Art. IX. Letters from St Helena. By William Warden, 
Surgeon on Board the Northumberland. 8vo. London, 
1816. 

HPhis is a short and amusing little book, full of entertaining 
-*- gossip and chit-chat, exempt from baseness, and un- 
tainted with malignity. The author, a Navy surgeon by pro- 
fession, who seems to have passed the greater part of his life 
on board of ship, happened to serve, in his medical capacity, 
in the Northumberland, at the time when Napoleon Bonaparte 
was transferred to that vessel from the Bellerophon, in order to 
be conveyed to his prison of St Helena. When this accident 
brought Mr Warden unexpectedly in contact with the Ex- 
emperor of the French, he appears to have entertained against 
that extraordinary personage, all the common prepossessions so 
industriously diffused in England, and so generally imbibed by 
persons of his situation in life. That Napoleon had adminis- 



tered poison : v A :;. md that he had employed 

assassins to m;: ::ie^ru an n Wright, were points 

of which the S _ x - .-land wa> • ■ _ - 

ed, as of the rv in cvsertery. or, as 

he hims< the truth oi Holy Writ itseii. But 

ng on tern - 
intirc - ere x .-::•: 

them _ opinion he had formed 

: their unfortu- 
- _ - - - . - .- . an 

to his person, made a c 
bis mix - be object cf 

so much regard ar lot be ' the brutal mon- 

' he had heard des An 

. " an ' i 

a bt be drea loved and 

begun by the companions > i ] .eon"s 

ed by himself. Hi« . I good hu 

and unv _- and equanimirv under 

■ aich no mind of ordinarv cjth cou'd bear, 

' - - --, and eager but rational curiosity, and 

that fascination of marner, which all who hav .ched 

- . . him, 

made . . quest of Mr War- 

n from his b : - 
ses. S 
L _ of the party at 

era, j band to b - :sion, and sent him 

back . 

and aealoos I . from the unjust aspe. 

■ 
Ac: Mr Warden 

had kc 2 the occurrences during his 

- vations on Napo- 

.. • . z notes s he 

and t is ct hi- . : the time 

they I - - b he 

-ion of his friends, 
We heartily approve of 
! sfa ban east 

original simplicity, without comment 
..id prob.. 
■ n- at ttt 
xnent. h d his book \ery enter- 

. - jimead it to our readers, as one 



IS 16. Kapoleon Bonaparte 461 

of the few works on Napoleon, that is neither sullied by adula- 
tion, nor disgraced by scurrility ; neither disfigured by a blind 
admirai : on of his defects, nor polluted by a base and malignant 
anxiety to blacken and defame a fallen man. 

But favourably as we think, on the whole, of Mr Warden's 
performance, we cannot but lament, that one, who had such 
opportunities of conversing with Napoleon, on the most re- 
markable events of his life, was not better prepared to derive 
advantage from such communications, by a more accurate ac- 
quaintance with the history and chronology of his own times. 
We are far from imputing any blame to Mr Warden for his 
deficiencies in this respect. In his situation, it wa* not to be 
expected, that he should have the history of Europe so fresh 
in his recollection, as to enable him to cross-question Napoleon, 
pi the numerous and important topicks that formed the subject 
of their conversations. We suspect also that, previous to this 
voyage, Mr Warden's opportunities of conversing in French 
bad not been frequent ; and that, in some of his most interest- 
ing communications with Napoleon, he was compelled to have 
the aid of an interpreter. From these two causes conjoined, 
we must seek an explanation of some errors and inaccuracies 
that occur in his historical statement-, of which cavillers will no 
doubt avail themselves, to throw a general discredit upon his 
book. He tells us. for instance, on the authority of the follow- 
ers of Napoleon, that Talieyrand approved of the Spanish war. 
He ought to have said, that Talleyrand first suggested to Na- 
poleon the expulsion of the Bourbons from Spain ; and he 
should have added, that though Talleyrand suggested this mea- 
sure, he disapproved of the plan which Napoieon adopted for 
its execution, because he thought it one that could not suc- 
ceed, — a greater proof, it must be owned, of his sagacity, than 
of his attachment to the House of Bourbon. In another part 
of his book, Mr W arden relates a conversation with N 
about the death of Captain Wright, which implies that Cap* 
£ain Wright died in the Temple, while the trials or Pi?hejru» 
Moreau and Georges, were still depending. Bu: e 
Wright, if we are rot mistaken, was no: made prisoner till 
after the death of Pichegru ; and his death is not said to have 
taken place tiil after the surrender of Uim. Mistakes of this 
nature certainly detract from the value of Mr Warden's histo- 
rical recollections ; but his descriptions of Napoleon's personal 
conduct and manners are not affected by his blunders in chro- 
nology ; and there is an air of plainness and sincerity in his ac- 
count of what he saw and heard, that recommends it strongl? 
to the confidence of his readers. 



462 Nkpolemi Bonaparte. Dec. 

As a specimen of the graphical powers of Mr Warden, we 
shall lake the following account of one of his interviews with 
^Napoleon at Longwood. 

' On entering the room, I observed the back of a sofa turned to-r 
wards me; and, on advancing, I saw Napoleon lying at full length 
on it, with his left arm hanging over the upper part. The glare of 
light was excluded by a Venetian blind ; and before him there was 
a table covered with books. I could distinguish among them some 
zfine bound volumes on the French Revolution. The heat of the day 
3iad occasioned him to dismantle himself of his coat and waistcoat. 
The moment his eye met mine, he started up and exclaimed, in 
English, in a tone of goodhuraoured vivacity, ' Ah ! Warden ; how 
do you do ? ' I bowed in return ; when he stretched out his hand, 
saying, ' I have got a fever. ' I immediately applied my hand to 
the wrist, and observing, both from the regularity of the pulsation 
and the jocular expression of his countenance, that he was exercis- 
ing a little of his pleasantry ; I expressed my wish that his health 
might always remain the same. He then gave me a familiar tap on 
the cheek, with the back of his hand ; and desired me to go into 
the middle of the room, as he had something to say to me. 1 now 
•congratulated him on the preservation of his health ; and compli- 
mented him, at the same time, on the progress he appeared to have 
jpade in the English language. ' I certainly enjoy, he said, a very 
good state of health, which I attribute to a rigorous observance of 
regimen. My appetite is such, that I feel as if I could eat at an}' 
time of the day ; but I am regular in my meals ; and aiways leave 
off eating with an appetite ; besides, I never, as you know, drink 
strong wines. — With respect to the English language, he continued, 
I have been very diligent: I now read your newspapers with ease ; 
and must own, that they afford me no inconsiderable amusement. 
They are occasionally inconsistent, and sometimes abusive. — In one 
paper I am called a liar, in another a tyrant, in a third a monster, 
and in one of them, which I really did not expect, I am described 
as a coward: but it turned out, after all, that the writer did not ac- 
cuse me of avoiding danger in the field of battle, or flying from an 
enemy, or fearing to look at the menaces of fate and fortune ; it did 
not charge me with wanting presence of mind in the hurry of battle, 
and in the suspense of conflicting armies : — no such thing. I want- 
ed courage, it seems, because I did not coolly take a dose of poison, 
or throw myself into the sea, or blow out my brains. The editor 
Stnost certainly misunderstands me : I have, at least, too much cou- 
rage for that. ' (p. 133.) On another occasion, he expressed him- 
self on suicide in the following terms. ' Suicide is a crime the most 
revolting to my feelings ; nor does any reason suggest itself to my 
understanding by which it can be justified. It certainly originates 
in that species of fear which we denominate poltronerie. For what 
claim can that man have to courage who trembles at the frowns of 
fortune ? — True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life? 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. 463 

in whatever shape they may challenge him to the combat.' — . 
p. 58. 

We have heard that he had a similar conversation on suicide 
with one of his generals at Fontainebleau, alter his first abdi- 
cation of the empire, in which he expressed the same sentiments, 
and concluded with these words — ' aussi je ne suis pas tout a. 
fait etranjrer aux senttoiens rcligieux. ' 

Wb^n the Northumberland caoie in sight of the frightful 
rock of St Helena, the attendants of Napoleon assembled on 
th? deck, to contemplate their future prison, and were variously 
affected by the spectacle* Napoleon himself did not leave his 
cabin for an hour after the ship had anchored in the bay. He 
then ascended the poop, and stood there, with his glass in hand, 
examining the numerous cannon that bristled in his view. * I 
observed him, ' says Mr Warden, ' with the utmost atten- 
tion, as I stood beside him for near half an hour ; and could 
not discover, in his countenance, the least symptom of strong 
or particular emotion. ' Mr Warden takes this opportunity 
of remarking, that during the whole voyage from England to 
St Helena, he * never saw any change in the placid countenance 
and unassuming manner of their distinguished shipmate ; nor 
did he hear of a discontented look, or a peevish expression, 
being remarked by any other person in the ship.' (p. 101.) 
The only occasion, indeed, on which Napoleon appears to have 
betrayed a momentary feeling of irritation, was in consequence 
of Sir Hudson Lowe having invited him, for the first time, to 
dine at the Plantation- house, on the arrival of the Countess of 
Loudon in the island. On Bertrand inquiring, * what answer 
it was his Majesty's pleasure he should return to this invita- 
tion ? ' Napoleon replied, ' Say, the Emperor gave no an- 
swer. ' And when Mr Warden alluded to the disappoint- 
ment of the people of the town, who had expected to see him 
pass by as he went to dinner, he exclaimed with some impa- 
tience, * What, go to dinner with a file of soldiers to guard me.' 
In a few minutes, however, says Mr Warden, he resumed his 
usual cool manner, and continued the subject. * After all, he 
said, they could not expect me to accept the invitation. The 
distance is considerable, and the hour unseasonable ; and I 
have almost relinquished the idea of exceeding my chain, ac- 
companied, as I must be, by an officer. ' Some days after- 
wards, when he had heard that the Countess of Loudon had 
left the island, disappointed at not having seen him, he observ- 
ed, had the Countess of Loudon expressed herself fatigued by 
the voyage, or had she been indisposed from any other cause, 
J. should have been happy to have waited on her.' (p. 175,) 



464 Napoleon Honaparte. Dec 

Nothing appears at this time to have given him so much an- 
noyance as the necessity of having an officer by his side, when- 
ever he mounted on horseback. Mr Warden having observed 
to him, ' that, considering the active life he had led, it did not 
appear that he took sufficient exercise to preserve himself in a 
right state of health ; ' he replied, ' My rides, indeed, are too 
confined ; but the being accompanied by an officer is so disa- 
greeable to me, that I must be content to suffer the consequences 
of abridging them. You know, continued he, the island of St 
Helena, and must be sensible that a sentinel, placed on either 
of these hills, can command the sight of me from the moment I 
quit this house till I return to it. If an officer or soldier, placed 
on that height, will not satisfy your Governor, why not place 
ten, twenty— a troop of dragoons. Let them never lose sight 
of me; only keep an officer from my side.' (p. 171.) This 
small indulgence to a patient but indignant spirit, might, we 
think, have been granted by one soldier to another. The fo- 
reign Commissioners had not yet reached St Helena, whose 
presence in the island may justly have alarmed Sir Hudson, in 
more ways than one, for the safety of his prisoner. 

