Hanover. This general, dis-
creet and ujjright, as well as brave, was perfectly
well selected for such a difficult mission. He set
out on his march to traverse the arid sands and
marshy heaths of Frisland and of Lower West-
phalia ; he penetrated by Meppen into Hanovtr,
and arrived in June on the shores of tlie Hunte.
The Hano\eriaii army occui)ied Diepholz. After
some cavalry skirmishes, it fell back behind the
Weser. Although composed of excellent soldiers,
it knew that all resistance was idle, and that it
would only be to draw down misfortunes upon the
country in jjersisting obstinately to resist. It
therefore offered to capitulate honourably, to which
general Mortier willingly consented. It was agreed
at Suhlingen, that the Hanoverian army should
retire, wiili arms and baggage, behind the Elbe;
that it should engage, under its word of honour,
not to serve in tlie present war, unless liy means of
the exchange of an equal number of French pri-
soners ; that the government of the country, and
the colleciion of the revenues, should thenceforth
appertain to France ; res])ect was to be jiaid to
individuals, to private property, and to the different
forms of religious worship.

This ctniveiiiion, styled that of Suhlingen, was
sent to the first consul and to the king of Enf^land,
to receive tlieir double ratification. The first con-
sul gave his immediately, not being willing to re-
duce the Hanoverian army to despair, by imposing
upon it harder conditions. When the convention
was presented to old George 1 1 1, he was seized
with a violent fit of anger, and went so far, it is
said, as to fling it in the face of the minister who
presented it to him. This old king, in his sombre
reveries, had always considered Hanover as being
one day to become the last asylum of his family, <if
which it had been the cradle. The invasion of Ids
patrimonial states put him in despair ; he refused
to siiiii the convention of Suhlingen, thus exposing
the Hanoverian soldiei's to the cruel alternative of

either laying down their arms, or of being slaugh-
tered to the last man. His cabinet made as his ex-
cuse ujion this very singular determination, that
the king would remain a stranger to all which iiad
been undertaken against his states; that to ratify
this convention was to consent to the occupation
of Hanover; that this occupation was a violation
of the German soil, and that he should appeal to
the diet for the violence done to his sul)jects. This
was the strongest sort of argument, and the least
sustainable that could be used under any point of
view.

When this news reached Hanover, the gallant
army, commanded by marshal Walnioden, was
struck with consternation. It was drawn up be-
hind the Elbe, in the middle of the territory of
Luneburg, established in a strong position, and re-
solute to defend its honour. On tiie other side, the
French army, which for three years had not fired
a musket, demanded nothing better than to be led
to a brilliant combat. But the opinion of the wisest
prevailed. General Mortier, who joined humanity
to valour, did all that was in his power to soften
the fate of the Hanoverians. He demanded no
more than that they should surrender prisoners of
war, and contented himself with their being dis-
b:!nded, agreeing that they should leave their arms
in their camp, and retire to their homes, pro-
mising at the same time never to be armed or
reunited again. 'J he warlike stores contained in
the kingdom were very considerable, and were all
delivered over to I he French. The revenue of the
country was to belong to them as well as the per-
sonal ])roperty of the king of Hanover. In the
number of these were found the fine stallions of
the Hanovei'ian breed, which were sent to France.
The cavalry dismounted, delivered up three thou-
sand five hundred superb horses, which were em-
ployed in remounting that of the French.

General Mortier did not himself interfere in the
active government of the country except in a very
indirect mannei- ; he left the greater part in the
hands of the local authorities. Hanover, if it were
not too much jn-essed, could perfectly well sup|)ort
thirty thousand men. This was the amount of
force which it had been intended to maintain there,
and a promise had been made to the king of
Prussia that the number should not be exceeded.
It was requested of this monarch, in order that the
French might avoid the long circuit by Holland
and Lower Westjilialia, that he would consent to a
road, with establishments, across the Prussian ter-
ritoi'y, for the entertainment of the troops going
to or i-eturning from Hanover, paying the con-
tractors exactly and in advance for their support.
The king of Prussia consented to oblige the first
consul. A communication was then directly esta-
blished. This communication served the purpose
also of sending to Hanover a great number of horse-
men on foot, who returned with three horses, mount-
ing one and leading two. The possession of this
part of Germany became very useful to the French
cavalry, and served soon to render it as excellent
in regard to horses as it was already hi respect to
men.

During the execution of his various occupations,
the first consul followed his preparations on the
shores of the channel. He had caused materials
for the naval service to be purchased in Holland,

Nupoleon visits Belgium
and the north.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Detail of tlie means for
invading England.

483

and more especially in Russia, in oiiler to be pi'o-
vided before the disposiiitiiis i>f that power, little
encDuraging, should be can ied so far as to refuse
to dispose of naval stores. On the basin of the
Gironde, the Loire, the Seine, the Soninie, and the
Escaut, there were flat bottomed boats of all
diinensims in the course of active construction.
Thousands of workmen were eniployed in cutting
down the forests near the coasts. All the foun-
deries of the republic were in activity to fabricate
mortars, liowitzeis, and artillery of the largest
caliijre. The Parisians saw on tiie quays of Bercy,
of the Invalids, and of the military school, a hun-
dred gun-boats in the course of construction.
People began to comprehend that such a prodi-
gious degree of activity could not be for a simple
demonstration, destined alone for the purpose of
making England uneasy.

The first consul had promised to set cut for the
sliorcs of the channel as soon as the naval con-
structions, thus unileriaken, should be a little more
advanced, and he should have put in order some of
his most urgent affairs. Tiie session of the legisla-
tive body had been ])eacealily devoted to offering
the government perfect a|iiirol)ati(ni for its diplo-
matic conduct towards Kngland, in order to lend it
the most complete moral sup])ort possible, to vote
the budget, of wiiich the priiieipal dispositions have
been already recorded, and finally, to discuss, with-
out noise, but with dee|i earnestness, the first
titles of the civil code. The legislative body was
at this time no nmre than a great council, a
stranger to politics, and uniformly devoted to its
public duties.

The first consul found himself at leisure towards
the end of June. He proposed, therefore, to pass
along the coasts as far as Flushing and Antwerp,
to visit Belgium, which he had never yet seen, the
departments of the Rhine, of which he knew no-
thing, and, in a word, to make both a military and
a political journey. Madam Bonaparte was to
accompany him, and partake in the honours that
awaited him. For the first time, he requested on this
occasion from the minister of the pultlic treasury,
who had them under his care, the diamonds of the
crown, in order to compose a set for iho dress of
his wife. Ho wished to show himself to the new
departments, and on the b'lrders of the Rhine,
almost in sovereignty, because they regarded him
as a sovereign personage, since lie svas consul
for life, and was empowered to choose his suc-
cessor. His ministerH had received the rendez-
vous, sonv; at Dmdiii-k, others at Lill.-", Ghi.-nt,
Antwerp, and BrusMols. The foreign ainljassadors
were invited to the same places. VVilliiig to exhi-
bit to the people a fervent spirit of Catholicism, he
judged it us.fu! to appc-ar among them accon).
panied by the pope's legate. Upon the simple
expression of his ilesire to that effect, cardinal
Caprara, in spite of his great age and infirinitiis,
decided, after having oltaineil the pope's |)er-
mission, to increase the eonsidar attendance in the
Low Countries. Orders hail been accordingly
;given to receive this |irin(;o of the Roman clinrch
in the most magnihci-nt manner.

The first consid set out on the 23rd of June.
He first visited Compic^ne, where liny were con-
structing vessels on the banks of the Oise, as well
u Amiens, Abbeville, and St. Valery, where the

.same kind of work was going (ui upon the banks
of the Sonune. He was welcomed with enthu-
siasm, and received with the honours commonly
paid to royalty. The city of Amitns ofiered him
four swans of dazzling whiteness, which were sent
to the garden of the Tuilcries. His presence was
every where signalized by attachment to his per-
son, aversion hjr the English, and zeal to com-
bat and conquer the old enemies of France. He
listened to the authorities and the inhabitants with j
e.\treme kindness; but his attention was evidently
absorbed altogether in the great object which occu-
l)ied him at that time. The building yards, the
magazines, and the stores of all kinds, exclusively
attracted his ardent solicitude. He visited the
troops which had begun to nuister in Picardy,
inspected their equipments, treated with kind no-
tice the old soldiers whose countenances were
known to him, and left them all lull of confidence
in his vast undertaking.

Scarcely had he completed visits of this kind,
wlien he entered within doors, and although worn
out with fatigue, dictated a multitude of orders,
which still exist, for the lasting instruction of
governments that are carrying great preparations
tor war into effect. Here tlie treasury had delayed
sending the funds to the undertakers of the work ;
there the minister of the navy had neglected to
ensure the arrival of the naval stores ; besides
this, the directors of the foresls, throu;;h various
formalities, had I'etarded the cutting down of the
necessary timber ; in another ])lace, the artillery
had not sent on the cannon nor the necessary
ammunition. The first consul repaired all these
evils from neglect, and removed the obstacles in
the way by the power of his own will. He thus
arrived at Boulogne, the jnineipal centre to which
all his efforts tended, and the point for the pre-
sumed departure of the grand expedition projected
against England.

This is the moment to make known in detail
the immense armament devised to transport one
hundred and fifty thousand men.acro.ss the straits
of Dover, with the number of horses, cannon,
stores, and provisions, that were supposed to be
required for such a force. It was already an ex-
tensive and difficult operation to transport twenty
or thirty thousand men across the sea. The exi-
pedition to Egypt, executed fifty years ago, and
the ex])edition to Algiers, executed in the present
time, prove this. What then must the diHieulty
!)(• attending the embarkation of one hundred and
fifty thousand men, ten or fifteen thonsainl horses,
and three or four hmnlred ginis, with their trains ?
A vessel of the line might cany six or seven
hundred men, in a condition to make a voyage of
some time, and a large frig.ite half that number.
There would be required then two hundred sail of
the line to embark such a force, in other words,
a chimerical navy, that the allianee of England
and France for the same object could alone render
imaginable. It was therefore, in consequence, an
impossible enterprise to throw one hundred and
fifty thousand men into England, if Ivngland had
been situated at the dislanci; <if Egypt or of the
Morea ; but there were only the straits of Dover
to be passed, that is to say, about eight or ten
marine leagues. For such a passage there was no
ueed to employ large vessels. There was, indeed,
I 1 2

484

Detail of the means for
invading England.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The gun-vessels and gun- IS03.
boats described. July.

no possibility of using them if they existed, be-
cause between Ostend and Havre there is not a
single port capable of receiving them ; and there
is not even upon the opposite coast, at least with-
out a considerable circuit, a deep port where they
are able to gain access. The idea of small vessels,
seeing the nature of the passage and that of the
poi'ts, had therefore presented itself to every body.
Besides, these small vessels sufficed for all the cir-
cumstances of the sea that they could be expected to
encounter, or to which they could be otherwise ex-
posed. Long observations, collected upon the coasts,
had conducted to the discovery of all those circum-
stances, and had determined the size and form of
the vessels which were best adapted to meet them.
In summer, for example, there are in the channel
nearly perfect calms, sufficiently long to be able to
reckon upon forty-eight hours of the same kind of
weather. It would require nearly that number of
hour.s, not to cross over, but even to get out of
port the immense flotilla which was in contem-
plation. During such a calm, the English vessels
being immoveable, those which were constructed
to move with the oar as well as the sail would be
able to pass over with impunity, even in sight of
an enemy's squadron. Winter had also its favour-
able moments. The thick fogs of the cold season,
met with when the winds are lulled or very slight,
offered another means of making the passage in
presence of an enemy's force either becalmed or
deceived by the fog. There yet remained a third
favourable occasion, namely, that offering at the
equinoxes. It often happened that, after the tem-
pests of the equinox, the winds suddenly died away,
and left a sufficient time to cross the straits before
the return of an enemy's squadron, obliged by the
storm to keep off shore. These w^-e circumstances
univer.sally pointed out by the sailors living upon
the borders of the channel.

There might be a case in which at any season,
whatever the weather was, short of a storm, that it
miglit be possible to pass across the straits; this was
when, by able manoeuvring, there should have been
brought into the channel, for some hours, a large
squadron of line-of-battle ships. Then the flotilla,
protected by such a squadron, would be able to set
sail without troubling itself about the enemy's
cruisers.

But the circumstance tof bringing a large French
squadron between Calais and Dover, depended
upon such a variety of difficult combinations, that
it was to be reckoned upon as the least possible
thing that could happen. It was necessary then
to construct the flotilla for the transjiort of the
army in such a fashion, that it should be able, in
appearance at least, to pass without any auxiliary
force, because if it had demonstrated by its
construction that it was impossible to keep at sea
without tile succour of an auxiliary squadron, the
secret of the grand operaliim would have been
made known at once to the enemy. Aware of
tliis, they would Iiave concentrated all their naval
force in the straits, and prevented every manoeuvre
or attempt of the French squadrons endeavouring
to proceed there.

To the considerations of the nature of the winds
and of the sea in the straits, were join<;d those
arising from the configuration of the coasts. The
French ports in the straits were all tide ports, or,

in other words, were dry at low water, and pre-
sented no more tlian a depth of eight or nine feet
at high tide. The vessels, therefore, must be of
such a class as that when they were laden they
should not need more than seven or eight feet of
water to float them, and must be able to take the
ground without injury. In regard to the English
coast, the ports situated between the Thames,
Dover, Folkestone, and Brighton, were very small;
but such as they miglit be, it was necessary,
in order to effect so vast a disembarkation, to
run simply upon the shore, and for this reason
vessels that would take the ground were alone
proper. They were these different reasons which
had made flat-bottomed boats be adopted, able to
move with the oar, in order to pass whether in
calm or fog ; able to carry heavy cannon, without
drawing more than seven or eight feet of water, in
order to move freely in the French ports of the
channel, and to run agi'ound without injury upon
the beaches of England.

In order to meet these several objects, large
gun-vessels were devised, having flat bottoms,
solidly constructed, and built of two different
classes. The vessels of the first class, which were
more especially styled gun-vessels, were con-
structed in such a manner as to carry four heavy
guns, from twenty-four to thirty-six poundei-s, two
forward and two astern, and thus consequently, by
weight of metal, to answer the fire of the ships
and frigates. Five hundred of these gun-vessels
would thus be equal to the fire of twenty vessels of
a hundred guns '. They were rigged like brigs,
with two masts, and manoeuvred by twenty-five
seamen. They were each capable of containing a
company of infantry of one hundred men, with
their staff", their arms, and ammunition.

The boats of the second species or class, in
order to distinguish them from the first, de-
nominated gun-boats, were less heavily armed, less
wieldy, but designed to cari-y, independently of
infantry, the field artillery. These gun-boats were
provided in the bow with one twenty-four pounder,
and had a piece of field artillei'y in the stern
mounted upon its carriage, with the necessary
apparatus for embarking and disembarking in a
few miimtes. Each carried, besides, an artillery
caisson, filled with ammunition, disposed upon the
deck in such a manner as not to hinder the work-
ing of the vessel, and with the power of being
landed in a moment. They all contained, besides,
in the centre of the hold, a small stable, in which
were lodged a couple of artillery horses, with pro-
visions for several days. This stalile, placed in the
centre, opened above, having a moveable covering,
and was combined with the mast in such a mode
that the horse could be seized on the land by
means of a yard, be rapidly elevated, and then
lowered into iiis cabin with the greatest facility.
These gun-boats, inferior in iheir armament to the

' Only in number alone, not in effei-t; because each boat
would have a separate motion from the waves, and its can-
non a varying direction accordingly, wliile the fire of the line-
of-battle ship would be concentrated under one common
movement, far less in the aii^le, <"■ a vast deal slower, and
therefore beyond all comp:irls.on more effective. There is
no analogy between the lire of a gunboat in motion and a
battery on shore, for examjile, the last lieiiig much more
effective from its absence of all motion. — Translator.

1803.
July.

Description of the pinnaces. THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE. Difficulties of the expedition. 485

pun-vessels, but able to throw heavy metal, and to
fire grape by means of a field-piece placed on the
deck, had the advantage, besides, of carrying a
part of the infantry and all the artillery of the
army, with two horses to draw the guns into line at
the inoment of landing. The rest of the artillery
horses were to be placed in transports, of which
the <.rganizution will presently be seen. Less fit
than the gun-vessel.s to manoeuvre and fight, they
were rigged like the huge coasting barks of the
French side of the channel, and had only three
large sails attached to three masts, without top-
mast or topsail. They were maimed by only si.v
seamen, and were capable of containing, as well as
the gun-vessels, a company of infantry with its
officers, two artillery drivers, and some artillery
men. If three or four hundred of these vessels be
supposed ready, they would be able to carry, in-
dependently of a mass of infantry very consi-
derable in number, thre ■ or four hundred field-
pieces, with carriage and ammunition sufficient for
one battle. The rest of the ammunition, with the
other artillery horses, would follow in the trans-
port vessels.

Such were the flat-bottomed boats of the first
and second class or species. It was thought
necessary to construct a third kind, yet lighter and
more manageable than the jireceding, drawing
only two or three feet of water, and made to take
the shore every where. They were large ships'
boats, like canoes, sixty feet long, having a move-
able bridge, which could be projected or drawn in
at ]>leasure, and were distinguished from the others
by the name of pinnaces. These long boats, pro-
vided with sixty oars, could carry also, if it were
required, a light sail, and move with extreme
speed. Wiien sixty soldiers, brought to manage
the oar aa well as seamen, set them in movemetit,
they glided over the sea like the light boats that
are sent from large vessels, and surprised the eye
by the rapidity of their way. These pinnaces
could each take sixty or seventy soldiers, besides
two or three seamen to work them. They carried
for defence a small howitzer, and a four-pounder
gun, and had no lading beyond the arms of those
on board, and some marching provisions disposed
as ballast.

After numerous experiments, these three kinds
of vessels were definitively fi.\ed upon as answer-
ing every end for the passage, and when ranged
ill order of battle, presenting a formidable line of
fire. The guii-vessels, ea-sier to mantcuvre, and
more heavily armed, occupied the first line; the
gun-boats, being inferior in these two respects,
were to form the second line, facing the intervals
between tin; gun-vessels, in such a manner that
there would be no opening not covered by the
effect of their fire. The pinnaces, which only car-
ried small howitzers, and which were formidable
for their musketry, disposed sometimes in advance
of the line of battle, soinetiines in the rear, or on
the wings, would be able to pull up rajiidly, to
board in case of meeting with a fleet at sea,
to throw their men on shore if they wished to
effect a disembarkment, or to steal away, if they
should be exposed to a fire of heavy artillery.

These three species of boats were to be united
to the number of twelve <ir fifteen hundred. They
were to carry at least three thousand cannon of

large calibre, without reckoning a great number of
pieces of artillery of small dimensions, in other
words, their fire would be equal in metal to that of
the strongest squadron. Their effect, too, would
be dangerous, because their tire would graze
along the line of the sea level. Engaged against
large vessels, they presented an object difficult to
strike, firing themselves at one not easy to miss.
They were able to move every way, to disperse
themselves, or to surround an enemy. But if they
had the advantage of division, they had also its
inconveniences. To introduce oi-der of movement
into a floating mass so prodigiously numerous, was
a problem extremely difficult to solve. In order
to attain this object, admiral Bruix and Napoleon
apjilied themselves to it incessantly for three years.
It will be seen hereafter to what a degree of pre-
cision in manoeuvring they had reached, and how
far the problem had been resolved by them >.

What effect would a squadron of ships of the
line have produced dashing at full sail into this
mass of small vessels, pressing them together,
running down tho.se ahead, sinking those which
were struck by their shot, but, on the other side,
surrounded by a cloud of enemies receiving
in every direction a dangerous tire in return,
assailed by the musketry of a hundred thousand
men, and perhaps entered by intrepid soldiers
trained to boarding ? This would not be very easy
to discover, because it is impossible to form an
idea of so strange a scene, one which never had
a precedent to which the mind might have re-
course in considering the different chances as to
the result. Admiral Decres, a man of superior
mind, but given to underrate in his opinions, ad-

' This problem never could have been resolved, because
in no case did the Boulogne flotilla dare to venture far
enough from the shore in a mass sufficient to make the trial.
Confusion in presence of an experienced and practised enemy
with heavier vessels would be unavoidable at sea. It hap-
pened from the time spoken of by our author, down to the
aliandonment of the enterprise, that a number of these craft
were captured by the English light vessels, such as brigs
or cutters, and many driven on shore; but their small
draught of water, and the artillery moving with them on
land, and covering them, prevented the capture of a large
number, as they stole along from port to port. Some that
were taken off Audiernc, it was not thought safe, from
their fragile charactt-r, to send across to Plymouth, the
weather being but moderately fresh. The men were taken
out, and they were sunk. Ten were captured in one week,
with tiieir complement of soldiers on board. The resistance
of tliese boats was in no case formidable, where the water
admitted of an approach to them, and the shore was not
armed for their protection. The only desire of the English
was to get them out from the land. The late lord Exmoutli
spoke of their resistance to English vessels as impossible.
In the judgment of experienced English seamen, such an
unmanageable mass of l>oats had no chance of crossing but
in a dead calm, which could hardly be expected to last long
enough for the flotilla to embark its proposed armament,
move out of port, and cross the channel under oars. In
case of the lightest breeze, the inevitable destruction of the
flotilla, in presence of an English squadron, must have en-
sued. There were between four and five hundred English
vessels protecting the coast, all manned by experienced
seamen. The fire of a mass of boats in the confusion in-
evitable upon being attacked in several places at once, would
be as dangerous to themselves as to an enemy; and their
crowded state would enhance the confusion and the havoc
that must be thus inevitably produced. — Tranilator.

486

Inconveniences in the
cuii&tructiuii of tlie
flotilla.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Disadvantage of the
currents.

1803.
July.

raitted that by sacrificing a hundred of the boats
and ten thousand men, it might be possible to pass
the straits. " That number are lost in a single
battle continually," observed the first consul ;
"and then what single battle has ever produced
such results as we may hope for from tlie invasion
of England V

But the most unfavourable point of view was
taken in imaginiitg there would be a rencontre
with the Englis'h cruisers. There always remiiiiied
the chance of crossing in :i calm, during which
the movements of the English would be paralyzed;
or during a fog, which would conceal the flotilla
from view ; and, lastly, the cluince more en-
couraging still, of the sudden appearance for some
hours of a French squadron in the straits.

In any ciise, the boats had strength enough
to defend themselves, to run upon the shoi-e, and
to sweep it with their fire, thus depriving the
enemy of all hope of aid from a friendly squadron,
and to afford confidence to the soldiers and seamen
belonging to it. Nevertheless, these boats pre-
sented certain inconveniences, arising out of the
form adopted in their construction. Having in
place of a keel deeply immersed a flat bottom,
which went but a little way beneath the water,
and being heavily masted, they possessed but little
stability, so that they inclined with too much
facility to the wind, and even overset, if they were
taken by a sudden squall ; a circumstance that
really occurred once in Brest roads to a gun-vessel
badly stowed. This accident happened before the
eyes of admiral Ganteaume, who, under consider-
able apprehension, inmiediately wrote to the first
consul, stating the occurrence. But this kind of
accident did not again occur. With proper pre-
cautious in the mode of distributing the stores,
which were made to serve as ballast, the boats
belonging to the flotilla aequii-ed sufficient stability
to carry themselves in rough weather ; and there
occurred no further accident tlian that of running
aground, which was a natural consequence in navi-
gating along shore, and was often voluntarily done
on their part with the view of escaping from the
English. The following tide got them afloat, when
they had thus been obliged to run ashore.

These boats offered an inconvenience still more
vexatious, which was that of driving, or, in other
words, yielding to the currents. This was caused
by their heavy make, wliich presented a greater
hold to the water than their masting presented to
the winds. This inconvenience was aggravated
when, deprived of wind, they were under tlie oai*.
They had no more than the strength of their
I'owers to combat the force of the current. In
such a case they might possibly be carried far
from their object, or, what was still worse, might
arrive one after another completely separated,
because being of difi"erent forms, they must be-
come subject to an unequal deflection. Nelson
had himself experienced this in his attack upon
the Boulogne flotilla in 1801. His four divisions
were unable to act all at the same time, and made
only unconnected efforts. A similar obstacle, vex-
atious in any sea, existed yet more in the channel,
where two very strong counter-currents j)revailed
every tide. When tlie tide flowed or ebbed, it
produced alternately an ascending or descending
current, the direction of which became determined

by the configuration of the shores of France and
England. The channel is very wide at the western
extreme, between Cape Finisterre and the Land's
End, Cornwall ; and very narrow on the east,
between Calais and Dover. The tide in flowing
enters rapidly by the larger opening, and this
produces at the flow an ascending current from
the west to the east, or from Brest to Calais. The
same effect occurs in a contrary direction at ebb-
tide, it being then more rapid towards the larger
issue, and there results in consequence a current
from the east to the west, from Calais to Brest.
This double current, receiving near the coasts,
from their form itself, different inflexions, could
not fail to cause a degree of disturbance in the
progress of these two thousand vessels, a dis-
turbance to be more or less dreaded, according to
the weakness of the wind and tiie strength of the
tide. This would much diminish the advantage of
crossing in a calm, the time otherwise most de-
sirable. However, the channel between Boulogne
and Dover was not only very narrow, but of small
depth, permitting anchorage at an equal distance
from both shores. The admirals, therefore, thought
it was practicable to anchor in case of too great a
deflection from the coui-se, and to remain until the
return of the contrary current, a delay that would
not cause a loss of more than three or four hours.
This was a difficulty, therefore, but one not insur-
mountable '.

The foregoing inconvenience, arising from the
currents, caused the abandoimient of a species of
boats called praams. These altogether flat, with-
out any curvature in the sides, having three keels,
were truly floating bridges, or pontons intended
for the carriage of a good many men and horses.
It was at first resolved to construct fifty, which
would offer the means of transporting two thousand
five hundred horses, and six hundred pieces of
cannon ; but the inferiority of their sailing soon
made them be laid aside, and no more than twelve
or fifteen were constructed. No allusion has been
made to the heavy barks, short and broad, armed
with a twenty-four pounder astern, which were de-
(loininated caiques, nor to the corvettes, drawing
little water, and carrying a dozen heavy cannon,
both tlie one and the other were built as specimens,
of which a proper experience forbade the multipli-
cation. The total of the flotilla was composed
almost exclusively of the three species of vessels
of which a description has been before given, that
is, of gun-vessels, gun-boats, and pinnaces.

Each gun-vessel and gun-boat yas able to carry
a company of infantry ; ev(-ry pinnace, two-thirds
of a C(mipany; thus five hundred gun-vessels, four
hundred gun-boats, and three hundred pinnaces,
united, in all, twelve liundred conveyances, would
afford the means to embark one hundred and
twenty thousand men. Sujiposing the Brest
s(|uadron to carry fifteen thousand or eighteen
thousand more, and that of the Texel twenty

' All that I have stated here is extracted from the volu-
minous correspondence of the admirals, principally that of
admiral Bruix with tlie minister of marine and with Napo-
leon. It is to be clearly understood, that I conjecture no-
thing myself, but that I make a summary, as far as I am
able, and with historical precision, of all that is of essential
importance in this correspondence, that I believe I am jus-
tified fully in styling admirable.— ^!/Wior's note.

July.

Necessity of places of
naval assemblage.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Characters of the French .__

admirals. 'iot

thousand, the whole would anidunt to one hundred
and fifty thousand or one liundred and sixty thou-
sand men. Thus there would be fluufj upon tiie
English shore one hundred and twenty thousand
ill one mass on board the flotilla, and thirty thou-
Siind or forty thousand in detached divisions on
board of the two squadrons that would sail, the
one from Holland, the other from Brest.

This would be a force sufficient to vanquish and
reduce this proud nation, which pretended to
domineer over the world from the security of an
inviolate asylum.

But it was not men alone that were to be car-
ried; there must be conveyed besides men, stores,
provisions, arms, and hoi-ses. The war Hotilla,
l)roperIy so called, would Uike the men, the ainmu-
niiiiin indispensable for the first battles, and pro-
visions for twenty days, with the field artillery, and
a complement of two horses for each gun. But
there must also be conveyed tlie remainder of their
trains, not less than seven or eight thousand
c.ivalry horses, munitions for an entire campaign,
provisions for one or two months, a large park of
siege artillery in case there should be wails to
breach or batter. The hoj-ses more ])articularly
were very difficult to carry, and it would be neces-
sary to have not less than six or seven hundred
vessels to carry seven or eight thousand.

For this last purpose there was no necessity to
construct vessels. The pilot boats and those be-
longing to the deep sea fishery furnished a naval
supply always ready at hand for transport, and very
consiilerable.

There could be bought up upon the entire of the
coasts, from St. Malo as far as the Texel, and even
in the interior of Holland, ve.ssels measuring from
twenty to thirty tons, built for pilotage and for the
cod and herring fi.sherius, perfectly strong, excel-
lent sailors, and very cajjable of receiving any
thing with which it was wi.shed to load them, thus
providing a convenient mode of carriage. A com-
mission was formed for the sole purpose of buy-
ing up from Brest to Amsterdam all the suitable
vessels of this kind, costing, on an average, from
12 000f. to 15,000r. each. Some hundreds were
jturehased, and many more, if required, it was not
difficult to olnain.

Carrying up the war-boat.s, properly so called,
to twelve or thirteen hundred, the transport flotilla
to nine hundred or a thou.sand, there were two
thousand two liundred or two thousand three hun-
dred vessels to unite together; a prodigious naval
assemblage, without precedent in jiast times, and
jirobably to have no example in those which are to
come.

It is proper to understand now how it was pos-
sible to construct upon one or two points of tlio
co;ist such an immense number of vessels. Small
as their dimensions might be, it would have been
iin|)o.H»ible to procure at one place the materials,
workmen, and building yards necessary for their
construetion. It had therelorc been indispensable
to make all tin; ports concur in that sole object as
well iu» all the basins of the rivers. It was (juito
enough to reserve to the ports of the chaimel, in
which lli<-y were to be united, the care of collecting
and retaining these two thousand vessels.

But after having built tliein very far apart one
from another, and it became necessary to assemble

them, this assemblage must be at one point between
Boulogne and Dunkirk, and they nuist elude the
English cruisers, resolved upon their destruction
before they should be united. It was iieedlul, in
consequence, to receive them in three or four ports,
lying as much as possible open to the same point
of the compass, at a small distance from each other,
in order to hoist sail and depart together. It was
needful to accommodate them, without confusion,
sheltered from the danger of fire, to place the troops
in such a manner that they should be able to pass
in and out often; and to learn how to load and un-
load them rapidly with the men, cannon, and horses.

All these difficulties could only be resolved
at the places themselves, before Napoleon, who
should see things with his own eyes, while sur-
rounded by officers the most special and able. He
had sent to Boulogne M. Sganzin, the engineer of
tlie navy, and one of the most able members of
that distinguished body; M. Forfait, who had been
the minister of mariue for some months, and who,
though not above mediocrity in the duty of admi-
nistration, possessed very superior skill in the art
of naval construction, full of invention, and devoted
to an enterprize of which, under the directory, he
had been one of the most ardent supporters; lastly,
admiral Dccres, minister of the marine, and ad-
miral Bruix, two individuals who have been already
mentioned, and who merit to be made known more
particularly.

The first consul would willingly have possessed
a smaller number of good generals in his land
forces, and a few more good admirals in his navy.
But war and victory can alone form good generals.
A naval war had not been wanting for twelve years
preceding thiit time ; but unhappily the Fi'eneh
navy, disorganized by emigration, having felt itself
greatly inferior to that of the English, had been
obliged almost continually to remain shut up in
port, and the French admirals, though they had
not lost their bravery, had lost their conhdence in
themselves. Some were grown old, others wanted ex-
perience. Four at that moment attracted the atten-
tion of Napoleon, Dccres, Latouche-Treville, Gant-
eaume, and Bruix. Admiral Decrcs was a man of
a rare understanding, but a censurer, only seeing
the ill side of things, an excellent critic of the
operations of others, and under this head a good
minister ; in administration displaying little ac-
tivity, but very useful by the side of Napoleon,
who in activity supplied the remissness of every-
body, and who had need of councillors less confi-
dent than he was himself. For these reasons admiral
Decres was the one of all the four worth most at
the head of the navy, and least worth at the head
of a squadron. Ganteaume was a brave, intelli-
gent, well experienced officer, able to conduct a
naval division under fire, but out of action hesita-
ting, uncertain, suffering fortune to pass without
seizing it; he was therefore only adapted for the
least difficult of enterprizes. Latouehe-TrcJville and
Biuix were the two most distinguished seamen of
the time, and certainly intended, had they lived, to
dispute with the English the empire of the seas.
Jjaiouche-Trdvillo was all ardour, all audacity; ho
adiled to this a good imderstanding, experience
as well as courage, inspiring the seamen with the
sentiments which he felt himself, and in this re-
spect the most valuable of the whole, because he

Characters of the French
admirals.

Bonaparte imparts fresh ,«„,
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. activity to the work;- J'^^;

had that of which the French navy possessed too
little, a proper confidence in himself. Lastly,
there was admiral Bruix, poor in health and
bodily appearance, wasted by pleasure, endowed
with astonishing intelligence, a rare organization
of genius, finding resources for every thing, pro-
foundly experienced, the only officer who could have
commanded forty ships of the line at once, and as
capable of conceiving as of executing; he had made
the best minister had he not been so well adapted
to command. These wei'e not all the chiefs of the
French navy; there was Villeneuve, subsequently
so unfortunate; Linois, the conqueror at Algesiras,
then in India, and others, who will be known in
their proper places, but the four now mentioned
were at that time the principal.

The first consul wished to confide to admiral
Bruix the command of the flotilla, because there
all was to be created ; to Ganteaume the Brest
squadron, which had no more to do than to trans-
port troops; lastly, to Latouche-Tre'ville the Toulon
fleet, wliich was commanded to execute a ditticult,
bold, and decisive manoeuvre, that will be here-
after stated.

Admiral Bruix having to organize the flotilla,
was continually in contact with admiral Decres.
Both one and the other had too much spirit not to
be rivals, and from that they became enemies ; be-
sides, their natures were incompatible. To point
out invincible difficulties, and critici>se the attempts
made to overcome them, was the part of admiral
Decres; to perceive, study, and endeavour to con-
quer them, was the part of admiral Bruix. It
must be added, that they were mistrustful of each
other; tliey never ceased to fear, admiral Decres
that the inconveniences arising out of his inactivity
would be denounced to the first consul, admii-al
Braix those arising from his irregular life. They
would, under a feeble master, have caused trouble
in the navy by their divisions; but under such an
one as Napolei>n, they were useful by their very
diff"erences. Bruix proposed his combinations,
Decres criticised them, and the first consul pro-
nounced judgment with almost infallible cori'ect-
ness.

It was amidst these men, and on the spot, that
Napoleon decided all questions left in suspense.
His arrival at Boulogne was urgent, because in
spite of the energy and frequency of his orders, a
great many things remained in ai-rear. They did
not build at Boulogne, Calais, or Dunkirk, but
they repaired there the old flotilla, and they got
forward the preparations for executing what was
necessary to put on board the two thousand
vessels, bought or built, as soon as they should
be assembled together. Workmen, timber, ii'on,
and hemp, were wanted, as well as artillery of a long
range, in order to keep ofl" the English, who em-
ployed themselves very often in firing upon the
vessels with incendiary projectiles.

The presence of the first consul, surrounded by
M. Sganzin, M. Forfait, and admirals Bruix, De-
cres, and a number of other officers, soon imparted
fresh activity to the enterprize. A measure had
been taken at Paris which he wished to apply at
Boulogne, and every where that he came, lie
took, under the conscription, five or six thousand
men, that belonged to all the trades attached to
•working in wood and iron, such as joiners, car-

penters, sawyers, wheelwrights, lock and black-
smiths. Masters, chosen from among the work-
men belonging to the navy, superintended and
directed them. A high rate of pay was given to
those who exhibited intelligence and goodwill.
In a short time, the ship-yards were covered with
a population of working ship-builders, wjiose
original trade it would have been hard to divine.

Forests were found in abundance in the vicinity
of Boulogne. An order had been issued to deliver
for the service of the navy all that was in tlie en-
virons. Timber employed at the moment it was
felled being green, was good to serve for piles, of
which thousands were required in the ports of the
channel. They were thus able to procure planks
and floor timber. The timber for the bends and
ribs was brought from the north. The naval
stores and materials, such as hemp, masts, pitch,
and tar, brought from Sweden and Rus.sia into
Holland, were imported, by the interior navigation,
fi'om Holland and Flanders to Boulogne. These
had been stopped, at the moment, by ditferent ob-
stacles, on tiie canals of Belgium. Officei-s were
immediately sent with orders and funds in order
to accelerate the arrival of the materials on the
way. The founderies of Douai, Liege, and Stras-
bui'g, in spite of their activity, were found behind-
hand. The learned Monge, who followed the fii'st
consul nearly wherever he went, was sent on a
mission to accelerate their labours, and to see cast
at Liege some heavy mortars and pieces of large
calibre. General Marmont had tiie charge of the
artillery. Aids-de-camp were every day sent off"
to stimulate his zeal, and to state to him the par-
ticular expeditions of cannon or of carnages which
were delayed. There were demanded, indepen-
dently of the artillery fc:- the vessels, not less than
five or six hundred gui. ; for battery, in order to
keep the enemy at a distance from the buildhig-
yards.

These primary orders given, it next became
necessary to consider he great question of the
ports of assemblage, and of the means of propor-
tioning their capacity to the extent of the flotilla.
It was necessary to enlarge some, create others,
and defend all. After having conferred with M.
.Sganzin, M. Forfait, and nHmirals Decres and
Bruix, the first consul came lo the following dis-
positions.

For a long while the port of Boulogne had been
indicated as the best point of departure for an
expedition directed against England. The coast
of France, in advancing towards that of England,
jjrojects in a cape, called Cape Grisnez. To the
right of tliis cape it turns to the east, towards tiie
Schelde, having in front the vast expanse of the
North Sea. To the left it encounters that of Eng-
land, forming thus one of the two sides of the
strait ; then it descends suddenly from north to
south towards the mouth of the Somme. The
ports situated to tlie right of Cape Grisnez, such
as Calais and Dunkirk, placed out of the strait, are
less happily situated as points of departure ; the
poi-ts to the left, on the contrary, such as Bou-
logne, Ambleteuse, and Etaples, placed in the
strait itself, have always been judged preferable.
In fact, it is necessary, on sailing froni Dunkirk
or Calais, to double Cape Grisnez, in order to enter
the strait, to overcome the baftiiug winds of the

1803.
July.

Ports of departure for the expe-
dition decided. — Excavation
in Boulogne harbour.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Troojis are marched to
and encamped at

channel, which are felt in doublinj^ the cape, and
thus to get oppoeite Boulogne, and draw towards
the lanil between Folkestone and Dover. On tlie
contrary, in going from England to France, the
passage is more naturally made towards Calais
than towards Boulogne. In order to pass over
into EnijhuKl, which was the case in the projected
exi)editi.«ii, the ports to the left of Cape Grisnez
were much better situated tiian those of Calais and
DuiUvirk. They were alone inconvenient from pre-
senting less e.\tent and depth than Calais and
Dunkirk, which is explained by the accninulation
of sands and shingle banks, always greater in a
contracted space like a strait.

Still the port of Boulogne, consisting of the bod
of a little marshy river, the Liane, was susceptible-
of receiving a considerable enlargement. The
basin of the Liane, formed by two level surfaces,
which separate in the environs of Boulogne, and
leave between tliein a space of a semicircular
figure, was capable, by great labour, of being con-
verted into a dry port of very large extent. The
channel of the Liane presented a deptli of water
of six ru' seven feet at high water" in moderate
tides. It w;us very possible, by excavation, to pro-
cure a depth of nine or ten feet. It was, therefoi-e,
a practicable thing to create in the marshy bed of
the Liane, a little above Boulogne, a basin of a
figure similar to the shape of the land, that is to
say, semicircular, and capable of containing some
hundreds of boats, more or less, according to the
space determined. This basin, with the bed of
the Liane, would be able to hold twelve or thir-
teen hundred vessels, and, in consequence, the
larger part of the flotilla. But it wiis not enough
to liave a sufficient surface ; there must be quays
of very great extent, iu order that numerous
barks should be able, if not at once, at least in a
very large number, to lie alongside the shore of
the basin, and take on board their lading. The
space devoted to the quays, therefore, was as
important as the extent of the port it.self. None
of these things had been thought about under the
directory, because its designs had never gone so
far as to unite together one hundred and fifty
thousand men and two thousand vessels. The first
consul, in spite of the vastness of the labour, did
nut hesitate to order the deepening of the bed of
the Liane to commence immediately. The same
r)iie hundred and fifty thousand men, that consti-
tuted by their number the difficulty of the entcr-
pri/.e, were to be employed themselves in van-
quishing that difficulty, by deepening the basin in
which they were to emijark. It wius arranged that
the camps, placed originally at some distance from
the coast, should immediately be brought near the
Hca, and that the soldiers should themselves exca-
vate the enormous mass of earth which it would be
ncccssiiry to remove.

\ sluice was ordercil for the purpose of deepen-
ing the channel, ami procuring the necessary depth
of water. .Such [xirts as arc not f.irmcil like that
of Brest, by the siiuiosities of a deep coast, and
are called dry port", in general exist at the
mouths of small rivers, wiiich become swollen at
high tide, forming at that time a basin in which
the vessels find themselves aHoat. They then
diminish in depth until low water, when nothing
more presents itself than large rivukts nuiniiig

amid beds of slime, leaving the vessels dry ashox-e for
some houi-s. The sands which these rivers bring
down with them, gathered up by the sea, and
driven back towards the mouths of the rivers,
form banks or bars, which ai-e a great trouble
to navigation. In order to overcome these ob-
stacles, sluice-gates are placed in the beds of the
rivers. These open of themselves before the rising
tide, and receiving an abundance of water, retain
it by shutting of themselves when the tide begins
to fall, and do not permit the water to escape
until the moment when the sluice is opened. The
moment chosen for this purpose is that of low
tide, when the water rushing out with great force,
drives the sand before its artificial torrent, and
thus deepens the channel or ])assage. These gates
are called by cngmeers {echisesde chassc) "chasing"
or " hunting sluices ;" and it was a sluice of a
.similar kind, the construction of which was hastened
at this time in the upper basin of the Liane.

Twenty thousand trunks of the trees felled in
the forest of Boulogne, served to line with piles
the two sides of the Liane, and the circumference
of the semicircular basin ; a part of such trunks
sawn into large beams, and then laid as a flooring
upon the piles, were used to form large quays the
whole length of the Liane and the semicircular
basin. The numerous vessels of the flotilla were
thus enabled to come close and range along the
quays to embark or disembark the men, horses,
and stores.

The town of Boulogne was placed to the right of
the Liane, the basin to the left, and nearly oppo-
site. The Liane extended itself longitudinally
between the two. Bridges were constructed to
afford an easy comnmnieation from one side to
the other, placed above the point where the an-
chorage or mooring ground commenced.

These vast works were far from sufficing. A
great maritime establishment is supposed to in-
clude workshops, building-yards, magazines, bar-
racks, slaughter-houses, hospitals, in short, all that
is necessary to afford accommodation to a vast
mass of ditterent materials, to serve the seamen in
health or sickness, to receive, nourish, clothe,
and arm them. From this it may be readily
imagined the cost in time and labour to form such
establishments as those of Brest and Toulon ! It
was here an object to create more extensive es-
tablishments, because there were wanted work-
shops, building-yards, magazines, and hospitals, to
meet the wants of two thousand three hundred
vessels, thirty thousand seamen, ten thousand work-
men, and one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers.
If these creations had not been temporary, they
would have been absolutely impossible. Still al-
though temporary, the ditticulty of their execution,
considering the quantity of things to be united at
one spot, was immense.

In the town of Boulogne all the houses were
hired that could be converted into offices, maga-
zines, or hospitals. The country ami the farm-
hciu.s(s in the same neighl)ourhood were also taken
for a similar jiurposc, when they were found
adapted to the object. Wooden houses were erected
for the naval workmen, and pl.aces of shelter were
built nj) of plank to serve a-s stables for the horses.
As to tlie troops, they were encamped in the open
country in barracks constructed with the wrecks

. - Additional harbours

490 selected.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Additional harbours 1803.

Selected. July,

and waste wood of the surrounding forests. The
first consul selected the right and left of the
Liane, on the two level spaces, the opening between
which formed the basin of Boulogne, for the ground
which the troops were to occupy. Thirty-six thou-
sand men were here distributed in two camps ; the
one called that of the left, the other of the right.
The troops that had been assembled at St. Onier,
placed under the command of general Soult, were
the occupants of tliese two positions. The other
corps of the army were to be successively brought
near the coast as their establishments should be
prepared for them. The troops thus quartered
found themselves in pure air, exposed, it was true,
to violfnt and cold winds, but provided with a
great abundance of wood to shelter and warm
them.

Immense stores of provisions were oi'dered from
all parts of the country, and brought into the
magazines. There came by the interior navi-
gation, which was very perfect, in the north of
France, as is well known, flour to convert into bis-
cuits, rice, oats, salt meat, wine, and brandy. A
great quantity of cheese, of a round form, was
brought from Holland. These different aliments
were to serve for the daily consumption of the
camps, and for the provision stores of the double
flotilla of war and transport. It is possible to
judge of the vast quantity to be collected, upi>n
imagining that it was required to feed the army,
the navy, the numerous population of workmen
who had been drawn thithei', at first during all the
time o*" the encampment, then during two months
when the expedition should be in activity, sup-
posing the provisions to be for nearly two hundred
thousand persons, and the forage for twenty thou-
sand horses. If it be added, that all that was
necessai'y was supplied with an abundance that
left nothing to be desired, it will be comprehended
that a more extraordinary creation liad never been
executed among any people by the head of an
empire.

But one port alone would not suffice for the
entire expedition. Boulogne would not contain
more than twelve or thirteen hundred vessels, and
it was required to receive two thousand three hun-
dred. Had the port been able to contain all the
number necessary, it would have taken too long a
time for them to get out to sea by the same clian-
nel. Under certain circumstances, of the sea it was
a great inconvenience to have only one place of
refuge. If, for example, a considerable number
of the vessels had gone out, and bad weather or
the enemy had obliged them to enter the port
again suddenly, they would have got foul of each
other at the entrance, a want of water would have
come on, and they would have been lost. There
was, on descending the shore about four leagues to
the south, a little river, called the Canclic, the
mouth of which formed a tortuous bay, very sandy,
unhappily open to every wind, and offering a far
less secure ancliorage than that of Boulogne. It
formed a little fishing port, that of Et;iples. Upon
this river Canche, at about a league in tiie interior,
was situated the fortified town of Montreuil. It
was difficult to excavate a basin theie, but it was
very possible to drive a succession of piles, within
which the vessels might be nu)ored, and to con-
struct qu.ays of wood upon these piles proper for

the embarkation and disembarkation of troops.
It was a safe and secure shelter for three or four
hundred vessels. It was i)cssible to get out with
the wind in the same points as from the harbour
of Boulogne. The distance from Boulogne, which
was four or five leagues, off'ered some difficulty as
regarded the simultaneous conduct of the opera-
tions ; but that was a secondary difficulty, and an
asylum for four hundred vessels was too important
to be neglected. There the first consul formed a
camp, which was destined for the troops united
between Compiegne and Amiens, of which the
command was reserved for general Ney, on return
from his Swiss mission. This camp was called the
Camp of Montreuil. The troops received orders
to place themselves there as they were in the camps
around Boulogne. Establishments were prejjared
accoi'dingly for the preservation of the necessary
provisions, for the iiospitals, and, in fine, for all
that could be required by an army of twenty-four
thousand men. The centre of the army being
supposed at Boulogne, the camp at Etaples would
be the left.

A little to the north of Boulogne, before arriving
at Cape Grisnez, there are two other bays disco-
verable, formed by two small rivers, the beds of
which are much encumbered by sand and mud,
but in which, at high water, the sea rises six or
seven feet. The one is aljout a league, the other
two leagues from Boulogne ; they are, besides,
placed in the same point with respect to the wind
as Boulogne. Upon digging out the earth, and
placing sluice-gates, it was possible to find shelter
there for several hundred vessels, which would
complete the means of accommodating the entire
flotilla. The nearest of these two small rivers was
the Wimereux, opening to the sea near a village
of the same name. The other was the Selacque,
the opening of which was near a fishing village,
called Ambleteuse. During the reign of Louis
XVI., it had been in contemplation to deepen
tliese basins, but the works executed at that time
had now disappeared under the sand and mud.
The first consul ordered the engineers to inspect
both these places, and in case of a report favour-
able to his object, the troops were to be employed
there, and encam])ed in huts, as at Etaples and at
Boulogne. These two harbours might be made to
contain, the one two hundred, the other three Imn-
dred vessels ; thus there were five hundred more
still would have found the shelter of an harbour.
The guard, with the grenadiers united, the re-
serves of cavalry and artillery, and the different
corps which were forming between Lille, Douai,
and Arras, would here find the means of embarka-
tion.

There yet remained the Batavian flotilla, which
was designed to embark the corps of general
Davout, and which, according to the treaty con-
cluded with Holland, was independent of tiie
squadron of the line assembled in the Texel.
Unfortunately, the Dutch was far less effectively
armed than the French flotilla. It was a question
whether it should go out of the Schelde direct for
the coast of England, under the escort of several
frigates, or whether it should proceed to Dunkirk
and Calais, in order to set out for England from
the ports placed to the right of Cape Grisnez.
Admiral Bruix had the order to settle this ques-

1803.
July.

Works ordered for
the defence of tlie
coast.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

The first consul visits Ant-
werp, and makes it a 491
naval slaiioti.

tioii. Tlie corps of general Davout, wliicli formed
the riglit of tlio army, would be thus found
ap])roacliing to the centre. They did not even
despair, by dint of enlarj^inji; the basins, and com-
pressing the encam])ment, to make the whole duu-
ble Cape Grisnez, and to e.stabHsh all at Anible-
teuse and WimereU.x. There the Frencli aud
Dutch flotillas, united to the number of two thou-
sand three hundred vessels, carrying the corps of
generals Davout, Suult, and Ney, with the reserve
besides, that is to say, one hundred and twenty
thousand men, would be able to go to sea siuuil-
taneously, with the wind at ihe same puint, from
four ports, placed in the interior of the strait, with
the certainty of being able to act ti>getlier. The
two great fleets ready to sail, the one from Brest,
the other from the Texel, would be able to carry
the remaining forty thousand men, of which the
object and employment were the exclusive secret
of the first consul.

In order to effect the completion of all the
various parts of this v:ist organization, it was
needful to place the coast out of the reach of
attack by the English. Besides the zeal which
they would infallibly show to hinder the concen-
tration of the Boulogne flotilla, by guarding the
shore from Bordeaux to Flushing, it was t<i be
presumed, that in imitation of what they did in
1801, they would attemjit to destroy the flotilla,
either by fire in the basins, or by attacking them
at their moorings when they came out to manoeu-
vre. It was necessary, therefore, to render the
approach of the English impossible, as much for
the security of the ports themselves as to ensure a
free outlet and entranee,"because if the flotilla was
condemned to remain immovable within the har-
bour, it would be incapable of niauceuvring or of
executing any great operation.

This approach of the English it was not easy
to prevent, in consequence of the form of the coast
being a right line, which presented neither hollow
nor salient point, and for this reason had no means
to carry out projectiles to any considerable distance.
This defect was j)rovided for in a very ingenious
manner. In advance of the shore at Boulogne,
two points of roek ])rojected into the sea, one to
ine right, called the ))oint of the Creche, the other
on the left, denominated that of the Ileurt. Be-
tween these two points there was an open space of
three thousand five hundred fathoms (nearly three
miles), perfectly safe and very commodious for
nifwring. Two or three hundred vessels would be
aljlc to moor there in several lines. These points
of rock, covered by tlie sea at high water, were
uncovered at low tide. The first consul ordered
the erection of two forts, in heavy masonry, of a
semicircular form, solidly casemated, and present-
ing two tier of guns, which would be able to cover,
by their firo, the mooriiigground which extended
from one to the other. He had the work imme-
diately commcnci'd. The engineers of the navy
and army, seconded by the masons taken out of
thu conscription, at <jncc commenced the work.
The first consul ha<l tin; desire to see tho work
completed beion; the commencement of winter.
But ho set himself so much to nmlliply precau-
tions, that he wished to secure the centre of the
line of anchor;ige as well by a third point of sup-
port. This point was chosen in tho middle of tho

line, and in face of the entrance of the port ; and
as it was uj)on a base ^A' moving sand, the first
consul devised the construction of this new fort in
heavy carpentry. Numerous workmen were set,
at low water, to drive hundreds of piles, which
might serve as a base for a battery of eighteen
twenty-four pounders. Oftentimes they continued
the work under the fire of the English.

Independently of these three points, advanced
into the sea, and placed parallel with the coast of
Boulogne, the first consul placed cannon and mor-
tars on all parts of the coast that projected in the
smallest degree, and did not leave a point capable
of carrying artillery, without arming it with gons
of the heaviest calibre. Precautions less extensive,
but yet amply sufficient, were taken at Etai)les,
and at the new ports which they had begun to
deepen.

Such were the vast projects definitively arranged
by the first consul, in the view of the localities and
with the concuri-ence of the engineers and ofticers
of the navy. The construction of the flotilla
rapidly advanced, from the coasts of Britany to
those of Holland ; but before being able to effect
the union at Ambleteuse, Boulogne, and Etaples,
it was necessary to complete the excavation of the
basins, the erection of the forts, the carriage of the
artillery matcnel to the coast, the concentration of
the ti-oops near the sea, and the creation of the
diff'erent establishments necessary to supply their
wants. The achievement of all these oljeets, it
was calculated, would be completed by the winter.

The first consul, after visiting Boulogne, went to
Calais, Dunkirk, Ostend, and Antwerp. He de-
sired to see this last port himself, and to be certain,
by bis own observation, of the truth of what he
had heard in the very diff'erent accounts which
had been transmitted to him. After having exa-
mined the situation of this city with that prompti-
tude and accuracy of glance which only belonged
to himself, he had no doubt upon his mind about
the possibility of making a great maritime arsenal
of Antwerp. This city had, in his view, very par-
ticular properties attaching to it. It was situated
on tho Schelde, opposite the Thames ; it was in
immediate communication with Holland by the
finest of internal navigations, and, in consequence,
was adapted for a rich deposit of naval stores. It
was able to receive, without difficulty, by the
Rhine and Meuse, the timber of the Alps, the
Vo.sges, the Black Forest, the Wetteravia, and tlie
Ardennes. Lastly, the workmen of Flanders,
naturally drawn to that vicinity, would sujiply
thousands of hands for the construction of vessels.
The fir.st consul resolved, therefore, to create at
Antwerp a fleet, the flag of which should be con-
tinually flying between the Schelde and the
Thames. This would be one of the most sensible
amioyances which hv was able to cause to his
irreconcilable enemies, the English. He had
the ground occupied immediately required for the
construction of the vast basins, which still exist,
and are the jiride of tho city of Antwerp. These
basins communicate, by a sluice of tho largest
dimensions, with the river Schelde, and are capable
of containing an entire fleet of line-of-battle ships,
remaining always jirovided with thirty feet in
depth of water, wliatever be that of tho river
level. The first consul wished to have constructed

..„ The first consul visits
492 Brussels.

The secretary of the king ,„„-

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. of Prussia sent to the "*"•'•

first consul.

July.

twenty-five sail of the line in this new port of the
republic, and while waiting the new experiments
relative to the possibility of the navigation of the
Schelde, he ordered several vessels of seventy-four
guns to be laid down on the stocks. He did not
renounce the project of constructing them at a
later period of a superior burden; and he hoped to
make of .Antwei'p an establishment equal to those
of Brest and Toulon, infinitely better placed to
trouble the repose of England.

The first consul went from Antwerp to Ghent,
and from Ghent to Brussels. The Belgic popula-
tion, always discontented with the government
which ruled, showed itself little docile under the
administration of the French. The fervour of their
religious sentiments, rendered more difficult than
that of other nations the administration of public
worship. The first consul at first encountered here
a degree of coldness, or to speak more correctly,
a less expanded vivacity than in the old French
provinces. But this coldness soon disappeared
when the young general was seen surrounded by
the clergy, pi-esent and respectful at their religi<ius
ceremonies, accompanied by his wife, who, in spite
of her fondness for dissipation, had in her hetirt
the piety of a woman, and of a woman of the old
time. M. de Roquelaui'e was archbishop of
Malines, an old man, possessing great amenity of
manners. The first consul received him with in-
finite regard, gave back to his family a considera-
ble property that remained sequestrated by the
state, exhibited himself often to the people, ac-
companied by the metropolitan of Belgium, and
succeeded by his manners and bearing in calming
the religious mistrust of the country. He was
attended at Brussels, too, by cardinal Caprara.
Their meeting produced the best effect. The pi'e-
sence of the first consul iii the city was prolonged;
and the ministers, with the consul Cambace'res,
came there to hold councils. A part of the
diplomatic body also arrived to obtain audiences
of the head of the French government. Thus
surrounded by ministers, generals, and numerous
and brilliant troops, general Bonaparte held, in
this capital of the Low Countries, a court which
bore all the appearance of sovereignty. It might
be said that an emperor of Germany had arrived
to visit the patrimony of Charles V.

Time passed away much faster than the first
consul had believed. Numerous public affairs de-
manded his presence in Paris ; there were the
orders still to give for the execution of what he had
determined upon at Boulogne; and there were also
negotiations with the European powers, which the
pri'sent crisis rendered moi'e active than ever.
He therefore renounced, for the moment, a view
of the provinces of the Rhine, leaving to a second
and approaching journey that which he had ori-
ginally intended to include in the present. But
before he quitted Brussels, he received a visit,
which was much noticed, and which merited to
be so, on account of the personage who had come
to see him.

This personage was M. Lombard, secretary to
the king of Prussia. Tiie young Frederick Wil-
liam, in his diffidence of himself and of others, had
adopted the custom of detaining the work of his
ministers, and of submitting it to a new examina-
tion, which he undei-toolc with his secretary, M.

Lombard, a man of mind and acquirement. M.
Lombard, owing to tliis royal intimacy, had ac-
quired in Prussia very great impnrtance. M.
Haugwitz, able at catching every kind of influ-
ence, had been artiul enough to secure M. Lom-
bard to his interest in such a manner, that the
king, passing from the minister to his private
secretary', only found in his ideas the same views
as those of his minister, Haugwitz. M. Lombard,
(in coming to Brussels, represented, at the same
time, tlierefore, before the first consul, both the
king and the prime minister in one, in other words,
the entire of the Prussian government, except the
court, which arranged itself around the queen ex-
clusively, and was animated by a different feeling
from that of the ruling power.

The visit of M. Lombard to Brussels was the
consequence of the agitation of the cabinets since
the renewal of the war between France and Eng-
land. The court of Prussia was in a state of great
anxiety, wiiich accrued from the recent commu-
nicati(/ns of the Russian cabinet. This last cabinet,
as has been already seen, returned in spite of in-
clination for its own internal affairs, to those of
Europe, wishing to indemnify itself by playing in
them a character of some consideration. All it
endeavoured at first was to get the two belligerent
powers to accept its mediation, and recommend
the estates it pr<;tected to Fi'ench forbearance.
The result of these its first efforts had not been of
a very satisfactory nature. England had received
the overture with great coldness, refusing at once
to confide Malta to Russian keeping, or to suspend
hostilities during the time the work of mediation
was proceeding. She had solely declared she
would not decline the interlerence of the Russian
cabinet, if the new negotiation embraced the whole
of the affairs of Europe, and, consequently, in-
cluded in the question all that the treaties of
Luneville and of Amiens had stipulated.

To accept these conditions was to repel the
mediation. While England replied in this mode,
France, on her side, receiving with entire defer-
ence the intervention of the young emperor, had,
nevertheless, occupied without hesitation the terri-
tories under the recommendation and protection
of Rus.sia, namely, Hanover and Naples. The
court of St. Petersburg was singularly hurt to find
itself so little regarded, when it pressed England
to accept the Russian mediation, and France to
limit the extent of her hostility. Ru.ssia had tlien
cast her eyes upon Prussia, in ox-der to engage her
to form a third party, whicli should give tiie law
to the French and English ; above all, to tlie
French, who were much more alarming than the
English, although more polite. The emperor
Alexander, who had met the king of Prussia at
Meinel, and had sworn to Jiim at that meeting an
eternal friendship, who himself discovered every
kind of analogy with the young monarch, analogies
of age, mind, and virtue, endeavoured to persuade
him, in a frequent correspondence, tJiat they were
made for each other, that they were tlio only
honest people in Europe; that at Vienna there was
notiiing but falsehood, at Paris, ambition, and in
London, avarice ; in short, that they owed it to
themselves to unite closely, in order to constrain
and govern Europe.

The young emperor, exhibiting precocious

1803.
Aug.

Russia, jealous of France,
endeavours to influence
Prussia.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Conference of Napoleon _

with M. Lombanl. '*'^''

cunning, had endeavoured, before all tilings, to
persuade tlie king of Prussia, that he was the
dupe of the fii-st consul's wheedling, and that for
interests of a mediocre character, he had made to
him dangerous political sacrifices ; that owing to
liis condescensiiin, Hanover liad been invaded ;
that the French would not limit their occupations
there ; that the na.son they urged to exclude
England fnun the continent would carry them
beyond Hanover, and conduct tliem as far as Den-
marli in order to seize the Sound ; that then the
English would blockade the Baltic as they had
blockaded the Elbe and Weser, and thus shut up
the last outlet remaining for the commerce of the
ontinent. The fear thus expressed by Russia,
could not be real ; because the first consul did not
think of pushing forward his system of occupation
as far as Denmark, it was not possible that he
dreamed of such a measure. He had occupied
Hanover under its title of an English property;
and he had occupied Tarentum, in virtue of
the uncontested domination of France over Italy.
But to invade Denmark, by passing over the body
of Germany, was impossible, unless it was to begin
by the conquest of Prussia herself; and then most
fortunately the policy of France had not required
80 great an extension of power.

The suggestions of Russia, therefore, were false-
hoods ; but they bei'aine sources of uneasiness to
the king of Prussia, already much troubled at the
occupation of Hanover. This occupation had
caused him, besides the continual complaints of
the German states, very cruel commercial suffer-
ing. The Elbe and the Weser were closed by the
English ; the exportation of Prussian produce had
oea.sed all at once. The cloths of Silesia, bought
commonly at Hamburg and Bremen, the great
trade of which they feil, lia<l been refused on the
same day that the blockade had commenced. The
great merchants of Hamburg in particular had
shown a 8|)ecies of malice in declining every kind
of commercial business, in order yet more to stinm-
late the court of Prussia, and to make it feel more
sinsibly the inconvenience of the occupation of
Hanover, the sole cause of the blockade of the
Elbe and Weser. From that date the great Prus-
sian nobles had sustjiined immense losses. M.
Haugwitz himself had lost one-half of his in-
come ; a circumstance which did not alter in
any degree the calnmess of mind that made one of
the merits of his ])olitical character. The king,
besieged by the complaints of Silesia, had been
obliged to len<l a million of crowns to that pro-
vince ', a sacrifice great enough for an economical
prince, who was so anxious to re-establish the
treasury of the great Frederick. They requested
at tlie present moment double tliat sum.

Agitated by the suggestions of Russia, and by
the complaints re<;arding Prussian commerce, the
king, Frederick- William, feared, besides, that if he
Buflered himself, led by these suggestions and com-
plaints, to become engaged in hostile relations with
France, it would overturn all his policy, which
for several years had rested ujion a French al-
liance. It was to extricate himself from this
painful state of things, that M. Lombard came to
bo sent to Brussels. Ho had orders to observe

> 5,000,000 r or about £150,000.

the young general very narrowly, to endeavour to
penetrate into liis objects, to assure himself, if
he intended, as they said at St. Petersburg, to
push his occupations as far as Denmark ; if,
finally, as they still said too at St. Petersburg, it
was so very dangerous to trust this extraordinary
man. M. Lombard was at the same time to lay
himself out for obtaining some concessions relative
to Hanover. The king, Frederick-William, would
have wished that the corps occupying the country
should be reduced by some thousand men, which
would have cahned the fears, sincere or affected,
of which the presence of the French in Germany
had been the cause. She wished, further, the
evacuation of some small i)ort at the mouth of the
Elbe, such as that of Cuxhaven. This little poi-t,
situated at the entrance of the Elbe itself, was the
nominal property of the Hamburghers, but in
reality it served the English for th • continuation
of their trade. If that had been left unoccupied,
from its claim to be Hamburg territory, the Eng-
lish trade would be carried on just as in a time of
l)rofouiid peace. With such a proceeding, the
object that France proposed to herself would have
been defeated ; and so correct is this view of the
matter, that in 1800, when Prussia herself had taken
Hanover, she occupied Cu.xhaven.

As the price of these two concessions, the king
of Prussia offered a northern system of neutrality,
drawn up after the system of the old Prussi;in neu-
trality, which would comprehend, besides Prussia
and the north of Germany, the new German states,
perhaps even Russia ; at least so king Frederick
William flattered himself. This was according to
that monarch guaranteeing to France the immo-
bility of the continent, leaving her free to employ
all her means against England, and consequently
worthy of some sacrifices. Such were the different
objects confided to the prudence of M. Lombard.

The secretary of the king of Prussia left Berlin
for Brussels, warmly recommended by M. Haug-
witz to M. de Talleyrand. He felt in a sensible
manner the honour of approaching and of con-
versing with the first consul. Tlie last, made
aware of the object with which M. Lombard had
arrived, received him in the most brilliant way,
and took the best means to o|)en an access to his
heart, which was to flatter him by a confidence
without limit, by the develoimicnt of all his ideas,
and even of his secret thoughts. Besides, the first
consul was able at that moment to unfold himself
wholly without losing any thing by it ; and he tlid
.so accordingly with much frankness, and a good
deal of attractive language. He did not wish, he
told M. Lombard, to acquire a single territory
more upon the continent ; he desired no more
than other jjowers had recognised in French
possession by open or secrcit treaties ; the Rhine,
the Alps, Piedmont, Parma, and the maintenance
of existing relations with the Italian republic and
with Etruria. He was ready to acknowledge the
independence of Switzerland and Holland. He
was resolved no more to mix himself up in the
affairs of Germany from the date of the recez of
1803. He intended only tin; performance of one
single tiling, which was to repress the maritime
despotism of England, iu'^niiporlable to others
certainly as well as to liim, when Prussia, Russia,
Sweden, and Denmark, had imited twice in twenty

Conference of N'iipoleon
with M. Luinljard.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Jealousy of France
experienced by
Russia.

Aug.

years, in 1780 and 1800, in order to put a stop to
it. It was fiir Prussia to aid in siicli a task; fur
Prussia, the natural ally of France, tliat for several
years had received nuniberh-ss services from her,
and on whom yet greater ones awaited. If, in
fact, he were viL-toriius, grandly vittorious, what
would it not be in his power to do for Prussia ?
Had he not Hanovei- then nn<ler his hand, a com-
plement So natural and so necessary for the Prus-
sian territory ? Was not that the price, inmiense
and certain, of the friendship that tlie king Frede-
rick-William testified for him under the existing
circunistanoes ? But in order that he should be
victorious and giMteful, it was necessary that he
sliould be seconded in an efficaci<iiis manner. An
ambiguous good will, a neutrality more or less
extended, constituted a very middling aid. He
must give assistance to close conriiletely the shores
of Germany, benr some momentary suffering, and
ally himself to France by a positive union. That
called, since \1U5, the sysieni of Prussian neu-
trality, did not suffice to secure the peace of the
continent. It was necessary, in order to render
this ])eace certain, to have a formal alliance, public,
offensive and defensive, of Prus.sia with France.
Then none of the continental powers would dare to
enter into any design ; England would be mani-
festly alone, reduced to a conflict, man to man,
with the army of Boulogne; if to the perspective of
such a conflict were joined tlie close of the European
markets, she would be either brought to terms, or
crushed by the formidable expedition whicii was
|)reparing upon the shores of the channel. But
the first consul repeated unceasingly, that in order
to this the effective alliance of Prussia was neces-
sary, and a concurrence, entire and earnest on her
part, in the objects of France. Then all would
succeeil; then France woidd be able to heap bene-
fits upon her ally, and make him the present which
he had never demanded, but whicli at the bottom
of his heart he ardently desired — namely, Hanover.

The first consul, by his sincerity, the warmth of
his explanations, and the dazzling brilliancy of his
intellect, did not dupe M. Lombard, as the inimical
faction soon afterwards said at Berlin, but con-
vinced and enchained him. He finished by per-
suading him that he contemplated nothing hostile
to Germany ; that he only desired to procure
means of action against England, and that the
price of a frank and sincere concurrence would be
for Prussia a magnificent agnranrtizcment. In re-
gard to the concessions of "liich M. Lombard had
made the demand, the first consul exhibited to
him their serious inecmveniences ; to leave the
commerce of England the power of free exercise,
while making a war which, np to the uncertain day
of the descent, would be without bad consequences
to that country — would be to abandon to hor all
the advantages of the contest. The first consul
went even so far as to declare that he was ready
to indemnify, at the expense of the French ti-ea-
sury, the suffering commerce of Silesia. That in
case Prussia would consent to the stipulations of
an offensive and defensive alliance, lie was disposed,
for such an interest, to make every one of the con-
cessions which the king Frederick-William desired.

M. Lombard, convinced, dazzled, enchanted at
the familiarities of the great man, of whom princes
appreciated with pride the smallest attention, set

out on his return to Berlin, disposed to communi-
cate to his master aifd to M. Haugwitz the entire of
the feelmgs with which his heart was full.

The first consul, after having held a brilliant
court at Brussels, nothing more occurring to detain
him in Flanders, and the works undertaken upon
the coast not being more advanced, departed for
Paris, where he had every thing to do in the
double labour of gcwernment and diplomacy. He
went by Liege, Namur, and Sedan, being every
where received with enthusiasm, arriving on the
commencement of August at St. Cloud.

He was pressed, wliile continuing to order from
Paris the preparations for the grand expedition,
to clear up and fix definitivt-ly his relations with
the great })owers of ilie continent. In the uneasi-
ness of Prussia he had clearly discovered the influ-
ence of Russia; he found this influence besides in
the ill-will whie-h was exhibited towards him in
jMadrid. The Spanish cabinet, in effect, refused
any explanation about the execution of the treaty of
St. Ildfcfonzo, and said, that as the Russian medi-
ation gave hojie yet of a pacific termination, it
must await the result of the mediation before
taking a definitive part. Another circumstance
had disagreeably affected the first consul; this was
the evident partiality of Russia in the attempt at
mediation which she had made. While the first
consul had accepted the mediation with entire
deference, and England, on the contrary, had
opposed difficulties of every nature, refusing to
confide Malta in the hands of the mediating power,
while arguing to infinity upon the extent of the
negotiation, the Russian diplomacy inclined more
towards England than towards France, and seemed
to take no account tif the deference of the one, nor
of the bad faith of the other. The propositions
recently received from St. Petersburg revealed
this disposition in the clearest manner. Russia
declared her o])inion, that England should render
Malta to the order of St. John of Jerusalem; but
that in return it would be proper to grant to her
the island of Lampedosa ; that France ougJit to
give an indemnity to the king of Sardinia, aclaiow-
Icdge and respect the independence of the states
]ilaced in her vicinity, evacuate, no more to enter
them, not only Tarentum and Hanover, but the
kingdom of Etruria, the Italian republic, Switzer-
land, and Holland.

These conditions, acceptable under some points
of view, were completely unacceptable under
others. To concede Lampedosa in compensation
for Malta, was to give the English the means of
making with money, which they never wanted, a
second Gibraltar in the Mediterranean. The first
consul had been ready to consent to this, in order
to preserve the peace from being broken. Now
launched into war, full of the hope of succeeding,
he would no longer consent to such a sacrifice. To
indenmify the king of Sardinia was a matter of no
difficulty with him, and he was disposed to devote
Parma as an equivalent to this object. To eva-
cuate Hanover and Tarentum, if a peace were esta-
blished, was but the natural consequence of peace.
But to evacuate the Italian republic, which had no
army, Switzerland and Holland, which were
menaced with an immediate counter-revolution
if the French troops were withdrawn, this was to
demand the deliverance to the enemies of France

]»03.
Aug.

Napoleon demands
ex|ilanatioiis from
Spain.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

DiflVrences between France
and Spam.

of the states of wliidi she had acquired the right
to dispose by t ii years of war and victory. The
first consul was tinaltle to abide by such conditions.
That which decided liim mi>re completely still in
not sufferin;! such a mediation to proceed, was the
form umler which it was offered. The first consul
had consented to the sii|ireiiie arbitration, alisoliite
and without a|ipeal, of the youiifj emperor himself,
because it intt- rested the honour of this monarch to
be just, and g.ive the sreatei' certainty of terminat-
ing the question. Jiut submittinj^ the c;ise to
the partiality of the Russian ageiit.s, all of them
devoted to England, Wits to assent to a negotiation
disadvantageous, and without limit in duration.

He therefore declared, after having discussed
the Russian propositions, after having shown the
d:inger and injustice of them all, that he was ever
ready to accept the personal arbitration of the czar
himself, but nut a negotiation conducted by his
cabinet in a maim-r by no means amicable towards
France, and of such a complicated character, that
no end to it coulJ be hoped for ; that he thanked
the cabinet of .St. Petersburg for its good offices,
yet lie renounced its aid to .serve him further,
le.iving to the war the care of bringing back peace.
The declaration of the first consul ended in these
words, so deeply marked with his peculiar cha-
racter : —

" The first consul has done all to preserve peace;
his efforts having been vain, he should have seen
that war was in the order of destiny. He will
make war, and he will not bend before a proud
nation, habituated for twenty years to make all the
other i)owers give way '."

M. Markoff w:is drily treated, and merited to be
so by his attitude and language in Paris. The
constant approver of England, her pretensions and
conduct, he was the avowed detractor of France
and lier government. When he was told that he
did not conform himself in this way, at least in
appearance, to the intentions of his mtuster, who
professed a rigomus impartiality between France
and England, he replieil that " the emi)eror had
his own opinion, and that the Russian^ had theirs."
It was t<i be fiared that he would draw upon him-
self a storm like that which l.trd Wliitworth had
experienced, and even nvire di.s;igreeable still, be-
cau.se the fii-st consul had none of the consideration
for M. Markoff which he professed for lord Whit-
worth.

The thread «if this false mediation being cut,
still not bnaking with lUissia, the first consul
determined to f-.rce Spain to an explanation, and
to make her wiy h>iw she intended to execute the
treaty of .St. Il<li-fonzo. H.- acted thus to discover
if she would t.iko a part in the wir, or if she would
remain neuter, funiiKhing a subsidy to France in
place of Kucour in men and vessels. The first
cr>n8ul was not yet able to give his entire attention
to the grand expedition, inasmuch ns this question
waH not resolved.

Spain slmwed, in deciding this point, an ex-
treme rejmgiiauce, which had raised the most
vexatious feilings respecting her in France. It
was no dotibt an onerous thing to be obliged to
follow a neighbouring power through all the vicis-
•itudcs of its policy ; but in engaging herself by

> 29th Aui,^!!!, 1803.

the treaty of St. lldefonzo, in the bonds of an
offensive and defensive alliance with France, Spain
had contracted a positive obligation, of which it
was impossible to contest the results. Indepen-
dently of this oliligation, it was evident that this
j;ower must have most unworthily degenerated,
to desire to kee|> herself at a distance, when the
question of a maritime supremacy was about to be
agitated for the last time. If England succeeded,
it was evident that there would no longer be for
Spain commerce, colonies, nor galleons, nothing,
in fact, of that wliich for three centuries had com-
posed her greatness and her riches. When the
first consul pressed her to act, he pressed her not
only to fulfil a formal engagement, but the most
sacred of duties towards herself. Taking into
account her present incapacity, he had left her
neuter, and in thus managing for her to retain the
power of receiving the dollars of Mexico, he de-
manded that she .should contribute her fiart to
a war made f>ir the conmion advantage; ty ])ay, in
other words, that debt in money, when she was not
able to pay it in blood, which was due to the cause
of the liberty of the seas.

The relations of France with Spain altered, as
has been seen, on the question of Portugal, a little
ameliorated since, thanks to the vacancy of the
duchy of Parma, were now spoiled anew, ami on
the point cf becoming altogether hostile. They
complained daily at Madrid of having ceded
Louisiana for the kingdom of Etruria, which they
denominated a nominal possession, because Frencli
troops guarded Etruria, which was incapable of
guarding itself. They comjilained yet more of the
cession of Louisiana to the United States. They
said that if France wishetl to alienate that precious
colony, it was to the king of Spain that he should
liave addressed himself, not to the Americans, who
would become dangerous neighbours for the Mexi-
cans ; that if France had rendered back that colony
to Charles IV., he would be well reconciled to the
charge of preserving it from the Americans or the
English. It was ridiculous, in truth, for these
people, who were about to lose .Mexico, Peru, and
all South America, to pretend that they had the
power of keeping Louisiana, which was neither
Spanish in its manners, spirit, nor language. At
Madrid, they made this alienation of Louisiana a
great grievance against .France, and with so grave
a character did they clothe it, that they made it a
ground to cancel every obligation towards her.
The real motive of this humour was to be found in
the refusal of the first consul to add the duchy of
Parma to the kingdom of Etruria; a refusal at that
moment ftuced upon him from being compelled to
keep some territory in hand to indemnify the king
of Piedmont, since there had been so strong a
re()uestniade to grant that king an indemnity; and,
besides, the Floridas, after ilie abandonnunt of
Louisiana, were not an object of exchange that
was acceptable. The cabinet of Madrid still
kept towards France the attitude of bad hum<iur,
an<l proceeded to more injurious aggravations.
The conunercc of Franco was most unworthily
treated. Under the pretext of smuggling, vessels
had been seized, and the crews sent to Africa.
All the remonstrances of the French government
were disregarded ; and no reply was made to the
ambassador upon any subject. To crown these

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

and the prince of the

peace.

1803.
Aug.

outrages, Spain suffered Frencli sliips to be
boarded and carried off at the anchorages of
Algesiras and Cadiz, within reach of the fire of
the Spanisli guns, which constituted, all alliance
apart, a violation of territory it was unworthy of
Spain to permit. The fleet which had sought for
refuge in Curunna, ujion a false allegation of qua-
rantine, was kept beyond the anchorage-ground,
where it would have found itself in security. The
crews were suffered to perish on board, for want
of the most indispensable resources, and more
particularly, that most essential of all, the bene-
ficial air on land. This squadron, blockaded by
an English fleet, was unable to sail without some
rest, a considerable refit, and a supply of pro-
visions and ammunition. These were all refused,
even at a money price. Lastly, by a bravado,
which put a finish to the proceedings, while the
Spanish navy was left in a state of dilapidation tliat
attracted pity, the government employed itself in
singular haste about the army, and organized the
militia as if it would have wished to prepare for a
national war against France.

What could have thus driven into an abyss the
foolish favourite, whose government disgraced the
noble blood of Louis XIV., and reduced a brave
nation to the most disgraceful imbecility ? The
want of connexion in his ideas, wounded vanity,
idleness, and incapacity, were the miserable springs
that moved this usurper of Spanish royalty. He
formerly leaned towards France, this was sufficient
to make his inconstancy now incline towards
England. The first consul had not been able to
dissimulate his contempt for him, while the
English and Russian agents, on the other hand,
overloaded him with flattery ; this more particu-
larly, when France required courage, activity, and a
good administration of Spanish affairs at his hands;
no more than this was necessary to bring him to
detest an ally who exacted so much from liim.
"All that will finish," said the first consul, "by a
thunderbolt." Thus was announced, by unlucky
flashes, the thunder concealed in the thick cloud,
which began to gather iu ominous gloom over the
old throne of Spain.

The sixth of the camps formed near the sea-
shore of France had been assembled at Boulogne.
The preparations were accelerated and increased
so far as to form a perfect army. Another forma-
tion of troops took place on the side of the Pyre-
nees Orientales. Augereau received the title of
general-in-chief of these different bodies of troops.
The French ambassador had orders to demand of
the Spanish court the i-edress of all the grievances
of which it had to complain. Tiie enlargement of
the French subjects that iiad been detained, with
an indemnification for the losses they had sus-
tained ; the punishment of the commandants of
the forts of Algesiras and Cadiz, who had suffered
the French vessels to be taken within range of
their guns ; the restitution of the captured ships ;
the admission into the basins of Ferrol of the
squadron which had sougiit refuge in Corunna ;
its refitting and revictualling at once, under an
immediate settlement of expense with franco ;
the disbanding of all the niiliiia ; and, lastly, on
the choice of Spain, eitiier a stipulated subsidy or
an armament of filteen ships and twenty-four
thousand men, promised by the treaty of St.

Ildefonzo. General Beurnonville was also to de-
clare to the prince of the peace the.se expressed
determinations, to tell him that if the court of
Madrid persisted in its foolish and culpable con-
duct, it was upon him would be directed the just
indignation of the French government ; that in
passing the frontier, the French would denounce
to the king and people of Spain the shameful yoke
under which they were bowed down, and from
which they had come to deliver them. The
declaration thus made to the prince of the peace
had no effect.

General Beurnonville, impatient to put an end
to these intolerable outrages, hastened to seek
an interview with the prince of the peace, to
tell him the hard truths which he had orders to
deliver to his own ears, and not to leave liim any
doubt upon the serious nature of his menaces, to
place before his eyes several passages in the
despatches of the first consul. The prince of the
peace grew pale, let fall some tears, was liy turns
abject and arrogant, and finished l)y declaring that
M. Azara was charged at Paris to con)e to an
understanding with M. de Talleyrand ; that, more-
over, it did not regard him, the |)rince of the
peace ; that in listening to the ambassador, he
departed from Jiis proper character, because he
was generalissimo of the S|)anish armies, and had
no other function in the state ; and that if he had
any declaration to make, it was to the minister for
foreign affairs that lie ongiit to address himself,
and not to him, the prince. He even refused a
note, that general Beurnonville wished to give him
at the conclusion of the conference. The general,
thus repulsed, said, — " Prince, there are Ht'ty per-
sons in your ante-cliamber, 1 shall go .-md make
them witnesses of the refusal you have given to
receive a note which relates to the service of your
king, and 1 shall state that if I have not been able
to acquit myself of my duty, the fault is solely
with you, and not with myself." The prince, inti-
midated, then took the note, and general Beurnon-
ville retired.

Continuing to fulfil his instructions to their full
extent, the general and ambassador wished to see
the king and queen : he found them surprised and
astounded, seeming to comprehend nothing that
had passed, repeating that the chevalier Azara had
received instructions to arrange every thing with
the first consul. Tlie French ambassador quitted
the court, broke off all communication with the
Spanish ministers, and hastened to acquaint his
government with what he had done, and witii the
slender result which he had obtained.

M. Azara, in fact, had received the most singular
and most inconsistent communications, very dis-
agreeable to himself. This lively and clever
Spaniard was a sincere partizan for the alliance
of Spain with France, and the personal friend of
the first consul, since the campaigns in Italy,
where he had played a conciliatory character
between the French army and the jx-pt". Unhap-
pily, he iiad not sufficiently concealed the distaste
and sorrow which the existing state of the court of
Spain caused to himself, and this discontented
court wi hdrew its consideration from the ambas-
sador that thus deplored its situation. He was, it
asserted, in the despatches that they had written
to iiim from Madrid, — he was the humble servant

1803.
Aug.

M. Hermann sent
from Paris to
Madrid.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Fresh condition imposed
upon Spain by the first
consul.

497

of the first consul ; lie had not informed his court
of any thing, and he did not know how to serve it
under an exijjeney. They went so far as to de-
clare to him, that if tiie first consul had not a
desire to detain him in Paris, they would choose
another representative. They thus provoked him
to give in his rtsignaliou without daring to demand
it. He was ordered, as a conel'ision of the affair,
to offer PVance a subsidy of 2,300,000 f. per month,
declaring that this was all Sj»ain was able to do, as
above that sum she was too much reduced to pay
by her utter want of means. M. Azara transmitted
these propositions to the first consul, and then sent
off his resignation by a courier to Madrid.

The tii-st consul sent for M. Hermaini, secretary
(if emba.s.sy, who hud had personal relations with
the prince of the peace, and gave him his orders to
carry to Madrid. M. ilermann was to signily to
the [irinee that he must either submit, or resign
himself to an immediate downfall, by the means
that M. Hermann had iu his portfolio. These
means were as follow : — The first consul had
written a letter to the king, in which he de-
nounced to that weak monarch the misfortunes
and reproaches of his crown, in such a manner,
at the same time as to awaken the feeling ot
dignity without wounding him ; and he placed
hinj in a position between the dismission of the
favourite, or the immediate entrance of a French
army. If the prince of the peace, after having
seen M. Hermann, did not immediately, without
evasion, and without sending any new message to
Paris, give full and entire satisfaction to France,
general Beurnonville was to demand a .solemn
audience of Charles IV., and to deliver into his
own hands the terrible letter of the first consul.
Twejity-four hours after, if the prince of the peace
was not dismissed or sent away, general Beurnou-
ville was to quit Mailrid, and forward to general
Augereau the injunction to pass the frontier.

M. Hermann went in all haste to Madrid. He
saw the prince of the peace, and signiHed to hiiu
the will of the first consul ; this time he found
him no more liase and arrogant, but solely base.
A Spanish minister who had the proper con-
viction of Ills duty and upheld the interests of
liirt country, representing liis king with honour,
and not covering him with ignominy, would have
braved disgrace, and even death, sooner than (tr-
mit such a display of foreign authority. But the
indignity attaching to his position left the prince
of the peace no energetical resource. He .sub-
mitted, and aflirm'Ml upon his word of honour that
instructions should be sent to M, Azara, with
p.iwer to consent to all which the first consid
lerjuired. This answer was carried to gemral
Beurnonville. He declared that he had orders to
exact an immediate fulfilment, and not to |>ay
another nie.sseng>-r to Paris ; and further, that he
had express instructions not to take the princes
word, but to have a si;;ned document in Madrid it-
self, or to remit the fatal letter into the king's hand.

The prince of the peace repeated his old story,
all had terniiiiate<l at Paris at that moment,
and conformably to the will of the first consul.
This miserable court bilieved it had Haved its
honour in leaving to M. Azara the melancholy
t«8k of submitting himself to the will of France,
aud iu sending to four hundred leagues' distance

the spectacle of its own abasement. General Beur-
nonville then believed it was his duty to carry to
the king the letter of the first consul. The directors
of the king, in other words, the queen and prince
of the peace, would have declined an audience, but
a courier would have ordered Augereau to enter
Spain. Still they found a means to arrange every
thing. They advised Charles IV. to receive the
letter, but persuaded him not to open it, because it
contained expressions with which lie would be
much offended. They set themselves to prove to
him, that by receiving the letter he spared Spain
the entrance of the French army, and that by not
opening it he saved his dignity from being hurt.
Things being thus disposed, general Beurnonville
was admitted to the Escurial in presence of the
king aud queen, out of the presence of the prince
of the peace, which he had orders not to suffer, and
he handed to the Spanish monarch the crushing
<ienunciation of which he was the bearer. Charles
IV., with an easiness which proved his ignorance
of affairs, said to the ambassador : " I have
received the letter of the first consul, seeing that
it must be so; but I shall give it back to you soon
without opening it. You will know in a few days
that the step was useless, because M. Azara has
been charged to settle every thini: in Paris. I
esteem the first consul ; 1 am willing to be his
faithful ally, and to furnish him with all the aid
that my crown has at its disposal."

After this official reply, the king took up that
familiar manner so little worthy of the throne and
of his present situatiou ; he spoke in terms of an
enibarra.ssing vulgarity of the vivacity of his friend
general Bonaparte, and of his resolution to pardon
every thing, in order not to break np the union
between the two courts. The French ambassador
retired confounded, having suflered painfully during
such a spectacle, and now believed he was bound
to await the arrival of a new courier from Paris,
before giving general Augereau the notice to
march.

This time the prince of the peace .spoke the
truth ; M. Azara had received the authorization
necessary to sign the conditions imposed by the
first consul. It was agreed that Spain should re-
main neuter ; that in place of the succours stipu-
lated in the treaty of St. lldefonso, she should pay
to France a subsidy of 0,000,000 f. i)er month, of
which a third should be retained for the adjust-
ment of the balances existing between the two
governments ; that Spain should acquit at a single
|)ayment the four montiis which had become due
since the commencement of the war, in a sinn of
1(>,000,000 f. An agent named Hervas, who trans-
attid in Paris the financial business of the court
of Madrid, was to go into Holland to negotiate
a loan with the house of Hope, and to deliver
in payment dollars drawn from Mexico. It was
uiiiierstood that if England declared war against
Spain, the subsidy should cease. For the con-
.sideratioii of this aid, it was stipidated that if the
projects of the first consul against England suc-
ceeded, France should restore to her ally Trinidad
in the first place, and in case of a complete triumph,
the celebrated fortress of Gibraltar.

This treaty being signed, M. Azara insisted no
less strenuously on giving in his resignation, al-
though he Wiis destitute of fortune, and de()rived of
Kk

Desipn of the first consul
upon Ireland.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Immense activity of
the tirst consul.

1803.
Sept.

every kind of resource to solace a precocious old
age. He died at Paris some inontlis ai'ttrwards.
The prince of the peace had so little dignity as to
■write to his agent Hervas, and to desire him, as he
said, to arrange his personal concerns with tiie
first consul. All that had passed was, according
to liini,only a misunderstanding; one of those ordi-
nary differences between persons who love each
other, and who are afterwards greater friends than
they were before ! Such was this personage, and
such was the force and elevation of his character.

Autunm had arrived ; the bad season ap-
proached, and one of the three opportuniiies re-
ported to be the best for the passage of the straits
■was about to ])resent itself in the fogs and long
nights of the winter season. Then the first consul
occupied himself without resjjite with his great
enterprise. The end of the quarrel with Spain
had come at the exact moment, not only to pro-
cure him pecuniary resources, but to render a
part of his troops disposable. The assemblage of
troops drawn towards the side of the Pyrenees
was dispers d, and the corps which composed
it marched towards the ocean. Several of these
corps were quartered at Salutes, to be all c;irrie<l
by the squadron from Rochefort, others were
ordered to Britany to be embarked in the grand
squadron at Brest. Augereau commanded the
cam]) formed in that province. The design of the
first consul ripened in his head by liitle and little :
it now seemed to him, that in order to trouliie yet
more the government of England, he nmst attack on
several points at once, and that a part of the one
hundred and fifty thousand men destined for the
invasion should be thrown upon Ireland. This
was the oliject of the preparations ordered at
Brest. The minister Decres had conferred with
the Irish fugitives, who had already made an
attempt to detach their country from England.
They promised a general insurrection in case of
the disembarkation there of eighteen thousand
men, with a complete iiiath'icl and a good quantity
of arms. They required as the jtrice of their
efforts, that France should not make peace without
exacting the independence of Ireland. The first
consul consented, uptm the condition tliat a body of
twenty thousand men at least should have joined
the French army and fought with it during the
time of the expedition. The Irish were confident,
and full of ]>romi.ses, as all emigrants are sure to
be ; yet there were among them those wIki did
not give such great hopes, and who did not promise
any effective aid on the part of the population.
Still, according to these last, it would he found
well wishers, and that was enough to ensure sup-
port to the French army, to cause serious embar-
rassment to hJngland, and to paralyze perhnps fnrty
or fifty thousand of its soldiers. The expedition
to Ireland had again the advantage of keeping the
enemy uncertain about the true point of attack.
Without this expedition England would have be-
lieved in only one oiiject on the part of her enemy,
that of traversing the straits to direct an army
upon Loudon. On the contrary, with the prepa-
rations at Brest, many believed that those made at
Boulogne were only a feint, and that the true
design consisted in a great expedition to Ireland.
The doubts thus inspired were productive of a
primary result exceedingly useful.

The fleet that had put into Ferrol was at lengtii
introduced into the docks, in due course of repara-
tion, provided with the refi-eshments of which the
crews stood in pressing need. That at Toulon
was in course of preparation. In Holland they
began to equip a squadron of the line, and to unite
a mass of boats neces.sary for the formation of the
Balavian flotilla. But it was at Boulogne princi-
pally that every thing proceeded with marvellous
order and I'apidity.

The first consul, full of the persuasion that it was
necessary to see every thing himself, that the surest
agents are often incorrect in their reports, through
default in attention, or want of sufficient intelli-
gence where they do not willingly report untruly,
created for himself a dwelling at Boulogne, where
he had the intenti.m of Ireqnentiy sojourning. He
had ordered to be hired a small chateau in a
village called Pont de Briques, and he had ordered
the necessaries re(|uired to inhabit it with his mili-
tary household. He left St. Cloud in the evening,
passing over the sixty leagues which separate
Paris from Boulogne with the rapidity that ordi-
nary princes set out to pursue their vulgar plea-
sures ; he arrived the following day by noon on the
theatre of his immense labours, and would then
examine every thing befoi-e g(!ing to sleep for a
moment. He had exacted of adniiial Bruix, worn
down with fatigue, sometimes in a state of agi-
tation from his quarrels with the minister Decres,
that he should not lodge at Boulogne, but on the
shore, upon an eminence from whence he could
connnaud the port, the road, and the camps. There
had been constructed for him a barrack of wood,
well caulked and secured, in which this officer, so
much regretted, terminated his earthly career,
having continually before him every part of the
immense creative labour over which he jjresided.
He resigned himself to this perilous dwelling
during his declining existence, in order to satisfy
the uneasy vigilance of the chief of the goveru-
ment '.

1 Here is an extract from the correspondence of the min-
ister Pecres, wliicli proves tlie devotion of admiral Bruix to
Uie eiiterprize, and well dejiict.s the nature of his cliaraiter,
only ihai his sufferiniis were less imaginary than the minister
Decrfes says, because he died in the following year.
" The minister of the navy and colonies to the first cimsul.
" Boulogne, 7th January, 1804.

" Cjtizen Consul, — Admiral Bruix has not dissimulated
jour discontent; he appears very much relieved at findin;;
in me a disposition to speak to him with confidence. He
always sees general Latouche at the gates of Boulogne, and
this idea is any thing hut agreeable to him.

" ' The business here is so great and so important/ he
said to me, very nobly, ' that it tannot be confided except to
such a man as the fir.st consul shall judge most worthy of it.
1 conceive that no partial considerations should be admitted ;
and if the first consul believes Latouche more capable, he
will nominate him, and he will do well. For myself, at the
point which things have reached, I shall not be able to
aiiandon the duty, and will .^erve under the orders of La-
touclie. But will my health permit me? Yes, it must
permit me; and I am nearly sure it will do so. The first
consul demands so much activity! he gives an example so
extraordinary! "Very well, this example I have jeen well
enough is a lesson given to myself, and the lesson shall not be
hist." ' What, then, will you enter into all the details, will you
inspect every vessel V ' Yes, I will do it when he wislies it,
although it is my principle that this method is not equal to

180.1.
Sept.

Derensiv« preparations

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE,

The first consul lm<l a similar barrack con-
structed for liis own personal use, verj' near tluit
of the admiral, and he sometimes passed whole
days and nights there. He insistcil that tlie gene-
Pila Davout, Ncy, and Soult, should reside, without
iiiterniption, in the midst of the camps, assisting
ptTsonally at the works, and at the manoeuvres,
an<l giving him every day an acctiunt of the mi-
nutest circumsfcinees. General Sonit, who distin-
guished iiimself by the valuable quality of vigilance,
was of great and const:int utility to him. When
the first consul had received from his lieutenants
his daily correspondence, wliich lie always an-
swered at the moment, he set out to verify himself
tile exactness of tiie reports which they iiad ad-
dressed to him, never trusting for any thing but to
his own eyes.

The Eiiglislj had set themselves to annoy the
labourers in the execution of the works designed
to protect the anchorage at Boulogne. Tluir
cruisers, composed generally of about twenty
vessels, of wliich three or four were ships of
seventy-four gims, five or six frigates, and ten or
a dozen brigs and sloops, with a certain nmnber of
•;un-boats, made a continual fire upon the work-
luiii. Their balls, passing ever the shoie, had
fallen in the jiort and in the camp. Although their
projectiles had caused but little damage, the fire
rt;i» very disagreeable, and might, when a number
of ves-els were assembled, cause the most unfor-
tunate ravages, ami perhaps a destructive incen-
diarism. One night, the English advanced with
ureiit audacity in their boats, surprised the working
place where the labour for the construction of
the woodi-n fort was going forwards, cut away the
nioiikt-ys that served to drive the piles, and knocked
lip the work for several days. The first consul
shewed great discontent at this attack, and gave
new orders, so as effectually to prevent a similar
attack ill future. Armed gun-boats were placed
as sentinels, liaving to pass the night around the
works. Tije labourers encouraged, their honour
pitpied, like that of soldiers led in presence of an
•-iieiny, were brought to labour before the English
v.-bsils, and nndi-r the fire «if their artillery. It
was at low tide only that tl>ey could get at their
work, when the heads of the piles were sufficiently
iiiieovi-red by the sea to be able to drive them;
ilie workmen began their labours even before the

my own in value— to order tilings to be done, and to sliow
inynrir >eliloin.' ' litit the first cunsul ! ' ' Oli ! lie is alwiiys
.iliK- to make himself visible, because he alw.iyg makes
oihcr* >ubmil ; but we who are not he, not even He|)hestions
t'l hilt Alexander, I believe must act with a (;rratvr_ reserve.
Hut be wills; he underi-tands matters in his own way, and
I am willing that he should see that 1 know how to do what
he wisiics.'

" Here, then, citizen con>ul, is a summary of a part of
my dialiiKue with him. He behaved marvellously well ;
ind I'inie Rcni-riils havinf; come in at the end of our cunfer-
ence. and having inquired respeclinif his health, lie passed
^uddnily in hi* moribund manner, and beitan to roniplnin
In a iHiiientinn tone of voice— a sacri..re involuntarily paid
tobi^old habit.

" From all he said to mc, it results that hn trembles lest
vfiu kliiiuld take the cnnimand from hiiii ; that be did not
ciiiiceal fr<im me he had such a dread ; and that he promised
nieiodo. in the fullest dctiil, all that of which you liave
Kivitn him the example, tu commence Tiom to day.

" 1Je< res."

complete retirement of the tide, resting after it
had risen, one-half of their bodies in tlie waves,
working and singing under the bullets of the
English. Nevertheless, the first consul, with his
never-failing fecundity of mind, devised new pre-
cautions to keep the enemy jit a distance. He
made experiments on the sliore, in trying the
eftect of the fire of heavy cannon under an angle
of forty-rive degrees of elevation, in the same way
in which shells are discharged ironi a mortar.
The experiment succeeded, :ind the balls of a
twenty-four pounder were sent to the distance of
two thousand three hundred toises', which obliged
the English to keep further off. It did better still
tiian this; thinking continually of the same thing,
he was the first to devise the means which, in
the present day, causes frij;htrttl havoc, and
seems about to exercise a gretit influence in mari-
time warfare, that of hollow projiclilcs employed
against vessels. He ordered them to fire on the
vessels with large shells, which, bursting in the
timber or among the sails and yards, would pro-
duce breaches fatal to the hull of the vessel, or
great destruction in the rigging. " It is with pro-
jectiles that explode," he wrote, " that timber
must be assailed." Nothing is done easily, above
all, w'hen there are old prejudices to conquer. He
had continually to reiteiate the same instructions.
When the English, in place of the solid balls which
traversed like a thunder-bolt all which was in their
passage, but left no more extended mischief behind
than was caused by their own diameter, saw a pro-
jectile, which had less impulsion, it is true, but
that exploded like a mine, either in the sides of
the vessels, or over the heads of the defenders,
they were surprised, and kept at a distance.
Lastly, to obtain greater security, the first consul
devised a means not less ingenious. He had an
idea of establishing submarine batteries, in other
words, he had placed, at the level of low water,
heavy camion and mortars, which were covered at
high tide by the sea, and uncovered at the ebb.
It cost much trouble to secure the platforms upon
which the guns rested, so as to prevent their being
covered with sand and an accumulation of matter
brought up by the sea. Nevertheless, the plan
succeeded, and at the time of low water, wliicti
was that of work, when the English advanced to
disturb the labourers, they Wire received by dis-
charges of artillery on a sudden from low water
mark, in such a way, that the fire advanced," in
a certain sense, and retired wiih the sea itself.
These batteries were only employed during the
time of the construction of the forts; the^ became
useless when the forts were completed*.

The wooden fort was the first finished, owing
to the nature of the construction. Solid plat-
forms were cstablisliid upon the heads of the piles,
some feet above the highest wati r mark. This
work wiis nionnted with ten pieces of large calibre,
and with several niortars of a long range. When
they began to fire, the English no more made
their appearance at the entrance of the port. All
the heights along the shore were mounted with

1 About H.TOO feet Enplisb measure, or 2} miles.— Trantf.

• All the details thai are niven lure arc extracted from
the oriBinal rorrcspoiideiiee of Admiral Uruix and of Napo-
lu)n, wliich has been aucaily (iiintcd.
K k 2

I Employment of the

600 trooDs.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1803.
Sept.

twenty-four pounders, thirty-six poundei-s, and
mortars. About five hundred guns were placed
in battery, and the coast, rendered unapproachable,
received, both from the French and English, the
name of the " iron coast." In this interval the
forts in masonry were completed without any other
obstacle than that arising from the sea. At the
commencement <if the winter, more particularly,
the waves sometimes became so furious, under the
influence of the winds from the channel, that they
shook and inundated the loftiest and most solid
constructions. Twice they lifted entire courses
of the masonry, and precipitated into the bottom
of the sea the largest blocks of stone, from the
summit of the walls in course of erection. These
two imiiortant constructions were continued, not-
withstanding, as being indispensable to the security
of the anchorage.

During the construction of these works, the
troops drawn near to the coast had constructed
their barracks and traced their camps, making of
them perfect milit,".ry cities, divided into quarters,
and traversed by long streets. This necessary
labour first completed, they were divided about
the basin of Boulogne. The task was apportioned
among them, and each regiment excavated a de-
termined part of the enormous mass of sand and
slime which filled up the bed of the Liane. Some
dug out the bed of the Liane itself, or the semi-
circular basin; others drove the ])iles required to
form the quays. The works at Winiereux and at
Ambleteuse, of which the practicability of the
execution had been acknowledged possible, were
already undertaken. They laboured in extracting
the mud and sand; they constructed sluices, in
order to deepen the channel by repeated discharges
of water; while other detachments were occupied
in making roads to unite together the ports of
Wimereux, Anibleteuse, Boulogne, and Etaples,
and these ports themselves with the neighbouring
forests.

The troops devoted to these rough labours were
relieved after tlie accomplishment of their task,
and those who had ceased to remove the earth
became occupied with manoeuvres of all kinds jjroper
to perfect their military instruction. Dressed in the
coarse clothes of workmen, secured by sabots from
the humidity of the soil, well lodged, well fed, ov;ing
to the prife of tlieir labour added to their pay;
living in the open air, they enjoyed in the midst of
the rudest climate and the worst season the most
perfect healtii. Content, occu]5ied, full of confi-
dence in the enterprise which was preparing, tliey
acquired every day that redoubled physical and
moral strength which might well serve them to
conquer the world.

The moment at length arrived to concentrate
tlie flotilla. The construction of the boats of all
kinds was nearly achieved every where. Tiiey hud
been brought down to the mouths of the different
rivers ; and they had been rigged and armed in the
ports. The workmen in timber who had become
idle in the interior, had been formed into com-
panies, and marched as well to Boulogne as to tlie
surrounding jjorts. It was proposed they should
be emi)loyed in furnishing and keeping the flotilla
in order until the moment it was wanted.

It was then necessary to proceed to the work of
concentration, which was waited for impatiently by

the English, with the confidence of destroying to
the last the light French gun flotilla. Here a
judgment may be formed of the mental resources
of the first consul. The divisions of the flotilla
which had to reach Boulogne, were to depart from
all the points on the coast of the sea from Bayonne
to the Texel, in order to rally in the straits of
Calais. They were to coast the shore, and to keep
themselves always at a very slight distance from
the land, and to run ashore when they were too
closely pressed by the English cruisers. One or
two accidents which occurred to the vessels of the
flotilla, furnished the first consul with the idea of
a system of succour as sure as it was ingenious.
He had seen some boats run upon the shore to
avoid the enemy, and happily and effectually suc-
coured by the inhabitants of the neighbouring
villages. Struck by this circumstance, lie dis-
tributed along the sea-shore numerous coi-ps of
cavalry from Nantes to Brest ; from Brest as far
as Cherburg; and from Cherburg to Havre and
Boulogne. These corps of cavalry, divided by
the arrondissements, had with them batteries of
artillery ready horsed, and trained to move with
extreme rapidity, and to gallop along the hard
sands which the sea left imcovered upon retiring.
These sands, that are called the estran, are in
general so solid as to bear horses and carriages.
The cavalry, having the artillery following them,
were to scour the shore, continually advancing and
retiring with the sea, protecting by fire the boats
moving along in-shore. Commonly only guns of
small calibre were harnessed; the first consul had
jnished forward the employment of adequate
means so as to harness sixteen-pounders, to pro-
ceed as fast as seven or eight-pounder field-pieces.
He ordered each horseman to be trained for every
part of the duty ; to dismount and serve the guns,
or run, carbine in hand, to the aid of the seamen
ashore upon the beach. " It is necessary to make
the hussars remember," he writes to the minister
at war, " that a French soldier ought to be a
horseman, artilleryman, and foot-soldier, that he
ought to cope with all *." Two generals, Leniar-
rois and Sebastiani, were charged with the com-
mand of this cavalry. They had orders to be on
horseback continually, to make the squadrons
manoeuvre daily with the guns, and to keep them-
selves constantly aware of the movement of the
convoys, in order to escort them on their way 2.

> Dated the 29th of September, 1803.

2 Tlie following letter, written at the moment some negli-
gence had been shown, proves in what a state he had placed
the toast : —

" To general Davout.

" 30th October, 1803.

" Citizen General Davout,— I have not seen wiiliout
pain, by the report of the brigadier Seras, that the English
have had time to pillage and unrig a boat that was on shore
between Gravelines and Calais. In the existing situation of
the coast, never will a like event happen from Bordeaux.
Detachments of cavalry and flying artillery should have
arrived to prevent the English from pillaging the vessel.
Here is the second time that the vessels on shore upon the
coast have received no succour. The fault rests with whom-
soever you charged with the care of that part of the coast.
Order two generals of brigade to inspect the coast, tlve one
from Calais to Dunkirk, the other from Dunkirk to the
Scheldt. Let picquets of cavalry be disposed in such a man-

1803.
Sept.

Concentration of tlie vessels
at Boulogne.

THE C.VMP OF BOULOGNE. Opposition of the English.

501

This system produced, a-s will be seen, very ex-
cellent results. The vessels were divided into con-
voys of thirty, fifty, and even si.xty sail. • They be-
gan to arrive towards the end of September from
St. Ma!o, Granville, Clierburg, the river of Caen,
Havre, and St. Valiery. Tliere were not many
between the last and Brest ; but the Englisii
watched that part of the coast with too niucii care
for the passage to be hazarded, after having made
numerous e.\periments '. It w;is not the same
commandant who conducted the convoys all the
way from tiieir point of departure to that of their
arrival. It was ill. u^ht that the naval officer wjio,
for example, was well aeiiuainted with the coasts
of Briuiny, was not equally so with those of Nor-
mandy and Picardy. The commanders were there-
fore distributed according to their local knowledge,
and as pib t coasters they did not go out of the arron-
diasement which was fixed upon for their station.

ner as to watch without ceasing, and let guns be ])laced
ready harnessed, in such a manner that at the first signal
they will be able to arrive in the least possible time at the
places where the boats may have run aground. In fine,
I these general inspectors ought to be always on horseback,
I making the land-artillery manoeuvre, inspecting the artillery-
men, guarding the coast, escorting the flotillas on the
Strand when they are in movement. Let me know the
names of all the jiosts which you may place, and the spot
where you have established the flying artillery."

' This arose from the nature of the coast and the deeper
water than on the flat shores found more to the north-
ward, which enabled tlie ships of war to approach pretty
near the land. Sir Sidney Smith, after making an attack
on one of tliese convoys of boats oflf the northern part of the
coast, corroborated this system of protection as very effec-
tual, owing principally to the shoal water, in one case he
wrote, speaking of one of these convoys, " Having found a
passage for the Antelope, she was enabled to bring her
broadside to bear upon the headmost vessels before tliey got
the length of Ostend. The leader struck immediately, and
her crew deserted her. She was, however, lecovered by the
followers; the artillery from the town and camp and the
rowing gun-t)oats kept a constant fire from the pier; our
shot, however, which went over their vessels, going on
shore among the horse artillery, interrupted it in some de-
gree ; still, however, it was from the shore we received the
greaUit annoyance ; for the vessels crowding along, they
could not bring tlieir guns to bear without altering their
course towards us, which tliey would not venture to do; and
their side guns, though numerous and well served, were
very light. . . . Several of the vessels were driven on
shore, and recovered by the army. ... I have anchored
in such a positinn as to keep an rye uiinn them ; and I shall
endeavour to close with them again if they move into deeper
waUr. I have to regret, that from the depth of water in
ujhich these veitels more, gun-boats alone can act ayainsl
them with effect." The consequence was, that sir Sidney,
out of several that struck, could bring oir but one. To take
possession of the o:hers, he must have gone in with open
boats, when the fire of the artillery on shore would have
covered effectually those that ran aground, under the pro-
tection of the troops, for they could not be approached without
great loss of men. Sir Sidney thus corroborates the effective
nature of Napoleon's plan for their protection, while uniting
I at Boulogne. That in deep water their own means of de-
fence would hive availed them little, was aliundantly
proved, and when filled with the troops they were intended
I to embark, they would have offered a less formidable rcsist-
I ance, from their crowded slate. The only wish of the
I English was, to get them out into deep water, when their
I numbers would rather have accelerated than impeded their
I inevitable fate, had their squadrons met them. — Trans-
lator.

They received the convoys at the limit of their
arrnndissenient, and conducted them as far as tlie
limitof the neighbouring arroiidissement, thus trans-
mitting them from hand to hand until they reached
Boulogne. They embarked trooiis in those vessels,
even horses in those designed to receive them; they
were, in fact, laden as they were intended to be du-
ring the passage from France to England. The first
consul had oi-deied an examination to bem:ide with
the greatest care how they carried themselves at
sea under the cargo which they were to transport.

Towards the end of September, or first days of
Vende'miaire, year xii., a first division, com])osed
of gun-ve.ssels, gun-boats, and pinnaces, left Dun-
kirk to double cape Grisnez and enter Boulogne.
Captain St. Haouen, an excellent officer, wiio com-
manded this division, although a bold man, pro-
ceeded with the utmost precitulion. Wlien he was
off Calais he suffered Jiimself to be alarmed by an
uniniportant circumstance. He saw the Etiglish
cruisers disappear, as if going in search of other
vessels. He feared he should be assailed by
a numerous squadron, and in place of carrying all
.sail to reach Boulogne, he took refuge in the
harbour of Calais. Admiral Bruix having re-
ceived notice of this error, went in person to the
jilace, in order, if possible, to rejiair the fault. In
fact, the English soon appeared in great strength;
and it became evident that they were going to fall
upon the port of Caltiis to prevent tlie pas.sage out
of the division whicli had taken refuge there. The
admiral proceeded to Dunkirk in order to hurry
forward tlie organization of the second division,
which was nearly ready in that port, and to make
it come to the aid of the first.

The English came before Calais wi'th a con-
siderable force, and more particularly with several
bomb-vessels. During the 27th of September, or
4th Vende'miaire, they threw a great number of
shells into the town and port. They killed two or
three persons, but did not destroy any vessel. The
batteries harnessed went to the shore at a gallop,
and returned a well-sustaiiud lire, obliging them
to retire. They went off much nioriifieil at iiaving
produced so .slight an efiect. The next day ad-
miral Bruix ortlered the division of St. Haouen to
put to sea to insult the enemy's cruisers, and to
prevent a second bombardment of the town, ac-
cording to circumstances to double cape Grisnez,
and ill fact enter Boulogne. The second divi.sion
from Dunkirk was to set s:iil at the same time,
under the command of cajytain I'evrieux, to sup-
port the fiist. Rear-admiral Magon, who com-
nninded at Boulogne, Jiad orders on his side to
come out of the ])ort with :ill his disjutsable force,
and to keep under sail in ovdtv to give assistance
to the divisions of St. Haouen and Pevrieux if they
proceeded to double cape Grisnez.

On the 28th of September, in tlic morning, or
5th of Vendtimiaire, year XII., captain St. Haouen
boldly came out ol Calais, :ind advanced about a can-
non-shot distiince. Tlie English nnide a movement
in order to Ixtir oH' to the wind. Cajitain St.
Hiioueii profited ably by t\\v. movement, whicli
took them in a contniry direction, and crowded all
sail towards cape Grisnez; but he \\a.s soon after-
wards approached by the English a little beyond
the cape, and attacked by a violi lit fire of artillery.
It seemed as if about twenty of tiie enemy's vessels.

502 Concentration of the THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. vessels at Boulogne.

every one of large size, must have sunk the light
vessels of the Frencli, but no mischief was done.
Captain St. Haouen continued his course under the
halls of the Enjilish without suffering much. A
battalion of the 4«lh and a detachment of the 22d,
embarked on bojird these vessels, managed their
oars with admirable coolness under a warm, but,
happily, not a very murdenius fire. At the same
time the moveable batteries on shore hastened
down to the sea, and answered with eff'ect to the
English artillery. Finally, in the afternoon, cap-
tain St. Haouen moored in the road of Botilogiie,
and was joined by tlie detachment that had come
out of port under the orders of rear-admiral Ma-
gon. The second division of Dunkirk, which had
put to sea, had advanced on its course so far as to
come within sight of cape Grisnez. But stopped
by tide and calm it was obliged to anchor on that
side along an uncovered coast. It remained in
this position until the moment, when, the current
changing, they were enabled to jiroceed to Bou-
logne. They had no wind, and they were obliged
to use their oars. F.fteen English vessels, frigates,
corvettes, and brigs, awaited tiiem at cape Grisnez.
At this place the water was deeper, and the Eng-
lish cruisers could approach near the shore without
the French having the resource left them of run-
ning aground, and in consequence great fears were
entertained in their behalf. But they passed, as
those of the iireceding evening had done; the
French soldiers managed the oars with great
boldness, and the English received from the
land batteries more mischief than they were able
to cause to the French gun-vessels. The flotilla of
Boulogne and the division of St. Haouen, whiili
had reached the port the evening before, went out
again in order to join the division of Pevrienx.
They came u]) with it at the heights called the
Tour de Croy, before Wimereux. There the three
divisions united, stopped, and formed a line, ju-e-
senting to the English their ])rows armed with
cannon; they went right towards them and fired
upon them warndy. The fire lasted for two hours.
The light French vessels sometimes sti-uck the
larger ones of the English, and were themselves
rarely hit. In the end the English retired, every
one so ill treated as to be obliged to go and repair
their injui-ies in the Downs. One of the Fieneh
vessels, the only one to which the accident oc-
curred, pierced through and through by a ball, had
time to reach the shore before sinking '.

• This shows how close the French were to the land, and
proves tliat lliiy never came beyond the protection of their
land hatteries. 'lliat they were not lieyond sliell ran^e of
the shore, and that the Erigiish were within it, is j)roved by
the fact, that a sliell from the shore burst on hoard the Leda,
one of the sqiiadr^n. The mischief done to the squadron by
these hoais, as thus stated, is wholly untrue. Captain
Honeymoon, of the I.eila, »ho commanded, wrote to lord
Keith as follows, under date of September 29. 1833:— "At
daylight tliis mornitiR, another squadron of the enemy's
gunboats, twi-ntyfive in number, was discovered coming
from the eastward. I immediately jjroceeded to attack
them, and after a severe cannonade for nearly three hours,
they anchored in the situation with the vessels last night,
with the loss of two of them, they having l)eeii driven on
shore, and bilged upon tbe rocks. There are at present
fifty -five gun vessels at anchor outside the port of Bonlogne.
I am happy to add that I have no reports of any material
injury done to the squadrou under my command ; a shell

This conflict, followed at a later period by many
others, more important and more murderous, jiro-
duced a decisive effect upon the opinion of the
navy and army. They saw that their small vessels
could not be so easily sent to the bottom by the
large ships, and that they struck much oftener
their gigantic adversaries than they were them-
selves struck; they saw what aid could be obtained
from the co operation of the soldiery, who, without
being yet exercised, h;id managed the oars, served
the marine-artillery with rare address, and had,
more ptirticularly, shown no fear of the sea, and a
great deal <.f zeal in seconding the seamen ^.

Scarcely had the first experiments been made,
when the greatest ardour was shown to renew
them ; numerous convoys successively departed
from all the ports of the channel for the general
rendezvous at Boulogne. Several naval officers,
as the captains St. Haouen and Pevrienx, whose j
names have been quoted, and the ctiptains Ha- i
meliii and Daugicr, distinguished themselves in this ,
kind of pilotage by their courage and ability. The
vessels, moved now by the oar, now by the sail,
passed along the coast at a very little disttince
from the detachments of cavalry and artillery,
ready to protect them. They were rarely obliged
to seek refuge by running ashore, because tliey
nearly always navigated in sight of the English,
susttiining their fire, and scmietitnes stopijiuL',
w hen they had the weather in their favour, to face
the enemy, and exhibit to him their prows armed
with cannon of heavy metal. Often they ntade the
brigs recoil, the corvettes, and even the frigates.
If they ran ashore upon some occasions, it was
oftener from the effect of the bad wetither thiiii
from the power of their adversaries. When this
happened, the English entered their boats to sei e
the vessels or pinnaces on shore. But the Frencli -
artillery galloped with their guns to the si)ot, !
or their horsemen, changed at once into infantry,
nearly into sailors, ran into the middle of the '
breakers to the aid of the seamen, drove off" the ,
English by the fire of their carbines, and obligeil i
them to put to sea, without carrying off' their I
prize, often after having been deprived of all their i
boldest sailors. |

In the months of October, November, and De-'
cember, nearly a thousand vessels, gun-vessels,
gun-boats, and piimaces, that had departed from
other ports, ente)-ed Boulogne. Of this number
the English did not take more than three or four,
nor the sea destroy more than ten or a dozen.

These short and frequent passages were the
causes of mtiny useful observations. They re-
vealed the superiority of the gun vessels over the
gunboats. The last were more difficult to move,
deflected more, and above all, wanted weight of
fire. The defect of the gun- boats was in their
construction, and their construction was owing to
the necessity of ])lacing field artillery in them,
which it would have been well to resign. The
pinnaces left nothing to be wished for in relation
to speed and management. In other respects, ali

fell on hoard the Leda, which burst in her bold, doing little
injury lo the ship, and not liurtiiig a man." Repairs in the
Downs were therefore out of tbe question. — Transt.itcr.

2 'J'hese sentiments are found expressed in all tbe corrp-
spon'lence written at Boulogne tbe day after these two
ai:l'\oitS.— J ullior's note.

1803.
Oct.

Alterations made in the
vessels.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Arrangcraents of the troops
on board the vessels.

503

the vessels made tolei-able way, even without the
aiil of a sail. There were divisions that came
fi-om Havre to Boulogne, nearly always under
oars, with a middling; speed of about two leagues
an hour. Some changes in stowage, that is to say,
in loading them, would have mended their navi-
gating qualities.

The experience of these voyages led to a change
in the disposition of the artillery, which was im-
mediately executed thr.iughout all the flotilla. The
heavy cannon, placed in the b.>w and stern, ran in
grooves, in wliich they could only mi.ve or recoil
in a right line. From this it resulted that the
vessels were obliged to come round in order to fire
and to present eitht-r the head or stern to the
enemy. It was imjiossible then, when they were
making way, to reply to the fire of the English,
because at that time they only presented their
sides. When coasting, the currents made them
keep a positiim paniUel with the shore, or, in other
words, offer their disarmed flanks. This arrange-
ment w;is changed when the stability of the vessels
liad been proved, and it had been further secured
by a better calculated system of stowage. Car-
riages were constructed resembling those used in
military service, which permitted of their being
fired en belle, that is to say, in every direction, in
this way the vessels, on their passage or in the
roads, were able to fire, whatever was their posi-
tion, without being obliged to come roimd. The
gun-vessels could thus make four discharges in ail
directions. With a little habit, the landsmen and
Riilors came to practise this kind of firing with
exactness, and without risk.

It was thought more particularly useful to
cement a i)erfect intimacy between the seamen
and wddiers, by means of appi-opriating the same
vessels to the same troops. The capacity of the
gnn-vi-ssels and the gun-boats had been calculated
on the supposition of their being able to carry a
coiniiany of infantry, besides ariillerymen. That
was the foundation which served for the arrange-
ment of the general organization of the flotilla.
The batUilions were then composed of nine com-
panies, and the.demi-bri^adesof two war battalions,
the lliiid remaining at the depot. The gun-vessels
and boats were distributed according to this com-
jiosition of the troops. Nine gun-vessels or nine
gmi-boa(8 formed a section, and cai'ried nine com-
p.inies, or one battalion. Two sections formed a
divi.sion, and carrieil a demi-brigade. Thus the
vessel or boat answerud to the company, the section
to the battalion, and the division to the deini-
briij.ide. Naval officers of a corresponding grade
of riink connnanded the vessel, the section, and
the division. To arrive at a perfect nnifonnity of
the troops with the flotilla, cai-h division was as-
signed to a demi-brigade, each section to a bat-
tiilion, and each vessel to a company; and this
assigmnent, once made, reuutincd unalterable. The
troops were thus always eiiiibled to preserve the
wime vessels, attached to it as a cavalry soldier to
his horse. The navul and miliutry oflicers, soldiers
and seamen, came by this means to a knowledge of
each other, ae<iuired mutual confidence, and were
more inclined to give help among tliemselves.
Ejich company was to furnish the vi'ssel to which
it belonged with a garrison of twenty-five men
always embarked. These twenty-five men, form-

ing ono-<]uarter of a company, remained about a
month on board. During all this time they lodged
in the vessel with the crew, whether it were at
sea manoeuvring, or remaining in port. They did
every tiling that was done by the sailors them-
selves, joining in all the petty manoeuvres, and,
above all, exercising themselves in managing the
oars and firing the cannon. When they had been
for a month inured to this kind of life, tliey were
replaced by twenty-five other soldiers of the same
coin|)any, who came, for the same space of time,
to conmience the same naval exercises. Thus suc-
cessively the entire company played its i)art on
board the gun-vessels or gun-boats. Each man
was thus a soldier on land and on sea; alternately
an artilleryman, infantry man, sailor, and even a
workman of engineers, in consequence of the
labours he executed in the basins. The seamen
also took a part in this reciprocal instruction.
They had, when on board, the arms of the infantry,
and when in port went through, upim the quay,
during the day-time, the exercise of the foot
soldier. This was, in consequence, a reinforce-
ment of fifteen thousand infantry, that after a
disembarkation in England, would be able to de-
fend the flotilla along the shores where it had
run aground. In leaving with them, as reinforce-
ments, a dozen thousand men, they would be able
to await with impunity on the shore the victories
of the army of invasion.

The pinnaces at first were left out of this system
of organization, because they could not carry an
entire company, and were better able to land troops
rapidly than they were to meet the enemy face to
face at sea. Still at a later period they-were ar-
ranged in divisions, ami the advanced guard was
especially confided to them, composed of the gre-
nadiers of the army united. In the mean time,
they were ranged in thirds of companies in port,
and every day the troops to whom boats were not
yet assigned, went to exercise either at the move-
ment of the oars, or at firing a light howitzer,
with which the pinnaces were armed.

This being arranged, it was necessary to attend
to another dut_> not less important, that of stowing
the vessels. The first consul, in one of his jour-
neys, had made gun-vessels, gmi-boats, and pin-
naces, be laden and unladen several times before
his own eyes, and arranged their stowage himself.
As balhist, he assigned ball, shells, and munitions
of war, in quantity suftieient fm- a long campaign.
He stowed in the hold, biscuit, wine, brandy,
salted meat, anil Dutch cheese, sufficient for
twenty days' provision for all the mass of men
coni|)osing the expedition. Thus the war flotilla
Would carry, besides the army and its four hun-
ilred |iieces of artillery, harnessed with a couple of
h irses each, the nmnitions for a campaign, and
provisions for twenty days. The transport flotilla
would carry, as already said, the surplus of the

1 " To citizen Flciiricu.

"Boulogne, IG November, 1803.
" I have passeil the day here to observe the installation of
a pun-vexsel and gnn-biiat. Tlie stowage is one of the
most important manoeuvres of the plan of the campaign, in
order that nothing may be forgotten, and that all may be
equally ilivided.

•• Kvery thing begins to take a satislactiiry turn."

Exercises of embarkation
504 anj disenibaikation.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Exercises of the troops 1803.
" ' Nov.

artillery train, tlie liorses required for one half of
the cavalry, two or three months' provisions, and,
finally, all the hawgage. To each division of the
war flotilla, there was an answering division of the
flotilla of transport, the one to navigate after the
other. In each vessel, a sub-officer of artillery
had the care of the munitions, and a sub-officer of
infantry of the provisions. All ought to be con-
stantly eniliaihed in the two flotillas, and there
ought to remain nothing to put on board at the
signal of departure, but tiie men and horses. The
men, frequently exercised to take their arms and to
go on board the flotilla, by demi-brigades, batta-
lions, and companies, did not require more time
than was necessary to go from the camps to the
port. As to the horses, they had arrived at a
mode of simplifying and accelerating their em-
barkation in a surprising manner. However great
was the extent of ihe quays, it was still impossible
to arrange all the boats alongside them. They
were obliged to dispose them to the number of
nine, one by the side of the other, the first alone
touching the quay. A horse, with a harness that
passed round its belly, was lifted from the ground
by means of a yard, was transmitted nine times Irom
yard to yard, and disposed in two or three minutes
in the ninth vessel. In such a mode, the men and
horses were all able to be phiced on board the flo-
tilla of war in a couple of hours. It would require
three or four hours to embark the nine or ten
thousand horses in the flotilla of transport. Thus
all the heavy baggage being constantly on board,
they would always be ready in a few hours to
weigh the anchor ; and as it was not possible for
such a vast number of boats to leave the port in
the space of a single tide, the embarkation of the
men ;ind horses vvuuld never be the cause of any
loss of time.

After exercises continually repeated, all the
manoeuvres required were soon successfully exe-
cuted, with as much jiromptitude as decision.
Every day, in all weather short of a storm, there
went out from a hundred to a hundred and fifty
boats to manoeuvre or moor in the roads before
the enemy. They then practised upon the beach
the operations of a disembarkation. They exer-
cised themselves on board in sweeping the beach
by a continual fire of artillery, then approaching
the shore, landing there the men, liorses, and
guns. Often, when they were unable to reach tiie
land, the men were flung into the water where it
was five or six feet dreji, but none of them were
ever drowned, so much address and ardour did
they display. Sometimes even the horses were
differently disembarked. 1 hey were let down into
the sea, and men in b:)at3 led them by means of a
halter towards the shore. In this way of exer-
cising there could not any accident occur in dis-
embarking upon an enemy's coast, that was not
foreseen, and several times braved, and to these
were added all the difficulties that it might be sup-
posed possible to vanquish, even that of night ',

' " To the consul Cambacerds.

" Boulogne, 9 November, 1803.
"I passed a part of last niplit in making the troops iicr-
form night evolutions, a species of manoeuvre that a corps
well taught and well disciplined, will sometimes be alile to
do very advantageously against levies en masse."

excepting under a hostile fire. But this would
rather be an excitement than an obstacle, for the
bravest soldiers in the universe by nature and war-
like habit.

This variety of exercise, by land and sea, these
manoeuvres intermingled with rough labours, in-
terested these adventurous soldiers, full of imagina-
tiiin, and ambitious as their illustrious chief. A
nourishing food, considerably augmented, owing to
the jirice of their labour, added to their pay, con-
tinual activity, air the most inspiriting and healthy,
all these could not but impart to them extraordi-
nary ])hysical energy. The hope to execute a
prodigy, added a moral power ])roportioually great.
It was thus that the unparalleled army was ])re-
jiared by degrees, which was to make the conquest
of iMirope in two years.

The first consul passed a great part of his time
in the midst of the men. He felt himself full of
confidence at seeing them so ■ well disposed, so
alert, and animated with his own ideas. In their
turn they received from his presence a continued
excitement. They saw him on horseback, now on
the heights of the shore, now at their head, gal-
lo]iiiig over the hard sands that the sea had de-
serted, and thus passing over the strand from one
port to another ' ; sometimes embarked in the
light pinnaces, going to assist at the petty actions
between the gun-vessels and the English cruisers,
pushing them upon the enemy so far as to make
the frigatee and corvettes fall back before the fii-e
of his frail vessels. He was often obstinate in
braving the sea; and once having a wish to visit
the line of anchorage, in spite of bad weather, he
was overset not far from the shore, in re-entering
his boat. Fortunately, the men with him found
bottom with their feet. The sailors threw them-
selves into the sea, and forming a close group, to

' He wrote from Etaples to the consul Cambaceres, on the
1st of January, 1804 :—

" I arrived yesterday morning at Etaples, where I write
to you from my barrack. There blows a frightful south-
west wind. Tliis country resembles quite enough the terri-
tory of Eolus. I mount my horse in an instant to proceed
to Boulogne by the strand."

He had written before, on the 12th of November: —

"I received, citizen consul, your letter of the 18th (Bru-
maire). Ihe sea continues to be stormy, and the rain
continues to fall in torrents. I was yesterday on horseback
and in boats all the day ; this is to tell you that I have been
constantly wet. In the present season, there is nothing to
be done if one does rrot encounter the water. Happily, as
far as I am concerned, it suits me perfectly ; I have never
been so well.

" Boulogne, November 12."

