Glass 
 Book 
 
 Lx 3Q> 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE OF NAPOLEON, 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE DEATH OF LOUIS XVL 
 
 TO 
 
 
 THE VEAR 1821. 
 
 BY WILLIAM GRIMSHAW, 
 
 Author of a History of the United States, &,c. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY TOWAR & HOGAJ^, No. 255 MARKET STREET, 
 
 AND SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE U. STATES. 
 STEREOTYPE^ BY J. HOWE. 
 
 1829. 
 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania^ to wit : 
 »*#*** BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the third day of Jam®, art 
 *L. S.* the fifty-third year of the independence of the United States of 
 ****** America, A. D. 1829, William Grimshaw, of the said district, 
 
 bas deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims 
 
 as author, in the words following, to wit ; 
 
 " The Life of Napoleon, with the History of France, from the death of Louis 
 XVI. to the year 1821. Ey William Grimshaw, Author of a History of the 
 United Statefi," &c. 
 
 In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, enii* 
 tied, " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies 
 of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of soch 
 copies, during the times therein mentioned." And also to the Act enti- 
 tled, " An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled ' An Act for the En- 
 couragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and 
 Books, to the Authors and Proprie.*,or8 of such copies, during the times 
 therein mentioned,' and extending th«j benefits thereof to the artB of de- 
 sjf King, engraving, and etching, historical and other Prints." 
 
 D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the 
 
 Eastern District of Pennsyivanta. 
 
 60 
 
 
Preceding the Life of Napoleon, there has 
 been pubhshed, in a separate volume, written by 
 the same author, A History of France, from 
 the Foundation of the Monarchy, to the Death 
 of Louis XVL 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE OF NAPOLEON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 Napoleon Buonaparte, the fame of whose exploits seems 
 doomed to reach the last inhabitants of the sublunary creation, 
 was born on the fifteenth day of August, 1769, at Ajaccio, in 
 the island of Corsica. His family were noble, though, during 
 their residence in Corsica, rather reduced in fortune. The 
 Buonapartes, however, were a family of some distinction, in 
 the middle ages. Their names are inscribed in the archives 
 of Treviso ; and their armorial bearings are to be seen, on 
 several houses, in Florence. But, attached, during the civil 
 war, to the party of the Ghibellines, they were, of course, per- 
 secuted by the Guelphs ; and, being exiled from Tuscany, one 
 of the family took refuge in Corsica ; where he enjoyed all the 
 privileges of noble blood. 
 
 Of these exiles, the father of Napoleon, Charles Buonaparte, 
 was the principal descendant. He was educated at Pisa, for 
 the profession of law ; and is stated to have possessed a very 
 handsome person, a talent for eloquence, and a vivacity of in- 
 tellect, which he transmitted to his son. He was a patriot also, 
 and a soldier, and aided in the gallant resistance, made by Paoh, 
 in the reign of Louis XV., to the French. 
 
 It was in the midst of civil discord, that Charles Buonaparte 
 married Letitia Ramolini ; one of the most beautiful and ac- 
 complished young women of the island. Though deprived of 
 her husband, in the prime of life, she had already become the 
 mother of thirteen children ; of whom, five sons and three 
 daughters survived him : — Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien, Louis, 
 and Jerome ; Maria Anne, afterwards grand-duchess of Tus- 
 cany; Maria Paulina, who became princess Borghese; aj 
 Caroline, wife of Murat, and queen of Naples. _^-^ •'^ • 
 
 Charles Buonaparte, the father of Napoleop^-^^^^^joying' 
 for some time, the profits of a judicial^ ^'^a^^o"* ""^®^ *^® 
 
10 THE LIFE OF 
 
 French government, in Corsica, died, at Montpelier, at the age 
 of about forty, of an ulcer in the stomach, in the year 1783, 
 
 The count de Marboeuf, governor of Corsica, obtained, for 
 young Napoleon, at the age of ten years, an appointment to 
 the military school, at Brienne, one of the thirteen schools 
 which were supported, at the royal expense, in order to train 
 youths for the engineer and artillery service. Nothing could 
 be more suitable to young Buonaparte's genius, than the line 
 of study thus fortunately placed before him. His ardour for 
 the mathematical sciences, was combined with a singular apti- 
 tude for applying them to the purposes of war ; while his atten- 
 tion was stimulated by a natural ambition of being recorded in 
 the book of fame. 
 
 Even at the early age of ten, he discovered a peculiar tem- 
 per of mind. He avoided the juvenile amusements of the other 
 pupils, and courted solitude and gloom : — withdrawing himself 
 from their mirth, he devoted his attention to sedentary, rather 
 than to active employment, and appeared entirely engaged in 
 his own individual and retired pursuits. 
 
 His thirst for aggrandizement was evinced while yet in his 
 boyish days. A large plot of ground, adjoining the school, had 
 been divided into a number of portions, and these the boys were 
 allowed to cultivate, or appropriate to such other purposes as 
 they pleased. One of these parcels was allotted to young 
 Buonaparte, and two other lads ; but he succeeded in prevaihng 
 upon his partners to relinquish their right to participate in the 
 amusements which would have been afforded by their ground ; 
 and proceeded to lay it out into a garden, which he took much 
 pains to improve — his attention to it being the chief part of his 
 recreation. He expended the money which the count Mar- 
 bcEuf had sent to him, for his pocket, in constructing a strong 
 palisade around his garden, by which he rendered it difficult 
 of access. The shrubs, also, planted by him, some of which 
 were formed into impenetrable arbours, contributed to seclude 
 it from the grounds of the other boys, and to increase the diffi- 
 culties of their intrusion. 
 
 It does not appear, that, on his first entrance at school, any 
 extraordinary acquirements of learning marked an inordinate 
 desire of instruction, or intenseness of application ; and he 
 seems to have neglected, if not altogether rejected, in his early 
 vears, the attainment of the Latin language. He soon, how- 
 ®!^*^*^ .^nlied, with earnestness, to mathematics, the rudiments 
 or which Hfc v,.<^o taught by M. Pichegru, afterwards so distin^ 
 guished as a soldier, ^..a by Father Patrault, one of the infe- 
 
NAPOLEON. 1 1 
 
 rior professors at Brienne. Fortification, and all the other 
 branches of military science and tactics, he studied, with in- 
 creasing ardour ; and these, with the reading of history, prin- 
 cipally of ancient Rome and Greece, were his most delightful 
 occupations. 
 
 The hours of vacation, during which his attendance was not 
 required before the preceptors, were spent in his garden ; which 
 he cultivated so assiduously, as to preserve it in a state of clean- 
 liness and order. Its boundaries became impervious, and in- 
 closed a retreat that might have been coveted by a religious 
 recluse. When his horticultural labours were ended, he re- 
 tired to its arbours, with his mathematical and scientific works, 
 and, surrounded by these and other books, chiefly on historical 
 subjects, he meditated the reduction of the principles which he 
 had imbibed, to practice. He planned the attack and defence 
 of fortified places; the arrangements of hostile corps in order 
 of battle ; calculated the chances of success on the one part, 
 and of defeat on the other ; altered their position, and formed, 
 on paper, and on the ground, charges and victories, which he 
 afterwards realized, with so extraordinary success. 
 
 The belles lettres were not, at this period, any source of his 
 entertainment. His sole attention was given to military ac- 
 quirements, and a proficiency in the studies which form the 
 habits of a warrior. He scorned the arts of a courtier, nor did 
 he employ them even when it might be supposed that no other 
 would succeed. All other means, which power and the inge- 
 nuity of an uncultivated mind would have devised, he used, 
 without hesitation. His comrades called him the Spartan, and 
 he retained the name until he quitted Brienne. 
 
 His attachment to Corsica was almost proverbial, at the 
 school. It was usual for the boys to receive the communion, 
 and be confirmed, on the same day ; the ceremony being per- 
 formed by the archbishop. When he came to Buonaparte, he 
 asked him, as he had inquired of the rest, his christian name : 
 —this. Napoleon gave aloufl. The name of Napoleon being 
 uncommon, at first escaped the bishop's observation, and he 
 desired him to repeat it; which lUionaparte did, with some 
 appearance of impatience. Tho minister who assisted remark- 
 ed to the prelate — " Napoleon ! — Nai)oleon ! — I do not know 
 that saint." — " Indeed, I believe it," observed Buonaparte — 
 ♦*the saint is a Corsican ; and besides, there are a great many 
 saints, and only three hundred and sixty-five days to divide 
 amongst them." 
 
 He had, in fact, been christened Napoleon, after an obscure 
 
12 THE LIFE OF 
 
 saint, whose name had fallen altogether out of the calendar. 
 The poHteness of the pope, however, at a future day, promoted 
 the patron, in order to compliment the god-child ; and Saint 
 Napoleon des Ursins was accommodated with a festival, at the 
 expense of another saint, of still minor importance, whose name 
 was erased ; and, to render the comphment more flattering, 
 the feast of St. Napoleon was fixed for the 15th of August ; 
 the birth-day of Buonaparte, and the day on which he signed 
 the Concordat, which restored the French people to the bosom 
 of the Roman church.. 
 
 Buonaparte was always desirous of hearing accounts of the 
 pubhc transactions in Corsica. He revered his country, and 
 never mentioned its resistance to France, without enthusiasm. 
 He listened, with most hvely interest, to the relation of the va- 
 rious successes of the Corsican patriots, in arms. Several of the 
 French officers, who had served in Corsica, often visited the 
 school at Brienne, and the subject of conversation was frequent- 
 ly the Corsican war. They would sometimes exaggerate their 
 advantages over the Corsicans, and he allowed them quietly 
 to proceed ; occasionally, however, asking a shrewd question ; 
 but, when he was certain that they had falsified a fact, he would 
 eagerly exclaim, " Are you not ashamed, for a momentary 
 gratification of vanity, to slander a whole nation!" — At one 
 time, an officer was describing a victory, which he said had 
 been obtained by six-hundred of the French, when Buonaparte 
 exclaimed, " You say that there were six-hundred of you, in 
 the engagement : — I know that you were six-thousand, and were 
 opposed only by a handful of wretched Corsican peasants." 
 
 His manners were remarkable : his conduct was severe, and 
 the prominent feature of his character was pride. His severity 
 never forgave the offences of his companions. His resolutions 
 were immoveable, and his firmness in trifles tinctured his be- 
 haviour with obstinacy and eccentricity. Frequently engaged 
 in quarrels, he was often the greatest sufferer, as he generally 
 contended on the weakest side ; and, though he was mostly 
 singled out as an object of revenge, he never complained, to 
 his superiors, of ill-treatment. 
 
 The boys of the school were, however, gradually familiarized 
 to his temper : — he would not bend to them, and they were 
 contented to concede to him. The insurrections of the scholars, 
 against their masters, were frequent ; and young Buonaparte 
 was either at the head of each rebellion, or was selected to 
 advocate their complaints. He was therefore generally chosen 
 as the leader, and suffered severe chastisement. He often vin- 
 
NAPOLEON. 13 
 
 dicated his conduct, but never entreated pardon : he iJetened 
 to reproach and to reproof, to promises and to threats, without 
 emotion of fear, or indication of surprise. 
 
 The meetings of the boys were on the plan of a mihtary 
 estabhshment. They formed themselves into companies, each 
 under the command of a captain and other officers, and the 
 whole composed a battalion, with a colonel at its head. The 
 officers were chosen by the boys, and decorated with the orna- 
 ments usually attached to the French uniform. Buonaparte 
 was unanimously chosen a captain. He, however, by no means 
 courted their approbation : — soon after his election, he was 
 summoned before a court-martial, and declared unworthy to 
 command those comrades whose good- will he despised. 
 
 The younger boys, however, were partial to Buonaparte's 
 manners ; for he sometimes encouraged them in their sports, 
 and they voted him, by acclamation, the " director of their di- 
 versions." Without being restricted to observe the rules 
 which are essential to modern mihtary duty? he could now 
 bring his forces into the field, and direct all their operations ; 
 and, having at length extended his authority over the whole 
 school, he availed himself of this new command, and disciphned 
 his comrades to a new mode of warfare. He divided them 
 into two parties : they were alternately the Romans and the 
 Carthaginians, the Greeks and the Persians. To represent 
 the mode of lighting practised by the ancients, in the open field, 
 Avas more easy, for these lads, than to imitate the movements 
 of a modern army. Buonaparte therefore instituted and en- 
 couraged the practice of ancient war : he excited the enthu- 
 siasm of his youthful soldiery, by his speeches and his actions : 
 he led on one party against another, and the victory was often 
 disputed with an obstinacy, that would have honoured a more 
 important struggle. At length, the games, which commenced 
 in sport, seldom closed, until the wounds of the combatants 
 proved the earnestness with which they contended ; and the 
 superiors of the college having interfered, they reprimanded 
 the young general Buonaparte, and prohibited a renewal of 
 these battles. 
 
 His activity now repressed in the only exercise to which he 
 was attached, he retired to his favourite garden, resumed his 
 former occupations, and, for a considerable time, appeared no 
 more amongst his comrades. The severity of the weather had 
 driven him from his retreat, the snow lay tliick upon the ground, 
 and there had set in a hard frost. Ever fertile in expedients, 
 Buonaparte determined to open a winter campaign, on a new 
 
 B 
 
14 THE LIFE OF 
 
 plan. The modern art of war succeeded to the ancient. Hav- 
 mg been deeply engaged in the study of fortification, it was 
 natural that he should desire to reduce its theory to practice. 
 He called his fellow-pupils around him, and, having collected 
 their gardening implements, and put himself at their head, he 
 proceeded to procure large quantities of snow, which were 
 brought to particular spots, as he directed, in the great court 
 of the school. While they were thus occupied, he was tracing 
 the boundaries of extensive fortifications : they soon formed 
 entrenchments, and afterwards eagerly engaged in erecting 
 forts, bastions, and redoubts of snow. 
 
 The whole of these works were soon completed, according 
 to the exact rules of war. The curiosity of the people of Bri- 
 enne, and even of strangers, was excited, by the reports of their 
 extent and scientific construction ; and they went, in crowds, 
 during the winter, to admire them. Buonaparte alternately 
 headed the assailants and their opponents ; uniting address 
 with courage, and directing the operations with great applause. 
 The weapons of the contending parties were snow-balls ; and 
 he continually excited interest by some military manoeuvre, 
 which always surprised, if it did not astonish. The superiors 
 now encouraged the games of the boys, by praising those who 
 were distinguished, and it was' not until the sun of March had 
 liquefied the fortress, that it was declared no longer tenable. 
 
 Another instance is recorded, of his juvenile enterprise and 
 address. There was a fair, held, annually, in the neighbourhood 
 of Brienne, at which the pupils of the military school used to 
 find a day's amusement; but, on account of a quarrel between 
 them and the country people, at a former time, the students 
 were interdicted, by the professors of the institution, from going 
 beyond their own precincts, which were surrounded by a wall. 
 Under the direction of the young Corsican, however, the schol- 
 ars had already matured a scheme, for enjoying their usual 
 diversion. They had undermined the wall, which encompassed 
 their exercising ground, with so much skill and secrecy, that 
 their operations remained entirely unknown, until the morning 
 of the fair; when a part of the boundary unexpectedly fell, and 
 gave, to the imprisoned students, an easy passage ; of which, 
 they immediately took the advantage, by hurrying to the pro- 
 hibited scene of amusement. 
 
 The pupils of the mihtary school, were permitted, every year, 
 <on the day of St. Louis, (the twenty-fifth of August,) to devote 
 themselves to pleasure, and the most noisy demonstrations of 
 joy, almost without restraint. All punishment was suspended, all 
 
NAPOLEON. 15 
 
 subordination ceased, and generally some accident occurred, 
 before the day concluded. Those pupils who had attained four- 
 teen years of age, an old custom of the college had allowed the 
 privilege of buying a certain quantity of gunpowder ; and, for 
 a long time before the day arrived, these youths would assem- 
 ble, to prepare their fire-works. They were also permitted to 
 discharge small cannon, muskets, and other fire-arms, as often 
 as they thought proper. It was on St. Louis's day, in 1783, 
 the last year of Buonaparte's remaining at the school, that he 
 affected an entire indiflference to the means used by his com- 
 rades for its celebration. They were all animation and hilarity, 
 activity and spirit. He was all gloom and taciturnity, thought 
 and reflection. Retired the whole day, in his garden, he not 
 only did not participate in the general rejoicing, but pretended 
 to continue his usual study and occupations, without being dis- 
 turbed by the noise. His comrades were too much engaged 
 in their amusements, to think of interrupting him, and would 
 only have laughed at his strange behaviour, if an uncommon 
 circumstance had not drawn upon him their general attention 
 and resentment. Towards nine o'clock, in the evening, about 
 twenty of the young people were assembled in the garden ad- 
 joining his, in which the proprietor had promised to entertain 
 them with a show. It consisted of a pyramid, composed of 
 various fire-works : a light was applied, but unfortunately a 
 box, containing several pounds of gninpowder, had been forgot- 
 ten to be removed. While the youths were admiring the effects 
 of the fire-works, a spark entered the box, which hastily ex- 
 ploded ; some legs and arms were broken, two or three faces 
 miserably burned, and several paces of the wall thrown down. 
 The confusion was very great, and some of the lads, in their 
 alarm, endeavoured to escape through the adjoining fence: they 
 broke the palisades, and Buonaparte was seen stationed on the 
 other side, armed with a pick-axe, repeUing the invasion of his 
 little fortified dominion, and pushing back, into the fire, those 
 who had burst the fence. 
 
 In the month of October, in the same year, the young island- 
 er, then only fourteen years old, and under the usual age, was 
 sent, to have his education completed, to the principal school 
 of Paris. This dispensing with a general rule of the institution, 
 was a compliment paid to his extraordinary mathematical tal- 
 ent, and the severity of his application. While at Paris, he 
 attracted the same notice as at Brienne ; and, amongst other 
 society, he frequented the literary parties of the celebrated 
 abb^ Raynal. 
 
16 THE LIFE OF 
 
 In his seventeenth year, Napoleon Buonaparte received his 
 first commission, as a lieutenant, in a regiment of artillery, 
 quartered in Valence. He now indulged himself more than 
 formerly, by .mingling in society ; and rendered himself a dis- 
 tinguished favourite, by the exhibition of his uncommon povi^ers 
 of pleasing. His handsome and intelligent features, with his 
 active and neat, though slight figure, gave him additional ad- 
 vantages. His manners could scarcely be called elegant; but 
 he compensated, by vivacity and variety of expression, and 
 often by great energy and spirit, for any little deficiency in 
 gra6e and pohsh. 
 
 In 1792, Buonaparte became a captain in the artillery, by 
 seniority ; and in the same year, being at Paris, he witnessed 
 the two insurrections of the twenty-first of June and tenth of 
 August. 
 
 It was a remarkable incident, in the revolution, that it 
 brought out, from his retirement, the celebrated general Paoli; 
 who, long banished from Corsica, the freedom and indepen- 
 dence of which he had so valiantly defended, returned, from 
 exile, with the flattering hope of still witnessing the progress 
 of liberty, in his native land. He was received, at Paris, with 
 enthusiastic veneration, and created president of the depart- 
 ment, and commander of the national guard of his beloved 
 island ; powers which he exercised with great patriotism and 
 wisdom. But Paoli's ideas of liberty were dissimilar to those 
 which unhappily began, then, to prevail in France. He was 
 desirous of estabhshing that species of freedom, which is the 
 guardian, not the destroyer of property ; and which confers 
 practical happiness, instead of aiming at imaginary perfection: 
 he was therefore denounced in the national assembly, and sum- 
 moned, for the purpose of making his defence. 
 
 A large number of the inhabitants, embraced the principles 
 of the aged champion; and an expedition was accordingly des- 
 patched, to reduce the islanders to obedience. 
 
 Buonaparte was in Corsica, on leave of absence from his 
 regiment, during the occurrence of these events; and, although 
 he himself and Paoli, had hitherto been on the most friendly 
 terms, and that celebrated patriot had acted as god-father to 
 the young artillerist, he did not hesitate, as to which side he 
 would espouse. He embraced that of the convention ; and his 
 first mihtary exploit was in the civil war of his native land. 
 
 The strength of Paoli increasing, and the English preparing 
 to assist him, Corsica became no longer a safe residence for 
 the family of the Buonapartes. Lucien, who had distinguished 
 
NAPOLEON. n 
 
 himself as a partisan of the convention, was subjected to a de- 
 cree of banishment, from the island; and Madame Buonaparte, 
 with her three daughters, and Jerome, who was yet a child ► 
 sailed under the protection of Lucien and Napoleon, and set- 
 tled, for a short period, first at Nice, and afterwards at Mar- 
 seilles; where the family is supposed to have undergone consid- 
 erable distress, until the happy fortunes of Napoleon enabled 
 him to assist them. 
 
 The high character, gained, by the genius and application 
 of Napoleon, when at the miUtary schools, now operated, with 
 full effect, in advancing him in the army. To the notes, always 
 preserved, by the professors, concerning their scholars, he owed 
 his promotion, when just entering on his twenty-fifth year, to 
 the rank of brigadier general, with the command of the artil- 
 lery, during the siege of Toulon; the first opportunity presented 
 to him of displaying his transcendent genius. 
 
 The people of this city, and the French vice-admiral, Turgot, 
 had entered into a negotiation with the English admiral, lord 
 Hood ; who, on the twenty-eighth of August, took possession 
 of the town and shipping, in the name of Louis XVI ; under 
 the express stipulation, that the admiral should assist in restor- 
 ing the constitution of '89. 
 
 When general Buonaparte had reached the scene of action, 
 and visited the posts of the besieging army, before the arrival 
 of Dugomier, he found so many marks of incapacity, that he 
 could not conceal his astonishment. Batteries had been erect- 
 ed, for destroying the English shipping, but they were three 
 gun-shot's distance from the points which they were intended 
 to command : red-hot balls were preparing ; not heated in fur- 
 naces, beside the guns, but in the country houses, in the neigh- 
 bourhood, at the most incredible distance, as if they had been 
 articles of the most ordinary transportation. 
 
 After the arrival of Dugomier, having the full concurrence 
 of that able officer, in all his plans, the young general of artil- 
 lery entertained no doubt of complete success. But, to ensure 
 it, he used the utmost diligence and exertion, and exposed his 
 person to every risk. In a skirmish, he received a bayonet 
 wound, in the thigh, by which, however, he was not disabled. 
 On another occasion, he incurred a danger of a singular char- 
 acter. An artillery-man being shot, at a gun which he was 
 serving, while Napoleon was visiting a battery, he took up the 
 dead man's rammer, and, to give encouragement to the sol- 
 diers, charged the gun, repeatedly, with his own hands. 
 
 At another time, when overlooking the erection of a battery, 
 
 B2 
 
18 THE LIFE OF 
 
 which the enemy endeavoured to interrupt, by their fire, he 
 called for some person that could write, that he might dictate 
 an order. A young soldier having stepped out of the ranks, 
 began, accordingly, to write. A shot, from the enemy's bat- 
 tery, covered the letter with earth, the moment it was finished. 
 — "Thank you," said the military secretary; "we shall have 
 no occasion for sand, this time." — The gayety and courage of 
 the remark, drew Buonaparte's attention upon the young man; 
 who was Junot, afterwards so celebrated, and created duke of 
 Abrantes. 
 
 The war on the frontiers of Spain, produced nothing except 
 petty skirmishes, unworthy of detail; and the king of Savoy 
 made only slow progress, in recovering his possessions, which 
 the British ministry were so generous as to guarantee to him, 
 at an immense expense. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 1793—1802. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth of January, three days after the death 
 of Louis, the French ambassador at London received orders to 
 quit the kingdom ; and, on the first day of February, the na- 
 tional convention, on the motion of Brissot, declared war 
 against the king of England, and also, the Stadtholder of the 
 United Provinces. 
 
 By an article of a treaty, concluded in the year 1786, be- 
 tween France and England, the dismissal of an ambassador, 
 from either country, was agraed to be considered as a declara- 
 tion of war ; yet, the British ministry might now insist, that the 
 treaty referred to, was concluded with the king of France, not 
 with the republic; and it is diflicult to ascertain which party 
 was, in the present contest, the first aggressor. 
 
 The English cabinet immediately embarked a considerable 
 body of troops, under the command of the duke of York, to 
 support the Dutch. 
 
 It is not our design to narrate, minutely, the military opera- 
 tions that succeeded. The war was spread over an immense 
 frontier, and conducted with various success. Maestricht was 
 
NAPOLEON. 19 
 
 invested, early in February, by general Miranda ; and defended 
 with resolution, by the prince of Hesse. The head-quarters 
 of general Valence were at Liege, while his outposts extended 
 to Aix-la-Chapelle, and the banks of the Roer. On the first 
 of March, general Clairfait, having passed that river, in the 
 night, compelled the French to retreat, as far as Alderhaven, 
 with the loss of two-thousand men : on the following day, the 
 archduke Charles attacked several French batteries, and took 
 nine pieces of cannon ; and, on the third, the prince of Saxe- 
 Cobourg obtained a signal victory over the republican troops, 
 and drove them from Aix-la-Chapelle, to the vicinity of Liege. 
 
