MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE, EXILE, AND CONVERSATIONS, OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. (continued 8)

Every one is at liberty to decide upon the relative demerits of these two insolent characters. Both are, no doubt, very blameable, and if there be less coarseness in the conduct of our countryman, it must also be allowed, 317that his impertinence is altogether without an object and purely gratuitous.

During another part of the day, the Emperor conversed at great length on the sittings of the Council of State. I had pointed out some, and of others we had but a doubtful recollection; or they had altogether slipped our memory. “Well,”“Well,” said he, “in a short time, scarcely a trace of them will be left behind.” Being unable to sleep that night, I thought of these words, and endeavoured to recollect, as minutely as I could, every thing I was acquainted with respecting the Council of State;—the seat of its meetings, its usages, forms, &c.; and I do not think I can betterbetter employ the leisure of our solitude at St. Helena, than by giving an account of them here. I shall occasionally add what I may recollect of the sittings at which I was present. There are persons to whom these details will not be destitute of interest.

The hall of the Council of State, in the Tuileries, the place where the sittings were usually held, was on the same side with, and of the entire length of, the chapel. In the partition wall were several large doors, which being thrown open on Sundays, formed passages to the chapel. It was a fine oblong apartment. At one of its extremities, towards the interior of the palace, was a large and beautiful door, by which the Emperor entered, when, attended by his Court, he proceeded on Sunday to hear mass. It was only opened the rest of the week for the Emperor, when he went to his Council of State. The members of the Council entered only by two small doors, contrived for that purpose in the opposite extremity.

A row of tables, which occupied the whole length of the hall, on the right and left, was arranged there only when the council assembled, and the space left was sufficient to admit of seats within near the wall, and of a free passage without. There sat the Councillors of State, in their respective order of precedence; their places were, besides, designated by portfolios, bearing their names, and containing their papers. At the extremity of the hall, towards the grand entrance, and across the two rows, were placed similar tables for the 318Masters of Requests. The Auditors were seated on stools or chairs, behind the Councillors of State.

At the upper extremity of the hall, opposite to the grand entrance, was the Emperor’s place on an elevationelevation of one or two steps. There was his arm chair, and a small table covered with a piece of rich tapestry, and furnished with all the necessary articles, with paper, pens, ink, penknives, and which were also laid before the Members of the Council.

At the right of the Emperor, but below, and on a level with us, was the Prince Arch-chancellor, with a separate small table; on his left, the Prince Arch-treasurer, who attended very seldom; and finally, at the left of the latter, M. Locre, who drew up the official account of the proceedings.

When any princes of the family happened to be present, a similar table was placed for them on the same line, and according to their respective rank. If any of the ministers were present, and they were all at liberty to attend whenever they pleased, they took their places at the side tables, at the head of the councillors of state. The enclosed space was vacant, and none ever passed through it, but the Emperor, or the Members of the Council, when proceeding to take the oath of allegiance to him.

The ushers moved silently about the hall, for the service of the members, even during the deliberations of the Council. The members left their places whenever they pleased, to obtain from their colleagues any particular documents of which they might be in want, or for any other purpose.

The upper compartments of the hall displayed allegorical paintings, relative to the functions of the Council of State, such as Justice, Commerce, Industry, &c. and the ceiling was decorated with the beautiful picture of the battle of Austerlitz, by Gros. Thus, under one of the most glorious laurels with which he ennobled France, did Napoleon preside over its internal administration.

It was in that place that for nearly eighteen months I enjoyed the inestimable advantage, the unparalleled satisfaction, of attending twice a week sittings so interesting 319by their special objects, and rendered still more so by the constant presence of the Emperor, who seemed to be the soul and life of the deliberations. It was there that I have seen him protract the discussions from eleven in the morning until nine at night, and display at the conclusion as much activity, copiousness, and freshness of mind and understanding as he did in the beginning, while we were ready to sink with weariness and fatigue.

While the court was at St. Cloud the council was held there, but when the sitting was to take place at too early an hour, or it was likely to last long, the Emperor adjourned the proceedings until the members could take some refreshment, which was served up in the adjacent apartment, on small tables most magnificently supplied, as if by enchantment. I may truly say, that it would be impossible to give a just idea of the fascinations we witnessed in every thing belonging to the Imperial palaces.

The hour of the Council’s sitting was regularly noticed in our letters of convocation, but the hour was generally eleven.

When a sufficient number of members was present, the Arch-Chancellor[note previously in text Arch-chancellor p2], who was always there the first, and who presided in the Emperor’s absence, opened the sitting, and called the attention of the Council to what was then called the little order of the day, and which solely embraced simple matters of a local nature and of mere form.

About an hour later, in general, the beating of the drum in the interior of the Palace announced the Emperor’s arrival. The grand entrance was thrown open; his Majesty was announced; all the Council rose, and the Emperor appeared, preceded by his Chamberlain and his Aide-de-Camp on duty, who presented his chair, received his hat, and continued behind him during the sitting, ready to receive and execute his orders.

The Arch-Chancellor then presented to the Emperor the great order of the day, which contained the series of objects under deliberation. The Emperor read them over, and pointed out in a distinct tone that which he 320wished to have discussed. The Councillor of State, nominated for the purpose, read his report, and the deliberations commenced.

Every member was at liberty to speak; if several rose at the same time, the order of precedence was regulated by the Emperor. The members spoke from their places sitting. No written speeches were allowed to be read; it was requisite that they should be made extemporaneously. When the Emperor thought the question, in which he usually took no inconsiderable share himself, sufficiently discussed, he made a summary of the arguments, which was always luminous, and frequently marked with novelty and point, came to a conclusion, and put it to the vote.

I have already noticed the freedom enjoyed in these debates. The animation of the speakers, increasing by degrees, became sometimes excessive, and the discussion was often protracted beyond measure, particularly when the Emperor, occupied probably with some other subject, seemed, either from distraction or something else, to be altogether ignorant of what was going on. He then commonly cast a vacant look over the hall, cut pencils with his penknife, pricked the cover of his table or the arm of his chair with the point of it, or employed his pencil or pen in scrawling whimsical marks or sketches, which, after he was gone, excited the covetous attention of the young members, who made a kind of scramble for them; and it was curious to observe, when he happened to have traced the name of some country or capital, the hyperbolical inferences that were sought to be extracted from it.

Sometimes too, when the Emperor entered the Council, as soon as his dinner was ended, and after having undergone great fatigue during the morning, he would fold his arms upon the table, lay down his head and fall asleep. The Arch-Chancellor proceeded with the deliberations, which were continued without interruption, and the Emperor, on awaking, immediately caught up the thread of the discussion, though the previous subject might have been ended and another introduced. The Emperor often asked for a glass of 321water and sugar; and a table in the adjoining room was always laid out with refreshments for his use, without any precautions being adopted as to the individuals who were permitted to approach it.

The Emperor, it is well known, was in the habit of taking snuff almost every minute: this was a sort of mania which seized him chiefly during intervals of abstraction. His snuff-box was speedily emptied; but he still continued to thrust his fingers into it, or to raise it to his nose, particularly when he was himself speaking. Those Chamberlains, who proved themselves most expert and assiduous in the discharge of their duties, would frequently endeavour, unobserved by the Emperor, to take away the empty box and substitute a full one in its stead; for there existed a great competition of attention and courtesy among the Chamberlains who were habitually employed in services about the Emperor’s person; an honour which was very much envied. These persons were, however, seldom changed, either because they intrigued to retain their places, or because it was naturally most agreeable to the Emperor to continue them in posts, with the duties of which they were acquainted. It was the business of the Grand Marshal (Duroc) to make all these arrangements. The following is an instance of the attentions paid by the Emperor’s Chamberlains. One of them, having observed that the Emperor on going to the theatre frequently forgot his opera-glass, of which he made constant use, got one made exactly like it, so that the first time he saw the Emperor without his glass, he presented his own to him, and the difference was not observed. On his return from the theatre, the Emperor was not a little surprised to find that he had two glasses exactly alike. Next day, he inquired how the new opera-glass had made its appearance, and the Chamberlain replied that it was one which he kept in reserve in case it might be wanted.

The Emperor always shewed himself very sensible of these attentions, which were innocent in themselves, and which were calculated to make an impression on the feelings, when dictated only by love and respect; for 322then the individual was not acting the part of a slavish courtier, but that of an affectionate and devoted servant. Napoleon, on his part, whatever may have been reported to the contrary in the saloons of Paris, shewed sincere regard for the persons of his household. When he quitted Paris for St. Cloud, Malmaison, or any other of his country residences, he usually invited the individuals of his household to his private evening parties; and thus was formed a pleasant family circle, admittance to which was held to be a very high honour. When in the country, he also admitted his Chamberlains to dine at his table. One day, while at dinner at Trianon, being troubled with a severe cold in his head, a complaint to which he was very subject, he found himself in want of a handkerchief; the servants immediately ran to fetch one, but meanwhile the Chamberlain on duty, who was a relation of Maria Louisa’s, drew a clean one unfolded from his pocket, and wished to take the other from the Emperor. “I thank you,” said Napoleon; “but I will never have it said that I allowed M—— to touch a handkerchief which I had used;” and he threw it on the ground.