At the Briars, a house midway up the mountain, belonging 
to Mr Balcombe, a merchant of the island, Napoleon took up 
his residence, at the request of the master of the mansion, while 
the house at Longwood was preparing for his reception. There 
happened to be a small Gothic building, about fifty yards from 
the house, having one small room below and two small apart- 
ments above, which was fitted up for his habitation. There 
was no choice in the arrangement of this confined abode: the 
ground floor was occupied by him, while De Laze Caze, with 
Ins son, who was a page, and the valet in waiting, were to pos- 
sess the upper story, (p. 104.) Mr Warden, while visiting Mir 
Balcombe, accidentally met Napoleon, while in this situation. 
Taking a walk before dinner, he * met Napoleon cluttering 
down from among the rocks in his heavy military boots. He 
accosted me, says Mr Warden, with an apparent mixture 
of satisfaction and surprise ; and reproached me in terms of 
great civility for my long absence. There was a rough deal 
board placed as a seat between two stones, on which, after 
having brushed away the dust with his hands, he set himself 
down, and desired me to take my place by him. On all sides 
of the spot where we were seated, rocks were piled on rocks 
to the height of a thousand feet above our heads, while there 
was an abyss of equal depth at our feet. Nature seems, in a 
sportive mood, to have afforded this level space for a semi- aerial 
dwelling ; and while I was gazing with some astonishment ori, 



1816. Napoleo?i Bonaparte. 4G.3 

the barren wonders of the scene around me — c Well, said 
Napoleon with a smile, what say you to it ? — and can you 
think that your countrymen have treated me kindly ? ' His 
conversation then turned on the state and character of the isl- 
and, of which, books, he said, had given a very partial repre- 
sentation ; and on this, as on every other occasion, he was easy, 
goodhumoured and familiar, without the least apparent recol- 
lection of his former greatness •, and whenever the subject would 
admit of it, he never failed to give an air of cheerfulness to his 
remarks. He inquired after the officers of the Northumber- 
land, whose names he endeavoured to recollect, and expressed 
a wish to see them in their way to Longwood, where they were 
employed in superintending the completion of his house ; * if, 
said he, they will be contented to visit me, as you do now, in 
the fields — as my present habitation, which serves me for break- 
fast, dinner and bed-room, is not precisely calculated to receive 
company. ' Napoleon, continues Mr Warden, frequently makes 
one of Mr Balcombe's family parties, where he is neither trouble- 
some nor intrusive, but conducts himself with the manners of a 
gentleman, and a lively demeanour that promotes the general 
vivacity of the domestic circle.' (p. 109.) 

The account that Mr Warden gives of the appearance and 
habits of Napoleon, is striking and descriptive. 

' His forehead is thinly covered with dark hair, as well as the top 
of his head, which is large, and has a singular flatness. What hair 
he has behind is bushy ; and I could not discern the slightest mix- 
ture of white in it. His eyes, which are grey, are in continual mo- 
tion, and hurry rapidly to the various objects around him. His 
teeth are regular and good ; his neck is short, but his shoulders 
of the finest proportion. The rest of his figure, though blended 
with the Dutch fulness, is of a very handsome form. His face 
is uncommon ; large, full and pale, but not sickly. In conver- 
sation, the muscles suffer little or no exertion ; with the exception of 
those in the immediate vicinity of the mouth, the whole seem fixed, 
and the forehead particularly smooth. That of a Frenchman is ge- 
nerally wrinkled, from the habitual muscular exertion of the counte- 
nance, which we call grimace ; but however earnest Napoleon may 
be in conversation, he discovers no distortion of feature. When he 
wishes to enforce a question, he sometimes employs his hand, but 
that alone. He sometimes smiles, but I believe he seldom laughs. ' 

The only occasion, indeed, where Mr Warden appears to 
have seen him laugh, was on hearing a story about the Abbe de 
Pradt, whose ridiculous self-sufficiency * brought his risible facul- 
ties into complete exertion. ' The composure of his manner 
dissatisfied Mr Warden, who complained of it to Bertrand j 
and wished to know, whether he discovered, at any time, the 



465> Napoleon Bonaparte. Red 

feelings of affection and tenderness. * Be assured he does, ' re- 
plied Bertrand. ' He is not without a heart, in your sense of the 
expression; but he does not, cannot, will not make a parade of 
it. ' When Mr Warden mentioned the arrival of news of the 
trial and sentence of Marshal Ney, Napoleon advanced a step 
nearer to him, but without the- least change of countenance. 
* What, said he, Marshal Ney has been sentenced to be shot?' 
The particulars of the trial were then related bo him, but he 
made no comment on them. One solitary expression only e- 
scaped him ; and that was, ' Marshal Ney was a brave man. ' 

We have preferred these extracts as a specimen of Mr War- 
den's book, though to some of our readers they may appear 
trifling, because they relate to particulars that fell under his im- 
mediate observation, and depend neither on the accuracy of his 
historical reminiscences, nor on the truth of the information 
communicated to him by others. The remaining space we have 
allotted to the present article, we shall employ in a short and ge- 
neral review of the public and political life of Napoleon, with 
such facts and anecdotes interspersed, as have been furnished to 
us, on good authority, from persons familiarly connected with 
him at different periods of his fortune, or obtained from some 
of our countrymen, who saw and conversed with him during his 
residence in the Isle of Elba, 

Napoleon Bonaparte is the son of Charles Bonaparte and 
Letitia Ramolini. His father, who was a man of talents, served 
under Paoli; and, after the submission of Corsica to the French, 
he was more than once deputy of the Noblesse. The family was 
originally Tuscan, and had been settled for many centuries at 
San Miniato. In Mazzuchelli, mention is made of several Bo- 
napartes of San Miniato, who had distinguished themselves in 
the republick of letters; and, so late as 1796, one of the family 
still survived, a Chevalier de St Etienne, rich and respectable, 
who claimed, and was proud to acknowledge his relationship 
with the young conqueror of Italy. At the height of Napoleon's 
fortune, there were flatterers, who found or fabricated proofs of 
his descent from the antient princes or tyrants of Treviso. But 
there was probably as little foundation for this genealogy, as for 
the miserable impostures of the Emigrants, who represented him 
as sprung from the lowest dregs of the people. His eldest sister 
was educated at Saint Cyr; which fact alone, independent of 
the place held by his father in the deputation of Corsica, would 
he proof sufficient that his family belonged to the antient order 
of Noblesse. The name of Napoleon, by which he was chris- 
tened, is common in Italy. It was one of the family names of 
the Orsini, and was introduced into the family of Bonaparte by 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. 4S-T 

an alliance contracted with the house of Lomellini in the lGtht 
century. * For these unimportant details, we are conscious we 
owe an apology to our readers. No persons can have more 
contempt than ourselves for such frivolous discussions, — the u- 
sual, and, in more cases, the sole materials of family history. 
But, on this occasion, such pitiful arts have been used to distort 
the truth, that, when the opportunity offered, we could not re- 
sist the temptation of exposing ignorance, and detecting malig- 
nity. 

At an early a^e, Napoleon was sent to the Military College 
of Briennes, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency 
in mathematicks, and his love of reading, but gave offence to 
his instructors, by his obstinacy in refusing to learn Latin by 
the usual routine. He would neither get the rules of grammar 
by heart, nor commit verses to memory; nor compose nor speak 
in Latin. As a punishment for this perverseness, he was de- 
tained a year or two longer than usual in that seminary, but 
was at length admitted into the ecole militaire; and, at the age 
of 15 or 16, he obtained his first commission in the army. In 
the year 1785, he lost his father, who died at Montpelier: but 
that misfortune was in a great measure repaired by the kindness 
and care of his great- uncle Lucian, archdeacon of Ajaccio, a 
man of excellent character, and distinguished talent for obser- 
vation, who is said to have early discerned the extraordinary 
parts, and prognosticated the future rise of Napoleon. This 
venerable old man died in 1791, at the age of 73. 

For some years after his admission into the army, Napoleon 
appears to have divided his time between garrison-duty with 
his regiment and residence on furlough with his family in Cor- 
sica. He composed at this period a History of Corsica, and 
sent it to the Abbe Raynal, then residing at Marseilles, who 
received this juvenile performance with approbation, and ad- 
vised him to publish it, saying it was a work that would last. 
He afterwards cast it into the iorm of a Memorial for the Go- 
vernment ; but public events followed so rapidly, that it was 
never printed, and is now probably lost. In 1790, he con- 
ducted his sister home from Saint Cyr; and on the quay of 
Toulon, had a narrow escape from the mob, who assailed them 
with cries of a has les aristocrats, a bas la cocarde noire. Per- 



* The following passage, from Sansovino's history of the Casa 
Orsina, may, perhaps, amuse some of our readers. ' Ma molti piu 
furono i Napoleoni, perche in tutti i tempi gli orecchi Italiani, o 
nella pace o nella guerra, udirono q.uesta nobilissima voce in nomini 
segnalati. ' Lib. II. p. 20. 