 On the sixteenth, a general engagement took place, at Neer- 
 winden. The action continued, with great obstinacy, on both 
 sides, from seven in the morning, until sunset ; when Dumou- 
 rier was obliged to retreat, and the Austrian cavalry coming 
 up, put his army entirely to flight. The month, however, had 
 not ended, before the French commander in a great measure 
 repaired the disaster of the sixteenth. On the twenty-first, 
 having been attacked, by the imperialists, near Louvain, he 
 compelled them to retreat, with a heavy loss. 
 
 This was the last achievement of Dumourier. In the even- 
 ing, he concluded an armistice, with the imperial commander ; 
 and, in a few days afterwards, declared his intention of march- 
 ing to Paris, against the Jacobins, and re-establishing a con- 
 stitutional monarchy, in France. " They will ruin France,'' 
 said he, " but I will save it, though they should call me a 
 Caesar, a Cromwell, or a Monk." — Commissioners were sent, 
 by the convention, to arrest the general, at St. Amand ; but, 
 having given the signal for a body of soldiers, who were in 
 waiting, he immediately ordered them into confinement, and 
 delivered them to the Austrians, as hostages for the safety of 
 the royal family. 
 
 But, notwithstanding his splendid talents, Dumourier appears 
 to have been widely mistaken, with regard to the disposition 
 of his army. When he proposed to them the restoration of 
 monarchy, in the person of the dauphin, and to turn their arms 
 against their country, the patriotism of Frenchmen resumed its 
 accustomed influence, and they considered it their duty to dis- 
 obey. On the fourth of April, conceiving himself in the utmost 
 danger, he mounted a horse, belonging to a servant of the young 
 Egalite, and escaped, from his indignant soldiers, through a 
 dreadful discharge of musquetry, which the whole column 
 poured upon him and his associates ; then, proceeding along 
 the Scheldt, he passed the ferry, near the village of Wick, in 
 
20 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the imperial dominions ; from which place, he continued his 
 route, on foot, to Bury; where, in the evening, he had an inter- 
 view with an Austrian officer, colonel Mack. 
 
 All that this able and ambitious man saved, in his retreat, 
 was merely his life ; of which, he spent some years afterwards 
 in Germany, concluding it, in England, at a very advanced 
 age,^ without again making any figure in the political horizon ; 
 although he occasionally afforded the British ministers his 
 opinion, upon matters relating to the invasion of the continent. 
 
 Possessed, by the defection of Dumourier, of all the Nether- 
 lands, with the same rapidity with which they had, by that 
 general, been previously conquered, the alhes again resolved 
 to attack the frontiers of France. The navies of England, 
 Holland, and Spain, were to act in concert, and form a chain 
 of cruisers around the coast ; all trade was to be intercepted, 
 the nation to be blocked up and starved, and succours to be 
 afforded the royalists, wherever they should appear. 
 
 But the efforts of the French, in repelling these attacks, were 
 commensurate with the endeavours with which they were pre- 
 pared. Commissioners were sent to the army, who omitted no 
 means of restoring order, and invigorating the spirit of the 
 troops. General Dampierre, who had evinced his patriotism, 
 by resisting the order of Dumourier, was appointed to the chief 
 command ; and was enabled to lead his troops to frequent vic- 
 tory, until, by a too great exposure of his person, he was killed, 
 by a cannon ball, leaving the command in the hands of general 
 La Marche. 
 
 The danger, to which the republic was exposed, from foreign 
 and domestic enemies, could not appease the factious members 
 of the convention. Three-hundred of the Gironde party, were 
 denounced, as accomplices of Dumourier, by the turbulent 
 Marat, supported by his colleague, Robespierre ; in conse- 
 quence of which, a violent tumult ensued, and the deputies, on 
 each side of the hall, advanced, to assault each other, with 
 drawn swords, but were, by the authority of the president, at 
 length restrained. The Girondists recriminated, and Gaudet 
 presented a direct accusation against Marat, for his attempts 
 against the convention; but the jury by whom he was tried, 
 were either afraid to condemn him, or were themselves of his 
 party, and he was acquitted. 
 
 The victory over the Gironde, was not suffered to pass un- 
 improved. On the second of June, Marat and his atrocious 
 
 * In 1823, in his eighty-fifth year. 
 
NAPOLEON. 21 
 
 colleagues, excited an insurrection ; the Tuileries, in which 
 the convention now held their meetings, were surrounded, by 
 twenty-thousand soldiers, and a furious mob ; and, on the mo- 
 tion of Couthon, more than thirty of the most distinguished of 
 the moderate republicans, were proscribed, as traitors, and 
 ordered under arrest, and the remainder consulted their safety 
 by retiring. 
 
 The insurrection of the second of June, was dignified with 
 the name of a revolution ; and a new constitution, of still more 
 democratic features, than the preceding, was accordingly fram- 
 ed ; the concluding article of which, declares, that, " when the 
 government violates the law, insurrection becomes the duty of 
 the people." It established the pure government of the mul- 
 titude. But this constitution was no sooner made, than sus- 
 pended ; and the revolutionary government, while they were 
 amending it, was maintained until the peace. 
 
 Marat was suffered, only for short period, to enjoy his tri- 
 umph. The enthusiasm of a young woman, a native of St. 
 Saturnin, in Normandy, named Charlotte Cord ay, relieved her 
 country from the sanguinary machinations of this horrid mon- 
 ster. She was now in her twenty-fifth year, and was brought 
 up at Caen, where her beauty and accomplishments were seen 
 and admired, by Belsunce, the major of a regiment, then quar- 
 tered in the town. The death of this worthy favourite, who 
 was murdered by some assassins, excited the vengeance of the 
 youthful heroine ; and, when she saw her lover branded with 
 the name of conspirator, in the journal published by Marat, 
 she hastened to Paris ; determined to sacrifice, to her resent- 
 ment, the man who had so shamefully abused the object of her 
 affections, and proscribed all the deputies of merit and virtue 
 in the convention. She was, at first, refused admittance, at 
 the house of Marat ; but she obtained access to him by writing 
 a letter, in which she informed him, that she wished to disclose 
 some secret of importance ; and, on the fourteenth of July, 
 while the tyrant was engaged in conversation with her, she 
 stabbed him to the heart, and he fell lifeless at her feet. She 
 was immediately apprehended, and, glorying in the deed, was 
 condemned, and carried to the scaffold. When the executioner 
 took off her neck-handkerchief, the moment before she bent 
 under the fatal axe, she blushed deeply ; and her head, which 
 was held up to the multitude, the instant after, exhibited that 
 last impression of offended modesty. 
 
 That the Girondists would not submit passively to their de- 
 feat, and that an insurrection would be the consequence of the 
 
22 THE LIFE OF 
 
 events of the second of June, were to be expected. Brissot 
 and some others of the proscribed members, fled precipitately 
 to the departments, and spread the alarm against their oppo- 
 nents. But the southern departments, only, remained attached 
 to the fallen party. The city of Lyons, in particular, which had, 
 from the first dawn of the revolution, declared for monarchy 
 and aristocracy, embraced this new convulsion, as a moment 
 favourable to her wishes. Engaged chiefly in the manufac- 
 ture of silk, the costly habits of a court and the nobility suited 
 the commerce of the Lyonese, better than the simple costume 
 of a republic ; and thus, were they mterested in upholding the 
 ancient regime. The cities of Marseilles and Toulon, together 
 with the whole department of the Gironde, followed the exam- 
 ple of Lyons, and entered into a league for dissolving the con- 
 vention. 
 
 Of all the Girondists, who took refuge in their own peculiar 
 province, Louvert alone escaped. Gaudet, Salles, and Barba- 
 roux, were executed, at Bourdeaux ; but not until the last had 
 twice attempted suicide, with his pistols. Buzot and Petion 
 put an end to their existence, and were found dead in a field 
 of corn. Condorcet was arrested, and escaped the guillotine, 
 by poison. Valeze, in a transport of indignation, stabbed him- 
 self, before the court. Vergniaud, having a presage of his im- 
 pending fate, had early provided himself with poison ; but, 
 finding that his young friends, Fronfrede and Duces, who he 
 had some hopes would be spared, were companions of his mis- 
 fortune, he gave the phial to the officer of the guard, resolved 
 to await the appointed moment, and to perish with them. 
 Roland was found dead, on the high road ; accomplishing a 
 prophecy of his wife, whom the Jacobins had condemned to 
 death, and who had declared her conviction that her husband 
 would not long survive her. That remarkable woman made, 
 before the revolutionary tribunal, a defence, in a bolder strain, 
 than the most eloquent of the Girondists. She met her death 
 with unusual firmness ; exclaiming, as she passed the statue of 
 Liberty, on her road to execution, " Ah, Liberty ! what crimes 
 are committed in thy name !" 
 
 Brissot, Sillery, Fauchet, Carra, the generals Custine and 
 Luckner, with about twenty other illustrious victims of the 
 blood-thirsty Robespierre, the prime mover of these judicial 
 massacres, met their fate with all the calmness of innocence, 
 and the dignity of heroic virtue. Claviere, the co-minister of 
 Roland, snatched himself from the hands of the tyrant, by a 
 voluntary death. 
 
NAPOLEON. ' 23 
 
 Lavoisier, the celebrated chemist, was another of the pro- 
 scribed. He had long been employed in an important philo- 
 sophical experiment, and requested only the short respite of a 
 fortnight, to complete it ; but his prayer was not granted. 
 
 Not the least remarkable of the sufferers, during the reign 
 of terror, was the duke of Orleans. He had become an object 
 of suspicion and jealousy, with every party ; and the charge 
 upon which his condemnation rested, was his aspiring to the 
 throne. 
 
 While the vitals of France were thus rent asunder, by con- 
 tending factions, she was surrounded by a combination of 
 foreign enemies, unparalleled, for their strength and number, 
 in the annals of mankind. Nearly every state of Europe was 
 under arms, for the prostration of the repubhc. Switzerland, 
 Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey, were the only powers that re- 
 mained neutral. 
 
 The advantage gained, by the British and Hanoverian troops, 
 in the battle of Famars, enabled them to lay siege to Valen- 
 ciennes ; which highly important place was surrendered, on 
 the twenty-sixth of July, to the duke of York : about the same 
 time, the Austrian general, Wurmser, gained possession of 
 Mentz ; and soon afterwards the French were driven from a 
 strong post, occupied by them, on the Scheldt, known by the 
 name of Caesar's Camp. 
 
 These were the last victories, of which the allies had, at this 
 period, to boast. The protraction of the sieges, had enabled 
 the French to recover from the disorganization caused by the 
 defection of Dumourier, and other deserters ; and that energy, 
 which thinking men, from the first, foresaw would defeat the 
 unjust projects of the allied powers, began, once more, to be 
 displayed. 
 
 After the fall of Valenciennes, the duke of York proceeded 
 to the reduction of Dunkirk. Unsupported, however, in this 
 enterprise, from the neglect of the naval department of Eng- 
 land, to despatch a sufficient fleet, to co-operate against this 
 celebrated fortress, the British commander was compelled, on 
 the sixth of September, to retire precipitately from before its 
 walls. The duke was obhged to swim his horse across a rivu- 
 let ; and might have been taken prisoner, but for the negligence 
 of general Houchard ; for which breach of duty, this officer 
 suffered death. 
 
 Jourdan, who had been a general of division, under Houchard, 
 now succeeded to the command. This officer had been trained 
 to the artillery service ; and, with Hoche and Pichegru, and 
 
24 THE LIFE OF 
 
 others who have since distinguished themselves, at the head of 
 French armies, in the most splendid operations, had reached, 
 before the revolution, the highest rank for which merit alone 
 could hope, under the royal government — that of sergeant. 
 
 In the middle of October, Jourdan attacked the allies, with 
 so much skill and decision, as to compel the prince of Cobourg, 
 after suffering immense loss, to abandon a position which he 
 had fortified with the utmost care^. Following up his success, 
 he penetrated into maritime Flanders ; took Werwick, and 
 obhged general Erbach to evacuate Menin, and retreat to 
 Courtray ; nor did he halt, in his rapid career of victory, be- 
 fore he arrived opposite the walls of Ostend. 
 
 The republican forces were still more successful, in repelling 
 the attempts of the insurgents, in La Vendee. The country 
 which was the scene of this insurrection, is situated between 
 the Loire and the Charente ; forming part of the territory which 
 had been called, under the ancient government, the province 
 of Poictou. It had little intercourse with the rest of the re- 
 public, except what arose from the export of its superfluous 
 cattle. In this insulated district, the feudal system had been 
 maintained, in all its rigour : there was neither education nor 
 civihzation, because there was no middle class ; and there was 
 no middle class, because there were few or no towns. From 
 its geographical situation, it had received only a few feeble 
 rays of the light of that liberty which had burst forth in France ; 
 and, as already the seeds of discord had been scattered by the 
 clergy, and by foreign intrigues, it was fitted to become the 
 retreat of all who were averse to the new order of public af- 
 fairs. In the hope of restoring monarchy, a vast project of 
 insurrection was formed ; which comprised not only La Ven- 
 dee, and the adjoining departments, but extended itself through 
 a great part of Brittany. Before the end of March, the royalists 
 had organized an army of forty-thousand men, at the head of 
 whom they placed general Vi^impsen ; and had begun their 
 march to the capital, before the convention was apprized of the 
 insurrection. In two pitched battles, they defeated the repub- 
 licans : they gained possession of a country fifty leagues in ex- 
 tent ; and of the Loire, almost as far as Paris. Nor did they 
 rely solely upon domestic aid. An expedition had been planned, 
 by the English ministers, for the purpose of co-operation with 
 the insurgent forces ; and the earl of Moira, who had distin- 
 guished himself in the war with the American colonies, was 
 selected, to lead the troops destined to this service, and to land 
 upon the coast of Brittany. The scheme, however, partook 
 
NAPOLEON. 26 
 
 of the imbecility which characterized nearly all the measures 
 of Wilham Pitt's administration. The expedition was delayed, 
 until the royalists were subdued ; and, when the transports ap- 
 peared off the coast, they found the republican army so well 
 prepared for their reception, that they returned to England. 
 
 It would be tedious, to enter into a more particular detail of 
 the Vendean war. The insurgents made a most vigorous re- 
 sistance, against every effort of the convention, until the mid- 
 dle of October ; when, after fighting more than two-hundred 
 battles, they were completely routed, by general Hoche. 
 
 The formidable union, which had been organized, under the 
 name of " federate republicanism," between the cities of Mar- 
 seilles, Lyons, and Toulon, still, however, continued. On the 
 twenty-fourth of August, Marseilles submitted, to general Car- 
 taux ; and, in the following month, Lyons was forced to sur- 
 render, to general Doppet. But the arms of the convention 
 were not equally fortunate, at Toulon. Of the siege of this 
 important depot and harbour for the marine of France, we 
 have already spoken, in a preceding chapter, though rather 
 out of the regular order of time, when introducing the military 
 exploits of general Buonaparte. 
 
 A considerable part of the great city of Lyons, was levelled 
 with the ground, and its streets were crimsoned with human 
 blood. The guillotine was found to be too slow a mode of 
 execution : and Collot d'Herbois devised a more summary 
 kind of slaughter. Harbouring in his breast a determination 
 of revenge against the inhabitants of the devoted city, who, 
 when a player, had hissed him, for his wretched acting, he or- 
 dered several hundred victims, at once, to be dragged, from 
 prison, to one of the largest squares of Lyons, and there sub- 
 jected to a fire of grape-shot. 
 
 The number of arrests which were made through France, 
 again filled the prisons, which had been so fearfully emptied 
 on the second and third of September ; and it is said that the 
 number now immured, was at least three-hundred-thousand; 
 one-third of whom were women. The quantity of blood at 
 this time shed, was unequalled, even during the proscriptions 
 of the Roman empire : one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand persons 
 are computed to have suffered death. 
 
 Amidst the multifarious and perplexing concerns of legisla- 
 tion, war, and judicial prosecution, the convention found leisure 
 to amend, or at least to alter, the existing mode of computing 
 time, in Europe. The new French era commenced from the 
 
 C 
 
26 THE LIFE OF 
 
 foundation of the republic, on the twenty-second of September? 
 1792. The year was divided into twelve equal months, of 
 thirty days ; each month, into three decades, often days each ; 
 five supplementary days were added, not belonging to any par- 
 ticular month; and one intercalary day, at the end of every 
 fourth year. The natural day was divided into ten parts, each 
 part into ten subdivisions, and so on, to the least measurable 
 portion of time. The sabbatical week, was, by this new ar- 
 rangement, abolished, and with it, the Christian observation of 
 the seventh day ; the tenth being ordained as the future day 
 of rest.* 
 
 We must not wonder at the mere abrogation of the ancient, 
 and the establishment of the decadal sunday. There was, at 
 this time, no public worship of the Deity, observed in France : 
 the churches were all either closed, or demolished ; the Jaco- 
 binical doctrine denied the existence of a God, and declared 
 death to be the commencement of an everlasting sleep. 
 
 Vigorous measures were taken, to invest Toulon. On the 
 eighth of September, the siege was opened, by general Cartaux : 
 but this officer having, for his inactivity, been removed, was 
 succeeded by the veteran, Dugomier ; to whom, aided by many 
 other able tacticians, particularly La Borde, Duroc, and Napo- 
 leon Buonaparte, the city was abandoned, on the eighteenth, 
 after a most obstinate defence, by a mixed garrison, of about 
 eleven-thousand men. Ten days had been consumed, in re- 
 ducing the formidable outworks. The bombardment was con- 
 tinued until ten at night ; the scaling ladders were already ap- 
 phed, to the walls, and four-thousand shells ready to be thrown, 
 to cover the escalade, when it was found that the enemy had 
 
 The conflagration, caused by the flying enemy, was no less 
 terrific, than destructive. The city, the great arsenal of France, 
 was, in many places, on fire ; and the flames, scattered under 
 the direction of Sir Sydney Smith, a captain in the English 
 navy, were devouring the arsenals, rope-houses, magazines of 
 
 "^ The new names of the months, were; for Autumn. J^endemaire, 
 Brumaire, and Frimaire — or vintage, fog, and sleet months : for Win- 
 ter, Jfivose, Pluviose, and Ventose^ — snow, rain, and wind months; 
 for Spring, Germinal^ Floreal, and Priaireal — sprouts, flowers, and 
 pasture months; for Summer, Jllessidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor — 
 harvest, hot, and fruit months. 
 
 The days of the week were named, Primodi, Duodi Tridi, Quartidi, 
 Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, Octidi, Nonidi, Decadi. 
 
NAPOLEON. 27 
 
 timber, and the fleet. Nine ships of the line, and three frigates, 
 were burned ; and ten vessels of war were carried off, by the 
 British and Spanish fleets. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 END OF THE REIGN OF TERROR. 
 
 In the convention, the incidents that occurred, during 
 the year into which we are now entering, were as vari- 
 ous and as interesting, as at any other period of the revolution. 
 In the beginning of February, three deputies from the island 
 of St. Domingo, were admitted, and took their seats. One of 
 these representatives, was a negro ; the other two were mulat- 
 toes. On the following day, one of their number gave an ac- 
 count of the disturbances in that island; and delivered a pane- 
 gyric upon the oppressed race of which he was a member. — 
 " Who are these men," said he, " represented as so worthless, 
 and so wicked ? Who can say they are not good fathers, aflfec- 
 tionate husbands, and obedient sons ; that they are not friends 
 to the poor, protectors of the helpless, the guardians, alike, of 
 infancy and age? Is it matter of wonder, that six-hundred- 
 thousand men of colour, shaking off their chains, should be so 
 terrible, to those who would wish to enslave them, contrary to 
 the example and wishes of the country by which they have been 
 adopted ? They demand only liberty to work, and wages for 
 their labour!''^ 
 
 The deputy had no sooner concluded, than Lacroix moved 
 that slavery should be totally abolished, in the French colonies; 
 and that all persons of colour, residing in them, should be con- 
 sidered as citizens of France. The convention arose, by a 
 spontaneous emotion, and passed the decree. The hall then 
 exhibited a most affecting scene : the members, individually, 
 embraced the deputies; tears of joy trickled down their cheeks; 
 and a female negro, who had assiduously attended the meetings 
 of the convention, fainted, with delight. 
 
 The progress of the several factions, in France, affords very 
 ample materials for the historian. The fall of the Girondists, 
 was a signal for contest, between the Jacobins and Cordehers; 
 who, having both composed that division of the convention, 
 
28 THE LIFE OF 
 
 called the Mountain,* and concurred in the overthrow of their 
 formidable rival, began, now, to struggle for power, amongst 
 themselves ; and, by their mutual jealousies, and alternate pror 
 scriptions, so far to extract the venom out of both, as to change 
 the convention, from a den of furious assassins, to a body of 
 patriotic legislators, assembled to consult for the public good. 
 
 The leader, at this time, of the Cordehers, was Hebert. To 
 conciliate the poor and ignorant, the wildest theories, and anti- 
 religious doctrines, were promulgated, by this factious club ; 
 and even an agrarian law, or an equal division of all the lands 
 amongst the people, was held forth, as the summit of perfect 
 government, and equal rights. With these doctrines, the fanat- 
 ics had assumed a consistent garb. The term, sans culotte, 
 which, from its origin, had become a term of pride, and had 
 been adopted, with much effect, by the victorious legions of 
 the repubhc, was now the only appellation tolerated by them : 
 their habiliments were long trowsers or pantaloons, short jack- 
 ets, black wigs, or red caps ; their hair was cut short behind, 
 and worn without powder ; and their linen was always soiled. 
 
 This species of attire was a very singular contrast to that of 
 Robespierre ; who always appeared dressed with studied neat- 
 ness, and powdered hair; a circumstance that did not pass 
 unobserved, in the journal of Hebert, called Pere Duchesne. 
 
 In the beginning of March, the table of the rights of man, 
 in the hall of the Cordeliers, was covered with black crape; 
 and Hebert, from the tribune of the society, asserted, that 
 " Tyranny existed in the republic." 
 
 This charge, designed to impHcate the dictator of the con- 
 vention, did not long pass unnoticed. While he caused the 
 cities of the republic to be deluged with the blood of his daily 
 victims, Robespierre professed, like other hypocrites, to be 
 strongly under the influence of religion ; and, to widen the 
 sources from which he might obtain his future victims, he had 
 renounced the profession of atheism, and obtained a solemn 
 decree, in the convention, recognising the existence of a God. 
 Hebert, Anacharsis Cloots, and seventeen others, charged with 
 atheism, and various crimes against the republic, were there- 
 fore brought to trial, and executed, amidst the applauses of the 
 fickle multitude. 
 
 * The party of the Mountain, were so named from the elevated 
 seats, which they occupied, in that part of the chamber, farthest from 
 the president's chair : the Cordeliers received their appellation, like 
 the Jacobins, from a monastery in which they used to meet, formerly 
 inhabited by a fraternity of monks, of that name. 
 
NAPOLEON. 29 
 
 The death of Hebert was the signal for throwing off the hid- 
 eous masquerade of sans-culotism ; in which, nearly the whole 
 of France had been arrayed, during the preceding winter. 
 Black wigs, red caps, and short jackets, were now laid aside ; 
 and the eye was once more cheered, with the appearance of 
 clean linen and powdered locks. 
 
 The success and popularity of Robespierre, in this last pro- 
 scription, were so great, as to ensure him unlimited control 
 over the lives of all who stood in the way of his ambition. The 
 Gironde had fallen before him; the Cordeliers had been severed 
 and destroyed : — his coadjutors on the Mountain, were now to 
 partake of his unquenchable ire. Pretended conspiracies were 
 again hatched, in his prohfic brain ; and a new brood of imagi- 
 nary traitors brought forth, to be immolated on his bloody altar. 
 Danton, his powerful associate in the clubs ; Camille Desmou- 
 lins, his school-fellow and early friend ; Fabre d' Eglantine, 
 Herault, Philippaux, and Lacroix ; were, on the second of 
 April, carried before the revolutionary tribunal, found guilty 
 of a conspiracy against the republic, and consigned to the scaf- 
 fold of the guillotine. 
 
 Danton, who was beheaded in his thirty-fifth year, was a 
 native of Arcy-sur-Aube, in the department of Calais, and had 
 been educated for the bar. His talents, so much abased, were 
 superior to his education. He perplexed his judges by the 
 keenest sallies of wit, and pointed invective ; and showed his 
 contempt for the tribunal, by throwing, into their faces, little 
 balls of paste. 
 
 Desmoulins was born at Guise, in Picardy. He displayed 
 his republican zeal at the taking of the Bastile, and in the de- 
 struction of the monarchal power ; and, as the friend of Dan- 
 ton, he was one of the founders of the Jacobin club, and had a 
 share in the atrocities of the twentieth of June and the tenth 
 of August '92. When seized in the night, he opened his win- 
 dows, and called in vain for help, against the satellites of tyran- 
 ny ; and with Young's Night Thoughts, and Hervey's Medita- 
 tions, in his hand, he was dragged to prison, and immediately 
 afterwards to the scaffold ; and his wife, who wished to share 
 his fate, was permitted, ten days afterwards, to lay her head 
 upon the same block. 
 
 D'Eglantine, a native of Carcassone, in the department of 
 Aude, was now in the fortieth year of his age; and, with a rest- 
 less spirit, became, successively, an actor, a comic writer, and 
 a statesman. Though originally poor, he soon became very 
 
 C 2 
 
30 THE LIFE OF 
 
 rich. He wrote some plays which possess merit, and is par- 
 ticularly known as the person who recommended and intro- 
 duced into France, that puerile calendar, which was opposed 
 to the habits, the opinions, and the prejudices of the rest of 
 Europe. 
 