Such was the man who in certain circles was described as being coarse and brutal, ill treating all his household, and even behaving rudely to the ladies of the palace! The Emperor, on the contrary, was a scrupulous observer of decorum. He was very sensible to all the little attentions he received; and though it was a sort of system with him to suffer no manifestation of gratitude to escape him, yet the expression of his eye or the tone of his voice sufficiently denoted what he really felt. Unlike those whose lips overflow with the expression of sentiments which their hearts never feel, Napoleon seemed to make it a rule to repress or disguise the kind emotions by which he was frequently inspired. I believe I have already mentioned this fact; but the following are some fresh proofs of it, which recur to me at this moment. These circumstances are the more characteristic, since they occurred at Longwood, where Napoleon might have been expected to indulge his natural feelings with less restraint than during the possession of his power.

I usually sat beside my son, while he wrote from the 323Emperor’s dictation. The Emperor always walked about the room when dictating, and he frequently stood for a moment behind my chair, to look over the writing, so that he might know where to take up the thread of his dictation. When in this situation, how many times has my head been enclosed between his arms, and even slightly pressed to his bosom! Then, immediately checking himself, he seemed to have been merely leaning with his elbows upon my shoulders, or playfully bearing all his weight upon me, as if to try my strength.

The Emperor was very fond of my son, and I have often seen him bestow a sort of manual caress on him; and then, as it were, to do away with the effect of this motion, he would immediately accompany it by some words uttered in a loud and somewhat sharp tone of voice. One day, as he was entering the drawing-room, in a moment of good-humour and forgetfulness, I saw him take Madame Bertrand’s hand and affectionately raise it to his lips; but, suddenly recollecting himself, he turned away, in a manner that would have had a very awkward effect, had not Madame Bertrand, with that exquisite grace for which she is so peculiarly distinguished, removed all embarrassment, by impressing a kiss on the hand that had been extended to her. But these stories have carried me very far from my subject. I must return to the Council of State.

All the reports, plans of resolutions, and decrees, which we had to discuss, were printed and distributed to us at our own houses. There was one subject, for example, relating to the University, which was perhaps twenty times drawn up. Others lingered for a length of time in the portfolios, or were at length totally dropped, without any cause being assigned.

On my return from my mission to Holland, just after I had been created a member of the Council of State, I rose to speak on the subject of the Conscription. I was naturally interested in all that related to naval affairs; my mind was full of enthusiasm, and was stored with the observations which I had just collected in Holland. I proposed that all the Dutch conscripts, in consideration of their natural predilections, should be permitted, if 324they chose, to enter the naval service; and moreover, that the privilege of this choice should be extended to all the French conscripts. I pointed out the inconveniences which such an arrangement was calculated to obviate, and developed the advantages which it was likely to ensure. I observed that it was impossible to render our seamen too numerous. Our ships’ crews, I said, would thus become regiments: the same men would at once be sailors and soldiers, gunners and pontooners; we should obtain double service at the same rate of pay. My speech had, up to this point, been as favourably received as I could wish: and in my own mind I congratulated myself on my success; when on a sudden I lost all power of utterance. The train of my ideas immediately became disconnected, and I stood mute and confounded, without knowing where I was or what I was doing. This was the first time I had ventured to speak; and I had made an extraordinary effort to surmount my natural diffidence. Profound silence reigned in the assembly, a hundred eyes were fixed upon me, and I was ready to sink under the weight of my embarrassment. I had no alternative but to confess my painful situation, to tell the Emperor, frankly, that I would rather be in a battle; and finally to ask permission to conclude my address by reading a few lines from a written paper which I had brought with me. From that moment, however, I never felt any wish to speak in the Council of State; I was completely cured of all desire to exert my eloquence in future. But, in spite of this unfortunate circumstance, my brief address had attracted the notice of the Emperor; for, a few days afterwards, the Aid-de-Camp on duty (Count Bertrand), informed me that the Emperor, while playing at billiards, seeing the Minister of the Marine enter, said to him:—"Well, Sir, Las Cases read to us, at the Council, a very good memorial on the composition of the navy; he was not at all of your opinion respecting the age at which seamen should be allowed to enter the service."

Every sitting of the Council, at which the Emperor presided, presented the highest degree of interest, for he never failed to deliver a speech himself, and all the observations 325that fell from him were important. I was always delighted with his speeches: but a circumstance that both surprised and vexed me was to hear some of the remarks which had fallen from the Emperor in the course of the day at the Council of State, repeated and often ill-naturedly perverted in the saloons of Paris in the evening. How could this happen? Was it owing to the inaccuracy of the individual who had reported what he heard, or to the malignity of him to whom it had been reported? Be this as it may, the fact was as I have stated.

I often entertained the idea of writing out the speeches which I had heard the Emperor deliver, and I now very deeply regret having neglected to do so. The following are a few reminiscences which occur to me at this moment:

One day, the Emperor, speaking on the political rights which it was proper to concede to persons of French origin born in foreign countries, said, “The noblest title in the world is that of being born a Frenchman; it is a title conferred by Heaven, and which no individual on earth should have the power to withdraw. For my part, I wish that every man of French origin, though he were a foreigner in the tenth generation, should still be a Frenchman, if he wishes to claim the title. Were he to present himself on the other bank of the Rhine, saying, I wish to be a Frenchman, I would have his voice to be more powerful than the law; the barriers should fall before him, and he should return triumphant to the bosom of our common mother.”

On another occasion, he said, though I do not now recollect on what subject he was speaking: “The Constituent Assembly acted very unwisely in abolishing purely titular nobility; a measure which was calculated to humble so many individuals. I do better. I confer on all Frenchmen titles, of which every one has reason to be proud.”

At another time, he used the following words, which perhaps, I have already quoted:—"I wish to raise the glory of the French name to such a pitch as to make it the envy of all nations. I will, with God’s help, bring 326it to pass, that in whatever part of Europe a Frenchman may travel, he shall always find himself at home."

In the Council of State a discussion once arose respectingrespecting the plan of a decree. The result of this discussion has now escaped my recollection, but I know the subject was to determine that the kings of the Imperial Families, occupying foreign thrones, should leave their titles and all the etiquette of royalty on the frontier, and only resume them on quitting France. The Emperor replying to some one who had started objections to this, and at the same time explaining the motives for the measure, said: “But for these monarchs I reserve in France a still higher title; they shall be more than kings: they shall be French Princes.”

I might multiply quotations of this kind to an endless length: they must be engraven in the recollection of all the members of the Council, as well as in mine. It will perhaps be a matter of surprise that, having seen the Emperor so frequently, and having heard him deliver sentiments such as these, I should have said, I did not know him at the period when I followed him to St. Helena. My answer is that at that time I felt, with regard to the Emperor, more of admiration and enthusiasm than of real love, arising from an intimate knowledge of his character. Even in the palace, we were assailed by so many absurd reports respecting the private character and conduct of Napoleon, and we had so little direct communication with him, that, by dint of hearing the same stories repeated over and over, I imbibed, in spite of myself, a certain degree of doubt and distrust. He was described to be of a dissembling and cunning disposition, and it was affirmed that he could, when in public, make a parade of fine sentiment, which he was totally incapable of feeling; in short, that he possessed an eloquent tongue and an insensible heart. Thus it was not until I became thoroughly acquainted with his character that I was convinced how really and truly he was what he appeared to be. Never perhaps was any man in the world so devotedly attached to France, and there was no sacrifice which he would not readily have made to preserve her glory. This is sufficiently evident from his conduct at 327Chatillon, and after his return from Waterloo. He expressed himself truly and energetically on his rock, when he used these remarkable words, which I have before quoted: “No, my real sufferings are not here!”

The following anecdotes have reference to other subjects, partly grave and partly humourous. One day the Councillor of State, General Gassendi, taking part in the discussion of the moment, dwelt much upon the doctrines of economists. The Emperor, who was much attached to his old artillery comrade, stopped him, saying: “My dear General, where did you gain all this knowledge? Where did you imbibe these principles?” Gassendi, who very seldom spoke in the Council, after defending himself in the best way he could, finding himself driven into his last entrenchments, replied that he had, after all, borrowed his opinions from Napoleon himself. “How?” exclaimed the Emperor, with warmth, “What do you say? Is it possible? From me, who have always thought that if there existed a monarchy of granite, the chimeras of political economists would reduce it to powder!” And after some other remarks, partly ironical and partly serious, he concluded;—"Go, General! you must have fallen asleep in your office, and have dreamed all this." Gassendi, who was rather irascible, replied, “Oh! as for falling asleep in our offices, Sire, I defy any one to do that with you, you plague us too much for that.” All the Council burst into a fit of laughter, and the Emperor laughed louder than any one.

