Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
during the winter of 1802-3. At that time the concourse of foreigners
in the French capital was immense. Everything wore the appearance of
satisfaction, and the external signs of public prosperity. The visible
regeneration in French society exceedingly annoyed the British Ministry.
The English who flocked to the Continent discovered France to be very
different from what she was described to be by the English papers. This
caused serious alarm on the other side of the Channel, and the English
Government endeavoured by unjust complaints to divert attention from
just dissatisfaction, which its own secret intrigues excited. The King
of England sent a message to Parliament, in which he spoke of armaments
preparing in the ports of France, and of the necessity of adopting
precautions against meditated aggressions. This instance of bad faith
highly irritated the First Consul, who one day, in a fit of displeasure,
thus addressed Lord Whitworth in the salon, where all the foreign
Ambassadors were assembled:
"What is the meaning of this? Are you then tired of peace? Must Europe
again be deluged with blood? Preparations for war indeed! Do you think
to overawe us by this? You shall see that France may be conquered,
perhaps destroyed, but never intimidated--never!"
The English Ambassador was astounded at this unexpected sally, to which
he made no reply. He contented himself with writing to his Government an
account of an interview in which the First Consul had so far forgotten
himself,-whether purposely or not I do not pretend to say.
That England wished for war there could be no doubt. She occupied Malta,
it is true, but she had promised to give it up, though she never had any
intention of doing so. She was to have evacuated Egypt, yet there she
still remained; the Cape of Good Hope was to have been surrendered, but
she still retained possession of it. England had signed, at Amiens, a
peace which she had no intention of maintaining. She knew the hatred
of the Cabinets of Europe towards France, and she was sure, by her
intrigues and subsidies, of arming them on her side whenever her plans
reached maturity. She saw France powerful and influential in Europe, and
she knew the ambitious views of the First Consul, who, indeed, had taken
little pains to conceal them.
The First Consul, who had reckoned on a longer duration of the peace of
Amiens, found himself at the rupture of the treaty in an embarrassing
situation. The numerous grants of furloughs, the deplorable condition of
the cavalry, and the temporary absence of artillery, in consequence of
a project for refounding all the field-pieces, caused much anxiety
to Bonaparte. He had recourse to the conscription to fill up the
deficiencies of the army; and the project of refounding the artillery
was abandoned. Supplies of money were obtained from the large towns,
and Hanover, which was soon after occupied, furnished abundance of good
horses for mounting the cavalry.
War had now become inevitable; and as soon as it was declared the
First Consul set out to visit Belgium and the seaboard departments to
ascertain the best means of resisting the anticipated attacks of the
English. In passing through Compiegne he received a visit from Father
Berton, formerly principal of the military school of Brienne. He was
then rector of the school of arts at Compiegne, a situation in which he
had been placed by Bonaparte. I learned the particulars of this visit
through Josephine. Father Berton, whose primitive simplicity of manner
was unchanged since the time when he held us under the authority of his
ferule, came to invite Bonaparte and Josephine to breakfast with him,
which invitation was accepted. Father Berton had at that time living
with him one of our old comrades of Brienne, named Bouquet; but he
expressly forbade him to show himself to Bonaparte or any one of his
suite, because Bouquet, who had been a commissary at headquarters
in Italy, was in disgrace with the First Consul. Bouquet promised
to observe Father Berton's injunctions, but was far from keeping his
promise. As soon as he saw Bonaparte's carriage drive up, he ran to
the door and gallantly handed out Josephine. Josephine, as she took his
hand, said, "Bouquet,--you have ruined yourself!" Bonaparte, indignant
at what he considered an unwarrantable familiarity, gave way to one of
his uncontrollable fits of passion, and as soon as he entered the room
where the breakfast was laid, he seated himself, and then said to his
wife in an imperious tone, "Josephine, sit there!" He then commenced
breakfast, without telling Father Becton to sit down, although a third
plate had been laid for him. Father Becton stood behind his old pupil's
chair apparently confounded at his violence. The scene produced such an
effect on the old man that he became incapable of discharging his duties
at Compiegne. He retired to Rheims, and his intellect soon after became
deranged. I do not pretend to say whether this alienation of mind was
caused by the occurrence I have just related, and the account of which
I received from Josephine. She was deeply afflicted at what had passed.
Father Berton died insane. What I heard from Josephine was afterwards
confirmed by the brother of Father Becton. The fact is, that in
proportion as Bonaparte acquired power he was the more annoyed at the
familiarity of old companions; and, indeed, I must confess that their
familiarity often appeared very ridiculous.
The First Consul's visit to the northern coast took place towards the
end of the year 1803, at which time the English attacked the Dutch
settlements of Surinam, Demerara, and Essequibo, and a convention of
neutrality was concluded between France, Spain, and Portugal. Rapp
accompanied the First Consul, who attentively inspected the preparations
making for a descent on England, which it was never his intention to
effect, as will be shortly shown.
