Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
the public funds. At all events I copy Lucien's letter as he wrote it,
giving the words marked in italics [CAPS] and the numerous notes of
exclamation which distinguish the original.
MY BROTHER--I send you a courier; I particularly wish that the First
Consul would give me notice of his arrival twenty-four hours beforehand,
and that he would inform ME ALONE of the barrier by which he will enter.
The city wishes to prepare triumphal arches for him, and it deserves not
to be disappointed.
AT MY REQUEST a Te Deum was chanted yesterday. There were 60,000 persons
present.
The intrigues of Auteuil continue.
--[This intrigue, so called from Talleyrand one of its heads, living
in the suburb of Auteuil, arose from the wish of many of the most
influential men to be prepared in case of the death of Napoleon in
any action in Italy: It was simply a continuation of the same
combinations which had been attempted or planned in 1799, till the
arrival of Bonaparte from Egypt made the party choose him as the
instrument for the overthrow of the Directors. There was little
secrecy about their plans; see Miot de Melito (tome i p. 276),
where Joseph Bonaparte tells his friends all that was being proposed
in case his brother fell. Carnot seems to have been the most
probable choice as leader and replacer of Bonaparte. In the above
letter "C----," stands for Carrot, "La F----" for La Fayette, the
"High Priest" is Sieyès, and the "friend of Auteuil" is Talleyrand;
see Iung's Lucien, tome i. p. 411. The postscript seems to refer to
a wretched scandal about Caroline, and Lucien; see Iung's Lucien,
tome i. pp. 411, 432-433. The reader should remark the retention
of this and other documents by Bourrienne, which forms one of the
charges brought against him farther on.]--
--It has been found difficult to decide between C---- and La F----. The
latter has proposed his daughter in marriage to me. Intrigue has been
carried to the last extreme. I do not know yet whether the High Priest
has decided for one party or the other. I believe that he would cheat
them both for an Orleans, and your friend of Auteuil was at the bottom
of all. The news of the battle of Marengo petrified them, and yet next
day the High Priest certainly spent three hours with your friend of
Auteuil. As to us, had the victory of Marengo closed the First Consul's
career we should now have been Proscribed.
Your letters say nothing of what I expected to hear. I hope at least
to be informed of the answer from Vienna before any one. I am sorry you
have not paid me back for the battle of Marengo.
The festival of the 14th of July will be very gratifying. We expect
peace as a certainty, and the triumphant return of the First Consul. The
family is all well. Your wife and all her family are at Mortfontaine.
Ney is at Paris. Why do you return with the First Consul? Peace! and
Italy! Think of our last interview. I embrace you. (Signed) LUCIEN.
On the margin is written--
P.S.--Read the letter addressed to the Consul, and give it to him AFTER
YOU HAVE CAREFULLY CLOSED IT.
Forward the enclosed. Madame Murat never lodged in my house. Her husband
is a fool, whom his wife ought to punish by not writing to him for a
month. (Signed) LUCIEN BONAPARTE
Bonaparte, confirmed in his power by the victory of Marengo, remained
some days longer at Milan to settle the affairs of Italy. He directed
one to furnish Madame Grassini with money to pay her expenses to Paris.
We departed amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants, and took the
road to Turin. The First Consul stopped at Turin for some hours, and
inspected the citadel, which had been surrendered to us in pursuance of
the capitulation of Alessandria. In passing over Mont Cenis we observed
the carriage of Madame Kellerman, who was going to meet her husband.
Bonaparte on recognizing the lady stopped his carriage and congratulated
her on the gallant conduct of her husband at the battle of Marengo.
On our arrival at Lyons we alighted at the Hotel des Celestins, and
the loud acclamations of a numerous multitude assembled round the hotel
obliged Bonaparte to show himself on the balcony. Next day he proceeded
to the Square of Bellecour, where, amidst the plaudits of the people, he
laid the first stone of some new buildings destined to efface one of the
disasters of the Revolution.
We left Lyons that evening and continued our journey by way of Dijon.
On our arrival in that town the joy of the inhabitants was very great.
I never saw a more graceful and captivating sight than that which was
presented by a group of beautiful young females, crowned with flowers,
who accompanied Bonaparte's carriage, and which at that period, when the
Revolution had renewed all the republican recollections of Greece and
Rome, looked like the chorus of females dancing around the victor at the
Olympic games.
But all our journey was not so agreeable. Some accidents awaited us. The
First Consul's carriage broke down between Villeneuve-le-Roi and Sens.
He sent a courier to inform my mother that he would stop at her house
till his carriage was repaired. He dined there, and we started again at
seven in the evening.
But we had other disasters to encounter. One of our off-wheels came off,
and as we were driving at a very rapid pace the carriage was overturned
on the bridge at a short distance from Montreau-Faut-Yonne. The First
Consul, who sat on my left, fell upon me, and sustained no injury. My
head was slightly hurt by striking against some things which were in the
pocket of the carriage; but this accident was not worth stopping for,
and we arrived at Paris on the same night, the 2d of July. Duroc, who
was the third in the carriage, was not hurt.