 Before the end of summer, many other distinguished per- 
 sons, were added to the gloomy catalogue, for decapitation. 
 Amongst these, were Malesherbes, formerly associated in the 
 administration with Turgot, and afterwards the generous de- 
 fender of Louis, upon his trial ; also, (in the seventieth year of 
 his age,) the eccentric baron Trenck, a nobleman of Prussia ; 
 whose hfe had been an uninterrupted course of suffering, from 
 the ingenious cruelty of despotism, in his native land. Thomas 
 Paine, too, was marked down for death, by the sanguinary- 
 tyrant ; but a fever had seized this latter victim ; and his exe- 
 cution was suspended, until he should be restored to health. 
 
 In the mean time, the tyrant's own fate was decided. Per- 
 sons of the most dastardly spirit, could submit, no longer, to 
 be subjected to proscription, by so contemptible a monster. 
 The fate of Danton had excited horror, in the convention; and 
 it was clearly seen, that the design of Robespierre was to re- 
 move every member of sufficient influence to raise, in his timid 
 mind, either jealousy or fear. Tallien, Barras, Bourdon, Le- 
 gendre, Lecointre, Merlin de Thionville, and Billaud de Va- 
 rennes, being amongst those who were the most sensible of 
 their danger, resolved to prevent their own death, by the de- 
 struction of the tyrant. Having artfully prepared the pubhc 
 mind, and taken the most judicious measures for diminishing 
 the influence of the demagogue, over the Parisian mob, on the 
 ninth Thermidor (twenty-seventh of July) they impeached 
 Robespierre, St. Just, Couthon, Henriot, and their adherents, 
 of a conspiracy against the convention. They were, accord- 
 ingly, arrested ; but, having been rescued from confinement, 
 were led, in triumph, by a body of Jacobins, to the Hotel de 
 Ville ; where they formed themselves into a separate conven- 
 tion, and set the arm of justice at defiance. But Robespierre 
 soon discovered that his reliance on the mob was fallacious. 
 Convinced that his tyrannical career was ended, he shot him- 
 self, in the mouth, with a pistol. The ball did not produce the 
 desired effect ; but carried away his tongue, and part of his 
 under-jaw ; and, at the same time, he received a sabre wound, 
 from a soldier, who attempted to cut down his pistol-arm. His 
 brother leaped out of a window, and broke one of his legs, and 
 an arm ; his brother-in-law? Le Bas, shot himself dead, on the 
 
NAPOLEON. 3t 
 
 spot ; Couthon attempted suicide, by stabbing himself with a 
 knife ; and Henriot, while haranguing the soldiers, below, was 
 thrown out of the window, and, by the fall, his arm was broken, 
 but he was not killed. At length, the survivors were all seized, 
 and dragged before the revolutionary committee ; by which 
 horrid tribunal, so often the instrument of his own insatiable 
 tyranny, Robespierre, and the other two triumvirs, together 
 with twenty-three more of his associates in crime, were sen- 
 tenced to death ; and, on the twenty-eighth of July, expiated 
 their crimes, by that punishment whicli they had inflicted upon so 
 many thousand others, amidst a loud burst of public execration. 
 
 Thus fell, by the hands of men scarcely less criminal than 
 himself, a monster, who, in cruelty, surpassed all the tyrants, 
 both of ancient and modern times ; and whose death put an 
 end to what is so emphatically denominated " the reign of 
 terror." 
 
 In an epitaph, of which the following couplet may serve as 
 a translation, his life was represented as incompatible with the 
 existence of the human race : — 
 
 " Here lies Robespierre — let no tear be shed : 
 Reader, if he had lived, thou hadst been dead." 
 
 Maximilian Robespierre was beheaded at the age of thirty- 
 five. He was born of poor parents, at Arras, and left an or- 
 phan, at an early age. The bishop of that diocese, took him 
 under his protection, bestowed upon him a hberal education, 
 and designed him for the profession of the law. He gained 
 several literary prizes ; but his legal studies were not attended 
 with equal success. Yet, not the less confident in his own 
 abilities, he already imagined himself disputing the palm of 
 eloquence with the first speakers of the age. His patron re- 
 moved him to Paris ; but, after a long and fruitless trial, he 
 was under the necessity of recalling Iiim to his native city ; 
 where, instead of practising as a barrister, he was reduced to 
 act as an obscure attorney ; a branch of the profession, better 
 suited to the mediocrity of his talents.* After his return to 
 Paris, his mind brooded, in abhorrence, on his disappointment; 
 and he thenceforth became the implacable persecutor of genius. 
 His petulance and acerbity were visible, in all his legal under- 
 takings. His habit of body gradually obtained a character 
 corresponding with his mind. In his person, he was of low 
 
 * In the United States, the two branches of lawyer or barrister, and 
 attorney, are united, in the same person: in Europe, the attorney 
 institutes the action, and the lawyer conducts the arguments in court. 
 
32 THE LIFE OF 
 
 stature, not more than five feet and a half; in his early years, 
 he was ruddy and round ; in his manhood, he became meagre, 
 his features harsh and forbidding; his eye scowled, and his 
 complexion was cadaverous and livid. The revolution forced 
 him from his desk; and he was elected a deputy in '89. In 
 the constituent assembly, he was scarely known ; and, had he 
 died then, his character would have gone down along with him, 
 into the grave. He was elected, to the convention, by the city 
 of Paris, together with his younger brother ; but, even at this 
 advanced stage of the revolution, he was the advocate of kings, 
 and defended royalty, against Brissot. His politics, however, 
 soon afterwards, changed ; and, with the death of the king, he 
 became as violent a defender of republicanism ; and exchanged 
 the cant of ancestry and divine right, for the more fashionable 
 jargon of the sans culottes. 
 
 In the following summer, Carriere, Foquiere de Tinville, 
 the public accuser, together with fourteen of their atrocious 
 colleagues, were taken to the scaffold ; and Barrere, Collot 
 d'Herbois, and Billaud de Varennes, were exiled to Guiana, 
 
 John Baptist Carriere, now in his thirty-ninth year, was born 
 near Aurillac. He was educated for the law, and, having been 
 chosen a deputy to the national convention, was sent, as an 
 able missionary, to La Vendee, with a number of assassins. In 
 this office, he became known for his refined cruelty. At Nantes, 
 the scene of his barbarities, he often, in one day, caused more 
 than twenty persons to be put to death, though young and inno- 
 cent ; and, by a new mode of torment, placed them male and 
 female together, in barges, on the Loire, and then sunk the 
 vessels in the middle of the river. 
 
 Notwithstanding those internal scenes of horror, the exer- 
 tions of the republic, were, at this period, prodigious, and 
 almost incredible. France nov>^ displayed a political and mih- 
 tary picture, to which no parallel can be found, in the history 
 of any other country, whether barbarous or civilized. Her 
 councils were directed by committees, her armies by officers 
 just emerged from the lowest ranks. The number of troops 
 which she had actually in the field, amounted to seven-hundred- 
 and-eighty-thousand. Placed between the scaffolds of Paris, 
 and the cannon of their enemies, sure of the guillotine, if de- 
 feated, having no alternative between death and victory, her 
 generals immortalized their names, by the boldness of their 
 enterprises, and the splendour of their success. Pichegru, 
 Jourdan, and Moreau, have raised for themselves, monuments, 
 not less durable than time itself. 
 
NAPOLEON. 33 
 
 Pichegru was appointed to command the army in Flanders. 
 Operations commenced, with extraordinary vigour, on both 
 sides. The emperor Francis II. took the field, at the head 
 of the confederation ; and, being joined by the duke of York, 
 and seconded by the ablest commanders of the north, a most 
 active scene of hostilities was opened. Many obstinate and 
 bloody engagements ensued, with various success ; but, at 
 length, Pichegru and Jourdan pouring a tremendous force 
 against the allies, the French once more became masters of all 
 the Austrian Netherlands, the seven United Provinces of the 
 Dutch, and a considerable part of Germany, on the western 
 side of the Rhine. 
 
 No obstacle was sufficient to arrest the republican soldiers, 
 in their career of conquest. If the rivers were too deep to 
 admit of being forded, they were crossed by swimming ; if 
 frozen, the ice served the purpose of a bridge. In the latter 
 end of December, the cold increased, to so great a degree, that 
 the Waal, above Nimeguen, was so severely frozen, as to carry 
 any weight ; and exhibited a grand spectacle, that of the re- 
 publican army — infantry, cavalry, and artillery — manoeuvring 
 on the ice, with the same facility as on solid ground. 
 
 The battles of Arlon and Fleurus were the most conspicuous. 
 In the former, the Austrian general, Beaulieu, was defeated, 
 with immense loss, by Jourdan, after an action which lasted 
 for two successive days. The battle of Fleurus, fought on the 
 twenty-sixth of June, was one of the most severely contested 
 engagements, that history records ; having continued from day^ 
 break, till the close of night. Though defeated, the valour of 
 the allies was signal. The victory, however, was so decisive, 
 that'the enemy never ceased from their flight, until they had 
 reached Halle, thirty miles from the field of battle ; having lost 
 thirty-eight standards, and nearly fifteen-thousand men. 
 
 iEronauts were now trained, at Paris, for the several di- 
 visions of the army. A balloon having been prepared at Fleu- 
 rus, was attached by cords, which, being held below, enabled 
 it to be elevated or depressed, as occasion might require. In 
 the car, were seated an adjutant and a general, together with a 
 skilful engineer, who, by means of their elevation, and good 
 telescopes, were enabled to discover the movements of the 
 enemy, and communicate them, from time to time, to Jourdan, 
 by a note attached to a ring and bullet, gliding down one of 
 the cords. They remained, at two several periods, four hours 
 in the air. The experiment, however, had nearly proved fatal. 
 Their intended ascent had been known to the enemy ; who, at 
 
34 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the moment the balloon began to take its flight, opened the fire 
 of a battery against it. The first volley was directed too low ; 
 but one ball afterwards passed between the balloon and the car. 
 
 This memorable campaign was not only glorious, but per- 
 manently advantageous to France. Harassed by repeated dis- 
 appointments, the king of Prussia, on the thirteenth of March, 
 announced his secession from the grand alliance ; and, before, 
 the summer had far advanced, the emperor withdrew from the 
 army, in utter despair of success ; to seek, in the amusements 
 of Vienna, some compensation for that pleasure which he had 
 vainly expected to enjoy in the field, in destroying, with his 
 high-trained veterans, the plebeian generals of France, and 
 their undisciplined bands of sans culottes. 
 
 The duke of York, also, despaired of gaining the expected 
 laurels from the furious soldiers of the republic, and, on the 
 sixth of December, embarked for England ; leaving the remains 
 of his army under the command of general Dundas. 
 
 The repubhcan armies in the south, were not less active than 
 their compatriots in the north, and were equally successful. 
 In the beginning of February, a battle was fought near St. Jean 
 de Luz ; in which, the Spaniards were defeated : three of their 
 regiments were taken prisoners, or dispersed ; and the Irish 
 regiment of Ultona, in the service of Spain, infuriated by the 
 priests, who preached, in the ranks, against the French, main- 
 tained a conflict, so desperate, that every man was cut to pieces. 
 In April, the Spaniards were compelled to evacuate Boulon ; 
 the city of Urgel soon afterwards surrendered, to general Da- 
 gobert ; two-thousand prisoners, with two-hundred pieces of 
 cannon, were taken, at Ceret ; Port Vendries capitulated, to 
 Dugomier ; and, in Italy, the arms of the republic were equally 
 triumphant, under Dumas and Bagdelune. 
 
 But, in Corsica, the intrigues of England had obtained a de- 
 gree of success, which served to dissipate the recollection of 
 her disgrace at Toulon. After admiral Hood had left the latter 
 place, he cruised, for some time, in Hievres Bay ; and, having 
 detached a small squadron to Corsica, repaired thither himself^ 
 in the niiddle of February, and found the island in a general 
 state of revolt. The garrison of Montella surrendered to him, 
 on the tenth ; Bastia, made a gallant defence, until the nine- 
 teenth of May ; when it obtained honourable terms of capitu- 
 lation, and the whole island surrendered to the admiral, and 
 was united to the British crown. 
 
 Though, on land, the forces of the republic had been so bril- 
 liantly triumphant, they were almost invariably defeated on the 
 
NAPOLEON. 35 
 
 ocean. On land, mere physical strength, when combined with 
 enthusiasm, will often be sufficient, like an overwhelming tor- 
 rent, to bear down every opposition, and gain the victory, from 
 the most experienced troops. On the ocean, and especially 
 when combating with a numerous fleet, the requisites to ensure 
 success, are very different. On this element, did every man, 
 of any particular nation, possess the strength of an Ajax, and 
 the courage of a Hector, yet, without the skill and discipline 
 peculiar to the navy, and officers long practised in the manage- 
 ment of a single ship, and the manoeuvring of a numerous fleet, 
 the side on which he combats, will, assuredly, be overcome. 
 Thus, was it, at the era we are now commencing, with the 
 navy of France. The nobles, to whom commissions in the 
 navy, had, under the royal government, been almost exclusively 
 intrusted, had been displaced, by republican officers ; equally 
 brave, indeed, but much less acquainted with naval tactics, and 
 little inclined to continue that severity of discipline, so requisite 
 to ensure the efficiency of a ship of war, but so little consonant 
 with the prevailing ideas of licentious freedom, and with the 
 relaxed system of military subordination, then existing in the 
 army. The naval officers of France wanted competent know- 
 ledge and experience, their men wanted due obedience ; and 
 their fleets experienced the inevitable result — disaster and 
 defeat. 
 
 At first, the convention had endeavoured to oppose the Eng- 
 lish, at sea, by detaching small squadrons, and single vessels, 
 of a light construction, to annoy their commerce, and had met 
 with very great success. In the month of May, alone, they had 
 taken more than a hundred British merchant-vessels, and a 
 packet-ship, laden with an immense sum, in dollars ; while the 
 English had captured, in the same time, only one frigate of 
 thirty-eight guns. This system of naval operations, was best 
 suited to the existing condition of the French marine, and the 
 most destructive to the enemy, that could, under any circum- 
 stances, have been adopted : but a scarcity of provisions com- 
 pelled the convention to equip a fleet, in order to protect a 
 large convoy, which was to sail, at a fixed period, from the 
 United States of America, laden with the much wanted sup- 
 plies. 
 
 The English ministers had obtained the most minute infor- 
 mation, concerning this fleet, and the expected convoy ; and 
 admiral lord Howe, with twenty-five sail of the line, proceeded 
 to sea, early in the month of May, to give battle to the one, 
 and intercept the other. 
 
36 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The French fleet, consisting of twenty-six sail, was com- 
 manded by M. Villaret ; a young officer, lately elevated from 
 the rank of lieutenant, and the command of a single frigate, to 
 the post of rear-admiral, and the command of a numerous fleet. 
 
 On the first of June, the French fleet was overtaken, by lord 
 Howe. Both fleets immediately prepared for action : the en- 
 gagement continued, with unremitting fury, from nine in the 
 morning, until three in the afternoon ; when six ships of the 
 line were captured, by the English fleet, and one, of the same 
 class, sunk ; but the victors were themselves so much crippled, 
 in their rigging, as to be unable to pursue the vanquished. 
 
 In the six ships that were taken, six-hundred-and-ninety men 
 were killed, and five-hundred-and-eighty wounded. In the six 
 English ships that suflfered most, one-hundred-and-twenty-five 
 were killed, and three-hundred-and-thirty-five wounded. 
 
 Never was more bravery shown, in any action, than was dis- 
 played, by both nations, on the first of June ; and the skill of 
 admiral Villaret, in manoeuvring his fleet, drew forth the ap- 
 plause even of his enemy. The heroism displayed on board 
 the French ship. La Revolutionaire, was most conspicuous. 
 After her lower deck guns were under water, and destruction 
 inevitable, she continued to fire her upper tier; and, at the 
 moment the ship went to the bottom, the air resounded with 
 the cry of" Vive la Republique! Vive la Liberie, et la France!''^ 
 
 Though defeated in this celebrated action, the blood of the 
 republicans was not unprofitably shed. By engaging the British 
 fleet, the convoy from the United States, consisting of one-hun- 
 dred-and-sixty vessels, laden with the necessaries of life, was 
 saved from capture, and arrived, in the port of L'Orient, a few 
 days after the battle ; having passed through the wreck of masts 
 and rigging, caused by the tremendous conflict. 
 
 After the fall of Robespierre, moderation, with little excep- 
 tion, characterized the measures of the convention : the sur- 
 viving members of the Gironde party, were allowed to resume 
 their seats ; and this happy change, from the previous decrees 
 of sanguinary prosecution, gradually promoted the respect of 
 foreign nations. On the fifteenth of August, James Monroe, 
 ambassador from the United States of America, was introduced, 
 to the legislative body; in the ensuing month, citizen Reybuz 
 was received, in the same character, from the repubhc of 
 Geneva; and, some months afterwards, the baron de Stael 
 (subsequently the husband of the daughter of M. Necker) pre- 
 sented his diplomatic credentials, as ambassador fi-om the king 
 of Sweden. 
 
NAPOLEON. 37 
 
 The invention and use of the balloon, have been already no- 
 ticed. The telegraph, also the invention of a citizen of France, 
 was, soon afterwards, used, with equal effect : the intelligence 
 of the capture of Quesnoy, the first instance in which this ma- 
 chine was brought into practical operation, having been con- 
 veyed, to Paris, in one hour after it had been entered by the 
 French. 
 
 .„Q_ After the surrender of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and 
 ' the Hague, the stadtholder saved himself from cap- 
 ture, by a precipitate flight. Accompanied by his eldest son. 
 he embarked, at Scheveling, on the nineteenth of January, in 
 an open boat, rowed by only three men ; and, on the following 
 day, reached England. Nor did the remains of the British 
 army, continue long in Holland, after his departure. The 
 gallant defence made by them, at the isle of Bommel, did not 
 prevent the army of Pichegru, greatly superior in numbers, 
 from taking possession of that important place; and they were 
 accordingly forced to commence a retreat ; during which, un- 
 til their arrival at Bremen, where they embarked for England, 
 their sufferings exceeded almost any thing to be found in the 
 annals of disastrous war. 
 
 The Dutch provinces, under the name of Batavia, were now 
 declared independent, by the French ; but the new republic 
 could be viewed in no other character, than that of a vassal of 
 its conquerors; and the inhabitants were compelled to pay, to 
 their victors, the expense incurred in their subjugation. 
 
 The number of conquests made, up to this period, by the 
 armies of France, is amazing. By a detail, presented to the 
 convention, by Carnot, in the capacity of minister of war, and 
 major-general of the forces, by whose genius their victories 
 were organized, it appears, that, in the period of only seven- 
 teen months, besides the seven united provinces of Holland, 
 and the nine provinces forming the Austrian Netherlands, there 
 had yielded, to the republican forces, two principalities, two 
 bishoprics, three dutchies, five electorates, and also the greater 
 part of the rich Spanish provinces of Biscay and Catalonia. 
 The victories, including eight pitched battles, were twenty- 
 seven ; actions of less note, one-hundred-and-twenty ; eighty- 
 four-thousand of the enemy were killed, and ninety-one-thousand 
 made prisoners; the strong places and cities taken, numbered 
 one-hundred-and-sixteen ; forts and redoubts two-hundred-and- 
 thirty ; standards sixty, cannon three-thousand-eight-hundred, 
 muskets seventy-thousand. 
 
 Defeat, however, still continued to pursue the flag of the 
 
 D 
 
58 THE LIFE OF 
 
 republic, on the ocean. On the thirteenth of March, off Genoa, 
 the French admiral, Martin, with fifteen ships of the line, sur- 
 rendered two of their number, to the British admiral, Hotham, 
 commanding fourteen vessels, of the same class ; and, on the 
 twenty-third of June, a French fleet, consisting of twelve ships 
 of the line, and nine frigates, were encountered, off L' Orient, 
 by lord Bridport, having fourteen of the former, and eight of 
 the latter description of vessels, and defeated, with the loss of 
 three ships of the larger class. 
 
 For these naval disasters, and the preceding capture of the 
 islands of Martinico, St. Lucia, and Guadaloupe, the republic 
 received some consolation, from her subsequent good fortune, 
 near home. After the reduction, by general Moncey, of Font- 
 arabia, which opens an easy passage into Spain, and also of 
 the strong fortress of St. Sebastian, the inhabitants of Madrid 
 trembling for its safety, the Spanish monarch entered into a 
 negotiation, with the French commissioners, at Basle ; which, 
 on the twenty-second of July, terminated in a treaty of peace, 
 and an acknowledgment of the French republic. France re- 
 linquished to Spain all the conquests made by her, in that 
 kingdom ; in consideration of which, the latter ceded, to the 
 republic, all the Spanish portion of the island of St. Domingo. 
 
 This act of pacification was followed by a treaty, at the same 
 place, with the king of Prussia ; and also with the prince of 
 Hesse-Cassel, the elector of Saxony, and the king of England, 
 as elector of Hanover; the latter of whom still refused, in his 
 regal character, to acknowledge the government of the republic. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DIRECTOEIAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The billows, raised by the tempest of the revolution, had 
 not yet wholly subsided. The breath of busy faction, or of 
 popular discontent, easily renewed the agitation, and raised 
 them again to an alarming height. On the first of April, the 
 sanctuary of the convention was invaded, by a savage multi- 
 tude, Avith the cry of" Bread, and the constitution of '93 ;" but 
 the insurgents were dispersed, by the promptness and resolu- 
 tion of general Pichegru ; and, on the twentieth of May, 
 another insurrection was quelled, by general Hoche. Six 
 
NAPOLEON. 39 
 
 members of the Mountain, were, for their concern in the latter 
 outrage, condemned to suffer death : they all stabbed them- 
 selves, with one knife, which they passed to each other, ex- 
 claiming, " Vive la repuhllque;^'' three succeeded in despatcli- 
 ing themselves ; the three others, in a dying state, were con- 
 ducted to the scaffold. 
 
 The substitution of a mild administration of justice, for the 
 reign of terror, instead of attaching the royalists to the exist- 
 ing government, served only to encourage them in the hopes 
 of overthrowing it. The Vendeans were exhausted, by their 
 numerous defeats, but not finally reduced. Their losses, how- 
 ever, and the disagreement of their leaders, rendered them but 
 feeble enemies ; and they even agreed to sign articles of pacifi- 
 cation, with the convention. The marquis of Puissaye, an 
 enterprising, but fickle man, formed a plan of substituting an 
 insurrection in Brittany, for the almost extinguished war of 
 La Vendee. He therefore applied to the English government, 
 and induced the ministers to believe, that, if a small army, well 
 supplied with ammunition and muskets, were landed, a general 
 rising would be excited, in the latter province; and thence 
 would probably spread over the rest of France. In consequence 
 of this representation, they prepared an expedition, which was 
 joined by the most enterprising emigrants, almost all the offi- 
 cers of the old marine, and all those, who, weary of exile and 
 an unsettled life, were desirous of trying their fortune, for the 
 last time. Fifteen-hundred emigrants, and six-thousand re- 
 publican prisoners, who had enlisted themselves in this expe- 
 dition, that they might return to France, were landed, from an 
 English fleet, upon the peninsula of Quiberon ; together. with 
 sixty-thousand muskets, and a complete equipment for forty- 
 thousand men. But the enterprise was signally disastrous. 
 They were soon afterwards attacked, by general Hoche, who 
 succeeded in repulsing them ; the enrolled prisoners deserted ; 
 and, after a most spirited resistance, the emigrants were forced 
 to yield. 
 
 Thus disappointed, the royalists next endeavoured to ac- 
 complish their object, by the aid of the discontented sections 
 of Paris. Their present design was to effect a counter-revolu- 
 tion, through the medium of the new constitution, although it 
 was the production of the moderate republican party ; but, as 
 it re-established the influence of the middle orders, they expect- 
 ed to gain an easy admission into the legislative assembly, and 
 the government. This constitution, formed since the prostra- 
 tion of the terrorists, was the best and wisest, the soundest and 
 
40 THE LIFE OF 
 
 most liberal form of republican government, that had ever been 
 projected, in any country, except that of the United States. 
 The legislative power was lodged in two councils, called the 
 Council of Five Hundred, and the Council of Elders, the latter 
 consisting of two-hundred-and-fifty members. The directorial 
 or executive power consisted of five. Moderate qualifications, 
 as to the property required to be possessed by the electors, 
 were introduced, which again gave pohtical importance to the 
 middle order ; whose influence it was highly necessary to re- 
 estabhsh, after the licentious reign of the multitude, and the 
 abandonment of the constitution of '93. 
 
 The Council of Five Hundred, the members of which were 
 required to be thirty years of age, had the sole right of pro- 
 posing laws ; the Council of Elders, composed of members 
 who had completed their fortieth year, the power of adopting 
 or rejecting them. Every two years, one-half of the members 
 were to vacate their seats, in order to avoid the evil of filling 
 them entirely with new members ; who, inexperienced in the 
 details of their office, and, animated with a zeal for novelty, 
 would serve rather to perplex, than aid in the important busi- 
 ness of legislation. 
 