468 Napoleon Bofiapa? It. Decv 

ceiving it was a black ribband in bis sister's bonnet, which 
these worthy patriots mistook for a black cockade, he instantly 
tore it off, and threw it into the sea. In 1791, he was promot- 
ed to be captain of artillery in the regiment of Grenoble, and 
was quartered at Valence in Dauphiny. In the winter of the 
same year, he returned to Corsica, and was there employed in 
raising and forming a regiment of volunteers, of which he was 
allowed to take the command, without resigning his commis- 
sion in the regular service. While occupied in this duty, he 
had occasion to display his coolness and courage, in an affray 
between his regiment and the national guard of Ajaccio, which 
caused some bloodshed, and produced much disturbance in the 
town : And on the breaking out of the war with Sardinia, he 
gave the first specimen of his military enterprise, by taking 
possession of the small isles that lie between Corsica and Sardi- 
nia. He was about this time intimately connected with the ce- 
lebrated Paoli, and with Pozzo di Borgo, a young Corsican of 
talents and ambition, with whom he has been ever since on 
terms of the bitterest animosity. What was the real ground 
of difference between these associates, we cannot inform, our 
readers with any certainty. The friends of Napoleon pretend,' 
that, suspecting from the orders of Paoli, it was the intention 
of that veteran to revolt against France, he remonstrated strong- 
ly against the design ; in consequence of which, he was arrest- 
ed, and committed to prison. Escaping from his confinement, 
lie fled to the mountains, and was there seized by some peas- 
ants of the opposite party, and brought back to Pozzo di Bor- 
go, who determined to rid himself of a troublesome rival, by 
delivering him up to the English. This resolution, which might 
have consigned Napoleon to a jail for years, was frustrated by 
the corruption or compassion of his guards, who connived at 
his escape from prison, the night before he was to have been 
given up to an English vessel, that was then hovering upon 
the coast. At Calvi, where he arrived without any second in- 
terruption, he found two French Commissioners, to whom he 
communicated the designs of Paoli and Pozzo di Borgo, and 
soon after he quitted the island and joined the army of Nice, to 
which his regiment was attached. 

The first service on which he was employed, after his return: 
to France, was to superintend, as artillery officer, the batteries 
between Saint Kemo and Nice. From this duty, he was de- 
spatched, by his commanding officer, on a mission to Mar- 
seilles, and other neighbouring towns, to procure supplies for 
the army j after which, he was directed to proceed to Auxonne, 
La Fere, and Paris, for ordnance stores and artillery officers. 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. iS<J 

The war of the departments against the Convention raged at 
that time in the South of France ; and Napoleon found some 
difficulty in obtaining from towns in arms against the Govern- 
ment, the provisions necessary for its armies ; but, partly by 
appealing to the patriotism, and partly by working on the fears 
of the insurgents, he accomplished his object. At Avignon, 
he was strongly urged, by some Federalists, to join the Depart- 
mental forces ; but he steadily refused to have any connexion 
with them, saying, he would take no part in a civil war. While 
detained at that place, he had an opportunity of witnessing the 
wretched incapacity of the generals on both sides, — royalist as 
well as republican ; and, after the surrender of the town to 
Cartaux, who, from a bad painter, had become a worse gene- 
ral, he wrote a pamphlet in ridicule of the whole affair, which 
he called Dejeuner de trots militaires a Avignon. 

On his return to the army of Italy, he was invited to assist 
in the siege of Toulon ; and, by his services on that occasion, 
he contributed materially to the reduction of the place. When 
he first joined the besieging army, he found it still under the 
command of Cartaux, who was as obstinate and jealous of o- 
thers, as he was ignorant and incapable himself. Some time 
after the evacuation of the town by the Allies, as Napoleon was 
showing his brother Lewis the works and operations of the 
siege, he pointed out to him a spot, where an unskilful attack 
on one of the forts had occasioned a great and unnecessary 
slaughter of the soldiers. The mounds, under which their bo- 
dies had been interred, and other marks of the transaction, 
were still fresh. Tencz, jeicne homme, said Napoleon to his bro- 
ther, learn from this scene, that it is not less a matter of con- 
science, than of prudence, for a military man to study well his 
profession. For, had the wretch, who led these brave fellows 
to the fort, understood his duty, many of them would be now 
enjoying life, and serving their country. His ignorance has 
murdered them, and hundreds besides, in the flower of youth, 
and in the prospect of honour and happiness. These words he 
uttered with great emotion, and with the tears standing in his 
eyes. How strange it seems, that one, who had naturally these 
strong sentiments of humanity, should have been the cause of 
so much havoc and destruction in the world ! The officer at 
Toulon sacrificed hundreds to his ignorance. How many thou- 
sands have perished in Spain, Russia and Germany, victims to 
the ambition and wilfulness of Napoleon ! 

The arrival of Dugommier with reinforcements, changed tlie 
aspect of affairs at Toulon. In a letter of that able General 

vol. xxvii. no. 54. H h 



470 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec. 

to the Convention, he praises Bonaparte, commander of ar- 
tillery, for his conduct in the attack that led to the capture of 
General O'Hara. * On the reduction of the town, Napoleon, 
as a reward for his services, was appointed commander in chief 
of the artillery of the army of Italy; and, in that capacity, he 
assisted at the siege of Oneglia, and proposed, but without ef- 
fect, to Dumerbion, general of the army, a plan for the inva- 
sion of Italy, which he was shortly afterwards destined to exe- 
cute. Removed from his situation in the Italian army by some 
intrigue at Paris, he was nominated to a command in La Ven- 
dee ; but, disliking the service, he went to Paris to remonstrate 
against it. He there found that he was not only named on a 
service to which he was averse, but that he had been removed 
from the artillery to the line. Considering this to be a slight as 
well as a disadvantage, he declined the appointment, and re- 
mained some months at Paris without employment. From this 
inactivity, so unsuitable to his temper and character, he was 
summoned by Barras, who had known him at Toulon, to take 
the command of the armed force destined to protect the Con- 
vention against the sections of Paris. The dispositions made 
by Napoleon, secured an easy victory to the Convention ; and, 
in recompense of this important service, he was named General 
en second of the army of the interior. Soon afterwards, he 
married Josephine, widow of General Beauharnais ; and, early 
in the ensuing spring, he was appointed Commander in Chief 
of the army of Italy. 

It is not our intention to follow Napoleon through the bril- 
liant history of his Italian campaign, the most splendid and 
least exceptionable period of his political career. In one year 
he drove the Germans from the shores of the Mediterranean to 
the heart of Carinthia, defeated and dispersed their armies, 
and gave peace to the Continent. Criticisms we have heard of 
military men on his skill and conduct as a General in that ever 
memorable compaign, of the justness of which we have no pre- 
tension to form an opinion. But this we know, that no Gene- 
ral, in antient or modern times, ever obtained so many splendid 
victories in so short a time, with means so inconsiderable, and 
with such powerful enemies opposed to him. But his least glo- 
ry was that of a conqueror. Not to speak of the civil institu- 
tions in Lombardy, by which he did all that in him lay to se- 
cure the happiness and independence of the new republick he 
had created ; he showed himself, on every occasion, the sincere 
and earnest friend of peace j and merited, if he has not ob- 

* Moniteur, 7th December, 1793. 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. 471 

tained, the praise of being the first man in authority under the 
French Republick, who set limits to its aggrandizement, and 
honestly endeavoured to restore again tranquillity to the world. 
The indulgence he showed to the Pope at Tolcntino, when 
Rome was completely at his mercy, procured him no friends, 
and excited against him many enemies at home. And we can 
add, on the authority of Melzi, Vice-president of the Cisalpine 
Republick, a man of talents and integrity, that he concluded 
the peace of Campo Formio, in opposition to the secret orders 
and positive instructions of the Directory. Republicans, if 
any such remain in France, may perhaps be permitted to blame 
him for his moderation. It was chimerical to hope for any so- 
lid peace between the new Republick and the antient dynasties of 
Europe. But, if he fell into an error, it was by indulging 
hopes, in which every good man at that time was willing to 
participate. 

But, splendid as were the achievements, and great as were 
at this time the merits of Napoleon as a warrior, a legislator, 
and a peace-maker, it is impossible to bestow upon them, e "~n 
then, our unmixed commendation. The tone in which he offer- 
ed liberty to the Italians, was that of Khaled propagating his 
religion by the sword. Converts were praised, protected, and 
encouraged ; but infidels, that rejected his mission and resisted 
his arms, were given up without mercy to military execution. 
The great stain, however, on his character at this period, was 
his conduct towards Venice. There is great reason to believe, 
that the cession of the Venetian States to the House of Austria, 
was stipulated by a secret article of the preliminaries of Leoben, 
— that the causes afterwards alleged for making war on the Ve- 
netian 'republick, were mere pretexts for an unjust invasion, — 
and that negotiations were entered into with the disaffected at 
Venice, to get possession of the capital without resistance j not 
for the purpose of restoring liberty to the people, but with an 
intention of coolly and deliberately delivering them over to the 
harsh, haughty, and rapacious gripe of the Austrians. In this 
complicated act of treachery and injustice, it may be difficult to 
say whether Napoleon or the Emperor of Germany was most 
to blame. The one betrayed, the other accepted the spoils of a 
friend. The difference was, that the Austrian had no charac- 
ter to lose, no reputation to forfeit. If such was the price of 
peace, the world paid dear for its short-lived tranquillity. 

