Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
which Bonaparte executed by the direction of the representatives of the
people.
--[Madame Junot throws some light on this Persecution of Bonaparte
by Salicetti. "One motive (I do not mean to say the only one),"
remarks this lady, "of the animosity shown by Salicetti to
Bonaparte, in the affair of Loano, was that they were at one time
suitors to the same lady. I am not sure whether it was in Corsica
or in Paris, but I know for a fact that Bonaparte, in spite of his
youth, or perhaps I should rather say on account of his youth, was
the favoured lover. It was the opinion of my brother, who was
secretary to Salicetti, that Bonaparte owed his life to a
circumstance which is not very well known. The fact is, that
Salicetti received a letter from Bonaparte, the contents of which
appeared to make a deep impression on him. Bonaparte's papers had
been delivered into Salicetti's hands, who, after an attentive
perusal of them, laid them aside with evident dissatisfaction. He
then took them up again, and read them a second time. Salicetti
declined my brother's assistance is the examination of the papers,
and after a second examination, which was probably as unsatisfactory
as the first, he seated himself with a very abstracted air. It
would appear that he had seen among the papers some document which
concerned himself. Another curious fact is, that the man who had
the care of the papers after they were sealed up was an inferior
clerk entirely under the control of Salicetti; and my brother, whose
business it was to have charge of the papers, was directed not to
touch them. He has often spoken to me of this circumstance, and I
mention it here as one of importance to the history of the time.
Nothing that relates to a man like Napoleon can be considered
useless or trivial.
"What, after all, was the result of this strange business which
might have cost Bonaparte his head?--for, had he been taken to Paris
and tried by the Committee of Public Safety, there is little doubt
that the friend of Robespierre the younger would have been condemned
by Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois. The result was the
acquittal of the accused. This result is the more extraordinary,
since it would appear that at that time Salicetti stood in fear of
the young general. A compliment is even paid to Bonaparte in the
decree, by which he was provisionally restored to liberty. That
liberation was said to be granted on the consideration that General
Bonaparte might be useful to the Republic. This was foresight; but
subsequently when measures were taken which rendered Bonaparte no
longer an object of fear, his name was erased from the list of
general officers, and it is a curious fact that Cambacérès, who was
destined to be his colleague in the Consulate, was one of the
persons who signed the act of erasure" (Memoirs of the Duchesse
d'Abrantes, vol. i, p. 69, edit. 1843).]--
Bonaparte said at St. Helena that he was a short time imprisoned by
order of the representative Laporte; but the order for his arrest was
signed by Albitte, Salicetti, and Laporte.
--[Albitte and Laporte were the representatives sent from the
Convention to the army of the Alps, and Salicetti to the army of
Italy.]--
Laporte was not probably the most influential of the three, for
Bonaparte did not address his remonstrance to him. He was a fortnight
under arrest.
Had the circumstance occurred three weeks earlier, and had Bonaparte
been arraigned before the Committee of Public Safety previous to the 9th
Thermidor, there is every probability that his career would have been
at an end; and we should have seen perish on the scaffold, at the age of
twenty-five, the man who, during the twenty-five succeeding years, was
destined to astonish the world by his vast conceptions, his gigantic
projects, his great military genius, his extraordinary good fortune, his
faults, reverses, and final misfortunes.
It is worth while to remark that in the post-Thermidorian resolution
just alluded to no mention is made of Bonaparte's association with
Robespierre the younger. The severity with which he was treated is the
more astonishing, since his mission to Genoa was the alleged cause of
it. Was there any other charge against him, or had calumny triumphed
over the services he had rendered to his country? I have frequently
conversed with him on the subject of this adventure, and he invariably
assured me that he had nothing to reproach himself with, and that his
defence, which I shall subjoin, contained the pure expression of his
sentiments, and the exact truth.
In the following note, which he addressed to Albitte and Salicetti,
he makes no mention of Laporte. The copy which I possess is in the
handwriting of, Junot, with corrections in the General's hand. It
exhibits all the characteristics of Napoleon's writing: his short
sentences, his abrupt rather than concise style, sometimes his elevated
ideas, and always his plain good sense.
TO THE REPRESENTATIVES ALBITTE AND SALICETTI:
You have suspended me from my duties, put me under arrest, and declared me to be suspected.
Thus I am disgraced before being judged, or indeed judged before being heard.
In a revolutionary state there are two classes, the suspected and the patriots.
When the first are aroused, general measures are adopted towards them for the sake of security.
The oppression of the second class is a blow to public liberty. The magistrate cannot condemn until after the fullest evidence and a succession of facts. This leaves nothing to arbitrary decision.
To declare a patriot suspected is to deprive him of all that he most highly values--confidence and esteem.
In what class am I placed?
Since the commencement of the Revolution, have I not always been attached to its principles?