 The five members of the Directory, w^ere to be selected by 
 the Council of Elders, from a list, made by the Council of Five 
 Hundred. They were to exercise the office of president, each 
 in succession, for the space of three months; and one of their 
 number, was, every year, to vacate his seat, and another to be 
 elected, in his place. To these executive officers, were as- 
 signed a guard, a national palace (the Luxembourg) for their 
 residence, and a species of civil list, for their support. 
 
 To avoid the error, into which the constituent assembly had 
 fallen, by excluding itself from the immediately succeeding 
 legislative assembly, the convention passed a decree, (after- 
 wards ratified by the greater number of the primary assembhes, 
 throughout France) that two-thirds of its members might be 
 re-elected. By this means, it secured a majority, in the coun- 
 cils and the nomination of the directory, and was enabled to 
 act as a pilot to its own constitution, and to consolidate it, 
 without any violent commotion. 
 
 This precaution was a surprise upon the royahsts. They 
 had hoped to gain admission into the Councils, by means of 
 the elections ; and, when thus in the possession of power, to 
 effect a change in the system of government. An alhance was 
 formed, between the royal committee, at Paris, the journals, 
 the leaders of the sections, and the national guards. The 
 
NAPOLEON. 41 
 
 usual preparations were made, for a great commotion. The 
 emigrants flocked to the capital, in crowds ; and the conspira- 
 tors, scarcely thinking it necessary to disguise their schemes, 
 adopted a uniform, by which they might be distinguished. 
 
 Perceiving the storm to be gathering, the convention sought 
 assistance and support from the army. The military force was 
 placed under the direction of Barras ; and, at his request, 
 general Buonaparte, with whom he had become acquainted at 
 the siege of Toulon, was appointed his second in command. 
 The latter sent, in haste, for the artillery of the camp of Sab- 
 Ions ; which, with five-thousand men of the conventional army, 
 he disposed at all those points where he apprehended an as- 
 sault. On the fifth of October, about noon, the insurjjents 
 made an attack upon the convention, with forty-thousand men. 
 A dreadful engagement ensued, with both musketry and can- 
 non : the contest was maintained, with great spirit, until seven 
 at night, when the troops of the convention, under the com- 
 mand of the young general, were every where victorious, and 
 the next day the insurgents were disarmed, and reduced to 
 submission. 
 
 The convention were not forgetful of their brave protectors. 
 Berruyer and other general officers, employed in quelling this 
 formidable insurrection, were loaded with praises and prefer- 
 ment. But a more distinguished honour was conferred upon 
 general Buonaparte, as the. leading actor of the day. Shortly 
 after the engagement, Barras obtained the appointment of the 
 young officer as second in command of the army of the inte- 
 rior ; he himself still remaining commander-in-chief; and, soon 
 afterwards, Barras having found his duties, as director, incom- 
 patible with military command, the new general was appointed 
 his successor. 
 
 As the dearth of bread, and other causes of disaffection, 
 continued to produce commotions in Paris, the general was 
 sometimes obliged to oppose them with the military force. 
 On one occasion, when earnestly admonishing the multitude to 
 disperse, a very bulky woman exhorted them to keep their 
 ground. — " Never mind these coxcombs, with the epaulettes," 
 she said ; " they do not care if we are all starved, so that they 
 themselves feed and get fat." — " Look at me, good woman," 
 said Buonaparte, who was then as thin as a shadow, *" and tell 
 me which is the fatter of the two;" a repartee, which turned 
 the laugh against the Amazon, and the mob dispersed, in good 
 humour. 
 
 D2 
 
42 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The convention now proceeded to fill up the councils and 
 the directory. The members chosen, for the latter, were 
 Lareveillere Lepaux, Sieyes, Rewbell, Letourneur, and Bar- 
 ras ; but, on Sieyes declining to accept the office, the vacancy 
 was supplied by Carnot. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of October, (fourth Brumaire) the con- 
 vention passed an act of oblivion, as a commencement of the 
 government of the law, and declared its session at an end. It 
 had sat three years ; during which long and frightful period, 
 the violence of the different factions, converted the revolution 
 into a civil war, and the house of assembly into a field of battle. 
 
 The wisdom and enlarged views of the new executive, were 
 displayed in the formation of central schools, for the superior 
 branches of education, in each department; and also in the 
 founding of the National Institute; an estabhshment which re- 
 vived and included all the former celebrated academies of polite 
 literature and science. Amongst the members, were found the 
 name of Volney, author of the Ruins of Empires; Raynal, the 
 historian ; the astronomer. La Place ; Bertholet and Fourcroy, 
 the distinguished chemists ; Marmontel, the celebrated dra- 
 matic writer, and author of the Contes Moraux, or Moral 
 Tales — a work which has been translated into every European 
 language ; — also, the abbe de St. Pierre, to whom juvenile 
 readers are indebted for the affecting story of Paul and Vir- 
 ginia, and other interesting tales. 
 
 Having reached this ameliorated stage of the revolution, it 
 becomes our painful duty, again to conduct the reader to the 
 scene of war. The armies of the repubhc, were not inactive. 
 Not satisfied with having driven their enemies from the adja- 
 cent territories of the United Provinces and the Netherlands, 
 they continued to roll back the ebbing tide of unwarrantable 
 invasion, to so great a distance from the soil of France, that 
 there would be little danger of its return. Jourdan, Pichegru, 
 and Moreau, opened the campaign, on the Rhine, with their 
 accustomed energy and success. The important fortress of 
 Luxembourg, surrendered, by capitulation, on the seventh of 
 June. The possession of this place, the garrison of which con- 
 sisted of ten-thousand men, commanded by the celebrated mar- 
 shal Bender, gave the French a control over the wjiole left 
 bank of the Rhine, except Mentz; which had been blockaded 
 some months, but was still maintained against them, by the 
 Austrians. Jourdan commenced his operations, by taking 
 Dusseldorf; the surrender of which, left the passage of the 
 
NAPOLEON. 43 
 
 river entirely at his command ; tlie enemy retreated, Jourdan 
 pursued his success, attacked them on the Lhan, crossed the 
 Mein, and completed the investment of Mentz. 
 
 So far, the republican generals had been victorious. The 
 capital of Germany seemed almost within their grasp, and their 
 labours at an end. The Austrians were retiring before them, 
 wearied and dejected ; when, from a misunderstanding between 
 Pichegru and Jourdan, and a consequent failure in giving the 
 latter general the required support, a sudden change was 
 wrought, in favour of the beaten army, which totally altered 
 the aspect of the campaign. After various skirmishes, Jourdan 
 effected a most able retreat, to Dusseldorf, where he had origin- 
 ally passed the Rhine ; but, the garrison of Mentz, having been 
 strongly reinforced, two Austrian divisions crossed the river, 
 at different points, attacked the remainder of the French in- 
 trenched before that place, drove them, after an obstinate 
 resistance, from all their posts, took their artillery, and de- 
 stroyed their works. The palatinate now became the theatre 
 of war. All that part of the country, lying within a hne drawn 
 from the Rhine, between Landau and Deuxponts, and thence 
 to the country along the Moselle, as far as Treves, was occu- 
 pied by the Austrians ; and the campaign was concluded, by 
 the hostile generals, by a suspension of arms, for three months; 
 which was afterwards ratified by their respective governments. 
 Desirous of giving repose to France, the directory conceived 
 this an opportune conjuncture, for the re-estabUshment of 
 peace. An overture was accordingly made, to Austria ; but 
 that power would not negotiate alone ; and England would 
 not listen to any proposition, in which was not included the 
 abandonment of Belgium, by the French. 
 
 Some reverses, experienced, by England, in the West Indies, 
 were counterbalanced by an acquisition of no ordinary impor- 
 tance. On the sixteenth of September, the Dutch colony of 
 the Cape of Good Hope, the key of oriental navigation, was 
 captured, by general Craig and admiral sir George Keith El- 
 phinstone ; its governor having rejected a proposition, that it 
 should be assigned to the protection of Great Britain. 
 
44 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONaXJEST OF ITALY, BY BUONAPARTE PEACE OF 
 
 CAMPO-FORMIO. 
 
 ^^qn The campaign opened in the beginning of April 
 1 <yD. rpi^^ conquest of Italy was the great object now sought 
 to be attained ; a stupendous project, designed to weaken the 
 efforts of the Austrians on the Rhine, by drawing, from that 
 quarter, a portion of their troops ; and also to intimidate, or 
 annihilate and dethrone the pope ; who was charged with hav- 
 ing fomented the war in La Vendee, and caused the general 
 disaffection of the catholics, in the south of France. The exe- 
 cution of this conquest was intrusted to general Buonaparte. 
 This command, which led to his future grandeur, and rendered 
 this celebrated warrior henceforth the hero of the revolution, 
 was conferred upon him, though he had not yet completed his 
 twenty-sixth year, through the influence exercised over Barras, 
 by Josephine, the widow of general Beauharnois, a lady of 
 great beauty and accomplishments ; whom the young soldier 
 had married on the ninth of March ; a few days previous to 
 his leaving the capital, to place himself at the head of the Italian 
 army. 
 
 The forces assigned to the command of Buonaparte, were 
 about thirty-thousand men. Augereau and Massena ; Ser- 
 rurier, Joubert, and Lasnes ; Murat, Berthier, and Andreossi ; 
 all generals of high reputation, accompanied him, in this cam- 
 paign. The Austro-Sardinian army, which Buonaparte was 
 about to encounter, was much superior in numbers, and com- 
 manded by Beaulieu ; an Austrian general of great experience, 
 but not less than seventy-five years old ; accustomed, all his 
 life, to the ancient tactics, and unlikely to suspect, anticipate, 
 or frustrate, the plans formed by the fertile genius of his young 
 opponent. 
 
 Buonaparte's plan for entering Italy, differed from that of 
 Hannibal, and other invaders, who had approached that coun- 
 try, by penetrating or surmounting her Alpine barriers. He 
 resolved to attain the same object, by turning round the south- 
 ern extremity of those cloud-capped mountains, by the lowest 
 level that the surface of the country presented; keeping as close 
 as possible to the Mediterranean, and passing through the 
 Genoese territory, by the narrow pass, called the Boccheta? 
 
NAPOLEON. 45 
 
 leading around the extremity of the mountains, and between 
 the latter and the sea. 
 
 But, in the passage of the Alps, there was more than rugged 
 nature to oppose. The bristly bayonets and thundering cannon 
 were ready to destroy the invaders, while struggling amongst 
 the rocks. The Austrian and Sardinian armies had apparently 
 taken the most effectual measures to arrest the progress of the 
 adventurous legions. The first action occurred at Monte- 
 Notte ; where the enemy were beaten, by a division commanded 
 by Massena ; with the loss of three-thousand men : the defiles 
 of Milesimo were next forced, by Augereau ; who reduced the 
 Austrian army eight-thousand men, and compelled general 
 Provera, with his garrison, to surrender prisoners of war. The 
 check suffered, by the French, at Dego, was only of short du- 
 ration. The victorious army descended, like a torrent, into the 
 fertile plains of Italy ; forced the Sardinian general, on the 
 twenty-third of April, to ask for a suspension of arms ; and, in 
 the following month, his sovereign, Victor Amadeus, (father- 
 in-law of the two brothers of the late king of France) concluded 
 a humiliating treaty, at Paris. 
 
 Thus, within the short period of a month, the French com* 
 mander had surmounted the tremendous passes of the Alps j 
 gained three battles, over forces far superior to his own ; in- 
 flicted, on the enemy, a loss of twenty-five-thousand men, in 
 killed, wounded, and prisoners; taken eighty pieces of cannon 
 and twenty-one stand of colours; reduced to inaction the Aus- 
 trian army ; almost destroyed that of Sardinia ; and now stood 
 in full communication with France, on the eastern side of the 
 mountains, with Italy lying before him, as if to invite his inva- 
 sion. 
 
 The ardent disposition of Buonaparte, did not permit him to 
 rest long, after the advantages he had secured. On the seventh 
 of May, having deceived the Austrian commander, by the in- 
 genuity and rapidity of his movements, he crossed the Po, with 
 his'whole army, at Placentia, without the loss of a single man, 
 and repulsed the enemy from Fombio and Codogno ; having 
 to lament the fall, at the latter place, of the gallant general 
 Laharpe. The manner in which this favourite officer met his 
 death, was particularly affecting. Hearing the alarm given by 
 the outposts, Laharpe rode out, to ascertain the character and 
 strength of the attacking party; and, on his return, to his own 
 troops, they mistook him and his attendants for the enemy, 
 fired upon him, and killed him. 
 
 The dukes of Parma and Modena, upon whose territories 
 
46 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the French had entered, were compelled, like the king of Sar- 
 dinia, to request a suspension of arms. This was granted, on 
 condition of their paying ten-millions of livres; of contributing, 
 to the national museum of France, a certain number of the 
 most celebrated paintings ; and finally sending ambassadors, to 
 Paris, to sue for peace. 
 
 The duke of Modena (who was married to a sister of the 
 unfortunate Maria Antoinette) must have severely felt the pay- 
 ment of this heavy contribution. His business was hoarding 
 money ; and his pleasure consisted in naihng up, with his own 
 hands, the tapestry which ornamented churches, on high holi- 
 days ; from which employment, he obtained the degrading title 
 of the royal upholsterer. 
 
 In a despatch, to the directory, Buonaparte says, " I will 
 send you, as soon as possible, the finest pictures of Corregio ; 
 amongst others, a St. Jerome, which is said to be his master- 
 piece. I must own, that the saint takes an unlucky time to 
 visit Paris ; but I hope you will grant him the honours of the 
 museum." 
 
 So highly was this picture valued, by the duke of Modena, 
 that he offered the conqueror, for its redemption, two-millions 
 of livres ; a sum equal to three-hundred-and-sixty-thousand, 
 dollars. 
 
 The Austrians, defeated at Fombio, effected their retreat to 
 Lodi, where Beaulieu had concentrated his forces. This is a 
 large town, containing about twelve-thousand inhabitants. It 
 has old Gothic walls, but its principal defence consists in the 
 river Adda, which flows through it, and is crossed by a wooden 
 bridge, about five-hundred feet in length. The bridge was 
 defended by thirty pieces of artillery, and the imperial troops 
 were drawn up, in line of battle, to prevent the passage. On 
 the tenth of May, a severe cannonade took place, for some 
 hours ; but the show of resistance appeared so formidable, on 
 the part of the Austrians, that the French generals were, for 
 some time, undecided, as to the manner of attack. The ma- 
 jority were of opinion, that the passage should be attempted at 
 some distance both above and below the town. Buonaparte, 
 however, full of confidence in his army, gave orders that the 
 attack should be made by the bridge. Before break of day, 
 on the eleventh, the army prepared for the enterprise; and two 
 battahons passed the bridge, half-way, before they were per- 
 ceived. A general discharge from the Austrians, destroyed 
 nearly seven-hundred men ; the advanced body of the French 
 column was struck with a sudden panic, and stopped short : 
 
Napoleon. 41 
 
 but, animated by the cries of Vive la republique ! from their 
 generals, who advanced, at their head, they soon ralhed. The 
 resistance was terrible, and the republicans were several times 
 shaken, notwithstanding their generals carried the tricoloured 
 flag in front, and called upon them to follow. It was in a 
 critical moment, when all these incentives had failed in produc- 
 ing the desired effect, that Buonaparte seized a standard, and, 
 rushing to the head of the column, by his voice, gesture, and 
 example, animated them to the highest enthusiasm. They 
 dashed forward, with impetuosity, seized the Austrian artillery, 
 broke through the lines, and threw the enemy into so great 
 consternation, that they fled, in the utmost disorder. The vic- 
 tory was at once splendid and decisive. Buonaparte despatch- 
 ed one division in pursuit of the fugitives ; while. With another, 
 he entered Milan, which surrendered, without resistance, on 
 the eighteenth of May ; and all Lombardy became subject ta 
 the victors, by this single battle. 
 
 It was at this time, that Buonaparte had some conversation 
 with an old Hungarian officer, made prisoner, in one of the 
 actions, whom he met in the bivouac, one evening, by chance. 
 The veteran's language was a curious commentary upon the 
 whole campaign, and even upon Buonaparte's system of war- 
 fare ; which appeared most extraordinary, to the soldiers of 
 the old school. — " Things are going on as ill and as irregularly 
 as possible," said the old martinet. " The French have got a 
 young general, who knows nothing of the regular rules of war: 
 he is sometimes on our front, sometimes on the flank, some- 
 times on the rear : — there is no tolerating such a gross viola- 
 tion of rules." 
 
 Every thing relating to this extraordinary man, is interesting. 
 The French soldiers had a mode, at that time, of amusing 
 themselves, by conferring an imaginary rank upon their gene- 
 rals, when they had performed any remarkable exploit. They 
 showed their sense of the bravery displayed, by Buonaparte, 
 in the battle of Lodi-, by creating him a corporal ; and, by this 
 title, of the Little Corporal, he was ever afterwards known, by 
 the followers of his mihtary fortune. 
 
 These several actions, in Italy, had nearly destroyed the 
 Austrian army. Now routed and dispersed, a part of their 
 number took refuge in Mantua, and the rest, pursued by the 
 victors, fled into the barren defiles of the Tyrol. On the twenty- 
 eighth of June, a French detachment took possession of Leg- 
 horn, alleging that this city had shown favour to the British 
 fleets : and, about the same time, the main army entered the 
 
48 THE LIFE OF 
 
 territory of the pope, and took Bologna, Ferrara, and Urbino. 
 The French had now gained complete command of the papal 
 dominions ; and so much alarmed the king of Sicily and Na- 
 ples, that he requested an armistice ; which was granted, un- 
 der particular stipulations. 
 
 The conditions imposed upon the Neapolitans, were, chiefly, 
 that they should withdraw their troops from the coahtion, and 
 their ships from the English squadron in the Mediterranean. 
 Those to which the pope was compelled to accede, were more 
 circumstantial and rigorous. Amongst other stipulations, he 
 was required to renounce his connexion with the allied powers, 
 and shut his ports against them ; to pay twenty-one-millions 
 of livres, independent of the contributions to be levied upon the 
 cities ; and to deliver a hundred pictures, busts, or statues, at 
 the option of commissioners, to be sent to Rome, for their se- 
 lection. 
 
 The destruction of the army under Beaulieu, had excited the 
 utmost consternation, at Vienna. It was determined, therefore, 
 to risk the fate of the imperial arms, in Germany, by a rehance 
 upon new levies; while the flower of the army of the Rhine, 
 was detached to Italy, under Wurmser, a hoary veteran, now 
 in his eightieth year ; who, though eminently brave, yet, trained 
 as he had been, in the slow and formal tactics of the old mas- 
 ters, was less likely, even than Beaulieu, five years younger 
 than himself, to contend, successfully, against the rapid move- 
 ments of the greatest military genius that had ever trodden the 
 field of Mars. His first operations promised to realize the 
 hopes of his imperial master. But the successes gained by 
 him, over the French divisions, posted at Salo, Corono, and 
 Brescia, which compelled them to raise the siege of Mantua, 
 with the loss of a great quantity of artillery and stores, yielded 
 no permanent advantage. Wherever Buonaparte appeared 
 against him, in person, he was defeated. The able conduct 
 of the French commander, soon retook all that had been lost. 
 The Austrian leader was weakened, at Castiglione, by the 
 death, wounds, or capture, of twenty-thousand men ; was de- 
 feated at Primocalo, at Covolo, at Cismone, at Bassano ; and 
 compelled to seek refuge in the city of Mantua, again block- 
 aded, by the conquering general ; by whom three armies had 
 been destroyed, in one campaign. 
 
 An incident which occurred at this time, had nearly deprived 
 the republican army of their leader. A French division had 
 passed through Valegio, without halting, in pursuit of Beaulieu; 
 by whom, the village had just been abandoned. Buonaparte, 
 
NAPOLEON. . 49 
 
 >vith a small retinue, remained in the place ; and Massena's 
 division was still on the right bank of the Mincio, preparing 
 their dinner. At this moment, an advanced guard of the ene- 
 my's hussars, pushed into the village. There was barely time 
 to cry to arms, and, shutting the gates of the inn, to employ the 
 general's slender escort, in its defence, while Buonaparte, 
 escaping by the garden, mounted his horse, and galloped to- 
 wards the division of Massena. 
 
 After the battle of Cismone, the French halted, at that vil- 
 lage, exhausted with fatigue ; and no sentinel in his army en- 
 dured more privations, there, than Buonaparte himself; who 
 took up his quarters, for the night, without either ^taff-officers 
 or baggage ; and, like the American general, Greene, after 
 the hard contested battle of Guilford, was glad to accept a 
 share of a private soldier's ration of bread ; of which incident, 
 the poor fellow lived to remind his general, after he had placed 
 upon his head the imperial crown. 
 
 The victories, of which we have given only a hasty and im- 
 perfect sketch, operated an extensive injury to the British. arms, 
 in the Mediterranean, especially in the island of Corsica ; 
 which, on the fifth of October, was evacuated, by the English. 
 
 Meanwhile, the armistice granted to the pope, had expired, 
 as no definitive treaty had been signed. The inhabitants of the 
 countries south of the Po, had, therefore, under the protection 
 of the French commander, laid the foundation of a new repub- 
 lic, by a congress of deputies, from the cities of Bologna, Reg- 
 gie, Modena, and Ferrara ; a measure adopted also by the 
 people of Milan, and the surrounding districts ; who formed 
 another republic ; assuming the respective titles of Transpa- 
 dane and Cispadane, from their situation in relation to the riv- 
 ers Po and Rhone ; the centre of the former, being Milan. 
 Both, hov/ever, were subsequently modified into one republic, 
 under the name of the Cisalpine, in relation to its situation with 
 regard to the Alps and Rome. 
 
 The fourth Austrian army, under field-marshal Alvinzi, had 
 now entered Italy, in order to release general Wurmser, still 
 shut up within the walls of Mantua. But, though an accom- 
 plished soldier, Alvinzi was not more fortunate than his prede- 
 cessors. Like them, he had to encounter the master spirit of 
 the sword, and like them he was defeated. The ambition of 
 Alexander, the acuteness and resolution of Hannibal, the ra- 
 pidity of Africanus, the skill and bravery of Caesar, were all 
 arrayed against him. The battles of Areola and Rivoli, were 
 so fatal to Alvinzi, that he was constrained to retire beyond 
 
 E 
 
bO THE LIFE OF 
 
 the Brenta, to await the arrival of another army, and leave 
 Mantua once more open to the assaults of his victorious enemy. 
 
 The victory of Areola, gained after a contest of three days, 
 fiTom the sixteenth to the eighteenth of November, is one of 
 the proudest achievements in the escutcheon of the French 
 commander. The enemy's fire was most tremendous. To 
 animate his soldiers to a final exertion, Buonaparte caught a 
 stand of colours, as at Lodi, rushed upon the bridge, and plant- 
 ed them there, Avith his own hand. A fresh body of Austrians 
 arrived, at that moment, and the fire, on his flank, blazed more 
 destructively than ever. The rear of the French column, fell 
 back; the leading files, seeing themselves unsupported, gave 
 way ; but, still careful of their general, bore him from the 
 scene of peril, in their arms, through the dead and dying, the 
 fire and the smoke. In the confusion, he was, at length, pushed 
 into the marsh. The Austrians were already between him and 
 his own troops ; and he must have perished, or been taken 
 prisoner, had not the grenadiers perceived his danger. The 
 cry instantly arose, — "Forward — forward — save the general!" 
 Their love of Buonaparte's person, effected more, than had 
 been accomplished by his commands and his example. They 
 renewed the attack, and succours, at that moment, joining 
 those devoted heroes, they drove the Austrians from Areola. 
 
 The battle of Rivoli, in which the horse on which Buona- 
 parte rode, was repeatedly wounded, was one of the most des- 
 perate that this great mihtary captain ever won. 
 
 After the battle of Areola, he v/as particularly desirous to 
 secure the elevated and commanding position of Rivoli, before 
 the enemy had time to receive their cavalry and cannon ; 
 as he hoped to bring on an engagement, before the several 
 divisions of their army were united. By forced marches, he 
 arrived at Rivoli at two in the morning of the fourteenth of 
 January ; and, from that elevated situation, by the assistance 
 of a clear moon-light, he discovered that the bivouac of the 
 enemy was divided into five distinct and separate bodies ; from 
 which, he inferred that their attack, the next day, would be 
 made in the same number of columns. 
 
 The distance at which the bivouacs were stationed from the 
 position of Joubert, made it evident to the French commander, 
 that they did not intend to make their attack before ten in the 
 morning. Joubert was, at this time, in the act of evacuating 
 the position which he occupied only with a rear-guard ; but 
 Buonaparte ordered him instantly to countermarch, and resume 
 possession of the important eminence of Rivoh. 
 