I have already mentioned that Bonaparte was rather talkative when
travelling; and as we were passing through Burgundy, on our return to
Paris from Marengo, he said exultingly, "Well, a few more events like
this campaign, and I may go down to posterity."--"I think," replied
I, "that you have already done enough to secure great and lasting
fame."--"Yes," resumed he, "I have done enough, it is true. In less than
two years I have won Cairo, Paris, and Milan; but for all that, my dear
fellow, were I to die to-morrow I should not at the end of ten centuries
occupy half a page of general history!"
On the very day when Desaix fell on the field of Marengo Kléber was
assassinated by a fanatical Mussulman, named Soleiman Haleby, who
stabbed him with a dagger, and by that blow decided the fate of Egypt.
--["This fellah was, at most, eighteen or twenty years of age: he
was a native of Damascus, and declared that he had quitted his
native city by command of the grand vizier, who had entrusted him
with the commission of repairing to Egypt and killing the grand
sultan of the French [Bonaparte being probably intended]. That for
this purpose alone he had left his family, and performed the whole
journey on foot and had received from the grand vizier no other
money than what was absolutely requisite for the exigencies of the
journey. On arriving at Cairo he had gone forthwith to perform his
devotions in the great mosque, and it was only on the eve of
executing his project that he confided it to one of the scherifs of
the mosque" (Duc de Rovigo's Memoirs, tome 1. p. 367)]--
Thus was France, on the same day, and almost at the same hour, deprived
of two of her most distinguished generals. Menou, as senior in command,
succeeded Kléber, and the First Consul confirmed the appointment. From
that moment the loss of Egypt was inevitable.
I have a few details to give respecting the tragical death of Kléber.
The house of Elfy Bey, which Bonaparte occupied at Cairo, and in which
Kléber lived after his departure; had a terrace leading from a salon
to an old ruined cistern, from which, down a few steps, there was an
entrance into the garden. The terrace commanded a view of the grand
square of El Beguyeh, which was to the right on coming out of the salon,
while the garden was on the left. This terrace was Bonaparte's favourite
promenade, especially in the evenings, when he used to walk up and down
and converse with the persons about him, I often advised him to fill up
the reservoir, and to make it level with the terrace. I even showed him,
by concealing myself in it, and coming suddenly behind him, how easy it
would be for any person to attempt his life and then escape, either by
jumping into the square, or passing through the garden. He told me I was
a coward, and was always in fear of death; and he determined not to
make the alteration I suggested, which, however, he acknowledged to be
advisable. Kléber's assassin availed himself of the facility which I so
often apprehended might be fatal to Bonaparte.
I shall not atop to refute all the infamous rumours which were
circulated respecting Kléber's death. When the First Consul received
the unexpected intelligence he could scarcely believe it. He was
deeply affected; and on reading the particulars of the assassination he
instantly called to mind how often he had been in the same situation
as that in which Kléber was killed, and all I had said respecting the
danger of the reservoir--a danger from which it is inconceivable he
should have escaped, especially after his Syrian expedition had excited
the fury of the natives. Bonaparte's knowledge of Kléber's talents--the
fact of his having confided to him the command of the army, and the aid
which he constantly endeavoured to transmit to him, repelled at once
the horrible suspicion of his having had the least participation in the
crime, and the thought that he was gratified to hear of it.
It is very certain that Bonaparte's dislike of Kléber was as decided as
the friendship he cherished for Desaix. Kléber's fame annoyed him, for
he was weak enough to be annoyed at it. He knew the manner in which
Kléber spoke of him, which was certainly not the most respectful. During
the long and sanguinary siege of St. Jean d'Acre Kléber said to me,
"That little scoundrel Bonaparte, who is no higher than my boot, will
enslave France. See what a villainous expedition he has succeeded in
involving us in." Kléber often made the same remark to others as well
as to me. I am not certain that it was ever reported to Bonaparte; but
there is reason to believe that those who found it their interest to
accuse others did not spare Kléber.
Kléber, who was a sincere republican, saw and dreaded for his country's
sake the secret views and inordinate ambition of Bonaparte. He was a
grumbler by nature; yet he never evinced discontent in the discharge of
his duties as a soldier. He swore and stormed, but marched bravely to
the cannon's mouth: he was indeed courage personified. One day when
he was in the trench at St. Jean d'Acre, standing up, and by his tall
stature exposed to every shot, Bonaparte called to him, "Stoop down,
Kléber, stoop down!"--"Why;" replied he, "your confounded trench does
not reach to my knees." He never regarded the Egyptian expedition with
a favourable eye. He thought it too expensive, and utterly useless
to France. He was convinced that in the situation in which we stood,
without a navy or a powerful Government, it would have been better to
have confined our attention to Europe than to have wasted French blood
and money on the banks of the Nile, and among the ruined cities of
Syria. Kléber, who was a cool, reflecting man, judged Bonaparte without
enthusiasm, a thing somewhat rare at that time, and he was not blind to
any of his faults.
Bonaparte alleged that Kléber said to him, "General, you are as great as
the world!" Such a remark is in direct opposition to Kléber's character.