Napoleon has been also reproached with having corrupted, 
during his Italian campaign, not the discipline, but the tone 
and character of his army, by protecting and encouraging his 
generals in the most scandalous pillage and extortion, and in 

Hh2 



472 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec. 

which they quickly became as great proficients as the Commis- 
sioners of the Convention itself. It was by his army, too, that 
the first example was given of military interference in the poli- 
tical concerns of the interior. Hitherto, the armies of the Ile- 
publick had vanquished its enemies, without ever presuming to 
take a part in the internal discussions of their country. But in 
1797, a party appeared in the Council of 500, in opposition 
to the Directory, whose views perhaps were innocent, but 
whose conduct certainly exposed them to suspicion. Some of 
the leaders of this party were undoubtedly Royalists ; but the 
greater part of their adherents appear to have had no other in- 
tentions than to check the arbitrary government and scandalous 
corruption of the Directory. The course they took for this 
purpose was to withhold supplies from the government, and in- 
stitute a rigid inquiry into its expenses. The Directory availed 
themselves of the effects of this plan of operations; and impress- 
ed the armies with a belief, that all their wants and privations 
arose from a factious opposition in the legislature, which endea- 
voured to destroy the defenders of their country, for the pur- 
pose of bringing back the exiled family. The General of the 
Italian army encouraged this impression, in a public proclama- 
tion to his troops. Addresses from his army were sent to the 
government, complaining, in language most indecorous and un- 
constitutional, of the majority of the legislature. It was the 
design of Napoleon to have followed up these addresses, by 
marching with part of his army to Paris, on pretence of sup- 
porting the Directory and the Republick, but with the inten- 
tion of procuring for himself a principal share in the govern- 
ment. The Revolution of Fructidor, which happened sooner, 
and was accomplihsed with greater facility than he expected, 
prevented the execution of this design. By this event, the par- 
ty in opposition to the Directory was completely extinguished ; 
and no pretence was left for the general of the Italian army to 
cross the Alps wMi his troops. Such, at least, is the account 
we have received from Melzi of the secret designs of Napoleon 
at this period. Of the Directory, it was ever his custom to 
speak with contempt ; and, when commenting on their supine- 
ness and their blunders, he used to remark, that if any man 
could combine the new system of France with a military go- 
vernment, he might raise that country to a high rank among 
nations, and maintain it in that elevation. So early had he 
conceived that formidable plan, which had so nearly proved 
fatal to the liberties of the world, and which no power but that 
of the elements was able to confound. 

That his republicanism was already of a doubtful character, 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. 473 

though he assured some one in the Isle of Elba that he conti- 
nued a good republican till his expedition to Egypt, is further 
corroborated by some anecdotes we have heard related of him 
by the late Count Meerfeldt. That nobleman was one of the 
negocbtors on the part of Austria at Leoben, and afterwards at 
Campo Formio. In the course of some discussion, he dropped 
a hint, that General Bonaparte was in a situation to take the 
lead either in France or Italy. Napoleon made no reply to the 
observation, but he did not seem at all displeased by it j and 
spoke of the attempt to govern France by representative bodies, 
and republican institutions, as a mere expenment. Encouraged 
by this opening, Meerfeldt ventured, with the approbation of 
his Court, to propose to him a principality in Germany. Na- 
poleon expressed himself to be obliged and flattered by the of- 
fer, as it showed the opinion entertained of his talents and im- 
portance, but said it would never answer to him ; for if he re- 
ceived such a favour by means of Austria, he must expect to be 
sacrificed, in the event of any future war with France. Austria, 
if successful, would cast him off as an useless incumbrance; and 
France, if superior, would crush him as one who had preferred 
the patronage of Austria to the career open to him at home. 
He added, with frankness, that it was his object to get admis- 
sion into the government of his own country ; and that, if he 
could once set his foot in the stirrup, he had no doubt he should 
go a great way. 

The character of Napoleon, at this period, appears to have 
been that of an enterprising soldier, with extraordinary talents 
and genius, but of no fixed political principles or opinions ; full 
of aspiring thoughts, but without any settled plan to gratify his 
ambition. It was impossible, said Meerfeldt, for any one to 
converse with him for ten minutes, without perceiving that he 
was a man of great views and great capacity. His language, 
his manner, his conceptions, said Melzi, were striking and pe- 
culiar. In conversation, as in war, he was fertile and full of re- 
source ; quick in discerning, and prompt in pressing the weak 
points of his adversary. His information from books was small, 
and he had made little progress in any branch of study, except 
in Mathematicks ; but he had great quickness of apprehension, 
and wonderful powers of application. Of all his qualities, con- 
tinued Melzi, the most remarkable was his capacity of long con- 
tinued and unremitted attention. His projects were vast and 
gigantick, conceived with genius, but sometimes impracticable, 
and not unfrequently abandoned from temper, or defeated by 
his own impatience. He was naturally hasty, decisive, impetu- 
ous and violent ; but could make himself very agreeable in con- 



4j74? Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec. 

versation, and showed great deference and civility to those whom 
he wished to conciliate. Though habitually close and reserved, 
he was sometimes indiscreet and imprudent from passion, — but 
he seemed never to unbosom himself from affection. La balle 
qui me iuera, portera mon nom, was one of his sayings, and sa- 
vours of that fatalism so natural to men whose lives are daily ex- 
posed to the chances of war, or to the dangers of the ocean. 
His figure was at this time pale and thin ; and with so slender a 
frame, his activity and endurance of fatigue appeared quite in- 
credible. We quote Melzi with the greater confidence, because 
he was a man competent to judge of the attainments, as well as 
the talents of others; and, at the time we received our informa- 
tion from him, he was retired from the world, and had no mo- 
tive whatever for extenuating or exaggerating the truth. 

Such was Napoleon at his return to France, after the con- 
quest of Italy, — an object of admiration to the world, and of 
jealousy and suspicion to the government he had served. He 
was received, however, with every external appearance of con- 
fidence and respect ; and nominated, even before his arrival at 
Paris, one of the Commissioners to Rastadt, for the final pa- 
cification of the Continent. But he soon discovered, that the 
negotiation was a mere farce, and that the Directory had no 
serious intentions of peace. He was appointed to command 
the expedition against England ; but he saw the folly of the en- 
terprise, and withdrew from it. His situation was now become 
critical. There was no opening for him at home, nor secu- 
rity in a private station, to which, in the early periods of his 
life, he appears, in moments of despondence, to have frequent- 
ly looked forward with anxious desire. In 1796, a project 
had been sent to him for the invasion of Egypt, which he 
had examined and returned, with his opinion of it, to the Di- 
rectory. It was now resumed, and the command of the expe- 
dition was proposed to him. To have refused a third appoint- 
ment, would have exposed him to suspicion, and, most pro- 
bably, to destruction. The expedition to Egypt was calculat- 
ed, besides, to dazzle his ardent and ambitious mind, full of 
romantick plans, and fond of extraordinary enterprises. No 
war could be more unjust. France was at peace with the Ot- 
toman Porte, the nominal sovereign of Egypt ; and had no 
pretence of quarrel with the Beys, the real masters of the coun- 
try. But this consideration was not sufficient to deter the Ge- 
neral, and was little calculated to make impression on the go- 
vernment that employed him. The expedition sailed j and, by 
most extraordinary luck, it arrived at Alexandria, after the re- 
duction of Malta, without encountering the fleet under Nelson, 



1816. Napoleo?i Bonaparte. 475 

which had been despatched by Lord St Vincent to intercept its 
progress. 

In Egypt, Napoleon made war on the same principles as in 
Italy, but in a style more oriental and despotic. He had to 
deal with treacherous and ferocious enemies ; and he punished 
their perfidy and inhumanity with a severity and cruelty bor- 
rowed from themselves. The inhabitants of Cairo having risen 
against his garrison, he was not content with punishing those 
taken with arms in their hands j but, suspecting their priests to 
have been the secret movers of the insurrection, he collected 
them, to the number of two hundred, and ordered them to be 
shot. Such enormities are plainly unjustifiable ; yet some pal- 
liation may be found, in the indignation of both general and 
soldiers at the cruelty and brutality of their enemies, who not 
only murdered all the prisoners that fell into their hands, but 
mutilated and abused their bodies in a manner too horrible to 
be related. Policy had also its share in these severities. The 
miserable inhabitants of the East know no principle of govern- 
ment but fear. The execution of Cairo struck terror into their 
minds ; * et depuis ce terns Id, ' said Napoleon, ' ilsn'ont ete fort 
' attaches, car Us voient bicn, qiiil iiy avoit pas de mollesse dans 
' ma maniere de gouverner. ' 

Without entering on the minor accusations against Napo- 
leon, for his conduct in Egypt, the following are commonly 
mentioned as the deepest and most heinous of his offences ; — 
the massacre of his prisoners at Jaffa ; — the poisoning of his 
sick at Acre; — his pretended conversion to Mahometanism ; — 
his desertion of his army. On these charges we shall bestow a 
few words, in the order in which they have been enumerated. 

Of the massacre of the Turks at Jaffa, Napoleon gave the 
following account to Lord Ebrington, one of the most candid 
and intelligent of the travellers with whom he conversed at Elba 
on the history and past transactions of his life. On Lord E- 
brington asking him about the massacre of the Turks at Jaffa, 
he answered — ' C'est vrai ; f en fs fusilier a peu pres deux mille. 

* Vous trouvez ca un peu fort ,• mats je lear avois accorde une ca- 

* pitulation a El Arisen, d condition qu'ils retourneroient chez eux. 

* lis Vont rompu, et se sont jcttes dans Jaffa, et je Its pris par 
' assaut. Je ne pouvois les emmener prisonniers avec moi, carje 

* manquois de pain, et Us ctoient des diables trop dangereux pour 

* les lacker une secondefois ; de sorte qucje n'avois d'autre moyen 

* que de les tuer. ' We quote from the notes of Lord Ebring- 
ton, which he has permitted us to use, in preference to the ac- 
count of Mr Warden, which is less concise. 

According to this statement, the breach of parole in the gar- 



476 Napoleofi Bonaparte. Dec. 

rison of El Arisch was the ground of justification ; the situation 
of the French army the real motive for this massacre. Now, 
though it he true that, by the laws of war, a prisoner who has once 
broke his parole, is not afterwards entitled to quarter, * this is a 
right but rarely exercised ; and in no other instance, we believe, 
in modern times, has it ever been exerted on so great a body of 
men as perished at Jaffa. If the French had refused quarter in 
the heat of the assiult, no one could have blamed, or, after the 
violation of their flag of truce, wondered at their conduct; and, 
if their general hnd been aware that a considerable part of the 
garrison consisted of prisoners liberated on their parole at El 
Arisch, there can be little question that such would have been his 
orders : but we doubt if any instance can be found of a garrison 
spared at the moment of assault, and condemned afterwards to 
execution. But this is not all. We have been informed, that 
one third only of the garrison of Jaffa were composed of prison- 
ers taken at El Arisch; and whatever right the laws of war might 
give to the conqueror over them, we cannot understand how 
that right could be extended to the rest of the garrison. 

