Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
nothing to do, because I never had any opportunity of ascertaining their
truth. All I know is that, Lucien's first wife being dead, Bonaparte,
wished him to marry a German Princess, by way of forming the first
great alliance in the family. Lucien, however, refused to comply with
Napoleon's wishes, and he secretly married the wife of an agent, named,
I believe, Joubertou, who for the sake of convenience was sent to the
West Indies, where he: died shortly after. When Bonaparte heard of this
marriage from the priest by whom it had been clandestinely performed,
he fell into a furious passion, and resolved not to confer on Lucien the
title of French Prince, on account of what he termed his unequal match.
Lucien, therefore, obtained no other dignity than that of Senator.
--[According to Lucien himself, Napoleon wished him to marry the
Queen of Etruria Maria-Louise, daughter of Charles IV. of Spain, who
had married, 1795 Louie de Bourbon, Prince of Parma, son of the Duke
of Parma, to whom Napoleon had given Tuscany in 1801 as the Kingdom
of, Etruria. Her husband had died in May 1808, and she governed in
the name of her son. Lucien, whose first wife, Anne Christine
Boyer, had died in 1801, had married his second wife, Alexandrine
Laurence de Bleschamps, who had married, but who had divorced, a M.
Jonberthon. When Lucien had been ambassador in Spain in 1801,
charged among other things with obtaining Elba, the Queen, he says,
wished Napoleon should marry an Infanta,--Donna Isabella, her
youngest daughter, afterwards Queen of Naples, an overture to which
Napoleon seems not to have made any answer. As for Lucien, he
objected to his brother that the Queen was ugly, and laughed at
Napoleon's representations as to her being "propre": but at last he
acknowledged his marriage with Madame Jouberthon. This made a
complete break between the brothers, and on hearing of the execution
of the Duc d'Enghien, Lucien said to his wife, "Alexandrine, let us
go; he has tasted blood." He went to Italy, and in 1810 tried to go
to the United States. Taken prisoner by the English, he was
detained first at Malta, and then in England, at Ludlow Castle and
at Thorngrove, till 1814, when he went to Rome. The Pope, who ever
showed a kindly feeling towards the Bonapartes, made the
ex-"Brutus" Bonaparte Prince de Canino and Duc de Musignano.
In 1815 he joined Napoleon and on the final fall of the Empire
he was interned at Rome till the death of his brother.]--
Jerome, who pursued an opposite line of conduct, was afterwards made
a King. As to Lucien's Republicanism, it did not survive the 18th
Brumaire, and he was always a warm partisan of hereditary succession.
But I pass on to relate what I know respecting the almost incredible
influence which, on the foundation of the Empire, Bonaparte exercised
over the powers which did not yet dare to declare war against him. I
studied Bonaparte's policy closely, and I came to this conclusion on the
subject, that he was governed by ambition, by the passion of dominion,
and that no relations, on a footing of equality, between himself and any
other power, could be of long duration. The other States of Europe had
only to choose one of two things--submission or war. As to secondary
States, they might thenceforth be considered as fiefs of the French
Government; and as they could not resist, Bonaparte easily accustomed
them to bend to his yoke. Can there be a stronger proof of this
arbitrary influence than what occurred at Carlsruhe, after the violation
of the territory of Baden, by the arrest of the Duc d'Enghien? Far from
venturing to make any observation on that violation, so contrary to the
rights of nations, the Grand Duke of Baden was obliged to publish, in
his own State, a decree evidently dictated by Bonaparte. The decree
stated, that many individuals formerly belonging to the army of Condé
having come to the neighbourhood of Carlsruhe, his Electoral Highness
had felt it his duty to direct that no individual coming from Condé's
army, nor indeed any French emigrant, should, unless he had permission
previously to the place, make a longer sojourn than was allowed to
foreign travellers. Such was already the influence which Bonaparte
exercised over Germany, whose Princes, to use an expression which he
employed in a later decree, were crushed by the grand measures of the
Empire.
But to be just, without however justifying Bonaparte, I must acknowledge
that the intrigues which England fomented in all parts of the Continent
were calculated to excite his natural irritability to the utmost degree.