On the 1st of January, 1804, he wrote again to the minis-
ter of the navy :—

"To morrow, at eight in the morning, I shall make an
inspection of all the flotilla ; I shall see it by divisions. A
commissary of the navy will call over all the officers and
soldiers that compose the crews. Every one will hold his
post of battle in the most perfect order. At the moment
when I set foot in each vessel, they will salute thrice with
' Long live the republic!' and three times 'Long live the first
con^ul ! ' I shall be accompanied in this visit by the chief
engineer, the commissary of the armament, and the colonel-
comniaMdant of the artillery.

" During all the time of the inspection, the crews and the
garrisons of the flotilla will remain at their posts, and senti-
nels will be placed to prevent any body from passing on the
quay that overlooks the flotilla."

Letter of Bonaparte to
consul t'anibacerCs
specting England.

THE CAMP OF BOULOGNE.

Impatience of the first consul
to commence the grand at- 505
tempt on England.

resist the waves, bore liim on their shoulders in
the midst of tlieni as they broke over their heads.

One day, when tlius passing along the shore, he
became animated at tiie sight ot England, and
wi-ote to the consul Cambaceres :—

" I have passed the last three days in the midst
of the camp and the port : I have seen the coasts
of England from the heights of Ambleteuse, as one
sees Calvary from the Tuileries. One could dis-
tinguish the houses and the movement. It is a
ditcii, which will be passed when one shall have the
boldness to attempt it '."

His impatience to execute this grand undertaking
was extreme '. He had at first thought of attempt-

' Depdt of secretary of state's office, November 16th, 1803.

» The following letters will exhibit this impatience, and
his desire to execute his plan of the expedition in N'ivdse or
Pluviose, that is, in January- or February. One of these
letters is addressed to admiral Ganteaume, who was at that
moment commander of the Toulon fleet, before he com-
manded that of Brest. The cyphers contained in these
letters are not exactly the same as those which have been
already given in the present recital, because the first consul
did nothimse.f fix, until a little later, on the definitive num-
ber of men and vessels. The cyphers here adopted are
tho^e that were definitively arranged.

"Paris, 23rd November, 1803.

"You will please to go to Toulon. You will remit the
accompanying letter to general Ganteaume; you will there
take cognizance of the situation of the navy, of the organiza-
tion of the crews, and of the number of vessels in the road,
or that wi.l be ready to go there. You will remain at Toulon
for a new order. I'orty-eight hours after your arrival, you
will send me an extraordinary courier, with the reply of the
general Gmtcaume to my letter. The extraordinary courier
despatched, jou will write me daily all that you have done,
and you will enter into the greatest detail on all parts of the
adnjinistration. You will go every day, for one or two
hours, to the ar&enal. You will inform me of the day when
the 3rd battalion of the 8th lij-ht, which left Antibes, will
pass, it having orders to march to St. Omer, to form part of
the expedition ; you will proceed yourself to the place near-
est to I'oulon that it will pass, in order to inspect it, and
you will let me know its condition.

" You will visit the Hieres Isles, to see in what manner
they are guarded and armed. You will make me a detailed
report on all the objects which you see."

"To general Ganteaume, councillor of state, and maritime
prefect at Toulon.

"Paris, 23 November, 1803.

"CiTiZF.H Gkneral, — I have sent to you general Kapp,
one of my aides-de-camp ; he will sojourn some days in
your port, and will learn in detail all which concerns your
dt-partment. I have acquainted you, two months ago,
that in the course of Friinaire, I counted upon having ten
sliip* of the line, five frigates, and four corvettes, ready to
■e: sail from Toulon, and that I desired this squadron
should be provisioned for four months, to support 25,U0U
men of good infantry soldiers, who will embark on board. I
request that forty eijjht hours after the reception of this
letter, by the extraordinary courier of general Kapp, you
will let me know the prccine day when a like squadron will
be able to set sail from Touhm, and what you may have in
the road, and ready to sail at the moment of receiving my
letter, and what you will have on the 15th Frimaire and Ist
Nivdse. My wish will be that your expedition shall be able
to put to sea. at the latest, in the first days of Nivose.

" i have come from lioulogne, where at this moment there
reigns the greatest activity, and I hope to have, towards the
middle of Nivdse, 300 guii-vesscU, 500 gunboats, and 500
pinnaces united, each pinnace carrying an howitzer of 30

ing it at the end of autumn ; now he proposed the
commencement or at the latest the middle of win-
ter. But the labour of the task extended itself at
each fresh glance; and every day some new design
to make the plan more perfect jiresented itself to
him or to admiral Bruix, which demanded a sacri-
fice of time to introduce. The instruction of the
soldiers and sailors gained by these inevitable
delays, which bore with themselves their own
indemnity. In strictness, the projected expedi-
tion might have been attempted alter this eight
months' apprenticeship. Still it required si.K
months more, if it was desired that all should be
ready, that the equipment and the armament
should be complete, and that the education of
the sea and landsmen should be deficient in
nothing.

But decisive considerations demanded a new
delay; these regarded the Batavian flotilla, which
was to carry the right wing, commanded by gene-
ral Davout. On a wish expressed by the first con-
sul, tliat there should be despatched to him a dis-
tinguished officer of the Dutch navy, there had
been sent to him the rear-admiral Verhuel.
Struck with the intelligence and coolness of this
man of the sea, the first consul demanded that
he should have the management <>f all which
concerned the organization of the Dutch flotilhi.
This was conceded agreeably to his X'equest, and
there was soon imi)ressed upon itV^organization
all the desired rapidity. This flotilla, prepared
in the Scheld, was to be conducted to Ostend,

pounds; each gun-vessel three 24-ponnders, and each gun-
boat one of 24. Let me know your ideas aliout this flotilla.
Do you believe that we shall attain the shores of Albion?
We shall be able to carry over 100,000 men. Eight hours of
a night favourable to us will decide the fate of the universe.

" The minister of the navy has continued his tour towards
Flushing, visiting the Batavian flotilla, composed of a hun-
dred gun-vessels, three hundred gun-boats, capable of carry-
ing 30,000 men, and the fleet of the Texel, capable of carry-
ing 30,000 men.

" I have no need to stimulate your zeal, I know that you
will do all that is possible. Count upon my esteem."

" Paris, 12 January, 1804.
" To citizen Daugier, capitaine de Vaisseaii, commanding
the battalion of seamen of the guard.

" CiTiZEV Daugiek, — I desire that you start in a day's
time from Paris, in order to proceed in a right line to
Cherbourg. You will give orders for the departure of the
vessels of the flotilla, which are to be found in that port, and
you will remain there the time necessary to remove all ob-
stacles, and to accelerate the expedition.

" You will visit all the ports out of your way, where you
know that there are vessels belonging to the flotilla; you
will press their departure, and you will give instructions
that the vessels do not remain for entire months in those
ports, particularly at Ditlette.

" You will fulfil the same mission at Cherhourg, at Gran-
ville, and St. Malo. You will write me from these two
ports.

"You will fulfil the same mission at Lorient, Nantes,
Ro(hcfort, Bordeaux, and Bayonne.

"The season advances; all that shall not have reached
Boulogne in the course of Pluviose, will not be of any ser-
vice to us. It is necessary, therefore, that you push the
works to activity in consequence.

" You will assure yourself that the dispositions which
have been marie to furnish the complements for the vessels
are suflicient in each port."

Chances of
506 throuRh a cover-

ing fleet.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Napoleon suddenly re-
calleil to the affairs of
the interior.

they had recognised the dniiger of setting
out from points so f;ir apart as the Sciield and
Boulogne. Lastly, from Osteud thei-e was the hope
of getting them to Aniljleteuse and Winierenx,
when these two ports siiould be completed. There
would then be the advantage of having an immense
expedition all at one point, and thus making set out
together one lunnJred and twenty thousand men,
ten thousand horses, with fifteen thousand sailors,
placed under the same direction of the compass, at
four ports contiguous to eat-h other. Lut in order
to do that, several mouths more were required, for
the perfect equipment of the Batavian flotilla, and
the completion of the ports of Wimereux and Ani-
blettuse.

Two other portions of the army of invasion were
not yet ready ; the sqiuidron at lirest, destined to
throw the corps of Augereau into Ir^^land, and the
Dutch K(iuadron in the Texel, which was to em-
bark the twenty thousand men encamped between
Utrecht and Amsterdam. It was these two corps
which were designed, when joined to the one hun-
dred and twenty thousand men at Boulogne, to
carry the total force to one hundred and sixty
thousand men, which, without the sailoi-s, was the
total of the army of invasion. It yet wanted seve-
ral months before the fleet at the Texel and that
at Bi'est would be completely i-eady for service.

There remained a last condition to ensure suc-
cess, and this condition the first consul regarded
as bringing for bis enterju-ise the certainty itself.
The vessels were now proved perfectly able to
pass the six leagues across the straits, when the
greater part of them had navigated a hundred and
two hundred leagues in order to reach Boulogne,
and often by their fire, divided and grazing, had
answered with advantage to the dominant and con-
centrated fire of the shipping. They had the
ciiance of passing without being touched or seen,
whether in the calms of sjiring or in the fogs of
winter ; and on the most unfavourable suppnsitinn,
if they were exposed to encounter the twenty-five
or thirty corvettes, brigs, or frigates of the English,
they would be able to pass, if it must be by the
sacrifice of a hundred gun-vessels or gim-boats,
out of the two thousand three hundred of which
the flotilla was composed ^ But there was one
case in which every bad liazard disappeared, and

' The following is an extract of a letter from the minister
Decres, who was of all the men employed near Napoleon,
the one who had the fewest illusions, and who shows that
with till; saciilice of a hundred vessels, he believed it possi-
ble to cross : —

"BoulogiiR, 7 Januar.v, 1S04.

" The mini'ter of the navy to the first consul.
"They begin to believe firmly in the flotilla, that the de-
parture is nearer than most people suppose, and they pro-

that was the chance of a great French squadron
appearing upon a sudden in the straits, driving
away the English cruisers, domineering in the
channel for two or tliree days, and thus covering
tlie ])assage of the flotilht. In this case tliere
could be no doubt ; all the objections raised against
the enterprise fall before it at once, unless indeed
th:it of a sudden tenijiest be admitted, an improba-
ble chance if the seasons were well ch(jsen, and
besides, always left out of the calculation. But it
w:is necessary the third squadron of three being line
of battle ships, thtit of Toulon, should be entirely
equipped, and it was not ready. The first consul
destined it to execute a grand combination, of
wiiich no one had the secret, not even the minister
of tlie navy. He ripened this combination in his
own mind by degrees, not saying a word to any
individual, and leaving the English fully persuaded
that the flotilla was to snfiicc of itself^ when it was
so completely armed, and every day presented
itself in such order to their frigates and vessels.

This mill) so audacious in his conceptions, was in
their execution the most jirudent of soldiers. Al-
thtjugh lie had one hundred and twenty thousand
men, united, and in hand, he would not proceed
without the concurrence of the Texel fleet, carry-
ing twenty thousiind men ; the fleet of Brest,
carrying eighteen thousand ; witiiout the fleets of
Itochelle, Fernil, and Touhm, destined to clear the
straits by a profound manceuvre. He made evei-y
effort to have all these means ready by February,
1804, and flattered himself they would be ready,
when serious and unexpected events in the interior
of the re|)ublic at once seized all his attention, and
snatched him away for a moment from the grand
enterprise which had attracted the eyes of the
whole world.

iiiise me to think seriously ahout it. They begin to shake
otfall tears of the danger; each of them only sees Caesar and
his fortunes.

" J'he ideas of the subalterns do not go beyond the limits
of the road and its current. They reason resjiectiiig the
wind, the niooriiif/s, and the line of anchorage, like angels.
A'< to the passage, that is your affair. You know better
than iliey, and your eyes are worth more than their spying-
glas^es. The.\ are for all you are ready to do.

" The admiral himself is so He has never presented you
wiih a plan, because in point of fact he has none. It will
be the moment of the execution that will decide him. It is
very possible, being obliged to sacrifice a hundred vessels by
drawing tl;e enemy upon them, that the rest, passing
at the moment of their rout, would proceed without an
obstacle.

" For the rest, a volume in folio would not contain the
development of his ideas, already prepared upon the subject.
What will be that which he will adopt? It is for circum-
stances to decide."

BOOK XVIII.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

PEAKS OP ENGLAND AT THE SIGHT OF THE niKPARATIONE AT BODLOGNE.— WAR A THING OP ORDINARY OCCOR-
RENCE WITH HER— THE OPINION AT FIRST HELD IN LONDON REGARDING THE ODJECTS OP THE FIRST CONSUt;
TERROR WITH WHICH THE VIEW OF THEM CONCLUDES.— IM AGIN AKY MEANS TO RESIST THE FRENCH.— DISCUS-

Difference of war to England THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

and other countries.

SIGN OF THOSE MKASS IN PARLI AMEXT.— PITT AGAIN COMES TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.— HIS ATTITUDE AKD
THAT OF HIS FRl F.S DS.— M ILITARY SIKENGTU OF THE FNGLI^H. — WINDHAM DEMANDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
A REGULAR ARMY, IN IMITATION OF THE FRENCH— THEY LIMIT THEMSELVES TO THE CREATION OP AN-ARMV
OF RESERVE, AND TO A LEVY OF VOLUNTEERS — PRECAUTIONS TAKEN TO GUARD THE COAST.— THE BRITISH
CABINET RESORTS TO THE MEANS FORMERLY PRACTISED BY PITT, AND SECONDS THE PLOTS OP THE EMI-
GRANTS.—INTRIGUES OF THE ENGLISH DIPLOMATIC A>iENTS, DRAKE, SMITH, AND TAYLOR — THE PRINCES WHO
HAD TAKEN REFUGE IN LONDON UNITE THEMSELVES WITH GEORGES AND PICHEGBU, AND ENTF.R INTO A PLOT,
THE OBJECT OF WHICH IS TO ATTACK THE FIRST CONSUL WITH A TROOP OF CHOUANS, ON THE ROAD TO MAL.
MAISON.— IN ORDER TO INSURE THE ADHESION OF IHE ARMY, UNDER THE SUPPOSITION OF SUCCESS, THEY
ADDRESS THEMSELVES TO GENERAL MOREAC, THE CHIEF OF THE DI.<CONTENTED.— INTRIGUES OF LAJOLAIS.—
FOOLISH HOPES CONCEIVED UtON CERTAIN PROPOSALS OP GENERAL MOREAU. — PI RST DEPARTURE OF A TROOP
OF CHOUANS, CONDUCTED BY GEORGES.— THE I R DISEMBARKATION ON THE STRAND AT BIVILLE; THEIR ROUTE
ACROSS NORMANDY.— GEORGES, HID IN PARIS, PREPARES THE MEANS OF EXECUTIO
TION, COMPOSED OF PICHEGRU AND SEVERAL EMIGRANTS OF HIGH RA>
WITH MOREAU.- HE FINDS HIM IRRITATED AGAINST THE FIRST CONSUL, W
BUT IS IN NO WAY DISPOSED TO SECOND THE RETURN OF THE BnURBO!
SPIRATORS. — THEIR DISCOURAGE.MENT, AND THE LOSS OP
CONSUL, WHO IS ILL-SERVED BY THE POLICE SINCE

-SECOND DISEMBARKA-
-PICHEGRU HAS A CONFERENCE
ING FOR HIS FALL ASD DEATH ;
F THE BiiURBONS.— DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE CON-
IME THAT DISCOURAGEMENT ENTAILS.— THE FIRST
THE RETIREMENT OF FOUCIIE. DISCOVERS THE DANGER
WITH WHICH HE IS MENACED. — HE ORDERS SOME CIIOU tNS, RECENTLY ARRESTED, TO BE DELIVERED OVER TO
A MILITARY COMMISSION, IS ORDER THAT THEY MAY BE CONSlRAINED TO STA I E ALL THEY KNOW.— HE THUS
PROCURES AN EVIDENCE— THE WHOLE PLOT DkNOUNCED. — SURPRISE AT LEARNING THAT GEORGES AND
PICHEGRU ARE IN PARIS, AND THAT MOREAU IS THEIR ACCOMPLICE. —AN EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL, ASD THE
RESOLUTION TAKEN TO ARREST MOREAU.— DISPOSITIONS OF THE FIRST CONSUL. — HE IS FULL OP INDULGENCE
TO THE REPUBLICANS, AND OF ANGER AGAINST THE ROYALISTS. — HIS DE I EBM IN ATION TO STRIKE THEM IN
THE MOST UNSPAIiING MANSER— HE ORDl-.RS THE GRAND JUDGE TO BRING MOREAU TO HIM, THAT HE MAY
TERMINATE ALL, AS REGARDS HIM, IN A PERSONAL AND AMICABLE IXPLANATION. — THE ATTITUDE OF MO-
REAU BEFORE THE GRAND JUDGE RENDEIlS ABORTIVE THIS KIND RESOLUTION.- THE CONSPIRATORS ARRESTED
ALL DECLARE THAT A FRENCH PRINCE IS TO BE AT THEIR HEAD, AND THAT HE HAD A DESIGN TO ENTER
FRANCE BY THE BEACH AT BIVELLE— RESOLUTION OF THE FIRST CONSUL TO SEIZE HIM, AND DELIVER HIM
OVER TO A MILITARY COM MISSION.— COLONEL SAVARY SENT TO THE SEASHORE AT BIVELLE, TO AWAIT THE
ARRIVAL OF THE PHISCl- AND ARREST HIM. — A TERRIBLE LAW, PUNISHING WITH DEATH WHOSOEVER SHOULD
AFFORD AN ASYLUM TO THE COSSPIRATciRS. — PA RIS CLOSED AT THE GATES FOR SEVERAL DAYS — SUCCESSIVE
ARRESTS 0^ PICHEGRU, M. DE POLIGNAC, M. DE RIVIEKE, AND OF GEORGl.S HIMSELF. — DECLARATION OF
CTEORGES : HE HAD COME TO ATTACK THE i'lRST CONSUL BY FORCE OF ARMS. — NEW DECLARATION THAT, A
PRINCE WAS TO BE AT THE HEAD OP THE CONSPIRATORS. — INCREASING IRRITATION OF THE FIRST CONSUL. —
USELESS ATTEMPT OF COLONEL SAVARY ON THE SHORE AT BIVELLE. —TII EY ARE INDUCED TO EXAMINE WHERE
ALL THE PRINCES OF THE HOUSE OF BOURBON ARE TO BE F»*'?;D AT THE MOMENT.— THE DUKE d'eNGHEIN IS
THOUGHT OF, WHO WAS AT ETTENHEIM, ON THE BANKS OF THE RHINE. — A SUB-OFFICER OP GENDARMERIE IS
SENT TO MAKE O CSKRV ATIO.NS — ERRON EOUS REPORT MADE BY THAT SUB OFFICER, AND FATAL COINCIDENCE
OF HIS REPORT WITH A NEW DEPOSITION OF A DOMESTIC OF GEORGES — ERROR AND BLINDFOLD ANGER OF
THE FIRST CONSUL.- EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL, AT THE TERMINATION OP WHICH THE SEIZURE OF THE
PRINCE IS RESOLVED UPON — HIS SEIZURE AND REMOVAL TO PARIS — A POIITION OP THE ERROR COMMITTED
IS DISCOVERED TOO LATE, — THE PRINCE, SENT BEFORE A MILITARY COMMISSION, IS SHOT IN THE FOSSE OF
THE CHATEAU OF VINCENNES. — CHARACTER OF THAT UNFORTUNATE EVENT.

Enoi-and bcg.nn to be moved at the aspect of the
lireparalioii.s which were niakiiif,' ill face of lierown
Hhores ; t-he had at first atuiched to them but Uttle
importance.

Wai- in peneral for an insular country, which
takes no part in the great contests carried on by
otlicr nations, except with vessels tliat are gene-
Rilly victorious, and more or less with armies that
act in the character of auxiliaries, to such war is a
stjitc of little uneasiness, and does not alter the
public repose more than the night itself disturbs
the daily prr>;:ress of business. The stability of
crcilit ill London, aniidHt the most lavish efl'usions
of liiinian blood, is a siriUing proof of this fact. If
it be added to these considerations, that the army
is recniited with mercenaries, that the fleet is
manned with seainen lo whom it matters little
whether they live on board the vessels of war or
on board those of commerce, but for whom, on the
other hand, the prizes have an infinite attraction,
it may be better again conceived, that for such a
country war is a change which resolves itself
simpiy into a matter of taxation, a snrt of specu-
lation, in which millions are expended in order to
obuin more extended commercial outlets. For

the aristocratic classes' alone commanding the fleets
and armies, who spilled their blood in coinnianding
them, as|)ired, in fact, to extend the glory of their
country as well as to acquire new territory, war
resumed all ils seriousness, iis perils, but never at
any time its greatest anxiety, because the danger
of invasion did not appear to exist.

It was a war of this kind, and waged in this
manner, that Windham, Grenville, and the feeble-
minded minister, whom they dragged in their train,
believed they had dniwii upon their country. They
had heard Hatbnttnmed boats spoken about under
the directory, but so often and with so little eft'ect,
lint they came to the conclusion of believing nothing
about them. Sir Sidney Smith, inoi-c experienced
in the matter than his fellow-countrymen, beeau.se
he had seen by turns the French, Turks, and
English disembaik in Egypt, now in spile of for-
midable cruisers, now despite vigorous and good
soldiers posted upon the shore ; Sir Sidney Smith

' NoihiiiR can be more unfounded ns respect* the naval
Bcrviccof EnRliind; llio hirRe niujority of the dislinguisheil
roiiiniandcrg i,f which have not arisen from the aristocracy,
thou^li they liave been rewarded by its dlKtinciiuns for their
services. — Tramlator.

Uneasiness of Englam
508 '''' ^''^ prospect of in
vasion.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1803.
Aug.

had said in his seat in parliament, that it was pos-
sible at the utmost to unite si.xty or eiglity gun-
vessels in tlie cliannel, or a hundred, if it was de-
sirable to exaggerate, but tliat they could never
unite more ; and that twenty-five or thirty thou-
sand men were the exti'eme limit of the forces that
it was possible to transport into England. Ac-
cording to this officer, the greatest danger that
could be apprehended after that was, the descent
of a Freueh army in Ireland, double or tri|)le in
force to that which had been formerly thrown
upon the island ; an army, which having moi-e or
less ravaged and agitated the country, would finish
as the former had done, by succumbing and laying
down its arms. There remained, besides, the
animosities always silently existing on the conti-
nent against France, — animosities, that soon
awakened again, would recall towards the conti-
nent the forces of the first consul. There was,
therefore, moi-e or less reason to fear the war
of the first times of the revolution, signalised
anew by victories of genei-al Bonaparte over Aus-
tria, but with all the ordinary hazards of a com-
plete overturn in a country so fickle as France,
which during fifteen years had not supported f(jr
three successively the same government, and with
the permanent advantage for England of new
maritime conquests. These anticipations were
realized, owing to many misfortunes and faults ;
but it will be seen that during several years dan-
gers of the most serious kind menaced the existence
of Great Britain.

The confidence of the English soon gave way at
the aspect of the prepai-ations which were made
on the coast of I3ou!ogne. They heard of a
thousand or twelve liundrcd flat-bottomed boats
(they were ignorant that they numbered two
thousand), and were surprised ; nevertheless they
encouraged themselves by doubting their union,
and, above all, doubting the possibility of their
finding shelter in the ports of the channel. But
tile concentration of these flat- bottomed boats
in the straits of Dover was made in spite of
the numerous English cruisers ; their good bear-
ing at sea, and under fire, the construction of
vast basins to receive them, the establishment
of formidable batteries to protect tliem at anchor,
the union of one hundred and fifty thousand men,
reaJv to embark in them, made the English lose,
one by one, the illusions of a presumptuous se-
curity. They well saw that such preparations
could not be a mere feint, and that they had
too lightly ])rovoked the boldest and most able of
men. There were, it is true, old Englishmen, con-
fident in the inviolability of their island, who had
no faith in the peril with which they were threat-
ened ; but the government and the leaders of the
different parties did not think doubtful the hazard
that threatened the soil of England. Twenty or
thirty thousand French, however brave, however
well commanded they might be, would not have
alarmed them ; but one hundred and fifty thou-
sand men, having general Bonaparte at their head,
caused a sensation of fear in all classes throughout
every part of the nation. This was no proof of
want of courage, because the bravest people in the
world would have been rendered uneasy in presence
of an army which had accomplished such great things,
and was going to accomplish greater things yet.

One circumstance added nmcli to the serious-
ness of this situation, the immoveable position of
the continental powers. Austria would not agree
for a hundred or two hundred millions to draw
upon herself the blow intended for England.
Prussia was in a connnunity of interests, not of
sympathies, with France. Russia censured both
belligerent parties, and erected itself into a judge of
their conduct, but did not pronounce formally for
any. If the French went not north beyond Han-
over, there was no chance, at least at the moment,
of drawing the Russian empire into a war; and it
was evident that there was no idea of giving Russia
this niotive to take up arms.

The prei)arations of England should therefore be
proportioned to the extent of the danger. There
was little to do under the head of the navy to pre-
serve the superiority over France. At first sixty
vessels of the line were placed in commission, and
eighty thousand seamen raised at the eve of the
rupture. The number of vessels of the line was
carried up to seventy-five, and that of seamen to
one hundred thousand, when the war was openly
declared. A hundred frigates and an infinite quan-
tity of brigs and of corvettes completed this arma-
ment. Nelson, at the head of a chosen fleet, occu-
])ied the JMediterranean, blocked uj) Toulon, and
hindered any new attempt upon Egypt. Lord
Cornwallis ', at the head of a second fleet, was
charged with the blockade of Brest liimself :
Rochefort and Ferrol were jilaced under his infe-
rior officers. Lastly, lord Keith, commanding all
the naval forces in the cliannel and the north sea,
liad to guard the coasts of England and to watch
those of France. He liad for his lieutenant Sir
Sidney Smith, who cruised with vessels of sixty-
fiiur guns, frigates, brigs, and corvettes, from the
mouth of the Thames to Portsmouth, and from the
mouth of tlie Scheld to the Sonmie, covering a
]):irt of the English shore, and blocking up the
other ports of France. A chain of light vessels,
corresponding by signals over the whole expanse
of this sea, gave the alarm at the least movement
perceived in the French ports ^.

1 Our author here confounds lord Cornwallis with admiral
Cornwallis, so well known in the navy for keeping the sia
(iff Brest with his large fleet during tlieenlire winter season,
in a way no admiral ever did before. M. Thiers has com-
mitted the error of making the plenipotentiary of Amiens
an admiral, when he had before spoken of him as a military
officer. — Tz-nns/cr/oc.

2 111 the last chapter our author alluded to the English
light squadron that cruised off the coast tf France, as if its
25 or 30 corvettes, brigs, and frigates, were all the expedi-
tion, liad it come out, would have liad to cope with in the
channel, and before which it could afford to lose a hundred.
How the French gun-vessels would have acted in deep
water, beyond the cover of their shore-batteries, disadvan-
tageously tilled with men, was never ventured to the proof
on the smallest scale. But this light squadron was not all :
at the first alarm, the whole coast, from the Thames to
Portsmouth, would have put its vessels to sea. There were
in activity at that moment, besides wluit belenged to the
royal navy in the cliannel, 90 Trinily-IIouse vessels ; 17.'i
king's yards' lighters; 19 East Indiamen ; and a body of
vessels, in all amounting to (i24, esiiecially directed to the
defence of the coast, and all watching the signal to move;
the smallest a match for two or three of the French. In
February and March, 1S04, besides this home force, the royal
navy numbered 500 vessels more— in all \50G.—Translalur.

1803.
Aug.

Military resources of
the English govern-
meiu.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

Measures of defence in
England— the army 509

By these measures the English believed they
had eoiideniiu'd to inaction the French squadrons
at Brest, Rociiefort, Fcrrol, and Toulon, and had
constituted a suttieiently encouraging force of
observation in the channel.

But it was necessary to do more in presence of
a danger altogether new in kind, that of an in-
vasion of the British soil. Tlie sailors consulted
had nearly all declared, particularly at the sight of
the preparations of the first consul, that it was im-
possible to be assured that by favour of a fog, a
ealm, or a long night, the French might not be
able to disembark upon the English coast. Without
doubt, the new Pharaoh might be precipitated
into the waves before reaching the shore; still, if
once disembarked, not with one hundred and fifty
thousand nit-n, but only with one hundred thousand,
or even with eighty thousand, who could resist
him ? That jiroud nation, which was itself so little
regardful of the nations of the continent, that had
not feared to renew the war which she had been
habituated to wage with the blood of others, of
which she was ever unsparing, was now reduced
to hir own forces, obliged to arm herself, and no
longer confide in mercenaries, while her own forces
were not numerous enough for the defence of her
territory. She, so proud of lier navy, regretted
now not to have an efficient army to oppose to the
formidable troops of general Bonaparte.

The composition of an army, tlien, w.s at that
itionjent the subject of all the discussions in the
house of cominons; and as it is in the midst of the
gn-atest perils that the spirit of party always niost
strongly exhibits itself, it was to the subject of this
part of the question of the war, and the mode of
sustaining it, that party spirit encountered and
conflicted among the principal members of the
parliament.

The feeble ministry of Addington had survived
his faults; he was still at the head of the direction,
though but for a sliort time only, of the war which
he had so lightly and so criminally suffered to be
rekindled. The majority in parliament well knew
that he w.xs inferior to the tiisk which he had
undertaken; but not willing to provoke or overturn
the cabinet, sujiported it against its enemies, even
against Pitt, that it still desired to see at the head
of affairs. This powerful party chief had returned
to the houHe of commons, to which he was incited
by his secret impatience, the greatness of the pub-
lic danger, and his own hatred to France. Always
more moderate than his auxiliaries, Windham,
Grcnville, and Dundxs, he had been made awan-,
by the result of a recent vote, that he might be
again in power. In fact, upon a (luestion of attach-
ing blami; to this minister, only fifty-three votes
were given in the affirmative. The majority,
through a diMposiiion connnon enough in pojiiieal
assemblies, would have wished, witlKjut overturning
the ministry, to place the helm of the state in the
hands of a man of more character and ability. In
expectation of his approaching entrance upon the
management of public affairs, Pitt took a part in
all the deliaifs nearly as if lie were minister, but
rather with a view to support and perfect the mea-
sures of th(! governmi-nt than to coniravene them.

The principal of llnse meastin-M was the organi-
zation of an army. England had one disperMed in
India, Aiuerica, and in all parts of the Mediter-

ranean, composed of Irish, Scotch, Hanoverians,
Hessians, Swiss, and even Maltese, formed by
means of the recruiting system, so common in
Europe before the institution of the conscription.
It had conducted itself well in Egypt, as already
seen. It amounted to about one hundred and
thirty thousand men; but it is well known, that of
one hundred and thirty thousand men the admi-
nistration must bo good in order to have eighty
thousand ca[iable of active service. To this force,
of whiih the third at least was absorbed in Ire-
land, was to be joined fifty thousand of the militia,
recently increased to seventy thousand, a kind of
national troops that never go out of the province,
and have never seen fire. They were led by half-
pay officers, by English lords, full of patriotism no
doubt, but little accustomed to war, and perfect
novices, when opposed to those old bands that had
vanquished the European coalitions.

How was this deficiency to be supplied ? The
minister, surrounded by the most experienced
military men, devised the creation of an army, to
be cal'.ed the army of reserve, and to consist of"
fifty thousand men, formed of Englishmen, drawn
for by lot, and not to be employed beyond the limits
of the United Kingdom. The army of the line was
supplied from this force, and a reinforcement of
fifty thousand men obtained. The replacement of
those who left to join the line was permitted; but
it was only obtained, under the circumstances, at
a very high rate. It was but a small matter in
strength, but it was all that was able to be done
at that moment. Windham, supporting the war
|)arty, attacked the proposition for the army of
reserve as inSiifiicient. He required the creation
of a large army of the line, which, composed after
the same principles as the French army, that is to
say, by conscription, would be at the absolute dis-
posal of the government, and could be sent any
where. He said that which the minister had de-
vised was only an extension of the militia, and
would be no better in the face of the experienced
troops they had to combat; it would prejudice the
recruiting of the army by the power of replacing
introduced under the new law, because the indi-
viduals disposed to serve would find it more ad-
vantageous to enter themselves in the army of
reserve than to enrol themselves in the army of
the line; that a regular army, formed from the
national population, transportable every where
that war was carried on, having, in conse-
(|uence, the means to become efficient fighting
nun, was the only institution to oppo.se to the
ti-r)ops of general Bonaparte — " there must be the
dianu)nd to cut the diamond," said Windham.

England, that already had a navy, would also
have a land army, an ambition very natural, be-
cause it is rare that a nation which has one of
these two great arms does not wish to have the
other. But Pitt made a cold and decided negative
to these propositions of Windham. All the iileas
of Win<lham, according to him, were very good;
but how was an army to be created in a few days!
how made accustomed to fight? How were the
regimental skeletons t<) be obtained ? Where could
the officers be found ? Such an institution could
not be the work of a moment. That which had
been done was the thing alone actually practicable.
It will be difficult enough already to organize the

510

Levies of volunteers THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1803.

Aug.

fifty thousand men now demn tided, to instruct
tliein, and to provide them with officers of every
rai.k. Pitt entreated his friend Windliam to re-
nounce liis notions, at least for tlie present, and to
adhere with him to the government pli.n.

Windham did not nuiije much of the advice of
Pitt, and persisted in liis own system, wliich lie
supported with new and stronger considerations.
He even demanded a levy en masse, like that of
Fnmce in 1792, and reproached the feeble ministei-,
Addington, for not having thought of this grand
ivsiiurce for all the people whose independence
sill mid be threatened. This enemy of France and
of Napoleon, by the effect of a very common result
in hatred, found eulogies for what he most de-
tested; almost exaggerated the French greatness
and power, the danger with which the first consul
threatened England, only to reproach the English
minister for not taking sufficient precauti(ms.

The army of reserve was voted, notwithstanding
the scnrn of the Windham party, that called it an
augmentation of the militia. This combination
was reckoned upon for the extension of the army
ot the line. It was hoped that the men designated
liy lot, and condemned to serve, would like better
to enrol themselves in this species of force than in
any other. There would in this way be twenty or
thirty thousand recruits more added to the skeleton
regiments.

is'evertheless, the danger increasing every hour,
and above all, the co-operation of the continent
being every day less probable, recourse was had to
the ])roposition of the more extreme party, and all
tendeil to the idea of a levy en masse. The minister
demanded and obtained the power to call out to
arms all the English, from seventeen years old to
fifty five. They were to take volunteers, and in
default of them, the men designated by law, to
form them into battalions, and to instruct them
(luring a certain number of hours every v.eek.
They were to be allowed pay to indemnify them
for loss of time; but this arrangement only applied
to those volunteers who belonged to the working
cliisses.

Windham, obliged to recognize that they bor-
rowed his ideas, complained that they took them
too late or unworthily, and criticised several of the
details of the measure. But the measure was
voted; and in a little time there were seen in the
towns and counties of England, the population
called to arms, and exercised every morning in the
uniform of volunteers. This uniform was worn by
all clashes. The respectable Addington came to
I)arlianient in this costume, which he so little
Miiti.'d, and caused himself no small degree of
ridicule by a manifestation of such a character.
'J"he old king and his son, the ])rincc of Wales,
parsed the volunteers of London in review, at
whieh the French princes were guilty of the un-
pardonable fault of attending. There were seen
in London as many as twenty thousand of these
volunteers, which was not a very consideralile
number, it is true, when the vast po])ulation of the
uity is taken into account. The number was suffi-
ciently great in the whole extent of England to
furnish an imposing force, if it had been well-
organized. But soldiers are not to be made on
a sudden, and much less officers. If in France
there were doubts of the worth of the flat-bottomed

boats, in England there were great doubts of the
worth of these volunteers, if not of their courage,
at least of their warlike ability. To these measures
were joined the design of fortifications in the
country around London, upon the roads that con-
duct to the capital, and on all the points of the
coast that were most threatened. A part of the
active force was disposed along the shore, from the
Isle of Wight as far as the month of the Thames.
A system of signals was established for giving the
,-larm, by means of fires lighted along the coast at
the first appearance of the French. Chariots of
a jiarticular form were constructed, in order to
convey troops by post to the threatened points.
In a word, on this side of the strait, as well as on
the other, they made efforts to complete extra-
ordinary inventions, to devise new means of de-
fence and attack, to overcome the elements, and
associate tliem in their cause. The two nations,
as if drawn to this double shore, presented there a
grand spectacle to the rest of the world : one,
troubled when she thought of her inexperience in
arms, was encouraged when she considered the
ocean, which girded her round as with a belt ; the
other full of confidence in her bravery, in her
habits of war, in the genius of her chief, measured
with her eyes the arm of the sea that ari-ested her
ardour, accustomed herself every day to contemn
it, and regarded as certain that she should soon
pass over in the train of the conqueror of Marengo
and of the Pyramids.

Neither of the two belligerents had an idea of
any other means than those which they saw pre-
paring under their own eyes. The English be-
lieving Brest and Totdon carefully blockaded, had
no notion of any squadron a|>pearing in the channel.
The French, every day exercised in navigating
their gun-vessels, did not dream of any other mixle
of passing over the strait. No one suspected the
principal combination of the first cimsul. Still
the fine feared, the other hoped, some sudden in-
vention of his genius, and this was the cause of the
uneasiness which reigned on one side of the chan-
nel, and of the confidence that prevailed upon the
other.

Jt must be said that the means prepared to
resist the Fi'ench were of little account if the
strait were once passed. In admitting that they
were able to assemble, between London and the
channel, fifty thousand men of the army of the
line, and thirty or forty thousand of the army of
reserve, and that they were able to unite to those
regular troops the greatest jiossible mass of the
volunteers, they would not reach the numerical force
of the French army destined to pass the straits; and
what would tliey liave been able to do altogether,
even two or three times superior in number, against
the hundred and fifty thousand men that in
ei;;hteen months, under the conduct of Napoleon,
beat at Austerlitz, Jena, and Fricdiand, all the
European armies, apparently as brave, certainly
longer trained to war, and foin- or five times more
considerable in number than the British forces?
The preparations of the English were therefore of
little real value, and the ocean was always their
niostcertain and effective defence. In any case, what-
ever might be the definitive result, it was already
a severe puinshment of the conduct of the British
government, this general agitation of all classes.

1803.
Aug.

Intrigues in England
atiauist the first
consul's 1 fe.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

Hopes of tlie emigrants
to overturn tlie French 5II

government.

tliis displacement of wdrkmen from their work-
sliops, the men of business from tiieir affaii-s, tlie
English lords from tlie enjoyment of their opulence;
even such an agitation, prolon;;eil f»r some time,
would become an immense evil, perhaps a serious
injury to the public peace.

The British government, in its anxiety, liad
recourse to every means, even to those which
morality is least capable of defending, in onler to
turn aside the blow which menaced it. During
the last war it had fomented insurrections against
the governments of every kind and form that had
succeeded one another in Fi'ance. Since then, al-
though these insurrections were little to be ex-
peete<l under the powerful administration of the first
consul, it had kept in London and paid, even
liuring the peace, all the staff of La Vendue and
of the emigration. This persisting in the reten-
tion and preservation in its own hands of all the
culpable instruments of an ungenerous war, had
contributed mucii, as has been seen, to renew the
quarrel between the two countries. Diversions
are, beyond a doubt, one of the ordinary resources
of war, and the insurrection of a province is one
of the' diversions regarded as most useful, and
which there is commonly tlto least scruple made
about employing. The English attempt to raiwo
an insurrection in La Vendee, the first consul re-
turned in his attempts to make a revolt in Ireland.
The means were reciprocal, and were powerfully
employed. But at that moment an insurrection
in La Vendee was out of the question of |)ii)bability.
The employment of the Chonans, and of their chief,
Georges Cadoudal, could have no other effect than
that of tempting to some abominable outrage, such
as the infernal machine, or some similar attempt.
To push the means of insurrection so far as to
overturn the government, was to return to the
practices of a legitimacy strongly contested; but to
follow up the overturn of a government by an
attack upon the individuals composing that govern-
ment, was to pass all the limit of the rights of
nations admitted among civilized people.

The (juestion may be further juilged by the facts
iheniHclves, as far as relates to the complicity of
the Uritihh ministry in the criminal projects medi-
tated anew by the French emigration that had taken
refuge in London. It will be remembered that
the formidable chief of the Chouans of the Mor-
bilian, Georges Cadoudal, who alone among the
Venddans presented to the first consul, had re-
sisted his ascendancy, had withdrawn himself into
Itritany, and from thence into England. He lived
in London in tlie boKom of opulence, distributing
to the French refugees the sums which were
granUd to them by the British government, and
passing liis lime in the society of the emigrant
princes, j>arlicularly of the two more active ones,
the count d'Artois and the duke ile Berry. That
these princes should wish to re-enter France wis
nothing more than natural; that they should wish
to kindle a civil war for that purpose, was nothing
more than might be expected in a connnon, if not
a legitimate course of things; but nnfoiiuiiately for
their principles or iionour, they could no longer
calculate u|)on a civil war, and were only able to
n-ckon upon plots and conspiracies tu compass
their ends.

i'cace had filled the minds of all the exiles with

despair, princes as well as othei-s; war restored to
them tlieir hopes, not only because it assured them
of the concurrence of a part of Europe, but because
it became, according to them, a means of i-uiniiig
the popularity of the first consul. They corre-
sponded with La Vendee through Georges, and
with Paris through the returned emigrants. That
which they dreamed about in England their par-
tisans dreamed of in France, and the least circum-
stance which accorded with their illusions, in
their eyes, changed their illusions into a reality.
They said the one to the other, in their deplorable
corres|)ondencc, that the war would strike a fatal
blow against the first consul. That his power,
illegitimate to the French who rested faiihlul to
the blood of the Bourbons, and tyrannical for the
French who remained faithful to the revolution,
had only two claims to rest upon for support, the
re-establishment (^f peace and the re-esiablishnient
of order; that one of these titles had disa|)peared
comjiletely since the rupture with England, and
the other was compromised deeply, because it was
doubtful whether order could be maintained in the
midst of the anxieties of warfare. The govern-
ment of the first consul would, therefore, become
unpopular, as all the preceding governments had
become. The tranquil mass of the people would
owe to liim this resum])tion of hostilities with
Europe ; it would become less credulous in his
lucky star, since difficulties no longer seemed to
be smoothed under his feet. He had, besides,
enemies of a different species, of whom it would be
jiossible to make good use ; first the revolutionary
party, and t'ven those who were jealous of his
glory, who swarmed in the army. They said that
the Jacobins were exasperated ; and that the
generals were very little satisfied in having con-
tributed to make their master out of an equal. It
was necessary to create, out of these malconienis,
in themselves so diverse, a single ]>arty capable
of overturning the first consul. All that they
called for in France, and all that they received
for answer from London, tended always to this
l>lan, — to unite the Jacobins, the royalists, and the
malcontents of the army int() a single party, for
the purpose of overturning the usurjier Bonaparte.

.Such were the ideas cherished in London by the
French princes, and in consequence, the same
with which they entertained the English cabinet,
when demanding the sums of money which tiiey
lavi.shcd, knowing as it did, at least in a general
sense, the object wliich was sought to be carried
into effect.

A vast conspiracy was, therefore, interwoven
upon this plan, and carried on with the ordinai'y
impatienci; of tlu^ emigrant jjarty. It was com-
ninnieated to Louis XVI 1 1., then retired to War-
saw. This jirince, always in disagreement wiih
ids Ijfother, the count d'Artois, whose sterile and
imprudent activity he disapproved, repelled the
proposition. What a singular contrast was pre-
sented in the two jirinces. Count d'Artois had
goodness wiiiiout wisdom; Louis XVll I., wisdinn
without goodness. Count d'Artois entered into
the unworthy projects dear to his iuart, wliich
Louis XVI 11. repulsed because they were un-
worthy of his undeiHtaiiding. Louis XVI 1 1, re-
solved from this time to remain a stranger to all
the new plots and practices, of wlucli the war was

512 Necessity for destroying THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

the first consul.

1803.
Aug.

about to become the unfortunate cause. The count
d'Aitois, placed at a great diistance from his elder
brother, excited by his natural ardour, by that of
the emigrants, and by that which was more grievous,
of the English themselves, took a part in all the
designs to which the circumstances (jf the moment
gave rise, in the troubled heads of those who were
in a continual state of excitement.

The comnmnications of the French emigrants
with the English cabinet took place through the
medium of Mr. Hammon ', who had figured in
several negotiations. It was to him that the
communications of the French emigrants with the
English cabinets were addressed for all that might
concern England in any way. Out of England
they were addressed to British diplomatic agents :
Mr. Taylor, at Hesse ; Mr. Spencer Smith, minis-
ter at Stuttgard ; and Mr. Drake, minister in
Bavaria. These three agents, placed near the
French frontiers, endeavoured to cultivate every
species of intrigue in France, and to second on
their side of that country those which were planned
in London. They corresponded with Mr. Ham-
mon, and had con.siderable sums of money at their
disposition. It is difficult to believe that these
were for the obscure dealings of the police, that
governments sometimes permit to be expended for
simple means of observation, and to which they
devote sniall sums. They were for real political
projects, passing through the hands of their more
elevated agents connected with a most important
minister, the minister for foreign afJ'airs, and cost-
ing even millions in ainount.

The French princes more immediately mingled
in these affairs were the count d'Artois, and his
second son, the duke de Berry. The duke d'An-
gouleme resided in Wai-saw at the time with
Louis XVIII. The princes Cond^ lived in London,
but not in habits of intimacy with the princes
of the elder branch, and even strangers to their
plots and designs. They were treated as soldiers
constantly ready to take up arms, and only fit for
that character. While the grandfather and the
father of the Cnnd^s were in London, the grand-
son, the duke d'Enghien, was in the territory of
Baden, given up to the enjoyment of hunting, and
to a warm affection which he had for a princess
de Rohan. All three being in the service of Eng-
land, had received orders to prepare themselves to
commence the war, and they h.ad obeyed like
soldiers who must pay attention to the government
of the country that pays them ; melancholy, in-
deed, the spectacle of the Conde's in such a charac-
ter, but less dishonourable than that of the leaders
of conspiracies.

The following is the plan of the new conspiracy.
To raise an insurrection in La Vende'e did not at
that moment present the smallest chance of suc-
cess ; on the contrary, to attack the government
of the first consul directly in the middle of Paris
appeared the most prompt and certain means of
obtaining tlie object sought. The consular govern-
ment overturned, there was nothing more possible,
according to the authors of the plan, than the
return of the Bourbons. But as the consular
government consisted entirely in the per.son of
general Bonaparte, it would be necess;try to make

> Quere, Hammond 7— Translator.

away with him. The conclusion was obvious, but
it was required to destroy him surely and cer-
tainly. The blow of a poignard, an infernal ma-
chine, all such attemjits would be of dubious suc-
cess, because all would depend upon the sure
stroke of the assassin's hand, or upon the hazard
of an explosion. There remained a mode, so far
never attempted, and therefore not discredited by
a trial ; this was to unite a hundred determined
men, the intrepid Georges at their head ; to waylay
on tiie road from St. Cloud or Malmaison, the car-
riage of the first consul ; to attack the guard, gene-
rally about ten or a dozen horse in all, to disperse
them, and thus to kill him in a species of combat.
In this mode, then, it was certain that nothing
would be wanting, Georges, who was brave, who
had pretensions to the military character, and who
would not pass for an assassin, exacted of the two
pi-inces that he should have at his side one of them
at least, and that they should thus regain with the
sword in hand the crown of their ancestors. Can
it be credited ? These individuals, their minds
perverted by emigration, really imagined that in
thus attacking the first consul, surrounded by his
guards, they gave him a species of battle, and that
they should not be assassins ! They were to be
equals apj)arently to the noble archduke Charles
combatting general Bonaparte at the Tagliamento,
or at Wagram, and were only his inferiors in the
number of their soldiers. Lamentable sophistry,
to which only one-half of those who promulgated it
gave credit, showing, on the part of the unhappy
Bourbon princes, not a natural perversity, but one
acquired amid civil war and exile. Only one of
all these concerned was in his natural character,
and that was Georges. He was a master in the
art of wary ambushes ; lie had been educated in
the heart of the forests of Britany ; and now in
exercising his skill at the gates of Paris, he did
not fear to be reduced to the rank of the instru-
ments, by which he would serve himself, to re-
pudiate them afterwards, because he hoped to have
pi'inces for accomplices. He thus secured to him-
self all the dignity compatible with the character
which he was going to perform, and by his auda-
cious attitude in the presence of justice, he proved
soon enough that he was not of his party the most
depressed at such an unhappy conjuncture for
himself.

This was not all; after the combat it was neces-
sary to gather the fruits of the victory. It was
necessary to prepare matters so that France should
fling her.self into the arms of the Bourbons. The
parties themselves had destroyed one another, and
there did not i-emain with any of them the shadow
of real power. The violent revolutionists were
odious. The moderate revolutionists, who had
taken refuge with general Bonaparte, were without
strength. There remained nothing in an erect
attitude but the army. It was that which it would
be necessary to subdue ; but that was devoted
to the revolution ; for that it had spilled its blood,
and it felt a sort of horror at the emigrants, that it
had so often seen under English and Austrian
uniforms. It was here that jealousy, that eternal
and perverse passion of the human heart, offered
to the royalist conspirators the most useful and
precious succom-.

There was nothing made more noise than the

DifTereiices between
IJiiii.iparte and
Morcau.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

Efforts made to pet
Moreau into the
Dlot.

513

diffeiviice between general Moreau and general
Biinai>arte. It lias been already said elsewhere,
that tlie general <vf the army of tlie Rhine, dis-
creet, reHective, firm in war, was in his private
life careless and feeble, governed by those around
him ; that under this uniia|>py influence, he had
not been free from envy, a vice of the second
order of men ; tliat covered with favours by the
fii-st consul, heh:id left off visiting him, without any
reasi.n, except that general Moreau was the second
in the state, and that general Bonaparte was the
first ; that feeling this, Moreau had shown a want
of seemly co.iduct in refusing to follow the first
consul to a review, and that the last, always apt to
resent an affront, had himself abstained from in-
viting Mipreau to the festival annually given t<>
celebrate the foundation of the n-public ; that
Moreau had committed the fault of going on the
same <lay to dine, out of uniform, with several dis-
contented officers in one of the most public places,
where he was seen by all the world, to the great
displeasure of thinking people, and to the great
joy of the enemies of the republic. There have
been recounted before the miserable eflF<cts of that
vanity, which commenced between the females
from vulgar diflTerences, and terminated among
the men in .scenes of tragedy. If a difference be-
tween elevated personages be difficult to prevent,
it is niire difficult still to arrest when it is once
declared. From that day Moreau had not ceased
to show himself more and more hostile to the con-
sular government. When the concordat was con-
cluded, he had cried out aloud at the domination
of the priesthood ; when the legion of honour had
been instituted, he had censured the re-establish-
ment of an aristocracy ; an>l, lastly, he had ex-
claimed against the re-establishment of royalty
wiien the consulate for lite had been instituted.
He had finished by no more appearing before the
head of the government, nor even at the houses of
the consuls. The renewal of the war would have
been an honourable occasion for his reappearance
at the Tuileri"-s to offer his services, not to general
Bonaparte, but to France. Moreau, by little and
little led nito evil ways, in which the stejjs beccmie
80 fleet, hud considered in this rupture of the peace,
less the miMfortunes of his country, than a check
upon a detested ri»al, and only set himself to
observe how this d-tested enemy, wh<im he hail
himself made, wculil get clear of the embarrass
nient. .Moreau lived iheii at Grosbois, in the midst
of eiise and comfort, the just rewards of his ser-
vices, as a great citizi-n would d) who was the
▼iciini of Ills prince's ingrati'uile.

The firnt consul attracted jealousy by his glory ;
he also attracted it through his family. Mural,
whom he had refused for a long time to elevate to
the rank of his brother in-law, who had an excel-
lent heart, an unatfecltd tnin<l, and chivaliMiiH
bravery, acted vi-ry ill under all tln-se (|Ualities.
Murat out of a feeling of vanity, which he dissinm-
lated before the first consid, but which he exhibited
fre«ly when he was out of the sight of his severe
mastei-, da7./.led those wlif), being loo little m miinl
to envy general U mapartir, were at least able to
envy liiH bri.tlier-m law. Tin- first consid, there-
fore, had the great and Utile who were jealous
uf him. Uoili the one and the other grou|ieil
aruuud Moreau. At Paris during the winter, at

Grosbois during the summer, there was kept up a
crowd of malcontents, who talked with mdimited
indiscretion. The first consul knew this, and re-
venged himself not solely by the constant advance
of his powei', but also by his open disdain. After
imposing ui)on himself an extreme reserve for a
long time, he finished by no longer keeping silence,
and he returned the compliments of mediocrity by
his sarcasms, but his were those of a man of
genius. They were repeated at least as frequently
as those that escaped from the social circle of
flioreau.

Parties invented differences that were ground-
less, in order to serve themselves, and for a more
])owerf'ul reason, they served quickly and per-
fidiously those differences which already existed,
.\ll had surrounded M.ireau without delay. Listen-
ing to the malcontents of every side, he was the
accomplished general, the modest and virtuous
citizen. General Bonaparte was the imprudent,
but fortunate soldier ; the usurper without genius,
the insolent. Corsican, who had dared to overturn
the republic, and mount the steps of the throne
ali-eady re-erected. He must be left, said they, to
lose himself in his foolish and ridiculous enter-
I)rise against England, and to take heed he does
not offt^r her his sword. Thus, after having treated
the conqueror of Egypt and Italy as an adventurer,
they treated the patriotic expedition, which he
had so much at heart, as the most extravagant of
rash enterprises.

The conspirators of London had in those unhappy
divisions great fi^eilities towards the comi)leiion of
the second half of their design. It was Moreau
that it was necessary to gain, and through Moreau
the army; and then the first consul killed on the
road from Mahnaison, Moreau gained over, would
come at the head of the army to reconcile this
formidable part of the nation with the Mourbons,
who had had the courage to reconquer their throne
sword in hand. But bow was it possilde to get
near Moreau, who was at Paris, surrounded by a
society altogether republican, whilst in L'linlon the
conspirators were in the midst of a chosen body of
Chouans? There must be some intermediate agent.
At that moment, from the fastnesses of the Ameri-
can deserts, there had arrived a num once illus-
trious, much fallen by his faults from his first
eminence, but endued with qualities truly great,
and holding in his hand at the same linn' both the
royalists and repolilicuns. This was Pichegru, the
vanquislii-r of llolland. transporteii by the direc-
tory to Sinnainari. He had esc.iped Ironi his
place of banishment, and had reached London,
where he lived with the desire not to remain, but
to re enter France, profiting by ihe puliey which
recalled, without distinction, the culpable ,is well as
the victims of all |)ariies. Hut the war, lor a mo-
ment sus])ended, had soon reconnnmce.l, and with
if. the f.llies and illusions of the emi-ranls, to
whom Pichegru had alienited his libeit* l.v alien-
ating his h iir. He bad been compii.sed, almost

in spite of himself, in tin' present conspiracy, and
he had been ehar^jed with that intermediate agency
near Moreau, of «hich the party had need lo bring
over ti'ie last to the cause of the Uourl.ons, and
ihns fii.se together in one mass the republicana
and royalists of every shade of colour.

The plan thus adopti^d agreed weil enough with
Ll

Georges Tadoudal and the
514 conspirators landed in THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Inertness in La Vendue.
France.

1803.
Aug.

certain mnmentary aj)pearances to be deemed at
least specious, ihouj;li not wiih enough of reality
about it to succeed; but it bad still more of tlie
reaUiy ibaii of inefficiency with tlie.se impatient i)eo-
ple, to whom every thing was good provided they
were iu action, and that the onerous iilleness of
exile was relieved by agitation. The plan being
arranged, they next occupied tliemselves with the
execution.

It was needful to enter France. If Georges
wished to be followed there iiy one or two of the
pnn;es, still he did not desire to have them im-
mediately with him. He admitted that he must
prepai'e every thing before he got them to come
over, with the object of not ex|»osiiig them uselessly
t9 a pfolnnged residence in I'aris under the eyes
of a \igilaiit police. He therefore decided upon
Sitting off the first, and to proceed to Paris, in
order to compose the band of Choiians with which
he should attack the guard of the first consul.
During this lime Pichegru was to undertake a con-
ference with Moreau, at first through an interme-
diate party, then directly, upon proceeding himself
to Paris. Lasily, when all should be prepared on
both siiles of the channel, when they shoiild have
ready the Chouans to make the attack, and Moreau
to secure the adhesion of the army, the princes
should c.ime last, the eve before, or on the day
of execution.

All this being arranged, Georges, with a troop
of Cliouans, on whose reS"lution and fidelity he
could d'peud, quitted Loudon to enter France.
Tht-y were all provided with arms as of}' ndt^rs
\¥ho were going to; take to the woods. Georges
carried in a belt a million of money in Ijills of
exchaui;e. It wiis not the French jjrinees, it was
well uii'lerstood, who were able to furnish the
sums which circulated brtween those concerne<l in
the plots, they had been reduced t . their last shilts
in order to live. These su.ns came from the com
mon Source, in other words, from the British
treasury.

Am oiiicvr of the royal navy of Enijland, captain
Wright, an intrepid seaman", who commanded a
small vessel of war, received off Deal or Hasiings
the emi;ir.int emissaries, isiijd was to land them, at
their own choice, upon, any point of the coast that
they niiijht designate for the purpose. Since the
first consul, well aware of the frequent desc-nt of
the Chouans, had caused the coasts of Britaiiy to
be guarded with more care than ever, they had
clian'.;ed dieir direction and come in by Normamly.
Between Dieppe and Tii-ep..rt, in the le'igth of a steep
perpendieuiar siliore of elitf, called that of Bi\ille,
there existed a mysterious outlet, made in a cleft
of the r.ick} and solely frequented by smugglers.
A cahle, strongly attached to the summit of the
cliff, desceniled in this cleft of the roek and hung
down nntil it touched the sea. At a call whieh
serveil -<us a signal, the secret guardians of the
passage Hung over the rope, that the smuggler
seized, and by its aid clainl>ered up the precipice
of two or three hundred feet in height, carrying a
heavy l<iad on his shoulilers The conHdaiiis of
Geor^^es bad discovered this iidet, and thought of
appro, Minting it to their own use, which it was I
very easy to <lo with the money which they pos- '
sessed. In order to complete the commimication
with Paris, they had established a £ucc^fssion of

lodging-])laces either in isolated farms, or in cha-
teaux inhabited by noble Normans, faithful and
discreet royalists, seldom mo\ ing from their es-
tates. It was thus easy to arrive from the shore
of the channel at Paris without passing over a high
road, and without entering an inn. Lastly, in
order not to compromise this way by passing over
it too often, it was reserved for the more importimt
personages of the party. Money distributed abun-
dantly at some of the houses of those royalists of
whom a lodging was borrowed, the fidelity of others,
but above all, keeping at a distance from places much
frequented, rendered acts of indiscretion difficult,
and the secret certain to be kept at least for some
time.

It was in this way that Georges penetrated intq
France. Embarked in the vessel of captain
Wright, he and his friends Ian. led at the foot of
the cliff of Bivilie, <,n the 21.-t of August, 1803,
at the same moment that the first consul was
making an inspection of the coasts. He followed
the step of the smugglers, and from resting-place,
to resting-place, arrived, with all his most faithful
lieutenants, as far as Cliaidot in one of the fau-
bourgs of Paris. There had been prepared for him
in that place a small lodijinj;, from whence he was
able to come at iii^ht into Pans, to see his associ-
ates there, and jirepare to strd<e the blow, for the
performance of which he had brought himself to
France.

Courageous and sensible, Georges possessed tlie
passions without the illusions of Ids party, and
judged much better than the others of what was
practicable. He attempted that through his cou-
rage, which the emigrants, iiis aecoinplice.s, at-
tempted by their ignorance. Having arrived in
Paris, be soon discovered that the first consul was
not as unpojiulara-s he had been represented in cotn-
municatioiis receiveii in London; that the royalists
and re))ul)licans were not so much disposed to fling
themselves into adventures, and that here, as is
always the Case, the reality was very far from
bearing out the promise. But he was not a man
to be discouraged, nor above all to discourage his
associates in making them acquainted with his
observations. In conse(|uence, he set himself at
work. After all, f(U' a sudden blow such as he con-
templated striking, he had no need of any aid from
the public feeling; and- the fir.st, consul no more,
France would be forced, in default of something
better, to return to the B'lirlions. From the
depth of his im|)enetrable oljscurity he sent emis-
saries into La Vendue, to discover whether, u|)on the
groimd of the pressure (d the conscription, the peo-
ple were not disposed to rise anew, and if the coii-
scriptsof that coimtry did iMt say now as formerly,
that to serve for service sake it was more worthy
to carry arms against the revolutionary government
than in its behalf. But in La Vemle'e all was foimd
in a state of inertness. His name alone, among all
the names of Vendean leaders, had preserved its
power, because he was regarded as an incorrup-
tii'le i-oyahst, who had preferred exile to the favours
of the first Consid. They hail a sympathy for the
representative of a cause which respomled to the
more secret affections and attachments of the popu-
lation ; but to siou-' the heaths and high roads
again, was not agreeable to the taste of any of the
inhabitants. Besides, the priests, the real iuspirers

1S03.
Aug.

Moreau sounded respect-
ing Piiliet;ri>-

THE COXSIMUACY OF GEORGES.

in Loncioti.

of the Vendfans, were imw inclined towards tlie
Hi-st consul. Siinie insignificant asseinldajjes of
t'le |ieo|)le were ail of wliicli any lio|>e could lie in-
dulged : and, a tlini:; dis|iiiitiii<j for the c>>ns|>ira-
tors, they found alivady fewer liett-rniined Clionans
than formerly, who were prepared for any thing
soi.nerthan a return to lahorious and peacealiie occu-
pations. It was still necessai\\ to find some who were
at the same time l>rav.- and discreet. Georj^es had
been two months in Paris before he had with nuich
trriuhle unite'i m-re than thirty. Tiie object of
tlieir union wa.s never stilted; ihey did not make it
known the one to the oilier. They only knew that
they were destined to take a part in an appioacli-
iiij; enterprise in favour of the B inrhons, wh;ch
"asai;reeable to them, and besides that they wi.uhl
In- well pai<l, which was news not less agreeable.
Geor;;e» secretly |ir«|)ared uniforms and arms for
litem ni;ainst the liay of combat.

Amid the mystery in which he lived with nume-
rons precaution-., altlion;;h that jjart of the piviject
which regarded the republicans was not in liis.
jurisdiction, he was desirous of knowing; if afl'airs
went on belter on that side than on the side of the
royalists. He got the secretary of .Moreau, called
Fresnieres, to be smmded by a faithful Breton, that
secretary being a Breton also, count cied with all
the parties and even with M Foiich^ This was
running a givat degree of peril, because Foiiclid at
that time had his eyes wideopen upon all aroiuni him,
being desirous of an occasifui to render a service
to the fii-st consul Fresnieres said nothing of an
encouraging nature relative to Moreau, at least his
replies were very insigmficaiit. Georges made no
account of them, but resolute to attempt every
thing, presse-l his employers in London to act, be-
cause compromi-cd in the middh; of Paris for
8<*veral months, he ran there uselessly the greatest
danireiR.

While Georg'H was thus occupied, the agents of
Pichegru had acted on llu'ir side, and had coii-
ferreil with Moreau. An old commissary of stores,
a species of men who at times become familiar
with generals, was ein|doyed to carry a message
in a few words from Pichegru to Moreau. He
was asked if he rememhen-d this old coin|)anion in
arms, and if he still cherished against him any ohl
reseiitmentx. It wns not for Moreau to have been
pleased with Picliegiu, whom he had denounced to
the ilirectory by delivering up the papers of the
waggon of Klini^in. But while strong in moiueii-
tiry n.-sentni'-iit, he was not capable of recalling to
mind past grievances. He therefore ex|)ressed
nothing but kindness towaids Pichegru, and even
8yin|iatliy for tli<- misfortunes of an old frieiirl. It
was then deniand<-d of him il lie would not interest
himself f'<r Piclngiti, and use his influence to ob-
tain his return into Frain-e. The etf.ct of the am-
nesty granleil to all the Veiideans, to all the Siildiers
of Condc', was it not also made to cover the con-
queror of H ■lliilid!

Moreau repli-d, that he ardently wished for the
return of his old companion ni arms ; that liu
reganled such a return as an act of jnsiiie <lue to
his services ; that he would wil^m^ly eontrihiit)- to
it, if liis own actual r.l.i lions with the noveroment
were of a nature to p.rinit him ; but that having
had differenc h with those who governed, he never
placed his feet in the Tuderies. Then came natu-

rally Confidential remarks on his own grievances,
on his aversion for the first consul, ami his desire
to see Fr;ince soon delivered.

The dispoviiion of Moreau, thus, foreseen, there
w:vs emjdoyed about him one of his old ofhcers,
general Lajolais, a familiar acquainlame, the most
danger.. us that can be admitietl into the intimacy
of a feeble man, who does not know how to govern
himself. This general was little, lame, remarkably
endowed with a spirit of intrigue, pressed by |iecu-
niary necessities, indeed, nearly reiluced to a state
of iiidigc-nce. There was sent to j;aiii him over a
deserter from the armies of the republic, disguised
as a lacfc-nieichant, with litters from Pichegru,
and a good sum of money ; and lie had not much
trouble in acipiiring the good otlic. s of i,:ijolais.
Being gained to the conspiracy, he attached liiin-
si If to Moieau, obtained from liim, in conlolence,
his ill-will to the ruling powers, and his wi.-hes,
which tended to nothing less than to the destruction
of the consular g<iveriiment, by every p. .ssible
means, (.ajolais did not go so far as to make open
propositions ; but credulous as all gobetwe.iis are
in similar cases, he imagined that there remained
only one more word to be said to decide Moreau to
take an :ictive part in the conspiracy ; and if he
belie\ed beyond that which was really cnrtct, he
tolil his employers beyond what he liini.seH believed.
It is thus that this species of ]>lots are woven by
a-enls who in one-half cheat themselves, and cheat
those who employ then) the other moiety. Lajo-
lais gave the greatest hopes to the agenl-s of
Pichegru, and, press;*^ by them, consented to go
to London, to make his verbal repori to the
great personages of whom he had become the in-
strument.

Lajolais and his conductor were id.liged to go
through Hamburg to reach Loiid'.n salely ; they
thus liist a go..d deal of time. Dis. ml.arkcd in
England, they there found orders given by the
British authorities that they sh<.uld be imme.liately
received. They set oft' for Lonchin, and were then
introduced to Pichegru, and the iiiaiiagirs of the
wh..le intrigue. The arrival of Lajolais filled with
foolish pleasure all the impatient S|.iii;s there. The
count d'.Vrtois had the imprudence to assist, at the
comic U of the conspirators, and thus to c •nipro-
niise his rank, dignity, and family. He was then
(inly |iers..nally known to the leaders, it is true ;
but the vivacity of his .sentiments ana l.inguago
exciting attention, he soon became known to them
all. On hearing Lajolais describe, with ridiculous
exaggeration, what lie had collect, d from the
lips of Moreau himself, and say that Pichegru had
only to make his iippciiiance to secure the adhesion
of the republicjui general, the count d'Ariois, no
longer able to restrain his joy, cried out, " If our
two generals are hi a perfect understanding, I shall
soon be on my return to France." These words
drew upon the prince the attmtioii of the conspira-
tors, who enquired the identity of the p. rsoiiage
wh.i thus expressed himself. They learned that it
was a prince of the blood, the son of kii.gs, called
to be a king himself, whom the corrupt iiifliience of
his exile thus conducted to acts so little worthy of
his liink or his hi;art. The satislaction expressed
iip'iii this event was so great, said one of the agents,
who at a later period revealed the details, " that
the king of England, had he been present hinwelf,
Ll 2

516

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

IntervieWbetween Plche-
gru and Moreau.

would have wished to be among those that under-
took the voyage '."

It was then agreed upon, without further delay,
that they sliould enter France, in order to apply
the hist hand to tlie execution of the enterprise.
It was become time to hasten, because tlie unfortu-
nate Georges, left alone in the vanguard of the
business, and in the midst of the consular agents
of the pi>lice, ran the most serious hazards. There
had Ijeen sent to him, about the end of December,
a second detachment of emigrants, in order tliat
he might not suppose himself abandoned. It was
now decided that Pichegru himself, accompanied
by the greatest personages, such as M. de Riviere,
and one of the Polignacs, should embark for
France, and should join Georges by the way al-
ready marked out. The moment the party thus
newly setting out had prepared every thing, M. de
Riviere, who had most coolness of them all,
affirmed that the moment was so far come, that
there was sufficient maturity in the ])rojected enter-
prise to risk even the princes themselves, that the
count d'Artois, or the duke de Bei-ry, or both,
should proceed to France, in order to take a
part in this jjretended combat against the person
of the first consul.

Picliegru left London, with the principal French
emigrants, upon the expedition in which he en-
tombed for ever his glory, already sullied, and
his liff, which might have been otherwise em-
ployed. He set out during the first days of the
year 1804, embarking in the vessel of captain
Wri;;lit ; he landed at the cliff of Biville, on the
16th ot January. The conqueror of Holland, ac-
companied by the most illustrious members of the
French nobility, fi)llowed the route of the smug-
glers, founil Geiirges, who had come to meet them,
near the sea, and from resting-place to resting-i)lace,
traversing the forests of Normandy, reached Cliail-
lot on the 20. h of January.

Gecn-ges had not collected all his party ; but bold
as he was, with those of his band alreaily united,
he was fully prepared to tlu-ow himself upon the
carriai^e of the first consul, and to strike the infal-
lible blow. But it was necessary first to have a
definitive understanding with Moreau, in order to
be secure about the morrow. The intermediate
parties vveut to see him aiiew, and told liim that
Pichegrn had arrived secretly, and wished to liave
a ciMifrr'Uce with him. Moreau conscnteii, l>ut
unwilling ti( I'eceive I'ichegru in his own dweiliug,
gave liini a meeting; at night, in the Boulevard of
the .Vl.deleine. Piclie;;ru came to the appiiiut-
ment. He Wduld have desired to oe alone, be-
cause he was cxil, prudent, and disliked the com-
pany of Milgar and excited persuns, who annoyed
iiini by their impatienee, and whose society was
the first puoishnient intlicleil for his conduct. He
caiiu^ Willi too many persons to the place of len-
dezvou

he came tlier(! ni

•nlarl

Georj,'os, who wished to examine every th

will.

with

• Tlicsi? words, as well as the wliole recital of iliU deplor-
able affair, are extnieted with scriipuloua fidelity (roiii ti.e
vnluniiiKiiis ill^trurti n wliiuli lui)l< phice, and nt wi icli oi e
pan lias UiiPii piil)lislieii,aii(l aimili r remans n llie anliives
of the (."veriniieiii. Th re is ii t admitted a~ wo tij- (if
credit am iiui the details which are iilaci-d lieynnd all doiiht
av to ili'ir fidelity, hy the -oncurrent testiiiiuiiy ol revela-
tiuns that htar tlie evident character of truth.

his own eyes, apparently to judge upon what foun-
dations he was going to risk his life in a desperate
undertaking.

During a cold and dark night, in the month of
January, at a given signal, Moreau and Pichegru
drew near each other. It was the first time they
had met since they had fought together on the
Rhine, where their lives were without reproach,
and their glory unobscured. Scarcely were they
recovered from the emotion which was naturally
the effect of so many recollections, when Georges
came up and made himself known. Moreau was
struck, exhibited at once coldness, discontent, and
appeared not much pleased with Pichegru at such
an encounter. It was necessary to separate with-
out any thing of moment or of utility being said.
Moreau will presently be reverted to again in an-
other part of the affair.

This first meeting produced in the mind of
Georges a very ill impression. " This will do mis-
ciiiet," were his first words. Pichegru himself
feared he had been too adventurous. Still the
intriguers, who served as the goers- between, see-
ing More.iu, no longer dissimulated any thing, but
told him they were acting in a conspiracy to over-
turn the government of the first consul. Moreau
had no objeciion to the overturn of the govern-
ment, by meiins that without being declared, might
at the same lime be imagined ; he only exhibited
an invincible repugnance to operate in the cause of
the Bourbons, and more particularly to be person-
ally mixed up in such an eiiterpiise To bring
benefit to the republic and to himself, by the fall of
the first consul, was clearly his ambition ; but it
was oidy between Pichegru and himself that such
a matter could be entered ujion. This time he
I'eceived him in his own house, and tifter several
accidents, that barely missed the disclosure of all,
he li.td at last a long and serious interview with
his old companion in arms. All was stated. Mo-
reau would not go otit of a certain circle of ideas.
He had, he pretended, a considerable party of
friends in the senate and in the army. If it came
to pass that France could be delivered from the
three consuls, the |)ower would lerlainly be ])laced
in his hands. He should use it to save the lives of
those who would have disembarrassed the republic
of its oppressor, but he would not deliver to the
Bourbons the re|iuhlic thus eniranchised. As to
Pichegru himself, ihe old comiueror of Holland,
one of the most illustrious generals of France, they
would do better tiiaii save liis life, he would be re-
instated in his honours and in his greatness ; he
wotdd be elevated to the fiist ranks in tlie state.
Moi-ean, warm with these ideas, expressed his
astonishment at seeing Pichegiu mingled with
his present party. Pichegru had no want of tiie
o])inion of Moreau, to find iiisnpportabie liie society
of the Chouans, among \\\v \u lie lived ; but Mo-
reau was himself a proof, uhm people lay tliem-
Selves otit for conspiracies, of the difficulty there
is not to become soon the |irey of th ■■ worst who
are iir. und. Pichegru was too sensible and too
intelligent to jiartake in the illusions of Moreau,
and he attempted to persuaiie him ihat after the
death of llie first consul, no other govei imieiit than
tliai of ihe Bourbons was jiossiblc. All this was
above the uiiderstiiiding of M' le.iti, an under-
standing of a very iui;derate kind beyond the field

Second interview of
Picliegruand Mo-
reau.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES. Discovery of the conspiracy. 617

of battle. He was obstinate in the belief, that
general Bonn parte ceasing to live, lie, general
Morean, would bfcome llie fii-st consul of the
republic. Although the death of the- tii-st consul
was never spoken about, it was always understood,
as being the means ol ilisenibarr.issing the stage of
the person who occupied it. It may be said, with-
out searching for excuses for these fatal negotia-
tions, to appreciate thi-m exactly, that tho person-
ages of that time had seen so many die upon the
scattoM and on tiel.ls of battle, had given so many
or submitted themselves to such terrible orders,
that the death of a man had not for them tlmt
sigiiitication and that horror which the end of tlie
civil wars and the ameliorations of peace have so
liajipily rendered it ni tho jiresent day.

Picliegru went away from his friend this time
in utter despair, and said to the confidential party
who had combicted him to Moreau, and who was
then leading him to an obscme hiiling-place : " He
too has ambition ; be would, in his turn, govern.
Poor man ! he knows not liow to govern France
for twenty-four hours !''

Georges, informed of all that had passed, cried,
with the ordinary energy of his language," Usurper
for usur|>er ; I love him that now governs better
than Moreau, who lias neither head nor heart !"

It is thus, as will presently be seen, that they
treated the man whom their writers and talkers
represented as the model of the public and warlike
virtues.

The knowledge, soon acquired, of the dispositions
of Moreau, threw into despair the uiiliai)py and
culpable emigrants. They had yet another inter-
view with him at Chaillot in the dwelling of
Georges, probably without bis knowing whose
house he had entered. Georges joining at the
conunencenient of the conversation, withdrew, say-
ing bluntly to Pichegru and Moreau : " I with-
draw mvHelf ; perhaps while you are alone, you
may finish by a mutual undirstanding."

The two republican generals iniderstood one
another no further : it was now become evident
to all the conspirators, that they were foolislily en-
gaged in a de»ii;n which could only terminate in a
caiastro|)he. M. de Riviere was discon.solate. He
aiid hiri friends snid that which they always said,
when they found none to take part with their
own pafesions and feelings : " France is apathetic ;
she desires only repose ; she is unfaithful to her
old sentiments." France, in fact, was not as they liad
been nsHurcd she w:ih, intlignant against the consular
government ; all the parties were not in an under-
standing to overturn it. There were none but
those who wen; envious, and destitute of genius,
who dreamed of its destruction ; yet they were not
willing to conniiit themselves in a ])lot, however
well characterised. And as to France, without
doubt regretting the loss of the peace i-o j)romptly
broken, mistrustful too, perhaps, of the taste for
war and power which ho distinguished general
Bonaparte, she did not the less regard him as her
iiaviour. She was struck with his genius, and she
would not, at any price, see herself cast again into
the hazards of a new revolution.

Already the unhappy conspiratorH were tempted
to withdraw, some into liritany, others into Eng-
land. Disjibnsed by the knowledge of facts, the
most elevated among them felt besides a deep dis-

gust at the society in the midst of which they were
reduced to live. M. de Riviere and Piche;;ru,
the wisest of all the party, confided to each . ther
their repugnnuce and chagrin. One dny Piehegru,
wishing to put in their proper position the Clionans
who were too importunate, replied with biiternesa
and disdain to one of them, who said : " But,
general, you are jcith us !" " No, I am amomjst
you ' !" By which he signified that his life itself
was in their hands, but that his will and reason
were so no more.

All the conspirators now found themselves
jdunged into the most cruel uncertainty. Still
Georges was always ready to attack the first con-
sul, except that he wished to know what would be
done afterw.irds ; the others asketl, to whnt good a
useless attempt would tend. They were in this
state when these jilottings, carried on for si.K
months without interruption, were completed by
giving a glim)>se of their existence to the |)olice,
too late for the credit of its vigilance. The sa-
gacity of the first consul saved it altogether, and
ruined the imjirudeiit enemies who conspired
against his life. It is the ordinary punishment of
those wh(» engage in such enterprises to stop when
it is too late ; oftentimes they are discovered,
seized, and punished, when already consceiice,
reason, and fear, beginning to open their eyes,
they began to retrograde in the path of evil.

These comings and goings continued fr<m"i Au-
gust to January; passing more i)articuiariy so near
to such a man as the former »iiinister Fouch^, who
h:id a great desire to make discoveries, it was
scarcely possible they should not one day be per-
ceived. It has been elsewhere related that M.
Fouch€ had been deprived of the portf lio of the
police, at the period when the first consul had
wished to distinguish the inauguration of the con-
sulship for life by the suppression of such a rigor-
ous administration. The police had been hiilden,
it may be said, in the administration of justice.
The grand judge, Regnier, entirely a stranger to
the duties of the jwlice, had abandoned them to
the counsellor of state. Real, a man of spirit, but
sanguine, credulous, and having nothing near the
sagacity, certain and penetrating, of M. Fo\ichd.
Thus the police was directed with little skill, and
it had affirmeil to the first consul, that never even
then had there appeared less symptoms of a con-
sj)iracy. 'JMie first consul was far from ])artaking
in this feeling (d' security. Besides, M. Fouch<J
did not leave him the choice of doing so. Become
a senator, weary of his idleness, he had still kept
up his connexion with his old agents, was |ierl'ectly
well informed on matters and things, and came to
conununicate his observations to the first consul.
The first consul listened to all that Poncho and
Real chose to tell him, but reading with care the
reports of the gendarmerie, always most useful,
because they are the most exact and most honest,
came to the conviction that plots were forming
against his pei*son. At first a fact, or a general
deduction dniwn from circumstances, led him to
think that the renewal of the war might become
un occasion for the emigrants and re|inblican8 to
make some new attempts. Different indications,

' " Main, g6n6ral,
ehez vou«."

I @tcs avec nous !" " Non, Je suii

Tho intriffiiPs nf Mr nraVp Curious extracts from

513 at Munich THIERS' CONSULATE AND ElMPIRE. le.ters of the lir.t

consul.

such as that of Cliouans being arrested in several
direclidiis ; notices from Vendean chiefs attached
to his person, all proved to him that his inferences
were just. Upon an announcement from La Ven-
dee itself, wiiich gave the information that re-
fractory conscripts were observed to be forming
themselves into bands, he sent colonel Savary into
the western departments, an officer whose devotion
he knew was witliout limit, and whose intelligence
and courage were equally tried. There were sent
with him some of the select gendarmerie, to follow
the movements and to direct several moveable
columns detached into La Vendee. Colonel Sa-
vary set out, observed every thing i)ersonally, and
clearly perceived signs of a concealed action from
some quarter. This action was effected by Georges,
who, from Paris, endeavoured to excite an insur-
rection in La V^endee. Still nothing was discovered
of the terrible secret, wliich Georges reserved to
himself and bis iirincipal associates. The bands in
La Vendee <lispersed, and colonel Savary returned
to Pai-is without having learned any thing very
important.

Another intrigue, the thread of which had fallen
iuto the hands of the first consul, and which he
took a sort of ])leasure in tracing out himself,
promised some light on the matter, witliout having
yet afforded any. The three English ministers at
Hesse, Wurtemburg, and Bavaria, who were
charged to weave jilots in France, applied them-
selves to the task with zeal and assiduity, but in a
clumsy manner. Strangei'.s show little ability in
conducting sinnhir plots. Of these Mr. Drake, the
Bavarian minister, was the most active. He
lodged out of the city of Munich, in order that he
might receive with greater facility the agents
which came to jiim from France ; and in order tlie
better to ensure the security of liis corresjxindence,
he had seduced a director of the Bavarian post-
office. A Frenchman given to intrigue, formerly
a republican, with whom Mr. Drake had under-
taken the.se practices, and to whom he avowed con-
tiimally the object of the Bi'itish intriguers, had
made known all to the Parisian police. Mr. Drake
wislifHl at fir.it to procure the secrets of the first
consul relaiivt to the descent on England, then to
gain over, if i)ossible, some important general, to
Seize, if it could be done, upon some fortitted place
like Stiasburgh or Besangon, and there to com-
mence an insurrection. To disembarrass himself
of gtmeral Bonaparte, was always, in terms more
or le:-.s explicit, the essential part of the desi^Mi.
The first consul delighted to catch an English
diplomatist in such a flagrant oiience, gave money
to the intermediate agent who thus deceived Mr.
Drake, upon the condition of hi.s continuing tlic
intrigue. He himself furnished the copies of the
letters which were to be written to Drake. He
gave in these letters numerous and true details of
his personal habits, of tiie manner in which he
drew up his plans, dicUited his orders, and added,
that tne gfimil secret of his operations was con-
tained in a great bia^-k portfolio, always entrusted
to M. de Meneval, or a iiuissier in his confidence;
that M. de Meneval was incorruptible, but that
the huissier was not, and demanded a million of
francs for the delivery of the portfolio. The fir.st
consul insinuated, that there must certainly be in
France other plots besides that under the di-

rection of Mr. Drake, and tliat it was important to
know them, in order that they might not recipro-
cally obscure each other, but, on the contrary, be
of mutual service. Finally, he added as a very
important piece of revelation, that the real object
of the descent was Ireland ; that what had taken
place at Boulogne was purely a feint, that it
was endeavoured, by the extent of the preparations,
to render it of importance, but that there was
nothing serious except in the expedition ordered at
Brest and the Texel ^

• Here are curious extracts from these letters, dictated by
the first consul himself: —

" To the grand judge.

" 9lh Brumaire, year xii..(lst Nov. 1803.)

" It will be of importance to have near Drake, at Munich,
a secret agent, who will take an account of all the French
who visit that city.

" I have read all the reports which you have sent to me.
They apptai suffiL-ieiitly intere.vting. He must not \>rexi for
• he arrests. When the authoiiiies sliall liave g'ven all the
reiiistructions, a jihin will be arranged with him, and that
which he "ill have t'l do will be seen.

" I desire that he write to Drake, and, to give him con-
fidenre, inform him, that while waiting until the grand
blow can be struck, he believes he lias it in his jiower to
promise tliat there sliall lie taken from the talile of the first
consul, in his secret cabinet, nrilten in his own band, notes
relat."c to his great expedition, and every other important
paper ; that this hope is founded upon a huissier of ihe
caliinet, who having been a member of the society of Jaco-
bins, having now the care of the cabinet of the lirst consul,
hunciured with bis confidence, finds himself in the mean-
while in the secret coiiimittee, but that he has a need of
two tilings, the first that he shall liave the promise of
lOO.OOOi. sterling, if he really remits tlio.se papers of
an iniporiance so great, written in the first consul's hand ;
the second condiiion is, tliat theie shall be designated a
French ngent of the royalist partv , that shall furnish the
means of concealing himself to the huissier, who will be cer-
tainly arrested In the course of the affair if ever documents
of such iinpdrtiince are found missing. . . .

" Bonaparte writes himself scarcely ever. He dictates
every tiling, walking up and down his cabinet, to a young
man aged about twenty, iKimed Meneval, who is the sole
individual, not only who enters bis cabinet, but who ap-
proaches within the thr- e rooms that lead to that cabinet.
This joung man succeeded Bourieiine, whom the first
consul had known from bis infancy, but whom he has sent
aw y. . , .

" Meneval is not of the character that one can be able to
hope for any thing from him.

" But the notes which contain the grandest and most im-
pni'taiil calculations the first consul never dictates, but
writes himself He has upon his table a great portfolio,
divided inio as many comparimeiits as there are ministers.
'J'liis portlolio, made with care, is closed by the first consul ;
and every time that the first consul leaves his cabinet, Ale-
neval is onleicd to place the ponfolio in a cupboard in a
r.'cess under bis desk, screwed to the floor.

" Peihaus this portfolio micht be cariied off. Meneval or
the huissier of tt e cabinet, who lifjbts Ihe fire and sets the
apaitiiieiit in order, would alone be suspected. It will be
necessary that the huissier shou d disappear alterwards. In
this portfolio there must be all thai the first consul lias
written for several years past, because it is the only one
which has constantly travelled about with him, and which
goes incessantly with him from Paris to Malmaison and to
St. Cloud. All the secret notes of the military operations
would be found theie; and seeing that, it will be possible
to attain the i.estruclion of his authority by confounding his

1804. Intripues of Mr. Drake at
Jan. Munich.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

Arrest aiid trial of certain
Chouaiis.

519

This clumsy and culpable diplomatist, who had
committed the double wnmg «)f eonipioiiiising tlie
most sacred fuiiciions, and of playing so stupidly
witii the police, received all these details with ex-
treme aviility; he demanded more, above all, re-
lative to what was pa.ssing at Boulogne; stated
that he would refer to his' government for what
related to the " blaik portfolio," for which so great
a price was demainled; and as to the other plots
of which his correspondent desired information,
in order that they might not run cotmter to one
anoilier, he &iid lie was not instructed, which was
true enough; but it \Vt>uhl be needful, if he en-
countered any, to lay hiirtself out, in order to
make all tend to the same object; because, added

desijins. There can he no doubt that the subtraction of
tUi« purtfolio would confouiiil the n all."
" To the grand judge.
" Paris, 3rd Pluviose, year xil. (12 Jan. 1804.)

" The letters •'f Drake appear very important. I desire
that Mehee, in his appro.ching bulletin, should say tliat the
cuniinitiee had been in great alee, as they thought that
Bonaparte wojld enil)ark ai Bnuloiiiie, but that there is to-
day ihe lertaiiity that Die demonstrations at Boulogne are
false demonstrations; that alth.mgh c.stly, they are much
less ►0 than appears at ihe first glance; that all the vessels
of Ihe flotilla are abK- to he us-d for ordinary purposes; that
there be care taken to observe all that would show that thuse
preparations are only menaces, and that it is noi a fi.xed
eilablishmeni which it might be wished to preserve.

" That he will not dissimulate; that the first consul was
too wary, and l<elieved himsrlf too well established to-day,
to attempt a doubtful oi^eration, where a mass of force will
be ronimit'ed. His real project, as much as can be judged
by his external relations, is the expc-ilitioii to In-land, which
will be made at the satne time l>y the squadrons from Brest
and the Texel.

" Nothing is said of the expedition from the Texel, al-
though It 18 well known to he ready, and much noise is
nitric ab lut the rami>s <>f St. Omt-r, Osiend, and Flushing.
The great quantity of troops united in encan>pmen's has a
political objrct. Bonaparte is very pleased to have them at
hand, to keep them in war-trim, and to make a diversion of
a fourth of them to fall upon Germany, if he sees it neces-
sary to hu objectx t<i make the war ccinlinciital.

" Another expedition is that of the Mor-a, which is de-
cidedly arrang-d. Bonaparte has orty thousand men at
Tar' ntum. The Toulon squadron will profced thither. He
ho;>cs to find a considerable auxiliary force among the
Greeks.

" The affair of the porfolio must always be continued.
Sav that (in onler to get be ief ) the huissier came to show
several pieces of lett<'rn written in the very hand of Biina-
parte. That you shnnld be able to extract the greater part
through this man. hul that he wants a great d-al of money.
The project is re.illy to deliver the pori folio, In which the
first consul put< all the instructions that they ciin desire or
believe, but for which it Is necesnary they khnuld advance
money, at least to the extent of 50,000/. sterling."

" To citizen Real.
" Malmalson, 28th Ventosc, year xii. (March 19, 1804.)

" f pray you to send to citizen Maret the last letter
written by Drake, In order that he mny print it after the
collection of pieces rrla'i>e lo this affair.

" I also pr.iy you lo add two notes, one to make known
thst the atd-de cnmp of Ihe aiipunked urn'-ral is no more
than an ofTicer sent by the prefect of Stra-liiirit; and the
other which maken known that Ihe liuissi r «a» a pure In
vention of the a en', that there is not any huiisier employed
aliout the government who would not be above the corrupt-
iliK gold of England."

Jlr. Drake, it matters very little by whom the
animal is " laid low, it suffices that you ai"e all
ready to join in the clnise '." -

It was to this unworthy character, then, that an
agent, clothed with an official character, ventured
to descend ; it was this odiuus language which he
dared to use.

But all this threw no light upon wlrat was .sought.
Mr. Drake was ignorant of the great conspiracy,
of Georges, of which the secret hail not been
s])read abroad ; and he had not been able, in his
ridiculous confidence, to make a single useful
revelation. The first consul was always persuaded
that the men who invented the infernal machine,
would have much stronger reasons fur jireparing
something similar, under existing ciicumstaiices.
Struck with the numerous arrests executed in
Pans, La Vendue, and Normandy, he said to
Jlui-at, governor of Paris, and to M. Real, who
directed the police, " The emigrants are certainly
I at work.. Numerous arrests are taking jilacc ;
some of the individuals taken must be sent before
a military commission, that will condemn them,
and then they will confess before they sufier them-
selves to be shot."

This which is here stated actually took place
between tlie 25th and 30th of January, during the
interview between Picliegru and Moreau, and
when the conspirators began to give themselves
uj) to discourageiuent. The first consul had the
lists brought to him of those individuals who had
been arrested. Among them were found all tlie
agents of Georges, arrived either befi-e or after
himself, and in that number wntTan old physician
of the Vendean armies, who had disemb;irked in
August with Georges himself. After examining
the parti'iiilar circumstances attiched to each of
them, the first consul, in designating five of their
number, said, " I am very strongly deceived, or
there are here some men who will not be wanting
ill making revelations."

For a long while the laws formerly made had
not been carried into effect, wliich permitted the
institution of military tribunals. 'J'he first consul,
during the peace, liad wished to let them fall
into desuetiule ; but on the return of the war, he
believed that he was bound to use them, above all,
in case of the spies, who came to observe his |>re-
parations against England. He had caused tlieni
to be arrested, tried, and every one shot. The five
individuals whom he had designated were now put
upon trial. Two were actjuitted; two others, con-
victed by the court of crimes that the law punished
with death, were shot, without avowing any thing,
but that tJiey declared they iiad come lo serve the
cause of their le;:itimate king, who would soon be
triumphant over the ruins of the rejiublic. They
preferred, besides, frightful menaces against the
person at the head of the government.

The fifth, whom the first consul had ])articularly
designated as the man who would be likely to con-
fess every thing, declared, at the monuiil th.'y were
leatling liiin to punishnnnl, that he had grt^it
secrets to Uiacluse. There was iuiinidiately scut

' These are the expressions employed by Mr. Drake him-
self. The letters, written in his own hand, were deposited
with the Sfii^itc, and shown to all Ihe agents of the uiplo-
inatle body who had any inclinatiun to peruse them.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, ^"in ?.lnrd"cl«e7"

to liim one of the most able agents in tlie service
of the police. He avowed every thing, declared
that he h;id disembarked in the month of Augnst
at Biville with Georges himself ; that they had
arrived, by traversing the woods, from station to
station, as far as Paris, with the object of killing
the first consul, through an attack upon his escort
by main force. He indicated some of the places
where the Chouaiis lodged who were under the
orders of Georges, and particularly several wine-
mei'chants.

This declaration threw in a ray of light. The
presence of Georges in Paris was in the highest
point significative. It was not for an attempt of
slight importance that such a personage h:id been
sojourning six months in the capital itself witli
a band of his accomplices and dependants. The
point of disembarkation at the cliff of Biville, the
existence of a route to Paris, the sojourning places
in traversing the woods, and every one of the ob-
scure lodgings whei'e the conspirators were hidden,
were now known. A most singular chance had
revealed a name, which being traced, disclosed the
gravest circumstances. At an anterior epoch,
some Choiians disembarked on the same shore of
Biville, had exchanged musket-shots with the
gendarmes, and the name of Troche was found
upon a fragment of paper which had served for
wadding. This Troche was a clockmaker at Eu.
He had a son very young, and employed in the
corresponilence. He was secretly arrested and
taken to Paris. On being interrogated he avowed
all he kiKW. He declared that it was he who
went to receive the conspirators at the cliff of
Biville, and conducted them to their first stations.
He related the three disembtirkations, ot which the
histiiry has been related, that of Georges in August,
and those of December and Juiuiary, in which
were found Pichegru, INI. de Riviere, and M. de
Polignac. He did not kin)W the names or the
quality of the jiersonages to whom he had served
as a <;uide. He only knew that in the first days
of February a fourth disembarkation was to take
place at the cliff of Biville. He was equally or-
dered to be the guide to receive them when they
arrived.

Suddenly, during the first days of February, a
search was commenced, and the places indicated
from Paris as far as the c<jast were examined, in
order to discover tiie stations which were used by
the emigrant travellers. A good guard was placed
at tlie wine-merchants denounced by the agt^nts of
Georges, and in a few days different important
arrests were made, two in particular, which threw
a great light upon the wlnde affair. They seized
at first a young man, named Picot, a domestic of
Georges, and an intrepid Chouan, who being armed
witii pistols and poignards, fired upon the agents of
the police, and did not yield until tlie last ex-
tremity, declaring he would die in the service of
his, king. At the same time was seized the prin-
cipal otticer of Georges, named Bouvet de Lozier,
who suffered himself to be taken without i)rovoking
the same tumult, exhibiting himself perfectly calm.
Tliese men were armed like offenders ready for
the conmiittal of the greatest crimes, and besides
the arms whicii they carried about them, they had
considerable sums in gold and silver. At the first
moment they appeared to be highly excited, then

they became more calm, and finished by making
confessions. It was thus with the j)arty named
Picot, arrested on the 8th of February, or 18th
Pluviose ; he would say nothing at first, but alter-
wards, by little and little, he was induced to speak.
He avowed that he had come from England with
Georges ; that lie had been with liini in Paris
during the last six months, and did not much dis-
guise the motive of their voyage to France, Thus
the presence of Georges in Paris for a grand ob-
ject, could no longer be a matter of doubt. But
they knew nothing more. Bouvet de Lozier si.id
nothin;;. He was a jiersonage much above Picot
in education and manners. In the night of the
1.3th or 14th of Felnuary, Bouvet de Lozier sud-
denly called his jailer. He bad attempted to hang
himself, and not having succeeded, had fallen into
a sort of delirium ; he then demanded that tlie
declaration he made should be received. The
unliajipy man now stated, that before tlying for the
cause of his legitimate king, he wished to unmask
the perfidious person wiio had drawn these brave
men into an abyss, by compromising them uselessly.
He made to M. Real, surprised avd confounded,
the strangest and nxist surprising lecital. They
were, he said, in London, around the pri:ices,
when Moreau had sent over to Pichegru one of
his officers, to offer to set him at the head of a
movement in favour of the Bouibons, promising to
draw in the army to follow liis example. On this
intelligence, they had set off altogether, with
Georges and Pichegru himself, to co-operate in
the revoluti<in. Arrived in Paris, Georges and
Pichegru had gfine to Moreau, to have an under-
standing, and Moreau had then changed his lan-
guage, and had demanded that they should over-
turn the fii>t consul, for bis own advantage, in
order to make himself the dictator. Georges,
Pichegru, and their friends, had refused such a
proposition, and it was owing to the unfortunate
delays, arising from the i)retensions of Moreau,
that tliey had become objects of search to the
jjolice. This tragical deponent added, that "he
had escaped the shadows of death to avenge him-
self and iiis friends upon the man who had lost
them every thing '."

' The declaration of Bouvet de Lozier liimself is here
cited. This document, as are all those relative to the con-
spiiaoy of Georges, and which will be cited hereafter, is
taken from a collection in eiylit volumes, 8vo, having for
the title:—

'• The process instituted by the court of criminal and
special justice of the department of the Seine, silling at
Paris, against Georges, Pichegru, and others, charged with
a conspiracy against the person of the first consul. Paris,
C. F. Patras, piinter to the court of criminal justice, 1804."
{The copy in the royal library.)

Declaration of Athanase ITyacinthe Bouvet de Lozier, wade
in presence of the grand judge, minister of justice. Book
ii. page 168.

" It is a man who comes out of the gates of the tomb, still
ciwered with the shadows o! death, who asks vengeance
upi't'. those that by their peifidionsness have thrown him
and his ^arty into the abyss in which he finds himself.

"Sent '. sustain the cause of the Bourbons, he found
himself oblig,;d to combat for Moreau, or to renounce an
enterprize which was the sole object of his mission.

" Monsieur was to pass into France in order to place him

M. Real communicates
Bouvet'g confession
to Napoleon.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES. A secret councU summoned. 521

Thus, ill the midst of an interrupted suicide,
there came out against Moreau a terrible denun-
ciation ; a denunciation exaggerated by despair,
but presenting, nevertheless, the outline of the
j>lot. M. Real, almost stupified, ran to the Tuile-
ries. He fuund tiie first consul gone, according to
his custom, to take his rest at an early hour, in
order to give himself up to his labours. The first
consul was yet in the hands of his valet de chani-
bre, Constant, when at the first accents of M. Real,
lie placed his hand on his moutii, silenced him,
and shut himself up alone wiih him, to listen to
his reciuil. He did not seem astonished. He
refusvd to credit entirely and wholly the declara-
tion about Moreau. He comprehended well enough
the project of uniting all parties against himself,
and employing Pichegru as an intermediate agent
between the royalists and republicans; but to cre-
dit the culpability of Moreau, he wished that the
presence of I'ichegru in Paris should be well esta-
blisiied. If new revelations removed all doubts in
this respect, the connexion between the royalists
and Moreau would be found established, and they

self at the lie.id of the royalists ; Moreau promised to unite
his cause with that of the Bourbons. The royalists came
into France and Moreau retracted.

" He proposed that we should labour for him and get him
nominated dictator.

" The accusation wliich I make against him is not sup-
ported perhaps but on half proof.

" Here are the facts ; it is you who are to appreciate
them.

"A general who has ser^'ed under Moreau's orders, L;ijo-
lais, was sent by him to the prince in London ; Pichegru acted
intermediatrly ; Lajolais adhered in the name and on the
part of .Moreau to tlie principal points of the proposed plan.

"The prmce proposed to depart; the number of royali^ts
in France was auijmcnted, and in the conferences which have
taken place in Paris between Moreau, Pichegru, and Georges,
the first manifested his intentions, and declared he would not
act except for a dictator, not for a king.

" From thence arose the hesitation, the dissension, and the
nearly total loss of the royalist party.

" LmjoI.iis was with the prince at the commencement of
January in the present year, as 1 have been apprised by
Georgi-s.

"1 myself saw on the 17th of January his arrival at
La Poterie on the day following his disemburkment with
PicheKru, by the route of our common correspondence,
whicli you only know too well.

" t have seen the same Lajolais, on the 25th or 2Ctli of
January, when he came to take (ieorges and I'ichegiu lo
the carriage where I was with them in the Boulevard de la
Madeleine to conduct them to Moreau, who wailed fur them
at tome p.ic- s distance. He then had with them in the
Chainpn Klyki-es one conference, that led to our presage of
that which Moreau openly propoked at a succeeding meeting
that he hail with Pichegru alone ; to wit, that it was not
possible to re-establish the king; and he proposed that he
himself shouhl be placed at the head of the government
undi-r the title of dictator, not leaving lo the royalists any
chance but to be his supporters and soldiers.

" I know not what weight the assertion of a man will have
with you, snatched but an hour before from the death that he
had given hiinicif, and that sees before him the death re-
served by an offended government.

" But I aui not able lo restrain the cry of despair, nor an
attack upon the men who have reduced mc to it.

" As lo what remains, you will discover facts conformable
to those which I advance in the course of the grand process
in which I am implicated.

"(Signed) Bouvet,
"Adjutaiit-iieneral of the royal army."

would be able "to deal with him. In other respects,
there escaped from the first Consul not a single
accent of anger nor of vengeance ; he appeared
more curious and more thoughtful than lie was
irritated.

They thought of interrogating Picot, the domes-
tic of Georges, anew, to discover if he had ctigni-
zatice of the presence of Pichegru in Paris. He
was questioned upon the same day, when, on treat-
ing him with itiildiiess, they terminated the matter,
by bringing him to open what he knew to tlieni
entirely. He declared himself all that related to
Pichegru and Moreau. He had known less than
Bouvet de Lozicr ; but that which he did know
was perhaps more significant, because ihe inference
from it was, that the despair produced by the con-
duct of Moreau had descended so as to be shared
by the lowest ranks of the conspirators. In regard
to Pichegru, he had declared positively that he had
seen him in Paris but a few days before ; and he
affirmed even that he was still there. As to Mo-
reau, he stated that he had heard the officers of
Georges cxi)ress the greatest regret that they had
addre.->sed themselves to that general, who was
ready to ruin all by his ambitious pretensions >.

These facts having been made known during the
I4th of February, the first consul immediately con-
voked a secret council at the Tuileries, composed
of the two consuls, Cambaee'res and Lebiiin, tiie
principal ministers, and I\I. Fouche', who, although
no longer a minister, had borne a lending part in
the existing information. The council was held in
the night of the 14th and 15th. The question
merited a serious examination. There was incon-
testable evidence of a conspiracy. The design to
attack the first consul with a troop of Chouans,
having Georges at their head, was beyond a
doubt. The concurrence of all the ])arties, repub-
licans or royalists, thus become certain from the
presence of Pichegru, who had served as the inter-
mediate agent between one and the other. As to
the cul|)ability of Moreau, it was difficult to dis-
cover its jirecise extent ; but neither Bouvet do
Lozier in his despair, nor Picot in his subaltern
simplicity, could possibly have invented the extra-
ordinary circumstance of the wrong done to the
royalist party by the personal views of Moreau.
It was clear, then, that if this general were not
arrested, the process would follow him up, and he

' Extract from the second declaration of Louit Picot, the
2^//^ Pluvidsc, year XII. (14 I'lbruary), at one in tht
morning, before the prefect of police, hook ii. p. 392.

Declares—" That the chiefs had drawn lots who should
attack the first consul.

" That they would attack him if they encountered him on
the mad to Boulogne, or assassinate him while presenting a
petition to him on the parade, or as he went to the theatre.

" That he firmly believes that Pichegru Is not only in
France, but still in Paris."

Extract from the third declaration of Louis Picot, the 2Uh
Pluvidse (\ilh February).

Declares — " That Pichegru constantly bore the name of
Charles, that ho had heard him several times so called.

" That he had heard general Moreau spoken of several
times, and that the chiefs had frcqiienlly repeated it before
him; that tliey were vexed that the princes had let Moreau
into '.ne affair, but that he was ignorant whether Georges
had seen Moreau."

The arrest of Moreau
determined upon.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND ExMPlRE.

Secret co

mc

1 a

the

luile

ies

—

Mo-

reau :

rrc

ted

would be found denounced every moment ; that
those denunciations would be noised abroad, and
tliat then the charp;e would have the appearance of
being eitiier wholly a ])erHdious caiunniy, or that
the government was afraid, and did not dare to
prosecute a criminal, because in that criminal's
identity would be found the second personage in
the republic.

The decision of this question remained for the
first consul. To suffer the strength of his govern-
ment to be called in question, was the thing ever
most opposed to his pride and policy. "They will
say," lie observed, " that I am afraid of Moreau.
It will not be found so. I have been the most
merciful of men, hut 1 will be the most terrihle,
when it shall become necessary. I will strike
Moreau as I would strike any other man when he
enters into conspiracies, odious in their object, and
disgraceful by the party reconciliations which they
imnly."

He did not, therefore, hesitate a moment in
deciding upon the arrest of Moreau. He h;id,
besides, another reason, iind that was one of weight.
Neiihi r Georges nor Pichegru were arrested.
Three or four of their accomplices were taken ;
but the main body of those who were to carry the
scheme into execution was yet entirely beyond
the grasj) of tlie pi.liee, and it was ])0ssible that the
fear of heiiig discovered might cause them to carry
out at once the attempt which they had enteied
France to make. It was on this account needful
to hasten the process, and seize all the principal
parties whom they had the means of securing.
This would lead inevitably to other discoveries.
The arrest of Moreau was resolved upon accord-
ingly, and with Moreau that of Lajoh.is and the
other intermediate agents, whose names had been
d iscovei'cd.

The first consul was irritated, but not in a par-
ticular manner, against Moreau. He wore the
appearance more of a man who endeavoured to
strengthen himself beforehand rather than to seek
vengeance. He wished to have Moreavi in his
power to convince him, and to obtain the infin-ma-
tion of which ho had need, and then to pardon him.
He imagined that it would be the full measure of
address and goodness, to terminate the matter in
this way.

It was necessary to fix upon the jurisdiction.
The consul Canil)ac(5res, who had a professed
knowledge of the laws, stated the danger of the
ordinary jurisdiction in an affair of this nature,
and proposeil, as Moreau was a military man, to
send him before a council of war, comjiosed of the
most distinguished individuals in the army. The
existing laws furnished the means of taking this
step. The first consul opposed it'. "They will
say," he remarked, " that wishing to disembarrass
myself of Moreau, I have had him assassinated,
judicially, by my own ereatures." A middle term
was then sought, and it was in consequence devised
to send Moreau before the criminal tribunal of the
Sein\ The constitution permitted the suspension
of the jury in certain cases, and over the entire
extent of particular departments, and it was de-
cided that this suspension should be immediately

• The author here repeats the testimony of M. Camba-
ctrhs himself.

l)ronounced for the department of the Seine. This
was a fault, the princi|de of which was honourable.
The public considei-ed the -suspension of tile jury
an act as ligorous as if the case had been sent be-
fore a tnilitary commission, and without giving it
the merit of respecting the forms of justice, thus
imparted to it all the ineonvenien.ees, as will soon be
Seen. It was resolved, besides, that the grand
judge, Rcgnier, should draw up a report upon the
conspiracy which had been discovered, declaring
the motives for the arrest of Moreau, and that the
report should be communicated to the senate, the
legislative body, and the tribunate.

The council lasted the whole night. In the
morning of the 15lh of February, a chosen detach-
ment of gendarmerie, with ihe officers of justice,
was sent to the house inhabited by Moreau. He
was not to be found there, and tliey set out for
Grofebois, but met him on the bridge of Cliarenton,
returning to Paris. He was arrested without
noise, treated with much resjiect, and conducted
to the Tem])le. At the same lime as Moreati, they
arrested Lajolais, with the clerks of the provision-
sellers, who had served as intermediate agents.

The message containing the report ol Regnier
was taken the same day to the senate, to the legis-
lative body, and to the tribunate. It produced
there a painful astonishment among the friemls of
the government, and a sort of nialici<ius delight
among its enemies — enemies more or less active, of
wliom a certain number yet remained in the great
bodies of the state. It was, according to these, an
invention of the jiolice, a machination of the first
consul, who wished to get rid of a rival of whom he
was jealous, and rei)air his compromised jxipu-
larity, by inspirinij uneasiness about his life. Every
toufiue was let loose, as is certain to ha)>pen under
similar circumstances. In place of saying, "the
cons|)iraey of Moreau," the wits said, "the con-
spiracy against Moreau." The brother of the
general, who was a member of the tribunate, sud-
denly rose in the tribune of that assembly, declared
that his brother had been calunmiated, and that he
deniamled only one thing to demonstrate his inno-
cence, and that was to be sent before an ordinary,
and not a special court of justice. He only de-
manded for his brother the means to make the
truth be heard. These words were heard coldly,
but with evident chagrin. The majority of the
three bodies was at the same time devoted to the
government, and deeply afflicted. It seemed as if,
since the rupture of the peace, the fortune of the
first consul, so far f<)rtunate as it was great, had
a little fallen ofi". They did not believe that he
could have invented this cons|)iracy ; but they
Were grieved to see that his life was yet in peril,
and that it was necessary to defend it by striking
at the lii{,'hest characters in the republic. They
replied, therefore, to the niess:ige of the govern-
ment, by one which contained the expression, com-
mon under those circmnstances, of the interest and
attachment they felt towards the chief of the state,
and their ardent wishes that justice should be
promptly and faithfully rendered.

The noise caused by these arrests was very
great, and it could not be otherwise. The hulk of
the public were strongly disjjosed to indignation
against every attempt which placed the valuable
life of the first consul in peril; still the reality of

Irritation of ttie first
CiJiisul ag,iiii:>l the
conspiraiurs.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

Iiigralilude of the
royalists.

523

tlic plot \v:is doubted. It was certiiin that the
infamous inferii:il machine h:id rendered it all
credible ; but there the crime had preceded the
pr.ces*, which last was, besides, produced under
tlie form of the must atrocious of wicked attempts.
Now, on the contrary, a simple inteniinn of assas-
sination was announced, and on that simple an-
nouncement they bejjan by arresting one of the
most illustrious men in the republic, who passed
f T being the object of the first ctmsul's jealousy.
Malcontent persons asked where then was Georges?
Where was Ficliegru? Those two personages, ihey
appreh nded, were ccriainly not in Paris ; they
had not found them there, because all was uo
more than a clumsy fable — an odious invention.

If tiie first Consul had been at first tranquil at'
the aspect of the new danger with which his i)er-
8on wa-s menaced, he felt deeply angry on finding
of what black calumnies that danger was the cause.
He deinaniled if it was not enough to be the object
of the most fri;;litful conspiracies; if he must still
be piissed off himself for a maker of plots, for
envioUH, when he was pursued by the meanest
envy, for the author of perfidious designs against
the life of anotlif-r, when his own life ran the
greatest risk. He was seized with a fit of anger,
which every step in the instructions against the
criMiinais did not cease to augment. He set him-
8elf about the discovery of the authors of the plot
with a sort of exasperation; not that he did so for
tlie security of his own life ; he did nut think so
much of that, which he coiifiiK-d to his good for-
tune, but he Ju'ld himself bound to confotmd the
infamy of his detractors, who represented him as
the inventor of plots which had failed, and of
which it was yet possible he might become the
victim.

It wa.s not against the republicans that he was
most irritated on this occasion, but against the
royalists. At the time of the infernal machine,
although the royalists were the authors, he as-
cribed all to the republicans, because he saw in
ihein the obstacli; t<i the good which he designed
to effect. Uiit at this moment his indignation had
a diJferLiit object. Since his access to power he
had done eveny thing for the royalists; he had re-
lieved them from ojipression and from exile; he
had restored them to the raidc of frenchmen and
citizHUH; he had, as far as he was able, given back
to them their property; and he had done all in spite
of the advice and against the will of his most faith-
ful siipporterM. To recall the priests he had braved

prejudices the most ileeply i ted of the country

and tlie age; to recall the emigrants he had bravc-d
the alarms of tht- numt suspicious clxss, the ac-
quirei*H of national pr<iperty. Finally, he had in-
vesteil 8evei-.ll of tlm n.yalistH with most iinpor;aiit
fuiictioim; he had even commenced to place them
about his pei-Min. When, in fact, the state in
which he foun<l thciii on the cessation of the reign
of the convention and the directory was compared
with that in whirli he had placed them, it is im-
possible t"! hiii'ler oneself from ackiinwlidgini;, that
no oneever di<l more for a party, that never liatl
a party a inoio (r.-neivjim pmtictor, in the sight of
impartial justicv, and that never had such black
ingratitude repaid a condiiet so noble. The first
eniisul had gone ho far for the royalists as to risk
Ilia popularity, and what was worse, the confidence

of all the men sincerely and honestly attached to
the revolution; because he had left it to be said
and credited, that he thought of re-establishing
the Bourbons. In payment of these efi'orts and
these benefits, the royalists had wished to blow him
lip by metms of gunpowder in 1800 ; they wished
now to cut his tlii"oat upon the high road ; and
these were the parties wlio accused him, in their
drawing-rooms, of being the inventor of cou-
spiiacies, which they had themselves formed.

This was the feeling which pr<miptly filled his
ardent soul, and |)roduced in ids mind a sudden
reaction against a i>arty so culpable and so full of
ingratitude. Tims his anger did not direct itself
against the re|>ublieans on the present occasion :
without doubt he felt no great vexation to see
Moreau reduced to receive the humiliating benefit
of liis clemency; but it was upon the royalists that
ho determined to cast the whole weight of his
anger, and he was resolved, as he said himself, vo
give them no quarter. The revelations which en-
sued added yet more strength to this feeling, aud
converted it into a species of passion.

Whilst Georges and Pichegru were sought with
the greatest care, new arrests were made, and
there were obtained of Picot and of Bouvet de
Lozier the most complete details, and the gravest
of all whitli had been hitherto acquired. These
men would not have it given out that they were
assassins, they therefore hastened to make known
that they had C(mie to Paris in ctmijiaiiy of tltc-
highest rank, that they had with them the greatest
nobles of the Bourbon court, more especiall}' M.
de Polignac and M.de Riviere; and they pr)sitively
declared that they wore to have a prince at tlndr
head. They had expected him, they said, every
moment; they even believed that this prince, so
much looked for, would be one of the last dis-
embarkation, or in that announced for February.
It was reported among the party that it would be
the duke de Berry '.

1 Extract from the fourth declaration of Louis Picot before
tlie pri-fecl of police, 2blh Pluvidae [I3th February), book
ii. page 3y8 :—
Declares—" I disembarkfd with Georges between Dun-
kirk and the town of Eu. I am ignorant whether there had
bei-ii any anterior diseinbaikaiioiis ; theie had btcn two
subsequently. There was a rni-iition made of a fourth dis-
embarkation, much more considerable, which was to be c<im-
po>eil of iwenty-five pcrs'inx; of tliis nninber was to be the
duke de Berry. I am ignorant whether such a discmbarka-
linn has taken place. I knew that Bouvet and one nanud
Armand were lo go in search ot the prince."

Extract from the second intnrngatory of Bouvet, the 30th
PluriO^e {Ullh FeliTiiarij), book ii. page 172.

Q'letlion. — " At whai period and in what manner do you
believe ihnt Morcau and Pichegru had concerted the pl.in
that Georges was to execute in France, and which tended to
the re-cslalilishment of the Bourbons?

Answer.—" I believe that for a long time Pichegru and
Moreau had been in coriespondence ; and it wa.s only on the
certitiniy that Pichegru had given the prince, that Morcau
would aid by all the means in his power a movement in
France in iheir favour, that the plan was indeterminately
arranged for the reestablislnient of the Bourbons, by the
ciiuiicilM held with Pichegru ; a nioveiiient in Paiis, sustained
by the pre^el)Ce of the prince ; an attack i)y main forcedirccled
against the fir»l consul; the pre»enlation of a prince to the
ariniei liy Moreau, who beforehand was to have prepared alt
minds for the event."

524 Anger ofthefirit consul. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

His fiieiidly intentions 1801.
towards Mureau. March.

The depiisitions became upon this point the most
precise, C'licoriiaiit, and cninplete possible. The
plot now acquired, in the sight of the first consul,
a fatal clearness. He saw tlie count d'Artois and
the duke de Berry, surrounded by eniij^rants,
adopted by Piclie;;ru on the part of the republicans,
having at their service a troop of assassins, pro-
mising even to set hiniselC at iheir head, to kill
him in an ambuscade, wliicth they styled a loyal
combat on an ecpial footing. A prey to a species
of rage, he had now only one desire, and tiiat was
to seize upm the prince that they were sending to
I'aris by way of the cliff of Biviiie. That warmth
of language to which he gave himself up at the
time of the iid'ernal machine, asiainst the Jacoiiins,
was now entirely turned against the princes and
nobles who could descend to play such characters.
" The Bourbons believe," said he, " that they siiall
be able to spill my blood as they would that of the
vilest animal. My blood is still of more worth
than tlieirs. I will return to them the terror with
which they would fain inspire me. I pardon
Moreau his weakness, and the allurements of a
stupid jealousy; but I will unpityingly shoot the
first of these princes that shall fall huo my hands.
I will teach them with what kind of a niau they
have to deal."

Such was the language which he did not cease
to hold during this terrible process. He was som-
bre, agitated, menacing, and what was a singular
thing with him, he worked much less. He even
seemed to have forgotten for a moment Boulogne,
Brest, and the Texel.

Without losiiig a moment he sent for colonel
Savary, upon whose devotion to himself he could
firmly rely. Colonel Savary was not a wicked man,
although it has been so said by the common de-
tractors of the fallen regime. He possessed a re-
markable mind ; but he bad lived among soldiers,
had no fixed principles upon any thing, and knew
no other rule than fidelity to a master from whom
he had received the greatest benefits. He had
passed several weeks disguised in the woods ex-
posed to great dangers. The first consul ordered
him to disguise himself anew, and to go with a de-
tachment of the select gendarmerie(^ena!«n«es(i'eZJte)
and post himself at the cliff of Biville. These gen-
darmes were to the rest of the gendarmerie what
the consular guard wiis to the rest of the army, in
other wor<ls, a union of the bravest and most
orderly soldiers of their class. They might safely
be charged with the most difficult commissions,
without the fear of the least infidelity. Sometimes
under the unforeseen pressure of the service two of
them have been despatched in a post-carriage, and
have carried with them several millions in gold, to
the bottom of the Calabrias, or the extreme of
Britany, without one of them ever having been
known to betray his trust. They were not there-
fore mere tools as some have pretended, but sol-
diers wlio obeyed their officers with rigorous exact-
ness, a formidable exactness it is true, when under
an arbitrary government and with the laws of that
day. Colonel Savary was to take with him fifty
men, to clothe them in disguise, arm them well,
and conduct them to the cliff of Biville. None of
the deponents doubted the presence of a prince in
the party whicii was about to be disembarked.
They only varied upon one point, their ignorance

as to whether it was to be the duke de Berry or
tlie count d'.Artois. Colonel S:ivary had orders to
pass (lay and night on the sunmiit of the cliif, to
await the disembarkation, seize all that composed
the party, and transport them to Paris. The reso-
lution of the first consul was taken; he was decided
to Send bef\)re a military commission, and to have
immediately shot the prince who might fall into
his hands. A lamentable and terrible resolution,
of which the fearful consequences will soon be
seen.

Whilst he gave these orders the first consul
showed very different sentiments towards Moreau.
He was at his feet, compromised, ruined in con-
sideration; lie was willing to treat him with unli-
mited generosity. He s.iid to the grand judge on
the day of his arrest, it is necessary tliat all which
concerns the republicans should terminate between
Moreau and myself. Go, interrogate him in pri-
son: bring him in your carriage to the Tuileries;
that he may make up all matters with me, and I
will forget all the estrangements produced by a
jealousy that was more the work of those who sur-
rounded him than his own. Uidiappily it was much
easier for the first consul to forgive, than for
Moreau to accept his forgiveness. To avow all,
that is, as much as to say, he must fling iiiniself on
his knees before the first consul, this was an act of
abasement, which it was not very possible to ex-
pect of a man, whose ti'anquil spirit little elevated
was, on the other hand, little able to humble it-
self. M. Fouciie', if he had been then minister of
police, would have had the charge of seeing Mo-
reau. He was the most capable man, by his fami-
liar insinuating manner, of introducing himself to
the avenues of a mind closed by jiride and misfor-
tune, to set that pride at ease, in saying to him
with an indulgent feeling for which he ahme knew
how to find the language: — " You have desired to
overthrow the first consul, but you have succumbed.
You are his prisoner. He knows all ; he pardons
you, and will give you back your situation. Accept
his good will; be not the dupe of a false dignity, in
refusing a grace unlooked for, which will replace
you where you stood before, and as if you had not
played with your existence in a conspiracy." In
place of such a man as M. Fouche, an intermediate
agent, little scrupulous but able, there was sent to
Moreau an honest, good kind of man, who attacked
the illustrious accused with all the formality of his
office, and thus defeated the intention of the first
consul. The grand judge Regnier went to the i)ri-
son in his robe, accompanied by Locre, the secre-
tary of the council of state. He made Moreau
appear before him, and interrogated him at length
with a cold aspect. During the day, Lajolais
arrested had told nearly every thing which con-
cerned the relations between Pichegru and Mo-
reau. He avowed his having served as the inter-
mediate agent to bring Pichegru and Moreau
together; that he had gone to London to bring
over Pichegru ; had placed them in contact ; all
with the intention, he said, to obtain the recall of
the one through the solicitations of the other. La-
jolais concealed only his connexion with Georges,
which once avowed, would have rendered his story
inadmissible. But this unhappy man was ignorant
that the relations between Pichegru and Moreau,
and that with the emigrant princes, was stated in

Interrogation of Moreau. THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

a manner not to be doubted by otlier depositions;
t))U3 to give only the secret of tlie iiilerviews of
Moreau with Piehegni was to establisli a fatal
connexion between Moreau, Georges, and tlie
emigrant princes. Tlie depositions of L.ijolais
were therefore sufficient to place in evidence the
guilt of Moreau.

The first thing to be done was to enlighten
Moreau in a friemlly way in the progress of the
instructions in order to prevent liis ex|)0.sing
himself by speaking useless untruths. It must
bring him to stite every thing correctly when it
was proved to him that all was known. If then
they had jichled the tone and language which
invited confidence, perhaps a nioini nt of renunci-
ation of bis proud feeling might have occurred, and
the unfortunate general liave been saved. In
place of thns acting, the grand judge interrogated
Moreau on his relations with Lajolais, Georges,
and Fichegru, and on each of the.se points suffered
him always to say that he knew nothing, that he
had not seen any one, that he was ignorant why
they addressed all these questions to him, and
never hinted to liim that he iiad thus engaged
himself in a labyrinth of useless and iiijurions
denials which tend.d to compromise him. This
interview with the grand judge had not therefore
the result which the first consul exi)ected from it,
and which had rendered possible an act of clemency
as noble as it wouM have been useful.

M. Regiiier returned to the Tnileries to report
the result of the interrogation of M.ireau. " Very
well," said the fii-st consul; "when he will noto()eu
himself to me, he must ex[)laiu himself in a court
of justice."

The firsst consul then followed up the business
with the utmost rigour, and displayed extreme
activity in trying to arrest the guilty parlies. He
thought it, above all, necessary to save the honour
of his government, very seriously compromised if
it could not furnish a proof of ilie reality of the
plo by the ilouble arrefat of Georgea and Fichegru.
Without these arrests, he slinuid )iass for a low
envious person, who had wished to commit and to
ruin the second general in the republic. Every
day new acc<impiices of the conspii-acy were taken,
wliicli left no doubt about the entire existence
aii<l the details of the plan, particularly the res...
lutioii to attack the carriage of tlie first consul
between .St. Cloud and Paris, in the presence of a
young prince, at the head of the conspirators ;
the arrival of Pichegru to concert with Moreau ;
the difference id' views, the delay which had fol-
lowed these differences, anil which had brought
about the deslruetion of them all. All llie.se (acts
then were known, but as yet not «)ne of the Cliiifs
had been taken, whose presence thus |)roved, might
have convinced the most incredulous ; they hail
not taken the prince, so much expected, of whom
the first coii->ul, in his anger, would make such
a sanguinary sacrifice. Colonel Savary, placed at
the cliff of Biville, wrote that he had seen every
thing, verified all upon llicHpot.andstated iheperlect
exactness of the reveUtioim obtained as far as the
mode of iliHi.-mbarUalion was cocieeiiied, in regard
to the mysterious road beatiil between Uiviile
and Paris, and as to the cxmiencu of the small
vcsstd which every night ran its bioadsido along
tlie coast, and seemed always desiring to approach

without ever doing so. There was reason to be-
lieve that the signals agreed upon between the con-
spirators were not made from the summit of the
cliff, because they had never observed them ; or
perhaps notice had been sent from Paris to Lon-
don, and the new disembarkation had been coun-
termanded, or at least susjiended. Colonel Savary
had orders to remain and wait with unrelaxiiig
patience.

They traced every day in Paris the track of
Pichegru or of Georges. They had failed to
arrest them, but each time they had onl> wanted
a moment for so doing. The first consul, who
never troubled himself about the means, resolved
to ju-esent a law, the character of which will prove
what idea people had, on coining out of the revo-
lution, of the security of the citizen so res|)ected
in the ))reseiit time. There was proposed to the
legislative body a law, by which every indivi-
dual who concealed Georges, Pichegru, or any
of their sixty accomplices, of whom descriptions
were given, should lie punished, not with the
])rison, nor with irons, but with death ! Whoever,
liaving seen them, or having known their retreat,
and did not denounce them, was to be punished
with six years in irons. This formidable law, that
ordained a barliarous act, under the jKiin of death,
was adopted the same day it was presented without
any remonstrance.

Scarcely was this law passed, but it was followed
by the most rigorous precautions. It might be
feared that the conspirators, followed up in such a
way, would only dream of taking fii;;lit. Paris
was, therefore, closed. Any body might enter,
but no one had permission to go out for a curtain
numlier of days. In order to secure the execution
of this measure, the foot guard was placed in de-
tachments at all the gates of the capital ; the
horse guard made constant ])atrols all along the
wall of the Octroi, with an order to arrest whoso-
ever might pass over the wall, and to fire upon
whomsoever attempted to fly. Lastly, the sailors
of the guard were distributed in the boats stationed
upon the Seine, day ami night. The government
couriers had alone the right to go out, alter having
been searched and recognised in such a manner
that they coold in no way deceive.

For the moment they seemed to have returned
again to the worst times of the revolution. A
sjiecies of terror reigned all over i'aiis. The
enemies of the first consul cruelly abused him, and
said of him all that had been iormerly said of the
old Committee of ]iublic safely. Directing the
police himself, he was informed of all these dis-
courses, and ills exasperation increasing without
eessatioii, rendered him capable' of the iiK.st violent
acts. He was sombre, liar.sh, and spared nobody.
Since the recent occurrences ho did not dissimu-
late any more his ill humour against M. Markoff,
and present circumstances made this humour
break lorili in a very vexatious iiianner. Aimnig
the persons arrested was a Swiss, attached under
some title to the embassy of llussia, a true in-
trigner, that it was little seemly for a foreign
leiialinii to take into its service. To this impro-
priety, M. de Markoff added the iiiisiiilableiiess,
still greater, of reclaiming him. The first consul
gave an order not to restore him, l)ni. to keep him
more strictly than Im lore, and to let M. Markoff

.526 Conduct of Georges

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Generous act of M. Mar- 1804.
bois to Pichrgru. March.

feel all ihe unseeniliiiess of liis CMiulucf. On this
ofc-asioi) he was struck with two i-ircumstanL-es, of
which uiiiil then lie liai! taken no nute, it was that
M. d'Entraigues, fnrnierly a^ent of the emigrant
princes, was at Diesdcn with a diplomatic coni-
niissiiiM from the emperor of Russia ; that an
inilividual named Veriiejiues, another emigrant
attached to tiie B 'urbons, sent by them to the
court of Naples, was at Rome, and took thei'e the
ciiaracter of a Russian .subject. The first consul
dem;iiide<l from the court of Saxony, that M.
d'E itrai;;ues shuuld be sent away, and of the court
of Rome the immediate arrrst and interdiction of
the emigrant Vernegues, and he demanded these
rigorous acts in a pen niptory manner, so as to
leave s.arcely the possibility of answering by a
refusal. At the ^rst diplomatic reception, he put

to a rough pi f the surliness of M. de iMarUoff,

as he had a little while before the .staleline.ss of lord
vViiitworih. He tdd him that he found it very
strange, that ambassadors bad in their service men
who conspired again -t the government, and yet
dared to nclaini theni. " Is it that Russia,"
added he, "believes that she Imssuch a superiority
over lis that she may permit herself similar jiro-
ceediugs ? Is it that she believes we have taken
to the distaff to such an exient as to. support
these things I Sue is deceived ; I shall not suffer
any thing unbecoming from any prince upon
earth."

Ten years before, the benevolent revohition of
17'{9 had become the sanguinary revolution of
179.i, by the continual pr iVncation of angry ene-
niits. An effect of the same kind was produced
at this moment in the boiling soul i>f Napoleon.
These same enemies comported themselves with
Napoleon as they comixirted themselves with the
revolution, making turn fi'om good to evil, modera-
tion to vi<plence, the man who until that day li.id been
a sage at the head of the stat-. The myalists that
he had delivered from oppression, Europe that he
had attempted to vantjui'^h liy his moderation,
sifter he had cimquered it with his sword, all whith
he had, in a word, the most thoughtfuliy treated,
he was now disposed to ill-treat in wor<ls and acts.
It was a temp-^st excited in a great soul by tlie in-
gratitude of parties, and the imprudent malevolence
of Europe.