NAPOLEON. 51 
 
 A few Croats had already advanced so near the French hne. 
 as to discover that Joubert's light troops had evacuated the 
 chapel of St. Marc ; of which, they took possession. It was, 
 however, retaken by the French ; but the struggle to maintain 
 it brought on a severe action ; first, with the regiment to which 
 the detachment of Croats belonged, and afterwards with the 
 whole Austrian column which lay nearest to that point, and 
 was commanded by Ocskay. The latter was repulsed, but the 
 column of Kobler pressed forward to support them ; and, hav- 
 ing gained the summit, attacked two regiments of the French 
 which were stationed there, each protected by a battery of 
 cannon. Notwithstanding these advantages, one of the regi- 
 ments gave way, and Buonaparte himself galloped to another 
 part of the field, to bring up reinforcements. The nearest 
 French were those of Massena's division, which, tired with the 
 preceding night's march, had lain down, to rest. They started 
 up, however, at the command of their general, and suddenly 
 arriving on the field, in half an hour the column of Kobler was 
 beaten and driven back. While the Austrians scaled, on one 
 side, the hill on which the chapel is situated, three battalions 
 of French infantry, who had been countermarched by Joubert, 
 struggled up the steep ascent, on another point. The activity 
 of the French brought them first to the summit ; and, having 
 then the advantage of the ground, it was not difficult for them 
 to force the advancing Austrians headlong down the hill which 
 they were endeavouring to climb. Meantime, the French bat- 
 teries thundered upon the broken columns of the enemy ; their 
 cavalry made repeated charges ; and, the whole of the Austri- 
 ans who had advanced, were irretrievably defeated ; while 
 those who remained were in such a condition, that to attack 
 would have been a futile expenditure of blood. 
 
 An intelligent agent had been sent from Viennan to com- 
 municate, if possible, with the commander of the Mantuan 
 garrison. This messenger was intercepted, by the besiegers. 
 It was in vain, that he swallowed his despatches, enclosed in a 
 ball of wax : an emetic soon forced the stomach to render up 
 its trust ; and the document, which the wax enclosed, was found 
 to be an important letter, signed by the emperor himself. 
 
 Scarcely had the French commander-in-chief, gained the de- 
 cisive victory, at Rivoli, before his presence was required at a 
 distance from the conquered field. On the very day of the 
 battle, general Provera threw a bridge of pontoons over the 
 Lower Adige, and proceeded rapidly to Mantua ; the relief of 
 which fortress, he had, by stratagem, nearly achieved. A regi* 
 
52 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ment of his cavalry, wearing white cloaks, and resembling, in 
 that particular, the first regiment of French hussars, presented 
 themselves before the suburb of St. George. The gates were 
 about to be opened, without suspicion, when it occurred, to a 
 sagacious old republican sergeant, who was then beyond the 
 walls, that the cloaks of this regiment were fresher than those 
 of the French corps, for whom they were mistaken. He com- 
 municated his observation to a drummer, who was near him : 
 they gained the suburb, and, having cried to arms, the guns 
 of the circumvallation were opened upon the hostile cavalry, 
 whom they had been on the point of admitting, in the disguise^ 
 of friends. 
 
 Mantua, the birth-place of the poet Virgil, is situated on an 
 island, formed by three lakes, communicating with the Mincio 
 and the Po. It is accessible from the main-land, by five cause- 
 ways ; the most important of which was then defended by a 
 regular citadel, called La Favorita. The garrison was nume- 
 rous, amounting to more than twenty-thousand men ; and the 
 place could not be taken by assault, by reason of its natural 
 strength. Yet, of the five causeways, Buonaparte made him- 
 self master of four ; and was thus enabled to blockade the city, 
 with a body of men inferior in number to the garrison. 
 
 The armistice concluded by the French and Austrian com- 
 manders, on the Rhine, terminated on the thirty-first of May. 
 The fidelity of Pichegru having been suspected, the command 
 of the armies, in that quarter, was conferred upon Jourdan and 
 Moreau. Jourdan, after gaining considerable advantages over 
 his antagonists, advanced, in the beginning of June, into the 
 very heart of the German empire. About the same time, Mo- 
 reau passed the Rhine, at Strasbourg, took the fort of Khel, 
 an important post on the right bank of the river, and penetrated, 
 through Suabia and Bavaria, almost to Ratisbon, with a view 
 of forming a junction with Jourdan. The attempt, however, 
 did not succeed. Both armies were obliged to retreat, until 
 they repassed the Rhine. The situation of Moreau, was ex- 
 tremely critical; and the retreat of this celebrated general, 
 through the mountainous and rocky defiles of the Black Forest, 
 before the archduke Charles, the most active and fortunate of 
 the Austrian commanders, (a brother of the emperor of Ger- 
 many,) has ever since been regarded as one of the most mas- 
 terly exhibitions of military skill, that occurred during the 
 revolutionary war. 
 
 The return of the French armies, to the Rhine, was suc- 
 ceeded by the resignation, of Jourdan; and the northern cam- 
 
NAPOLEON. 53 
 
 paign terminated, in December, by the surrender of Khel, to 
 the archduke Charles. 
 
 Treaties of pacification had now been concluded, with nearly 
 all the states that had entered into the war against France. 
 An overture was, in December, made, to the republic, by Great 
 Britain ; but, the ambassador of that country, lord Malmsbury,. 
 not appearing to be vested with the requisite powers for ne- 
 gotiating ; and the directory suspecting that the proposal was 
 not made with a sincere desire of obtaining peace, but only to 
 enable the English ministers to borrow, on more advantageous 
 terms, the money required to continue the war; lord Malms- 
 bury was ordered to leave Paris, in eight-and-forty hours ; and 
 accordingly departed, in the time prescribed. 
 
 A rebellion being, at this time, on the eve of bursting forth, 
 in Ireland, the directory, in conformity with an understanding, 
 entered into with a deputation from the revolutionary leaders, 
 in that island, prepared a formidable expedition, for the pur- 
 pose of acting in concert with the disaffected. Three-fourths 
 of the people of Ireland — all the Roman Catholics, nearly the 
 whole of the Presbyterians, and a great number of the members 
 of the church of England — were desirous of separating from 
 Great Britain, and forming a republic. Haifa milHon of Irish- 
 men were ready to rise in arms. The government of France 
 would wiUingly have sent over a force, sufficient, of itself, with- 
 out the aid of the Irish patriots, to annihilate, in that island, 
 the British power ; but the deputies rejected this insidious offer, 
 and refused to accept of a greater number of troops, than 
 would serve merely to inspirit the undisciplined peasants, and 
 enable the nation to conquer Ireland for themselves. They 
 rightly judged, that, should they invite an overwhelming force, 
 they would share the fate of Italy and Holland; and, instead 
 of gaining independence, would only excha.ige the domination 
 of England, for that of France. On the fifteenth of December,, 
 admiral Villaret sailed, from Brest, with eighteen sail of the 
 line, besides frigates and transports ; having on board fifteen- 
 thousand troops, under the command of general Hoche. But 
 the expedition was signally unfortunate. Scarcely had the ad- 
 miral left the harbour, when a storm arose, which dispersed the 
 fleet, and, separating the frigate which carried Hoche, com- 
 pelled him to seek shelter at Rochelle. Of the whole fleet, 
 only eight sail of the line reached the coast of Ireland, under 
 admiral Bouvet ; who anchored in Bantry Bay ; but was forced 
 from that station, by tempestuous weather, without having ef- 
 fected a landing ; and three sail of the line, together with three 
 
 E2 
 
64 THE LIFE OF' 
 
 frigates, were destroyed, by the adverse elements, before the 
 tleet regained the coast of France. 
 
 A very different fortune continued to accompany the navy 
 of Great Britain. The remaining commerce of France, had, 
 during the course of this year, been ahnost annihilated, by the 
 English cruisers. The proud mistress of the ocean, had not 
 lost a ship, of any force; while, on the contrary, more than 
 seventy sail of armed vessels had been taken, by her, from the 
 French. 
 
 The greater part of the Dutch colonies, both in the eastern 
 and the western hemisphere, having been seized, by England, the 
 Batavian Republic had, in consequence,, declared war against 
 that country ; and, in the month of October, Spain, also, was 
 induced, by France, to join the latter, in hostilities against the 
 British crown. "^ 
 
 Although every power in Europe had felt the force of the 
 Gallic arms, or the diplomatic influence of the republic, Eng- 
 land had hitherto, except in the increase of taxes, and the ac- 
 cumulation of her national debt, suffered, comparatively, little 
 inconvenience from the war.. At length, it was suggested, that 
 the most effectual mode of opposing that country, with advan- 
 tage, was, to attack her commerce, by excluding her manufac- 
 tures from every port in Europe, subject to French influence 
 or control. This new species of hostility, was carried into 
 execution, with as much despatch, as the jarring interests of 
 the continental powers, would allow ; and articles of British 
 manufacture, soon found no legal entrance, into any port, on 
 the continent, from the Elbe to the Adriatic sea, with the ex- 
 ception only of those of the Hanse-Towns, and of Portugal. 
 
 Towards the close of the present year, the confederation 
 against France, was deprived of another of its members, in th^ 
 person of Catherine II., of Russia; who, on the sixth day of 
 November, in the sixty-eighth year of her age, was numbered 
 amongst the dead. 
 
 In the routine of belligerent events, it now becomes 
 ' necessary to recur to the siege of Mantua. When last 
 we spoke of this great object of contention, it was blockaded 
 by general Buonaparte ; to whom, notwithstanding the valour 
 and resolution of its veteran commander, Wurmser, who had 
 killed, to sustain his soldiers, the last horse within its walls, it 
 
 * For an account of the insults, offered, at this period, by the Di- 
 rectory, to the American ambassadors and government, and the con-- 
 sequent capture of two French frigates, by Commodore Truxtun, th©; 
 reader is referred to the author's History of the United States.. 
 
NAPOLEON. .^5 
 
 surrendered, on the second of February, after a siege of six 
 months, with a garrison of tweiit}'-tIjousand men ; the French 
 having lost, in its reduction, fifteen thousand ^ and the Austrians, 
 in its defence, twenty-four-thousand. 
 
 The labours of the youthful general, in Italy, were now al- 
 most concluded. He had far surpassed, in these achievements, 
 the veni, vidi, vici, of Julius Caesar. All the warriors, both of 
 ancient and modern times, were eclipsed. In the short period 
 of less than ten months, Buonaparte had proved victorious in 
 fourteen pitched battles, and fifty-six minor engagements ; had 
 taken more than a hundred-thousand prisoners, five hundred 
 field-pieces, and two-thousand cannon, of a larger size ; he had 
 supported his army, by contributions levied upon the conquered 
 countries, during the whole campaign ; and sent thirty millions 
 of livres, to France, for the increase of the public treasure. 
 
 Three Austrian commanders had been beaten, and five ar- 
 mies destroyed, in Italy, in one campaign. A fourth com- 
 mander, and a sixth army, were quickly sent, by the emperor, 
 with the hope of stripping the wreath of laurel from the victor's 
 brow. The recent and brilliant success of the archduke Charles, 
 against the conqueror of Fleurus, had justly impressed all Ger- 
 many with the most favourable opinion of his genius and valour ; 
 and the court of Vienna already imagined, that this young hero 
 was destined to restore their usual superiority to the imperial 
 arms, in Lombardy. The archduke was nearly of the same 
 age, as the French commander ; and both testified a similar 
 passion for glory, and an equal contempt of danger. 
 
 On his arrival in Italy, the Austrian commander stationed 
 his army between the Tagliamento and the Piava ; while the 
 French, who occupied the right bank of the latter river, and 
 the left border of the Arisco, were prepared to oppose their 
 progress. The superior genius, and good fortune of Buona- 
 parte, again prevailed. Notwithstanding the skill and bravery 
 of the archduke Charles, he was forced, after a series of san- 
 guinary battles, to retire before his impetuous rival. The 
 capture of Gradisca, rendered the French masters of all tho 
 Austrian possessions, frG<m the Alps to the Adriatic sea; and 
 they soon afterwards displayed their banners on the walls of 
 Fiume and Trieste, the only sea-ports now appertaining to the 
 emperor, in any part of his dominions. 
 
 Results so unprecedented, could not have been effected, 
 without some extraordinary cause. Buonaparte, to use the 
 language of one of his biographers, " had infused into the ar- 
 mies which he commanded, the firmest reliance on his genius^ 
 
66 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and the greatest love for his person. He had even inspired 
 his soldiers with a portion of his own intelligence. The maxim 
 which he inculcated upon them, when practising one of those 
 long and severe marches, was — ' I would rather gain victory 
 at the expense of your legs, than at the price of your blood.' 
 — In a letter to the directory, he says * were I to name all 
 those who have been distinguished by acts of personal bravery 
 I must send the muster-roll of my advanced guard. They jest 
 with danger, and laugh at death; and, if any thing can equal 
 their intrepidity, it is the gayety, with which, singing, alter- 
 ternately, songs of love and patriotism, they accomphsh the 
 most severe forced marches. When they arrive at their bi- 
 vouac, it is not to take their repose, as might be expected, but 
 to tell each his story of the battle of the day, and produce his 
 plan for that of to-morrow ; and many of them think, with great 
 correctness, on military subjects. The other day, I was in- 
 specting a demi-brigade, and, as it filed past me, a common 
 chasseur approached my horse, and said, ' General, yon ought 
 to do so and so.' — ' Hold your peace, you rogue,' I replied. 
 He disappeared, immediately, nor have I since been able to 
 find him out. But the manoeuvre which he had recommended,, 
 was the very same that I had privately resolved to carry inta 
 execution.' " 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding that Buonaparte had beaten the arch- 
 duke in six different engagements, and destroyed one-half of 
 his army, during a campaign of only twenty-one days, his situa- 
 tion was critical and alarming. The natives of the mountain- 
 ous districts, into which he had now entered, were attached, 
 by habit, to the house of Austria : they were shielded, by their 
 poverty, from the miseries of fiscal oppression ; and the oflfer 
 of liberty, by which the inhabitants of the valleys had been so 
 charmed, excited, in their contented bosoms, neither enthusiasm 
 nor hope. The numerous defiles of these dreary regions; the 
 diflSculties of obtaining supplies ; the danger of being surround- 
 ed, like Moreau, or nearly cut oflf, like Jourdan ; — all these 
 considerations operated, powerfully, upon the mind of Buona- 
 parte ; and he found it necessary, for the preservation of his 
 army, to relinquish the high-toned language of a victor, and 
 affect the conciliating terms of moderation. He according- 
 ly addressed a letter to his antagonist — still high in spirit, 
 though depressed in fortune — in which, he desired to know,, 
 whether he would accept overtures of peace. The answer 
 was of a character very different from what the proposer had 
 been accustomed to receive. The archduke replied, that " he 
 
NAPOLEON. 57 
 
 was not intrusted with any power, on the part of his imperial 
 majesty, to treat." The French general again put his army 
 in motion. On the second of April, the advanced posts of the 
 enemy were attacked, and, after a severe engagement, the 
 archduke retired before the assailants ; resolved to make a 
 last stand before the walls of the imperial city, for the preser- 
 vation of his brother's throne. 
 
 The alarm, at Vienna, was general, beginning with the court 
 itself. The royal family resolved on flight. Amongst the 
 fugitives of the imperial house, was the arch-dutchess, Maria 
 Louisa, then about six years old ; whom, we may conceive 
 agitated by every species of childish terror, by the approach of 
 the all-conquering leader, with whom she was, at a future and 
 similar crisis, destined to be united by the connubial tie, if not 
 in the bands of love. 
 
 Having now traversed the southern chain of the Alps, and 
 arrived within thirty-five leagues of Vienna, Buonaparte threat- 
 ened to cross the northern range, and plant the tricoloured 
 standard on the walls of Vienna. But this humiliation of the 
 house of Austria, was averted. Listening, at length, to the 
 voice of his people, the emperor resolved to open a treaty of 
 peace ;. and Buonaparte, who now learned that the Venetian 
 senate was exciting an insurrection, in his rear ; that the in- 
 habitants of the Tyrol had risen, against him, in a mass ; and 
 that Moreau and Hoche had not yet passed the Rhine, for the 
 purpose of coming to his assistance, readily complied with the 
 invitation. A suspension of arms, for a few days, immediately 
 followed ; and, on the eighteenth of April, preliminary articles 
 of pacification were signed, near Leoben, which served as the 
 foundation of a definitive treaty, concluded, at Campo-Formio, 
 on the seventeenth of October. The emperor renounced, in 
 favour of the French republic, all his right, and title to the 
 Austrian Netherlands, and acknowledged the Cisalpine Re- 
 public, as an independent power; and the storm of war, which 
 had begun to rage in the month of May, '92, and had desolated 
 continental Europe, for more than five successive years, sub- 
 sided into a temporary calm. 
 
 Having thus, to use his own phraseology, " conquered a con- 
 tinental peace," Buonaparte returned to Paris, on the twenti- 
 eth of November; where, he was received, by the government, 
 with every mark of consideration ; and by the people, with th« 
 most rapturous applause. 
 
58 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 INVASION OP EGYPT — SIEGE OF ACRE, 
 
 By the treaty of Campo-Formio, the continental ene-^ 
 mies of the Republic^ lay prostrate at her feet. She had 
 yet to contend with a belligerant, of more obstinate resolution, 
 than any other state of Europe, and furnished with the means 
 of distressing her, more amply than all the rest of the world 
 combined. Great Britain still continued to wield the sword ; 
 and, though baffled in her hostilities by land, growing daily 
 more powerful, on her proper element— the sea. 
 
 The frequent victories, however, of the British navy, had not 
 deprived its antagonists of hope. Though they might esteem 
 themselves much inferior to the English seamen, in point of 
 science, they showed that they were little surpassed by them in 
 natural courage. Having now at their disposal the navy of 
 Spain, as well as of Holland,, the French republic proposed, to 
 their confederates, that the greater part of the Spanish navy, 
 should sail, in the early part of the present year, to Brest; 
 where, being joined by the French ships of w^ar, in that port, 
 they should afterwards form a junction With the fleet of Hol- 
 land ; that this armada, now increased to more than seventy 
 sail of the line, should bear down upon England ; and, having 
 humbled the lofty pretensions of her naval power, lay the foun- 
 dation of her future conquest. But the British ministry soon 
 became informed of this design. To frustrate its execution, a 
 fleet, under sir John Jervis, was appointed to blockade the 
 port of Cadiz; while admiral Duncan was stationed ofl" the 
 coast of Holland, to observe the movements of the Dutch fleet, 
 in the Texel. Both these officers were successful, in their 
 respective duties. On the fourteenth day of February, admiral 
 Jervis, with fifteen sail of the line, carrying twelve-hundred-and- 
 thirty-two guns, encountered the Spanish fleet, off" St. Vincent, 
 consisting of twenty-seven sail, mounting two-thousand-three- 
 hundred-and-eight guns, commanded by Don Joseph de Cor- 
 dova ; and, after an action, which continued about five hours 
 and a half, defeated his opponents with a loss, on their side, of 
 four ships of the fine, and twelve-hundred men, killed and 
 wounded ; the British loss, in men, being about three-hundred. 
 On the eleventh of October, admiral Duncan, with sixteen sail 
 of the line^ and two frigates, carrying eleven-hundred-and-thirty=. 
 
NAPOLEON. 59 
 
 four guns, engaged the Dutch fleet, ofT Camperdown, under 
 admiral De Winter, consisting of an equal number of ships of 
 the line, but of much inferior size, accompanied by ten smaller 
 vessels, mounting altogether twelve-hundred-and-sixty-six guns ; 
 having on board a body of French troops, for the invasion of 
 Ireland ; and, after a most sanguinary conflict, of about three 
 hours duration, in which the Dutch seemed emulous of rivalling 
 the heroic days of De Ruy ter and Van Tromp, the British were 
 again victorious ; having captured twelve vessels, ten of which 
 were of the line. Amongst the prisoners, were De Winter, 
 and his second in command. The loss of the British, in killed 
 and wounded, was seven-hundred-and-fifty ^ that of their oppo- 
 nents, at least fifteen-hundred. 
 
 After the battle of St. Vincent, the discomfited vessels of 
 the Spanish fleet, sought refuge in the port of Cadiz ; and the 
 remains of the Dutch fleet, after its signal overthrow, off" Cam- 
 perdown, found safety in the Texel. 
 
 But the naval flag of Britain, was not equally fortunate, in 
 its attempt against Teneriflfe. An attack made upon that island, 
 by a squadron of seven ships of the line, under admiral Nelson, 
 from which were landed a thousand marines, commanded by 
 captain Trowbridge, ended in the repulse of the latter ; after 
 a considerable destruction of men, and the loss of an arm, by 
 the gallant admiral himself. 
 
 The pacific attitude of the continental enemies of France, 
 was yather injurious, than favourable, to the maintenance of 
 tranquillity at home. It required the heavy pressure of foreign 
 interposition, to prevent the new constitution from exploding. 
 The- executive and legislative bodies, were now in a state of 
 open hostility; owing to a charge, made by the former, against 
 the latter, of conspiring to overturn the government, and place 
 Louis XVin. upon the throne! The discontent and suspicion, 
 excited by the measures of the two councils, in having passed 
 laws in favour of the emigrants and non-juring priests, had 
 reached the armies ; and the troops in Italy, under Buonaparte, 
 as if in imitation of the pretorian bands of the Roman, and the 
 Janissaries of the Turkish empire, having led the way, in ad- 
 dressing the directory, their example was speedily followed, by 
 all the other armies of the republic. The address from the 
 division of Massena, concluded in these intelligible words:— 
 *^ Does the road to Paris present more obstacles than the road 
 to Vienna ? No ! it will be opened to us, by the republicans who 
 have remained faithful to liberty." — Thus, supported by the 
 armies, and having appointed Talleyrand minister for foreign 
 
60 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ■->- 
 
 affairs, the directory determined upon the complete destruction 
 of their opponents. The execution of this duty, was confided 
 to general Augereau; a bold and active officer, lately despatch- 
 ed from Italy, by Buonaparte, under the pretext of conveying, 
 to Paris, the standards taken at Mantua. On the morning of 
 the eighteenth Fructidor, (fourth of September,) the alarm-gun 
 w^as fired, by order of a majority of the directory^ — Barras, 
 ^ Reubel, and La Revelliere — for Barthelemi refused to concur 
 in these violent measures, and was put under arrest, and Carnot 
 effected his escape. Accompanied by a body of soldiers, Au* 
 gereau, having entered the hall of the council of five-hundred, 
 with his own hand seized upon general Pichegru, the president 
 of the council ; and, after ordering that officer, and eighteen 
 others of the conspirators, as they were called, to be imprisoned 
 in the Temple, like Cromwell, he dissolved the assembly, and 
 sealed the doors of the hall. 
 
 The council of five-hundred was summoned to meet at one 
 of the public theatres. A committee of public safety was nom- 
 inated, by the directory; under whose dictation, the late elec- 
 tions, in not fewer than forty-nine departments, were declared 
 void ; the vacancies, occasioned by the expulsion of the obnox- 
 ious members, were filled, by the directory ; the decree in 
 favour of the emigrants, was revoked ; and fifty-three members 
 of the councils, amongst whom was Pichegru, and the two 
 directors, Carnot and Barthelemi, were ordered, without either 
 trial or examination, to be transported to Cayenne. 
 
 But these measui'es, alone, were not thought sufficient, by 
 the directorial tyrants, to ensure their despotic power. They 
 restrained the free liberty of speech in the councils, and sub- 
 jected the press to th6 surveillance of the police. 
 
 Francis de Neufchateau and Antoine Merlin, were elected, 
 by the council of elders, to fill the vacancies in the directory, 
 occasioned by the expulsion of Carnot and Barthelemi. 
 
 Illegal and tyrannical as was the conduct of the directory, 
 towards the individuals charged with treason, yet their sus- 
 picions, as regarded the designs of a majority of the council 
 of five-hundred, and a large number of the elders, v^^ere not 
 unfounded. They desired the restoration of the Bourbons. 
 That Pichegru purposely allowed his army to be defeated, by 
 the Austrians, circumstances afforded no slender proof; and 
 that he afterwards corresponded with the agents of the royal 
 family, convincing evidence was obtained, by the seizure of 
 some documents, at Venice. 
 
 In the month of November, Frederick Wilham II., king of 
 
NAPOLEON. 61 
 
 Prussia, was removed, by the hand of death, after a reign of 
 eleven years, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick Wil- 
 liam III. 
 
 Qj. In the beginning of this year, a new revolution occur- 
 red, in Italy. A tumult having happened, at Rome, in 
 which the residence of the French ambassador, Joseph Buona- 
 parte, was invaded, and a republican general killed, an army, 
 commanded by Berthier, entered that capital ; and, on the fif- 
 teenth of February, having abolished the papal government, 
 established a commonwealth, under the designation of the Ro- 
 man Republic. The Pope, Pius VI., was made prisoner, and 
 carried to Valence, in France ; where he died, in the following 
 year, at the patriarchal age of eighty-one. 
 
 Rome was not the only quarter, where the repose of nations 
 was disturbed. Hostihties were suddenly declared, by the 
 French, against Switzerland ; the thirteen cantons of which, 
 after a peace which had endured for ages, were now condemned 
 to experience all the horrors of a most rancorous war. At- 
 tached, from habit and interest, to monarchal, the Swiss were 
 decidedly averse to republican France ; and some of the can- 
 tons, particularly Berne, had not only refused, for a consider- 
 able period, to recognise the French republic, but had counte- 
 nanced the assembling of the emigrant army, within their bor- 
 ders ; and the latter had compelled the French ambassador to 
 quit Soleure. The management of the war, was confided, on 
 the part of France, to general Brune. The conflict was most 
 sanguinary, and many thousands of the republican army, were 
 slain ; but, after a terrible battle, near the town of Standz, all 
 Switzerland submitted, and accepted a new constitution, im- 
 posed by the victors ; Lucerne was chosen, as the seat of gov- 
 ernment, and an alliance entered into, between the French and 
 the Helvetic Republic. 
 
