Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
ready when she had to go out with him, for he did not like to wait.
They proceeded first to Bernadotte's to breakfast, and from thence to
Mortfontaine. On his return Bonaparte told me very little about what had
passed during the day, and I could see that he was not in the best of
humours. I afterwards learned that Bonaparte had conversed a good deal
with Bernadotte, and that he had made every effort to render himself
agreeable, which he very well knew how to do when he chose! but that, in
spite of all his conversational talent; and supported as he was by the
presence of his three brothers, and Regnault de St. Jean d'Angély, he
could not withstand the republican firmness of Bernadotte. However,
the number of his partisans daily augmented; for all had not the
uncompromising spirit of Bernadotte; and it will soon be seen that
Moreau himself undertook charge of the Directors who were made prisoners
on the 18th Brumaire.
Bernadotte's shrewd penetration made him one of the first to see clearly
into Bonaparte's designs. He was well convinced of his determination
to overthrow the constitution and possess himself of power. He saw the
Directory divided into two parties; the one duped by the promises
and assurances of Bonaparte, and the other conniving with him for the
accomplishment of his plans. In these circumstances Bernadotte offered
his services to all persons connected with the Government who,
like himself, were averse to the change which he saw good reason to
apprehend. But Bonaparte was not the man to be outdone in cunning or
activity; and every moment swelled the ranks of his adherents.
On the 16th Brumaire I dined in the Rue de la Victoire. Bernadotte was
present, and I believe General Jourdan also. While the grand conspiracy
was hastening to its accomplishment Madame Bonaparte and I had contrived
a little plot of a more innocent kind. We let no one into our secret,
and our 16th Brumaire was crowned with complete success. We had agreed
to be on the alert to prevent any fresh exchange of angry words. All
succeeded to the utmost of our wishes. The conversation languished
during dinner; but it was not dulness that we were afraid of. It turned
on the subject of war, and in that vast field Bonaparte's superiority
over his interlocutors was undeniable.
When we retired to the drawing-rooms a great number of evening visitors
poured in, and the conversation then became animated, and even gay.
Bonaparte was in high spirits. He said to some one, smiling, and
pointing to Bernadotte, "You are not aware that the General yonder is a
Chouan."--"A Chouan?" repeated Bernadotte, also in a tone of pleasantry.
"Ah! General you contradict yourself. Only the other day you taxed me
with favouring the violence of the friends of the Republic, and now you
accuse me of protecting the Chouans.
--[The "Chouans," so called from their use of the cry of the
screech-owl (chathouan) as a signal, were the revolted peasants of
Brittany and of Maine.]--
"You should at least be consistent." A few moments after, availing
himself of the confusion occasioned by the throng of visitors,
Bernadotte slipped off.
As a mark of respect to Bonaparte the Council of the Five Hundred
appointed Lucien its president. The event proved how important this
nomination was to Napoleon. Up to the 19th Brumaire, and especially on
that day, Lucien evinced a degree of activity, intelligence, courage,
and presence of mind which are rarely found united in one individual. I
have no hesitation in stating that to Lucien's nomination and exertions
must be attributed the success of the 19th Brumaire.
The General had laid down a plan of conduct from which he never deviated
during the twenty-three days which intervened between his arrival in
Paris and the 18th Brumaire. He refused almost all private invitations,
in order to avoid indiscreet questions, unacceptable offers, and answers
which might compromise him.
It was not without some degree of hesitation that he yielded to a
project started by Lucien, who, by all sorts of manoeuvring, had
succeeded in prevailing on a great number of his colleagues to be
present at a grand subscription dinner to be given to Bonaparte by the
Council of the Ancients.
The disorder which unavoidably prevailed in a party amounting to upwards
of 250 persons, animated by a diversity of opinions and sentiments; the
anxiety and distrust arising in the minds of those who were not in the
grand plot, rendered this meeting one of the most disagreeable I ever
witnessed. It was all restraint and dulness. Bonaparte's countenance
sufficiently betrayed his dissatisfaction; besides, the success of
his schemes demanded his presence elsewhere. Almost as soon as he had
finished his dinner he rose, saying to Berthier and me, "I am tired: let
us be gone." He went round to the different tables, addressing to the
company compliments and trifling remarks, and departed, leaving at table
the persons by whom he had been invited.
This short political crisis was marked by nothing more grand, dignified,
or noble than the previous revolutionary commotions. All these plots
were so contemptible, and were accompanied by so much trickery,
falsehood, and treachery, that, for the honour of human nature, it is
desirable to cover them with a veil.
General Bonaparte's thoughts were first occupied with the idea he had
conceived even when in Italy, namely, to be chosen a Director. Nobody
dared yet to accuse him of being a deserter from the army of the East.
The only difficulty was to obtain a dispensation on the score of age.
And was this not to be obtained? No sooner was he installed in his
humble abode in the Rue de la Victoire than he was assured that, on the
retirement of Rewbell, the majority of suffrages would have devolved on
him had he been in France, and had not the fundamental law required the
age of forty; but that not even his warmest partisans were disposed to
violate the yet infant Constitution of the year III.