On the First Consul's return I learned from Rapp that I had been spoken
of during the journey, and in the following way:--Bonaparte, being at
Boulogne, wanted some information which no one there could give, him.
Vexed at receiving no satisfactory answer to his inquiries he called
Rapp, and said, "Do you know, Rapp, where Bourrienne is?"--"General, he
is in Paris."--"Write to him to come here immediately, and send off one
of my couriers with the letter." The rumour of the First Consul's sudden
recollection of me spread like lightning, and the time required to write
the letter and despatch the courier was more than sufficient for
the efforts of those whom my return was calculated to alarm. Artful
representations soon checked these spontaneous symptoms of a return to
former feelings and habits. When Rapp carried to the First Consul
the letter he had been directed to write the order was countermanded.
However, Rapp advised me not to leave Paris, or if I did, to mention the
place where I might be found, so that Duroc might have it in his power
to seize on any favourable circumstance without delay. I was well aware
of the friendship of both Rapp and Duroc, and they could as confidently
rely on mine.
CHAPTER XVIII.
1803.
Vast works undertaken--The French and the Roman soldiers--Itinerary
of Bonaparte's journeys to the coast--Twelve hours on horseback--
Discussions in Council--Opposition of Truguet--Bonaparte'a opinion
on the point under discussion--Two divisions of the world--Europe a
province--Bonaparte's jealousy of the dignity of France--The
Englishman in the dockyard of Brest--Public audience at the
Tuilleries--The First Consul's remarks upon England--His wish to
enjoy the good opinion of the English people--Ball at Malmaison--
Lines on Hortense's dancing--Singular motive for giving the ball.
At the time of the rupture with England Bonaparte was, as I have
mentioned, quite unprepared in most branches of the service; yet
everything was created as if by magic, and he seemed to impart to others
a share of his own incredible activity. It is inconceivable how many
things had been undertaken and executed since the rupture of the peace.
The north coast of France presented the appearance of one vast arsenal;
for Bonaparte on this occasion employed his troops like Roman soldiers,
and made the tools of the artisan succeed to the arms of the warrior.
On his frequent journeys to the coast Bonaparte usually set off at
night, and on the following morning arrived at the post office of
Chantilly, where he breakfasted. Rapp, whom I often saw when he was
in Paris, talked incessantly of these journeys, for he almost always
accompanied the First Consul, and it would have been well had he always
been surrounded by such men. In the evening the First Consul supped at
Abbeville, and arrived early next day at the bridge of Brique. "It would
require constitutions of iron to go through what we do," said Rapp.
"We no sooner alight from the carriage than we mount on horseback, and
sometimes remain in our saddles for ten or twelve hours successively.
The First Consul inspects and examines everything, often talks with the
soldiers. How he is beloved by them! When shall we pay a visit to London
with those brave fellows?"
Notwithstanding these continual journeys the First Consul never
neglected any of the business of government, and was frequently present
at the deliberations of the Council. I was still with him when the
question as to the manner in which the treaties of peace should be
concluded came under the consideration of the Council. Some members,
among whom Truguet was conspicuous, were of opinion that, conformably
with an article of the Constitution, the treaties should be proposed by
the Head of the Government, submitted to the Legislative Body, and
after being agreed to promulgated as part of the laws. Bonaparte thought
differently. I was entirely of his opinion, and he said to me, "It
is for the mere pleasure of opposition that they appeal to the
Constitution, for if the Constitution says so it is absurd. There are
some things which cannot become the subject of discussion in a public
assembly; for instance, if I treat with Austria, and my Ambassador
agrees to certain conditions, can those conditions be rejected by the
Legislative Body? It is a monstrous absurdity! Things would be brought
to a fine pass in this way! Lucchesini and Markow would give dinners
every day like Cambacérès; scatter their money about, buy men who are to
be sold, and thus cause our propositions to be rejected. This would be a
fine way to manage matters!"
When Bonaparte, according to his custom, talked to me in the evening of
what had passed in the Council, his language was always composed of a
singular mixture of quotations from antiquity, historical references,
and his own ideas. He talked about the Romans, and I remember when
Mr. Fox was at Paris that he tried to distinguish himself before that
Foreign Minister, whom he greatly esteemed. In his enlarged way of
viewing the world Bonaparte divided it into two large states, the East
and the West: "What matters," he would often say, "that two countries
are separated by rivers or mountains, that they speak different
languages? With very slight shades of variety France, Spain, England,
Italy, and Germany, have the same manners and customs, the same
religion, and the same dress. In them a man can only marry one wife;
slavery is not allowed; and these are the great distinctions which
divide the civilised inhabitants of the globe. With the exception of
Turkey, Europe is merely a province of the world, and our warfare is but
civil strife. There is also another way of dividing nations, namely,
by land and water." Then he would touch on all the European interests,
speak of Russia, whose alliance he wished for, and of England, the