Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
had produced. The foreigners observed with satisfaction the disposition
of these shallow persons, which they thought might be turned to
their own advantage. The truth is, that on the second Restoration our
pretended allies proved themselves our enemies.
But for them, but for their bad conduct, their insatiable exactions, but
for the humiliation that was felt at seeing foreign cannon planted in
the streets of Paris, and beneath the very windows of the Palace, the
days which followed the 8th of July might have been considered by the
Royal Family as the season of a festival. Every day people thronged
to the garden of the Tuileries, and expressed their joy by singing and
dancing under the King's windows.
This ebullition of feeling might perhaps be thought absurd, but it
at least bore evidence of the pleasure caused by the return of the
Bourbons.
This manifestation of joy by numbers of persons of both sexes, most of
them belonging to the better classes of society, displeased Fouché, and
he determined to put a stop to it. Wretches were hired to mingle with
the crowd and sprinkle corrosive liquids on the dresses of the females
some of them were even instructed to commit acts of indecency, so that
all respectable persons were driven from the gardens through the fear of
being injured or insulted: As it was wished to create disturbance under
the very eyes of the King, and to make him doubt the reality of the
sentiments so openly expressed in his favour, the agents of the Police
mingled the cry of "Vive l'Empereur!" with that of "Vive le Roi!" and
it happened oftener than once that the most respectable persons were
arrested and charged by Fouché's infamous agents with having uttered
seditious cries. A friend of mine, whose Royalist opinions were well
known, and whose father had been massacred during the Revolution, told
me that while walking with two ladies he heard some individuals near
him crying out "Vive l'Empereur!" This created a great disturbance. The
sentinel advanced to the spot, and those very individuals themselves
had the audacity to charge my friend with being guilty of uttering the
offensive cry. In vain the bystanders asserted the falsehood of the
accusation; he was seized and dragged to the guard-house, and after
being detained for some hours he was liberated on the application of
his friends. By dint of such wretched manoeuvres Fouché triumphed. He
contrived to make it be believed that he was the only person capable of
preventing the disorders of which he himself was the sole author: He got
the Police of the Tuileries under his control. The singing and dancing
ceased, and the Palace was the abode of dulness.
While the King was at St. Denis he restored to General Dessoles the
command of the National Guard. The General ordered the barriers to be
immediately thrown open. On the day of his arrival in Paris the King
determined, as a principle, that the throne should be surrounded by a
Privy Council, the members of which were to be the princes and persons
whom his Majesty might appoint at a future period. The King then named
his new Ministry, which was thus composed:
Prince Talleyrand, peer of France, President of the Council of
Ministers, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Baron Louis, Minister of Finance.
The Duke of Otranto, Minister of the Police.
Baron Pasquier, Minister of Justice, and Keeper of the Seals.
Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, War Minister.
Comte de Jaucourt, peer of France, Minister of the Marine.
The Duc de Richelieu, peer of France, Minister of the King's Household.
The portfolio of the Minister of the Interior, which was not immediately
disposed of, was provisionally entrusted to the Minister of Justice. But
what was most gratifying to the public in the composition of this
new ministry was that M. de Blacas, who had made himself so odious to
everybody, was superseded by M. de Richelieu, whose name revived the
memory of a great Minister, and who, by his excellent conduct throughout
the whole course of his career, deserves to be distinguished as a model
of honour and wisdom.
General satisfaction was expressed on the appointment of Marshal
Macdonald to the post of Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour in
lieu of M. de Pradt. M. de Chabrol resumed the Prefecture of the Seine,
which, during the Hundred Days, had been occupied by M. de Bondi, M.
de Mole was made Director-General of bridges and causeways. I was
superseded in the Prefecture of Police by M. Decazes, and M. Beugnot
followed M. Ferrand as Director-General of the Post-office.
I think it was on the 10th of July that I went to St. Cloud to pay
a visit of thanks to Blücher. I had been informed that as soon as he
learned I had a house at St. Cloud he sent a guard to protect it.
This spontaneous mark of attention was well deserving of grateful
acknowledgment, especially at a time when there was so much reason to
complain of the plunder practised by the Prussians. My visit to Blücher
presented to observation a striking instance of the instability of human
greatness. I found Blücher residing like a sovereign in the Palace of
St. Cloud, where I had lived so long in the intimacy of Napoleon, at
a period when he dictated laws to the Kings of Europe before he was a
monarch himself.
