Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
through Duroc the contempt he cherished for my accusers. Duroc
advised me not to be uneasy, and that in all probability the Emperor's
prejudices against me would be speedily overcome; and I must say that if
they were not overcome it was neither the fault of Duroc nor Savary, who
knew how to rightly estimate the miserable intrigues just alluded to.
Napoleon was at length determined to extend the limits of his Empire,
or rather to avenge the injuries which Russia had committed against his
Continental system. Yet, before he departed for Germany, the resolute
refusal of the Pope to submit to any arrangement urgently claimed
his consideration. Savona did not appear to him a sufficiently secure
residence for such a prisoner. He feared that when all his strength
should be removed towards the Niemen the English might carry off the
Pope, or that the Italians, excited by the clergy, whose dissatisfaction
was general in Italy, would stir up those religious dissensions which
are always fatal and difficult to quell. With the view, therefore, of
keeping the Pope under his control he removed him to Fontainebleau, and
even at one time thought of bringing him to Paris.
The Emperor appointed M. Denon to reside with the Pope at Fontainebleau;
and to afford his illustrious prisoner the society of such a man was
certainly a delicate mark of attention on the part of Napoleon. When
speaking of his residence with Pius VII. M. Denon related to me the
following anecdote. "The Pope," said he, "was much attached to me.
He always addressed me by the appellation 'my son,' and he loved to
converse with me, especially on the subject of the Egyptian expedition.
One day he asked me for my work on Egypt, which he said he wished to
read; and as you know it is not quite orthodox, and does not perfectly
agree with the creation of the world according to Genesis, I at first
hesitated; but the Pope insisted, and at length I complied with his
wish. The Holy Father assured me that he had been much interested by the
perusal of the book. I made some allusion to the delicate points; upon
which he said, 'No matter, no matter, my son; all that is exceedingly
curious, and I must confess entirely new to me.' I then," continued M.
Denon, "told His Holiness why I hesitated to lend him the work, which,
I observed, he had excommunicated, together with its author.
'Excommunicated you, my son?' resumed the Pope in a tone of affectionate
concern. 'I am very sorry for it, and assure you I was far from being
aware of any such thing.'"
When M. Denon related to me this anecdote he told me how greatly he had
admired the virtues and resignation of the Holy Father; but he added
that it would nevertheless have been easier to make him a martyr than
to induce him to yield on any point until he should be restored to
the temporal sovereignty of Rome, of which he considered himself
the depositary, and which he would not endure the reproach of having
willingly sacrificed. After settling the place of the Pope's residence
Napoleon set off for Dresden, accompanied by Maria Louisa, who had
expressed a wish to see her father.
The Russian enterprise, the most gigantic, perhaps, that the genius
of man ever conceived since the conquest of India by Alexander, now
absorbed universal attention, and defied the calculations of reason.
The Manzanares was forgotten, and nothing was thought of but the Niemen,
already so celebrated by the raft of Tilsit. Thither, as towards a
common centre, were moving men, horses, provisions, and baggage of every
kind, from all parts of Europe. The hopes of our generals and the fears
of all prudent men were directed to Russia. The war in Spain, which was
becoming more and more unfortunate, excited but a feeble interest; and
our most distinguished officers looked upon it as a disgrace to be sent
to the Peninsula. In short, it was easy to foresee that the period
was not far distant when the French would be obliged to recross the
Pyrenees. Though the truth was concealed from the Emperor on many
subjects, yet he was not deceived as to the situation of Spain in the
spring of 1812. In February the Duke of Ragusa had frankly informed him
that the armies of Spain and Portugal could not, without considerable
reinforcements of men and money, hope for any important advantages since
Ciudad-Rodrigo and Badajoz had fallen into the hands of the English.
Before he commenced his great operations on the Niemen and the Volga
Napoleon made a journey to Dantzic, and Rapp, who was then Governor of
that city, informed me of some curious particulars connected with the
Imperial visit. The fact is, that if Rapp's advice had been listened
to, and had been supported by men higher in rank than himself, Bonaparte
would not have braved the chances of the Russian war until those chances
turned against him. Speaking to me of the Russians Rapp said, "They will
soon be as wise as we are! Every time we go to war with them we teach
them how to beat us." I was struck with the originality and truth of
this observation, which at the time I heard it was new, though it has
been often repeated since.
"On leaving Dresden," said Rapp to me, "Napoleon came to Dantzic. I
expected a dressing; for, to tell you the truth, I had treated very
cavalierly both his custom-house and its officers, who were raising up
as many enemies to France as there were inhabitants in my Government.
I had also warned him of all that has since happened in Russia, but
I assure you I did not think myself quite so good a prophet. In
the beginning of 1812 I thus wrote to him: 'If your Majesty should
experience reverses you may depend on it that both Russians and Germans
will rise up in a mass to shake off the yoke. There will be a crusade,
and all your allies will abandon you. Even the King of Bavaria, on whom
you rely so confidently, will join the coalition. I except only the King
of Saxony. He, perhaps, might remain faithful to you; but his subjects
will force him to make common cause with your enemies. The King of
Naples," continued Rapp, "who had the command of the cavalry, had been
to Dantzic before the Emperor. He did not seem to take a more favourable
view of the approaching campaign than I did. Murat was dissatisfied that
the Emperor would not consent to his rejoining him in Dresden; and he
said that he would rather be a captain of grenadiers than a King such as
he was."
