Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
for a vague expression of what the Senate termed the necessities of
France. To give greater solemnity to the affair the Senate proceeded in
a body to the Tuileries, and one thing which gave a peculiar character
to the preconcerted advances of the Senate was that Cambacérès, the
Second Consul, fulfilled his functions of President on this occasion,
and delivered the address to the First Consul.
However, the First Consul thought the address of the Senate, which, I
have been informed, was drawn up by Francois de Neufchateau, was not
expressed with sufficient clearness; he therefore, after suffering
a little interval to elapse, sent a message to the Senate signed by
himself, in which he said, "Your address has been the object of my
earnest consideration." And though the address contained no mention of
hereditary succession, he added, "You consider the hereditary succession
of the supreme magistracy necessary to defend the French people against
the plots of our enemies and the agitation arising from rival ambition.
At the same time several of our institutions appear to you to require
improvement so as to ensure the triumph of equality and public liberty,
and to offer to the nation and the Government the double guarantee
they require." From the subsequent passages of the message it will be
sufficient to extract the following: "We have been constantly guided by
this great truth: that the sovereignty dwells with the French people,
and that it is for their interest, happiness, and glory that the Supreme
Magistracy, the Senate, the Council of State, the Legislative Body, the
Electoral Colleges, and the different branches of the Government,
are and must be instituted." The omission of the Tribunate in this
enumeration is somewhat remarkable. It announced a promise which was
speedily realised.
The will of Bonaparte being thus expressed in his message to
the--Senate, that body, which was created to preserve the institutions
consecrated by the Constitution of the year VIII., had no alternative
but to submit to the intentions manifested by the First Consul. The
reply to the message was, therefore, merely a counterpart of the message
itself. It positively declared that hereditary government was essential
to the happiness, the glory, and the prosperity of France, and that that
government could be confided only to Bonaparte and his family. While the
Senate so complaisantly played its part in this well-get-up piece, yet,
the better to impose on the credulity of the multitude, its reply, like
Bonaparte's message, resounded with the words liberty and equality.
Indeed, it was impudently asserted in that reply that Bonaparte's
accession to hereditary power would be a certain guarantee for the
liberty of the press, a liberty which Bonaparte held in the greatest
horror, and without which all other liberty is but a vain illusion.
By this reply of the Senate the most important step was performed. There
now remained merely ceremonies to regulate and formulas to fill up.
These various arrangements occasioned a delay of a fortnight. On the
18th of May the First Consul was greeted for the first time by the
appellation of Sire by his former colleague, Cambacérès, who at the
head of the Senate went to present to Bonaparte the organic
'Senatus-consulte' containing the foundation of the Empire. Napoleon was
at St. Cloud, whither the Senate proceeded in state. After the speech
of Cambacérès, in which the old designation of Majesty was for the first
time revived, the EMPEROR replied:--
All that can contribute to the welfare of the country is essentially
connected with my happiness. I accept the title which you believe
to be conducive to the glory of the nation. I submit to the
sanction of the people the law of hereditary succession. I hope
that France will never repent the honours she may confer on my
family. At all events, my spirit will not be with my posterity when
they cease to merit the confidence and love of the great nation.
Cambacérès next went to congratulate the Empress, and then was realised
to Josephine the prediction which I had made to her three years before
at Malmaison.
--[In the original motion as prepared by Curee, the Imperial dignity
was to be declared hereditary in the family of Napoleon. Previous to
being formerly read before the Tribunate, the First Consul sent for
the document, and when it was returned it was found that the word
family was altered to descendants. Fabre, the President of the
Tribunate, who received the altered document from Maret, seeing the
effect the alteration would have on the brothers of Napoleon, and
finding that Maret affected to crest the change as immaterial, took
on himself to restore the original form, and in that shape it was
read by the unconscious Curee to the Tribunals. On this curious,
passage see Miot de Melito, tome ii, p. 179. As finally settled the
descent of the crown in default of Napoleon's children was limited
to Joseph and Louis and their descendants, but the power of adoption
was given to Napoleon. The draft of the 'Senates-consulte' was
heard by the Council of State in silence, and Napoleon tried in vain
to get even the most talkative of the members now to speak. The
Senate were not unanimous in rendering the 'Senatus-consulte'. The
three votes given against it were said to have been Gregoire, the
former constitutional Bishop of Blois, Carat, who as Minister of
Justice had read to Louis XVI. the sentence of death, and
Lanjuinais, one of the very few survivors of the Girondists, Thiers
says there was only one dissentient voice. For the fury of the
brothers of Napoleon, who saw the destruction of all their ambitions
hopes in any measure for the descent of the crown except in the
family, see Miot, tome ii. p.. 172, where Joseph is described as
cursing the ambition of his brother, and desiring his death as a
benefit for France and his family.]--
Bonaparte's first act as Emperor, on the very day of his elevation to
the Imperial throne, was the nomination of Joseph to the dignity of
Grand Elector, with the title of Imperial Highness. Louis was raised to
the dignity of Constable, with the same title, and Cambacérès and Lebrun
were created Arch-Chancellor and Arch-Treasurer of the Empire. On the
same day Bonaparte wrote the following letter to Cambacérès, the first
which he signed as Emperor, and merely with the name of Napoleon:--
CITIZEN CONSUL CAMBACERES--Your title has changed; but your
functions and my confidence remain the same. In the high dignity
with which you are now invested you will continue to manifest, as
you have hitherto done in that of Consul, that wisdom and that
distinguished talent which entitle you to so important a share in
all the good which I may have effected. I have, therefore, only to
desire the continuance of the sentiments you cherish towards the
State and me.