Profound anxiety reigneil in Paris. The terrible
law against those wlio concealed Georges, Picliegru,
and their accomplices, had not stimulated a single
person to the base resolution of dilivt-ring them
up; Init, on the other hand, no one would afford
them an asylum. These miserable persons, who
were left disunited and disconcerted by their dif-
ferences, wAudered in the night fron'i house to
house, paying sometimes six or eight thousand
francs for a refuge which coulil only be granted to
them for a tew hours ; I'ichegi'u, M. de Riviere,
and Georges, living in the most fearful anxiety.
The last supported his situation with courage,
habituated as he had been to the a<lventiiii-s of a
civil war. B -sides that, he did not feel himself
abased ; he had around him eifually compromised
all that he heUl as most worthy and noble, ami he
only thought of getting himself fortunately out of
that bad position, as he had out of so many former
ones, by his own intelligence and courage. But
the members of the French nobility, who h;id be-

lieved that France, or all at least of their party,
would ojien their arms to them, but had met them
with nothing but coldness, embarrassment, or cen-
sure, were disconsolate at their enterprise. Tiiey now
felt keenly the odious character of a project which
no longer presented itself under the deceiving
colours that the hope of success lends to every
thing. They filt the indignity of the relations to
whicli they had condemned themselves, by being
introduced into France with ii troop of Chouans.
Piehegru, who to his deplorable vices joined the
qualities of coolness, prudence, and <lee|) penetra-
tion— Piehegru well saw that in place of lifting
him.self up after his first fall, he had now dropped
into the bottom of an ab^ss. A first fault com-
mitted .some years before, that of being in culpable
relations with the Condes, had made him become
a traitor, then be proscribed. Now he was to be
found among the accomplices of an ambush assas-
sination. This lime no turtber glory renuiined for
the conqueror of Mollaml! In learning the arrest
of Moreau, he guessed the lot that awaited himself,
and felt that lie was lost. The fainiliarity of the
Cliouans was odious to him. He comforted him-
self in the society of M. de Riviere, whom he
found more sensible, timre wise, than the other
frienils of count d'Artois sent to Paris. One even-
ing, reduced to the brink of des|)air, he seized a
pistid, and was going to blow out his brains, when
he was hindered by M. de Riviere himself. Another
time, deprived of a night's lodging, an impulse
which <lid him honour came upon him, and
hoiKiured more ])ai'ticul..rly the man to whom lie
had recourse at such a nioiiunt. Among the mi-
nisters of the first consul who was jn'oscribed on
the 18lIi Fructidor, was M. de Marbois. Piehegru
did not hesitate one night to knock at his door and
exhibit a jn-oscribe<l one of Sinnamari, who asked
at the door of another of the proscribeil, a minister
of the first consul, to violate the law of his master.
M. de Marbois received him with deep sorrow, but
without uiieiisiness for himself. The honour done
him ill calculating upon his generosity, he in turn
did to the first consul, not doubting his appro-
liation. It is a consoling spectacle, amid these sad
scenes, to see these three men, so diverse, count
one upon the other in this way; Piehegru upon M.
de Marboi.s, M. de Marbois on the first consul.
Afterwards, when M. de Marbois avowed what he
had done to the first consul, the hist answered him
ill a letter which contained a noble approbation of
his generous conduct.

But such a situation must have an approaching
end. All officer who had been attached to Piehe-
gru betrayed his secret and delivered it to the
police. During the night, while the general slept,
surrounded with iirms, from which he was never
separated, and with b<'oks in winch he constantly
read, the lamp being extinguished, a iletachment of
(/enrlarmerie d'c/ite entered his retreat to take him.
Wakened by the noise, he would have .seized his
iirins, but he had not time ; he defended himself
for some moments with great vigour. Soon van-
quished, he yielded, and was carried to the Temple,
where he finished in an unhappy manner a life
formerly .so brilliant.

Scarcely was he arrested, than M. Armand de
Polignac, a'ter him M. Jules de Polignac, and,
lastly, M. de Riviere, pursued without ceasing, but

1804.
I llaick

Arrests rf MM. Armaiid
^e Polimiiic. Jiilrs de
Puligiiac, and Riviere.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

Capture of Georpes,
and b<& avuwal of 527

the plot.

I not denounced, for they were seen when changing
their asvhiiii, were tnken in thiir turn. TliesL-
I anvsts luiiilucfil ii dee|> and general ettect upon
I the iml'lii- mind. Tlie n>:iss of honest men who ilid
not indulm' in party spirit, were convinced about
the naiiiy <>t tht- pl.t Tiie piescnie of l'iiliej;ru,
I and of the ju rs< nal friends of count d'Artojs, no
' longer Irft any doubt of the matter. They had
not apparently been brouj;ht into France by
tlie police, in ordt r to enscaH'old ' a ylot. Tiie
gi-avi'v of tin- dangei-s wliich llie first consul had
run, and still ran, was entirely revealed, and nuire
strongly than tvcr did the interest appear that was
inspired by a life s.) pnci"us. It was no longer
the envi.ius rival of Moivau that had desired to
ruin that general, it was the saviour of Fiance
exposed to the incessant machinations of parties.
Siill the malevolent spirits, although a little dis-
concerted. Were not silent. To listen to theni, the
Polignacs and M. de Riviere, were iniprndenl per-
sons, incapable of leniaining in rep.se, continually
agitating with the count d'.-Vrlois, and only come to
see if ciremo^tances were favourable to their parly.
But tlnre had ii.'t been any serious pint, ni>r me-
nacing dan:;er, < f a nature to justify the interest
which it was attempted to inspire for the person of
the first consul.

It was necessary, in order to close tlie mouths
of these praiilers, and to conlound tliem, that there
should be another arr> st, that of Georges. 'I'lien
it would not be very possible to say, in finding the
Polignacs, de Riviere, I'iciiegni, and Geor;;es in
Paris, that they were thertj only as siin])le ob-
servers. This last proof was to be soon obtained,
owing to the terrible means employed by the go-
vernment.

Georges, trackeil by a multitude of agents of the
police, obligcil to change his lodgings every day,
unable to leave I'aris, which was guarded by
land and water, could not finish but by succumb-
ing. 'J'hey were upon his track ; but it is just to
acknowledge h)r the honour of that day, that im
one would bring themselves to give him up, al-
though thiie Wiis a general wish for his arrest.
ThoH<.' »lio ha/ai<le<l themselves by recei\ing him,
would only conceal him (or a single day. It was
necessary iliat every evining he should clianije his
r- fuge On the JJlli of March, just at the coming
on of ni;;ht, seviral officers of the peace surrounded
a house, become suspected by the comings and
goings of indiv idiials oi a bad a]ipearaiice. Gc orges,
who had occupied it, attempted to go out, in orih r
to seek an HHycuiii elsewhere. He left ab.iit seven
o'clock in the evening, and ui' uiiteil, near the
Pantheon, a c;ibri 1< t. conducted by a coiifideiiiial
Bcrvani, a deierniim d young Clionan. 'I'lie peace
offic-rt followed the cabii.lel, which went at a
breallilesH rule as far as the croHsway of llu^sy.
Gcniges eiiireated his companion to imnd their

pace, wlie le of the aiients of jc lice, who arrived

first, sjiraiig at llic? bridle of the liin'se. Georges,
with a pisiol'slioi, liiid him diad at his feel, lie
tlien sprang from ihe cabriole t lo lake to his beds,
and fired u second pistol at another agent of the
police, whom he grievously wounded, lint, sur-
rounded \>\ the people, he was stopped in spite of
hid eti'urts, and handed over tu the utticers that

I Kcli.-ifaudcr.

came up in all haste. He was imnietliately recog-
nized as the redoubtable Georges, who had been
sought lor so long a time, and was at last secured.
The news producid a general joy throughout Paris.
People had lived in a sort oi apprehension, from
wliicli they were now relieved. With Georges
was arrested the servant that accompanied him,
who had scarcely found time to get away more
than a lew paces from ihe spot.

Georges was cindiicted to the prefecture of
police. The first enioti. n having subsided, the
chief of the conspirators became perfectly calm.
He was young and vigorous ; his shoulders were
large, his countenance full, more open and serene
than .sombre and vicious in e.\pressii>n, or than bis
previous character would have led the s)icctalor to
believe. He carried alioui pistols, a poignaril, and
si.xiy thousand francs, in gold and bank notes.
Being immediately inierrogated, he avowtd his
name without hesiiatieli. as well as his motive for
being in Paris. He had come, he said, to attack
the first consul, not by inir.ducing himself with
four assassins into his palace, Imt in an open
attack in the plain country, in the midst of his
consular guard. He was lo act in company with a
French prince, who pri.posed to come into France,
but who had not yet arrived. Georges was proud
ot the natui'c, entirely new, of the plot, which he
took great care to disiinguish from an assassina-
tion. 'Nevertheless," it was remarked to him,
"you sent St. Hejaiit to Paris to prepare the
infernal machine." "1 <iid send him," "replied
Georges, " but I did not prescribe to liim the
n.eans by which he was to serve his purpose."
A bad justification, which proves too clearly that
Georges was not a sli auger to that horrilde
atteni|it. In other respects, and about what con-
cerned any body else this bold conspirator kept
an obstinate silence, repeating that there were
eiiougli victimt;, and that he did not desire to aug-
ment the number '.

' Extract from Ihe first interrogatory of Georges by the pre-
fect of police, 18/A Vmitose (Uc/ March), book ii. page 79.

" We, couiicilliir of state, prelect of police, have made
Cenrpies Cailoudal appear b'.-fore us, and liave iuterrogated
llini as lollows : —

•• Q. What did you come to do in France?

" A. I came 10 attack tlie first con-siil.

'Q. What were jour means Or afackinj; the first consult

" // I had ac yet liui l'e« ; I reckoned upon unitiiid tht-m.

"Q. or what nature were yuur means of attack against
Ihe lirst cuiikuI ?

■• A. Jly means of an active force.

'" Q. Had yiiii many pei»onH uiih you?

"A. No; bicanse I shnuld not attack the first consul
until ihere would be a French prince of the blood in Paris,
and he had nut yet arrived.

•' Q. At the time of the 3rd Niv6se you wrote to St. R6-
jant. and you reproached him w ilh the slowness lie exhibited
ill exeiutini; your orders against ihe first consul?

"//. I did write to St. lUjiiii lo unite means at Paris,
but 1 never told him lo cuminit the affair of the 3rd Nivose."

Extract from Ihe spc<<vd inl^rrognlnry of Georgrt Cadoudal,
18/A feiilCsc ('JIh Ma^ch], book ii. page 83.

" Q. Ifdw long liave you In

" A About live munihs ; 1
days tn);eiher.

'• (I Where have you lodged ?

'•A. 1 had rather not tell. [" 0. What

n Paris ?

r nut remained there fifteen

Examination of

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

the conspirators.

After the arrest of Georges, nnd his declnrations,
the plot was proved, and tlie first consul justified ;
it could now be said no more tiiat, as had been
repeated for a month, the police invented the con-
spiracies they pretended to discover ; they ha<l
nothinir else left them to do, but to cast down their
eyes, if they were of the royalist party, at seeing a
French prince promise to enter France witli a
band of Cliouans, to give a nick-named battle n])on
a highway. There remained, it is irue, the excuse
of saying that he did not intend to come. It is
possible, and even probable, he did not, but it
would liave been better worth to have kept his
word, than vainly promise it to the unhappy jjcisons
who staked their heads upon his assurances. It
was not only Geoi-ges, on tlie otlier hand, that
announced ihe speedy arrival of a prince, but
the friends of count d'Artois. M. de Riviere and
the Polignacs held the same language. They
confessed the most important i)art of the plan.
They repelled utterly the idea of participating in
a deed of assassination ; but they avowed they
had come into France for something wiiiih was
never defined; for a species of movement, at the
head of which a French prince would figure.
Th y had done nothing but advance, in the first
instance, to assure themselves with their own
eyes, whether what was about to be done was
really useful and convenient to the purpose ^.

" Q. What is the motive which brought you to Paris ?

"A. I came with the intention of atiacking the first
consul.

'• Q. Wliat were your means of attack ?

"A. The aitack would be made with open force.

" Q. Where did you expect to find that force?

"A. 'I liroufjliout all Fiance.

" Q. Is there. tliPii, tliroughont all France an organized
force at your cispo-ition and that of your accomplices ?

'•A. It is iKii of ^ucli a force as that of which 1 would be
iniderst'iixl lo have spoken.

" Q. Wliat, th.-n, must be understood of the force of
which you spoke?

"A. Afdice united in Paris. This united force is not
yet organized ; it mijiht have been as soon as the attack had
been delinitivi-ly resolved upon.

" Q What was your object and that of your accomplices ?

"A. To place a Bourbon in the situation of the first
consul.

" Q. Who was the Bourhon designated?

"A. Charles Xavier Stanislaus, formerly Monsieur, ac-
knowle l-ed by us as Louis XVIII.

" Q. What character should you have borne in the attack ?

"A. That which one <.f the former French princes, who
should ■■'one to Paris, should assi;;n lo me.

" O. The plan has then been devised and was to be exe-
cuted in accord -^ith the former French i)riiices?

"A. Yi-s, citizen jndge.

" Q. You have conlerred, then, with the former princes in
England !

"A. Yes, citizen.

" Q Who was to furnish the funds and arm«?

" A ] have for a long time nast had the funds at my dis-
position ; I have not yet had the arms "

» Extract fri-m theJirH MermgaHirii of M. de Rivihe, by Ihe
count il,i,r of ila e, lieiil, on lite I6//1 renlfise (7/A (//
Manh), hook ii. page 259.
"Q. How long have you l)een in Paris?
" //. AhcMH a nionlh.

" Q By wh .1 way did you come from L<mdon to France?
" A. By the coast of Normandy, in an English vessel,
under captain Wri};ht, as I believe.

As Georges did, these individuals endeavoured
to excuse themselves for being found in such

" Q. How many passengers were there, and who were the
passengers?

"A. I do not know.

" Q. You know that the ex-generals Piohegru and La-
jolai> made a part of the passengers, as well as M. Jules de
Polignac?

" A. That does not relate to myself, I am ignorant of it.

" Q. Arrived on the coast where you disembarked, by
what way did you reach Paris ?

"A Sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, by the
road of Rouen, which I had reached.

" Q What were your motives for the journey, and your
visit to this city?

"A. To assure myself of the real situation of things, and
of the |)olitical and interior state of the country, in order to
communicate it to the princes, who would be able to judge
after my observations, if it was for their interest to come
into France or to remain in England. I must slill say that
I had no particular mission from them at the moment ; but
the having often served them with zeal.

" Q. What has been the result of the observations that
you have made on the political situation of the couniry, the
government, and general opinion? What would you have
noted to the princes on the subject, if you had been able to
write to them, or you had gone to them ?

"A. In general 1 believe I see in France much self-
esteem, much apathy, and a great desire to preserve tran-
quillity."

Extract from the second interrogatory 0/ M. Arniand de
Polignac, 22 VenttUe (13/A March), book ii. jiage 289.

" I disembarked on the coast of Normandy; atter several
sojourns, 1 lodged near the Isle Adam, in a place where
Georges was foiuid, known also under the name of Loriere.

'• We came to Paris together, with some officers at his dis-
position.

" When I parted this last time from London, I knew what
the designs of the count d'Artois were; I was too much
attached lo him not to accompany him.

" His plan was to arrive in France, to make a proposal to
the first consul to give up the reins of government, in order
that he might be abie to give them to his brother.

" If the first consul had rejected this proposition, the
count was determined to engage in an attack hy main force,
to endeavour to reconquer the rights which he regarded as
belonging to his family.

" 1 Was aware that he was not yet ready to attempt the
descent at my departure; if I i)receded him, it was !rom a
desire 10 see, as I have said, my relations, wife, and friends.

" When t!ie second disemharkation became a question,
count d'Artois made me understand, that by r. asou of the
confidence which he had in me, and on account of tlie zeal
which I had always testified, he desired me to make ready
to dejiart ; it was this that determined me to go in the next
vessel.

" 1 am bound to observe, that to the moment of my de-
liarture, I loudly declared, that if all the means had not the
stamp of perfect good faith, I would withdraw myself, and
would return again into Russia.

"Q. Is it ill jour knowledge that general Moreau saw
Pichegru nnd Georges Cadoudal?

" A. I know that there had been a very serious con-
ference at Chaillot, in the house, No. 6, where Georges
Cadoudal lodged, between Georges, general Moreau, and the
ex-general Picliej.'ru

" I am assured that Georges Cadoudal, after different
overtures and explanations, had said to general Moreau: 'If
you wish, I will leave you with Pichegru, and then you may
peril ps (inish by comprehending each other.'

' That, in fact, the result left nothing but a disagreeable
uncertainty, seeing that Georges and Pichegru appeared
very f<iithlul to the cause of the prince; but Moreau re-

1804.
March.

Indignation of the first
consul at the injirati-
tude of the royalists.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

Napolenii's generous offer
to Pichegru.

bad company, by repeating that a French prince
would be with them. This iirince not being
come, evidently did not now intend to come ; tluy
niiglit be assured he would not put liimself in dan-
ger, when lie w;is secured where lie was by tlie
whole width of the channel. These imprudent
persons could not doubt that there were some par-
ties less well secured, who would perhaps pay with
their blood for the projects thus conceived and
prepared in London.

Would to Htaven that the first consul liad con-
tented hiniseir with the criminals he hud under Ills
hands as instrutnents to conlound his enemies. He
liad the means to make them tremble, and the
power to inflict upon them the legal penalties con-
Uiined in the French ccides; he was able to do
more tiian cover them with confusion, because the
proofs obt;iined were overwheltning. There was
mure than he neeiled for his security and his
honour. But as already observed, indulgent then
towards the revolutionists, he was indignant against
the royalists; he felt a revulsion against their base
ingr.itituile, and resi-lved they should feel the whole
weight of ills power. He liad at heart another
sentiment, a species of pride. He said aloud to all
who came, that a Uourbon to him was no more
than a Moreau or a Pichegru, and even less; that
these princes believing themselves inviolable, com-
promised at their will a crowd of unfortunate peo-
ple of all ranks, and kept themselves in safety
beyond the sea; that they did wrong to count upon
such an asylum; that he siiould finish well by
taking one of them, and that he would shoot him,
as he would any ordinary criminal ; that it was
necessary they should know with whom they had to
do in attackini; him; that he had no more fear to
take the blood of a Bourbon than that of the mean-
est of the Chouans; that he would soon show the
world that tlie parties wen^ all equal in his eyes;
that those who drew down upon tlieir heads
his formidable hand should feel the weight, who-
ever they might be, and that after having been the
most merciful of men, they should see he could
become the most terrilile.

Nobody dared to contradict liiin. The consul
Lebrun lield his tongue. The consul Canibac^res
was silent als<»; but letting hini see, however, his
silent disapprobation, his usual mode of resistance
to certain acts of the first consul. M. Fouclie, who
desired to bring himself into favour, and who

malned undecided, which caused a suspicion that he liad
ideas of particular jiitcn-iits. I liave known since that there
have been other conferences between general Moreau and
the ex-gtrnerai Pichegru."

Extract from the interrogalnry luhmilled lo by M. Jules
Polignae brforr the councillor of itate, Rial, on the Xdtli
of Vtni6te {Tth March), and cited in the act of accuta-
Uon, book i page 61.
Hequired to aniwer :

"That it appeareil to him as well ai to his brother, that
what they would Hrmh to do, was not as honourable as they
had been na'uraily Ird to hope, and they had nioktn of
retiring into Holland."

Intiled to npren the mutire of hit feart :
" He answered, because he nu-pecled th.it in place of ful-
flUing any mission whatever lelative tna change of K0\crn-
ment, it was a question lo act agniukt a single individual, and
that it was the first consul whom the party of Georges pro-
poMd to attack."

leaned towards indulgence in general, desired,
nevertheless, to embroil the government with the
royalists, and strongly urgeij the necessity of an
example. Talleyrand, who was never cruel, but
who never knew how to contradict power, at least
to such an e.xient as to become its enemy, and who
had to a fatal degree the taste to please it when he
lovtd it; M. Talleyrand said also with Fouch^, that
too much hud been done for the royalists ; that in
consequence of treating them wt-ll, they had gone
so far as to give to the men of the revolution ve.\-
atii.us doubts, and that it was necessary to punish,
and to punish severely, without exception of per-
sons. E.xcept the consul Cainbac^ies, all the world
flattered this angry feeling, which at that moment
ha<l no need to become formidable, perhaps cruel.
This idea, bearing all the feeling of cha.stisement
upon the royalists alone, in order to show clemency
only to the i-evolutionists, was so rooted in the
mind of the first consul, th.it he attempted for
Pichegru that which he had endeavoured to do for
Moieau. A deep feeling of pity came upon him
in thinking upon the frightful situation of that
illustrious general, associated with Chouans, ex-
posed to lose not only his life belbre a public tri-
bunal, but the last remnant of his honour.

"A fine end," said the first eoiisul to M. Re'al,
— "a fine end for the conqueror of Holland ! But
it must not be permitted that the men of the revo-
lution should devour each other. It is a long time
since I thought about Cayenne; it is the best spot
upon earth to found a colony. Pichegru was one,
of the proscribed, he knows it well; he is of all our
generals the most capable of creating a great es-
tablishment. Go, find him in his prison, tell him
that I pardon him, that it is not either to him or
to Moreau, or those like them, that I would push
the rigour of justice. Ask him how many men
and millions it will take to found a colony at Cay-
enne; I will give them to him, and he will repair
his glory in rendei'ing services to France."

M. Re'al carried to the jirison of Pichegru these
generous words. When Pichegru first heard them,
lie refused to credit them; he imagined that they
wished to seduce him to betruy his companions in
misfortune. Soon convinced by the earnestness of
M. Real, who asked no revela ion from him, while
he knew every thing, he was deeply moved, his
firm mind yielded, he shed tears, und spoke a long
time of Cayemie. He avowed, that by a singular
foresight he had often in his exile meditated on
what he should be able to do, and even prepared
his designs. It will soon be seen by what a fatal
rencontre the generous intentions of the first consul
had no other ettect than a deplorable catastrophe.

The first consul always waited with the greatest
imiiatieiice for news from colonel Savary, placed
as sentinel with his fifty men at the clifl'of Biville.
The colonel remained in observati<in twenty days
and upwards, and no disembarkation had taken
|il;ice. The brig of captain Wright ajipeared every
evening, ran along the coast, but did not touch tiie
shore; whether, as has I.een said, the pas.sengera
tiiat captain Wright carried awniled a signal that
was never made to them, or whether news from
Paris prevented them from disemliarking. Colonel
Savaiy at leiigih declared that his mission was
Uselessly prolonged, being without an object.
The first consul, desjiitc iiis not b<-ing able to
.M M

A watch set upon the
duke d'Engliien.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The r-port from Etten-
heim ^eals the fate of
tile duke d'KiiKhien.

seize one of these princes, of whom he would h:ive
hail tlie life, glanced his eyes over all the
places where they resided. One niorniiif!;, being in
ins cabinet with Talleyrand and Fouclie, he made
them enumerate the members of this unlucky
family, as well to complain of their faults as to
note tlieir misfortunes. Ney told him that Louis
XVI II. with the duke d'Angoulenie were living in
Warsaw ; that the count d'Artois and duke de
Berry were in London; that the jirinces de Conde'
were also in London; that one only, the third, the
youn<;est, the most venturous, the duke d'Engliien,
lived at Ettenheim, very near Strasburg. It was
in that direction that Taylor, .Smith, and Drake,
the English agents, also had endeavoured to foment
intrij;nes. The idea tliat this yung prince would
be able to serve his objects by the bridge of Stras-
bufii, as ihe count d'Artois liad been willing to
make use of the cliff of Biville, struck the min.l of
the first consid at once, and he resolved to send to
the spot an intelligent sub orticer of gendarmerie
to get information. There was one who had
formerly served, when in his youth, with the
princes de Coiide'. He was ordered to disguise
himself and to proceed to Etteiduiiii, there to pro-
cure Situvi intelligence regarding the piince's mode
of life and his different relations.

The sub-officer departed with this commission,
and «r>-ived at Ettenheim. The prince had lived
there for some time, being near a princess de
Rohan, to whom he was much attached, dividing
his time between his taste for the chase, which he
gratified in the Black Forest, and this affection of
the heart. He had received an order tVoni the
British cabinet to proceed to the banks of the
Rhine, without doulit under (•oniein))lati<)n of the
movement of which Drake, Smith, and Taylor, had
given false hopes to their government. This prince
expected shortly to be called upon to make war
nj) m his own coimtry, a lamentable act. of which
for many years he had been already guilty. But
there was nothing to prove that he knew any
thing of the plot of Georges, every thing, on the
contrary, went to prove bis ignoiaiice ot it. He
was often absent following the cha<e, and some
persons said he had attended the theatre at Stras-
burg. It is very certain that this report bad
received a considerable degree of credit, since his
father wrote to him from London, ami ailvised him
to be more prudent, in terms somew hat strong '.

' The prince de Conde to t]ie duke d'Enghien.

"Wanste;i(l, tlie IGth June, 1803.

" My bear PnitD, — I have lieeii assured here that within
six nionihs yim have madi; a jdiirney to Pini.-.: otheis say
that y<ui h.ive oniy been to Sira^bnij;. It must lie confes.sed
it is utterly useless thus t'l risk your life Hud linerty. In
respect to your principles, lam perfe tly e.isy aliout ihem:
they are too deeply enjiraven in y>'ur h: an as they are lu
ours. Methinks at present you will feel disposed to coiilide
I to us what has passed ; and if llie thin;,' he true, what you
saw in the course ol your journeys.

'• As to yiiur well-being, wliirh is dear to ns under so
I many points, I (live you notice, tli;it t' e pusiiioi in which
I you xre now may be very useful ill many respects. But you
are very uaar ; take care of yournell, and do not neglrct any
precaution lo pel notice of danger in lime, ami i.. mak-your
retreat in safety, in ca.se it shoulil come mm ilie head of the
first consul to order you to be se.zed. Uo not believe but

The prince had about his person certain emigrants,
and partictilarly a marquis de Tliumery.

The sub ofhcer, sent to ob'ain intelligence, ar-
rived in Ui.sguise, and obtained, even in the jirince's
own house, a number of details, of which it was
very easy for minds so predisposed to diaw (he
most mi.schievous deductions. It was said that
the young duke was often absent ; that he was
even absent for many days together, sometimes, it
was a<lded, he ]iri ceeded to Strasburg. He iiiid with
him a per.sonage who was represented as of mui h
greater importance than he really was, and who
was called by a name which the Germans, wlio
made the communication, pronounced badly, aiid
in such a maimer as to make it be believtd that
this jier.son was general Diimouriez. This indi-
vidual was the manpiis de Tliumery, whose name
is mentioned above, whom the siib-olticer, deceived
by the German pronunciation, believed in reality
to be general Duniouiiez. He entei-ed these <ie-
tails ill his report, written, as has been seen, under
the influence of the most iiiiforiunate illusions, iiiid
sent it immediately to Paris.

The fatal re])ort arrived on the 10th of March,
in the morning. The evening of the day before, in
the night, and iigain in the iiiorning of the same
day, a deposition bad been made not less fatal, and
several times renewed. This deposition had been
obtained from a ]>arty named Le'ridant, who whs
the servant of Georges, and ariested with him.
He had ;it first resisted the pressing interrogations
of justice ; afterwards he Hnished by speaking
with a sincerity which seemed to be honest, and he
declared thai, in tact, there was a plot, that a
prince was to arrive, and even had arrived ; that
as to this person, he had re.ison to believe it was
so, because he had sometimes seen with Geor/es a
young man, well-bred, wel. -dressed, and the object
of general res|)eci. This (le]iosition, often re-
peated, and every time with fresh details, w:is
stated lo the fjrst consul. The report of the sub-
ofticer of gendarmerie having arrived at ttie same
moment, it, produced in his head the most fatal
coiK-un-eiice of ideas. Tlie absence of the duke
d'Eiighieii talli d wi h the pretended presence of a
prince iu Paris. This young man, for whom the
conspirators exhibited .so niiieli respect, could b(;
no prince arrived troin Loiidnii, because the cliff
of Biville was carefully guarded. It could be no
other than the duke n'KiighieJi, eoming in forty-
eight hours fi-i'm Eitenlieim to Pans, and retiini-
iiig from Paris to Ettenheim in ihe same s|)ace of
lime, after pa.ssiiig a short period in the midst
of his accomplices. But that w liicli completed, in
the sight of the first coii>ul, this unhappy duinoii-
stration, was ihe sujijiosed pr< seiiee ot Duiiiouiiiz.
The jilaii thus connecied itself in a most striking
maimer. Tlie count d'Artois was to arrive hy
Norniaiidy with Pichegru, the diike d'Engliien by
Alsace with Diimouriez. The Boiirbi lis, in order
to enter France, had got tbeui.selves thus acioni-
panii-d by the two cilebiated generals of the re-
piiblie. The mind of the first consul, coninic nly
so sound and -so strong, no longer contained itself
amid such receptive appearances. He was con-
that he has the resolution to brave every thing in such a
niatier.

iSigned) " Louis Joseph de Bourbon."

1804.

March.

A cabinet council held THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES, respecting the duke dEngUien. 53I

vinced. It is necessary to have seen minds warped
by a reseiuili of this niituiv, above all, if any
jia-ssiiin whatever dispose tliem to cre-lit that
which they suspect to be true, to comprehend to
what a point such inductions are apt to prompt
thtin, and to bless a hundred times the slower pro-
ceedings of justice, whicli preserve men from the
faLiI conclusions drawn so rapidly from fortuitous
Coincidences.

The first consul, on reading the report of the
sub-officer, sent from Ettenheim, which came to
him, iiaving been sent by neinral Muncey, tlie
commandant of the gendarmerie, was seized with
an extreme afjiiation. lie received.M. Real very
ill, who happened to come in at that monient,
reproached him with having so lon<; kept him in
ignorance of details of so much importance, wliivh
he held in reality to be the second and most for-
midable part of the plot. Tois tibie the sea did
not stop him ; the Rhine, the duke of Baden, the
Germajiic body, were no obstacles in his way.
He immediately assembled an extraordinary coun-
cil, composed of the three consuls, the ministers,
and M. Fouch^, become ajjain a minister in fact,
though not in name. He ordered at the same time
the attendance of the generals Ordener and Caulain-
eourt. But while awaiting the arrival of the minis-
teiN. he had taken the map of the Rhine, that he
niiuhi arrange the i)lan of the seiziue, when not
tinding that which he sought, he threw down con-
fusedly upon the floor all the maps in his library.
M. de Meneval, a mild, sage, incoiruptible man,
without whom he was not able to do any thing,

I because lie dictated to iiim his most secret letters,
happened to be absent on that day for a few
moments. He called him back to the Tnileries,
with reproaches hir his absence, reproaches little
merited, and continued iiis work on the map of the

I lihine in a state of extraordinary excitement.

I The Council took place : an ocular witness has

' in^en the recital in his memoirs.

'I'lie idea of seizing the prince and general
Dnniouriez, williout disturbing liimsell about the

I vjolaiion of tiu! Germanic soil, but addressing an

' excuse, for form's sake, to the grand duke of Baiien,
WHS immediately proposi-d. 'J'lie first consul de-

I manili d the opinion of those present, but with all
ilie a)>pearancc of a foregone resolution. Slill he
heard with paiieiice the objections ur;;ed. His
colleiigue, Lebrnn, appeared alarmed at the eft'ect
Hueh an event must proiluce in Europe. The cnn-
-iil Cambace'rcs had the eoni-ngc opeidy to resist
the measure wliich wiih ]iropoH( d. Me set himself
lo exhibit all the danger us efieels of a resolution
■ t ihis nature, wheih. r ns reg;ir<led (he empire
^Mthiii or its relations without, and the character of
oMirageout violence it would not fail to impress

I upon the government of the Hi-st consul. He,
above all, g;ive the greatest weight lo the consi-
'leralion, that it would be a sufficiently grave
thing to arrest, try, and shoot n jirinee ol ilie hlooil

ri.Mil, even surprised in a flagrant oHence m|

■ lie French soil, but that to send and seareh for
iiim in a foreign territory, w<iul.l lie, in'ie|iendently
of a violation of terrilory, to siize him when he
had on Ins side all the appearanei , :it least, of
perfect innocence, and lo stamp upon himself the
coliiuring of an odious abuse of his jiower; he coii-

I jured the first consul, for the sake of his personal

glory, and for the honour of his policy, not to
permit himself a course of action winch would re-
duce his own government to the level of the revolu-
tionary governments, from which he had taken so
much care that it should be distinguished. He
insisted several times xi\>on this, with a warmth
which was not at all a part of his nature, and pro-
posed, as a mean term, to wait until this prince
or some other was found upon the French territory,
and then to apply to such au one the laws of the
day in all their rigour.

This proposition was not admitted. It was
answered by saying, they could m t hope that tlie
prince, who was to be introduced inio France
through Normaiiily or by the Rhine, would come
and expose himself to certain and inevit^ible dan-
ger, when Georges and all the agt nts of the con-
spiracy were already arrested ; that, besides, in
taking him whom they found at Etienheim,
they should take with him his papers and accom-
l)lices, ;ind thus acquire the proofs whirli would
attest his criminality, and that thus ihey should be
able to use ihem in a rough way in sujiporting the
evidence already acquired ; that to suffer pati-
ently, under the security of a foreign territory,
strangers to conspire ajjainst Fiance at its very
doors, was to sanction the most dangerous of im-
punities ; that the Bourbons and their jiaitisans
would recommence it continually; that it would be
necessary to |)uiiish ten for one, while by striking
one great blow, tliey might re-enter allerwards
upiin a .system of clemency more natural to the
first consul's feelings; that the royalists had need
of a warning ; that relatively to the (|uestion
of territory, they must give to those peity Ger-
man princes a lesson, as well as to the rest
of the world; that in other respects it w:is to ren-
der a service to the grand duke of Uiideii, in taking
the prince without making a demand r<ii- his per-
son, becau-o it would be impossible for him to
refuse the re<iu< St of such a power as France, and
he would be set at the ban of all Eurojie lor having
granted it. It was ndded, finally, that the act was
done, alter all, only to secure the person of the
prince, of his accomplices, and of his p;ip< rs; that
it would be atierwards seen what must lie done
when he w.is got hold of, and when an ixamination
iiad taken place of his papers, and the exltnt of
ills culpability had been ascertained.

The first ci.nsiil iiardly alteiuled to what was
said on one side and the other; he listeiii d like a
man firmly resolved. No ])eison was able to boast
of having in the least inHu<'nccd his delermina-
tit>n. Still he <lid not appear to feel the least ill-
will lowards Cambac^res for his resistance to him.
" I know, ' he said, "the motive which makes you
spoiik thus; it is your sincere attachment htr me.
I thank >.iu lor it; hut I will not suHer myself to
be killed williout standing on my deb nee. 1 will
go and make those gentry tremble; I "ill teach
tlleiM to keep tleioselves a little more lran(|uil."

'I he id. a of terrifying the rowili-is, to teach
them that ihey should not attack nnIiIi impunity
such u man as he wjis, to let thi'in know that the
sacred Mood of the Bourbons had, io his eu's, no
mole v;ilue (h:in that of any noted personage in
the republic; this idea, and oihers in which cal-
culation, vi-iigeance, and the priile of power, had
an equal share, predominated with violence.'
M 111 2

roo Orders given to seize the rrTTTT?nC' rniSICTTT ATV ATMn PMPTTJT? The duke d'Enghien ar-
532 duke d'Enshien. IHILRS' CONSULAiii AJNU t-MFlKJl,. rested at Ettenheim.

duke d'Enghien.

1804.
March.

He gave iniinediate orders, in presence of general
Berthier ; and he jirescribed to the colonels '
Ordener and Cuulaincourt the conduct wliich they
were to pursue. Colonel Ordener was to go to the
banks of the Rhine, to take with him three liun-
dred dragoons, some ponton men, and several
brigades of gendarmerie, to provide those troops
with provisions for four days, to tiike a sum of
money, in tirder not to be at any charge to the in-
habitants, to pass the river at Riieinau, hasten to
Ettenheim, surround the town, and seize the
prince with all the emigrants who were about him.
Duruig this time, another detachment, supported
by four jjieces of artillery, was to go by Kehl to
Offenbur^r, and remain there in observation until
the operation sliould be achieved. Directly after-
wards, colonel Caulaincourt was to proceed to the
grand duke of Baden, in order to present him with
a note, containing an explanation respecting the
act which had been committed. This explanation
consisted in .saying, that in suffering such assem-
blages of emigrants, he had obhged the French
government itself to break them up; that besides,
the necessity of acting promptly and secretly, had
not permitted a previous conference with the
goveriiiiient of Baden.

It is needless to add, that in giving these orders
to the officers charged with their execution, the first
consul took no pains to explain what his intentions
were in seizing the prince, nor what he intended
to do with him. He commanded liis men, who
obeyed as soldiers. Nevertheless, colonel Caulain-
court, who in the connexions of his birth was
attached to the ancient royal family, and parti-
cularly to the Condes, was deeply wounded, al-
though he hail only to perform the part of carrying
a letter, and was far from foreseeing the terrible
catastrophe which he was preparing. Tiie first
consul did not appear to notice this, but enjoined
it on all to set out immediately upon leaving the
Tuileries.

The orders which he thus gave were punctually
executed. Five days afterwards, that is to say, on
the loth of March, the detachment of dragoons,
witli all the j)recautions commanded, left Schele-
stadt, passed the Rhine, and surprized and sur-
rounded the little town of Ettenheim, before any
news of their movement could be carried there.
The prince, who had before I'eceived prudent
advice, but who at the same time had no positive
notice of the expedition directed against his per-
son, was at the moment in the house at Ettenheim
wliich he had been accustomed to inhabit. On
seeing himself attacked by an armed troop, he was
at first about to defend himself, but of this he soon
discovered the impossibility. He surrendered, de-
claring himself who he was to those who endea-
voured to recognize him, and with deep mortifica-
tion at thus being deprived of his liberty, because
the extent of his danger was at the time wholly
unknown to him, he suffered himself to be con-
ducted to Strasburgh, where lie was placed in the
citadel.

There was no discovery made either of the impor-
tant papers which there had been hopes of procur-
ing nor of general Dumouriez, who was supposed to

' So entitled in the original, thougli before styled " gene-
rals "—rran»/a<or.

be near the prince, nor any proofs of the plot so
strongly alleged as the motive of the expedition.
In place of general Dumouriez they had found the
marquis de Thumcry, and some other emigrants of
no importtmce. The report containing the ste-rile
details of the ari-est was immediately sent forward
to Paris.

The result of the expedition should have en-
lightened the first consul and his counsellors upon
the rashness of the conjectures they h;id formed. The
error in particular committed about general Dumou-
riez was very significant. Here are the ideas which
unhappily led away the first consul and those who
thought with him upon this matter. They had one
of the princes of the Innise of Bourbon, to whom it
cost so little to get up conspiracies, and to find im-
prudent persons and fools enough always ready to
compromise themselves in their train. It was
necessary to make a terrible example, or be ex-
posed to the provoking ridicule, the laugh of con-
tempt on the part of the royalists, in i-eleasing the
prince after he had been seized. They would not
be wanting to say, that after all the government
had been guilty of ;i blunder in sending and taking
the piinee at Ettenheim, and it had had a dread of
the public opinion and a fear of Europe; that, in a
word, it had possessed the will to commit a crime but
had not the courage. In place of giving them
ground to laugh, it was better to make them
tremble. The prince after all was at Ettenheim, so
near to the frontier, under similar circunihtances,
for some apparent motive. Was it possible, that
cautioned as he had been, and letters found in his
house proved it, was it possible that lie remained
so close to danger without any object ? That he
was no sort of an accomplice in the project of
assassination? In any case he was certainly at
Ettenheim, to second a movement of the emigrants
in the interior, to excite a civil war, to carry arms
again against France. These acts, both the one
and the other, were punished with severe penalties
by the laws at all times; they must be appUed to
him.

Such were the motives w hich the first consul him-
self had at the time, and that he repeated more
than once. There was no more of the counsel
which has been already related ; but there were
frequent conferences between him and those who
flattered his passion. He never quitted the fatal
idea; the royalists are incorrigible, they must be
terrified. The removal of the prince was ordered
to be transferred to Paris, there to be brought
before a military commission for having endea-
voured to excite a civil war, and for having borne
arms against France. The question thus stated, it
was resolved to cany out in a sanguinary manner.
On the 18th of March the prince was taken from
the citadel of Strasburg to Paris mider a strong
escort.

As the moment of this terrible sacrifice ap-
l)roaclied, the first consul wished to remain alone.

He left Paris on the 18tli of March, Palm-Sun-
day, for Mahnaison, a retreat where he was better
assured of isolation and repose. Except the con-
suls, the ministers, and his brothers, he received
nobody. He walked about alone for entire hours,
aftecting a tranquillity of countenance that did not
reign in his heart. The best proof of these agita-
tions of soul was found in his extreme idleness, as

The duke d'Enghien brought
to I'ari^.- A military cum- THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.
iiii>^ion assembled.

Savary ortiered to execute

the senifnce c f ilie inili- 633
tary conimissioii.

lie dictated scarcely a single letter during tlie
ei;.'ht days of his remaiiiiiif; at Mahnaison, an ex-
ample of idleness that was unique in his existence;
iie»erthele.^s, Brest, Boulogne, ;uid the Texel, had
I ceupi<-d but a few days befitre all the activity of
liis mind. His wife, who had been informed, as
had all his family, of the j)iinee's arrest— his wife,
will) with that sympathy of which she was not able
to divest herself for the Bnnrbons, had a horror of
the effusion of the royal blood; she, who with that
toresiu'ht of heart belonging to woman, perceived
P'S-ibie, perhaps, in the cruel deed a reaction in
veuge.nice a;;aiiist her husband and children, even
i:;ain.st herself ; madam Bonaparte, steeped in
tears, spoUe several times of the prince, not yet
lielieving, but fearing that his fate was deter-
mined. The first consul, who had a species of
i;raiitieation in compressing the emotions of his
heart, generous and good, although they have said
otherwise who have not known it — the first consul
r> p-Uetl the tears of which he fetred the effect
u|M.u himself. He replied to madam Bonaparte
with a familiarity which he endeavoured to render
liaivli: " Thou art a woman ; thou dost not under-
stancl my |iolicy; thy part is to hold thy tongue!"

The unliutunate ))rince left Sirasburg on the
18ih of March, and arrived in Paris on tiie 20th,
about n<M)M. He was detained until five o'clock at
the barrier of Charenton, guarded in a carriage by
the escort that accompanied him '. There had in
tliis fatal affair been some confusion in the orders
issu'^d, because there had been agitation among
those who issued them.

According to the military law the commandant
of the division should form the conmiission, assem-
ble it, and order the execution of the sentence.
Mur.it was commandant of Paris and also of the
divi,..i.in. When the decree of the consuls came to
liim he was seized with the deepest grief. Murat,
)iB alr<ady observed, was brave, often luireflecting,
but perlectly good. He had applauded some days
before the vigour of the government, when it
ordered the expedition to Ettenln iin ; but charged
now to follow up its cruel consequenees, his excel-
lent heart failed him. He said, in despair, tu one
of his frienils, shewing him the skirts of his uni-
form, that the first consul would im|»re.ss upon
them the sUiin of blood. He went to St. Cloud to
express t» his formidable brother in-law the senti-
mentM which he felt. The first consul, who was
himself more inclined to |>artjike in them than he
was willing to discover, concealed under an iron
cotmtenance the agitation with which he was
secretly smitten himself. He feared lest his
govermnent hhoiild appear weak before the young
shoot of an inimical dynasty. He tiddressed harsli
words to .Murat, reproached him with his feeble-
ness in contemptuous terms, and ended by telling
him with hauteur, that he would cover that, which
he styled his faint-heurtedtiess, by signing himself

• There hai a|>poared an excellrrtt piece of writing on tl;e
catantroplie of the duke d'Eii(flii<-n, l«y M. Noiiuart-de de
Payer. 1 he con»cirnliou» re>carche>, full of iiaRacity, that
diitiiiRUJsh thin inor>elor«pecial hiitory, dc>ervr thegreu'est
confidi'iice. M. Nongart'dc de I-'nyet nayx that the |>rliice
wai rundurted to the do<tr of the iniiiiitler of foreign alTaini.
It i> possible that this may have been the exact Tad ; but
no! having been able to state it as a certain thing, the more
general tradition has been admitted.

with his own consular hand the orders of the day.
The first consul had recalled colonel Savary
from the cliff of Bivillc, where he bad vainly
waited for the pi inces mingled in the plot, and he
confided to him the care of watching over that
sacrifice of the prince, in which he boie no part.
Colonel Savary was ready to give to the first con-
sul his life and his honour. He gave no advice,
he executed as a soldier that which his master had
commanded, to whom he bore an aitachmeiit with-
out limit. Tiie first consul drew up ail the orders,
signed them himself, then enjoined Savary to
deliver them to Murat, and to ])roceed to Vin-
ceiines and jueside at their fuHilnient. The orders
were comjilete and positive. They contained the
composition of the commission, the designation of
the colonels of the garrison who should bt-come
members, the indication of general lluliiiias jiresi-
deiit, the injunction to meet imniediaicly, in order
to finish all on that night ; and if, as cannot be
doubted it would be, the condemnation was one of
death, to execute judgment upon the prisimer
immediately. A detachment of geiidaniierie cVHUe,
and of the ganison, were to proceed to V'iiiceniies,
to guard the tribunal, and proceed to the execution
of the sentence. Such were the fatal orders,
signed with the hand of the first consul. Legally
speaking, tliey were to be executed in the name of
Murat ; but, in reality, he took hardly tiiiy part at
all in the affair. Colonel Savary, as he had re-
ceived the command to do, went to V'inceimcs to
watch over the accomplishment of these orders.

Nevertheless, what was contained in these orders
was by no meiiiis irrevocable ; there was yet a
mode of saving the unfortunate prince. M. Real
was to go to Vinceinies, to interrogate the prisoner
at length, and to gather from him wlieilier lie knew
of the plot, of which all still believed him an
accomjilice, without the power of offering a single
proofof the fact. M. Maret had liimsell, in the even-
ing, deposited with the counsellor of state, Real, the
written injunction to proceed to Vinei ini's in order
to make the interrogatory. If M. Retil had seen
the prisoner, understood from his own mouth a
true explanation of the facts, felt himself touched
by his frankness, and by his instant demand to be
conducted before the first consul, M. Ri al would
have been enabled to commimicate his own im-
pressions to him who held the prime's life in his
powerful hands, and who had, therefore, \et, even
after the condemnation, a means to avoid |iursiiing
the frightful path which he was on, by granting to
the duke d'Enghein a pardon, nobly demanded, and
as nobly craiited.

It was the last cliancc which remained to save
the life of the y<miig prince, and to sptire the first
consul the committal of a grejit fault. The last
thought so at that moment, even after the orders
which he had given. In fact, during that melan-
choly evening of the 20tli of March, he remained
shut up nt Alalmaison with his wile. Ins secretary,
a few ladies and officers. Solitary, absent, tiffect-
ing calmness, he had terminated b_\ sitiing down
before a tiible, where he began to play at chess
with one of the most distinguibhed ladies ' of the

> This lady nan madam de R^-musat. She has described
this incident in her memoiis, which to this day remain In
manuscript, as interestingly as spiritedly written.

' Sentence of death pro-

534 nouiiced on the duke

d'Enghien.

Execution of the dike
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. d'Enj-iiien at Vm-

consular court, who, knowing that the prince had
nrrived, trembled with feur, in thinking of tlie
jiossilile consequences of that fatiil day. She dared
not lift lier eyes on tiie first consul, wlio, in jiis
mental alisence, murmured several times over the
verses on clemency, well known in French poetry ;
at first those that Cc.rneille has put into the mouth
of Augustus, and next those that Voltaire makes
Alzire repeat.

This could not be san^juinary irony ; it would
have been too useless and too base. But that man,
commonly so firm, was agitated an<l shak n, and
reverted now and then to tiie consideration of the
grandenr, the nobleness of pardon, granted to an
enemy vanquished and disarmed. This lady be-
lieved the jirince w;is saved ; she was full of
deli:;lit. Unhappily, it came to nothing.

The coniniission assembled in haste, tlie mem-
bers, for the most part, ignorant who the acensrd
was against whom th-y acted. They were told
that it was an emigrant prosecuted lor having
broken the laws of the republic. They were told
liis name. Every one of these soldiers of the
rejiublic, children when the monarchy had fallen,
scarcely knew that the name Enghien was borne
by ,the heir presumjdive of the Coiule's. Their
hearts slih suffered at sitting on such a conmiis-
sion, because for several years no more emigrants
had been condemned. The prisoner was l)rou';ht
before them. He was calm, even pnaid, and yet
doubted of the lot which awaited him. Interro-
gated as to his name, and his conduct, he replied
with firmness, repelled every idea of ]iarticipat;on
in the |)lot then actually under tlie ])ursuit, of
justice, but avowed, perhaps in too ostentatious a
manner, that he had served against France, ami
tliat he was on the banks of ilie Rhine, to serve
again in the same manner. The president, press-
ing upon this point with the intemion of revealing
to liim the danger of such a declaration made in
such languaije, he repeated what he had said with
an assurance that his danger ennobl<-d, but which
hurt the minds of old soldiers, who had been
habituated to s|iill tiieir blood in defending the
soil of their country. The impression llius pro-
duced was painful. The jirince ilemanded several
times, and with energy, to see the first consul. He
was reinand< (1 to his prison, an<l the court de-
liberated. Althoujih his repealed declarations had
revealed in him an implacable enemy to the revo
lution, tlie hearts of the soldiers were affected
by the youth and the courage of the luince. 'l"he
question, stated as it was, could have no oiher than
a fatal soluii n. The laws of the republic and of all
times, pniiished witli capital pen:iliies the fact of
service against France. Nevertheless, laws had
be<n violated against the prince, in his seizure
upon a foreign soil, and his laeing deprived of a ile-
femler, and these were considerations which ought
to have had weight in the determinations of the
juilges. In the confusion into winch they were
thrown, these unha|)py judges, afHicied at their
character more than they were able to say, pro-
nounced sentence of death. Still the greater part
among them expressed a desire to submit the
sentence to the clemency of the first consul, ami,
above all, to present the iirince to him, who de-
manded so veliemently to see him. lint the orders
of the morning, that all should be finished in the

night, were precise. M. Real alone was able,
on arriving, and interrogating the prince, to get a
respite. M. Real did not appear. The night ])assed
away, and day approached. The prince was con-
ducted to the fosse of the chateau, and there he
received with a hrnuiess worthy of his name, the
fire of the soldiers of the republic, against whom
he had so often fought in the midst of the ranks
of the .Austrians. He was buried on the same spot
where he fell. Melancholy reprisal of civil warfare !

Colonel Savary set oft' innnediately to render an
account to the first consul of the execution of his
orders.

On his way he met M. Real, who was going
to interrogate the piisoner. The councillor of
state, worn out by the fatigue of several days and
nights of labour, had forbidden his domestics lo
awaken him. The orders of the first consul had
not lieen delivered to him until five o'clock in the
morning. He arrived too late. It was n»)t, as
some have said, a jiianned machination to place a
crime on the first consul's shi^ulders ; nothing
of tlie kind oecun'ed. It was an accident, a pure
aceidiiit, which took from this unfortunate prince
the only chance of saving his life, and from the first
Consul a happy op])ortunity to preserve his glor\
from a stain. Unhappy violation of the ordinary
forms of jnsti<-e ! When these sacred forms are
violated, invented by the experience of successive
ages, to protect the lives of men from the errors of
judges, they are at the mercy of a hazard or ot any
triviality. The lives of aci used persons and the
honour of governmtnts de)iend sometimes on tlie
most fortnitoiis contingencies. Doubtless the
r.sohilion of the first consul had been taken,
but he was agiiatcl, and it the appeal of ihe
unhappy Coiide', demandin<; his life, had reached
him, he would not have been found insensible to
it ; he wouUi have yielded to the emotions of his
heart, and it would have been glorious to yield
to them.

Colonel Savary arrived, much affected, at Mal-
niaison. His presence caused a scene of deep
sorrow. Mailam Bonaparte, upon seeing him,
divined that all was o\ er, and began to shed tears.
M. de Caulaincourt uttered cries of despair, saviiif-
that they wished to dishonour him. Ccdonel Sa-
vary penetrated to the cabinet of the first consul,
who was alone except M. Meneval. He gave him
an account of what had been done at Vincemies.
The first consul iusiaiiily said to him : "Has Real
seen the prisoner?" Savaiy had scarcely replieil
in the negative "hen M. Real appeared, and
tremblingly excused himself for the uou-execution
of the ordej-s which he had received. Withinii
expressing ap])robation or blame, the first consul
took leave of the instruments of his orders, and
shut himself up in a room of his library, where he
remained during several hours alone.

In the evening some members of the family
ilined at Malmaisou. Their faces were serious
and inelanclioly. No one ventured to sjieak —
none did speak. The first consul was as silent
as the rest. 'J'he silence at last became em-
barrassing. Oil leaving the table, he broke it
himself. M. de Fonianes having arrived at the
same mipment, became the only interlocutor with
the first consul. He was a.stonmled at the act, of
which the rumtiur now filled Paris, but he aid

Effects of ih-- death
of the ouke d'tn-
gl.ieii.

THE CONSPIRACY OF GEORGES.

The irue authors of
these excc^iees, the 535

eniigraiiis.

n.it pi-rmit liims.lf tlie avowal of liis seiitimi-nts
ill tlie t.|>ot wliei-e lie then was. He listeiietl a
gooil d-.al, but rarely replied. Tiie fii-st consul
spoke coiitiiiuiillv, eiuleavouiins; to fill up the void
l.-ft by the silence <pf the company ; he talked
of the princes of every :ij;e ; of the Roman empe-
rors ; of the kings ol Fr nee ; of Tacitus, and the
i.pi:.ions of that historiim ; of the cruelties to
which the lie.ids of the empire often lent theiii-
stlves, wh.n tiiey were foictd to -jive way Ut
an ineviuble necessity ; finally, arriving by a long
circuit iit the tni;.;ic subject of the day, he spake
tliise words : " TJiey wish to destroy the revolution
ill attacking my persmi ; I will detend it, because
1 am the rev.ijuti.in, me, myself ! They will re-
spect it from this day, because they will know of
wli.it we are c.ipable." '

It is affliiting for the honour of humanity to be
obliged to Confess, that the ti rror inspired by the
lii-si consul act»-d etticaciously upon the princes of
the house of Bourlx ii and upon the emigrints.
They no longer believed themselves in security,
on SLoing the German territory had not preserved
even the unhappy duke d'Engliien; and from that
day all plots of the same kind ceased. But this
Kjid utility gives no jiisiifieatioii of such acts. It
wiis belt r worth for the person of the first consul
to encounter a diiiiger, so olteii exposed as it was
upon fields of bailie, than purchase the security
acquired at such a price.

The rumour soon eirculated through Paris, that a
prince had been seized, transferred to Vincennesand
shot. The effect w:ls great and lameiitiible. Since tiie
arrest <if Fichegin and of Georges, the first consul
had become the object of universal Solicitude. All
were indignant against those who hail a-soclated
tlieniHelves with tiie Choiians to threaten his life ;
it went very hard up ii Moreau, of wliom the cul-
pability, less detiioiisi rated, began, notwiihstanding,
to Wear the aspect of truih. Ardent wishes were
expies.sed for the m;in aho did not cease to be, in
all eVi-s, the lutel;iry genius ■.f France. The san-
guinary execution at Viiieennes operated a sudden
reaction. Tile roy:'.lists were prodigiously irritated,
and yet more aliirmed; but the honest men were
diseoii»ol:ite to sic a gov.rnment, so fiir admirable,
Hprinkle its hands uiili blood, and in one day re-
diic>- itself to the level of those who had put Louis
XVI. U) death, mil, it must be aclamwledged,
wilh'iut tlie reV' litiioiiary passions and excuses
that, in ITJH, troubled the h ads of the strongest,
an I the lieurtx of the best men.

None felt satisfaetioii except the ardent revo-
lutionists, thoHe very men of wh im ilie first Consul
bad terininat<-d the seimeleHs power. They now
found thenisei\es, ill a 8iii:.'le day, become pretty
nearly upon an eipiiliiy. None among them any
more dreaded that ;;i-n'-i-Hl liniiaparie would labour
tlieneeforth for the Doinboim.

What a Hiiignlar billing of the miml ! This ex-
traonliiiary man, of a spirit so elevated, mo just,
with a heart no ^emroUM. was lately fidl of seventy
towards llie nvohiiioniMts and their excesses. He
juilg -d of liiMse errors withr)Ut indulgence, sonie-
tinies even without justice. Me leiirniielied them
bitterly f..r li:.viiig shed the blood of Louis XVL,
dishonoured the revo.utioii, and rendered France
irreconeileable with Europe. All of a sudilen,
when his uwn passions wcro excited, ho iiad

rivalled, in a moment, the act committed against
the person of Louis XVI, that lie had made so
bitter a reproach against those who precedeil him,
and he had placed himself in the sight of Europe iu
a state of moral opposition, which .soon rendex'ed a
general war inevitable, and obliged him to go and
seek for peace — a miignificent peace, it is true — at
the extremity of Europe, at Tilsit.

How much such spectacles are calculated to
coiilbund the pride of human reason, and to teach
us that the most transcendent genius does not save
tl;e possessor from the commonest faults, when he
abandons to the passions, even for a single instant,
th^^ government of himself.

But to be wholly just, after having deplored this
fatal excess id' passion, ascending to those who had
provoked it — who were they ? Always the same
emigrants, who after having exacerbated that re-
voluiii.n, then innocent, quitted their country to
search out, in all (luarters, the enemies of France.
This revolution moderattd from its excesses, and
headed by a great man, showed itself sage, humane,
and pacific. The emigrants it had recalled, em-
bosomed them in their country, in their property,
and prepared to restore them to all the eclat ot their
old position. How did they return this clemency I
Were they grateful — peaceable at least? Not at all.
They wei-e allies of a neighbouring naiioii, jealous
of the greatness of their country, and they made
use of the liberty of that nation to lurn it against
France. By the force of the vilest publicaiious
they irritated the pride of two nations that were
too easily excited; -iind alter luiviiig endeavoured
to re. over themselves with arms in their hands,
they did not limit themselves to being the soliliers
of the Briiish government, they lent it the aid of
their plots. They planned a base conspiracy; they
coloured with miserable sophisms a disi^n of as-
sassination, and they employed Georges and Pielie-
gru in France. Jf there was a heart that the
glory of the first consul had wouiuled, it was to
that they had recourse. They hail misled and
perverted the feeble Moreau; they had deceived
iiim, and they were deceived by him ; and then
when by the force of imprudence they had been
discovered l)y the vigilant sight of the man whom
they wished to destroy, they were tlemunced the
one by the other, and then lliou^hi to justify
or to excuse themselves, by saxing aloud that a
French prince would be at the head of their lior.
rilile doin^^s ! The great man against whom these
odious plots were directed, revolieil at being made
the object of the murderous attacks td lho.se whom
he had snatched from persecution, and gave way
to fatal anger. He had waited at the t< ot ot a
rock for the jirince, of whom they iiniiouiieed the
arrival ; he had waited in vain ; and Ins mind
troubled by the very declaraiioiis of the con-
spirators themselves, had, in lact, perceived a
prince on the banks of the Rhine, who was waiting
there for the renewal of the civil war. At this
sight his reason hud gmie astray ; he had taken
that prince lor the chief of the conspirators who
threatened his life; he lia<l kit a sort ol pride in
seizing him upon the German leriilory, in order
to strike a lioiirbon li!;e any vulgar individual ;
anil he had struck him to show to ilie einigranls
and to Europe how dangerous and insensate it was
to attack his person.

536 General observations. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. General Ob«ervations.

Grievous spectacle, where every one was in fault,
even the victims themselves; where the French
were seen to make themselves instruments of
British greatness against that of Fmnce ; Bour-
bons, sons, brothers of kings, destined in tlieir turn
to be kings, seen mingling themselves with the
scouts and pests of the highways; the last of the
Conde's paying with his blood for the jilots of
wliich he was not the author, and that Conde
whom people would have to be ii'reproachable
because he was a victim, culpable in placing liini-
self again under the British to fight against the
French flag; finally, a great man seen led away by
his anger, by the instinct of self-preservation, by
pride, losing in a moment that sagacity which
every body so much admired, and descending to
the character of those snnguinai-y revolutionists,
whom he had himself compressed with his trimn-
phant hands, and had made it his gloi;y not to imitate!
Fatal bondage of human passion ! He who is
struck will strike in turn ; the blow received is
given back in a moment; blood calls for blood, and
revolutions thus become a succession of sanguinary
reprisals, that would be eternal, if there did not

arrive a day at last when they must cease, — a day
when men must renounce rendering blow for blow;
when they must for this linked vengeance, sub-
stitute a calm, impartial, and humane justice ;
when they must place above even this justice, if
there can be any thing superior to it, a clear-
sighted and elevated policy, leaving among the sen-
tenced of the tribunals, none for execution but
the most pressing ciises, and granting pardon to
others who have gone astray, but are still suscept-
ible of restoration and a return to reason. To
defend social order, by conforming to the strict
regulations of justice, without giving way in the
smallest degree to vengeance : such is the lesson
which must be drawn from these tragic events.
There is yet another remaining, and that is, to
judge with indulgence the men of all the parties,
who, placed before us in the career of revolutions,
brought up in the middle of the corrupting troubles
of civil war, excited, without cessation, by the sight
of blood, had not for the lives of each other that
respect with which the time, reflection, and a long
peace have happily inspired us.

BOOK XIX.

THE EMPIRE.

THE EFFECT PRODUCED ON EUROPE BT THE DEATH OF THE DUKE D ENGHIEN. — PRUSSIA, ItEADT TO FORM AS
ALLIANCE WITH FBANCB, TURNS TO RUSSIA, AND ALLIES HERSELF BY A SECRET CONVENTION TO THE LATTER
POWER.— THE TRUE STATE OF THE PRENCII ALLIANCE IN 1803 DESCRIBED, AND HOW THIS ALLIANCE FAILED.
— THE CONDUCT OF DRAKE, SMITH, AND TAYLOR, DENOUNCED BY ALL THE CABINETS. — THE FEELING IT
INSPIRED DIMINISHED THE EFFECT PRODUCED BY THE DEATH OF THE DUKE d'eNGHIEN. — THE SENSATION
EXPERIENCED AT ST. PETERSBURG. —COURT MOURNING SPONTANEOUSLY WORN. — LIGHT AND THOUGHTLESS
CONDUCT OF THE YOUNG EMPEROIl. — HE REMONSTRATES AT THE DIET OF RATISBON AGAINST THE VIOLA-
TION OP THE GERMANIC TERRITOKY, AND ADDRESSES IMPRUDENT NOTES TO THE DIET AS WELL AS TO
FRANCE.— CIRCUMSPECTION OF AUSTRIA. — THIS STATE MAKES NO COMPLAINT OF WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE
AT RATISBON, BUT AVAILS ITSELF OF THE SUPPOSED EMBARRASSMENTS OF THE FIRST CONSUL, TO COM-
MIT WITHIN THE GERMAN EMPIRE THE MOST ARBITRARY ACTS OF POWER — SPOLIATIONS AND VIOLENCES
THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF GERMANY. — ENERGY OF THE FIRST CONSU L— CRUEL REPLY TO THE EMPEROR
ALEXANDER, AND RECAL OF THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR — CONTEMPTUOUS TREATMENT OF THE RUS-IAN REMON-
STRANCE TO THE DIET. — EXPEDIENT DEVISED BY TALLEYRAND TO CONFINE THE REMONSTRANCE TO AN INSIG-
NIFICANT RESULT — EaUIVOCAL CONDUCT OF THE AUSTRIAN MINISTERS AT THE DIET. — ADJOURNMENT OF THE
aUESTION. — NOTICE TO AUSTRIA TO CEASE HER VIOLENT CONDUCT IN REGARD TO THE EMPI RE. — DEFERENCE
OP THAT COURT. — SEftUEL OF THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGES AND MOREAU. — SUICIDE OF PICHEGRU. — AGITATION
OF THE PUBLIC MIND. — THERE RE.SULTS FROM THIS AGITATION A GENERAL RETURN TOWARDS MONARCHICAL
IDEAS. — HEREDITARY SOVEREIGNTY BEGINS TO BE CONSIDERED A MEANS OF CONSOLIDATING THE NATIONAL
ORDER, AND TO SHELTER IT FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OP AN ASS ASSIN ATION.— NU M EROUS ADDRESSES —DIS-
COURSE OF M. FONTANES UPON THE COMPLETION OF THE CIVIL CODE.— CHA R ACTER 01' M. FOUCHE UNDER
EXISTING CIRCUMSTANCES. — HE BECOMES THE INSTRUMENT OF THE CHANGES ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE. — CAMBA-
CERES SHOWS SYMPTOMS OF RESISTANCE TO A CHANGE.— THE FIRvT CONSUL COMES TO AN EXPLANATION
WITH HIM —PROCEEDINGS OF THE SENATE MANAGED BY FOUCHE.— THE FIRST CONSUL DEFERS ANSWERING
THE SENATE, AND APPLIES HIMSELF TO THE FOREIGN COURTS, TO DISCOVER IF HE SHALL BE ABLE TO OBTAIN
FROM THEM THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE NEW TITLE WHICH HE IS ABOUT TO TAKE.— THE FAVOURABLE
REPLIES OF PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. — CONDITIONS WHICH THE LAST-NAMED COURT ATTACHES TO THE ACKNOW-
LEDGMENT.— STRONG DISPOSITION OF THE ARMY TO PROCLAIM AN EMPEROR.— THE FIRST CONSUL, AFTER A
SILENCE SUFFICIENTLY LONG, RETURNS AN ANSWER TO THE SENATE, REflUIRING THAT DODY TO MAKE KNOWN
ALL ITS IDEAS ON THE SUBJECT. — DELIBERATION OF THE SENATE.— MOTION OF THE TRIBUNE CUREE, HAVING
FOR ITS VIEW THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY. — DISCUSSION UPON THE SUBJECT IN THE TRIBUNATE,
AND SPEECH OF THE TRIBUNE CARNOT — THE MOTION IS CARRIED UP TO THE SENATE, WHICH RECEIVES IT
FAVOURABLY, AND ADDRESSES A MESSAGE TO THE FIRST CONSUL, PROPJSINO TO HIM THE RETURN TO A
MONARCHY. — A COMMITTEE IS CHARGED TO DRAW UP THE CHANGES NECESSARY IN THE CONSULAR CONSTITU-
TION.—CHANGES ADOPTED.— THE IMPERIAL CONSTITUTION.— THE GRAND DIGNITARIES.— THE CIVIL AMD Mill-

1804.
April.

Effects produced in Europe
by ihe rxecuiioii of tlie
duke u'EnglMcn.

THE EMPIRE.

I of Prussia and

537

TART CHANGES —PROJECT TO RE ESTABLISH ONE DAY AN EMPIRE OP THE WEST. — THE NEW CONSTITUTIONAL
DISPOSITIONS rONVERTKD INTO A SES ATUS CON SULTUM. — TH E SENATE IN A BODY PROCEEDS TO ST. CLOUD, AND
PROCLAIMS NAPOLEON EM PEROR.— SINGULARITY AN U GRANDEUR OF THE SPECTACLE. — SEOUEX. OF THE PROCESS
AGAINST GEORGES AND MOREAU.— GEORGES CONDEMNED TO DEATH AND EXECUTED.— M. ARMAND DE POLIGNAC
AND M. RITIERE CONDEMNED TO DEATH, BUT PARDONED.— MOHEAU EXILED.— HIS DESTINY AND THAT OF
NAPOLEON. — NEW PHASE IK THK FRENCH REVOLUTION. — THE REPUBLIC CONVERTED INTO A MILITARY
MONARCHY.

The effect produced by the .'sanguinary catastrophe
of Vinci-'niie.s was, no d"ubt, very considerable
throughout France, but it was much more so in
Europe. It is not departins; from the rigour of
liicts to state th.it tiiis catiistrophe became the
principal cause of the tliird general war. The cou-
spii-acy of the Frencli princes, and the death of the
duke d'Engiiieii, which followed that event, were
but reciprocal acts tiirough which the revolution
anil counter-revolution were excited to commence
a new ami violent conflict, that soon extended from
the Alps and the Rhine as far as the remoter
banks of the Niemen.

The respective situations of France and the dif-
ferent courts have been already explained, setting
out from the period of the renewal oi ho.stilities
with Great Britain ; the pretensions of Russia to
be the supreme arbitrator, coolly received by Eng-
liind, but courteously by the first consul, yet after-
wards repelled by him as soon as he had recognised
the partial tendencies of the Russian cabinet ; the
apprehensions of Austria, fearful of seeing the war
become general, and endeavouring to dispo.sscss
itself of its uneasiness by the exercise of an excess
of power in the empire ; the perplexities of Prussia,
"lij' turns agitated throui;h the suggestions of Ru.s-
sia, or attracted by the flatteries of the first consul^
nearly seduced by his conversation-; with M. Lom-
bard, and r<?ady at last to abandon its long state of
lic>sitatioii,and throw itself into the arms of France.

.Such, then, was the situation of affairs a little be-
fore the ileplorable consjiiracy of which the tragical
changes have been related. M. Lombard had re-
turned to Berlin full of all he had listened to and
observed at Brussels; ami in communicating his
impre.ssions to the young king, Frederick- William,
he bad at la.Ht decided to imitc himself definitively
with Fnince. Another circumstance contributed
much towards the production of so fortunate a
rcHult. Russia had shown herself but little fa-
vourable to the ideas iiiul views of Prussia, which
were marked by a species of continental neutrality,
fiiunded upon the nld Prussian system ; she had
endeavoured to substitute for those ideas the pro-
ject of a thinl Etiro|)ean party, which, on the pre-
text of resiraiuiiig the belligerent powers, would
have coniduiled in a new coalition, directed against
Fi-ance, awd paid by England. Frederick-William,
tnoriiKed at the reception which had been given to
liis propositions by Russia, knowing that results
Tery visible mi^ht enchain the Russian project,
and feeling that the strength lay on the side of the
first consul, ma le the offer to him, not as before of
sterile friendship, such as had been given

ce 1800 by the unHxable M. Hangwitz, |,ut a
sincere alliance. At first he had offered
as well as to Russia ordy an extension of
ifW'an neutrality, that was to comprehend
all the German states, and was to be paid for by
the evacuation of Hanover, which would have for
France the effect of re-opening the continent to the

a mere ste
Mj^ucelSOO

I commerce of England, and of closing upon her the
road to Vienna.

The first consul, when he conferred at Brussels
with M. Lombard, would not listen to such a mea-
sure. After the return of M. Lombard to Berlin,
and under a view of the later cninhu-t of Russia,
the king of Prussia therefore proposed to France
measures altogether different. Under the new
system, the two powers, France and Prussia, gua-
rantied the status presens, comprehending for Prus-
sia all that she had acquired in Germany and in
Poland since 1789 ; ou the i)art of France, the
Rhine, the Alps, the junction of Piedmont, the
presidency of the Italian republic, the pos-sessinn
of Parma and Placentia, the maintenance of the
kingdom of Etrnria, and the temijorary occupation
of Tarentum. If for any one of those interests the
peace were endangered, that of the two powers
which should not be immediately menaced should
interfere as an intennediate party in order to pre-
vent war. If the good offices thus tendered re-
mained destitute of efficacy, the two powers then
engaged to re-unite their forces, and sustain the
conflict mutually and in coninnn. As the price of
this serious engagement, Prussia demanded the
evacuation of the banks of the Elbe and Weser,
that the army in Hanover should be reduced to
the number of men necessary to collect the revenue
of the country, in other words, to about six thou-
.sand, and that finall}', if at the peace the success
of France should liave been sufficiently great to
enable her to dictate conditions to the enemy,
Prussia exacted that the fate of Hanover should be
regulated in agreement with her. This was, in an
indirect fashion, neither more nor less than stipu-
lating the ])ossession of Hanover for herself.

Frederick-William had been influenced to enter
in this forward manner into the ])olitical system of
the first consul by the certainty of the continental
peace, which depended, in his opinion, upon a soliil
alliance between France and himself. He had
seen with a glance of the eye, honourable to him-
self, but above all to M. Haugwitz, his true inspirer,
that Prussia and France being firmly united, no
one upon the continent would dare to trouble the
general peace. He had discovered, at the same
time, that in thus binding the continent he equally
boimd the first consul, because the guarantee given
to the present situation of the two powers was in
a certain mode to fix them in that situation, and to
interdict new cnterprizcs to France. If Prussia
had persisted in such views, and had been encou-
rag<'d to persevere, the destinies of the world
would have been changed.

The same reasons which had decided Prussia to
make the proposition which is liere stated, would
have decided the first consul to accept it. That
which lie wished, definitively at least at the period
thus spoken of, was, France as far as to the Rhine
and the Alps ; an absolute domination in Italy ;
a preponderating inllucnce in Spain, and, in a

Proposed treaty of alli-
538 ance between France

and Prussia.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Relations of France
and Spain.

1804.
Apiil.

word, the supreme power in the west. All this he
woulil ohtaiii through the giiai-aiitee of Prussia,
ami that to a degree of certainty well nigh infal-
lible. Without doubt the continent would be re-
opened to the English by the evacuation of the
banks of the Elbe ;ind Weser ; but these facilities
given to their commerce would not effect so nuich
benefit in their behalf as the immobility of the
continent wouM inflict evil, ensured as it was
hem-eforth by the union of Prussia with France.
Tiie continent at rest, the first consul was certain,
by apjilying his genius to the task for several
ve;irs, to strike sooner (T later some great blow
against England.

it is true that the name of an alliance was miss-
ing in the proposition of Prussia, but the alliance
was ceriainly there, though the word was wanting,
in accordance wiili the wish, deeply meditated
uj)oii, of the young king.

This prince in reality had not wished to use the
term : he had even imagined to diminish the im-
portance of the treaty liy calling it a convention.
But what could the form matier, when the whole
.substance remained ; when the engagement to
join his forces to those of the French was form-
ally stipulated ; when this engagement, entered
into by a king, lionourable and faiihfid to his word,
coidd deserve to be reckoned upon ? Herein
may be remarked one of those weaknesses of mind
visible, not only in the court of Prussia, but in all
the courts of Europe at that period. They admired
the new govermnent of France, since it was under
the directinn of so great a man ; they loved its
jifinciples as well as they respected his glory ; and
still they would not willingly take any jiart with
him. Even when a jiressmg interest obliged them
to approximate towards him, they were unwilling
to have more to do with him than was necessary in
relation to the bii.siness liefore them ; not that they
felt cjr that they ventured to manifest towards him
that aristocrat ical disdain which old dynasties ex-
liii it towards new ; the first consul was not as yet
exposed to comparisons of such a nature in consti-
tuting himself the head of a dynasty; and the mili-
tary lilory which was now his principal title to
respect. Was one of those merit(u-inus qualifications
before which such a disdain always vanishes. But
it was liared bv Prussia, that in ioriiiallv declaring
herself his ally, she should pass, in the eyes of
Eiiio|)p, for a deserter from the common cause of
kin;;s. Frederick-William would find himself em-
barrassed before his y^img Iruiid Alexander, and
even beloiv his enemy the emperor Francis. 'J'he
jji ttl\ and younsj ((ueen, who kept aromid her a
circle di'oply imimed with the pa.ssi'.ns and l>rcju-
dices of the old ord<M- of things— a circle the mem-
bors of which rallied iVI. Lombard because he had
r.-turned Irom Brussels lull ol tiiihiisiasm for the
first consul, ami haitd .M. Haoiiwit/. because he
was the advocate of the French alliance — this
jji-ctty and young <|neeii and those Jii-ound her
made a great outcr\,aiid overwhelmed the king
with tluir celisc.res. 'i'liis was no more, it is true,
than a mere domestic dififreiice, sinnlar to those
which Frederick-William was otten <ibligid to en-
counter. But he would not have been able to c. n-
ciliale this formal treaty of alliance with that equi-
vocal language anil distituli 11 of trankness w|,ioli
he had ord.nanly held to the other courts. He

was desirous of re]iresenting tlie engagements he
had entered into with the first consul as a sacrifice
he had been obliged to make in spite of his own
inclinations to the pressing necessities of his people.
In fact, his people had an urgent need that Hanover
should be evacuated, in order that the blockade of
the Elbe and the Weser might be raised. To ob-
tain from France the evacuation of Hanover, it
w s needful, he would have said to the other
powers, to concede something to her, and he had
seen himself compelled lo guarantee to her that
which all the other powers, more jiarticularly
Austria, had guarantied to her either by treaties
or by secret conventions. At this price, which was
not a new concession, he had delivered Germany
from foreign soldiers, and re-established his com-
merce. Add but the word alliance to the jtro-
ceeding, and this interpretation became impossible.
It is true that the stipulation'respecting Hanover
was as compromising to Prussia as the word
alliance would have been, but this stipiilation was
confined to an article which it was agreed under
the word of lionom- should be kept secret.

The court of Prussia was, as may be easily per-
ceived, as feeble as it was ambitious ; but its pro-
mise could be safely relied ui)ou when it was once
committed to writing. It was necessary to take
Prussia just as she was, to give way to her weak-
nesses, and to seize upon the sole opportunity to
bind her in a common cause wiiii France,

In the present time, since the old Germanic em-
pire has been broken up, there sn))sist lew points
of rivalry between Prussia and Austria, and there
exists a very formidable one between Prussia
and France, in the Rhenish provinces. But in
180-1, Prussia, jilaced some distance from the Rhine,
had wiih France very similar interests, and with
Austria those of a very ojiposite character. The
hatred whii-h tiie great Frederick felt towards
Austria, and inspired on her part, still survived in
its full extent. The reform of the Germanic con-
stitution, the secularization of the ecclesiastical
teriitories, the sui)|)ression of the immediate nobi-
lity, the partition of the votes between the catholics
and prntestants, being so many questions either
resolved <ir to be resolved, filled the two courts
with liiiter resentment for the past and the future.
Prussia, enriched with the spoils of the church,
representing the revolution in Germany, and having
the interests and very nearly the same bad cha-
racter witli the older monarchies, was the natural
ally of France ; the last, not willing to be without
a friend in Europe, must therefore cvidejuly attach
herself to that power.

Spain, as an ally, was not worthy of considera-
tion; and in order to regenerate Inr, France was
comb limed, at a later period, to plunge into great
ditticuliiis. Italy, torn into strips, of which France
po.ss.-ssed marly the whole, was unable yt t to con-
tribuie any real strength to France; she furnished,
with some troul)le, a few soldiers, that to become
efficient, because they were capable of being made
so. had need to be intermingled with the French.
.Austria, more able and more subtle than all the
oihr courts togeilnr, cherished the resolution,
which she di.ssimnlated to all ihe world bi sides,
and almost to herself, of precipitating herself upon
France on the first opportunity, in order to lecover
what she had lost ; and there was noili;ng in this

April.

Relations o' France and Spain.

THE EMPIRE.

Hesitations of Prussia.

539

astonish iiifj, nor, imlced, to be condemned. Everv
v.oKiuihlied ]mi-ty endcavonra to rt cover ilsilf
apiin, and lias a ii<,'ht to niaUe llie attemiit. Just
as niucli as Fru'-sia re)iresented in Germany sonie-
tliiii}; analogous to Fnince, so niiicli did Austria
re]>r<sent ail lliat can be imagined ol tlie coniniry,
because sbe was tlie acconi|ilisbed image of tlie
old order of tilings. Tlicre was anoilier reason
rendered lur ii reioncil.able wiili Fiance — this
was Italy, the oljcet of her eager de>ire, and of a
passion for its pi ssi ssinn p(|Mal to that indulged by
the first consul. While France Kept the doniiiiion
in Italy, there could be nothing more expected
than mere truces between the two countries, longer
or shorter, according to circiinisiances. Between
the two German courts, TJways divided, to cln ose
the alliance of that of Viciin.i was ther. fore im-
)«>ssible. As to Uussia, in preltiidiiig to di'iiiiner
ov» r the coiiiinent, it was necessary for France to
resign herself to be her enemy. The t< n years
last passed away, suftieiently prove<l that such
must be the ease. Even with no interest in the
war that Fnince sustained against Germany, with
an interest more coiifoinialile to that of France
in a war suflained by this last power against
England, she had taken an hostile attitude under
Catherine, and uinler Paul 1. sent Suwarrow into
the field ; uiuler Alexander she had finished by
wishing to protect tlie smaller ))owcrs, and by
Confining the coiitinnnt to a protectorate, incom-
patible with the power tlitit Frantre desired lo
exercise there. Coiitinenial jealousy made her
an enemy to France, as niaritinie jealousy made
her one to Kngiand.

It was thus Spain, then fallen, having no force
to aid France ; Austria being irreconcihable on
account of Italy; Uns-ia being jealous on account
of the continent, as England was of the ocean; that
Prussia, on the contrary, having alone similar
interests to those of France, playing among the
old governments the character of an upstart,
I'ouiid lierself the forced as well as natural ally of
France. To neglect to be so was to remain iso-
lated. To be isolaU'd and alone was ever, in all
cas<s, to consent to perish on the very first reverse
of circumstances.

M. dc Talleyrand, when alliances were the
matter in hand, advised the first consul ba<lly.
That minister, with whom partialities exercised
more inHucncc than calculation, bore towards Aus-
tria a prrference arising from habit. Full of re-
vived renuiiibriiiicts of the old cabinet of Ver-
sailles, in which the great FredericU was detested
on account of his sarcasms, but in uhicli the court
of Vienna~xvas beloved on account of its fiatt<-rieH,
he believed himself again at Versailhs, when in
amicable relations with Austria. For these ill
reasons, lie was cold, a raihr, even disdainful in
all that concerned Prussia, and pie\ented the first
consul from confiding in her. His counsels in

other respeclH bad little efiect. The first » sul,

from the lieginiiing, had judged with his ordinary
sagacity on what sii'.c tin; alliance was most to be
desired, and he bad i dined toHards Prussia.
Still, confident in his own (.ireiigih, he was not
pressed to maUe a cli<i<e of friends. He ac-
knowledged the utility o( liavir.g them; he appre-
ciated the real viiii f one or the other, but he

believed that then; was always time to secure them

for himself, and was inclined to be leisurable in
the selection.

When M. Lucchesini, in consequence of the
conferences at Brussels, brought a letter from the
king himself, and the pn ject of an alliance, or at
least the title, the first consul was nuicli piqued.
He regarded, and w ith reason, that relations with
France were honourable enough, above all, sutti-
cienlly profitable, to be openly avowed. " I ac-
cept," he said, " the proposed basis; but 1 desii-e
that the word ' alliance' shoulil be in the treaty. It
is only a )inblic profession of onr friendship with
Prussia that will intimidate Europe, and permit
ine to dinct all our resources against England.
With such a treaty 1 shall diminish onr land
forces, and increase those of the sea, and devote
myself entirely to a maritime war. With less
than a public and formal alliance, 1 shall not be
able to operate without danger in the revision and
training of the troops, and make the .sacrifice of re-
opening the rivers without a sufficient advantage
in reiurn."

There was much truth in this kind of reasoning.
The lull ami complete avowal of the French al-
liance would have imparted a moral infiumce,
which it was itnpossible a half avowal would be
able to ensure. But even the single fact of a
union of the strength of the two countries was of
immense value: the su. .-.tance ought here to have
jn-evailcd over the form. Prussia, allied wiih
France, so far as the obligation was to take arms
ill certain ca.ses, would have been soon compro-
mised ill the 'sight <d' Europe; jiursued by the ill
language of the cabinets, and irritated by this
language, be driven, in spite of herself, into the
arnis of France. The first step would have made
the second inevitable. It was, llurefore, a fault
not to have acceded. The first consul, besides the
word alliance, for which he stipulated absolutely,
contested certain of the conditions which Prussia
demanded. In regard to Himover he was very
ready to yield, and niaile no difficulty in ceiling it
to Prussia, the contingency haipening, because it
would embroil her fiiiidameiitally wiih England.
But he was always very difficult to negotiate with
relalivdy to the •■peiiing of the rivers. He was
indignant at the i<lea td re-opening a part of the
continent to the English, who shut up every sea.
He went so far as to say t<i the minister of Prussia,
" How, for a (piestion of nnre money, would you
oblige me to renounce one of the wiost effi' acious
means of striking at Great Britain ? You have
given the aid of three or lour miilions of crowns to
the cloth merchants of Silesia; it will be neiessary
to give them as much more. Make your calcula-
lii.ii, how much it will cost you — six or eight mil-
lions of crowns? 1 am ready to fuinish you with
the amount secretly, in order that you may give
up the condition of the re-opening of the rivers."

This expedient was not to the Prussian taste.
Prussia wished to be able to say lo the courts of
Europe, that she had only engaged herself so
deeply with the first consul in order to sind the
French away from the banks of the Elbe and
Weser.

When the proposition, thus modified, was re-
turned lo Berlin, the king was alarmed at the very
idea of an explicit alliance. The emperor Alex-
ander and the German courts were present in his

Prussian terms modified.
540 — Ci-ssacion of iiuer-
courie.

THIERS* CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Censures of English di-
plomatists.

1804.
April.

mind continually, making him a thousand re-
proaclies for his rebelliun. He feared also the
enterprising character of the first consul, and
dreaded, lest b/ enchaining liimself too strongly
with him, he might be drawn into a war, which
was that of all things in the world he most desired
to avoid The court was divided and agitated by
the ((Uestion. Although tlie cabinet was very
secret, there was something gathered beyond its
precincts of the matter which ihus preoccupied it
so seriously; and the court inveighed against M.
Hangwitz, whom it accused of being the author
of this piece of policy. This eminent statesman,
that a certain appearance of duplicity, belonging
more to his situation than to his character, caused
to be calumniated in Europe, but who then com-
prehe'ided better than any Prussian, it may be
truly s:-.id, better than any Frenchman, the com-
bined interest of the two powers, made evei'v
effort to strengthen the heart of the affrighted
monarch, and to persuaile the first consul not to
be too exacting. But liis efforts were vain; and
in his disgust lie formed the design of retiring, a
design that he soon afterwards executed. The
minister of Russia at Berlin, M. Aiopeus, a Rus-
sian, fiery and arrogant as M. Markoff, troubled
Potsdam with his exclamations. The Austrian
diplomatic body became filled with intrigues. All
the passions were enlisted against the idea of an
alliance with France. Nevertheless, this internal
agitJition did not extend itself beyond the more
intimate circle of the court, and had not acquired
at Berlin the notoriety couiiected with a public
event.

Such was the situation of things when intelH-
geni-e of the seizure and carrying away of the duke
d'En^rhien from the Gerniacic soil was suddenly
received. It produced an immense impression.
The rage of the party opposed to France passed all
bounds. The embarrnssment of the nppo.site side
was extreme. The argument of the consul Lebrun,
that the act would pro<luce a great noise in Europe,
was fully realized. Still, in order to lessen in
.some degree the eff'ect thus produced, it was added,
that the measure was one oF pure precaution ; that
the first consul had only seized him as an hostage,
but that it never could have entered into his
thoughts to strike down a young prince of an illus-
trious name, a stranger, besides, to the ))r:ictices
that wei-e carrying on in Paris. They were scarcely
got to listen to tliese excuses, when the news of
the terrible execution at Vineennes was learned
with consternation. The French party was from
that time obliged to hold its tongue, and no longer
offer even excuses for the act. The minister of
France, Laforest, enjoying great personal conside-
ration at Berlin, found himself suddenly abandoned
by the Prussian society, and he related himself in
his des|),itches, that they no longer exchanged a
word with him. He repeated, in one of his daily
reports, the real expressions of a person held in
much esteem by the French legation :

" To judge of the exasperation of the public mind
by the excited state of the language spoken, I do
not doubt that all who sujjported the French
government would have been insulted, not to say
Worse, had there not been in Pru.ssia protective
laws, and a monarch whose j)rinciples are known."

M. de Laforest said again, under the same date,

that the brawlers, after having shown, in appear-
ance at least, a deep sensibility at theevi nr, " were
not able to restrain a sort of insulting delight, and
that they congratulated themselves as if they had
obtained an important success."

This cruel event was, in fact, an important suc-
cess for the enemies of France, because it every
where lowered the friends of France, and occa-
sioned the formation of alliances that it was only
possible to disunite by the thunder of cannon.

The faults of an adversary are a jjoor compen-
sation for the fiiults which we commit our.'^elves.
Still, England managed to make this sort of com-
jiensalion. She had committed an act ditticnlt to
qualify, in furnishing the money necessary to carry
on a plot, and in ordering or in suffering three of
her ajjer.ts, her ministers at Stuttgard Cassel, and
Munich, to intermin<;le in the most criminal in-
trigues. The first consul had sent a confiilential
officer, who, being ilisguised, and giving himself
out as an agent of the conspiracy, introihiced him-
self into the confidence of Mr. Drake and Mr.
Spencer Smith. He bad received from them, to
be transmitted to the conspirators, with a right to
open an account, seeing the difficulty of uniting, at
that moment, a sufficient sum in money, more than
a hundred thousand francs in goM, which he de-
livered over immeili.-itely to the French ))olice.
The report of this offic:-r, the autograph letters of
Drake and Spencer Smith having been inmie-
diately collected and deposited in the senate, were
communicated to the diplomatic body, to authen-
ticate the handwriting *. The fact could not be

' It is singular that our author has refrained from giving
an ex'ract from ilii> correspondence, any thinjj. in short,
that can tend lo prove the rxact nature of tlie i-otiduct for
which these ministers art- so much censured. They do not
appear to have teen cnnrernrd in any such reprehensible
practices as M. Thiers would fain have the render in'er. At
)ia^'e 264, in a note, the reader will find a specimen of the
false colouring and evjision of the truth put forth hy the
French iiuihoriiies in those times, which, fr( m the author's
own statements, m.iy also l)e plainly inferred in t)ie present
case. In reply to the present charge, lord H iwkrshury,
afterwards lord Liverpool, a statesman of admitli d integrity,
deserves every credit. The following is an extract from the
document he put forth on the occasion. That large sums
of mnm-y were paid hy this country lo the itisurgents of La
Vendee, and to the weak-minded French pr uces and emi-
grants, is likely enough, too frequently, perhaps, under pre-
tences haseless enoujih. of raising insurrectii^ns in Frdnce,
during war consiileret! legitimate. That the British govern-
ment was conscious of doing tnore th;in this, no reasonahle
man will for one moment credit. The fiist consul com-
plained to Mr. Ko.\ in Paris, of the connexion of the English
mitiisiry with the parties who planned the infernal machine.
Fox indignatitly denied that any English mniisler would
he a party to an assassination. Tliat British sliips were
ordered to land the agents of the Fiench princes and those
concerned in the affair of Georges, is no doubt true; but the
British mini>ters w- re never privy to their designs beyond the
repre>eniations they made, iti which the ititended assassina-
tions were never di.^closeil. In rcgaril to the state of afl^airs
in the interior of Frnnce, the British ministry, it must be
admitted, credited the emigran's, ignorant and demented as
they Were, upon th;it and too many otier occasions. 'I his
is not 111 be wondered at, when that ministry was continually
stirrounded hy them, their own views in every thing being
strongly hnl-ed lo the old Bourbon system, and, in their
sight, the Fren h revolution a crime against the majesty of
kitig-, before whose claims the sufferings of the people that

1804.
April.

: of tlie English diplo-
ao'cuts in Uennany,

THE EMPIRE.

.Tnd tlieir exculpation by lord
Uawkcbbury.

541

denied. The report and iliese documents inserted
in the Monitcur, and adJiebsed to all the courts.

produced it was not to be weighed. Such were the feelings
of that day, under which feelings it is fair to cons dcr tlieir
conduct. 1'he following l> an extract from lord Hawkcsbury's
anAWer in the affa:r of Drake : —

" It is the acknowledfied right of belligerent powers to
avail ihemselvesof any discontents exi>iiiig in the Countries
\»itli wliicti they may happen to be at war. The expediency
of acting upon this right (even if the right were in any de-
gree dijubtful) would, in tlie pre.sent case, be most fully sanc-
tioned, not only by the actual state of tlie French nation,
but liy the conduct of the government <f that country, which,
e\er since the commencement of the present war, has main-
taineit a communication with llie disalfecit d in his iii(ij>?sly'3
dolnini<>n^, particularly in Ireland; and lias actually assem-
bled on the co.ist of France a body ot Irish rebels, lor the
purpose of aiding their designs against that part of the
United Kingdom.

" Under these circumstances liis majesty's government
would not imieed be warranted in foregoing this right to sup-
port, a» fjf as is consi>lent with th"^e principles of the law
of nations which all civilized goveininents have hitherto
acknuMledged, the efforts of such of ihe inhabitants of France
as ma) profess hostility to its present goxernment. They
feel, in common with all Europe, an anxious desire to see
establiilied in that country an order of ihiiigs more con-
sistent wiih ii« own happiness, and with the security of
surrounding naiions. But it this cannot be accomplished,
they are justified, on the strictest prim iples of self delence,
in endeavouring to cripple the exertions, to distract the
operaiion^i, and to confound the projects of a government
whose avowed system is not merely to disiress ihe com-
inerce, to reduce the power, or to abridge the dominions of
its enemy, but lo carry devastation and ruin into the heart
of the British empire.

" In ihe application of these principles his majesty has
directeit me further to declare, that his government has
never aulhoriz- d any one act which will not stand the test
of the strictest principles of justice, and the known and
avo^e't practice of all ages. If any minister accredited by
his majesiy lo a foreign court has held correspondence with
pcr^0ll» in France, with a view of ohtaiiiing information of
the projects of the French government, or for any other
legitimate purpose, he has done no more than ministers,
under similar cinumstances, have been uniformly considered
as having a right to do, with respect to the countries with
which their sovereign was at war, and much less than the
ministers and commercial agents of France, in neutral coun-
tries, can be proved to have done with regard to the dis-
a/Tecird in pans of his majeslyS dominions In conducting;,
therefore such a correspondence, he would not in any de-
gree have violated his public duty. A minister in a foreixn
counry is l»iund by the nature of his olhce, and the duties
of his situation, to abstain from all coininunicatinn with the
disatTected in the country to which he is accredited, as well
as from any act injurious to the interesls of (hit country;
but he is not suhjei t to the same restrainis with respcot to
those countries with which his sovereign is al war. His
■cts respecting them may be praiseworthy or blameablc, ac-
cording to the nature of the arts themselves : but they would
not ron-liluie any violation of his public character, unless
they miliiated aftainnt the peace or security of the country
to which he was accredited."

The charge of aiding assassination, lord Ilawkcsbury thus
answers : —

" It cannot be necessary for him " (his majesty) " to repel
wllh the scorn and indignation which it deserves, the most
unfounded and atrocious calumny, that his government
were parlies to any project of assassination ; an accusation
most falsely and calumnioiisly advanced under the same
■uibority against the members of his majesty's former
government in the last war; an accusation inconsistent with

caused a severe censure upon England to succeed
the passionate censure ot which France was fur
.some days hetbre the exclusive object. Impartial
men saw that the first consul had been provoked
by odious actions, and they regretted, tor the sake
of his glory, tlmt he was not content with the legal
represision which would strike Georges and his
accomplices, and the reprobation that would be
incurred by Drake and tjinith, for their omduct as
English diplomatists, who were sent away with in-
dignation from Munich and Stutgardt, traversing
Germany precipitiitely, and not daring to show
themselves any where. Mr. Drake, in particular,
jiassing by Berlin, received an injunction from the
Prussian police not to remain there a single day •.
He only passed through that ca|)ital, and went to
embark in all hiiste for England, bearing with him
the shame which attached to the profanation of the
most sacred functions.

The conduct of Mr. Drake and his colleagues
operated as a diversion to the death of the duke
d'Engliien *. Nevertheless, tlie Pru.ssian cabinet,
observing besides in its language perfect propriety,
became all at once silent, colil, and impenetrable
to M. Laforcst. Not another word of an alliance,
not a word more of business, not even a s\ liable
upon the cruc-1 event which was every where
so deplored. M. Haiigwitz and M. Lombard were
inconsolable at an accident which had ruined al)
their political views ; it was known that M. Hiiug-
witz, in particular, had taken a resolution to tjtiit
the iielm of aflairs, and retire to his Silesian
estates, much impoverished by the war. liut
these two personages now said not a word more.
M. Laforest wished to provoke an explanation.
M. Haugwitz hciird his observations with much
attention, and replied to him in these serioi:s
words: "Amid all this, monsieur, be persuaded
that the king has been piirticularly sensitive to all
which may afl'ect the glory of the first consul. As
to the alliance, it must no more be thought about.
It was wished to e.xait too much of the king ; and,
besides, he has suddenly turned towards other
ideas, in consequence of an unforeseen event, of
which neither you nor I will be able to avert the
consequences."

In fact, the dispositions of the king of Prussia
were completely changed. He thought now of
approaching more towards Russia, and to obtain
through her the advantage of that support which
he had at first sought to secure from France,
He had desired to gain from the first consul
tlie reduction of the army in Hanover, and tlie

his majesty's honour, and with the known character of the
British nation ; and so completely unsupported by even any
shadow of proof, that it may be justly presumed to have
been brought forward at the piesent moment*, for Ihe sole
purpose iif diverting the ailenli'jn of Europe from the con-
templation of that saiiMUliiary deed which, in violation of
the law of nations, and ot the plainest dictates of honour
and humanity, has been recently perpetrated by Ihe direct
order of the lirst consul of France."— jBri<iiA Slate Paper,
April SO, 180).— Translatoh.

■ Bavaria was at this time no better than a French pro-
vince, Napoleon's will being law there. Baden was terrified
after the violation of her territory ; and I'russia was a
fawning, insincere sycophant. The fear of the first consul,
not the public Indignation, caused the uiniicritcd treatment
of these envoys. — Translator.

542

Effects of the
duke d'En
Europe.

aeath of the
^hien upon

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Iii'erference of Russia
with the atfair.

1804.
Ap.ii.

evacuation of tlie banks of the Elbe and VVestr,
by engaging to partake in ail the chancts that
niigiit menace France. Decided at last to have
nothing in common with her, he resigned iiimself
to suffer the occupation of Hanover, tiie closing of
the rivers of wiiich tiiat was the consequence, and
sought in an intimate agreement with Russia,
tlie means to prevent or limit the inconveniences
which must result from the presence of tlie French
in Ijermaiiy. He entered innnedi.ilely into con-
ferences with the ambassador of Russia. It was
easy to cnndnct a similar negotiation to the desired
end, because it responded to all the wishes of that
court.

While the effect of the tragical event with
which Europe was occupied grew weaker at
Berlin, it began to apjiear at St. Petersburg. It
was greater there than elsewhere. In a young
coin-t, sensitive, seldom drawing just inferences,
dis|iensing with pruileiice, throui;n the distance
wliich separated it from France, the manifestations
of feeling were by no means controlled. It was
on a Saturday that the courier reached St. Peters,
hurt;. The next day being SuMda_\,was the day
for the diplomalic receptions. The emjieror, hurt
at the haughtiness of the first consul, and little
disp sed to I'estrain himself to humour him, lis-
tened to nothing in these circinnstaiices but his
resentful feelings and the exclamations of a pas-
sionate mother. He maile all his household put
on mourning, without even cnsuhni-; Ins cabinet.
When the moment for the recepti-.n arri\eil, ilie
emperor and his court were all fiiuil in in<iurning,
to the great astonislnneut of the minisiei's them-
selves, who had not been forewarned of it. The
representatives of all the E\no|)ean courts saw
with pleasure this testimony of sorrow, which was
a real insult ottered to France. 'J"he anibiissador,
general Hedouville, attending with other diplo-
matic personages, found himself for some moments
in a very painful situation, yet jje showed a calm-
ness and dignity which struck all the witnesses of
this straiige scene. The empir-r passed before
him without exchanging a single word. The
general neitiier appeared tri>nl)le<l nor embar-
rassed, threw around him a li'ani|nil look, and
made respect be felt for iiimself by the counte-
nance he bore upon the occasion, as well as lor the
French nation, compromised by a great mis-
fortune.

After this imprudent scene, the em])eror began
to deliberate with his ministers upon the conduct
to lie pursued. This yoinig monarch, sensible, but
as vain as he was sensible, was inipaiient to act a
character. He had already jilayed a part in the
aftairs of Germany, but he very soon perceived
that the policy of the first consul diil not accord
with his own, or rather that he had not overcome

him by conviction. He ha'l lec nended to him

N.iples and Hanover wiih.mt beiny; listened to ;
he h.id been mortified by llie haughtiness with
which the first consul was j)leased to heighten the
ernn-s of M. Markotf, altliough he himself censured
the conduct of that ambassador. In this dispo-
sition, the smallest occasion sutti;'ed him to speak
openly, and lu yielding to Ins woundeii vaiiityj
he believed he only obeyed the sentiments of an
honotir.ible humanity. If there be added to this a
character open to the slightest impression, and

an utter want of experience, his sudden reso-
lutions find an easy exi)lanaii'in.

To the disaster which has been already related, he
wished to subjoin some stroke of policy, which should
be much more serious than any demonsli-atiun of
the court could be. After resisting what he pro-
jio.sed, his councillors imagined to give him satis-
faction by very hazardous means, that of remon-
strating against the invasion ot the territory of
Baden, in calling himselt' the guarantee of the
Germanic eni))ire. This w:is, as will be seen, a
step of the most inconsiderate nature.

The quality of guarantee to the Gern-anic empire
that the Ru.ssian court thus atlrdniled to itself,
was very liable lo be contested, because the last
mediation, exercised in i«artnership wiih France,
had not been followed up by a formal act of
guaranteeship. This act was so necessary to
]irove the guarantee existed, that the ministers of
France and Russia had otien deliberated with the
German ministers U|>oii the necessity which there
was to complete it, atid about the form in which it
was nil St convenient to draw ii up. Siill the act
had never taken place. In delauk of this, the
litle to the guaranteeship (onid only be drawn
from the tieatx of 'J'escheii, b\ which France and
Russia bail gtniraniiid in \^T.i, the intervening
arrangements beiwetn Prussia and Austria re-
lative to the Bavarian succession. This enga;;e-
ment, limited to a special object, admitted of the
question, whelher it coiiferied the right to inter-
meddle in the interior police of the empire. The
thin-.; was at least doubtful. In aiiy case, the
empire having to comjilain of a violaiiin of terri-
tory, it was the duty of the slate in which the
outrage had iieeii committed to c<iiij)lain at most
to a German power ot liie violali> n ot its territory,
ill other words, for tlie grand duke of Badtii to
remonstrate aya'tist the opjiression, but most assur-
edly not a foreign power. In raising this question,
tin re was evidi ntly no greiind to go npi n. It was
to embarrass Germany, even to i fiend that empire,
because although ouil-aged, she had llo desire to
coiiiiiK nee a (juarrel, the issue of whieh it was easy
to foresee. In making (his bustle, therefore, the
U'leatest of levities was committed. Four years
had scarcely )iassed away since a crime which
calumniators denominated a jiarricide, liad dis-
graced St. P( ter.-buig, and pn cured the crown
'or the xoung miiiarch. The as.sassins of the
father still surrounded the son, and in t one of
them had been punished. 'J his was to exp< se
himsell <iii the part of an amli.cious adversary ti>
a terrible rejoinder. M. Woronzi ff being sick,
had lietii re|ilaeed by the voting prince Czartorisl.y,
anil it must bi' siiid to his praise, tl at \oUiig as he
then was, he made stron;^ objections to the niea
sure. But the older memlers of the council
showed no more wisdom upi ii this occasion than
the yonng monarch himsell. because in the pas-
sions prudence is jnetty nearly npi n an equality in
every stage of lite. In const queiice, the cabinet of
St. Petirsiiurg ilecideil <n addressing to the Ger-
man diet a note, to exhibit its solicitude, and pio-
voke its dtliheration upon the violation of the
teriitory recently coimnitied in tlie grand duciiy
of Baden. A copy of the same note upon liie
same subject was to be addressed to the French
government.

i

1804.
Ai>ril.

Russia and Prussia Torm
an aliidiite.

THE EMPIRE.

The treaty between Russia
and Prussia.

Tliey RHt nn limit tn tlie mMiiifestaiioiis inspired
l>_v iliis uiifxi-luiiaie cinumstaiice. They wished
ti> teslifv to the ei'iirt "f lliiiiie ii marked ile>;rte of"
<lis:i|i|ir'<l>uii'>ii, ill return for the condescension
wliieh this suite liad shown to France, in dehver-
iiif; to her the emijjrant Verne^ues. The minister
of Itiissia iit Rome liad been reialled at tiiat
iiioiiieiit. The |>"|>e"s iiuiii-io had heen sent away
flMiii St. Pet l-sliiir;:. It was iiiip.ssilile to exllihit
a censure iii >re out of place, more offensive, in the
acts I'f a f.iieijjii court, if these acts were cen-
Mirahle. SiiX'iiiv, uneasy at the displeasure whi.li
the presence of M. dEiltrai;;ues caused at Uresden,
hid rc|ueste<l Russia to recall hitn. The cahinet
of St. Petoi-sbur;^ replied, tliat M. d'Klltrai;;iies
should remain at I)res<leii, because they did not
oiisnii the conveniences of other courts in the
choiee of Russian a;;iiitH.

.\rier these imprudent step«, the Russian cabinet
<K-i-u|.ied itself ill ijiianhn^ a;;ainst the futuie by
Keeking to form alliances. It had naturally lent a
coiiiplac-nt and ea^^er ear lo the luw lannuas^e
of Prussia, that after liavin;; cpiitted Russia for
Fninci', now quitted France for Russia, inclining
to II. lice itself with the north. Russia much de-
«ired to draw in F-ederick William, so far as to
form a .-ort of continental coalition indepeinlent of
En;;lanil, but leaniiif? towards her side. Still they
«ere obli;;ed to be Content with what the kili;^
of Prussia offered. That prince, constrained to
ahandoii Hanover to the French, since he had
ivii'iiiiiced all negotiations with her, sou;;ht to com-
pensate for the inconveniences attached to their
presence ill tliat territory, by means of an under-
staiidiog with Russia. He wished that alone, and
it was iinpussible tu bring him to desire any thing
more.

Ill consequence, after forcing themselves, each
on his own side, to bring to the result the object
most preferred, a species of engagement was en-
tered into. Consisting in the double tieclaratioiis of
Prussia lo Russia, :ind of Russia to Prussia, drawn
up ill different terms, and impressed with the
spirit of each of these two courts ; the sense
of tiie engagement being this : that as far .-is tlie
Fren.di limited themselves to the occupation of
'llaiiover, and did not exceed the number of thirty
thoiiHiiiid men in that part of Germiiny, the two
courtM would rem.rii inactive, and keep themselves
to the u/'i/u qui. Hut if the Freinh trops were
augmented, and if the other fjermaii states were
invaded, lliey would then concert measures to
resist such a fresh invasion, and if ihis resistjince
\A^ the progress of the French towards the north
prtHlueeil a new war. that ihen they should unite
their forces and sustain in common the Conflict
aeiiially begun. The emjieror in that case placi-d,
without any re.MTve, all I he resources of his empire
at the disposiiioii of Prussia. This lamentable
i-ontr..ct, signed on the 24th of May, 1804, by
I'riis'ii, was at the same time aceompanied by
a host of restrictions. The kin^j, in his declaration,
8; i ', that he di<l not intend to suffer biniNelf to be
drawn into war iijioii any frivolous ground; that
tliUH it would not happen from nn angmentaiion of
a few hundred of men to the army occupying
Hanover, sent there by the annual and regular
recruiting iif that army ; that it would not happen
from an accidental collision with one of the smaller

German powers, that so carried itself as to brave
a rupture with France, but only with the formal
iiiteniiun of France to extend herself in Germanv
inaiiiftsted by a real and considerable augmenta-
tion of the Fn nch forces in Hanover. As to the
yonng eniper'^r, he carried into his eiigageiiieni no
restrictions of such a nature. He obliged himself
simply anil purely to join his arms lo Prussia
in case of war ' .

• This treaiy, under the form of a double declaration,
must not be confounded with the secret treaty of i'otsdam,
concluded on the 3rd of November, I8U5, while Naiiuleon
was niarcli ng from Ulm to Austerlilz, and whicii was
» re ng frdiii Prussia in consequence ot tlie violation of the
territories of AiLspiich and Hareuth. That which is now
al tided to has never l)een |lubli.^hed in any diplomatic col-
lectji n, and it remains unknown even in France. In order
that it may lie ki.oun it is pnli.ished liere. to clear up an
important act, in tlie abaniloninei:t of the alliance of France
by Prussia.

Declaration of the Court of Prussia.

" We, Frederick-Willi'am III. &c. &c.

"The war which is rekindled between France and Eng-
land having exposed the norili of Germany to a foreign in-
vasion, the coiisei|iiences which are the result of the present
moment, liolh as reganis our own Kovernment and that of
our neigi hours, have excited all our solicitude; but those
more pariicularly which it is possible may yet happen, have
required us to weigh and to prepare in lime such means as
may opeiate in remedying them.

" However painful may be the occupation of Hanover,
and its indirect consequence,— the closing of the rivers ; after
having exhausted, in order to put an end to such a state of
things, every means short of war, we have resolved to make,
for peace, the saciitice ol' not leturiiing to the past, and of
not proceeding lo active meaiures, until new usurpations
shall have compelled us

'• But il' ill .spite of the solemn promises given by the
French government, it extends beyond the i7«/K quo of the
present moment, its enterprises against the security of any
of the states of the norih, we are decided to oppose it with
the powers that i rovidence has placed in our hands.

" We ha>e made to France this solemn declaration, and
France has accepted it; liut it is, ahoxe all, towards liis
majesi) the emperor of i.11 the Kussias, that conhrtence and
friendship make it our duty to express ourselves; and we
have had the satisfaction to be convinced that our resolu-
tions weie :ii absolute accordance with the principles of our
august al.y, and that he hinisell was deiermined to sn|>port
them wiih ourselv. s. In consequence, we have come lo an
agreement with his imperial majesty under the following
heads : —

" 1. Vr'e will oppose ourselves in concert to every new en-
trenchment of the French government upon the states of
the norih. strangers to its quarrel wiih Kn^fland.

•' 2. For this end we will bcyiii to bestow a continual and
severe attenMon upon Ihe preparations of the republic. We
will lix a vigilant e.\e on the dilTerent bodies of troops that
she may bring into Germany ; and if the numbers be aug-
mented, we will put ouiselves, without loss of time, in a
posture to make that pr..icciion respected which it is in-
tended to a'cord lo the weaker states.

" 3 In ease of a new usurpation of power happening, we
think iliHt, wiih an advermiry so dangerous, half measures
would he unfortunate; it will be with forces proportionable
to the immense po*er of the republic that we shall march
au'ainst her. Thus, in iicr-epting with acknowledgments Ihe
olTer ol our august ally, to join our troops immediately w iih
an army of forty or (ifiy thousand men. we may not reckon
less iipim the anterior mipulations of the treaty of alliance
between RuKsi.i and Prussia — itipnlalions which so bind
the destinies of the two empires, that, should iho existence

The treaty between THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Russia and Prussia.

This treaty, so singular in form, was to remain
secret, and, in fact, it continued completely un-

of one be in question, the efforts of the other will know no
limit.

"4. To determine the moment when the casus foederis s.hM
exist, it i3 needful to take an extended view of affairs in
their true spirit. The small states of the empire situated
beyond the Weser, may possibly offer passing scenes which
are repugnant to these prituiijles, whether because they are
a territory offering a continual passage to the French troops,
or because their sovereigns are either sold to French interests,
—as with the count de Bentheirn,— or are dependants upon
France on other accounts, as the count dAremberg. 'J he
minute deviations that a proper representation would re-
drcNS. — as at Meppen, where the saiety of nobody was put
to hazard,— are stran^-ers to an agreement, the only motive
of which is security. It is on the banks of the Weser that
the interest becomes of essential consequence, because from
th It point it deals with Denmark, Mecklenburg, and the
Hanseatic towns; and the cnsiis foederis, consequently, will
have oper.ition on the first enterprise of Fiance against any
state of the empire situated on the right of the \V, ser, and
particularly ag;'iiist the Danish provinces and Mecklenburg,
in ihe just expe'tatmn which we hjhe, that his majesty the
king of Denmark will then make, conjointly with us, a com-
mon cause against the enemy.

'• 5. The enormous marches that the Russian troops will
have to make before joining ours, and the dilhcuUy of their
arriving in time to take a part in decisive conflicts, make
us judge that it will be most convenient to adopt, for the
different descriptions of troops, a different mode of transport.
Thus, while the Kubsian cavalry and artillery march through
our provinces, it seems prefcralile thai the infantry and can-
non should pass by sea, and be di.semharked in some port of
Pomerania, of Mecklenburg, or of Holstein, according to the
operations of the enemy.

" 6. Immediately after the commencement of hostilities,
or sooner, if the convenience of so doing is acknowledged by
the two contracting courts, Denmark and Sa.xony "ill be
invited to adhere to this agreement, and to co-operate by
means proportioned to the power of each state; and in the
same way will be invited all the princes and states of the
north of Germany that, by the proximity of their territories,
would feel bound to participate in the advantages of the
present arraiigcnient.

" 7. From this time we bind ourselves not to lay down
our arms, or to enier into an accommodation with the
enemy, but with the consent of his imperial maje-ty, and
after a previnus agreement with him, full of confiilcnce in
our august ally, who has entered into similar engagements
towards ns.

" 8. Afier having attained the end which has been pro-
posed, we reserve ourselves to come to an understanding
wiih his imperial majes'y upon the ulterior measures to be
taken, for the object of purging the north of Germany en-
tirely of the presence o' foreign troofis; and to assure our-
selves of this hajipy re.sult in a stable and secure manner;
and in advising an order of things which will no more ex-
pose Germany to the inconveniences from which it has
suffered since the eommencemeni of the existing war.

" Ibis declaration is to be exchanged against another
signed by his imperial majesty of Russia, and conceived in
the same sense; we promise on our faith and royal word, to
fulfil to the letter the engagements into which we have here
entered.

" In the faith of which we have signed these presents
with our hand, and have affixed our royal seal.

" Done at Berlin, on the 2^tll of May, in the year of grace
1804, and in the eighth of our reign.

(Signed) " FREnr.RICK-WlLLIAM.

(Counter-signed) " Harden berg."

Counter-dectaraliiin of Uussia.

"The critical situation of Ihe north of Germany, and the

burthen imposed upon its commerce, the same as on that of

known to France. Scarcely was it concluded,
when the king of Prussia, iierjietually running from

all the north, by the presence of the French troops in the
electorate of Hanover; and, further, the imminent danger
that exists in providing for the tranquillity of the states
which, in this part of the continent, are not yet subjugated
under the joke of France, having excited all our solicnude,
we are compelled to apply ourselves in search of the proper
means to calm our apiireheiisinns in this regard.

" The invasion of the electorate of Hanover, it not having
been possible to jirevent, ai.d circumstances having iin-
hap|iily hindered in time its deliveiante from the presence
of tlie French troops, we have judjied it convenient not
to adopt, at the present moment, any active measuie, while
the French government shall limit itself to the occupation of
the Germ in dominions of his Britannic majesty, and aiso
not [.erinit the French armies to pass in Germany, the line
behind which they now confine themselves.

•' His majesiy, the king of Prussia, whom we have
acquainted, in all confidence, with our fears, and the mea-
sures which appear to us indispensable to ward off the
danger that we aiitclpate, having expressed his assent
to our views, as well as his desire to concur in objects
so Salutary, and to oppose himself to new aggressions of
the French government upon the other states of the em-
pire, strangers to its quarrel wiih England, we have fallen
into accord with his aforesaid majesty on the following
points :—

" 1 The acknowledged audacity and activity of the
French government, making it undertake and execute its
designs spontaneously, it is absolutely necessary to watch
over the preparations winch il will employ for the com-
pletioii of its ilesigns on the north of Germany. We shall,
therefore, keep a vigilant eje on the bodies of troops which
occupy these countries, and in case their number should be
augmented, we shall feel urged, without loss of time, to
place ourselves in a posture proper to make respected the
protection which it is i iir intention to grant to those states
that, by their weakness, know not bow to sustain them-
selves against the dangers with which they are threatened.

"2. To prevent all uncertainty about the period of
placing in activity the means destined both on one part and
the other, and berealter announced, to preserve Germany
from every invasion by foreigners, it is agreed upon before
any thing besides, between ourselves and his Prussian
majesty, to determine the casus foederis of the present
arrangement. To this effect it is agreed to consider it as
having ceased at the first trespass the French troops,
stationed in the electoral stales of bis Britannic majesty,
shall commit upon the adjacent territories.

'•3. The casus foederis teasing, his majesty, the king of
Prussia, finding himself nearer the theatre of events, will
not wait the union of the respective bodies of troops here-
after specified ill order to act, but will commence ope-
rations as soon as he shall have received intelligence that the
French forces have passed the line which they at present
occupy in the north of Germany.

" 4. All the means of which we propose to ourselves the
employment for this same object, will be found ready to be
placed in activity, we engasie ourselves in the most formal
manner to march to the succour of his Prussian majesiy at
the first signal that will be given, and with all the celerity
possible.

" 5. The forces which will be employed on one part for
the defence of the rest of the north of Germany, will
amount to forty thousand regular troops, and will be
augmented to fifty thousand, if required. His majesty, the
king of Prussia, obliges himself, on his side, to employ for
the same purpose an equal number of troops of the line.
When once milita-y operations are commented, we bind
ourselves not to lay down our arms, nor enter into any
aciomniodation with the common enemy, without the con-
sent of his Prussian majesty, after a previous agreement
with him ; it being understood that his majesty, Ihe king of
Prussia, imposes the obligation equally upon himself,

April.

The treaty between Prussia
and Russia.

THE EMPIRE.

Conduct of Austria in the affair
of the duke d'Engbien.

one side to the other, to avoid all danger of war,
dreaded, after fixing himself to the side of Russia,
that it should be too openly visible on the part of
France. The hasty way in which he had ceased
to speak of an alliance with France, and the
deep silence kept about the aftair of the duke
d'Enshien, appeared to him dangerous to peace.
He th'-refore charged M. Haugwitz to make to-
wards Fi-ance a solemn declaration of neutrality,
absolute on the part of Prussia, while the French
troops occupying Hanover should not be aug-
mented. In consequence, M. Haugwitz broke
forth suddenly from his constrained silence with
M. Lafo rest, declared to him that the king engaged
his word of honour to remain neuter, whatever
would happen, if the number of French in Hanover
did not surpass thirty thousand. He added, tiiat
this was worth nearly as much as the unconcluded
alliance, because the immobility of Prussia, certain
under the conditions that he stated, insured that
of the continent. The significancy of this declara-
tion, for which at the moment it was made there
was little motive, surprised M. Laforest, but re-
vealed nothing to him. Still it appeared to him
very singular. Frederick-William believed by
this means that he had put himself in the position
he wished with all the world. There is no prospect
more melancholy to behold than incapable weak-
ness embarrassed in a political labyrinth, and
committing itself on the strength of a wish to ward
off blows from every side, as a feeble bird caught in
a net is obliged to flutter in order to get fi'ee.

Thus were laid, through the ambiguous policy of
the king of Prussia, and under the strong impres-
sion produced by the event at Vincennes, the foun-
dations of the third coalition. Russia, delighted to
have secured Prussia, began at the same time to
turn her eyes towards Austria, and forced herself
to humour this power a little n)ore than she had
ever done before. She had easy means in her

neither to lay down his aims, nor to enter into an accommo-
dation with the common i-neray, without our consent, after
a previous agreement with us.

"6. Immediately after tlie commencement of hostilities,
or iooner, if the convenience of the measure is recognised
between the two contrariinR courts, the king of Denmark
and the elector of Saxnny will be invited to adhere to tliis
affreemeni, and to co-operate in it by the mrans proportioned
to ihrir reipertive resources, and as well all the other
princes and states of the north of Germany, that by the
proximity of their territories would participate in the benefits
of the prrsrnt arr,in(:t;nient.

" 7. After the i-nd thus proposed shall have been obtained,
we reserve to ourselves the coming to an tindcrstandinf;
with his Prussian majenty upon the ulterior measures to be
taken, for the purpose of purging entirely the German terri-
tory of the presence of foreiKn troops, and to insure for the
future that happy result in the most stable manner, and in
advisin); an order of ihiuRs which shall no more expose
Germany to the inconveniences from which it has suflered
since the commencement of the existing war.

"This declarxtinn is to be exchanged against an act
signed by his majesty the king <if Prussia, and conceived in
the same sense: we promiie on our fallh and imperial word
to fuini to the letter the engagements into which we have
thus entered.

" In faith of which we hnve signed It with our own hand,
Mid have caused the keal of our empire to iie allixed.

"Given at St. Petemiiurg. the • • • of the year 1804,
and the fourth year of our reign."

hands : it was to say no longer the same thing as
France, in speaking of the questions yet pending
in the empire, but, on the contrary, exactly that
which the court of Vienna said itself.

It is needful to make known now in what manner
that event had been taken at Vienna which so pro-
foundly troubled the courts of Berlin and St. Pe-
tersburg. If there had been a court in Germany
that the violation of the Germanic territory, by
the carrying off the duke d'Enghien, should have
affected more deeply than another, it was that of
Austria. Nevertheless, the only ministers wIm on
this occasion conducted themselves with modera-
tion were those of the emperor. There did not
escape from them a single word offensive to the
French goverimient, no step of which it had any
reason to complain. However, the chief of the
empire, the natural guardiah of the safety and
dignity of the Geriuaii territory, was responsible ;
there was nobody to be found there to lift a voice
against the act committed in the grand duchy of
Baden. It may even be said, being exactly cor-
rect, that all would have been in place, if the tran-
quillity shown in the court of Austria in this matter
had been vi&ible at St. Petersburg, and if the like
promptitude in remonstrance had manifested itself
at Vienna. No one would have been surprised if
the emperor had deniaiided, with moderati)n, but
with firmness, some explanations of the first consul
upon the violation of territory, which must fill Ger-
many with uneasiness. It was not this, but even
the direct contrary which occurred. They were
young and inexperienced at Petersburg, and above
all, a long way from France ; they were sage and
full of dissinmlation at Vienna, and above all, very
near the conqueror of Marengo. They were silent.
M. Cobentzel, more prompted by M. de Cliam-
pagiiy than provoking the subject himself, said
that he comprehended the hard necessities of po-
litics, and that he regretted in good truth an event
adapted to nourish in Europe fresh comi)lications ;
but that the cabinet of Vieima would watch, as far
as that was concerned, with more zeal than ever
the maintenance of continental peace.

In order to comiirchcnd tlie conduct of the
cabinet of Vieima under these circumsiances, it is
necessary to be aware that in waiting the favourable
opportunity to regain that which it had lost — an
o|)portunity which it would not willingly obtain
through any impruilence of its own — it regarded
with anient curiosity all that was going on at
Boidogne, forming very natural wishes that tiie
French armies might be engulphed in the ocean,
but would not on any account draw them to-
wards the Danube, because it knew that their su-
periority lienceforward was irresistible. In the
interval it profited by the occupation that the ma-
ritime war created in France, to resolve at its own
will the questions which had not been setlleil in the
ircezof 180.3. 'J'hese questions, left in suspense for
want of time, were, as may be reiiietiilieied, the
following : the j)r()portions to be established be-
tween the catholic; and protestant voices in the
college of princes ; the niainti-nance or siiiipresaion
of the immediate nobility; the new dirictioii of the
circles lor the police, and tlu; mainten.ince of order
in Germany ; the reorganization of the German
church ; the sequestration of the movable ami
immovable property attached to tiie ecclesiastical
Nn

546 Policy pursued by Austria. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Violence committed in
the German states.

1804.
April.

principalities wliieh were secularized ; and five
other matters of less moment.

The most serious of these questions, from its
consequences, was the delay caused in the reor-
ganization of the circles, because from this delay
tliere resulted a defect of police, which left every
thing in the hands of the strongest. France being
at the moment entirely occupied with the maritime
war, and separated besides from Russia, had not
any external influence capable of carrying succour
to the oppressed states, and the empire began to
fall on all sides into anarchy.

At the close of the negociation of 1803. Austria
had sequestrated the dependenciesof the secularized
principaliiies, which ibund themselves under her
iiands. It will be remembered, that these old
ecclesiastical principalities ha<l some of their funds
deposited in the bank of Vienna, others had lands
in the midst of different German states. These
funds and lands naturally belonged to the princes
who had been indemnified. Austria, alleging no-
body could tell what feudal law maxim in lier de-
fence, had sequestrated more than 30,000,000f. of
capital placed in the bank of Vienna or in the
funds. The houses of Orange and of Bavaria sus-
tained the gi-eatest losses. Austria placed no limit
to her attempts. She treated with a crowd of
petty princes to get from them certain possessions
which they had in Swabia, and thus managed to
obtain for herself a position on the shores of the
lake of Constance. She purchased the town of
Lindau of the prince of Bretzeheim, and cede<l to
him estates in Bohemia, with the promise of a
virile vote in the diet. She treated wiih the house
of Koenigseck, in order to obtain, upon the liice
condition.s, territiu-ies situated in the same country.
Lastly, she laboured in the diet for the creation of
new catholic votes, in order to raise to an equality
the protestant and catholic voices. The miij(u-ity
of the diet not seeming disposed to meet her wishes,
she menaced it with the interruption of all delibe-
rations, until this question of the proportion of the
suffrages was resolved conformably to her wishes.

The German princes, aggrieved by the violence
of Austria, avenged themselves by conmiitting simi-
lar violences upon states more feeble than their
own. Hesse and Wirtemberg invaded the lands
of the immediate nobility, avowing loudly their
de.signs of incorporation. The innnediate nobility
of Franconia addressed themselves to the imperial
chamber of Wetzlar, in order to obtain a decree
against the usurpations with which they were
threatened ; the Hessian government had the no-
tices defaced everywhere, containing the judgment
given by the imperial chamber ; thus affording an
exantple of the most extraordinary contempt for
the tribunals of the empire. They did not restrain
themselves to these excesses, they refused to pay
the pensions of the clergy, despoiled of llieir
goods by the secularizations. The duke of Wir-
temberg would pay none. In the midst of this
reciprocal violence, each indulged in tlie hope to
secure impunity for himself. They made no com-
plaint of the sequestrations of Austria, because she
had suffered them to execute all they cho.se to un-
dertake against the immediate nobility, or against
the unhappy ))ensioners thus deprived of their
bread. B.ivaria, the worst treated of all by
Austria, avenged herself upon the prince arch-

chancellor, whose electorate had been transferred
from Mayence to Ratisbon. Seeing him with pain
upon the territory of Ratisbon, which she had for
a long time desired for herself, she followed him
with threats, and took from him a number of es-
tates, filling him with a thousand uneasinesses for
his very existence. Prussia imitated these things
in dealing with Westphalia, and did not remain in
arrear of Austria or Bavaria in her usurjialions.

Two states only conducted themselves with jus-
tice : first, the arclichancellor prince, who, owing
his existence to the arrangements of 1803, applied
himself to make them respected by the members of
the confedei-ation. Secondly, the elector of Saxony,
who, disinterested in the midst of-i)retensions of all
kinds, remained immovable in his old princii)ality,
without having lost or acquired any thing, voting
in a dry manner, that the rights of all should be
respected by moderation and honesty.

All the culpable concessions made to Austria,
in permitting the oi)pression of .some that slw
might permit ojjpression to others, had not dis-
armed her, particularly in regard to Bavaria.
Believing herself strong enough to be no more
under the necessity of humouring any thing, she
began to take up, cause and fact, the suj)poi't of
the immediate nol>ility, of which she was the
natural and interested protector, by reason of their
aid in recruiting her arniies.

It lias been already seen, that the immediate
nobility, sustained by the emperor, and not the
territorial prmces, whose states surrounded their
lands, did not owe these last any military contin-
gents. Those of the iidiabitants who bad a laste
for arms, enrolled themselves in the Austrian
troops, and there were |)rocured in Franconia
alone, more than two thousand recruits annnaby,
appreciable much more by their quality than by
their number. They were, in effect, true Ger-
mans, very superior to the other soldiers of Aus-
tria, for their intelligence, bravery, and warlike
qualities. They furnished all the' sub-officers of
the ini)>erial armies, and formed, in some sort, a
German skeleton corps for the im|)erial army,
in which Austria placed her recruits of all kinds,
from subjects comprehended within the lindts of
her vast territories. Thus she was resolved, on
this point, to brave every thing, except a war with
Fiance, S(i0ner than yield. Without making her-
self uneasy about the re|)roaches she might merit
for her abuse of power, she referred to the aulic
council, as acts of violence belonging exclusively
to the imperial police, the infiingements committed
against the immediate nobility; and, with a promp-
titude seldom noticed in any Germanic proceeding,
a provisional decision was given, qualified de con-
scrratorivtm, in the constitutional language of the
em|iire, confiding the execution to four confc-
derateil states : Saxony, Baden, B(»liemia, and
Ratisbon. Austria marched eighteen battalions
by Bohemia on one side, and by the Tyrol on the
other, and threatened Bavaria with an immediate
invasion, if she did not instantly withdraw her
troo])s from the different lordships which she had
entered. It is easy to comprehend that in su( h a
situation, Austria had much to do to manage the
first consul, because, although occupied on the sea-
shore, he was not a man to draw back upon any
point. Besides, the irritation to which he had

1804.
April,

THE EMPIRE.

Unbec»mins reply of France to
the Russian iiute.

547

been excited, rendered liiin more susceptible and
formidable tiuin usual. It is that which explains
the reserve of the Austrian diplomatists in the
affair of the duke d'Eiighien, and the real or ap-
l>are'it indifference that they exhibited under this
serious circjimstanee.

We have already noted the dispositions which
had arisen in the mind of the first consul out of
the attacks directed against his person. The
benefits which he had been gratified in heaping
upon the emigrants had not disarmed their hatred.
The respect which he had t s'ified for Europe liad
not calmed its jealousies. Irritiited in the highest
degri-e to have obtiiined so small a return, it had
effected a sudden mental revolution, and he was
disposed to ill-treat all whom he had most spared
until then. The answer to the manifestations
about to be related was hardly to bo exjiected;
but after liaving to deplore this wild wandering
of his p.xssions, there will be fresh occasion to
admire the gnindeur of his character.

