Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
obtained the command of the troops which were marching against Portugal.
I say against Portugal, for that was the fact, though France represented
herself as a protector to deliver Portugal from the influence of
England. Be that as it may, the choice which the Emperor made of a
commander astonished everybody. Was Junot, a compound of vanity and
mediocrity, the fit man to be entrusted with the command of an army in
a distant country, and under circumstances in which great political
and military talents were requisite? For my own part, knowing Junot's
incapacity, I must acknowledge that his appointment astonished me. I
remember one day, when I was speaking on the subject to Bernadotte, he
showed me a letter he had received from Paris, in which it was said that
the Emperor had sent Junot to Portugal only for the sake of depriving
him of the government of Paris. Junot annoyed Napoleon by his bad
conduct, his folly, and his incredible extravagance. He was alike devoid
of dignity--either in feeling or conduct. Thus Portugal was twice the
place of exile selected by Consular and Imperial caprice: first, when
the First Consul wished to get rid of the familiarity of Lannes; and
next, when the Emperor grew weary of the misconduct of a favourite.
The invasion of Portugal presented no difficulty. It was an armed
promenade and not a war; but how many events were connected with the
occupation of that country! The Prince Regent of Portugal, unwilling to
act dishonourably to England, to which he was allied by treaties; and
unable to oppose the whole power of Napoleon, embarked for Brazil,
declaring that all defence was useless. At the same time he recommended
his subjects to receive the French troops in a friendly manner, and said
that he consigned to Providence the consequences of an invasion which
was without a motive. He was answered in the Emperor's name that,
Portugal being the ally of England, we were only carrying on hostilities
against, the latter country by invading his dominions.
It was in the month of November that the code of French jurisprudence,
upon which the most learned legislators had indefatigably laboured,
was established as the law of the State, under the title of the Code
Napoleon. Doubtless this legislative monument will redound to Napoleon's
honour in history; but was it to be supposed that the same laws would be
equally applicable throughout so vast an extent as that comprised within
the French Empire? Impossible as this was, as soon as the Code Napoleon
way promulgated I received orders to establish it in the Hanse Towns.
--[This great code of Civil Law was drawn up under Napoleon's orders
and personal superintendence. Much had been prepared under the
Convention, and the chief merits of it were due to the labours of
such men as Tronchet; Partatis, Bigot de Preameneu, Maleville,
Cambacérès, etc. But it was debated under and by Napoleon, who took
a lively interest in it. It was first called the "Code Civil," but
is 1807 was named "Code Napoleon," or eventually "Les Cinq Codes de
Napoleon." When completed in 1810 it included five Codes--the Code
Civil, decreed March 1803; Code de Procedure Civile, decreed April
1806; Code de Commerce, decreed September 1807; Code d'Instruction
Criminelle, decreed November 1808; and the Code Penal, decreed
February 1810. It had to be retained by the Bourbons, and its
principles have worked and are slowly working their way into the law
of every nation. Napoleon was justly proud of this work. The
Introduction of the Code into the conquered countries was, as
Bourrienne says, made too quickly. Puymaigre, who was employed in
the administration of Hamburg after Bourrienne left, says, "I shall
always remember the astonishment of the Hamburgers when they were
invaded by this cloud of French officials, who, under every form,
made researches is their houses, and who came to apply the
multiplied demands of the fiscal system. Like Proteus, the
administration could take any shape. To only speak of my
department, which certainly was not the least odious one, for it was
opposed to the habits of the Hamburgers and annoyed all the
industries, no idea can be formed of the despair of the inhabitants,
subjected to perpetual visits, and exposed to be charged with
contraventions of the law, of which they knew nothing.
"Remembering their former laws, they used to offer to meet a charge
of fraud by the proof of their oath, and could not imagine that such
a guarantee could be repulsed. When they were independent they paid
almost nothing, and such was the national spirit, that in urgent
cases when money was wanted the senate taxed every citizen a certain
proportion of his income, the tenth or twentieth. A donator
presided over the recovery of this tax, which was done in a very
strange manner. A box, covered with a carpet, received the offering
of every citizen, without any person verifying the sum, and only on
the simple moral guarantee of the honesty of the debtor, who himself
judged the sum he ought to pay. When the receipt was finished the
senate always obtained more than it had calculated on." (Puymaigre,
pp, 181.)]--
The long and frequent conversations I had on this subject with the
Senators and the most able lawyers of the country soon convinced me of
the immense difficulty I should have to encounter, and the danger of
suddenly altering habits and customs which had been firmly established
by time.