Given at the Palace of St. Cloud, 28th Floréal, an XII.
(18th May 1804).
(Signed) NAPOLEON.
By the Emperor.
H. B. MARET.
I have quoted this first letter of the Emperor because it is
characteristic of Bonaparte's art in managing transitions. It was to
the Citizen Consul that the Emperor addressed himself, and it was dated
according to the Republican calendar. That calendar, together with the
delusive inscription on the coin, were all that now remained of the
Republic. Next day the Emperor came to Paris to hold a grand levee at
the Tuileries, for he was not the man to postpone the gratification that
vanity derived from his new dignity and title. The assembly was more
numerous and brilliant than on any former occasion. Bessières having
addressed the Emperor on the part of the Guards, the Emperor replied in
the following terms: "I know the sentiments the Guards cherish towards
me. I repose perfect confidence in their courage and fidelity. I
constantly see, with renewed pleasure, companions in arms who have
escaped so many dangers, and are covered with so many honourable wounds.
I experience a sentiment of satisfaction when I look at the Guards, and
think that there has not, for the last fifteen years, in any of the
four quarters of the world, been a battle in which some of them have not
taken part."
On the same day all the generals and colonels in Paris were presented
to the Emperor by Louis Bonaparte, who had already begun to exercise his
functions of Constable. In a few days everything assumed a new aspect;
but in spite of the admiration which was openly expressed the Parisians
secretly ridiculed the new courtiers. This greatly displeased
Bonaparte, who was very charitably informed of it in order to check his
prepossession in favour of the men of the old Court, such as the Comte
de Segur, and at a later period Comte Louis de Narbonne.
To give all possible solemnity to his accession Napoleon ordered
that the Senate itself should proclaim in Paris the organic
'Senates-consulte', which entirely changed the Constitution of the
State. By one of those anomalies which I have frequently had occasion
to remark, the Emperor fixed for this ceremony Sunday, the 30th Floral.
That day was a festival in all Paris, while the unfortunate prisoners
were languishing in the dungeons of the Temple.
On the day after Bonaparte's accession the old formulae were restored.
The Emperor determined that the French Princes and Princesses should
receive the title of Imperial Highness; that his sisters should take the
same title; that the grand dignitaries of the Empire should be called
Serene Highnesses; that the Princes and titularies of the grand
dignitaries should be addressed by the title of Monseigneur; that M.
Maret, the Secretary of State, should have the rank of Minister; that
the ministers should retain the title of Excellency, to which should be
added that of Monseigneur in the petitions addressed to them; and that
the title of Excellency should be given to the President of the Senate.
At the same time Napoleon appointed the first Marshals of the Empire,
and determined that they should be called Monsieur le Marechal when
addressed verbally, and Monseigneur in writing. The following are
the names of these sons of the Republic transformed into props of the
Empire: Berthier, Murat, Moncey, Jourdan, Massena, Augereau, Bernadotte,
Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davoust, and Besaieres. The title
of Marshal of the Empire was also granted to the generals
Kellerman, Lefebvre, Perignon, and Serrurier, as having served as
commander-in-chief.
The reader cannot have failed to observe that the name of Lucien has
not been mentioned among the individuals of Bonaparte's family on whom
dignities were conferred. The fact is, the two brothers were no longer
on good terms with each other. Not, as it has been alleged, because
Lucien wished to play the part of a Republican, but because he would not
submit to the imperious will of Napoleon in a circumstance in which the
latter counted on his brother's docility to serve the interests of his
policy. In the conferences which preceded the great change in the form
of government it was not Lucien but Joseph who, probably for the sake of
sounding opinion, affected an opposition, which was by some mistaken for
Republicanism. With regard to Lucien, as he had really rendered great
services to Napoleon on the 19th Brumaire at St. Cloud, and as he
himself exaggerated the value of those services, he saw no reward worthy
of his ambition but a throne independent of his brother. It is certain
that when at Madrid he had aspired to win the good graces of a Spanish
Infanta, and on that subject reports were circulated with which I have