The court of Prussia had neutralized itself, and
had ceased to speak of an alliiince. The French
were silent towards it; but the first consul severely
reprimanded -M. Laforest for having too faithfully
i-eporied in his despatches the imjiressions on the
public mind at Berlin. As to the court of Russia,
the reply was inst:intaneous and cniel. General
Heilouvi'le had orders to quit St. Petersburg in
forty-eight hours, without alleging any other reason
for his departure than that of health, a reason in
customary use with diplomatists, in order to lead
others to guess that which they do not choose to
tell. He was to leave all in ignorance whether
he went away for a certain time only or for ever.
M. de RayuKval alone continued to reside at the
Russian court, taking upon him the character of
eharje d'affaires. There had only remained at Paris,
after the departure of M. Miirkoff, an agent of the
Hame grade, in M. Oubril. The fii-st consul sent,
ill reply to the Rus.sian despatch, one which was
exeeeiliiigly giievous to the emperor. This reply
recalled t<» recollection, that France, having ob-
served, until the |)resent time, the best conduct
towards Russia, and liaving made her an equal
parliiker in all the more important affairs of the
coniinent, did not meet a return on her part; tliat
»lic found the Russian agents, without exception,
malevolent and hosiile ; that, c-iitrary to the last
treaty of peai;e, wliicli obliged the two courts to
r.'li-Jiin from creating embarrassments towards
each other, the cabinet of St. Pctersburgh ac-
credited French emigrants to foreign nations, and
covei*ed coiispiratorH, under the pretext of Russian
iiaiioniility. from the {mlicc of France; that this
was to violate at the same time the letter and
Hpirit of treaties; that if Russia desired war, shu
had only to elate her wish frankly; that the first
roiisul, who had no desire of the kind, on the
other hand, hid no fear of it, beciiuse the recol-
lection of the biHt campaign bore not any thing
Very alarming in its coii8o<|ueiices (this allusion
waa to the disjister of Suwarrow) ; that relatively
to wli.it liad pa■^sed at Uadeii, RiisHia constituted
hernelf, upon very slight grounds, the guarantee
of the Germanic territoiy, but her title to inter-
fere there was very good gmund for contesting;
that ill any case, France had used the legitimate
right of defence against the plots concocted un

her frontier, in the sight and with the knowledge
of certain German governments, u))on which she
had heaped favours, and been repaid by the black-
est ingratitude; that as to the rest, she had ex-
l)lained to them, and she would explain with them
alone, and that, in her place, Russia would herself
have done as much; because, if she had been in-
formed that the assassins of Paul I. were united
only a march distant from her frontier, and within
her grasp, would she have abstained from going to
arrest them ' \

The irony was cruel towards a prince who had
been reproached with not having punished any of
his father's murderers, and who from this circum-
sUince had been accused, besides, though very
nnjustly, of being an accomplice in the horrible
deed. It nmst have proved to the emperor Alex-
ander how imprudent it was in him to intermeddle
in the affair of the duke d'Enj;liicn, when the
death of Paul I. rendered a rejoinder so easy and
terrible.

In i-elation to Germany, Russia having recently
approved the conduct of Austria, and her ground.
of pretension, for fixing on a reference to the
aulic council to decide eonstituii<inal questions, the
first consul declared plainly, that Frnnce thence-
forward separated herself from the Russian diplo-
macy for all that should follow in relation to
German affairs; that she did not admit that the
questions remaining in suspense should be settled
by the aulic council, the tribunal of the emperor

- It is very singular that our autlior slioiild quote from
tliis docun.eiit so briefly. It is dated Paris, May 16, ISO-},
and signed by Talleyrand. It coma ns a cliarge against
England as futile as that which alleged hrr participation
in the wicked design of the count d'Aitois, his brother, and
Georges, to assassinate the flrst consul ; it was perhaps
deemed by M. Thiers so much the etftci of the angry feeling
of those times, that the atrocious fal.-^ehood might be passed
over to lessen the obloquy of the dociinent. The above
passage runs as follows in ihe slaie paper al uded to. It is
too cuiiiius not to place on record litre. After treating ou
other matters at some length it proceeds thus: —

" France requirrs of her (Saxony) to irinove emigraflts
who were in the emplojment of Russia, at a time when the
two countries were ut war, from countries that rendered
thrm>elves conspicuous only hy tleir iii>rit.'ue8, and Russia
iiisist.-i upon maintaining them there ; and the remonstrance
she now makes leads to this que.^tion: //, when England
panned Ihe murder of Paul /., Supposing intelligence to
have been reetived. that the authors of the plot were at a
Ira^'iie Irom the Irontier, would not painn have been taken
to airest tli.in ?"

The reply of Hussia to this part of the document is
also curious. It states that ihe allu.^ion outraged decorum,
and that it can hardly he credited that Fiance should so
violate truth as to allege examples, which were altogether
imiMoper to be mentioned, and thai it should, "in any
ollU'ial document, recall even a (■ ther's deatli to the recol-
leetion of hiH illustrious son, in order to wound his tender
fcelingb; and that it should (contrary loall truth and proba-
bility) rai.^e an accusation against another government, that
France never ceases to calumniate, merely because she is at
war with it."

The document concludes by the avrrment that the in-
decent French note is calculated ti iiiccme the emperor's
just iiKlignation, yet that he is suiieiior lo emotions of
merely a personal nature. Sun ly siicli a itiplomntic note as
the present must lend to -asl meriied di»cicdit upon all
other avermcnia about England Iroin the same dishonest
souice. — Trantlatur.

N 11 2

Austria withdraws her
troops from their
march on Bavaria.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Intrigues relative to ,,..

the Russian inter- .* .V

ference. -^P"^"-

simply, ratlier than of the empife. Tiiat tliese
questions ought, as well as all the others, to be treated
of iu the diet, the supreme body, and the sole de-
pository of the German sovereignty. Thus the
difference of sentiment was complete upon all these
points, the resolutions being as cutting as the lan-
guage.

As to Austria, the first consul had been satisfied
with the indifference that she had shown towards
the victim of Ettenheim. But he saw clearly tliat
they abused at Vienna the impediments which tiie
maritime war seemed to create. He wished tli.it
Austria should be well edified in this respect. He
had two modes of combating Engiaiul, the one
was to meet her, man to man, in the straits of
Dover, the other was to crush her allies on the
continent. At bottom, the second mode was easier
and surer than the first, and although less direct,
could not but be efficacious. If, therefore, Austria
provoked him, he determined, without losing' a
moment, to striUe his camp at Boulogne, and to
enter Germany, because he would not pass the
sea unless lie had disarmed all the open or secret
allies of England. He communicated to the two
Cobentzels, as well to him who was ambissador
at Paris, as to him who directed public affairs at
Vienna, that Bavaria had been the ally of France for
several centuries, and that he would not abandon
her to the ill-feeling of Austria; that if Bavaria
did wrong by attacking tuo hastily the property of
the immediate nobility, Austria, by lier unjust
sequestrations, had forced all the German princes
to indemnify themselves by violence for the vio-
lence to which they had been subjected ; that
Bavaria hail possibly done amiss, but that he
would not suffer her to be crushed with impunity,
and that if Austria did not recall the battalions
which she had drawn together iu Bohemia and the
Tyrol, he was resolved to direct a body of forty
thousand men upon Munich, which should be kept
there as a garrison until Austria withdrew her
troops.

This declaration, precise and positive as it was,
threw the Cobentzels into imspeakable embarrass-
ment. They extricated themselves by fresh ex-
pressions of sorrow upon the unceasing enmity of
which Austria was the object on the part of
France, and the state of deep despair into which
they found themselves reduced. Nevertheless,
Talleyrand atid M. de Champagny insisted, and
it was agreed on both sides, that Bavaria should
evacuate the estates of the immediate nobility,
but that the Austrian troops should first halt
where they were, and should afterwards fiii:illy
retrograde, in order not to commit the dignity of
the emperor, by being too precipitate in their
retreat. The Austrian cabinet gave it to be un-
derstood anew, that if France lent herself to its
wishes relative to the proportion of catholic and
jirotestant voices in the diet, it might be reckoned
upon in all the other circumstances, and parti-
cularly in that which arose upon the occasion of
the note addressed by Russia to the Germanic
diet.

This note was received at Ratisbon by the same
cornier that had taken to Paris the despatches
from St. Petersburg. It grievously embarrassed
the German princes, both as regarded their dignity
and security, because it was a foreign court that

had thus invited them to show themselves alive
to a violation of the Germanic territory, and yet
if they had shown themselves sensible to the vio- |
lation, they would incur to the extreme the re-
sentment of France. In point of fact, they had
not time to send instructions to their ministers at
the diet; but these, presuming upon the disposi-
tions of their respective courts, had appeared
much more disposed to neglect the note, than
to give it any great notoriety. The Prussian
minister, M. Goertz, the same who has already
made a figure iu the Germanic negotiations,
would have been willing to leave the whole matter
lie in obscurity. But the Austrian ministers had
i-eceived their instructions, (tluinks to the proximity
of Vienna,) and played, according to custom, a
double game : finding the note particularly ill-
timed when they were face to face with the French
agents, and promising to get it received when they
were with the agents of Russia, they imagined a
middle term. • They took the note into considera-
tion, but each minister was to refer to his court,
to state at an ulterior time what related to its con-
tents. " You see," said M. Hugel to the Russian
minister, " that we have got your note admitted."
" You see," he said to the French minister, " that
in adjourning the discussion for two months, we
have extinguished it, because in a couple of
months nobody will think any thing more about
this proceeding of the emperor Alexander."

Such was to be finally the fate of this inconsi-
derate proceeding. But to come at the result,
there was still more than one embarrassment to
subdue. The German governments were unwilling
to affront France, of which they were in fear, or
to disoblige Russia, of which power they might
ultimately find they had need. Their ministers
bestirred themselves iu Paris, therefore, to find a
mode of getting out of the difficulty : " Settle it as
you find most convenient, gentlemen," the first
consul observed to them ; " if the discussion oc-
cupies the space of two months, in such a manner
as to arrive officially in France, I will frame a
reply so high, so merciless, that the dignity of the
Germanic body will be cruelly humiliated. It will
remain for you either to suffer this reply, or to
take arms, because I am resolved, in case of
necessity, to begin upon the continent the war
which I wage against England."

M. de Talleyrand, faithful to his common pi'e-
ference for peace, endeavoured to find expedients
for iireventing a ru|)ture. The foreign ministers,
fearing the first consul, finding, on the contrary,
in Talleyrand perfect favour, and a facility, which
liesides did not exclude a haughty carriage, sought
him with assiduity again and again. Among the
most diligent and intelligent was the duke de
Dalberg, nephew of the prince arch-chancellor, pnd
then the minister of Baden in Paris. It was this
])ersonage that Talleyrand made use of to act upon
the court of Baden. After having recalled to the
recollection of this court all it owed to France,
that had so much aggrandized its territories in the
arrangements of 1803, he was made to compre-
hend also all that it might have to dread if war
should break out anew. He engaged, therefore,
to declare at Ratisbon that he had received from
the French government satisfactory explanations,
and that Baden desired, in consequence, that

IS04.
April.

Process of Georges, Pichegru,
and Moreau.

THE EMPIRE.

Suicide of general Pichegru.

no result slmuld follow the Russian note. Whilst
M. Talleyrand executed such a declaration uiuler-
liand, the cahinet of St. Petersburgh, relying upon
tlie nlatiiinship of the house of Baden with the
imperial family of Russia, strove to modify this
declaratinn to such a degree iis to render it iu-
etticiont. But France being nearer and stronger
prevailod. As to the rest of the aflfair, two months
passed over before the opening of the di.scussions;
drafts of the documents were sent from Carlsriilie
to Paris, and from Paris to Carlsruhe, incessantly
nioditicd, and there was no loss in soon finding a
conv.-niint solution.

The fii-st consul did not much trouble himself
with these comings and goings, leaving all that
was to be done to liis minister for foreign affairs.
He had offimlid Russia, and obliged Austria to
keep herself quiet. He had made Prussia uneasy
by his coldness; as to the diet of Ratisbon, he
treated it as the i-epresentative of a body fallen
into senility, in spite of all which he had done to
renew its youth ; and he was j)repared either
not to reply, or to give a very humiliating an-
swer. All tlie.se (|uestions, raised out of France by
the catastrophe of Vincemies, had scarcely turned
hi.s attention from those at home that the existing
niom>-nt liad seen reach a real crisis.

Altliougli, in a few days, the impression pro-
duced by the death of the duke d'Enghien had
received through time the attenuation of im-
pression that even the greatest incident soon
experiences, still there remained a permanent
source of agitation in the process of Pichegru,
Georges, and Moreau. It was, in effect, a vexa-
tious, but iiieviuible necessity, to compel the ap-
pearance ill a court of justice of so many per-
sonages of different political cliisses. Some, as
M. de Riviere and M. de Polignac, were dear to
the old French ai'istocracy ; others, as Moreau,
cherished by all who loved the glory of France;
and these were to make their api)earance in a
court of justice, in the midst of the |>ublic curiosity
strongly exciteil, in the midst of the abuse and
railing of the malevolent, always prompt to draw
from tlie smallest circumstances, iiiteri>retations
the most subtle and absurd. But it was im-
periously necessary that justice should be rendered,
and this process trouble, fur one or two months
more, the ordinary calm of the first consuls
governTnont. An incident, altogether unforeseen,
added to the sombre and sinister aspect of the
existing circumstances. Pichegru, the prisoner of
the first consul, at fii-st dittideut of his generosity,
and with ditticiilty believing in the rtffers of his
clemency, which .M. Real had carried to him, had
soon been reassured of their sincerity, and had
given himself up with confidence to the idea of
preserving his life, and of recovering his honour
by founding a grand colony in Cayenne. The offers
of the fii>t consul were sincere, because, in his
determination to strike only at the royalists, he
had wishe<l to show favour to Moreau and i'iclie-
(^•u. M. Real, incapable of an ill-feeling, had, in
following up this important business, another mis-
fortune. He had arrived too late at Vincennes ;
he now appeared too seldom in the prison of
PicliL'gru, where the business of the |>roces8
Rcarc(;ly required him, seeing that he could hope
to obtain notliing in the way of information from

a man so firm and concentrated as this old general
of the republic. Absorbed in a thousand cares,
M. Real neglected Pichegru, who hearing nothing
more said of the propositions of the first consul, and
learning the sanguinary execution at ^'incennes,
believed that he had to reckon for nothing the
clemency which had been offered and jiromised.
Death was not that which cost this soldier the
more painful feeling; it was the winding up, nearly
forced upon him, of the culpable intrigues in which
he had been engaged when deviating from the
right path in 1797; "'1*1 then, too, he must appear
between JMoreau and Georges; one he had com-
promised, the other, to whom he ha<l entrusted his
honour, was about to figure at his side in a royalist
conspiracy. All the denunciations which he had
borne at the epoch of the 18th of Fnietidor, and
that he had repelled with feigned indignation, were
now found to be justified. He lost with his life
the melancholy remains of the honour already so
compromised. This unfortunate man j)referred
immediate death, but death without the shame
that must be the result of a public display. This
feeling proves that he was worth a little more than
his former conduct might lead lo be supposed. He
had borrowed from M. Real the works of Seneca.
One night, after having read for several hours,
and having left the volume open at a jiassage where
it treated of a voluntary death, he strangled him-
self by means of a silk cravat, which he had
twisted into a cord, ,and a billet of wood, of which
he had made a lever; towards the morning, the
jailor, hearing some noise in his chamber, entered,
and found him suffocated, his face red, as if he
had been struck by apo|)lexy. The medical men
and magistrates called in, liad not the smallest
doubt as to the cause of his death, and they placed
it on evidence perfectly satisfactory to all i)ersous
of good faith.

lint there is no proof clear enough for the spirit
of party, resolved to credit a calumny or to pro-
jiagate it, without giving it credit at all. It was
suddenly spread abroad among the royalists, who
were naturally pleased in imputing all sorts of
crimes to the government, and by the idle, who,
without malice, love to see in the jjrogress of
events more complications than they really possess,
that Pichegru had been strangled by the myrmi-
dons of the first consul. This catastrophe, styled
that of the Temple, was the complement of that
styled the catastrophe of Vincennes; one was the
successor of the other. The character of the new-
Nero thus rapidly develoi)ed itself. After the
example of the Roman jjrince, he passed from
good to evil, from virtue to crime, almost without
the transition. As it was needful for those who
gave themselves the troidjle to state a motive for
their falsehoods, to lay down the explanation of
such a crime, they said, that not hoping to convict
Pichegru, he had been assassinated, becau.se liis
presence at the trial was required for the justifica-
tion of the others who were accused.

This was the most absurd as well ns most odious
of invented calumnies. If there had been one of
the accused whose presence at the trial was neces-
sary for the interest of the first consul, it was
Pichegru. Personally, Pichegru could not pass
for a rival to b ■ dreaded, since his well-known
junction with the royalist party had lost him

550

Conflict of political
opinions.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

A change to monarchi-
cal opinions in the
public.

1804.
April.

utterly in the opinion of the public; besides, the
actual depositions of all the accused of every
party, equally boj-e him down. The man to be
feared, if either of them was, through his yet un-
tarnished glory and the difficulty of convicting
him, was Mnrean; and if there had been a useful
accuser against Mnreau, it was Pichegru, who had
served as the link between the royalists and re-
publicans. In fact, if Pichegru had been brought
to trial, he would have been unable to deny his
connexion with Georges or with Moreau ; unable
either to exiilain or deny these, he would have
inevitably connected Moreau with the royalists,
and thus covered him with merited confusion.
Pichegru was, therefore, an immense loss to the
prosecution. Lastly, to commit a crime to deliver
liimself from a dreaded rival, it was Moreau, not
Pichegru, whom it would be necessary thus to
place beyond the reach of the prosecution. The
accusation, therefore, was as stupid as it was
atrocious, yet it was not the less admitted as a
fact by the chatterers in the royalist saloons, that
the first consul, in order to disembarrass himself
of Pichegru, had caused him to be strangled.
This unworthy accusation promptly fell to the
ground, but in the meanwhile it troubled the
public mind; and the hawkers of false news, in
repeating it, administered to the perfidiousness of
the inventors. This new misfortune awoke again
for some days the painful impressions already pro-
duced by the conspiracy of the emigrant i)rinces.
Still such impressions could not be durable. If
enlightened persons, friends of the first consul,
jealous of his glory, nurtured in their hearts irre-
concileable discontents, the mass of the people felt
that they were able to rejiose without fear under
the shelter of a firm and just power. No one
seriously believed that executions, banishments,
and spoliations, were about to recommence. It
must even be avowed that the men individually
engaged in the revolution, whether they iiad ac-
quired either national ))roperty, public offices, or
an embarrassing celebrity, were secretly satisfied
to see general Bonaparte separated from the
Bourbons by a foss filled with the blood royal.

The sensations produced by these political events
were confined then to a number of persons every
day more limited. Tlie extraordinary participation
that tlie nation had taken in public affairs during
the revolution^ had given place to a species of dis-
regard arising at the same time from lassitude and
confidence. In the first times of the consulate, all
eyes were fixed upon the government with a cer-
tain anxiety, but souu, seeing it so able and fortu-
nate, each giving himself up to security and repose,
returned to tlie care of his private affairs, long
neglected during a stormy revolution, that had
overturned at the same time property, connnerce,
and industry. Of the masses, there remained at-
tentive to the public eveiits of the day only those
classes whi<-li had sufficient leisure and intelligence
for occupyiu'^ themselves with state affairs, and the
interested of every party, emigrants, priests, ac-
quirers of national property, the military, and per-
sons holding places.

But in this part of the public the impressions
were divided. If some declared the act connnitted
in regard to the duke d'Enghien to be abominable,
others found not less abominable the plots so un-

ceasingly renewed against the person of the first
consul. These Siiid, that the royalists, in order to
recover the government, of which they were in-
capable and unworthy, rendered liable to destruc-
tion government of every kind in France ; that the
first consul dead, nobody would be able to retain
the reins of power in a manner sufficiently strong,
that all would fall again into anarchy and blood-
shed ; that it was all well done to show severity
in order to discourage the wicked and imprudent ;
that the royalists were incorrigible ; that, covered
with benefits by the first consul, they neither knew
how to be grateful nor even resigned ; that he had
not missed, in order to finish with them, to make them
tremble for once, it was thus that they reiterated
their opinions in the circles ground the govern-
ment, or that the heads of the army expressed
themselves, tlie administration, the magistracy, the
members of the senate, tribunate, and legislative
body. Even the impression i)ro(luced by tlie death
of the duke d'Enghien beginning to be effaced,
things neiirly similar were said by peaceable dis-
interested persons, who desired that they should
be finally left to re])Ose under shelter of the power-
ful arms which at that time governed France.

From this confiict of opinions there s|>rung in-
stantaneously a new idea, soon propagated with the
rapidity of lightning. The royalists, considering
the first consul as the sole obstacle to their designs,
hiid wished to strike him down, hoiiing that the
government would wholly perish wiiii him. '• Very
well," it was said, " we must defeat their criminal
hopes. This man whom they desired to destroy
must be made king or emperor, in order that the
hereilitary succession may add to his power, ensure
him natural and immediate successors, and thus,
from the crime connnitted against his person lie-
coming useless, peojile will be less tempted to com-
mit it." Thus it may be seen that the return to-
wards monarchical opinions had for some years
been rapid. From five directors nominated for
five years, they had passed to the idea of three
consuls nominated for ten years ; then from the
idea of three consuls, to that of one consul, iiaving
the power during life. In sjicli a course they
were unable to stop until after having passed the
last step, in other words, retnrned to liereditary
power. It sufficed for such an end that the least
impress should be given to the public mind. This
impress the royalists were chargeable with making
themselves, by desiring to assassinate the first
consul ; and they thus gave no more than a very
common exhibition, because most frequently tlicy
are the real enemies of a government, who, by
their imprudent attacks, make it proceed in too
i-apid a manner.

In a comparative moment, whether in the senate,
the legislative body, or the tribunate, not only in
Paris, but in the chief places in the departments,
where the electoral colleges were assend)led, or in
the camps spread along the coasts, there was heard
almost spontaneously cried up, tiiis notion of an
hereditary monarchy. This movement of opinion
was natural ; it was also somewhat excited by the
manifestations of all who were desirous of jdeasing;
by the prefects, who sought to testify their zeal ;
by the generals, who wished to draw upon them-
selves the notice of a powerful master ; all well
knowing that in proposing monarchy, they divined

1804.
April.

A change to monarchical opinions
in ibe public.

THE EMPIRE.

Succession of changes in the
French goveniiuent.

551

the secret idea of their master, and that they cer-
tainly did not affront him it' tiiey should by chance
liurry forward the moment fixed upon for that
obj.'ct by his ambition.

Without being dictiited, the language was every
wliere uniform. It was necessary, they said, to
affix a term to hesitation and to false scruples, in
coining to the only institution that was stable, in
otiier words, to hereditary monaichy. While the
royalists hoped to destroy the government and
the revolution at one blow, they would renew their
crimes, and might finish by succeeding. They
Would not begin any more, or at least they would
have A much less interest in beginning aL'ain, when
they saw by the siile of the first consul children or
brethren ready to succeed liim, and the new go-
vernment, like the old, having tlie property of sur-
vivorship in itself. To place a crown on the sacred
and precious head upon which reposed the destinies
of France, was to place there a buckler which
should protect it a;.;ainst the blows of the assassin.
I In protecting that lua 1, all the interests arising
out of the revolution were protected ; the men
committed by their past faults would be saved
from a wmgilinary reaction ; there would be pre-
served to tlie aiqtiirers of national domains all
their property, to the military their ranks, to all
the members of the government their places, to
France the reign of equality, justice, and the
greatness which she had concjuereii. Besides, all
the world, it was adtled, had returned to sound
ideas. Every body had trouble to comprehend
how they had snffi-red themselves to be led away,
by insen-ate theoreticians, to make the vast and
a'.,'eil France a republic like that of Sparta or
Athens. All recognized that in destroying the
monarchy for the republic, they had jjassed the
first an 1 legitimate ohjectsof the revolution of 17S9,
which only went to obtain a reform of abuses, the
abolition of the feudal system, with the moiiitication
of the royal antlu)rity, and not its overturn. That
in UI()2, on the institution of the consulate for life,
a false shame had constrained the lei;islators of
I'r.mce ; today this false shame had piussed away ;
to-ilay the crinjcs of the royalists had served to
open the eyeS of all ; it was necessary to take its
side, and constitute the govennnent by a coni|)lete
and definitive act ; that after all they need only
connect the law to the fact, because in reality gene-
mi Bonaparte was king, absolute king ; and whilst
they decreed royalty to him under its real foiin,
tiny would treat with him, would limit that
royalty, and would by the same stroke add dura-
tion to the government and gnaranlees to liberty.
Such w.xH the language generally held some days
before the unfortunuto scenes which have been
just recounted.

What a spectacle was that of this nation, which,
after having attempted the Han;;uiiiary republic
under the convinlion, the moderate but inert re-
public under the director^-, sudtlenly disgusted with
ft collective and civil governin' nt, dennmded aloud
the hand of a wddier to govern it, showing itself so
much pressed to have one, that it had taken the tni-
fortunatc Joubertin the absince of Bonaparte; then
had run before iln; last on his return from E^ypt,
supplicated him to accept a power which he was
but too impatient to seize, made him consul for ten
years, then consul for life, and finally an hereditary

monarch, provided he would guarantee it by the
vigorous exercise of his power as a soldier against
this anarchy, of which the frightful spectre fol-
lowed it incessjintly. What a lesson for the sec-
taries that had believed, in their pride of delirium,
they should make Fi-diice a republic, because the
era had constituted it demt)cratical ! What time
had it required for this change of ideas ? Only
four years, and a miscarried consi)iracy against an
extraordinary man, to some an object of love, to
others of hatred, to all one of passionate attention.
Then let the depth of this lesson be admired. This
man had become the object of a criminal attempt ;
he had in his tniai committed a sanguinary act ;
and in this same moment it did not fear to raise
him as much as it felt was necessary. It took him
not less glorious, but less pure. 1 1 had taken him
with his genius, it would take him as he was, pro-
vided he was powerful ; so nmeh it wished for
energy on the morrow of great disorders. Have
there not been seen around us in our time affrighted
nations, flinging themselves into the arms of sol-
diers of middling abilities, because they presented
at least the appearance of strength I

At Rome, an old republic, the necessity had
been long felt of a single chief; the inconvenience,
often repeated, of the elective transmission of the
sovereign power, had required several generations,
Ciesar at first, then Augustus after Caesar, and
even Tiberius after Augustus, in order to habituate
the Romans to the idea of monarchical and here-
ditary power. There were not wanted so many
precautions in France, among a people accustomed
tor twelve centuries to a monarchy, and for ten
years only to a republic. A simple accident alone
was necessary to recall from their dream a few
generous spirits who had wandered astray from the
living and hidestructible recollections of an entire
nation.

In every country torn by factions and menaced
by external enemies, the necessity to be governed
and defendeil will bring sooner or later the triumph
of a powerful personage, a warrior, like Ciesar at
Rome, or a wealthy individual, like the Aledicis at
Florence. If the country has for a long time been
a republic, many generations will be needed to
fashion it into a monarchy ; but if the country has
always been a monarchy, and if the lolly of factions
have for an instant snatilied it out ol its natural
position, in order to make an ephemeral republic,
there will be required several years of trouble to
inspire a horror of anarchy, fewer years still to
find the soldier capable of puiting a lerminaticm to
it, and the wi.sli of this soldier, or the blow of a
poignard from his enemies, to make him king or
emperor, antl thus restore the country to its habits,
ami di.ssipatc the dreams of those who had believed
th'y could change human nature by vain decrees,
or oaths vainer still. Rome and Florence, for a
long time republics, ended one in the Cuusars, the
other in the Medici, and it rcquind more than
half a century to place them in tlu ir hands. Eng-
land and Franco, republics for ten years, ended ia
three or four years, the one in Cromwell, the other
in Napoleon.

Thus the revolution, in its rapid re-action upon
itself, came forth in the face of heaven to confess
its errors, one alter another, and to give itself
the most palpable contrudictiuns. Distiuguishiug

Reflections on the change
552 "' government in

France.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

M. Fouche changes sides,
and becomes the advo-
cate of a monarchy.

April.

Still, that when it willed the abolition of the feudal
rej;ime, equality in the sight of the law, uniformity
in justice, the administration and taxation, the
regular intervention of the nation in the govern-
ment of the state, it had not deceived itself, it had
not falsified itself, it had not belied itself to any
one. When it had, on the contrary, desired a
barbarous and chimerical equality, the absence of
every social hierarchy, the continual and tunuilt-
uous presence of the multitude in the government,
a republic after a monarchy of twelve centuries,
the abolition of all religious worship, it had been
foolish and culpable, and it came to make, in
presence of the universe, the confession of its
erratic deeds. But what imports some passing
errors by the side of the immortal truths, which, at
the price of its blood, it left as a legacy to man-
kind ? Even its errors themselves contain usefid
and serious lessons, given out to the world with
incomparable grandeur. Yet, if in this return to
the monarchy, France obeyed the immutable laws
of human society, she had gone fast, perhaps too
fast, according to the usage of revolutions. A
dictatorship, under the title of Protector, had
sufficed for Cromwell. The dictatorship, under
the form of a perpetual consulate, with a power as
extended as his genius, to endure with his life,
ought to have sufficed for general Bonaparte to
accomplish all the good which he meditated; to
reconstruct the old demolished state of society ; to
transmit, after having re-organized it, either to his
heirs, if he had had any, or to those more for-
tunate, one day destined to profit by his labours.
It was, in fact, decreed by the wisdom of Provi-
dence, that the revolution, following up its re-
action upon itself, should go further than the
re-establishment of the monarchical form of go-
vernment, and as far even as the re-establishment
of the ancient dynasty itself. To accomplish this
noble task, the dictatorship, under the form of the
consulate for life, sufficed, therefore, for general
Bonaparte ; and in creating an hereditary mon-
archy, he attempted that which was neither the
best for his moral grandeur, nor the safest for the
grandeur of France. Not that the right was want-
ing to those who would have made of a soldier
a king or an emperor : the nation could, incon-
testably, turn him into what it saw fit to choose,
and to a great soldier rather than to any other
could bestow the sceptre of Charlemagne and of
Louis XIV. But that soldier, in his natural and
simple situation of prime magistrate of the French
republic, had not his equal upon earth, even upon
the most elevated thrones. In becoming an he-
reditary monarch, he placed himself in comparison
with kings great and small, and was their inferior
in one point, that of blood. But this might be only
in the sight of the prejudiced ; he might be below
them in something else. Welcomed in their so-
ciety, and flattered, because he was feared, lie
would be secretly scorned by the meaner of them,
and what is yet more serious, would he not attemi)t
to become king and emperor? to become king of
kings, and head of a dynasty of monarchs, raised
by his new throne ? What gigantic enterjirises to
be undertaken, to which would perhaps succumb
the fortune of France ! What stimulants for an
ambition, already too excited, and which could
only be destroyed by its own excesses !

If, then, in our opinion at least, the institution of
the consulate for life had been a sage and politic act,
the indispensable complement of a dictatorship be-
came necessary ; the re-establishment of the mon-
archy in the person of Napoleon Bonajjarte, was not
a usurjiation, a word borrowed from the slang of the
emigration, but an act of vanity on the part of him
who lent himself to it with too much ardour, and
of the imprudent avidity of some of the new con-
verts to monarchy, in haste to detour this reign of
a moment. Still, if he only acted thus to afford
a lesson to man, we must agree the lesson was
more instructive and more profound, more worthy
of those that Providence gives to nations, when it
was given by this heroic soldier, and by those
republicans recently converted to monarchical
principles, pressed, the one and the other, to
cintlie themselves in purple over the ruins of a
republic of ten years' duration, to support wliich,
they had taken a thou.sand oaths. Unhapi)ily,
France, which had paid with its blood for their
republican delirium, was now exposed to pay with
its greatness for their new monarchical zeal ; be-
cause it was in behalf of that there were French
kings i)lanted in Westphalia, Naples, and Spain,
and that France lost the Rhine and the Al])s for
her boundary. Thus in every thing France was
doomed to serve for the instruction of the uni-
verse; a heavy misfortune, and great glory for any
nation !

It was necessary to have men under each suc-
cessive change, who would charge themselves with
the realization of the ideas impressed upon the
general mind ; in other words, to have jjroper
instruments. One was found for the revolution
which was now preparing, singularly adapted to
the circumstances of the moment. M. Fouche had
thus far, influenced by a remnant of sincerity,
censured the rapidity of action wV.ich drew France
towards the past ; he had even obtained the
favour of madam Bonaparte, by appearing to par-
take in her confused fears ; and he liad, on that
very account, incurred the disgrace of lier am-
bitious spouse. Owing to his playing the ungrate-
ful character of a secret approver, M. Fouch^ had
lost a minister's place '; and he did not desire to
])lay it any longer : he now, therefore, embraced
the o|)posite side. Directing the police sponta-
neously in the pursuit of the late conspirators,
he was again appointed to his post. Seeing the
first consul deeply irritated against the royalists,
he flattered his anger, and pushed him forward in
the immolation of the duke d'Enghien. If the idea
that had been often attributed to the first consul
of concluding a sanguinary treaty with the i-evolu-
tionists, and obtaining the crown at the price (»f a
frightful pledge — if this idea ever entered into the
head of any man of that time, it was most as-
suredly into that of M. Fouche. An applaudcr of
the death of the duke d'Enghien, he was also the
most ardent of the new partisans of the hereditary
succession. He now surpassed Talleyrand, Roede-
rer, and Fontancs, in his monarchical zeal.

The first consul had certainly no need to be

1 Our author has given a different reason for the dis-
missal of M. Fouche, see page 374. One or the other
must be wrong: it is important to know which is really
correct. — Translator.

1804.
April.

THE EMPIRE.

Conduct of M. Fouch6.

553

encouraf;ed iii liis aspirations to the throne. He
wished for tlie supreme monarcliieal rank, not that
sucli had been liis constant wish since his Italian
campaigns, nor even since the 18th Brumaire,
as some vulvar narrators suppose ; no, he did not
induli^e all his aspiring wishes at once. His am-
bition became hir<;er by degrees as his fortunes
e.xtended. Arrived at tlie command of armies, he
I)erceived from that elevated point a higher point
of elevation still in the government of the republic,
and to that he first aspired. Arrived at that
height, he had .'-een the perpetual consulship yet
above him, and he had aspired to that in the
same way. Arrived at this last elevation, fr(jm
whence he distinctly saw the throne, he wished to
sit upon it. Such is the march of human am-
bition, and this was not so far a crime. But to
clear-sighted minds, tli<?re was danger in an
ambition unceasingly e.\cited, and still insatiate,
becau.se it would only be excited yet further the
more it was gratified.

But at the moment of taking upon itself a power
which did not naturally belong to it, every genius,
however audacious it might be, would at least
hesitate, if it did not tremble. In such situations
an involuntary bashfulness seizes upon the most
ardent ambition, and it dares not avow all which
it most desires. The first consul, who discoursed
very little respecting state affairs with his brothers,
had confidants in them, when he contemplated
objects of personal aggrandisement, to whom he
was fond of confiding every thing, and confidants,
too, who were more ardent than he was himself,
because they longed to become princes. It may
be remembered, that they had regarded the con-
sulate for life with disdain, as an abortive attempt.
At the time to which allusion is now making,
Lucien was absent, and Joseph had quitted Paris.
Lucien, by a new inconsequence, after his own
character, had married a handsome widow, very
little calculated to match with the position of
the Bonaparte family. At variance with the first
con.sul on account of his marriage, he had retired
to R«nic, playing the part of one proscribed, and
appearing to seek in tlie pursuits and enjoyments
of the arts an indemnification for fraternal in-
gratitude. Madame Letitia Bonaparte, who, under
the modest bearing of a female born in humble
circumstances, and still affecting this I'ecollcction,
hid all the passions of an empress mother, com-
plained constantly and wrongfully of Napoleon,
and exiiibited for her son Lucien a very marked
preference ; she followed him to Rome. The first
consul, who was always full of affection for the
members of his family, even when he had not
rea-son to applaud their conduct, had taken care
that liis all-powerful protection should accompany
liis mother an<l brother, and had recommended them
to the beiu'volcnt regard of pope Pius Xl I., saying
that his Jjroilier had gone to :;i.(;l; in iiomo Jic
enjoyment of the fine arts, and his nivther the
benefit of a mild climate. Pius VII. exhibited to
liis illustrious hosts the most marked and the most
delicate attention.

Joseph was also discontented ; it could scarcely
be imagined on what account, if history had not
stated the reason. He felt hurt that the first con-
Bul had wished to nominate him president of tho
and refused tlie high office with the tone of

offended dignity, when Cambace'res had gone to
offer it to him on the part of his brother. This
last, who did not love to see him idle, had then
made him go in search of greatness by the same
path in which he had obtained his own, and Joseph
was nominated to the colonelcy of the 4th regiment
of the line. He set off, in consequence, for Bou-
logne, at the same moment when the grand ques-
I tion of the re-establishment of the monarchy was
in agitation. The first consul was thus deprived
I of two confidential individuals, to whom he would
j willingly have opened his mind upon such matters
as related to his personal elevation.

M. Cambaceies, to whom the first consul com-
I monly spoke his mind upon every subject, general
I or personal, at the epoch of the consulate for life,
I had spared him the embarra-ssment of avowing
I his wishes, and had taken the lead in making
himself the instrument of a change universally
approved. But now M. Cambaceres was silent,
for two reasons, the one good, the other bad. The
first was, that with his rare foresight he feared
the ex'-esses of an ambition without limit. He had
; heard the empire of the Gauls spoken of, and the
empire of Charlemagne, and dreaded to see the
solid gi'catness of the treaty of Luneville saci-ificed
i to gigantic enterprizes, in consequence of the ele-
vation of Bonaparte to an imperial throne. The
j second x-eason was, that he should find himself se-
I parated from the first consul by the entire height
I of the throne, and should thus become, from a co-
partnership in the sovci-eigiity, however small that
jKirtnership might he, the simple subject of the
future monarch. He therefore held his tongue,
and did not this time, as he had done on the pre-
ceding occasion, place his influence at the service
of the first consul. The third consul, Lebrun,
perfectly devoted in his services, but never med-
dling with any thing save the duties of the admi-
nistration, had it not in his power to be of utility.

Fouch(5, in the ardour of his zeal, made himself
the spontaneous agent of the change which was
preparing. He accosted the first consul, whose
secret wishes he had already divined, represented
to him the need of taking a prompt and decided
part, and the urgent necessity for terminating the
anxieties of France, and putting the crown upon
his head, thus consolidating definitively the results
of the I'evolution. He showed him how all classes
in the nation were animated by the same sentiment,
and impatient to proclaim him emperor of the
rjauls or of the French, as was most agreeable to
his jiolicy and taste. He returned often to the
charge in the same Way, directing himself to make
the advantages of the proposal felt at an instant
when France, alarmed for the life of the first con-
sul, was disposed to concede to him any thing he
might demand. He nearly j)as.sed from exhorta-
tions to reproaches, and reproved in strong terms
tho indecision of general Bonaparte. Tho latter
had not quitted his retreat at Mahnaison since
tho event at Vincennes. M. I'onchJ went thither
continually, and when the first consul had gone out
to take his walk or ride, and he could not meet
with him, he sought for his inlimatc secretary, M.
de Meneval,and demonstrated to him at full length
the advantJiges of an hereditary monarchy, and
not only of a monarchy, but of an aristocracy, us a
support and ornament to the throne ; adding, that

554 Conduct of M.Fouche. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Address of M. Fontanes
on tlie completion of
the civil code.

1804.
ApriL

if the first consul wished to re-establish it, he was
quite ready to defend the rectitude of such a new
creation, and, if it were necessary, even to become
a noble himself.

Such was the zeal of this old republican, so com-
pletely repentant of his errore. His uneasy ac-
tivity, excited more upon this occasion than was
customary, began to arouse itself further than was
needful. He acted, in short, as a man would do
who wished to have tlie merit of pushing forward
the business in hand through his own agency alone.

There was scarcely a person who was not dis-
posed to second the wishes of the first consul.
France having seen for a long time past slie was
now provided with a master, who besides covered
her with glory and benefits, was not willing to re-
fuse him the title which was most grateful to his
ambition. The bodies of the state, and the heads
of the army, who knew how much all resistance
was thenceforth impossible, and who had seen in
the ruin of Moreisu the danger of intemperate
opposition, flung themselves before the new Csesar,
in order to distinguish themselves by their zeal at
least, and to profit by an elevation which there was
not time to prevent. It is the common disposition of
mankind to m;ike the best of the ambition which
they are imable to combat successfully, and to
console their envy by their greediness. There was
now an embarrassment for every body, in being
obliged to adopt the usage of words which had
been proscribed, and to repudiate others which
they had adopted with enthusiasm. By a slight
precaution in tlie choice of the title to be conferred
on the future monarch, it was possible to facilitate
this change. Thus in calling tiie sovereign emperor
in place of king, the difficulty was much diminished.
Besides, to draw the existing generation out of this
embarrassment, no one was better for the purpose
than an old Jacobin like M. Fouche, taking upon
himself to give an exiimple to all, both masters
and subjects, and impressing upon himself to be
the foremost to offer the words which no one yet
dared to have upon ids lips.

Fouchd arranged every thing with some of the
gentlemen ushers in the senate, the first consul
seeing what he did and approving, but feigning
that it was for no end. He feared to be the first
to commence the subject in the French journals,
because their absolute dependance upon the i)olice
would have given their opinion too much the co-
louring of a command. He had secret agents in
Etigland, and these managed to get it stated in
some of the English journals, that since the last
conspiracy general Bonaparte was uneasy, sombre,
and menacing ; that every one in Pans lived in
great anxiety ; that this was the natural conse-
quence of a form of government where all rested
upon his head alone, sind that thus, in consequence,
the peaceably-disposed people in France wished
for an liereditary sovereignty, established in the
family of Bonaparte, in order to procure, in the
existing state of things, the stability that was so
needful. Thus the English press, ordinarily em-
ployed in the defamation of the first consul, w:i3
now emjjloyed in serving his ambitious views.
These articles, reproduced and commented upon in
the French papers, caused a very lively sensation,
and gave the expected signal. There wore at this
ptriod several electoral colleges assembled in the

departments of the Yonne, the Var, the Hautes
Pyrenne'es, the Nord, and the Roer. It was very
easy to obtain addresses. These were in an equal
manner prompted on the part of the municipal
councils of the great cities, such as Lyons, Mar-
seilles, Bordeaux, and Paris. Finally, the camps
assembled along the coasts of the ocean were put
into fermentation in their turn. The military
were of all classes the most devoted to the fii-st
consul. A certain number of officers and of gene-
rals excepted, some sincere republicans, others
animated by the old rivalry which divided the
soldiers of the Rhine from those of Italy, the
greater part of the chiefs of the army saw their
own elevation in that of a soldier upon the throne
of France. They were therefore perfectly ready
to lead off, and to do that which they had often
seen done in the history of the Roman empire, to
proclaim an emperor themselves. General Soult
wi'ote to the first consul that he had heard the
generals and colonels all demand the establishment
of the new form of government '; that they were
ready to give to the first consul the title of emperor
of the Gauls : he demanded his orders upon the
matter. Petitions were circulated in the divisions
of driigoons encamped at Compiegne ; these peti-
tions were covered with signatures, and had been
received in Paris.

On Sunday the 4th Germinal, or 2oth of March,
some days after the death of the duke d'Eiighien,
several addresses of electoral colleges were pre-
sented to the first consul. Admiral Ganteaume,
one of his devoted friemls, himself presented the
address of the college of the Var, of which he was
the president. It said in formal terms, that it did
not merely suffice to seize, try, and punish the con-
spirators, but that it was needful by a large system
of institutions which consolidated and perpetuated
the power in the Imnds of the first consul and liis
family, to insure the repose of France, and put an
end to its long anxieties. Other addresses were
read at the same audience, and immediately after-
wards there came one of a more elevated character.
M. de Fontanes had received the presidency of the
legislative body, and had thus obtained, through
the favour of the Bonaparte family, a place which
he merited to obtain solely by his talents. He had
received the conmiission to felicitate the first con-
sul on the achievement of his immortal work, the
civil code. This code, the result of so much learned
labour, a monument of I he strong will and univei-sal
mind of the chief of the republic, had been termi-
nated during the ])resent session, and the legislative
body in acknowledging it, had resolved to conime-
monite the remembrance of the event by jdacing
in the hall where they sat a miirble statue of the
first consul. It was that circumstance which M.
Fontanes had announced in this audience; and cer-
tainly of all the claims of the man whom they
wished to honour, there was not one that it was
more becoming to recall, at the moment when they
Were going to make him the hereditary sovereign
of the country whiih his genius had organised.
M. Fontanes expressed himself as follows: —

"citizen FinST CONSUL,

" An immense empire has rested four years
under the shelter of your powerful administration.
The wise uniformity of your laws tends to unite

1804.
ApriL

The first consul consults Cambacerfes

and Lebrun.

THE EMPIRE.

The first consul opens his mind
to Cambaceres.

more and more all it-s inhabitants. Tlie legislative
body wishes to commemorate this remarkable
epoch; it has decreed lliat your statue, |il:iced in
the middle of the Ijall of its delibenitions, should
perpetually recall to it your favours, and the duties
and hopes of the French people. The double ri^lit
of conqueror and legislator has ever silenced all
othei-s. You have seen this confii-med in your own
pei-son by the national suffrage. Who would now
nourisli the criminal hope of opposing France to
France ? Will she divide lierself for a few past
i-ecol lections when every present interest unites
her ? She has but one chief — that chief is your-
self; she has but one enemy — that enemy is
England.

" Political tempests had thrown some of the
wisest men upon unfnnseen paths. But as soon
as your hand ha<l raised up again the sign.ds of
their country, all good Frenchmen recognised and
followed them; all marched by the side of your
glory. Those who conspire in the bosom of an
enemy's territory, ren.,uncing irrevocably their
natal soil, what are they able to oppose to your
ascendency ? You possess invincible armies — they
have only libellei*s and assassins; and whilst the
voice of religion is elevated in your favour at the
foot of those altars which you have reconstructed,
they would fain outrage you in a few obscure organs
of superstition and revolt. The impotence of tluiir
])lots is proved. They every day render destiny
more rigorous in fighting against its decrees. May
they yield at last to that irresistible movement
which carries the universe with it; and may they
jneditate in silence upon the causes of the ruin and
elevation of empires!"

This abjuration of the Bourbons, made in the
face of the newly-designated monarch, with its
sf)lemnlty of language, although indirect in allu-
sion, was the most significant of manifestations.
Still :hey did not wish to make any thing public,
before the senate, the highest body in the state,
charged by the constitution to lead the way, had
taken the first step.

In order to obtain this proceeding, it was neces-
sary to come to an understanding with M. Cam-
baceres, who directed the senate. It was neces-
sary to enter into an explanation with him for that
object, and to be assured of his good wishes, not
that any rehistance upon his part was to be feared,
but his simple disapprobation, although silent,
would have been a real defeat, under a ciicum-
Btjinco in which it was important that all the
world should Mcem to be of one mind.

The first consid sent for M. CandiaetJrcs and
M. Lebnm to Malmaison. M. Lebrini, as most
easy of persuasion, was simt for first. With him
there waK no effort to be inaile, because he was a
decided partisan of iniinan by, and more willingly
80 under the sovereignty of general Bonaparte than
that of any other person. Cambacdres, discon-
tented with what was going on, arrived wlien the
r-onference with his colleague lir^brmi was already
f.ir advanced. The first consul, nfler Kpenking of
the movement which uas taking place in the pub-
lic mind, as if he had been a Hlmnger to the cause,
requested the «»|)inion of the second consul ujxin
the question, so much agitated at that moment, of
the re-estjiblishment ot the monarchy.

" I doubled much," replied Canibacdres, " how

they came to make a question of it. I see that all
tends to that end, and I am sorry for it." Then
dissimulating badly the personal displeasure which
he intermingled with the wisdom of his views,
Caniliaceres laid open to the first consul the
grounds of his 0])inion. He painted the discon-
tent of the republicans with that which left them
not even the name of the chimera they had pur-
sued; the royalists revolted, that they should dare
to raise up the throne without seating a Bourbon
upon it; he showed the danger of pushing the re-
turn of the old regime so far, that very soon it only
remained to put one person in ])lace of another for
the old monarchy to be established. He stated
the discourses of the royalists themselves, who
loudly boasted that they had in general Bonaparte
a precursor charged to herald the return of the
Bourbons. He set at its true value the inconve-
nience of a new change, without any other utility
beyond an empty title, because the first consul had
actually at that moment unlimited power, and he
remarked, that it often happened there was more
danger in changing the names of things than the
things themselves. He alleged the difficulty of
obtaining in Europe the acknowledgment of a
monarchy such as he might wish to found, and the
difficulty still greater to obtain in France the
efforts necessary for a third war, if it should be
required to have recourse to that means of forcing
the acknowledgment from the old European court-s;
in fine, he stated many reasons more, some excel-
lent, and others only of middling character, in
which a S])ecies of liumour was thrown, very un-
common with so grave a personage. But he did
not dare to give the best reason, of which he was
well aware; that if this new concession was ac-
corded to an enormously ambitious man, it would
not be possible to stop any where, because in de-
creeing to general Bonaparte the title of emjjeror
of the French, it j>repared him to desire that of
emperor of the west, to which he had afterwards
a secret aspiration, which was not the least
among the causes tliat pushed him almost to jjass
the limits of the possible, and to fall in returning.
As with every man constrained and cramped,
Cambac(Jres did not say that which he had better
have said, and was beaten by his interlocutor.

The first consul, who so diasimulated his wishes
at tile time of the institution of the considate for
life, this time made the step forward which was
not made towards him. He frankly avowed to
Cambaceres, his colleague, that he thought of
taking the crmvn, and he declared why he ihonght
of it. He asserted to him that France wished for
a king; this was evident to whoever knew how to
observe; that it turned back more and more every
day from the follies that had for a moment got
into its head, and that of all follies, a rejiublic
was the most egregious; that France was .so cont-
pletely disabused, it woidd take a Bourbon, if it did
not get a Bonaparte given to it ; that the i-eturn
of the Bourbons would be a calamity, because it
would be a j)nrc coimter-revolution; and that for
himself, without desiring more power than he had,
he yielded upon this occasion to a necessity of the
public mind, an<l to the interest of the revolution
itself; that, besides, it was im|>ortant to take a
part, because the movement was such in the army,
they would perhaps proclaim liiiu emperor iu

The party of Fouclie push
556 forward the measure of THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.
the first consul.

The report of the com-

Apnl,

tlie camps, and then his elevation to the throne
would resemble a scene of the pretoriaus, that
above all things it was necessary to avoid.

These reasons operated little in persuading M.
Canibaceres, who had no desire to let himself be
persuaded, and tach retained his oj)inion, sorry to
have been too forward in the argument. This un-
foreseen resistance of M. Cambaceres embarrassed
the first consul, who feigning less impatience tlian
he really felt, said to his two colleagues, that he
would meddle with nothing, but leave the move-
ment of the public mind to itself. They parted
discontented one with the other; and Cambaceres,
on returning with M. Lebrun to Paris, about the
middle of the night, addressed the following words
to his colleague : " The thing is done ; the mo-
narchy is re-established; but I have a presenti-
ment that the edifice will not be durable. We
have made war in Europe to give to it republics,
children of the French republic; we shall make it
now in oi-der to give it monarchs, sons or brothers
of our own, and Fi-ance, exhausted, will finish by
succumbing to such foolish enterprises."

But this disapprobation of Cambaceres was the
most silent and the most inactive of resistances.
He suffered Fouche and his auxiliaries to act ac-
cording to their inclinations. An excellent oppor-
tunity offered itself for their objects. Following
the customary usage of addressing to the senate
communications upon the occurrence of important
events, there had been presented to liim a report
of the grand judge, relative to the intrigues of the
English agents, Drake, Spencer Smith, and Taylor.
It was needful he should reply to this communica-
tion of the goverimient. The senate had named a
commission in order to prepare the draft of a reply.
The gentlemen ushers already mentioned, finding
the circumstances favourable, set themselves to
persuade the senators that the time was come for
them to commence on the subject of the restoration
of the monarchy; that the first consul hesitated,
but that it was necessary to overcome his hesita-
tions, by denouncing to him the vacancies existing
in the actual institutions, and indicating to him
the manner of filling them up. They recalled
gently to memory the disagreement to which the
senate had been exposed two years before, when
remaining behind the wishes of general Bonaparte.
They produced aloud a specious reason to prevent
his advancing alone. The army, they said, exalted
to the higliest pitch in favour of its chief, was
ready to proclaim him emperor, and then the em-
pire would be as at Rome; given away by tlie
pretorians. It was necessary, by hastening, to
spare France so great a disgrace. They could not
but follow the example of tlie Roman senate, that
more than once was forced to proclaim certain
emperors, in order to avoid receiving them fi'om
the dictation of the legions. Then came a reason
which need not be told too loudly or too softly, it
was, tlmt there remained for distribution a great
part of the senatorial places instituted at the time
of the consulate for life, which would procure a
territorial dotation, a surplus above the pecuniary
income granted to each senator. There would be
also, besides, a profusion of new places to dis-
tribute. It was therefore necessary, when they
were not able to resist the elevation of their new
master, not to expose themselves to displease him.

It is still but just to add, that to these base motives
there were also some of a better kind to be added.
Except an opposition very few in number, of which
M. Sieves was the leader, but with whic;i he him-
self got disgusted, as he did with every thing, and
that he had abandoned it to leaders much more
insignificant than himself; except this opposition,
the mass saw in the monarchy the door through
which the revolution was bound to go and seek its
own safety.

These reasons, of a nature so diverse, secured
the majority of the senate, and that body resolved
to give a significant reply to the message of the
first consul. The following was the sense of this
reply :—

The institutions of France are incomplete under
two heads. First, there is no tribunal for great
ofiences against the state, and it is required to
leave them to a jurisdiction insufficient and feeble
(what passed in the tribunal of the Seine on the
occasion of the process against Pichegru and
Moreau, filled the public with the same sentiment).
Secondly, the government of France rested upon
one head, and it was a perpetual temptation for
the conspirators, who believed that in striking
down that head, all would be destroyed with it.
It was thus a double want that it was necessary
they shouhl denounce to the first consul, in order
to provoke his solicitude, and, in case of necessity,
his commencement of the affair.

On the 6ih Germinal, or 27th March, two days
after the audiences above reported, the senate was
called to deliberate upon the draft of a i-eply. Fouchd
and his friends had prepared every thing, without
making it known to the cor.sul Cnmbace'res, who
ordinarily presided in the senate. It appears that
they did not even acquaint the first consul, with
the view of causing him m\ agi'eeable surprise.
This surprise was not any thing like equally agree-
able to M. Cambaceres, who was astounded on
hearing the reading of the report oi the commis-
sion. Still he showed himself impassive, and left
nothing of it to be perceived by the numerous
eyes fixed upon him, desirous of knowing how far
all that had been done was agreeable to the first
consul, of whom he was imagined to be the confi-
dant and accomplice. At this reading might be per-
ceived a light but very sensible murmur in a part
of the senate ; nevertheless, the project was
adopted by an immense majority, and it was to
be communicated on the morrow to the first
consul.

Scarcely had lie quitted the sitting before M.
Cambaceres, piqued at not having been made
acquainted with the proceeding, wrote to the first
consul at Malmaison, and told him all that had
occurred, in a letter sufficiently cool. The first
consul came to Paris on the following day to
x-eceive the senate, but first wished to have an
explanation with his two colleagues. He himself
appeared astonished at the precipitation of the
measure, and in some sort taken by surprise :
" I have not reflected enough," he said to Cam-
baceres ; " I have need to consult you again, and
many others, before taking a decided i)art. I will
go and reply to the senate that I am deliberating.
But I will neither receive it officially, nor publish
its message. I will not let any thing transpire
without doors, so long as my resolution shall not

1804.
April.

The first consul deliberates on
the measure.

THE EMPIRE.

The kins "f Prussia consents to
acknowledge the emperor.

be definitively fixed." The proceeding thus agreed
upon, was carried into effect the same day.

The first consul received the senate as he had
announced he would do, and replied verbally to its
members, that he thanked them for sucii testi-
monies of their devotion to him ; but tliat he had
need to deliberate carefully upon the subject tiiey
had submitted to his attention, before making a
public and definitive reply.

Although a witness and silent accomplice of all
that had been done, the first consul was nearly
anticipated in his desires. The impatience of his
partisims had surpassed his own, and he was very
clearly not yet rt-ady for the measure. The act of
tiie senate was nut, therefore, made public, al-
though absiilute secresy was impossible ; but while
he had nut taken the official and avowed step ibr-
ward, lie could always retire in case of encounter-
ing an unfortseen obstacle.

Before advancing to that point from whence he
could never again retrograde, the first consul
wished to be ct-rtain of the army and of- Europe.
In reality he did not doubt either the one or the
other, because he was beloved by the first, and
feared by the second. But it was a cruel sacrifice
to impose upon his companions in arms, who had
shed their IiI.mk! for France, and not for one man,
to desire that they should accept him for a sove-
reign. After the effect jtroduced in Europe by the
death of the duke d'Eiighien, it was a singular act
of condescension to demand of all the legitimate
princes, that they should recognise for an equal a
soldier who had but a few days before dipped his
hands in the blood of the Bourbons. Aithi>ugh he
expected to receive the reply which the j)i)wer
of the soldier commanded, he was wise to assure
himself of that re])ly beforehand.

The first consul wrote to general Soult and
to those generals in whom he had the most con-
fidence, to ask their opinion upon the proposed
change. He iiud not, he said, taken any part, nor
Bouglit in that stcji aught but what was best for
France ; and wisln d, before his decision, to gather
the opinion of the heads of the army. The answer
was, assuredly, not a doubtful one; but it provoked
at least | rotestations of devotion, which would
serve by way of example, and secure the luke-
warm or retiring.

In regard to F.urope, the condescension, al-
though vtry jirobable, presented still more of
doubt. He was at war witii England, and with
tiiat country lie need not concern hiiii.self. The
new relations of France with llussia made it a
point of <lignity not to address her. Spain, Austria,
Pru8.sia, and the smaller powers, remained to be
consultetl. Spain was too feeble to refuse ; but
the blood of a Bourbon, recently shed, required
that some weeks should pass before applying to
tiiat power. Austria had appeared the k-ast sensi-
ble of all the powers to the violation of the (ji-r-
manic territories; and in her profound indifference
for all wiiicli was not her interest, there was
nothing which miglit not be expected of la-r. But
in a matter of etiquette she wan dilllcult to manage,
tritiing, and jealous, as were nil the old mid
qualified courts. An emperor, because the title
liad been decided upon, as at the B.'ime tinii; more
jfrand, novel, and military than that of king —
an emperor to be joined to the list of sovereigns,

was a thing to which the chief of the holy Roman
empire would be little inclined to accord his con-
sent.

Prussia was yet, in spite of her recent coolness,
the power which was the most facile to dispose
favourably. A courier was immediately sent to
Berlin witii an order to M. Laforest to see M.
Haugwitz, in oi'der to learn fi-om him if the first
consul might be enabled to hope for recognition by
the king of Prussia in quality of hereditary em-
peror of the French. This was demanded in such
a manner as to place the young king between
a lively gratitude or a bitter resentment on the
part of France. M. Laforest had an order to
leave no trace of such a step in the archives of the
legation. As to Austria, without writing to M. de
Cliampagny at Vienna, and without hazarding any
direct overtures, a means close at hand was em-
l)loyed, by sounding M. Cobentzel, who, always
near M. Talleyraiul, expressed an immoderate
desire to please the first consul. M. Talleyrand
was just the minister to manage such a nego-
tiation. He obtained from M. Cobentzel the most
satisfactory words, but nothing positive. It was
needful he should write to Vienna for power to
give a decisive reply.

The first consul was obliged, therefore, to wait
fifteen days before he could answer the senate, and
permit the labourers at his new grandeur to pursue
their work. Still the addresses of the great cities
and principal authorities continued to be received.
They were satisfied by not inserting them in the
j\Ioniteur.

The king of Prussia was found to be in the best
disposition for the acknowledgment. This prince,
after turning towards Russia, and secretly allying
himself with her, feared he had done too much in
that direction, and made his censures too visible
for the catastrophe that had happened at Etten-
heim. He required, therefore, nothing better than
to have an instance of the personal test'-nony of
his good will to give to the first consul. M. Lafo-
rest had scarcely spoken the first words on the
subject to M. Haugwitz, than he stopped the com-
])letion of what M. Laforest had begun, by hasten-
ing to declare that the king of Prussia would not
hesitate to acknowledge the new emperor of the
French. Frederick-William expected fresh cen-
sures on the part of the factious coterie that was in
action around the queen ; but he well knew how to
brave its censures for the benefit of his kingdom,
and he regarded the continuance of good intelli-
gence with the fii-st consul, as the first of his in-
terests. It is needful to add, that he experienced
a feeling of satisfaction, tliat all the other courts
equally experienced, at seeing the rei)ublic abo-
lished in France. Monarchy alone could satisfy
those courts, and the return of tlie Bourbons seemed
actually impossible. General IJonaparte was the
new monarch whom all the powers expected to see
mount the throne of France. This is one proof,
nmoiig a thousand others, of the slight duration
that certain ini|)re.ssions make upon men, above all
when they feel interested in erasing them from
their hearts. All the courts were about to acknow-
ledge that man for an emperor who, amid their
angry feelings, just fifteen days before, they liad
called a regicide and an assassin.

'Ihe king of Prussia himself wrote a letter to M.

The Austrian acknowledg-
558 ment of the emperor THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

given on terms.

Adhesion of the army
to the change.

1804.
April.

Liiccliesiiii, which ♦as communicated to the first
consul, and contr^ied the most amicable exi)rfS-
sioiis. " I shall not hesitate," said the king, " to au-
thorize you to seize, as soon as possible, an occasion
to testily to M. Talleyrand, that after having seen
wiih pleasure the supreme |>ower conferred for life
upon the first consul, I shall see with more interest
still the order of things established by his wisdom
a!id great actions, consolidated by the hereditary
authority in his family, and that 1 shall not find
any difficulty in acknowledging it. You will add,
that I flatter myself that this unequivocal proof of
my sentiments will be of equal value in his eyes to
all the securities and guarantees that it was possible
to offer him in a formal treaty, of which the basis
in fact exists ; and that 1 hope to be able to reckon
in my tu:-n on the effects of tills friendship and i-e-
i-i|)rocal confidence, which I desire to see constantly
subsist between the two goverunieuts." Dated
A])!il 23, 1804.

These words, although sincere in the main, were
nevertheless not altogether conlurniable to the
Njiirit of the treaty signed with Riissia ; but an
immoderate desire for peace led this jjrince into
falsifications the most unworthy of his character.

Tilings passed diff'erently at Viemia. No en-
gagement had been there entered upon with
Russia ; they would not there redeem a concessinn
made to one by a concession to others ; they only
considered in that court their interest, calculated
in the best mode possible. The death of the doke
(rEnghien, the violation of the Germanic territory,
all that was regarded of very middling importance.
Tlie indemnification to be exacted for the sacrifice
they might make in acknowledging the new em-
peror, was the sole consideialion of which they kept
a reckoning. At first, in spite of the inconvmience
of disobliging Russia in conceding a point highly
agreeable to the French government, it was neces-
sary to resign them.selves to acknowledge Napo-
leon ; because to refuse to do so had been to place
themselves in a state of war in regard to France,
iir \iivy nearly so, which they wished before all
things to avoid doing, at least for the nuiment;
But it was necessary, to obtain a part of the ac-
knowledgment, which it Uiade the question of its
consent to wait a little at that point, to tibtain pay-
ment by certain advantages, and to represent to
Russia, as an awkward delay, the time employed to
negotiate the advantages which it was so desirable to
iibtain. Such was the Austrian policy ; and it nuist
be agreed, that this was but the natural cour.se
between nations that lived one towards the other
in a state of perpetual distrust.

Since the extreme weakeidng of the Austrian
])aity in the empire, it was very possible to occm-,
that at the approaching election Austria might lose
the imperial crown. There was a means to ward
off" this inconvenience, and that was to insure to
tlie house of Austria for her hereditary states, not
a royal but an imperial crown, in such a mode that
the head of that house remained emperor of Aus-
tria, iu case he should cease, by the changes of any
future election, to be emperor of Germany. It was
this with which they had charged M. iie Cham-
paguy at Vieima, and M. Cobentzel at Paris, as
tlie request to be made of the first consul, being a
|iiice demanded in exchange for that « hich he had
requested on his own account. In other respects,

it was declared to liim, that, except a discussion
upon the conditions, the principle of the acknow-
ledgment was admitted without delay by the em-
peror Fi-ancis.

Although the first consul had little doubt of the
disposition of the powers, their rejilies filled him
with satisfaction. He lavished testinuuiies of gra-
titude and friendship upon the court of Prussia.
He thanked in a manner not less warm the court
of Vienna, and replied, that he consented without
making any difficulty to acknowledge the title of
emperor iu the head of the house of Austria. He
only stipulated that he was not willing to publish
such a declaration immediately, in order not to ap-
pear to i)urchas.e the acknowledgment of his title at
any price whatever. He should prefer, by a secret
treaty, to bind himself to acknowledge at a later
time the successor of Francis II. as emperor of
Austria, if that successor should lose the rank of
emperor of Germany. Still, if the court of Vienna
insisted, he was ready to give up this difficulty
which was not a difficuliy alter all, because, in
reality, these different titles had no more real im-
poriance. From Charlemagne down to the eigh-
teenih century, there had not been in Europe but a
single sovereign holding the title of emperor, at
least in the west. Since the eighteenth century,
there had been two, the czar having taken u|)on
himself this qualification. There would be three
alter what now took place in France, and there
wiiuld be one day four if a future German elec-
tion should give an em|)eror not tidten out of the
house of \ustria. It was even thought that the
king of England, having denominated the united
])ariianient of Great Britain and Ireland the " im-
|>erial parliament," might be temptid to entitle
iiimself emperoi-. In that case tiiere would be
five. All this did not require that it should stop
there. They were all empty titles without the
value that was formerly annexed to them when
Fiancis I. and Charles V. dis|)nted between them
the suffrages of the Germanic electors.

lnde|iendently of these tran(|uillising assurances
on the part of the principal courts, the first consul
had received from the army the most impressive
testimonies of its adhesion to him. General Soiilt
particularly had written him a letter full of the
most satisfactory declarations, and in the fifteen or
twenty oays that had passed in correspondence
with Viemia and Berlin, the great cities of Lyons,
Marseilles, Bordeaux, and Paris, had sent up ener-
getic addresses in favour of the re-establishment
of the inonarcliy. The movement was general, the
eclat of the object as forcilde as it was well able to
be; it was necessary therefore to proceed to official
measures, and finally to explain iii regard to the
senate.

The first consul, as already seen, had not pub-
licly received the senate, nor bad he replied in any
other than a verbal maimer to tlie message of the
6tli Germinal. It had been nearly a month that
he had nuide it wait for the official answer. This
answer was given on the 3rd Floreal, or 26th of
April, 1804, and it brought the winding up of the
plot that was expected : —

" Your address of the 6th Germinal," said the
first Consul, " has never ceased being jiresent to
my n.ind. You have deemed hereditary succession
necessary to place the French people ill security

1804. The sticcension fixed upon Bonaparte
April. and his fatnily.

THE EMPIRE.

Discussions in the tribunate.

559

from tlie conspiriicies of our enemies and the a|;i-
tJitions wliicli are enitendered by nniditiuus rival.s;
man}- of our institutions it lias in the mean time
ajipeared ti> you necessary to render perfect, to
ensure, in return, the triumph of equality and of
pubhe hherty, and to offer to the nation and f;o-
vernment tlie duuljle guarantee required. In pro-
portion as I liave directed my attention to tiiese
serious suhjicts, I iiave more and more been sen-
sille, that under a situation as new as it is impor-
t;int, the advice resulting froni your wisdom and
experience was necessary to me. I tlierefore in-
vite you to make i;nown to me all your ideas upon
the 8id)ject."

This messajje was not immediately published,
any more than that to which it seemed to be the
reply. The senate inmiediately assembled for the
purpose of deliberation. The deliberation was not
difticult, the result being known beforehand; the
pniposition being Ut convert the consuhir republic
into an hereditary empire.

Still it was necessary that all should not pass
over in silence, and it was therefore agree<l to dis-
cuss a portion of the grand resolution thus ])re-
paring, in some one of the bodies of the state where
the proceeding could be public. The senate did
not debate; the legislative body heard the official
oraion*, and voted in silence. The tribunate,
although diminished and converted into a section
of the coimed of state, si ill preserved its discus-
sions. It was resolved to make use of it, in order
that there might be heard, in the only place which
had reserved to itself the possibility of contra-
diction, a few words having the semblance of
freedom.

The tribunate had nt that time for its president
M. Fabre de I'Aude, a i)ersonage devoted to the
Bonaparte family. The choice of the tribune,
whose former opininns had been avowedly re])ub-
lican, was arranged upon with him in order to take
the lead upon the occasion. The tribune Cuie'e,
the fellow-countryman' and personal enemy of
Cambacdres, was selected to |>lay that character.
It was believed by the public that this personage,
the snpp.ised erealure of the second consul, had
been clioKon and put forward by him. This was
not correct. It was unknown to Canibac^res, and
even in ojiposition to his wish, that M. Cure'e was
fixed upon. This last personage, formerly an
ardent republican, and, like many others, come
back ng]iin to moiuirchieal ideas, drew up a mo-
tion in which he laid down the hereditary succes-
sion in favour of ihf B-maparte faunly. M. Fabre
de I'Aude took this to St. Cloud, in order to sub-
mit it for the a|iprol>ation of the first consul. '1 he
latter seemed viry liiile satisfied, and thought that
the la'igiiage of the individual, thus disabused of
his republican notions, showed little ability or ele-
vation. .Still iIkiv was the inconvenience of choos-
ing another nnndur of the tiibunale in rejecting
it. He then f.n- suffered the text to remain that
had been Hubniitted to him, and sent it innncdiateiy
to M. Fabre de I'Aude. Tliis text bad undergone
at St. Cloud a singular change-. In lieu of ihc
words, " hereditary in the family of Uonaparte,"

' Camhacfris wag a native of Monlpclllcr, where he wns
born in 175.3. and died in 1821. Cuiee wai a native of the
i«me city. — Tranttatur.

the words were changed to " hereditary in the de-
scendants of Napoleon Bonaparte." M. Fabre de
I'Aude was the particular friend of Joseph Bona-
parte, and one fif the members of his social circle.
Evidently, the first consul, discontented with his
brothers, wouM not have any constitutional engage-
ment on their behalf. Those who wished to j)lease
Joseph, went to work about M. Fabre de I'Aude,
anil they carried back the jirojected motion to
St. Cloud, in order to replace the words " Bona-
j)arte family," in lieu of the " descendants of Napo-
leon Bonaparte." The document was sent back,
having the word " descendants " still remaining
w ithout any explanation.

M. Fabre resolved not to make any noise about
this circinnstance, and to give to M. Curfo the
copy of the motion just as it had come out of the
hands of the first consul, but inserting the version
preferred by the partizansof Jo.seph. He believed
that the motion once ])resented and reproduced in
the Mon'deur, they would not venture to change it;
and he resigned himself, if it became necessary, to
a painful explanation upon the subject with the
first consul. This was a proof that the party sur-
rounding the brothers of Bonaparte were suffi-
ciently powerful, allied together, to brave for their
interest the displeasure of the head of the family.
All these proceedings were sent daily to Joseph,
who had already reached the camp at Boulogne.

On Saturday, the 8th Flor^al, or 28th of April,
1804, the motion of M. Cure'e was deposited in the
tribunate, and the discussion of which it was to be
the subject, was fixed u|)on for Monday, the 10th of
Flore'al. A crowd of s])eakers pi-essed forward to
the tribune in support of the measure, demanding,
in emulation of each other, the opportunity of dis-
tinguishing themselves by a dissertation on the
advantages of the monarchy. The main point
being, in truth, to become its adherents.

The revolution of 1789 had been directed to the
abolition of feudal riglits, a reform of the social
state, the suppression of abuses introduced under
arbitrary rule, and the reduction of the absolute
power of the sovert ign, by the intervention of the
nation in the government. These were just and
legitimate wishes. All that exceeded these limits
had passed by the object, and had done nothing
but bring misfortunes upon the counti'y. The
most painful experience had taught this lesson to
France. It was nece.ssary to profit by its past
experience, and to revert to that which had been
thus overdone. Tho monarchy was, therefore, to
be re established on new bases, upon constitu-
tional liberty and civil equality. "With a monarchy
there could be oidy one particular monarch pos-
sible, and that was Napoleon Bonaparte, and the
renuiining members of his family.

The more zealous of the orators in the tribunate
added to their harangues invectives against the
Bourbons, and the solemn declaration that these
princes were rcu'crcd for ever incapable of
governing France; that every Frenchman ought
at the price of his blood to oppose their return.
It seemed that the lie lliey gave at this moment
to themselves in j)roclaiining the moiuirchy, after
hnviiig taken so many oaths to the republic, in-
divisible and imperishable, would have been a
lessen to these orators, and have at least Uiught
them to s|)eak less aflirniatively of the future.

560

Address of Carnot THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

in the tribunate.

1804.
April.

But there is no lesson capable of preventing a |
troop of men, not above mediocrity of mind, from
throwing themselves into tlie torrent which runs
before them ; all suffer themselves to be borne
along, particularly when they believe they shall
find honours and fortune in their course.

In the number of those eager people were found
more immediately tlie men formerly signalised by
their republican spirit, or those who, at a later
period, wei'e remarked for their zeal towards the
Bourbons. One only personage, in the midst of
the base adulations thus let loose, exhibited a real
dignity of character. This personage was the
tribune Carnot. Most assuredly he deceived him-
self in his general theory, because after what had
been seen in France for ten years, it was difficult
to admit that, for such a country, a republic was
pi-eferable to a monarchy ; but this apostle of
error was far worthier in his own attitude than
the apostles of the truth, because he had over
them all the advantage of a courageous and dis-
interested convictidn. What rendered his courage
the more homiurable was, that so far from ex-
pi-essing himself like a demagogue, he expressed
himself, on the contrary, as a wise and moderate
citizen, the friend of order. He protested that he
would submit himself, tiie next day, with perfect
docility, to the sovereign whom the law might ap-
point,'but that while the law was in progress, and
when it became a subject of discussion, he would
speak out his opinion.

He spoke at first with nobleness of the first
consul, and of the great services which he had
rendered to the rej)ublic. If, in order to secure
tranquillity in France, and a reasonable degree of
liberty, it was necessary to have an liereditary
chief, he should be senseless, he said, to choose
any other than Napoleon Bonaparte. No one had
struck such terrible blows at the enemies of his
country ; no one had done so much for its civil
organization. Had he given to France the civil
code alone, his name would well deserve to pass
down to posterity. He was not, therefore, doubtful,
that if it were necessary to elevate tlie throne
again, it was the first consul who should be placed
upon it, and not the blind and vindictive race, that
never re-entered France but to spill the blood of
its best citizens, and re-establish the dominion of
the narrowest prejudices. But if Napoleon Bona-
parte had rendered France so many services, was
there no other recompense to offer him than the
sacrifice of the liberties of the country ?

Carnot, without causing himself to lose sight in
his remarks of the incoi.iveniences or the advan-
tages which attached to different forms of govern-
ment, endeavoured to prove that at Rome, in tlie
time of the empire, they had as much agitatimi as
in that of the republic, and that they had not posses-
sed less of the masculine and heroic virtues ; that
the ten centuries of the French monarchy had not
been less tempestuous than those of all known re-
jmblics ; that under monarchy, the people attached
themselves to families, identified themselves by
their passions, rivalries, and hatred, making these
causes as much questions of dis])ute as any others ;
that if the French republic had had its sanguinary
times, these were irouliles inseparable from its
origin ; tliat it |)roved more or less the necessity of
a temporary dictatorship, as at Rome ; that this

dictatorship had been conferred upon Napoleon
Bonaparte ; that no one contested his possession of
it ; that it depended on him to make of it the most
noble, the most glorious usage, in preserving it
during the time necessary to prepare France for
liberty ; but that if he wished to convert it into au
hereditary and perpetual power, he at once re-
nounced a singular and immortal glory ; that the
new state founded twenty years since on the other
side of the Atlantic, was a proof that it was pos-
sible to find peace and happiness under republican
institutions ; and that as regarded himself, he
should for .ever regret that tlie first consul did
not wish to employ his power in procuring so great
a felicity for his country. Examining the argu-
ments often used, that there would be a better
chance of a durable peace by approximating to
those forms of government most generally received
in Europe, he inquired if the acknowledgment
of the new emperor would be as easy as people
imagined ; if they were prepared to take up arms
in case such an acknowledgment were refused ; if
France, converted into an empire, would not as
much tend to mortify Europe, to excite jealousy,
and to provoke war, as if it were maintained in its
existing situation of a republic ?

Casting a final look back, and addressing to the
past a noble adieu, the tribune Carnot said :

" Was liberty then exhibited to man that he
might never po&sess its enjoyment 1 Was it to be
offered to his desires incessantly, like the fruit to
which he had no sooner stretched out his hand
than he became death-stricken ? No, I am unable
to agree that I am to regard this great good, sp
universally preferred before all others, and without
which all others are nothing, as a mei'e illusion.
My heart tells me that liberty is possible, that its
reign is easy, and far more stable than that of any
arbitrary or oligarchical government."

He finished by these words, attaching to the
character of a good citizen : —

" Always ready to sacrifice my dearest affections
to the interests of our common country, I shall
content myself with having caused to be once more
heard the accents of a free spirit ; my respect for
the law will be so much more assured from its
being the result of long misfortunes, and from the
reason that commands us at this moment impe-
riously to unite ourselves in front of the common
enemy, an enemy always ready to foment discord,
and with whom all means are legitimate, provided
they arrive at the object of universal oppression,
and the dominion of the seas."

Carnot evidently confounded liberty and the re-
l>ublic, the common error of all who reason as lie
did. A republic is not necessarily liberty, as
monarchy is not of necessity social order. Oppres-
sion is encountered under a republic, as disorder is
met with under a monarchy. Without good laws
both one and the other will' be found under either
of those forms of government. But it is a main
point to know whetiier, with wise laws, monarchy
does not give in a higher degree than any other
form of government the sum of possible liberty,
and more than that the force of action necessary
for great military states ; above all, if the habits
of twelve centuries have not rendei-ed this form of
government inevitable, or since that time desirable,
in a country like France. If it has been thus,

1804.
April.

Resolution of the tribunate. —
Reply of the senate to the

THE EMPIRE.

561

would it not be better to admit it at once, and or-
ganize wisely, than to debate in a false position,
whicli neither agrees with the ancient niannei-s of
France, nor with the necessity there is for a stable
and satisfactory state of things ? The illustrious
tribune had only reason upon his side on one
point ; perhaps there was only the necessity for
Napoleon, and a siini>le dictatorship, to terminate
at !i later period, according to Carnot, in a republic,
[ according; to the present view of tilings, in a re-
' pre.sjiitative monarchy. Napoleon wa.s wonderfully
selected by Providence to prepare France for a
new reginjc, and to deliver over the care of ag-
grandizing and regenerating to tliose, whoever
they might be, that should govern after him.

The tribune Carion de Nisas took upon himself
the duty of replying to Carnot, and acquitted him-
self of his task to the great satisfaction of the new
monarchy men, but with a mediocrity of eloquence
that was only equal to the mediocrity of his ideas.
With the last it was no more than a got up discussion.
Tediousness,and a feeling of its perfect inutility, set
a tolerably speedy termination to the sitting. A
commission <if thirteen members was formed to
examine the motion of the tribune Cur<*e, and con-
vert it into a definitive resolution.

In the silting of the 13th of Flordal, or 3rd of
May, that is t<> say on the Thursday following, M.
Jard Panvillier, the reporter of the commission,
proposed to the tribunate to move a i-equest that,
according to the constitutional regulations in force,
should be addressed to the senate, and carried up
to that body by a deputation.

This request was as follows :

Firstly, that Napoleon Bonaparte, actually consul
for life, should be named emperor, and in that
character be charged with the government of the
French republic.

Secondly, that the title of emperor and the im-
perial power should be hereditary in his family,
male and male, according to the order of primo-
geniture.

Thirdly, that in carrying out, in the organization
of the ci>nstituted uuthoritie.s, the modifications
which the esUiblishrnent of the hereditary power
may demand, equality, liberty, and the rights of
the people bliould be preserved in their integ-
rity.

TIiIh request, or prayer, adopted by an immense
majority, wuh carried to the st-iiate on the follow-
ing day, the Mth Floreal, or 4th of May, 1H04.
M. Fnincois de Neufchateau occupie<l the vice-
prcsident'H chair at this sitting. Aft<;r having
heard the deputation from the tribimate, and
having given effect to the request whicli they
brought, he wild to the tribuneH, " 1 am not able to
tear off the veil which for the moment covers the
proceedings of the senate. I nuist nevertheless
inform you, that since the Gth (jerminal, we have
fixed upon the Hjime subject, of which you have
thought, mindful of the chief iniigislrate. But
know for your advantage, that during two months
past we have conteinpiiited in hilenee, what your
institution ha.s permitted you to give out for discus-
sion in presence of the public. The happy deve-
lopment whiih you h:ivc given to a great idea,
will procure for the senate that has opened the
tribune to you, the saiiHfaction of delight in the
aelection, and applause for llio laliour.

" In your public discourses you have penetrated

I to the bottom of our thoughts. As you do not,

I citizen tribunes, we do not desire to have the
Bourbons ; becau.se we will not have a counter-
revolution, the sole present that those unhapjiy
deserters are able to make us, who have carried
away with them despotism, nobility, feudality,
servitude, and ignorance.

" Like you, citizen tribunes, we wish to raise up
a new dynasty, because we wish to guarantee
to the French people all the rights which they
have reconquered. Like you, we wi.sh that liberty,
equality, and intelligence, should not again retro-
grade. I speak not of the great man called for-
ward by his glory to give his name to the age. It
is not for himself, it is f<u" us, that he devotes him-
self. That which you propose with enthusiasm,
the senate will consider with calmness."

It may be seen by these words of the vice-
president, that the senate wished to keep to its
time, and not expose itself agaiti to be outstripped
or surpassed in devotion to its new master. The
secret directors of the cliaii<;e which they pre-
l>ared, had well foreseen the influence which the
discussion in the tribunate exercised over that
body. They made it serve for hastening the re-
solution, saying it was needful that this resolu-
tion should be arranged the same day that the
prayer of the tribimate would be connnunicated,
in order that the two assemblages sliould ajipear
to meet each other, and that the most considerable
should not seem to come after the others. Thus
they hastened to finish all as i-apidly as possible.
They devised the plan of addressing a memorial to
the first consul, in wliich the senate should express
its ideas, and j)ropose the basis of a new organic
senatus consultuin. This memorial was, in fact,
quite ready at the moment when the deputation of
the tribunate was introduced. The draft was
approved, and tiie ])resentati()n to the first consul
inunediately determined upon. It was arranged
that this presentation should take place the same
(lay, or on the 14th Floreal. In consequence, a
deputation, composed of the officials and members
of the commission who hail ]>repared the memorial,

i waited upon the first consul, and handed to him
the message of the senate and the menuu'ial which

I contained its ideas on the new monarchical organi-

I zatioii of France.

It was necessary, in fine, to give to these ideas

I the form of constitutional articles, a conmiission
was named, composed of several senators, also of
the ministers and the three consuls, which was
charged to draw u\> the new senatus consultum.
Not liaving any further precautions to take in
respect to publicity, there were inserted in the
Moiiiti'ur im the morrow, all the acts iif the .senate,
the eonnnnnicalions which it had had with the first
consul, thosi; which it had received, ami all the
addresses wliieh for some time before had been
sent to the goveriunent, praying the ro-cstablish-
nient of the monarchy.

The connnissioii nominalcil .set about its laboui-s.
It nn-t at St. Cloud, in iiresenee of the first consul
and his two colleagues. It, examined ami succes-
sively rescdved all the (nu'stions which were de-
signed for the establishment (d tlio hereditary suc-
ccHsion. The first which prcHentc-d itself, was

' relative to the title of the new monarch. Should
O o

The succession to the throne
562 established in the Bona- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE,

pane laiuily.

Formation of grand
dignitaries fur the
throne.

1804.
May.

he be styled king or emperor ? The same reason
that in ancient Rome had caused lh« Ctesars to
resuscitate no more the title of king, and to take
the all military one of em])ei-ov {inipemtor), decided
the authors of the new constitution to prefer the
same qualification. It presented at once nioi'e
of novelty and of grandeur; it discarded, in a
certain de^jree, the recollections of the past time,
that it was wished only to restore in part, and not
by any means entirely. Besides, there was in this
designation something of the vastness, the illimit-
ability, wliich suited best the ambition of Na-
poleon. His numerous enemies in Europe, in
attributing to iiini, daily, prf jects which he had
not conceived at all, or had not yet imagined, by
repeatiiig in a multitude of publications, that he
dreamed about reconstituting the empire of the
West, or at least that of the Gauls, had thus pre-
pared every mind, even his own, for the title of
emperor. Tliis title was in every month, whether
of friends or enemies alike, before it was really
adopted. It was settled upon without any dispute,
in C()nse(|uence, that the first consul should be
proclainitd emperor of the French.

The hereditary succession, the end of this new
revolution, was very naturally established upon the
principles of the Salic law, that is to say, male
succeeded male in the order of primngeiiiture.
Na])oleon not having children, and tippearing as if
destined to have none, it was thought of giving
him the power of adoption, such as was once a
part of the Roman institutions, with the same con-
ditions and solemn forms. In default of adopted
descent, the triinsmisision of the crown was jier-
mitted in the collatei-al line, not to all the brothers
of the em)ieror, but to Joseph and Louis ex-
clusively. TliHse were the only two of the family
who had acquired for themselves real respeot.
Lucien, by the kind of life he led, and by his recent
maiiiage, had dis^qualified himKelf lor a successor.
Jerome-, scaicidy out of his adolescence, had mar-
ried an American lady, without the consent of his
relations. Only Joseph and Louis, therefore, were
admitted to the succession. In order to prevent
the inconveniences of misconduct in a numerous
family, so recently elevated to the throne, an abso-
lute p iwer was given to the emperor over all the
meinbtrs of the imi)erial family. It was settled
that the marriage of a French prince, contracted
without the cnsent of the chief of the empire,
shouhi b:ir all right to the hereditary succession
for such prince and his children. A dissolution of
the marriage so contracted could alone enable him
to recover the lost right.

The brothers ami sisters of the emperor re-
ceived the rank of princes and princesses, as will
as the honours attached to these titles. It was
resolved that the civil list should be established
upon the same princii)les as that of 1791; •" other
words, that it should be voted for the whole reign,
that it should be comjiosed of the royal palaces
still existing, Kif the product of the domains of the
crown, and a revenue of 25,000,000 f. The en-
dowment of the French princes was settled at a
miilinn of francs per annum for each of them. The
eini)eror had the right of fixing, by the imperial
deei-i-e, (corresponding to what are since called
crdinauces,) the interior regulations of the palace,
and the arrangement of that kind of show and

splendour wliich should be most agreeable to the
imj)erial majesty.

On entering so .completely into monarchical
ideas, it was needful to place near the new
throne a circle of grand dignitaries, that should
serve it both for ornament and support. Ic was
necessary, further, to consider these secondary
ambitions, ai-rayed voluntarily beneath the great
superior, that had been raised to the pinnacle of
greatness, and were to receive, in their turn, the
price of their jirivate and |)ublic services. Each
had now before his eyes the two consuls, Cam-
baceres and Lebrun, who, very far from their col-
league in all respects, had, nevertheless, partaken
in the supreme power, a]id had rendered incon-
testable services to the public by the wi.sdoni of
their counsels. They assisted, both the one and
the other, in the conferences of the senatorial coin-
mission, that drew up at' St. Cloud the new mo-
narchical c<.nstitution. The c(msul Cambaceies,
for the first time in his life perhaps, knew not how
to dissimulate his displeasure, and showed himself
cold and uncommunicative. He was as reserved
as Fouche' exhibiied himself the other way in this
respect, and he did not know how to dissimulate
his vexation, except in the disdain which he ex-
hibited towards the zeal wliich was shown by the
constructers of the new monarchy. This situation
of tilings brought about more than one conflict,
which was speedily rejiressed, indeed, by the au-
thority of Najioleon. The necessity of satisfying
the two consuls going out of i)lace by this new
change was generally felt, above all, towards
Cambaceies, who, in spite of some ridiculous jokes,
enjoyed immense ])iilitical consideration. They
had, at first, thought to imitate in every thing the
Roman empire, and to suffer the two consuls to
remain by the emperor's side. No one is ignorant
that after the elevation of the Cwsars to the em-
])ire, they preserved the institution of the consuls;
that one of the senseless members of that family
gave the title to his horse, that others gave them
to their slaves or to their eunuchs, and tliat in the
empire of the East, very near the period of its fall,
they had still two consuls, chosen annually, charged
with the vulgar guardianship of the calendar. It
was this recollection, little flattering, that had in-
.spirtd their friends, in other resjiects full of kind
wishes, with the idea of |)reserving the two consuls
in the new French empire. Fouclid repelled such
a proposition, and said, that it was necessary to
have little care about those who lost place under
the new organization; that what was, before all,
most important, was not to suffer the existence of
any trace of ii deceased re'gime. such as that of
the republic. " Those who lose any thing by the
new regime,'" replied Cambac^res, "will have one
consoling reflection ; they will carry with them
that which all those who go out of place cannot
take with them, the esteem of the public." This
allusion to Fouclid and to the last time lie quitted
oflSce, nia<le the flrst consul smile, perfectly ap-
proving the reply; but it impressed him with the
necessity of putting an end to such discussions,
carried iit last to a painful extent. The second
and third consuls were, therefore, no longer sum-
moned to the sittings of the commission.

Talleyrand, with the most ingenious inventions
at command, when it was a point with him to

1804.
May.

Great state officers appointed.

THE EMPIRE. Marshals to be nominaied in the army. g63

satisfy the ambitious, bad conceived a scheme of
borrowing from tlie Germanic empire smne of its
great dif^nities. Each of tlie seven electors was,
in the old empire, one a tieid-marshal, another a
cup-bearer, this a treasurer, that a chancellor of
the Gauls or of Italy, and so on. In the idea, yet
vague, of re-establishing perha])s at some future
day, the empire of the We.st for the advantage of
Fi-ance, it was but to prejiare the elements, by
surrounding the emperor with grand dignitaries,
chosen at the moment among the French princes,
or the great person.iges of tlie republic, destined
at a later time to become kings themselves, and to
form a retinue of vassal monarchs around the
throne of this modern Charlcm:igne.

Talleyrand and the first cnnsid, between them,
devised six grand officers, corresponding not to the
various offices of the imperial domicile, but to the
different attributes of tlie government. In this
constitution, where there still remained many elec-
tive functions, where the members of the senate,
the legislative body, and the tribunate, were to be
elected, in which the emjiemr himself woidd be-
come, in case of the e.viinction of direct descend-
ants, a grand elector, charged with certain hono-
rary cares relative to the elections, such an office
may easily be imagined. The first great dignitary
tliat was proposed, therefore, was a grand elector.
F.^r the second, an aivh-elianeellor of the empire,
charged with a character purely represeiitiilive,
and with a general inspection over all, through the
statenientsof the judicial department; for the third,
an arch-chancellor of state having a similar clia-
Kictor to tlie last, connected with the iliploiiiatic
relations of the country; for the fourth, an arch-
treasurer; for the tifili, a constable, and for the
sixth, a gmnd admiral. The titles of these last
sufficiently indicate to wh.it department of the
government their dignity answered.

The titularies of these great offices were, as
will presently be seen, dignitaries and not func-
tionaries, because they were to be irresponsilile
and immovable. Tliey were to have attributes
purely honorary, and only the general iiispecti.m
of that portion of the government with which
their titles ci-tinccteil them. Thus the grand elec-
t'lr convoked the legislative body, the senate, and
the electoral colleges, prescnliiig the oath to the
members of the dUfi-iviit a.ssi'iiiblies, and tailing a
part ill all the formalitief. that were attached to
the convocation or dissolution of the electoral
Colleges.

The arch-chancejior of the empire received the
n&lliH of the niagistiates, or else ))reseiiled tlieiii
to the emperor for that purpose; he watched over
(ho promulgation of the laws and the sciiatus coii-
Htiltuiii, presided in the council of sUUe, the high
imperial court, (of wliieli nieniion will shortly bo
made,) urged forward I he relorms desirable in the
laws, in fine, exerciseil the runctioiis of a stale civil
officer, as respected the births, marriages, and
deaths of the imperial lamily. The arch chancellor
of Hi*tc received the ambii«H.idor8, introduced them
to the emperor, sigiieil treaties and pivmiulgated
them. The arch treasurer watched over the great
book of the public debt, gave the gnaranteo of his
signature to all the wriiin;;s delivered to the state
creditors, verified the suminary of the general
Btato accounla before ihvy were subinilted to the

emperor, and delivered his own views upon the
ni:in.igciiient of the finances. The ci>nstable, by
i< ports to the war department, the griind admiral,
by reports to that of the navy, Imili Imd duties per-
fectly similar. Thus the piineiple deposed by
i\a|ioleon was, that no grand di'iiiitaiy could ever
be a minister, in order to keep separate the pre-
paratory attribute from the real function. These
were in each division of the gov(.riiment, dignities
modelled upon royalty itself, inactive, irresponsible,
lioMor;iry, like that, but charged, as that is, with a
general and superior supeiiniendence.

The titularies of these dignities would be able to
replace the emperor in his absence, whether in
the senate, the council, or the army. They formed
with the emperor the great council of the empire.
Filially, in case of the extinciion of natural and
legitimate descendants, they ekcti d the emperor,
and in case of a minority, they watched over the
beiisliip to the crown, and formed the council of
the regency.

The idea of these grniid dignitaries was agreeable
to .-ill the framers of the new constitution. Each
tituhiry, at least when bo was not at the same time
a grand dignitary and an imperial ])rince, was to
receive an income ammmtiiig to the third of the
endowment of the i)riiices,. or one-ihird of a mil-
lion. These were to be provided ibr the two bro-
thei-s of the emperor, his hite colleagues, and the
most considerable personages who had rendered
impi rtant military or civil services. Every one
tiiought by these, after the emperor's two bi-othcrs
Joseph and Louis, of the two consuls, Cambace'res
and Lebrun, Eugene de ISeaiihiirnais, the adopted
son of the first consul, Miirat, his broiher-iu-law,
Berlhier, his faithful and useful companioii in
arms, and Talleyrand, his int< rnudiate agent with
the ])owers of Europe. The partition of such
great favours awaited the will of ilie sovereign.

It was natural, also, to create in the army cex'-
tain elevated posts, and to re-est:iblish in that
braiieh of service the dignity of maisiial, which
existed under the old monarchy, and is adopted
tlirotmhout Europe as the most distinguished mark
of militiiry command, it wiis settled that there
should be sixteen marshals of the empire, and four
honorary marshals, the last chosen from among
th^se old generals who were become senators, and
were, in that (jnality, dejirived of active functions.
There were also re-established ihe posts of inspec-
tors-general of engineers and artillery, and of colo-
nels-general of cavalry. To these great military
officers were added ct^rtain great civil officers of
state, such as chamberlains, masters of the cere-
monies, and othei's ; ami there were composed of
both a second class of dignitarii'S, under the fitlo
of griind officers of the einpin', jus immovable as
the six great dignitaries themselves In order to
give to them all a sort of hold upon the soil, they
were charged with the presidnitships of the electoral
colleges. The presidentship ofeaeh tleetoral collego
was affixed in a jiermuiient. manner lo one of these
great dignities, and to the care of a civil or military
officer. Thus the grand eirctnr would preside over
the electoral collige of Bnissels ; the arch-chan-
cellor over that of Bordeaux ; the arch-chancellor
of state over that of Nantes ; the arch-treasurer
over that of Lyons ; ihe constiible over that of
Turin ; tho grand admiral over that of Marseilles ;
o o 2

564

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Fresh powers conferred
on the senate.

1804.
May.

the other great civil and military officers pi-esided
over the electoral colleges of less importance. This
was as much as human artifice of the most able
kind could imagine, in order to imitate an aristo-
cracy with a democracy, because this hierarchy of
six grand dignitaries and of forty or fifty great
officers placed on the steps of the throne, was at
once aristocratic and democratic ; aristoci'atic by
the position, the powers, and revenues which it
would soon possess, thanks to the conquests made
by France ; democratic in its origin, because it
was composed of lawyers, officers of fortune, and
sometimes of peasants become marshals, all places
remaining constantly open to every new candidate
of genius or of talent. The creations have disap-
peared with the creator and the vast empire that
served for their base ; but it is possible that they
would have terminated in success, if time had
strengthened them, and added the age which en-
genders respect.

In upraising the throne and adorning the steps
of its social pomp, it was impossible to dispense
with the assurance of some guarantees to the citi-
zens, to indemnify them by a little real liberty for
that apparent liberty of which tliey were deprived
by the abolition of the rejiublic. Tliey had re-
peated for some time, that imder a monarchy well
regulated, the government would be sti'onger, and
the citizens more free. It was necessary to keep
to a part of these professions, if it was possible to
keep any single one of such a nature, at a time
when all the world, desiring to have an energetic
power, had suffered to perish, for lack of use, even
the strongest liberty secured by the laws. It was
therefore thought right to give to the senate and to
the legislative body some prerogatives which they
did not possess, and which, it was possible, might
become useful guarantees to the citizens.

The senate, at first composed of eighty members
elected by the senate itself, then of citizens whom
the emperor judged worthy of that elevated posi-
tion, in fine, of six grand dignitaries and of French
princes of the age of eighteen years, was always
the first body of the state. It composed the others
by the faculty of election which it had preserved ;
it was able to extinguish any law or decree in con-
sequence of its being unconstitutional, and to re-
form the constitution by means ot an organic sena-
tus consultum. It had remained, in the midst of
the successive transformations to which it had sub-
mitted, as all-powerful as M. Sieyes had wished it
should be. The restorers of the monarchy de-
liberating at St. Cloud, conceived the idea of giving
it two new attributes of the liighest importance —
they confided to it the care of individual liberty
and the liberty of the press. By the forty-sixth
article of the fir.st consular constitution, the govern-
ment was not able to retain any individual in
l)rison without referring him, within the space of
ten days, to his natural judges. By the second
consular constitution, that which had established
the consulate for life, the senate, in case of a plot
against the security of tiie state, had the power of
deciding if the government should exceed the delay
of ten days, and for how long a time it should be
ahle to do so. It was desirable to regulate, in the |
n;ost secure manner, this arbitrary authority,
granted to the government at the expense of (he
liberty of the citizens. A senatorial conunission

was created, composed of seven members, selected
by ballot, to be renewed successively by one mem-
ber going out every four months. This commission
was to receive the demands and remonstrances of
the detained parties or their families, and to de-
clare if their detentions were just, and required for
the interests of the state. In the contrary case, if
after having addressed a first, second, and third"
invitation to the minister who had ordered the
arrest, that minister not setting free the individual
who had demanded his freedom, the commission
had the power itself to place him before the high
imperial court, for the violation of individual
liberty.

A similar commission, organized in the same
manner, was charged to watch over the freedom
of the press. It was the first time that this
liberty had been named in the different consular
constitutions, so lightly did they treat on its mor-
row the saturnalia of the press during the direc-
tory. As to the periodical press, that was left
under the authority of the police. It was not for
that they made any profession' of interesting them-
selves. They only occupied themselves with books
which were alone judged worthy of the liberty re-
fused to the journals. They were unwilling, as
was the case prior to 1789, to leave books to the
arbitrary rule of the police. Every printer or
bookseller, when a publication was found to be
aggrieved by a public authority, had the power of
addressing the senatorial commission charged with
the duty of attending to the matter; and if, after
having made an acquaintance with the interdicted
or mutilated work, the senatorial commission dis-
approved of the rigorous conduct of the public
authority, it made a first, second, and third notice
to the minister, and after the third it was able, in
case of a refusal to obey these repeated notices, to
hand the minister over to the high imperial
court.

Thus, besides the powers already enumerated,
the senate had the care of watching over individual
liberty and the liberty of the press. These two
last securities were not without value. Doubtless
nothing would be of previous efficacy under a
despotism universally accepted. But under the
successors of the depository of that despotism, if
any there should be, such guarantees would not
fail to acquire real strength.

They did something in the same sense for the
organisation of the legislative body. The tribunate,
as has been said several times, discussed alone the
projected laws, and after having formed an opinion
regarding them, sent three orators to sustain them
against three counsellors of state before the legis-
lative body, that remained silent. This silence,
corrected in the idea of M. Sieyes by the loquacity
of the tribunate, had soon become ridiculous in the
sight of a nation given to raillery, that all the while
fearing oratory and its excesses, still, nevertheless,
laughed at the forced silence of its 'legislators. The
dumb state of the legislative body had become yet
more obvious since the tribunate, deprived of all
energy, remained silent also. It was decided that
the legislative body, after liaving heard the coun-
sellors of state and the members of the tribunate,
should retire to discuss in secret committee the
projects which had been submitted to them, that
evei-y one of the members might sj)eak, and that

1804.
May.

light of speech given to tlie
legislative body.— Consti-
tuiiOD of the high court.

THE EMPIRE.

Effect of Sieyfes' constitution.—
The oath to be taken by the
emperor.

565

subsequently it might enter upon a public sitting
to vote in tlie ofilinury way of the ballot.

The right of speech in secret couiiuittee was then
given to the legislative body.

The tribunate beconje, since the institution of
the consulate for life, a stu-t of council of state,
reduced at this period to fifty members, and hav-
ing from custDin only to examine the projects of
laws in private conferences with the counsellors of
state, the authors of these projects, received in the
new constitution an organization conformable to
the usages wliich it was about to adopt. It was
divided into three sections ; the first that of legisla-
tion, the second of the interior, and the third of the
finances. It could not deliberate on the laws save in
an assembly of the sections, and never in a general
assembly. Three orators were to go in the name
of the section to support its o])inion before the
legislative body. This was to consecrate defini-
tively, by a constitutional disposition, the new form
imposed ujioii its< If out of deference.

Tlie power of the members was prorogued from
five to ten years, a favour for the individuals, wliich
diminished yet further the vitality of the body
itself, and more rarely still renewed its spirit.

To all this w;is finally joined an institution which
w-os wanted for the security of the citizens, it was
that of a high court, which then in Enghind and
now in France is found in the bosom of the chamber
of peers. The want of such a court appeared in the
process for the conspiracy of Georges, and in the
unfortunate e.>tecntion at Vincennes. The disadvan-
tage of this want was the more felt under a dicta-
torial government, of which the agents only offered
a nominal responsibility, and it was not possible
ti) bring them befttre any of the bodies of the state.
They had not then, in effect, as they have t<.-day,
the means to summon them before one of the
chambers. It was of as much importance to procure
a guarantee to the government against the authors
of conspiracies, as it was to the citizens against the
agents of the public authority.

Tliey affected to give to the institution of the
high court the apparent advantage that they en-
deavoured to bestow on the monarchical institu-
tion, that of adding as much to the liberty of the
citizen as of strength to the ruling power. In con-
sequence its seat was placed in the senate, still
without composing it of the senate wholly and en-
tirely. It was to be formed of sixty senators out
of one hundred and twenty, of six presi<lents of the
council of stiitc, of fourteen counsellors of state, of
twenty members of the court of cassation, of the
grand otficers of the empire, of six grand digni-
taries, and of princes having actjuired a deliberative
voice. It was to be ])rcsided over by the arch-
chanci^llor. The c<mrt was charged to take notice
of all conspiracies entered into against the security
of the state ; against the jierson of tiic emperor;
the arbitrary acts imputed to the ministers, and to
their agent« ; acts of forfeiture and extortion;
faults charged upon generals or admirals in the
exercise of their connnands ; offences committed
by the members of the imperial family, by the
great iligniUiries, the great otficers, the senators,
counsellors of stJite, anil similar personageH. It
was besides a court of justice charged with the re-
pression of great encroachments; a political juris-
diction for the ministera and agents uf the public

authority; a tribunal of the marshals for soldiers;
and a court of peers for the grand personages of the
state. A public prosecutor, attached permanently
to this extraordinary jurisdiction, had the commis-
sion to prosecute from liisotfice,in case complainants
did nut take the lead in j>rosecutions themselves.

The sole modification introduced into the ordi-
nary re'ginie of justice, was the appellation of
" court," which was substituted for that of tribunal
in those tribunals that were of the higher rank.
The tribunal of cassation was to take the title of
court of cassation, and the tribunals of appeal that
of imperial courts.

It was arranged that there should again be made
an act of reference to the national sovereignty, and
that open registers, in the form commonly used,
should receive the wishes of the citizens relative to
the establishment of the hereditary imperial suc-
cession in the doeendants of Napoleon Bonaparte,
and his two brothers Joseph and Louis.

The emperor was within two years to take a
solemn oath to preserve the constitution of the
empire, in presence of the grand dignitaries, the
great officers, the ministers, the council of state,
the senate, the legislative body, the tribunate, the
court of cassation, the archbishops, the bishops,
the presidents of the courts of justice, the ])resi-
dents of the electoral colleges, and the mayors of
tliirty-six of the principal cities and towns of the
republic. This was to be taken upon the evange-
lists, while repeating the text of the new constitu-
tional act to the French people. It was conceived
in the following terms :

" I swear to maintain the integrity of the terri-
tory of the republic ; to respect and make to be
respected the laws of the concordat and the liberty
of worship ; to respect and make to be respected
the equality of the law.s, and liberty political and
civil, the irrevocability of the sales of the national
property ; not to levy any tax, but in virtue of the
law ; to maintain the institution of the legion of
honour ; and to govern in the sole view of the in-
terest, happiness, and glory of the French people."

Such were the conditions adopted for the new
monarchy, in a project of tlie senatus consiiltum,
written in a simjjle manner, precise and clear, as
were all the laws of those days.

This was the third and last transformation of
the celebrated constitution of M. Sieyes. We have
elsewhere said that it had been the work of this le-
gislator of the French revolution. The aristocratic
regime is the haven where those republics pass into
repo.se that do not finish in despotism. Sieyes,
perhajts, without a doubt on the matter, had sought
to conduct the French rei)ublic to the same port,
as much disgusted with the agitations of ten years,
as the reimblics of antiquity and of the middle
ages after those of centuries ; and he had composed
his aristocracy with the notable and experienced
men of the revolution. In order to do this, he had
imagined an inactive senate, but armed with im-
mense influence, electing its own members, and
those of all the bodies of the sUite, in the lists of
notability rarely renewed, nominating the chiefs of
the government, revoking them, striking them
with the ostracism at jikasure, not taking any
part in making the laws, but able to abrogate them
w hen of an unconstitutional character ; not exer-
cising, in a word, the power, but conferring it.

__„ Remarks on the constitu-
ooo tioii as cliaiiged.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Treatmtiit of the second
and third consuls.

1804.
May.

and having alwnys tlie means of arresting it. He
had added a legislative body, equally inactive,
which admitted or rejected in -silence the laws that
the council of state h;id been charged to make, and
the tribunate to discuss ; then, lastly, a supreme
representative of the executive power, called a
grand elector, elective, and for life, like a doge,
inactive as a king of England, nominated by the
senate, nominating the ministers in his turn, alone
acting, and alone responsible. In this fashion
Sieyes separated every where the influence from
the action ; the influence that delegated the powei",
the control, and the decree, the action that it re-
ceived and exercised ; ho had -given the first to an
idle aristocracy, highly ])laced ; the second to
agents elective and responsible. He had thus
arrived at a sort of aristocratic monarchy, without
hereditary succession, recalling Venice to mind
more than Great Britain, ad.apted to a coimtry tired
of change rather than to one which was free.

Unhappily f i r the work of Sieyes, at the side of
this aristocracy without root, composed of disabused
and unpopular revolutionists, there was discovered
a man of genius that France and Europe denomi-
nated a saviour. Thei-e were few chances in favour
of this kind of an .aristocracy defending itself like
that of Venice, against usurpation, and more par-
ticularly that ill these times of rapid revolutions,
the contest would be very long. Before accept-
ing this constitution of M. Sieyes, general Bona-
parte had arranged his own place by making him-
self first Consul ill room of gi'and elector. Scarcely
had he begun to govern, than the intemperate re-
sistance of the tiibiiiiate restrained him in the
good which he wished to accomplish. He had
broken that down, to the great gratification of a
public tired of revolutions, and he got the consu-
late for life given to him by the senate. On the
same occasion he had added to the powers of the
senate the constituent ])Ovver, not fearing to render
all-powerful a boily which he himself governed ; he
had annulled the tribunate, by reducing that body
to fifty members, and dividing it into sections, that
discussed the proposed laws, hand to hand with
the sections of the council of state. Such was the
second transformation of the constitution of Sieyes,
or that which had existed in 1802 at the i)eriod of
the consulate for life. A vigorous hand had thus
contrived to alter, in the course of two years, this
aristocratic republic into a species of aristocratic
monai'chy, to which nothing but the hereditary
succession was wanting.

Thus it was that in 1802, many persons de-
manded why the thing was not finished off at once;
why the hereditary succession was not given to the
palpable monarch i A conspiracy directed against
his life awakened, with greater force than ever, the
desire for more .stable institutions, and, in fact,
brought about the last transformation, and the
definitive conversion of the constitution of the
year viii. into a monarchy, in form representative,
but absolute in fact. There were found many
republican remnants at the side of despotic au
thority, a little like those in the empire founded
by the Cfcsars at Rome. This was not repre-
sentative monarchy, such as it is now understood.
The senate, with the power to elect all the bodies
of the state from the electoral lists, Avith its con-
stituent power, with its faculty to abrogate laws^

that senate, with so much of power, subjected
to one master, bore no resemblance to an ujiper
chamber. The silent legislative body, although it
had the right of sjjeaking in a secret committee,
liore no resemblance to a chamber of deputies.
Yet, for all this, that senate, that legislative body,
all might become one day a representative mon-
archy. Thus the constitution of Sieyes, as modi-
fied by Napoleon, must not be judged by the dumb
obedience that reigned under the empire.

The constitution of 1830, with the press and the
tribune, wcjuld not have sensibly perhaps given
different results, because the spirit of the time
did more than the written laws. It would have
done to judge the imperial constitution under a
succeeding reign. Then the ojiposition, the inevi-
table consequence of a previous submission, would
have had birth even in the senate, so long a time
docile, but armed with enormous powers. It
would have been found most jirobably in accord
with the electoral colleges, making a choice con-
formable to the new spirit of the time ; it would
have broken the chains of the press ; it would
have opened the doors and windows of the palace
of the legislative body, so that its orators might
be heard afar. It had been then the represent-
ative monarchy existing at this day, with the dift'er-
ence, that the resistance would come from on high
in place of below. This is no reason why it should
be less enlightened, less constant, or less cou-
rageous. But here is a secret that time has car-
ried away without explaining the event to us, as
it has carried away many besides. Still these in-
stitutions were far from meriting the contempt
which has been attached to them. They composed
an aristocra»:ical republic, turned aside from its
object by a jiowerful head, converted temporally
into an absolute monarchy, at a later period be-
coming again a constitutional monarchy, strongly
aristocratic, it is true, but founded on the basis of
equality ; because every fortunate soldier would,
under it, be able to arrive at the rank of con-
stable ; every able lawyer might become arch-chan-
cellor ; and after the example of the founder, any
one might become, from a simple officer of artillery,
an hereditai-y emperor, and master of the world.

Such was the work of the constituent committee
that met at St. Cloud. During the last days of the
meeting Cambace'res and Lebrun did not attend.
The alterations that the monarchical zeal of
Fouclie', on one side, and the bad humour of Cam-
bace'res, on the other, had provoked, were the
motives for which they had ceased to summon the
first and second consuls. The wisest of the
senators, among those which composed the com-
mission, had felt, and had made Napoleon feel
how necessary it was to satisfy his two colleagues
in the government by treating them with due con-
sideration. It was not necessary to notice the sub-
ject to him, because he well knew the worth of
Cambac^res, the second consul, appreciated his
unostentatious devotion, and designed to attach
him to the new monarchy. He m.ade him come to
St. Cloud, entered anew into an explanation with
him on the last change, gave him his reasons,
heard those of the second consul, and terminated
the conversation by the expression of his will,
henceforth become irrevocable. He desired a
crown, and he was not to be contradicted. He

1804.
May.

DUappointmeiit of M. Talleyrand.

THE EMPIRE.

Designation of the marshals.

567

bad, besides, a gotid indemnification to offer to
Canibac^res and Lebrun. He dcsisriied fur the
first the dignity of the arch-chanctlloi-ship of tiic
empire, for the second that t>f arch-treasurer. Ho
tlius treated them as he treated his own brotiicrs,
wiio were to he comprised in tiie number of tlie
six grand dignitaries. He announced tiiis reso-
lution to Camhacdres ; he added those seducing
flatteries, wiiicli at that time no one was able
to resist, and he succeeded in wliolly regaining
him.

" I am now," he said to Cambace'res, " and I shall
he more than ever, surrounded with intrigues
and falsely interested counsels ; you alone will
have judgment and sincerity enough to speak the
ti uth to me. I wish, tliex-efore, that you should
approach yet nearer to my person and ear. You
will continue to have all my confidence, and to
justify it." These testimonies were merited. Cam-
bac^res, not having any thing more to desire, iind
nothing more to fear for his elevated position,
ciime to be, and was in effect the more sincere,
the more true, the solo influential counsellor of all
belonging to the new emperor.

Joseph Bonaparte was named grand elector,
Louis Bonaparte constable. The two dignities of
arch-chancellor of state and of grand admiral were
reserved. Napoleon hesitated again about the
different members of his family. He had thought of
Lucien, who was absent, disgraced, but whose recent
marriage he was in hopes of breaking ; of Eugene
Beauharnais, who had solicited notliing, but who
with i)erfect submission awaited all the kindness of
his adopted father; and of Mnrat, too, who solicited
not by himself, but through his wife, young, hand-
some, and ambitious, but dear to Napoleon, and
making use with cleverness of the tender regard
which she inspired.

Talleyrand, the principal inventor of the new
dignities, sustained on this occasion a disappoint-
ment, that iuHuenced his disposition in a vexa-
tious way. and at a later time threw him into an
oppo>.itiou, unhappy for himself, and unfortunate
for Napoleon. The place of aich-ch.ancellor of the
empire, that corresponded with his judicial func-
tions, having devolved upon the second consul,
Cambac^res, ho hoped that the arch-chancellor-
ship of state, which corresponded with his diplo-
matic functions, would naturally devolve upon him.
But the new emperor had positively explained
himself upon the subject. He would not admit
that the grand dignitiiries should be ministers ; he
svoiild only have in ministers agents removable and
responsible, whom he could dis|)lacc and punish
at will, (jeneral Borthier was as ])recious an
instrument to him as Talleyrand. He, neverthe-
less, wishc>l him to remain a minister, as well aij
Talleyrand, indemnifying them by valuable gifts.
The pride of Talleyrand was singularly wounded ;
and although ever a courtier, he commenced, not-
withstanding, to suffer his attitude of a discon-
tented man to become visible, though at that time
it was tolerably restrained, but at a later period
became less so, and gained for him at length severe
disgrace.

Over and above these there remained, whether
in the army or in tin! court, |)liices fit to content
every grade of am bi I ion. Thi-rt; were four mar-
shaU' places, honorary ones, to bo given to the

generals who had gone to repose in the senate, and
sixteen to those who, full of youth, were to figure
for a long time yet at the head of the army in ac-
tivity. Napoleon reserved the four honorary mar-
shalships, the first for Kellermann and the i-eeol-
lections of Vjilmy ; for LetVbvre, for his tried bra-
very and devotion on the 18th Brumaire ; for Pe~
rignon and Sei-rurier, for the respect they so justly
bore in the army. ■ Of sixteen marshals' places
vacant, destined for generals in active service, he
wished to confer fourteen immediately, and to keep
two for the recompense of futui-c merit. These
fourteen batons were given to general Jourdan, for
the noble remembrance of Fie urus ; to general
Berthier, for his eminent services and continuance
at the head of the staff; to general Massena, for
Uivoli, Zurich, and Genoa ; to the generals Lannes
and Ney, for a long succession of heroic actions ;
to general Augereau, for Castiglione ; to general
Brune, for the defence of the Helder ; to .\Iurat,
for his chivalrous conduct at the head of the
French cavalry ; to general Bessieres, as com-
mander of the guard, which he had held since the
day of Marengo, and of which he was w'orihy ; to
generals Moneey and Mortier, for their military
merit ; to general Soult for his services in Switzer-
land, at Genoa, and at the camp of Boulogne ; and
to general Davout, for his conduct in Egypt, and
the finnness of character of which he had given
ijuch brilliant proofs ; lastly, to general Bernadotte,
for a certain degree of renown acquired in the
armies of the Sombre and Meuse, as well as or. the
Rhine, for his consanguinity, more particularly,
in Sfiite of an envious hatred that Na])ole(in dis-
covered in the heart of this officer, which had
already given him the vYesentimeiit, several times
loudly expressed, of future treason.

A general who had not yet conmiandcd in chief,
but who had, like generals Lanhes, Ney, and
Soult, directed considerable bodies of troops, and
who merited the baton of marshal as nuich as the
officers already fjuoted, was not ujion the list of
new nuirshals. 'I'his was Gouvion St. Cyr, who, if
he did not e(iual Massena in his warlike charnctor
under fire, surpassed him in intelligence and in
military combinations. Since, Moreau had been
lost to France by his political errors, and since
KIcber and Desaix were no more, he was with
Massen.i the man most capable of connnanding an
army ; Napoleon, it being well understood, could
not bo |)ut in comparison with any one. But St.
Cyr's jealous and unsocial character began to re-
ceive in return the coolness of the supreme distri-
butor of favours. With the sovereign power came
its weaknesses ; and Napoleim, who pardoned Ber-
nadotte for his petty treasons, the presage of a
greater one, kiunv not how to pardon in St. Cyr
his aspiring spirit. Still general St. Cyr had
ranked among the colonels-generals, and became
colonel-general of cuirassiers. Juiiot and Mar-
mont, faiihful aiiles-de-cami) of general Bonaparte,
were nominated colonels-generals of hussars and
chasseurs, and Baraguay-d'IIilliers of dragoons.
General .Marescot received the rank of colonel-
gi.iieral of engineers, and general Songis that of
inspector-general of artillery. In the navy, vice-
admiral Bruix, ihe commander and organizer of
tin; flotilla, rdjtained the baton of admiral, and was
made inspector-general of the coasts upon the

Selections of the imperial
568 household.— Foucliere-
storeil to place.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Proclamation of Napo-
leon as emperor hy
the senate.

1S04.
May.

ocean ; vice-admiral Decres was named inspector-
general of the coasts on the Mediterranean.

The court offered great situations for distribu-
tion. It was organized with all the pomp of the
old French monarchy, and more brilliancy than the
imperial court of Germany. It was to have a
grand almoner, a grand chamberlain, a grand
huntsman, a grand equerry, a grand master of the
ceremonies, and a grand marshal of the palace.
The ofiice of grand almoner was conferred upon
cardinal Fesch, inicle of Napoleon; that of grand
chamberlain on Talleyrand; that of grand hunts-
man on genei-al Berth ier. To the two last these
offices of the court were an indemnification des-
tined to compensate them for not having obtained
two of the grand dignities of the empire. The
office of grand equerry was conferred upon M. de
Caulaincourt, in order to make up to him for the
calumnies of the royalists, pressing upon him since
the death of the duke d'Enghien. M. de Segur,
the former ambassador of Louis XVI. to Catherine
of Russia, one of the men best adapted to teach
Hie new court the usages of the old, was nominated
grand master of the ceremonies. Duroc, who go-
verned the consular now become the imperial
household, was to remain the governor under the
title of grand master of the palace.

Neither lesser appointments, nor the subaltern
candidates who disputed for them, is it needful to
cite here. History has only to i-ecount the more
prominent facts. It only descends to such details,
when they are of importance for painting the man-
ners of the time with fidelity. It need only be
said that the emigrants, who before the death of
the duke d'Eugliien tended to approximate some-
what towards tlie government, and who after that
event had for a moment gone off again, but who,
forgetful of all the world, thought already less of a
catastrophe grown two months old, began to figui-e
in the number of candidates for honours, anxious
to have places in the imperial court. Some were
admitted. It was contemplated above all to or-
ganize for the empress a sumptuous household.
A personage of high birth, Madame de la Roche-
foucauld, destitute of beauty but not of mind, dis-
tinguished by her education and her manners, for-
merly very much of a royalist, and now laughing
gracefully at its blind passions, was destined to be
the principal lady of honour to Josephine.

These selections were known belore they were
published in the Moniteur, and publi.shed from
mouth to mouth in the midst of the unfailing
speeches of approvers and disapprovers ; they had
a great deal to do in order to communicate all that
inspired them at so singular a spectacle, each cen-
suring or applauding according to their friendships
or their dislikes, the pretensions satisfied or crossed,
scarcely any person following his political opinions,
because then no one had any ])olitical opinions, ex-
cept the hot-headed royalists or the implacable re-
publicans.

To these nominations there was added one much
more serious, that of M. Fouche, who was called
to the ministry of the police, re-established for him,
as a recompense of the services which he had ren-
dered during the late events.

It was required to give to these selections, and
to the greatest of all, that which created out of a
general of the republic an hereditary monarch, the

character of official acts. The senatus consultum
was settled upon and drawn up. It was agreed that
it should be presented to the senate on tlie 2Cth of
Flore'al, or IGth of May, 1804, in order that it
might be decreed in the usual form. This presen-
tation having taken place, a commission was imme-
diately appointed to make its report. M. de La-
c^pede was charged with the report, a man of
learning, and a senator devoted to Napoleon. It
was completed in forty-eight hours, and carried to
the senate on tlie morrow or 28th of Floreal, the
18th of May. This day was destined for the solemn
proclamation of Napoleon as emperor. It had
been decided that the consul Cambace'res should
preside in the sitting of the senate, in order that
his adhesion to the new monarchical establishment
should be more striking. M. de Lacepede had
scarcely finished reading his report, when the se-
nators, without the appearance of a single dissen-
tient, and with a sort of unanimous acclamation,
adopted the entire senatus consultum. They even
awaited with the utmost visible impatience the in-
dispensable formalities with which such an act
must be accompanied, so eager were they to pro-
ceed to St. Cloud. It was agreed that the senate
should go in a body to that place, to present its
decree to the first consul, and to salute liim with
the title of emperor. Scarcely was the adoption
of the senatus consultum terminated, than the se-
nators raised the sitting tumultuously, in order to
reach their carriages and be the first to arrive at
St. Cloud.

The necessary dispositions had been made at the
palace of the senate, on the route, and even at St.
Cloud, for this unequalled scene. A long file of
carriages, escorted by the cavalry of the guard,
carried the senators as far as the residence of the
first consul on a superb day in spring. Napoleon
and Josephine, having received notice, attended
this solemn visit. Napoleon standing in military
uniform, calm, as he knew how to bear himself
when men regarded him, his wife at times satis-
fied and troubled, received the senate, which was
conducted by the arch-chancellor Cambac^res.
This his respectable colleague, and yet more re-
.spectable suljject, addressed, bowing low, the fol-
lowing words to the soldier whom he was about to
proclaim emperor : —
" Sire,

" The love and gratitude of the French people
have during four years confided to your majesty the
reins of government, and the constitutions of the
state already make in you their choice of a suc-
cessor. The denomination more imposing which
is decreed you to-day is nothing but the tribute
which the nation pays to its own dignity, and to
the necessity which it feels of giving you every day
fresh testimonies of an esteem and attachment
which every day sees augmenting. How can tlie
French people tiiink without enthusiasm of tlie hap-
piness it has received since Providence inspired it
with the thought of throwing itself into your arms !

" The armies had been vanquished ; the finances
were in disorder ; public credit was annihilated ;
factions disputed among them the remnants of our
former splendour ; the sense of religion and even
of morals was obscured ; the habit of giving and of
taking away authority left the magistrates without
respect.

Address of the senate. —
Speech of Napoleon in
reply.

THE EMPIRE.

Napoleon suggests his coronation
in Paris.

flC9

" Your m.ijesty appeared. You recalled victory
to our standard ; you established order and eco-
nomy ia the public expenditure ; the nation, en-
couraged by the acts wliich you knew liow to per-
form, regained confidence in its own resources ;
your wisdom calmed the fury of parties ; religion
saw you raise up her altars ; finally, and this is
without doubt the greatest of the miracles operated
by your genius, tlie people that civil effervescence
had renderetl incapable of all restraint, the enemy
of every authority, you have known how to make
cherish and respect a power that was never exer-
cised exci'pt for its glory and repose.

" The French people does not juvtend to make
itself a judge of the constitutions of other states; it
has no critical remarks to make, no examples to
follow ; experience henceforward will become its
teacher.

" It had for ages tasted the advantages attached
to hereditary power ; it had made a short experi-
ment, but a jKiinlid one, of the contrary system ;
it re-enters, through the effect of a free delibera-
tion, upon a rdginie conformable to its own na-
ture. It freely uses its right to delegate to your
imperial majesty a power that its interest forbids
it to exercise of itself. It stipulates on behalf of
the generations to come, by a solemn compact
confiding the happiness of its posterity to the
offspring of your race.

" Happy the nation that after so many troubles
finds in its bosom a man capable of appeasing the
tempest of angry passions, of conciliating all inter-
ests, and of uniting all suffrages !

" If it is in the principles of our constitution to
submit to the sanction of the people the part of
the decree which concerns the establislinient of
the hereditary government, the senate has thought
it is bound to supplicate your imperial majesty
to agree that the organic dispositions should re-
ceive their execution immediately ; and for the
glory, as for the honour and hapi)iness of the
republic, it proclaims at this moment, Napoleon,
empror of tlm French!"

Scarcely had the arch-chancellor terminated
these words, when the cry of " Long live the em-
peror," resounded beneath the ceilings of the
palace of St. Cloud. Heard in the courts and in the
gardens, the same cry w;ts repeated there with joy
and tumultu<)us applauses. Confidence and hope
were in all countenances, and all who attended,
enchained by the interest of the scene, believed
that for a long time they had insured their happi-
ness and that of France. The arch-chancellor,
CaTnbac«?res himself, led away, seemed to have
always desirc<l that which at this moment he ac-
complished.

Silence being re-established, the emperor ad-
dressed the following words to the senate : —

" All that can contriijiite to the good of the
country is essentially allied to my ha])pincKs.

" I accept the title that you believe is of utility
to the glory of the nation.

" I submit to the sanction of tlie people the law
of hereditary succession. I hope Franco will
never have to repent the hononra witii wliich she
has surrounded my family.

" In all cases, my spirit will cease to animate
my posterity the day when it will ccaso to merit
the love and confidence of llie great nation."

' Reiterated acclamations followed these noble
words ; then the senate, through the organ of its
president Cambacc'res, addressed some phrases of
congratf.lalion to (he new empress, which she
heard, according to custom, with perfect good
grace, and to which she did not reply except by
her deep emotion.

The senate afterwards retired, having attached
to this man, born so far from a throne, the title of
emperor, which he never more lost, even after his
fall and in his exile. He will henceforward be so
styled here; it was his own title, dating from the
day just described. The wish of the nation was so
certain, (hat there was something puerile in the
care that was taken to state it ; the wish of the
nation was to decide the hereditary succession:
but in the meanwhile he was emperor of the
French, by the power of the senate acting within
the limit of its privileges.

When the senators redrcd, Napole<m retained
the arch-chancellor Cambaceres, and desired liim
to remain and dine with the imperial family. Tlie
emperor and empress loaded him with their kind-
nesses, and endeavoured to make him forget the
distance that henceforward separated him from his
old colleague. Besides this the arcli-ch.ancellor
might well console himself ; in reality he had not.
descended ; his master had only risen, and had
raised every body with himself.

The emperor and the arch-chancellor Cam-
baceres had to confer upon several important sub-
jects which were allied to the events of that day.
These were the ceremony of the coronation and
the new re'gime to be given to the Italian republic,
which it was not possible to keep so near France,
thus converted into a monarchy. Napoleon, who
was fond of the marvellous, had conceived a
bold idea, the accomplishment of whieh might
seize upon the public mind, and render still more
extraordinary his accession to the throne. This
was to have himself crowned by the pope in person,
transported for the purpose of such a solemnity
from Rome to Paris. The thing had no example
in the eighteen centuries that the church had
existed. Ail the emperors of Germany, without
exception, had gone to be crowned at Rome.
Charlemagne proclaimed emperor of the West in
the church of St. Peter, in some sort by surprise,
on Cluistinas-day, 800, had not seen the pope dis-
placed even for liim. Pepin, it is true, had been
crowned in France by po|)c Stephen, but this pope
hud gone there to solicit succour against the Lom-
bards. It was the first time that a pope would
have quitted Rome to consecrate the rights of a
new monarch in the new monarch's own capital.
The instance in past time, to which it had a resem-
blance, was the effect of the church recompensing,
by the title of emperor, the fortunate soldier who
had lent it succour; a wonderlul resemblance with
Charlemagne, by replacing in a way fully sufficient,
that legitimacy of which the Bourbons so vainly
boasted, but rendered of small esteem by their d(f-
feat, their misconduct, and their co-operation in
unworthy plots.

This idea scarcely conceived, Napoleon at once
converted it into an irrevocable resolution, and pro-
mi.Hed himself to bring i'iiis VII. to Paris by some
means, either by seduction or fear. It was the
most difficult of negotiations, one in which no other

; Difficulties respecting

' 570 the Italian reijublic.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The state boilies take
the oaihs to the ntw
eni|)eror.

1801.
May.

than himself would have been able to succeed. He
proposed to help his object through cardinal
Caprara, who did not cease to write to Rome, that
without Napoleon, religion would have been lost in
France, and perhaps even in Europe. He com-
municated his design to the arch-chaiicellor Cam-
bace'res, and arranged witli him the best steps to
be taken, to make the first attack upon the preju-
dices, the scruples, and the inaction of the Roman
court.