 As the subjugation of Great Britain, seemed too arduous a 
 task, for the " French army of England," which had long been 
 stationed at Boulogne and on the adjacent shores, threatening 
 tlaily invasion of the Albion coast, general Buonaparte, who, 
 after his return from Italy, had been appointed its commander, 
 averting his eyes from the west, directed all his attention to 
 the east. Smitten with the love of glory, and imbued with 
 lofty notions, from his early youth, this young general had 
 formed plans of gigantic magnitude ; which, confiding in his 
 talents and his good fortune, he thought himself destined to 
 accomplish. The conquest of Egypt now filled his ambitious 
 mind. He considered that country as a stepping-stone, from 
 
 F 
 
62 THE LIFE OF 
 
 which, when in the possession of France, he might proceed, 
 with sure and rapid strides, to overturn the British empire in 
 Hindostan. 
 
 Eager to find employment for armies, whose cupidity had 
 been rather sharpened, than satisfied, by the plunder of the 
 Italian states ; and desirous to remove a general, in whose 
 presence their power seemed not only eclipsed, but endangered; 
 the directory consented to this romantic enterprise. Although 
 the project was founded on the spoliation of an ancient ally, 
 its gross injustice was overlooked, in the splendid advantages 
 Avhich it promised to bestow. Such are the fascinations of 
 ambition. An armament was prepared, to deprive the Turkish 
 emperor, Selim III., of his sovereignty over Egypt; which 
 yielded an annual income to his treasury, and supplied his 
 capital with corn. 
 
 The English fleet, under admiral Nelson, having been blown 
 off", from the blockade of Toulon, Buonaparte sailed from that 
 port, on the twentieth of May, with an army of twenty-five- 
 thousand men. His subordinate generals were scarcely less 
 accomphshed than himself, in the art of war,— Kleber, Dessaix, 
 and Berthier; Regnier, Davoust, and Lasnes; Andreossi, and 
 Murat. Accompanying him, were artists of every kind, men 
 of science, in all its various departments, (amongst whom was 
 Berthollet, the chemist, JVIonge, and Denon,) with every thing 
 requisite for the establishment of an extensive colony. The 
 vessels numbered three-hundred sail. The line-of-battle ships 
 extended over a league ; and the crescent, formed by the trans- 
 ports, covered not less than six leagues. After a passage of 
 eighteen days, the fleet arrived in view of Malta ; and, on the 
 second morning afterwards, being the twelfth of June, having 
 met very little resistance, a body of French troops entered the 
 city of Valetta, and became masters of the whole island; and 
 thus, the ancient military order of St. John of Jerusalem, or 
 knights of Malta— formerly the chaste and devoted guardians 
 of Christendom, against the Turks, but now becom.e luxurious 
 and sensual debauchees — were bereaved of their territory, after 
 possessing it nearly three-hundred years. 
 
 The fortress of Valetta, almost impregnable, if defended with 
 sofl[icient firmness, now yielded, with so little opposition, that 
 one of Buonaparte's officers said to him, as they passed through 
 its most formidable defences, — " It is well, general, that there 
 was some one within, to open the gates to us : we should have 
 had more trouble in entering, if the place had been altogether 
 empty." 
 
NAPOLEON. 63 
 
 The ardent temperament of Buonaparte, (lid not allow him 
 to remain long at Malta. Having appointed a provisional gov- 
 ernment, and confided to general Vaubois, the care of his new 
 acquisition, designed as an intermediate station between France 
 and Egypt, on the nineteenth of June, he again proceeded to 
 sea ; and in the evening of the thirtieth, the fleet anchored in 
 the harbour of Alexandria. 
 
 Egypt was then governed by a pacha or viceroy, sent from 
 Constantinople ; and twenty-four beys, who, being at the head 
 of provinces and armies, possessed, in reality, all the power. 
 The pacha retained his office no longer than while he was sub- 
 servient to their designs. The inhabitants numbered about 
 four-milhons. The real natives are a timid and unwarlike sect 
 of Christians, named Copts. Besides these, are the Arabs, 
 the Mamelukes, and the Turks. The Arabs are of two classes 
 — the Fellahs and the Bedouins : the former cultivate the earth; 
 the latter rove through the desert, and subsist by plunder, or 
 by means of their flocks and herds. The Mamelukes hold both 
 Copts and Arabs in subjection : they are (or, we should rather 
 say, were) a corps of professed soldiers, having no vocation 
 but that of war. Their corps was recruited only by the adop- 
 tion of foreign slaves, brought chiefly from Georgia and Cir- 
 cassia. These were purchased, when children, by the several 
 Beys, or Mameluke leaders; who, twenty-four in number, oc- 
 cupied, each, one of the departments, into which they had 
 divided Egypt. At this period, they amounted to eight-thou- 
 sand ; and constituted the principal military force. Individu- 
 ally considered, they v»'^eie the finest cavalry in the world. They 
 are armed with a sabre, which they use with inimitable dex- 
 terity ; two pistols, and also a carbine resembling a common 
 blunderbuss, which will discharge a dozen balls at once : they 
 are mounted on the finest Arabian horses ; and, from the bow 
 of their saddle, hangs a heavy mace. 
 
 Alexandria was summoned to surrender, on the fifth of July. 
 The summons, however, being disregarded, the invaders im- 
 mediately commenced an attack ; and, in a ^e\\ houi-s, carried, 
 by assault, with the loss of only seventy-one soldiers, killed and 
 wounded, this once famous city ; which, in the seventh century, 
 sustained a siege, against the Saracens, of fourteen months, 
 and beheld the death, before its walls, of twenty-three-thousand 
 men. Alexandria, founded by the Macedonian conqueror, was 
 the residence of Cleopatra. It had now wholly fallen from its 
 ancient greatness. Though it once contained a population of 
 three-hundred thousand, and boasted of four thousand baths, it 
 
64 THE LIFE OF 
 
 now presented, to the invaders, only wretched and confused 
 huts, rather than houses ; the streets narrow, unpaved, and 
 filthy, and the inhabitants, in number only twelve-thousand,, 
 stupid, ignorant, and barbarous. 
 
 " It would be impossible for me," says an eminent savant,* 
 who accompanied this expedition, " to describe what I felt on 
 entering Alexandria, where there was neither any one to re- 
 ceive us, or to prevent our going on shore. We could scarcely 
 prevail upon a group of beggars, leaning on their crutches, to 
 point out to us the head-quarters. All the houses were shut : 
 those who had not dared to fight, had fled ; and those who had: 
 not been killed in the combat, had concealed themselves, for 
 fear of being put to death, according to the oriental custom. 
 Every thing was new to our sensations — the soil, the form of 
 the buildings, the persons, customs, and language of the in- 
 habitants. The first prospect that presented itself to our view,, 
 was an extensive burying-ground, covered with innumerable 
 tomb-stones, of white marble, on a white soil. Amongst those 
 monuments, were seen wandering, several meagre women, 
 with long tattered garments, resembling so many ghosts. The 
 silence was interrupted only by the screeching of the kites, 
 which hovered over this sanctuary of death." 
 
 Buonaparte had no sooner taken Alexandria, than he an- 
 nounced his purpose. He issued a proclamation ; in which, 
 he professed his respect for God, the Prophet, and the Koran ; 
 his friendship for the Grand Seignior, of whom he affirmed the 
 French to be faithful allies ; and announced his determination 
 to make war upon the Mamelukes. He commanded that the 
 prayers should be continued in the mosques, as usual, with 
 some slight alterations ; and that all true Moslems should ex-, 
 claim, " Glory to the Sultan, and to the French army, his al- 
 lies! — Accursed be the Mamelukes, and good fortune to the 
 land of Egypt!" 
 
 Of this proclamation — the subject of so many critical re- 
 marks — we shall here present a literal translation : — 
 
 "Too long, have the beys, who govern Egypt, insulted the 
 French nation, and loaded her merchants with vexations : — the 
 hour of their chastisement is arrived. Too long, has this horde 
 of slaves, purchased from Caucasus and Georgia, tyrannized 
 over the fairest portion of the world. But God, upon whom 
 every thing depends, has ordered its empire to end. People 
 of Egypt ! you will be told that I come to destroy your religion : 
 
 * Denon. 
 
NAPOLEON. oi> 
 
 — believe it not : reply, that I am come to restore your rights, 
 and punish the usurper, and, that 1 venerate, more than the 
 Mamelukes, God, his Prophet, and the Koran. Tell them, 
 that all men are equal, before God : wisdom, talents, virtues, 
 make all the difference between them. Now, what virtues, 
 what talents, what wisdom, distinguish the Mamelukes, that 
 they, exclusively, should possess all that is lovely and sweet in 
 life ? Is there a beautiful estate ? — it belongs to the Mamelukes. 
 Is there a beautiful slave, a beautiful horse, a beautiful house ? 
 — they belong to the Mamelukes. If Egypt be their farm, let 
 them show the lease granted to them by God. But God is just 
 and bountiful, to all mankind : — all the Egyptians are called to 
 fill all posts : let the most wise, the most informed, the most 
 virtuous, govern, and the people will be happy. There were 
 formerly amongst you, great cities, great canals, great com- 
 merce. By what, has all been destroyed, if not by the avarice, 
 the injustice, and the tyranny of the Mamelukes? — Cadis! 
 Sheiks! Imans! Ishorbadjies ! tell the people that we are the 
 friends of true Moslems. Is it not we, that have destroyed 
 the pope, who said that war must be made on Moslems ? Is 
 it not we, that destroyed the knights of Malta, because those 
 madmen believed God willed them to make war on Moslems ? 
 Is it not' we, that have been the friends of the Grand Seig- 
 nior (whose designs may God accomplish !) and the enemies, 
 of his enemies ? Are not the Mamelukes, on the other hand, 
 in continual rebellion against the Grand Seignior, whom they 
 still refuse to- acknowledge ? — They execute only their own 
 schemes. Thrice happy, those that are for us! — they shall 
 prosper, in their rank and fortune. Happy those that are 
 neuter! — they will have time to become acquainted with us, and 
 they will come over to our side. But wretched, thrice wretched, 
 those that shall arm for the Mamelukes, and fight against us I 
 — there shall be no hope for these ; they shall all perish ! — 
 Every one shall thank God, for the destruction of the Mame- 
 lukes ; and cry. Glory to the Sultan, glory to the French army, 
 his allies ! — accursed be the Mamelukes, and good fortune to 
 the land of Egypt !" 
 
 General Dessaix was immediately despatched against Cairo ; 
 Rosetta was subdued by general Kleber; on the seventh of 
 July, the main body of the army entered the desert, and, after 
 experiencing the most distressing privations, from heat and 
 thirst, arrived at Demenhur. Buonaparte here found himself 
 in a situation, similar to that of Columbus, when first crossing 
 the unknown extent of the Atlantic Ocean. The army of Italy, 
 
 F2 
 
QQ . THE LIFE OF 
 
 accustomed to the enjoyments of that luxurious country, were^ 
 amazed at the desolation they saw around them. "Is this," 
 they said, " the country, in which we are to receive our farms 
 of seven acres each ? The general might have allowed us to 
 take as much as we chose — -no one would have abused the 
 privilege." 
 
 The French were obliged to march with the utmost caution. 
 The plain was covered with Mamelukes, dashing over the sands, 
 on their swift Arabian chargers ; now, pursuing a straggler, in 
 one direction — then wheeling, at full gallop, in another — 
 brandishing their highly polished sabres — their plumed turbans 
 waving in the air, and their rich dresses and arms glittering in 
 the sun. Dessaix had nearly been made prisoner, by his having 
 remained only fifty paces in the rear of the column. Another 
 officer, of distinguished reputation, was slain within a hundred 
 paces of the advanced guard. General Galois was killed when 
 carrying an order to the commander-in-chief; and an adjutant,. 
 a remarkably fine young officer, was made prisoner, at a very 
 small distance from the army, when crossing a ditch. A price 
 being demanded for his ransom, the Arabs disputed about the 
 booty, amongst themselves, and^ to terminate the quarrel, blew 
 out his brains. 
 
 Four-thousand Mamelukes were concentrated, near the vil- 
 lage of Chebreissa, situated on the left bank of the Nile. Here,, 
 were fought two separate actions ; one on the water, the other 
 on the land. Buonaparte formed his army into five squares, 
 with the carriages and baggage in the centre. Impelled by 
 their natural impetuosity, and holding a body of mere infantry 
 in contempt, the Mamelukes began the attack, and were suf- 
 fered to approach within the reach of grape-shot ; when the 
 cannon suddenly opened, and forced the main body of the as- 
 sailants to retreat : but some, bolder than the rest, continued 
 to advance, and met their fate, either at the muzzle of the 
 muskets, or the bayonet's point. Chebreissa was carried by 
 assault, and the flotilla, belonging to the beys, retired, after a 
 desperate action ; in which, six-hundred men were killed, on 
 the side of the vanquished, and only seventy on that of the victors. 
 
 We here take an opportunity of citing a trait of the hospi- 
 tality of the Bedouin Arabs. A French ofiicer had been several 
 months a prisoner to one of their chiefs, whose camp being af- 
 terwards surprised, in the night, by the French dragoons, he 
 had barely time to escape ; his tents, cattle, and provisions, hav- 
 ing fallen into his enemies' hands. On the following day, a 
 fugitive, solitary, and without any resources, he drew from his; 
 
NAPOLEON. 67 
 
 pocket, a cake, and, presenting one-half of it to his prisoner, 
 said to him : " I do not know when we shall have any more 
 food ; but I shall not be charged with having refused to share 
 my last morsel with one whom I may esteem as my friend." 
 
 Certain, however, of an easy victory, notwithstanding their 
 many defeats, the Mamelukes at length forebore to harass the 
 French army, on its march ; which was rendered sulBiciently 
 painful by its length, by the heat of the climate, and by the 
 sufferings of hunger and thirst ; to which, may be added, the 
 torments of a hope, constantly cheated, and constantly renewed. 
 In the midst of corn, the French soldiers were in want of bread ; 
 while they were a prey to thirst, with the image of a vast lake 
 before their eyes. This punishment results from an illusion, 
 peculiar to that country. It is produced by the reflexion of 
 salient objects on the oblique rays of the sun, refracted by the 
 heat of the burning soil; and this phenomenon has so truly the 
 appearance of water, that the observer is continually deceived 
 by it ; while it provokes a thirst which is the more importunate, 
 as the instant when it presents itself to the view, is the hottest 
 time of the day. 
 
 Neither heat nor thirst impeded the progress of the French 
 commander. Pursuing his victorious career, he advanced, 
 through deserted villages, to Embabey ; whence, on the twen- 
 tieth of July, he beheld, towards the left, the stupendous pyra- 
 mids, and in front, a splendid line of six-thousand Mamelukes, 
 commanded by Murad Bey. Nothing, in war, was ever seen 
 more desperate, than their exertions. They disordered one 
 of the French squares of infantry ; which would have been 
 quickly sabred, only that the mass of those "fiery cavaliers, was 
 a little behind the advanced guard. The French used a favour- 
 able moment, to restore order. Failing to force their horses 
 tlirough the squares, in the usual manner, individual Mame- 
 lukes were seen to wheel them round, and rein them back 
 against the ranks, that they might disorder them by kicking. 
 They hurled at these human walls, which they could not break, 
 their pistols, their poniards, their maces, and their carbines. 
 Those who fell wounded, to the ground, dragged themselves 
 on, to cut at the legs of the French, with their sabres. These 
 were the last efforts of desperation. But they were all in vain. 
 They were again defeated. One body, of fifteen-hundred Mam- 
 elukes, defended themselves, until not a single man of their 
 number remained ahve. Murad being forced to quit the field, 
 left behind four-hundred camels, his artillery, baggage, and 
 
68 THE LIFE OF 
 
 provisions ; and the victors, found all the purses of the van- 
 quished Mamelukes, well stored with gold. 
 
 With what ardency of purpose, man will, in some situations, 
 seek the destruction of his fellow-being, an instance may be 
 shown, which occurred in this bloody fight. A French soldier, 
 mortally wounded, having seized an expiring Mameluke, and 
 being in the act of stranghng him, with his hands, an officer 
 said to him, — " How can you, in your desperate situation, do 
 such an act ?" — " You speak at your ease," the man replied, 
 " you who are unhurt ; but I, who have not long to live, must 
 have some enjoyment, while I may." 
 
 But, though sanguinary in the heat of battle, a soldier is 
 tender-hearted when not engaged in the murderous strife. On 
 another occasion, a grenadier was observed approaching a vil- 
 lage, just entered by the French, holding, in his arms, a child, 
 whose mother had been compelled to desert it, in her flight ; 
 yet, this brave fellow, notwithstanding the weight of his musket, 
 his cartridges, and his knapsack, and the fatigue of four days 
 of forced marches, had picked up this little forsaken creature, 
 and carried it carefully, for two leagues, in his arms ; but, not 
 knowing what to do with it, in this deserted village, seeing one 
 inhabitant left behind, with two children, he gently laid down 
 his Httle charge beside them, and departed, with the delightful 
 expression of one who has just performed a benevolent action. 
 
 The destruction of the Mamelukes, a body, hitherto regarded 
 as invincible, impressed the eastern world with terror ; and the 
 continuous fire of small-arms, by which the victory was achiev- 
 ed, procured for Buonaparte the appellation of Sultan Rebir, 
 or king of fire. 
 
 Neither fatigue nor danger could restrain the French inclina- 
 tion for the ludicrous. The savans, or men of science, had 
 been supplied with asses, the beasts of burthen easiest procur- 
 ed, in Egypt, to carry themselves and their apparatus. The 
 commander-in-chief had given especial orders to attend to 
 their personal safety. But, as this corps of research was little 
 respected, by the common soldiers, loud bursts of laughter used 
 to issue, from the ranks, while forming to receive the Mame- 
 lukes, as the general of division called out, in a formal, military 
 tone, — " Let the asses and the savans enter within the square." 
 
 The victory of the Pyramids, obtained with a trifling loss, 
 opened the gates of Cairo, to the invaders. The chief inhabit- 
 ants hastened to the camp of Buonaparte, to solicit his protec- 
 tion ; while the fortunate leader of the French troops, seized 
 this opportunity, to visit the pyramids, and there prophesied, 
 
NAPOLEON. 69 
 
 that his exploits would not be forgotten, at the end of four-thou- 
 sand years. 
 
 On entering the chamber in the pyramid of Cheops, " Glory 
 be to Allah," said the politic commander; "there is no God, 
 but God, and Mahomet is his prophet!" — "Thou hast spoken 
 like the most learned of the prophets," said the Mufti, who 
 accompanied him. — " I can command a car of fire to descend 
 from heaven," rejoined the French general; "and I can guide 
 and direct its course on earth." 
 
 The army concluded its operations, at this time, by making 
 a circuit through the country. In all the villages through 
 which they passed, they were received by the leading personage 
 of the country, who levied a contribution from the inhabitants, 
 for their maintenance. They established an ordinary post, at 
 a village called Almie. Here, a house of entertainment which 
 had belonged to the Mamelukes, was furnished, in a moment, 
 according to the fashion of the country, with mats, carpets, and 
 cushions. A number of attendants first brought in perfumed 
 water, pipes, and coffee. Half an hour afterwards, a carpet 
 was spread ; near the margin of which, three or four different 
 kinds of bread were laid, in heaps, the centre being covered 
 with small dishes of fruits, sweetmeats, creams, and other dain- 
 ties, the greater part of them pretty good, and highly perfumed. 
 This was considered but as a slight repast, which was over in 
 a few minutes. In the course of two hours, the same carpet 
 was covered again, with large loaves, immense dishes of rice, 
 boiled either in milk, or in rich gravy soup ; halves of sheep, 
 badly roasted ; large quarters of veal ; boiled heads of different 
 animals, and fifty or sixty other dishes, all crowded together, 
 consisting of highly seasoned ragouts, vegetables, jellies, sweet- 
 meats, and honey in the comb. There were neither chairs 
 nor plates, spoons nor . forks, drinking-glasses nor napkins : 
 each of the guests squatted on the ground, took up the rice in 
 his fingers, tore the meat into pieces with his nails, dipped the 
 bread into the ragouts, and wiped his hands and lips with a 
 shce of bread. The water was served in a pot; and he who 
 did the honours of the table, took the first draught. In the 
 same way, he was the first to taste the different dishes ; as well 
 to prevent the guests from harbouring any suspicions of him, 
 as to show them how strong an interest he took in their safety, 
 and how high a value he set on their persons^ The napkins 
 were not produced, until after dinner ; when, each of the 
 guests, having washed his hands, was sprinkled with rose-water,, 
 and the attendants brought in pipes and coffee. 
 
70 THE LIFE OF 
 
 When the repast was ended, the places of the French wer^s 
 occupied by natives of the second class, who were very soon 
 succeeded by others. From a motive of religion, a poor beg- 
 gar was admitted ; next came, the attendants ; and lastly, all 
 those Vt^ho chose to partake, until nothing was left. 
 
 Having organized a provisional government, at Cairo, then 
 the capital of Egypt, and also an Institute, in imitation of the 
 National Institute of France, Buonaparte followed Murad, and 
 compelled him to seek refuge in Upper Egypt ; while Ibraham 
 Bey, taking a contrary direction, fled towards Syria. 
 
 Lower Egypt was now completely overcome ; and thus far, 
 the expedition of Buonaparte had been successful. But inform- 
 ation was soon conveyed to him of a severe reverse. Fortune 
 seemed to combat, for the aspiring general, only when he had 
 her within his own control. What is commonly ascribed to 
 fate, and destiny, and fortune, is due rather to art, and experi- 
 ence, and good ^^onduct. On his return to Cairo, he received 
 information, that the French fleet, under admiral Brueyes, had 
 been destroyed, in Aboukir Bay. — The place of action had 
 been already celebrated, in history, as the scene of a famous 
 combat, between Augustus Csesar and Mark Antony, nearly 
 nineteen-hundred years before, which decided the empire of 
 the world. — The British admiral. Nelson, the daring and ac- 
 complished seaman — not less great, on the watery element, than 
 Buonaparte had rendered himself on land — reached the coast 
 of Egypt, on the first of August, in pursuit of admiral Brueyes; 
 and discovered his fleet, moored, in a compact line, in the 
 bay of Aboukir ; in such a position, that he supposed no ship 
 of war could anchor between his vessels and the shore. But, 
 in this, he was in error. His enterprising assailant ventured 
 within the forbidden space ; and attacked him, upon that side 
 which was the least prepared for action. The French had 
 thirteen ships of the hne, and four frigates: three of the former 
 carried eighty guns, and one of them, the Orient, a hundred- 
 and-twenty ; in all, eleven-hundred-and-ninety guns, manned 
 by ten-thousand-eight-hundred men. The English had the 
 same number of ships of the line, all seventy-fours, and one 
 fifty gun ship ; carrying altogether one-thousand-and-twelve 
 guns, and eight-thousand-and-sixty men. The advantage, in 
 favour of the French, was, therefore, one-hundred-and-seventy- 
 eight guns, and two-thousand-seven-hundred-and-forty men, 
 The engagement commenced at six in the evening; and never 
 was a battle fought, in any age, more awful and destructive 
 The British admiral received a wound, in the head, which, 
 
NAPOLEON. 71 
 
 cutting a large flap of skin from the bone, and falling over his 
 only remaining eye, (for he had lost the other, in a former 
 battle,) left him in total darkness. Admiral Brueyes, whose 
 flag was hoisted on board the Orient, had been three times 
 wounded, in the present engagement, without quitting his sta- 
 tion ; at length, he received a wound, which almost cut him in 
 two: still, he remained on deck, but survived his last wound 
 only a quarter of an hour. Soon after nine o'clock, the Orient 
 struck her colours, and appeared in flames; at ten, she blew 
 up, with a tremendous explosion : after a lapse of about ten 
 minutes, during which, the combatants, paralyzed by the awful 
 scene, as if by one consent, had ceased to fire, the battle was 
 resumed, with undiminished fury ; and continued, with little 
 intermission, until day-light, the next morning ; w'hen, out of 
 thirteen sail of the line, and four frigates, which had formed 
 the fle©t of Brueyes, eleven of the former, and two of the latter, 
 were either captured, or destroyed. 
 
 The British loss, in killed and wounded, was nine-hundred. 
 Of the French, more than three-thousand, including the wound- 
 ed, went on shore, by cartel, and five thousand were slain or 
 drowned. 
 
 About seventy of the Orient's crew, were saved, by the Eng- 
 lish boats. Amongst the nine-hundred, who perished, were the 
 commodore Bianca, and his son, a brave and intelligent boy, of 
 about ten years of age ; who were, for a time, seen in the water, 
 on the wreck of the Orient's mast, seeking for each other, when 
 the ship blew up, and ended both their hopes and fears. 
 