Another time a question arose respecting the organization of the Illyrian provinces, just after they had fallen into the power of France. Those provinces, bordering on Turkey, were occupied by regiments of Croatian troops, organized on a peculiar plan. They were, in short, military colonies, the idea of which was conceived upwards of a century ago by the great Prince Eugene, for the purpose of establishing a barrier against the incursions and ravages of the Turks, and had well fulfilled the purpose for which they were destined. The committee appointed to draw up a plan for the organization of the Provinces, proposed that the Croatian regiments should be disbanded, and replaced by a national guard 328similar to ours. “Are you mad?” exclaimed the Emperor, on hearing the report read; “are the Croatians Frenchmen? or have you understood the excellence, utility, and importance of the institution?”—"Sire," replied the person, who conceived himself bound to defend the report, “the Turks will not now venture to resume their transgressions.”—"And why not?"—"Sire, because your majesty is become their neighbour."—"Well, and what of that?"—"Sire, they will be too much awed by your power."—"Oh yes, Sire, Sire," replied the Emperor sharply, “a truce to compliments at present, or, if you like, go and present them to the Turks, who will answer you by a discharge of musquetry, and you can return and give me an account of the affair.” The Emperor immediately decided that the Croatian regiments should be preserved.

One day, the plan of a decree respecting ambassadors was submitted to the consideration of the Council of State. This plan, though very remarkable, was, I believe, never published to the world. The coolness which the Council evinced on this subject caused the matter to be dropped; many other plans also experienced the same fate; which, it may be observed, affords an additional proof of the independence of the Council, and shews that Napoleon possessed more moderation than is generally believed.

The Emperor, who appeared to be the only individual to support the decree, and who adhered to it very firmly, made some very curious remarks in its defence. He wished that ambassadors should enjoy no prerogatives or privileges which might place them above the laws of the country. At most, he was only willing to grant that they should be subject to a higher kind of jurisdiction. “For example,” said he, "I have no objection that they should be brought to trial only after a preliminary decision of an assemblage of the ministers and high dignitaries of the empire; that they should be tried only by a special tribunal, composed of the first magistrates and functionaries of the state. It will perhaps be said that sovereigns, finding their own dignity compromised in the persons of their representatives, will not send ambassadors 329to my Court. Well, where will be the harm of that? I can withdraw mine from foreign Courts, and thus the country will be relieved from the burden of enormous and very frequently useless salaries. Why should ambassadors be exempt from the law? They are sent with the view of being agreeable, and for the purpose of maintaining an interchange of friendship and favour between their respective sovereigns. If they overstep the limits of their duty they should be reduced to the class of common offenders, and placed within the pale of the general law. I cannot tacitly permit ambassadors at my Court to act the part of hired spies: if I do, I must be content to be regarded as a fool, and to submit to all the mischief to which I may be exposed. It is only necessary to have the matter well understood before-hand, so as to obviate the impropriety of violating received customs, and what has hitherto been regarded as the law of nations.

“During the height of a celebrated crisis,” continued the Emperor, “I received information that a great personage had taken refuge in the house of M. de Cobentzel, conceiving that he should be protected under the immunities of the Austrian ambassador. I summoned the ambassador to my presence, in order to enquire into the truth of the fact, and to inform him that it would be most unfortunate if it were really such as it had been reported to me. I observed that custom would be nothing in my eyes when compared with the safety of a nation; and that I would without hesitation order the arrest of the criminal and his privileged protector, deliver them both up to a tribunal, and subject them to the full penalties of the law. And this I would have done, gentlemen,” added he, raising his voice. “The ambassador was aware of my determination, and therefore my wishes were obeyed without further opposition.”

Long before the expedition to Russia, perhaps a year or two before it was undertaken, the Emperor wished to establish a military classification of the Empire. At the Council of State, there were read fifteen or twenty plans for the organization of the three classes of the French national guard. The first, which was to consist of young 330men, was to march as far as the frontiers; the second, which was to be composed of middle-aged and married men, was not to quit the department to which it belonged; and the third, consisting of men in years, was to be kept solely for the defence of the town in which it had been raised. The Emperor, who was well convinced of the utility of this plan, frequently recurred to it, and made many patriotic remarks on the subject; but it constantly received marked disapproval from the Council, and experienced a kind of passive and silent opposition. Meanwhile, amidst the multitude of public affairs which claimed the attention of the Emperor, he lost sight of this plan, which his foresight had doubtless calculated for the safety of France, and which was likely to have ensured that result. Upwards of two millions of men would have been classed and armed at the period of our disasters. Who then would have ventured to assail us?

During a discussion on the above subject, the Emperor spoke in a very emphatic and remarkable strain. A member (M. Malouet), in a very circumlocutory style, expressed his disapproval of this plan of organization. The Emperor addressing him in his usual way, said: “Speak boldly, sir, do not mutilate your ideas: say what you have to say, freely; we are here by ourselves.” The speaker then declared “that the measure was calculated to excite general alarm; that every one trembled to find himself classed in the national guard, being persuaded that, under the pretext of internal defence, the object was to remove the guard from the country.” “Very good!” said the Emperor, “I now understand you. But, gentlemen,” continued he, addressing himself to the members of the Council, "you are all fathers of families, possessing ample fortunes, and filling important posts, you must necessarily have numerous dependents; and you must either be very awkward, or very indifferent, if, with all these advantages, you do not exercise a great influence on public opinion. Now, how happens it that you, who know me so well, should suffer me to be so little known by others? When did you ever know me to employ deception and fraud in my system of government? I am not timid, and I therefore am not accustomed to resort to 331indirect measures. My fault is, perhaps, to express myself too abruptly, too laconically. I merely pronounce the word, I order, and, with regard to forms and details, I trust to the intermediate agent who executes my intentions; and heaven knows, whether, on this point, I have any great reason to congratulate myself. If, therefore, I wanted troops, I should boldly demand them of the Senate, who would levy them for me; or if I could not obtain them from the Senate, I should address myself to the people, and you would see them eagerly march to join my ranks. Perhaps you are astonished to hear me say this, for sometimes you appear not to have a correct idea of the real state of things. Know, then, that, my popularity is immense, and incalculable; for, whatever may be alleged to the contrary, the whole of the French people love and respect me: their good sense is superior to the malignant reports of my enemies and the metaphysical speculations of fools. They would follow me in defiance of all. You are surprised at these declarations, but they are nevertheless true. The French people know no benefactor but me. Through me they fearlessly enjoy all that they have acquired; through me they behold their brothers and sons indiscriminately promoted, honoured, and enriched; through me they find their hands constantly employed, and their labour accompanied by its due reward. They have never had reason to accuse me of injustice or prepossession. Now, the people see, feel and comprehend all this; but they understand nothing of metaphysics. Not that I am inclined to repel true and great principles; heaven forbid that I should. On the contrary, I act upon them as much as our present extraordinary circumstances will permit; but I only mean to say, that the people do not yet understand them; while they perfectly understand me, and place implicit trust in me. Be assured, then, that the people of France will always conform to the plans which we propose for their welfare.

“Do not allow yourselves to be deceived by the supposed opposition which has just been alluded to; it exists only in the saloons of Paris, and by no means in the great body of the nation. In this plan, I solemnly 332declare I have no ulterior view of sending the national guard abroad; my thoughts, at this moment, are solely occupied in adopting measures at home, for the safety, repose, and stability of France. Proceed then to organize the national guard; that each citizen may know his post in the hour of need; that even M. Cambaceres, yonder, may shoulder a musket, should our danger require him so to do. We shall thus have a nation built of stone and mortar, capable of resisting the attacks both of time and men. I will moreover raise the national guard to a level with the regiments of the line: the old retired officers shall be the chiefs and the fathers of the corps. I shall have promotion in the national guard solicited as ardently as Court favours.”

All this must be contained in the registers of M. Locré, partly in discussions relative to the national guard, and partly, as well as I can recollect, on the subject of one of the annual conscriptions. I remember that one day, in particular, there was a long debate respecting the University. The Emperor had expressed himself dissatisfied with the little advancement that was observable in the institution, and the bad system on which it was conducted. M. Segur was directed to present a report on this subject, which he did with his usual candour and sincerity. He set on foot the necessary inquiries, and found that the Emperor’s plans were ill understood and badly executed. Napoleon had wished that erudition should be only a secondary object, that national principles and doctrines should take place of every thing; and yet these principles and doctrines were the subjects to which least attention was paid.

The Emperor was not present at this sitting—a circumstance which very much mortified the friends of the person principally interested in the question. We were guilty of sacrificing too much to the spirit of coteries. The report was never again brought forward; it was withdrawn from our portfolios, and it was made a point of some importance to get it returned from those members of the Council who had carried it home with them.

However, some time after this, the great dignitaries of the University were summoned to the bar of the 333Council of State. The Emperor expressed his displeasure at the bad management and the bad spirit which seemed to preside over this important institution. He observed that all his intentions were frustrated, that his plans were never properly carried into effect, &c. M. de F—— bent before the storm, and nevertheless pursued his accustomed course. The Emperor said, on his return from the Island of Elba, that he had been assured that the Grand Master of the University had made a boast to the government, which succeeded the Empire, of having done all in his power to thwart and misdirect the impulse which Napoleon wished to impart to the rising generation.

RECOLLECTIONS OF WATERLOO.