As to the Italian republic, it would h.nve been
for two years before a theatre of contusion without
the i)residency of general Bonaparte. At first
M. Melzi, an honest man, sensible enough, but
morose, eaten up with tlie gout, always ready to
give in his resignation as vice-presideut, not having
the charaeter necessary for supporting the heavy
weight of the government, was a very insufficient
representative of tlie public authority. Murat,
commandant of the French :a-iny in Italy, caused
'broils in the Italian government, which added
to the vexatious position of M. Melzi. Napoleon
interfered unceasingly to keep the two auihorities
in agreenienti To these ])resent difficulties were
joined those which necessarily arise from the very
foundation of things. The Italians, as yet little
iasliioned to a constituent regime, that admitted
them to a participation in their own affairs, were
always either in a state of perfect indifference or
of extreme vehemence. For governing purposes
there were only a moderate few to be found, very
much troubled in supporting the ch:iracter they
had to sustain, placed as they were between tlie
nobles devoted to the Austrians, the liberals to
Jacobinism, and the mass of the jieople sensible to
nothing but the weight of taxation. These last
complained of the expenses of the French occui)a-
tioii, " We are governed by strangers, and our
money goes beyond the mountains :" this kind of
discourse, so common in Italy, was again heard
under the new republic as it hail been under the
swiiy of the house of Austria. There were but a
small number of enlightened men, who felt that,
thanks to general Bonai)arte, the greater part of
Lombardy, united in a single state, governed in
reality by those of the same nation, placed only
under an exterior and distant ins|jection, was thus
called into an existence of its own, the commence-
ment of an Italian unity ; that is, they must pay
twenty millions per annum for a Fiench army,
a very moderate indenniity for the support of an
army of thirty or forty thousand men, indispensa-
ble, if they would not again fall under the yoke of
the Austrians. Nevertheless, in spite of the som-
bre hue with which the sickly mind of M. Melzi
coloured the picture of Italian affairs, those affairs,
after all, went on peaceably, under the dominant
hand ol Najioleon.

To convert this republic into a vassal monarchy
of the emj'ire, and bestow it upon Joseph Bona-
parte, for example, was to conmience the em-
j)ire of tlie West, that Napoleon already dreamed
about, in an ambition, henceforward without limits;
it was to assure a re'gime more stable in Italy ; it j
was probably to content it, because the Italians
loved much to have a prince among them; and
being a change, it would iiave satisfied, if only by
the title, their uneasy and restless imaginations.
It was agreed that the arch-chancellor Camba-

ceres, very intimate with M. Melzi, should write to
him, in order to make upon the subject such
overtures as seemed most advisable.

Napoleon, after having placed in due accord
with his old colleague all he had to do at that
time, commanded the cardinal legate to attend at
St. Cloud, spoke to him in an affectionate tone,
but in one so positive, that it did not come into
the cardinal's mind to dare a single objection.
Napoleon told him that he charged him expressly
to request the pope to come to Paris to officiate at
the ceremouial of the coronation ; that he would
make the formal demand at a later period, when
he was certain of not being refused : that he did
not doubt the success of his wishes; that the
church was bound to adhere to him, and owed it
to hei-self to do so, because nothing would more
serve religion than the jircsence of the sovereign
pontiff' in Paris, and the union of religious to the
civil pomp on such a solemn occasion. Cardinal
Caprara sent oft' a courier to Rome, and Talley-
rand, <m his side, wrote to cardinal Fesch, to
inform him of the new design, and ^request him to
su))port the negotiation.

It was spring, Napoleon wished the journey of
the ])ope to take place in the autumn. He proposed
to himself the addition of another wonder to that
of the poi>e crowning at Paris the rejjresentative of
the French revolution; this was the expedition to
England, that he had adjourned in consequence of
the royalists' conspiracy and of the institution of
the emjiire, but of which he had so far completed
the i)reparations, that the success did nut Seem in
his own view to be doubtful. A mouth, more or
less, was only necessary for his purpose, because
he desired to strike a blow like a thunder-bolt. He
designed July or August ftir this grand operation.
He lioped, then, towards October to return vic-
torious, ])ossebsed of the definitive peace, and of all
the ])ower of Europe, and to be able to get himself
crowned by the conniiencement of the winter on
the anniversary day of the 18. h Brumaire, or 9th
of November, 1804. In his ardent mind, he
turned over all these projects, and it will be soon
seen, by the last combination he devised, that
they were not an utter chimera.

The arch-chanceHor Cambacdies wrote, on his
side, to M. Melzi, regarding the affairs of the new
kingdom of Italy. M. I\l;irescalehi, the minister
of the Italian republic in Paris, was to support the
overtures of Cainbace'res to M Melzi.

The subsequent days were employed in taking
the oath to the new sovereign of France. All the
members of the senate, the legislative body, and
the tribunate, were successively introduced. The
arch-chaiKellor, Cambaceies, standing at the side
of the emperor, who was seated, read the foi'ra of
the oath; the pci-sonage admitted swore directly
afterwards; the emperor, halt raiding himself from
his imperial chair, returned a light salute to him
from whom he h;id just received homage. This
sudden difference introduced into the relations be-
tween the subject and the sovereign, who, the day
before, was their equal, ja-oduced some sensation
among the members of the bodies of the state.
After having given him the crown under a sort
of hurried train of events, they were surprised on
seeing the firs-t consequences of what they had
done. Cariiot, the tribune, true to his promise of

1804.

May.

Feelinps of the public-
Popular Vtitcs taken.

THE EMPIRE.

Tlie process of Georges and
Mureau terminated.

571

submitting to tlie law when once passed, took the
outli with the other nieinbei-s of" the tribunate. He
there exhibited the dignity of obedience to tlie
law, appearing even to perceive less than others
the cluuiges operated in the external forms of
power. But the senators, above all, perceived
this, and held upon the subject more than one
n):ilicious conversation. One circumstance con-
tributed more particularly to inspire them with
tliis kind of discourse. Of tha thirty and some
odd senators instituted at the epoch of the con-
sulate for life, their remained fifteen to fill up ;
those of Agen, Ajaccio, Angers, Besan^on, Bourges,
Ciilmar, Dijon, Limogi-s, Lyons, Montpellier,
Nancy, Nimes, Paris, Pan, and Riom. They were
given away on the 2iid Piairial, or 22nd of May.
Lacepedc, Kellermaun, Fran9oise de Meufchateau,
and Bcrthollet, were of the immber of the parties
thus favoured. But in a hundred senators, of
whom more than eighty were yet to be satisfied,
fifteen contents diil not form a sufficient majority.
Nevertheless, those who had missed senator's
places, had others in view, and had uo reason to
be in despair. But while thus waiting, somewhat
of ill-humour was discoverable in their language.
The Mon'Ueur was every day filled with nomina-
tions of chamberlains, equerries, ladies of honour,
and tire-women. What the personal grandeur
of the new emperor did might be pardoned him,
but it was not the same with those whom he elevated
iu his train. The imeasy activity of the repub-
licans, im|)atient to become courtiers, and of royal-
ists pressing forward to serve him whom they de-
nominated a usurper, was a strange and singular
spectacle ; and if to the natural effect of this
spectacle be added the hopes, deceived or delayed,
that were avenged in spiteful speeches, it may be
comprehended, that at the montent they criticised,
railed, contennied, in a word, talked a great deal.
But tlie ma.s.sc.s, charmed to have a government
as glorious as it was benevolent, struck with the
nnefjualled scene, of which they only perceived
the entire, and not the details, felt not at all en-
vious of those happy creatures of a'day, who had
succeeded in making their children pages, their
wives ladies of honour, and themselves prefects
of the palace or chamberlains; the masses had
been att ntive to what was going forward, and
were seized with a surprise which soon changed
into admiration. Napoleon, the sub- lieutenant of
artillery, acknowledged and accepted by Europe,
and lifted on high in the midst of a profound calm,
covered with the brilliancy of his fortunes the
littleness mingled up in tliis prodigious event.
They no more experienced, it is true, that eager
sentiment, which in i7'J9 had caixied the astonished
nation into a race in advance of its saviour; they
no more experienced the sentiment of gratitude
that in 1802 had carried the delighted nation on
to decreeing to its benefactor a perpetuity of his
power; they were, in fact, less pressed to pay in
gralitutle a man who had so well taken care to
pay himself, liut they judged him worthy of the
sovereign heredit;try government ; they a<lmired
him who had dared to take it ; tliey approved of
its reeHtablishinent, because it was a more com-
|)lete return to order; they were, in fine, <lazzled
at the wonders in whicii they aided. Thus, al-
though with sentiments a little difl'erent from those

which they had at heart iu 1799 and in 1802, the
citizens went with eagerness to all the places where
the registers were opened, to enrol their votes.
The affirmative suffrages were entei-ed by millions,^
and scarcely any negative suffrages, or very rarely
a single one, as if to show the liberty which they
enj^)yed, made their appearance in the immense
mass of favourable votes.

Napoleon had only one last disagreeable affair
to encounter before coming into jjossessioii of
his new title. It was necessary to finish the pro-
cess against Georges and Moreau, in which they
had, at first, engaged with full confidence. In
relation to Georges and his accomplices, or as re-
spected Pichegru himself, if he had lived, the
ditticuity was not so great ; the jjrocess would
have covered them with confusion, and ])roved the
participation of the emigrant princes in their plots.
But Moreau was connected with their cause. It
was believed at the commencement that more
])roofs would be found than there really existed
against him; and although his crime was evident
to persons of soimd understanding, still the ma-
levolent had the means left of denying it. Besides,
there was the involuntary sentiment of ])ity felt
at the aspect of the contrast afi'orded by the two
first generals of the republic, the one mounted
upon a throne, the other in fetters, and destined,
not for the scaffold, but for exile. Every con-
sideration, even that of justice itself, was placed
aside in a similar case, and tlie wrong would be
given more willingly to the fortunate if there had
been ground.

Those who were accused with Jloreau, advised
by their defenders, contrived so as completely
to escape involving him. They had been much
irritated agains-i him at the opening of the pro-
ceedings; but interest predominated over passion;
they jiromised to save him if possible. It was
first, the greatest moral check against Napoleon,
to make Moreau, his rival, shake off' his fetters, and
come out victorious over the accusation laid against
him, covered with the robe of innocence, aggran-
dized by persecution, and rendered an implacable
enemy. Further, if Moreau had not conspired,
they would have been able to assert that there hail
been no conspiracy, that is to say, not a criminal
one, and from thence deduce that none were guilty.
Their own safety, therefore, as far as the royalists
were concerned, bordered on calculations as to
party connexion, and bound them to keep to the
line of conduct proposed.

The bar, always disposed in favour of the ac-
cused, the people of Paris, independent in their
judgments, tind in willing opposition, when serious
events do not attach them to power, were jias-
sionately in favour of Moreau, and expnssed
their wishes in his behalf. Those even, who with-
out malevolence towards Napoleon, saw only iu
Moreau an illustrious and unfortunate soldier,
whose services might yet become useful, wished
that he should be; pronounced innocent of the
charge, that he might, be restored once more to the
army and to Prance.

The trial began on the 28th of May, or 8th
Prairial, yetir xii., in the midst of an immense
attendance of people. The accused were numerous,
arranged on four rows of seats. The altitude of
all was not the same; Georges and his own party

_ Conduct of Moreau on

o/^ the trial.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Defence made by
Moreau.

1804.
May.

exhibited an affected assurance : they felt them-
selves at their ease, because after all, they were
able to call themselves the devoted victims of their
cause. Still the arrogance of some did not dis-
pose the spectators to judge favourably of them.
Georges, although elevated in the sight of the
crowd by the acknowledged energy of his cha-
racter, caused some marks of indignation among
the people. But the unfortunate Moreau, burdened
with his glory, deploring at this moment an illus-
tration which made him of so much value in the
eager regards of the muUitude, was deprived of
that tranquil self-possession, which constituted his
principal merit in war. He evidently asked him-
self what he did there among the royalists — he,
who was one of the heroes of the revolution, and
who, if he did himself justice, could only liave
been able to repeat, in his own mind, the one
tiling, that he had merited his doom from having
yielded to the deplorable vice of jealousy. Among
the numerous accused the public searched for him
alone. There were even some applauses heard
from old soldiers among the crowd, and from dis-
consolate revolutionists, believing they saw the
republic itself sitting on that prisoner's stool, on
which was now seated the general-iu-chief of the
army of the Rhine. This curiosity, and these
homages to himself, embarrassed Moreau ; for
whilst the others declared with loud emphasis
their names, obscure or too sadly celebrated, he
pronounced his own glorious name so low, that it
was heard with difficulty. A just self-censure for
a noble rejjutation compromised.

The proceedings were long. The system which
it had been agreed upon to adopt was exactly fol-
lowed. Georges, M. de Polignac, and M. de Riviere,
had only come to Paris, they said, because it had
been represented to them that the new government
was wholly unpopular, and the public mind uni-
versally returned to the Bourbons. They did not
conceal their attachment to the cause of the legiti-
mate princes, and their dis|)osition to co-operate
in a movement, if a movement had been possible ;
but they added that Moreau, whom intriguers re-
presented as quite ready to welcome the Bourbons,
had not thought of it, and would not hear any of
their propositions. Ever since then they had not
even thought of conspiring. Georges, interrogated
on the foundation of the design, and in presence of
his first declarations, in which he had avowed that
he came to assail the first consul on the road to
Malmaison, with a French prince at his side —
Georges, confounded, replied that without doubt
they should have thought of it at a later period,
if an insurrectional movement had seemed oppor-
tune, but that nothing being possible at the mo-
ment, they had not even occupied their minds with
the plan of attack. U])on showing him the poig-
nards, the uniforms designed for the Chouans, and
the Chouans themselves seated near liim, on the
benches of the accused, he did not exhibit him-
self exactly disconcerted, but he became silent,
appearing to avow by his silence that the system
invented for his co-accused partisans and for Mo-
reau, was neither true nor praiseworthy. There
was but one point on which they all rested in con-
formity with their past declarations, and this was
the presence of a French prince in the midst of
them. They felt, in effect, that in order not to be

ranked in the class of assassins, it was necessary
to be able to say that they had a prince at their
head. It was of little importance to them to com-
promise the royal dignity ; a Bourbon gave them
the character of soldiers combating for the legiti-
mate dynasty. Besides, when the imprudent
Bourbons had saved their own lives in London,
without disturbing themselves about their un-
happy victims, those victims might well be justified
in attempting the salvation in Paris, if not of their
own lives, at least of their honour.

As to Moreau, his system of defence was more
specious, because he had never varied. That sys-
tem he had already laid open in a letter to the first
consul, unhappily for him written too late, a long
time after the useless interrogatories of the grand
judge, and when the government, engaged in the
proceedings, was unable to draw back without ap-
pearing to fear a public trial. He avowed that he
had seen Pichegru, but only with the object of
being reconciled to him, and to manage some means
for him to return to France. After the settlement
of the civil troubles, he had thought that the con-
queror of Holland was worth the ti'ouble of re-
storing to the republic. He had not been willing
to see him openly, or to solicit his appeal directly,
having lost all influence by his coolness with the
first consul. The mystery with which he sur-
rounded himself had had no other motive. It was
true that on this occasion Pichegru had made use
of the opportunity to speak of designs against the
government, but he had repulsed them as ridi-
culous. He had not denounced them, because he
believed them to be devoid of any danger, and
because such a man as himself ought not to put
on the character of an informer.

This defence sustainable,if positive circumstances
and irrefutable witnesses had not rendered it in-
admissible, gave place to very close examinations,
in which Moreau recovered his true pi-esence of
mind, a little In the way it happened to him in
war upon any pressing occasion. He even made
noble replies, singularly applauded by the auditory,
" Pichegru was a traitor," the president said to
him, " and even denounced by yourself to the di-
rectory. How could you dream of being recon-
ciled to him, and of bringing him back to France ?"

" At the time," replied Moreau, "when the army
of Conde' filled the saloons of Paris and those of the
first consul, I might well be justified in occupying
myself with bringing the conqueror of Holland
back to France."

Upon the same subject they asked him why,
under the directory, he had been so late to de-
nounce Pichegru, and thus seemed to throw sus-
picion upon his past life.

" I had cut sliort the interviews of Pichegru,"
he replied, " and of the prince of Condd on the
frontier, by placing, through the victories of my
army, eighty leagues of space between that prince
and the Rhine. The danger over, I left to a
council of war the care of examining the papers
thus found, and of sending to the government such
as it might judge useful."

Moreau, interrogated upon the nature of the plot
in which they had proposed to him to become an
associate, persisted in asserting that he had re-
pulsed it. "Yes," they said to him, "you re-
pulsed the proposition to place the Bourbons upon

Roland implicates >roreau.

THE EMPIRE.

Fresh evidence tendered against
Moreau.

573

the throne, but you consented to serve Pichegru
and Georges for the purjiosc of overturning the
consuhir government, in tlie hope to receive the
dictatoi-ship at their hands."

" Thf-y attribute to me, tiien," replied Moreau,
" a ridiculous project, that of making ms serve
the royalists to become dictator, believing tiiat if
they vere victorious, they would remit the power
into my hands. I have conducted war for ten
years, and during that ten years I have never,
that I am aware, done very ridiculous things."

This noble allusion to his past life was covered
with ap|>lause. But ail the witnesses were not
in the secrets of the royalists ; all were not jire-
pared for a desertion of their first depositions.
There was one witness, named Uokiml, formerly
employed in the army, who repeated with sorrow,
but with an obstinacy that nothing could shake,
that which he had stated on his first exa-
mination. He said, that the go-between of
Pichegru and Moreau charged the last with de-
claring, that he would not have the Bourbons; but
that if they delivered themselves from the consuls,
he would use the power, which would be inevitably
conferred upon him, to save the conspirators, and
restore Pichegru to all his honours. Others con-
firmed again this assertion of Rolatid. Bduvet de
Lozier, the officer of Georges who escaped from sui-
cide in order to fling a terrible accusation against
Moreau, could not retract, but repeated it, at
the same time endeavouring to lessen its force. In
the accusation, given in writing, he had only an-
nounced those things which he had heard from
Georges himself. Georges answered, that Bouvet
nnist have ill heard ami ill understood him, and, in
consequence, made a very incorrect report. But
there remained the interview during the night at
the Madeline, in which Moreau, Pichegru, and
Georges were fi>und together, a circumstance
wholly irreconcilable with the simple design of
bringing back Pichegru to France. Wherefore
be found at night at a rendezvous with the chief of
the conspirators, with one whom it was impossi-
ble to meet innocently, when a man was not himself
a royalist ? Here the depositions were so precise,
80 concordant, so numerous, that with the best will
in the world, the royalists were not able to recall
that which they had declared, and which, when
they attempted to do, they at the same moment
confounded themselves utterly.

Moreau, at this time, was overwhelmed, and
the interest of the auditory finished by diminishing
sensibly. At times the unbecoming reproaches of
the [)residcnt on his f.irtimes, awoke a little of the
interest which had nearly died away : " You are
at least culpable of non-revelation," the president
said to him ; " and although you pretend that
such a man as yourself knew not how to take
upon you the character of an informer, you were
bound to obey the law, whicli ordains that every
citiziMi, whoever he may be, is to denounce all plots
of which he may acquire a knowledge. You
owed it to a government that had loaded you
with benefits. Have you not rich appointments,
an hotel, estites ?"

Such a reproach was little worthy of being
made, addressed, as it was, to one of the most
disinterested generals of the time.

" Monsieur the president," Moreau r(i>Iied,

"do not put into the balance my services and my
fortune ; there is no comparison j)"ssible between
similar things. I have forty thousand francs of
appointments, a house, an estate which is worth
three or four hundred thousand francs ; I know
this, but I should have had fifty millions, if I had
used victory as many othei-s have done."

Rastadt, Biberach, Engen, Moesskirch, Ho-
henlinden, these noble recollections placed by the
side of a little miserable money, carried away the
auditory, and provoked applauses that the incon-
sistency of the defence had begun to render very
rare.

The trial lasted twelve days, and the agitation
of the public mind was considerable. It has
been seen in later times that a process may en-
tirely engross the public attention. The same
thing happened here, but with circumstances pro-
ductive of any other emotion than that of mere
curiosity. The presence of a general triumphant
and crowned, a general in misfortune and in fet-
ters, opposing, by his defence, the last resistance
])Ossible to a power every day more absolute ; in
the middle of the silence of the iiati(mal tribune,
the voice of the advocates making themselves
heai'd as in countries the purest in character ;
illustrl-jus heads in danger, the one belonging to
the emigration, the other to ihe rei)ublic ; liere
was certainly enough to raise emotion in all hearts.
They yielded to a just pity, inrhajis also to the
secret sentiment that created a wish for a check
upon fortunate power ; and that too without being
inimical to the governrnent, or having wishes for
Moreau. Napoleon, who felt himself exemjit from
that base jealousy of which he was accused, who
knew well that Moi-eau, without wishing for the
Bourbons, had desired his death in order to replace
him, believed and said aloud, that they owed him
justice in condemning a general cul|)able of a state
crime. He wished the cor.demnation for the sake
of his own justification ; he desired it not to
see the head of the conqueror of Hohenlin<len fall
upon the scaffold, but that he might have the
honour of pardoning him. The judges knew this,
and also the public.

But justice which does not enter into political
considerations, and which has good reason for not
entering into them, because if policy is sometimes
humane and wise, it is at others imprudent and
cruel ; justice, in the midst of this conflict of the
passions, the last which was to trouble the pro-
found repose of the empire, remained impassible,
and rendered equitable judgments.

The 21st of Prairial,or lOih of June, after four-
teen days of open court, while the tribunal had
retired to deliberate finally, certain of the accused
royalists, perceiving that they had been deceived,
anil that all their efforts to clear Moreau had served
no cnri, demanded of the judge of instruction, to
be allowed to verify their declarations more ex-
actly. They sjjoke no more of three interviews with
Moreau, but of five. M. Ileal having notice of this,
had gone off to the emperor, and the em|)eror had
written immediately to the areh-ehaneellor Cam-
baccres, in order to find out some nu-ans of getting
to the judges. But this was a diflicult ])oint, and,
further, it was useless, as without lending them-
selves to the new coniniimicalions, they gave the
same <!ay, the lOih of June, a judgment not die-

„. Sentence given by the
0/4 judges.

Napoleon pardons seveial ,-.^
THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE, of ti.e convicted royal- j'°°*;

tated by any influence. Tliey pronoiiiiced tlie
penalty of deatli ai^aiiist Georges and nineteen
of his accomplices. As to Moreau, tliey found liis
material complicity not sufficiently established, but
his moral conduct i-epi-eljensible ; and, in conse-
quence of this consideration, they inflicted upon
him tlie penalty of two years' imprisomnent. Al.
Armand de PohL^nac and M. de Riviere were con-
demned to deatli ; iM. Jules de Polignac and five
others of tlie accused were sentenced to two years'
imprisonment ; twenty-two were acquitted.

This judgment, approved by all impartial per-
sons, caused mortal displeasure to the new empe-
ror, wlio was very angry at the weakne-s of that
justice, which others at the same moment accused
of barbarity. He wanted the self-control that
the supreme authority ordinarily imposes upon
itself, aliove ;ill, in sui-h serious matters. In the
state of exaspeiatioii into which he had been thrown
by the unjust charges of his enemies, it was diffi-
cult to obtain from him any acts of clemency.
But he was so prompt in calming his anger, so
generous, and clear-sighted, that the access was
soon o[iened .i^'ain which led to his reason and his
he^irt. In the few days employed for the jmrpose
of addressing the court of c:issutioii, he took suit-
able resolutions, remitted to Moreau his two years'
imprisonment, as he would have remitted the capi-
tal penalty, if it had been pi-onounced, and also
consented to his de]>arture for America.

This un'orluuMte general desiring to sell his
projjcrty, Na|>oleon gave orders that it should be
purchased immedintely at the highest price. As
to the condemned myalists, always rigorous in
their regard since the last conspiracy, he would
not, at first, grant a pardon to any of them.
Georges alone, owing to bis energy and his Cou-
rage, seemed to inspire him with some interest ;
but he regarded liim as an implacable enemy, whom
it was neces.sary to destroy to ensure the public
tranquillity. Besides, it was not for Georges that
tlie eniigrants were interested. They were much
more so for M. de Polignac and M. do Riviere ;
they censured the imprudence which had placed
these persons of elevated rank and good education,
in coin])any so unworiliy of th( in ; but they were
not reconciled to see their heads fall on the scaf-
fold ; it is true that the attachments of party,
soundly appreciated, might excuse this fault, and
merit the indulgence even of the head of the
em|jire himself.

They knew the kind heart of Josephine ; they
knew that she had a bosom in the midst of her
unparalleled greatness of elevation, that pi-eserved
its unaffected goodness. They knew also that she
lived in continual fear.s, imagining that daggers
were constantly raised to strike her husband. A
remarkable act of clemency might arrest the
poignard, and tranquillize their exasperated spirits.
It was contrived to introduce madiim de Polignac
through the means of madam R^musat, who w,«s
attached to the ]ierson of the enqiress, and to
bring her to St. Cloud, whither she came, and
bathed in her tears the imperial mantle, Jo-
sephine was deeply touched, as with her kind and
sensitive heart she was certain to be, at the aspect
of a distracted wife imploring in so noble a man-
ner a pardon for her husband. She ran to make a
first attempt on Napoleon, who, according to hia

custom, concealed his own emotion beneath a harsh
and severe countenance, and bluntly repulsed her.
Madam de Kdmusat was present. " You interest
yourselves continually for my enemies," he said to
them l)oth. "They are all, one and the other, as
im])rudent as they are culi)able. If I do not give
them a lesson, they will recommence, and will be
tlie cause of making fresh victims."

Josephine, thus rei)elled, knew not to what other
means slie could have recourse. Napoleon was to
leave the apartment of the council in a short time,
and to jKiss tliron;;h one of the galleries of the
chateau. She tlionf,dit of placing madam de Po-
lignac in his way, that she might be able to fling
herself at his feet when he passed. At the moment
when he did pass madam de Polignac, bathed
in tears, presented herself before him, and besought
o*' him the life of her husband. Napoleon, sur-
prised, threw towards Josephine, whom he guessed
to be an accomplice in the matter, a severe glance.
Then sud<leiily giving way, he said to madam do
Polignac, that he was astonibhed to find M. Armand
de Polignac engaged in a conspiracy against his
person, the companion, as he had been, of his youth
at the military school ; that, nevertheless, he
granted his pardon to the tears of his wife ; and
that he trusted so much weakness on his own
part would not have any evil result l)y encouraging
more of such imprudent attempts. "They are
very guilty, madam," be added, "those princes,
who ilius commit the lives of their most faithful
adheients wiilu ut ])artaking in the dangers."

Madam de Po.ignac, overcome wiih joy and
gratitude, went to recount to all the astonished
eniigrants this scene of mercy, and purchased for
an instant something of justice towards Josephine
and Napoleon. M. de Riviere still remained in
danger. Murat and his wile went to the emperor,
to overcome and snatch linm him a second jiar-
don. That of M. de Polignac brought that of M. de
Riviere, for it was immediately granted to them.
The generous Murat, eleven years afterwards, did
not meet with a similar generosity in return.

Such was the end of this odious and sad con-
spiracy, which had for its object to annihilate Na-
|ioleon ; that instead placed him upon the throne,
unhappily less pure than he was previously ; that
brought a tragical end upon one of the French
princes who had not conspired, and impunity to
those who had framed the plots, but it is true with
great ]iublic indignation for the chastisement of
their hiults ; lastly, exile upon Moreau, the only
one of the generals of that time of whom it was
possible, in exaggerating the glory and lowering
greatly that of Napohon, to mako'^a rival for the
last. Striking circumstances from which the spirit
of party should take a lesson ! They always aggi-an-
dize the government, the party, or the man, who
attempt their destruction by criminal means.

Every resistance was henceforth overcome. In
1{J02, Napoleon had surmounted all civil resistance
l>y annullingthe tribunate, and in 1804, he surmount-
ed all military,by di.seomfiting the conspiracy of the
emi;irants with the republican generals. While he
mounted the steps of the throne, Moreau had gone
into exile. They were to meet again at cannoii-
sh<it distance fi-om each other, under the walls of
Dresden, both unhappy, both culjiable ; the one in
returning from a foreign land to make war upon

Concluding reflections.

THE CORONATION.

Concluding reflections.

liis country ; the otln^r in abusinfj his power so fiir
as to |ir<»vcpk.' a tniiversal reaction against tiie
greatness of France ; the one died of a shut from
a Frcncli gmi, while (lie other, carrying away a
last victory, already siiw the abyss before him in
wliicli his prodigious destiny was to be eiiiiulplied.
Nevertheless, those grand events were yet very
far oF. Nai)oleon now seemed to be all-powerful,
and to be so for ever. Doubtless he bad ex-
perienced recently some vexations, because, inde-
pendently of great misfurtimes, Providence always
conceals some an icipated bitterness even in liaiipi-
ness itself, as if to give notice to the human mind,
and pi-epare it for greater x'isfortunes still. The
last fifteen days had been painful, but they soon

passed away. The clemency which he had shown
threw a soft briglitness over his nascent reign.
The death of Georges affected nobody deeply, al-
though his courage, worthy of a better fate, in-
sjiired some regret. Vei-y soon every body was
attracted by that feeling of marvellous curiosity
whiclt is experienced in presence of an extraordi-
nary spectacle.

Thus terminatel, after twelve years' duration,
not the French revolution, for that was always
living and indestructible, but the republic, qualified
as imperishable. It fell under the hand of a vic-
torious solilier, as all republics fall that do not go
to sleep iu the embraces of an oligarchy.

BOOK XX.

THE CORONATION.

OELIY CAUSED TO THE ENGLISH EXPrDITION— MOTl VrS AXD ADVANTAGES OF THAT DELAY. — THE CARE OF TIIE
PREPARATIONS REDOUBI.KD.— PIN ANCI A L M BANS.— BUTGET OF THE TEAXS XI., XII, AND XXII — CREATION OK
INDIRECT CONTBIBUTIONS — THE ANCIENT THEORY OP TAXATION SOLELY UPON LAND. — NAPOLEON REFUTES
THIS DOCTRINE, AND LAYS A TAX UPON CONSUMPTION. — FIRST ORGANIZATION OF THE REGULATIONS OF THE
UNITED DUTIES— SPAIN PAYS ITS SUBSIDY IN LIMITED OBLIGATIONS — AN ASSOCIATION OF MONIED MEN PRE-
SENTS ITSKLF TO DISCOUNT THEM. — FIRST OPERATIONS OP THE COMPANY CALLED" THE UNITKD TRADERS.
— ALL THE DISPOSABLE RESOURCES DEVOTED TO THE SSUADROKS OP BRKST, KOCHFORT, AND TOULON. — NAPO-
LEON PREPARES FOR TIIE ARRIVAL OF A FRENCH FLEET IN THE CHANNEL, IN ORDER TO RENDER CERTAIN
THE PASSAGE OK THE FLOTI LLA.— Fl RST COMBINATION WHICH HE OUDEBED. — A DMIRAL LATOUCHE TREVII.LE
ORDERED TO EXECUTE THIS COMBINATION — THIS ADMIRAL WAS TO QUIT TOULON, DECEIVE THE ENGLISH BY
TAKING A FAL<E ROUrE. AND TO APPEAR IN THE CHANNEL, JOINIVG ON HIS WATi THE BOCHPORT SftUADRON. —
THE DESCENT FIXED FOR JULY AND AUGUST, BEFORE THE CEi'EMONV OP THE CilRON ArtoN.— THE MINISTERS
OP THE COURTS AT PEACE WITH FRANCE DELIVER TO NAPOLEON THEIR. LETTERS OF CREDENCE.— THE AMBAS-
SADOR OF AISTRIA ALONE BKIllNDHAND. — DEPARTURE OF NAPOLEON F'>R BOULOGNE. — GENERAL INSPECTION
OP THE FLOTILLA, VESSEL BY VESSl-.L.— THE BATAVIAN FLOTILLA. —GB AN D FETK ON BOARD TIIE "oCEAN,"
AND DISrRinUTlON TO THE ARMY OF THE DECORATIONS OP THE LEGION OF HONOUR.— SUCCESSION OF EVENIS
IN ENGLAND — EXTRE.ME AGITATION OP THE PUBLIC MIND. — OVERTURN OF TIIE ADDISGTON ADMINISTRATION
BY TIIE OPPOSITION OP BOTH FOX AND PITT. — ENTRANCE OP PITT AGAIN INTO TIIE MINISTRY, AND HIS FIRST
STEPS TO RENEW A CONTINENTAL COALITION.— SUSPICIONS OF ^APOLEllN— HE FORCES AUSTRIA TO AN EXELA-
XATnf, AND EXACTS THAT THE LETTERS OF CREDENCE OP M. COBENTZEL SHALL BE SENT TO HIM AT AIX-
LA CHAPELLE— HE BREAKS OFF IIIS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA, AND PERMITS THE DEPARTURE
OP M. OUDHIL. — DEATH OP ADMIRAL LATOUCHE TREVILLE, AND ADJOURNMENT OP THE DESCENT UNTIL THE
WINTER. — ADMIRAL LATOUCHE TREVILLE REPLACED BY ADM I UA L VI LLEN EUVE. — CHARACTER OP THE LAST
ADMIRAL —JOUKNKY OP NAPllLEOS TO THE BANKS OP THE KIIINK. — GREAT CON'TOURSE OP PERSONS AT AIX-
LA-CIIAPELLE. — M. (OBENTZEL SENDS HIS LETTERS OF CREDENCE TO NAPOLEON THERE. — THE IMPERIAL COURT
PROCEEDS TO M A YENCE.— RETURN OF THE COURT TO PARIS. — PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION.— DI FFICULT
VEOOTIATION TO DRISO PIUS VII. TO PARIS TO CROWN NAPOLEON. — CARDINAL FESCH AMPASSADOR TO THE
POPE —CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OP THAT PERSON AGE.— TERROR WHICH CAME UPON POPE PIUS AT THE IDEA
OP ENTERING PRANCE.- HE CONSI'LTS A CONGREGATION OP CARDINALS. — PI VE DECLARE AGA INST THE JOURNEV,
AND PIFTEtN IN FAVOUR OP IT BUT WITH CON UITIONS. — LONG DEBATE UPON THOSE CONDITIONS. — DEFINITIVE
CONSENT ON TIIE ftUESTION OP THE CEUK-MOSIAL LEFT IN SUSPENSE.— IlIMIOP BERNIER AND TIIE ARCH-
CHANCELLOR CAMRACERKS CHOOSE AMONG THE ROMAN AND FRENCH PONTIFICALS, THE CEREMONIES COR-
RESPONDENT WITH TIIE SPIRIT OF TIIE AGE. — NAPOLEON REFUSES TO SUFFER THE POPE TO PLACE THE CROWN
UPON ills HKAO. - PRETENSIONS OP TIIE FAMILY — DEPARTURE OP TIIE POPE FOR FRANCE. — HIS JOURNEY. —
HIS ARRIVAL AT FO < TA IN 1- BLEA U. — HIS PLEASURE AND CONPIDKNCE ON SEEING THE WELCOME HE RECEIVES.
RELI>>IOUS MARRIAGE OV JOSEPHINE AND NAPOLEON. —CEREMONV OP THE CORONATION.

TiiK conspiracy of Georges, the proceedings
wiiich followed il,and the change which it brought
about in the form of goveniment, had occupied all
the winter <if 1II0:{ and IH04, ami had suspended
the great eiUerpriho of Napoli-on ajiainst En^^Lind.
But he had not ceased to think of it, and at this
moment he pn^pai-'d for the execution in the
middle of the summer of lUO-l, with redoubled

care and activity. Besides, the delay was not to
be regretted, because in his impatience to execute
so vast a design, Na|)oleon himself had much ex-
aggerated the possibility of being ready at the end
of ISO^i. The continual ox])eriments madu at
Boulogne, every day revealed the necessity of
taking new jirecautions, or there woro improve-
meuts to introduce, and it was of little importance

576

Renewed preparations for
the invasion of England.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Budget of the year xn.

1804.
June.

to strike the blow six months later, if in the in-
terim the means of striking with more certainty
were ensured. It was not the army, well ap-
pointed, that caused this loss of time, because at
this epoch the army was always disposable ; the
flotilla and the squadrons were tlie cause. The
construction of flat-bottomed boats, and their union
in the four ports of the straits, all this was achieved.
But the Batavian flotilla made them wait ; the
squadrons of Brest and of Toulon, the concurrence
of which in the enterprise was judged indispen-
sable, were not re.idy, eight months not having
sufficed for completing their armament. The win-
ter of 1804 had been devoted to their coni])letiun.
This time, lost only in api)earauce, had therefore
been very usefully employed. It had been above
all busy in creating financial means, which are
always allied to military ones, and at this time
were more so than ever. If, in eff'ect, it is possible
with much industry and exposure to great incon-
venience to make war on land with little money,
by living on the enemy, a naval war cannot be
made without monej', because iione is to be found
on the immense solitudes of the ocean, except
what has been taken out with the vessels on leaving
their ports. The financial were not therefore tlie
least important of the immense preparations of
Napoleon, and their details therefore merit notice
here for a short time.

We liave already said with what resources the
contest had been commenced after the rupture of
the peace of Amiens. The budget of the year xi.,
or 1803, voted in the contemplation of unforeseen
events, had been fixed at 589,000,000 f. exclusive
of the expenses of collection, that is to saj',
89,000,0001'. more than the budget of the preceding
year, vvhich had been acquitted with 500,000,000 f.
But the expenses had naturally exceeded the first
estimates as laid before the legislative body, and
had surpassed them by 30,000,000 f. The sum
total thus reached 619,000,000 f. This was little
in amount, it is most assuredly true, when the
expenses of such an expedition as that of Boulogne
are duly considered. The moderate character of
the augmentation of the budget is ex|)lained by the
period, which divided its expenditure. That of
the year xi. finished on the 21st of September,
1803, and on the same day that of the year xn.
connnenced. The principal expenses of the flotilla
were not, therefore, comprised in the budget of
the year xi. It was thus that it became circum-
scribed within the sum of 619,000,000 f., which,
adding the expenses of collection, made the total
amount about 710,000,000 f. or 720,000,000 f. The
budget of the year XII. would naturally, therefore,
be more elevated in amount, because within that
year it would be necessary to pay all which had
not been paid in the year xi. This last had l)een
provided with the ordinary contributions, of which
the produce, in spite of the war, had continued
to increase considerably, so great was the security
under the wise and vigorous government which
then reigned in France. The stamp and registry
had shown an increase of 1 0,000,000 f. ; the cus-
toms 6,000,000 f. or 7 000,(100 f.; and in spite of a
diminution of 10,000.000 f. in the land-tax, the
ordinary taxes had ris.n to 573 OOO.OrO f. They
had now as a surplus -22,000,000 f. of the Italian
subsidy, with 24,000,000 f. borrowed from extra-

ordinary sources, which last were composed, as
has been already said, of the Spanish subsidy, fixed
at 4.000,000 f. per month, and the price of Louis-
iana, ceded to the Americans. These resources,
scarcely entered upon, remained nearly untouched
for the year xii.; which was very fortunate, be-
cause all the expenses of the war were to be paid
at once upon this revenue, or upon the receipts
from September-, 1803, to September, 1804.

The expenditure in the year xii. could not
be estimated at less than 700J000,000 f. in place of
613,000,000 f., which made, with the expenses of
collection, and some additional centimes omitted, a
total of 800,000,000 f. Still, in this total the new
civil list was not included. It will be seen that
hereafter the budgets approached rapidly towards
the amount which they have since attained.

It was perceived, that there would be a cer-
tain diminution in the revenue of the domains, in
consequence of the alienation of the national pro-
perty and the taxed endowments granted to the
senate, the legion of honour, and tlie sinking fund.
The ordinary contributions did n()t amount to
much less than 560,000,000 f., excepting the aug-
mentation of the products, which was probable,
but that, by an excess of exactness, they were un-
willing to carry into the account. It was necessary
then to issue not less than 140,000.000 f. of extra-
ordinary means to reach the sum ot 700,000,000 f.,
the suppo.sed amount of the expenditure, the ex-
penses of collection, and some additional centimes
besides. Italy gave 22,000,000 f. for the three
states to which a French force served as the pro-
tection. The 48,000,000 f. of Spanish subsidies, the
60,000.000 f. from America, reduced to 52,000,000f.
by the charges of negotiating, made in all
122,000 000 f. of extraordinary receipts. There
remained, in consequence, about the sum of
28,000,000 f. to be found. The resource of the
securities, the nature of which has been already
described, remained to meet this deficiency. Se-
curity in money had been already exacted from
the receivers-general, the payers and receivers of
the registry, and of the customs. These securities
had been placed to the account of the sinking fund,
which was made debtor for them to those who had
lodged the different amounts. The sinking fund,
in its turn, had advanced those securities to the
government, which had promised to replace them
at a later time, by the payment of 5,000,000 f. per
annum. This was a species of loan from those
accountable to the state, perfectly legitimate, when
these last were to the state a guarantee for good
administration. This kind of loan, too, was capable
of being extended, because there yet remained
other accountable parties to be submitted to the
general regulations. There existed, in fact, a new
category of receivers of the public money, whose
duties had need of regulation ; these were the col-
lectors of the direct contributions. Until now, in
]ilace of collectors nominated by the state in the
countiy and in the towns to receive the direct
taxes, small farmers were employed in the collec-
tion, at a low rate. This system was changed in
the hii-ge towns, where collectors were i)laced for
the sole jiurpose, ajjpointed from the treasury, by
means of a simple remittance. This new mode
was found to succeed, and it was proposed, for the
year 1804, to establish in all the communes, urban

(

June Financial estimates for the year XII. THE CORONATION. Financial estimates for tlie year :

577

or rural, collectors, iioniinated by the goveiMiment,
upon whom wei'c to be inipuSfd securities, the total
value of V. hicli altogether, would amount to about
20,000,000 f. This sum turned into the treasury,
was to be restored in consecutive sums to the sink-
ing fund, as had been stipulated for the anterior
securities.

By these means, added to the sale of some
national property, taken from a quantity which
remained disposable since the endowments of the
senate, the legion of honour, of public instruction,
and the sinking fund, there was a new resoui'ce, to
the extent of 15,000,0001"., for the year xii., above
the sum judged to be wanting. The i)r'iperty to
be sold was delivered over to the sinking fund,
which sold it little by little, selling every day at a
better price. It was arranged that the produce of
the pales should be left to the fund, in order to
acquit the debt of 5,000,000 f., which was an-
nually due to it for the reimbursement of the
securities.

Such were tlie financial means created for the
vear xii.. 560,000.000 f. of ordinary CHitributions;
22.000,L00f. of Italian subsidy; '48.000,0001'. of
Si>anish subsidy ; 52,n00,000f. the i)rice of Louis-
iana; 20,0()0,000f. from securities, an<l several mil-
lions more in national property. There were more
than 700,000,000f. estimated as necessary for the
expendiiure of the year, from September 1803,
to September 1804.

But it was near the conclusion of the expenditure
of the year xii., because it was now the summer
of 1804. It was necessary to consider the year
XM!., from September 1804 to September 1805,
lor which considerable funds would be required.
The American subsidy belonged entirely to the
year xii. They were not able to dispense with its
immediate realization.

Napoleon was a long time since convinced that
the revolution, although it bad created great re-
sources by the equalization of the taxes, had not-
withstanding treated the landed proprietary too
hardly, by tlirowing upon that alone the burthen of
the taxes, by the suitpression of the indirect contri-
butions. That which the revolution had thus done
was but an ordinary course of proceeding in trou-
blou.s times. At the first disorder, the j)eople,
above all those of the towns, profited by the occa-
sion to refuse i)ayment of the taxes jilaced upon
consumption, and more particularly upon liquors,
which constitute their princijial enjoyment. This
was seen in 1830, when this species of impost was
nfusL-d paynunt for more than six months. In
1815, their hiippression was a deceptive |)romise,
by the aiil of which the Bourbons obtained a mo-
mentary applause; and lastly, in 1780, when the first
popular movements were directed against the bar-
riers. But these imposts, the most hated by the
population of the towns, are still ihost! which cha-
racterise the countries truly prosj)erous, as thi-y
press more in reality upon the rich than upon the
poir, and prejudice agriculture less than any other
kind of tax ; while the contributions levied upon
land deprive agricidturo t>f its capital or stock, in
other words, of live stock and fattened beasis, im-
poverish the soil, and thus attJick the most extended
source of riches. In the eigbte.nih ciilury, a pre-
judice became cstablishcil wliirli ilnii rested, it
must be acknowledged, upon an incontestable foun-

dation. The landed proprietary, concentrated in
the hands of the aristocracy and clergy, un-
equally taxed according to the rank of the posses-
sors, was an object of hatred on the part of those
generous persons who wished to relieve the poorer
classes. It was at this epoch that the theory of a
single impost was devised, to bear exclusively upon
land, and meet all the expenses of the government.
By this means they were enabled to suppress the
excise, and the f/abelle taxes, which in appearance
bore only upon the people. But this theory, though
generous by intention, and false in fact, gave way
before experience. After 1789, land divided among
thousands of persons, burthened equally with taxa-
tion, no longer merited the animadversions which
it had previously attracted, and it became neces-
sary, above all things, to consider the essential in-
terest of agriculture. It is but ju.st to say, that in
burthening them beyond reasonable measure, the
agricultui'ists are injured, and deprived of the means
of cultivation, to the i)rofit of the dealers and con-
sumers of si)irituous liquors. It should be said too,
it was absolutely necessary to bring the revenue to
an equality with the expenses, unless France was
willing to fall back again upon paper money and
bankruptcy, and that to make the revenue equal to
the expenses,it was as absolutely required to vary the
sources of taxation, in order that they might not be
dried up. It belonged to the man who had restored
order in France, and extricated the finances from
chaos, by the re-es(ablishment of the regular col-
lection of the indirect contributions to complete his
work, and re-open the sources of the indirect contri-
butions which were at present closed up. But it
was necessary to have for that purpose great power
as well as energy. Faithful to his character.
Napoleon had no fears, on the very same day that
he stood for the throne, of re-establishing under the
name of the united duties, the most unpopular, but
the most useful of the taxes.

He made the first iiroposition to the council of
state, which he supported with wonderful sagacit} ,
as if the study of the finances had been that of his
whole life, showing the true principle of the ques-
tion. To the theory of the single impost laid solely
upon land, exacting from the proprietor and farmer
the total sum necessary for the state necessities,
obliging them to make the advance at least under
the supposition the most favourable for them, that
in which an increase in the price of agricultural
])roduce indenmifies them for the advance; to a
theory so foolishly exaggerated, he urged the sim-
ple and sound one of a taxation ably diversified,
resting at the same time upon all kinds of pro-
perty and industry, not requiring of them indivi-
dually too considerable a portion of the public re-
sources, and consequently carrying with it no forced
movement in prices, drawing out the wealth in all
the channels where it was abundant, and drawing
it from each channel in such a manner as not to
cause too sensible a diminution. This system, the
fruit of time and exi)erience, is only susceptible of
one objection ; it is this, that the diversity of the
tax brings with it a diversity in the collection, and
with that an augmentation of the expense; but it
presents so many advantages, and tlm contrary
mode is so violent, that this light augmentation of
expense could not be a serious consideration. When
he had got his own views adopted by the council of
Pr

„_ Indirert taxes established

578

by Naijoleuii.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Financial resources for
the year xn.

state. Napoleon sent liis plan to the legislative body,
where it was not an object of any serruus difficulty,
owing to the previous conferences between the cor-
respondinj; sections of the tribunal, and the council
of state. Tlie following were ihise dispositions.

A body of collectors was formed under the title
of the Administration of the United Duties. This
administniiion was to collect the new imposts by
means of the excise, which was alone acknowledged
to be efficacious, and consisted in searching for
objects liable to the tax, at the places where they
were grown or made. Thise objects were wines,
brandies, beer, cider, and similar substances. A
single and moderate duty was laid upon the first
sales, according to an inventory established at the
epoch of the growth or making. The amount of the
tax was to be paid at the moment when the sub-
stance taxed was first dis])laced. Besides liquors,
the principal tiling taxed was tobacco. Thex'e al-
ready existed a customs' duty upon foreign tobacco,
and one of fahricaiion upon ihat produced in France,
the monopoly of that article not having been then
devised, but the proiluct of the last species escaped
from tiie treasury in consequence of a defect in the
superintendence. The creation of an administra-
tion cjf united duties a<lmitted the possibilify of col-
lecting thiise duties in fu'.l, which then returned so
little, but promised to become considerable. Salt
was not comprised in the matters on whicii a duty
was imposed. They feared to recall the recollec-
tion of tile old (jahelles. Nevertheless there was an
administration for salt duties established in Pied-
mont, being at the same lime a measure of police
arnd finance. Piedmont obtained salt either from
Genoa, or the mouths of the Po, and was sometimes
exposed to pay a grievous jjrice for the article,
tlirongh the interested speculations of commerce,
and iiad never been able to keep it from the inter-
vention of the govermneiit. In creating an admi-
nistration of ttie salt duties, to which was com-
mitted the care of |)roviding, and selling it at a
moderate price, the danger of dearness and scarcity
was avoided, and there was thus procured sure, as
well as facile means to collect a duty sufficiently
productive, although moderate iu the aggregate
amomit of the rate.

These iliffeient combinations could produce no-
thing in the year XII., the year of their creation;
but they gave a prosjiect of 15,000,000 f., or
18,000 000 f. iu the year xiir., and of 30,000.000 I.,
or 40,000,000 1. in the year xiv. As to the hillow-
ing _>ears, the product, difficult to estimate, still suf-
ficed ibr all the demands of the war, even should it
be prolon.;ed.

Resources liad therefore been ensured for the
outlay of the current year xii., or l803 and 1«04.
by procuring 700,000,000 f. of ordinary and extra-
ordinary receipts, while they had also got ready
certain product.^ for the future expenditure. Tin y
had to encounter, however, great difficulties iu
realization for the first time. Tiie two piincipal
and actual resources consisted in the purchase
money of Louisiana, and in the monthly subsidy
furnished by Spain. The inevitable delays, which
accom|»aiiied the voting of the American funds,
had prevented the payment of this money into the
treasury. Still the house of Hope was disposed to
pay in a part towards tiie end of U504. AstoS|)aiii,
of the 44,000,000 f. due in Flordal for eleven mouths

gone over, she jiad only furnished in diflTerent modes
about 22,000,000 f., or one half. The finances of
that unhai py country were more than ever embar-
rassed, and although the sea was open to her gal-
leons, thanks to the neutrality in which she had
been left by France, tlie metals arrivuig from
Mexico were wasted in the most futile dissipa-
tion.

In order to supply the want of these coming in
sums, an account was maintained in credit bills
with the treasury. The English possessed exche-
quer bills. France at present issues royal bills,
reimbursable every three, six, or twelve months,
which, negotiated on the spot, constitute a tem-
porary loan, by the aid of which they are able to
wait, for a longer or shorter time, the realization of
tlie revenue of the state. Altliough Napoleon had
laboured hard to i"e-establish the finances, and liad
succeeded, the treasury did not tlren enjoy suffi-
cient credit iu the comn.ercial world to.issue with
success any paper whatever under its own name.
The obligations of the receivers-general, bearing
the personal engagement of an accountable jierson,
and jiayable into the sinking fund in case of pro-
test, alone obtained credit. These were, as alri ady
seen, subscribed at the commencenunt of their
usage, for the full value of the direct contributions,
to be successively acquitted month by moiuh. 'i'lie
last had fifteen or eigliteen mouths to run. For
tlie purpose of realizing an advance to the revenues
of the state, they were discounted iu sums of
20,000,000 f. at the rate of a half per cent, ptr
mouth, or six per cent, per annum, during the
siiort jieace of Amiens, and, after the war, at three-
quarters per cent, per month, or nine per cent, per
annum. In s]iite of the confidence inspired by the
government, tlie treasury inspired so little, that
the banking-houses of the best class refused this
kind of operation. They were the hazardous s]:ecu-
lators, and the old contractors of (he directory, who
gave these dihcounts. M. de Mai'bois, wishing to
be independent of their concurrence, addressed the
receivers-general themselves, who formed a com-
mittee in Paris, and discounted their own paper with
their own funds, or with such funds as tiiey had
procured at a high interest from the hands of
capitnlists. But these accountants, limited in ihtir
s]ieculations, liad neither enough of capital nor of
boldness to furnish any great resources to the
treasury.

There happened to be in Paris, about this time,
a banker, JVl. Desprez, deeply versed i« this species
of negotiation; a very active contractor, excted-
iiigly able in the art of supplying armies, named
M. Vaiiderlierghe; lastly, a must fertile speculat( r,
the most ingenious possible at every kind of busi-
ness, M. Ouvrard, celebrated at the moment for his
iuimeiise fortune. All these had entered individually
into relations with the government. M. Desprez m
the disci>unt of the treasury obligations ; M. Vau-
derber;;he in supplying jirovisions ; M. Ouvrard in
every kind of great operations for furnishing sup-
plies, or banking. M. Ouvrard formed an asso-
ciation with M. Desprez and M. Vaiiderbei-ghe,
jilaced himself at the head of the partnership, and
became, by little and little, as under the directory,
the |iiincipal financial agent of the governnniit.
He knew how to inspire confidence in M. de
Marbois, minister of tlie treasury, who, feeling lis

1S04.
June.

Schemes of the ronfMctor Ouvrard. THE CORONATION.

State of the Dutch and other
purtions of the llutilla.

679

own insufficiency, was happy to have near hinn an
inventive niiml, capable of devisinj;: expedients that
he was unable to devise hiinseif. M. Ouvrard
offered to take upon himself, on his own part, and
that of his associates, the neg<itiation of the trea-
sury obligations. He concluded a first agreement
in Germinal, in tlie year xii., .April, 1804, by which
he obliged liiniseif to discount not only a consi-
derable sura in the obligations of the receivei-s-
peneral, but tlie engagements of Spain liersclf,
that, not being able to pay Ijer subsidy in specie,
|)aid it in paper at a long date. M. Ouvrard made
no difficulty in taking as money the Spanish paper,
and handing over the amount. He so<m found a
particular advantage in this combination. M.Van-
derbergiie and himself were creditors of the state
in heavy sums, in consequence of anterior con-
tricts. They were authorized, in discounting the
bills >.f the receivei-s-general and the obligations of
Spain, t ' deliver as money on account a ])art of
these credits. Thus, while they were discounting,
tliey paid themselves with their own hands. Undtr
tlie title, " united dealers," this company began,
iherefore, to enter upon the business of the state,
lis origin is worthy of attention, because it soon
partiM>k in immense operations, and bore a con-
siderable influence on the French finances. No
wonder that the operations it undertook with the
treasury should turn out well, and even surpass-
ingly good; it only sufficed that Spain should honour
her engagements, because the obligations of the
receivei-s-general, composing a part of the ])ledge,
present»^d the greatest security. These «Jjligatioiis
hid only the inconvenience of being a paper of a
long date, seeing that the ti'easury employed in its
payments those which had only one or two months
til run, and discomited,on the contrary, those which
had to run for six, twelve, or fifteen months ; but

I lie length of the term out of the question, they
offered an infallible solidity. In regard to the
paper subscribed by Spain, its value depended up n
tliB conduct of a senseless court, and the arrival
of the galleons from Mexico. M. Ouvrard con-
structed upon this basis the most extended schemes,
r.M<-ceeded in dazzling the credulous umlerstaniling
of M. de Marliois, and set off for Madrid, in order
to realiz>; bis bi>ld conceptions.

Napoleon misiruKtcd this man, so very fertile and
bold in his expedients, and he warned M. de
Mirliois also to mistrust him. But .VI. Ouvrard
lisconnted through .M. Desprez the obligations of
tlie treasury, and those of Spa-n himself; while he
:»iipiiorted liis eng.igeinents for the army through
M. Vaiiderberghe. Thanks to his efforts, all these
siMvices proceeded together, and the evil, if there
were any, did not seem to possess the ))f)wer of ex-
tending itself far; because, aft<!r all, M. Ouvrard
ii|>pe:ired always in advance with the treasury, and

II It the treasury with him.

.Such were the means employed to meet imme-
diately all the charges of the war, without recourse
lo loans. It was required of tliesi! speeulators to
I'lvanee by discount the realization of the state
revenues, and that of iho 122,000,000 f. furnished
i.y the paying allies, Italy, America, and Spain.

III regard to the future, tlie creation of indirect.
i.ixeH, a long time announced, and finally decreed
this year, would provide completely.

Napoleon had resolved to execute his grand en-

tei-prize after a brief delay. He wished to pass
the strait in the month of July or August, 1804.
If the incredulous persons, who have thrown
doubts upon his design, were but able to read his
intimate correspondence with the minister of the
navy, the infinite number of his orders, and the con-
fiding of his secret hopes to the arch-chancellor
Cambaieres, they would no longer feel any uncer-
tainty about the reality on his part of this extra-
ordinary resolution.

All the vessels composing the flotilla were
united in the ports Eta pies, Boulogne, Wimereux,
and Ambleteuse, except those which had been
constructed between Brest and Bayonne, because
by the plan of coasting devised for the union of the
vessels, these had never been able to double Ushant.
But nearly the whole of the naval constructions
had been e.xeciited between Bnst and the mouth
of the Sciieldt ; and the part wanting was not con-
siderable. There were enongli to transport one
hinidred and twenty thmisand men, designed to
pass over in the gun ves.sels. The rest, as it will
be recollected, had tilways been designed for
embarkation in the fleets of Brest and of the
Texei.

The Dutch flotilla constructed and united in
the Scheldt was behindhaii<l. Napoleon had
given the commaiul to admiral Verhuell, who
poirsessed his esteem, and well mcritt;d it. The
Dutch, not ardent, but, abo.ve all, being slightly
confident in the singular design, which was much
too hardy for their cold and tnethodical minds,
gave to it very little of their zeal. Nevertheless,
the zeal of the admiral, and the pressing remon-
strance of the French minister at the Hague,
M. de Se'monvilie, had accelerated the armaments
that Holland engaged to furnish. A fleet of
seven sail of the line, added to numerous mer-
chant vessels, was reatly to transport twenty-four
thousand men of the camp at Utrecht, com-
manded by general Marmoiit. At the same time,
a flotilla, cimiposed of several hiuidreds of gun
and large fishing vessels, finished their organiza-
tion in the Scheldt. It remaineil for them to
leave their moorings, and to ))ass from the shores
of the Scheldt, more accessible to the enemy than
the coasts of France. Admiral Verhuell himself
directing their detachments, had fought several
brilliant combats between the Scheldt and Ostend.
In spite of the hiss of a few vessels, five or six at
most, he had disconcerted the efiorts of the
linglish, and changed the incredulity of the Dutch
sailors into confidence. The Dutch flotilla com-
pleted its union in the spring of 1804, at Ostend,
Dunkirk, and Calais, and was ready to embark
the corps of marshal Davoiit encamped at
Bruges. Napoleon desired mort; ; he would havo
the flotilla of France and that of Holland united
wh.illy in the piu-ts situated to the left of Cape
Giisnez, at Ambleteuse, Wimereux, Boulogne,
and Etaples, that they might all be placed at the
same iioint of the com|>:.ss. Tliey were comiielled
Ui satisfy him by drawing closer the encampment
of the troops, and the station of the flotilla.

Tho works of the armaments along ihi; const of
Boulogne were terminated, the forts coimirncted
and the basins excavated. The troojis having
completed their task, had returned to their mili-
tary duties. They had acquired a discipline

ri'2

Question raised by
Napoleon about the
flotilla.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Supposed obstacles to
crossing the channel.
— Decres' opinion.

and a precision in movement truly admirable ;
and thus presented in tlieuiselves an army, not
only inured to war by numerous campaigns, and
hardened by rude labours, but capable of nianoeu-
vx-ing as if it had passed years upon a parade
ground. This army, the finest perhaps that
a prince or general ever commanded, awaited
with impatience the arrival of its recently crowned
prince. It burned for the opportunity of con-
gratulating him, and of following him to a scene
of new and astounding glory.

Napoleon was not less impatient to rejoin it.
But he had raised a great question among scien-
tific persons, which was, to be informed if the gun
vessels, composing the flotilla, or " nutshells,"
as they were called, could brave the English fleet.
Admiral Bruix and admiral Verhuell had the
greatest confidence in tiie worth of the gun vessels;
both kinds had exchanged .shot with the English
frigates,and iiad gone out of port in all weathers, and
they had acquired a conviction that these vessels
were fully equal to pass the strait. Admiral De-
cres, given to contradict every body, and admiral
Bruix more willing to go forward than any other
person, seemed to think differently. Those of the
French naval ottieers, who wei'e not employed in
the flotilla, whether prejudiced, or led to criticise
that with whii-h they had nothing to do, inclined
to the opinion of admiral Decres. Admiral Gan-
teaume, transferred from Toulon to Brest, had
been eye witness to an accident that has been al-
ready related some w;iy back, which had much
troubled him for the fate of the army, and the
emperor, to whom he was deeply attached. The
view of a gun vessel turning over in the road of
Brest, so as to show its keel above water, had
filled him with uneasiness, and he had written im-
mediately to the minister of the marine. This ac-
cident, as already observed, signified nothing.
The vessel had been laden without care; the artil-
lery had been badly placed, and the men were not
enough exercised. The tonnage badly divided,
joined to the confusion of those on board, had
caused the misfortune.

It was not on the ground of want of stability
that admiral Decres had his doubts. The flotilla
of Boulogne manoeuvring for two years in the
strongest stjualls had quieted in this res])ect every
uncertainty. But the objections which the ad-
miral addressed to the emperor, and to admiral
Bruix, were as follows' : — " Certainly," lie ob-

1 The close correspondence of M. Decrfts with the em-
peror, so secret iliat it was all written in his own hand,
exists in the particular archives of the Louvre. It is one
of the finest nionun.ents of this period after the correspond-
ence of the emperor. It does equal honour to the pa-
triotism of the minister, to his reason, and the striking
originality of his mind. It includes views ujjon the organi-
zation of the French marine of very great value, and it
ought to be read incessantly by naval men, and those con-
nected with the administration of such affairs. It is there
tliat I have been enabled to study this profound coiicepiion
of the emperor's, to acquire new proofs of his extraordinary
foresight, and of the certainty and reality of his designs.
It is in one of these letters that I found the opinion of admiral
Decres upon the flotilla, an opinion at that time rather
suspected than known, because Napoleon required silence
on the part of all the world in relation to the strength or
weakness of his plans. Operations were not then as they

served, "the bullet of a twenty-four pounder, whe-
ther fired from a gun vessel or a ship of the line
will have the same force. It will cause the same
ravage, often more, fired from a small vessel which
is difficult to hit, and which aims between wind and
water. Added to this, the musketry, formidable at a
short distance, and the danger of boarding, and the
worth of those gun vessels is not to be under-
valued. They caiTy more than three thousand
cannon of large calibre, in other words, as many
as a fleet of thirty or thirty-five sail of the line,
such a fleet as is rarely to be seen united. But
where have these gun vessels been seen to measure
their strength against the large vessels of the
English ? In a single place, that is to say, close
to the shore, in flats and shallow water, into the
midst of which these large vessels dare not ven-
ture to follow an enemy, feeble but numerous,
and ready to riddle it with his cannon. It is
like an army engaged in a defile, and assaulted
from the heights of an inaccessible position by a
cloud of bold and clear sharp-shooters. But,"
continued admiral Decres, "suppose these gim
vessels in the middle of the channel, out of shallow
water, and in presence of vessels that have no
longer any fear of advancing upon them ; suppose,
besides, a wind tolerably fresh, which renders
manoeuvring easy for those vessels but difficult for
the gun vessels, will they not be in danger of
being run down in great numbers by the giants
with which they will have to contend." " They
will lose," says admiral Bruix, "a hundred vessels
out of two thousand ; but nineteen hundred will
pass, and that will suffice for the ruin of England."
" Yes," replies admiral Decres, " if the loss of a
hundred does not strike terrt)r among the nineteen
hundred; if even the number of nineteen hundred
be not itself the cause of inevitable confusion, and
if the naval officers, preserving their coolness, do
not fall into that disordered state of mind, which
must involve all in a general catastrophe."

" Let there be, in the supposed hypothesis of a
summer calm, or a winter's fog, two occasions
equally propitious, because in a calm the English
vessels will not be able to bear down upon our ves-
sels, and in a fog they will be deprived of the me;ins
of seeing them, and in these two cases their formid-
able encounter will be avoided. But such cir-
cumstances, although presenting themselves two or
three times in every season, would not ensure suffi-
cient security. Two tides would be necessary, or
twenty-four hours, in order that the flotilla "may
come eniirely out of port, it would require ten or
twelve hours to cross, and with the loss of time
always inevitable, full forty-eight hours would be
required. Is it not to be feared, that during such
an interval, not less than two days, a sudden change
of the atmosphere might intervene, and surprise
the flotilla when in full movement?"

The objections of admiral Decres were therefore
very serious. Napoleon drew up his replies in Ins
characteristic manner, trusting to his confidence in
his good fortune, in the recollections of Egypt and
of the St. Bernard. He said that the finest opera-
tions had been accomplished in the front of obsta-

havebeen since, decried in advance by the indiscretion of
the agents who were charged to give them their concur-
rence.—iVo/e of the Author.

Objects destined for the French
squadron.

THE CORONATION.

Napoleon's plan for covering the
flotilla with a fleet.

581

cles equally great, tiiat it was right to leave as little
as possible to hazard, but that .something must
be so left. Si ill in combating these objections, he
knew liow to a])|ifeciate them, and this man, who,
by f.irce of tempting fortune, perished in repulsing
liei", this m.m, when he was able to avoid a danger,
anil thereby add a single chance more in favour of
the .success of his plans, never missed the opportu-
nity. Bold in his conceptions, lie exhibited in their
execution the most consummate prudence. It was
to meet these objections that lie meditated inces-
santly on the project of bringing, by a sudden
manoeuvre, a large fleet into the channel. If this
tl'-et, superior for only three days to the English
Heet in the Downs, covered the passage of the flo-
tilla, all obstacles would fall to the ground. Admi-
ral Dccres admitted that in such a case he had no
longer a single objection to offer, and that masters
of the ocean, England wo ild be delivered over to
the invaders. If, which it was nearly certain to be,
the superiority acquired was kept for more than two
days, because a notice of the j)resence of the French
fleet couKi not be conveyed with sufficient ra|)idity
to the English fleet blockading Brest, so that it
could rejoin instantly that which was in observa-
tion before Boulogne, there would be time enough
for the flotilla, passing and re-passing several times,
to fetch across fresh troops left in the camps, and
ten or fifteen thousand horses waiting upon the
French coast the means of transportation, with a
con.sidenible supplementary materiel. The mass of
force would then be so great that all I'esistance on
the side of England would become impossible.

Such prodigious results hung therefore upon
the sudden arrival of a fleet in the channel. In
order to meet that end, an unforeseen combination
was necessary, that the English sliould not be able
to battle. iiappily, the old British admiralty,
strongest before all things in its traditions, and the
spirit of the service, was not able to contend in
invention with a wonderful genius, constantly occu-
l>ied on the same subject, and able to di8|)ensc with
concerting plans amid a collective administra-
tion.

Na|)oleon had at Brest a fleet of eighteen vessels,
which was soon to be raised to twenty-one; a second
of live at Roeiiefort, another of five at Ferrol, one in
harbour at Cadi/.; finally, one of eight vessels at
T'lulon, which was to be increased to ten. The
English admiral Cornwallis blocked up Brest with
flftei-n or eighteen, ami Rochefort with four or five
ships. A weak English division blockaded Ferrol.
Lastly, Nelson with his scjuadron cruised off the
Hyeres Isles to watch Touloii. Such was the state
of tin-irrespective forces, and the field which offered
itself to the combinations of Napoleon. His ide.i
was to make one of these srpiadroiis steal away,
and arrive by a sudden march in the channel,
to be for soni r rlays superior to the English.
When he had iiitend*'<i to act in winti-r, that is, in
the preceding month of February, ho had thought
of directing the Brest fleet towards the coast of
Ireland, to land there the fifteen thousand or
eighteen thousand men which it had on board, and
to make its aiipcarance suddenly in the channel.
This bold plan had only a chance of success in the
winter sea.son, because in that season the continued
blockade of Brest being impracticable, it would
be able to profit by the bad weather to set Bail. But

in summer, the presence of the English was so con-
tinued that it would be impossible to jjut to sea
without an attion; and vessels encumbered with
troops, going to sea for the first time in presence
of ships experienced by a long cruise, and lightly
manned, ran great danger, unless with an immense
superiority of force. In this season the facilities of
proceeding to sea wci-e much greater on the coast of
Toulon. In June and July the strong mistral gales
blowing very frequently, obliged the English to run
for shelter behind the Isles of Corsica or Sardinia.
A squadron availing itself of such a movement,
would be able to unbend its sails at nightfall, gain
twenty leagues the same night, deceive Nelson by
taking a false course, and by ins|iiiing him with
alarm about the East, draw him perhaps towards
the mouths of the Nile; because since Napoleon
had escaped from him in 179^, Nelson's mind was
constantly pre-occupied with the p.s.sibility of the
French throwing an army ujioii Egy])t, and was
determined not to be a second time surprised. Na-
poleon therefore conceived the idea of confiding
the flotilla of Toulon to the boldest of his admirals,
Latouche Tr^ville; to compose it of ten sail of the
line, and sevei-al frigates ; to firm a camp in the
environs, in order to give the idea of a new expedi-
tion to Egypt, to embark in reality very few troops,
and to send this fleet to sea during a breeze of the
mistral, assigning to it the following route. It was
at first to navigate towards Sicily, then sailing west-
wards to direct itself towards the Strait of Gibral-
tar, to pass through, pick up in its course the
Aigle, ship of war in Cadiz, avoid Ferrol, to which
Nelson would be tempted to sail, when he knew
that the French had passed the Strait, push forward
into the gulf of Gascony, to rally there the division
of the French at Rochefort, and finally, keeping
himself to the south of Sorlingueson the north of
Brest, avail himself of the first favourable wind to
sail into the channel. This fleet of ten vessels at
its departure, reinforced by six others on its voyage,
would number sixteen on its arrival, and would
be sufficiently numerous to domineer for some days
in the straits of Dover. To deceive Nelson was
easily practicable, because this great seaman, full
of ability for fighting, had not always a judgment
perfiictly correct; ami besides, his mind was conti-
nually troubled by the recollection of Enypt. To
avoid Ferrol, in order to come before Rochefort,
and to rally the squadron there, was very prac-
ticable. The most difficult thing to do was to pene-
trate into the channel, and i)ass between the Eng-
lish force which guarded the avenues to Indand,
and the fleet of admiral Cornwallis blockading
Brest. But the sijuadron of Ganteaume, always
ready to hoist sail, with his people on board, could
not fail to attract the close attention of admiral
Cornwallis, and oblige him to press close into the
gullet of Brest. If Cornwallis should abandon the
blockade of Brest, and give chase to Latouche Trt?-
ville, Ganteaume would have set sail at the same
moment, and one of the two French fleets would
have most assuredly arrived bel'on- Boulngne. It
was nearly impossible for the English admiralty
to discover such combination, and to provide
against it. A point of departure so far removed as
that of Toulon, would less than any other cause the
channel to be thought its object. Besides, in arm-
ing the flotilla iu audi a manner as that it would

Character of the THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

French admirals.

suffice for its own defence, the idea of so distant an
aid was discarded, and the vijiilance of the enemy
lulled asleep. Tlius all was combined to ensure
the success of a skilful manoeuvre, that could
only have come into the mind of a man conceiving
and acting alone, keepinj; his own secret close,
and continually pdudering upon the same thing ».

" If you wish to confide," said admiral Decres to
the emperor, " a great design to a man, it is first
necessary that you see him, that you speak to him,
that you animate him with your genius. This is
the more necessary still with our naval officers,
demoralized by <iur maritime reverses, always
ready to die like heroes, but ever thinking more of
succumbing nobly, than of conquering." Napoleon
therefore sent for Latouche Treville, who had been
in Paris since his return from St. Domingo. This
officer liad neither the saiue bearing of mind, nor
the same genius for organiz.ition as admiral Bruix;
but in execution he exhibited a hardihood, a
glance, that in all probability had he lived, would
have made him the rival of Nelson. He was never
discourageil like his comjianions in arms, and was
ready to attempt every thing. Unfortunately he
had contracted at St. Domingo the germs of tl:e
malady through which so many brave men had
already fallen, and many more were yet to die.
Napoleon disclosed to him his design, made him be
convinced to the letter of its possibility, laid before
him the grandeur, the momentous consequences,
and imparled to his spirit the same ardour which
filled his own. Latouche Treville quitted Paris
with enthusiasm before his health was re-esta-
blished, and went to watch himself over the equip-
ment of his S(ina<lion. All was so calculated that
this operation miglit be put in execution, in July, or
at the latest iu August.

Admiral Ganteaume, who had commanded at Tou-
lon before Latouciie, ha 1 been transfei:fe<l to Brest.
The empera- relied \ipon the devotion of Gan-
teaume, and was much attached to him. Slill
he did not find him bold enough to confide to him
the execution of his important manoeuvre. Bu; after
admiral Bruix under the head of ca|>acity, and
admiral Latouche under that of audacity, he pre-
ferred Ganteaume for his experience and courage
to all the others. Na|)oleon, therefore, confided to
his care the Brest s((uadron, i)robably destiiud to
carry troops to Ireland, and charged him to
complete the equipment, so that he should be
ready to co-operate with the fleet from Toulon.

Still the fleet was much behind on account of
the unheard of efforts they had made to complete
the flotilla. Since the last was ready, all the naval
means of e(|ui|)ment had been directed to the squa-
drons. Constructions in full force were now pushing
forward in the ports of Antwerp, Cherburg, Brest,
Lorient, Rociiefort, and Toulon. Napoleon had
said that he would have a hundred ships of the
line in two years, and of this number twenty-five at
Antwerp, because at this port it was that he
placed his hopes tor the restoration of the French
marine. He found, Ix sides, in this system of vast
naval constructions, an occasion for the employ-
ment of the idle hands in the French ports. But the

' This was the first idea of Napqleon. It will be seen
hereafter that it was several times modified, according to
the circumstances under which he was to act.

consumption of materials, the encumbrance of
the yards, and even the insufficiency of the working
population, slackened the execution of these great
designs. They had with trouble placed a few
vessels on the stocks at Antwerp, the men and
materials liaving been sent away to Flushing, Os-
tend, Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne, in conse-
quence of the necessity of labouring unceasingly
ui)on the flotilla At Brest they had oidy just
armed the eighteenth vessel ; at Rochefort the
fifth. At Ferrol the want of resources among
the Spaniards had stopped the refitting of the
division which had taken refuge there. At Toulou
there were oidy eight vessels ready to sail im-
mediately, and still the winter had been passed in
the utmost activity. Napoleon stimulated his
minister of marine, Decres, and left him no rest '.

1 Here are two letters from the emperor to admiral De-
cres, which prove with what energy of delerniiiiaiion lie
employed hiiuseif in the restoration of the French navy.

" To the Minister of Ihe Marine.
"St. Cloud, 21st April 1804, or 1st Floreal, year xii.

" It appears to me perfectly proper that an imposing cere-
mony should take place on laying the first stone of the
arsenal at Antwerp; but it also appears to me not pro|n-r to
demolish the building under the pretext of w.int of rt-gu-
lanty. It suffices to build nothing again>t the general
regular plan. The rest will establish itself insensibly.
When one has to demolish, we must demolish that which
is not re^iular; but I must repeat what I said l.ist to you, 1
am not satisfied with the works at Antwerp, because there
is only one vessel upon the stocks and five hunHred work-
men. I must desire that before the 1st .\Ies-idor there may be
at least three vessels of seventy-lour guns upon ihe sto ks,
t at before the Ist Vendemiaire, year xiii., there be six-
and before the 1st of NivQse, nine; and all this cannot be done
with the small numlier of workmen that ynu have at com-
mand. Tiere are a good many workmen in Provence un-
occupied ; tliere are many to be had on the coast of B.iyoinie
and Bordeaux ; in consequence, therefore, bring together
three thousand at Antwerp. Naval stores of the north,
wood, iron, all are easily conveyed thither. The war is no
obstacle to naval construction there. If we had been tliree
J ears al war, twenty-five vessels must have been built there.
Any where besides such a thing is impossible. We must
have a navy, and we shall not be regarded as having
one until we shall possess a hundred sail ol the line. It is ne-
cessary to have them in five years. If, as I think, they are
able to I'onstruct vessels at Havre, there must be two im-
meiliaiely begun. It is necessary also to occupy themselves
with commencing two new ones at Kochelort, and two oi hers
at Toulon. 1 believe that these last should be ail of from
four to ihiee decks.

" I would wish also to settle my ideas about the port of
Dunkirk. I beg that you will make for me a little memo-
randum that I may know how high the sea reaches at low
water. ,

'•Tne flotilla will soon be constructed every where.
Theie nnist ihen be occupation given to a great number of
wtirkmen, as at Nantes, Bordeaux, Honfleur, Dieppe, St.
Malo, and other places. A number of frigates, lighters,
and brigs must he laid down. It is necessary, even under
the teeling of i uhlic spirit, that the workmen on the coast
should not perish of hunger, and that the departments bor-
dering upon the sea, which have been the least favourable to
the revolution, should perceive, that the time will come
when the sea also .will be our domain. St. Domingo cost
us two millions a month, the English have taken it; these
two millions per month must now be carried only to naval
construction. My intention is to apply to the navy ibe
same activity as to the flotilla, except that not being
pressed, more of order may be introduced. I am not press-

1804.
June.

Strength of the French naval force. THE CORONATION. Strength of the French naval force. 583

He had evon ordered that they sliould work hy
torelili-jht at Toulon, that the ten sliip.s de.stined
for Latouche Treville niii;ht be equipped in proper
time. There was not less a deficiency of materials
and of workmen, tlian of seamen. The admirals
G:inteaun>e at Brest, Villeneuve at Roehetort,
Gourdon at Ferrol, and Latouche at Toulon, com-
plained that they liad not sufficient. Napoleon, after
many ex])eriuKnts, became contirmed in the idea
of supplying the insufhciency of the crews by
young 8(ddiers chosen from the regiments ; tiiese
exercised in the artillery and common manoeuvres,

\ould be able to complete in an advantageous
Di.muer the eiiuipment of the vessels. Admiral
, G:inteamne had already tried this step at Brest,
anil he had found it answer well. He praised a
g.iod deal the sailors boiTowed from the l:md ser-
vice, above a.l, for their artillery practice. He
only requested they would not send l\im any sol-
tliei-s wlio were jjcrlect in their profession, as they
would acquire with repugnance a second education,
but llie young conscripts, who had learned notiiing,
Were nmch more apt at learning what he desired
t ) teaeii them, and showed tliemselves more docile.

I hey tried them besides, and only kept those who
-li .wed a taste for the sea service. They had
thus stKceeded in augmenting a fourth or fifth the
total number of seamen.

France had at this time about forty-five thou-
sand disposable seamen : fifteen thousand in the

ing about the time, but I urgently demand that they com-
niriice.

" I pray you to present to me in ihe course of the comit g
I we^-k a report whiih will enable me to hecome acquainted
vitli Ihe actual situation of our navy, of our ronstructions,
V. iMt is 10 be construi ted, in what ports, and llie sum tliat it
. il cost pt-r month, not departing Irorii the principle, I better
ve, Ihat if you should give eigliteei) months to building
I vessel you should make it to me a third part mure
Miie.

"As to the vessels, I would construct them on the same
plan. The frigates on the model of the Hnrtensia and Cor-
M li.i, which appear to be very good ; fur the ships of the
liiiH, idke the best vessels, and every where !:uiUl vessels of
'• ^'iity guns upon three deck.-!, except at Antwt-rp, where it
ijipearn to me more prudent to commeute at lirst with
.lips of seveiily-foiir guns."

" To the Miiiisler of the Marine.
" St. Cloud, 2$th April 1804, or 8th Floreal, year xii.
" I signed to-ilay a decree relative to naval consiruc-
■[■>»*. 1 shait admit no kind of excuse. Have an account
I ' jidcred twice a week of your orders, and wa'ch over their
■ xecutioiij if extraordinary measures are necfrssary, let nie
i '• acqu.iinted with them. I shall not admit any reason
..ilid, because with a good administration I would build
iliiriy ve»»els of the line in France in a year, if it was need-
::il. In a country like Prance, one ought to be able to do
" liat one chooses. It will not escape you that my Inlention
!. In begin a good many vessels, except at Brest, where I
iluHlre not to build again. My desire is to have afloat
I. fore Vendemiaire, year XIV., twenty-six vessels of war, it
liuing well understood that their being afloat will depend
more particularly on the circumstance whetber by that
time we shall have peace. But heiicclorth nil the vessels
of seventy four guns must Itc built at Antwerp. It is at
Antwerp that our great buildiiig-yard must be. ii Is only
there tliat the restoration of the I-'reneh navy In a few years
can he possible.

' " Before the year xv. we ought to have .i hundred men-
of-war."

flotilla, twelve thousand at Brest, four thousand or
five thousand between Lorient and R<icliefort,
four thousand between Ferrol and Cadiz, and
about eight thousand at Toulon, withotit reckon-
ing several thousand in India. They were able to
add twelve thousand, perhaps fifteen thousand, to
their force, which would carry it to sixty thousand,
the number of men embiirked. The fleet of Brest
alone had received an addition of four thousand
conscripts. These conscripts were mucli praised.
If the squadrons thus manned had been able to
navigate the ocean fur a certain time imder good
officers, they would have .soon been eqtial to the
English squadrons. But blockaded in their ports
they had no ex])erience at sea ; and the admirals,
besides, wanted the cimtidence that is only to be
acqui>'ed by victory. Nevertheless, all went for-
ward unaer the influence of a will all-powerful,
which bent itself to give confidence to lliose who
had lost it. Admiral Latouche ni'glected nothing
at Toulon, to be ready by July or August. Ad-
miral Ganteaiime came out of Brest and went in
again in order to form lus crews a little, and keep
the English in continual doubt about his designs.
By the strength of his threats to cimie out, he
thus disposed tliem to an incredulity, through which
some day he might be able to profit.

Napoleon devised a new supplementiiry foi-ce for
the French navy, and lor this purpo.se wished to
appropriate the Genoese navy. He thought that
with a squadron of seven or eight vessels and
seven frigates in tiiat port, he should divide the
attention of the English between Toidon and
Genoa, oblige them to keep a double fleet of obser-
vation in that sea, or answering the same end to
himself, leave one of the two ports free, while the
other was blockaded. He enjciined upon M. S:ilicetti,
the French minister at Genoa, to conclude a treaty
with that republic, by wliich she sliould deliver
her building-yards to France for the construction
of ten vessels of the line and the like number of
frigates. France in return I'Ugnged to receive
into her navy a number of Genoese officers, pro-
portioneil ti> the numl)er of vessels, w illi a rate of
))iiy equal to that of the French officers. Further,
Franci; bound herself to enrni six tliousand
Genoese seamen, that the Liguii;in rei)nblic
obliged itself ton its own side always to retain at
her disposition. When ])eace arrived, France
bound lierself to grant her imperial flag to the
GeiKiese, wliich would procure tliein a prolectiim,
exceedingly useful against tlie Corsairs of Bar-
bary.

All the dispositions of Najioleon were terminated,
and he was on the point <d' setting out. He wished
first to receive the ambassadors, who were charged
to deliver to him their new letters of ciede.ice, in
which he was gratified witli the title of emperor.
The |)ope'H nuncio, the anihiissadurH of Spain
anil Naples, the ministers of l'ius>a, Hollantl,
Deiimink, Bavaria, Saxony, B.ideii, Wurteniburg,
Hcsst;, and Switzerland, pi-esented themselves to
him on .Sunday, the «ili of July, or iDth of Mes-
sidor, with theforms adopted in till the coiirts, and
remitted to him their letters, treating him, for llie
first time, as a erowiK d prince, 'i'lieit! wiis no ono
wanting at this iiudience but the anihassador of
the court of Viennti, with whom there was still a
negotiation fur the imperial title to be given to the

Napoleon writes to general

Latouche, sends l.iiu a THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE,
cross of honour.

Napoleon delegates the
government to Cam-
baceres.

house of Austria; the ambassador of Russia, with
whom there was a coohiess, on account of the note
addressed to the diet of Ratisbon ; and, finally,
him i)f the English court, with whom France was
at war. It might be said, therefore, that Great
Britain excepted, Napoleon was acknowledged by
all Europe; because Austria was going to forward
the formal act of acknowledgment ; Russia re-
gretted what she had done, and only demanded
an explanation which should save her dignity, to
acknowledge the imperial title in the Bonaparte
family.

Some days after this, the grand distribution of
the decorations of the legion of honour took place.
Although this institution had been decreed for two
years, the organization had demanded much time,
and was scarcely now completed. Napoleon him-
self distributed these grand decorations to the first
civil and military personages of the empire, in the
church of the invalids — a building for which he
had a peculiar regard. He did the honours with
great pomp on the anniversary day of the 14th of
July. He had not yet exchanged the order of
the legion of honour with the foreign orders ; but
in awaitmg such exchanges as he proposed to make,
in order to place, under every relation, his new
monarchy on an equal footing with the others, he
called cardinal Caprara to him in the midst of the
ceremony, and detaching from his own neck the
cordon of the legion of honour, he gave it to this
old and most respected cardinal, who was deeply
touched at a distinction so marked. Napoleon
commenced thus, through the pope's representa-
tive, the affiliation of the order, which, all recent
in date as it was, soon became an object of am-
bition throughout Europe.

Attached to conferring a serious character upon
things in aj)pearance the most vain, he sent tlie
cross of a grand officer of the legion of honour to
admiral Latouche Treville : — " I have named you,"
he wrote to the admiral, " a grand officer of the
empire, inspector of the coasts of the Mediterra-
nean; but I much desire that the operations which
you are about to undertake, may enable me even to
raise you to such a degree of considei-ation and
of honour, that you can have nothing more to wish
■ ***** Let us be masters of the strait for
six hours, and we are mastei-s of the world."
Dated 3rd July, 1804 \

' The following is the entire letter:—

"By the return of my courier, let me know the day
when it will be possible for yon, a due subtraction being
made for the weather, to weigh anchor; inform me what
the enemy is doing, and where Nelson keeps himself.

"Meditate on the great enterprize with which you are
charged, and before I si^-n definitively your last orders, make
me acquainted with the manner in which you think it most
advantageous to fulfil them.

" I have named you a grand officer of the empire, in-
spector of the coasts of the Mediterranean : but I much desire
that the operations which you are about to undertake, may
enable me even to raise you to such a degree of considera-
tion and of honour, that you can have nothing more to
wish.

" The Rochefort squadron, composed of five vessels, of
which one is of three decks, and five frigates, is ready to
weigh anchor ; it has only five of the enemy's vessels
before it.

"The Brest squadron consists of twenty-one vessels.
These vessels weigh anchor to harass admiral Cornwallis,

Entirely occupied with his vast projects, the
emperor set out for Boulogne, after having dele-
gated to the arch-chancellor Cambac^res, besides
the ordinary duty of ))residing in the council of
state and tlie senate, the power of exercising the
supreme authority, if it should become necessary.
The arch-chancellor was the , sole persoi^age of the
emi)ire in whom he had enough confidence to
delegate such extensive powers. He arrived at
Pont de Briques on the 20ih of July, and imme-
diately descended to the port of Boulogne to see
the flotilla, the forts, and the different works which
he had ordered to be performed. The two armies

and they oblige the English to have a great number of
vessels there. The enemy also keep six vessels before the
Texel to blockade the Dutch squadron, composed of five
vessels, five frigates, apd a convoy of eight ships.

" General Marmont has bis army on board.

" Between Etaples, Boulogne, Wimereux, and Ambleteuse,
two new ports which I have had constructed, we have 270
gun vessels, 534 gun boats, 396 pinnaces, in all 1200 vessels,
carrying 120, OuO men and 10,000 horses. Let us be masters
of the strait for six hours, and we are masters of the
world.

" The enemy have in the Downs, or before Boulogne and
before Ostend, two ffliips of 74 guns; three of CO or 64;
and two or three of 50. Up to this time, Cornwallis had not
more than 15 sail; but all the reserves of Plymouth
and Portsmouth have come to reinforce him. The enemy
also keep at Cork, in Ireland, four or live vessels of war; I
do not speak of frigates and small vessels, of which they
have a great number.

" If you deceive Nelson, he will go to Sicily, to Egypt, or
to Ferrol. I do not think that he will miss appearing be-
fore Ferrol. Of five vessels w hich are in that latitude, four
are ready; the fifth will be so in Fructidor. But I think
Ferrol is so marked, and it is so natural for one to suppose,
if your army in the Mediterranean enter the ocean, its force
is destined to raise the blockade of Ferrol. It ajipears better,
therefore, to sail by there very large, and to arrive belore
Rochefort, which would complete you a squadron of sixteen
sail of the line and eleven fcigates, and then without
anchoring or losing a moment, whether by doubling Ire-
land very large, or whether by executing the first design, to
arrive before Boulogne. Our Brest squadron of twenty-
three ships will have an army on board, and will be eveiy day
under sail in such a manner, that Cornwallis will be obliged
to keep in close to the shore of Britany under the endeavour
to oppose their passage out.

" For the rest, I wait to fix my ideas upon this operation,
which has its chances, but of which the success ofi'ers results
so immense, for the design which you have announced to
me by the return of the courier.

"The largest stock of provisions possible must be em-
barked, in order that, under any circumstances, you be not
straitened for any thing.

" At the end of this month they will launch a new vessel
at Rochefort and at Lorient. That of Rochefort will not give
place to any question, but if it should happen that the one
at Lorient be in the road, and it should not have the power to
join belore your appearance at the Isle of Aix, I wish to
know if you think you could shape your course so as to join
it. However, I think that sailing out before a good mistral,
it is preferable every way to perform the operation before
the winter; because in the bad season, it will be possible
that you will have a better chance of arriving, but it is
possible there will be many days together in which there
will be no profiting by your arrival. In supposing that you
will be able to depart before the 10th Thermidor or 2yth of
July, it is not [jrobable that you can arrive before Boulogne
until aoTie time in September, at the moment when the
nights are already reasonably long, and when the weather
is not bad for any time together."

Napoleon visits Boulogne and
inspects the expediiion.

THE CORONATION. Grand fete proposed to the army.

of tlie land and sea welcomed liini with transports of
j-'V, and hailed Ids presence with a thousand ununi-
nious exchiniations. Nine hundred cannon, tired
from lite forts and line of moorings, and reechoed
from Calais to Dover, apprized the English of the
presence of the man who, for eighteen months, had
so deeply troubled the accustomed security of their

isl:ill(l.

Najioleon embarked at the same moment, in
sj)ite of a stormy sea, wishing to visit the forts and
masonry of the Creche and the Heurt, as well as
the wooden fort placed between the other two ; all
tliese destined, as already observed, to cover the
mooring line. He ordered to be executed, under
his own eyes, some experiments in firing, with the
object of assuring himself that the instructions he
had given to obtain the most distant ettect of the
fire possible had been followed. He then sailed at
large, and went to see manoeuvres at the distance of
a camion shot from the English squadron, by several
divisions of the flotilla, of which admiral Bruix
boasted, witiiout ceasing, of the progress. He
returned full of satisfaction, after having la-
vished the testiiuimies of this satisfaction upcm the
chiefs of the two armies that, imder his supi-eme
directions, had contributed to the creation of that
jirodigious armament.

Tiie day following and subsequent days, he visited
all the camps, from Etaples to Calais; then he re-
turned to the interior to inspect the cavalry corps,
encamped at a distance from the coasts, and, more
particularly, the five divisions of grenadiers, or-
ginized by general Junot, in the neighbourhood of
Anas. This division was composed of companies
of grenadiers taken from the regiments which were
not designed to make a i)art of the expedition.
Tiierc could not be a finer body of men seen, either
as regarded the selection, or the handsome make of
the men. They much surpassed the consular guard
itself, now become the imiicrial guard. This body
consisted of ten battalions of eight hundred men
each. With the grenadiers began the reform of
the military liead-dress. These soldiers wore
schakos in place of iiats ; the hair cut, and without
powder, in jilace of the old mode of dressing it, so
tnubiesome and ill adapted. Inured to war by
numerous campaigns, manoeuvring with unparalleled
l»recision, anil animated with all that pride which
constitutes the strength of a select corps, it pre-
sented a division of about eight thousand men,
which no European troops would have been able to
resist, if tiiey were double or triple its number. This
was the body of grenadiers which he was to throw
the first upon the shores of England, after they had
crossed ill the light pinnaces, which have been
already described. On beholding their bearing,
discipline, and enthusiasm. Napoleon felt his con-
fidence redoubles, and doubted no mon; of con-
cjuering at London the sceptre of the land and sea.

Returned to the coast, he insiiccted the flotilla,
vessel by vessel, in order to be assured if the ar-
raiigtmeiits were such as ho had ordered, and to
try if it were possible at the first signal to embark,
with the necessary rapidity, every thing that had
been collected in the magazines of Boulogne. He
found all tilings in the state which he desired. It
re(juiied several days to embark the heavier stores,
but those being placed on board, which might be
done several weekn before the expedition moved,

they would be able in only three or four hours to
place the men in the flotilla, with the horses
and field artillery. Still all was not yet ready.
There were some divisions behindhand to come
from Havre to Boulogne. The vessels for the
guard particularly, confided to captain Daugier,
were not arrived. The Batavian flotilla on that side
occasioned to Napoleon more than one disappoint-
ment. He was greatly satisfied with admiral Ver-
huoll; but the equipment of a part of this flotilla
was not completed, whether through a want of zeal
on the part of the Dutch government, or whether,
as is most ])robable, it arose from the difficulties in
the way of the thing itself. The two first divisions
had united at Ostend, Dunkirk, and Calais; the
third had not left the Scheldt. There remained
another condition towards success, about which
Napoleon deemed it needful to be assured; this
was the union of the entire Batavian flotilla in the
ports situated to the left of Cape Grisnez, by thus
drawing them more closely together in the four
ports of Ambleteuse, Wimereux, Boulogne, and
Etaples. The whole flotilla would thus be enabled
to depart together under the same wind at points
only three or four leagues distant from each other.
But two things, money and time, are always con-
sumed in such great operations with a rapidity and
to an extent which continually surpasses the conjec-
tures of minds most positive in their estimates.
The commencement of August having arrived,
Napoleon perceived that all could not be abso-
lutely ready before the month of September; and
lie made known to admiral Latouche that he
had delayed the expedition for a month. He con-
soled himself for the delay, by thinking that this
month would be employed in getting things better
prepared than they were already, and that, besides
the season being still sufficiently fine in the month
of September, there also would be the advantage
of longer nights'.

In the mean time, he wished to give a grand
fete to the ai-my, adapted to elevate the moral
courage of the troops, if it were possible it could
be more elevated than it was. He had distributed
grand decorations of the legion of honour to the
principal personages of the empire in the church
of the invalids, on the anniversary of the 14th of
July. He now conceived the distribution himself
of the crosses to the army, which were to be given
in exchange for the arms of honour that had been
suppressed, and to celebrate this ceremony of the
anniversary of his birth on the borders of the ocean,

' The text of this new order was as follows : —
" To the Minister of the Marine.
" 2nd August, 1804, (14th Thermidor, year xii.)

" My intention is, that you sliould send an extraordinary
courier to Toulon, iu order to make known to general
Latouche, that the different divisions of the flotilla not
having been able to join, 1 have thought a delay of a month
cannot but he advantageous loasniuch as the nights will
become longer ; but that my intention is, he should avail
himself of this dflUv to mid ;l:e ship Berwick to the
8(|uadron; tliat nil and every imd of means should be used
to prodirr tliiBreKuU ..i.ii a vessel more or less is not a
thing tu In; disr'-;<«rac(l. In fact, they will induce me, if
able, to carry up the united s(iiiadron to eighteen sail.

" I desire that orders be renewed as well, to press the
armament of the Algesiras at I.orlent. It must be in the
road by tho 10th Fruciidor."

Napoleon distributes
crcikses at Bou-
logne.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Measures for defence
taken in Great
Britain.

1804.
Aug.

in presence of tlie English squadron. Tiie result
met his wishes; it was a magnificent spectacle, of
which cotemporaries for a long time retained a
reciillection.

He made choice of a spot situated on the right
of Boulogne, along by tlie sea, not far from tiie
column tliat was afterwards erected at that place.
This ground having the form of an amphitheatre,
or half circle, as if constructed designedly on the
shore side, seemed to have been prepared by nature
for some grand national spectacle. The space was
shaped in such a manner, it was possible to place
the whole army there. In tiie centre of this amphi-
theatre, a thr'ine was raised for tlie emperor, with
the back to the sea, and the front towards the land.
To the right and left steps were constructed to
receive the grand dignitaries, the ministers, and
marslials. In the prolongation of the two wings
Were displayed detachments of the imperial guard.
In front, on the inclining ground of this natural
amphitheatre, were arranged, as anciently were
the Roman people in their vast arenas, the dif-
ferent corps of the army, formed in close columns,
radiating from a common centre towards the throne
of the emperor. At the head of each of these
columns was jilat-ed the infantry, the cavalry in
the rear rising above the infantry by the height of
their horses.

On the 16th of August, the morrow of the day of
St. Napoleon, the troops marciied to the place
where the tete was to be given, across a flood of po-
pulation, that had poured in immense numbers from
all the provinces round to attend at the si)ectacle.
A hundred thousand men, nearly all veterans of
the republic, their eyes fixed on Napoleon, awaited
the reward of their exploits. The soldiers and
officers who were to receive the crosses had left the
ranks, and advanced to the foot of the imperial
throne. Napoleon, standing up, read to them the
fine formula of the oath of the legion of honour,
when all together, at the soimd of trumpets and the
roar of artillery, shouted, " We swetir it !" They
then came forward successively for several hours,
to receive one after another this cross which was
to supplant nobility of blood. Former gentlemen
mounted along with simple peasants the steps of the
throne, e(iually delighted to <ibtain the distinction
awarded to their courage, and all promising to spill
their blood on the shore of England, in order to
assure to their country, and the man who governed
it, the uncontested empire of the world.

This magnificent spectacle moved every heart,
and an unforeseen circumstance ha|)pened to ren-
der it deeply serious. A division of the flotilla,
which ha<l recently left Havre, entered Boulogne
at the same moment, for a long time exchanging a
lively cannonade with the Engl'ish. From time to
time, Napoleon quilted the throne, to tyke his spy
glass, and see with his own eyes how thesoldieirfof
the land and sea comported themselves in presence
of the enemy.

Such scenes as tlie^e tended much to agitate
England. The British pres^, > iTcitant and calum-
niating, as the press always is in .\ Tree coimtry,
railed much at Napoleon and his j .iijaratlous, but
railed as one who trembles at that wlnoh he would
make appear the object of his laughter In reality,
the uneasiness there was deep and general. The
immense preparations which had been made for the

defence of England disturbed the country, without
making cora|)letely easy in mind the men who were
acquainted with the art of war. They were seen
regretting that they had not a great army, as France
regretted that she had not a powerful navy; Eng-
land had wished by means of a corps of reserve to
augment its military strength. A part of the men
designed to serve in the reserve by the drawing,
had volunteered into the line, which carried up this
force to nearly one hundred and seventy thousand
men. To that was joined the local militia, an un-
determined number, designed to serve e.xclusively
in the provinces; and lastly, one hundred and fifty
thousand volunteers, who liad offered their services
in the three kingdoms, showed much zeal, and sub-
mitted themselves to military exercise. There were
three hundred thousand volunteers spoken of, but
they had not more than half that immbereff'ective,
and really prepared to serve; the highest persons in
England, in order to give the impulse, had clothed
themselves in volunteer uniforms. It has been
already seen, that Mr. Addington and Mr. Pitt both
wore the dress. The levy en masse, decreed upon
paper, bad not been seriously undertaken.

In making allowance for customary defalcations,
England had to oppose to the Fi-ench one hundred
thousand or one hundred and twenty thousand re-
gular soldiers of excellent quality, a militia without
organization', and one hundred and fifty thousand
volunteers without experience, having in general
officers below mediocrity, the whole shared between
England and Ireland, and dispersed on those parts
of the coasts where the danger was most to be ap-
l)rehended. There were counted in regular troops
and volunteers, seventy thousand men in Ireland;
their I'emained for England and Scotland one hun-
dred and eighty, or two hundred thousand men,
volunteers or troops of the line. It was the utmost,
even with the art to move masses whicli Napoleon
at that time possessed almost alone, it was the ut-
most if they had been able to unite eighty thousand
or ninety thousand men at the place of danger.
Wliiit would they have done had they been twice as
numerous, before the one hundred and fifty thou-
sand French, all accomplished soldiers, which Na-
poleon would have thrown on the other side of the
straits ? The real defence of England therefore was
on the ocean. The English had one hundred thou-
sand seamen; eighty-nine vessels of the line, spread
over all the seas; twenty vessels of fifty guns; one
hundred and thirty-two frigates, and more, a pro-
])ortional number in her dockyanls and basins. As
Napoleon did, rendering themselves more perfect as
time ran on, they had created sea fencibles, in imi-
tation of land fencibles. They had under that name
united all the fishermen and seamen not liable to
the ordinary press, that were spread,to the number
of twenty thousand, in boats along the coast, keep-
ing a contiimal guard, independently of the ad-
vanced guard of frigates, brigs, and corvettes, that
were in a comiected chain from the Scheldt to the

' The regular militia are omitted above, in almost all
respects equal to the lii.e, as tlie two or three regiments
who turned the tide of battle at Albuera never before in
fire, and almost all militiamen, clearly proved. These
were seventy-two thousand, of whom our author takes no
notice, He evidently confuses the local miliiia with them,
whereas these last were little other than the volunteers whom
he faitiifully enough designates. — Trant.

Public r L'ling in England.

THE CORONATION.

State of the admin iEtration in
England.

587

Somme. Night signals and cliarints for transijort-
ing troops by post, comiileted their system of pre-
cautions, exliibited fully, and hmught to greater
perfection in the fifteen niontiis which had ah-eadv
passed. They liad besides entrenched the jcmjuiirt,
and placed in the Thames a Hue of frigates con-
nected by iron chains, capable of opposing a conti-
nued and solid barrier to all vessels. From Dover
to the Isle of Wight, every Hat part of the shore
was crowned with artillery.

The expense of these preparations, and the dis-
turbance tiiey occasionei}, was immense. Tlioso
given to agitation in public life, as "vus very natural
when they were in dang-r of invasion, could find
nothing good that was done, nothing sufficiently se-
ciire, and with a feeble minister, of whom all the
world believed they had gromul to contest the ca-
pacity, there was no moral power capable of re-
straining the i-age for fiction and censure. On his
proposing any measure, they said it was petty, or
bad, or not sufficiently good for the object, and they
proposed something else. Pitt, wiio had been for
some time reserved, had ceased to be so any
longer, encouraged as he was by the general out-
cry. He severely blamed the measures taken by
the ministers, whether he thought the moment was
come to overturn them, or whether he really found
their precautionary measures insufficient and badly
calculated. It is at least certain that his censures
were much better founded than those of the other
members of the opi)osition. He reproached the
ministers with not having foreseen and prevented
the concentration of the flat-bottomed boats at
Boulogne, which, according to his statement, were
above a thousand at least. Although he endea-
voured to exaggerate rather than to dissimulate the
danger, it will be seen that he stopped very short of
the truth, because with tlie Batavian flotilla the
number amounted to two thousand three hundred.
He attributed the fault to the igmiranee of the ad-
miralty, that had not foreseen the use that might be
made <if gun-boats, and that had emi)l<iyed vessels
of the line, and frigates in shallow water, where
large vessels could not possibly follow the small
French boats. He pretended tliat with some hun-
dreds of gun-boats, supported by frigates at soa, it
would Iiave been ])08sible to combat on equal terms
the French preparations, and destroy their im-
mense armament before it could have united in the
chainicl. The reproach was at least specious, if not
well founded.

The ministers replied, that during the last war,
gunboats would willingly have been employed, but
that they would not stJind the weather. This shows
that the English seamen had applied themselves
much less than the French to this species of vessel ;
because the French gun-boats had navigated in all
weathers. Sometimes they had got aground in the
shallows, but except in the accident at Brest, none
liad been lost through defect of construction. In
fact, Mr. Pitt nifither agreed in o|)iiiion with Mr.
Windiiam, his old colleague, nor with Mr. Fox,
iiis new ally, on the insufficiency of the regular
army, acknowledging that it is not «asy to extend
on a sudden, at will, the proportions of a regular
miliUiry force, above all, in a country where re-
course is not allowed to a conscription, crwiiplain-
ing, too, that more had not been done with the vo-
lunteer system. He pretended tliat lie could, by

availing himself of the ett'ective services of the
on J hundred and fifty thousand English volunteers,
make them acquire the degree of discipline and in-
struction of which they were capable, and bring
them to be much less inferior than they appeared
to the regular troops. This reproach, well or ill-
foimded, was as specious as the preceding.

Pitt sustained his opinions with great warmth.
In proportion as he eng.iged further in opposition,
he found himself approach, if not by his sentiments
and opinions, at least by his conduct, the old Whig
opposition, and Fox. These two adversaries, who
had been in opposition for twenty-five years, seeme<l
to become recnneiled, and it was even reported that
they Were going to form a joint ministry. The old
majority was broken up. It has been already seen
tliat a small part of this majority had followed
Windham and Grenville into oppitsition. A larger
part still had joined them since Pitt had raised
the standard. This ojjposition was c^miposed of ail
those who thought that the actual ministei-s were
incapable of meeting the situation of aflairs; and
that it was absidutely necessary to have X'ecourse
to the old head of the war ])arty. The other part,
or the old Whig o|)positioii, led by Mr. Fox, al-
though it had sustained some defections, as in tlie
cases of Sheridan and Tierney, that rallied round
Mr. Addington, was singularly strengthened by a
circumstance that happened at the court. The
king's mind appeared to be troubled anew, ;ind
every thing amiounced the a])proaching regency of
the prince of Wales. But the i)riiice, formerly at
variance with Pitt, and more recently with Adding-
ton, was strongly attached to Fox, and would, as it
was believed, take him for his principal minister.
From that time a certain number of memlters of
the House of Commons, acting under his influence,
come forward to support the jiartyof Fox. The two
united and augmented oppositions, one by hoisting
the flag of Pitt, the other by the jjrospect of the
approaching fortune of Fox, counterbalanced nearly
the whole majority of the minister Addington.

Several successive divisions soon revealed the
serious position of affiiirs as they affected the cabi-
net. Mr. Pitt had moved, in the month of March,
(or a comparative state of the English navy in
1797, 1«01, and 1803. Aided by the friends of Mr.
Fox, he succeeded in obtaining one liun<lred and
thirty voices for his motion, to two hundred and
one against it. The niinisteVs only obtained a ma-
jority of .seventy votes, and on comparing the votes
upon this motion with anterior votes, it was impos-
sible not to be struck with the jjrogress niade by
the opposition. This success encouraged the newly-
allied parties, and they multiplied motions. In
April, Mr. Fox moved that there should be laid
before acoinuiitteeall the measures ado])led for the
defence of the country since the renewal of the war.
This was in a manner to submit to the ju<lgnient
of parliament the conduct and capacity «)f the mi-
nister Addington. The former majority was now
found to be yet further diminished. Th(M)pi)osition
numbered two hundred and four votes, and the
mini.sters two hundred and fifty six, which reduced
the former majority of seventy voices to fifty-two.
Every day this majority lessened ; and in thn
month of May, a third motion was announced,
which would have placed the ministers definitively
in the minority, when lord Hawkesbury declared,

588

State of the adminis-
tration of Eng-
land.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

in terms suflRciently clea*.- to be understood, that this
last motion was useless, because the cabinet was
going to resign.

The old king, by whom Addington and Hawkes-
bury were much esteemed, and Pitt very little,
finished the affair nevertheless by appealing to the
last to take office. This celebrated and all-power-
ful personage, for so long a time the enemy of
France, then retook the reins of the state, with the
commission to upraise, if lie were able, the threat-
ened fortunes of England. On entering into the
cabinet, he left out his old friends, Windham and
Grenville, and his recent ally, Fox. He was re-
proached for this double infidelity, explained in
very different ways. That which was most pro-
bable is, that he would not have Windham and
Grenville because their Toryism was too violent, and
that the king on his side would have nothing to do
with Fox, who was too decided a Whig. This states-
man has been reproached with not having done
enougli under the circumstances to overcome
George III. It would seem to have been desir-
able, seeing the danger menacing the nation, that
the two men of the greatest talent in England
should have united to afford the government the
utmost power and authority.

Still Pitt exercised an influence upon the general
mind, and there was such a confidence reposed
in a person so long tried, it sufficed alone to
bring him into power. On entering upon his admi-
nistration, he at once required 60,000,000 f. of
secret service money. It was pretended that tliis
money was designed for the renewal of the rela-
tions of England with the continent; because Mr.
Pitt was regarded with good reason as the most
fitting of all the ministers to renew coalitions,
by the great consideration which he enjoyed in those
courts which were inimical to. France.

Such had been the events occurring in England
during the time that Napoleon had taken the im-
perial crown, and when, proceeding to Boulogne,
he felt disposed to force the barrier of tiie ocean.
It seemed as if Providence had recalled these
two men upon the scene of action, to m:ike tiiem
contest with eacli other, for the hist time, with
more obstinacy and violence than ever ; Pitt in
sustaining those coalitions which he so well knew
how to form ; Napoleon in destroying them
with the sword, which he understood still better
liow to do.

Napoleon was very indifferent to all that passed
on the other side of the strait. The military pre-
parations of the English made him smile with
much more sincerity tlian his gun-boats made the
English journalists laugh. He only i-equired of
Heaven one thing, and that was to have a fleet in
the channel for forty-eight liours, and he would
soon give a good reason for re-uniting all their
armies between Dover and London. The minis-
terial changes in England would not have affected
him, unless they had called Fox to the head of
affairs. Believing in the sincerity of that states-
man, and in his good dispositions towards France,
he would have been induced to pass by all ideas
of an exasperated war for those of peace, and
even of alliance. But the arrival of Pitt in jmwer,
on the contrary, proved further still, that it was
necessary to finish by some audacious and des-
perate blow, in which the two nations should

risk their existence. Meanwhile, the demand of
G'0,000,000 f. of secret service money by Pitt, was
only to be explained by some matter ot an occult
nature connected with the continent, and could
not but occupy his attention. He found Austria
very slow in forwarding the new letters of cre-
dence, and but little candid at Ratisbon in the
affair of the Russian note. Lastly, he liad received
throiigli M. Oubril, the reply from the cabinet of
St. Petersburg, to the despatch in which he had
made allusion to the death of Paul I '. This reply
of Russia seemed to indicate some ulterior
jiroject. Najioleon, with his usual sagacity, al-
ready perceived the commencement of a new
European coalition ; and complained to Talleyrand
of his incredulity out of couiplai.sance to the two
Cobentzels, adding, that on the least doubt in the
dispositions of the continent, he would throw
himself not upon England, but upon those of the
other powers that might excite iiis alarm ; " be-
sides," he said, "he was not fool enough to pass
the channel, if he were not quite certain all was
safe on the side of the Rhine." It is thus he
wrote from Boulogne to Talleyrand, telling him
that he must provoke Austria and Russia to ex-
plain themselves, when a sudden accident, and
ever to be regretted, intervened to terminate these
uncertainties, and oblige him to defer for some
months yet his project of a descent upon Eng-
land.

The brave and unfortunate Latouclie Tr^ville,
preyed upon by a disease inciimpjetely cured,
and by a degree of ardour which lie could not
control, died on the 20th of August, in the port
of Toulon, the evening before he was to set sail.
Napoleon was apprized of the melancholy event at
Boulogne about the close of August, 1804, at the
moment when ready to embark. He had also
been seized with some presentiments of a European
coalition, and was sometimes tempted to deal his
blows elsewhere than in London. The Toulon
fleet having lost its chief, he was forced to defer
his expedition to England, because the choice of
a new admiral, the nomination, the journey, the
giving him time to become known to his squadron,
would i-equire above a month. The end of Au-
gust had arrived ; it would require until the end
of October for tlie departure from Toulon, and
until November for the arrival of the fleet in
the channel. There would thus be a winter cam-
paign to make, and in consequence, new combina-
tions to be formed.

Napoleon immediately set about finding an
officer to take the place of admiral Latouclie :
"There is not a moment to be lost," he wrote to
the minister Decres, " to send an admii-al who is
able to take the command of the Toulon squadron.
It cannot be worse off than it is now in the hands
of Dumanoir, who is not capable of maintaining
discii)line in so large a squadron, nor of making it
act. • * * It ajipears to me, that for the
Toulon squadron, there are only three proper
men, Bruix, Villeneuve, or Rosily. You will be
able to .sound Bruix. I believe that Ro.sily has a
good will, but he has done notiiing fcr fifteen
years. * • * • However, it is an urgent

' See a note at page 547, with an extract from this
Russian despatch.— rrfln*<a/or.

1804. The Boulogne expedition re-or-
Aug. ganized by Napoleon. -Admirals

THE CORONATION.

589

matter to be decided." Dated 28th August,
1804.

Dating from tliat day he re-organized the naval
and military establishment wliicli he had created at
Buulogne, it being of a less temporary character
than he at first supposed, employing liimself on the
spot in sinipiifyiiig the organization, in order to
render it less expensive, and at the same time add
as much as possible of perfectiim to its manoeuvres.
"TJie rtotiila," he wrote to admiral Decres, "has
been hitherto consideretl as an expedition ; it
must hencelorth be regarded as a fixed establish-
ment, from this moment attaching the greatest
attention t> all that is of a fixed nature, governing
it bv different regulations from a S(iuadn>n." Daied
23rd Fructidor, year xii.,or September 18tli, 1K04.

He siniplitiid, in fact, the wheels of the adiiiinis-
tration ; suppressed many of the double employ-
ments, provided for the approximation of the sta
and land armies, revised all the appointments,
and employed himself, in a word, in making the
flotilla of Boulogne a separate organization, that
costing as little as possible, might last as long as
the war, and continue to exist, in case the army
should be obliged to quit for a moment the shores
of the channel.

He also separated the division into .squadrons, to
infuse a better order into the movements of the
two thousand three hundred vessels. The defini-
tive distribution adopted was as follows: nine gnn-
vessels or gun- boats formed a section and carried
a battalion ; two of these sections formed a divi-
sion and carried a regiment. The pinnaces, that
were only able to hold half the amount of the
other boats, were doubled in number. The divi-
sion of pinnaces was composed of four sections, or
thirty-six pinnaces in place of eighteen, in order to
suffice for a regiment of two battali ns. Several divi-
sions of gun- vessels, boats, and pinnaces formed a
squadron, which would transport several regiments,
in other word.s,acor/'»f/'anHe?. Toeach s(|ua(lron was
addcrl a certiiin number of fishing or i)ilot boats,
that were devoti.d to the embarkation of the cavalry
horsi'sand naval baggage. The entire Hotilla was di-
vided into eight squadrons, two at Etaples for the
corps of marshal Ney, four at Boulogne for the
corps of marshal Soult, two at Wimereux for the
advanced guanl and for the reserve. The port of
Ambleteuse, in the new design, that time had been
re<juired to perfect, was destined for the Batavian
Hotilla, and this w;ui lo Uike on board the c<u'ps
of marshal Davout. Each squadron was directed
by a superior officer, and manoeuvred at sea in an
independent manner, altliouiih in combination
with the wholt: operation togi-ther. In such a
mode, the drntrilmtions of the flotilla were found to
be completely ad.ipted lo those of the army.

In the mean time adminil Decres had sent for
the admirals Villeneuve and Missies-Hy, in order to
offer t() them the vacant commands. Considering
IJrnix as iM(lis|)eiiHably necessary at Boulogne, and
liosily as too long absent from active sea service,
he had regarded Villeneuve as the most |)roper
jierson to command the Toulon squadron, and
•Missiessy that of Roehelort, which Villeneuve would
in that ca.se vacate for Toulon. Ailmiral Villeneuve,
whose name is eneireled with an unfortmiate cele-
brity, had spirit, courage, and a j)erf(ct knowledge
of his duty, but he had no firmness of character.

Lying open to the slightest impression, he was
capable of exaggerating to himself without measure
the difficulties of his situation, and apt to fall into a
state of discouragement, in which he was no longer
master of his heart or his head. Admiral Missiessy,
less able, but colder in temperament, was little sus-
ceptible of elevated feelings, but he was also as
little susceptible of depression. Admiral Decres
sent f<ir both, endeavoured to overcome that de-
moralization which had affected not the soamea
and officers, who were filled with the noblest ardour,
but the commanders of the fleets, who had lost in
battle that renown which they esteemed above life.
He made admiral Missiessy accept the command
of the llochefort squadron, and admiral Villeneuve
that of Toulon. He had for this last admiral a
friendship which had continued from early infancy.
He made him acquainted with the secret of the
emperor and the great operation, to the perform-
ance of which he destined the Toulon squadron.
He excited his imagination by showing him the
grand task to be executed, and the high honour to
be obtained. A deplorable temptation, arising out of
an old friendship. This momentary excitement
was to give place in Villeneuve to an unhappy
depression, and bring to the navy of France the
most sanguinary reverses.

The minister of the navy wrote in haste to the
emperor the result of his conferences with Ville-
neuve, and the effect pi-oduced upon that officer by
the prospect of the danger and glory which lay
open before him '.

' The letter of admiral Decrfes is liere cited, because it is
important to know how the man was nominated to this
command, who afterwards lost the batile of Tral'algar.

" Sire," he wrote, " vice-admiral Villeneuve and rear-
admiral Missiessy are here.

" I informed the first of the grand project.

" He he:ird it coldly, and keeping silence for a few
moments, then said with a calm smile to nie: 'I awaited
sdinethiiig of a similar nature ; but to be approved, it is
necessary that such projects should be completed.'

" I allow myself to transcribe lo you literally his reply to
a particular conversation, because it will better depict lo
you than 1 can do, the effect which this overture produced
upon him. He added ; ' I shall not lose four hours in rally-
ing the first; with the five others, and my own (vessels) I
shdU be sutlicienily strong. It is necessary to be forliniaie,
and to know how far 1 am so, the task must he undertaken.'

" We spoke of the route. He judged of it in the same
way as your m.ijesty. He made no obstacle of unfavour.ible
chances, any more than was needful for one to discover that
he was not heedless of them. In fact, nothing of that kind
had any effect upon his resolution.

"The place of a great officer, that of a vice admiral, has
made liini a new man. The idea of danger was effaced by
the hope of glory, and he finished by saying to me: 'I give
myself wholly up to it,' and that in a tone and with an
action indicative of cool and positive decision.

" He will set off for Toulc?i as soon as your majesty shall
have been pleased to make known to me if you have any
other commands to give him.

"'Ihe reiiradmiral Missiessy is more reserved with me;
lie requests to remain here eight days; he is very cold,
which makes bim less definite. He told me that he was
much moriilied that your majesty had not given him the
Mediterranean squadron, or tli.it he is not made a vice-
admiral Ml other words. His ground of reasoning among
his r.imiliar friends is, that having done nothing during the
war, he has at hast the honour not to have encountered any
defeats ! I have given him the order togo and take the com

■

Changes in the objects
.. of the French squa-
dron.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Russian intentions
regarding France.

1804.
Sept.

Napoleon, who bad a deep kn(>\vled>;e of mankind,
reckoned but little upon the adequate siibstitutiou
of any one for admiral Latouche. Meditating cnn-
tinually u[)on his project, he modlHed it and in-
creased it according to the unlooked for circum-
stances that occuri-ed. The winter gave the Brest
tieet freedom of action, and caused the cessation of
the blockade. Although Ganteaunie had exhibited
a want of character in IJiOI, still he had shown on
more than one occasion both courage and devotion.
Napoleon wished therefore to confide to him the
brilliant and difficult part of the plan. He put off
the exj)edition until after the 18tli Bruinaire, or
'JA\ of November, the time assigned for the cere-
mony of the coronation, and he resolved to make
Ganteaunie go to sea in that rough season, \xith
tilteen or eighteen thousand men destined fur Ire-
land ; then when the admiral had thrown them
upon one of the accessible points of that island, he
was to return rapidly into the chainiel, in order to
in-otict the passage of the flotilla.

In the modified plan the admirals Missiessy and
Villeneuve were charged with a different business
from that designated tor the Toulon and Rochefort
S4nadions, when Latouche Tre'vilie had the com-
mand. Admiral Villeiieuve, sailing from T(]uloii,
was to go to America, reconquer Sminam and
the Dutch colonies of Guiana'. One division de-
tached from the squadron of Villeneuve in )iassing,
was to ca|itiii'e the island of St. Helena. Ailmiral
Mihsiessy was ordered to i-einforce the French
Wist India islands or Antilles, with tl:ree or four
thousand men. Then to ravage the English islands,
by surprising them nearly in their defenceless
state. The two admirals were then to unite and
return together to Europe, having as their last
instruction to raise the blockade of Ferrol, and to

mand of the squadron, and I calculate that in eipht days he
will l)e on tlie road. It will cost liim five or six to arrive
ai Ills destination."

1 While our author details the smallest advantages gained
over her enemies by France, he omits the losses of France
and iier dependents. Thus Surinam was conquered by the
Knglish wi'.li iiiconsiderabl. loss on the 4ih of he jjreceding
Ma} <1804', two thousand men «ere made piisoiiers. It
seemed necessary to mention tliis conquest alter tlie breach
of the peace of Amiens, to comprehend the abn've passage;
lor liovv else could Villeneuve be sent by Napolenn to take
Suiiniim from the Biitish, since it had liet-n rest, red lo tlie
Duuh. History, with such omissions, must lie imptnfect.
Again, Demerara and Essequibo were taken by the English,
Sc|.lember 27, 1803. Goree was taken noni the French,
Macli 15, 1804, but no nieiiilon is made of that circnin-
btance. St. Lui:ia was captured by a-sault on the 2;ird of
June, 18n3 ; the island of Tnbapo in like manner im the 1st
of .'nly, 1803. All these our author suffers to go unnoticed.
A l.inding in Dominica by a French squadron, and the
burning of the little town of Roseau, is lo be found sub e-
quently set out at length. It is the duty of the faith'ul
historian, even when making a merit uf passiiig over trivial
events, to record important territorial losses in lielligerent
conflicts. The meaning of Napoleon in a ieiter lo the
mnis'er of marine, occurring at pa>;e582 in the note. c-ir. not
be understood except by refrrence lo a note ol the tr^-ns-
laior, ai i)age 472. The words of the emiieror are these:
"Si D'imin;.'0 cost us two millions amomh; The EnulUh
haie t ikrii il." Our author nowhere stales that the rem-
nanisofthe French expedition to St. Domingo had surren-
dered, and become prisoners to ilie Enjilish at all: the
omission becomes the nnire obvious from the allusion of ti.e i
emperor to the fact. — Tranaialor, 1

enter Rochefort to the number of twenty ships of
the line. They were enjoined to sail before Gan-
teaunie, in order that the English, aware of their
departure, might be drawn into following them.
Napoleon desired that Villeneuve should sail from
Toulon on the 12ili of October; Missiessy, from
Rochefort, on the 1st of November; and Ganteaunie,
from Brest, on the 22nd of December, 1804. He
regarded it as certain that the twenty vessels of
Villeneuve and Missiessy would draw after them
at least thirty sail of the English out of the Euro-
pean seas ; because the English, attacked on a sud-
den upon all poiiiLs, would not omit to send succours
every where. It was in that case probable that
admiral Ganteaunie would have sufficient freedom
of movement to execute the operation which liad
been confided to him, and which consisted, after
having touched on Ireland, in bringing himself
before Boulogne, whether by going round Scot-
land, or by coming irom Ireland directly into the
channel.

All these ordtrs were given from Boulogne itself,
where he then wa.s, while Najioleon wislied, in the
time remaining to him before the winter, to clear
the aspect of affairs ujion the continent. Di-
recting the conduct of Talleyrand by a daily cor-
respondence, he pre.scribed to him the course of
dij^iomacy which would lead to this object.

The unreflecting note un the subject of the vio-
lation of the Germanic territory sent by the Rus-
sian cabinet, and the bitter rejdy of that of France,
will no doubt at once recur to the recollection.
The young Alexander had deejily felt ihtit reply,
and had acknowledged, but too late, that his mode
of coming to the thr.piie had taken away from him
the right to give such hanghiy moral lessons to
other governments. He was even humbled and
frightened. The mind of Alexander was more
lively than strong. He placed him.^elf willingly in
advance, and then retired willingly as soon as
he observed his danger. It was without consulting
his ministers that he had put on mourning for the
death of the duke d'Eiighien; and it was in opposi-
tion to one portion of them that he had sent to
Ratisbon the note which has been already men-
tioned. Still he had the greatest trouble to sup-
port himself in his first resolutions. The better
informed persons in St. Petersburg, jifter the first
excitement had passed away, discovered that he
had cciiducted himself with too much levity in the
affair of the duke d'Eiighien; they charged it upon
the young ministers who governed the empire, and,
among others, upon the i.rince Czartoryski sooner
than on the rest, because he was a Pole, and mi-
nister for foreign attnii-s since the retirement of the
chancellor Woionzoff into the country. Nothing
could be more unjust limn this judgment in regard
to the prince Ciiartoryski, because he had resisted
the conduct of the court as much as he was able,
but he still wished that it should now leave with
dignity the wrong path which it had followed. He
had in coiiseqiK nee prescribed to M. Oubril, the
Russian clian/e d'affaires at Paris, to make a com-
plaint ill a note at once firm and inodirate, of the
attictatinii which the French cabinet hiid used in
reialiing certiiin recolleitions; to testify jiacific di.s-
|)osi lions, but to exact an answer tipon three or
four onliiiaiy subjects to the reclamations of the
Russian go\eiiiiiient ; such as the occupation of

I

1S04.

Sept.

Russia demands satisfaction
througit M. Oubril.

THE CORONATION. The Russian envoy quits Paris.

Naples, the indemuity, continually defeiretl, of the
k n;i of Fiefiniiint, and tiie invasion of Hanover.
M. Oubril liad oniers, that if lie obtained upon
these subjects an explanation only specious, so as
to content liiniself, to remain at Paris, but to ask
for his passports if they enveloped themselves in
an obstinate and disdainful silence.

Prussia, thus following an expression of Napo-
leon, " continuiilly agitateil between the two giants,"
inlormed of the exact position of things in the Rus-
sian cabinet, had made Talleynmd acquainted with
it through the minister, Lucchesini; and had said
to him, " Defer yiur reply as hnig as possible ;
then make an answer which shall furnish the dig-
nity of Russia with an apparent satisfaction, and
this tempest in the north, with which it is eudea-
vouied to alarm Europe, will be calmed."

These diHerent communications were received at
Paris while Napoleon was at Boulogne. Talleyrand
had had recourse to a dilatory |)olicy, in which it
lias hecu seen that he excelled. Napoleon willingly
lent himself to the system, not seeking to enter
upon a war with the continent, nor fearing it, but
preferring Ut finish with Europe by an expedition
directed against England. He, thei'efore, continued
liis operations at Boulogne, during which M. Oubril
was left waiting in Paris. Still Talleyrand did not
attiich sufficient importance to the Russian not?,
and. Liking too much to the letter the advice of
Prussia, he too readily believed that the matter
niiirhi be got off by delay. M. Oubril, after having
waited out the month of August, had at last de-
manded a rei)ly. Napoleon, imi)ortuned with ques-
litins by M. Oubril, and disposed be.«ides to explain
himself categorically with the powers of the con-
tinent since the entrance of Pitt upon the ministry,
had willed that an answer should be given. He
had sent himself the model of a note to be trans-
mitted to M. Oubril; and Talleyrand, following his
usual custom, had done the utmost in his power to
soften both the ground and the form of the original.
But what he had sent was very insufficient to save
the dignity of the Russian cabinet, unhai)piiy com-
mitted.

This note placed in strong contrast the wrongs
charged upon France, and those for which Russia
Wiw to be reproaclail on the other side. Russia,
it said, had no right to keep troops in Corfu, and
she every day increased their number. She was
bound to reluse all favours to the enemies of
1' ranee, and she did not limit hei-seif to affording
an asylum to the emigran'.s, she accordetl to them
besid' H public functions at foreign courts. This
was a positive violation of the last treaty. More
than this, the Russian agents every where exhibitcl
their hostility to France. Such a state of things
excluded all idea of an intimate connexion, and
made that concert impossible which had been
agreed upon between the two caliinet.s, for the
manageinent of the affairs of Italy and Germany.
As to the occupation of Hanover and Naples, thene
had been measures forced by the war. If Russia
would engage to mako the English evacuate
MalUi, the cause of the war would vanish ; and the
countries occupied by France would be evacuated
at the same mmneiit. But to endravour to bear
u|)oii France, withiut seeking to bear e(|iially upon
England, was neither just nor reconcilable. If
bile preteuded to cuuatitute lientelf arbitrator be-

tween the two belligerent powei-s, to judge not only
the ground of the quarrel, but the means employed
to determine it, she must be a firm and impartuil
arbitrator. France was decided to accept no other.
It Russia desired war, France was perfectly
ready; since, alter all, the last campaign of Russia
in the west did not authorize her to allow herself
towards France the indulgence of so high a tone as
that which she seemed to take at the moment.
It was needful to be well understood, that the em-
peror of the French was not the emperor of the
Turks or Persians. If it wiis wished on the con-
trary to be in the best relations with him, he was
perfectly disposed to meet that desire; and then,
most certainly, he should not refuse to do that
which he liad promised, more particularly on the
subject of the king of Sardinia; but in the state of
existing relations, nothing would be obtained from
him, because threats were in his view tlie most
inefficacious means ftir such a purpose.

This haughty note left not the smallest pretext
for M. Oubril to say he was saiisfied. It was the
consequence of the rashness of his cabinet, which
sometimesalmost propised, as it affected Naples and
Hanover, to constitute itself the judge ofihe means
which the belligerent powers should employ in the
war, sometimes wished to mingle itself up with an
act beyond its own territory, as in the case of the
dake d'Eiighieii's death, and continually exposed
itself to receive in all those points, so injudiciously
touched U|ioii, the most provoking replies. M. Ou-
bril, consulting his instructions, believed it his duty
to demand his passports; still in order to be wholly
faithful, he ailded that hisdeparture was but a sim-
ple interruption of diploinntic relations between the
two courts, and not a declaration of hostilities; that
when such relations had nothing more left useful
or agreeable, there was not any reason for their
continuance; that for the rest, Russia did not dream
of having n-course to arms, but that the French
cabinet would decide by its posterior conduct, if
or not war should follow this interruption of the re-
lations between the two countries.