 From the crimsoned waters of Aboukir. we now turn, to a 
 scene, which arouses a still greater abhorrence, in the human 
 breast. Since the abortive attemjjt to debark a body of troops, 
 at Bantry, under the command of general Hoche, the growing 
 insurrection of the people of Ireland, had been matured ; and, 
 on the twenty-third of May, a rebellion burst forth, with all the 
 rancorous fury of civil contest. The cruel severity of lord 
 Camden, the viceroy of that unhappy country, served but to 
 heighten, instead of abate, the raging tempest; and it required 
 a change of government, in the person of lord Cornwallis, to 
 allay the storm. This gallant veteran (much as was his conduct 
 censured, by Americans, in the southern wal') effected, by his 
 humanity, what his predecessor had fiiled to accomplish, by a 
 reign of terror. The peasantry returned to their homes. The 
 leaders were pardoned, on the terms of expatriation. The 
 courts of justice were re-opened ; and thus, after a continuation 
 of three months, the rebellion ended ; thirty-thousand men hav- 
 
72 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ing been slain, in battle, and property worth two-millions ster* 
 ling, destroyed, by fire. 
 
 The directory of France seemed eager to renew these scenes 
 of blood. Eleven-hundred infantry, under the command of 
 general Humbert, were landed, on the twenty-second of Au- 
 gust, in Killala Bay, in the county of Mayo ; and, such was 
 the gallantry of this little band, that, accompanied by fifteen- 
 hundred of the rude inhabitants of Connaught, they marched 
 one-hundred-and-fifty miles, through the interior; routed an 
 army of six-thousand men, under the veteran Lake ; and main- 
 tained their superiority, until, being surrounded by twenty-thou- 
 sand, under lord Cornwallis, and having lost nearly three-hun- 
 dred in killed and wounded, they surrendered, after an obstinate 
 resistance, at Balhnamuck. 
 
 The troops of Humbert, it appears, were designed only as 
 the vanguard, to a more formidable invasion. On the twelfth 
 of October, sir John Borlase Warren, then cruising off Lough 
 Swilly, in the county of Donegal, encountered a squadron of 
 French vessels, consisting of one sail of the line and eight frig- 
 ates, filled with troops and every species of Warlike stores ; 
 when, after a long and obstinate resistance, on the part of his 
 enemy, he captured the vessel of the line, and three of the 
 frigates ; and three more of the latter were afterwards inter- 
 cepted, on their return to France. Amongst the^ prisoners, 
 was the celebrated Theobald Wolfe Tone ; long considered as 
 the most active of the negotiators, at Paris ; who, having been 
 conveyed to Dublin, and sentenced to be hanged, inflicted upon 
 himself, in prison, a mortal wound. 
 
 Even had the French army succeeded, in landing at Lough 
 Swilly, their situation must shortly have become most embar- 
 rassed. It soon became evident, that no reinforcement could 
 have been afforded them, from home. 
 . „pp In the beginning of the ensuing year, the continent 
 became a theatre of gigantic warfare ; and more com- 
 batants were set in motion, than had ever been engaged, at one 
 time, since Xerxes led his countless millions against Greece. 
 The treaty of Campo-Formio had not definitely fixed the boun^ 
 daries between the emperor of Germany and France ; nor had 
 it finally adjusted the conflicting interests of the German pow^ 
 ers. Nor had the congress of Radstadt, assembled in the 
 beginning of the preceding year, wholly accomplished those 
 desirable objects, but was employed rather in vain forms of 
 discussion ; when several incidents occurred, of a diplomatic 
 character, which tended to open the wounds, that had not yet 
 
NAPOLEON. 73 
 
 been completely closed ; and the defeat of the republican fleet, 
 at Aboukir, encouraged the emperor Francis, entirely to draw 
 the sword, already more than half unsheathed, by the pressing 
 interposition of the Russian Paul ; who, on his accession to 
 the throne of Catherine, resolved to enforce, by the presence 
 of an army, what his mother had only proclaimed, by threats. 
 
 To give only a brief summary of the numerous and sanguin- 
 ary battles, that occurred, in the first campaign, would require 
 more pages, than have been devoted to the whole of this im- 
 perfect sketch. We have already exhibited a heart-rending 
 specimen of the revolutionary wars. Only the most remark- 
 able battles, shall henceforth be recorded. — Jourdan was placed 
 at the head of the French army of the Danube ; to Massena, 
 was confided that of Switzerland ; to Joubert, the defence of 
 Italy, aided by Moreau, as a volunteer. To these consummate 
 generals, were opposed, the archduke Charles, Melas, and 
 Suwarrow. But the French armies were, at this time, much 
 neglected, by the department of war. The government of 
 France was subject to the severest animadversions. The di- 
 rectory had suffered themselves to be surprised, by the sudden 
 appearance of the Russians; both energy and patriotism, were 
 alike wanting, in their councils ; and they appear to have been 
 influenced by a spirit of rapacity and corruption. Under these 
 circumstances, the armies of the rival powers had entered the 
 field. Never had France appeared in a more critical situation. 
 Neither the skill, nor the valour, nor the constancy of her 
 commanders, was able to withstand the disadvantages under 
 which they fought. Her armies were every where inferior, every 
 where dispirited, every where overcome. Her troops were 
 expelled from Germany and Switzerland ; of all her Italian 
 conquests, only the barren rocks of Liguria remained in her 
 possession ; and the English threatened Holland with invasion. 
 
 General Joubert was killed, in the battle of Pozzolo. Eager 
 to animate his troops, in advancing, at the head of his staff*, he 
 was struck with a ball, which pierced his heart : — still, he con- 
 tinued, in the agonies of death, to exhort to deeds of heroism ; 
 and fell, exclaiming, " March ! March I and fight for the re- 
 public !" 
 
 Such, is the fate of the soldier — such, the uncertainty of war. 
 But, in this extremity, the existence of the republic was pro- 
 longed, by the revolution of the eighteenth of June. No sooner 
 were Treillard, Larevelliere, and Merlin, succeeded in the 
 directorial office, by Roger Ducos, Gonier, and Moulin, than 
 the most energetic measures were adopted, to reinforce the 
 
 G 
 
74 THE LIFE OF 
 
 armies, and enable them to act, once more, on the offensive. 
 The indefatigable Massena, having received a fresh supply of 
 troops, carried Zurich, by assault ; slew an immense number 
 of the Austro-Russian army ; took five-thousand prisoners, 
 one-hundred pieces of cannon, fifteen standards, together with 
 nearly all the baggage of the Russians, and compelled the allies 
 to repass the Rhine. The scale of fortune once more prepon- 
 derated in favour of the republic. Her generals again became 
 masters of Helvetia, penetrated into Germany, seized upon 
 Frankfort, Manheim, and Heidelberg, and threatened to lay 
 all that portion of the empire under contribution. Of one-hun- 
 dred-thousand men, who, eight months before, had joined the 
 army of Suwarrow, scarcely one-half reached the banks of the 
 river Lech. Overwhelmed with grief and disappointment, this 
 veteran warrior, the most successful of the Russian generals, 
 who had never before been beaten, retired to his native country, 
 where he soon afterwards died, in the seventieth year of his 
 age, of a broken heart. 
 
 In Italy, however, the arms of the republic were not equally 
 successful. But the campaign did not conclude, in that coun- 
 try, so auspiciously, for the allies, as it had commenced : the 
 defection of the emperor of Russia, damped the expectations 
 of the court of Vienna, and laid the foundation of those disas- 
 ters, which afterwards constrained all the sovereigns of conti- 
 nental Europe, to become the vassals of a single chief. 
 
 During these transactions, an army of thirty-thousand Eng- 
 lish troops, landed, in Holland, in two divisions ; the first, 
 commanded by sir Ralph Abercrombie ; the second, by the 
 duke of York. Having been joined by seventeen-thousand 
 Russians, the first operations of the duke, who had assumed 
 the chief command, were crowned with success ; and, after 
 being victorious, in a hard-fought action, on the second of Oc- 
 tober, he took possession of Alkmaar. But, after these advan- 
 tages, he was disappointed in the expected co-operation of the 
 Dutch ; a combination of insurmountable difficulties, rendered 
 all further progress impossible; and the duke, after having 
 obtained the surrender of twelve Dutch ships of war, and thir- 
 teen large vessels, intended for the trade of India, concluded 
 an armistice, with the French general, Brune, and evacuated 
 Holland. 
 
 While a new coalition was formed, against France, in Eu- 
 rope, her army in the east, excluded, by the disaster at Abou- 
 kir, from all communication with the native country, was em- 
 ployed in the reduction of Egypt.. From Cairo, now the centre 
 
NAPOLEON. 75 
 
 of his operations, Buonaparte despatched general Dessaix, in 
 pursuit of Murad Bey, into Upper Egypt ; while the army under 
 his own immediate command, chased Ibrahim into the desert. - 
 After saihng, a considerable distance, up the Nile, Dessaix, on 
 the sixteenth of October, (1798,) overtook the main body of 
 Murad's forces, at Sedimen, consisting of about three-thousand 
 Mamelukes and eight-thousand Arabs ; and, after a most des- 
 perate engagement, defeated his adversaries ; who left three 
 beys and several thousand of their army, stretched on the field 
 of battle. Upper Egypt was now subdued. The French be- 
 ing indefatigable in the pursuit, Murad, Hassan, Soliman, and 
 eight other beys, perceiving that their Mamelukes were slain, 
 and that the Arabs deserted daily, were under the necessity of 
 withdrawing beyond the cataracts. 
 
 In the mean time, Achmet pacha, surnamed D'jezzar, or the 
 butcher, who, at this period, governed Syria, under a nominal 
 subjection to the Ottoman Porte, encouraged by the Turks, 
 seized on the fort of El Arish, and made preparations to invade 
 Lower Egypt ; Alexandria was also blockaded, by the Enghsh ; 
 in consequence of which, Buonaparte determined to avert the 
 dangers which threatened his new conquests ; and, by carrying 
 the war into Syria, to render the enemy's country the scene of 
 war. He resolved to march against the pacha, in person. 
 General Regnier, who commanded the advanced guard, arrived 
 on the eighth of February, (1799,) at the grove of palm-trees, 
 near the sea, in front of El Arish ; and, notwitJistanding the 
 strong situation of the place, he carried the village, with the 
 bayonet: on the arrival of the commander-in-chief, he ordered 
 one of the towers of the castle to be cannonaded ; and, a breach 
 having been nearly effected, the garrison, consisting of fifteen- 
 hundred men, surrendered, on condition of being allowed to 
 retire to Bagdad. After traversing many leagues of an arid 
 desert, during which they were exposed to ail the horrors of 
 extreme thirst, the French army arrived, on the twenty-eighth, 
 at Gaza ; of which, without any opposition, they obtained pos- 
 session ; and, proceeding in their bloody conquests, on the fifth 
 of March, they reached Jaffa; (the Joppa of ancient days;) 
 the garrison of which place, after fighting from street to street, 
 and from roof to roof, and losing several thousand men, were 
 at length overpowered. 
 
 At Jaffa, as at all other places of importance, Buonaparte 
 organized a divan, of the principal inhabitants, in the French 
 interest ; and, after appointing general Gressier to the com- 
 mand of the place, he proceeded, at the head of his troops, for 
 
76 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Acre. Continuing his march, by the way of Caesarea, he ar- 
 rived, on the seventeenth of March, within two-thousand yards 
 of its lofty towers ; but, on ascending the heights, on the fol- 
 lowing morning, he beheld the town prepared for a siege ; and 
 was no less astonished, than chagrined, on beholding the 
 colours of Great Britain flying in the harbour. 
 
 St. Jean d'Acre, so celebrated during the crusades, is built 
 on a peninsula, advancing into the sea, and so conveniently 
 situated, that vessels can lie near the shore, and annoy, with 
 their fire, whatever approaches to assault its fortifications. At 
 this moment, it contained, within its walls, two singular men ; 
 who, to the romantic heroism of the days of chivalry, united 
 all the knowledge appertaining to the art of war — Sir Sydney 
 Smith, a British naval officer, already mentioned, as having 
 superintended the destruction of the French arsenals and 
 vessels, in the port of Toulon ; and Colonel Philippeaux, an 
 emigrant officer of engineers, a school-fellow and early com- 
 panion of the French commander-in-chief. Having rescued 
 his friend, Sir Sydney Smith, from bondage, in the Temple, at 
 the hazard of his life, the colonel, after cruising with Sir Syd- 
 ney, in the Levant, had embarked for Syria, to employ his 
 talents as an engineer, and afford assistance to the pacha. 
 
 The fortress having been reconnoitred, it was determined to 
 attack the front of the salient angle, towards the east. On the 
 thirtieth of March, the trenches were opened, at the distance 
 of a hundred-and-fifty fathoms from the wall ; when the garri- 
 son made a spirited sortie, but were repulsed, and forced to 
 retire, with precipitation, within the walls. As the tower, 
 against which the principal attack was directed, appeared, on 
 the first of April, to be pierced, and the counterscarp was sup- 
 posed to have been destroyed, by a mine that had been sprung, 
 the troops demanded and obtained leave, to advance, and storm 
 the fortress. It soon, however, became evident, that little pains 
 had been taken, to ascertain the nature of the works ; for, on 
 rushing forward, it was discovered, that a ditch of fifteen feet 
 was to be passed, while the counterscarp was almost untouched^ 
 and the breach, which was not large, had been effected more 
 than six feet above the surface of the ground. Notwithstanding 
 these obstacles, a body of grenadiers, descended into the ditch, 
 and attempted to scale the wall ; but their leader was shot, and, 
 it being discovered, that the only eflfect produced by the late 
 explosion, was a small opening in the glacis, nothing could be 
 achieved. The garrison was, at first, seized with terror, and 
 many of the Turkish soldiers ran towards the harbour ; but, no 
 
NAPOLEON. 77 
 
 sooner did they perceive that the opening in the wall was several 
 feet above the rubbish, than they returned to the charge, and, 
 showering down stones, grenades, and combustibles, upon the 
 assailants, obliged them to retire, after sustaining considerable 
 loss. 
 
 But, it was not alone with Acre, that Buonaparte had to 
 contend. All the neiglibouring districts were in arms; and 
 the Samaritan Arabs made incursions, into his very camp. 
 Under these circumstances, he despatched generals Junot and 
 Kleber, against the enemy, whom he was determined to drive 
 beyond the Jordan ; and, finding that the troops, sent under 
 these commanders, were unable to repel the native force, he 
 left two divisions, to guard the trenches before Acre, and pro- 
 ceeded against the enemy, in person. On the sixteenth, he 
 perceived general Kleber's division, numbering only two-thou- 
 sand, fighting, at the foot of Mount Tabor, and nearly sur- 
 rounded, by twenty-five-thousand horse ; but, no sooner had 
 Kleber received information, by the discharge of a twelve- 
 pounder, that succour was approaching, than he attacked and 
 carried the town of Fouli, with the bayonet ; charged the cav- 
 alry, already thrown into confusion, by the French horse, under 
 general Rampon, and compelled them to retire beyond the 
 Mount; where a great number was drowned, in the river Jor- 
 dan. The result of the battle of Mount Tabor, was, the defeat 
 of twenty-five-thousand cavalry and ten-thousand infantry, by 
 four-thousand French troops; and the flight of the enemy, to 
 Damascus, after a loss of five-thousand men. 
 
 Having, in this summary manner, driven off those trouble- 
 some neighbours, Buonaparte returned to the walls of Acre. 
 The siege was now prosecuted with increased vigour. Up to 
 the ninth of May, the French had made nine several attempts 
 to storm, but, had as often been repulsed, with immense slaugh- 
 ter. Eleven sorties had also been made, by the garrison. 
 Reinforcements, for the relief of the besieged, having appeared 
 in the harbour, the fire of the besiegers was suddenly increased, 
 ten-fold, and they succeeded in making a lodgment in the second 
 story of the north-east tower. Day-light, on the following 
 morning, showed the French standard waving on the outer 
 angle of the tower, and the troops had covered themselves in 
 the lodgment; having constructed two passages across the 
 ditch, composed of sand-bags, and the bodies of their dead. 
 At this most critical point of the contest, Hassan Bey's troops, 
 though they had advanced half-way towards the shore, were 
 still in their boats. Colonel Philippeaux had, before this time, 
 
 G2 
 
■78 THE LIFE OF 
 
 died of fever. Sir Sydney Smith, whose energy gave effect to 
 every operation, landed them, with the utmost speed, and, 
 placing himself at the head of the British seamen, armed with 
 pikes, marched them to the breach. A heap of ruins, between 
 the besieged and the assailants, served as a breast-work, for 
 both ; the muzzles of the guns touched, the spear-heads of the 
 standards locked. The flanking fire of the besieged, at length 
 dislodged the besiegers, from the tower. The group of French 
 generals, which the shells from the sixty-eight-pounders had 
 frequently dispersed, had now re-assembled, on an eminence, 
 rendered famous by the exploits of an Enghsh prince ; and 
 Buonaparte was distinguished, by Sir Sydney Smith, on Richard 
 Coeur de Lion's Mount, burning with rage, and intimating, by 
 his gesticulations, that the attack was to be renewed. — A little 
 before sunset, a massive column was seen advancing to the 
 breach. The pacha, opposed, to the assault, on this occasion, 
 a singular kind of tactics. At his suggestion, the breach was 
 not defended; but a certain number of the enemy were ad- 
 mitted, and then closed upon, according to the Turkish mode 
 of war. The column thus mounted the breach, unmolested,^ 
 and descended, from the rampart, into the pacha's garden, 
 where, in a few minutes, the bravest and most advanced amongst 
 them, lay, without their heads ; the sabre in one hand, and the 
 dagger in the other, proving more than a match for the bayo- 
 nets. Finding the assault desperate, the survivors hastened to 
 sound a retreat ; general Lasnes was carried off, severely 
 wounded ; generals Rombaud and Bon were killed ; and thus 
 ended an attempt to storm, continued, with little intermission, 
 for five-and-twenty hours. 
 
 The plague had, by this time, found its way into the French 
 camp, and carried off seven-hundred men. It was determined, 
 on the eleventh of May, to make a final effort ; and general 
 Kleber's corps was recalled, from the fords of Jordan. But, 
 the assaults made, even by these fresh troops, were as ineffec- 
 tual as the former. The attack of the morning failed, and 
 colonel Veneaux renewed it, in the afternoon. " Be assured," 
 said he, to Buonaparte, " Acre will be yours, to-night, or 
 Veneaux will die in the breach." — He was true to his word ; 
 he lost his life, but Acre was not subdued. The grenadiers at 
 length refused to mount the breach, over the putrid bodies of 
 their unburied companions. Buonaparte, for the first time in 
 his life, perceiving himself foiled — and that too, by a handful 
 of sailors, behind the walls of a town, scarcely defensible ac- 
 cording to the rules of art — now declared the place not worth 
 
NAPOLEON. 79 
 
 the sacrifice even of a few days : during the night of the seven- 
 teenth, the French army began to remove the sick and wound- 
 ed ; on the twentieth, at nine o'clock, at night, the generale 
 was beaten, and the siege raised ; after having continued sixty 
 days, and caused a loss, to the assailants, of nearly five-thousand 
 men. 
 
 Amongst the generals killed, in the siege of Acre, was Caf- 
 ferelli ; who died of the amputation of an arm. He had be- 
 fore lost a leg, in France ; which induced the French soldiers, 
 who disliked him, as one of the principal contrivers of the 
 Egyptian expedition, to say, when they saw him pass before 
 them, " He, at least, need care little about the matter — he is 
 sure to have one foot in France." 
 
 After blowing up the fortifications of Jaffa and Gaza, and 
 inflicting terrible vengeance upon those who had dared to de- 
 fend their country, against the invaders, the French retraced 
 their steps over the desert, and, on the fourteenth of June, re- 
 entered Cairo ; where they were received, by the inhabitants, 
 ignorant of the repulse from Acre, as victors. 
 
 A French historian, Miot, gives a melancholy picture of the 
 indifference with which soldiers, on a retreat, regard the suf- 
 ferings of those whose strength does not enable them to keep 
 pace with the march. He describes a man, affected by the 
 dread of being left to the cruel retaliation of the Turks, snatch- 
 ing up his knapsack, and staggering after his division ; while 
 his glazed eye, uncertain motion, and stumbhng gait, excited 
 the fear of some, and the ridicule of others. — '" His account is 
 made up,' said one of his companions, as he reeled about 
 amongst them. ' He will not make a long march of it,' said 
 another: and when, after several falls, he at length became 
 unable to rise, the observation that ' he had taken up his quar- 
 ters,' was all the sympathy that it was thought necessary to 
 express." 
 
 The spirits of the French army soon recovered from the de- 
 jection, caused by the late reverse. They marched against a 
 body of Turks, who had landed, under Mustapha Bey, on the 
 peninsula of Aboukir ; and, after a campaign of fifteen days, 
 destroyed nearly the whole of an army of eighteen-thousand 
 men. 
 
 Mustapha Bey was taken, and carried, in triumph, to the 
 tent of Buonaparte. — The Turkish chieftain had not lost his 
 spirit, with his fortunes — " I will take care to inform the sultan," 
 said the victor, meaning to be courteous, " of the courage you 
 displayed in this battle ; though it has been your mishap to lose 
 
80 THE LIFE OF 
 
 it." — "Thou may'st save thyself the trouble," answered the 
 prisoner, in a haughty tone : " my master knows me better 
 than thou canst." 
 
 This last series of victories terminated the exploits of Buona- 
 parte, in Egypt ; for whom, fortune was preparing a more ex- 
 alted destiny, in another quarter of the globe. Astonished, at 
 receiving intelligence of a new war, which had broken out, in 
 Europe, as well as of the numerous disasters by which it had 
 been attended, he conceived the romantic project of returning 
 to France, to enable her, once more, to triumph over her ene- 
 mies, by heahng the distractions of her councils, and elevating 
 himself to empire. Having assigned the command of his army 
 to general Kleber, he embarked, suddenly, on the twenty-fourth 
 of August, accompanied by generals Berthier, Lasnes, and 
 Marmont; Bessieres, Andreossi, and Murat; and attended by 
 several Mamelukes, the future guards of his person ; and, by 
 that singular good fortune, to which he had been so frequently 
 indebted, he escaped, repeatedly, from the vigilance of the hos- 
 tile cruisers, passed unsuspected through an English squadron; 
 and having landed near Frejus, on the sixteenth of October he 
 entered Paris. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONSULATE PEACE OF AMIENS» 
 
 1799—1804. 
 
 The directorial government had been rapidly approaching 
 its dissolution. Intrigue and corruption had impressed the 
 infant constitution of the republic, with all the decrepitude of 
 age. The vengeance of the Opposition, of which the abbe 
 Sieyes was considered as the head, appeared to be levelled 
 against the three directors. Merlin, Depaux, and Treilhard. 
 Barras, though equally corrupt, had sheltered himself from the 
 coming storm, by seconding the project of Sieyes ; and, in 
 place of the obnoxious members, there had been elected, Go- 
 hier, Roger Ducos, and Mouhn. About the end of August, 
 an insurrection had broken out, in the department of Mayenne; 
 and, so rapidly did the spirit of insurrection spread, in a short 
 time, no less than nineteen other departments, had raised the 
 standard of revolt. 
 
NAPOLEON. 81 
 
 Amid these complicated disorders, general Buonaparte ar- 
 rived from Egypt, and was received, at Paris, with every de- 
 monstration of public favour. Various secret conferences were 
 promptly held ; at which, were present, Sieyes and Ducos — 
 two of the directors — together with Talleyrand, Volney, and 
 Buonaparte, and also his brothers, Lucien and Joseph. 
 
 In the mean time. Napoleon seemed to devote his attention 
 exclusively to literature ; and, having exchanged the usual vis- 
 its of form with the ministers of the republic, he was more fre- 
 quently to be found at the Institute, or discussing with Volney 
 and other men of letters, the information acquired by him, in 
 Egypt, on science and antiquities, than in the haunts of poli- 
 ticians, or the society of the leaders of either party in the state. 
 Nor was he to be seen at the places of popular resort : he went 
 into no general company, seldom attended the theatres, and, 
 when he did visit any of them, he took his seat in a private 
 box. 
 
 To the military, his conduct seemed equally reserved : he 
 held no levees, attended no reviews, and, while all ranks strove 
 who could honour him the most, he turned, in silence, from 
 their applause. In all this, there was deep policy evinced. 
 Under this reserved, and apparently indifferent demeanour. Na- 
 poleon was secretly employed in collecting all the information 
 necessary, concerning the designs and the powers of the va- 
 rious parties in the state ; and, as each was eager to gain his 
 countenance and support, he experienced no difficulty in obtain- 
 ing information upon every essential point. 
 
 The plot was at length matured, the drama was prepared 
 for exhibition, and the curtain raised. At eight o'clock, on 
 the morning of the ninth of November, one-hundred-and-fifly 
 of the council of elders, selected by the revolutionists, and 
 containing none of the violent Jacobin party, assembled, at the 
 Tuileries. Buonaparte, having been appointed, by an almost 
 unanimous vote, commander of all the forces, entered the hall, 
 and, taking his station at the bar, — " Citizen Representatives,'* 
 said he, " the republic was perishing, but your decree has res- 
 cued it from destruction. Wo be to those men, who wish for 
 anarchy ! Aided by my brave companions in arms, I will arrest 
 their course. Let us not seek, in the past, for examples to 
 retard your progress. Nothing, in history, resembles the 
 conclusion of the eighteenth century; and nothing, in the 
 eighteenth century, resembles the decisions of the present mo- 
 ment. Your wisdom has issued this decree ; our arms shall 
 execute it. We demand a republic, founded on a just basis — 
 
82 THE LIFE OF 
 
 on true liberty — and we will have it. We will have it! I swear 
 it, in my own name, and in the name of my brave comrades." 
 