18th.—The Emperor sent for me to his study before dinner; he was busy in reading the newspapers which had just arrived. M. de Montholon solicited permission to wait on him. He informed the Emperor that Madame de Montholon had just been delivered of a daughter, and requested his Majesty to do him the honour to stand godfather to the child.

After dinner, the Emperor again looked over the papers which he had already perused, and remarked that France still remained in a state of agitation and uncertainty: he observed that the latest English papers used the most indecorous language with regard to the royal family.... One article led him to say: “Present circumstances, the necessities of the moment, and sympathies of old date, concur in favouring the return of the monks to France. This is a characteristic circumstance in France, as in the territories of the Pope.” Then, dwelling on the subject of the latter, he continued, “as for the Pope, it is his special affair, and is calculated to restore his power. Would any one believe that, while he was himself a prisoner at Fontainebleau, and while the question of his own existence was under consideration, he argued with me seriously on the existence of the monks, and endeavoured to induce me to re-establish them! That was truly like the Court of Rome!”

This day was the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo. 334The circumstance was mentioned by some one present, and the recollection of it produced a visible impression on the Emperor. “Incomprehensible day!” said he in a tone of sorrow—"Concurrence of unheard of fatalities!—Grouchy!—Ney!—D’Erlon!—Was there treachery, or only misfortune!—Alas! poor France!—" Here he covered his eyes with his hands. “And yet,” said he, “all that human skill could do was accomplished! All was not lost until the moment when all had succeeded!”

A short time afterwards, alluding to the same subject, he exclaimed; "in that extraordinary campaign, thrice, in less than a week’s space, I saw the certain triumph of France, and the decision of her fate slip through my fingers.

“But for the desertion of a traitor, I should have annihilated the enemy at the opening of the campaign. I should have destroyed him at Ligny, if my left had done its duty.—I should have destroyed him again at Waterloo, if my right had not failed me. Singular defeat, by which, notwithstanding the most fatal catastrophe, the glory of the conquered has not suffered, nor the fame of the conqueror been encreased: the memory of the one will survive his destruction; the memory of the other will perhaps be buried in his triumph!”

DEPARTURE OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND.—ON THE INTRODUCTION AND FORM GIVEN TO THE CAMPAIGNS OF ITALY.—THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN, BY AN AIDE-DE-CAMP OF THE VICEROY’S.

19th.—To-dayTo-day the Northumberland sailed for Europe.

This vessel had conveyed us to St. Helena; we had in the course of our voyage maintained a friendly intercourse with the officers; the crew had shewn us great kindness, and we had received attentions from Admiral Cockburn himself, towards whom we entertained more of ill-humour than absolute dislike, and whose conduct, after all, had not been of a nature to wound our feelings. Whether from all these circumstances combined, or some others which had escaped our notice, or whether owing to that powerful and natural inclination which leads us to attach ourselves to our fellow creatures, and to cherish 335social feelings with regard to each other, I know not; but it is certain that we did not feel indifferent to the departure of the Northumberland. It seemed as though we had lost something in thus bidding adieu to our old shipmates.

The Emperor had passed a very bad night; he bathed his feet to relieve a violent head-ache.

About one o’clock he went to take a walk in the garden, having in his hand the first volume of an English work, respecting his own life. He turned it over as he walked about. This work had evidently been written in a less malignant spirit than Goldsmith’s. It certainly exhibited less grossness; but it contained the same inventions, the same false statements, and displayed the same ignorance. The Emperor read the article relative to his childhood, and that period of his early life which he spent at College. The whole was a tissue of misrepresentation; and this led him to remark that I had been very right in suggesting that a narrative of the events of his early career should be prefixed to the campaign of Italy; and he added that what he had just read had fully confirmed him in favour of this idea.

I ought before to have mentioned that, after the dictation of the campaigns of Italy was concluded, and after it had all been arranged in chapters, the Emperor was still undecided as to the manner in which he should form an introduction to it. He had changed his mind frequently on this subject, and had conceived many different ideas, which he by turns abandoned and resumed. Sometimes he was inclined to commence with a few unimportant enterprises in which he had been engaged before the siege of Toulon; such as an expedition to Sardinia, which had failed, &c. At other times he determined to open the subject by describing the first events of the French revolution, the state of Europe and the movements of our armies. I always disapproved these ideas, which, I conceived, would carry him back to too remote a period. He had begun by dictating to me the siege of Toulon, and this I maintained to be the proper point of departure, and the most natural arrangement, since he had not undertaken to write a history, but only 336his private Memoirs. In this grand episode of the history of ages, he ought, I said, to appear all at once on the theatre of the world, and to occupy the fore-ground which he was destined never afterwards to quit. It was my place, as editor, to record, in any introduction which I might think proper to make, all the details of Napoleon’s early life, and of the events anterior to the period to which his own dictations referred. The Emperor approved this idea; and after discussing it one day at dinner, he decided on its adoption. The form that has been given to the campaigns of Italy was determined on by the above considerations, and to this subject the Emperor alluded in his remark just mentioned, respecting the introduction to the campaigns.

At three o’clock, the governor and the new admiral, Sir Pulteney Malcolm, were presented to the Emperor, who, though labouring under indisposition, was nevertheless very gracious and talkative.

Both before and after dinner, the Emperor amused himself by looking over a work on the Russian campaign, written by an officer who had formerly been one of the Viceroy’s aides-de-camp. The Emperor had heard it described as a most odious production; but he has been so accustomed to the attacks of libellers that declamation has but little effect upon him. In works of this kind he looks to facts only; and under this point of view he did not find the publication in question so bad as it had been represented to him. “An historian,” said he, “would select from it only what is good; he would take the facts and omit the declamation, which is only calculated to please fools. The author of this work proves that the Russians themselves burnt Moscow, Smolensko, &c.; he describes the French as having been victorious in every engagement. The facts that are to be found in this work,” continued the Emperor, "have evidently been described for the purpose of being published during my reign, in the period of my power. The declamatory passages have been interpolated since my fall. The author could not easily pervert the ground-work of his subject, though he has interspersed it with abusive remarks after the fashion of the day.

337“As to the disasters of my retreat, I left him nothing to say any more than other libellers. My 29th bulletin plunged them into despair. In their rage they accused me of exaggeration. They were provoked to a pitch of madness. I thus deprived them of an excellent subject, I carried off their prey.”

The Emperor quoted several passages from the works of this and some other French authors, all of whom declaimed against their countrymen, and gave a false picture of their achievements. He could not refrain from observing that it was a circumstance unexampled in history to see a nation strive to depreciate her own glory, to see her own sons thus intent on destroying her trophies. “But from the bosom of France avengers will doubtless arise. Posterity will brand with disgrace the madness of the present day. Can these be Frenchmen,” he exclaimed, “who speak and write in this strain? Are their hearts dead to every spark of patriotism?—But no, they cannot be Frenchmen! They speak our language, it is true; they were born on the same soil with us; but they are not animated by the feelings and principles of Frenchmen!”

PROPHETIC REMARKS.—LORD HOLLAND.—THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES.—CONVERSATION RELATING TO MYSELF.

21st.—The Emperor took a walk in the garden attended by his suite. The conversation turned on the possibility of our returning to Europe and seeing France once more. “My dear friends,” said he, in a tone of sincere feeling, and with an expression which it is impossible to describe, “you will return!”—"Not without you," we all exclaimed with one voice. This led us once more to analyze the probable chances of our quitting St. Helena, and all yielded to the necessity of admitting that our removal could only take place through the intervention of the English. But the Emperor could not imagine how this intervention was likely to be brought about. “The impression is made,” said he; “it has taken too deep a root; they will everlastingly fear me. Pitt told them, There can be no safety for you, with a man who 338has a whole invasion in his single head.” “But,” observed some one present, “suppose new interests should arise in England; suppose a truly constitutional and liberal ministry should be established, would the English government find no advantage in fixing through you, Sire, liberal principles in France, and thereby propagating them throughout Europe?” “Certainly,” replied the Emperor, “I admit all this.” “Well then,” continued the individual who had first spoken, “would not this constitutional administration find a guarantee in these liberal principles and in your own interests?” “I admit this also,” replied the Emperor. "I can suppose Lord Holland, as Prime Minister of England, writing to me at Paris: If you do so and so I shall be ruined; or the Princess Charlotte of Wales, whom we will suppose to have removed me hence, saying to me: If you act thus, I shall be hated and shall be looked upon as the scourge of my country. At these words I should stop short:—they would arrest me in my career more effectually than armies.

“And after all, what is there to fear? That I should wage war? I am now too old for that. Is it feared that I should resume my pursuit of glory? I have enjoyed glory even to satiety. I have wallowed in it; and it may be said to be a thing which I have henceforth rendered at once common and difficult. Is it supposed that I would recommence my conquests? I did not persevere in them through mania; they were the result of a great plan, and I may even say that I was urged to them by necessity. They were reasonable at the moment when I pursued them; but they would now be impossible. They were practicable once; but now it would be madness to attempt them. And besides, the convulsions and misfortunes to which France has been subjected will henceforth produce so many difficulties, that to remove them will be a sufficient source of glory without seeking for any other.”