The jury system gave tolerable satisfaction; but the severe punishments
assigned to certain offences by the Code were disapproved of. Hence
resulted the frequent and serious abuse of men being acquitted whose
guilt was evident to the jury, who pronounced them not guilty rather
than condemn them to a punishment which was thought too severe. Besides,
their leniency had another ground, which was, that the people being
ignorant of the new law were not aware of the penalties attached to
particular offences. I remember that a man who was accused of stealing
a cloak at Hamburg justified himself on the ground that he committed
the offence in a fit of intoxication. M. Von Einingen, one of the jury,
insisted that the prisoner was not guilty, because, as he said, the
Syndic Doormann, when dining with him one day, having drunk more wine
than usual, took away his cloak. This defence per Baccho was completely
successful. An argument founded on the similarity between the conduct of
the Syndic and the accused, could not but triumph, otherwise the little
debauch of the former would have been condemned in the person of the
latter. This trial, which terminated so whimsically, nevertheless
proves that the best and the gravest institutions may become objects of
ridicule when suddenly introduced into a country whose habits are not
prepared to receive them.
The Romans very wisely reserved in the Capitol a place for the gods of
the nations they conquered. They wished to annex provinces and kingdoms
to their empire. Napoleon, on the contrary, wished to make his empire
encroach upon other states, and to realise the impossible Utopia of ten
different nations, all having different customs and languages, united
into a single State. Could justice, that safeguard of human rights, be
duly administered in the Hanse Towns when those towns were converted
into French departments? In these new departments many judges had
been appointed who did not understand a word of German, and who had no
knowledge of law. The presidents of the tribunals of Lilbeck, Stade,
Bremerlehe, and Minden were so utterly ignorant of the German language
that it was necessary to explain to them all the pleadings in the
council-chamber. Was it not absurd to establish such a judicial system,
and above all, to appoint such men in a country so important to France
as Hamburg and the Hanse Towns? Add to this the impertinence of
some favourites who were sent from Paris to serve official and legal
apprenticeships in the conquered provinces, and it may be easily
conceived what was the attachment of the people to Napoleon the Great.
CHAPTER XIII.
1807-1808.
Disturbed state of Spain--Godoy, Prince of the Peace--Reciprocal
accusations between the King of Spain and his son--False promise of
Napoleon--Dissatisfaction occasioned by the presence of the French
troops--Abdication of Charles IV.--The Prince of the Peace made
prisoner--Murat at Madrid--Important news transmitted by a
commercial letter--Murat's ambition--His protection of Godoy--
Charles IV, denies his voluntary abdication--The crown of Spain
destined for Joseph--General disapprobation of Napoleon's conduct--
The Bourbon cause apparently lost--Louis XVIII. after his departure
from France--As Comte de Provence at Coblentz--He seeks refuge in
Turin and Verona--Death of Louis XVII--Louis XVIII. refused an
asylum in Austria, Saxony, and Prussia--His residence at Mittan and
Warsaw--Alexander and Louis XVIII--The King's departure from Milan
and arrival at Yarmouth--Determination of the King of England--M.
Lemercier's prophecy to Bonaparte--Fouché's inquiries respecting
Comte de Rechteren--Note from Josephine--New demands on the Hanse
Towns--Order to raise 3000 sailors in Hamburg.
The disorders of Spain, which commenced about the close of the year
1807, in a short time assumed a most complicated aspect. Though far
from the theatre of events I obtained an intimate knowledge of all the
important facts connected with the extraordinary transactions in
the Peninsula. However, as this point of history is one of the most
generally, though I cannot say the best, known, I shall omit in my notes
and memoranda many things which would be but repetitions to the reading
portion of the public. It is a remarkable fact that Bonaparte, who by
turns cast his eyes on all the States of Europe, never directed his
attention to Spain as long as his greatness was confined to mere
projects. Whenever he spoke of his future destiny he alluded to Italy,
Germany, the East, and the destruction of the English power; but never
to Spain. Consequently, when he heard of the first symptoms of disorder
in the Peninsula he paid but little attention to the business, and some
time elapsed before he took any part in events which subsequently had so
great an influence on his fate.
Godoy reigned in Spain under the name of the imbecile Charles IV. He
was an object of execration to all who were not his creatures; and even
those whose fate depended upon him viewed him with the most profound
contempt. The hatred of a people is almost always the just reward of
favourites. What sentiments, therefore, must have been inspired by a man
who, to the knowledge of all Spain, owed the favour of the king only to
the favours of the queen!
--[Manuel Godoy, originally a private in the guards, became the
paramour of Charles IV.'s Queen; then a grandee; and then the
supreme ruler of the State.--Editor of 1836 edition.]--
Godoy's ascendancy over the royal family was boundless; his power was
absolute: the treasures, of America were at his command, and he made the
most infamous use of them. In short, he had made the Court of Madrid
one of those places to which the indignant muse of Juvenal conducts
the mother of Britanicus. There is no doubt that Godoy was one of the
principal causes of all the misfortunes which have overwhelmed Spain
under so many various forms.
The hatred of the Spaniards against the Prince of the Peace was
general. This hatred was shared by the Prince the Asturias,--[Afterwards
Ferdinand VII.]--who openly declared himself the enemy of Godoy.
The latter allied himself with France, from which he hoped to obtain