Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
fancies that the Marshal was rather carried away by circumstances, by
vanity, and by fickleness, than actuated by premeditated treachery, and
it is quite possible that these protestations were sincerely uttered
when Ney left Paris, but, infected by the ardour of his troops, he
was unable to resist a contagion so much in harmony with all his
antecedents, and to attack not only his leader in many a time of peril,
but also the sovereign who had forwarded his career through every grade
of the army.
The facts of the case were these:--
On the 11th of March Ney, being at Besancon, learned that Napoleon was
at Lyons. To those who doubted whether his troops would fight against
their old comrades he said, "They shall fight! I will take a musket from
a grenadier and begin the action myself! I will run my sword to the hilt
in the body of the first man who hesitates to fire." At the same time he
wrote to the Minister of War at Paris that he hoped to see a fortunate
close to this mad enterprise.
He then advanced to Lons-le-Saulnier, where, on the night between
the 13th and 14th of March, not quite three days after his vehement
protestations of fidelity, he received, without hesitation, a letter
from Bonaparte, inviting him, by his old appellation of the "Bravest of
the Brave," to join his standard. With this invitation Ney complied, and
published an order of the day that declared the cause of the Bourbons,
which he had sworn to defend, lost for ever.
It is pleaded in extenuation of Ney's defection that both his officers
and men were beyond his control, and determined to join their old
Master; but in that case he might have given up his command, and retired
in the same honourable way that Marshals Macdonald and Marmont and
several other generals did. But even among his own officers Ney had an
example set him, for many of them, after remonstrating in vain, threw up
their commands. One of them broke his sword in two and threw the pieces
at Ney's feet, saying, "It is easier for a man of honour to break iron
than to break his word."
Napoleon, when at St. Helena, gave a very different reading to these
incidents. On this subject he was heard to say, "If I except Labedoyere,
who flew to me with enthusiasm and affection, and another individual,
who, of his own accord, rendered me important services, nearly all
the other generals whom I met on my route evinced hesitation and
uncertainty; they yielded only to the impulse about them, if indeed they
did not manifest a hostile feeling towards me. This was the case with
Ney, with Massena, St. Cyr, Soult, as well as with Macdonald and the
Duke of Belluno, so that if the Bourbons had reason to complain of the
complete desertion of the soldiers and the people, they had no right to
reproach the chiefs of the army with conspiring against them, who had
shown themselves mere children in politics, and would be looked upon as
neither emigrants nor patriots."
Between Lyons and Fontainebleau Napoleon often travelled several miles
ahead of his army with no other escort than a few Polish lancers. His
advanced guard now generally consisted of the troops (miscalled Royal)
who happened to be before him on the road whither they had been sent to
oppose him, and to whom couriers were sent forward to give notice of the
Emperor's approach, in order that they might be quite ready to join him
with the due military ceremonies. White flags and cockades everywhere
disappeared; the tri-colour resumed its pride of place. It was spring,
and true to its season the violet had reappeared! The joy of the
soldiers and the lower orders was almost frantic, but even among
the industrious poor there were not wanting many who regretted this
precipitate return to the old order of things--to conscription, war, and
bloodshed, while in the superior classes of society there was a pretty
general consternation. The vain, volatile soldiery, however, thought of
nothing but their Emperor, saw nothing before them but the restoration
of all their laurels, the humiliation of England, and the utter defeat
of the Russians, Prussians, and Austrians.
On the night between the 19th and 20th of March Napoleon reached
Fontainebleau, and again paused, as had formerly been his custom, with
short, quick steps through the antiquated but splendid galleries of that
old palace. What must have been his feelings on revisiting the chamber
in which, the year before, it is said he had attempted suicide!
Louis XVIII., left the Palace of the Tuileries at nearly the same hour
that Bonaparte entered that of Fontainebleau.
The most forlorn hope of the Bourbons was now in a considerable army
posted between Fontainebleau and Paris. Meanwhile the two armies
approached each other at Melun; that of the King was commanded by
Marshal Macdonald. On the 20th his troops were drawn up in three
lines to receive the invaders, who were said to be advancing from
Fontainebleau. There was a long pause of suspense, of a nature which
seldom fails to render men more accessible to strong and sudden
emotions. The glades of the forest, and the acclivity which leads to it,
were in full view of the Royal army, but presented the appearance of
a deep solitude. All was silence, except when the regimental bands of
music, at the command of the officers, who remained generally faithful,
played the airs of "Vive Henri Quatre," "O Richard," "La Belle
Gabrielle," and other tunes connected with the cause and family of
the Bourbons. The sounds excited no corresponding sentiments among the
soldiers.
At length, about noon, a galloping of horse was heard. An open carriage
appeared, surrounded by a few hussars, and drawn by four horses. It came
on at full speed, and Napoleon, jumping from the vehicle, was in the
midst of the ranks which had been formed to oppose him. His escort threw
themselves from their horses, mingled with their ancient comrades, and
the effect of their exhortations was instantaneous on men whose minds
were already half made up to the purpose which they now accomplished.