Whether a General is entitled, from regard to the safety of 
his own army, and to the execution of the service on which he 
is employed, to put his prisoners to death, or confine them in a 
situation where they must inevitably perish, or deliver them over 
to a barbarian, in whose hands they have no mercy to expect, 
are questions we are unwilling to discuss. Our readers will per- 
ceive, that on the determination of this point depends not only 
the reputation of Napoleon at Jaffa, but of Henry V. at Agin- 
court, of Lord Anson in the South Sea, and of the Bailli Suf- 
frein on the coast of Coromandel. This much at least is cer- 
tain, that the necessity must be clear and urgent, which can 
justify acts so repugnant to the feelings of humanity, and so con- 
trary to the practice of civilized nations : and, that there was 
seme appearance of necessity in the case of Jaffa, cannot be de- 
nied. It was not safe to dismiss the prisoners on their parole, 
after the conduct of the garrison of El Arisch. No one could 
doubt, after such experience of the enemy, that on whatever 
terms they might be liberated, they would throw themselves, 
without scruple, into the first place of arms they found open to 
receive them ; or remain behind, and harass the flanks and rear 
of the French army in its advance into Palestine. The force 
under Napoleon was too weak to furnish an escort sufficient to 
convey them to a place of security. It consisted of only 6000 
men, and the prisoners amounted to 3000, of whom 1800 were 

* Martens on the Law of Nations, p. 291. 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte* 477 

shot, and 1200 escaped from their guard. It is but fair to add, 
that whatever may be our opinion of this execution, the blame 
of it does not belong exclusively to the commander in chief. It 
was determined upon in a council of war, at which Berthier, 
Kleber, Lannes, Bon, Caffarelly, and other officers assisted. 

That the intention of administering opium as a poison, to a 
few of the sick of his army, was entertained by Napoleon, he 
has related to many, and with this addition, that it was owing 
to his physician, the design was not carried into execution. 
But this suggestion arose from a mistaken judgment, not from 
a bad heart, and least of all, from indifference about the fate or 
fortunes of his soldiers. All accounts agree, that his attention 
to his sick and wounded, during his Syrian Campaign, was 
most exemplary. He visited the hospitals in person, exposed 
himself to the most imminent danger of infection, conversed 
with the sick,- listened to their complaints, saw that his medical 
officers did their duty ; and at every movement of his army, and 
more particularly at the retreat from Acre, his chief solicitude 
was about his hospital ; and the skill and care with which his 
sick and wounded were removed, drew praises even from his 
enemies. On those points, all the medical men of his army 
concur in one evidence in his favour, Desgenettes, who was 
chief physician to his army in Syria, is a royalist, but at no 
time, not even since the restoration of the Bourbons, has he 
ever mentioned the conduct of Napoleon to his sick and wound- 
ed, without the just encomiums which his care and tenderness 
had deserved. We happened lately to meet with the celebrated 
Assolini at Munich, who was one of his Medical Staff in Syria. 
Though no friend of Napoleon, he joined in the universal tes- 
timony in his favour upon this subject. Having stated to Na- 
poleon at Acre, that the means of transport provided for the 
sick were insufficient, he was directed to stop all the baggage 
horses as they passed, and even to make the officers dismount 
and give their horses for this service. These orders were punc- 
tually executed, and not a sick person was left behind, who in 
the judgment of his medical attendants could be removed with 
safety. But let us hear the story of the poisoning, in the words 
of Napoleon himself. When Lord Ebrington visited him in 
the isle of Elba, he repeatedly and earnestly requested his guest 
to question him freely about the past incidents of his life; and 
when, in consequence of this permission, Lord Ebrington al- 
luded to this report, he answered without hesitation, i 11 y a 
1 dans cela un fond de verite. Some soldiers of the army had 

* the plague. They could not have lived 24 hours. I was a- 

* bout to march. I consulted De-geiuttes as to the means of 



478 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec 

* removing them. He said it must be attended with the risk of 

* infection, and would be useless to themselves, as they were 

* past recovery. I then recommended to him to give them a 

* dose of opium, rather than leave them to the mercy of the 

* Turks. II me repondit en fort honnete homtne, que son metier 

* etoit de guerir et non de titer,- so the men were left to their fate. 
' Perhaps he was right j though I asked for them, what, under 

* similar circumstances, I should have wished my best friend to 

* have done by me. I have often reflected since on this point 

* of morality, and have conversed on it with others, et je crois 
1 quau fond il vaut toujours mieux souffrir qu'un homme Jinisse 
1 sa destinee quelle qu , elle soit. I judged so afterwards, in the 

* case of my poor friend Duroc, who, when his bowels were 

* falling out before my eyes, repeatedly cried to me, to have 
1 him put out of misery ; je lui dis t je vans plains, mon ami, 
' mais il n'y a pas de remede : il font souffrir jusqu'd la fin. ' 
The truth of this simple and ingenuous confession, we see no 
reason whatever to question. That this suggestion was most 
properly rejected by Desgenettes, every one will agree ; but he 
must have a mind strongly biassed by prejudice, who can re- 
present the proposal of Napoleon as arising from a callous in- 
sensibility to the sufferings and fate of his soldiers. It had its 
source, on the contrary, in strong but ill-directed feelings of hu- 
manity, which neither he nor Desgenettes had a right to indulge 
in the manner proposed. 

The apostasy of Napoleon in Egypt, we cannot regard in a 
more serious light, than the feigned Mahometanism of Major 
Homeman, or of any other traveller, whom the African Asso- 
ciation have employed to explore the secrets of the Desert. No 
one imagines, that Napoleon was a sincere convert to Islamism, 
or that he adopted the language and sentiments of the Koran, 
for any other purpose than that of gaining the confidence and 
conciliating the good will of the natives. He might also hope, 
by his mystical and prophetic denunciations, to terrify and con- 
found his enemies, and diffuse a superstitious awe around his 
person ; but that he should have seriously intended to set up for 
a second Mahomet, is an idea that could only have entered 
into the head of a crazy visionary, who might in oilier circum- 
stances have been his first disciple. This piece of hypocrisy, 
according to his own account, answered completely his purpose. 

* You can hardly imagine, ' said he to Lord Ebrington, ' the 

* advantages 1 gained in Egypt from the adoption of their wor- 
' ship. ' But, after all, it was a low artifice, the device of a 
cunning, not the resource of an elevated mind. The language 
of his proclamations has given scandal, and, to a pious ear, it 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. 479 

must be owned, they are shocking and offensive. But we must 
consider the infidelity then openly professed in France, and re- 
collect that Napoleon, bred in camps, and educated in the Re- 
volution, must have imbibed the loose notions of religion that 
generally prevailed, at that time, among his countrymen. 

His desertion of his army was a military offence against his 
own government, for which he was liable to be punished. But 
it was no crime against his army, whom he left in a nourishing 
condition, as appeared by the footing he was able to maintain 
in Egypt, and by the resistance they afterwards opposed to the 
English arms. Whether he was invited back to France by any 
party at home, or induced by his own reflections to take that 
bold and decided step, we cannot inform our readers. We ra- 
ther incline to the opinion, he had no positive invitation from 
France ; but that, hearing of the disasters of the armies, the loss 
of Italy, and discontent of the interior, he concluded the Di- 
rectorial Government could not last, and hurried home to pro- 
fit by the confusion, and secure a place in the new Government 
to himself. Certain it is, that for some time after he landed, 
he was doubtful in what manner he should be received ; and, 
till his enthusiastic reception by the Lyonese, it seemed a ques- 
tion whether a scaffold or a diadem would be the reward of his 
audacity. We have heard, that when the news of his return 
reached Paris, the Directory ordered Fouche, their Minister of 
Police, to arrest his person; "but Fouche declined the office, 
saying, * iln y est pas Jiomme d se laisser arreler ; aussi ne suis-je 
pas lliomme. qui Varretera. ' At Paris he was courted by the dif- 
ferent factions that distracted theRepublick, and closing with that 
of Syeyes, he overturned, as is well known, the existing Go- 
vernment*, on the 18th of Brumaire, and laid the foundation of 
a military despotism in its place. He had now his foot in the 
stirrup, and soon convinced both friends and enemies, that it 
was not a short way he meant to go. 

France was at that time beset with greater difficulties than at 
any period since 1793. Her armies were defeated and dispirit- 
ed. Her Italian conquests were reduced to the mountains and 
coast of Genoa. The greater part of Switzerland was occupied 
by the Allies. Her own injustice and rapacity had estranged 
the inhabitants of that country ; and, by destroying their neu- 
trality, had exposed her most vulnerable frontier to invasion. 
Her resources were exhausted, and the enthusiasm of her peo- 
ple was gone. Her Government was without union or authori- 
ty ; torn by factions, and contemned by its subjects. All her 
attempts to establish a free constitution had proved abortive. 
The Jacobins were feared and detested for the cruelties they had 



480 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec. 

exercised, and the incurable extravagance of their opinions. 
The Moderates were hated and despised for their supineness, in- 
capacity and corruption. The Royalists were troublesome and 
turbulent in the west ; and at Paris, as usual, timid and in- 
triguing. No man, besides Napoleon, had reputation or popu- 
larity, except Moreau, who was at that time willing to follow, 
and was at all times incapable of leading. What degree of po- 
litical freedom could be safely confided to a people, guilty of so 
many errors, and so little benefited by experience, was a ques- 
tion that might have puzzled a Washington to decide. But o- 
ther thoughts than these occupied tiie mind of Napoleon. His 
views were all personal and selfish. To give the people as much 
freedom as they were qualified to use, and gradually to enlarge 
it as factions became less inveterate, and the public mind more 
calm and enlightened, was not the object of his policy. He con- 
sidered not how much power might be safely entrusted to the 
people, but calculated how little power would content them. 
The constitution he gave to Fiance was intended to conduct her 
insensibly to slavery, not to fit her imperceptibly for freedom. 
He had a crown before his eyes, and was dazzled by the splen- 
dour of the bauble. He might have established a republick: 
To found a dynasty of Kings was his ambition. 