--[The English occupied St. Cloud after the Prussians. My large
house, in which the children of the Comte d'Artois were inoculated,
was respected by them, but they occupied a small home forming part
of the estate. The English officer who commanded the troops
stationed a guard at the large house. One morning we were informed
that the door had been broken open and a valuable looking-glass
stolen. We complained to the commanding officer, and on the affair
being inquired into it was discovered that the sentinel himself had
committed the theft. The man was tried by a court-martial, and
condemned to death, a circumstance which, as may naturally be
supposed, was very distressing to us. Madame de Bourrienne applied
to the commanding officer for the man's pardon, but could only
obtain his reprieve. The regiment departed some weeks after, and we
could never learn what was the fate of the criminal.--Bourrienne.]--
In that cabinet in which Napoleon and I had passed so many busy hours,
and where so many great plans had their birth, I was received by the man
who had been my prisoner at Hamburg. The Prussian General immediately
reminded me of the circumstance. "Who could have foreseen," said he,
"that after being your prisoner I should become the protector of your
property? You treated me well at Hamburg, and I have now an opportunity
of repaying your kindness. Heaven knows what will be the result of all
this! One thing, however, is certain, and that is, that the Allies will
now make such conditions as will banish all possibility of danger for
a long time to come. The Emperor Alexander does not wish to make the
French people expiate too dearly the misfortunes they have caused us. He
attributes them to Napoleon, but Napoleon cannot pay the expenses of the
war, and they must be paid by some one. It was all very well for once,
but we cannot pay the expense of coming back a second time. However,"
added he, "you will lose none of your territory; that is a point on
which I can give you positive assurance. The Emperor Alexander has
several times repeated in my presence to the King my master, 'I honour
the French nation, and I am determined that it shall preserve its old
limits.'"
The above are the very words which Blücher addressed to me. Profiting by
the friendly sentiments he expressed towards me I took the opportunity
of mentioning the complaints that were everywhere made of the bad
discipline of the troops under his command. "What can I do?" said he.
"I cannot be present everywhere; but I assure you that in future and at
your recommendation I will severely punish any misconduct that may come
to my knowledge."
Such was the result of my visit to Blücher; but, in spite of his
promises, his troops continued to commit the most revolting excesses.
Thus the Prussian troops have left in the neighbourhood of Paris
recollections no less odious than those produced by the conduct of
Davoust's corps in Prussia.--Of this an instance now occurs to my
memory, which I will relate here. In the spring of 1816, as I was going
to Chevreuse, I stopped at the Petit Bicetre to water my horse. I seated
myself for a few minutes near the door of the inn, and a large dog
belonging to the innkeeper began to bark and growl at me. His master, a
respectable-looking old man, exclaimed, "Be quiet, Blücher!"--"How came
you to give your dog that name?" said I.--"Ah, sir! it is the name of
a villain who did a great deal of mischief here last year. There is my
house; they have left scarcely anything but the four walls. They said
they came for our good; but let them come back again . . . we will watch
them, and spear them like wild boars in the wood." The poor man's house
certainly exhibited traces of the most atrocious violence, and he shed
tears as he related to me his disasters.
Before the King departed for Ghent he had consented to sign the contract
of marriage between one of my daughters and M. Massieu de Clerval,
though the latter was at that time only a lieutenant in the navy. The
day appointed for the signature of the contract happened to be Sunday,
the 19th of March, and it may well be imagined that in the critical
circumstances in which we then stood, a matter of so little importance
could scarcely be thought about. In July I renewed my request to his
Majesty; which gave rise to serious discussions in the Council of
Ceremonies. Lest any deviation from the laws of rigid etiquette should
commit the fate of the monarchy, it was determined that the marriage
contract of a lieutenant in the navy could be signed only at the petty
levee. However, his Majesty, recollecting the promise he had given me,
decided that the signature should be given at the grand levee. Though
all this may appear exceedingly ludicrous, yet I must confess that the
triumph over etiquette was very gratifying to me.
A short time after the King appointed me a Councillor of State; a title
which I had held under Bonaparte ever since his installation at the
Tuileries, though I had never fulfilled the functions of the office. In
the month of August; the King having resolved to convoke a new Chamber
of Deputies, I was appointed President of the Electoral College of the
department of the Yonne. As soon as I was informed of my nomination I
waited on M. de Talleyrand for my instructions, but he told me that, in
conformity with the King's intentions, I was to receive my orders from
the Minister of Police. I observed to M. de Talleyrand that I must
decline seeing Fouché, on account of the situation in which we stood
with reference to each other. "Go to him, go to him," said M. de
Talleyrand, "and be assured Fouché will say to you nothing on the
subject."
I felt great repugnance to see Fouché, and consequently I went to
him quite against my inclination. I naturally expected a very cold
reception. What had passed between us rendered our interview exceedingly
delicate. I called on Fouché at nine in the morning, and found him
alone, and walking in his garden. He received me as a man might be
expected to receive an intimate friend whom he had not seen for a long
time. On reflection I was not very much surprised at this, for I was
well aware that Fouché could make his hatred yield to calculation. He
said not a word about his arrest, and it may well be supposed that I did
not seek to turn the conversation on that subject. I asked him whether
he had any information to give me respecting the elections of the Yonne.