M. Oubril, after this cold but still pacific declara-
tion, quitted Paris. An order was sent to M. de
Rayneval, who had I'emained as chart/e d'affaires at
St. Petersburg, to return to France. M. Oubril
left at the end of August, but stopped some days at
Alayeiice, to await the intelligence of the free pas-
sage accorded to M. de Rayneval out of Russia.

It wiis evident that Russia, in endeavouring to
testify her displeasure by the interruption of her
relations with France, still did not make war, as
in a case in which a new European coalition had
furnished her with the advantageous occasion. All
depeinleil consequently u|jon Austria in the judg-
ment of Napide n. He therelore put it to a strong
test t » discover wli.it he had to liol<l by, before de-
livering himself up entirely to his inariliine pro-
jects. The acknowledgment of the imperial title
that he had taken he .still awaited; and he peremp-
torily deni.iiided it. His desi;^!! to visit the banks
of tile Rhine would shortly conduct him to Aix-la-
Chapelle; lie exacted of .M. Cobeiitzel ihat he should
coine there to r<-nder him homage, and to hand him
his letters ol credence, in the same city where the
(Jermaii emperors had been accimtomeil to tiike the
crown of Charl.ma-ne. He declared that if he got
no satisfaction on this point, Al. de Chaiupagiiy,

592

Skirmish of the flotilla
with the English.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Kapoleon quits Bou-
logne.

1804.
Sept.

nominated minister of the intei'ior, in place of M.
Chaptel, called up to the senate, should have no
successor at Vienna, and that the withdrawal of an
anii)assador between powers so closely in vicinity
as France and Austria, would not pass as pacifically
as between France and Russia. Lastly, he willed
that the Russian note already postponed at Ratis-
bon by an adjournment, but on the fate of which it
would be ni'ce.ssary to decide in a few days, should
be definitively rejected, or he declared anew that
he would address an answer to the diet, from whence
war would inevitably ari.se.

This being done, Napoleon quitted Boulogne,
where he had jcissed six weeks, and journeyed
towards the departments of the Rhine. Before
parting, he had occasion to be present at a combat
of the Hotilla against an English division of vessels.
On the 25th of August, or 8th of Fructidor, year
XII., at t^vo o'clock, he was in the road, inspecting
in his boat the line of anchorage composed, accord-
ing to usage, of a hundred and fifty, or two hun-
dred gun vessels and pinnaces. The English squa-
dron moored seawards consisted of two ships, two
frigates, seven corvettes, si.\ brigs, two cutters, and
a lugger, in all twenty sail. A corvette, detaching
itself from the enemy's division, came and placed
itself at the extremity of the French line of an-
chorage, to observe, and it fired several broadsides.
The admiral then gave the order to tlie first divi-
sion of cannoneers, commanded by captain Leray,
to weigh anchor, and to direct liis whole force on
the corvette; which obliged it to retire imme-
diately. Seeing this, the English formed a detach-
ment, com])osed of a frigate, several brigs and
corvettes, wiili a cutter, to force the French can-
noneers to retire in their turn, and hinder them
from regaining their accustomed position. The
emperor, who was in the same boat with admiral
Bruix, the minister of war and of the marine, and
several marshals, went into the midst of the gun-
boats which were engaged, and to set them the
example, ])laced the boat's head towards the fri-
gate, which advanced at full sail. He knew that
the Soldiers and seamen, admirers of his boldness
on land, S'lmetimes en(|uired if he would be equally
bold on the sea. He wished to satisfy them in this
resi)ect, and accustom them to brave with temerity
the large vessels of the enemy. He made them
steer his boat far in advance of the French line,
and as near as jjossible to the frigate. This last
vessel, seeing the imperial Jmatall in trim, and con-
jecturing jjerhaps the precious freight which it
contained, had reserved its fire. The minister of
the navy trembling for the emperor from tiie con-
sequences of such a bravado, wished to seize the
tiller of the liehn to change the direction of the
boat; but an imperious gesture of Na])oleon arrested
the minister's attempt, and tlie course was continued
towards tiie frigate. Napoleon, his spying-glass in
liis hand, continued to hxdi through it, when on a
sudden the frigate fired her reserved broadside,
and covered with its projectiles the boat which
bore " Caesar and his fortunes." No one was hurt;
and the account was acquitted liy tlte splash of the
projectiles in the water. Ail the French gun-vessels
that witnessed the scene advanced as rapidly as
possible, in firder to attract the fire, and to cover by
passing forward the boat of the emperor. The Eng-
lish division assailed in its turn by a shower of balls

and grape-shot, retrograded by little and little. It
was followed, but it retired afresh, keeping its
bi'oadside towards the land. During this interval,
a second division of gun-vessels, commanded liy
captain Pevrieu, had weighed anchor, and borne
down towards the enemy. Very soon the frigate,
badly handled, and steered with difficulty, was
obliged to sail away. The corvettes followed this
retreating movement, each of them much damaged,
and the cutter so crippled that she was seen to go
down.

Napoleon quitted Boulogne, delighted with the
combat in which he had thus taken a part, and
still more that the secret accounts which came to
him from the Eiigli.sh coast gave the most satisfac-
tory details of the moral and physical effect which
the combat had ])roduced. The French had no
more than one man killed and seven wounded, one
of them mortally. The English, according to the
report addressed to Nap(deon, had twelve or fifteen
killed and sixty wounded. Their vessels suffered
much. The English officers were struck with the
bearing of the snuill vessels of the French, with
their vivacity, and the precision of their fire. It
was evident, that if these gun-vessels had to dread
the vessels of the enemy on account of their size,
they had to oppose to them a power and a multi-
plicity of force very formidable '.

Napoleon then traversed Belgium, visited Mons,
Valenciennes, and arrived on the 3rd of Septem-
ber at Aix-la-Cliapelle. The empi-ess who had
gone to take the waters of Plombieres, during the
residence of Napoleon on the sea-shore, had come
to rejoin him, and attend the fetes that were pre-
paring in the Rhenish iirovinces.

¥i.. de Talleyrand and many of the great dig-
nitaries and ministers were also in attendance
there. M. Cobentzel had been faithful to the
rendezvous which had been assigned for him.
The emperor Francis, feeling the inconvenience
attending a longer delay, had taken on the lOlh of
August, at a solemn ceremonial, the imperial title
decreed to his house, and had qualified himself the
elected emperor of Germany and hereditary em-
peror of Austria, king of Bohemia and of Hungary,
archduke of Austria, duke of Styria, &c. He im-
mediately afterwards gave -M. Cobentzel an order
to go to Aix-la-Chapelle, to remit to the emperor
Napoleon his letter of credence. To this step, which
the place where it was made rendered yet more
significant, there was joined the formal, and for
the moment the sincere assui'ance of the desire to
live in peace with France, and the promise not to
make any account of the Russian note sent to the
Ratisbon diet, as Napoleon wished. That note
had in effect l)een rendered nugatory by an inde-
finite adjournment.

' Napoleon wrote to marshal Soult.

" Ai,\-la-Chapelle, 8th September, 1804.

"The little skirmish at which 1 assisted on the evening
before my departure from Boulogne has had an ininienae
effect in England. It has (iroduced there a real alarm.
You will see on this subject, details translated from the
gazetleers, extremely curious. The howitzers on board the
guii-vessels produced a very grand effect. The jiarticulars
that I have learned state tliat the enemy have had sixty
wounded and twelve or fifteen killed. The frigate was very
ill treated."— (Z)e/jd( of the secrelanjship of state.)

1804.
Sept.

M. Cobentzel Tisits Aix-Ia-Chapelle
with letters of credence. — Napo-
leon visits Mayence.

THE CORONATION. Debates in the council of state.

5173

The emperor of the French gave M. Cubentzel
the best reception, and lavished upon him, in re-
turn for his own, the most tranquillizing dechira-
tions. With M. Cobentzel, M. Souza presented
himself, bringing the acknowledgment by Portugal
of the new emperor; the baiili de Ferrette, that of
the order of Malta, and a crowd of foreign ministei-s,
who knowing for what object their presence at
Ai.x-la-Chapelle would be agreeable, had thought
of the flattery that would be implied in a request to
present themselves tl-erc. They were received
with great readiness, and with tliat favour which
sovereigns well satisfied always know how to ex-
hibit. This assemblage was singularly brilliant
through the concotirse of foreigners and of French-
men, the luxury displayed, and the military i)omp
attending it. The recollections of Charlemagne
were revealed there with intentions very little dis-
guised. Napoleon descended into the vault where
the great man of the middle age had been buried,
visited his relics with much curiosity, and gave to
the attendant clergy brilliant tokens of his muni-
ficence. Scarcely had he left these fetes when he
entered upon more serious occupations; he went
over all the country between the Mouse and the
Rhine, Juliers, Wenloo, Cologne, and CobK iitz, in-
specting at the same time the roads and fortilica-
tions, rectifying at every fortress the plans of the
engineers with that certainty of glance, that deep
experience, that belonged to himself alone, and
ordering new works which would render invincible
this part of the Rhenish frontiei-s.

At Mayence, where he arrived about the end of
.September, or commencement of the year xiii.,
fresh pomps attended upon him. All the princes
of Germany, whose states were in the vicinity, and
who had an interest in humouring their powerful
neighbour, hastened to offer him their felicitations
and homage, not through intermediate agents, but
in their own persons. The prince arch-cliancellor,
owing to France the preservation of his title and
his opulence, wisheil to render homage to Napoleon
at Mayence, his former capital. With him pre-
sented themselves the princes of the house of
Hesse, the duke and duchess of Bavaria, the
respectable eleetor of Baden, the oldest of the
European princes came with his son and graii<lsoii.
These personages, and others that succeeded them
at Mayence, were received with a magnificence,
much superior to that which they would have
found even at Vienna. They were struck with the
promptitude with which the crowned soldier had
taken the attitude of a sovereign; that is, he h.nl
early coininamlcMl men, not throui^h the virtue of a
vain titi", but through lliat of his character, genius,
and sword; ami li<; had in the fact of such a com-
mand an ftpi»reniice8liip very superior to any
which it iH p >Hsibl(: to gain in courts.

The rejoicin^^H which had taken place at Aix-Ia-
Chap'-lle, were renewed at Mayence under the
eyes of the French and (Jermans who had li.istoneil
to SCO an clo.sely jih pfissible the spectacle which
at that moment excited the curiosity of all
Europe. Napoleon invited to his coronation fes-
tivais most of the princes who had come to visit
him. In the midst of this tmniilt, stripping hiin-
seir every morning of (he vnniiies of the throne,
he Bcr>urcd the banks id the llhiiie. examined every
part of the fortress of Mayence, that lie regarded

as one of the most important of the continent, less
on account of the works, than of the position on
the bank of a great river, along which Europe
had for ten centuries ccmflicte i with France. He
ordered those works to be performed which might
give it all the strength of which it was susceptible.
The sight of this place inspired him with a very
useful precaution, and t)f which no one would have
thought if he were not taken to the spot himself.
The last treaties had ordered the demolition of the
forts of Cassel and Kehl. The first formed the
opening of ilayence, and the second that of Stras-
burg on the right bank of ihe Rhine. These two
fortresses would lose their value without the two
redoubts covering the bridge heads, serving at the
same time for the means of defence and for the
passage to the other bank. Ke ordered that tim-
ber and materials of every kind necessary for
forming works on a sudden shouhl be amassed,
together with fifteen thousand pickaxes and
shovels, in order to carry within twenty-four
hours eight or ten thousand workmen to the other
side of the river, for reconstructing the defences
which had been destroyed. For want of tools
alone, he wrote to the engineer, you would lose
eight days. He CTen arranged all the plans, so
that under a telegr;iphic order the works might be
immediately commenced.

Napoleon after having remained at Mayence,
and in the new departments, the entire time ne-
cessary for his objects, departed for Paris, visiting
Luxembourg in his wav. He arrived at St.
Cloud on the 12th of October, 1804, or 20th Ven-
demiaire, year xni.

He had flattered himself for a moment to
oflTer France and Europe an extraordinary spec-
tacle, by traversing the straits of Dover with one
hundred and fifty thousand men, and returning
to Paris master of the world. Pi-ovidence, which
had reserved for him so much glory, did not fur-
nish him so mjch to impart to his coronation.
There remained another means for him to dazzle
all eyes. These were to make the pope descend a
moment from the pontifical throne, in order to come
to Paris and bless his sce[)tre and crown. He
had in this to gain a great moral victory over the
enemies of France, and he did not doubt of suc-
cess. Every thing was ]>repared for his corona-
tion, to which he h:id invited the principal au-
thorities of the empire, numerous deputations of
the arniyand navy, and a crowd of foreign princes.
Thousands of workmen laboured on the prepara-
tions for the ceremony in the church of Notre
Dame. The rumours of the coming of the pope
having transpired, ])ublic opinion took up the
subject and marvelled ; the jjidjiic ilevoted to the
govermnent was enchanted, the emigrants deeply
chagrined, Europe surprised and jealous. The
question had been weighed where all public
affairs were treateil upon, in the council of state.
In that body, where the most perfect freedom was
left to opinion, the objections sustained on the
concordat were reproduced nuieh nn)ro strongly
still on the idea of snbniiitire^, in a certain sense,
the coronation of the new nion.ireh to the head of
the churcdi. The repngn.iiice, ho ancient in
France, even among religious men, against ultra-
montane domination, had all at once awakened
itself. It was saul that such a sup wa.-* to raise

Napoleon's answer. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. CharacterofcardinaJFesch. '^^J;

up again all the prtstensions of the clergy, to proclaini j
a doruinaut religimi, to make it be supposed tliat |
the eni|)eror recently elfCted, held his crown,
not through the wishes of the nation and through
the. exploits of the army, but of the sovereign
pontiff', a dangerous supposition, because he who
gave the crown could also withhold it.

Napoleon, impatient of so many objections
against a ceremony, which would be a real triumph
obtained over European malevolence, took up the
matter himself, and showed all the advantages
that would result from the jjresence of the pope at
such a solemnity, the eff'ecc that it would produce
upon the religious part of the population as well as
uppn the-entire l)ody, the strength it would impart
to^^the new order of things, and to that conserva-
tion in which all the men of the revolution were
equally interested ; he showed the smallness of iho
danger attached to tliis signification of the pontiff
giving the crown ; he asserted that the pretensions
of a Gregory VII. were not those of our time, that
the ceremony in which he would act was no other
than an invocation for the celestial protection in
favour of a new dynastj', au invocation made in
the ordinary forms of the most ancient worship
general and pcipnlar iu France ; that in other re-
spects, without religious pomp, there would not
be any real pomp, above all in catholic countries,
and that to make the priests figure in the coronation,
it Wduhl be best to call in the greatest and most
qualified, and if it was possible, the superior of all
in the poj)e himself. Pressing, in fine, upon these
opponents as he pressed upon his enemies in war,
in other words to the ontrance, he finished by this
trait, which at once terminated the discussion.
" Gentlemen," cried he, " you deliberate at Paris,
in the Tuileries ; sup])ose that you were deliberat-
ing in Londm, in the British cabinet, that you
were, in a word, the ministers of the king of
England, and you were apprised that the po])e was
at the moment passing the Alps to crown the em-
peror of the French; would you regard that as a
triumph for England or for France ?"

This interrogatory, so slitirp, and carrying
justice with it, made all silent, and the journey
of the pope to Paris encountered no more any ob-
jection.

But it was not all to obtain a general consent to
this journey, it was necessary to obtain that of the
court of Rome, and this was a thing exceedingly
difficult. In order to succeed it was needful to
use great art. and to mingle mnoh firmness with
a great de.il of mildness ; and the ambassador of
France, cardinal Fesch, with the natural irasci-
bility of his character, and the obduracy of his
pride, was nmch less adapted for the purpose than
his predecessor, M. de Cacault. It is proper here
to describe this personage, who played such a part,
both in the clninh and the empire. Cardinal
Fesch, large in |>erson, middling in height, mode-
rate iu imellett, vain, aujbitious, passionate, but
resolute, was destined to be a great obstacle in the
way of Napideon. During the reign of terror, he
had, like many other jiriests, flung afar the insignia,
and with th in the obligations of the priesthood.
Become a war cnumissary in the army of Italy,
no one could have said, seeing him act, that he was
an old minister of religious worship. But when
restoring all old things to their places, Naiioleun re-

called the priests to their altars, cardinal Fesch
thought of entering again ujjon the duties of his
former profession, and so managed as to obtJiin the
rank for which liis powerful i-elation jieiinitted
him to hope. Napoleon was not willing to restore
him, but upon the condition of his supporting a be-
coming conduct ; and the abb^ Fe.sch had soon,
with a strength of will extremely rare, changnd
his manners, concealed his existence, and given in
a religious seminary the picture of an exemplary
])enitent. The archbishopric of Lyons was secured
in reserve for him, and when invested with the
cardinal's hat, he immediately exhibited himself,
not the supjxirter of Najioleon in the church, but
much more his antagonist, and it was possible to
foresee already, that he indulged in the pivtension
on some future day of obliging his nephew, to
whom he owed every thing, to balance accoimt
with an uncle, supported by the secret malevolence
of the clergy.

Napoleon himself had spoken bitterly of this new
ingratitude of his family with the wi.se Portalis,
who had given him the advice to free himself from
his uncle by sending him to be ambassador at
Rome. " He will have there," said M. Portalis," a
good deal to <1<) with the jiride and the prejudices
of the Roman court ; and he will employ the deiec-
tive parts of his character in serving you, in jdace
of using them to your injury." It was for this rea-
son, and not with the idea of one day making him
pope, as the inventors of falsehoods would liave it
appear, that Napt)leon accredited cardinal Fesch to
the Roman Court. No pope could have been more
disagreeable, opposite, or dangerous than he would
have shown himself to Napoleon in that cha-
racter.

Such was the personage who was to negotiate
the journey of Pins VII. to Paris.

As soon as Pius VI I. was apprised by an extra-
ordinary conrii r of cardinal Caprai-a of the wish
wliicli Napoleon had expressed, he was seized with
feelings of the most contrary character, which for a
long while continued to agitate him. He compre-
hended well enough that it furnished an opportu-
nity of rendering new services to religion, to ob-
tain in its behalf more than one concession, so far
constantly refuseil, jierhaps even to obtain the res-
titution of the rich provinces torn from the patri-
mony of St. Peter. But then what chances also
were to be braved ! How much of vexatious lan-
guage to be endured throughout Europe ! How
many disagreeable things might be encountered in
the midst of a revolutionary capital, infected with
tlie s|.irit of philosophers, yet filled with their
adherents, and inhabited by the people of all the
earth most given to raillery ! All these things
appt-ared in perspective at once before the mind of
tlij pontiff, sensitive and irritable, agitating him so
niucli that his health was apparently altered. His
minister and favourite counsellor, the cardinal
secretary of state Gonsalvi, became instantly the
confidant of the causes of his agitation'. He com-
municated to him his uneasiness, received the

' I do not suppose there was any purpose in this, I imagine
there was none. All wliich follows is faithfully extracted
fnini tlie secret correspondence of cardinal Gonsalvi with
card nal Caprara, a correspondence of which France re-
mained in possession. — Author's note.

Hopes and fears of the holy see. TH E COllON ATION.

695

communications of Iiis own, and both found them
selves pretty nearly in agreement. Buth feart-d
what the world would say about the consecratiou of
an illegitimate prince, of a usurper, for so lliey
denominated Napoleon in a certain party; they
feared thedisconti nt of tiie other courts, above all,
that of Vienna, that saw with a mortal displeasiue
the elevation of a new emperor of the West ; they
dreaded, anion"; the party of the oM ordi-r of things,
a de;;ree of abuse nuuh gie;Uer than that which
hail burst forth at the epoch of the concordat, and
with a much better f;r<innil, because lure the in-
terest of religion was less eviiKui than the interest
of the individual man ; they (eared that once in
France there would be diinaniled of the pope,
soiiiething at present unforeseen, inadmissible, that
he had already much trouble in refusing at Rmuc,
that he would be nuich less able to refuse in Faris,
and which niii;ht cause some vexati<us embroil-
ment, perhaps make a great noise in the world.
They went so far as lo fear sciue act of violence;
such as the detentiun of Fins VI. at Valence ; and
they figured to themselves in a coi. fused way the
strangest and most frightful scenes. 1 1 is true that
nirdiiial Gousalvi, who had gone to Paris on the
' iisiness of the concordat, an'd cardinal Cai)rara
liu p.issed his life in that lapiial, had for Napo-
leon, his courtesy and the delicacy of his proceed-
ings, different ideas from those which reigned in
'his court of old |)ries:s, who never represented
Varis in any oilier terms than as a dark abyss, in
.'. hieli a formidable giant governed. Cardinal Ca-
jiiara in particular never leased to repeat, that if
liie emperor was the most ))assiouate, most impe-
rious of men, he was :dso the most generous, and
the most amiable, when he was not hurt; tiiat tlie
pojie would be delighted to see him ; that he
ndglitobt:iin what he wished f<u" the inti-rest of re
ligion and of the cimreli; that it was ihe moment
to come, because tile war tended to some decisive
crisis; that-there would Ijc the conquered and the
conqiu ror, and more new distributions of territory,
and ihat jterhaps the po|)e wonid obtain the Lega-
tions; that there was nothing promised it was true,
hut tliat at bottom something was the intention of
Napoleon, and that his presence alone would be ne-
cessary for its realization. These prospects calmed a
little the troubled imagination of the unhappy pontiH';
but Paris, the capital of that higlitlul French re-
volution, which liad swallowed up kings, queens,
and thousands of iiricsts, conhl not but be for the
pope an indefinable object of terror.

Then there were consiileiatious on the otlier
siile t» perplex. Withoni d.mbt Emope would
censure his conduct if he wcnl to Paris; itwaspos-
sibl*! ii'; might be exposed to inikiuiwn and unfore-
seen events; but if he were not to go there, how
Would it turn out for religion an<l the holy see ?
All the Italian stales w. re under the arm of Napo-
leon. Pirdinont, Loiubardy, Tnicany, even Naples,
in spite of llussian protection, were lull ul French
troops. Out of regard for the liolv see, the U<unau
states had been alone spared. What would Napo-
leon notdo,irritatedand uiortiKiMi by a refusal which
wouhl be infallil)ly no seeret throughoul Europe,
and which would pans for a i uudenuiiili>in <if liis
rights emanating from the holy Mce. All tlu-se con-
tradictory ideas fornu-d, in the mind of the pope,
and his secrelary Gousalvi, uii action and re-action

of a kind very much to be pitied. Cardinal Gon-
salvi, who had already faced the danger, and who
when at Paris had been lar from finding grounds of
displeasure, was the least agitated of the two. He
thought only of Eiu-ope, and of the opinions and
displeasure of all tlie old cabinets.

Nevertheless the pope and the cardinal, while
awaiting the rece])tion from Paris of solicitations
which it was probable would not admit of a refusal,
wihhetl to have the sacred college on their own side.
They dared not consult it in tlie entire body, be-
cause it had amongst its iiumber carilinals tied to
foreign courts, who wouhl pei-haps betray the se-
cret. They chose ten of the most influential mem-
bers of the congregation of cardinals, and sub-
mitted to ihem in the secrecy of confession the
communications made by cardinals Caprara and
Fesch. These two cardinals were unlortuiiately
divided, and there was reason to fear that it would
be the same with the sacred college. Then the
pope and his minister thought it was necessary
to have recourse to ten other cardinals, making in
the whole twenty. This Consultation, remaining
slid secret, gave the following results :— Five cai"-
dinals were wholly opposed to the demand of Napo-
leon, and fifteen were favourable, but at the same
time raising objections, and demanding conditions.
Of the five who gave a refusal, two only had stated
their motive to be a refusal lo acknowledge the
legitimacy of the sovereign whom it was the ques-
tion to crown. These five said that it would be to
consecrate and ratify all that the new nutiiarch had
suffered to be done, or had done himself to the in-
jury of religion; because, if he had made the con-
cordat, he had also formed the organic articles, and
taken away, when he was general, the Legations
from the ludy see, that recently again, in concurring
in the secularizations, he had contributed to despoil
the German church of its property; that if he
wished to be treated like Charlemagne, he must
conduct himself like that emperor, and show his
regard to the holy see with the same munificence.

The fifteen cardinals disposed to agree under re-
strictive conditions had made objections in regard
to the ojiinion and discontent of the European
courts; the slight to the pope's dignity, that he
should go and consecrate the new emperor at Paris,
while the chiefs of the holy empire had all come to
Home to be crowned at the foot of the altar of St.
Peter; the inconvenience (d' meeting the consti-
tutional bishops, who had but incompletely re-
tracted, or who, after their reconediation with the
church, had caused new controvei-sies; the false
position of the holy father in presence of certain
liigh fmurtioiiaries, as M. Talleyrand, for example,
who had broken his ties to the priesthood in order
to unite those of marriage; the danger of receiving
in the heart of an enemy's capital iiiiidmissible
demands, which it would be (lilhcnlt lo refuse with-
out a noisy injitture ; lastly, the danger of the
journey for one whose Inalih was as delicate as
that of Pius VII.; ncalliiig to reeolleeiion the cen-
sure which pope Pius VI. bad incurred in the last
century, when he had made a journey to Vienna,
on a visit to Joseph II., and had returne.l without
having obtained any thing favourable to religion.
The liftecn cardinals were of opinion, that there
would not be any excuse in the c,\es of the Cliris-
lian world for the act of condescension thus do-
Q<i2

696

Objections made by tbi
pope to Ills journey.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Embarrassment of tbe
negotiation.

I

nianded of Pius VII., unless it was to request and
obtain certain notorious advantages; such as the
I'evocation of a i)art of the organic articles; the
abolition of the measures taken by the Italian re-
public in regard to the clergy; the revocation of
what the French commissary had done at Parma
and Placentia relative to the church in that
country ; and, finally, territorial indemnities for
the losses that the holy see had suffered, and, above
all, the adoption of the ancient ceremonial for the
coronation of the Germanic emperors. Each of
these fifteen cardinals even added an express claim
that the coronation should take place, not in Paris,
but in Italy, when Napoleon should visit his states
beyond the Alps; and exacted this condition as
indispensable to tlie dignity of the holy see.

Somewhat assured by these opinions, the pope
felt disposed to yield to the wishes of Napoleon,
insisting at llie same time, in a peremptory manner,
upon the conditions demanded by the fifteen con-
senting cardinals; and he had made known a part
of this resolution to cardinal Fesch. But in tlie
interval, there had reached Rome the text of tlie
senatus consultuni of the 28th I'loreal, and the
foi-mula of the oath of the emperoi-, containing
these words — "I swear to respect and to make re-
spected the laws of the concordat, and the liberty/ of
icorghlp.'' The laws of the concordat appeared to
include the organic articles ; the liberty of worship
appeared to sanction heresies, and the court of
Rome had never admitted such a liberty into its
reckoning. Tiie oath became on a sudden the
ground for an abs<dute refusal. Nevertheless, tiie
pope and Gonsalvi consulted again the twenty car-
dinals, and this time only five thought that the
oath was not an insurmountable obstacle; fifteen
I'eplied that it rendered the coronation of the new
monarch by the pope an impossible thing.

Although the secret had been well kept by the
cardinals, intelligence from Paris, and some indis-
cretions inevitable among the agents of the holy see,
brought about the discovery of the negotiation, and
the jjublic, composed of prelates and diplomatists
that encircled the Roman court, spread it abroad
in speeches and sarcasms. They called Pius VII. the
" chaplain of the emperor of the French," because
this emperor, having need of the pope's ministry,
did not come to Ronie as the Charlemagnes, Othos,
Barbarossas, and Charles V. had deigned to do;
! but sent for the pope to his own palace.
I This raillery added to the' difficulties of the oath,
j shook Pius VII. and cardinal Gonsalvi; both there-
j fore adopted the resolution to make a reply favour-
able in appearance, but negative in reality, becau.se
it consisted in an acquiescence burthened with con-
ditions which it was not possible for the emperor to
admit.

Cardinal Fesch eagerly replied to the principal
difficulty raised against the oath, drawn from the
engagement that the sovereign had taken to respect
freedom of religious worship. He said that such an
engagement was not the canonical approbation of
differing creeds, but the pi'omise to suffer the free
exercise of every kind of worship, and not to per-
secute any, which was still conformable to the spirit
of the faith in the church, and the principles adopted
in the present age by all the sovereigns. These
explanations, full of good sense as they were, had,
according to the cardinal Gonsalvi, merely a pri-

vate character, and not a public one, and they
would not excuse the court of Rome in the eyes of
the faithful, or in the sight of God, if they were
wanting to the catholic faith.

Although of a mind not insinuating, cardinal
Fesch had known how to penetrate by fear and
presents into the secret of more than one personage
of the Roman court, and he knew perfectly well
the objections made as well as their authors. He
sent word of every thing to Paris, that the emperor
might be well acquainted with all ; and still not
knowing to what point the pope wished to hold
back through unacceptable conditions, and how
much might be gained from him, he gave more
lio[)e of success than he had a right to e.xpect at
the moment, adding, in the mean while, that in
order to success, it was necessary to give the holy
see promises and explanations perfectly satisfac-
tory.

These communications transmitted to Paris be-
came a cause of cruel embarrassment to cardinal
Caprara, because they took them for a consent
merely dependent upon some explanations that still
remained to be given, and looked for the appear-
ance of the pope in France as a certain thing.
Cardinal Caprara, who knew the real dispositio* of
his court, but who dared not speak out, was in a
state of tremor and confusion. The empress
Josephine held more than Najxileon did to the
coronation, which seemed to her the pardon of
Heaven for an act of usurpation. Thus she re-
ceived cardinal Caprara at St. Cloud, and lavished
upon him the kindest attention. On iiis own side,
Napoleon showed great satisfaction, and both told
him that they considered the affair as arranged;
that the pope would be received at Paris with the
honours due to a chief of the universal church,
and that religion would obtain infinite benefit from
his journey. Napoleon, without knowing all, still
suspected a i)art of the secret wishes of the Roman
court; he avoided, suffering himself to be accosted
by cardinal Caprara, out of fear that the cardinal
would demand of him things either altogether impos-
sible to grant, such as the revocation of the organic
articles, or actually very difficult, such as the resti-
tution of the Legations. The cardinal was, there-
fore, doubly embarrassed, between the hopes too
reailily indulged in Paris, and the difficulty of ac-
costing Napoleon, to obtain the words in reply
cajtable of leading the Roman court to a decision.

The abbe Bernier become bisho|)of Orleans, the
man whose wise and profound mind had been
employed in vanquishing all the difficulties of the
concordat, was also very useful in the present con-
juncture. He was charged with the task of making
replies to the court of Rome, He conferred for
this end with cardinal Caprara, and made him
comprehend that after the hoi)es indulged by the
imperial family, after the expectation produced in
the mind of th.; French public, it would be impos-
sible to draw back without outraging Napoleon,
and exposing himself to the most serious conse-
quences. Tlie bishop of Orleans drew up a des-
patch, which would do honour to the most able and
learned diplomatist, lie recalled to memory the
services of Napoleon to the church, and the claims
which he had to its acknowledgment, the good
which religion might yet expect from him, and the
effect, before all, which would be produced upon the

1804.
Oet.

Stipulations of the

THE CORONATION.

Apprehensions of the pope.

697

French people by the presence of Pins VII., with
the impulse it would impart to relisjious ideas.
He explained the oath and the expressions relativt-
to liberty of woi-ship as they ought to be under-
Stood; lie offered besides an expedient, which was
toin.-ike two ceremonies, the one civil, in which the
emperor took the oath and the crown; the other
religious, in which the crown should be conse-
crated by the pontiff. Finally, he declared posi-
tively, that it was for the interest of religion, and
•what was intimately attached to it, that the pre-
sence of the pope was required in Paris. There
were hopes enough concealed in these words to
gain over the personal consent of the holy see, and
give a pretext to Cliristianity that should justify its
condescension towards Napoleon.

Cardinal Caprara joined to this official despateli
of the French government, i)articular letters in
which he drew a picture of what jiassed in France,
the good which was to be accomplihhed there, and
the evils to be repaired, and affirmed ))ositively,
that the request could not be refused without great
dangers; that at Rome things were very ill-judged
of, anil that the pope would gather from the journey
only subjects of satisfaction to himself.

A second time carried to Rome, the negotiation
could not but succeed. The pope and cardinal
Gonsalvi, enlightened by the letters of the legate,
and of the bishop of Orleans, comprehended the
impossibility of a refusal, and pressed by cardinal
Fesch, finished the affair by consenting to go. But
they were under the necessity of consulting the
cardinals once more; above all, they were alarmed
at one of the explanations of the bishop of Orleans,
consisting in the idea of a double ceremony. The
pope would only admit one, because he wished not
only to sprinkle the holy water over the new em-
peror, but to crown him. The cardinals v/erethen
consulted anew upon the explanations sent from
Paris. Cardinal Fesch got access among them,
and contrived to put fear into their hearts, in
which he was much more able, than in .seducing
them by persuasion. The answer was favourable;
but an official note was demanded in explanation
of the oath, that should promise only one ceremony,
and that should contain an express mention of the
conditions under which the pope went t<» Paris.

Pius VII. then declared that he consented to the
journey upon condition that the oath should be ex-
]ilained a» n<it attaching any approbation of here-
tical dogmas, but only the simple toleration mate-
rial to dissenting modes of worship; that they pro-
mised to listen when lie remonstrated against cer-
tain organic articles, when he remonstrated for the
interests of the church, and of the holy see (the
Legations were not nameil); that they would not
suffer near him those bishops who disputed their
submission to the see of R4jm<-, unless under a new
and most complete submission on their part; that
he should not be exposed to encounter those
persons who were in a situation contrary to the
laws of the church (this ])Ositiveiy designated
the wife of the minister for foreign affairs) ; that
the ceremonial observed should be either that of the
court of Rome crow ning the emperor, oi- that of the
archl)isliop of Kheinis crowning the kingsol Fiance;
that there should he only one ceremony, exclu-
sively through the niinistry of the pope; that a de-
putation of two French bishops should curry to

Pius VII. a letter of invitation, in which the em-
peror said that, retained for powerful reasons in
ihe heart of his enii)ire, and having to discuss with
the holy father the interests of religion, he begged
him to come to France to bless his crown, and treat
on the interests of the church; that no species of
demand should be addressed to the pope, that
should restrain in any manner his return to Italy.
'l"he ]ioiilifical cabinet expressed finally its desire
that the coronation should be postponed until the
25lh of December, the day when Charlemagne had
been proclaimed emperor, because the pope, deeply
agitated, had need to pass some time at Castel Gan-
dolfo, in order to obtain a little repose, and could
licit besides quit Rome without setting in order a
good deal of business relative to the Roman govern-
ment.

These conditions had nothing in Ihem but what
was acceptable, for if it was proniined to listen to
the remonstrances of the pope upon certain organic
articles, there was no promise to grant the claim
exaeted, in case they should be contrary to the
principles of the French cliuieh. Cardinal Fesch
had even declared faithfully that they could never
modify these organic articles which most offended
the Roman church, and which exacted the consent
of the civil authority for the introduction into
Fiance of the pontifical bulls. They were able,
without scruple, to promise that one single cere-
mony alone should be retained, the observation of
the Roman or French service; the hope of an ame-
liorat:on in respect to the territory of the holy see,
beciuse Napoleon often thought of it; the sending
a deputation to invite the pojjc in a formal manner
to come to Paris; the allegation of the interests of
the church as the motive of the voyage; the re-
pression of the five bishops who had returned upon
their reconciliation, and troubled the church in a
vexatious manner. They were able, in fine, to en-
gage that nothing disagreeable should be required
of pope Pius VII., and that he should be perfectly'
free, for nothing to the contrary had even in thought
entered into the mind of Napoleon or his govern-
ment. It required the imagination (ti those feeble
and trembling old men, to snjjpose that the liberty
of the pope had any thing to lear in France.

Cardinal Fescli,the consent of the pope once ob-
tained, declared that the emperor took upon him-
self all the cxjienses of the journey, which was for |
a ruined government a difficulty of moment less in
the way. lie made known besides the details of
the magnificent reception reserved for the holy
father. Unhappily he troubled him by accessary
exactions, wholly out of place, lie wished that
twelve cardinals, and more than that, the secretary
of state, Gonsalvi, should accompany the pope; he
wished contrary to established usage, that classed
the cardinals by the oldest standing, that the first
place in the pontifical carriage should be for the
ambassador, grand almoner and uncle of the
emperor. All this was useless, and occasioned to
men who were fearful formalists, as much pain as
more seriotis difficulties would have done.

Pius VII. yielded <m souk- |ioiiits, but he was
inflexible about the number of cardinals, and the
omission of the secieiaiy of state, ijonsalvi. In
their vague terror, I'ios VII. and Gonsalvi had
imagined a provision against all the dangers of
the church by a singular precaution. The holy

letter of Napoleon THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

to the pope.

father, who believed liimself woi-se in liealtli than
he was in reality, and who mistook the nervous
agitations witli wliicii he saw himself attacked for
some dangerous malady, thought he should die on
his journey. He thought, too, that perhaps they
would misuse him. To guard against this second
apprehension, lie had drawn up and signed his ab-
dication, and had deposited it in the hands of
cardinal Gonsalvi, that he might be prepared to
declare the papacy vacant. Further, it lie died or
abdicated, it would be necessary to convoke the
sacred college, in order to fill the chair of St.
Peter. It was, therefore, requisite to leave at
Rome as many cardinals as possible, and among
them the man who, by his ability, was the
most capable of directing the church under
these grave circumstances, in other words, cardi-
nal Gonsalvi himself. A last consideration de-
cided the pope to act in this way. He had not
been able to avoid an explanation with the Aus-
trian Court, to make it agree to his journey to
Paris. Austria, appreciating his situation, had
acknowledged the necessity he was under of under-
taking the journey ; but she had demanded a
guarantee, that he should promise not to treat at
Paris about the arrangements of the German
church, which were the consequence of the recez
of 1803. It was, above all, on account of this
motive that Austria dreaded the sojourn of the
pope in France. Pins VII. had solemnly promised
not to ti'eat with Napoleon on any question foreign
to the French church. But to add confidence to
his promise, it was necessary that he should not
take with him cardinal Gonsalvi, the man through
whom all the great business of the Roman court
was transacted.

From these motives, Pius VII. refused to take
with liim more than six cardinals, and persisted
in his resolve of leaving at Rome the secretary of
state, Gonsalvi. He consent-, d to an arrangement
as far as the personal pretensions of cardinal
Fesch were concerned. This cardinal was to oc-
cupy the first place when they should ai'rive in
France.

These matters arranged, the pope went to Castel
Gandolfo, where the pure air, the tranquillity that
followed ills fixed resolution, the news, every day
more satisfactory, of the welcome prepared for him
at Paris, re-established his health, which was so
much shattered:

Napoleon regarded the object he had attained as
a great victory, because it put the final seal
to his rights, and left him nothing to desire tm the
score of legitimacy. Meanwhile, ho would not
lose his own character in the midst of these ex-
ternal pomps ; he would do nothing or promise
nothing contrary to the pi'inciples of his govern-
ment. Cardinal Fesch having said to him that it
would be sufficient to send to the pope some
general enjoying high public consideration, he sent
general Caffarelli to carry his invitation, and he
drew it up in the most respectful and even kind
terms, but without giving it to be too much under-
stood that he had requested the pope's presence
near him, for any other object than his coronation.
This letter, written with perfect dignity, was thus
conceived : —

" Most Holy Father.— The happy effect pro-
duced on the morals and character of my people.

by the re-establishment of the Christian religion,
induces me to pray your holiness to aflford me
a new proof of the interest that you take
hi my destiny, and that of this great nation,
under one of the most imjiortant circumstances
that the annals of the world can offer. I |)ray
you to come and impart in the most eminent
degree possible, a religious character to the
ceremony of the oath and coronation of the first
empefor of the French. The ceremony will ac-
quire a nevv lustre when it shall be performed by
}our holiness in person. It will attach upon us
and our people the blessing of God, whose decree
regulates according to the dictates of his will the
fate of families and empires.

" Your holiness knows the affectionate senti-
ments which I have for a long time borne towards
you, and will thus judge of the pleasure this event
will confer upon me, by enabling me to give new
proofs of them.

'• We ])ray God to preserve you, most holy father,
many years to come for the regulation and govern-
ment of our mother the holy church.

" Your devoted son,

" Napoleon."

To this letter were joined strong solicitations that
the jiope, in place of arriving on the 25th of Decem-
ber, should arrive on the last day of November.
Nai)oleon did not tell the real m<itive that made
him wish for the ceremony to take place sooner ;
this motive was no other than his project of a
descent upon England, jirepared for December.
He alleged a reason, which was also true, but less
serious, this was the inconvenience of leaving too
long a time at Paris all the civil and military
authorities already convoked.

General Caffarelli setoff in the utmost haste, and
reached Rome in the night on the 28th or 29tli of
September. Cardinal Fesch presented him to the
holy father, who gave him a paternal reception.
Pius VII. received the letter from the hands of
the general, but deferred reading it until after the
audience. But when he had acquired a knowledge
of it, and did not find in it any allegation of re-
ligious business as the motive for his proceeding
to France, he was seized with deep sorrow, and
fe!l into a state of nervous agitation which excited
the greatest uneasiness. In reality, that which
most touched this venerable pontiff, as with all
pruices of an elevated spirit, was his honour, the
dignity of his crown. He believed these to be
compromised if for an instant religious affairs
were not alleged to explain his thus displacing
himself. The name of " Chaplain of Napoleon,"
which his enemies gave him, deeply hurt him.
He sent for cardinal Fesch : — " It is poison," said
he, " that you have brought to me." He added
that he would make no reply to such a letter ; that
he would not go to Paris, because they had
broken their word with him. Cardinal Fesch at-
tempted to calm the irritated pontiff, and thought
that a new consultation of cardinals might arrange
this last difficulty. All began to feel the impossi-
bility of drawing back, and by means of a last
explanatory note, signed by the cardinal ambas-
sador, the difficulty was removed. It was decided
that the pojje, on account of All Saints' day,
should set out on the 2nd of November, and
arrive at Foiitainebleau on the 27th.

1804.
Oct.

Ceremony of Ihe coronation arranged. THE CORONATION. Conduct of the Bonaparte family.

599

While this passed at Rome, the emperor Napo-
leon had disposed every thing in Paris to give a
prodigious eelat to the ceremony of his coronation.
He liad invited the princes of Baden, the prince
arch-chancellor of the German enijjire, and nume-
rous depuiations chosen in the administratinn, in
the m.igistracy, and the army. He had left the
care to bishop IBernier and the arch-chancellor Cam-
baccres to examine the ceremonial used for the
coronations of emperors and kings, and to propose
to him modifications, that the nianners of the age,
the spirit of the time, and the prejudices of
France against the Roman authority, made ne-
cessary to be introduced. He prescribed to them
the greatest secrecy, that these questions should not
become the subject of vexatious discourses, and
reserved to himself the decision upon those which
mi;,'ht be doubtful. The two rites, both Roman
and French, contained certain modes of proceeding
equally dilHcult to be rendered supportable to tiie
public mind. According to both ceremonies, the
monarch arrived without the insignia of saprome
power, such as the sceptre, sword, and crown, and
only received them from the hands of the pontiff,
and further, he placed the crown on the head;
according to the French rite the peers, by the
Roman rite the bishops, held the crown suspended
over the head of the monarch on his knees, and
the pontiff, taking it, made it descend upon his
brow. Bernier and Cambat-^res, after having
suppressed certain details, too much in opposition
to tiie feelings of the present time, were of opininii
that the last part of the ceremony should be pre-
served, substituting for the peers of the French
rite, and the bishops of the Roman rite, the six
grand dignitaries of the empire, and letting the
pope deposit the crown on the head, as was an-
ciep'ly customary. Napoleon grounding it upon
the feeling of the nation and the army, asserted
that he would not be able then to receive the
crown from the pontiff ; that the nation and the
army, from whom he held it, would be annoyed to
see a ceremonial not in conformity with the real
state of things, and the independence of the
throne. He was inflexible in this respect, saying
that he knew better than any body the true senti-
ments of France, yielding, no doubt, to religious
ideas, but even under that relation, always ready
to censure tiiose who j)assed certain limits. He
wihhed, therefore, to arrive at the church with his
imperial insignia, that is to say, as emperor, and
only give them to be consecruted by the jiope.
He consented to receive the benediction and to be
consecrated, but not to be crowned. 'J"he arch-
chancellor Cambac(Jrcs avowed that there was
truth in the opinion of NapoliKin, but signified the
danger there was not less great of hurting the
feelings of the pontiff, already very nuich cha-
grined, an<l of depriving the ceremony of a con-
formity, precious from the old usages customary
from the time of Pepin and Cliarlemague. Cam-
bac(;res and Bernier, both intimately connected
with the legate, were charged with the ta«k of
making him agree in the views of the emperor.
Canlmul Caprara, knowing how much forum were
deemed an affair of grave import with liia coqrl,
tiKiuglit that he could not decide any thing without
the opinion of the |>ope, but that it w:u* necessary
not to communicate any more with tlio holy see

for fear of raising new difficulties, convinced that
the pope, once arrived in Paris, would be at the
same time reassured and charmed by the welcome
which he was destined to receive in France ; the
cardinal believed that all would be arranged
with more facility ir. Paris under the influence
of an unexpected satisfaction, than at Rome under
the influence of vague terroi's.

These difficulties overcome, there still remained
others which had birth in the midst of the imperial
family. It was the question to fix the place of
the wife, and of the brothers and sisters of the
emperor, in the ceremony of the coronation. It
was necessary to know, first, whether Jose-
phine should be crowned, and take the oath
in the same manner as Napoleon himself. She
ardently desired it, because this would be a new
tie to her husband, a new guarantee against a
future repudiation, which was the constant care of
her life. Napoleon hesitated between his affection
for his wife, and the secret presentiments of his
policy,\vhen a family scene failed then to bring about
the loss of the luifortunate Josephine. All the
world was busy around the new monarch, brothers,
sisters, and relations. Each wished in the solem-
nity which it seemed ought to consecrate them
all, some character conformable to their actual
pretensions and their future hopes. At the sight
of this agitation, and witness of the enti-eaties of
which Napoleon was the object, above all, on the
part of one of his sisters, Josephine troubled in
mind, and swallowed up by jealousy, suffei-ed out-
rageous suspicions towards that sister to be dis-
covered, and towards Napoleon himself — suspicions
in unison with certain atrocious calumnies of the
emigrants. Napoleon was suddenly seized with a
most vehement fit of anger, and finding in this
anger a resistance to his afi'ections, he told Jose-
phine that he would separate himsell' from her";
that besides he must do so at a later period, and that
it was better to be resigned to it at once, than to
contract stricter ties. He called his two adopted
children, made them acquainted with his resolu-
tion, and plunged them, by the announcement, into
the deepest .sorrow. Hortcusia and Eugene Beau-
harnois declared with a tranquil and saddened
resolution, that they would follow their mother
into any retreat to which she might be condemned.
Josejihine, well advLsed, showed herself full of
submission and melancholy resignation. The con-
trast of her chagrin, with the satisfaction that
appeared in the rest of the imperial f:imily, I'ent
the heart of Napoleon, and he was unable to make
up his mind to the sight of the exile and nnhappi-
ness of the woman wlio had been the companion
of his youth, and with hei', exiled and unhappy,
the children as well, who had become the objects
of his paternal tenderness. He took Josephine
in his arms, and told her, in the overflow of his
heart, that nothing but force should separate him
front her ; although, perli:i|)8, his policy might
command it to be otherwise. Thus he promised
that she should be crowned with him, and receive
the divine consecration at his side from the liaud
of the pope.

' I 8tatc here the faithriil recital of a rospcrtjible indivi-
(lu.il, nn ocular witncsH, altiiclu-d i» t>ic iinpurial family,
who has preserved the rucollcciion of this incident in his
manuscript memoirs. — Aul/wr't nole.

600 The pope sets out for Paris. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. The pope sets out for Paris. ]*°^'

Jijsephine ever mutable, passed at once from
tei'ror to the most perfect contentedness, and gave
herself to the preparations for the ceremony with
puerile delight.

Napoleon, with the secret idea of some day
raising up an empire of the West, felt desirous of
having vassal kings around his throne. At the
moment he made his two brothers, Joseph and
Louis, grand dignitaries of the empire ; but he
soon afterwards thought of making them kings,
and he had even already prepared a throne lor
Joseph in Lombardy. His intention was, that in
their becoming kings they should remain still
grand dignitaries of his empire. They were tiuis
to be in the French emjiire of the west, the same
that the princes of Saxony, Brandenburgh, Bo-
hemia, Bavaria, Hanover, and others were in the
Germanic empire. It was needful that the cere-
mony of the coronation should answer to this view
of the scheme, and be the emblematic image of
the reality whicli he contemplated. He would not
admit that the bisliops or peers should hold tlie
crown suspended over his liead, nor even that the
first bishop, hiin of Rome, slinuld place it there.
For the same reasons he wished that his two
brothers, destined to be vassal kings of the great
empire, should take at his side a position which
clearly indicated their future vassalage. He ex-
acted that liis brothers, when he was clothed with
the imperial mantle, and should proceed himself
into the body of the church, from the throne to
the altar, and from the altar to the throne, should
support the skirt of his mantle. He exacted this,
not only for himself, but for the empress. The
princesses, his sisters, were the parties to fulfil for
Josephine the duty which his brothers performed
near himself. An energetic expression of his will
was necessary to obtain this performance of the
office. Altliougli his kindness made puinful to
him some family scenes, he became absolute when
his requirements touched upon any of his political
designs.

It was November: all was ready at Notre Dame.
The deputations had arrived; the tribunals ceased
to sit; sixty bishops and ai'chbishops followed by
their clergy had al»andoned the care of their altars.
The generals, admirals, officers the most distin-
guished in the land or sea service, the marshals
Davout, Ney, Soult, the admirals Bruix, Gan-
teaume, in ])lace of being at Boulogne or Brest,
were all found in Paris. Napoleon was at variance
with this state of things, because pomp, much as he
loved it, only passed away rightly with him after
business was over. A multitude of curious per-
sons, from all parts of Europe as well as of France,
filled the capital, and awaited impatiently the ex-
traordinary spectacle which had drawn them thi-
ther. Napoleon, whom the assemblage of wliich
he was the ccjutinual object did not displease, was
still anxious to put an end to a state of things
which broke in upon the regular oi-der which he
preferred to see prevail in his empire. He sent off
officer after officer in order to deliver to the pope
letters filled with filial tenderness, and warm en-
treaties that he would hasten his journey. Delays
upon delays caused the ceremony to be fixed for
the 2nd of December.

The pope had ultimately decided upon quitting
Rome. After having confided full powers to car-

dinal Gonsalvi, and having loaded him with his
troubles and embarrassments, he had gone, <;n the
2iid of November, in the morning, to the altar of
St. Peter, and had there passed much time upon
his knees, surrounded by the cardinals, the gran-
dees of Rome, and the people. He offei-ed at the
altar a fervent prayer, as if he were going to en-
counter great dangers; then he entered his car-
riage, and took the road to Viterbo. The people
of Transtevere, so faithful to their pontiff's, accom-
panied his carriage a long way in tears. The time
had passed away when the court of Rome was the
[ most enlightened in Europe. The old men of the
sacred college scarcely knew in what age they
lived, blaming, from want of comprehending it, the
wise condescension of Pins VII. They were ready
to swallow the most absurd stories. Tliere were
some who regarded as correct the story of a stra-
tagem, said to be prepared in France, to make the
holy father a prisoner, and seize upon his states ;
as if Napoleon had required .such means to be
master of Rome, or as if he desired any thing be-
sides, at that moment, than the pontifical benedic-
tion, which rendered the character of his authority
respectable in the eyes of mankind.

Pius VII., on leaving Rome, wished, in spite of
his poverty, to take with him some presents worthy
of the host with whom he was going to take up his
residence. With that delicacy of tact to which he
was accustomed, he selected, for a present to Napo-
leon, two antique cameos, as remarkable for tlieir
beauty as their signification. One represented
Achilles, the other the continence of Scipio. For
J(isephine, he destined some an'tique vases, of ad-
mirable workmanship. By the advice of Talleyrand,
he brought a profusion of chaplets for the ladies of
the court.

He set out therefore; traversed the Roman and
Tuscan states, in the midst of the Italian people,
kneeling as he passed. At Florence, he was re-
ceived by the queen of Etruria, become a widow, and
then actually regent for her son of the new king-
dom created by Napoleon. This princess, pious as
all Spanish princesses are, received the pope with
demonstrations of respect and devotedness, which
much delighted him. He began from that moment
to lose some of his deep inquietude. He wished to
avoid the Legations, in order not to sanction by his
presence the attachment of them to any other state
than that of Rome. He proceeded to Piacenza,
Parma, and Turin. He was not yet in France,
but the authorities and the troo]>s of France sur-
rounded him. He saw the old Menou, the officers
of the army of Italy, bend before him with respect,
and was touched by the respectful expression of tlieir
manly countenances. Cardinal Cambac^res, and a
chamberlain of the palace, M. de Salmatoris, sent in
advance, presented themselves to him on the fron-
tiers of Piedmont, which were those of the French
empire, and handed him a letter of Napoleon full of
expressions of acknowledgment, and of his wishes
for a speedy and happy journey to the pontiff.
Hour after hour gave him more confidence; and
Pius VII. had no longer reason to feel doubt as to
the consequences of his resolution. He passed the
Alps. Extraordinary precautions had been taken
to ren<ler the passage safe and easy for himself and
the old cardinals who accompanied him. Officers
of the imperial palace provided every thing on the

N.ipoleiMi meets the pope at
Fontainebleau.

THE CORONATION.

Address of M. de Fontanes.

way with infinite eagerness and magnificence. At
length he arriveil at Lyons. Tliere his fears were
changed into real i>leasiire. Crowds of the jiopula-
tion liad come tliither from Provence, Dauphine,
Franclie-Conite', and Burgundy, to see tiie repre-
sentative of God upon tlie earth. The people al-
ways liuve in tlieir hearts a confused but deep sen-
tinient of a divinity. The form in whicli the idea
is presented to tlieir imagination matters little,
provided such a form should have been anciently
sanctioned, and that those above them give an ex-
ample of respect towavds it. If there be added to
the natui-al force of this sentiment the extraordi-
nary power of popular reaction, the earnestness with
which the multitude returns to the things that
it had momentarily abandoned, the eagerness nwiy
be conceived that tiie people of the cities and
country parts of France exhibited in seeking the
presence of the holy father. In seeing upon its
knees that nation which had been depicted to
him as always in revolt against the authoi'ities
of earth and heaven — that nation which liad over-
turned thrones, and IkKI a pontiff in captivity —
Pius VII. was startled and encouraged; he acknow-
ledged that his old counsellor Caprara had spoken
truth, wlien he affirmed that this journey would
be of great advantage to religion, and procure to
himself infinite satisfaction. A letter from the
emperor had found liim at Lyons, bringing fresh
thanks and wishes for his prompt arrival. The
feeble pontiff, possessing sensibility to infirmity, no
longer felt fatigue since he saw himself received in
such a welcome manner, and offered of his own ac-
cord to accelerate liis journey a couple of days,
which offer was accepted. He quitted Lyons in the
midst of the same homage; traversing Rloulins and
Nevers, encountering every where upon his road
the affected multitude, demanding his benediction
from the head of the chureli.

At Fontainebleau Pius VII. was to stop. Napo-
leon had so regulated matters, in order to have the
opportunity of encountering the holy father, and
arranging two or three days' rest for him in that
fine retirement. He had ordered for the 25th of
November a day of hiniting, when the company
should take their course towards the road by which
the holy father was expected to come. At the
hour when he knew tliat tiie pontifical party would
arrive at the cross of St. Herem, lie turned his
horse's head that way, in order to meet the pope,
who.soon after aiTived. He presented himself to
him immediately, and embraced him. Pius VI!.,
affected at this eagerness of manner, regarded with
emotion and curiosity tiiis other Charlemagne, whom
he had thought for some ycai-s to be the instrument
of God upon tiie earth. It was the middle of the
day. The two sovereigns mounted the Siimc car-
riage, to proceed to the chateau of Fontainebleau,
Napoleon giving the right hand to the head of the
church. On the threshold of the palace, the
emi»reHS, the great nun of the empire, and the
chiefs of the army were arranged in a circle for the
purpose of receiving Pius VII., an<I of doing him
iiomage. The pope, although habituated to Ro-
man pomp, had never seen any tiling ho magnifi-
cent. He was conducted, surrounded Ijy thesphii-
did party, to the a|)artment destined for his use.
After some hours' rest, according to the rules of
etiquette established between sovereigns, ho paid a

visit to the emperor and empress, which visit they
immediately returned. Every time more encou-
raged, and more won over by the seducing lan-
guage of his host, which promised rather than to
intimidate to afford him great pleasure, he con-
ceived a regard which to the end of his life, after
numerous and terrible vicissitudes, he still felt for
the unfortunate liero. The great men of the em-
pire were successively presented to the pope. Ho
received them with perfect cordiality, and that
grace attaching to the old, that carries so power-
ful a charm. The countenance, mild and dignified,
the penetrating glance of Pius VII. aflected every
heart, and he was himself touched at the eflect
which his own presence produced. They had not
yet conferred upon any of the difficulties which re-
mained to be regulated. They solely indulged the
pope's feelings, and relieved his fatigues. He was
himself all emotion, all pleasure at his reception,
which seemed to him to be the triumph even of re-
ligion itself.

The moment came to depart for Paris, and to
enter finally into that formidable city, where for a
century the human mind hud been in a ferment,
and where for some years the destiny of the world
had been regulated. On the 28th of November,
after three days' rest, the emperor and the pope
entered the same carriage in order to reach Paris,
the pope being always placed on the right side.
The pope was lodged in tlie pavilion of Flora,
which had been arranged for his reception. The
whole of the 29th was allowed him fur rest. U|>on
the 30th, the senate, legislative body, tribunate, and
council of state were iiresentedto him. The presi-
dents of these four bodies addressed him in speeches
which depicted in terms the most glowing and just,
his virtues, wisdom, and great condescension to-
wards France; still in the midst of these addresses,
fugitive as were the sensations they inspired, that
of M. Fontanes must be remarked, serious and en-
during as the truths with which it was filled.

" Most Holy Father, — When the conqueror
of Marengo conceived in the midst of the field of
battle the design of re-establishing religious unity,
and of rendering back to the French their ancient
worsliip, he i)reserved from utter ruin the princi-
ples of civilization. This great conception coining
upon a day of victory, gave birtli to the concordat;
and the legislative body of which I have the honour
to be the organ before your holiness converted the
concordat into a national law.

" A memorable day, equally estimated by the
wisdom of the statesman, and dear to the Christian
faith ! It was then that France, abjuring her too
serious errors, gave the most useful lessons to the
human race. She seemed to acknowledge before
mankind, that all irreligious thoughts are im-
jiolitic, and that every attack upon Christianity is
an attack upon society.

" The return of the ancient worship soon prepared
tlie way for that of a government more natural to
great states, and more conformable to tlie old habits
of France. The entire social system shaken by the
inconstant opinions of man, supports itself anew
upon a doctrine immutable asGo(l himself. It was
religion that formerly iiolished savage societies; but
it is more difficult at this day to repair social ruins
than to lay tiieir foundation.

" We owe this advantage to a double prodigy.

Satisfaction of the pope
at his reception in
Paris.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Ecclesiastical marriage
of Napoleon and Jo-
sephine.

Dec.

France has seen the birth of one of those extraor-
dinary men, sent at h)ng distunt intervals to the
succour of empires that are ready to perish; while
Rome at the same time has seen shining from the
throne of St. Peter, all tlie apostolical virtues of the
first ages Their niilJ authority makes itself felt
in every .leart. Universal homage cainiot fail to
attach to a pontiff as wise as he is pious, who at
the same time discriminates all that is necessary to
be left to the course of human affairs, and all that
is required for the interests of religion.

" This august religion has ome to consecrate
through him the new destinies of the French em-
pire, and take the same apparel as in the age of
the Clovis and the Pepins.

" Every thing has changed around her; she alone
has known no change.

" She sees the termination of the families of kings
as well as of subjects; but on the ruins of crum-
bling thrones, and on the ste]>s of those newly ele-
vated, she continually (}bserves the successive
manifestation of the designs of the Eternal, and
obeys them witli confidence.

"Never has the world had a more imposing spec-
tacle presented to it; never have the people re-
ceived more important instructions.

"The time no longer e.\isis wh^n the empire and
the priesthood are rivals. Both now give each
other assistance in repelling the false doctiiiies
which have menaced Europe with total subversion.
May they for ever yield before the double inHiience
of religion and policy in union. This wish will not
be baffled; never in France was there so much of
political genius, and never did the pontifical throne
offer to the Christian world a model more affecting
and respectable."

The pope showed considerable emotion at this
noble address; the finest which had been delivered
at all from the time of Louis XIV. The people of
Paris ran under his windows, demanding that he
should show himself. Already the fame of his
mildness and his noble countenance had spread over
the capital. Pius VII. appeared several times at
the balcony of the Tuileries, always accompanied
by Napoleon, and was saluted with loud acclama-
tions; he saw the people of Paris, that people who
had attended the 10th of August, and adored the
goddess of Reason, on their knees awaiting the
pontifical benediction. What a singular inconstancy
in men and nations, proving that man must attacli
himself after all to the great truths on which hu-
man society reposes, and fix there finally; because
there is neither dignity nor repose in the caprices
of a day that are embraced and quitted with disho-
nourable ])recipitation.

Tiie sombre apprehensions which had so em-
bittered the resolution of the pope were entirely
dissipated. Pius VII. saw near him a prince full
of regard and care, joining grace to genius, in the
midst of a great nation, restored to the old tradi-
tions of Christianity by tlie exaniple of a glorious
chief. He was delighted to have come, and added
by his presence to the force of the impulse. He had
yet some trouble to encounter, either touching the
ceremonial, or on the subject of the constitutional
bishops, that after their reconciliation with the
church, had set themselves to dogmatise upon the
meaning of that reconciliation. There were four of
these, Lecoz, archbishop of Brianyon, Lacombe,

bishop of Angouleme, Saurine, bishop of Strasburg,
and Remond, bishop of Dijon. M. Portalis had
sent for them, and by order of the emperor, had
enjoined it upon them, if they had any desire to be
ju'esented to the pope, to write a letter of reconci-
liation, minuted in accord with bishop Bernier, and
the cardinals coniposing the pontifical traiu. At the
latest moment, they wished to change a word in the
letter, which the pope perceived, remarked upon,
and then left to t!ie emperor the task of terminat-
ing these sad disputes. In other respects he
showed a countenance equally mild and paternal to
all ihe members of the French clergy.

The questions relating to the ceremonial still re-
mained open. The poi)e had admitted the princi-
pal modifications, founded upon the state of man-
ners; but the question of the coronation singularly
affected him. He kept to the preservation of the
right of his predecessors to place the crown on the
emperor's brow. Napoleon ordered that it should
not be insisted upon, and said that he would take
upon him to arrange every thing on this point at
the place itself.

The eve of the grand solemnity now approached,
the 1st of December. Josephine, who had pleased
the holy father by a species of devotion like that
of the Italian females, had got access to the
pope for the jnirpose of making an avowal, from
which she liojied to derive a great advantage. She
had declared to him that she was only civilly mar-
ried to Napoleon, because at the epoch of this
marriage the religious ceremonies had been inter-
dieted. This was even on the throne strange evi-
dence of the manners of the lime. Napoleon had
put an end to a similar state with his sister the prin-
cess Murat, by praying cardinal Caprara to give
them the nuptial benediction; but he had never
required that the state in which he himself was
should be terminated in a like manner. The pope,
scandalized at a situation which in the sight of the
church was a concubinage, demanded instantly a
conference with Napoleon, and declared that he
should be wholly unable to consecrate him, because
the state of conscience of en)perors had never been
sought by the church when it was a question to
crown them : but he should be unable in crown-
ing Josephine to give the divine sanction to a state
of concubinage. Napoleon, irritated against Jose-
phine for this interested indi>cretion, fearing to
outrage the pope, who he knew was not to be moved
in any matter that concerned the faith, and besides,
not willing to alter a ceremony of which the pro-
gramme was already jiublished, consented to I'e-
ceive the nuptial benediction. Josephine, severely
reprimanded by her husband, but charmed at at-
taining her object, received on the night that pre-
ceded the coronation the sacrament of marriage,
in the chapel of the Tuileries. The cardinal Fesch
married the emperor and empress, and there were
present for witnesses M. de Talleyrand and mar-
shal Berthier, who kept it a profound secret. The
secret was kept until the time of the divorce. On
the morning of the coronation there were discover-
able in the red eyes of Josephine traces of tlie
tears which had been caused by her secret agita-
tion upon this occasion.

On Sunday the 2ud of December, a day of win-
ter, cold, but calm and serene, the population of
PariSjSeen fortyyeai's afterwards to flock iuasimilax

The procession of Napoleon to
Notre Dame.

THE CORONATION.

The coronation.

COS

state of the atmosphere, to attend the mortal re-
mains of Napoleon, thronged to attend the progre.^s
of the imperial procession. The pope set out first
at tmi o'clock in the morning, some time in advance
of the emperor, in order tiiat tlie two processions
mitjht not interfere in the way of one another.
He was accompanied hy a numerous body of the
clerg;-, clothed in the most sumptuous garments,
and escorted by detachments of the imperial guard.
A ponico, richly decorated, had been constructed
all around the place Notre Dame, to receive on
descending from the carriages, the sovereigns and
princes that might attend at that ancient cathedral.
The archbishop's palace was adorned with a luxury
worthy of the guests whonj it was to contain, and
was disposed so that the jiope and the emperor
might remain there for a few niomenls' repose.
After a short rest the pope entered the church,
where some hours before the deputies from the
towns had taken their ])laces, with the representa-
tives of the magistracy and of the army, the sixty
bishops with their clergy, the senate, legislative
body, tribunate, council of state, princes of Nassau,
Hesse, and Baden, the arch-chancellor of the Ger-
manic empire, in fine the ministers of all the
jiowers. The great door of Notre Dame had
been closed, bectiu.so they had placed against it
the back of the imperial throne. The chnr'-h was
therefore entered by the side doors situated at the
two extremities of the transversal nave. When the
pope, preceded hy the cross and insignia of the
siiccessior of St, Peter, appeared in this old church
of St. Louis, all the auditory arose, and five hundred
musicians astonished them with the solemn effect
of the holy chant, " Tu es I'etrus 1" The effect
was sudden and striking. The i)ope, walking at a
slow pace, went first to kneel before the altar, and
jifterwards took his place on a throne prepared for
him upon the right side. The sixty pi-elates of
the French church came one after the other to
salute him. He showed towards each of them,
constitutional or not, the same benevolence of
aspect. After this they waited for the arrival of
the intperial family.

The church of Notre Dame was decorated with
unequalled magnificence. The hangings of velvet,
sprinkled with golden bees, descended from the
roof to the floor. At the foot of the altar there
were very sini)ile chairs, \.]iicli the emperor and
empress occupied before their coronation. At the
bottom of the church, in the exirenie point oppo-
site to the altar, arose an innnense thi<ine, elevated
upon twenty-four steps, |)laced between eolumns
that supported a pediment, while a sjiecies of monu-
ment in a monument was destined for the emperor
and empress when crowned. This was according
both to tll(^ French and Iloman ritual. The mo-
narch could not go to sit upon his throne until after
having been crowned by the pontiff.

They awaited the emperor, and awaited him a
good while. It was the only vexatious circum-
stance in the solemnity. The posiiion of the popes
during this long interval was a painful one. 'J'he
manager of the fete had apprehended that the two
processions might be exposed to encountiu- each
other, and was the cause of the delay. The em-
peror hud left the Tuileries in a carriage entirely
surrounded with glasses, surmounted by genii of
gold holding a crown; a carriage popular iu France,

always recognised hy the people of Paris, when it
has been since visible in other ceremonials. He
was dressed in a coat designed by the greatest
jiainter of the time, and pretty much like the cos-
tume of the sixteenth century; he wore a cap and
feather, with a short cloak. He was to take the
imperial costimie from the archbishop him.self at
the moment of entering the church. Escorted by
the marshals on horseback, preceded by the grand
dignitaries in carriages, he passed slowly along the
rue St. Honore, the quay of the Seine, and the
l>lace Notre Dame, in the midst of the acclamations
of an inmienso population, enchanted to see the
general favourite become emi)f.ror, not as if he had
operated the whole himself, with his fluctuating
l)assions,and his warlike heroism, but that it was the
enchantmeut of a magic ring that had done it for
him.

Napoleon arrived at the portico already de-
scribed, descended, and went into the archbishop's
palace, where he took the crown, sceptre, and im-
perial mantle, and then ])ioceeded towards the
church. At his side was borne the great crown,
in the form of a tiara, modelled upon that of
Charlem.agne. During the first few moments his
brow was girt with the crown of the Cesars; in
other worils, with a simple wreath of golden
laurel. They admired the head, as fine under the
golden laurel as an anti(]ue medal. Having entered
into the church at the notes of the resounding music,
he knelt clovn, and went aiterwar.ls to the chair
which he was to occui)y before placing hiiusulf in
|)ossession of the throne. Then the ceremony
commenced. The crown, scepti-e, sword, and
mantle were deposited ujion the iiltar. The pope
made upon the emperor's brow, on his arms and
head, the ctistomary anointings; then blessing the
sword with which he gix'ded him, and the sceptre
which he placed in his hand, he approached to take
the crown. Napoleon, observing his movement as he
announced he would do, and thus determinate the
difficulty at the place itself, took the crown
Irom the hands of the pontiff without roughiu'ss,
but in a decided manner, and placed it upon his
own head. The act, understood by all the assist-
ants, produced an indescribable effect. Napoleon
then taking the crown of the empress, and ap-
proaching Josephine, who knelt before him, placed
it with visible tenderness upon the head of this
comp.-mion of his fortunes, who was at the same
moment bathed in tears. 'J'liis done, he moved
towards the grand throne. He mounted it, followed
by his brothers, who supported the skirts of the
imperial mantle. Then the po])e proceeded ac-
cording to usage to the foot of the throne to bless
the new sovereign, and chtint the words which had
resoimded in the ears of Charlemagne in the church
of St. Peter, when the Roman clergy suddenly
proclaimed him emperor of the west : " Vivat
letcrimin semper Augustus !" At this chant the
cries of "Long live the emperor," a thousand
times repeated, were heard resounding along the
arches of Notre Dame; -.jannon added their thunder
peals, and annonneeil to all Paris the solemn mo-
ment when Napoleon was definitively consecrated,
according to all the forms agreed upon among
men.

Tlic ardi-chnncellorCambacdics nextboro to him
thu text of the <iath; a bishop presented the evan-

The coronation.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. General reflections.

gelist ; and, liis hand plaeod upon the Christian
volume, lie took the oath, which embodiefi the gi-eat |
principles of the French revolution. Then was I
sung a grand pontifical mass. The day was far
advanced wiien the two processions regained the
Tuileries, traversing the streets amid an immense
concourse of peo]>le. I

Such was tiie august ceremony by which the re- j
turn of France to monarchial principles was con- i
summated. It was not one of the least triumphs of
the revolution to see the soldier coming forth from
his own sphere, crowned by the pope, who had ex-
pressly quitted for that purpose the capital of the
Christian world. It is, above all, to such a claim
that similar pomps are worthy of drawing the at-
tention of the historian. If moderation of desire
had seated itself on the same throne with genius —
had dealt out to France a sufficient degree of

lilu-rty, and had limited duly the course of lieroic
enterprise — this ceremony had consecrated for
ever, or, in other words, for some centuries, the
new dynasty. But we must pass by other ways to a
political state of more freedom, and to a gi'eatness
unhappily too restrained.

There were fifteen years gone since tlie revolu-
tion commenced. Monarchy reigning during three
years, republicanism dui'ing twelve, France had now
become a niilitarv monarchy, founded at the same
time upon civil equality, upon the concurrence of
the nation in the law, and upon the free admission of
every citizen to thuse social greatnesses re-esta-
blished. This, for fifteen years, had been the pro-
gress of French society successively overthrown,
and sucessively re-edified with the ordinary promp-
titude attaching to popular passions.

BOOK XXL

THE THIRD COALITION.

STAT OP THE POPE IN PARIS. — CARE OF NAPOLEON TO RETAIN HIM THERE. — THE FLEETS UNABLE TO ACT IJT
DECEMBER; NAPOLEON EMPLOYS THE WINTER IN ORGANIZING ITALY.— TRANSFORM ATION OF THE ITALIAN
REPUBLIC INTO A VASSAL KINGDOM OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE.— OFFER OF THE KINGDOM TO JOSEPH BONA-
PARTE, AND HIS REFUSAL OF IT. — NAPOLEON DETERMINES TO PLACE THE IRON CROWN UPON HIS OWN HEAD,
DECLARING THAT THE TWO CROWNS OP FRANCE AND ITALY SHALL BE SEPARATED AT THE PEACE. — SOLEMN
SITTING OF THE SENATE. — SECOND CORONATION AT MILAN FIXED FOR THE MONTH OF MAY, 1803.— NAPOLEOIT
FINDS IN HIS PRESENCE BEYOND THE ALPS A MEANS FOR THE BETTER fONCEALMENT OF HIS NEW MARITIME
PROJECTS.— HIS MARITIME RESOURCES INCHEASED BY A SUDDEN DECLARATION OF WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND
AND SPAIN. — NAVAL FORCE OF HOLLAND, FRANCE, AND SPAIN.— DESIGN FOR A GRAND EXPEDITION TO INDIA.
— HESITATES FOR A MOMENT BETWEEN THAT PROJECT AND THE OTHER OF A DIRECT EXPEDITION AGAINST
ENGLAND.— DEFINITIVE PREFERENCE GIVEN TO THE LAST. — EVERY THING PREPARED TO CARRY THE DESCENT
INTO EXECUTION IN THR MONTHS OF JULY AND AUGUST. — THE FLEETS Of TOULON, CADIZ, FERROL, ROCHEFOHT,
AND BREST, WERE TO UNITE AT MARTINIQUE, TO RETURN IN JULY INTO THE CHANNEL TO THE NUMBER OF
SIXTY VESSELS. — THE POPE FINALLY PREPARES TO RETURN TO ROME. — HIS OVERTURES TO NAPOLEON BEFORE
HIS DEPARTURE. — ANSWERS TO THE DIFFERENT OUESTIONS TREATED OF BY THE POPE.— DISPLEASURE OP HIS
HOLINKSS TEMPERED AT THE SAME TIME BY THE SUCCESS OF HIS JOURNEY TO FRANCE. — DEPARTURE OF THE
POPE FOR ROME, AND OF NAPOLEON FOR MILAN. — DISPOSITIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COURTS. — THEIR TENDENCY
TO A NEW COALITION.— STATE OF THE RUSSIAN CABINET. — THE YOUNG FRIENDS OF ALEXANDER FORM A
GRAND PLAN FOR AN EUROPEAN MEDIATION.— IDEAS OF WHICH THIS PLAN WAS COMPOSED, THE TRUE ORIGIN
OF THE TREATIES OF 181.5.— M. NOWOSILTZOFF CHARGED WITH OBTAINING THE CONSENT OF THE COURT OP
LONDON. — RECEPTION HE MET FROM PITT. — THE PLAN OF A MEDIATION IS CONVERTED BY THE ENGLISH
'IINISTER INTO THE PLAN OF A COALITION AGAINST FRANCE. — RETURN OF M. NOWOSILTZOFF TO PETERSBCRGH.
— THE RUSSIAN CABINET SIGNS WITH LORD COWER THE TREATY THAT CONSTITUTES THE THIRD COALITION. —
THE RATIFICATION OP THAT TREATY IS SUBMITTED TO ONE CONDITION, THE EVACUATION OF MALT.*. BY
ENGLAND. — IN ORDER TO PRESERVE TO THIS COALITION THE PREVIOUS FORM OF A MEDIATION, M. NOWOSILT-
ZOFF MUST GO TO PARIS TO TKEAT WITH NAPOLEON. — USELESS EFFORTS OF RUSSIA TO BRING PRUSSIA INTO
THE NEW COALITION. — HER EFFORTS MORE FORTUNATE WITH AUSTRIA. — ENTERS INTO EVENTUAL ENGAGE-
MENTS.— RUSSIA MAKES PRUSSIA SERVE AS AN INTERMEDIATE AGENT, IN ORDER TO OBTAIN FROM NAPOLEON
PASSPORTS FOR M. NOWOSILTZOFF. — THESE PASSPORTS WERE GRANTED.— NAPOLEON IN ITALY. — ENTHUSIASM OP
THE ITALIANS TOWARDS HIS PERSON. — CORONATION AT MILAN. — EUGENE BEAUHARNOIS DECLARED VICEROY.
— MILITARY FETES AND VISITS TO ALL THE CITIES. — NAPOLEON INEVITABLY DRAWN INTO CERTAIN DESIGNS
BY THE SIGHT OF ITALY. — HE PROJECTS THE EXPULSION OF THE BOURBONS SOME DAY PROM NAPLES, AND
IMMEDIATELY DECIDES UPON THE UNION OF GENOA WITH FRANCE. — MOTIVES FOR THIS UNION. — CONSTITUTION
OF THE DUCHY OF LUCCA INTO AN IMPERIAL FIEF, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZA. — AFTER A
SOJOURN OP THREE MONTHS IN ITALY, NAPOLEON IS DISrOSED TO GO TO BOULOGNE IN ORDER TO EXECUTE
HIS DESCENT. — GANTEAUME AT BREST— UNABLE TO FIND A SINGLE DAY TO SET SAIL. — VILLENEUVE AND
GRAVINA, HAVING LEFT TOULON AND CADIZ IN SECURITY, ARE ORDERED TO PROCEED AND RAISE THE
BLOCKADE OF GANTEAUME, IN ORDER THAT THE WHOLE TOGETHER MAY ENTER THE CHANNEL. — SOJOURN OF
NAPOLEON AT GENOA.— HIS SUDDEN DEPARTURE FOR FOSTAINEBLEAU.— WHILE NAPOLEON PREPARES HIS
DESCENT UPON ENGLAND, ALL THE POWERS OF THE CONTINENT GET READY FOR A FORMIDABLE WAR AGAINST
FRANCE.— RUSSIA EMBARRASSED BY THE REFUSAL OF ENGLAND TO ABANDON MALTA, FINDS IN THE ANNEXA-
TION OF GENOA A PRETEXT TO GET OUT, AND AUSTRIA A REASON FOR IMMEDIATE DECISION. — TREATY FOR ▲

Presentation of imperial
eagles to the troops.

THE THIRD COALITION.

Anecdote of Pius VII.

605

SUBSIDV.— HER IMMEDIATE ARMAMENTS, OBSTINATELY DENIED TO NAPOLEON.— HE PERCEIVES THEM AND
DEMAKDS EXPLANATIONS, BY COMMENCING SOME PREPARATIONS OS THE SIDE OP ITALY AND THE RHINE. —
PERSUADED MORE THAN EVER THAT HE MUST GO AND CUT IN LONDON THE KNOT OF ALL THE COALITIONS,
HE SETS OUT FOR BOULOGNE. — HIS RESOLUTION TO EMBARK, AND HIS IMPATIENCE WHILE AWAITING THE
FRENCH FLEET. — .MOVE.MENTS OF THE SQUADRONS. — LONG AND FORTUNATE NAVIGATION OP VILLENEUVE AND
GRAVINA AS FAR AS MARTINiaUE. — FIRST MARKS OF DISCOURAGKMENT WITH ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE.— SUDDEN
RETURN TO EUROPE, AND VOYAGE TO FERROL TO RE-OPEN THAT PORT.— NAVAL BATTLE OFF FERROL AGAINST
ADMIRAL CALDER. — THE FRENCH ADMIRAL MIGHT H.WE CLAIMED THE VICTORY IF HE HAD KOT LOST TWO
SPANISH VESSELS. — HE FULFILS HIS OBJECT IN RAISING THE BLOCKADE OF TOULON, AND IN RALLYING TWO
NEW FRENCH AND SPANISH DIVISIONS — IN PLACE OF ACQUIRING CONFIDENCE AND CO.M1NG TO SET GANTEAUME
FRKE AT BREST IN ORDER TO PROCEED WITH FIFTY SAIL INTO THE CHANNEL, VILLENEUVE DISCONCERTED
DECIDES TO SET SAIL FOR CADIZ, LEAVING NAPOLEON TO SUPPOSE THAT HE HAD PROCEEDED TOWARDS BREST.
— LONG WAITING OP NAPOLEON AT BOULOGNE — HIS HOPES UPON I HE RECEPTION OF HIS FIRST DESPATCHES
FRO.M FERROL.— HIS IRRITATION WHEN HE LEARNED THAT VILLENEUVE HAD PROCEEDED TOWARDS CADIZ. —
VIOLENT AGITATION AND BEARING AGAINST ADMIRAL DECRES. — POSITIVE INTELLIGENCE OF THE DESIGNS OP
AUSTRIA. — SUDDEN CHANGE OF RESOLUTION.— PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1805.— WHAT THE CHANCES OP THE
DESCENT WERE, LOST BY THE FAULT OP VILLENEUVE. — NAPOLEON TURNS HIS FORCES DEFINITIVELY AGAINST
THE CONTINENT.

Three days after the ceremony of the coronation,
Napoleon distributed to the army and the national
guards the eagles, which were designed to sur-
mount the colours of the empire. This ceremony,
as grandly arranged as the preceding, had for its
scene of e.xhibition the Champ de Mais. The re-
presentatives of every corps came to receive the
eagles, which were designed for each, at the foot of
a magnificent throne, elevated in front of the palace
of the military school; and before receiving them,
they took the oath, tliat they well kept afterwards,
to defend them to the death. On the same day,
there was a bancjuet at the Tuileries, at which the
emperor and the pope were seen seated at the same
table, one at the side of the other, clothed in im-
perial and pontifical ornaments, and served by the
great otticers of the crown.

The multitude, ever greedy after public spec-
tacles, was delighted with these pomps. Many,
without suffering their good sense to govern them,
admitted these scenes as the natural effects of the
re-estabiishmeiit of the monarchy. Wiser persons
expressed wishes that the new monarch might not
suffer himself to become into.Kicated with the fumes
of liis own omnipotence. la other respects, no
sinister prognostic yet troubled the public satisfac-
tion. They believed in the endurance of the new
order of things. With great magnificence, too
much perhaps, there was still seen the faithful
con.secratioii of the social principles proclaimed at
the French revolution — a prosperity always on the
iiicrea.se, notwithstanding the war, and a continua-
tion of that greatness, which had about it something
flattering to the national pride.

Tlie holy father had not wished to make a long
stiy in I'aris ; but he hoped that by sojourning
there for a time, he might find a favourable occa-
sion to e.xpress to Napoleon the secret wishes of
the Rimaii court, and he was reconciled to prolong
his stay for two or three months. The season be-
sides did not permit him to repass the Alps imme-
diately. Napoleon, who wished to detain him at
his side in order to show France to him, to make
him justly appreiiate its feeling, and to bring him
to a right compreheusioii of the conditions upon
which the re-eatablishment of religion had been
possible; to gain his confidence finally by frank and
daily communications — Napoleon exhibited, in or.
<ler to retain him, th'J most perfect kiiiiliiess, and
finished by completely winning over the holy pontiff.
Piua VII. was lodged in the Tuileries, and left free

to devote himself to his moderate and religious
tastes, but was surrounded, when he went out, with
all the attributes of supremo power, escorted by
the imperial guard, and, in a word, overwhehned
with the highest honours. His interesting figure,
his virtues almost visible in his person, had much
struck the Parisian population, that followed him
every where with a mixture of curiosity, sympathy,
and respect. He had visited by turns all the
parishes of Paris, where he officiated in the midst
of an exti-aordinary number of people. His pre-
sence augmented the religious iiiipul.se that Napo-
leon had endeavoured to impress upon tiseir minds.
Hence the holy pontiff was happy. He visited the
public monuments and the museums enriched by
Napoleon, seeming to feel interested ia the gran-
deurs of the new reign. In one visit to a public
establishment, he conducted himself with a degree
of tact and a conformity which secured to liini
general applause. Surrounded by a crowd that
knelt beiore him, and demanded his benediction,
he perceived a man whose Severe and morose coun-
tenance still bore the stamp of the extinguished
jiassions of the past times, and turned away to
withdraw himself from the pontifical benediction.
The holy father, ap|)roaching him, said, with great
mildness: "Do not go aw.iv, sir; the benediction
of an old man cannot do you any injury." This
affecting and just ex|>ression was repeated and ap-
plauded throughout Paris.

The fetes and hospitable cares lavished upon his
venerable guest, did not divert Napoleon from his
more important affairs. Tiie Heets designed to aid
in the descent up ui England continued to atti-act
his attention. That of liivst was at last ready to
set sail ; but that of Toulon, retarded ia getting
ready, because he would have it increaseil to
eleven instead of eight sail, had reijuired the
labour of the entire month of December. Since it
had been comjileted, a contrary wind had hindered it
from getting out during tho whole month of Janu-
ary. Admiral Missiissy with five vessels ready at
Rtchefort only awaited a storm to steal out clear of
the enemy. Napoleon devoted the time thus passed
to the internal adminlstr.itioii of his new em|)ire.

Although iletennined upon war to the utmost
against I'^ngland, he believeil he ought to com-
mence his reign by a proceeding, lis -less at the
nioiiient, and which, besiiles its iimiility, had the
inconvenience of being tho repetition of anotlu r
step perfectly fitting the occasion, which he ha J

„-„ Nanoleon writes to the
wOO king of England.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Napoleon becomes king 1805.
of Italy. Jan.

on his coming to the consulate. He wrote a letter
to the king of England to propose a peace, and he
forwarded this letter by a brig to an English
cruiser before Boulogne '. It was immediately
communicated to the British cabinet, which stated
that a reply should be sent at a later period.

> This letter of Napoleon was as follows :

"Sir akd Bbotiier— Called to the throne of France hy
the suffraf-'es of the peuule anil the army, my first sentiment
is a wish for peace. France and England abn.ve their pros-
perity: tliey may iciiitcnd for ages; but do their govern-
ments well fulfil the most sacred of their duties? and will
not so much blocid >heil uselessly and without a view to any
end, accuse them in their own consciences? I consider it as
W) disgrace to make the first step. 1 have I liope sufficiently
proved to the «orl(l that I fear none of the chances of war;
war beside.s presents nothing that I need lo fear. Peace is
the wish of my heart, but war has neier been contrary to
my glory. I cmijnre your majesty not to deny yourself the
happiness of givins peace to the world, nor to leave that
.svi-eet saiisfaciion to your rh Idren ; for in fine there never
was a more fortunate opportunity, nor a moment more
favourable to silence all the ] assioiis, and lis en only to
the sentiments of liu anity and leas n. 'Ihis moment lost,
what end c^in be assigned to a war which all my eftlirts will
not be able to terminate? Your majesty has gained more
within ten years both in territory anci riches than the whole
extent of Europe. Your nation is at the hisihest point of
prosperity ; what can it hope from war? to form a coalition
of some powers on the continent? the loniinent will re-
main tranquil, a coalition can only increase the preponder-
ance and contineiital greatness of France. To renew inter-
nal trouhles? The times are no longer the same. To
destroy our finances ? Finances founded on a fiourishing
state of agriculture can never be destroyed. To take from
France her colnnies ! The colonies are to France only a
secondary obj -ct : and dues not your majesty already pos-
sess more than you know how to preseive? If your ma-
jesty would but reflect, you niusi perceive that the war is
without an object ; without any prestinjable result to your-
self. Alas! what a melancholy prospect to '-ause two na-
tions to fight for the sake of fighting! The world is suffi-
ciently large for our two nations to live m it; and reason is
sufficiently powerful to discover means of reconcilmg every
thing, when the wish for reconciliation e.\ists on both sides.
I have, ho"ever, "ulfilled a sacred duty, aiid one which is
precious to my heart.

" I trast that your majesty will believe in the sincerity of
my sentiments, and my wish to give you every proof of
it, &c. " Napoleon."

The reply to the above was as follows : —

" His majesty has received the letter which has been
addressed to him hy the head of the French government,
dated the 2nd of the present month. There is no object
which his majesty has more at heart thin lo avail himself
of the first oiiporiuiiity to procure again to his subjects the
advantages of a peace, founded on a basis which may not be
incompatilile wiili the permanent security and essential
interests of his states. His majesty is persuaded that this
end can only be attained by arrangements which may, at
the same time, provide lor the future safety and tranquillity
of Europe, and prevent the recurrence ofthedangeis and
calamities in which it is involved. Conl'ormahly to this
statement, bis majesty feels that it is impossilile for him to
answer more panicularly to the overture that has been
made him, until he shall have had time to communicate
with the powers of the continent, with whom he is engaged
in conlirientiil connexions and relations, and particularly
with UiK emperor of liussia. who has given tlie strongest
proofs of the wisdnni and elevation of the sentiments wiih
which he is animated, and the lively interest which he
takes in the safety and independence of Europe.

(Signed) " Molcrave."

Peace was possible in 1800, even necessary for
both powers. The step taken at that time was
therefore very well timed, and the refusal of the
propositions for peace, followed by the victories
of Marengo and Htjlieiilinden, covered Pitt with
conlusion, and was even one of the causes of the
fall of that niinisler. But in 1805, the two na-
tions were at the commencement of a new war,
their pretensions were accumulated to such a
point, that they could not be adjusted, excejit
by force, a proposition for peace seemed visibly to
put on the affectation of moderation, or as if
to afford an occasion to speak to the king of Eng-
land as nionarcli to monarch.

That which was much mure pressing than these
empty demunslrations was the definitive organiza-
tiiiii of the Italian republic. In 1802, in the coii-
sulta (if Lyons, it was constituted in imitation of
that of France, by adoiiting a government, repub-
lican in form, but absulute in fact. It was now
natural that it should take the last step by follow-
ing France, and that from a republic it should
become a monarchy.

In tlie preceding book there liave been recounted
the overtures that Cambaceies and the minister
of the Italiiin republic at Paris, M. Marescalchi,
had been charged to make to the vice-president
Meh'-i, and lo the members of the state consultti.
Tiiese overtures had been received favourably
enough, a!ilu)ugli the vice-i)resident Melzi, in an
ill mood from the state of his health and a task
above his strength, had mingled reflections suffi-
ciently bitter ill his reply. The Italians accepted,
without regret, the ofler of tlie transformation of
the republic into a ninniirchy, because they hoped
to obtain u|)on this occasion, in part at least, the
accom|ilislinient of their wishes. They wished
nmch htr a kitig, and for a brother of Napoleon,
ujion condititiii that such a brother should be
either Jose|ih or Louis Bonaparte, and not Lucien,
whom they ibrm:illy excluded ; that such a king
should belong to them entirely ; that he should
always reside iit Milan ; that the two crowns of
France and Italy shotild be inmiediately separated;
that all the fiiiictionaiies should be Italians; that
they should no more pay the subsidy for the main-
tenance of a French army ; and that, finally, Na-
poleo-n should take uiion himself to make Austria
approve of the new change.

Upon these conditions, said Melzi, the vice-
president, the Italians would be satisfied, because
they had not yet felt any advantage from their
disirancliisenienl, except in an augmentation of
taxes.

The idea that their money was carried beyond
the niouiiiains, coninio;ily filled the minds of the
Itiiliaiis, who had been for so long a time subject
to powers placed on the other side of the Alps:
However, they have a better and nobler motive to
desire their freedom, which is to live under a
national government. These base reasons made
Napoleon indignant, because though he estimated
men lightly, he never laboured to degrade them.
He had no thought of debasing them when he
asked from them only great measures. He was,
therefore, indignant at the reasons the vice-presi-
dent ])ieKented. "What," he exclaimed, "the
Italians will then not be ."sensible that their inde-
pendence cost money ! They must be supposed

Joseph Bonnparte refuses THE THIRD COALITION.

the Italian crown.

607

very base or very dull : as for myself, I am fjir
from believiiiij them siuli. Were tliey aljje to free
themselves ? are they able to defend tlicni>selves
without the French Si.hliers ? If they are not
able to do so, is it iu<t just that they siu)ui<l con-
tribute to the su|i|iort of the soldiers who siiill
their blood for thein ? Who united in a single
state, to make tlieni a nation, five or si.\ different
provinces, furnierly t;oveiiKd by five or six dif-
ferent princes ? Who then, if not the Fiench
army, and I wiio e<iniinanded it? If I had wished
itnjiper Italy would lie to-day cut up, distributed in
shares, a part {^ivi-n to the pope, another to the
Austrians, a third to the Spaniards. I might at
the peace have disarmed the other ])o\vers, and
secured for France th' peace of the continent. D)
not the Italians see that the constitution of their
nationality be^nn by a state which already coni[ire-
hends a third of all Itiily? Is not this govern-
ment composed of Italians, and founded ujion the
principles of justice, equidity, and a wise liberty,
in fact, upon the principles of the French reV()lu-
tion ? What can tiny desire better? Am I able
to accomplish all tliin>;s in a day ?"

Napoleon, under these circumstances, had jdainly
reason on his side against Italy. Withoitt him
Lombardy would, with iis works, have satisfied
the pope, tlie emperor of Germany, Spain, the
house of Sardinia, and served as <in etjuivaient for
the union of Piedmont with France. True it is
that il was in the interest of French policy, that
Napoleon laboured to constitute an Italian nation-
.ility. But was not that a great benefit to the Italians,
that the policy of France should thus comprehend
them ? Owed they not to this policy the concur-
rence of all their ettorts ? And, in fact, 22,000,000 f.
per annum, to support thirty and some thousand
men, was a tritiing amount, because they had
before been in the hahit of supporting sixty thou-
sand at least; was this then a very heavy burdeii,
for a country which included some of the richest
[)rovince8 in Europe ?

Further, Nap<deon gave himself little uneasiness
about tiie ill-huni<iured lemonsirances of the vice-
president Melzi. He knew that he ninst not take
them all in a very seiious way. The moderate
Italian party, with which he ruled, abandoned by
the nobles and the priests, who in general were
inclined to the Austrian side, iind by the liberals who
were filled with exaggerated ideas ; the moderate
party in its isolation, ex|)erie!ieed a degree of sad-
ness at the jirospect of aH'airs, and ])ainted them
accordingly in sombre colours. Napohcn took
little account of ihi-, and always occupied with
the idea of supporting Italy anainst the power of
Austria, sought out the means to accommodate its
institutions to the new institutions of France.

The coronation had been the cause of uniting at
Paris the vice-presid' iit Me|/.i, an<i some delegates
from the diflerent Italian authorities. Camha-
I ce'ies, Marescalchi, and Talleyrand, entered into
I conferences with tlicm, and got into agreen^ent
, upon all points, save oik? only, that of thesulisidy
I |iaid to Fnnicf, because the Italians demanded the
I Fr<;nch occiiiiation for iheir security, but were uii-
' willing to support the expense.

The arch-chancellor, Cauibac(?rc«, was subse-
qui ntly charged to treat with Joseph liona-
pnrte, on the question of his elevation to the throne

of Italy. To tlieastonishmentof Najxileon, Joseph
refused (he throne from two motives, one was natu-
ral, the other singularly |irt'Sumptuous. Josejih
declared, that by virtue of tlie principle of the sepa-
ration of the two crowns, the condition of the throne
of Italy would be the renunciation of that of
France, while he wished to remain a French ])riiice
with all the rights to the succession of that empire.
Napoleon not having chiMren, he preferred the dis-_
tant possibility of reigning some day in France, to
the certainty of reigning immediately in Italy.
Such a feeling had nothing in it but what was na-
tural and patriotic. The second motive of refusal
given by Joseph, was that a kingdom had been
offered him too near to France, and from that cir-
cumstance too dependent, that he could only govern
under the authority of the head of the French em-
pire, and that he did not feel inclined to i-eign at
such a ])rice. Thus, showing already the senti-
ments that directed the brothers of the em]ieror on
all the thrones which he gave them. It was a
proof of great folly anil vanity, not to wish for the
advice of such a man as Napoleon. It was a very
impolitic piece of ingratitude to endeavour to be
free from his jiower; because at the head of an
Italian sttite newly created, to endeavour to be iso-
lated, was to risk the loss of Italy as nmch as the
weakening of France.

All the entreaties employed to overcome Joseph
were in vain, although his future royalty had been
aimoimced at all the courts with which France
held relations at that time, in Austria, Prussia, and
the holy see; it was neeessary to revert to other
ideas, and conceive some new combination. Na-
poleon, aware by this last experiment, that he must
not create in Lombardy a jealous royalty, disposed
to run contrary to his great designs, resolved to
take himself the iron crown, and to qualify himself
" emjieror of the Ficnch, king of Italy." He had
but one objection to this design, which was, that it
recalled too strongly the union (jf Piedmont with
France. Ileexposi'd himself thus to wound Austria,
deeply, iind to bring her baek fr<im pacific i<leas
to the warlike desires of Pitt, who since his retui-n
to office, had endeavoured to profit by the rupture
of diplomatic relations between France and Russia,
in order to form a new coalition. In order to meet
this objection. Napoleon proposed to declare ft)r-
mally that the crown of Italy would only remain
upon this head until a peace; that at this epoch he
would proceed to the separation of the two crowns,
hy choosing among the French i>rinces one who
should succeed him. At the moment he adopted
Eugene Beauharnois, the son of Josephine, whom
he loved as if he had been his own son, and to liiin
he confided the vice-royalty of Italy.

This delei ininalion heing once taken, it gave him
little trouble to make M. Melzi agree to it, whose
complaints, sufficiently mireasonahle, began to bo
fatiguing, because he perceived in him a nmch
greater desire to. work hir a species of popularity,
than any intentions to labour in conmion at tho
futiu-e constitution of Italy. Cambac<Jrcs and TaU
leyrand were ord< n d to signify these resolutions
to the Italians then in Paris, and combine with
them the means of their execution. Tiicsu lUilians
seemed to fear that the three great permanent col-
leges <»f the " ])osHidenti," " dotti," and " conimer-
I cienti," to whom was confided tho care of electing

Napoleon determines
to take the iron
Clown.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The Italian deputies in
Paris take the oath
to Napoleon.

the authorities, and of modifying the constitution
when it tooU place, would resist every project, save
that of a Lombard monarchy, immediately sepa-
rated from that of France, and in the way of resist-
ance, that they would oppose an Italian indiffer-
ence, and neither vote for or against. Napoleon,
under these circumstances, renounced the employ-
mentof constitutional forms; he acted as tlie creator
who had made Italy what she then was, and who had
the right to do further still, jn all that he believed
useful to what he had made. Talleyi\'ind addressed
a report to him, in which he demonstrated that
these de])endent provinces, the one on the ancient
Venetian republic, the other belonging to the house
of Austria, that of the dulce of Modena, and that of
the holy see, depended as conquered provinces upon
the will of the French emperor; that what he
wished to give them was an e(iuitable government,
adapted to their interests, and founded upim the
principles of the Fi'ench revolution; but that for
the rest, he should give to that government the
form which was most agreeable to his vast designs.
The decree constituting the new kingdom followed,
a decree which was to be ado])ted by the consultaof
the state, and the Italian deputies present in Paris,
communicated afterwards to the French senate, as
one of the great constitutiimal acts of the empire,
and promulgated in an im|ierial sitting. Still it was
necessary that it should appear as if Italy went for
something in these new determinations. It was
therefore conceived projjer to )>repare for her the
sight of a coi-onaiion. It was resolved to draw
from the treasury of j\Ioiiza the famous crown of
iron of the Lombard kings, that Napoleon might
place it upon his head, after having been conse-
crated by the archbishop of Milan, conformably to
the ancient usage of the Germanic emperors, who
received at Rome the crown of the west; but at
Milan that of Italy. This exhibition could not
but raise emotion in the Italians, re-awaken their
hopes, call back the party of the nobles and priests,
who regretted above all in the Austrian domina-
tion the monarchical forms, and thus satisfy the
people, always smitten with the luxury of their
masters; because luxury, in pleasing the eyes of
all, helped their industry. As to the enlightened
liberals, they would fini.^h by comprehending that
the association of the destinies of Italy to those of
France could alone give substantial assurance for
the future.

It was agreed, that after the adoption of the new
decree, the Italian dejiuties, the minister Mares-
calchi, and the grand master of the ceremonies,
M. de Segur, should precede Napoleon to Milan,
in order to organise an Italian court, and to
prepare in that city the ptmips of the regal corona-
tion.

At this moment a thousand rumours were spread
abroad among the European diplomatists. It was
said sometimes that Napuleon liad given tlie crown
of Holland to his brother Louis, sonietimes that he
had given that of Na|>les to Jos(|)h,and again, that
he was going to unite Genoa and Switzerland to the
French territory. There were even persons who
maintained that Napoleon would make cardiiuil
Fesch pope, and that they already sjxike of the
crown of Spain as reserved to a prince of the house
of lionaparte. The iiatred of his enemies divined
his designs on some points, iliy exaggerated them

in others, they suggested to him some of wjiich he
had not yet dared to think, and certainly facilitated
them, in preparing the opinion of Europe for their
reception. The sitting of the senate for the pro-
mulgation of the constituted decree of the kingdom
of Italy, would not fail to confer credit on all these
surmises, true or false, and for the moment push
them on too far.

The Italian deputies at Paris were first called
together, and the decree submitted to them, to
which they unanimously adhered; then the impe-
rial sitting was declared for the IJtli of March,
1805, or 2Gth Ventose, year xiii. The emperor
went to the senate at two o'clock, surrounded with
all the show of constitutional sovei-eigns in England
and Fi-ance, when they hold a royal sitting. He
was received at the gate of the pa ace of the Lux-
emburg by a grand deputation, and immediately
seated himself on a throne, around which were
ranged the princes and the six grand dignitaries,
the marshals, and the great i.fficfcrs of the crown.
He ordered the communication of the acts which
were to be made the object of the sitting. Talley-
rand read his i-ej)ort, and after tlie report the im-
perial decree. A copy of the same decree m the
Italian language, clothed with the adhesion of the
Lombard deputies, was aiterwards read by the
vice-president Melzi. Then the minister Mares-
calchi presented those dejiuties to Najioleon, at
w hose hands they took an oath of fide lity to him as
king of Italy. This ceremony being finished. Na-
poleon seated and covered, delivered a strong and
concise speech, as he well knew how to do, atid of
which the intention will be easily judged.

" Senators, — We have willed under the present
circumstances to come into tiie midst of you, and
make you acquainted with our entire thoughts,
upon one of the most important subjects of our
state policy.

" We have conquered Holland, three-foui'ths of
Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. We have been
moderate in the midst of the greatest prosperity.
Of so many provinces we have not kept but ua
much as was necessary to maintain us in the same
position of power and consideration that France
has always been. The partition of Poland, the
provinces sequestrated from Turkey, the conquest
of the Indies, and of nearly all the colonics have
destroyed to our detriment the general equili-
brium.

" All that we judged useless to re-establish we
have returned.

" Germany has been evacuated ; its pi'ovinces
have been restored to the descendants of so many
illustrious houses, that were lost for ever, if we
had not accorded to them a general protection.

" Austria herself, after two unfoitunate wars, lias
obtained the state of Venice. At all times she
would have exchangetl Venice by mutual consent
for the provinces which she has lost.

"Scarcely conquered, Holland was declared
independent. Its union to our empire had been
the completion of our commercial sy.^tem, while the
largest rivers of half our empire open into Holland.
Still Holland is iiide])endeiit, and its customs, its
commerce, and aiiiiiinistration are I'cgulatcd at the
will of its government.

"Switzerland was occuiiied by our armies; we
have defended it against the combined forces of

Address of Napoleon to the
senaie on the atfairs of
Italy.

THE THIRD COALITION.

state of the different naval
divisions.

Europe. Its union would have completed our
military frontier. Meanwhile Switzerland f^overns
itself under the act of mediation, at the will of the
nineteen cantons, free and independent.

" The union of the territory of tiie I talian republic
to the French empire had been useful to the deve-
lopment of our agriculture ; still after the second
conquest we, at Lyons, confirmed its independence.
To-day we do more, we proclaim the separation of
tlie crowns of' France ami Italy, assigning for the
time of this separation tli*; instant when it shall
become possible and be free from danger for our
Italian people.

'• We have accepted, and we shall place upon
our head the crown of iron of the ancient Lom-
bards, to retemper and restrengthen it. But we
do not hesit;ite to declare that we shall transmit
this crown to one of our legitimate children, whe-
ther natural or adopted, the day when we shall be
free from alarm for the indei)endence that we
have guaranteed to the other states of the Medi-
terranean.

" The genius of evil in vain searches for pretexts
to place the continent in a state of war; that which
11 is been united to ouremiiire by the constitutional
,nvs of the state shall remain united. No new
province shall be inc<»rporated, but the laws of the
Batavian republic, the act of mediation of the
nineteen Swiss cantons, and the first statute of the
kingdom of Italy, shall be constantly under the
protection of our crown, and we will never suffer
that they be attacked."

After this lofty and peremptory speech. Napoleon
i-.ceived the oaths of several senators that he
ii.imed, and then returned, surrounded with the
^aine attendance, to the palace of the Tuileries.
.M. Melzi, M. Marescalchi, and the other Italians
had an order to proceed to Milan, to prepare the
public mind for the new solemnity which had been
d'Hermiued upon. Cardinal Caprara, the pope's
legate with Napoleon, was archbishop of Milan.
He had only accepted the dignity tiirougii obedi-
ence, being very"iiged, worn down with infirmitie.s,
and after a long life |>assed in courts, nuicli more
disposed to quit the world than to prolong there
his existing character. At the entreaty of Napo-
leon, and with the agreement of the pope, he set
out for Italy, in order to crown the new king,
following the ancient usage of the Lombard church.
.M. deSegur went off innnediately with an order to
histen his preparations. Napoleon had fixed his
own departure for the mouth of April, and his
coronation for that of May.

This excursion in Italy perfectly agreed with his
military plans, and was even a great aid to theni.
Napoleon had been obliged to wail all the winter, that
his squadrons might bo ready to sail from IJrest,
Itochefort, and Toulon. In Jaiuiary, ia05, tin re
had about twenty months elapsed since the mari-
time war lia<l been declared, becauH>' the rupture
with England was dated from May, I80:i ; and still
the Heets of tlie ships of the line had not been able
to set sail. The warm impulse of NaiK>leon had
not been wanting to the adininiHtruiion; but in
naval affairs noiliing is done <iuicl.ly, and it is of
this wliich nations that asjiire to create a naval
power are not enough aware. However, it nuist
be sail! that the fleets of IJrest anri I'oiilon had been
■ooner ready, if they hail not wished to increase

their first effective strength. That of Brest had
been carried up from eighteen sail to twenty-one,
and was capable of embarking seventeen thousand
men, and five hundred horses, together with a con-
siderable mattrid, with<iut the aid of transports
borrowed from commerce. In the design to set
sail in winter during a stormy period, it had been
seen necessary to renounce their accomiianiment
by vessels of a small tonnage, eijually incapalde of
following ships of the line and of being towed.
They had, tlierefore, taken old vessels of war,
which they had armed eti Jlute, ?ini freighted with
men and stores. By that inean.s, the squadron
would be able to go out altogether at once, and, in
any weather, run over to Irelaml, land there the
17,000 men, with stores, and then return directly
into the channel. Of the rest, there had been
ready in November, as was wished, at Rochelort,
a squadron of five sail of the line, and lour frigates,
carrying 3000 men, 4000 muskets, and J ((,000
weight of powder, all at the same time. At Toulon
alone the fleet, raised from eight to eleven vessels,
had occupied all the month of December. General
Lauriston, aide-de-camp of Napoleon, had been or-
dered to prepare a corps of O'OOO men, carefully
selected, with fifty pieces of cannon, and materials
for a siege, and to entbark all on board that lieet.
The same fleet, as already said, was, on making its
voyage, to throw a division of troops u])on St.
Helena, to capture that island, to proceed to
Surinam, and retake the Dutch colonies, and rally
afterwards with the squadron of Missiessy, which,
on its own part, was to succour the French West
India islands, and ravage those of the English.
Both these, after haviiig thus drawn the attention
of the English to America, and disengaged Gan-
teaume, had orders to return to Europe. Gan-
teaume, whose preparations were achieved, had
waited all the winter, that Missies.sy and Ville-
neuve, in sailing from Rochefort and Toulon, might
draw off the English in their pursuit. Missiessy,
who wanted impetus, but not courage, sailed from
Rochefort on the ] Itli of January during a fright-
ful storm, and, passing between the openings, got
out into the open sea, without being either seen or
rejoined by the English. He set sail towards the
West Indies with five ships of the line and four
frigates?. His vessels received some injury, which
they repaired at sea. As to Villemuve, to wnom
the minister Decr6s had communicated a facti-
tious exaltation of mind of very short endurance,
he had suddenly cooled on coming near and seeing
the Toulon 8([uadron. To make eleven eijuipments
with eight, it had been necessary to divide, and
consequently to weaken them. They had com-
pleted the crews with conscripts borrowed from
tiie land service. The inateri.ils employed in the
port of Toulon were badly eiiosen, and it was dis-
covered that the iron, cordage, .-md masting, broke
easily. Villeneuvc j>re-oceupied himself a good
<leal, and perhaps too much, wiih the danger ho
had to brave in such vessels, an<l with such erews;
the vessels of his enemies, being compute ly inured
by acruise of twenty months. His mimi was troubled
before he was at sea. Still |)ushed on by Napoleon,
by the minister Decrcs, and by general l.auriston,
he set himself in readiness to weigh anchor towards
the end <if December. A contrary wind detained
him from the end of December until the lUth of

610

Villeneuve sets sail
aiul returns to
Toulon.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

War commfnced be-
tween England and

January in the road of Toulon. On tlie I8th, the
wind havinj^ changed, he set sail, and succeeded in
taking a false course in order to deceive the enemy.
But ni;;ht iironght with it a heavy trouble; the inex-
perience of the crews, and the bad quality of the
niateri'ils, exposed many of the vessels to the most
vexatious accidents. The squadron was dispersed.
In the nioi-ning Villeneuve had but four ships of
the line, and a frigate; the rest were se|)arated ironi
him. Some had their masts or topmasts broken;
others leaked, and received injuries difficult to
repair at sea. Besides these accidents, two English
f/igates hail observed the movement, and the ad-
miral found he should be rejoined by the eminy at
a moment when he had only five vessels with which
to oppose him. He, therefore, decided upon re-
entering Toulon, although he had already run
seventy leagues, in Sjiiteof the entreati s of general
Lauri-'ton, who, reckoning four thousand some hun-
dred men in the vessels remaining together, de-
mand.-d to be conducted to his destination. Ville
neuve re entered Toulon on liie 27th, and happily
succeeded in bringing back the whole of his
sqn.idron.

The time was not lost. They went about repairing
the damage sustiiined, setting ii]) the rigj;ii)g, and
rt-nderini; every thing ready to stai-t anew. But
admiral Villeneuve was strongly affected; he wrote
to the minister the same day that he returned to
Toulon:- " 1 declare to you, with vessels equipped
like these, weak in seamen, encumbered with
troops, having old rigging, or tlnit of a bail ((ualily;
vessels which, on the least breeze, break tlieir
masts and tear their sails, and that, v\ lien the wea
ther is tine, pa^^s their time in repairing the in-
juries oceasioned by the wind or the inexperience
of the Clews; we are not in a fit state to undertake
any tliin;,'. I have had a pi-esentiment before my
departure; 1 go to make a grievous experiment*."
Nnpoleon exhibited a sensible displeasure on
learning this useless sally. What is to be done,
he said, with admirals who, on the first dam:ige re-
ceived, beeome demoralized, and think of return-
ing ? It is necessary to renounce navigation, and
to undertake nothing even in the finest season, if
an operati m is thus to be thwarted by the separa-
Irion of souii: of the vessels. They should, he con-
tinued, give a rendezvous to all the captains in the
latitude of the Canaries by means of sealed des-
|)atchi s. The damage sustained should be repaired
on the vovage. If any vessel leai in a dangenus
manner, it might be left at Cadiz, turning over the
crew to the Aigle ship of the line, which is in
that ]).irt riaily to set sail. A few broken top-
masts, a fe>v accidents in a storm, are very common
thiri.;H Two days of fine weather would have made
it up to the squadron, andsetall in order. *' But, the
giMii 1 evi, of our navy is, that the men who command
it are new to all the chances of commanding^.'

Unfoitnnately, the propitious time was over fir
the expedition to Surinam, and it was neci ssary
that Najmleon, with his ordinary fecundity of inveii
ti m, shoiilil find another combination. Toe first,
which consisted in the passage of admiral Latondie
into the chiiimel from Toulon, had failed by the
death of that excellent seaman. The second, which

' Desp itcli of the 1st Pluviose, year xrii. iir21st Janii;irj,
1805. on I) 'iird tlie Buci-iitaure in the mail ol TduIdii.
* Letier to Lauiislon, of the 1st of Febiuaiy, Ksuj.

consisted in drawing the English into the American
seas, and in sending the squadron of Villeneuve to
Surinam, and that of Missiessy to the West Indies,
and to profit by tliis diversion to throw Ganteaunie
into the channel, had equally failed by the delays
in the organization, by the contrary winds, and by
a fruitless sally. It was needful, therefore, to have
recourse to another plan. A new loss, that of ad-
miral Bruix, different from that of admii-al La-
touche, hut liis equal in merit at least, added
to the ditticulties of the naval operations. The
unfortunate Bruix, so remarkable for his charac-
ter, experience, and bent of mind, had expired the
victim of his zeal and devotion to the organization
of the flotilla. If he had lived, Napoleon would,
most assuredly, have jilaced him at the head of the
squadron charged with effecting the great ma-
noeuvre which he contemplated. It might be
said that destiny, in sworn animosity to the French
navy, had taken from it in ten months its two best
admirals, both assuredly capable of contending
with the admirals of England. It was then neces
sary, until the events of the war had discovei-ed
new men of talent, to resolve on avai.ing itself of
the admirals Ganleaume, Villeneuve, and Missiessy.
A serious event had recently occurred at sea,
which had modified the situation of the belligerent
jiowers. England had in an unforeseen and very
unjust manner declared war against Spain'. For

' Nothing can be more erroneous than the colour given to
the cliarge of unjust treatment of Spain on llie part ot Kng-
lai.d liy our author. Tlie treaty of St. Ildefoas(> bounl Spain
to furni h France with a contingent of vessels and Imops in
case of war between France and Great Britain. En;;land
had a right to declare war against Spain as well as Fiance
in 1803, unless Spain renoui'Ced such a treaty, this is clear.
France marie no demand of the execution of this treaty
until Jnly, 1803, when Siain actually agreed to \»<y a large
Bum oimmiey to France monthly, in lieu of men and ships,
the supply of which sliould or might have been ti.keii at
once for a declaration of war by England. Ihe English
nlil1i.^try forbore pressing Spain as long as possible. At
length her conduct induced retnonsl ranees on the pan I'f
the English government, they knew this money was ein-
plo\ed against itself, being effective in the hands of Napo-
leon with a contingent of any other kind. The Spanish
gov. riniiem continued to urge the efforts it had made to extri-
cate itself from such payments. The convention fur these
payments was pmtesied against in the fullest manner, and
declared t>i be a just gioinid tor war. A pe^^everance in it
«as announced as a justifiable cause for war, and Spain whs
lold that Knglanil would be at liberty to commeii<:e when
she pleased. The entrance of French troops into Spain was
(leilartd a c; usf that would inevitably renew hostiiiiies.
That any naval assistance to France would be deen.ed a
cause of war. That British ships must have the same treat-
ment, whether ships of war or commerce, as tho.^e of
France. On the entrance of any French troops into Spain.
or on any Spanish naval armament being fitted out for
Fren -h assis'ame, the British minister had orders to qmt
Madrid, anno'incing tn the British naval commanders that
the\ were insianily to proceed to hostilities, nor to vair
orders from home. No other declaration was ti> be niai'e.
EvasivM ansivers were alwavs given by Spain. From a wish
to spare Spain, anil no Spanish naval armament being lined
out, thlng.^ remained in this state until July, 180.. when
Spain gave Englind assurances of a faithful and stllfd neii-
traliiv, disavowing any intention to arm. Yet in llie rnllnw-
inu' nnmth reinlorci-mfnts of French soldiers and sailors
w Tr marched thrnu^h Spain: and at the end of September,
IS ', Sianish armanienis were preparing, and the packeis
ordered lo arm. Representations were again made to Spam

Capture of Spanish frigates THE THIRD COALITION.

by the English.

611

some time, she had perceived that tlie neiiti*;ility of
Spain, without heiiij; very favourable for France,
was hi<^hly useful to it upon several accounts. The
Frencii s(|ua(lron harboured in Ferrol was re)>airtd
tlure while it was blockaded. The Ai>;le ship of
tlie line underwent the same process at Cadiz.
The Frencli privateers entered the ports of the
peninsula to dispose of their prizes. England had
a right to enjoy tiie same advantaf;es under favoin-
of the reciprocity; but she prefeiTed to be deprived
of the advanta};es rather than leave them to us.
She had in consequence announced to the couit of
Madrid, that she regarded as a violation of neu-
trality what was thus passing in tl-.e ports of the
peninsula, and threatened war if the French
Hliips Were suffered to continue their armaments
there, and if French privateers contiimed to find a
shelter and a market in Sj'ain. Siie had demanded
further, that Charles IV. should guarantee Portugal
against any attempt on the part of France. This
last demanil Wiis exorbitant, and passed out of the
limits of neutrality in wliieli it was desired that
Spain should remain. However, France had per-
mitted the court of Madrid to show itself pliant
towards England, and even to agree to a pait of
her tiemauds, in oriler to prolong a state of things
which was CMUvenient to France. In fact, tlie
niiiilarv co-operation of Spain would not he wi.i tli
to Fnii'ice the amount of a suljsidy of 48 000 000 F.
jier annum, and this subsidy could not be acijuiiti tl
with>iut a state of neutrality, that alone allowed the
HI rival of the i>reiious metals from the new world.
They were ready to c nsent to all; hut England

bee iiig more exacting as Spain ceded lo lu-r

ileniauds, had demaiided that every armament
sh< uld immediately cease in the ports of Spain;
and she intended hy that, it was necessary to send
the French vessels out of Ferrol immediately, or,
in oilier wi.rds, to deliver them up. Violatin,- openly
ill fact the rights »{ nations, she had, without pre-
vi.iiis notice, ordered tliestop|)agc of Spaiiisli vessrls
eiicouiit< reil at sea. If it had been tliotiglit that
such an order h:id no other object than ih.il of
seizing the blii|is coming from America, having
vaigoeB of gold and silver, the thing might be

on ihe subject, while it was further amioiinred that the
UriiUli ailmoal off Ferrol would |irt;\ent Miiy 8lii|)% .if w;ir
wliat> ver f oni eiitt-rini; nr sailing from tha' port. No .-.iili.s-
fartiiry rKdre^^ wiis '•fr>r<!ed. Additional naval eq>ii|)niriils
look jilare in all the Spanish ports. KeinniiKtiai'Ces and
mniii'iMtt 8 followed, and in thu liut of tlit-in Spain openly

Kialril tiiat ki e lad ("ntrnipl.ited war from the iiegni g.

Ihe .rdrr< ({'ven at first l)y E g'a id «ere ..iily lo det.in
SpaiiiHli ^hlps III war if ilicy had lieasnre on lioard, but not
litlier iiliip-.. II re Napol.on was out«lt>cd lie snlfir.-d
ail aflrctrd Spaiiikii i>eulraliiy only that the treasuicA ol
Mexico iMi,h rea: h Spam, and a poriiuii enter li s own ex-
I'ltrqutr 1 1 which 8 an conlributeil. Il.id Sprtiii or N pl-H
pain Kn land a iiKinthy subsidy under any previoui. treaty,
a Kfi ni-h aimy wou d at once have l)ern quaitend on tiio>e
countrirs. England ju»ily rtquired too uf Spam, tliai Frencli

ir > ■! uuld I lit violate likr neutrality, in ' rd r lo iiiva le

Poittig'l, a point will, h England had a r glit to li'sst upon
from any powi r lionestli neutral, and far fioiii "exoriiManl."
I'l.K colouring given hy our aiiili'ir Is therrfuie nit.ig.'iher ..f
a wr.iiig hue. lie do. s not perceive >n the e..ii. e-»io)i of
Spa..ish nemr lily wlii. h Napoleon, witli so liiu. h good
P'llii V perinilled. how lie himself Jutili. » t c (omlnri of
Kiiglm d. liamiR iaiil the ol.Jecl of ihe Kr.-ncli enii er r so
plaiiil) open. lAee t/.e liritish itate paiifraA-Tr.n l,t;r.

qualified, without injustice, as a real piracy. At
that moment, four Spanish frigates, caiTying
12,000,000 of dollars, or about 30,000,000 of francs,
had sailed from Mexico towards the coast of
Spain, when they were stopped by English cruisers.
The Spanish commander having refused to surrender
his vessels, he was barbarously attacked by a force
immensely superior', and made prisoner after an
honourable defence. One of the four frigates blew
up; the other three were sent into the English
ports.

This odious act excited the indignation of Spain
and the censure of Europe. Without any hesita-
ti.iii Charles IV. declared war against England,
lie ordered at the same time the arrest of all
the English seized upon the soil of the peninsula,
and the" sequestration of all their property, to an-
swer for the goods and persons of Spanish mer-
chants.

. Thus in spite of its supineness— in spite of the
able management of France, the court of Spain
f.imid itself forcibly drawn into a war by the mari-
time outrages of England

Nap.ileon could no longer demand the subsidy
of 48,000,000 f., and thciefore hastened to regulate
the m.ide in which Spain should cn-nperate in hos-
tilities, and endeavoured, above all, to inspire her
with resolutions worthy of herself and of her former
greatne.ss.

The Spanish cabinet, in its de.sire to please Na-
poleon, as well as from a seiitiinent of justice towards
merit, had chosen admiral (uMvina for ambassador
ill France. He was the first .ittieer of the Spanish
navy, and hid under external simplicity, rare
intelligence and intrepid courage. Napoleon was
much attached to admiral Gravina, and Gravina to
Napoleon. For the same moiives which had made
him to be nominated amllas^ado^, he received the
commaml of the Spanish navy, and before he
quitted Paris, he was charged to conler with the
Freneh government upon a plan of naval opera-
ti.iiis. With this view the ailmiral signed on the
4:h of .Jamiary, 1805, a conveniion which specified
the ])art which each of the two powers should take
ill case of war. France engageil to keep constantly
at sea forty-seven vessels of the line, twenty-nine
frigates, fourteen corvettes, twenty-five brigs, and
to press forward as much as possible the comple-
tion of sixteen vessels of the line, and fourteen
frigates, existing in the doelcyafds; to unite the
troops which remained eneaiiiped near the ports of
embarkation, in the prop..iiiiin of five hundred
men to each vessel, and tw.i bundled to every
frigate; lastly, to keep the I'r. licit flotilla always in
a state to transport mneiy thousand men, without
com)irising the thirty lliousand destiiied for em-
barkation in the Dutch Hotilia. If the force of the
fl.iiilla were valued in v.ss. Is and frigates, and
there were added to it the fleet .d large vessels, it
mi;;lit be said that France had a total eftective
force of sixty ships of the line, ami forty frigates
actually at sea.

.Spain on her side promised to equip immediately
thirty-two Bail of the line, provided with four

' Spanish ships Medea. 42 giin^ ; Fama, 3fi puns ; Clara,
3r,: and Mercedas, 30; tin- last mown lip. The English
sliips were the Indclaligalil.-, 4H : Vledi.ga. Ainphion, and
Llveiy, of SU guns vacli.— '/>'i«i/'(''(r.

Conditions of alliance
gl2 between France and

Spain.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Junot's instructions at 1805.

the Spanish couit. March.

months' water, and six months' provisions. Their
division was thus indicated. At Cadiz, there were
fifteen sail; at Carthagena eight; and at Ferrol
nine. Spanish troops were to be united near tiie
points of embarkation, at the rate of four liundred
and fifty men for each ship of the hue, and two
hundred for each frigate. Besides these, tiiey were
to prepare means of transport in ships of war armed
en flute, in tlie proportion of four thousand tons for
Cadiz ; two thousand for Carthagena, and two
thousand for Ferrol. It was agreed that aihniral
Gravina shouhl have the superior command of the
Spanish fleet, and correspond directly with I he
French minister Decres. This was to state tliat
he should receive his instructions from Napoleon
himself, and Spanish honour might without bhisli-
ing accept sucli a direction. Some ])olitical
conditions accompanied these warhke slipiilatiouH.
The subsidy naturally ceased on the day wlien
hostilities were commenced by Englaml against
Spain. Further, the two nations agreed not to cnn-
clude a separate peace. France promised that
Trinidad should be restored to Spain, and even
Gibraltar, if the war was followed by a complete
triumph.

The engagement taken by the court of Mach-id
was much above its means. It was so mucli above
them, that in place of equipping thirty-two vessels,
it could only reach the equipment of twenty-four,
although maimed by brave crews. If then tiie
total of the forces of France, Spain, and Holland
be taken, it may be considered that the three na-
tions could unite about ninety-two sail of the line,
of which sixty belonged to France, twenty-four to
Spain, and eight to Holland. Still the flotilla must
be reckoned as fifteen, which reduces to seventy-
seven the effective line of battle-ships of the three
nations. The English had eighty-nine perfectly
armed, equipped, and experienced, in every tiling
superior to those of the allies, and they were pre-
paring to carry them up in a short time to the
number of a hundred. The advantage then vvas
on their side. They could not be beaten but by a
superiority of combination, which has never had
any thing near as much influence at sea as on
land.

Unhappily Spain, formerly very powerful in her
naval forces, and much interested in being so
still, on account of her vast colonies, found herself,
as has been many times repeated, in absolute des-
titution. Her arsenals were abandoned, and con-
tained neither timber, cordage, iron, mu- co]iper.
The inagiiiKcent establishments of Ferrol, Caiiiz,
and Carthagena, were empty and deserted. They
had neither materials nor workmen. The seamen,
not very numerous in Spain since her commerce
had been netirly reduced to the transport of the
metallic specie, were become yet more scarce in
consequence of the yellow fever, which ravaged all
the coast, and made them fly to foreign countries,
or to the interior. To this, if a great dearth of
grain be added, and a financial distress increased
by the loss of the galleons recently captured, an
exact idea can scarcely be had of all the miseries
wluL-h attlicted this country, formerly so great, and
now so sa<lly fallen.

Napoleon, who liad very often but vainly advised
this country during the last peace to devote a part
of its resources to the reorganization of its n.ivy;

Napoleon, even without the hope of being listened
to, wished to make a last attempt upon the court.
This time, in place of employing menaces as in
180H, he employed kindness and encouragement.
He had recalled marshal Lannes from Portugal,
to place him at tlie head of the greuadiei's, that
were designed to be the first to disembark in Eng-
land. He had ordered general Junot to replace
marshal Lannes in Portugal. He loved Junot, who
had a good understanding from nature, too ardent
a character, but a devotion without limit He
desired liim to stop at Madrid, to see the prince of
the peace there, the queen, and the king. Junot
was to stir up the honour of the prince of the peace,
to make him sensible that he had in his liands the
fate of the Spanish monarchy, and that he stood
between the character of a favourite disdained and
detested, and that of a minister who profited by
the favour of his master to elevate the power of
his country. Junot was autliorised to promise him
all the kind regards of Napoleon, and even a prin-
cijiality in Portugal, if he served with zeal the com-
mon cause, and applied himself to impress a suffi-
cient activity upon the Spanish administration.
The envoy of Napoleon was afterwards to see the
queen, to declare to lier that her influence on the
government was well known in Eurojie, or in other
words, over the king and pinnce of the jieace; that
her personal honour was interested as much as the
honour of the monai'cliy, in making great ett'orts,
and obtaining successes; that if the Spanish power
did n<it raise itself on the present occasion, siie wjio
was the all-powerful queen would be held personally
responsible in the eyes of the world, and of her
children, for the disorders which would have en-
feebled and ruined the monarchy. Junot was in
fact to use every means for insjiiring the queen
with just sentiments. As to the king, there was no
need of doing any thing to inspire him with
them, because he had none that were not excel-
lent; but this feeble monarch was destitute of will
and of attention. He was brutalised by Ins fond-
ness for hunting, and his attachment to mechanical
labour.

Junot was ordered to remain some time in Madrid
before he proceeded to Portugal, and to act the
character there of an ambassador extraordinary,
while attempting some little re-aniuiation of this
degenerate court.

it became a question now to employ in the best
mode possible, the resources of the three maritime
nations, Fi-ance, Holland, and Sptiin. Tlie project
of bringing back on a sudden a part of the naval
force, more or less important, into the channel, a
project already twice modified, occupied Napoleon
unceasingly. But a great and sudden thought
arose to draw off his attention for a moment.