Two of the gentlemen of the Emperor’s suite had been to the town to see the persons who had newly arrived at the Island, and to hear the news of the day. The account which they delivered on their return occupied the Emperor’s 339attention for some minutes in the garden. About six o’clock he proceeded to his closet, desiring me to follow him; and by chance a conversation was introduced, which to me was in the highest degree interesting and valuable. Though the subject of this conversation relates to myself personally, yet I cannot pass it over in silence; it develops so many characteristic traits of the Emperor, that these would furnish a sufficient apology for my laying it before the reader, were any apology necessary.

The persons who had arrived by the Newcastle had spoken much of my Historical Atlas, which led the Emperor again to remark on the extraordinary celebrity of the work, and to express his surprise that he should not sooner have become thoroughly acquainted with it.

“How happened it,” said he, “that none of your friends should have given me a correct idea of it? I never saw it until I was on board the Northumberland, and now I find it is known to every body. How came you never to call my attention to it yourself? I should have appreciated your merits, and should have made your fortune. I had formed a confused and indifferent idea of your work, which perhaps influenced my mind unfavourably with respect to yourself. Such is the misfortune of Sovereigns; for doubtless no one entertained better intentions than myself. Those who filled posts about my person might easily have brought me to render full justice to the merit of your work; for it was a thing that I could myself judge of, and I asked nothing more. Since I have become acquainted with your tables, and am enabled to form a correct notion of their valuable classification, and the indelible impression which they are calculated to make on the memory, with regard to dates, places, and collateral relations, I regret not having established a kind of Normal School, in which the students should have been uniformly instructed by the help of the Historical Atlas. Our Lyceums would have been inundated with your work, or parts of it, and I would have ensured to it the utmost degree of celebrity. Why, I say again, did you not call my attention to it? It is painful to confess the secret; but it is nevertheless 340true, that a little intrigue is indispensable to those who wish to gain the favour of Sovereigns; modest merit is almost always neglected. But, perhaps, after all, Clarke, Decrès, Montalivet, M. de Montesquiou, or even Barbier, my librarian, might have withheld the hints which you intended they should throw out to me; for it is another mortifying truth, that favours are sometimes more attainable through the medium of the valet-de-chambre than by a higher channel! And how happened it, that your friend Madame de S.... did not speak to me of your work? We frequently rode in the same carriage together; and she might have secured to you all the advantages she could have wished, by describing your real merits to me.”—"Yes, Sire," I replied, “but at that time I....” “I understand you. You did not then perhaps seek favours?” “Sire, my hour had not yet arrived.” Then ensued a very long explanation respecting my first introduction to the Emperor, the missions to which he had appointed me, the opinion which he had formed of me, and which, according to custom, had remained permanently fixed in his mind.

All this time I was standing near the writing-table in the second chamber, while the Emperor walked backward and forward through the whole length of both rooms. The subject of the conversation was to me most interesting. But, to form a just conception of my feelings at this moment, it would be necessary to look back to the time of Napoleon’s power, to that period when no one dared hope to know his thoughts, or ever to suppose the possibility of conversing familiarly and confidentially with him. Such a happy circumstance would then have appeared to me a dream: and now I almost regard it as a conversation in the Elysian Fields.

“I had no correct idea of you,” said the Emperor, "I had no precise knowledge of anything that concerned you. You had no friend near me to commend you to my notice, and you neglected to put yourself forward. Some of those persons on whom perhaps you thought you could rely even acted in a way prejudicial to your interest. I knew nothing of your work; if I had, it would have been a powerful circumstance in your favour. 341I was not aware that you had, like myself, attended the military school at Paris; that would have been another claim to my notice.

“You had been an emigrant, you would therefore never have enjoyed my full confidence. I knew that you had been much attached to the Bourbons; you would therefore never have been initiated in the great secrets of my government.”—"But Sire," I replied, “your Majesty permitted me to approach your person, you made me a Councillor of State, and entrusted me with various missions.”—"That was because I conceived you to be an honest man; and besides, I am not of a distrustful disposition. Without knowing why, I considered you to be a man of pure integrity in all that regarded pecuniary matters. If you had only mentioned a single word to me about your affair of the commercial licenses with P....[——?], I would have instantly rendered you justice. But, I say again, I should never have employed you in any political affair."—"Then, Sire," said I, “what risk did I not run, when in Paris and Holland! The English were then situated with respect to us, as we now are with respect to them, and, influenced by my old connections, I ventured in spite of your regulations to forward their letters, when they appeared to me to contain nothing objectionable. To what danger should I not have been exposed had my conduct led to any accusation on the part of the Minister of Police! And yet I conceived that I was only making a very natural and discretionary use of the powers with which Your Majesty had entrusted me, and the confidence which you had reposed in me. I felt so satisfied in my own conscience, and was so convinced of the propriety of my intentions, that I thought myself exempt from the observance of regulations which seemed not to have been made for me.”—"Well," observed the Emperor, “I could have conceived all this, I should readily have given you credit for such an explanation of your conduct; for no one is more ready to listen to reason than I. This was precisely the manner in which I wished duty to be performed; and yet it is certain that you would have been condemned had your conduct been the 342subject of enquiry, because all would have raised their voices against you. Such was the fatality of circumstances and the misfortune of my situation. Besides, when once I conceived a prejudice, I retained it: this again was the misfortune of my situation and my circumstances. But how could it be otherwise? I had no time for details. I could only take into consideration summaries and abstracts. I was very sure that I might sometimes be deceived; but where was my alternative? Few sovereigns have done better than I.”

“Sire,” said I, “I experienced deep mortification, at finding that your Majesty never addressed a word to me at your Court circles and levees. And yet you never failed to speak of me to my wife when I happened to be absent: I sometimes thought that I was not well known to you, or feared, particularly during later times, that your Majesty had some cause to be displeased with me.”—"By no means," resumed the Emperor; “if I spoke of you when absent, it was because I made it a rule always to speak to ladies about their husbands when the latter were sent on missions. If I neglected you when present, it was because I attached too little value to you. It was the same with many other individuals; you were confounded with the mass, you held only an ordinary rank in my regard. You were permitted to approach me, and yet you did not turn this privilege to good account; you were sent on missions, and yet you neglected to reap the benefit of these appointments on your return home. It is a great fault to keep in the back-ground at court. To my eyes you were in fact a mere blank. Nevertheless, I recollect that I sometimes entertained thoughts of employing you. The person connected with the ministry, on whom you in some measure depended, who declared himself to be your friend, and who had it in his power to serve you, diverted my attention from you, and contributed to keep up my indifference towards you. He knew you well, and perhaps feared you; and it is well known that in all cases I went rapidly to work.”—"Sire," I replied, “my situation was the more painful, since my friends were constantly congratulating me on the favours which I received at Court, and predicting 343the brilliant fortune that awaited me. Reports were continually raised of my having been appointed to all sorts of posts:—sometimes it was asserted that I had been created Maritime Prefect of Brest, Toulon, or Antwerp; that I had been made Minister of the Interior or of the Marine; or that I had received an important trust connected with the education of the King of Rome, &c.”—"Well," said the Emperor, “now that you call the matter to my recollection, some of these reports were not entirely destitute of foundation. I certainly did entertain the idea of employing you to assist in the education of the King of Rome; and I also intended, on your return to Holland, to appoint you to be Maritime Prefect of Toulon, which at that time I regarded as a sort of ministry. There were five-and-twenty ships of the line in the roads, and I wished to augment their number. In this instance, your friend, the Minister, turned my attention from you. You belonged to the old navy, he observed; your prejudices and those of the new officers must inevitably clash together. This appeared to me a decided objection to your appointment, and I thought no more about you; but now, since I have come to know you, I find that you were precisely the man I wanted. I think, too, that I entertained some other ideas respecting your advancement; but I must again repeat that you neglected your own interests. You retreated when you ought to have advanced. Need I tell you that, with the best intentions on my part, the chance against procuring an appointment to an important post was as great as that of winning a prize in the lottery. An idea occurred to me, and I formed my decision; but if that decision were not immediately carried into effect, it escaped my recollection; for I had so much business on my hands. A luckier candidate was then proposed, and he was installed in office.—But I interrupt you....”