The agents of England were spread over the whole of Europe, and they
varied the rumours which they were commissioned to circulate, according
to the chances of credit which the different places afforded. Their
reports were generally false; but credulity gave ear to them, and
speculators endeavoured, each according to his interest, to give them
support. The headquarters of all this plotting was Munich, where
Drake, who was sent from England, had the supreme direction. His
correspondence, which was seized by the French Government, was at first
placed amongst the documents to be produced on the trial of Georges,
Moreau, and the other prisoners; but in the course of the preliminary
proceedings the Grand Judge received directions to detach them, and make
them the subject of a special report to the First Consul, in order that
their publication beforehand might influence public opinion, and
render it unfavourable to those who were doomed to be sacrificed. The
instructions given by Drake to his agents render it impossible to doubt
that England wished to overthrow the Government of Bonaparte. Drake
wrote as follows to a man who was appointed to travel through France:--
The principal object of your journey being the overthrow of the
existing Government, one of the means of effecting it is to acquire
a knowledge of the enemy's plans. For this purpose it is of the
highest importance to begin, in the first place, by establishing
communications with persons who may be depended upon in the
different Government offices in order to obtain exact information of
all plans with respect to foreign or internal affairs. The
knowledge of these plans will supply the best means of defeating
them; and failure is the way to bring the Government into complete
discredit--the first and most important step towards the end
proposed. Try to gain over trustworthy agents in the different
Government departments. Endeavour, also, to learn what passes in
the secret committee, which is supposed to be established at St
Cloud, and composed of the friends of the First Consul. Be careful
to furnish information of the various projects which Bonaparte may
entertain relative to Turkey and Ireland. Likewise send
intelligence respecting the movements of troops, respecting vessels
and ship-building, and all military preparations.
Drake, in his instructions, also recommended that the subversion of
Bonaparte's Government should, for the time, be the only object in
view, and that nothing should be said about the King's intentions until
certain information could be obtained respecting his views; but most of
his letters and instructions were anterior to 1804. The whole bearing
of the seized documents proved what Bonaparte could not be ignorant of,
namely, that England was his constant enemy; but after examining them,
I was of opinion that they contained nothing which could justify the
belief that the Government of Great Britain authorised any attempt at
assassination.
When the First Consul received the report of the Grand Judge relative to
Drake's plots' against his Government he transmitted a copy of it to the
Senate, and it was in reply to this communication that the Senate
made those first overtures which Bonaparte thought vague, but which,
nevertheless, led to the formation of the Empire. Notwithstanding this
important circumstance, I have not hitherto mentioned Drake, because
his intrigues for Bonaparte's overthrow appeared to me to be more
immediately connected with the preliminaries of the trial of Georges and
Moreau, which I shall notice in my next chapter.
--[These were not plots for assassination. Bonaparte, in the same
way, had his secret agents in every country of Europe, without
excepting England. Alison (chap. xxxvii. par. 89) says on this
matter of Drake that, though the English agents were certainly
attempting a counter-revolution, they had no idea of encouraging the
assassination of Napoleon, while "England was no match for the
French police agents in a transaction of this description, for the
publication of Regular revealed the mortifying fact that the whole
correspondence both of Drake and Spencer Smith had been regularly
transmitted, as fast as it took place, to the police of Paris, and
that their principal corresponded in that city, M. Mehu de la
Tonche, was himself an agent of the police, employed to tempt the
British envoys into this perilous enterprise."]--
At the same time that Bonaparte communicated to the Senate the report
of the Grand Judge, the Minister for Foreign Affairs addressed the
following circular letter to the members of the Diplomatic Body:
The First Consul has commanded me to forward to your Excellency a
copy of a report which has been presented to him, respecting a
conspiracy formed in France by Mr. Drake, his Britannic Majesty's
Minister at the Court of Munich, which, by its object as well as its
date, is evidently connected with the infamous plot now in the
course of investigation.
The printed copy of Mr. Drake's letters and authentic documents is
annexed to the report. The originals will be immediately sent, by
order of the First Consul, to the Elector of Bavaria.
Such a prostitution of the most honourable function which can be
intrusted to a man is unexampled in the history of civilised
nations. It will astonish and afflict Europe as an unheard of
crime, which hitherto the most perverse Governments have not dared
to meditate. The First Consul is too well acquainted with
sentiments of the Diplomatic Body accredited to him not to be fully
convinced that every one of its members will behold, with profound
regret, the profanation of the sacred character of Ambassador,
basely transformed into a minister of plots, snares, and corruption.
All the ambassadors, ministers, plenipotentiaries, envoys, ordinary or
extraordinary, whatever might be their denomination, addressed answers
to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in which they expressed horror and
indignation at the conduct of England and Drake's machinations. These
answers were returned only five days after the Duc d'Enghien's death;
and here one cannot help admiring the adroitness of Bonaparte, who thus
compelled all the representatives of the European Governments to give
official testimonies of regard for his person and Government.
CHAPTER XXYI.
1804.
Trial of Moreau, Georges, and others--Public interest excited by
Moreau--Arraignment of the prisoners--Moreau's letter to Bonaparte--
Violence of the President of the Court towards the prisoners--
Lajolais and Rolland--Examinations intended to criminate Moreau--
Remarkable observations--Speech written by M. Garat--Bonaparte's
opinion of Garat's eloquence--General Lecourbe and Moreau's son--
Respect shown to Moreau by the military--Different sentiments
excited by Georges and Moreau--Thoriot and 'Tui-roi'--Georges'
answers to the interrogatories--He refuses an offer of pardon--