Napoleon frequently received reports from
general Decaen, the commandant of the French
factories in India, wlio, since the renewal of the
war, had retired to the Isle of J>ance, and in
concert with admiral Linois, caused gretit injury
to the connnerce of England, General Decaen,
who had an ardent mind, and was very capable of
a distinct command in an independent and liazar-
dous situation, had formed connexions with the
Mahrattas, as yet in a state of ill submission.
He had procured some curious inlormatinn u])on
the disposition of the princes recently subdued by

1805.
March.

Projected descent upon India THE THIRD COALITION.

formed by Napoleo

C13

the En<;li8li. and liad acquired a conviction that six
thousanil French, disenibaiived with a sufficiency of
warlilve stores, soon joined by a nia.ss of insurgents
imiiatitnt to be rid of the yoke, would be able to
shake tiie ein])ire of England in India. It was Napo-
leon, as it tniiy be remembered, who, in 1803, iiad
placed geiieml Deoacn in this situation, anil he had
accejited it with ardour. But it was not a rash
enterprise that Napoleon wished to attempt ; to
atteinja something worth while it nnist be a grand
expedition, worthy tli:it of Egypt, capable of snatch-
ing frouj the English the important conquest tlity
had made in the present century, their greatness
and tlieir glory. The distance rendered snch an
expedition very different from the expedition to
Egypt. To carry in time of war thirty thousand
men from Toulon to Alexandria was already a con-
siderable operation ; but to carry them from
Toulon to the coast of India, doubling the Cape of
'iood Hope, was a gigantic entcrprize. Napoleon
;'ioiight, resting the point upon his own experience,
liiat the innnense extent of the ocean rendered

iieounters with an enemy a very rare thing, that
was possible with a good invention to dare the
■Idest movement, and to succeed without finding

II the way an enemy very superior in number.
It was thus that in 1798 he had sailed across the
Mngli.sh fleet with some hundred vessels and an
. ntlre army, taken Malta, and landed at Alexan-
dria, without encountering Nelson. It was thus
that he hoped to secure the arrival of a fleet in
the chaimel. The success of such enterprises re-
quired jirofound secrecy and great skill to
deceive the British admiralty ; but he had a well-
dis|)osed means to throw tJiat body into mental
confusion. Having troops assembled and ready
to embark, wherever he had naval forces, at Tou-
lon; Cadiz, Fenol, Rochcfort, Brest, and the
Texel, he was constantly in a position to send out
an army, without the English becoming acquainted
with his intention, and without their being able to
guess either its strength or destination. The
project for a descent had this much of utility, that
the attention of the enemy being unceasingly di-
rected to that object, he would always believe sucii
an expidition directed against Ireland or the
coasts of England. The moment was, therefore,
favourable for attemi)tiiig one <if those extraordi-
nary expeditions, that Napoleon was so prompt
to conceive and resolve upon. He thou;;ht, for
example, that to takeaway India from England was
a result sufficiently great for consenting to defer
all his othir proj.;cts, even that of the descent; and
he was dispostd to employ in that obj« ct all his
naval forces. His calculations upon this subject
were as follows. He had in the ports of their
equipment, lusidea the scjiiadroUH ready tr) set sail,
a resirve of old ves-sels little proper for active ser-
vice. He had also in the crews, besides good seamen,
novices veiy young, or conscripts but recently put
on board ship. It was upon this double considera-
tion that he cstablisheil his plan. He would add
to a certain number of new vessels all those that
were out of the service, but which were still capa-
ble of making a voyage ; the se he would arm
enfiute, that is to say, he w<iuld take out their art 1
lery and replace it with a large body of troops.
Complete the crewa with men of every class taken
in tlie ports, expedite thus the Toulon, Cadiz,

Ferrol,R(ichefort, and Brest fleets, which, without
taking a single transport vessel, would be able to
throw into India a very considerable army. He
proposed to send from Brest twenty- one sail,
Toulon thirteen, in all thirty-four, of which half
would be old vessels, to these thirty-four adding
twenty frigates, of which ten would he nearly un-
fit for service. These two fleets, sailing nearly at
the same time, and making the Isle of Fiance the
l)Iaee of rendezvous, were capable of carrying
forty thousand men, soldiers as well as sailors.
Upon arriving in India, the old vessels wotdd be
sacrificed, and those only preserved which were fit
to navigate, which number luight amount to fif-
teen vessels out of thirty-four, and ten frigates
out of twenty. The crews were then to be divided.
All the good seamen were destined to man the
vessels that were preserved ; while the indifferent
seamen, but men well adapted to make soldiers,
by turning them over into the .skeleton regiments,
Would serve to complete the army disembarked.
Napoleon sup])osed that it would reciuire fourteen
thousand or fifteen thousand seamen to man well
the fifteen ships of the line and the ten frigates,
which were to return to Europe. There would
then be in India twenty-five or twenty-six thousand
troops out of the forty thousand sohlii rs and seamen
embarked in Europe, and a fleet of fifteen ships of
the line would be brought back, excellent under
every point of view, by the quality of the vessels,
the selection of the crews, and the experience ac-
quired by a long navigation. Nothiug would
have been lost, as far as the navy was concerned,
but mere hulls unfit for service and fag ends of
the equipments, and there would be left in India
an army perfectly sufficient to concjuer the English,
above all, if it was commanded by a man as en-
terjirising as general Decaen '.

Napoleon, besides, proposed that three thousand
troops should be embarked on l)oar<l the Dutch
fleet in the Texel : two thousand in a new naval
division organizing at Rochefort; and four thousand
Si)aniards in the Spanish flotilla at Cadiz, which
made a reinforcement of nine thousanil men, and
would carry up to the number of thirty-five thou-
sand or thirty-six thousand, the number of soldiers
in the army of general Decaen. It is extremely
probiible that India, having scarcely submitted, a
similar force would have destroyed the British
power there. As to the voyage, there was nothing
less ])robable than an encounter with the English.
It wouM have been difficult to escape them, if the
sipiadrons of ships of the line had to trail after
them some hundreds of transport vessels. But
the old vessels, and the old frigates armed en flute,
rendered dispensable that means of conveyance.
Tliis project rested, therefoie, upon the principle
(d' sacrificing the more indifferent or b.id jiart of
the navy, as well in men as materials, and be re-
signed to bring back only the more excellent por-
tion. At that cost the miracle might be operated
of transporting to India an army of thirty-six

1 There were in India at this time above twenty thousand
IJiitiBh troopii of the line, and aliove ii hundreil Ihnusand
mpoy regiments, olliccred l)y men of llie grealest experience,
together with a line body of European ariillerj , and all these,
a most important thiiig, inured to tlie ilimate, and well ac-
quainted with the country and it* resources.— TronWalor.

Temporary ac'joummpnt
614 of the descent on Eng- THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

land.

New combinations of 180S.

Napoleon. March.

thousand men. The sacrifice, moreover, was not
as great as it appeared to be, because there is not
a seaman who does not know that on the sea as
on the land, but still more upon the sea, the quality
of the force is every thing, and that more can be
done with ten good vessels, than with twenty which
are indifferent.

This project caused the momentary adjournment
of the descent; but it was possible that it would
favour the execution in a very extraordinary man-
ner, because, alter some time, the English, informed
of the departure of the Frencli fleets, would follow
them, and tiius leave unguarded the European
seas, while thesijuadron returning from India with
fifteen sail of the line and ten frigates, would be
able to appear in tiie straits, where Napuleim,
always ready at whatever moment the octasion
offered, would be in a state to j)rofit by the shortest
favour of fortime. It is true that this last part of
the combination im])lied double good fortune, in
reaching India, and in returning, and fortune
rarely favours a man to such a high point, however
great he may be. For five weeks. Napoleon re-
mained in suspeii'^imi between the idea of sending
this expedition to India, and passing the straits of
Dover. The overturn <if the English empire in
India seemed a result so considei-able, that he hoped
to dispense by that with the risk his person and
army would incur in an attempt so hazardous as the
descent. He passed therefore an entire monili in
hesitating between the two combinations, and his
correspondence gives i>roof of the fluctuation of
his mind between these two exti-aordiuary enter-
prises.

Nevertheless the Boulogne expedition carried
the day. Napoleon regarded the blow as the more
prompt, more decisive, and even as little less than
infallilile, if a French fleet should arrive on a sud-
den in tile channel. He set his mind at work anew,
and conceived a third combination, greater, deeper,
and more plausible yet than the two preceding, to
unite unknown to the English all his naval forces
between Dover and Boulogne.

His plan was arranged during the first days of
March, and orders sent off in consequence. It
consisted, like that for the capture of Surinam, in
drawing the English towards India and the West
Indies, to which last the squadron of admiral Mis-
siessy, that sailed on the 11th of January, had
already directed their attention, then to i-eturn im-
mediately into the European seas, with a union of
force superior to every English squadron, which-
ever it might be. It was in fact the project of the
preceding Deceniber, but enlarged and completed
by the union of tlie Sjianish forces. Admiral Ville-
neuve was to part with the first favourable wind,
pass the straits, touch at Cadiz, and there join
admiral Gravina with six or seven Spanish ships,
besides the French ship the Aigle, then proceed
to Martinique; if Missiessy was yet there, to join
him, and await a new junction more considerable
than all the others, that <if Ganteaume. The last
admiral, profiting by the first equinoctial gale that
should drive off the English, was to sail from Brest
with twenty-one vessels, the best in that arsenal,
proceed off Ferrol, release the French division
in that port, ami the S|ianish division which wjisalso
ready to sail, and to go to Martinique, where Ville-
neuve was to await him. After this general junc-

tion, which presented few real difficulties, he would
have in Martinique twelve vessels under Ville-
neuve, six or seven under Gravina, five under
Missiessy, and twenty-one under Ganteaume, not
reckoning the Franco-Spanish squadron in Fen-ol,
that is to say, altogether about fifty or sixty sail of
the line;an enormous force, of which the concentra-
tion had never before been seen at any period upon
any sea. This time the combination was so com-
plete, so well calculated, that it must produce in the
breast of Napoleon the most lofty hopes. The mi-
nister Decres himself agreed that it ofi'end the
greatest possible chances of success. To .sail from
Toulon was always possible during the mistral, and
the last attempt of Villeneuve pi-oved the fact. The
junction at Cadiz with Gravina, if they gave the
slip to Nelson, was easy, because the Eiigiish had
not yet judgtd it of any service to blockade that
port. The squadron of Ttiulon thus carried up to
seventeen or eighteen sail, was very nearly certain
of arriving at Martinique. Missiessy had arrived
wiiliout encountering any but merchant vessels,
which he captured.

The most difficult point was to get out, and set
sail from the road of Brest. But in March there
was every reason to count upon an equinoctial gale,
Ganteaimie arriving before Ferrol, which was only
blockaded by five or si,x En;;lisli vessels, having
tweniy-one sail himself, would take away every idea
of an action, rally without a blow the French divi-
sion conunanded by admiral Gourdou, and such of the
Sj)aniar(is as were ready, and set sail for Miirtinique
iunuediately. It could not enter the nnnds of the
English, that the French dreamed of uniting
upon such a single point as Martinique fifty or
sixty Vv-ssels at one time. It was probable that their
conj ctures would I3e directed towards India, In
any case, Ganteaume, Gourdou, Villeneuve, Gra-
vina, and Missiessy once assembled, those of the
English squadrons which they might encounter,
not more than twelve or fifteen vessels strong, would
not brave fifty, and the return info the channel
was certain. Then all the French forces wjiuld he
found assembled between the shores of France and
England, at the moment when the naval forces of
England were going to the east, America, or India,
Events soon proved that this grand combination
was to be realized, even under the circumstance of
only a middling execution.

All was carefully managed so as to keep the plan
a profound secret. It was not confid d to the
Spaniards, who had engaged to follow in a docile
manner any directions whatever fr<jm Napoleon.
Villeneuve and Ganteaume were alone to know the
secret among the admirals; but not at their dejiar-
ture, and cnly at sea, when they were no longer
able to connnunicate with the land. Then the
despatches, that they had orders to open in a cer-
tain latitude, would make them acquainted with
the course wliich they were to follow. None of the
captains of vessels had been initiated into the se-
cret of the enterprise. They had only the points
of rendezvous fixed for them in case of separation.
None of the ministers were acquainted with the
plan, except adnural Decres. He was exi)ressly
commanded to correspond directly with Napoleon,
an<l to write his despatches himself. The rumour
of an expedition to India had spread through all
the ports. They feigned to embark a good many

1805.
March.

Napoleon prepares to set out
for Italy.— Tlie pi>pe con-
tinues in Paris.

THE THIRD COALITION.

Proceedings of the pope
and cardinals. — Their
demands.

CIS

trii<i|)S, when in reality the Toulon squadron h;id
onltrs to take scarcely three thousand men, and
tliiit of Brest only seven th">usiind or eight thou-
sand. It was prescribed to the admirals to leave
half of this force in the West Indies to strengthen
the garris'iis, and to bring back to Europe four
thousjind <ir five thousand of the best men, to join
in the Boulogne expedition.

The fleets by this means would be but slightly
encumbered, manageable, anti at their ease. They
had ail provisions f<>r si.\ months, in such a way as
t^i be able to remain a long wiiile at sea, without
b: ing obliged to enter a harbour any where. Cou-
riers left for Ferrol and Cadiz, carrying orders to
prepare themselves without delay, and to be always
ill a position to weigh anchor, bccau.se it was pos-
sible iheir blockade might be rai.sed by an allied
fleet, witlniut being able to say which fleet or at
what moment.

To all these preeaulions for deceiving the En-
gl sh, there was joined another not less cahulated
{••r I lie pinpose, and this was the journey of Najx)-
Icnii into Italy. Hesnpposed that his fli-ets, leaving
about the end of Marcli, employing the nKiith of
April in reaching Martinique, the month of May in
f.rniing a junction, and the month of June to re-
turn, would be in the channel about the cominence-
meiit <if July. He might remain all this time in
Italy, review the troops, give fetes, conceal his
profound plans under the :ipi>earance of a vain and
suiiiplnous mode of li\ing, then at the moment in-
dicated, leave Italy seen tly by jjosting, and in
five days transport himself from Alihin to Boulogne,
ami while he was thought to be still in Italy, strike
tiie I1I..W at England which he had menaced for so
long a time. That blow she had awaited for two
years, and now began to have faith in it 110 longer.
F.urope saw no more in the threat than a feint
lilanned to keep tile British nation agitated, and
olilige it to exhaust itself in useless efforts. While
they abandoned themselves to this idea. Napoleon,
on the contrary, had, without cessation, increased
his maritime forces, taking from the different de-
jiots all that was re(|uircd to augment the effective
strength of his war baitali(-ns, and filling by means
of the annual conscripiion the void tlius made in
the ilepots. The army of Boulogne was thus rein-
forced by nearly thirty thousand men, without any
one knowing it. He had always kept this army in
such a state of activity, and so dis])osable, that it
was not very ])OS'-ibIe to discover whether it was
more or less eff'ectivc. The opinion that it was a
simple demonstration, destined to the object of
rendfring England uneasy, became every day more
and more the dominant opinion.

All being thus disposed, with the firm determi-
nation to attemj)t the enterprise, and with a |)ro-
foiniil conviction of success, Niipoleoii projiosed to
journey into Italy. The pope had remained all the
winter in Paris. He had at first thought to set out
on his way abont the middle of February, in order
to niTive at his dominions. An abundance of snow
falling in the Alps, had served as the eiccuse for his
longer detention. Napoleon miiigleilso iimcli kind-
ness in his entreaties, tinit the pope gave way, and
consented to defer his departure until the middle
of March. Napoleon was not displeased to let
Europe perceive the length of this visit, to render
his intimacy with Pius Vll. greater every day, ami

finally to keep him on the Paris side of the Alps,
while the French agents made the preparations at
Milan for the second coronation. The courts of
Naples, Rome, and even of Etruria, did not see
without regret the creation of a vast Fremh king-
dom in Italy; and if the pojie had found the Vati-
can besieged by suggestions of every kind, perhaps
he had been induced to show himself little favour-
able to it. •

Pius VII., after becoming entirely in confidence
with Napoleon, finished by avowing his seci'et
wishes. lie was charmed with the iionours paid to
him per.sonally; honours which benefited religion
through tiie good which his presence seemed to
produce, ami even that which the n w emperor
had accomplishe<l in France to aid in the restora-
tion of \v(]rship. Butall saint as Pius VII. was, he
was still a man, he was a ])rince; and tlie triumph
of spiritual interests, while filling him with satis-
faction, did not i)erniit him to foiget the temporal
interests of the holy see, that were greatly suffer-
ing since the loss of the Lejiations. He had brought
to Paris with him six cardinals, of which number
one, cardinal Borgia, had diedai Lyons. The others,
especially the cardinals Antonelli and Pielro,
wei-e of the ultramontane party, and greatly in
opposition to cardinal Caprara, who had too much
iniellif^ence and knowled;;e to agree with them. Thus
they had brought the iM)]ie to conceal his proceed-
ings from tjiis cardinal, who in quality of legate
ought to have been duly informed of all the nego-
tiations j)roceeding in Paris. He certainly could
not have taught ihent a mode of succeeding in their
designs, because all that it was p<,ssible to do for
the church Napoleon did spontaneously, and with-
out being pressed to do. But this personage, full
of experience and knowledge, would liave dissuaded
them from useless attempts, always to be regretted,
because they afterwards became the causes of dis-
putes and differences.

They commenced by dogmatising with Napoleon
upon the four jiropositions of Bossuet, of which
Louis XIV., towards the end of his life, had, it was
.said, promised the annulling. Napoleon was mild
in manner, but inflexible in principle, and suf-
fered them to sec that there was nothing to ex-
pect in the revocation of the former organic
articles. The mode of executing them remained
to be settled. He was disposed to listen to any
observations which they wished to pics« ut to liini
U|ion the subject. At first they spoke to him of
the jurisdiction <d" the bishojis over the ecclesi-
iisiics, of which liiey liad often conferred, and
which did not appear sufficiently complete to Pius
VII. ; to that Napoleon, settling his answer with
M. Portahs, re|)lied, that every S])irilual offence
was and should be left to the ecclesiastical juris-
diction, but that all civil off'encts against the civil
law would coniinue to be br<jught before the ordinary
tribunals, because the jiricsis were citizens, and
under this relation would appeal to the common
law. Then they spoke of the seniinarics, of the
smallness of the number of miiiisti rs of worship,
«)f the religicnis edifices at last, negli>< ted for
twenty years and falling intornin. '1 he_\ snjiposed
thai at least :tH,0(l(),(l()(» 1. would be reqiiind per
annum for Iho necessiii(s of religion, while they
had only entered 13 00<» 0(10 I. in the budget, and
this left a deficiency of 25,000,0001'. Napoleon

616

Different topics THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

answered by an enunieratifin of what he liad done
in this respect, and of what he would still do in
proportion to the augmentation of the revenues of
the state. They conferred afterwards upon vari-
ous other subjects, forei<;n to the or-janic articles
and to their executioji, and particularly of divorce,
permittid by the new French laws. Napoleon,
always in concert with M. Portalis, said that
divorce appeared indispensable to their legislation,
to repair certain disorders in morals, but that
the priest remained free to refuse the religious
benediction to the divorced who wished to con-
tract a new niiirriage; that the conscience of the
priests was not, therefore, violated; but that be-
sides, this was not a matter that invaded the
dogma, seeini; that divorce existed in the ancient
church. After the discussion of this subject, they
spoke of the observation of Sundays and festival
days, which, in spite of the re-establishment of
the Gregorian calendar, had not been adopted
generally enougli among the people. Napoleon
answered, that even towards the end of the last
century, the manners, more powerful than the
laws, had caused a relaxation, and that there was
sometimes seen, before the revolution, workmen
labouring on the Sunday ; that penalties employed
in such cases were of less value than examples ;
that the government applied itself always to give
those wliich were good, and that the workmen
paid by the state never laboured on holidays ;
that the Sunday was strictly observed by the
country peoi)le, that the inhabitants of the towns
only were wanting in its observation; and that
in the towns to oblige the workmen to be idle,
besides the inconvenience of employing a penal law,
would be to give drunkenness and vice the time
taken from labour; that to the utmost they had
attempted every thing a religious but prudent
policy permitted to be done.

Tliey then touched upon another subject, that of
educati'.n, and demanded for the clergy the right
of superintending the schools. Napoleon replied,
that he had chaplains in the Lyceums, chosen
from among the priests in doctrinal conformity
with the church. That these were, in f:»ct, the
ecclesiastical inspectors of the places of educa-
tion, that they were able to designate to their
bishops those in which religious instruction left
any thing to be desired, but that there was not over
these establishments of education any other au-
thority than that of the state. Some conversation
took place in relation to the bishops who were not
in agreement with the holy see, and it was agreed
to bring them back to that state of peace, volun-
tary or forced, in which Napoleon was I'esolved to
make the entire of the clergy live. The series of
questions of a spiritual nature were terminated by
the discussion of a project, which without cessa-
tion had pre-occupied the court of Rome, this
was, tliat the catholic church should be declared
the dominant religion in France. Here Napoleon
was immoveable. According to him that religion
was already dominant by the fact, because it was
the religion of the majority of the French, be-
cause it was that of the sovereign, because the
great acts of the government, as the taking the
crown, for example, had been surrounded by
catholic pomps. But a declaration of the kind
was likely to alarm all dissenting worshippers; he

intended to assure perfect peace to all, and he
would not admit that the catholic religion, which
he had desired, and sincerely desired to re-esta-
blish, should operate as a diminution of security
for any of the existing religions.

Upon all these points Napoleon showed extreme
mildness of manner, but determined firmness of
principle. They from thence arrived at the es-
sential thing, which affected Rome more than any
points of ecclesiastical discipline, this was the affair
of the Legations. They digested a memorial that
Pius VII. had himself sent to Nai>oleon, which
related to the losses the holy see had experienced
during a century past, as well in revtnues as in
territories. There was an enumeration too in this
memorial of the different dues of the holy see
formerly collected in all the catholic states, and
which, under the influence of French, feeling, had
been either suppressed or diminished in France,
Austria, and even Spain itself. There was recalled
to recollection the manner in which the holy see
had been disappointed of its right of return to the
possession of the duchy of Parma, by the extinction
of the house of Farnese ; the more early ))rivation
of the county of Venaissin, ceded to France, was
then brought forward ; the most serious of all the
losses was cited, that of the Legations, transferred
to the Italian republic. Thus reduced, the holy
see was not able, it was said, to meet the obligatory
expenses of the catholic religion in all parts of the
world. It was unable either to place the cardinals
in a position to sustain their dignity, to su|>pi rt
the foreign missions, or to provide for the defence
of its weak states. They reckoned upon the new
Charlemagne to equal the munificence of the
ancient. Najioleon was placed in con)i)lete em-
barrassment before a demand so directly made.
He had promised nothing to bring the pope to
Paris ; but at every period of his success, he
had given out the hope in a general manner
that he would ameliorate materially the situation
of the holy see. To give back the Legations to the
pontifical court was impossible, or at least it was
to betray the republic he had established in a very
odious way, the founder of which he had been,
and of which he was about to become the mo-
narch. It had been to destroy all the hopes of the
Italian patriots, who saw in this new state the com-
mencement of an independent existence for their
country. But he had at his disposal the duchy of
Parma, that he would neither grant to tlie house
of Sardinia as an indemnity for Piedmont, nor to
Spain for the aggrandisement of the kingdom of
Etruria, and which he reserved at the moment for a
family portion. It would have been prudent, with-
out doulit, to give it as an indemnity to the house
of Sardinia, or as well to add it to Etruria, obliging
this state to indemnify the house of Sardinia with
the Siennese. It would thus have been possible
at one stroke to secure peace with Russia, and give
Spain the greatest possible pleasure. But if the
management of Russia were given up, that had
wiilidrawn its charge d'affaires, and the satisfaction
of Spain, whose inertness had not long been
awakened by good conduct, it had been a destina-
tion worthy the proud designs of Napoleon to give
the duchy of Parma to the pope. In granting it
to the holy see. Napoleon would overturn most of
the arguments used about his designs in Italy; be

1805.
April.

The pope sets out for Rome. THE THIRD COALITION.

A third coalition.-
of Kussiu.

617

would dtstroy the principal argument which served
Austria in her oliject of uniting a third cuahtion in
Europe; and what was not of less importance, lie
would attacli tiie pope to him for ever, and iiave
prevented the sad rupture with the holy see, that
at a later jjeriod caused him a considerable moral
injury, a rupture which had in reality no other
origin than the discontent, ill dissimuiatHd, of
the court of Rome upon tliat occasion. All this it
wa-s of more value to arrange than to reserve
Parma, as Napoleon determined to do, for a gift
to his family. Suffering the alliance of Prussia
to esca|>e him in 1804 and in 1805, sending back
the pope covered with honour, but finally aggrieved
as regarded his interests, constituted, in our opi-
nion, the first essential faults of that powerful
policy, of which the error was, the reckoning only
with itself, and never with otht-rs.

Napoleon took advantage of that of which they did
not directly speak, namely, the Legations, to make the
simple and easy reply arising out of the situation of
the tiling itself. He was unalile to betray a state
which had chosen him for its chief — a reason legi-
timate and well-founded, as it affected the Lega-
tions; while he announced that he intended to ame-
liorate at a later period the situation of the holy
see. He commanded cardinal Fesch to enter into
an explanation with the j)ope. He was willing
at the moment to lend his holiness pecuniary aid;
he afforded him a glimpse at a time which was
not tar off, of new accessions of territory, by the aid
of which the pope might be indemnified, iiesides
this, he was sincere ; because, as to such acces-
sions, he discovered them at a future time rapidly
approaching. He saw, in fact, coming war re-
awakened upon the continent, and Italy this time
wholly conquered, Venice taken from Austria,
Naples taken from the Bourbons; and said to him-
self that he should find easily among all these a
means of satisfying the pope.

But these good intentions deferred left a present
disjileasure, that was soon to become a source of
v:!xation.

Napoleon and the pope quitted each other with-
out being as mutually discontented as the demands
made and refused might have given ground to ap-
prehend. The pope, in place of the ambuscade
which insensate persons announced was laid for
him upon quitting Rome, had found in Paris a
magnificent welcome, augmented by the presence
of a religious impulse, and in fact he occupied in
France a place worthy of the grandest eras of the
church. All thingR considered, if his interested
Counsellors were dissatisfied, he returned home
contented himself. He exchanged with the em-
peror and empress the most attcclionate farewell,
and went away loaded with rich pieHents. Ho set
out from Purls on the 4th of April, 1805, in the
midst of a concourse of people still more con-
siderable than at his first arrival. He was to re-
main some days at Lyons on hia way, to celebrate
the feast of Kastcr.

Napoleon had disposed every thing to depart on
his journey to Italy at the same lime. After
having given his last orders to the Heet and army,
an<l reiterated his entreaties to the court of Spain,
that all might be got ready at Ferrol and Cadiz ;
after having left to the arch-chancellor Cambactfres
the government of the empire, not ostensibly, but

in fact, he proceeded to Fontainebleau on the 1st of
April, where he was to stay for two or three days.
He left this place enchanted with his designs, and
full of confidence in their success. He had already
a first pledge in the lucky departure of admiral
Villeneuve. This officer had finally set sail on the
30ih of March with a favourable wind, and they
had lost sight of the heights of Toulon without the
fear of encountering the English. A single con-
trary incident prevented this satisfaction from
being complete. On the 1st of April, the equinox
had not yet been felt at Brest; calm and clear
weather prevailed, which was not of a nature to
keep oft" the English, or hide from them the sailing
of the fleet, rendering the departure of Ganteaume
impossible. Had he been clear of Brest, the suc-
cess of the junctions appeared to be no more doubt-
ful; and it must be supposed a real phenomenon in
the seasons, that the equinox did not bring a single
gale of wind during the whole month of April.

Napoleon quitted Fontainebleau on the 3rd, pro-
ceeiiiiig by Troyes, Chalons, and Lyons, pushing on
rapiilly before the pope, in order that the two
progresses should not be mutual obs'.aeles ou the
road.

While he thus proceeded towards Italy, given
up to his grand ideas, or sufteriug his time to be
diverted by receiving the homage of the people,
Europe, differently agitated, was at work upon the
third coalition. England alarmed for her exist-
ence ; Russia wounded in her pride ; Austria
strongly thwarted by what was prejjaring to be
done in Italy; Prussia hesitating without cessa-
tion between contrary fears, knitting, or suttering
to be knit, a new European league, that, far fioiu
being more fortunate than those w liich pi-eceded,
was to secure for Napoleon a cohjssal greatness,
unhappily too disproportionate to be durable.

The Russian cabinet, regretting the errors of
w hich the vivacity of its young sovereign had caused
the committal, had hoped to find in the answers of
France a pretext for retracing its former unre-
flecting conduct. The pride of Napoleon, that
would not give even a specious explanation about
the occupation of Naples, the refusal to indemnify
the house of Savoy, or the invasion of the house of
Hanover, considering these questions as matters
in which he might have been able to indulge a
friendly, but not a hostile court — this pride had
disconcerted the cabinet of St. Petersburg, and had
forced it, spite of itself, to recall M. Oubril. The
emperor Alexander, who had not character enough
to support the consequences of a first movement,
was disconcerted, and nearly iiUimiilated. M.
Strogonoff, M. Nowosiltzoff, and M. Czartoryski,
were firmer, but perhaps less penetrating, and sur-
rounding him, had made him feel the necessity of
di.feiiding the dignity of his crown in the eyes of
Europe. They had returned to the ideas so little
of a |)ractical but seducing character, of a supreme
arbitration, exercised in the name of justice and
sound law. Two jiowcr-s, France and Kngland,
troubled the repose of Europe, and oppressed it for
the interests of their rival policy. It wjus neces-
sary for Russia to place herself at the liead of the
nations thus ill treateil, proposing to them a common
plan of pacification, in which their rights should
be guaranteed, and the litigated points between
France and England regulated, it was required

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The Russian scheme 1805.

developed. April.

to rally Europe around this plan, in order to make
proposals in its name to En};land and France, to
ananj^e itself afterwards with that one of the
two powers which adopted it against the power
i-efusing, in order to subdue the last by force, and
the conmion law of the whole woild. Men less
young, less fed upon theories, would have seen^ in
sui-h a sclierae simply a coalition wiili England
and a part of Europe against France. The scheme,
in effect, conceived in a manner wholly favourable
to England, that flattered Russia, anil unfavourable
to France, that flattered her but little, could not
but be tolerably accejitable to Pitt, and unaccept-
able to Napoleon, being followed sooner or later by
war against him. It led to the third coalition.
The [iropositions presented to the emperor Alexan-
der were mingled witii so much of the specious and
brilliant in i<leas, each tjeing at the same time
even generous and true, that the lively imagination
of I he young Czar, at first affrighted with that
which they proposed to him, was finally attracted
and seduced to such a point as made him set his
hand to the work innne<lialely.

Before recounting the negotiations which fol-
lowed this plan, it is needful to lay open the scheme
of European arbitration, an<l to indicate its author.
It will be seen by the gravity of the consequences
that they merit to be known.

One of those adventurers, sometimes endowed
with ilistinguished qualities, who wished to carry
into the north the spirit and knowledge of ilie south,
had gone into P<ihir.d to find there employment for
his talents. He was an abbe, called Piatoli, and
had been at first attached to the last king of Po-
land. After the different partitions, he had passed
ir.to Courland, and from Courland into Russia. He
was one of those active minds that, unable to elevate
themselves to the government of states, placed too
much above them, conceive plans that are ordi-
narily of a chimerical character, but not always to
he disdained. The man now spoken of had medi-
tated much upon the state of Enro])e, and lie owed
to chance, placed in relation with the young friends
of Alexander, liiso|)portunity of exercising there an
occult inHuence, but sufficiently considerable to
make ])revalent a portion of his conceptions in the
resolutions of the powers. Subaltern thinkers
rarely have such an honour. The abhd" Piatoli
had the sad advantage of furnishing in 1805 some
of the ])rineipal ideas, which terminated by their
being admitted into the treaties of 1815. Under
this claim \u- is worthy of attention, and the ideas
which we give as his are not on 8uppositit)n, be-
cause they are contained in the secret memoirs
then remitted to the ein])eror Alexander '. This
foreigner finding in the prince Czartoryski a more
thougluful mind, and one more grave than be-
longed to the other young personages who ruled
over Russia, was more intimately associated with
him, and their views hiul become altogether com-
mon, to such a point, that the plan proposed to the
emperor appertained nearly as much to the one as
to the other. The following was this plan.

The ambition of the northern powers, and the
con(|uests >)f the French revolution, had for thirty
years overturned Europe, and oppressed every na-
tion of the second order. It was necessary to pro-

> There exists in France a copy of these memoirs.

vide for this by a new organization, and by the es-
tablishment of a new law of nations, placed under
the protection of the great European confedei-a-
tion. To this end there was need of a power
perfectly disinterested, which made its own disin-
terestedness partaken by all the others, and which
would labour for the accomplishment of the pro-
posed work.

A single power had in itSelf all the requisites for
this noble end, and that power was Russia. Its
real ambition ought to be, if it comprehended its
character, not to acquire territory, as England,
Prussia, or Austria would, but moral influence.
For a great state that influence was every thing.
After a long influence, territorial acquisitions
would come. This Italian had reason on his side.
By appearing to ])rotect in Europe, against that
which they denominated revolution, the princes
i^reat <ir small, who had it in fear, Russia gained
Poland. It will not be impossible that hence
she may yet gain Constantinople. At first comes
influence, next conquest follows. Russia was then
to propose to all the courts, not a war against
France, which would neither be just nor ])olitic,
but "an alliance of mediation for the pticitication
of Europe." They woidd not certainly have any
trouble to make Austria and England adhere to
this; but every thing was dangerous in the concur-
rence of Prussia. It was needful therefore to draw
out of its interested hesitations this crafty court,
or tread it well under the feet of the European
armies, if it refused to concur in the common ob-
ject. It implied no humouring either towards
Prussia or any other state which should resist the
proposed plan, " because they would have deserted
the cause of the human race."

All the states of Europe, save France, once
united, would form three great masses of force;
one ill the south composed of Russians and English,
coming into Italy in their vessels, designed to mount
with the Neapolitans the Italian peninsula, to join
itself to a column of one hundi-ed thousand Aus-
trians ojjerating in Lombardy; a mass towards the
east, composed of two grand Austrian and Russian
armies, marrhing by the valley of the Diinube
towards Suabiaand Switzerland; finally, a mass in
the north, composed of Russians, Prussians, Swedes,
and Danes, descending peri)endicularly from the
north to the south on the Rhine. These three
grand masses of force were to act independently
the one of the other, in order to avoid the incon-
venience of coalitions, which got themselves beat
by attemjiting to act in a concert that is impossible.
Each of the three was to direct itself as a separate
army, having only to think of its own security, and
its own separate action. It was from the desire of
combining their movements, that the archduke
Charles and Suwarrow had met with the disaster
of Zurich.

These three masses of force thus formed, they
were to speak in the name of a common congress,
representing the "alliance of the mediation." They
would offer to France conditions compatible with
its natural greatness, conditions to which they
would have previously bi'ought England to agree,
and they would not g"o to war except in case of a
refusal. The conditions would be these; the trea-
ties of Luneville and of Amiens_. but be it well under-
stood, as explained by Europe. One is able, in other

1805.
April.

French and EngUsh concessions. THE THIRD COALITION. A subalpine kingdom planned. 619

respects, to conceive a grand idea of tlie French
power at tiiis period, it" onl.v from observing the
designs wliich were formed hy its jialnus enemies.
France kept the Alps and tiie Rhine, that is to
say, Savoy, Geneva, tlie Rhfni>h provinces. May-
ence, C.))i>gne. Luxemburg, and Belgium. Pied-
mont was to be restored. The new state created
in Lombardy was not to be destroyed, to restore
tlie shreds to Austria, but to l)e employed in con-
stituting Italy inde|)en<leiit. For tliis view tliey
would even demand of Austria that she should
abandon Venice. Switzerland foreseeing the or-
ganization given it by Napoleon, would be closed
against ihe French troops, and decLired in a per-
petual neutrality. It would be the same wiih
Holland. Frame in a word, maintained in its
grand limits of the Alps and the Rhine, would be
obliged to evacuate Italy entirely, Holland, and
Switzerland, without counting Hanov.'r, that the
war ceasiug, would not be longer kept in occupa-
tion.

In return for these concessions, exacted on the
part of France, England was to be obliged to eva-
cuate Malta, to restore such colonies as she had
captured, and even to second the French in another
enterprize against St. Donungo, becatise Europe
had an interest in snatching this magnificent terri-
tory from the barbarities of the revolted negroes.
They would, in fine, oblige all the nations to agree
to an equiUible maritime code. As a last condition,
all the courts would acknowledge Napoleou em-
peror of the French.

Certainly, if Russia had been powerful enough
to make Austria consent to the independence of
Italy, and England to the indejiendence of tlie seas,
Napoleon had been highly culpable in refusing the
proposed conditions. But far from aban<ioning
Venice to the benevolent organizers of a new Eu-
rope, Austria was impatient to return to Alilan,
and to advance herself in Suabia. EnL;laud in-
tended to keep Malta, and not to acknowledge the
rights, of neutrals. If, therefore, Napoleon was ob-
stinate in retaining, as there is no doubt he was.
Piedmont, Switzerland, and Holland, to use for his
own advantage the countries which his enemies
wished to constitute against him, his ambition may
certainly stand excused in the face of that of the
other European governments.

This design, conceived at first with sincerity, and
from gi-nerous intentions, had been in all points
equitable, if every body would have accepteil it in
its entirety. But it must be in the hands of a hypo-
critical coalition, a pretext to bring back France to
a refusal, that would again place Kiiropc in arms.
Facts Soon occurred to pi'ovc this true.

If France refused, which was possible, they must
act against her in a military manner. It was nc-
cessjiry in that case sooner to hide than publish the
intention to change the government, humour lier
pride, secure the purchasers of the national do-
mains, promise to the army the j)riservation <if its
grades (all which was done in 1814), and if the
fatigue of a warlike and agitated governmtnt re-
calhd the public opinion in France to the ancient
<lyna>*ty, then r)nly to seek to re-tstablish it, because
this dynasty, owing its restoration to Europe, would
content itsi.lf with much more ease than the family
of Bonaparte, with the little state which they
wished to leave it.

War was capable of offering different chances.
If it were only half fortunate, they would take
from France Italy and Belgium; if it were com-
pletely so, they would take from France the Rhe-
nish provinces, that is to say, the territory com-
))rised between the Meuse and the Rhine. It
would, however, be necessary not to forget the
fault committed against Louis XIV., and keep clear
of renewing the luuightinesses of the i)ensionary
Heinsius, because France, when too ill-treated, will
never be at nst. It would therefore preserve her
something among her actual conquests in drawing
the line from Luxemburg to Mayence, and in con-
ceding besides the fortress of Mayence, that which
is denominated Rlu nish Bavaria. It will be seen
that the cond)inati..ns of this jxilicy, not having
been fingered by Pitt, did not carry the impress
oi a passionate hatred, like those which prevailed
ten years afterwards.

In this double hypothesis of a war, more or less
fortunate, Europe would be distributed in the fol-
lowing manner.

It was of the utmost importance to guard
against that French nation, endowed with " such
dangerous talents," and a character so enterpris-
ing. In order to do this, it was necessary to sur-
round her with powerful stales, capable of self-
defence. It was necessary at first to reinf-rce
Ilidland, and with that view to give it Belgium,
to make the two countries that which was called
" the kingdom of the two Belgiums," intemled
to he granted to the house of Orange, that had suf-
fered so much in consequence of the French
revolution. Prussia was maintained where she
was upon the Rhine ; perhaps there would be
restored to her the small provinces that she had
added to the French republic, such as the Duchy
of Cleves an<l Guehlres, and as much as possible
she was to be established in V/estphalia around
Holland, to separate her from all contact with
France. Still in virtue of the principle of disin-
terestedness imposed upon great courts, a princi-
])le, wiihont wliich it would be impossible to
establish Europe on a durable basis, little would
be given to Prussia, with the view of having the
power of organizing Germany and Italy in a
convenient fashion. After the kingdom of the
two Belginms, created on the north of France,
the kingdom of Piedmont would be created on the
south and east, under the name of the subalpine
kingdom, and they would adjudge it to the house of
Savoy, then dethroned, which had suffered yet
more than the house of Orange in this common
cause of kings. They would not restore him
Savoy, but give him the whole of Piedmont, all
Lombardy, even the Venetian sUites, taken with
I this intention from Austria, by means of the
indemnification which would follow. Finally, to
this vast territory they would add Genoa. The
subal|iine kingdom, forming thus the most con-
siilerable slate of Italy, would be capable of
holding the balance between France and Austria,
and serve at a later period as the foundation of
Italian independence.

Italy, that fine and interesting country, would
be constituted separately, in such a mode as to
enjoy that existence so jiroper for it, and so
vainly desired by its people. To unite it in
one entire body was at that time impossible.

620 Scheme of the mediation. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The Ottoman empire to ^snu
April.

They would therefore compose it of several
suites united in a federation bond, a bond sufti-
cieutly strong to render the common action as
l)r<>mpt as it would be facile. Besides the subal-
pine kingdom, comprehending the whole of
L'pper Italy from the maritime as far as the
Julian Alps, and having two ports, such as Venice
and Genoa, there would be the kingdom of the
Two Sicilies preserved in its actual limits, which
would be placed on the other extremity of the
Peninsula; in the centre would be found the pope,
to whom the Legations would be restored, enjoy-
ing a i)erpetual neutrality, and as the elector of
Jlayence in the Germanic body, having the func-
tions of the chancellor of the confederation ; in
the centre there would still be the kingdom of
Etruria left to Spain ; then either in the inter-
stices of these states, or at the extremities, would
be the republic of Lucca, the order of Malta,
the republic of Ragusa and of the Seven Islands.
The Italian body in its federal organization would
have a head or chief as the Germanic body had,
but not elective. The king of Piedmont and of
the Two Sicilies would alternately enjoy that
dignity.

Tliis was, without doubt, a generous and wise
combination, for which France would have lieen
bound to impose sacrifices upon herself, if the
young heads that governed Russia had been capa-
ble of determining seriously and strongly upon
a great measui'e.

Savoy taken from the crown of Sardinia, was
not to be given to France, but with the Vaiteline
and the Grisons to be converted into a Swiss
canton. Switzerland divided into cantons would
have been united to Germany as one of the con-
federated states.

The Germanic empire was to he submitted to
a system of government entirely now. It was
oppressed alternately by Austria and Prussia,
that disputed their domination. These two
powers would be placed out of the confederation,
in which they played only the character of the
lieaiis of an ambitious party. The Germanic body
thus delivered over to itself, diminished by these
two great powers, but increased by the additions
of the kingdom of the two Belgiums and Switzer-
land, freed from all vexatious influence, having in
view only the interest of Germany, would be no
more drawn, in spite of itself, into wars unjust, or
foreign to its true interests. The crown would
cease to be elective. The principal states of the
confederation would have, by turns, tlie supreme
direction, as it was proposed should be the case
in Italy. Tlien would be reinforced, by means of
new territorial limitations, the states of Baden,
Wurtemburg, and Bavaria. The (piarrel, always
disturbing to the empire, that existed between
Bavaria and Austria, would be terminated by
giving the frontier of the Inn to the latter power.

The three great states of the continent, Fiance,
Prussia, and Austria, would be then se|)arated the
one from the other by three grand independent con-
federations ; the Germanic, the Swiss, and the Ita-
lian, thus connecting themselves with each other
from the Zuider Zee as far as the Adriatic.

In supposing these different combinations sound,
and practicable in effect, we scarcely know how to
avoid these observations; that to cut off Austria

and Prussia from the Germanic body was not to
set free that body, because these two ambitious
powers remaining without, and unci mnected, would
have acted towards it as absolute states placed
around one which is free, or as Frederic and
Catharine around Poland ; they would have di-
vided and agitated it ; in ]>lace of merely wishing
to exercise a predominant influence, they would
lean towards its conquest. The true indepen-
dence of Germany, therefore, consisted in a strong
organization of the diet, in an equitable partition
of voting between Austria and Prussia, of such a
nature that the confederation should be able to hold
the balance between them. In addition to those
European arrangements which would not render
Prussia the natural enemy of France, (as was
done in 1815, by giving that power the Rhenish
provinces,) the two German powers remaining
rivals, but held in equilibrium by the diet, Ger-
many would be free, that is, would be capable of
making its resolutions lean to the side of its true
interests.

To suppress the power of election for the impe-
rial crown, would not be a step of much value,
at least so it would appear. Althnugh for two
centuries this crown has n(-t passed aw;iy from the
house of Austria, the' election was, nevertheless, a
bond of dependence, which laid that Ixiuse under
an obligation to the states of Germany. It is
sometimes hij;hly useful to m;ike the great depen-
dent upon the suffrage of the lesser powers, when
anarchy cannot be expected to result from such a
dept-udence. Germany, constituted as it had been
in 1803 by Napoleon, with some votes given to
the Catholics, in order by that to re-establish a
balance, too nmcb changed at the expense of
Austria, presented an arrangement better and more
natural than that which was devised by the authors
of the new European organization.

Although disinterestedness was the essential
principle of the proposed plan, this same disinter-
estedness might go so far as not to acquire, and
content itself with a better arrangement of
Europe as a unique indemnity for the expense of
the war, but it was not to be expected that it
should go so far as to make sacrifices at a loss.
They would, therefore, owe an indemnity to
Austria for the states of Venice, of which they
wished to demand the renunciation on her part.
In consequence they gave Austria Moldavia and
Wallacliia, in order that she might thus extend
her territory as far as the Black Sea, and secure
herself against the future danger of being block-
aded by Russia.

The Ottoman empire was maintained unchanged,
save in regard to certain restrictions, that they
would afterwards make known.

The north remained to be considered. There
was much to be done in its regard, according to the
singular organizers of Europe, who worked with
so much freedom upon the map of the world.
The frontier which separated Prussia from Russia
was bad. Poland was divided between these two
powers. In the sight of the abbd Piatoli, and in
that of the young personages whom he inspired with
his policy, in that of prince Czartoryski above all,
even with Alexander, the dismemberment of Po-
land was a great outrage. Alexander, in his
youth idle, and oppressed in the time of Paul, had

1805.
AprU.

England to restore Malta. —
A kiiij^doni to be funned
in Egypt.

THE THIRD COALITION.

A cods of the laws of nations
to be formed.

621

often said in the midst of his heart's outpouring.s
that the dismeinbermeiit of Poland was a crime of
his forefathui-s, and tiiat he should be happy to make
reparation for it. But how was Poland to be
i-enewed \ How placed ? a state cut off and iso-
lated between tlie rival states which iiad destroyed
it. There existed one mode, wiiicli was to recon-
struct it entirely, to render back to it ail the parts
of which it was formerly composed, and to give it
afterwards to the emi)eror of Russia, who would
grant to it independent institutions, in such a
fashion that Poland, destined in the ancient ideas
of Euroi)e to serve as a barrier to Germany
against Russia, would be rather the advanced
guard of Russia against Germany. Such was the
dream of these young politicians, such was the
ambition with which they nourished Alexander.
This great indignation against the outrage of the
last century, this noble disinterestedness imposed
upon all the courts to repress the ambition of
France, had therefore, for the definitive end, to
reform Poland, that it might be given to Russia !
This was not the tii-st time that, under the vain-
glorious virtues, otlered with ostentation to the
world's esteem, great vanity and great ambition have
been conct-aled. This court of Russia, which at
that time carried to the liighest point the affecta- i
tion of equity and disinterestedness, that pre- I
tended from the height of the Pole to give a |
lesson to England and to France, was thinking,
therefore, in reality, of the complete possession of
Poland ! However, it concealed amid its de-
signs a feeling that must be honoured, that of
prince Czartoryski, who, not seeing at the moment
any po.xsilnlity of reestablishing Poland by the
hands of Poles alone, wished in default of them,
to serve the cause by the iiands of the Russians.
This at least was a legitimate object ; and it is
not possible to reproach him with but one thing,
often jterceived by the Russians, and more than
once denounced to the emperor Alexander, that
he thought less of the interests of Russia than
those of his original country, and in this view
would push his master into an ill-calculated
war. The ubbd Piatoli, a long while attached to
Poland, part«iok in all these ideas. It was difficult,
nevertheless, to propose to " this alliance of medi-
ation," founded on the princijjle of disinterested-
ness ; it was dilHcnlt to pro|)ose to such an al-
liance the abandonment of Poland to Russia ; but
there was a means of obtaining that object.
Prussia loving peace anil the profit of a neutrality
would not, it was probable, consent to declare her-
self. Then to punish her refusal, they would march
over her body, and take from her Varsovia and the
Vistula; and with these large portions of ancient
Poland, reunite I to those already in the possessiim
of Ru.ssia, th<-y would constitute the new Poland of
which Alexaniler should be the king and legislator.

To these ideas tlioie were some othei-s joined, as
accessaries to the plan, sometimes singular in
themselves, and hoinetiines jii.st and generous.

They would oblige England to restore Malta to
the ord<M'. Russia would abandon Corfu, which
from that time wouhl figure among the seven
island.s. England had taken India; that it would
be necessary to abaudon to her; but they woulil be
able to draw fniin Kgypt an immense aid towards
civilization, general cuinmerce, and ihu balance of

the seas. They would take it from the Porte, and
give it over to France in order that she might
charge herself with its civilization. They would
form an oriental kingdom, which should be jilaced
under the paramount sovereignty of France. There
they would place the Bourbons to reign, if at the
peace Napoleon was maintained upon the throne
of France, and Napoleon if the Bourbons were re-
established on their former throne. They would
restore to the Porte the Barbary states ; they
would even aid it to r-eeontjuer them, in <irder
that piracy might be abolished, a barbarism disho-
nourable to Europe. Finally, there were certain
possessions contrary to tlie nature of things, al-
though sanctioned by time and conquest, tliat it
would be humane and wise to alter. For examjile,
Gibraltar served the English to keep up in Spain a
contraband trade, shameful and corrupting for the
nation; the islands of Jersey and Guernsey aided
the English in fomenting civil war in France ;
Memel in the hands of Prussia was on the territory
of Russia, a species of Gibraltar in fraud. They
would, if it was possible, through the means of
certain compensations, bi'ing the possessors to re-
nounce the posts and places of which such a cen-
surable use was made.

Spain and Portugal were to be reconciled and
united by a federal tie, which placed them under
the shelter of French influence on one side, and of
English influence on the other. It was necessary
to ol/lige England to repair the wrongs that she
had done towards Spain, to weigh upon her, so as
to force her to restore the captured galleons, and in
thus conducting the mediation, to snatch the court
of Madrid, which desired nothing more ardently,
from the overwhelming tyranny of France.

To complete this great work of European organi-
zation, the emperor of Russia was to address him-
self to all the learned men of Europe, and to re-
quest from them a code regulating the rights of
nations, comprehending a new maritime law. It
was, they said, inhuman and barbarous, that a na-
tion should declare war without having first sub-
mitted to the arbitration of a neighbouring disin-
terested state, and above all, that one nation should
commence hostilities against another withi>ut a
previ<tus declaration of war, as had come to pass in
regard to England and Spain, and that innocent
merchants should find themselves ruined or de-
l)rived of their liberty by such a species of ambus-
cade. It was intolerable yet more, that neutral
nations should be the victims of the rage of rival
powers, and be unable to pass over tiie seas with-
out being exposed to the consequences of a contist
to which they were perfect strangers. The honour
of this grand reforming court exacted that all these
evils should be provided against by international
laws. Prizes would be granted to the learned who
sh.inid propose on this subject the best system
of the rigliis cjf nations.

It was by this medley of odd ideas, some of an
elevated character, others purely ambitious in their
objects, these wise, those chimerical, that they e.'C-
alted the brain of the young emperor, fickle, lively,
as vain of his honest but fugitive intentions, us he
would be, if they wen; all of the most approved
worth. He believed himself really called to rege-
nerate Europe; and if ho sometimes interrupted
himself in his fine dreams, it was ui thinking of a

Deficiency of wisdom
g22 "' "'^ plans 01

mediation.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Interview of Pitt and
Nowosiltzoff.

Ap.il.

great nixn who domineered in the west, and who
was nut of the hunumr to leave him to his work of
regeneration, neitlier without him nor against liini.
Tiiose whi) observed Alexander closely, observed,
ahliouijli his spirit was shiken at tiie idea, that he
foresaw war with Napoleon, as tiie last and pro-
bal'le conclusion of all his plans.

This strange conception did not merit to be re-
lated at such a length, no more than the thousand
propositions with which the Iramers of projects often
overburden the courts which have the weaUiiess to
listen to them, if it iiail not entered into the head of
Alexander and of his friends, and what is more
serious, had it not become the text of ail the nego-
tiations wiiich followed, to serve finally as the foun-
dation of the treaties of lii\ I.

One thing is worthy of remark. It was a I'e-
proach at this epotdi that the French revolution
liad promised liberty, indepemlence, and hajipi
ness to ev.-ry jieople without giving iheni, and tiius
ha<l broken its word with mankind. But here
we have alisolute power at work. Young, spirited
men, some honest and sincere, others purely amhi-
lious, all educated in the school of philosophers,
uiiiied by their birth, and uniformity of tiistcs,
around the heir of the gieiitest despotic empire in
the wor.d, are taken witli tlie idea of rivalling tlie
Fnncli revolution, and of performing its gene-
rous smd p ipular intentions. This revolution, which
accordiog to them liad not even ])rorured liberty
for France, because it had given her a master, ami
that had been of no more worth to other nations,
than ciusini; them a humiliating dependence upi>n
the French empire, litis revolution lliey would
c iifound l>y opposing to it a European regenera-
tion, founded upon an equitable distribution of ter-
ritories, and a new law of nations. It would have
an independent Italy, a free Germany, a Poland r<-
coiisiiiuietl. Every great power would berestiained
by u-efiil counterpoises. Fiance itself would be,
not liumiliateil, but brought back to a resjiect for
the rii^hts of others. The abuses of war would dis-
appear on land and sea; piracy would be abolished;
the ancient highway of commerce would be re-es-
tjiblished througii Egy])t; science finally would be
c.illedin to write down a public law ol nations. Ali
this was not only libellously written down by an
editor of memoirs, but seriously proi)osed to all the
Ct>nrt.s, iind discussed with Pitt, the leiist chimerical
of mankind. We know to-day, we who are forty
yejirsold and more, what has become of all those
I hilanlhropic views of absolute power. The inven-
tors ot these schemes, beaten, disconcerted for ten
\ears by that which they wished to destroy, once
\ic-tors, in 1814, made neither a code of the hiw of
nati' ns, iior a code of maritime l:iw; they did not
tree 1 taly, nor Germany, nor Poland. Malta and
Gibraltar have not ceased to belong to the Eiif^lish;
and the demarcations of Europe, traced according
to the iiilercsw of the passing moment, witliout any
calcul.itioii about the future, are the least wise that
it is possible to imagine thein.

However, not to anticipate on the se(|uel of this
history— to say how all these ideas became com-
mon to the friends of Alexander iiiid to himself,
would be a useless detail. It ajjpears certam,
that they were deeply penetrated with them, both
the one and the other, and that they |>rouiiseil to
make them the basis of the Russian policy. The

prince Czartfiryski, seeing here a new chance for
the re-constitution of Polai.d, very ardently desired
to carry it into execution. He had become, since
the retreat of M. de VVoronzoff into the country,
from the simple adjoint to the minister of foreign
affairs, the directing minister of that department.
M. Nowosiltzoff and Strogonoff, the adjoints, one of
justice, the other of the interior, dedicated them-
selves to very diHerent cares than those apparently
under their charge; they occupied themselves with
their young colleague and the emperor to set the
world upon a new basis. It w:ts resolved that the
one of their number possessed of most dexterity,
M. Nowosihzoff, should be sent to London to con-
fer with Pitt, and make him agree to the designs of
the court of Russia. It was necessary to convert
the ambitious British cabinet, to bring it to the
disinterested views of the ])rojected design, in order
to be able to found that which they called " the al-
liiince of mediation," and in the name of this
alliance, to speak to France in such a manner as
to be heard. A oiusin of M. Strogonoff' set out for
Madrid, in the double object of pacifying England
and Spain, and of binding together Spain and Por-
tugal by indissoluble ties. It was decided that M.
Strogonoff should visit London before going to
Madrid, in order to commence in that capitjil his
conciliatory ndssion. In the judgment of all
Europe, the ))roceedings of the British government
towards the commerce of Spain had been con-
sidered unjust and odious. He was to state, that if
England did not become more rational in its con-
duct, it should be left to engage alone against
France, and that Russia would enter herself, with
all the continental powers, into a neutrality fatal
to Great Britain.

'I he two young Russians charged to obtain the
adoption irom other powers of the policy <d ilieir
cabinet, set themselves on the route for London
towards the close <d' April, 1804. M. Nowosiltzoff,
presented at the English court by the Russiini
ambassador, Woi-onzott, brother of the chancellor
in retirement, was received with a distinction and
with attentions fitting to make an impression upon
a ;, ouiig btatisni:in admitted, for the first time,
to the honour of treating upon the great affairs
of Eurojie. It is much oltener harshness and
]iride than subiilty thiit characterize the diploma-
tists of England. Slid lord Harrowby, and n.oie
p;iitienlarly Pitt, with whom the Russian envoy
entered at once into a conference, were both soon
able to perceive with what sort of persons they had
to trans;ict business, and conducted themselves ac-
cordiiifily. Old Pitt, old by character much more
thiiH years, rendered supple by the danger, all
haughty as he was, esteemed himself but too loi-
tunate to find again an alliance upon the contii eni,
to be very difticitit in his uegoti;iti n. He was .is
<()niplais;iiit as it was needful lor him to be towards
young pcrson:iges destitute of experience, and
feedmg themselves upon chimerical noti. ns. He
listened to the singular propositions id' the Unssi;iii
cabinet, appeared to welcome them with gre;it con-
sideraiion, but modified them as he b uiid ii c( ii-
veniiiit to suit his own political vii-ws, took caic
not to repel any thing, but limited himself to pi st-
piiidng until the time of a general peace any thin;;
that was incompatible witii the interests ol Bri isli
policy. He returned the ju-oposilions of the Rus-

1805. M. Nowosillzoff confers with
April. .Mr. Piit.

THE THIRD COALITION.

Views of Mr. Fitt, and modi-
fications.

623

siaii envoy, writin<j in relation to tliem his own
obser»ati()iis'. At first Pitt consented to be brow
beaten by the ynunji Russian envoy; lie suffered
him to reimiacli English nnUiition, tlie harsliness of
its proceedings, and its usurpingsysten), which served
as a pretext tor tlie usurping system ol France. He
snfteieil liim to say, that in order to form a new
alhaiice, it must be grounded iipnn a great disin-
terestedness on tiie part of all the contracting
ptiWfi-s. The head of the British cabinet, tlitis
become alive to the subject, approved strongly of
all the ideas of the ambassailor of Alexander, and
d<-clared that it was necessary to exliibit effectually
the most perfect separation from any pei-sontil
views, if they would tear off the mask with which
the ambition of France w^s concealed; that it
would be indispens;ibly needful that the allies
sh.iuld not appear to think of themselves, but of
the enfranchisement of Europe, op|)ressed by a bar-
barousand tyranni.al power. The gravity ("f men, and
tile seriousness of the interesis of which they treju,
do not hinder them from giving very often a spec-
tacle but too puerile. Is it not, in effect, some-
thing very puerile to see diplomatists representing
the ambitions that have agitated the wi.ild lor ages,
reproacliiiig France with her insatiable avidity?
As if the English minister bad wished in this any
thing more than Malta, India, and the dominion df
tlie sea! As if the Russian minister had desired
any thing besides Poland and a dominant inHiieiice
tiu the continent! How lamentable to hear the
lieails of Slates address each other seriously with
Kimiiar re|)roaches! Doubtless, Najioleon was much
too amiiitious for his own interest, and more par-
ticularly for that of France; but Napoleon con-
sidered, if it may be so said, in his n)oral causes,
was he any thing more than the reaction of the
French power against the usurpations of the
European courts in the last century, against the
partiiions of Poland and the con(|uest of the Indies?
Ambition is the vice or virtue of all nations ;
the vice, when it torments the world without doing
any good; the virtue, when it agitates and civilizes
it. In this point of vi. w, the ambition of which
the nations have still the lea.st to complain, what-
ever they have suffered, is that of France. There
is not one of the countries traversed by her armies
which Fiance has not left better and mure en-
lightened.

It was then agreed between Pitt and M. Nowo-
Hillzofr that the new alliance should profess the
greatest disintiTesteilness, in order to render mme
evident still the insatiable cupidity of tlie French
emperor. In admitting that it would be very use-
ful to disembarrass Europe of this formidable
personage, it was still acknowledged that it would
be impi-u<lent to announce any intention of im-
posing a new goverinnenl upon France-. 'I'liey
would wait until the country itst If Hlioiild pro-
D'Mince; secondly, if it should itself be ilis|iosed to
shake off the yoke of the imperial government ;
above all, take great care to assure to the
beads of the army the preservation of their rank,
and to the proprietors of the iiati oial domains the
preservation of their property. All the proclama-
tions addressed to the French nation were to carry

' I have my«cir seen the diiplirate of thcKO conrcreiiccs,
i)f wliicii one copy is to l)f louinl in France. — Author.

the most tranquillizing assurances upon tliis sub-
ject. Pitt even went as far as to regard this
precaution so important, that he said he was ready
to make, with English money, a jirovision (w»e ;i*ro-
r'mon, this was bis own expression,) to indemnify the
emigrants remaining around the B(nirbons; and
t'r.us take away from them every motive for alarm-
ing the proprietors of the national property. Pitt
dreamed therefore of the famous indemnity to the
emigrants twenty years before it was voted by the
parliament of France. In willing to indenmify
such pretensions, he could not assuredly have
known what he engaged liimself to do; but in
showini,' himself disposed to attempt it at the ex-
pens.- of the British treasury, he proved what an
iinmense price England attached to the fall of
Napoleon, who had become so menacing an object
in her sight.

The idea of uniting an imposing mass of force,
on the strength of which they could treat before
fighiing, was naturally admitted by Pitt with ex-
treme eagerness. Ue had consented to the simili-
tude of a previous negotiation, well knowing that
it Would not be of einisequeiice, and that the con-
ditions proposed would never agree with the pride
of Napoleon. He would never suffer in any case
that iliey should organize without, and against
him, Italy, Switzerland, and Holland, under the
spi cions pretext of ilieir independ. nee. Pitt there-
fore loft the young Russian governors to think that
he would work for the " grand mediation," con-
vinced as he Was that they were marching purely
and simply to a third coalition. As to the distri-
bution of tlie forces, he contrailieted a part of their
project. He accepted well enough the three grand
masses; one in the south conipose<l of the Russians,
Neapolitans, and English ; another in the east,
comjiosed of the Russians and Ansirians; one in
the north composed of Pi'ussians, Russians, Swedes,
Hanoverians, ami English. But he declared lie
<,-oulil not at that moment furnish a single Engiish-
maii. He said that they should be kept on the
coasts of England, always reaily to embaik, and
they would produce a very useful result, by mena-
cing the shores of the French empire in all points
at once. This signified that, living in terror of the
expeditions prepared at Boulogne, the English
government would not leave its territory destitute,
a thing \ery naiural. Pitt promised subsidies, but
n t as much nearly as they asked. He offered
(>.OOII,0(K»/. sterling,' or 15(»,6uO,000 f. He insisted
■ Host particulai'lv upon a siibjict which the authors
of the Ru.ssian project seemed to treat very lightly,
that was the concurrence of Prussia. Without
her, all appeared to him difficult, indeed nearly
impossible. In his eyes the eoncmrence of eniire
Eiuope was required for the destruction of Napo-
ItMin. lie sirongly approved that they should jiass
over the body of Prussia, if it were not found
practicable to draw that country into the alliance;
because Russia would llius bind herself for ever
to the policy of England; he even offered in that
case, to make the part of the subside destined for
Prussia pass on to .St. Petersburg; but he felt it
was a very serious thing, and gave bis advice that
propositioiiH, the most i.ilvanlageous possible, should
be address(;d to tin- cabinet of Berlin, in order to
^ain it over. " Do not believe," he said to M.
Nowosilizoff, "that 1 am the least in tho world

Interview between THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Pitt and Nowosiltzoff.

April.

favourable to that false cabinet, crafty, and full of
cupidity, that demands sometimes of Europe, some-
times of Napoleon, the price of its perfidiousness;
no, but it is iu this cabinet that the fate of the
])resent, and even of the iuture reposes. Prussia,
jealous of Austria, fearing Russia, will always
carry iierself on the side of France. It is necessary
to detach her; unless this is done, she will never
cease to be the accomplice of our irreconcilable
enemy. It is necessary to be wanting as relates
to her alone in your ideas of disinterestedness ; it
is necessary to give more than Napoleon knows
liow to oft'LT, sometiiing befi)re all things else, that
shall embroil her with France."

Pitt hail then by his hatred, which sometimes
cleared his siglit, if it often blinded him, imagined
a modification of the Russian plan, fatal as well for
Germany as for France. He th<iuglit the idea
luminous and |irofiiund, of constructing around the
French terriinry kingdoms capable of resisiing
France, a kingdimi of the two Belgiums, and a
snbal|)ine kingdom; one for the house of Orange
jirotected by England, the other for the house of
Sivoy protected by Russia. But he thought that
it was an insufficient precaution. He wished that
in idace of separatnig Prussia and France by the
Rhine, they should on the contrary be placed in
innnediate contact; and he proposed .^to grant to
Prussia, if she pronounced in favour of the coali-
tion, all the country comprised between the Meuse,
Moselle, a.^d Rhine, all that is called at this day
the Rhenish provinces. It seemed indispensable
to him if it was wished in future to drag Prussia
from her interested neutrality, and from her ]>ar-
ti.ility forNapoleon, near whom shealways searched
and found an uncia-^ing support against Austria.
'I'hey exten<led their design in 1815, by placing on
the Rhine Bavaria, besides Prussia, in order to
take away fionj France all her olil allies in Ger-
many. When she will one day have need of a
support against the dangers which will come upon
her from the side of the north, Germany will ap-
preciate what services those might have rendered
li-r, who have themselves studied to create subjects
of division between her and France.

There came out of these conferences a new idea,
destined to complete the kingdom of the two Bel-
ginms; that was to construct a girdle of fortresses,
tfie image of those which Vauban had constructed
lormcrly to cover France, in that country without
frontier, and to construct those fortresses at the
expense of the alliance.

In regar I /to Germany and Italy, the English
minister made theni feel how far it was from being
possible to execute their vast project at the mo-
ni'-nt, how nmch it would wound the two powers of
whom they had the most need, Prussia and Aus-
tria. Tliey woidd neither the one nor the other
ci^nsent to leave the Germanic confeileration ;
Prussia in particidar liad refused to agree that the
crown of (lermany should be hereditary; Austria
would repulse a constitution for Italy which should
exclude it from that country. Of the projects re
garding Italy, Pitt admitted only the constitution
of the kingdom of Piedmont. He wished that Savoy
itself should be added to all that the Russian pro-
ject already attributed to Piedmont.

Finally, they did not discourse much about Po-
land; all that point implied war with Prussia, which

Pitt held it as above all things best to avoid. The
Russian di[)lomatist, imbued with such generous
ideas on quitting St. Petersburg, dared not make
mention of Egypt, Gibraltar, or Memel; of all that
he had there deemed the most excellent in his pri-
mitive project. Upon two subjects very important,
Pitt was little satisfactory and almost negative; it
may be saiil upon Malta and maritime law. Rela-
tive to Malta, Pitt peremptorily refused to enter-
tain the question, and adjourned explanations upon
that subject until the epoch when it would be
known what sacrifices France was disposed to
make. As to the new law of nations, lie said that
such a work, moral, but little practicable, should
be left to a congress which should assemble alter
the war, to conclude a peace in which all the in-
terests of the nations should be equitably balanced.
The idea of a new law of nations seemed to him
very fine, but difficult to realize, because nations
would with difficulty adopt uniform disi>ositions,
and would observe them with still more difficulty
when ado])ted. However, he did not decline to
treat of these matters in the congress, which
should at a later time regulate the conditions of
a peace.

These conferences terminated by a singular ex-
idanation. It had for its subject the east and
Constantinople. Very recently, by her policy in
Georgia, and by her relations with the insurgents
on the Danube, Russia had given England some
umbrage, which had provoked on her part a note,
in which the independence and integrity of the Ot-
toman empire were already professed as principles
of European policy. " It is not thus that peo])le
proceed when they would establish confidence be-
tween allies," said M. Nowosiltzoff to Mr. Pitt; "of
all men my master is he who has the most noble,
most generous character ; it suffices that he is
proud of his integrity. But to seek to stop him by
menaces, or only by insinuations, is to wound him
uselessly. He would be excited rather than re-
strained by such means." At these words Pitt
made many excuses at having suffered umbrages
so ill founded to be noted, that they were but na-
tural before they had arrived at the period in their
intercourse, that inspired full confidence between
each other; but that for the future, and with the
intimacy that was established between the two
coin-is, it would be impossible. " Besides," said M.
Nowosiltzott', " what inconvenience would it be if
Constantinople appertained to a civilized peoi)le
like the Russians, in place of belonging to barba-
rians like the Turks ? Would not your commerce
in the Black Sea gain considerably by such a
change i Without doubt, if the east had submitted
to that France wliich is so given to usurpation, the
danger would be real; hut as to Russia, the danger
would be nothing. England could have no objec-
tion to make. Pitt' replied, that these considera-
tions had assuredly much weight in his eyes; that as
to himself he had no prejudice in that respect, that
he did not see any very great danger in case Con-
stantinople should fall into the hands of the Rus-
sians; but that it was a prejudice rooted in his
country, that he was obliged to humour, and that he
must take good care about actually touching ou any
snnilar subject.

' This detail is contained in a very curious letter from
M. Nowosiltzoff to his cabinet.

1S05.
April.

Negotiations of

THE THIRD COALITION.

Russia with Prussi;

M. Strogoniiff obtained nothini:; satisfactory, or
next to notliiiiji, relative to Spain. She had
lianded over, according to the English cabinet, nil
her r.'sourcfs to France; it was a delusion to care
abi lilt her. However, i!" slie would declare against
France, her galleons should be restored to her.

M. Strogonc.ff set out for Madrid, M. Nowosiltzoff
for St. PetiTsburg. It was agreed that lord Gower,
subsequently viscount Granville, then ambassador
from Kngland at the court of St. Petersburg,
should be charged with detailed powers to conclude
a treaty on the basis agreed upou between the two
courts.

The Russian plan had not been submitted but a
few days to elaboration in London, when it tlius re-
turned home, despoiled of all wliicli it had that was
generous, and also of a little that was practical. It
was reduced to a project of intended destruction
against I-'rance. No ujore of Italy, Germany, or
Poland, independent ! The kingdom of Piedmont;
the kingdom of the two Belgiums ; out of a sense
of profouiKl hatred to France, Prussia upon the
Rhine; the restitution of Malta evaded; the new
law uf nations remitted to a future congress; in
fine, before the commencement of hostilities, a si-
mulation of negotiation, a simulatitin very vain,
because a general and immediate war was at the
foumlation of things: here is what remained of this
vain-glorious project for a European reconstitu-
tion, grown out of a sort of mental fermentation
in the young heads that governed Russia. Tliey
then set themselves to negotiate at Petersburg
with lord Gower upon the points that were ad-
mitted in London between Pitt and Nowosiltzoff.

Whilst they thus leagued with England, it was
necessary to undertake an analogous work with
Austria and Prussia, in order to bring them to join
tlie new coalition. Prussia, that had engaged her-
self with Russia to make war if the French passed
the limit of Hanover, but that in the meanwhile
had pi'omised France to remain inviolably neuter
if the imniber of French in Germany were not aug-
mented, was not willing to abandon this ])erilons
equililirium. She ieigned not to com|>rehend that
which Russia stated to her, and sheltered herself
under her old system, become |)roverbial, " the
neutrality of the north of Germany." This manner
of eiuiling the (juestion was so much the more
facile, as that in fear of seeing the secrets of (he
new coalition delivered over to Napoleon, the Rus-
sian diplomatists dared not openly explain theni-
selvcH. The cabinet of Berlin, by its hesitations,
had given itself such a reputation for duplicity,
that they believed it was ini|)oSbible to conKde to it
any secret without its being soon connnunicated to
Friime. Thc-y did not therefore impart the design
carried to London, nor aught of the negotiations
that toll .wed ii; but tlwy cited to it every day tlie
new encroachments of Napoleon, more particularly
the conversion of the Italian republic into a king-
dom, wliicli would Come to be, they said, a union of
Lombardy with Franee, similar to that of Pied-
mont. Th'/y aniiouneed the most gigantic designs.
They reported that Napoleon was goi.ig to make of
Parma and i'iaccn/.a, of Naples, and, tinally, of
Spain itseir, kingdoms for his own famdy; that soon
H<ill iiid would experience a similar lot; that Swit-
zerland Would be incorporated, uiid(;r the pretext of
a reciilication of the French Ininiiers; that cardi-

nal Fesch would be shortly elevated to the Papal
chair; that it was necessary to save Europe, me-
naced with a universal domination ; that the
courts whieh should obstinately live amid this in-
security, would lie the cause of the common loss,
and tinish by being themselves enveloped. Know-
ing more particularly that the rivalry of Austria
and Prussia was the principal cause which brought
back the latter to the side of France, they endea-
voured to reconcile these two powers. They re-
quested Prussia to fix her pretensions, and to make
them known; they told her that tliey would try
and entreat of Austria the avowal of her own, and
that they would force both one and the other to be
reconciled through a definitive arbitration of their
differences. They aimounced that by means of
some Catholic voices more in the college of princes,
a concession of very small importance, Austria
would couent herself for ever with the rcccz of
1J503, and would s.mction the new arrangements by
her irrevoeable adhesion, through which Prussia
had gained so much. They even went so far as to
insinuate, that if by any misfortune a contest should
become inevitable, E^russia would be legally indem-
nified for the chances of the war. However, they
did not avow that a coalition was ready to be
formed ; and that as fnr as concerned principle it was
concluded; they appeared to express no more than
the wish of seeing Prussia united wiili the rest of
Europe, to guarantee the equilibrium of the world,
at that time seriously nieniiced.

In fine, to be as near the court of Prussia as pos-
sible, tliey sent to it a Russian general, M. Vint-
zingerode, an enlightened officer of the staff, who
was to open himself by little and little to the king,
but to the king alone, and who having a knowledge
of the military plan would be able, if he succeeded
in making himself heard, to jiropose the me;ins of
execution, and to regulate the whole plan and de-
tails of the future war. M. Vmtzingerode arrived
at the end of the winter of 1«04, the moment when
Napoleon was preparing to set out for Italy; ho
ke|)t up a great reserve near the Prussian cabinet,
but gained ground a little near the king, and ap-
pealing to the friendship connnenced at Memel
between the two sovereigns, endeavoured to draw
in the king through the title of that fri< ndship to
the conunon cause of kings. The young Frederick
William, seeing himself further pressed, and com-
prehending at last what the real <iuestion was, pro-
tested his strong affectifni for the emperor Alex-
ander, and his warm sympathy for the cause of
Europe, but objected that he was exposed to the
first attacks of Niipoleon, that he did not believe
himself sufficiently strong to combat with so power-
ful an adversary; that ihe succours wiiieh they led
him to expect might not arrive until too late, be-
ciiuse they were very far distant, and he should bo
vanquished, |)erliaps destroyed, before they could
couKf to his aid. He olisliuiitely n-fiised all parti-
ci|i:ition in a coalition, that they hail sulfeivd him
to perceive without expressly avowing it. He made
nmch too of ilie danger of placiii;; liimself in con-
nexion with the suggestions of Kngland, ami even
proposed, in order to jireveut a Kenerid war, of
which he was very much afraid, lo act as tliu iu-
termediate party between Russia and France.

In this delicate conjuncture, the king had called
into consultation M. llaugwit/., who had for some
Ss

„nf, PTUsMa sends M. Zastrow
*>^" to Petersburg.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1805.
AprU.

time retired to his estates in Silesia, and had dis-
covered, in tlie advice he gave, a fresh encouran;e-
ment fur an ambi'^uons and pacific policy. If it
became nee ssary for him to take a positive reso-
lution, M. Haugwitz would have sooner leaned
towards France; M. Hanlenberg, who was his suc-
cessor, would have preferred leaning towards
Russia ; but he was ready to decide, he said, in
favour of France as soon as of Russia, provided that
some part was taken. With less mind, tact, and
prudence than M. Haugwitz, he was fond of cen-
suring his tergiversations, and f)rofessed, as a dis-
tinguishing mark between himself ami his prede-
cessor, a taste for some pjirty strongly decided.
It w;is necessary, in the sense of his meaning, to
take the side of Fi-ance, if it were judged useful
to do so, and embrace her c;iuse, but in such a
case to iuive the advantages and gailier the price
of a decided option. In this view, he was less
agreeable to tlie king than M. Haugwitz, who left
his prince to taste the sweets of his indecision; and
it was possible already to ))erceive between M.
Haugwitz and M. Hardenberg that difference of
language through which ruptures begin between
ministers, wliether in courts or in free states.

The king, in reply to the mission of M. Vintzin-
gerode, wished also to send a person of confidence
to St. Petersburg, and I'e-spatclied M. Zastiow with
a commission to explain his position to the em-
peror Alexander, to make his reserved comluct
palatable, and to penetrate, if it were possible, more
deeply still into the yet veiled si-cret of the new
coalition. While he sent M. Zistrow to Peters-
burg for the purpose of stating these things, Fre-
derick William boasted to Napoleon of his resist-
ance to the suggestion^ of Russia; he spoke of the
neutrality of the north of Germany, not as a real
neutr.ility, as it was in effect, but as a positive
alliance, which should cover France on the north
from all the enemies which she could have to
conil)at. This prince, moreover, offered, as he had
offered Russia, to play the part of a conciliatcn*.

M. Viiitzingerode, after having prolonged his
stay at IJerliii so far as to render himself regarded
as a troublesome guest at the court, from its fear
of being compromised by the prolonged presence of
a Russian agent, proceeded to Vieima, where he
made the same efforts as at Berlin. He had no
need to hold with .Austria the same dissimulation
as with Prussia. It was not at all necessary.
Austi-ia wiis full of h itred to Napoleon, smd she
ardently desired the expulsion of ihe French from
Italy. With this court, it was not necessary, as
with the king of Prussia, to cover himself with the
plausible semblance of disiuterestedniss. He might
speak plain, and say what he wished ; because
Austria desired the same thing that was desired at
St. Pciershurg. She iiad not with her at least the
illusions of youth and false sentitneiitalisin, which
agreeil not with her old expeiienc. Yet further,
she knew how to keep a sicret. If, in appearance,
she li.id for France infinite care in management,
and for the e;ir of Napoleon the ci>nstant l.iuguage
of flattery, she nourished at the b..ttiim of her heart
all the resentments of a mortitied inubition, for
ten years coiitimially maltreated. She had, there-
fore, secretly entered, fr ni the fir-t, into the pas-
sions of Russia; l>ut remembering her defeats, she
had not consented to bind herself without extreme

prudence, and liad taken only conditional engage-
ments, and with due precaution. She had signed with
Russia a secret convention, which was for the south
of Europe, that which the convention signed by
Prussia was for the north*. Site promised, in this
convention, to throw off her inactive character, if
Finance, committing new usurpations in Italy, ex-
tended further the occupation of the kingdom of
Naples, actually limited to the Gulf of Tarentum,
operated new incorporations, like that of Piedmont,
or menaced some part of the Turkish empire, such
as Egypt. Her contingent to the war was to be
in that case 350,000 Ausirians. She had the assur-
ance, if fortune were favourable to the arms of
the coalesced powers, of obtaining Italy from the
Adda to the Po, leaving out the Milanese. They pro-
mised her besides to replace the two dukes of Ti s-
cany and Modena in their former territories; to
give her thus the country of Salzburg, and the
Brisgau, become vacant. The house of Savoy was
to have a grand establisimient in Italy, composed
of the Milanese, Piedmont, and Genoa. Here again
appears the Russian plan. At Vienna, as at Lon-
don, there remained only the party hostile to
France, and advantageous to the coalesced powers.
Austria had desired and obtained that this conveu-
tion^ should be buried in profound mystery, in

1 Prussia, in spite of the game of duplicity which she
played among tlie great powtrs, through the war conducted
herself becomingly, in some circumstances under wliicli it
could scarcely have been expecied she would have done so.
Down to the present period of his history, our author, «hile
he nuticeil the alleged ill loniluct of Drake and Spencer
Smith towards France (see page 5)0 and note), passes
over the indefensible outi age committed by Napoleon a few
months afterwards on the person of Sir George Rumbold,
British charge d'affiiires to the Hanse towns, and the stales
of the circle of Lower Saxony. On the 25th of October, in
the same year, in which so much was said about the
British agents, Drake and Smith, that according to our
author, operated in the way it was designed to opemte,
"as a diversion to tlie deaih of the duke d'Enghien," to
adopt our authnr's own words (which is singularly said
in lord H»wkesbury's maiiifesfo (see note, page 540 to be
so evident, hislordsliip being thnscorroborated by our author
in the surniise Ihirty-tive years alterwards); it was in ttiat
very year Napoleon ghiringly violated the territory of Ham-
burgh, landing two hundred and fifty soldiers, and seized
the British envoy and his papers at his residence at Gr ndal,
a few hundred paces only from the gate ol Hamburgh,
carrying him off to Hanover, and from thence to Paris to tlie
prison of the Temple. Tlie French government foni d no
papers coinprcnnising Sir George Rumbold, and he was
released a day or two al'terwaids by the inierfereiice
of Prussia, all the foreign ministers of Hamburgh
instainly despatching couriers to their respective
couits. Before Sir George was released, it is said, be was
made to pledge bis word that he would not return to Ham-
burgh, nor re>ide within fifty leagues of the French
territory. He was finally put on board a British frigate off
Cherburg tiy a flag of truce, lii order to cover this
atrocious outrage, a notice was issued by the French min-
ister for f. reign affairs, that France would not recog-
nise the En;;lisb diplomatic corps in Europe, until their
government alistained from charging them with "military
agency." Tlie violaiion of a neutral territory for the pur-
pose of such a seizure was passed over. The conduct of
Prussia, acting no doubt under the feeling whi<h inspired
hfr Russian convention, was spirited and honourable. The
total silence of the author about all this is singular.

2 I'his coovei.ti<in was dated the 6th of November 1804.
The text is here given, wbicbuniil now was unknown to the

1805.
April.

Treaty of alliance.

THE THIRD COALITION.

Treaty of alliance.

627

order not to be too soon comproniiseil with Napo-
leon. Tliis justice must be reudered to Austria,

world, as was the convention of Russia with Prussia (see
page 543).

_ , .. , ,, f25ih of October, ,on.

Declaration s.}rned the (on, of November, ^^"*-

The preponderatiiiR influenre exercised by the French
KOV.-riimciu on the neigiibnuriiig states, and the number of
countries occupied bv its troops, inspiring just uneasiness for
the maintenance of the tranquillity and ihe general security
of Europe ; his nuijesly, the emperor of all the Russias,
partakes with his majesty, the emperor king, the convi tiiin
that rhis st-ite of thing's demands Ihe r mutual and most
serious solicitude, and renders it urgent that they ^hould
unite tliemsehes to that tffect by a strict coticert, adapted to
the state of the crisis, and the danger to which Euroiie
finds itself exposed.

The uiidersigi.ed • • • » • furnished in conse-
quence with instructions and powers to negotiate and con-
clude a work thus salutary with the pleiiipi.teiitiaiy ot his
majesty the emperor king to treat wiih him, after having
mutually communicated the full powers in due form,
lias agreed with the said plenipotentiary in the stipulations
stated in th • following articles :—

Art. 1. His maj-siy the emperor of all the Russias
promises and engages to establish, with a due regard to the
crisis and the danger above mentioned, the must intimate
aL'reement with his majesty the emperor and king, and the
two monarclis will take care to inform and to under-tand each
other mutually upon the negotiations and agieements that
they shall in the pres nt rase form with ntlier powers fur the
same end as that agreed upon between them, and any steps
they may take in this regard shall he conducted in a man-
ner, not in any mode to compromise the present en^'age-
ments arranged between them, liefore they shall havedecided
by a common agreement to make them public.

Art. 2. Ilis majesty the emperor of all the Russias, and
his majesty the emperor king, will not neglect any oc-
casion or facility to place themselves in a state to co operate
ill a manner ethcacions for the active meiisurcs which ihey
judge necessary to prevent the dangers which so imme-
diately menaoe the general security.

Art. 3 If out of hatred to the opposition that the two
imperial courts f. el to the anihitiousobjecis of Fr.ince, in vir-
tue of this niuiiialco cert, one of them shall find itself imme-
diately att.icked (the Russian troops st, tioned for the mo-
miiit in the seven Ionian Islands making a part oft. e pre-
sent sliptilaiions), each of the two high contracting powers
oliliges himself in the most formal manner, to put in action
fur the common defence, at the soonest moment possible,
the lorces herciiiaOer announced in Art. 8.

Art. i. If it happen that the French government,
abusing the advantages it possesses by the position of its
iroops that now occupy the leiritory of the Germanic em-
pire, invade the adjacent countries, of which the integrity
and independence are e seiitially allied with the interests of
Russia, and thai, cimsequeiitly, not being able to see such
an encroachment with an inditfereiit eye, his majesty the
emperor of all the Kus^ias finds hiiiiselt obliged to
move his forces thither, his inaJeHty the emperor and
k;n • will regard such conduct on the p^rt of France as
an aggression which will impose upon him the diiiy of
placing himself, at the eaniest nioiiiciit, in a Hituaiion
t(i furnish prompt succour, conformably to the stipulations
of the present agreement

Art. 5. His imperi.>l majesty of all the Russias partakes
fully in the lively iiitervsl that his imperial and loyal
apostolic majesty takes in supporlinK the Uttmnan Poite.
whiise vicinity is cominuii to liittii.and aa an attack di cetcd
against 'iurkey in Kurope by any "ther pnwer cannot but
coinpromisc the securiiy of Russia and Aiisliia, and that
the Purle in his stale of existing trouble cannot himself
repulse any entcrpri-e fornieil against him. on the said sup-
position, and if war on this account happen directly be-

thiit she iit least did not make, a
Prussia did, a show of ialsu virtues.

) Russia and
Slie followed

twcen one of the two imperial courts and the government of
Fiance, the other shall immediattly prepare, in order to
assi>t with the smallest possible delay the pnwer at war,
anil contribute in concert to the preser\atioii of the Otto-
m.in Pone in his slate of existing possession.

Art. 6. The fate of the kingdom of Naples must influence
tlvit of Italy, in the inuejiendence of whicii their imperial
majesties take a particular interest, and it is intended that
the siipiilatioiis of tlie present at;ieeiiient shall have
iliis effect in case the French shall wish to extend them-
selves in the kingdom of Naples beyond their actual limits,
to take the capital, the fortresses o! the cnuniry, or to pene-
trate into Calabria; in a word, if they lorce his majesty the
king of Naplrs to risk every thing, and to oppose, by force,
this new violation of his neutral ty ; and if his imperial
majesiy the emperor of all the Russias, hy ihe succour that
in this supposition he would furnish to ihe king of the Two
Sicilies, shall find himself engaged in a war against
France, his imperial and royal majesty oblifies himself to
cnninience upon his side operations against the common
enciny aciording to the stipuiaiions, and specially according
to the Arts. 4, 5, 8 and 9 of the present agn emeiit.

Art. 7. Seeiiigthe uncertiiiiity in which the two high con-
tracting' powers yet actually lind themselves about the
future designs of the French government, they reserve
to themselves, besides all that is stipulaied above, to agree
ac nrdiiig to the urgency of circumstances upon the dif-
tereiit ca«es which shall be of such a nature as thus to
rc'iune the employment of their mutual lorces.

Ar i'. S. In all the cases in which the two imperial
courts shall proceed to active measures in v.rtue of the
present afireement, or of those agreements which they
may uliimately form between themselves, ihey pmniise and
engage to co operate simultaneously, and according to a
pi n which will be settled immediately iH-twetii themselves,
wiih sufficient forces to hope for a sncceslul combat with those
01 the enemy, and to repulse them in lull strength, their forces
not to be less than three hundred anil th rty-five thousand
men under arms for hcith tiie imperial courts; his imperial and
royal majesty will furnish two hunnred and thirty-five
thousand on his part, and the remainder will be given by
bis imperial majesty of all the Russias. Ti cse troops will
be sent and supported constantly on both sides, upon a com-
plete looting, and there will be left besides a corps of obser-
vaiion, in order to be assured that the court of Berlin slKiU
remain passive. The resp ciive armies will be distributed
in such a manner, that the forces of the two imperial
courts, that shall act in concert, will not be inferior
in luimher to those of the enemy whenever they shall
have to coinb.it.

Art. y. Conformably to the desire manifested by the im-
perial royal court, his majesiy the emperor of all the Russias
engages himself to employ his good ollices for the object of
obiaii.ing of the court of London for his imperial and
I oyal aposiolcal majesty, in case of a war with France, as
aniiciunccd in the present declaration, or which may re-
sult Irom future agreements, that the two iinperinl courts
reserve to themselves to make, under Art. 7, subsidies
as well lor the first movement of the campaign, as annually
lor the whole duration of the war, which would be as
much as possible directed to the convenience of the court
of Vienna.

Art. 10. In the execution of the plans arranged, there
shall be a just regard borne to the obstacles which result aa
much from the actual stale of the forces and frontiers of the
Austrian monarchy, as from the imminent dangers to
which it will he exposed in that state ny ihe demonstrations
and armaments which may imnicdliitely provoke a prema-
ture invasion on the pan of France. In com<equence, with
the determinution for active measures of which there will be
a mutual agreement, niid ns much as the security of the two
empires, and the essential interest of the common object
will permit, the greatest attention shall be paid to combine
.Ss2

Conditions made at THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Petersburg with lord Gower.j^""^;

her own interest without distraction, without fickle-
ness, and free from charlatanism. She is not to be

the movement with the time and the possibility of placing
the forces and frontiers of his majesty the emperor and king
in a situation to be able to open the campaign with the
energy necessary to attain the object of the war. As soon
as the encroachments of the French shall have establislied a
case in which his said imperial and royal apostolic majesty
shall be engaged to take a part in the war, by virtue of the
present agreement, and of those other agreements which
may be formed successively afterwards, he engages him-
self not to lose a moment to put himself in a state, with the
shortest possible delay, which delay shall not exceed three
months after the demand made to co-operate efficaciously
with his imperial majesty the emperor of all tlie Russias,
and to proceed with vigour in the execution of the plan
which will be arranged.

Akt. 11. The principles of the two sovereigns will not
permit them in any case to desire to constrain the free
wishes of the French na'ion; the end of the war shall not
be to operate a counter revolution, but only to remedy the
dangers common to all Europe.

Art. 12. His majesty the emperor of all the Russias,
acknowledging that it is just that in case of anew wailil<e
explosion the house of Austria should he indemnified for
the immense losses which it has sustained in its last con-
test with France, engages himself to cooperate on liis
behalf to obtain this indemnity in the like case, as far as
the success of their arms will permit. Still in the most
fortunate result, his majesty the emperor and king will not
extend his limit in Italy beyond the Adda on the West,
and the Po on the South ; well understanding that of the
different mourhs of this last river, it is the most southern
shall be intended. The two imperial courts desiring that,
in the supposed case of success, his royal highness the
elector of Salzburg shall be replaced in Italy, and to this
effect shall be placed in the possession of the grand duchy of
Tuscany, or that he shall obtain some other convenient esta-
blishment in the north of Italy, supposing events render
this arrangement practicalile.

Art. 13. Their imperial majesties, under the same suppo-
sition, have at heart to procure the re-establishment of
the king of Sardinia in Piedmont, even with a great ulterior
aggrandisement. Under t!ie hypothesis less fortunate, it
is agreed always to assure to him a suitable establish-
ment in Italy.

Art 14. In the same case of great success, the two im-
perial courts are in an understanding on the lot of the
Legations, and concur to make a restitution of the duchies
of Modena, Massa, and Carrara to the legitimate heirs of
the last duke; but incase events prevent this design, the
said Legations or Modena will serve for the establishment
of the king of Sardinia. Tl-.e archduke Ferdinand will
remain in Germany, and his majesty will content himself,
if it be necessary, wiih a Irontier in Italy, more approximat-
ing to the Adda, than to that which exists at present

Art. 15 If circumstances permit the replacing the
elector of Salzlmrp in Italv, the country of Salzburg, Herch-
tolsgaden, and Passau will be united to the Austrian
monarcliy. This will be the only case in which his
majesty will obtain an extension of his frontiers in
Germany.

As to the part of the country of Aichstadt. possessed at
present by the e ector of Salzburg, it will then be disposed
of in the manner in which the two courts sha I acree
among themselves, and more particularly in favour of the
elector of Bavaria, if hy the hide which he may take for
the common cause, he places himsell in a position lo be
favoured. Similarly in the supposed case in tlie preceding
article of the re-establishment of the heirs of the dereasid
duke ol Modena in his former possessions, the pr-M-erty of
Brisgau and of Ortinau -vould become a means of »-ncou-
ragement of the pood cause for one of the principal princes
of Germany, and specially for the elector of Baden, in

censured in the circumstances, save for the falsity
of her language at Paris.

However, in signing this convention, she indulged
the hope that it would only be an act of simple
precaution, because she did not cease to dread war.
Thus, after having signed it, she refused all the
solicitations of the emperor of Russia to pass imme-
diately to military preparations; she had even de-
spaired, judging by her inertness. But at the news
of the arrangements made by Napoleon in Italy, she
was, all of a sudden, aroused from her inaction. The
title of king taken by Napoleon, and, above all, so
general a title as king of Italy, which seemed as if
it would extend itself to the entire peninsula, had
alarmed her in the highest degree. She imme-
diately commenced military preparations, that she
had at first determined to defer; and slie called to
tlie ministry of war the celebrated Mack, who,
although destitute of the qualities of a general in
chief, was not deficient in the talent of organizing
armies. She listened then with an attention alto-
gether new to her to the pressing propositions of
Russia, and, without engaging herself immediately
by a written consent to an immediate war, she left
it the care of pushing forward the negotiations in
common with England, and to treat with that power
on the difficult question of subsidies. Meanwhile,
she discussed with M. Vintziiigerode a plan for the
war conceived under every imaginable hypothesis.
It was, therefore, at St. Petersburg that tlie
new coalition was to be definitively formed, in other
word.'^, the third in number, reckoning from the
commencement of the French revolution. That of
1792 had terminated in 1797 by the treaty of
Campo-Formio, under the blow struck by general
Bonaparte; that of 1798 was terminated in 1801,
under the blows of the French consul; the third,
that of 1804, was not to have an issue more fortu-
nate, under the blows levelled at it by the emperor
Napoleon.

Lord Gower had, as already said, full powers
from his court to treat with the Russian cabinet.
After long discussions, the following conditions
were agreed upon. There was to be formed a
coalition between the powers of Europe, compre-
hending at first England and Ru.«sia, and at a later
period those powers whom they were able to draw
into it. The object was the evacuation of Hanover

favour of whom it will be thence renounced by the
house of Austria.

Art. 16. The two high contracting powers engage to
each other never to lay down their arms, and never to treat
for an accommodation with the common enemy but under
mutual consent, and after a previous engagement between
them.

Art. 17. In limiting for the moment to the objects and
questions above the present preliminary agreement, re-
specting which the two inonarclis promise on the one part
and on the other the most inviolable secrecy, they reserve to
themselves without any delay, and immediately, to agree to
the ulteror arrangements insomuch as concerns a plan of
operations in rase the war should become inevitable, as well
as to all which relates to the mainti-nance of the respective
firces, both in the Austrian states and in h foreign territory.

Art. 18. The present declaration, mutually acknow-
ledged as obligatory as the most solemn treaty, will be
rat tied in Ih- space of six wneks oi sooner, if able to be
dote, and rhe arts of ratification be equally exchanged in
the same space of time

In faith of which, &c.

1805.
April.

Sabsidies granted by England. THE THIRD COALITION.

England not to be ostensible
in ihe coalition.

and the nortli of Germany; the effective indepen-
dence of Holhind and Switzerland; the evacuation
of all Italy, comprising tlie isle of Elba ; the re-
constitution and ajjurandisement of the kingdom of
Piedmont ; tlie consolidation of the kingdom of
Naples, and finally the esUiblishment of an order
of things in Europe, wiiich shoultl guarantee tlie
security of all the states against the usurpations of
France. This object was not designated in a more
precise maimer, for tlie purpose of leaving a certain
latitude for treating with France, at least fictitiously.
All the powers were to be afterwards invited to
give in their adhesion.

The coalition had resolved to unite at least
five hundred thousand men, and to bring into
action out of those tiiey thus had at least four hun-
dred thousand. England was to furnish 1.250 000^.
sterling, or ;il,'25O.O00f. i)er hundred thousjind men.
She granted besides ii sum paid down at once, re-
presenting three months' subsidies, towards the
expenses of entering upon the campaign. Austria
engaged to furnish two hundred and fifty thousand
men out of five hundred thousand; the remainder
were to be furnished by Ru.ssia, Sweden, Hanover,
England, and Naples. The question of the ad-
liesion of Pru.ssia was resolved in the boldest
mode. England and Russia agreed to make com-
mon cause against every power that, by its hostile
mejisures, or only by its too close alliance with
France, should oppose itself to the designs of the
coalition. It was in effect decided that Russia,
dividing its forces into two ])arts, should send one
by Gallicia to the succour of Austria, the other by
Poland to the limit of the Prussian territory,
if definitively Prussia refused to enter into the
coalition, to ])ass over the body of that power be-
fore she could |)ut herself in a posture of defence;
and as they did not wish to give her too much
suspicion by the union of such an army upon her
frontier, it was agreed they should take for a
l)retext the desire they felt to come to her aid, in
case Napoleon, in defiance of her, should throw
himself upon her territory. They might, therefore,
qualify these eighty thou.sand llussians as au.vilia-
ries and friends, really designed to trample Pru.ssia
under their feet.

This violence projected against Pru.ssia, although
appearing a little bold to England, was very acce|)t-
aijle to her. She had nothing better to liave re-
course to that could save her from invasion, than
lighting up a vast incendiarism on the continent,
and exciting a frightful war, v;hoever were the com-
batants, whoever might be the victors or the vaii-
qnisheil. On the part of Russia, it was on tite
contrary a j^real piece of rashness; because to ex-
pose PruHsia to throw herself into the arms of Na-
poleon, w:u» to ensure herself a certain dol'eat,
should the inva-sion of the Prussian territory be as
prompt as they imagined it would be. But prince
Czartoryski, the most (djstinate of tlie.se young per-
sonages in pursuing an object, saw in all this only
a means of wresting Warsaw from Prussia, in onler
to re-constitute Poland, and give it to Alexander.

The military plan indicated by the situation of
the united powers, was always to attack in three
mas-ses; in the south with the Russians at Corfu,
the Neapolitans, and the F/iiglif<h, aKceiidiiig the
Italian ])eniiisiila, and joining a hundred thousand
Auatrians in Loinbardy; iu tliuea»t with the grand

Austrian and Russian army, acting upon the Da-
nube; finally, on the north with the Swedes, Hano-
verians, and Russians desceiuling the Rhine.

In respect to the diplomatic plan, it ci nsisted in
an intervention in the name of the "alliance of
mediation," and in a previous negotiation before
proceeding to hostilities. Russia kept strongly to
this part of her original project, which preserved
for her the attitude of an arbitrator, agreeably to
her pride, and it must be said also to the secret
feehteness of her sovereign. She hoped vaguely
still that Prussia would be drawn in, provided it
were not too much alarmed by the discovery of the
design arranged for a coalition, and that Napoleon
were jilp.ced between a fearful league of all Europe
against him, and certain moderate concessions.

There was obtained from England her consent
to a singular piece of dissimulation, the least
worthy pos.sible, but the best calculated for their
views. England consented to be kept at a distance,
and not to l)e named in the negotiations, more par-
ticularly with Prussia. Russia would in her at-
tempts to gain over that power, always present
herself as not being allied to Great Britain in any
design of a common war, but as wishing to impose
a mediation, in order to put a step to a stjite of
things oppressive for all Europe. In a serious pro-
ceeding in the sight of France, Russia would, with-
out acting ostensibly in the name of a coalition of
powers, offer her mediation by aftinning that she
would make all the world accept equitable condi-
tions, if Napoleon would accept the like. This was
a double means, devised in order not to frighten
Prussia, nor to irritate the jiride of Napoleon.
England would lend herself to this, provided llussia,
compromised by this mediation, was definitively
drawn into a war. As to Austria, the greatest care
was taken to leave her in the shade, and not even
to name her, because if she appeared to be in the
plot. Napoleon would fling hhnself upon that coun-
try before Russia was in a state to afford it succour.
Austria maile active ])reparatioiis, without mix-
ing herself in any part of the negotiations. It
was necessary to follow the .same system of conduct
in relation to the court of Naples, which was e.\-
)>osed in like manner to the first blows of Napoleon,
because general St. Cyr was at Tarentiim with a
division of fifteen thousand or sixteen thousiind
French. They had recommended (jueeii Caroline
to enter into all the engagements of neutrality, or
even of alliance, that Napoleon wished to impose
upon her. In the meanwhile, Russia would trans,
port troo)>s by little and little in vessels thatshould
pass the Dardanelles, and disembark at Corfu. It
was there that a strong division might at the latest
moment unite at Naples with a reinforcement of
English, Albanians, and others. It w mid then be
time enough to takeoff the mask, and to attack the
French at the extremity of the peninsula.

In jiroposing to attempt a preliminary negotia-
tion with Napoleon, it was necessary to have at
least some specious conditions to present to him.
There was nothing they had to offer, unless it was
to make a tender of the evacuation of Malta by the
English. The Russian cabinet had sent afar all
the brilliant portion of its plan, such as the reorga-
nization of Italy and of Germany, the rcconstitu-
tion of Poland, and the digesting of a new code of
maritime law. If Russia conceded Malta to the

630

England refuses to resign

Malta-Character and THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

description ol the Rus-

sian projects — Sum-
mary of tlie Russian
projects.

180S.
April.

English, in place of playing the character of an ar-
bitrator between France and England, it would be
no other than an English agent, or m<>retlian that,
its docile ally and dependent. The Russian
cabinet therefore kept to the evacuation of Malta,
with an obstinacy which was not its customary
practice, and when it was necessary to sign tlie
treaty, it showed an invincible resolution on tlie
point. Thus lord Gower was ready to agree to
i all things, in onler to compromise Russia in any
! kind of agreement whatsoever with England; but
i upon once demanding that she should abandon a
I maritime position of the greatest importance, ii
i position which was, if not the only cause, at least
] the principal cause of the war, she would not give
I it up. Lord Gower believed himself too strongly
bound by his instructions to pass over such a
! matter, and he refused to sign the abandonment of
i Malta. The project therefore failed. Still the
I emperor Alexander consented to sign tlie conven-
tion of the llth of April, declaring that lie wnuld
not ratify it, mil ss the English caliinet renounced
the islaiKl of .Malta. A courier wa-s then sent off
to London, carrying the convention, as well as the
condition th it was annexed to it, upon which the
Russian raiitication depended.

It was ariaiiged without loss of time, that the
season for military operations might not pass by,
to take the step agreed upon in relation to the
emperor of the French. There was chosen for this
purpose the same personage who had tied in Lon-
don the Un<»t of the third coalition, M. Nowosiltzoff.
There was destined to accomjiany him as an ad-
junct, the author of the plan itself of a new Europe,
already so disfigured, the abbe Piatoli. M. Nowo-
siltzoff was quite proud to be soon in Paris, and
place himself before the great man, who for some
years had attracted the regards of the whole
world. If in proportion as the decisive time ap-
proached, the emperor Alexander felt the more
anxiously a desire to see this jn-evious mediation
succeed, iM. Nowosiltzoff did not less desire the
same thing. He was young, and ambitious; he
regar<led it as an infinite glory, first to treat with
Napoleon, and seC(mdly, to be the negotiator who,
at the moment when Europe seemed ready to rush
into war, all of a sudden pacified it by his able
intervention. It may be reckoned, therefore, that
he did not seek to aild to the difficulties of the
negotiation himself. After long deliberations, they
agreed on the conditions that he was to offer to
Napoleon, and they resolved to keep them a pro-
found seciet. He wa.s ordered to jjresent a first,
second, and third project, each more advantageous
for France than that which preceded, but with the
rec<mimendatioii not to pass from one to the other
until after great resistance.

The base of all these projects was the evacuation
of Hanover and Najdes, the real independence of
Switzerland and Holland, and in return tiie evacua-
tion of Malta by the English, and the promise to
digest ultimately a new code of maritime law.
To all this Napoleon would not oppose iiny serious
difficulties. In case of a solid peace, lie had no
objection to evacuate Hanover, Naples, Holland,
and even Switzerland, on condition, as regarded the
last, that the act of mediation should be maintained.
The real difficulty was Italy. Russia, already
obliged to renounce her plans of Euro[iean re-con-

stitution, had promised, in case war should become
inevitable, a part of Italy to Austria, and another
|)art to the future kingdom of Piedmont. Now, in
the hypothesis of a mediation, it was very necessary,
under the penalty of seeing the negotiator sent
back from Paris the day following his arrival, to
accoi'd to France a part of this same Italy. It
was necessary, in order that the mediation should
appear serious, that it slioiild appear so, above all,
to Prussia; and that they should be able to attach
and compromise her by the appearance of a nego-
tiation attempted in good faith. Here therefore are
the arrangements tliat tli^y would successively
pi'opose. Tliey would at first demand the separa-
tion of Piedmont, save the re-constitution of a state
detached for a branch of the family of Bonajiarte,
and further, the abiindonment of tlie actual king-
d(mi of Italy, designed with Genoa for the house of
Savoy. Parma and Piacenzii would remain to form
another endowment for a prince of the family of
Bonaparte. This was no more than the first pro-
position. They would pass immediately afterwards
to the second. According to this last, Piedmont
would remain incorporated with France; the king-
dom of Italy, adding Genoa, would be as in the last
plan givtn to the house of Savoy; Parma and Pia-
cenza would remiiiu the sole endowment of the
collateral branches of the house of Bonaparte.
Fi-om this second ])roiiosition they would filially
pass on to the third, which would be the follow-
ing:— Piedmont would continue to be a French
])rovince, the actual kingdom of Italy being given
to the Bonaparte family, the indemnity of the
house of Parma would be reduced to Piaeeiiza
and Genoa. The kingdom of Etruria, assigned
four years before to a Spanish branch, remained as
it was then.

It must be said, that if to these last conditions
the evacujition of Malta by the English be added.
Napoleon had no legitimate reasons to refuse such
a peace, because they were the conditions of Lune-
viile and Amiens, with Piedmont over and above
for France. The sacrifice demanded of Napoleon
was limited in reality to that of Parma and Pia-
ceiiza, becimie French property by the decease of
the last duke, ami of Geno;i, so far indejiendent.
Na]>o!eon would have it in his power to consent to
such a ])roject, if besides they managed to humour
his dignity in the form given to the proposi-
tions.

All these five jn-ojecfs of the friends of Alex-
ander turned therefore upon one very ju'etty result!
After having dreamed of the re-constitution of
Europe by means of a jiowerlnl mediation; after
having seen this re-constiiutiuii of Europe con-
verted at London into a project of destruction
against France, Russia affrighted to be so far ad-
vanced, reduced her grand mediation to the obtain-
ment of Parma and Piacenza as an iiidemniiy for
the house of Savoy; because the evacuation of
Hanover and of Naples, the independence of Hol-
land and Switzerland, that she demanded besides,
had never been ctaitesied by Najioleon, peace being
<ince established. But if one thing so little was
not obtained, she had under hand a formidable
war in reserve. A conduct thus unreflecting and
rash liad conducted Russia into a defile sufficiently
narrow.

It was agreed besides, that they should demand

IMS.
April.

Russia determines to negotiate
at Paris.-M. Nowosilizotfsent THE THIRD COALITION.

to Berlin to obtain passports.

Napoleon arrives at Milan.-
His reception.

631

pa-ssports for M. Nowosiltzoff, tlirougli the media-
tion of !v friendly court. Russia hail only to choose
for this purpose between Prussia and Austria. To
address herself to the last-named power was to
draw ui>on herself the penetratins^ eyes of N:ipo-
leon, and she wished, as has already been staled,
to have her name forjjotten as much as possible, in
order that she nii^ht have time to prei)are herself.
Prussia, on the contrary, had nfft-red to be mcdia-
tri.\, which made ita natural tliinj^ that she should
by her interference obtain piissports for M. Nowo-
siltzofF. He in the meanwhile had gone forward
to Berlin, to see the kinj; of Prussia, and to attempt
near that prince a last effort; to communicate to
him alone, and not to his cabinet, the moderate
conditions proposed to France, and to make him
feel that if she refused such arran>;ements, it was
clear she must liave views that were alarming for
Europe. Views irreconcilable with the indepen-
dence of all the states, and that it was then the
duty of the entire world to unite and march against
the common enemy.

M. Nowosiltzoft" therefore set out for Berlin,
where he arrived in great haste, pressed as he was
to commence the negotiation. He had with him
tlie abb^ Piatoli. He showed himself mild, con-
ciliatory, and ])erfectly reserved. Unforttmately
the king of Prussia was absent, occupied on a visit
to his provinces in Franconia. This circumstance
was vexatious. They ran a double danger; eitlur
of the refusal of England relative to Malta, which
Would render all negotiation impossible, or of some
new enterprise of Napoleon in Italy, where he ac-
tually was at the mom nt, some enterprise that
would ruin the advanc j of the different |)rojects of
the approximation to oe carried on at Paris. The
prompt arrival of M. Nowosiltzoff in France was to
have had in consenuence an immense influence on
the side of peace. Besides, the young Russians
who governed the empire were so liable toimpres-
sione, that their first contact with Napoleon would
attract them to him, and seduce tliem, as the con-
tact with Pitt hnd drawn them away so far from
their plan of European regeneration. Hence there
was ground greatly to regret the time they were
about to lose.

The king of Prussia, having been apprised that
they requested him to demand passports for the
Russian en\oy, strongly a])|>lauded the measure,
and the probabilities of |>eace that he believed he
foresaw. He did not himself doubt that behind
this last attempt at an approximation, there was a
war in design, much more ripened thnn they h:id
inlormed him of, riper than tliey tliought who had
»o rashly engaged in it. The pacific Frederick
William gave an order to his cabinet that they
Hliould make an imniediiile demand of passports
from Napoleon for .VI. Nowosiltzofl'. This last was
not to take at Paris any official quality, in order to
avoid the ditlieulty of the acknowledgment of the
imperial title borne by Nnpoleon; but in addressing
him, he would style him sire, and niiijisiy, and he
had besides powers complete and pohilive which he
wa8 to show, should they be in accord, and which
Huthorised him to concede the acknowledgment ini-
Ujediately.

While they were thus acting in Europe agninst
Napoleon, he, environed wiili all the pomps of Iia-
lian royalty, abounded in ideas utterly opposed to

those of his adversaries, even the most moderate.
The sight of Italy, the scene of his first victories,
theobjeitof all his predilections, filled him with
new designs for the grandeur of his emjiire, and
the establishment of his family. Far from willing
to partake it with any one, he thought on the con-
trary of occupying it entirely, and of creating there
some of his vassal kingdoms, which would sirengthen
the new empire of the West. The members of the
Italian consulia, that had attended at the formality
of the institution of the kingdom of Italy, accom-
panied by the vice-president Melzi, and the minis-
ter Marescakhi, had gone in advance to prepare
for the reception at Milan. Although the Italians
would be proud to have him for a king, because his
government rendered them more secure than any
other, still the hope lost, or all hope adjourned at
least, of a royalty purely Itiilian, the fear of a war
with Austria in conseipieuce of the change, even
the general nature of the title, "king of Italy,"
made to be pleasing to them, but also to be alarm-
ing to Europe, all this had made tlieni uneasy,
M. Melzi and M. Marescalchi had found tbein more
troubled, and yet less eager than before their de-
parture. The liberal party aggravated, kept them-
selves more and more aloof every day, and the
aristocracy did not make advances. Najjoleon
could al(jne alter such ? state of things. Cardinal
Caprara had arrived, and had attempted to inspire
the clergy with sentiments of attachment to the em-
peror. M. deSegur, accompanying M Marescalchi,
liad selected the ladies and the ofbcers of the palace
from the first Italian families. Some excused them-
selves at the beginning. The interference of
M. Marescalchi, and a few of the members of the
consulia, the general allurements pro uced by the
fetes which they prepared, had ended by bringing
back those who had recalcitivited, and at last the
arrival of Napoleon h;id sufficed to decide every-
body. His presence had produced, as it did in ge-
neral, a deep emotion jiinong the It.ilians; his pre-
sence as emperor and king would naturally affect
them yet more; because this prodigy of fortune,
whom tliey loved to see, was yet more aggrandised.
Miignificent soldiers, united in the battle fields of
Castiglione, were designel to execute grand ma-
noeuvres, and to represent innnorial baitles. All
the foreign ministers were convoked at Milan. The
influx of the curious that had been carried to Paris
to see there the coronation, now flowed towards
Li'inbarily. The movement was given, ami the
imaginations of the Italians had returned to love
and admiration for the man who for nine years
had so much agitated them. They had, in imita-
tion of the towns of France, formed out of the
youth of the best families guards of honour for his
reception.

Arriv.d at Turin, lie there encountered Pius
VII., inid exchanged with him a l:i.-.i ami atfeetionato
farewell. Then he received his new subjects with
infinite kindness, and oeciipiiil himself with their
intereslH, distinct yet from the interests of the rest
of the French empire, with that intelligent solieitudo
that he carried upon iill his journeys. He luid re-
paired ihe fjiults and injustices of the adnnnistra-
lion, given justice to a vast nnndtc r of re(piest.s,
and displayed, to seduce the people, all ihe attrac-
tions of the supreme power. Ho afterwards em-
ployed some days iu visiting the strong fortresbcs

po£) Napoleon agrees to re-
vo^ ceive M. Nowosiltzo£

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1805.
May.

which were his grand creation, and also the base of
his Italian establislinient, that of Alexandria. Thou-
sands of workmen were assembled tiiere at this
time. Lastly, on the 5tli of May, in the midst of
the plain of Marengo, from the height of a throne
elevated upon that plain, where, five years before,
he gained the sovereign authority, he attended to
the fine manoeuvres representing that battle.
Lannes, Murat, and Bessieres commanding the
troops. There was no one wanting but Desaix.
Napoleon laid the first stone of a monument de-
signed to record the memory of the brave who died
on that field of battle. From Alexandria he pro-
ceeded to Pavia, where the magisti-ates of Milan
had come to bring him the homages of the new
capital, and he entered Milan on the 8th of May,
to the sound of cannon and of bells, amid the accla-
mations of the people, enthusiastic at his presence.
Surrounded by the Italian authorities and the
clergy, he went to kneel in that old Lombard ca-
thedral, the admiration of Europe, destined to re-
ceive fi'om iiim its last archbishop. The Italians,
sensitive to the highest point, sometimes displaying
emotions for sovereigns whom they did not love,
seduced, as all the |)eople are, by the power of
great sights; wiiat should ihey not feel in presence
of that man whose greatness had commenced under
their own eyes, for that star, which they were able
to boast, they had been the first to see in the Euro-
pean horizon !

It was in the midst of this intoxication of gran-
deur, that the propo!?ition to admit M. Nowosiltzoff"
reached Napoleon. He showed the best disposi-
tion to receive the Russian minister, to hear him,
and to treat with him, no matter in what form, offi-
cial or not, provided it was seriously intended; and
that in endeavouring to aet upon him, he did not
exhibit any partial condescension for England. As
to conditions, lie was far from having any reckoning
with the Russians. But he was ignorant of their
offers; he saw only the )>revious step, which was
couched in fitting terms, and he to<ik good care not
to be guilty of wrong in repelling them. He replied
that he would receive M. Nowosiltzoff towards the
month of July; his maritime projects, with which
he had not ceased to occupy himself in spite of his
apparent distractions from them, would not demand
his presence in France until that period. There-
fore he proposed to receive M. Nowosiltzoff to judge
if he were worth the trouble of listening to, and he
would in the mean time keep himself always in
readiness to interrupt this dipiomtitic interview, in
order to go and cut the Gordian knot of all the coali-
tions in London.

Although he knew not the secret of that which
he had to organize, and was far from believing war
as far advanced as it was in reality, he judgrd truly
of the character of Alexander, and the unrefiectiiig
allurements that drew liim rapidly towards the
policy of Enghmd. In addressing to Prussia the
passports of M. Nowosiltzoff, he ordered to be com-
municated to that court the following observations.

" The emperor," said the miiiist(;r for foreign
affairs to M. Laforest, " the einperor, after having
read your despatch, has found that it justifies fully
the fears which he had manifested in his letter to
the king o! Prussia, and all that recalls to his ma-
jesty the languages held by the British ministers,
tends to support him in this state of distrust. Tlie

emperor Alexander is drawn on in spite of iiimself;
he cannot recognise that the plan of the English
cabinet in oft'eriirg him the character of a mediator
is to bind togetiier the interests of England with
those of Russia, and to bring the last some day to
take up arms to sanction a cause which will become
its own.

"At the moment, when through his experience
in public affairs, the emperor had acquired precise
notions of the character of the emperor Alexander,
he had felt that one day or another he would be
drawn into the interests of England, that had so
many means for gaining over a court as corrupt as
that of St. Petersburg.

'• However true this prospect of the future ap-
peared to the emperor Napoleon, he has considered it
coolly, and has provided in time for all that depended
upon him. Indejiendently of the conscription of
the year, he has made an appeal to the reserve of
the years xi.and xii., and has augmented by filteen
thousand men the appeal made to the conscription
of the year xiir.

" At the least word that M. Nowosiltzoff utters
intending a threat, insult, or hypothetical treaty
with England, he must be listened to no more. If
Russia or any other power on the continent wishes
to interfere in the public afi'airs of the moment,
and presses equally upon France and England, tjie
emperor will not find fault, and will with pleasure
make sacrifices. England on her side is bound to
make these which are equivalent, but if, on the
contrary, sacrifices are exacted of France alone,
then whatever may be the union of the powers, the
emperor will help himself against all their extended
power by means of his good cause, his genius, and
ins arms '." (Milan, 15th Prairial, year xiii., 4lh
June, 1805.)

On the 2Gth of May, Napoleon was crowned in
the cathedral of Milan with as much eclat as had
been exhibited in Paris six months before, in pre-
sence of the foreign ministers and the deputies
of all Italy. The iron crown, reputed to be the
ancient crown of the Lombard kings, had been
brought from Monza, where it was carefully kept.
After cardinal Caprara, archbishop of Milan, had
blessed it with the ancient forms used in respect
to the German emperors, for their coronation
as kings of Italy, Napoleon placed it himself upon
his head, as he had placed that of tlie em-
peror of the French, pronouncing in Italian
these sacramental words, " Dio me I'ha data, guai
a chi la tocchera !" or " God gives it me, touch it
who dai-es * !" In saying these words, he made

' In a speech of Talleyrand's, or one purporting to be his,
in remark in}.' upon the reply given by lord Mulgrave to the
letter of Napoleon to the king of England (see page 606). is
the following passage, a portion of which resembles tlie
close of the al)ove eomniunicaiion :—" Should, on the con-
trary, this first appearance of accommodation prove liut a
false light, intended only to answer speculations ot credit, to
facilitate a loan, the acquisition of money purchases or en-
terprizes, then we shall know how far the dispositions of
the enemy are implacal)le and obstinate; we shall have to
banish all hope Irum a dangerous lure, and trust, without
reserve, to the goodness of our cause, to the justice of Provi-
dence, and to the gaiiius of the emperor."— Speech of Tal-
leyrand, Feb. 4.

2 As in several other instances our author does not note
the inevitable inferences that follow some of his statements.
Thus he makes Napoleon refuse to permit the pope to place

Deputations from the

THE THIRD COALITION. Italian cities invite Napoleon.

those around him start by the significant energy
of his accents. This pompous ceremonial pre-
pared by the Italians, and principally by the
celebrated painter Appiani, surpassed all that
had been seen in former times of tiie finest things
of a similar nature in Italy.

After this ceremony, Napoleon promulgated the
organic statute, by which he erected in It;ily a
monarchy in imitation of that of France, and
nominated as viceroy Eugene Beauharnais. He
presented afterwards this young prince to the
Italian nation, in a royal sitting of the legislative
body. He employed all the month of June in
presiding in the council of state, and in giving to the
administration of Italy the impulse that had been
given to the government of France, occupying
himself day after day with all the details of public
affairs.

The Italians, to whom it was necessary in order
for their satisfaction that they should liave a
government present among them, had one now
under their own eyes, that joined to its real value
a prodigious magic in its forms. Thus snatclied
from their discontents, and from their repugnance
for strangers, they had already rallied, high and
low, around the new king, 'i'lie presence of Na-
poleon, supjiorted by his formidable armies that
he had organized and completed for every event,
had dissipated their fears of the war. The
Italians began to think that they should never
more behold it upon their territory if it took place,
and that the sound would only come to them from
the banks of the Danube, and even from the
gates of Vienna. Napoleon passed in grand re-
view every Sunday the troops of Milan ; then he
re-entered his palace, and received at a public
audience the ambassadors of all the courts of
Europe, the strangers of distinction, and above all
the representatives of the great Italian families,
and of the clergy. It was in one of these recep-
tions that he made the exchange of the insignia of
the Legion of Honour, with the insignia of the more
ancient and the more illustrious orders of Europe.
The minister of Prussia presented himself first, and
remitted to Napoleon the orders of the Black and
of the Red Eagle ; then came the ambassador of
Spain, who presinted him the order of the Golden
Fleece; then finally the ministers of Bavaria and
of Portugal, who jji-esented him with the orders
of St. Hubert and of Christ. Napoleon gave them
in exchange the grand order of the Legion of
Honour, and granted a number of decorations equal
to those which he received. He distributed after-
wards iiis foreign decorations among the principal
personages of his empire. In a few months tlu;
Italian court found itself on the same footing with
all the courts of Europe ; it carrieil the !«ame in-
signia, with the rich costumes, inclining towards
the military habit. In the midst of this eclat,
Napoleon retained hia own simjdicity of person,

the crown on hi« head (see page COO), bicaune the nation and
the army would be liurt at the idea of liiH ro receiving the
crown ; tliat tlie reality of things should Imj oliserved, and
that Napoleon resisted this part of the ceremonies from the
public feeling. At Milan, where no such frcling could
cxi»t, the error of tliat plea is laid bare, Napoleon showed
that his motive was liis own pride, and that the reason given
at Paris must have been a plausible deception. — Trarulalor.

having for a sole decoration, the plate of the
Legion of Honour upon his breast, wearing the dress
of the chasseurs of the guard, without any gold
embroidery, a black hat, in which was alone tlis-
played a tri-coloured cockade, as if he wished it
should be well understood that the luxury which
surrounded him was not made for himself. His
noble and handsome countenance, around which
the imagination of men placed so many glorious
trophies, was all which he desired to exhibit to
the eager attention of the natives. Still his
person alone was that sought by every eye. He
only was wished to be seen in the midst of his
numerous retinue, blazing with gold, and arrayed
in the coloured dresses of all Euroi)e.

The different towns of Italy sent him deputa-
tions to obtain the favour of receiving him within
their walls. It was not merely an honour, but
an advantage they thus made an object of their
ambition, because every where his penetrating
eye discovered some good to be effected, and his
powerful hand found the means of its accomplish-
ment. Resolved to give the spring and half the
summer to Italy, the better to divert the attention
of the English from Boulogne, he promised to
visit Mantua, Bergamo, Verona, Ferrara, Bo-
logna, Modena, and Piacenza. This still more
increased the delight of the Italians, and made
them all hope to participate in the benefits of the
new reign

His sojourn in this fine country soon produced
upon him those formidable allurements which
gave so strong a reason to fear for the mainte-
nance of the general peace. He began to con-
ceive an extreme irritation against the court of
Naples, which giving itself entirely up to the
English and Russians, publicly protected by the
last in all their negotiations, did not cease to
exhibit the most hostile sentiments to France.
The improvident queen, who had suffered the
government of her husband to be compromised
by the most odious cruelties, had taken a step
very unfortunately imagined. She h.id sent to
Milan the most clumsy of negotiators in the j)rinco
Cardito, to jjrotest against the title of king of
Italy, taken by Napoleon, a title that a good many
per.sons transhited by those words inscribed on the
iron crown, "king of all Italy, nx totius //«//>."
The marquis de (Jallo, the ambassador of Naples,
a man of good sense, sufficiently agreeable to the
imperial court, had endeavoured to prevent this
dangerous proceeding, but without success. Na-
poleon had consented to receive the i)rince Cardito
on the day of the diplomatic receptions. That
same day In; first gave the most gracious welcome
to M. de Gallo, then lie addressed in Italian the
fiercest speech to the prince Canlilo, deelaring to
him, in language as severe as it was contemptuous
for the <|ueen, that he would chase her out of
Italy, and would scarcely leave her Sicily for a
refuge. They took away the prince Cardito nearly
fainting. The noise of this affair produced a great
sensation, and soon filled the despatches fnmi all
the European ]iowers. Napoleon at that moment
thought of making the kingdom of Naplis a
royalty for his family, and one of the fiefs ot his
great empire. Uy little and little it began to
enter into his mind to exjiel the Bourbons fron«
all the thrones in Europe. Still the accidental zeul

634 ^?o 'mnce""'"^' ^"""^ THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Fault of Napdenn :
the annexation.

tlie Bourbons of Spain exhibited in the war
against the Englisli, ])i]Stponed as far as regarded
them tlie aceomijlishment of this formidable idea.
But Napoleon did not doubt that he should soon
have Europe to model again, whether lie should
be all powerful by passing tlie straits of Dover,
or whether diverted towards a continental w;ir
from that which was ntaritime, he achieved the
expulsion of the Austrians from Italy ; he said
that he would unite the Venetian states to his
kingdom of Lonibardy, and that he would then
efiVct the conquest of Naples for one of his
brothers. But all this, in his designs, was for tlie
moment deferred. Exclusively occupied with the
plan of descent upon England, he wduld not pro-
voke actually a continental war. He had, how-
ever, a disposition which he deemed opportune
and free from danger in completing, this was to
place a term to the unfortunate situation of the
repulilic of Genoa. This republic, i)laced on tlie
Mediterranean, where England domineered, and
Piedmont that France had joined to its own
territory, was situated as if imprisoned be-
tween two great powers, and saw its former
prosperity perish ; because it had all the incon-
veniences of a union with France to sustain with-
out the advantages. In fact, the English iiad
not been willing to acknowledge it, considering it
as annexed to tlie French empire, and they jmr-
sued the vessels that bore its flag. The barbarians
thejuselves pillaged and insidted it without any
kind of respect. France treating it as a foreign
land, had separated it from Piedmont and the
territory of Nice, by lines of custom-houses and
exclusive tariffs. Genoa was smothered in conse-
quence between the sea and land, both of which
were closed upon her. As to France, she did not
gather more advantages from Genoa, than she
jirocured for her. The Apennines that separated
Genoa from Piedmont formed a frontier con
tinually infested with robbers ; it required the
most numerous as well as the bravest gendar-
merie to maintain the secin-ity of the roads. In
relation to the navy, the treaty which had been
recently concluded, only insured in a very incom-
plete maimer the services which Genoa was able
to rendei'. The loan of a foreign |iort in which to
found a naval establishment, without any diivct
authority over it, was an attempt which called
for something more. By uniting the i)ort of
Genoa and the population of the Two-Rivers to
the French empire, Najxileon obtained from the
Texei to the bottom of the princijial gulph in liie
Mediterranean, an extent of coast and a number
of .seamen, (hat might be able, in sufficient time,
when united, to make France, if not the equal of
England on the seas, at least her respectable rival
tiiere.

Napoleon did not resist all these considerations.
He believed that it was England alone who would
take any real interest in this (|Uestion. He had
not ventured to decide the fate of the duchy of
Parma ami Piacenza, either on account of the
pope, to whom this duchy was a motive of hi>])e,
or because of S|>aiii which coveted it to aggi-in-
dize the kingdom of Etruria, or in fact on account
of Russia itself, that never wholly despaired of the
indemnity of the former king of Pii-dinont in Italy,
wiiile there i-emained any territory vacant in that

country. But Genoa seemed to him of little in-
terest for Austria, for it was situated too far
away, of no consideration for the pope or Russia,
not important, according to him, with any one but
England ; and not having any motive to humour
her, and not believing her so strongly allied as she
was to Russia, he resolved to unite the Ligurian
re})ublic to the French empire ^.

It was a fault, because in the disposition of the
mind of Austria, it was to throw her into the
arms of the coalition, ai;d to settle a new union ;
it was to furnish to the enemies of Fi-ance, who
filled Europe with perfidinus rumours, a new
])retext grounded upon the cry against the ambi-
liiin of Franco, and above all against the violation
of her promises, while Napoleon himself, wlien
instituting the kingdom of italy, had promised the
senate not to add a single province more to his
empire. But Napoleon, who knew enough of the
bad designs of the continent to beleve himself
iree of the necessity of humouring it, but not
enough to appreciate justly the danger of a new
provocation, flattered himself besides that he was
soon to I'esolve in Loudon all the European ques-

1 This breach of faith, admitted by our author, is not in
the sli{!htest degree softened tiy his atteniptefi extenuation.
There were oilier questions equaly as niuch violations of
acknowleciged and implied eiigngetnents as the foregoing,
wliich show tliat Naiioleon, hke all great conquerors, had no
law but his own personal anibilion. Austria, with all her
faults, put forth iiicoiitrovenil)le a};grebsions on the part of
Napoleon as grounds fur the pending war. Airi^ng them,
in a niemorial issued at the time, were the following : — The
occupation of Hanover, of the i apal states, and < f tlie king-
dom of Naples, as well as ilie Helvetian republic, contrary
to the solemn treaties of Hatisbon and Luneville; the incor-
poration of Piedmont with the l-rencli en pire ; the invasion
of the German empire, by the seizure of the duked'Enghien
on neutral ground; the seizure of se\eral islands on the
llhine, which, according to the treaty of Katisbon, beloiiged
to the German empire, the demand to occupy the sea ports
<if Dalmatia; the demand to occupy tlie capital of Naples,
iis Ions and sea-ports; the occupation of all the sea-poris of
Etruria; the dtmand to occnpy certain sea-ports in Sicily;
the creation of a new kingdom in Italy, (Ontrary to the
secret articles ol the trtaiy of Lunevilie; the incorporation
of Genoa wiih the French tm|)ire; the insulting answers
given to count Cobentzel, on his represeiitatinns in liehalf of
ihe emperor of Austria; and, lastly, a plan discovered by
the oiht-r powers for placing the brothers of Najjolcon ui)on
thrones in the s nth of Europe. These were strong circum ■
stances in proof of the restle s aml)ition of the emperor
Napoleon, and that the sole absorption of Genoa into the
French empire, and gilt of Lucca to his sister, in a time of
peace, and contrary to liis own promises to the French
senate, were not the only legitimate ground of complaint his
enemies could righilyurge against him, while forming.in their
own defence, hovvever deficient in skill its execution might
have lieen afterwards, a league which gave iliem some hope
of overturning a system which, as the event proved, could
not lie otlierwise tlian the precursor of a never ending war
in Europe. Indeed, his determination to found an empire
of the West, admitted by M. 'liners, liaving attached to it
vas.^al kings, was quite enough to justi y war to t.ie utter-
most against a system so destructive of peace, of national
rights, and oveiwlieimingly arbitrary. The splendid talents
of Napoleon were thus obscured l>y an ambition it became
'he duty of every people to resist. Every effort to soften
acts of ambit ous and arbitrary violence, some of tliem, per-
haps, adiiiittingof i>artial excuses, are lost in tlie paramount
duty of a universal resistance to predominant efforts for per-
sonal aggrandisement. — Translator.