The first measures of his reign, for it is idle to talk of the Re- 
publick after the 18th of Bruniaire, were wise and salutary. 
Every one acknowledged the necessity of a strong Government. 
A strong Government they had. Every one exclaimed against 
the corruption and injustice of their late rulers. Napoleon re- 
pressed peculation, and enforced a due administration of justice. 
All lamented the party divisions, which weakened and distracted 
their country. Napoleon sought men of talents from every par- 
ty, and employed them in the public service. All men dreaded 
what the French call a reaction. Napoleon checked every sym- 
ptom of reaction, and extended protection to all who obeyed 
the laws, and punished impartially all who infringed them. Per- 
secution had revived the spirit of devotion. Napoleon took re- 
ligion under his protection, and restored the priests to their al- 
tars. The western departments were desolated by civil war, 
which the abominable law of hostages had rekindled. Napo- 
leon abolished the law of hostages — closed the list of Emigrants 
— and, by a judicious mixture of mildness and severity, restor- 
ed tranquillity to those departments. Ail France joined in an 
unanimous cry for peace. Napoleon offered peace to his ene- 
mies ; and, when his proffer was scornfully rejected by England 
and Austria, he reduced Austria to a submission, and then ge- 
nerously pardoned her. England, the most formidable and in- 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. 4-81 

veterate of his enemies, abandoned by every ally, at length 
made peace with him, and acknowledged the Republick. 

Napoleon had now reached the summit of glory ; and if he 
had been disposed to give liberty to his country, there was no 
obstacle to the execution ofhis design. He had restored peace 
to the Church by his Concordat-, and though he had made great 
concessions to the Court of Rome in that negotiation, he had 
maintained, and while he remained in France he preserved 
inviolate, the most complete toleration to his Protestant sub- 
jects. He had wished to stipulate for the marriage of the 
Romish clergy ; but lound, as he told Mr Fox, that if he had 
insisted on it, ' on auroit crie an pur protestantisme. ' He had 
introduced greater equity, and more despatch, into the admi- 
nistration of justice, and was occupied with his noblest and most 
durable work, the Cade Napoleon, to remedy the confusion and 
contradiction of the existing laws. He had established a most 
excellent police, in which he employed, as gc»s cFarmerie, the 
best and most respectable of his soldiers. His political insti- 
tutions were not to be praised ; but they might easily have been 
improved. A mute legislature ; a tribunate that could talk but 
not vote ; a senate that deliberated in secret, were objects of 
indifference or derision. But Napoleon had no thoughts of 
moulding these imperfect institutions into a system of liberty. 
His eyes were fixed on the vacant throne ; and neither his mi- 
litary habits, nor his temper, were fitted for the restraints of li- 
mited authority. The Press, which had. offended him, was 
persecuted and subdued. Individuals, who incurred his dis- 
pleasure, were menaced, arrested antl banished, without trial. 
Personal liberty had no security from the arbitrary mandates 
of his minister of police. The tribunate was reduced in its 
numbers, and, some time after, was entirely suppressed. The 
senate was in perpetual mutation. No institution was suffered 
to take root, or inspire confidence. Nothing was stable but 
his power ; nothing progressive but his authority. Frenchmen, 
he said, were indifferent about liberty. They neither under- 
stood nor cared for it. Vanity was their ruling passion, and t- 
quality, which opened, to all, the prospect of advancement, was 
the only political right on which they set a value. To sooth 
this national passion, and to gratify his own ambition, he was 
most assiduous in extending his influence and dominion over 
Europe. Piedmont, Parma and Elba, were successively an- 
nexed to France. When Aielzi counselled him against the an- 
nexation of Piedmont, he replied with a smile, — 4 Cc bras est 
* fort, ilnc demande ou 'a porter.' Luisiana was ceded to him 
by Spain. St Domingo was recovered with circumstances of 



482 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec. 

perfidy and atrocity, that have been rarely surpassed in the an- 
nals of human wickedness. The Italian Republick chose hint 
for its President. Genoa was saved for a time from the same 
yoke, by the contrivance of Serra, one of its antient noble?, 
formerly the friend and associate of Napoleon — but, in conse- 
quence of this interference, the victim for many years of his 
displeasure. Switzerland was compelled to accept his media- 
tion, and to receive laws for her internal government from his pa- 
lace of the Tuillei ies. Germany was partitioned and parcelled 
out anion-? its princes, as it suited his views and those of Rus- 
sia. Such, in one busy year, were the fruits of the restless ac- 
tivity and unmeasureable ambition of Napoleon. A plan he- 
had formed to get himself declared Emperor of the Gauls, af- 
ter his return from Lyons, was defeated by the interference of 
Lannes, a soldier who had twice saved his life in Italy, ami 
whom his gratitude forgave for this and many subsequent offen- 
ces, and bv the murmurs of his guards, who had not yet forgot 
the shouts "of Vive la liepublique, which had so often conducted 
them to victory. But an obsequious senate, and careless peo- 
ple, made him Consul for life, with the power of nominating 
his successor, and left him nothing to regret or desire in France 
but an empty title, which the extraordinary and tragical events, 
we are next to relate, enabled him, at no very distant period, to 
acquire. 

When Napoleon first obtained the supreme authority in France, 
his moderation, so different from the violence of preceding go- 
vernments, had filled the Royalists with idle hopes and ground- 
less expectations. The Cromwell of the Revolution had ap- 
peared, and they mistook him for a Monk. Cured of their er- 
ror, they sought to avenge their disappointment by a contrivance 
for his destruction, which, from its qualities, has been empha- 
tically termed the Infernal Machine. Above thirty persons pe- 
rished by its explosion, but Napoleon escaped. The peace with 
England put a stop to their machinations ; but when the war 
broke out afresh, their plots were renewed. Georges, Piche- 
gru, and other emigrants, repaired privately to Paris. Mo- 
reau, whose unambitious spirit had been converted by intriguers 
into a malecontent and enemy of Napoleon, entered into their 
schemes. Meetings were held at Paris, where plans were dis- 
cussed for the destruction of Napoleon, and the settlement of a 
new form of government. Accident led to the discovery of their 
plots. Pichegru and Georges were arrested. Pichegru strang- 
led himself in prison. Georges was publickly executed. Mo- 
reau was tried, condemned, pardoned, and banished. The 
Duke of Enghien, grandson of the Prince of Conde, who re- 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. 483 

sided in the territory of Baden, near the frontiers of Alsace, 
was arrested by French troops, in violation of the neutrality of 
Germany, carried to Vincennes, and there tried and shot as an 
emigrant and conspirator. Of the inferior accomplices, some 
were put to death, but the greater part were pardoned, or had 
their sentence of death commuted into imprisonment. Cap- 
tain Wright, who had been active in landing the conspirators, 
and appeared to have been privy to their designs, was taken 
on the coast of France, confined for more than a year in the 
Temple, and treated with so much harshness and severity, that 
he put an end to his own existence. The detection of this con- 
spiracy, obtained for Napoleon the last and greatest object of 
his ambition. He was elected Emperor of the French, and had 
the empire made hereditary in his family. * Ce gaillard Id, * 
said one of his own ambassdors on the occasion, * sgait titer 
parti de tout. ' 

Such we believe to be the true history of these transactions. 
That Pichegru or Captain Wright died otherwise than by their 
own hands, we have never seen a tittle of evidence to prove, or 
heard a reason that could bear examination. What possible 
motive could induce Napoleon to murder Pichegru in secret ? 
The popularity of Pichegru with the army had been extinguish- 
ed by absence and length of time, and utterly destroyed by his 
open and undisguised connexion with the enemies of his coun- 
try. What difficulty was there in trying him by a special com- 
mission, and punishing him as a traitor leagued with the ene- 
mies of France — as a conspirator against her government, or 
even as a convict returned from transportation ? Surely, the 
difficulty was much less in his case than in that of the Duke 
d'Enghien, who had been brought into France by military foi*ce, 
and made amenable to the laws against emigrants, by an act 
not his own. We have heard it surmised, that Pichegru was 
tortured in prison, to extort confession of his accomplices, and 
that to conceal the use of this execrable and illegal practice, 
which he would have made known on his trial, he was privately 
assassinated. But the body of Pichegru was publicly exposed 
after his death. Many went to see it, English detenus as well 
as Frenchmen ; but no man pretends to have seen on it any 
marks of torture. That Captain Wright was most scandalous- 
ly and cruelly used, we do not doubt. Captain Wright ow- 
ed no allegiance to France ; and, as the servant of a power 
at war with her, he was bound to obey the orders of his go- 
vernment, and land on her coast such persons as he was com- 
manded to convey thither. — But he was privy to their plots and 
conspiracies against her government. — What duty owed he to 



484? Napoleon Bonaparte Dec 

her government ? What offence did he commit against the 
laws of nations, in aiding or abetting those who sought to over- 
turn it ? He was no spy, but an open enemy. When the 
Bourbons assisted our Pretender in his attempts against our 
constitution in Church and State, did we ever imprison or treat 
with harshness the Frenchmen employed in that service? When 
the fortunate issue of the battle of Culloden extinguished the last 
hopes of our exiles, were not the Frenchmen in the service of 
the Pretender admitted freely to capitulation, and treated like 
prisoners of war taken in Flanders or in Germany ? But though 
we consider the imprisonment of Captain Wright in the Tem- 
ple as a mean and unjustifiable act of vengeance, and know that 
his treatment there was harsh and cruel, we believe that he died 
by no hand but his own. Why should we be forced, at this 
day, to call for proofs of these murders, if they were really 
committed ? The jailors are still alive, who had Pichegru and 
Captain Wright in their custody. Have they been examined ? 
No single man could have mastered the gigantick strength of 
Pichegru. There must then have been accomplices in his mur- 
der. Can none of them be discovered ? Mamelukes have been 
mentioned as perpetrators of the deed. There was but one 
Mameluke in the service of Napoleon, and he abandoned his 
master on his first abdication. Has this man made any con- 
fession of the murder in which he was employed ? Is it from 
tenderness to the reputation of Napoleon, that his enemies have 
made no inquiry into these facts ? They have been long in 
possession of all the means necessary to trace and ascertain his 
guilt, if it were real. That they have not availed themselves 
of these means, is a proof of their conviction, that no disco- 
veries are to be made. They chuse to leave a dark suspicion 
on his fame, rather than institute an inquiry into the truth, 
which, they fear, would only tend to clear his reputation. 