Have I not always been contending either with domestic enemies or foreign foes?
I sacrificed my home, abandoned my property, and lost everything for the Republic?
I have since served with some distinction at Toulon, and earned a part of the laurels of the army of Italy at the taking of Saorgio, Oneille, and Tanaro.
On the discovery of Robespierre's conspiracy, my conduct was that of a man accustomed to look only to principles.
My claim to the title of patriot, therefore cannot be disputed.
Why, then, am I declared suspected without being heard, and arrested eight days after I heard the news of the tyrant's death.
I am declared suspected, and my papers are placed under seal.
The reverse of this course ought to have been adopted. My papers should first have been sealed; then I should have been called on for my explanation; and, lastly, declared suspected, if there was reason for coming to, such a decision.
It is wished that I should go to Paris with an order which declares me suspected. It will naturally be presumed that the representatives did not draw up this decree without accurate information, and I shall be judged with the bias which a man of that class merits.
Though a patriot and an innocent and calumniated man, yet whatever measures may be adopted by the Committee I cannot complain.
If three men declare that I have committed a crime, I cannot complain of the jury who condemns me.
Salicetti, you know me; and I ask whether you have observed anything in my conduct for the last five years which can afford ground of suspicion?
Albitte, you do not know me; but you have received proof of no fact against me; you have not heard me, and you know how artfully the tongue of calumny sometimes works.
Must I then be confounded with the enemies of my country and ought the patriots inconsiderately to sacrifice a general who has not been useless to the Republic? Ought the representatives to reduce the Government to the necessity of being unjust and impolitic?
Hear me; destroy the oppression that overwhelms me, and restore me to the esteem of the patriots.
An hour after, if my enemies wish for my life, let them take it. I have often given proofs how little I value it. Nothing but the thought that I may yet be useful to my country makes me bear the burden of existence with courage.
It appears that this defence, which is remarkable for its energetic
simplicity, produced an effect on Albitte and Salicetti. Inquiries more
accurate, and probably more favourable to the General, were instituted;
and on the 3d Fructidor (20th August 1794) the representatives of the
people drew up a decree stating that, after a careful examination of
General Bonaparte's papers, and of the orders he had received relative
to his mission to Genoa, they saw nothing to justify any suspicion of
his conduct; and that, moreover, taking into consideration the advantage
that might accrue to the Republic from the military talents of the said
General Bonaparte, it was resolved that he should be provisionally set
at liberty.
--[With reference to the arrest of Bonaparte (which lasted thirteen
days) see 'Bourrienne et ses Erreurs', tome i. pp. 16-28, and Iung,
tome ii. pp. 443-457. Both, in opposition to Bourrienne, attribute
the arrest to his connection with the younger Robespierre.
Apparently Albitte and Salicetti wets not acquainted with the secret
plan of campaign prepared by the younger Robespierre and by
Bonaparte, or with the real instructions given for the mission to
Genoa. Jealousy between the representatives in the staff of the
army of the Alps and those with the army of Italy, with which
Napoleon was, also played a part in the affair. Iung looks on
Salicetti as acting as the protector of the Bonapartes; but Napoleon
does not seem to have regarded him in that light; see the letter
given in Tunot, vol. i. p. 106, where in 1795 he takes credit for
not returning the ill done to him; see also the same volume, p. 89.
Salicetti eventually became Minister of Police to Joseph, when King
of Naples, in 1806; but when he applied to return to France,
Napoleon said to Mathieu Dumas, "Let him know that I am not powerful
enough to protect the wretches who voted for the death of Louis XVI.
from the contempt and indignation of the public" (Dumas, tome iii.
p. 318). At the same time Napoleon described Salicetti as worse
than the lazzaroni.]--
Salicetti afterwards became the friend and confidant of young Bonaparte;
but their intimacy did not continue after his elevation.
What is to be thought of the motives for Bonaparte's arrest and
provisional liberation, when his innocence and the error that had been
committed were acknowledged? The importance of the General's military
talents, though no mention is made about the impossibility of dispensing
with them, is a pretence for restoring him to that liberty of which he
had been unjustly deprived.
It was not at Toulon, as has been stated, that Bonaparte took Duroc into
the artillery, and made him his 'aide de camp'.
--[Michel Duroc (1773-1813) at first only aide de camp to Napoleon,
was several times entrusted with special diplomatic missions (for
example, to Berlin, etc.) On the formation of the Empire he became
Grand Marechal du Palais, and Duc de Frioul. He always remained in
close connection with Napoleon until he was killed in 1813. As he
is often mentioned in contemporary memoirs under his abbreviated
title of 'Marshal', he has sometimes been erroneously included in
the number of the Marshals of the Empire--a military rank he never
attained to.]--
The acquaintance was formed at a subsequent period, in Italy. Duroc's
cold character and unexcursive mind suited Napoleon, whose confidence