The senate of Lucca presents
itself to NHpoleon at Milan.
—Lucca annexed.

THE THIRD COALITION. Austria excuses her armaments. 635

tions, and therefore did not liesitatc, indeed deter-
mined at once, to give up Genoa to the Frencli
navy. He had, as minister at tlie republic ot
Genua, his ccmipatriot Salicetti, wliom he charged
witli tlie task of sounding and preparing the
l>ublic mind. Tliis task was not difficult, because
the piibhc mind in Liguria was very well disposed
for the purpose. Tlio aristocratical and anglo-
Austrian party could not be more hostile than it
was. The actual prott-ctni-ate under which Genoa
was placed, seemed to be as odious to that party
as the union with France. As to the po])ular
party, it saw in this union the freedom of its
commerce with the interior of the empire, the
certainty of great future prosperity, the gua-
rantee that it should never again fall under the
yoke of an oligarchy, in fact the advantage of
belonging to the greatest power in Europe. The
minority of the noliility, borne away by the revo-
lutionary feeling, alone saw with pain the destruc-
tion of Genoese neutrality, but the great extor-
tions of the imperial court were an inducement
sufficient to indemnify the principal personages of
this class.

The proposition proposed by some senators, and
presented by the Genoese senate, was finally adopted
by twenty-two members to twenty. It was aiter-
wards confirmed by a species of popular suffrage,
given on the plan employed in France subsequent
to the consulate. Registers were opened, in which
each individual might inscribe his name. The
people of Genoa came forward, as they had done
in France, to enter their suffrages, nearly all fa-
vourable. The senate and the doge, on the advice
of Salicetti, went to Milan, there to present their
wishes to Napolei>;i. They were introduced to his
presence with a degree of preparation which recalled
tlie times when van(iuished Uiitions came to demand
the honour to becoiue a part of the Roman empire.
Napoleon received them upon his throne, on the
4th of June, declared that he granted their
wish, and promised to visit them upon quilting
Italy'.

To this incorporation there was another added,
loss importtint, being no more than a drop of water
that has run over the ves.sel. The republic of
Lucca was without any government, and was without

' The union of Genoa with Franre took place at mid-day.
The dope addressed the emperor, solicituii; him to gram
the people the happiness of being his subjects. Napoleon
returned a very long imnwer, in which he said, "I will
nalize )our \vi^h•, I will unite you to my great pcoplt;. It
will be to me a new meaim for rendering more eflicacious
the protection I have always loved to grant yon. My
people will reci-ive )ou with pleasure. They knnw that.
in all circumstances, you have assisted tlieir arms with
friendiihip. and have sui)poried them with all your means.
They find be-iile* in jour porta an increanc of inariliine
power, which is ntcei.SHry to them lo sustain their lawful
rights atiainst the oppressor of the seas. You will find in
union with my people a continent. You have only pirts,
and a marine. You will find a flag which, wliatever may
be the pretensions of my enemies. I will maintain on all the
seas of the universe consian'ly frre from Insult and from
search, and exempt from tlie right of blnckiide, which I
will never recognise l>ut lor place* really hlocksded as well
by sea a< hy land. You will find yourselves sheltered under It
fiom this shamerul 8la»cry, the existence of whicli I reluc-
tantly suffer with respc( t to weaker nations, but from which
I will always guarantee my subjects." — Tramlulor.

ceasing, tossed about between Etruria become
Spanish, and Piedmont become French, like a vessel
deprived of the helm, a small vessel it is true, upon
a little sea. The same suggestions disposed the
little state to off"er itself to France, and its magis-
trates, in iinitati'iii of those of Genoa, went to de-
mand at Milan the benefit of a constitution and
a government. Nnpoleon also acceded to their
wishes; but finding the state too far off" to be united
with the empire, he made of their territory tin
appaiiiige for his eldest sister, the princess Eliza, a
woman of judgment, havinga fine mind, gifted with
the qualities of a governing queen. She knew how
to make her authority be loved in this little coun-
try, where she administered the government wi.sely;
this caused her reception of the title devised ap-
l)ropriately for her by Talleyrand of the " Semira-
mis of Lucca." Napoleon had already conferred
upon her the duchy of Piombino : lie this time
therefore g;ive to her and her husband, the prince
Bacciochi, the country of Lucca in the form of an
hereditary principaliiy, de)iendent tipon the French
empire, to return to tiie crown in ctise of the ex-
tinction of the male line, with all the conditions in
consequence, like the ancient fiefs of the Germanic
empire. This sister was to bear for ihe future the
title of the princess of Piombino and Lucca.

Talleyrand was ordered to write to Pru.ssia and
Austria, to explain these acts, that Napoleon re-
garded as matters of indifference to the policy of
those powers, or, at least as not being capable of
arousing the court of Vieinia from its inertness.
However, so far concealed as were the armaments
of Austria, something of them had been discovered,
and the experienced regard of Napoleon h;ul been
struck by it. Corps were in movement towards the
Tyrol, and towards the ancient Venetian proxinces.
The march of these troops could not be denied,
and Austria did not deny it; but she was forced to
declare that the great union of French troops at
]\lareiigo and Castiglione, iippeaiing to her too con-
siderable for simple military fetes, she had caused
some assemblages out of pure prectiiition — assem-
blages which had besides a sufficient motive, in that
the yellow fever had broken out in Spain jiiid in
TuscMiiy, above all, in Leghorn. This excuse was,
as f:ir as to a certain point, credible ; but it was
a (|Uestion to know, if the nioveinellt was litniled to
the change of place of some troo])H, or whether it
was a real reel uiliiig of the army; whether they
were completing the regiments, and whether they
were mounting their cavalry. More than one se-
cret notice transmitted by i'olesiittached to France,
began to give these things iiii air of truth. Napo-
leon immediately sent officers, disguised f.r the pur-
pose, into the Tyrol, Friouli, and Cariniiiia, to
judge with tlioir own eyes of the nature of the pre-
liaiations which they thus cxciiHed, tind he de-
iniinded at the same time from Austria decided e.\-
pliinations.

He devised another mode to sound the disposi-
tions of that court. Ho had exchanged the Legion
of Honour with the orders of friendly courts; lie had
noi yet effected this exchange with the Austrian
orders, and he wished to jilace himself on the same
footir.g with that power as with all the others. He
O'ld therefore an idea of addressing upon this sub-
ject an immediate proposition to Austria at once to
assure himself of her real suntiineiits. He thought

^36 Singular acuteness of THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. English journalists.

that if she had in fact decided upon an approaching
war, she dared not in the fare of Enrope and its
•allies give a testimony nf her cordial friendship,
which, according to tlie usages <>f courts, was tiie
most significant that could be given, above all, to
a power as new as that of the Frencli empire. M.
de la RochefoucauM liad replaced at Vienna, M. de
Champagnj-, now become minister of the interior.
He was coininanded to desire of Austria an expla-
nation of i)er armaments, and to propose to her an
exchange of her orders against ihat of ihe order of
the Le^i'-n of Honour.

Napoleon continuing from the bottom of Italy to
keep the English in the illusion, that the descent so
long announced and so retarded, was no more than
a feint, occupied himself continually to insure its
execution in the summei-. Never had an operation
determined before the sending ..ff so many couriers
as that which was at tliis period the subject of me-
ditation. Consular agents and officers of the navy,
placed in the French and Spanis^h ports, at Cartiia-
gena, Cadiz, Ferrol, Bayonne, the mouth of the Gi-
roiide, Rochefort, the mouth of the Loire, Lorient,
Brest, and Clierburg, having couriers placed at their
disposal, transmitted the least news from the sea
which reached them, and forwarded tiiem to Italy.
Numerous secret agents, maintained in the Enghsii
ports, forwarded their reports, which were innne-
diately transmitted to Napoleon. Lastly, M. de
Marbois, who possessed an extensive knowledge of
British affairs, received the particular injunction to
read himself the journals published in England ',
and to tr.mslate the least news relative to navul

operatK

id it

a circumstance worthy of re-

mark, that it was by these jcmrnals, more particu-
larly, that Napoleon knowing how to anticipate with
perfect correctness all the combinations of the
Jilnglish admiralty, came to be the better informed.
Although oftentimes stating circumstances that were

» At present penple are startled at the ignorance in the
simplest results worked out by the Enfjlish cabinet during
the adminisirHtion of Mr. Pitt, with iiU his ability. There
was a want c.f acquaintance with what was really going on
in the world, and of consequences ineiitalile in the then
existing; state of social life, that shows how contracted was
the knowledge of governtnent of the coninionest details.
While Bonapirte tints obtained and read the English
papers, it had been believed by onr rulers that during war
no papers readied the enemy, and so perfect was this belief,
at least prior to the treaty of Amiens, that in Mr. Pitt's act
of parliament for restricting the lilierty of the newspaper
press, for it can be called nothing else, tliere is a penalty of
600/. attached to the parting with any English new spaper to
an enemy, lest tliat enemy, it was supposed, should ol)tain
information al)out England. In existing times the minister
■would be lliought demented who should make it penal for
any one to part with the copy of a journal ol which lens of
thousands were every .vhere in circulation. The truth was,
that tlie government then had no idea of an enemy ascer-
taining the real state of facts but through such means.
Secret agency was believed scarcely to exist, being punish-
al)le with death. The) hi>d no idea that the best policy in
a strong country is to make no secret of its strength. The
suspicion of wrong colouring that attached to thesUteinents
of government partizans was then never thought equal to
the neutralization of their deceptions. Bonaparte had a regu-
larly organized connexion kept up between the English and
French smuj-'glers, who constantly exchangt-d newspapers.
The French papers being under a strict censorship, tie ad-
vantage derived from tliem was comparatively of no moment
to England.— rr«H«/u/nr.

false, they furnished to his wonderful sagacity a
means of divining real facts. 'J here was something
still more singular yet. On the strength of attri-
buting to Napoleon the m<ist extraordinary jilans,
and often the most absurd possible, some among
these journalists had discovered, without doubting
it, his real design, and had said that he had sent
his squadrons to sea at a distance that they might
suddenly re-unite in the channel. The admiralty
had made no arrangement whatever that implied
such a supposition, which was nevertheless the real
fact. At least, their combiiiat ons leave it to be
supposed that they did not credit any thing of the
kind.

Napoleon, except one circumstance which had
nmch thwarted him, and that had determined him
to modify for the last time his vast design, had no
reason to be dissatisfied with the progress of his
operations. Admiral ilissies.sy, as has been seen
before, had set sail to the West Indies in January.
The details of his expedition were not yet fully
known, Init it w:is well known that the English
were very much tilarmed for their colonies, that
one of thi-m, Dominica, had been taken", and that
they had sent reinforcements into the American
seas, which was a diversion at least to the advan-
tage of the French in the European. Admiral
Villeneuve sailed from Toulon on the 30th of
March, after a navigation, the details of which were
unknown, he ajipeaied before Cadiz, and there ral-
lied around him the Spanish squadron of admiral
Gravina, with a Sjianish division of six vessels of
the line, and several frigates, besides the French
ship of the line the Aigle, and had then sailed to-
wards Martinique. There had been no news of
him subsequently, but it was known that Nelson,
who had been ordered to guard the Mediterranean,
had not been able to overtake him, neither on his
sailing from Toulon, nor on his exit from the straits
of Gibraltar. The Spanish seamen had done their
best in the state of deprivation in which they were
.so unfortunately left, under an ignorant govern-
ment, inert and corrupt. Admiral Salcedo jiad
united a squadron of seven sail of the line at Car-
thagena; admiral Gravina, as already seen, had six
in Cadiz; admiral Grandellana, had a third squa-
dron of eight sail in Ferrol, which would operate
with the French division that was in harbour ia
that port. But they wanted seamen, in consequence
of the fever, and of the bad state of the Sptinish
commerce, and they took fishermen and workmen
m the towns to form the crews. Lastly, a dearth

' This is not correct, the island was never taken. On the
22nd of February, the French landed a large force off the
town of Rosseau, into which the squadron of Missiessy,
consisting of five sail of the line, three frigates, and two
brigs, one the Majesteux, 120 guns, poured their fire. In
all, they landed -JOOO men ; tliey were resisted by about an
eighth part of that number of regulars and militia, who were
compelled to retreat. The town of Rosseau was burned,
but sir George Prevost maintained the island in the fort of
prince Ru|.ert; and the French, levying a contribution on
the p--ople of Rosseau, embarked again, remaining on shore
only four or five days. They landed 500 men at Basseterre,
St. Kitl's, burned some merchantmen, and levied a contri-
bution of 18,000/. there being no force to resist them, their
object was to ravage wliere no opposition of moment was to
he expected. The conduct of general La Grange, who com-
manded the troops at Dominica, was humane and honour-
able.— Translator.

Ganteaume unable to

THE THIRD COALITION.

get out of Brest.

fi37

of corn jtiined to tlic financial difficulties, and the
epidemic fever, liad so nuicli iinpoverisiied the
SpanJsli rescturccs, that they liad not been able to
procure more than six months' provision of tiie
biscuit necessary for eaeii s<[uadroii. Admiral
Gravina had scarcely bmu^lit enougii for three
montlis, when lie joined Villeneuve; and admiral
Grai:dellaiia at Ferrol had barelj' enough for fifteen
daxs" consumption.

Happily, M. Ouvrard, who it has been already
seen was charged with business between France
and Spain, had arrived at Madrid, had deli;;lited by
his very seducing projects a court over head and
ears in debt, had obtained its confidence, had con-
cluiled with it a treaty of which a description will
hereafter be given, and had put an end by his dif-
ferent combinations to the horrors of the scarcity.
He iiad in tJie mean time provided for the Spanish
fleet a certiiin quantity of biscuit. Things went on
therefore in the pons of the peninsula as well as
could be expected or hoped for under tlie destitution
of the Spanish finances.

But while admiral Missiessy spread consterna-
tion through the English West India islands, and
admirals Villeneuve and Gravina united, navigated
without accident towards Martinique, Ganteaume
who was to join them, owing to a sort of phenome-
non in the season, had not been able to find a sin-
gle da\' for the purpose of sailing out of Brest.
There had never been seen in the memory of man
a time when the ei|uinox had not manifested itself
by some gale of wind. The months of March, April,
and May, 1805, iiad nevertheless passed away,
without the English fleet having been once forced
to retire by stress of weather. Admiral Gant-
eaume, who knew in wliat an immense opi ration
he had been called upon to concur, waited with im-
patience the miiment to get out to sea, and at last
concluded by becoming ill from chagrin '. The

• The la»t two letters here cited will prove the state of
mind of this admiral, and tlie fjraiity of the ^raiid naval pro-
jects, which persons who could always see faults where
there were none, have supposed to be no other than a
demonstration. These le'tcrs are no: the only ones of the
same kind. But these are selected from a number for the
purpose of citation.

Ganieaume to the Emperor.

On board ihe Imperial, llth of Floreal, Year xiii. 1st of

May, 1805.

Sire,— The extraordinary weather which has reigned since
we were in communication is despairin;;; it is impossible to
picture to ynu the painful sentiments that I experience in
seein;,' myself thus detained i<\ port, when the other hqua
drons are in full sail towards their destination, and that our
delays and crosses may most cruelly compromise them;
this last and afTecling idea leaves me not a momi-nt of re-
pose, and ai f.ir as up to this day, I have resisted the impa-
tience and torment that devour me; ii arises from my not
being able to see, in our hazarding ourxelves at sea, any
chances in our favour, when they arc all for the enemy: a
disadvantaticons battle was, and is again, inevitable, while
the enemy khall remain in lii» position, and then our expe-
dition will be without the resource required, and our forces
for a long while ])ara1yzcd.

Nevertheless, at the moment when I received the dispatch
of your majesty, of the 3rd Florf-al, I proposed to myself the
h.izard of seltinir sail; all the vessels were unmoored; the
wind to the west, which ha/I blown with Utile sireuKth for
twelve hours, made me hope that the enemy would have
perhaps sailed at large, when his light squadron waa per-

weather always remained calm and serene. Some-
times a wind from the West, accompanied with dark
clouds, hail given them hopes of a sturm, when all
of a sudden the heavens became serene and fine.
There remained no other resource than to deliver a
disadvantageous battle to a fleet which was now
about equal in imniber to the French s(|uadron,
and very su|ierior in appointment. The English,
without questioning precisely what it was that
threatened, struck with the presence of a fleet at
Brest, and another at Ferrol, aroused besides by
the departures from Toulon and Cadiz, had aug-
mented the force of their block.ading squadrons.
They had twenty vessels before Brest, commanded
bp admiral Cornwallis, and seven or eight before
Feriol, commanded by admiral Calder. Admiral
Ganteaume in tliis pusition sailed from the road,
and entering again, went to moor at Bcrtliaume, then
returning to the interinr anchorage, had kept fur two
months every body snug (jii board, both .sailors .and
soldiers. He demanded in his mortification, if

ceived from our anchoring ground, and his fleet signalled off
Ushaiit, but the unct-rtaiifty and weakness of tlie wind pre-
vented me from giving etfect to my object. Certain to be
oblii-ed to brin^ up in the road of Berilieaume, and to lix
the attention of the enemy, 1 have renounced all movement,
and 1 hope 1 liave made him believe that our desire was not
to go to sea.

I permit myself here to reiterate to your majesty the as-
surance that I have already given in respect to the order
and situation in which 1 keep all the ships; the crews
are all at their posts, the communications with the shore
only take phice for such objects as are indispensable for the
service, and at any hour of the day every vessel is in a stale
to execute the signals which may be made to it ; these dispo-
sitions, which can alone enable us to profit by the tirst
favourable moment, will be continued Willi the most perfect
exactness.

Ganteaume to Decres.
The 7th Floreal, Year xiil. S/th April, 1S05.

I judge, my friend, that thou parlakest in all 1 sustain.
Every d^iy that passes is a day of torment lor me, and I
tremble lest I am <ibliged at last to commit some piece of
gross stupidity ! The winds, that for two days had been to
the west, but feeble, altliough accompanied with rain and a
stormy appearance, went round yesterdiiy to the N.N.W.
fresh ; and I have been tempted to run hazards, in spite of
the enemy contmuing to be signalled in the Yroise, that
their advanced vessels were in sight of the road, and that
the weather was very clear. 'J'he certriinty, nevertheless, of
the dis»dv:intageous battle, that 1 should receive from his
position and strength, has hindered me, and 1 felicitate my-
self'o-day; but 1 do not remain less horribly vexed.

The lengih of the days, and the beauty of the sea^on, make
me nearly despair of the expeilition; and thru how support
the idea of forcing our Irieiids to wait uselessly at the place
of rendezvous, and compromise them, by exposing them
necessarily to delays, and to ,1 return extremely dangerous.'
'I'hese ideas do not leave me a moment of tranquility, and I
believe that they must equally torment thee. Still, my
fiieiid, thou wilt easily be persuaded thai it is impossible lor
■ lie lo do better, at least to have been willing to run the
hazard of an aflair that had, iiidepeiid-ntly of the chinces
that gave to the enemy his superiority, equally caused Ihe
failure of Ihe expedition. Thus, as 1 have said, Ihe weather
has always been such, that it has been impossible .'or us to
steal away.

Although thou hast recommended me In lliy last letters
to write often lo the emperor, I dare not write him with
ipilliing to say, as I have noiiglit agreealde to ainionnce; I
hold my peace, and wait eveiils, not willing for ii little to
importune lilm: I limit myself lo desiring that he will do us
Justice.

638

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Napoleon considers anotlier , one
con.biiiaiion, \»liich he ,',?".

they wished lie should fight a battle to gain the
open sea, the thinfj which he had been expressly
fui-bidden from doing.

Napoleon, calculatnig that having arrived at the
middle of May, it would become dangerous to
make Vilieneuve, Gravina, and Missiessy wait
longer in Martinique, as the English squadrons
gone in thtir pursuit would finish by ovei-taking
them, modified once again this part of his jilan.
He decided, that if Gaiiteaume was not able to
set sail before the 20ih of May, he would not be
able to sail at all, and that he sshould wait at Brest
until they came to raise the blockade. Vilieneuve
had orders therefore to return to Europe with Gra-
vina, and to do that which was at first confided to
Ganteaume, in other words to raise tiie blockade
of Ferrol, where he would find five French and
seven Spanish vessels, to touch afterwards at Roche-
fort, if possible to rally Missiessy, probably about
that time returned from the We^t Indies, and
finally to appear before Brest to open the s( a to
Ganteaume, which would carry his total forces
up to fifty-six sail of the line. He would then enter
the channel with that fleet, the greatest which had
ever a])peared U|)on the ocean.

This plan was perfectly practicable, and had even
great chances of success, as the event will soon
]irove. Hiiwever, it was less certain of success
than the ])receding. In effect, if Ganteaume had
been able to put to sea in April, raise the blockade
of Ferrol, which was possible, without a battle, be-
cause only fi\ e or six English vesselswere before the
port, then to reach Martinique, the unit n having
taken place between Vilieneuve and Gravina, with-
out any probability of a battle, they would iiave
re-appeared in Eurt)[)e to the number of fifty ves-
sels, not needing to touch at any port before pene-
trating into the channel. He would not have had
any other chances to run than those encountered
at sea, chances so rare that they might be placed
out of the account. The new plan, on the contrary,
had the inconvenience of exposing Vilieneuve to a
battle before Ferrol, and anotlier before Brest; and
although the superiority of the force in the en-
counters woulil have been great, there w:is no as-
surance that the two squadron^s of which he had
come to raise the blockade, might have time to
come to his aid, and take a part in the battle.
The outlet from Ferrol, as well as from Brest, is by
a narrow ])assage; there as elsewhere the wind that
allows of entrance is not that which will permit the
Sailing out, and it was ver^' possible, that a battle
might lie fought at the entrance of these ports, and
be terminateil before the fleet placed within thmi
could arrive to participate in it. A battle of which
the issue was doubtful, was capable of demoralising
the admirals whose confidence at sea was not great,
however brave they were personally. Admiral
Vill<-neuve, above all, tliough an intr. pid mariner,
never bad a degree of firmness ]jroporti(iiiable to
such hazards; and he had to regret inileeil that the
beauty of the weather had hindered the lirst com-
bination.

There was yet another plan at which Najioleon
stood still a moment, that would jn-ocure less force,
but \\liich w<juld conduct a fleet into the chamiil
in a maiini-r yet more sure; thi> was to carry Vil-
ieneuve neither before Brest nor Ferrol, but to
make him go about by Scotland, and then sail after-

wards by the north sea befuro Boulogne. It is
true he would have arrived with twenty sail in
place of fifty; but that would suftice for three days
comniand of the channel, and the flotilla, sufficiently
protected, would have passed in perfect safety.
This idea presented itself fur an instant before the
mind of Napoleon, he wrote it down, then wishing
still more of security, he preferred a larger junc-
tion, and a more ])owerful force, to the greater cei'-
tamty of arrival in the channel, and he returned
to the plan of raising the blockade of Ferrol and
Bn'st by Vilieneuve.

This was the last change made in his design by
circumstances. It was in the midst of a fete, as
he recounted himself in the postscript of one of liis
lettei'S, that he ruminated over all these combina-
tions, and decided. He gave immediately the ne-
cessary instructions. I'wo vessels had been pre-
])ared at Rochefort ; rear-admiral Magon com-
manded them. He set sail forthwith to announce
at Martinique the change that had occurred in the
determinations of Najioleon. Frigates equipped at
Lorient, Nantes, and Rochefort, were ready to sail,
when they were assured that Ganteaume would
not go; they were ordered to carry Vilieneuve a com-
mand to return immediatelx to Europe, in order to
execute the new plan. Each frigate waste be ac-
companied by a brig, furnished with a duplicate of
the orders. If the frigate were taken, the kirig
would save itself, and transmit the duplicate. The
dispatches were enclosed in leaden boxes, and given
to the ca|)tains in confidence, to be thrown into the
sea in case of danger. These precautious and
those which follow are worthy of being mentioned,
for the information of governments.

To the end that the fleets of Brest and Ferrol
should be able to second those which came to raise
their blockade, great precautions bad been taken.
Gantiaume was to moor out of tlie road of Brest
in tiie creek of Bertliaume, an open place of
doubtful security. In order to correct this defect,
a general of artillery li-id been sent from Paris, and
one hundred and fifty cannon wei-e placed in bat-
tery for the support of the squailron. Gourdon
replaced admiral Boudet at Ferrol, who had
fallen sick, and was ordered to sail from Feri-ol to Co-
riMina, the anchorage of which is open, and to con-
duct thither the French divisions. It had been
prescribi d to admiral Grandellana to do the same
wiih the Spanish vessels. The court of Spain had
been solicited to take similar ])iecau ions to those
which had been taken at Bertliaume, with the
object of ensuring the security of the anchorage
b) batteries. Finally, in order to provide in case
the vessels charged with the duty of raising the
blockade should have consumed their jirovisions,
there were prepared at Ferrol, Rochefort, Brest,
and Cherburg, barrels of biscuit amounting to
many millions of rations, that could be embarked
without losing an instant. An order awaited ad-
miral Missiessy at Rochefort, if here turned and re-
entered there, enjoining it iijion him to depart again
immediately, to go and make Ireland uneasy by
appearing off the coast for a few days, and tin n to
cruise at some distance from Ferrol in a deter-
mined latitude, when admiral Vilieneuve having
received notice of it by a frigate, would encoun-
ter him.

While these precautionary measures were taken

1805.
June.

Napoleon visits the Italian
cities.— Cardinal Maury

THE THIRD COALITION.

reconciled to the emperor.

639

regai'dinn; the navy, the cinuinuni aiid secret cares
bestowed upon tlie army teinled to the effective
au^ineiitatiiJii <if tlie w;ir luittulions on the shares of
tlie ocean. The troops of tlie expedition amounted
then to one Imiiired anil sixty thousand men, not
includiiii; the caps at Brest, that had hetii dis-
persed since till- new destination assigned to Gant-
eaumi'. Adinii-.il ' Verhuell, with the Bitavian
fleet, had received onlers to unite at Anibleteuse,
in order that the entire expedition should be ahle
to Set out from the four jwrts dependent upon
Boulogne. These ports of artificial creation, had
got blocked up with sand during the tw<) years
since they had been constructed. New works had
cleared them again. Further, they had repaired
the vessels of the flotilla, somewhat injured by
their omtinual going in and out, and i>y a troubled
mooring ground the whole length of the external
anchorage.

While expediting such a multitude of ordei-s,
Napoleon continued his journey in Italy. He had
visited Bergamo, Vemna, Mantua, been jircsent at
a representation of the battle of Castiglione, by
twenty-five thousand men, on the ground of the
very same battle; he had dwelt several days in
B'.logna, to the delight of the learned men of that
celebrsited university; then he had traversed Mo-
dena, Parma, Piacenza,:ind finally the niiignificent
Genoa, ac(iuired by the stroke of a pen. He passed
there from the 30tli of June to the 7th of July, in
the midst of fetes woithy of the marble city, and
superior to all ilmse whic-ii the Italians had devised
of the finest character for his reception. He en-
countered there an illustrious personage, fatigued
with an exile which had lasted for twelve years,
and an opposition that his religious duties had no
longer justified. Tlie pope had given him an ex-
.^mple which he w;is himself decided finally to fol-
low, and he had taken the resolution of attaching
himself to the restorer of the altar. It was at
Genoa that he had managed to contrive the occa-
sion for entering into favour. Like the partisans
of Pompey, who one after another endeavoured to
encounter Cesar in one of the cities of the Roman
empire, in lirdei* to deliver themselves voluntarily
to his seductions, Cardinal Maury in the city of
Genoa had found himself incline towards the new
Cesar. He was received with the courtesy of a
man of genius, desiring to please a man of intel-
lect, and was enabled to foresee that his return to
France woiiM be repaid with the highest dignities
of the chni ch.

Alter having received the oath from the Genoese,
and prepared with the engineer Forlait the future
naval est.ililishni' nt that he wished to form in that
sea, confiding to the archtreaHiirer Lebrim the
care of organizing the administration of this
new part of the empire. Napoleon departed for
'I'lirin, where he feigned to occupy all his time
with reviews of his troops ; then on the iiili of
July in the evening, leaving the empress in Italy,
he went forward with two post carriages in the
plainest maimer, and passed on his way for the mi-
nister of the intinior. lie arrived iiiei;;lity hours at
Fontainblcaii, which he reached at eleven in the
morning. The arclichaiicellor Cambaedies and
the ministers were there to receive his c<immandH.
He was going to set off upon an expedition that
would either make hiiii absolule master of the

world, or like a new Pharaoh would engiilph him
in the ocean. He had never bet n more calm, nor
nmi-e full of activity, nor more confident of success.
But men of the greatest talent may have noble
wishes; while their wills, powerful as ever they may
be, as the wills of all men, are scarcely more than
caprices without force, when Providence de-
crees it otherwise. H-re is a very memorable
example of this fact. Whilst Napoleon had prepared
every thing for an eiicoimler with Europe in arms
between Boulogne and Uover, Providence had
piejiared the contest for him in very different
and distant jilaces !

The emperor Alexander Inid adjourned the rati-
fication of the treaty which constituted the new
coaliti<in, until the moment when England con-
sented to evacuate Malta. Not doubting of a favour-
able reply, he had demanded passports for M.
Nowosiltz iff, in order to place him as early as
possible in relation with Napoleon. The emperor
Alexander, less belligerent in a certain degrte as
he approached the moment that was to decide
peace or war, had Imped by this promj titiide to
augment the chiinces of peace. But he had ill-
juilged the feeling of the cabinet of London, re-
solved to keep the capital position, which the
hazard of events and an act of bad faith had
placed in its hands. It, positively refused to
abandon the Island of Malta. This intelligence
received in St. Petersburg, while M. Nowosilt-
zi>ff wasat Berlin, liadthro"n the Russian cabinet
into indescribabl(i trouble. What should be done ?
Passing over to the will of England, submitting to
her intractable ambition, was in the eyes of Europe
to accept the most secondary character. It was
to renmmce the negotiat.on of M. Nowosiltzoff,
because he would be sent from Paris, even on the
day of his arrival, atid perhaps in a very humiliat-
ing fashion, if he did not take with him the evacu-
ation of Malta. This was then equal to an imme-
diate war on account of England, at her suit and
expence, and Europe knowing, too, tliiit it was
so. On the contrary, to treat with her upon
her refusal, was to avow, |)ublicly, that Russia
had treated with her politically without making it
known, it was to give up the game to the advan-
tage of Napoleon in the face of the world, and to
jilace Russia in a ridiculous state of isidation, em-
I bioiled with England for her purposes and with
France for acts of rashness. Russia could not
wish to be at the meiey of I'ngland, nor to fall
back upon the mercy of Napoleon, who would be
the master of the conditions upon which it should
be on terms of approximation with France.

If Napoleon, U^- the error he had committed of
uniting Genoa with France, had not come to the
aid of the Russian cabinet , he would have seen
his enemies plunged into the greatest confusion.
In fact, the Russian cabinet was occu[)ied in de-
liberating upon this serious subject, when it was
apprised of the annexiitioii of (Jeiioa. This was a
mattt r of real joy, because that miforeseen event
drew out from a state of embarrassment the men
of the cabinet, who were so very imprudently com-
mitted. They resolved to m.ikenmeh noise about
it, and to say in very high terms, that they were

• It id upon authentic document" that I recount thli em-
barrasimeiit of the Russian cabinet.— iVo<« of Ike Author.

Dilemma of Russia re-
moved by the aniiexa-

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

1805.
July.

no longer able to treat with a government, which
every day committed fresh usurpations. They
found here a pretext quite natural for recalling
M. Nowosiltzdff from Berlin, and immediately
sent him an order to return to Petersburg, leav-
ing a note for the king of Prussia ^, to explain

> This note, addressed to baron Hardenheig the Prussian
minister, on the 10th o:' July, 1805, was as follows : —

"His imperial majesty of Russia availed himself of the
mediation of his Prussian majesty when he required pass-
ports for his plenipotentiary. He declared that he should
only receive them ou that particular condition, namely,
that his plenipotentiary should enter directly upon a n<go-
tiation with the chief of the French government, withoiit
acknowledging the new title which he had assumed ; and
that Bonaparte should give explicit assurances that he was
still animated by the same wish for a general peace which
he had appeared to show in his letter to his Britannic
majesty.

" This preliminary assurance was the more necessary,
since Bonapnrte had assumed the title of king of Italy im-
mediately after the receipt of the answer given hy his
Britannic mnjesty to his letter of the 1st of January ; a
title which in itself put a new obstacle in the way of the
desired restoration of peace.

" After hi- Pru.ssian majesty had transmitted the positive
answer from the cabinet of the Tuileries, that it persevered
in the intention sincerely to lend its hand to a pacific nego-
tiation, his imperial miijesty of Russia accepted the pass-
ports more readily, because the French government showed
so strong an inclination to transmit them.

" By a fresh transgression of the most solemn treaties,
the union of the Li;;urian republic with France has been
effected. This event of itself, the circumstances which have
accompanied it, tlie formaluies which have lieen employed
to hasten the execution, have, alas ! formed an aggregate
which must terminate the sacrifice which iiis imperial
majesty of Russia would have made, at the pressing request
of Great Britain, and in the hope ol restoring the necessary
tranquill ty to Europe hy the means of negotiation.

*' Without doul)t his imperial majesty of Hussia would not
have insi-ted so strenuously on the conditions fixed hy him,
if the French government had fulfilled the hope that it
would respect the first tie which holds society together, and
which upholds the confidence of engagements between civi-
lized nations; but it cannot possibly be believed that Bona-
parte, when he granted t);e passports, which were accom-
panied witli the most pacific declarations, seriously intended
to fulfil them; oecause, during the time which would
necessarily elapse between the grantitig of the passports
and the arrival of the undersigned at Paris, he took measures
whicli, far fmm facilitating the restoration of peace, were of
such a nature, that they annihilated the very grounds of
peace.

"The undersigned, in recalling to the recollection of his
excellency baron Uardenberg. lacts with which the cabinet
of his Prussian majesty is very minutely acquainted, must
at the same time inform him, that he has just now received
from his Hussian maji sty an order, dated the Sth (2Isi)
June, to return the annexed pnssports immediately, and to
request your excellency to transmit the same to tlie Freiioh
government, vvi h this present declaration, since no use can
be made of them in the present state of affairs."

The following note, with atopy of the above, was trans-
mitted by baron Hardenberg, the Prussian minister of state,
to .M La''orest, the French ininioter at the court of Prussia,
dated July II, 18u?:-
"'lhe undersigned minister of state and of the cabinet,
with the deepest regret finds himself under the necessity of
communicating to M. I.aforest, envoy extraordinary and
miiiister-olei.ip teiitiary of his majesty the emperor of the
French, the n.ite whii-h M. Nowosillzotf lias addressed to
him, upon returning him the French passport (the original

this change of determination. Tliey held them-
selves now dispensed with insisting on any thing
relative to Malta on the part of England ; they
ratified the treaty, comprising tlie third coalition,
and alleged the recent usurpations of the emperor
of the French as the cause.

M. Nowosiltzoff was himself at Berlin, where
the king of Prussia had finally arrived. The
order for his recal surprised and mortified him
deeply, because it was an opportunity lost to
enter upon the finest of negotiations. He did not
dissimulate his displeasure to the king himself,
and to let his majesty know his own personal dis-
position to attempt every thing to gtiiu the
emperor Najioleon, if he had himself gone to
Paris, and the concessions to which he wnuld have
subscribed in the name of his court. Tliis was
another reason for the king of Prussia to deplore
the new allurement to which Napoleon had
yielded, and to make to him his onlinary com-
phiiiits, very mild according to custom, but also
very plaintive, because every chance more of the
kind added to the chances of war, whicli were
already so numerous and deeply affecting to
him.

At Vienna the eff"ect was still more decisive.
It was not the embarrassment of therasli conduct,
that had been suddenly disclosed by the annexa-
tion of Genoa, it was the protracted hesitation of
))rudence. Austria had long seen that Napoleon
desired to have the entire of Italy, and was unable
to brook the abandonment of it to him, without com-
liiiting another time with the courage of d^^spair.
But the Austrian finances were in a deplorable
state ; a frightful dearth of corn afHicted higher
and lower Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, and Hun-
gary. Bread was so dear at Vieniiti, that the
people of that cajiital, commonly so mild iind sub-
missive, carried themselves so far as to pillage the
shops of some of the bakers. In this situation
they would have hesitated a great while to run
themselves into the expences of a third contest
against so formidable an adversary as Napoleon ;
but on hearing of the annexation of GfUoa, and the
creiition of the duchy of Lucca, all these uncertain-
ties ceased at the same nuinient. The resolution to
combat was immediately taken. Despat hes sent
to St. Petersburg announced the definitive reso-
lution, and filled the Russian cabinet with joy, that
seeing itself drawn into a war, regarded the con-
currence of Austria as the most fortunate of
events.

The adhesion of this court to the treaty of coali-
tion was signed on the spot. Russia was charged

is here annexed); at the same time announcing to him the
order which his majesty of all the Russias has transmitted
to him, in consequence of the recent changes in Italy, and
especially the union of the Ligurian repiililic with the
French empire, not to proceed upon his journey to France.
His majesty could not but feel the greatest concern in
seeing thus confirmed the fears which, from the moment
the intelligence of that unexpected event transpired, it was
impossible not to entertain respecting the effect which it
might produce on the salutary negotiation which it was
under deliberation to open. The earnest desire which his
majesty has always cherished, and of which he has given
repeated proofs, for the restoration of peace, is the strongest
assurance of the sentiments of concern with which he is
affected upon tliis

1805.

July.

THE THIRD COALITION. Wariike demonsUation of Austria. 641

to negotiate witli England for the service of Austria
the largest possil)le siun as a subsidy. They de-
manded and obtained, for the first expenses of
opening the campaign, 1,000,000^ sterling, or
25,000,000 f. More than that, the instantaneous
remission of liaif the annual subsidy of 2,000,000/.
sterling, or 50,000,000f. The plan of the cam-
paign was discussed between M. Yinzingcrode and
the prince Swartzenberg, and arranged on the 16th
of July. It was agreed that ten thousand Rus-
sians, and some thousand Albanians, thrown in a
proper season and place upon Naples, should there
operate a movement towards Lower Italy, whilst
one hundred thousand Austrians should march upon
Lcimbardy; that the grand Austrian army, sup-
ported by a Russian force of si.Kty-thousand men at
least, should enter by Gallicia, and act in Bavaria;
that an anny of eighty-thousand Russians should
advance towards Px-ussia; that another Russian,
English, Hanoverian, and Swedish army, assembled
in Swedish Pomerania, should be directed upon
Hanover; that, in fine, the Russians should have
considerable reserves to bring up in case of need.
The English were to operate by disembarkations
upon those points of the French empire that were
judged most accessible, as soon as the diversion
witli which Napoleon was threatened should have
brought about the dispersion of the army assembled
upon the shores of the ocean. It was agreed that
the troops designed to go to the succour of Austria
should be ready to march before the autumn of
the existing year, in order to hinder Napoleon from
taking advantage of the winter season to crush the
Austrian army.

1 1 was agreed besides that the court of Vienna,
continuing its system of profound dissimulation,
should persist in the denial of its armaments,
while arming more actively than ever; and then,
when it could no longer dissimulate, it should
speak of negotiation, and retake up for itself and
Russia the negotiations abandoned by M. Nowosilt-
zoff. It was again, this time, to deny all connexion
with England, and to appear to treat only for the
continent. The ordinary falsehortd of weakness
characterised all this conduct. Prussia suffered
cruel anxiety: she foresaw, without penetrating it
completely, the determination made to commence
war, and she defended herself against any engage-
mtiit on one side or another, by saying to Russia
that she was too much exposed to the blows of
Napoleon ; and by saying to Napoleon, that she would
have renewed her offers of alliance had she not
been too much exposed to the blows of Russia.

M. Zastrow had returned from Petersburg after
a very disagreeable mission, followed by no result.
An unforeseen circumstance just missed bringing
abi>nt the sudden discovery of the coalition, and
the obligation that Prussia should declare herself.
Since a treaty of subsidy, concluded between Eng-
laml and Sweden, had secured to the coalition the
(•onenrrcnce of that foolish crown, Stralsund was
filli.il with troops. It was known that this was the
last footing of Sweden in the north of Germany.
Napoleon had seen, through the reports of certain
di|ilomalic agents, that they were preparing some-
tliiiig on that coast, and had given notice of it to
the king of Prussia, by telling him to take care of
the neutrality of the north of Germany, the ob-
ject of all liis eoliciludea; that, as to himsulf, on

the first alarm of danger, he should send thirty-
thousand men more into Hanover. These few
words had sufficed to move the king of Prussia,
who signified to the king of Sweden that he must
cease his armaments in Swedish Pomerania. The
king of Sweden replied to the king of Prussia,
that he was master of his own territory, and that
he had ordered the armaments because lie judged
them necessary for his own security. That if
Prussia would restrain his freedom, he counted
upon the emperor of Russia and king of England,
his allies, to aid him in making the independence of
his states respected. Not limiting here his insults,
he sent back to the king, Frederick William, the
orders of Prussia, saying to him that he would not
wear them more, since that monarch had given
them to the most cruel enemy of Europe.

This outrage irritated Frederick William, who,
all prudent as he was, would have taken vengeance,
if Russia, immediately intervening, had not de-
clared to Prussia, that the territory of Swedish
Pomerania w;is under her care, and should rest in-
violable. This species of forbidding her to act,
signified to Prussia, gave her to think deeply, and
cruelly humiliated her. She took the resolution of
making no reply, limiting herself to sending away
the minister of Sweden, and declared to Napoleon,
that she was not able to answer for what events
might pass in Hanover; that, notwithstanding this,
she guaranteed to him that the Prussian territory
should not serve as a road to an invading army.

The horizon then changed on every side, and in
a manner very obvious to the least clear-sighted
vision. From all parts assemblages of troops were
announced, in Friuli, in the Tyrol, and in higher
Austria. They did not speak of simjile concentra-
tions of troops, but of the organization of troops of
particular arms, which was much more significant.
The cavalry remounted, the artillery provided with
hovses, and conducted in numerous trains to the
banks of the Adige; considerable magazines every
where formed; bridges thrown over the Piava and
Tagliamento; field-works raised in the lagunes of
Venice; all these could leave no doubt of the object.
Austria denied it, witii a falsehood which has but
few examples in liistory, and only admitted certain
I>recautions in the Venetian sUites, caused by the
French Jissemblage of troops formed in Italy. In
respect to the exchange of the grand decorations
which had been asked of her, she refused them
under various pretexts.

Jt was ui)on this assemblage of circumstances
that Napoleon had to deciile during the first days
which he was to pa.ss at Fontainbleau and at St.
Cloud before going off to Boulogne. It was neces-
sary for him to decide at once on the descent, or to
march with his thumkr upon the continental
powers. <Jn the 11th of July, the same day of his
arrival at Fontainbleau, the arclichancellor Cani-
bac(Jr6s met him there, and began to confer with
him about the business of the moment. This grave
personage was afiirighted at the state of the conti-
nent and the striking symptoms of approaching
war, and, with reason, regarded the annexations
wiiich had taken placi; in Italy as l>eing the certain
cause of a rupture. In that situation, ho could not
but express his o])inion that Napolron left Italy
and France exposed to the alUicks of the coalition,
in order to throw himself upon England. Napo-
T T

Instructions given by

Napoleon before the THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

descent.

Napoleon goes \
logne.

leon, full of confidence and fondness for his vast
maritime plan, of which lie had not entrusted the
entire secret even to the archancellor, did not feel
embarrassed by any of these objections. According
to him, the taking possession of Genoa and Lucca was
of no concern to Russia, because Italy was not made
to submit to her influence. This court ought to be
happy that he did not demand an account from her
of what she did in Georgia, in Persia, and even in
Turkey. She had engaged herself in the policy of
England; sli© was visibly in coalition with Eng-
land; M. Nowosiltzdff was only an English com-
missioner that they wished to send to him, but he
would have received him in consequence. Very
evidently, the partnership between Russia and Eng-
land was strongly linked, but these two powers
were unable to do any thing without Austria, desti-
tute of the armies and the territoi-y of that power.
Austria, always deeply in fear of France, would
hesitate yet some time befoi-e they could draw her
in entirely. In any case, she would not be ready
soon enough to hinder the expedition to England.
A few days would suffice to execute that expedi-
tion; and the sea once passed, all the coalitions
would be destroyed at a single blow: the arm of
Austria, actually raised against France would be
beaten down at tlie same instant. " Depend upon
me," said Napolecju, to the archchancellor Cara-
baceres; " trust to my activity: I shall surprise
the world by the greatness and rapidity of my
blows."

Immediately afterwards he gave some orders
respecting Italy, and the frontier of the Rhine. He
enjoined it u)><in Eugene Beauharnais to remain at
Milan, and to marshal Jourdan his military guide,
to commence jirovisioning the fortresses, and get-
ting togetiier the field artillery, to buy draught
horses, and furm the parks. The tmops which
came from the jiarades at Marengo and Castig-
lione, were ordered t(>a])proach the Adige. He had
for some time past disposed a divisidu of reserve
in the environs of Pescara, for the purpose of sup-
porting general St. Cyr if that general had need of
it. He directed this general to get good infor-
mation, and if he learned of the least attempt of
the Russians or the English to move upon any point
whatever ot llie Calabrias, to march from Taren-
tum to Naples itself, throw the court upon the
sea, and taUe possession of the kingdom.

He marched upon the Rhine the heavy cavalry
which was not designed to embark for England,
and directed to the same ]>oint the i-eginients which
were not to be comprised in the expedition. He
ordered in a particular manner that at Metz,
Strasburg, and Mayencc, the formation of the field
ai'tillery should be completed.
. He gave allcrwiiids his last instructions to M.
de Talleyrand, relative to diplomatic affairs. It
was necessary at each new jiiece ol information
gathered in ri-i.nion to the armaments of Austria,
to make it known to that court, to show how bad
was its faitli, anil to make it tremble for the conse-
quences of iis conduct. This time Austria should
be ruined, no quarter should be given, if it inter-
rupted the expedition to England. As to Prussia,
a conference had long been open with her res])ect-
ing Hanover. '1 liey w<juld avail themselves of the
occasion to sound her upon this valuable acquisi-
tion, to meet her well-known desiie, and if she bit

at this bait, to offer it to her immediately on condi-
tions of her alliance with France, concluded in-
stantly, and publicly proclaimed. With such an
alliance. Napoleon was certain to freeze Austria
with fear, and to render her immovable for some
years to come. In any case he believed that be-
tween Boulogne and Dover he was in a way to ad-
vance his objects much better than could be done
by the most able and successful negotiations.

Time pressed ; all was ready upon the sea coast,
and every moment which passed might bring ad-
miral Villeneuve before Ferrol, before Brest, and
into the channel. Admiral Missiessy had returned
to Rochefort, after having sailed through the West
Indies, taken Dominica from the English *; landed
troops, arms, and ammunition in Guadaloupe and
Martinique, made many prizes, and exhibited the
French flag on the ocean without receiving a single
check. Still he had returned too soon, and as he
showed some repugnance to proceed again to sea,
Napoleon replaced him by captain Lallemand, an
excellent officer, whom he had forced to set off be-
fore the vessels were repaired, to go to meet admi-
ral Villeneuve in the vicinity of Ferrol. All this
arranged. Napoleon proceeded to Boulogne, leaving
Cambaceres and Talleyrand in Paris, taking wi.lii
him marshal Berthier, and giving admiral Decres
orders to join him there without delay. He arrived
at Boulogne on the 3rd of August, in the midst of
transports of joy from the army, which had begun
to feel tired, in repeating every day the same exer-
cises for two years and a half, and who firmly
believed this time that Napoleon had placed him-
self at their head in order to pass definitively into
England.

The day following his arrival, he had all the in-
fantry assembled on the beach at low water. It
occupied more than thi'ee leagues, presenting the
enormous mass of one hundred thousand infantry,
ranged in one line, and occupying more than three
leagues - of ground. Since he had commanded an
army, he had never seen a finer sight. Afterwards,
on returning to head quarters, he wrote to admiral
Decres these significant words : " The English
know not what is hanging over their ears. If we
are masters of the passage for twelve hours, Eng-
land is conquered ^."

He had mnv united in the four poi'ts of Amble-
teuse, Wimereux, Boulogne, and Etaples, that is
to say, to the left of Cape Grisnez, and to the
same point as Boulogne, all the corps which were to
embark in the flotilla. The wish formed two years
before was now accomplished, thanks to the care
that had been bestowed upon bringing them toge-
ther, and thanks to a superb contest that the Bata-
viaii flotilla had sustained under the orders of ad-
miral Verliuell, ill doubling Cape Grisnez before the
English squadron. This combat, that took place on
the 18th of July, or 29th Mcssidor, some days
before the arrival of Napoleon, was the most con-
siderable that the flotilla had sustained against the
English. Several divisions of Dutch gun-vessels
had encountered at Cape Grisnez forty-live sail of

. > See note page 636.

2 The Frencli league is 2 miles 3 furlongs 15 poles
Englit,h.

3 Letter to M. Decres, of the 16 Thermidor, year xiir, of
4th August, n05.—l>ep6t of secretary of state.

1805.
July

THE THIRD COALITION.

Course of admiral Villeneuve
from Toulon.

English sliip^. consisting as well of ves-sels of the
line, as frigates, corvettes, and brigs, and had com-
bated with rare coolness and complete success. This
encounter at the Cape was dangerous, because
towards this point the water being deep, the Eng-
lish vessels, without fear of grounding, were able to
come nearer the frail vessels of the French. In
spite of this advantage on the part of the enemy,
the Dutch gun-vessels supported themselves in the
presence of their powerful adversaries. The artil-
lery that guarded the shore had hastened to sustain
them, and the flotilla of Boulogne went out to their
support, and in the midst of a hail shower of pro-
jectiles, admii-al Vcrhuell having at his side ninr-
shal Davout, passed at half cannon shot distance
from the enemy without losing a single vessel.
This combat had raised the reputation of admiral
Verhuell in the army, who was already held in high
estimation, and had filled with confidence the
one hundred and sixty thousand soldiers and sea-
men, ready to traverse the channel in the French
and Batavian flotillas.

Napoleon had all his ai-my now under his hand.
In two hours, men and horses could be embarked,
and in two tides, that is to say, in twenty-four
hours be transported to Dover'. As to the stores,
they had been long since on board the vessels.

The army assembled upon this i)oint successively
increased, now presented a force of nearly one hun-
dred and thirty-two thousand men, and fifteen
thousand horses, independently of the corps of
general Marmont placed in the Texel, amounting
to twenty-four thousand men, and four thousand
at Brest, embarked in the squadron of Gan-
teaume.

These one hundred and thirty-two thousand
men, who would cross in the flotilla, and dejiart
from the four ])orts of Ambleteuse, Wimereux,
Boulogne, and Etaples, were distributed in six
corps d'anmc. The advanced guard, commanded
by marshal Launes, fourteen thousand strong,
composed of the division of Gazan, and the famous
grenadiers encamped at Arras, was to embark at
Winnreux. These ten battalions of grenadiers,
forming of themselves a corps of eight thousand
men, of the finest infantry existing in the world,
embarked in a light division of pinnaces, were called
to the honor of first landing upon the coast of Eng-
land, under tlie alluring impulse of Lanncs and Ou-
diuot. Then came the main body of the army, di-
vided into right and left wings and centre. The
left wing commanded by Davout, and number-
ing twenty-six thousand men, composed of the
brave divisions of Morand ', Fiiant, and Gudin,
that immortaliscfl thcmKclvL-s afterwards at Auer-
fitadt and in a liundred cori-bats, was designed to
enibark at Ambleteuse in the Dutch flotilla. The
centre under marshal .Souit, forty thousand
strong, distributed in five divisions, at the heads of
which wenr generals Van<lamme, Sucliet, Logrand,
and St. Ililaire, was to embark in the four divi-

• See pape 504, whore our aulhor «talei an Incontroverti-
ble fact, that such a floiill.i coiilrl not move out of the
harbour in one tide, rcquirinR tw.i tideii nl leam for that
purpose; liow Ihe tran«iiortiitioii lo Dover wn» now to be
effected in twenty-four liourn or two lid>ii ti not exiiliiined.
Forty eight hours were connidcrcd neidful for such a pur-
pose in a pievious pnnsafre of hl» liictory.

* At this time the diviniou of Uisson.

sional squadrons or " escadrilles" assembled at
Boulogne. Lastly, the left wing, or camp of .Mon-
treuil, was commanded by the intrepid Ney. It
consistedof twenty-two thousand men, and reckoned,
three divisions, nu)re particularly that of Dupont,
which soon covered itself with glory at Albek, at
the bridge of Halle, and at Friedland. This corps
was to depart from Etaples, in two " escadrilles" of
the flotilla. A chosen division «)f the guard, three
thousand strong, and then actually on the march,
was on reaching Boulogne to join itself to the corps
of the centre.

Lastly, the sixth subdivision of this grand army,
was that denominated the reserve. It had for its
chief, prince Louis Bonaparte; and comprehended
tiie foot dragoons and cliasseurs, commanded by
generals Kiein and ^largaron; the heavy cavalry
commanded by Nansouty, and an Italian division
perfectly disciplined, and not yielding in bearing
to the finest of the French divisions. Napoleon
said that he would show the English what they
had not seen since the lime of Cesar, the Italians
in their island, and teach these Italians to estimate
themselves, by bringing them to fight as well as
the French. This reserve, amounting to twenty-
seven thousand men, ])laced in the rear of all the
camps, would occupy the shore when the five first
corps of the army had departed, and as it was sup-
jiosed that a squadron covering the passage would
be master of the strait for some days, the flotilla of
ti'ausjjort, separating itself for some hours from
the war flotilla, would c<mie to fetch this reserve,
as well as the second moiety of the horses. In fact,
of fifteen thousand horses the flotilla would not be
able to embark more than eight thousand at one
time. A second voyage would have bx'ought over
the seven thousand remaining.

Thus, besides the twenty-four thousand men of
Marmont's force embarked in the fleet of the
Texel, and the four thousand embarked at Brest,
Napoleon would be enabled to move a total mass of
one hundred and thirty-two thousand men, of
whom one hundred thousand were infantry, seven
thousand cavalry mounted, twelve thousand ca-
v.ilry not mounted, and thirteen thousand ar-
tillery '.

It "was amid this formidable state of preparation
that Napoleon awaited the arrival of the squadron
of Villeneuve.

This a<lmiral, as has been seen, had departed
on the :iOili of March from Toulon, with eleven
sail of the line, of which two were of eighty guns,
and six frigates. Nelson was cruising towards
Barcelona. He endeavoured to make it be be-
lieved that his intention was to remain in that
latitude, and then he had suddenly gone to the
south of Sardinia, in the hope that the French,
cheated by the reports thus spread abroad, would
endeavour to avoid the coast of Spain, and come
of themselves to the encounter «itli hiiu. The
French fleet sailed with a fair wind, and informed
of the truth of the slate of things by a liagumiu

» I borrow all these numbers from the little book of the
emperor, the ►ame which he carried with him. This book
in to be found in the depot of tlic Louvre, and it alone ({Ives
the true returns of the army ol the ocrnn, whidi are ntiiher
at the depiH of uar imr of tlie navy. In coii.icquence, all
military worlis have ^iveu iiicoricn numbers relative to the
I cunipusitioii of that army.— A'«M oj the Autlior,
Tt2

644

Villeneuve off Cadiz
joined by Gra-
vina.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Despondency of Ville- 1 805. .
neuve. July.

vessel, steered between the Balearic Islands and
Carthageua, touched at this last port on the 7th
of April, and remained there for a day in conse-
quence of a dead calm. Villeneuve invited the
Spanish admiral Salcedo to join his flag, which
intention he was not able to effect for want of
superior orders. Villeneuve then proceeding with
a favourable wind arrived on the 9th of April at
the entrance of the straits. The same day, at
noon, he had entered the straits, formed in two
columns, his frigates in advance, the hammocks
down and in, the nettings on board all the ships,
and every thing cleared for action. They recog-
nized the Fi-ench fleet from Gibraltar, and had
given the alarm by ringing the bells and firing
the alarm gun, because they had in that port only
a very weak division of vessels. Villeneuve ap-
peared in the evening of the same day oft" the
port of Cadiz. Warned by signals, the captain of
the Aigle prepared to leave the road, and the
brave Gravina, who had neglected nothing to
place himself in readiness, hastened to weigh
anchor in order to join the French admiral. But
many things in Cadiz were still backward. The
two thousand five Imndred Spaniards, whom they
were to transport to the islands, were not even
embarked. They had finished getting the provi-
sions on board, but it would have required at
least forty-eight hours more for admiral Gi'avina
to get ready, and Admiral Villeneuve pressing,
declared that he would not wait if the junction did
not immediately take place. Although a little
recovered from the anxiety of his first departure,
the French admiral was incessantly pursued by
the image of Nelson, whom he believed he always
saw close in his wake.

Gravina, strongly devoted to Napoleon and his
projects, embarked with every thing in confusion,
proposing to himself to complete his an-angements
on the ocean, and went out of Cadiz during tiie
night. It so happened that one vessel struck the
ground in the extreme precipitation of getting out
to sea.

Towards two o'clock in the morning, Villeneuve,
who had limited himself to dropping a single
anchor, availed himself of the wind, and re-t(»/k
his dii-ectiun westward. He was on the 11th of
the month at large on the ocean, having escaped
the formidable look-out of the English. The 11th
and 12lh he lay to for the Spanish vessels, but two
only appeared, and not wishing to lose more
time, he set sail, calculating that he should be
rejoined at a later period, either on the jiassage or
at Martinique itself; because each commander had
received an indication of the common })lace i>f
rendezvous. No one besides Villeneuve knew the
great and important destination of the squadron.

Villeneuve should now have felt I'eassured and
have acquired some self-confidence, since he had
overcome tiie more serious difficulties of the navij;a-
tion in quitting Toulon, in traversing the straits, and
in rallying Gravina without any accident. But the
sight of his crews filled him with mortification.
He found them very far beneath those of the
English, or those which the French formerly had
in the time of the American war. This was na-
tural when they thus came out of port for the first
time. He complained not only of the crews, but
of the materials composuig his vessels. Three of

them sailed either slow or badly ; these were the
Formidable, Intrepid, and Atlas, the last worse
than either. The iron-work of the Pluto, a new
vessel, was bad, and gave way frequently. Ad-
miral Villeneuve felt from all these things an ex-
cessive annoyance which affected his moral bear-
ing. Lauriston, the aide-de-camp of the emperor,
made every effort to raise his spirit, but did not
succeed to any great extent. Villeneuve had
besides excellent captains, wlio as much as possi-
ble supplied the inexperience of the crews and
the defects of the vessels. Villeneuve could only
derive consolation from seeing the state of the
Spanish vessels, which were very much inferior
to his own. Still the navigation, although delayed
by those vessels, which is not very extraordinary
when a squadron sails together, appeared to be
in the way of good fortune, and proceeded without
any accident.

Nelson deceived, had at fii'st searched for the
French squadron southward and eastward in the
Mediterranean. He had known as early as the
lUth of April, that it had advanced towards the
straits, but had l)een himself detained there by
westerly winds until tiie 30lh. He had moored
on the 10th of ]\Iay in the bay of Lagos, and
after having detached one of his vessels to es-
cort a envoy, he did not get out at sea upon his
voyage to the West Indies, where he supposed
the French fleet had gone, until the 11 ih of May.

At this epoch, Villeneuve was very near his ob-
ject, for on the 14th of May he reached Marti-
nique, after six weeks' navigation. He had had
the satisfaction of finding that the four Spanish
vessels sepai-ated from the squadron arrived neai'ly
at the same time with liimself. This was a great
advantage to him, and he ought to have reckoned
a little moi-e upon his lucky star, that had so far
managed to favour him with propitious results.

This voyage had been very useful. It had
given experience to the crews. As the weather
aff"orded time, he had availed himself of it to set
the rigging in order. " We are a third stronger
tlian at the moment of our departure from
Toulon," general Lauriston wrote to the emperor '.
A fleet well manoeuvred and exercised gains
nothing in sailing fifteen hundred leagues or
more, but a fleet which has not been accustomed
to navigate, is thus able to acquire the main part
of its instructions, and such was the case with the
present fleet of France.

Admiral Villeneuve, fearful of his responsi-
liility, did not appreciate the advantages which
had thus been gained, he found that the
fleet was deprived of so much yet wanting, that
some few ameliorations obtained upon the voyage
(lid not suffice to rejilace those which wei-e still
deficient. He had the fault, like a man whose

' All our vessels are in a good state, in a better state in
my opinion than when we left Toulon. The fine weather
h.is afforded the means of bendingnhe rigging and setting
it ill order proportionably ; in spite of that the shrouds and
all the irons of the Pluto and of the Hermione are of a bad
quality, as well as the cordage, the wood of the masts and
the yards, oo that many of them are broken.

Actually all is arranged, all repaired; the mariners have
ieaiiiedmuch; there is a sensible difference in tlieir ma-
noeuvring; we ate a third stronger than at tlie moment of
our departure.— (ie</er of general Lauriston to l/ie em-
peror.)

J 805.
Aug.

The French design to attack THE THIRD COALITION.

the English colonies.

I

moral feeling is affected, of exaggerating tlie merit
of the enemy and depreciating that of his own
crews. He said that with twenty Spanish or
French ves.sels he would not willingly combat with
fourteen English, and he held this kind of lan-
guage before his own officers. Fortunately tiie
officers and seamen were .animated witii the best
dispositions, feeling no less than tlie commandor tiie
insufficiency of their means, but full of confidence
in theirown courage, they desired with ardour an en-
counter with the enemy. General Lauriston, placed
with admiral Viileiieuve by the emperor, in order
to support and excite him, fulfilled his duty with un-
flagging zeal, but only contributed to mortify and
irritate him by contradiction. Gravina, simple,
sensible, full of energy, thought as Villeneuve did
about the quality of the vessels, and as Lauriston
did about the necessity of devoting himself to his
object, and was decided to lose his life, no matter
where, iu order to second the design of Napo-
leon.

Now that they had escaped the dangers of the
voyage, it was necessary to wait forty days at
Martinique for the arrival of Ganteaume ■, of
whose forced immobility at Brest, in consequence
of an equinox without a gale of wind, they were
still ignorant. Villeneuve had arrived on the
14th of May, had then remained in those latitudes
until the 23rd of June ; and said to himself,
chagrined as he was, that more than the neces-
sary time h.ad passed for Nelson to overtake him,
and block him up in Martinique, or beat him if
he attempted to come out.

His orders were to await Ganteaume, which
implicated him in a species of inaction, and as
those feel who are ill at ease, he wished to be
moving. He complained of not being able to go
and ravage the English islands, as he could easily
have done with a strength of twenty vessels. In
order to kill the time, they had captured Fort
Diamond placed in front of Martinique, that
admiral Missie.ssy, to the great regret of Napoleon,
had neglected to take. They cannonaded it with
several shij).'? of the line, then a few hundred men
disembarked from the boats and took it '. They
would have completed the occupation of Dominica
by the capture of Morne Cabry, of which admiral
Missiessy had neglected to render himself master;
but this position, very well fortified both by nature
and art, demanded a regular siege, and this it was
not ventured to undertake '. Villeneuve sent his
frigates, being excellent sailers, to make prizes

1 The Diamond Kock was not captured in the mode here
described : it wa> an almost impregnable position, too much
so to btorm, close to Martinique. Captain Maurice, the
Kiiglish naval commander, only surrendered through his
utter destitution of water and provisions, obtaining fruin the
French honourable terms of capitulation. — yranWn/or.

2 Sec page 0.'!6, where our author states tliat admiral
Miskiessy had taken the island of Dominica. Sir George
Prevost was the governor, and flndiiig the enemy's force
ovcrwhcltr.inz, he wiihdrcw info the fort of prince Rupert,
which the French did not even sec or besiege, thus preserving
the colony to England. Even the Atonilnir of June I, 180.),
stated, that " it appeared to have been intended to take, and
to keep possession of Dominica, but the plan was abandoned
in order to assist the town of St. Domingo, then besieged
by the negroes!" The same paper alleges that the setting
fire to Rosseau was not the act of the French : it was pro-
bably accidental during the cannonade.— 7'r«n»/a/«r.

and procure him intelligence of the English squad-
rons.

They had brought out troops, and Missiessy had
also brought out a considerable number; there
were about twelve thousand men in the French
West Indies. Such a force would have perinitttd
them to execute important operations, but they
dared not venture upon any through fear of missing
Ganteaume; besides, the French islands were in the
best state, provided wiih soldiers and ammunition,
abundantly supplied with provisions, thanks to the
privateers, and animated with the best spirit.

Still, not to expose the crews to the maladies
which had begun to gain upon them through their
sojourn in these climates, and also to prevent deser-
tion, to which the Spaniards were very much in-
clined, they had resolved to attempt a sudden
attack upon Barbadoes, wlicre the English had im-
portant military establishments. It was there, in
fact, they kept the depots of their colonial troops.
General Lauriston had brought with him a good
division of five thousand men, organized and
equipped with the greatest care. It was destined
for this operation. General Lauriston designed to
pass by Guadaloupe, and to take a battalion more
from thence; because he reckoned upon finding
twelve thousand men in Barbadoes'.

They decided to set .^ail on the 4th of June;
but on the same day assigned for his departure,
rear-admiral Magon arrived with the two vessels
from Rochefort that Napoleon had sent, to give the
first intelligence of the change which he had made
ill his design. Magon came to say, that Ganteaume
not being able to come out of Brest, it was neces-
sary to go and raise the blockade, not only with
his squadron, but that of Ferrol as well; and,
after having rallied the fleets that they found iu
these ports, they were to enter the channel in a
mass. He also brought an order at the same time
for the admiral to wait until the 21st of June, be-
cause, up to the 21st of May, it was pos.'-iblo that
Ganteaume might get out of Brest, and, supposing
a month for the voy.age from Brest to Martinique,
it could not be positively known until the 21st of
June whether that admiral had been able to set

' Admiral Villeneuve, in his despatches to his govern-
ment, dated from the road of Fort de France, 27th of Florcal
or May 17th, 1805, after mentioning his arrival at Mar-
tinique on the 14th of May, and all his proceedings, says:
" I am employed in taking in my water; 1 have found the
colony abundantly supplied with provisions. General Lau-
riston is setting out for Guadaloupe, to collect there as many
transports as he can procure— (a dilfereiit object from that
assigned by our author). From the intelligence I have been
able to obtain, I have reason to believe that admiral Gravina
will experience no dilliculty in his expedition; and when he
shall have Joined me, which 1 hope will be very soon, I will
not lose a moment in repairing to my destination. Ville-
neuve."

Lieutenant Clanet sent from Martinique, who reached
France in the French brig Lynx with despatches lor his
government, of which the above is an extract, states, as a
rumour, that the inhabitants of Trinidad had taken refuge
in the interior of the island, and that the colony would olfer
no resistance to any division which should present Itself.
The same oiiicer adds, that he hud heard that Gravina had
landed two thousand men in 1'rinidad. In fact, Trinidad,
and not Barbadoes, seems to have been the real object
of the expedition. Nelson imagined the same, not, it is pro-
bable, without information from some quarter on which he
thought he could rely. — Tranitator.

64C

Capture Ota convoy. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

V illeneuve returns to
Europe.

1805.
Aug.

sail. There was, therefore, time left to persist
in the design on Barbadoes. Magon had on board
with hiui troops and ammunition. He followed the
squadron, now twenty-seven sail stronj;, of which
fourteen were French, six Spanish of the line, and
seven frigates. Ou the Gth of June, they were
before Guadaloupe: on the 7th, they had reached as
far as Antigua: on the 8lli, they had passed that
island, which had not disappeared, v. hen there was
a convoy perceived, consisting of fifteen sail, that
had just left it. They wei-e merchant vessels, loaded
with commercial produce, and escorted by a single
corvette. The admiral immediately gave the signal
for the chase; the vessels were ordered to follow
according to their sailing qualities, or each vessel,
as fast as it was able, taking the place which its
speed best permitted. Before the close of the day,
the convoy was taken. It was valued at 9,000,000
or 10,000,000 f. Some American and Italian pas-
sengers on board gave intelligence of Nelson. They
said he had arrived at Barbadoes, the very place
to which the French were then going. They differed
about the strength of his squadron, but, generally,
made his force amount to a dozen vessels. But he had
joined admiral Cochrane, who guarded those seas.
This news produced an extraordinary impression
upon admiral Villeneuve. He saw Nelson with
fourteen, sixteen, perhaps eighteen vessels, that is,
with a force nearly equal to his own, ready to meet
and fight him. He, therefore, formed immediately
the resolution to return to Europe. Lauriston, on
the contrary, relying upon the assertion of the pri-
soners, that gave but two vessels to Cochrane, and
having reason to suppose Nelson had no more than
fourteen, supported the idea that, with twenty sail,
they were in a condition to combat advantageously,
and that, after being fi-eed from all fear of pur-
suit by a battle, they would be much better assured
of fulfilling their object. Villeneuve was not of this
opinion, and insisted absolutely on setting sail for
Europe. He was so urgent, that he would not
consent even to return to the French islands to
restore to them the troops which he had embarked.
He would have failed to make them with the wind,
which blew from east to west, the length of the
islands; and they were then at Antigua, much to
the west of Martinique. They would perhaps have
lost ten days, and would have been exposed to
encounter the English. He, therefore, decided on
choosing four of the best frigates, to turn into them
as many troops as they were able to take, and to
dispatch them towards Martinique. He gave ihem
orders to join the squadron at the Azores. But
there still remained four thousand, or five thou-
sand, men in the fleet — a cha-rge very embar-
rassing. By keeping them, the colonies would be
deprived of a valuable force, which it was ex-
tremely difficult to send to them from the mother
country; and there were so many more mouths on
board to feed, which was vexatious, because provi-
sions were scant, and there was scarcely water for
the passage home. Lastly, they ran the danger of
missing Ganteaume, because up to the 21st of June,
they could not be in a manner certain that he had
not sailed from Brest for Martinique. Judging from
the fact, they were right in supposing th:it lie had
not left; but of this they were ignorant, it was
therefore a serious error. To these objections,
Villeneuve replied, that if Ganteaume had sailed, it

was right to be thankful ; that there would no longer
be any blockade of Brest, and that they should be
able to pass that port without difficulty, and enter
the channel.

Villeneuve determined the matter immediately,
placed all the troops he was able on board the
frigates, and sent them to .Martinique. Not wishing
to embarrass himself with the captured convoy, nor
to lose it, he gave it in charge to another frigate to
escort as far as one of the French islands. On the
10th of June, he was on his way to Europe, his reso-
lution, although blameable in principle, was not bad
in point of fact, if he had returned to Martinique to
disposeof his soldiers, to take on board water and pro-
visions, and to collect the latest news from Europe.

Nelson, whom he so much dreaded, had arrived
at Barbadoes at the commencement of June, after
a navigation of prodigious rapidity, sailing without
fear when he had only nine vessels. Supposing
the French were gone to re-conquer Trinidad on
behalf of the Spaniards, he had taken on board
two thousand men at Barbadoes, joined the two
vessels of admiral Cochrane to his own squadron,
and without ever stopping to victual or refit, he
was on the 7th of June in the gulf of Paria in the
island of Trinidad. There discovering his error,
he departed again, and on the 10th was at Grenada.
He then went up to Barbadoes, to leave there the
troops that he had taken away to no purpose, and
set out to return to Europe with eleven vessels.
What activity! What energy ! What an admirable
employment of time ! A new proof that in war,
and in naval war still more than in that on land,
the quality of the force is always worth a great deal
move than the quantity. Nelson with eleven ves-
sels had self-reliance and confidence, upon the same
ocean where Villeneuve trembled with twenty,
manned too with heroic seamen.

Villeneuve sailed towards Europe, steering to
the north-east over a very favourable sea. Having
reached the Azores on the 30th of June, he there
found the frigates, which had not consumed more
than four days in dischargiug their troops, and had
no whei-e met with the English, which proved that
Villeneuve would have been able to have done as
much without danger. The four frigates detached
had met with the filth, escorting the captured con-
voy, and not being able to succeed in conducting
them, decided upon burning them, causing thus a
loss of 10,000,000 f. The fleet was now all united
at the Azores, and proceeded on its voyage, num-
bering twenty sail of the line, and seven frigates,
steering towards the coast of Spain. They were
indemnified for the loss of the convoy which they
had captured by a rich jirize, being a galleon of
Lima. laden with dollars, to the value of 7,0:;0,000f.
or 8,000,000 f. taken by an English privateer, and
re-taken from the privateer. This was a resource
which soon became very useful. All on a sudden,
during the first days of July, not having more than
sixty leagues to make Cape Finisterre, the wind
changed, and blowing from the north-east, became
quite contrary. They then plied to windward, in
order to gain time, and not to be driven back.
But the wind remained fixed to the point, and be-
came so violent that some of the vessels were
damaged, and several lost their topmasts. The
two vessels that rear-admiral Magon had taken with
him from Rochefort, having brought out with them

I

1805.
Aug.

Naval battle off Ferrol.

THE THIRD COALITION.

Naval battle off Ferrol.

647

the fever of the Charente, they were encumbered
with tlie sick. The troops which liad been brought
back from America to Europe, without once ti)uch-
ing land, were labouring under every species of
suffering. Sadness reigned tliroughout the squad-
ron. Eighteen days of contrary wind increased it
to an overflow, and contributed to shake yet more
tlie courage of admiral Villeneuve. Ho wished to
run to Cadiz, whieii was in fact tlie o))posite point
to that at which Napoleon waited, and to which his
instructions called him. General Lauriston re-
sisted this with all his power, and finished by suc-
cessfully ovei'coming him. Towards the 20th of
July, tlie wind having changed, tho fleet set sail on
its new route towards Ferrol.

The bad weather which had supervened had
caused two misfortunes; the first to ati'ect the
moral courage of the squadron and its chief; the
second, to convey the intelligence of its course to
the English admiralty. Nelson had sent before
him the brig Curieu.v to C(mvey to England the par-
ticulars of his operations. This brig had observed
the French squadron, and making all sail, had
reached Portsmouth on the 7'1» of July. On the
8th, the dispatches were in the hands of the admi-
ralty. Without knowing the object of the Fi'ench
squadron, but imagining that it would attempt
perhaps to open the port of Ferrol, the admiralty
ordered admiral Stirling, first detached from the
blockade of Brest to observe Rocliefort, to go with
five vessels, and join admiral Calder, who was cruiz-
ing near Cape Finisterre. The long time that had
passed since Napoleon thought on his great naval
combination, the different attempts to get out re-
cently made, the departure of Villeneuve, his pas-
sage to Cadiz, his junction with Gravina, his return
to Europe, where two fleets intended to set sail
so long ago, one at Brest, the other at Ferrol,
seemed only to await a force sufficient to open the
ports to them; all these circumstances had con-
cluded by leading the English, little by little, to
suspect, at least vaguely, a part of the designs of
Napoleon. They did not exactly think of a union
of tha French squadrons in the cliamiel, but they
wished to prevent the raising of the blockade of
Brest and Ferrol, which it apiieared probable would
be attempted. Thus they had raised tlie fleet of
Cornwallis before Bi'e.st to twenty-four vessels, of
which five were detached to Rocliefort; there were
ten sail before Ferrol. This last squadron had
been increa.sed by the junction of the Rocliefort
division to fourteen or fifteen sail. Every delay is
a misfortune to a design which requires secrecy in
the execution. It gives an enemy time to reflect,
sometimes to guess the secret by force of reflec-
tion, or often to accjuire by this means the indica-
tions which terminate in his instruction.

On the 22iid of July, Villeneuve, sailing in three
columns, was making way towards Ferrol, that is
to say, towards the north-east, under a very good
side breeze from the north-west. He descried to-
wards the middle of the day twenty-one sail, of
which fifteen were of the lino ', This was the Eng-

' Fifleen sail of the line, two frlf^alci, a cutler and a
luRifer, nineteen in all; the French force, accordiiiB to the
EiiL'lish utaiement, was twenty sail of ilie line, Ove frinates,
three briRg, and three venselii arm.,d fn/u/^ apiiaretitly of
fifty uun», in all thirty-one. The action occurred In lat. 43°
30' n. long. 11° 17' west. The Engliih admiral* account of

lish squadron of admiral Calder advancing in a
contrary direction, and coming to encounter him by
cutting off the passage to Fei-rol. They wei-e about
forty leagues from tliat port.

There now could be no doubt of a naval battle.
Villeneuve did not seek to avoid it, because it was
the i-espoiisibility, and not the danger, which he
feared ; but always devoured with anxiety, he lost
much precious time in making ready for action.
General Lauriston stimulated him without ceasing,
and pressed him from eleven o'clock until one to
give the necessary orders. The best part of the
day was thus lost, which they soon had to i-egret.
The vessels of the two combined squadrons cm-
ployed two hours in ranging themselves in order
of battle, and it was not until three o'clock, that
the twenty French and Spanish sail of the line
were in regular order. The Spaniards occupied
the head of the column, and admiral JIagon the
rear with the division of Rocliefort and several
frigates. The English admiral with fifteen sail, of
which several were of a hundred guns, while the
stnjiigest of the French did not exceed eighty,
placed himself in his turn in battle array, forming
a long line parallel with the French, but in a con-
trary direction. The English steered towards the
south-west, the French to the north-east. The
wind blowing from the north-west, the two squad-
rons received it on the beam. Thus steering in
opposite directions they would have soon termi-
nated the affair in passing each other, when ad-
miral Calder turned in the head of his squadron
upon the French rear in order to envelope it.
Villeneuve, to whom danger restored all the
resolution of a man of fortitude, perceiving that
the English admiral, pui-suiiig a system of tactics
often repeated in the present day, wished to
envelope the French rear in order to place it be-
tween two fires, imitated the manocuvi-e of his
enemy, and turning about, or, as the marinei's
say, tacking about by the counter-march ^, cleared
the rear of his column, and came x'ound to pi'c-

the action differs from our author in some respects : " I was
favoured," said sir Robert Calder, "with a view of the com-
bined squadrons of France and Spain, consisting of twenty
sail of the line, also three large ships armed en flulc, of
about filty puns each, with live frigates and three brigs;
the force under my direction at this lime consisting of fiTteen
sail of the line, two frigates, a cutter and lugper. I imme-
diately stood towards the enemy with the squadron, making
Ihe needful signals for battle in the closest order, and on
closing with them, I made the signal for attacking their
centre. When I had reached their nar, I tacked the squad-
ron in succession : this brought us close up under their
lee, and when our headmost ships reached their centre, the
enemy were tacking in succession; this obliged me to make
again the same manoeuvre, by which 1 brought on an Jiclion
which lasted upwards of four hours, when I found it neces-
sary to bring-to the squadron to cover the two captured
ships, whose names are in the margin (M U.iphael, 84 guns,
and Firnio, M guns). I have to ob>ervr, th»t the enemy
had every advantage of wind and weather during the whole
day. The weather had been foggy n great part of the morn-
ing, and very soon after we hud brought tliem to action the
fog was 80 very thick at intervals, that we could with great
difficulty see the ship ahead or astern of us. This rendered
it imposhihle to take advantage of the enemy by signals,
as I could have wished lobavc done: had :hc weather been
more favourable, I am led to believe the victory would have
been more complete."— 7Van«/(i/or.
' Lof pour lof par la contremarchc.

Two Spanish vessels
taken by the Eng-
lish.

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

The French wish to
renew the action.

Aug.

sent his head to that of the enemy. In this dou-
ble movement, the two squadrons encountered. The
first Spanish vessel, the Argonauta, commanded
by admiral Gravina, found herself engaged with
the Hero, the first of the English vessels. The
English and French pursuing their course, were
soon engaged along the whole extent of their line.
But the English squadron being less numerous
than the French, their fire did not extend much on
the French line, beyond the thirteenth or four-
teenth vessel. The French i-ear, having no enemy
alongside, received scarcely more than a few spent
balls ; this was, too, just the situation to enable it
to undertake some decisive manojuvre. Unfortu-
nately a thick fog at that time filled a space of
some hundreds of leagues, for it was noticed at
Brest, and covered the two fleets to such a de-
gree, that the admiral's ship was some mo-
ments in discovering if it had the enemy larboard
or starboard. Each vessel could only see that
which was alongside, and could combat with no
other. A warm and continued cannonade was
heard, but not too precipitate. The French and
Spaniards, in spite of their inexperience, fought
with order and coolness. The crews had not yet
acquired that precision of fire, which at this day
distinguishes them ; nevertheless, in this species
of duel between vessel and vessel, the English
suffered as much as the French '. If the French
rear-guard, which had no enemies to fight, had
been able to discover what was passing, and falling
upon the English line, had placed a part of it be-
tween two fires, the victory would have been secured.
Villeneuve, seeing nothing through the fog, could
with difficulty communicate his orders. Rear-
admiral Magon, it is true, had acquainted him
that he was in a state of inactivity ; but this
notice, in consequence of the thickness of the at-
mosphere, not ha\nng been transmitted, save by
the frigates, had arrived late, and had caused no
determination to be taken in the matter by the
French admiral, who, after a moment of decision
at the commencement of the battle, had fallen
again into his customary state of indecision, fear-
ing to act in the obscurity, and to make false
movements. All that he dared to do was to fight
bravely with his own vessel.

After a long cannonade, the English vessel, the
Windsor, was so ill-treated, that a frigate was
obliged to withdraw it fi'om the action to pre-
vent its falling into the hands of the French. Other
English vessels experienced great damage. The
French vessels on the contrary comported them-
selves valiantly, and were happy enough not to
have suffered any great injury. The Spaniards,

1 The total English loss throughout the whole fleet was
forty-one killed, and one hundred and fifty-eight wounded,
of which number the Windsor Castle lost a fourth, or ten
killed, and thirty five wounded, having had five vessels
firing upon lier at once; her yards and rigging were much
cut up, and she was sent with the two prizes to Plymouth on
that account. The two prizes had more killed and wounded
on hoard them than all the English fleet. No other English
ships were injured in any manner that they could not make
good at sea very speedily. The statement of a frigate taking
away this vessel lest it should fall into the hands of the
French, is a singular piece of misinformation on the part cf
our author, as well as that two of the English ships were
towed away disabled. — Translator.

their allies, who composed the van third of the
line of battle, suffered much without its having
been their own fault.

The three vessels, the Espana, San Firmo, and
San Rafael, the nearest to the French ships,
found themselves in a miserable state. The San
Firmo particularly had lost two masts. As the
wind bore the French .ships down to the English,
those vessels incapable of manoeuvring were drifting
towards the enemy. Seeing this to be the case,
the gallant captain of the Pluto, M. de Cosmao,
placed nearest to the Spaniards, sailed out of
the line, in order to cover with his ship the Spanish
vessels that were injured. The first of these
three vessels driving, the San Rafael, a bad
sailer, had thought of sufferir^; itself to slip away
between the two lines towards the rear, in the
hope to save itself by this manoeuvre. The San
Firmo, worse treated, was in vain defended by
M. de Cosmao, who was unable to prevent it from
falling before the wind, and thus being wafted into
the midst of the English. But M. de Cosmao
succeeded in saving the Espafia, which, thanks
to him, was maintained in the line. Towards six
o'clock, a clearer atmosphere discovered the spec-
tacle to admiral Villeneuve of the San Rafael
escaping towards the rear, the San Firmo already
surrounded with enemies, and drifting by little
and little more towards the English. As they were
cannonading at a distance, there remained space
enough between the two fleets for the French
line to steer in advance before the wind, and by
this movement to replace in their line the vessels
that were endangered. General Lauriston had not
quitted Villeneuve ; he heard the officers of the
squadron propose this manoeuvre. He counselled
him, therefore, to make the signal to let them
arrive all together, that is, to go before the wind,
which leading down upon the English, would have
placed the disabled vessels in safety in the midst
of the French fleet. This would be to approach
nearer to the enemy, who, ill-treated and less
numerous, would have probably given way before
such an offensive movement. Villeneuve, owing
to the fog, seeing badly what liad taken place,
fearing to derange the order of battle and to run
new hazards, preferred the loss of the two vessels
to risking a fresh engagement. He therefi)re re-
fused to give the order which was on all sides
solicited from him. At the same moment night
approached, and the firing had nearly ceased. The
English retired, towing away two of their vessels
very much injured by the fire, and the two Spanisli
ships that had been abandoned to them by the
fault of the French.

As to the Fi-ench, they had suffered little ;
there was not one of the crews but was ready to
renew the conflict, and that did not believe itself
the victor, on seeing the field of battle remain to
them. They were yet ignorant in the fleet of the
loss of the Spanish ships.

All night the English were seen carrying lights
on the poop, far before the wind, employed in
rejiairing their damages.

On the side of the French the same labour was
performed. At break of day the position of the
two fleets could be clearly seen. The English
were retreating; but taking with them the two
Spanish vessels, the sorrow and exasperation on

1805.
Aug.

Villeneuve determines to
proceed to Ferrol.

THE THIRD COALITION. The squadron enter. Vigo.

G49

I

board the fleet were great. They required to
fight and to come to a decisive action. The
wind was in their favour, for it was in the same
point as on the preceding evening, and carried
them di>wn towards the English. If at that mo-
ment Villeneuve had resolutely made the signal
to bear down upon the enemy, without any order
of battle but that of fast sailing, fourteen of the
French vessels out of eighteen that remained
sailing well togctlier would have arrived at one
time upon the English, the four others would have
arrived soon afterwards, and the combat would
have certainly been to tiie advantage of the
French. Urged by the entreaty that came from
all his officers, Villeneuve in fact prescribed this
movement, and went with Lauriston on board the
frigate Hortense, to give his orders verbally to
each chief i»f division. The Argonauta, the
Spanish admiral's ship, having the mizen mast
yard broken, requested time to replace it. Ville-
neuve wished to wait, and it occupied until middle
day. Then he commenced the pursuit, but the
wind dropped, and he sjiw the English steal away
before him, without being able to gain much upon
them, even with all sail set. Imagining he should
not come up with them, excej)! during the night,
he j)ostponed closing until the next day, in order
to combat by daylight. But in the morning the
wind had gone round to the north-east, that is to
say, in a direction altogether contrary. The En-
glish liad now the advantage of the wind, and to
join battle with them had become difficult. Ville-
neuve had on that account a good reason for
stopping his course. He was getting away from
Ferrol, and ran the risk of finding the English
reinforced, and for two vessels lost he would
expose himself to miss his object, which was to
open Ferrol, and complete the end of his mission.

Thus terminated this action, which might have
passed for a victt>ry, but for the loss of the two
Spanish vessels. The crews, in spite of their inex-
perience, Jiad fought well; but on one hand the fog
had added to the natural irresolution of admiral
Villeneuve; on the other, his exaggerated mistrust
of himself and his seamen had paralyzed the re-
sources which he possessed, and prevented the bat-
tle from becoming a distinguished success. Here,
as in so many naval battles, one wing of the fleet
did not come to the succour of the other; but this
time it was not the fault of the wing that remained
inactive, because rear-admiral Magon was not a
man to remain voluntarily beyond the reach of fire.
In the first moments that followed the battle, Ville-
neuve was very happy to liave been able to en-
counter the English without suffering a disaster;
but once out of the action and become liimsclf
again, Ids habitual gloom liad changed into deep
sorrow. He saw himself exposed to censure from
Napoleon and public opinion, he having lost two ves-
sels fighting with twenty against fifteen, lie believed
Jiimself dishonoured, and fell into a sort of lowness
of mind brirdering upon despair. The severe judg-
ment of his crews, who complained loudly of his ir-
resolution, and who exalted the bravery and decision
of admiral Gravina, pierced him to the heart. To add
to the misfortune, the w ind, for two days favourable,
had become contrary. T<j the sick, of whom the num-
bers had increased, was to be added the wounded.
The necessary rcfreslimeuts to give them were want-

ing; they had no more water than would last them
for five or six days. In this state, Villeneuve wished
to proceed to Cadiz. General Lauriston opposed
himself to that step anew; they came to an agree-
ment and sought a harbour in Vigo.

This port was not very safe, and presented be-
sides but very few resources. Still means were
found there for alleviating the sufferings of the sick
and wounded. Three allied vessels, the Atlas,
America, and Espana, were snch bad sailors that
tlicy were not fit to navigate with a squadron, and
Villeneuve decided to leave them at Cadiz. The
Atlas was fitted up as a hospital ship, in which the
sick and wounded were placed. General Lauriston
had brought with his division the necessary mate-
rials for a moveable hospital; he employed them
for the use of the seamen left at Vigo. They had
money out of the Spanish galleon, which served to
procure all of which the squadi-on stood in need.
They furnished it with fresh i)rovisions, took on
board water for a month, gave their pay to the whole
squadron, and having somewhat re-animated their
spirits, which was soon done with men of a lively
tempei-ament, they set sail after a rest of five days,
which had been most useful to them. The wind
was not unfavourable, the squadrons ascended from
Vigo as high as Ferrol, and on the 2nd of August
entered the open road which separates Ferrol from
Corunna.

At the very moment when the French squadron
appeared, the consular agents placed on the shore,
by the command of Napoleon, communicated to
admiral Villeneuve the orders which were destined
for him. Those orders were, not to enter into
Ferrol, from whence it was not possible to get out
with facility; to take the bare time necessary to
unite with liimself the divisions that awaited the
junction, and then to depart for Brest. Villeneuve
transmitted this order to Gravina, but he was
already in the port, unable to retrograde, and
a part of the fleet had entered with him, the rest
obeying Villeneuve, remained opposite outside at
Corunna.

This was a separation which placed the two
squadrons at three or four leagues distance from
each other. The utmost injury that could happen
was the loss of two or three days in getting out.
This loss would have been deeply regretted by an
admiral who had not often lost his time; but Vil-
leneuve might easily console himself under such a
circumstance.

The admiral found at Corunna the pressing
orders of Napoleon, his encouraging words and
magnificent promises, together with letters from
Decrcs, the friend of his youth. The emjiei'or and
the minister urged him alike not to delay a mo-
ment in proceeding before Brest, to deliver battle
to Cornwallis, even to destroy his own force if it
was necessary, provided Ganteaume was enabled to
get out safe and sound, and rallying what might
remain of the scjuadron that raised the blockade, to
proceed into the channel. All this news elevated
for a moment the moral courage of Villeneuve.
The little importance Napoleon attached to the
sacrifice of his vessels, in order that a fleet might
arrive in the channel, had somewjiat encouraged
him. If he had well understood his mission, lie
would have been sjitisfied rather than uidiappy.
After all, if two vessels had been taken from him

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Villeneuve sails from 1805.
Ferrol. Aug.

ill the last battle, he had got to Ferrol safe and
sound, escaped the enemy's squadrons, and eluded
all the precautions of the English admiralty. Of
tlie two admirals, English or French, the most
ill-treated by fortune was Calder and not Ville-
neuve, because Villeneuve had attained his object
and Calder had failed in his. In losing the two
vessels taken, and those left at Vigo, he had still
twenty-nine French and Spanish vessels in Ferrol,
wliicii would be increased by the division of Lal-
lemand to thirty-four, and was thus numerous
enough to venture upon raising the blockade of
Brest. Besides, the English admiralty itself and
Napoleon judged thus a few days afterwards. The
admiralty brought Calder before a court-martial,
and Napoleon published great eulogies upon Ville-
neuve, lie having fulfilled the object of his mission,
although two vessels had remained in the power of
his enemy.

What fear then is it possible to conceive such a
responsibility could have for an officer whose
master was all-powerful, disposing of the reputa-
tion and fortune of his lieutenants, and never
ceasing to urge, " give battle, even to self-de-
struction, provided that by your efforts you open
tlie port of Brest." But it seemed that a sort of
fatality attached to the steps of this unhappy
seaman, to trouble his mind, and conduct him
by unhappiness upon unhappiness to the result
that he would fain elude, in other words, to a
great battle lost, and lost without his obtaining
tiie sole I'esult that was demanded of him by
Napoleon, that of being in the channel for twenty-
four hours.

He found some consolation in seeing the divi-
sion of rear-admiral Gourdon, that had navi-
gated much at sea before it was blockaded in
Ferrol, that had been carefully repaired and com-
pleted, and that merited the fullest confidence.
He saw v/ith no less satisfaction the nine Spanish
vessels equipped by Senor Grandellana, and much
superior to those of admiral Graviiia, because
they had bestowed that time upon their equip-
ment which had been wanting for those which
had left Cadiz. " Would to God," cried Ville-
neuve, in comparing the Ferrol division with that
of Cadiz, " that the Spanish squadron (except the
Argonauta) had never made a part of mine.
Those vessels are absolutely not fit for any thing
except to compromise all, and this they have con-
tinually done. These are the vessels that con-
ducted us to the last degree of misfortune."

Tliis language shows to what jxiint the mind of
Villeneuve was affected, when he called the last
degree of misery a campaign which thus far had
attained the object indicated by Napoleon, and
which was even worth to him eulogies on the part
of a difficult master.

Villeneuve at this moment entirely gave himself
up to consider what might happen on going out of
Ferrol. He supposed that Calder would re-appear
joined by Nelson or Cornwallis, and that lie
should meet to fight a new battle, in which, this
time, he might possibly be destroyed. Letters
fi'om Cadiz stated to him, in effect, that Nelson
had returned to Europe, that he had been seen at
Gibraltar, but that he had departed for the
ocean, in order to unite witli Calder before
FexTol, or Cornwallis before Brest. The trutli was.

that Nelson, sailing with prodigious rapidity, had
arrived at Gibraltar towards the end of July, at
the very moment wlien Villeneuve had given battle
to Calder ; that he had re-passed the strait, con-
tinually struggling with contrary winds to regain
the ocean; that he had only eleven vessels with
him, that he had as yet neither joined Calder nor
Cornwallis ; that his intention, after two years of
continual navigation, was to enter harbour for a
moment to relax and revictual his worn-down
squadron. Villeneuve was ignorant of these cir-
cumstances ; but he knew his orders, that for a
man of fortitude were most facile in the execution,
when he was not commanded to conquer, but merely
to raise the blockade of Brest by fighting to the
utmost. If he were before Brest, he would be
seconded by Ganteaume: it was not probable that
a battle, delivered with fifty or fifty-five vessels
against twenty or twenty-five ', would be lost. If,
on the contrary, the situation of the sea hindered
Ganteaume from taking a part in the action, Vil-
leneuve in fighting to the utmost, even so far as
to suffer himself to be destroyed, would place
Cornwallis out of the possibility of keeping at sea
and continuing the blockade, and Ganteaume,
gathering up with his fleet all tliat remained en-
tire of that other fleet whicli had been gloriously
vanquished, would have still been able to domineer
for some days in the channel. This was all that
Napoleon required of his admirals.

lJnhap|)ily, Villeneuve had touched the shore.
His vessels that had combated he held it needful
to repair. They could have navigated a month or
two longer still if they had been obliged to keep
out at sea; but at the gates of a great arsenal, they
were all determined to rei)air some injury. They
must change their masts, their rigging was not in
order, or they leaked; they must turn over the
surplus provisions of those vessels that had most still
on board, to those that had least. Thus the squad-
ron was laid by for forty-five days. The orders of
Napoleon to have biscuit ready to the extent of two
or three millions of rations in each port, they liad

not been able to exicute in Ferrol,

in consequence

of the dearth of food throughout Spain. But they
might be obtained at Brest, Ciierburg, or Boulogne.
Still forty-five days sufficed them, and finally on
the lOlh of August, matters were so disposed as to
permit them to weigh anchor. Villeneuve placed
himself outside Corunna, in the bay of Ares, wait-

1 Thirty-four or thirty-five sail, for on the 11th of August
Calder had joined Cornwallis off Brest. A step Calder
(perliaps wisely) tliought better tlian to risk his fourteen
sail against thirty and upwards of the French, whose rein-
forcement he apprehended. Cornwallis would have fouglit
Villeneuve, Ganteaume, and tlieir fifty sail with this
force. This extraordinary admiral, to whose perseverance
and bravery, if our auihor is to be credited, England, it is
now seen, owed her safety from invasion, never suffered a
superiority of force to discourage him. On the 17tli of June,
1795, with one ship olahimdred guns, four seventy-fours,
and two frigates, he sustained a severe action with thirteen
French sail of tlie line and seven frigates, from seven in the
morning until night, and lost not a single ship. His block-
ade of Brest through wintry storms was a thing unheard of,
save under his command. Fortune did not favour him with
the opportunity of doing more than he did, but what he was
enabled to undertake, he executed admirably. In the
English navy he had the cognomen of " Billy Blue."—
2'ranslator.

1805.
Aug.

VUleneuve deceives Lauriston,
sailing for Cadiz.

THE THIRD COALITION.

Impatience of Napoleon at
Boulogne.

Ool

ing while Gravina and the second Spanish division
came out of Ferrol, wot an easy niovenieut on ac-
count of the wind. He waited three days, and em-
ployed them in self- torment. He wrote to the mi-
nister Dicres, " they make me the disposer of
the greatest intei'ests; my despair redoubles, as
more confidence is testified towards me, because I
am not able to aspire at success, wiiatever step I
may take. It is to me well demonstrable that the
navies of France and Spain are not able to act in
large squadrons. Divisions of tlirec, four, or five
vessels, or thereabouts, are all that wo can make
capable of being well under command. When
Ganteaume comes out, he will judge of this. Pub-
lic opinion will be settled on the question.

•' I am setting sail, but I know not what I shall
do. Eight vessels are in view of the coast, at eight
leagues' distance. We shall follow them; I shall
not be able to close with them, and they will go and
unite themselves with the squadrons before Brest
or Cadiz, according as I make my way for one or
the other of these two ports. It will be much, if
sailing from hence with twenty-nine vessels, I am
considered able to fight against the many vessels
approaching; I fear not to say it to you, I should
be very sorry to encounter twenty. We have a
superannuated system of naval tactics; we know
only how to place ourselves in line, and that is just
what t!»e enemy requires. I have not the means
nor the time to adopt any other system with the
commanders to whom tlie vessels of the two navies
are confided. I foresaw all that before leaving
Toulon; but I was under an illusion until the day
when I beheld the Spanish vessels which are now
united to mine; then it was impossibl3 not to de-
spair of all !"

At the moment of departure, the vessels that
came from Rochefort, the Algesiras and Achilles,
had been newly attacked by the fever; some Spa-
nish vessels, on coming out of Ferrol, had run
foul of each other; they had the ends of their bow-
sprits broken, and their sail.s torn. These acci-
dents, of little moment in themselves, added to all
the crosses that Villeneuve had already experienced,
ended by reducing him to despair. Ready to set
sail, he now gave his orders to captain Lallemand,
who, with an excellent division of five vessels and
several frigates had aiTived at Vigo on the 15th or
16th of August. It should have sufficed Villeneuve
to sail there in order to form a junction with that
division, and thus procure an auginent^ition of his
force; but not daring to move himself, always in
fear of encountering NeLson, he sent an officer to
ca|)tjiin Lallemand, and ordered him to proceed to
Brest without being sure of going there himself,
thus exposing this division to be lost if it arrived
at that pi>rt alone and imsupported. He wrote to
admiral Decrts a dispatch, in which laying open his
uniiappineas of mind, he discovered a disposition
to proceed to Cadiz ratlier than to Brest; but to
Lauriston, whose importunate presence recalled to
him that of the emperor, ho said that ho would
make sail for Brest. Lauriston, afflicted to sec him
in such a state, butcharnK-dathis rcsolutinn, wrote
to the emperor by a courier ilispatchcd from Fer-
rr)l, that now finally they should proceed to Brest,
and from Brest into the clmnnel.

In the midst of these deplorable anxieties, Ville-
neuve sailed away from Corunna, and lost sight of

the land on the I'lth. In order to add to his mis-
fortunts, the wind blowing strong from the north-
east, was far from carrying him towards his grand
destination. Melancholy consequence of that dis-
couragement, which makes us so often neglect the
finest favours of fortune ! At that very moment,
Calder and Nelson were not, as Villeneuve dreaded,
united near Ferrol. Nelson, after having vainly
searched for the French at Cadiz, had gone north-
wards, working up against the same north-east wind
which was then blowing, and had finally joined
Cornwallis before Brest the same day, the 14th of
August, that the French squadron had come out of
Ferrol. He left with Cornwallis the small number
of his vessels which were able to keep the sea, and
went with the others to refit at Portsmouth, which
he reached on the 18th of August. Calder, on his
side, after the battle of Ferrol had rejoined Corn-
wallis with his maltreated fleet. A part of his ves-
sels had been sent into the channel ports to refit '.
Cornwallis had immediately recomposed a squadron
of seventeen or eighteen sail, and sent them off'
Ferrol, keeping about eighteen sail there. Calder
returned, but iound Ferrol evacuated. If Ville-
neuve, imbibing a little confidence, had joined Lal-
lemand at Vigo, and proceeded towards the chan-
nel, he would have crossed without encountering
Calder, who came to blockade Ferrol, now empty;
he would have surprised Cornwallis, separated
from Nelson and Calder, having eighteen or twenty
vessels more, he would have attacked him with
thirty-five, not reckoning those of Ganteaume.
What a chance did the depression of his mind thus
make him lose ! Besides, general Lauriston beset
him with the strongest entreaties ; a moment's
turn in the wind, and in the depressed spirits of
Villeneuve, and the grand desire of Napoleon would
still have been accomplished.

It is difficult to jjicture the impatience which
Napoleon exhibited upon the shore of Boulogne,
where he waited in expectation every moment of
the appearance of his fleet, and of the opportunity
so nmch desired for invading England. All his
forces had embarked, from the Texel to Etaples.
At the Texel, the artillery horses and cavalry had
been on board for some weeks. The troops, with-
out exception, had been in the vessels. The squad-
ron of the line charged to escort the convoy had to
wait merely for the signal of their unmooring. In
the four ports of Ambleteuse, Wimereux, Boulogne,
and Etaples, they had several times made the one
liiMidredand thirty thousand men, designed to cross
ill the flat-bottimied boats, take up their arms.
Tiny had brought them to the quays, and had made
them all occupy every one his place in the ves-
sels. They had thus found what time would be
needful for this operation. At Ambleteuse, the
men of the corps of Davout had been embarked
in ail hourand acjuarter, and the horses in an hour
and a half. It had been the same at Etaples and
at Boulogne, allowing for the different proportions
of men and liorses.

All therefore had been ready, when Napoleon was
at last apprised of the battle of Villeneuve off" Ferrol,

' See note page CI8. Calder joined Cornwallis with four-
teen nail of the lino, on the authority of an adinirally note
now cxiating: the WimlHnr Caxlle, the rifiecnth vessel of his
squadron, had gone to repair at Plymouth. — Translator.

652 Napoleon's satisfaction. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE. Distrust of Umrts.

1805.
Aug.

of his entering the harbour of Vigo, and lastly, of
his entrance into Corunna. Whatever displeasure
the moral state of Villeneuve had caused him,
however severely he had judged him, he was still
satisfied with the entire result, and hy h'vi orders all
the Gazettes contained an account of the naval
combat, with the most praiseworthy reflections upon
Villeneuve and the combined squadrons. The two
vessels lost, api)eared to him no more than an acci-
dent arising from the fog, no doubt to be regretted,
but of no importance to the result obtained, that of
the entrance into Vigo, and of the junction of the
two fleets *.

1 The following are the letters that Napoleon wrote upon
this subject to admiral Villeneuve and his aide-de-carap
Lauriston : —

To Admiral Villeneuve.
Boulogne, the 23rd Therm'dor, Year xiii. August 13, 1805.

Monsieui*vice-admiral Villeneuve,— I have seen with plea-
sure, by the combat of tlie .'ird Thermidor, that several of
my vessels have behaved with the bravery that I might
have expected. I am obliged to you for the fine manoeuvre
tliat you executed at the commencement of the action, which
completely defeated the enemy's designs. I could liavc
desired that you liad employed the great number of your
frigates in su-couring the Spanish vessels, that, finding
themselves first engaged, were of necessity in the most need
of it. I should have equally desired, that on the day follow-
ing the battle, you had not given time to the enemy to place
in security their vessels, the Windsor Castle and Malta, and
the two Spanish ships, whicli, being unrigged, rendered their
sailing embarrassed and slow. This would have given to
my arms the eclat of a great viclory. The slowness of this
manoeuvre gave time to the English to send them into their
ports. But I feel bound to think that victory remained to
my arms, seeing that you have entered Corunna. I hope
that this dispatch will not find you there; that you will
have resumed your cruize to form your junction with Cap-
tain Lallemand : sweep all which you find before you, and come
into the channel, where we await you with anxiety. If you
have not done so, do it. March boldly up to the enemy.
The order of battle which to me appears preferable would be,
to intermingle the Spanish vessels with the French, and to
place behind each Spanish vessel a frigate to succour them
during the action, and to make use thus of the great number
of frigates which you have with you. You will be able yet fur-
ther to add to this increase by means of the Guerriere and the
Revanche, that will take the crew of the Atlas ; but without
this being any delay to your operations. You have at this
moment under your command eighteen of our vessels, and
twelve, or at least ten of those belonging to the king of
Spain. Jfy intention is, that wherever the enemy shall
present himself before you with less than twenty-four ves-
sels, that you should attack him.

By the return of the frigate President, and several others,
that I had sent to you at Martinique and Guadaloupe, I
have been apprised, that in place of disembarking troops in
those two islands, they find themselves weaker in force than
they were before. Nelson had but nine vessels. The Eng-
lish arc not so numerous .is you think. They every where
stand at bay. If you appear for three days, or for only
twenty-four hours, your mission will be fulfilled. Let ad-
miral Ganteaume be made acqiiainted by an extraordinary
courier with the moment of your departure. Lastly, for a
great object, a squadron must always run some hazards ;
and never will our soldiers, by land or sea, have spilled
their blood to procure a greater or more noble result. For
the grand object of favouring a descent upon that power
which for six centuries has oppressed France, we are all
willing to die without regretting life. Such are the sen-
timents which should animate you — which should animate
all my soldiers. England has not in the Downs more than
four vessels of the line, which we harass every day with our
praams and flotilla.

Now he was no more in doubt that Villeneuve
would make his appearance off" Brest. Ganteaume
was at Barthaume, that is, outside the inner mad
in front of the open sea, supported by one hundred
and fifty pieces of cannon disposed in battery on
the shore. It would be one of the greatest of
misfortunes if Ganteaume should not be able to
take a part in the battle for raising his blockade,
and the French uniting fifty vessels, twenty-nine
under Villeneuve, and twenty-one under Gan-
teaume, should not succeed in driving the enemy
before them, and on entering the channel with
thirty or forty, even if they lost ten or twenty
sail.

" You see well," said Napoleon to Decres, who
was with him at Boulogne, " that in spite of a
crowd of faults and unfavourable accidents, the
nature of the plan is so thoroughly good, that all
the advantages are yet on our side, and that we are
very near success."

Decres, who had received in secret confidence
the complaints of Villeneuve, and who partook in
his distrust of fortune, was not quite as tranquil
as Naj)oleon. " All that is very possible," he re-
plied, " beeau.se all has been perfectly well calcu-
lated ; but if it should succeed, I shall see in it the
hand of God. It has shown itself indeed so often
in the operations of your majesty, that I shall not
be astonished to sec it again appear upon the pre-
sent occasion '."

On the 14th of August, he was more desirous than ever of
the expedition, in spite of Decres.

To General Lauriston.
Boulogne, 26 Thermidor, Y^ear xiii , or 14th August, 1805.

Monsieur general Lauriston, — I have received your two
letters of the 3th and Ilth Thermidor. I hope that this des-
patch will find you no longer at Ferrol, and that the squa-
dron will have already iet sail to proceed to its destination. I
do not see why you did not leave the C7th and 16th regiments
at Martinique and GuadaIou|)e. It was well explained in
your instructions. Thus, afier an expedition so extensive,
I have not even the pleasure to see my islands safely shel-
tered from attack. There are not at present there three thou-
sand men, and after Vendemiaire there will not be more
than two thousand five hundred. I hope that Villeneuve
will not suffer himself to be blockaded by an inferior squa-
dron to his own. He must have actually thirty vessels of
the line. I think that, witli this squadron, he is well in a
position to attack one of twenty-four. Help and push on the
admiral as much as possible. Arrange with him about the
troops which you have on board, and send me the statement
of their situation; you may leave them on board, or, if the
admiral judges it convenient, you can disembark them, and
form them into a division at Ferrol.

Take measures to form a depot of the men you disem-
barked at Vigo, that all the troops which may arrive from
Ferrol may be able to rejoin their corps from thence after-
wards.

Captain Lallemand made his appearance off the coast of
Ireland in the beginning of Thermidor. He ought to be at
the place of rendezvous long since. He will seek to obtain
intelligence of the squadron, if he has not already a know-
ledge of it at Vigo, where an officer will be, under the suppo-
sition that admiral Villeneuve had not appeared on the
20th Thermidor. We are every where ready. An appearance
of tw£nty-four hours in the channel will be sufficient."

' I limit myself to analysing textually the numerous
notes which Napoleon and admiral Decres wrote every day,
although they were only at the distance of half-a-league
from each other. The one was at Pont de Briques, the
other on the sea-shore. — Note of lite .tu'.hor.

1805.
Aug.

Napoleon offers Hanover to
Prussia.

THE THIRD COALITION. Anger of Napoleon with Decres. 653

From the loth to the 20th of August Napoleon re-
mained at Boulogne a prey to the keenest anxiety.
Signals plaoeil ui)OU all the more elevated points
of the coast wtrc designed to inform liim when
the French fleet appeared in the horizon. Atten-
tive to each courier that arrived from Paris or
the ports, he gave at every moment fresh orders,
to prevent those accidents which would have been
likely to contravene his designs. Talleyrand hav-
ing apprised him that the armaments of Austria
became every day more and more significant and
threatening, "and that a continental war was to be
apprehended, but that at the same time Prussia,
seduced by the bait that they had made so tempt-
ing before her eyes, that of Hanover, was ready
to conclude an alliance with France ; Napoleon,
without deliberating a single hour, called for
Duroc, remitted to him a letter for the king of
Prussia, and all the power.s necessary to sign a
treaty. " Set off immediately," he said to him,
" go to Berlin without jiassing through Paris, and
determine Prussia to sign an alliance with me. I
have given him Hanover, but only upon the con-
dition that he decide instantly, the present that
I make him is worth the trouble. In fifteen days
I shall not renew to him the same offer. To-day
I have need to be covered on the side of Austria
while I embark. To obtain this service of Prussia
I give to it a large counti-y which will add forty
thousand men to its army. But if by delay I shall
be obliged to quit the shores of the ocean to turn
myself towards the continent, my camps struck,
my designs against England abandoned, I shall
have no need of any one to bring Austria to reason,
and I shall not pay so dearly for a service that will
in that case become useless to me. In conse-
quence. Napoleon required that Prussia should
immediately make movements of ti-oops towards
Bohemia: he would not consent besides that the
treaty should be overcharged with conditions re-
lative to Holland, Switzerland, or Italy. He would
cede Hanover, and wished that it should be united
to Prussia without being burdened by any other
conditions'.

It is easy to judge, by so serious a step thus
promptly decided upon, of the high price Napoleon
atUched at that m.inicnt to the free accomplisli-
ment of liis projects. The same day that he gave
these instructions to Duroc, that is to sjiy, on the
20ih of August, a courier anived tliat iiad left
IVrrol during the time Villeneuve was setting sail
to arrive at Boulogne. Najjoleon received directly
the dispatch of Lauriston, while at the little chateau
of Pont de Briques; while that of Villeneuve, ad-
dressed to Decres, wa.s sent to him on the sea-
shore, at the barrack in which he liad taken up his
quarters.

Napoleon deligiited at the words of Lauriston,
"we are off for Brest," immediately dictated two
letters to Villeneuve and GanU-aume. Tliey are
too well worthy of preservation by history not to
give them here.

He said to Ganteaumc : —

" I have already made known to you by tele-
praph, that mv intention is, you should not suffer
Villeneuve to "lose a single day, in order that pro-

1 This is the analysis of the secret instructions given to
the grand marshal Uuroc— A'o/c of llie Author.

fiting by the superiority which is afforded me by
fifty ships of the line, you should go at once to sea,
in order to fulfil your destination, and carry your-
self into the channel with all your strength and
force. I reckon upon your tjilents, firmness, and
character under such important circumstances.
Depart and come hither. We shall avenge si.K cen-
turies of insult and reproach. Never before for an
object so great will my forces by land and sea
have risked their lives !" (From the imperial
camp at Boulogne, August 22, 1805.)

He wrote to Villeneuve: —

" Monsieur the vice-admiral, I hope that you
have arrived at Brest. Depart, lose not one mo-
ment, and with my united fleet enter the channel.
England is ours! we are all ready; everything is
embarked. Appear but for twenty-four hours and
all will be terminated." (From the imperial camp
at Boulogne, August 22.)

But while Napoleon, deceived by the despatch of
Lauriston, addressed these earnest words to the two
admirals, Decres had received from Villeneuve, by
the same courier, a very different despatch, which
left him little hope of tlie voyage to Brest. He
hastened to the emperor, to make him acquainted
with the sad moral state in which Villeneuve found
himself upon quitting Ferrol.

On hearing this contradictory news. Napoleon
was seized with a violent fit of anger. The first
bursts of his passion fell upon admiral Decres, who
had given him such a man to command his fleet.
He bore much more heavily upon this minister, be-
cause he attributed to him, besides the choice of
Villeneuve, analogous opinions to those which had
deprived the unhappy admiral of all courage. He
reproached him with the weakness of his friend,
and that slandering of the French navy which con-
veyed despair into the hearts of all the seamen.
He complained of not being seconded in his great
designs, and only able to find men, who to take
care of their persons and reputations, knew not
even how to lose a battle, when all that was re-
quired of them was only the courage to fight and
to lose one. " Your Villeneuve,'' he .said to Decres,
" is not even capable of connnanding a frigate.
What is to be said of a man who, for a few sailors
fallen sick in the ships belonging to his squadron,
because of a broken bowsprit, a few torn sails, a
report of the junction between Nelson and Calder,
loses his senses and renounces his designs V But
if Nelson and Calder had join( d, they would be at
the entrance of Ferrol, ready to attack the French
at the passage out, and not in the open sea. All
this is plain and simple, and strikes the eyes of any
one who is not blinded by his own fear ' ! Napoleon
again called Villeneuve a jjoltroon, even a traitor,
and prescribed tiie making out immediate orders
to bring him forcibly back from Cadiz into the
channel, if he had sai'led to Cadiz; and in case he
should have made sail towards Brest, to give Gan-
teaume the command of the two united s(iuadron8.
The minister of the navy, wlio had not yet dared

» These scenes, of which there are no lonRcr any living
witnesses, would be lost to liistory without ilic private let-
ters and auiograplis of admiral Dccris and llie cmptror. In
thene are seen all the agitations of ihose memorable days.
There is a great number for the same day, although the
emperor and Decres wire only half alcjgue distant the one
from the other.— A^o/< of tlie Author.

654 Decrfes- advice to Napoleon. THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Opinions of admiral
Decres.

1805.
Aug.

to give the whole of his opinions upon the junction
of the fleets in tlie mid.st of the channel, in the
present dangerous circumstance, but who believed
this junction was horribly dangerous, since tlie
English, on the alert, had concentrated their force
between Ferrol, Brest, and Portsmoutli, supplicated
the emperor not to give so fatal an order, told him
that the time had advanced too far, that the Eng-
lish were too much upon their guard, and that if he
persisted, they should not fail to suffer some ter-
rible catastrophe before Brest. Napoleon had
at once a reply, that fifty sail would be united
before Brest if they but once appeared there, that
the English would never have the same number
there; that in any case one of the two fleets lost
would be nothing to him, if the otiier, set free, was
able to enter the channel and domineer there for
twenty-four hours.

Decres, borne down by the emperor, took the
step of putting into writing wiiathe dared not
venture to say to him, and the same evening ad-
dressed the following letter to him at Pout de
Briques : —

" 4th Fructidor, year xiii., or 22 August, 1805.
" I threw myself at his majesty's feet to sup-
plicate him not to associate the operations of his
squadrons with the Spanish vessels. Far from
having obtained something in this regard, your
majesty intends that this association shall be in-
creased by vessels from Cadiz and Cai-thagena.

" Your majesty wisiies, that with a like assem-
blage of vessels, there should be undertaken
a tiling of itself exceedingly difficult, and which
becomes more so in considering the elements of
the force of which the fleet is composed, and the
inexperience of the commanders, their want of
the habit of command, and, in fine, the circum-
stances that your majesty knows as well as my-
self, and that it would, therefoi-e, be superfluous
to retrace.

" In this state of things, when your majesty
reckons for nothing both my arguments and ex-
perience, I know of no situation more painful
than my own. I wish your majesty would take
well into consideration, that 1 have no interest but
tliat of his flag and tlie honour of his arms ; and
if his squadron is at Cadiz, 1 pray him to consider
that event as a decree of destiny which has re-
served it for other operations. I supplicate him
not to make it come from Cadiz into the channel,
because it will not be done without the misfortunes
that must attend such an efiort at the present
moment. I supplicate iiim above all not to order
this voyage to be attempted vvitli two months'
provisions, because M. d'Estaiug, I believe, took
seventy or eighty days to come from Cadiz to
Brest, and perhaps more.

" If the prayer which I address to your majesty
should not appear to him to have any weiglit, he
can judge of what passes in my heart.

" It is at this moment moi'e particularly, while
I am able to stop the emission of the orders, fatal
to the service of your majesty in my view, that I
am bound to insist upon it tlie more. May I be
more fortu late in this circumstance than 1 have
been hei-etofore.

" But it is unfortunate for ma that I am ac-
quainted with the naval service, when this know-
ledge does not ubtaiu for me any cuutidence, and

' produces no result upon the combinations of your
majesty. In truth, sire, my situation becomes too
painful. I censure myself for not knowing how
to convince your majesty. I doubt that any single
individual can succeed in doing so. For the pur-
pose of naval operations, be so good as to form a
Council, an admiralty, any thing that will be agree-
able to your majesty ; but for myself, I feel
that in place of being strengthened, 1 every day
grow less strong in your majesty's opinion. It is
but too true, that a minister of the navy subju-
gated by your majesty in what relates to the navy,
serves you ill, and becomes nullihed as respects the
glory of your arms, if he does not become preju-
dicial to it.

"It is in the bitterness of my soul, that, di-
minished notliing in my devotion and fidelity to
your person, I pray your majesty to receive my
profound respect.

(Signed) " Decres."

The emperor, discontented but affected, an-
swered immediately from the Pont de Briques.
" I pray you to send to me, during the day or
to-morrow, a memoir upon this question. lu the
present situation of things, if Villeneuve remains
at Cadiz, what must he do i Raise yourself to the
height of the circumstances and the situation in
which France and England are placed ; write me
no more such lettei-s as that you have now written,
it notifies nothing. As to myself, I have but one
necessity, and that is, to succeed," (August 22nd,
depot of die Louvre.)

On the following da}', the 23rd, Decres proposed
his plan to the emperor. It was at first to adjoui'n
the expedition to the winter, because it was too
late to bring back the fleet from Cadiz into the
channel. Tiiey would be exposed to the necessity
of executing the enterprise in the midst of the
equinoctial storms. Besides, the English were
aware of the design. Every body finished by
having, a glimpse of the project of a naval junc-
tion between Boulogne and 13rest. According to
him, it was necessary to divide each squadron now
too numerous into seven or eight cruising squa-
drons of five or six vessels each. That which had
been done at this very time by captain Lallemand,
was a proof of what it was possible to do with de-
tached divisions. It was necessary to compose
them of the best officers and the best vessels and
to send them on the ocean. They made the En-
glish despair by ruining their commerce, and
formed excellent seamen and commanders of
s(£uadrons. From these there could be drawn the
elements of a fleet for a great ulterior design.

" This," said adinii'al Decres, " is the system of
warfare after my own heart. If, finally," he added,
" you wish in the winter to have a fleet in the
channel, there is a means of bringing it there.
You will have at Cadiz forty vessels. Embark
an army on board them, and give to this embarka-
tion the colour of a design upon India or Jamaica;
then divide the fleet into two parts. Take from
among these vessels the best sailors ; fi'om among
the officers, those who have been proved the most
I'esolute and capable for the preceding year ; set
sail secretly with twenty vessels only, taking care
to keep twenty behind, in order to attract the
attention of the English ; then convey this
twenty round Ireland and Scotland, and thus into

1806.
Aug.

Resolutions of Napoleon

THE THIRD COALITION.

on his future conduct.

the channel. Call Villeneuve and Gravina to
Paris, animate tlieir liearts, and tlicy will to a
certainty execute this manoeuvre."

On reading this scheme, Napoleon renounced
entirely the idea of mal>in|4 the Hotilla return im-
mediately from Cadiz, if in fact it had {;one there
at all, and he wrote with his own hand on the
back of the dispatch, " Form seven cruising
squadrons ; distribute them between Africa, Su-
rinam, St. Helen's, the Cape, the Isle of France,
the Western Islands, the United States, the coasts
of Ireland and Sc<itlan(l, and the mouth of the
Thames 2. Then he set himself to read and re-
read the despatches of Villeneuve, of Lauriston,
and of the consular agent who had for a long time
followed wifli his spying-glass the cnurse of the
French squadron when it had lost sight of the
heights of Ferrol. He searched ihf re, as if in the
page of a book <if destiny, lor an answer to tliis
question : Has Villeneuve sjviled towanls Cadiz or
Brest 1 The uncertiiinty in which the despatches
left him, irritated him yet more than he would
have been irritated had he a certain knowledge of
the course having been taken to Cadiz. In this
state of agitation, and above all, in the situation of
Europe, it had been the most important service
to let him know how the matter really stood, be-
cause the news from the frontiers of Austria were
every moment more alarming. The Austrians no
longer concealed their projects : they were on the
Adige in considerable force, and threatened the
Inn and Bavaria. But if he did not strike a
thunder-bolt on London which would make Eu-
rope tremble and full back, it was necessary he
should direct his forces towards the Rhine to
prevent what they had prepared for him, the
being on his frontier before him. Bjiug under the
necessity of knowing the truth, he wrote several
letters to admiral Decres from the Pont au Bnques
to the camp, to inipiire of liim his private opinions
as to the probable determination of Villeneuve.
The admiral fearing to irritate the emjieror too
much, and at the same time being scrupulous
about deceiving him, answered him each time in
a way almost contradictory, saying sometimes yes,
and sometimes no, partaking in the an.xiety of his
master, but visibly inclining towards the opinion
that Villeneuve would go to Cadiz. In reality he
scarcely doubted that such wils the cjuse. It was
thus that Napoleon, in order not to be taken in an
unprovided manner, was divided between two
l)rojccts, and passed some days in one of those am-
biguous situations, insnpport ible for a character
like his own, ready at the same time to pass over the
sea or to throw himself upon the c lUtinent ; to
make a descent upon I-Ingland, or a military march
towards Austria. He had the peculiar trait in his
charactei', that when it wiis necessary to act, he
commanded hiin.4t;lf instintly, and returned all at
once from the ang' r to which ho had seen tit to
deliver up his soul for a moment, as if to be more
master in taking it back again and governing it
at the moment that he had the necessity. After
numerous per|)lexitie8 during the day, the 2:ird of
August, he gave the necessary orders under a
double hypothesis. " My resoluliou is fixed,"

■ It is from the same document that I transcribe these
detiih.— Note nf the Author.

he wrote to Talleyrand, " my fleets were lost
sight of from the heights of Cape Ortegal, on
the 14th of August. If they come into the chan-
nel, there is still time, I will embark and make
the descent. 1 shall go to London and cut the
knot of all the coalitions. If, on the contrary, my
admirals wimt character and manoeuvre ill, I strike
my camps of the ocean, and I enter Germany with
two hundred thousand men, and I shall not stop
until I have touched the barrier at Vienna, taken
away Venice, and all that Austria yet keeps in
Italy, and chased the Bourbons out of Naples. I
will not suffer the Austrians and Russians to unite;
I will strike them before their junction. The con-
tinent pacified, I will return to the sea, and go to
work anew to procure a maritime peace."

Then with that |)rofound and incomparable know-
ledge of warlike affairs which he had acquired, and
with that unparalleled discerimient of what is more
or less urgent in the dispositions required to be
taken, without in any way deranging his maritime
expedition, which remained continually ready for
movement, all the troops being on board or close
to the vessels, he gave his first ordei-s for the con-
tinental war. He began with Naples and Hanover,
the two points most distant from the operation of
his own will. He ordered that there should be
added to the division which he had organized at
Pescara, under general Ileynier, seven regiments of
light cavalry, and some batteries of horse artillery,
in order to form in that country of guerillas a
number of moveable columns. He transmitted to
general St. Cyr, an order to take to himself the
division of Reynier at the first sign of hostility,
and to join it with the corps which he had carried
back to Tarentuni, and on the first sign of hostility
to throw himself upon Naples with twenty-one
thousand men, in order to prevent the descent in
Italy of the Russians from Corfu, or the English
from Malta.

He then commanded prince Eugene, who although
viceroy of Italy, was under the military tut()rslii|)
of marshal Jourdan, to assemble immediately the
French troops spread over the country from Genua
to Bologna and Verona, to march them to the
Adige, to buy artillery horses throughout all I al\ ,
and harness immediately a hundred pieces of can-
non. As the French troops were formed in di-
visions n|)on the war footing, these dispositions were
easily and i)romptly executed. He ordered recruits
to be siiit to tlie depots. He prescribed at the
same time the baking of bi.scuits every where to
provision the Italian fortresses. Alexandria was
not yet finished, he therefore ordered that the
citadel of Turin should serve as the depot fortress
for I'iedinont.

He made similar dispositions in regard to Ger-
many. The same day, the 2:jrd, he sent off" a
courier t(( Bernadotle, who had replaced general
Mortier in the connnand of Hanover. He enjoined
it upon him, under the seal of the closest secresy,
and without giving any external sign of his new
destination, to assemble at Got.iingcn, at the ex-
tremity of that electorate, at the head of the reaps
of central Germany, the larger part of his c(>ri>a
(Varmce ; to begin iiy marching towards that point
the artillery and heavy baggage; to execute these
movements in such a maimer that none should bo
able to discern clearly the object before ten or

Napoleon's orders for
the continental

THIERS' CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.

Napoleon's anger at
his fleet not ap-
pearing.

1805.
Aug.

fifteen days had passed; and in order to prolong
the doubt, to show himself personally at the oppo-
site point, to await there the definitive order to
place himself on the march. His idea was, if he
came to an understanding with Prussia relative
to Hanover, as he did not doubt he should do, to
evacuate that kingdom, and cross without per-
mission all the small states of central Germany, to
carry into Bavaria the army that he should with-
di'aw from Hanover.

By the same courier he enjoined it upon general
Marmont, at the Texel, to prepai-e immediately his
draught horses and materltl, in order to be able in
three days to place himself on the march with his
corps, recommending him to keep it a secret, and to
change nothing in regard to the embarkation of the
troops before he received further orders. Lastly,
around himself at Boulogne, he made a first and
only diversion of the troops which he had with him,
those of the heavy cavalry and dragoons. He had
assembled much more cavalry than was in reality
necessary, and much more particularly than he
would probably be able to embark. He sent a
march to the rear the division of the cuirassiers of
Nansouty, and assembled at St. Omer the dragoons
mounted and dismounted, placed under the orders of
Baraguay d'Hilliers. He added to them a certain
number of guns of the horse artillery, and sent
them immediately on the road to Strasburg. He
ordered the assemblage in Alsace at the same time
of all the heavy cavalry that remained in France,
despatched Songis, the general-in-chief of the ar-
tillery, to prepare a field park between Mentz and
Strasburg, with funds to buy in Lorraine, Switzer-
land, and Alsace, all the draught horses which he
was able to procure. An order was given for the
infantry which was to be marched upon the eastern
frontier. Five hundred thousand rations of biscuits
were ordered at Strasburg. This numerous cavalry,
accompanied by horse artillery, attended by a
species of infantry in the dismounted dragoons,
would furnish the first support to the menaced
Bavarians, demanding succour with earnest en-
treaties. Some regiments of infanti'y were to be
very near, in order to aid them. Finally, Berna-
dotte would be able to reach Wurtzburg in ten or
a dozen marches. Thus, in a few days, without
having in any way diverted from their pui-pose the
forces of tiie embarkation, except some divisions of
heavy cavalry and of dragoons, he was ready to
support the Bavarians, upon whom Austria would
strike her first blow.

These dispositions having carried into effect with
the promptitude of a great character, he regained a
little his tranquillity of mind, and set himself to
watch fur what the wind might bring to him.

He was sombre, reserved, liar.sh towards admiral
Decrcs, in whose countenance lie seemed to see all
those opinions which hail shaken the i-esolution of
Villeneuve, and he kept continually on the sea-
shore, looking towards the horizon in expectation
of some unexpected api)earance. Officers of the
navy, placed with glasses on different ])oints of the
coast, were ordered to watch all the circumstances
occuri'ing at sea, and to give him an account of
them. In that way, he j)assed three days in one of
those situations of uncertainty, the moat re[)ugnant
to ardent and powerful minds that are attached to
decisive action. Lastly, admiral Decres, interro-

gated incessantly, declared that in his opinion,
seeing the space of time gone by, and the winds
that had prevailed along the coast, from the gulf
of Gascony as far as the straits of Dover, and con-
sidering the moral disposition of Vi