Mr Warden has repeated the account he received from Na- 
poleon of the discovery of this conspiracy. The following par- 
ticulars are not contained in his narrative, but were communi- 
cated by Napoleon to Lord Ebrington. The first information 
of the arrival of Pichegru in Paris was given by a spy of the 
police, who reported a curious conversation, that was overheard 
between Moreau, Pichegru and Georges, at a house on the 
Boulevards. In this it was settled, that Georges should get rid 
of Bonaparte, and that Moreau should be First, and Pichegru 
Second Consul. Georges insisted on being Third Consul, to 
which the others objected, saying, that as he was known to be 
a Royalist, any attempt to associate him in the government, 
would ruin them with the people. On this he said, * Si ce n'est 



ISlGi Napoleon Bonaparte. 485 

done pas pour mot, je suis pour Irs Bourbons ; et si ce n y est pas 
ni eu.v ni ?noi, bleu pour bier/, je vouriroi:. aussiiot que ce tut Bona- 
parte qur vous. ' When Moivau was fir-t arrested, he was in- 
dignant on his examination ; but when this conversation was 
repeated to him, he f tinted away. 

When the death of Captain Wright was mentioned to hira 
by Lord Ebrington, he did not at first recollect his name; but 
when told it was a companion of Sir Sidney Smith, he said, 
' Est-il done mort en prison ? car fai enlierempnt uiiblie la cir~ 
Constance. ' He scouted the notion of any foul play ; adding, 
that he never had put any man to doath clandestinely, or with- 
out a trial. * Ma conscience est sans reproche sur ce point. Had 
I been less sparing of hlood, perhaps I might not have beea 
here at this moment. ' 

The arrest of the Duke of Enghien on neutral territory was an 
open and undisguised infraction of the law of nations, for which, 
the apology offered to Baden was no atonement. To try him. 
as an emigrant, when he had been seized in his bed on neutral 
ground, and brought by an armed force into France, was a 
shocking and outrageous violation of every principle of justice. 
What proofs there were of his participation in the plot to assas- 
sinate Napoleon, we do not know. Such proofs are mentioned, 
in the sentence against him ; but they have never been commu- 
nicated to the puolic. The foil >win<j is Nap leon'sown account 
of this transaction. * The Duke of Enghien was engaged in a 

* treasonable conspiracy, and had mide two jmrnies to Stras- 
' burg in disguise; in consequence of which I ordered him to» 
' be seized, and tried by a milit iry commission, who sentenced 

* him to be shot. " On m'a dit qu'il demanda a me parler ,- ce 

* qui me toueha ; car je scavais que e'etoit uuj ' une liomme de cceur 

* et de meritc. Je crois menu que je Vaurois pent-etrevu; mais 

* M. de Talleyrand m*en entpecha, disant, n'allez pas vous com- 
' promettre avee uu Bourbon. Vous ne scavez cequi en pwssent 
1 etre les suites. Le Din est tire, il faut le boire. " On Lord 
Ebrington asking him if it was true the Duke was shot by torch- 
light. He replied, * Eh non ; cela auroit etecontic la loi. The 
' execution took place at the usual hour ; and I immediately 
' ordered the report of it, with his sentence, to be publicly af- 

* fixed in every town in France. ' It is remarkable, that in thjs 
and other conversations on the subject, Napoleon seems always 
to have considered, that to see the Duke of Enghien and to 
pardon him were the same thing. Our James II. thought dif- 
ferently, when he admitted his brother's favourite son to an in- 
terview, with a predetermination to order him afterwards for 
execution. 

VOL. xxvn. no. 54-, I i 



Napoleon Bonaparte. Dee- 

But to return to Napoleon. At the moment when his scheme* 
for the invasion of England had been frustrated by the activity 
and fortune of our Naval commanders, his soldiers were called 
from their inglorious encampment at Boulogne, by a new Con- 
tinental war, which added fresh laurels to his military reputa- 
tion, and raised him to a pitch of greatness which Europe had 
not witnessed since the days of Charlemagne. For the third 
time he conquered and spared the House of Austria; but he 
stripped her of her Venetian states, and compelled her to re- 
sign her antient sceptre and Imperial title. To Prussia he was 
more obdurate and unforgiving. Besides their territorial ces- 
sions, both powers paid enormously for the peace they obtain- 
ed. From Russia he exacted nothing but to shut her ports a- 
o-ainst England. It was the good fortune of the Czar that, 
before the negotiation at Tilsit, Napoleon had conceived the 
plan of excluding England from the Continent ; and, to hi* 
concurrence in that measure, Alexander owed the moderation 
of the terms imposed on him. The two Sovereigns indulged 
in conversations of the most confidential nature, and Napoleon 
left the North, with a firm conviction that he had made the 
Emperor Alexander his friend for ever. As he passed through 
Milan, he discussed, with Melzi, his Continental system, which 
•was, at that time, bis favourite policy. Melzi urged the impro- 
bability of Russia submitting long to a measure so manifestly 
contrary to her interests ; to which Napoleon replied, that he 
depended on the personal sentiments with which he had in- 
spired Alexander for the adherence of Russia to his system. 
This, observed Melzi, was the more singular, as he related an 
anecdote of Alexander, which ought to have shown him how 
little reliance could be placed on his power, even if his inclina- 
tions were favourable to France. At Tilsit, Napoleon showed 
great attentions to General Beningsen. Alexander observed it? 
and asked him the reason. * Mais,franchement, ' said Napoleon, 

* e'est pour vous /aire ma cour. Vous lid avcz confie votrc armee ; 

* e'est assez qiiil ati vutre confiance pour m'inspirer des egards de 
' Vamitie. ' Alexander most imprudently replied, that Napo- 
leon was mistaken; that not having military experience, he 
was compelled to entrust his armies to others j that he was in 
their hands y and that he feared and detested, but could not do 
without them. 

' During the fortnight we were together at Tilsit, ' said Napoleon, 

* we dined together almost every day ; we rose from table very 
early, in order to get rid of the King of Prussia, qui nous ennuyoit. 
About nine o'clock, the Emperor Alexander came back to my 
lodgings, in plain clothes, to have tea ; we remained together, co£» 



18 1 6. Napoleon Bonaparte, . 487 

versing very agreeably on indifferent subjects, generally of philoso- 
phy or politics, till two or three of the morning. He is full of in- 
formation and liberal opinions, in which he has been instructed by 
a philosopher, La Harpe, who was his preceptor. But it is some- 
times difficult to know, whether the sentiments he expresses are the 
result of his real opinions, ou d'une espece de vanite de se mettre cri 
contraste avec sa position. ' In one of these tete-a-tete conversations, 
they had an argument about the comparative advantages of e- 
lective and hereditary monarchy, in which the hereditary so- 
vereign took the part of elective monarchy, and the soldif-r of 
fortune, who had risen by his talents to a throne^ maintained 
the side of hereditary succession. How small is the chance* 
said Alexander, of one calculated for the purple being quali- 
fied for government ? How few, replied his adversary, have 
possessed qualities that entitled them to be raised to that dis- 
tinction ? * un Cesar, un Alexandre, dont on ne troivoe pas un 
par Steele?' so that the election, after all, must be matter of 
chance, * et la succession vaut surement mieux que les des. * 
Where such doctors have disagreed, we cannot but feel our in- 
competence to decide; but, if we might presume to offer our 
humble opinion in so weighty and difficult a matter, we should 
say that both were in the right ; that such monarchs as they 
were considering, ought neither to be hereditary nor elective. 
It is in England only, as Napoleon remarked on another occa- 
sion, where the King may become, from illness or other causes, 
incapable ; et les affaires n'en vont pas moins leur train, putsaue 
cela i 'arrange entre le Mini st ere et le Parlement. 

After the peace of Tilsit began the war of Spain, the most 
unpopular in France, of all the military or political enterprises 
of Napoleon. On this hackneyed subject we can only repeat 
what his enemies admit, and what his friends acknowledge, that 
he had ample provocation to make war with Spain, and to war- 
rant his expulsion of the reigning family j but that no provoca- 
tion could justify or palliate the base and treacherous arts he 
employed to accomplish his purpose. We have heard from au- 
thority which we cannot doubt, that having succeeded in ex- 
pelling the House of Braganza from Portugal, by the mere ter- 
ror of his arms, he determined to pursue the same course in 
Spain ; to fill the kingdom with his troops, and, without com- 
mencing hostilities, to decline all communication with the go- 
vernment, or explanation of his views, in approaching Madrid 
with his army. He calculated that the fears of the Prince of 
the Peace, and the influence he was known to possess over the 
Royal family, would induce them to quit their capital, abandon 
their kingdom, and seek for safety across the Atlantick. Ij 

1 i 2 



488 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dee* 

was then his intention to have proceeded to Madrid, to have 
convoked the Cortes, and to have left to them the reform of 
their government, and the apparent choice of their sovereign ; 
who, he was determined, should be one of his own family. He 
had offered the situation to Lewis, who had refused it. Murat 
expected it; and' his choice had not yet fallen on Joseph. This 
plan, which was laid with sagacity, had nearly succeeded. The 
King and Queen had prepared to make their escape to Cadiz ; 
and intended to -carry with them all the members of their fami- 
ly. The design transpired ; and was defeated by the insurrec- 
tion of Aranjuez. Beauharnois, the French ambassador, a 
man of slender capacity,, an d left in total ignorance of his mas- 
ter's plans, contributed to this revolution ; thinking it was the 
intention of Napoleon to place Ferdinand on the throne, and to 
connect him by marriage with his family. When undeceived 
on this point by Murat,. Beauharnois exclaimed he was a ruin- 
ed man ;- and the other members of the diplomatic body, who 
had followed his example, and congratulated Ferdinand on his 
accession, began to feel they had been too precipitate. Then 
began the odious scene of fraud and artifice which was consum- 
mated at Bayonne. The Prince of the Peace was protected 
from the fury of the populace, and withdrawn from the ven- 
geance of the laws. The King, who had appeared at first re- 
signed to his abdication* was encouraged to protest against it in 
secret, as an act extorted from him by fear. Ferdinand, after 
permitting his father and mother to be removed to Bayonne 9 
was invited to follow them, without any acknowledgment of his 
title. His best friends advised him to decline the invitation, 
and retire to the south of Spain ; but the consciousness of his- 
guilt towards his parents, the cowardice of his nature, and the 
counsels of a pedant, determined him to go. The consequences 
are known to all the world. Too impatient to wait for a few 
months, till Ferdinand had exposed his real character and ca- 
pacity to his subjects, Napoleon had recourse to force, fraud, 
and every odious art, to accomplish his designs. Universal in- 
dignation was roused throughout Spain — and a sympathy ex- 
cited for their young prince, whose real dispositions were then 
known to few. The war that followed was sanguinary and fero- 
cious. Crimes and excesses were committed on both sides; for 
tliey were not confined to the soldiers of Napoleon. 