“Sire,” continued I, "being ignorant of your Majesty’s kind intentions respecting me, I was placed in a situation truly ridiculous, amidst the numerous congratulations that I received. I endeavoured to extricate myself from all this embarrassment with the best possible grace; 344but the more efforts I made for this purpose, the more I was blamed for my modesty. I never asked your Majesty for more than one thing, and that was the situation of Master of Requests, which was immediately granted to me. Clarke reproached me with having lowered my dignity by making such a solicitation. He said that I should have asked to be made a Councillor of State; and that your Majesty would have granted my request."—"No," replied the Emperor, “I did not know you well enough for that. I should have looked upon such a request as the result of silly ambition.”—" Sire," I observed, “I had sufficient tact to guess what your opinion would be.”—"Well,“ continued the Emperor, that was odd enough. But perhaps Clarke was right after all. The solicitation of the inferior post of Master of Requests might have injured you in my opinion; that is to say, it might have tended to fix you in the rank in which I had classed you. I was very well pleased to see my chamberlains have something to do; but Master of Requests was too trivial a post. It is curious,” continued he, “how my memory revives, now that I am speaking on this subject. You had performed detached services, which had rapidly escaped my recollection, because my attention had never been directed to them. If they had been presented to my notice all in a mass, they must have given me a very different opinion of you. You served as a volunteer at Flushing. I knew this; and what I should have regarded as a mere matter of course in any other individual, forcibly struck me in an emigrant, who had for this purpose quitted his family, and who was not without fortune.”—"Sire, I received the most gratifying reward on my return. Your Majesty spoke to me on the subject."—"But," said he, “you suffered this to be lost in the flood of oblivion. You addressed several written communications to me. All these things occur to my recollection by degrees. You transmitted to me some plans respecting the Adriatic Sea, with which I was much pleased. The suggestion was to get possession of the Adriatic, and to establish a fleet there. Ships could have been built at no vast expense, with the wood produced in the immense forests of Croatia. I submitted the 345whole to the Minister, who never more mentioned the subject to me. But you presented some other things to my notice.”—"Sire, you probably allude to the ideas respecting the system of maritime warfare to be adopted against England, accompanied by an explanatory map."—"Yes, I recollect. The map lay for several days on the desk in my closet. I expressed a wish to see you; but you were absent on a mission."

“Sire, about the same time I had the honour to address to you a plan for transforming the Champ-de-Mars into a Naumachia, which would have been an ornament to the palace of the King of Rome. I proposed that the basin should be dug sufficiently deep to admit the launching of small corvettes, which might have been built, rigged, manned and worked by the pupils of the naval school, which, according to my plan, was to be established at the military school. All the Princes of the Imperial house might have been required to devote themselves to these naval exercises for the space of two years, whatever might have been their ultimate destination. Your Majesty might have induced the distinguished families of the empire thus to procure for their sons a knowledge of naval affairs. I doubted not that all these circumstances combined, and the spectacle presented to the capital, would infallibly have rendered the navy at once popular and national in France.”—"Ah! I was not aware of the extent of your plan," said the Emperor, in whose mind every idea immediately became magnified. “This design would have pleased me. It might have produced immense results. From this plan there was but a step to that of rendering the Seine navigable, and cutting a canal from Paris to the sea. This could not have been regarded as too stupendous an enterprise; for more was done by the Romans in ancient times, and more has already been effected by the Chinese of the present day. It would have afforded a pastime to the army in time of peace. I had conceived many plans of the same kind. But our enemies kept me chained to war. Of what glory have they robbed me!... But continue.”—

"Sire, I also submitted to your Majesty’s consideration 346some ideas respecting the completion of the naval schools."—"Did I adopt them in the schools which I established?" inquired the Emperor. “Did your opinions coincide with mine?” “Sire, the plans for your schools were already determined on; I merely suggested a few hints for their completion.”—"Oh, now I recollect something of the matter. But I think your ideas were a little too democratic; were they not?"—"No, Sire, I set out from the principle that your Majesty had provided for the exclusive competition of the intermediate class, and I proposed to add below it all the chances that might be presented by the competition of seamen; and above it, all the chances that might arise out of the competition of individuals connected with the Court."—"Yes, I recollect," said the Emperor, "your ideas were novel and singular, and they attracted my attention. I submitted the plan to the Minister, who either kept it for his own use, or turned it into ridicule. I also remember that, in the correspondence relative to your mission to Holland, which I ordered to be laid before me, there was mentioned a plan for removing our ships from the German Ocean to the Baltic, by means of canals, which should unite the Elbe, the Oder, and the Vistula. This idea pleased me; it was after my own taste. And on your return, seeing you at my levee, I was about to propose to you some measure for the execution of your plan. But you did not seem to comprehend my questions, or you gave me unsatisfactory and undecided answers. I concluded that the ideas had probably been suggested by some one else, and that you were taking credit for them. I therefore left you, and turned to speak to your neighbour. I was to blame for acting thus precipitately; but I could not help it.

"When I call to mind all these circumstances, I find that I had so many motives for bestowing attention on you, that I am astonished I should have neglected you: and I cannot help thinking that you must have manœuvred admirably, before you could have succeeded in withdrawing yourself so completely from my notice. It is very certain that all these facts have but just now occurred to me: and at the period of our departure, and 347some time afterwards, you were, with the exception of your name and person, a stranger to me. I looked upon you as one of whom I knew nothing. How do you account for this? You cannot perhaps explain it; but it is nevertheless true.

“I ask again, why you did not avail yourself of the good offices of your friends; or why you did not appeal to me in person?”—"Sire, those who enjoyed the privilege of approaching nearest to your person were intent only on advancing their own interests. Their friendship did not extend beyond mere good wishes. To speak a word for another was what they called using their influence; and that was reserved solely for their own advantage. Besides, even though I had had the opportunity of speaking for myself, I should always have preferred others to speak for me. You, Sire, had but little leisure, your arrangements were very uncertain, it was necessary to explain every thing to you in few words. At the same time, I had so little confidence in myself, and was so fearful of creating an unfavourable impression, that I preferred withdrawing myself from your notice. For it was not sufficient to enter into intrigue; it was necessary that the intrigue should be brought to a result."—"Perhaps it was as well after all," said the Emperor. “You have judged the matter rightly; for, even had I known as much of you as I now do, your reserve and timidity would perhaps have ruined you. I now recollect a circumstance, which probably operated to your prejudice. When M. de Montesquiou proposed you as Chamberlain, he represented you as being possessed of vast fortune; but I soon learned the contrary. I do not mean to say that this circumstance was in any way injurious to you, or that it afforded any ground of objection to you personally; but other individuals, who wished to be appointed Chamberlains, complained of not having been preferred on account of their superior fortune, or quoted your example, if they thought themselves neglected on the score of their poverty. This is the way at Court.”

“It appears evident, Sire, that, with my character, I was destined never to be known to your Majesty.”—"Yes,“ 348said the Emperor and it had nearly happened so. But yet, on my return, did I not appoint you a Chamberlain? and their number was very limited. Did I not immediately create you a Councillor of State? You had been a member of the old aristocracy, you had been an emigrant, and you had undergone great trials; all these were powerful recommendations to me. Besides, at that time, so many voices were raised in praise of your conduct that, sooner or later, I must have known you thoroughly.”

ARRIVAL OF THE LIBRARY.—HORNEMANN’S TESTIMONY IN FAVOUR OF GENERAL BONAPARTE.

22nd.—To-day the weather was very bad. The Emperor sent for me about three o’clock. He was in the topographical cabinet, surrounded by all the persons of his suite, who were engaged in unpacking some boxes of books which had arrived by the Newcastle. The Emperor himself helped to unpack, and seemed to be highly amused with the occupation. Men naturally adapt themselves to their circumstances: their enjoyments are trivial in proportion as their sufferings are severe. On seeing the file of Moniteurs, which had been so long expected, he expressed unfeigned delight: he took it up and began eagerly to peruse it.

After dinner the Emperor looked over Park’s and Hornemann’s Travels in Africa, and he traced their course on my Atlas. In these narratives, Hornemann, and the African Society of London, bore ample testimony to the generous assistance they had received from the General-in-chief of the army of Egypt (Napoleon), who had seized every opportunity of promoting their discoveries. The polite and handsome manner in which these facts were mentioned was very gratifying to the Emperor, who had been long accustomed to find his name connected with insulting epithets.

ON MEMORY.—TRADE.—NAPOLEON’S IDEAS AND PLANS ON SEVERAL POINTS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.

23rd.—I attended the Emperor about three o’clock. He had been so delighted at the receipt of his new books 349that he had passed the whole night in reading and dictating notes to Marchand. He was very much fatigued; but my visit afforded him a little respite. He dressed and went out to walk in the garden.

During dinner the Emperor alluded to his immense reading in his youth; and he found, from all the books he had perused relative to Egypt, that he had scarcely any thing to correct in what he had dictated on Egypt: he had stated many facts which he had not read, but which, on reference to these books, he found to be correct.

The conversation turned on the subject of memory. The Emperor remarked that a head without memory was like a garrison without fortifications. His he said was a useful kind of memory. It was not general and absolute; but relative, faithful, and only retentive of what was necessary. Some one present observed that his own memory was like his sight, that it became confused by the distance of places and objects, as he removed from one situation to another; upon which the Emperor replied that, for his part, his memory was like his heart, that it preserved a faithful impression of all that ever had been dear to him.

A-propos of good memory and fond recollections, I must here note down a remark of the Emperor’s, which I omitted to mention at the time it was made. One day at dinner, while describing one of his engagements in Egypt, he named numerically the eight or ten demi-brigades which had been engaged. On hearing this, Madame Bertrand could not refrain from asking how, after so long a time, he could possibly recollect all these numbers. "Madame, this is a lover’s recollection of his former mistresses," was Napoleon’s reply.