Here I interrupted Rapp to tell him what had fallen from Murat when I
met him in the Champs Elysees "Bah!" resumed Rapp, "Murat, brave as he
was, was a craven in Napoleon's presence! On the Emperor's arrival in
Dantzic the first thing of which he spoke to me was the alliance he had
just then concluded with Prussia and Austria. I could not refrain from
telling him that we did a great deal of mischief as allies; a fact of
which I was assured from the reports daily transmitted to me respecting
the conduct of our troops. Bonaparte tossed his bead, as you know he was
in the habit of doing when he was displeased. After a moment's silence,
dropping the familiar thee and thou, he said, 'Monsieur le General, this
is a torrent which must be allowed to run itself out. It will not last
long. I must first ascertain whether Alexander decidedly wishes for
war.' Then, suddenly changing the subject of conversation, he said,
'Have you not lately observed something extraordinary in Murat? I think
he is quite altered. Is he ill?'--'Sire,' replied I, 'Murat is not
ill, but he is out of spirits.'--'Out of spirits! but why? Is he not
satisfied with being a King?'--'Sire, Murat says he is no King.'--'That
is his own fault. Why does he make himself a Neapolitan? Why is he not a
Frenchman? When he is in his Kingdom he commits all sorts of follies. He
favours the trade of England; that I will not suffer.'
"When," continued Rapp, "he spoke of the favour extended by Murat to the
trade between Naples and England I thought my turn would come next; but
I was deceived. No more was said on the subject, and when I was about
to take my leave the Emperor said to me, as when in his best of humours,
'Rapp, you will sup with me this evening.' I accordingly supped that
evening with the Emperor, who had also invited the King of Naples and
Berthier. Next day the Emperor visited the fortress, and afterwards
returned to the Government Palace, where he received the civil and
military authorities. He again invited Murat, Berthier, and me to
supper. When we first sat down to table we were all very dull, for the
Emperor was silent; and, as you well know, under such circumstances
not even Murat himself dared to be the first to speak to him. At length
Napoleon, addressing me, inquired how far it was from Cadiz to Dantzic.
'Too far, Sire,' replied I. 'I understand you, Monsieur le General,
but in a few months the distance will be still greater.'--'So much the
worse, Sire!' Here there was another pause. Neither Murat nor Berthier,
on whom the Emperor fixed a scrutinising glance, uttered a word, and
Napoleon again broke silence, but without addressing any one of us in
particular: 'Gentlemen,' said he in a solemn and rather low tone of
voice, 'I see plainly that you are none of you inclined to fight again.
The King of Naples does not wish to leave the fine climate of his
dominions, Berthier wishes to enjoy the diversion of the chase at his
estate of Gros Bois, and Rapp is impatient to be back to his hotel in
Paris.' Would you believe it," pursued Rapp, "that neither Murat nor
Berthier said a word in reply? and the ball again came to me. I told him
frankly that what he said was perfectly true, and the King of Naples and
the Prince of Neufchatel complimented me on my spirit, and observed that
I was quite right in saying what I did. 'Well,' said I, 'since it was so
very right, why did you not follow my example, and why leave me to say
all?' You cannot conceive," added Rapp, "how confounded they both were,
and especially Murat, though he was very differently situated from
Berthier."
The negotiations which Bonaparte opened with Alexander, when he yet
wished to seem averse to war, resembled those oratorical paraphrases
which do not prevent us from coming to the conclusion we wish. The two
Emperors equally desired war; the one with the view of consolidating his
power, and the other in the hope of freeing himself from a yoke which
threatened to reduce him to a state of vassalage, for it was little
short of this to require a power like Russia to close her ports against
England for the mere purpose of favouring the interests of France.
At that time only two European powers were not tied to Napoleon's
fate--Sweden and Turkey. Napoleon was anxious to gain the alliance of
these two powers. With respect to Sweden his efforts were vain; and
though, in fact, Turkey was then at war with Russia, yet the Grand
Seignior was not now, as at the time of Sebastiani's embassy, subject to
the influence of France.
The peace, which was soon concluded at Bucharest, between Russia, and
Turkey increased Napoleon's embarrassment. The left of the Russian army,
secured by the neutrality of Turkey, was reinforced by Bagration's corps
from Moldavia: it subsequently occupied the right of the Beresina, and
destroyed the last hope of saving the wreck of the French army. It is
difficult to conceive how Turkey could have allowed the consideration of
injuries she had received from France to induce her to terminate the war
with Russia when France was attacking that power with immense forces.
The Turks never had a fairer opportunity for taking revenge on Russia,
and, unfortunately for Napoleon, they suffered it to escape.
Napoleon was not more successful when he sought the alliance of a Prince
whose fortune he had made, and who was allied to his family, but with
whom he had never been on terms of good understanding. The Emperor