With the Spanish war began the downfall of Napoleon. 
Prosperity had gradually changed and vitiated his character. 
His head was turned by success ; and his temper corrupted by 
adulation. He thought nothing impossible for him to execute ^ 
and could bear no contradiction to his will Men of sense and. 



1816. ^Napoleon Bonaparte. 48S 

spirit, offended by his rudeness and impatience, left him in dis- 
gust. The sycophants and subalterns that remained, hastened 
his ruin, by their blind acquiescence in all the measures which 
passion or caprice suggested to him. No truth could reach his 
ear. To contradict was to offend him. What he ordered, 
must be executed without remonstrance or delay. His decision, 
when once made, was unalterable. ^No rank or station afforded 
protection against the sallies of his resentment. The press was 
an engine in his hands to vilify or degrade any man who had 
incurred his displeasure. But though violent and intemperate 
in his passion, he was not cruel nor revengeful. 11 qffensoil 
bcaucoup plus qu 'il ne punissoit, said one who had felt the weight 
of his resentment. His second marriage disclosed a new weak- 
ness in his character. His vanity was tickled with the thought, 
that he, a sous-lieutenant of artillery, should have married the 
grand-daughter of Maria Theresa. The idle pomp and cere- 
monial of a court seemed to delight him as much as if he had been 
born a Prince. He was solicitous to have the ancient noblesse 
near his person, and placed several of them about his court. 
But he was obliged to do this, as he has since confessed, with 
the greatest caution ; car toutes lesfois queje tonchois cctte corde y 
les esprits fremksoient comme un cheval d qui on scrre trop La 
^hride. 

The war with Russia, .when first undertaken, w&s popular in 
France. It arose out of the treaty of Tilsit j and Napoleon 
had justice on his side. Russia had undertaken to exclude 
English manufactures ; and, as Melzi foretold, had been unable 
to fulfil her engagement. Napoleon armed to punish her for the 
violation of a treaty, to which she owed her preservation from 
ruin, when at his mercy. How he failed, and from what causes, 
need not here be detailed. He had still an opportunity of ar- 
resting the course of his fortune. But obstinacy and incredulity 
prevailed. He could not bring himself to relinquish designs he 
.had so long indulged ; and nothing could persuade him that 
Austria would ever abandon his alliance. Austria was followed 
in her defection by Bavaria ; and the battle of Leipsick ruined 
Lis last hopes of universal empire. He was still, however, mas- 
ter of France and Italy, and might still have concluded peace. 
But, forgetting how much he had broke down the spirit of 
France, he once more refused to hearken to the counsels of pru- 
dence. Instead of courting his people, he disgusted and offend- 
ed them, by his intemperate quarrel with his legislature. The 
Allies entered France. The nation remained passive, as the 
.Germans had done, twenty years before, when invaded by the 
French. The armies fought with spirit and desperation. The 



499 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec. 

fortune of war was variable. Peace was still offered, and still 
rejected. Reduced by sickness, and in want of provisions, the 
Allkd army was about to retreat, and had already begun its re«? 
trograde movements, when treachery or intercepted letters con- 
veyed the important intelligence, that, in the hope of intercept- 
ing their retreat, which was considered inevitable, Napoleon had 
withdrawn his troops to a distance, and left Paris without de- 
fence. This information changed the course of the Allies; and, 
instead of falling back to Dijon, they advanced on the capital of 
France. By this unexpected movement, several small bodies of 
French fell into their hands; and, when they arrived at Paris, 
the force under Marmont was too weak to resist them, or pro- 
tect the city. The battle of the 30th of March gave them pos- 
session of the heights of Montmartre; and the same evening 
Paris surrendered on capitulation. 

Napoleon reached the neighbourhood of Paris on the even- 
ing of the battle, after the capitulation had been concluded. 
Finding he was too late to save his capital, he retired to Fon- 
tainebleau, and then collected his forces. On the 2d of April, 
he reviewed the corps of Marmont, which had evacuated Pa- 
ris on the 31st of March, and was then encamped at Essonne, 
forming the advanced guard, and constituting about one third 
of his army. Marmont assured him of the fidelity and attach- 
ment of his troops, who were indeed proof against seduction ; 
but he forgot to answer for their general. Napoleon had at 
first intended to march on Paris, and attack the Allies ; but, 
after consulting with the officers of his army, most attached to 
his person and interests, and listening for the first time to their 
account of the general discontent in France, which his obsti- 
nacy in refusing peace had excited, he determined to abdicate 
in favour of his son ; and, on the 4th of April, he sent Ney, 
Macdonalri and Caulaincourt, with a proposition to that effect, 
to the Emperor Alexander. As these officers passed the ad- 
vanced guard of the army, and stopped to have their passports, 
countersigned by Marmont, they communicated to that officer 
the object of their mission. He appeared confused, and mut- 
tered somewhat of propositions made to him by Schwartzen- 
berg, which he had in some degree entertained •, but this, he 
said, materially altered the case, and he would now put an end 
to his separate communications ; to which one of them re- 
plied, that he had better go with them to Paris for that pur- 
pose, and assist them in the negotiation they had in hand. 
He did accompany them ; but with what views, the fu- 
ture movements of his army will best explain. They left 
him with Schwartzenberg, and proceeded on their mission, t^ 



1816. Napoleon Bonaparte. #91 

Alexander, who referred them to the Senate — not having 
yet made up his mind what course to pursue, nor discover- 
ed that he was in the hands of two intriguers, animated, 
the one by fear, and the other by hatred of Napoleon. When 
the officer, who had attended the Marshals to the outposts of 
the army, returned to Fontainebleau, and reported that Mar- 
mont had gone with them to Paris, and that he had seen him 
concealed in the back part of their carriage, every one testified 
surprise, and some expressed suspicion; but Napoleon himself 
remarked, that if Marmont had accompanied them, he was 
sure it was to render him all the service in his power. While 
these negotiations were going on at Paris, a council of all the 
Generals of the army was held at Fontainebleau, to consider 
what should next be done, in case the propositions of the Mar- 
shals were rejected ; and to this council Souham, second in 
command under Marmont, was summoned with the other Ge- 
nerals. Souham, who was privy to the secret intelligence of 
Marmont with the enemy, suspecting from this message that 
their correspondence with Schwartzenberg was detected, instead 
of repairing to Fontainebleau, as he was ordered, made his ar- 
my advance, on the night of the 5th, to the neighbourhood of 
Versailles, by which he placed them in the power of the Allies, 
and left the troops at Fontainebleau exposed to attack. His 
soldiers ignorant of his intentions, obeyed the orders they had 
received ; and it was not till next morning they discovered the 
deceit that had been practised on them ; wiien, though too late 
to extricate themselves, they broke out into open mutiny. It is 
needless to add, that the defection of Marmont's corps, at this 
critical juncture, decided the fate of the negotiation entrusted to 
the Marshals. Napoleon, deprived of one third of his small 
army, was no longer an object of apprehension to the Allies. 
The treaty of Fontainebleau was signed on the 1 1th. We have 
entered into these minute details, because the treachery of Mar- 
shal Marmont to his friend and benefactor has not been pro- 
perly understood in this country. Neither his defence nor his 
capitulation of Paris are liable to censure. It is his subsequent 
conduct that will transmit his name with the reputation he me- 
rits to posterity. 

We must -here close our review of Napoleon. We have re- 
presented him as he appears to us, — a man of extraordinary ta- 
lents and dangerous ambition ; — better qualified to support ad- 
versity with firmness and patience, than to bear prosperity with 
temper and moderation ; — quick and violent in his passions, but 
more susceptible of friendship than of lasting enmily ; — with some 
:9f-the characteristic vices of a conqueror, but not more prodigaA 



492 Napoleon Bonaparte. Dec. 

of blood, nor more indifferent about mankind, than the Caesars, 
Alexanders, and Fredericks, who have preceded him in the same 
career. He was engaged in many wars in which oceans of blood 
were shed ; but in none, the war with Spain only excepted, was 
he the aggressor. He hai nearly reduced the Continent of Eu- 
rope under one monarchy; but it wms in repelling the attacks of 
hh neighbours that he extended his empire. ' Les arconstanccs 

* en me suscitant des guerres, ' said he, ' m'ont fourni les moyens 

* d'agrandir mon t mpire, etje. ne les ai pas neglige. ' His equa- 
nimity in misfortune, i<nd calm resignation to hi* fate, have 
been equalled by kw — surpassed by none. Mr Warden bears 
frequent and ample testimony to those virtues j and we can add, 
they are without ostentation, or appearance of display. When 
one of his vi-itants at Elba expressed his surprise at the admir- 
able calmness with which he bore the change of his fortune, he 
replied, ' Vest que tout le monde en a etc, je crois, phis etonne 

* que mot,- je n'ai pa a une trap bonne opinion des hommes, ei je 

* me suis tonjours m fie de la fortune. D'ailleurs, j ai piu joui: 

* mt-s freres out ete beaucoup plus rois que mui ; — Thej have had 
6 the enjoyments of royalty j 1 have had little but its fatigues. '