After dinner, the Emperor ordered my Atlas to be brought to him, for the purpose of verifying the particulars which he had collected in his books on Africa, and he was astonished to find every thing correspond so accurately.

He then began to converse on trade, and the principles and systems which he had introduced. He opposed the principles of economists, which he said were correct 350in theory, though erroneous in their application. The political constitution of different states, continued he, must render these principles defective; local circumstances continually call for deviations from their uniformity. Duties, he said, which were so severely condemned by political economists, should not, it is true, be an object to the exchequer: they should be the guarantee and protection of a nation, and should correspond with the nature and the objects of its trade. Holland, which is destitute of productions and manufactures, and which has a trade only of transit and commission, should be free from all fetters and barriers. France, on the contrary, which is rich in every sort of production and manufactures, should incessantly guard against the importations of a rival, who might still continue superior to her, and also against the cupidity, egotism, and indifference of mere brokers.

“I have not fallen into the error of modern systematizers,” said the Emperor, "who imagine that all the wisdom of nations is centered in themselves. Experience is the true wisdom of nations. And what does all the reasoning of economists amount to? They incessantly extol the prosperity of England, and hold her up as our model; but the Custom-House system is more burthensome and arbitrary in England than in any other country. They also condemn prohibitions; yet it was England that set the example of prohibitions, and they are in fact necessary with regard to certain objects. Duties cannot adequately supply the place of prohibitions: there will always be found means to defeat the object of the legislator. In France we are still very far behind on these delicate points, which are still unperceived or ill-understood by the mass of society. Yet what advancement have we not made! What correctness of ideas has been introduced by my gradual classification of agriculture, industry, and trade; objects so distinct in themselves, and which present so great and positive a graduation!

"1st.—Agriculture; the soul, the first basis of the empire.

351"2nd.—Industry; the comfort and happiness of the population.

"3rd.—Foreign trade; the superabundance, the proper application of the surplus of agriculture and industry.

"Agriculture was continually improving during the whole course of the Revolution. Foreigners thought it ruined in France. In 1814, however, the English were compelled to admit that we had little or nothing to learn from them.

"Industry or manufactures, and internal trade, made immense progress during my reign. The application of chemistry to the manufactures caused them to advance with giant strides. I gave an impulse, the effects of which extended throughout Europe.

"Foreign trade, which in its results is infinitely inferior to agriculture, was an object of subordinate importance in my mind. Foreign trade is made for agriculture and home industry, and not the two latter for the former. The interests of these three fundamental bases are diverging and frequently conflicting. I always promoted them in their natural gradation; but I could not, and ought not to have ranked them all on an equality. Time will unfold what I have done, the national resources which I created, and the emancipation from the English which I brought about. We have now the secret of the commercial treaty of 1783. France still exclaims against its author; but the English demanded it on pain of resuming the war. They wished to do the same after the treaty of Amiens; but I was then all-powerful; I was a hundred cubits high. I replied that if they were in possession of the heights of Montmartre I would still refuse to sign the treaty. These words were echoed through Europe.

The English will now impose some such treaty on France, at least if popular clamour, and the opposition of the mass of the nation, do not force them to draw back. This thraldom would be an additional disgrace in the eyes of that nation, which is now beginning to acquire a just perception of her own interests.

"When I came to the head of the government, the 352American ships, which were permitted to enter our ports on the score of their neutrality, brought us raw materials, and had the impudence to sail from France without freight, for the purpose of taking in cargoes of English goods in London. They moreover had the insolence to make their payments, when they had any to make, by giving bills on persons in London. Hence the vast profits reaped by the English manufacturers and brokers, entirely to our prejudice. I made a law that no American should import goods to any amount, without immediately exporting their exact equivalent. A loud outcry was raised against this: it was said that I had ruined trade. But what was the consequence? Notwithstanding the closing of my ports, and in spite of the English who ruled the seas, the Americans returned and submitted to my regulations. What might I not have done under more favourable circumstances?

"Thus I naturalized in France the manufacture of cotton, which includes:—

"1st. Spun-cotton.—We did not previously spin it ourselves; the English supplied us with it as a sort of favour.

"2nd. The woven-stuff.—We did not yet make it; it came to us from abroad.

"3rd. The printing.—This was the only part of the manufacture that we performed ourselves. I wished to naturalize the two first branches; and I proposed to the Council of State that their importation should be prohibited. This excited great alarm. I sent for Oberkamp, and I conversed with him a long time. I learned from him that this prohibition would doubtless produce a shock, but that, after a year or two of perseverance, it would prove a triumph, from which we should derive immense advantages. Then I issued my decree in spite of all; this was a true piece of statesmanship.

"I at first confined myself merely to prohibiting wove-cottons; then I extended the prohibition to spun cotton; and we now possess within ourselves the three branches of the cotton manufacture, to the great benefit of our population, and the injury and regret of the English:—which proves that, in civil government as well as in war, 353decision of character is often indispensable to success. I offered a million of francs as a reward for the discovery of a method of spinning flax like cotton, and this discovery would undoubtedly have been made,^[24] but for our unfortunate circumstances. I should then have prohibited cotton, if I could not have naturalized it on the continent.

"The encouragement of the production of silk was an object that equally claimed my attention. As Emperor of France and King of Italy I calculated on receiving an annual revenue of 120 millions from the production of silk.

"The system of commercial licenses was no doubt mischievous! Heaven forbid that I should have laid it down as a principle. It was the invention of the English; with me it was only a momentary resource. Even the continental system, in its extent and rigour, was by me regarded merely as a measure occasioned by the war and temporary circumstances.

“The difficulties, and even the total stagnation, of foreign trade during my reign arose out of the force of circumstances and the accidents of the time. One brief interval of peace would immediately have restored it to its natural level.”

ARTILLERY.—ITS USE.—ITS DEFECTS.—OLD SCHOOLS.

24th.—The Emperor informed us that he had spent full four-and-twenty hours in reading the Moniteur on the subject of the Constituent Assembly. He said that he had found these accounts as amusing as a romance; they mark the first rise of those men who had, at a later period, played so distinguished a part. However, he said, it was necessary to have an idea of the external springs of action, otherwise the reports of the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly lost much of their interest, and were frequently unintelligible. The spirit of the first moments, the first interests, of the Revolution remained entirely hidden.

After dinner the Emperor conversed on the subject of 354Artillery. He had wished for more uniformity and less of subdivision in the pieces. The general was often unable to judge of the best mode of employing them, and nothing could be superior to the advantages of uniformity in all the instruments and accessoriesaccessories of war.

The Emperor observed that in general the artillery did not fire sufficiently in a battle. The principal consideration in war is that there should be no want of ammunition. When there is an actual scarcity, of course, that forms an exception; but, in every other case, it is necessary to fire incessantly. The Emperor, who had himself often been nearly killed by spent balls, and who knew how important such an event would have been to the fate of the battle or the campaign, maintained the propriety of firing continually, without calculating expense. Moreover, he said, that if he wished to avoid the post of danger, he would station himself at the distance of 300 toises, rather than at 600. At the first-mentioned point, the balls frequently pass over the head; but at the latter they must fall somewhere or other.

He remarked, that it was impossible to make artillery fire on masses of infantry, when they were themselves assailed by an opposite battery. This arises from natural cowardice, said he, good-humouredly, from the irresistible instinct of self-preservation. An artillery-officer who was among us protested against this observation.—"It is nevertheless true," continued the Emperor; “you immediately stand on your guard against the enemy who attacks you. You seek to destroy him, lest he should destroy you. You often desist from firing, that he may cease to harass you, and direct his charge against the masses of infantry, who are of much greater importance to the fate of the battle.”

The Emperor frequently adverted to the corps of artillery, in which he had served in his youth. He said that it was the best constituted corps in Europe. It was a sort of family service. The officers were quite of a paternal turn, the bravest and worthiest men in the world, pure as gold. They were somewhat too far advanced in life, because the peace had continued too long. The young men laughed at them, because sarcasm and 355irony were the fashion of the day; but they adored them, and never failed to render justice to their merits.^[25]

25th.—We have received the third and last package of books brought by the frigate. The Emperor has greatly fatigued himself by assisting to unpack and arrange them.

About three o’clock, several persons were presented to the Emperor; among others, the Admiral and his lady. The Emperor was indisposed, and he dined in his own chamber, attended by the Grand Marshal.

CAMPAIGN OF ITALY.—THE EMPEROR’S OPINION OF GENERAL

DROUOT.—ON THE BATTLE OF HOHENLINDEN.

26th.—The Emperor sent for me and my son, and set us to look over the Moniteur, for the purpose of comparing and completing the manuscript of the Campaigns of Italy.

The Emperor, though he had announced his intention of doing so, had not yet resumed his dictations, and I rejoiced at a circumstance which promised at length to excite renewed interest.

Our business was to select from the Moniteur all the reports and official letters, for the purpose of vouchers. The Emperor wished them to be properly classed, and desired us to make an estimate of their extent, in order that he might be able to calculate at once the space they would occupy when printed, reminding me at the same time that these were henceforth my own affairs; that I should only be serving myself for the future. Delightful words, to which the tone of his voice, his familiar air, and his whole expression, imparted even more value than was conveyed in their meaning!