Bonaparte soon perceived that no efforts would succeed in overcoming
this difficulty, and he easily resolved to possess himself wholly of
an office of which he would nominally have had only a fifth part had he
been a member of the Directory.
As soon as his intentions became manifest he found himself surrounded by
all those who recognised in him the man they had long looked for. These
persons, who were able and influential in their own circles, endeavoured
to convert into friendship the animosity which existed between Sieyès
and Bonaparte. This angry feeling had been increased by a remark made
by Sieyès, and reported to Bonaparte. He had said, after the dinner at
which Bonaparte treated him so disrespectfully, "Do you see how that
little insolent fellow behaves to a member of a Government which would
do well to order him to be SHOT?"
But all was changed when able mediators pointed out to Bonaparte the
advantage of uniting with Sieyès for the purpose of overthrowing a
Constitution which he did not like. He was assured how vain it would be
to think of superseding him, and that it would be better to flatter him
with the hope of helping to subvert the constitution and raising up a
new one. One day some one said to Bonaparte in my hearing, "Seek for
support among the party who call the friends of the Republic Jacobins,
and be assured that Sieyès is at the head of that party."
On the 25th Vendémiaire (17th of October) the Directory summoned General
Bonaparte to a private sitting. "They offered me the choice of any army
I would command," said he to me the next morning. "I would not refuse,
but I asked to be allowed a little time for the recovery of my health;
and, to avoid any other embarrassing offers, I withdrew. I shall go to
no more of their sittings." (He attended only one after this.) "I am
determined to join Sieyès' party. It includes a greater diversity of
opinions than that of the profligate Barras. He proclaims everywhere
that he is the author of my fortune. He will never be content to play an
inferior part, and I will never bend to such a man. He cherishes the mad
ambition of being the support of the Republic. What would he do with me?
Sieyès, on the contrary, has no political ambition."
No sooner did Sieyès begin to grow friendly with Bonaparte than the
latter learned from him that Barras had said, "The 'little corporal' has
made his fortune in Italy and does not want to go back again." Bonaparte
repaired to the Directory for the sole purpose of contradicting this
allegation. He complained to the Directors of its falsehood, boldly
affirmed that the fortune he was supposed to possess had no existence,
and that even if he had made his fortune it was not, at all events, at
the expense of the Republic "You know," said he to me, "that the mines
of Hydria have furnished the greater part of what I possess."--"Is it
possible," said I, "that Barras could have said so, when you know so
well of all the peculations of which he has been guilty since your
return?"
Bonaparte had confided the secret of his plans to very few persons--to
those only whose assistance he wanted. The rest mechanically followed
their leaders and the impulse which was given to them; they passively
awaited the realisation of the promises they had received, and on the
faith of which they had pledged themselves.
CHAPTER XXIV.
1799.
Cambacérès and Lebrun--Gohier deceived--My nocturnal visit to Barras
--The command of the army given to Bonaparte--The morning of the
18th Brumaire--Meeting of the generals at Bonaparte's house--
Bernadotte's firmness--Josephine's interest, for Madame Gohier--
Disappointment of the Directors--Review in the gardens of the
Tuileries--Bonaparte's harangue--Proclamation of the Ancients--
Moreau, jailer of the Luxembourg--My conversation with La Vallette--
Bonaparte at St. Cloud.
The parts of the great drama which was shortly to be enacted were well
distributed. During the three days preceding the 18th Brumaire every one
was at his post. Lucien, with equal activity and intelligence, forwarded
the conspiracy in the two Councils; Sieyès had the management of the
Directory; Réal,
--[Pierre Francois Réal (1757-1834); public accuser before the
revolutionary criminal tribunal; became, under Napoleon, Conseiller
d'Etat and Comte, and was charged with the affairs of the "haute
police."]--
under the instructions of Fouché,
--[Joseph Fouché (1754-1820); Conventionalist; member of extreme
Jacobin party; Minister of Police under the Directory, August 1799;
retained by Napoleon in that Ministry till 1802, and again from 1804
to 1810; became Duc d'Otrante in 1809; disgraced in 1810, and sent in
1813 as governor of the Illyrian Provinces; Minister of Police
during the 'Cent Jours'; President of the Provisional Government,
1815; and for a short time Minister of Police under second
restoration.]--
negotiated with the departments, and dexterously managed, without
compromising Fouché, to ruin those from whom that Minister had received
his power. There was no time to lose; and Fouché said to me on the 14th
Brumaire, "Tell your General to be speedy; if he delays, he is lost."
On the 17th, Regnault de St. Jean d'Angély told Bonaparte that the
overtures made to Cambacérès and Lebrun had not been received in a very
decided way. "I will have no tergiversation," replied Bonaparte with
warmth. "Let them not flatter themselves that I stand in need of them.
They must decide to-day; to-morrow will be too late. I feel myself
strong enough now to stand alone."
Cambacérès
--[Cambacérès (J. J. Régis de) (1763-1824) Conventionalist; Minister
of Justice under Directory, 1799; second Consul, 25th December 1799;