There was a general shout of "Vive Napoleon!" The last army of the
Bourbons passed from their side, and no further obstruction existed
betwixt Napoleon and the capital, which he was once more--but for a
brief space--to inhabit as a sovereign.
Louis, accompanied only by a few household troops, had scarcely turned
his back on the capital of his ancestors when Lavalette hastened from
a place of concealment and seized on the Post-office in the name
of Napoleon. By this measure all the King's proclamations' were
intercepted, and the restoration of the Emperor was announced to all the
departments. General Excelmans, who had just renewed his oath to Louis,
pulled down with his own hands the white flag that was floating over the
Tuileries, and hoisted the three-coloured banner.
It was late in the evening of the 20th that Bonaparte entered Paris in
an open carriage, which was driven straight to the gilded gates of the
Tuileries. He received the acclamations of the military and of the lower
classes of the suburbs, but most of the respectable citizens looked on
in silent wonderment. It was quite evident then that he was recalled
by a party--a party, in truth, numerous and powerful, but not by
the unanimous voice of the nation. The enthusiasm of his immediate
adherents, however, made up for the silence and lukewarmness of others.
They filled and crammed the square of the Carrousel, and the courts and
avenues of the Tuileries; they pressed so closely upon him that he was
obliged to cry out, "My friends, you stifle me!" and his aides de camp
were compelled to carry him in their arms up the grand staircase, and
thence into the royal apartments. It was observed, however, that amongst
these ardent friends were many men who had been the first to desert him
in 1814, and that these individuals were the most enthusiastic in their
demonstrations, the loudest in their shouts!
And thus was Napoleon again at the Tuileries, where, even more than
at Fontainebleau, his mind was flooded by the deep and painful
recollections of the past! A few nights after his return thither he sent
for M. Horan, one of the physicians who had attended Josephine during
her last illness. "So, Monsieur Horan," said he, "you did not leave the
Empress during her malady?"--"No, Sire."
"What was the cause of that malady?"--"Uneasiness of mind . . .
grief."--"You believe that?" (and Napoleon laid a strong emphasis on the
word believe, looking steadfastly in the doctor's face). He then asked,
"Was she long ill? Did she suffer much?"--"She was ill a week, Sire; her
Majesty suffered little bodily pain."--"Did she see that she was dying?
Did she show courage?"--"A sign her Majesty made when she could
no longer express herself leaves me no doubt that she felt her end
approaching; she seamed to contemplate it without fear."--"Well!--well!"
and then Napoleon much affected drew close to M. Horan, and added, "You
say that she was in grief; from what did that arise?"--"From passing
events, Sire; from your Majesty's position last year."--"Ah! she used to
speak of me then?"--"Very often." Here Napoleon drew his hand across
his eyes, which seemed filled with tears. He then went on. "Good
woman!--Excellent Josephine! She loved me truly--she--did she not? . .
. Ah! She was a Frenchwoman!"--"Yes, Sire, she loved you, and she would
have proved it had it not been for dread of displeasing you: she had
conceived an idea."--"How? . . . What would she have done?" "She one day
said that as Empress of the French she would drive through Paris with
eight horses to her coach, and all her household in gala livery, to go
and rejoin you at Fontainebleau, and never quit you more."--"She would
have done it--she was capable of doing it!"
Napoleon again betrayed deep emotion, on recovering from which he asked
the physician the most minute questions about the nature of Josephine's
disease, the friends and attendants who were around her at the hour of
her death, and the conduct of her two children, Eugène and Hortense.
CHAPTER V.
1815.
Message from the Tuileries--My interview with the King--
My appointment to the office of Prefect of the Police--Council at
the Tuileries--Order for arrests--Fouches escape--Davoust
unmolested--Conversation with M. de Blacas--The intercepted letter,
and time lost--Evident understanding between Murat and Napoleon--
Plans laid at Elba--My departure from Paris--The post-master of
Fins--My arrival at Lille--Louis XVIII. detained an hour at the
gates--His majesty obliged to leave France--My departure for
Hamburg--The Duc de Berri at Brussels.
Those who opposed the execution of the treaty concluded with Napoleon
at the time of his abdication were guilty of a great error, for they
afforded him a fair pretext for leaving the island of Elba. The details
of that extraordinary enterprise are known to every one, and I shall not
repeat what has been told over and over again. For my own part, as soon
as I saw with what rapidity Bonaparte was marching upon Lyons, and the
enthusiasm with which he was received by the troops and the people, I
prepared to retire to Belgium, there to await the denouement of this new
drama.
Every preparation for my departure was completed on the evening of the
13th of March, and I was ready to depart, to avoid the persecutions of
which I expected I should be the object, when I received a message from
the Tuileries stating that the King desired to see me. I of course lost
no time in proceeding to the Palace, and went straight to M. Hue to
inquire of him why I had been sent for. He occupied the apartments in
which I passed the three most laborious and anxious years of my life.
M. Hue, perceiving that I felt a certain degree of uneasiness at being