To-day, during dinner, the Emperor again reviewed the character of his Generals. He passed an eulogium on several of them, the greater number of whom are now 356no more. He bestowed the highest praise on the talents of General Drouot. Every thing in life is a problem, said he; it is only by what is known that we can come at what is unknown. He observed that he knew to a certainty that General Drouot possessed every quality necessary to make a great General. He had sufficient reasons for supposing him superior to many of his Marshals. He had no hesitation in believing him capable of commanding 100,000 men. “And perhaps,” added he, “he was far from thinking so himself, which, after all, can only be regarded as an additional good quality.”

He again alluded to the prodigious valour of Murat and Ney, whose courage, he said, so often outstripped their judgment. Such is the enigma, said he, of certain actions in certain individuals: the inequality between disposition and understanding explains all.

The conversation turned on the battle of Hohenlinden. The Emperor remarked that “it was one of those great triumphs that are brought about by chance, and obtained without plan. Moreau, he repeated, was destitute of invention; he was not sufficiently decided; and, therefore, he was most fit to be employed on the defensive. Hohenlinden was a confused sort of affair; the enemy had been unexpectedly attacked amidst his own operations, and was conquered by troops whom he had already broken and nearly destroyed. The merit rested chiefly with the troops and generals of the partial corps, who had been most exposed to danger, and who had fought like heroes.”

When speaking of the campaigns of Italy, we observed to the Emperor that the rapid succession of his daily victories, which filled the mouth of fame, must have been a source of great delight to him.—"By no means," replied he. “At least they were supposed to have been so by those who were at a distance from the scene of conflict.”—"That may be; those who were at a distance knew only our success; they knew nothing of our situation. If those victories could have procured me pleasure, I should have enjoyed repose. But I had always the aspect of danger before me, and the victory 357of to-day was speedily forgotten through the obligation of gaining another to-morrow."

I recollect having heard a distinguished General (Lamarque) deliver a very characteristic opinion of Moreau. Lamarque had been much attached to Moreau, and had for a long time served under him. He was endeavouring to make me understand the different tactics of Moreau and Napoleon. He said:—"Had their two armies been in presence, and there had been sufficient time to move, I would have entered the ranks of Moreau, which were sure to be managed with the utmost regularity, precision, and calculation. On these points, it was impossible to excel, or even to equal, Moreau. But if the two armies had to approach from points a hundred leagues distant from each other, the Emperor would have routed his adversary three, four, or five times over, before the latter could have had time to look about him."

ANNOYANCE FROM RATS.—LORD CASTLEREAGH’S IMPOSTURES.—FRENCH HEIRESSES.

Thursday, 27th.—We had nearly gone without our breakfast: an incursion of the rats, which had entered our kitchen from several points, during the night, had deprived us of every thing eatable. We are much infested with these vermin; they are of enormous size, and very daring and mischievous; it took them very little time to penetrate our walls and floors. Attracted by the smell of the victuals, they even made their way into our drawing-room whilst we were at dinner. We were several times obliged to give them battle after the dessert; and one evening, when the Emperor wished to retire, and his hat was handed to him, a rat of the largest size jumped out of it. Our grooms had tried to rear some poultry, but they were compelled to abandon the attempt, because the rats devoured all the fowls. They would even seize them in the night on their perches.

The Emperor was this day translating some review or journal, in which it was mentioned that Lord Castlereagh had asserted at a public meeting that Napoleon, 358even since his fall, had not hesitated to declare that, so long as he should have reigned, he would have continued to make war against England, having never had any object but that of her destruction.

The Emperor could not help feeling provoked by these words. “Lord Castlereagh,” said he, with indignation, “must be much accustomed to lying, and must place great dependence on the credulity of his auditors. Can their own good sense allow them to believe that I could ever make such a foolish speech, even if I had had such intentions!”

It was afterwards stated that Lord Castlereagh had said, in parliament, that the reason why the French army was so much attached to Bonaparte was that he made a kind of conscription of all the heiresses of the empire, and then distributed them amongst his generals. “Here again,” observed the Emperor, “Lord Castlereagh tells a wilful falsehood. He came amongst us; he had an opportunity of seeing our manners and laws, and of knowing the truth; he must be certain that such a thing was quite impracticable and out of my power. What does he take our nation for? The French were never capable of submitting to such tyranny. I have, no doubt, made a great number of matches; and I would gladly have made thousands more; it was one of the most effectual methods of amalgamating and uniting irreconcileable factions. If I had had more time to myself, I would have taken great pains to extend these unions to the provinces, and even to the Confederation of the Rhine, in order to strengthen the connection of those distant portions of the empire with France; but in such proceedings, I exerted only my influence, and never my authority. Lord Castlereagh disregards such distinctions; it is important to his policy to render me odious; he is not scrupulous about the means; he does not shrink from any calumny; he has every advantage over me. I am in chains; he has taken all possible precautions for keeping my mouth shut, and preventing the possibility of my making any reply, and I am a thousand leagues from the scene of action; his position is commanding; nothing stands in his way. But certainly 359this conduct is the ne plus ultra of impudence, baseness, and cowardice.”

I shall now introduce an instance which may serve to prove the truth of the foregoing assertion of Napoleon with respect to French heiresses. I had the account from the lips of the person chiefly interested.

M. d’Aligre had a daughter who was heiress to immense property: the Emperor conceived the idea of marrying her to M. de Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza, for whom he had such a particular regard that he was looked upon as a kind of favourite. His personal qualities, not less than his high official employment, rendered him one of the first personages in the empire. The Emperor, therefore, never imagined that there could be the slightest impediment to this union. He sent for M. d’Aligre, who often came to Court, and made his request; but M. d’Aligre had other views, and declined the alliance. Napoleon urged it in every possible way, but M. d’Aligre remained immoveable. From his manner of relating the affair to me, it was evident that he thought he had shewn great courage, and, in fact, he deserved the credit of having done so, for he imagined, like all of us, that it was very dangerous to thwart the Emperor’s inclinations. We were, however, all mistaken; we did not know Napoleon. I am now convinced that the justice due to individuals, and to family rights in particular, are sacred to him; and I never heard that M. d’Aligre suffered any inconvenience whatever through his refusal.

After dinner, the Emperor tried some of Pigault Le Brun’s romances and others of the same kind, but in vain: after turning over a few pages of each, he rejected them all, saying that they were all in very bad taste.

THE GOVERNOR’S STATEMENTS RESPECTING THE EXPENSES AT LONGWOOD, &C.

Friday, 28th.—Towards one o’clock, the Emperor sent for me and my son. We carried him the first chapter of the Campaigns of Italy, with our last work completing it. He detained us until almost six o’clock.

360The Governor had paid a visit to the Grand Marshal, and in a vague manner given him reason to expect some reductions at Longwood. He had stated, with some simplicity, that it had been expected at London that the permission which had been offered us to return to Europe would have greatly diminished the Emperor’s domestic circle. He had also said, without being well understood by the Grand Marshal, that, if we had any private property, we might avail ourselves of our own money, by drawing upon our own funds, as I had already done. His government, he said, had never intended to allow the Emperor more than a table for four persons daily at most, and company to dine once a-week. What a statement! Is it possible that he meant to insinuate that, with respect to us, we ought to pay for our maintenance, and contribute, for the future, to the expenses of the establishment? Let it not be thought incredible: we daily learn here to believe that there is nothing impossible.

The Emperor, afterwards, reverting to a book which he had been reading, and in which there was a story of an Irish lady, respecting whom Goldsmith had abused him violently, recollected well, he said, that, being at Bayonne at the chateau de Marrach, when the city of Bourdeaux gave him a fête, he saw, by the side of the Empress Josephine, a charming face of the most perfect beauty, with which he was forcibly struck. The impression she had made did not pass unperceived. It had been anticipated and brought about designedly. “God knows,” said the Emperor, “with what intention. She was a Miss ——, afterwards Madame ——, a new reader to the Empress Josephine, whom she attended to the chateau de Marrach, and might very possibly have had great success. She already occupied my thoughts, when M. de Lavalette, who was at the head of the secret department of the post-office, destroyed the charm. He sent, direct to me, a letter addressed to this young lady. It was from her mother, or her aunt, an Irishwoman, and contained minute directions for the part she was to play, and particularly urged her by all means to contrive to secure such a living pledge as might prolong her empire, 361or at least secure her great influence. On reading this,” said the Emperor, “all illusion vanished. The coarseness of the intrigue, the turpitude of the details, the style, the hand which had written the letter; but, above all, her being a foreigner, produced immediate disgust; and the pretty little Irish girl was, in fact, as Goldsmith says, put into a post-chaise and suddenly packed off to Paris. And here I find,” continued Napoleon, “a libel imputing this to me as a crime, when, in fact, it was much rather a virtue in me; an act of continence, of which I might, perhaps, boast with much more reason than the famous Scipio. But this is the way in which history is written.”