 The instant the president had concluded a short reply, Buo- 
 naparte surrounded the Tuileries, with ten-thousand troops. 
 
 Barras, who had, for some time, refused to resign his office, 
 was exiled to his country-seat. Before his departure, he sent 
 in his resignation, to Buonaparte, by his secretary, Botot; who, 
 on handing the paper to the general, inquired, in a low tone, 
 what Barras had to expect from him. — " Tell that man," said 
 Buonaparte, " that I desire to hear no more from him ; and 
 that I will cause the authority, with which I am intrusted, to 
 be respected." — Then, raising his voice, loud enough to be 
 heard, even in the ante-chamber, he continued thus to address 
 the astonished secretary: — "What have you done," said he, 
 " with the country which I left so flourishing ? I left you at 
 peace — 1 have found you at war : I left you victory — I have 
 found defeat : I left you conquest — the enemy are passing our 
 frontiers : I left you the treasures of Italy, and I find nothing 
 but oppression and poverty. Where are the hundred-thousand 
 heroes, my companions in arms, whom I left covered with 
 glory ? What is become of them ? Alas, they are no more I 
 This state of things cannot continue : — in three years, it would 
 end in despotism ; but, we will have a republic, founded on the 
 basis of equality, civil liberty, and toleration." 
 
 The manner of this sententious philippic, invites our obser- 
 vation. It is evident, that, even then, in the very dawn of his 
 elevation, when his enterprise was only commenced, Buona- 
 parte had assumed that tone, which seemed to account every 
 one answerable to him alone, for delinquencies in the public 
 service, and himself responsible to no one. 
 
 The following day gave birth to events of no less importance, 
 than the preceding. The castle of St. Cloud — distant about 
 fifteen miles from Paris, to which the legislative sittings were 
 now removed — was surrounded by troops, in the morning, be- 
 fore day-break; and the council of five-hundred, as well as the 
 council of ancients, assembled there, at two o'clock in the 
 afternoon. In the former body, the proceedings were opened 
 by Gaudin; who proposed that a committee of seven members 
 should be appointed, to consider the best means of providing 
 for the public safety. This motion was vehemently opposed, 
 by several members of the Jacobin party, who, darting forward 
 into the tribune, exclaimed, — "Down with the dictators" — 
 "The constitution, or death!" — These exclamations were fol- 
 lowed by a motion, that every member should renew his oath 
 
NAPOLEON. 83 
 
 to preserve the constitution of the third year ; which was car- 
 ried by acclamation. No sooner had the ceremony of renew- 
 ing the oath been performed, than another violent debate arose, 
 upon the motion that the assembly should proceed to the elec- 
 tion of a new director, to supply the vacancy occasioned by 
 the resignation of Barras. 
 
 Informed of this tumultuous discussion, Buonaparte repaired, 
 with great agitation, to the council of elders, and thus address- 
 ed them : — 
 
 " Representatives op the People ! 
 
 "You are placed in no common circumstances: you are on 
 the mouth of a volcano, which is ready to devour you. Permit 
 me to speak to you, with the frankness of a soldier, and the 
 ardour of a citizen, zealous for the welfare of his country. 
 
 "I was living peaceably at Paris, when I received your de- 
 cree; but, when I was informed of your dangers, I hastened to 
 your assistance, with my brethren in arms. Is not the blood 
 that we have shed, a sufficient guarantee for our attachment 
 to the republic, and for the purity and disinterestedness of our 
 motives ? Have they, who dare to lift their voices against us, 
 given stronger pledges? As a reward for our services, they 
 load us with calumnies, and talk of a modern Cassar, and a 
 second Cromwell. They speak of a military government, and 
 exclaim against conspiracies. Alas! the most dangerous of 
 all conspiracies, is that which every where surrounds us, — that 
 of continually increasing the public misery. Have not igno- 
 rance, folly, and treason, reigned long enough in our country? 
 Have they not committed sufficient ravages? Have they not, 
 in succession, inflicted misery upon every class of the commu- 
 nity? Have not Frenchmen been divided long enough into 
 parties, eager and desirous to oppress each other? The time is 
 at length arrived, to put an end to these disasters. You have 
 charged me to present you with the means, and I will not dis- 
 appoint you. I wish to serve the French people. Let us not 
 then be divided. Unite your wisdom and firmness to the force 
 with which I am surrounded, and I will devote myself to the 
 safety of the republic." 
 
 " And to the safety of the constitution," exclaimed Moreau 
 de I'Youne. 
 
 " The constitution !" replied Buonaparte, with indignant 
 warmth: — " do not name it. What is the constitution, but a 
 heap of ruins? Has it not been successively the sport of every 
 party ? The constitution ! — has not every kind of tyranny been 
 exercised in its name ? Who has, or who can be safe, under its 
 
84 THE LIFE OF 
 
 delusive protection ? Is not its insufficiency manifested, by the 
 numerous crimes which have been committed, in its name, 
 even by those who are swearing to it a contemptuous fidelity? 
 All the rights of the people have been violated. To re-estab- 
 lish those rights on a firm foundation, we must labour to con- 
 solidate the republic, and to secure the liberty of France. As 
 soon as these objects have been attained, and the dangers of 
 the country have subsided, I will abdicate the command which 
 has been committed to me, and will become the supporting 
 arm of whatever magistracy you may think proper to appoint." 
 
 Cornudet here confirmed the assertions of Buonaparte, and 
 said, '* I am acquainted with some criminal opinions entertained 
 of the general, which can be developed and discussed only in 
 the absence of strangers." On this intimation, the auditors 
 were ordered to withdraw, and, as soon as the hall was cleared, 
 Buonaparte continued: — "Criminal opinions!" he exclaimed, 
 " I could reveal to you circumstances which would confound 
 my calumniators. But it is enough to tell you, that two of 
 your late magistrates, Barras and Moulin, themselves, advised 
 me to overturn the government, and to put myself at the head 
 of affairs. I repulsed their overtures, because liberty is dearer 
 to me than life. Several factions have tendered to me their 
 services ; but I have rejected all their advances, as unworthy 
 the ear of a republican. I speak with the frankness of a sol- 
 dier. I am a stranger to the art of eloquence ; I have always 
 followed the god of war ; and fortune and the god of war are 
 with me. Be not afraid, representatives of the people, of crim- 
 inal plots. I and my brave comrades shall ever be ready to de- 
 fend you, and to support the republic. ( Then, glancing his eyes 
 towards the soldiers who were on duty within the walls, he cried) 
 — I appeal to you, fellow-soldiers — you, before whom the Jaco- 
 bins desire to make me appear the enemy of liberty — you, who 
 have so often been employed under me, in laying the foundation 
 of republics; and, should you ever behold me abandon the cause 
 of liberty, I intreat you to turn those dreadful bayonets, which 
 have been so often directed to the shame and confusion of our 
 enemies, against my own breast. — Representatives! I conjure 
 you to adopt the most prompt and energetic measures to s^ve 
 the country." 
 
 Having retired from the council of elders, Buonaparte sud- 
 denly entered the hall of the council of five-hundred, accompa- 
 nied by four grenadiers, without arms. The members were 
 instantly in motion. — "A general here!" they exclaimed: 
 "Down with the tyrant! Outlaw the dictator ! Kill him, kill 
 
NAPOLEON. 85 
 
 him '." — Several of the members, rushing towards him, seized 
 him by the collar ; and one of them aimed a blow at him, with 
 a dagger, which Thome, a grenadier, parried, with his arm. 
 The general, with all his heroism, stood, for a moment, aston- 
 ished, and speechless: he had expected opposition, but was 
 not prepared for a scene of so frantic violence. He had never, 
 before, been exposed to so immediate peril. General Lefebre, 
 at length, rushed into the hall, followed by a body of grenadiers, 
 with drawn swords ; who, having extricated Buonaparte from 
 the grasp of the deputies, bore him off', breathless, in their 
 arms. — The assembly had now become a mob. The president, 
 Lucien Buonaparte, was assailed, on every side. His author- 
 ity being no longer regarded, and his hfe subjected to the most 
 imminent danger, he threw himself from his chair; and, having' 
 placed his toga and scarf upon the bench, rushed towards the 
 tribune; tears of agony and indignation starting from his eyes. 
 Pistols and poniards were aimed at his breast, to compel him 
 to resume his office, and pronounce a decree of outlawry 
 against his brother; but, he remained inflexible; and Lefebre, 
 being, at that moment, deputed by Napoleon, entered the hall, 
 with a party of soldiers, and conducted him, in safety, to the 
 palace-court. Here, Lucien addressed the military, in glowing 
 language, condemning the desperate conduct of the council ; 
 and, at the conclusion of his harangue, was greeted with the 
 approving shouts of " Long live the republic — long live Buona- 
 parte!" 
 
 The general now ordered Murat to enter the hall of the 
 council of five-hundred, with some troops. The voices of the 
 speakers were overpowered, by the beat of drums; the grena- 
 diers brought their muskets to the charge; a dreadful scene 
 of alarm, arose; some members rushed out through the doors, 
 some leaped from the windows; and the hall was cleared, as 
 speedily as Cromwell had dispersed the long-parliament of 
 England. 
 
 This was the last democratical assembly, in France. The 
 directorial government was now defunct. The revolution pro- 
 ceeded rapidly, towards its consummation. A consular com- 
 mittee was appointed ; consisting of the ex-directors, Sieyes 
 and Ducos, and Buonaparte himself; who, though his name 
 appears the last, in order, was certainly not the least, in power. 
 
 Astonished to hear his young military colleague, on the very 
 first conference, discussing questions relative to finance, admin- 
 istrations, the army, law, and politics, Sieyes left him quite dis- 
 concerted, and ran to his friends, saving, — "Gentlemen, you 
 
 H 
 
86 THE LIFE OF 
 
 have got a master ! This man knows every thing, wants every 
 thing, and can do every thing." 
 
 At length, the new constitution was completed ; and, on the 
 twenty-ninth day of December, was proclaimed at Paris. It 
 had been submitted to the citizens of the French republic; and 
 approved by more than three-millions ; while the votes against 
 its acceptance, amounted only to about fifteen-hundred. A 
 more complicated, Utopian, and impracticable form of govern- 
 ment, was never, in our opinion, constructed, in any age. It 
 consisted of a conservative senate, of eighty members ; thirty- 
 one of whom were chosen by four commissioners, named in 
 the constitution ; the remainder being appointed by itself; all 
 holding their offices for life : — a tribunate, of one-hundred 
 members, elected by the senate ; a legislative body, of three- 
 hundred, indirectly chosen by the people; and finally, three 
 consuls, elected, by the senate, for ten years, from a national 
 list, transmitted by the several departments. General Buona- 
 parte was appointed first consul; Cambaceres, the second; 
 Le Brun, the third. The whole executive authority was vested 
 in the first; the other two being allowed only to advise, without 
 having the power of a controlhng vote. 
 
 The duty of the legislative body, was, to take into consider- 
 ation, such laws as had been approved by the tribunate ; and 
 pass, or reject them, by a silent vote, without any debate, or 
 any expression of opinion. The tribunate, on the contrary, 
 was permitted the use of speech, and were to discuss such laws 
 as were committed to them, by the consuls ; to whom, alone, 
 belonged the privilege of originating every subject of legislation. 
 
 But the people were eased of the constitutional burthen of 
 election. Without waiting for the lists of eligible persons, or 
 following any other rule than his own pleasure, Buonaparte 
 named sixty senators ; the senate named a hundred tribunes, 
 and three-hundred legislators ; and thus, the whole metaphys- 
 ical engine — the fabric chiefly of the abbe Sieyes — was set in 
 motion, by a choice emanating from the executive government, 
 instead of receiving its primary impulse from the nation. 
 
 At this critical period, these despotic measures were perhaps 
 advantageous to the country. The strong arm of despotism 
 seemed necessary, to restrain the violence of faction ; and, 
 whatever may have been his ultimate intention, Buonaparte 
 was, at this time, a blessing, to afflicted France. 
 
 The monarchy of England, has been called " a republic, in 
 disguise:" — the republic of France might now, with an equal 
 degree of truth, be styled "a monarchy, in disguise;" for, with 
 
NAPOLEON. 87 
 
 the semblance of limitation, no executive authority, was ever, 
 in reality, more absolute. 
 
 Lucien Buonaparte was constituted minister of the interior; 
 Talleyrand and Carnot were reinstated in their respective 
 offices, of minister for foreign affairs, and minister of war ; and 
 Fouche, in that of superintendent of police. 
 
 The revolution, which had thus concluded, was one of force, 
 without bloodshed. Not a single life had been sacrificed, 
 during this momentous change. Regularity succeeded to 
 disorder; the military and civil institutions were essentially 
 amended, or re-organized ; animation was restored to the tri- 
 bunals of justice ; and many virtuous and useful citizens, who 
 had been exiled, by former administrations, were recalled. 
 The wise policy and mildness of the consular government, dis- 
 played itself, also, in the termination of proscriptions against 
 the catholic priests ; in the re-opening of the churches, through- 
 out France ; and in the permission given to Lafayette, Latour 
 Maubourg, and others, who had been exiled, for not carrying 
 their principles of freedom to extravagance, to return to their 
 native country. 
 
 The exiled royal family, also entertained a hope of being 
 recalled to France. ■ The individual who styled himself Louis 
 XVIIL, wrote a most elaborate letter to the first consul, con- 
 taining the following expressions : — " You delay long to restore 
 me to my throne. It is to be feared, that you may allow fa- 
 vourable moments to escape. You cannot complete the hap- 
 piness of France without me, nor can I serve France without 
 you. Hasten, then, and specify, yourself, the places which 
 you would wish your friends to possess." 
 
 To this letter, the first consul replied : — " I have received 
 your royal highness's letter ; I have always felt deep interest 
 in your misfortunes, and those of your family. You must not 
 think of appearing in France ; you could not do so without 
 passing over a hundred thousand dead bodies. I shall, how- 
 ever, be always eager to do every thing that may tend to alle- 
 viate your fate, or enable you to forget your misfortunes." 
 
 The overtures made by the count d'Artois, possessed still 
 more elegance and address. He commissioned, as the bearer 
 of his propositions, the duchess de Guiche ; a lady whose fas- 
 cinating manners and personal graces were calculated to assist 
 her in the important negotiation. She easily gained access to 
 madame Buonaparte, with whom all the individuals of the old 
 court came easily in contact. She breakfasted with her, at 
 Malmaison ; and the conversation turning upon London, the 
 
88 THE LIFE OF 
 
 emigrants, and the French princes, the duchess mentioned, 
 that, as she happened, a few days before, to be at the house of 
 the count d'Artois, she had heard some person ask the prince, 
 what he intended to do for the first consul, in the event of his 
 restoring the Bourbons ; and that the prince had replied, — " I 
 would immediately make him constable of the kingdom, and 
 every thing else he might choose. But even that would not 
 be enough : we would raise, on the Carousel, a lofty and-mag- 
 nificent column, surmounted with a statue of Buonaparte 
 crowning the Bourbons." 
 
 The first consul entered shortly after breakfast, when Jo- 
 sephine eagerly repeated the circumstance related by the duch- 
 ess. "And did you not reply," said her husband, "that the 
 corpse of the first consul would have been made the pedestal 
 of the column?" — The charming duchess de Guiche was still 
 present ; the beauties of her countenance, her eyes and her 
 words, were directed to the success of her commission. She 
 said she was dehghted ; she knew not how she would ever be 
 able sufficiently to acknowledge the favour which madame 
 Buonaparte had procured her, of seeing and hearing so distin- 
 guished a man — so great a hero. 
 
 It was all in vain : the duchess received orders, that very 
 night, to quit Paris. The charms of the emissary were calcu- 
 lated rather to alarm Josephine, than to induce her to say any 
 thing very urgent in her favour, and the next day the duchess 
 was on her way to the frontier. 
 . orvn Having, in a great measure, united, in his own per- 
 *" ' son, the whole power, both civil and military, the, first 
 consul determined to enter upon negotiations for peace. A 
 proposal, made to the court of Vienna, having been unsuccess- 
 ful, he next addressed a letter to the king of England; which,, 
 however, was treated in a manner but ill corresponding with 
 the apparent sincerity of the pacific offer ; lord Grenville, the 
 Britisli minister, intimating, in the reply, that no treaty of 
 peace Vv^ould be entertained, unless on condition that the crown 
 of France should be restored to the legitimate heir of the house 
 of Bourbon. 
 
 A division, which, at this critical period, occurred, in the 
 cabinet of Vienna, proved extremely inauspicious to the house 
 of Austria. Finding himself thwarted in his plans, the arch- 
 duke Charles resigned the command of the imperial forces, 
 and was succeeded by field-marshal Kray; who was left to 
 defend Germany, with an ill-appointed army. Moreau allowed 
 not so favourable an opportunity^ to pass, unemployed. With: 
 
NAPOLEON. 89 
 
 his usual activity, he attacked the enemy, and, after many ob- 
 stinate engagements, having compelled the field-marshal to 
 seek refuge under the cannon of Ulm, he penetrated into the 
 heart of Germany ; and, by the constant alarm of his maneu- 
 vres, the emperor, being uncertain as to the ultimate design 
 of so enterprising a commander, was prevented from sending 
 supphes iuto Italy ; nou^ become the theatre of a mighty con- 
 test, which was to decide the fate of Europe. 
 
 Here, the first consul determined to assume the leading 
 character, himself He suddenly left Paris, on the third of 
 May ; and, at the expiration of six days, reviewed his troops, 
 in the neighbourhood of Lusanne ; having previously induced 
 the enemy to expect, that he intended to proceed into Italy, at 
 the head of a small army, assembled, for the purpose of decep- 
 tion, at Dijon. But, before he could reach the valley of Aosta, 
 in Piedmont, it was necessary to traverse eighty English miles 
 of a mountainous region, nearly impervious to man ; and over 
 which no carriage, of any kind, had ever passed. Buonaparte, 
 however, was not dismayed, either by the difficulty or the dan- 
 ger. He determined, not only to march his army, of sixty- 
 thousand men, across the great St. Bernard, the highest of the 
 aerial ridges of the Alps, but also to conduct ammunition, pro- 
 visions, and even artillery, by this route ; although the soldiers, 
 from the narrowness of the path, must be obliged to proceed 
 in single files. 
 
 On the fifteenth of May, the army was put in motion. Buo- 
 naparte set out a considerable time after the march had begun, 
 accompanied by no one, except his guide ; wearing his usual 
 simple dress — a grey surtout, and small three-cornered hat. 
 He travelled in silence, interrupted, at distant intervals, by a 
 few short and hasty questions, about the country. The only 
 part of his conversation, which his guide remembered, was, 
 when, shaking the rain-water from his hat, he exclaimed — • 
 " There, see what I have done, in your mountains — spoiled my 
 new hat. Well! I will find another, on the other side." 
 
 An offer had been made, by sound of trumpet, in the town 
 of St. Pierre, that a reward, of from six-hundred to a thousand 
 livres, would be given, for the conveyance of each piece of 
 cannon, over the mountain. A crowd of peasants flocked, from 
 every quarter, with beasts of burthen. The soldiers united 
 their efforts, with those of the rustics ; and contributed to 
 achieve the most arduous undertaking. General Marmont 
 ordered trees to be felled, and hollowed, in such a manner, as 
 to form a bed, for the eight-pounders and mortars. To each 
 
 H2 
 
90 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of these vehicles, were attached one-hundred men, harnessed- 
 with ropes; while others, with levers, prevented them from 
 falling over the craggy summits ; and sledges, also, were con- 
 trived, which supported cannon of a larger size. The gun- 
 carriages were taken asunder, and carried in separate parts, 
 except those belonging to four-pounders, which were borne on 
 a sort of litter, by ten men. The cavalry led their horses ; and, 
 as the arms and accoutrements of one-half of the soldiers, who 
 w(^'e in harness, had to be carried by the others, each of the 
 latter was burthened with a weight of not less than seventy 
 pounds.' The musical bands occasionally played enlivening 
 tunes; and, at places of unusual difficulty, the drums reminded 
 the soldiers of their former conquests, by the animating charge. 
 Above them, they beheld everlasting snow ; below them, were 
 the clouds. — Fainting, with fatigue, they at length reached the 
 summit of St. Bernard ; where they found refreshments, pre- 
 pared for them, by the hospitable monks ; who gave, to each 
 soldier, as he passed, some bread and cheese, and a cup of 
 wine. The difficulties were now almost surmounted. Though 
 several horses fell over the precipices, the descent to Verney, 
 the first village of Piedmont, was accomplished with less exer- 
 tion. Some of the men glided along the surface of the polished 
 snow ; Buonaparte himself being the first to set the example 
 of this new mode of descending into the Italian plains. 
 
 Such, was this celebrated passage of the Alps. On the 
 eighteenth of May, after three days of unexampled peril and 
 fatigue, the advanced guard, commanded by general Lasnesy 
 took possession of Aosta. 
 
 A "representation of this exploit — which, considering that 
 Buonaparte had to convey cannon with him, over that precipitous 
 route—far surpasses the famous crossing of the Alps, by Han- 
 nibal, — was painted, by the great French artist, David ; and, 
 many years afterwards, brought, by Joseph Buonaparte, to the 
 United States. 
 
 Now commenced, a most brilliant series of achievements. 
 At Milan, the first consul having been joined, by general Mon- 
 cey, with eighteen-thousand men, he soon became master of 
 Lodi, Brescia, Placentia, Pavia, and Cremona ; and, on the 
 fourteenth of June, defeated the imperial general, Melas, at 
 Marengo. At the latter place, however, the good fortune of 
 the French commander,, appeared, for a while, to have deserted 
 him. Victory seemed to have declared in favour of his oppo- 
 nent. Melas, whose head was whitened by a life of eighty 
 years, ha,d nearly wrested, from the destroyer of his country* 
 
NAPOLEON. 91 
 
 men, the laurel crown. After twelve successive charges, the 
 Austrian cavalry had routed the centre and the left wing of the 
 French army ; and compelled the right to retire, for safety, to 
 St. Julian ; and, had it not been for the opportune arrival of 
 the reserve, under general Dessaix, the sun of the first consul's 
 glory, would, perhaps, have set, for ever. The gallant Dessaix, 
 having opposed his division, as a barrier against the pursuing 
 enemy, afforded time to the scattered forces to resume their 
 order; when he received a mortal wound, from a musket-ball; 
 exclaiming, with his expiring breath, — " I die with this regret, 
 only — that I have not done enough, to live in the remembrance 
 of my country." 
 
 Never w^as any combat more obstinate. Never was any 
 victory more pertinaciously disputed. The two armies, con- 
 sisting of one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand men, were engaged 
 for fourteen hours ; and fought, during a considerable part of 
 this time, within musket-shot. The loss of the Austrians, in 
 slain, wounded, and prisoners, was fifteen-thousand men ; that 
 of the French, about six-thousand. 
 
 Since the battle of Pavia, nearly three centuries before, in 
 which, Francis I. was taken prisoner, by the troops of Charles 
 v., no battle had been productive of greater events, than the 
 battle of Marengo. Two days afterwards, not fewer than 
 twelve fortified towns, were delivered to the French ; general 
 Melas was constrained to propose a truce ; and the first consul, 
 after a brilliant campaign of only two months, assigned the 
 command of his army to Massena, and returned to Paris. 
 
 Nor were the French, at this period, less formidable on the 
 Danube. No sooner had Moreau received intelligence of the 
 decisive victory of Marengo, than he determined to penetrate 
 into the hereditary states of the house of Austria. On the 
 nineteenth of June, he defeated general Starray, on the plains 
 of Blenheim — already famous, for the victory obtained, there, 
 over Marshal Tallard, by the duke of Marlborough — and, after 
 many intermediate successes, routed an army, commanded by 
 the archduke John, at Hohenlinden, with a loss, on the part of 
 tiie latter, of ten-thousand men. 
 
 At no period of its history, was the existence of the Austrian 
 monarchy in greater hazard. After the signal victory at Hohen- 
 linden, the French army crossed the Inn, and, arriving at Stey- 
 er, was within seventeen leagues of Vienna. The Gallo-Bata- 
 vian troops, at the same time, approached the hereditary states, 
 by advancing along the Danube : Macdonald, in possession of 
 the Tyrol, had the option of descending either into Italy of 
 
92 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Germany ; while Brune, after a campaign of only twenty days, 
 during which he had taken fifteen-thousand prisoners, block- 
 aded Mantua, and was ready to penetrate into the mountains 
 of Carinthia, to form a junction with the victorious legions of 
 Moreau. 
 
 Having previously obtained the consent of the English min- 
 istry, the emperor Francis solicited the French government, 
 that he might be allowed to conclude a separate peace. The 
 conditions were, indeed, severe ; but, as he was now in a worse 
 situation, than at the treaty of Leoben, he was constrained to 
 yield. By a definitive treaty, signed at Luneville, on the ninth 
 of February, in the following year — Joseph Buonaparte, acting 
 as plenipotentiary on the part of France, and the count Co- 
 bentzel, for the house of Austria — Mantua, and many other 
 important cities of Italy, were ceded to the republic ; together 
 with the Austrian Netherlands, and the whole left bank of the 
 Rhine : all the principal articles in the treaty of Campo-Formio, 
 were confirmed ; and the dutchy of Tuscany, the hereditary 
 dominions of the brother of Francis, now converted into a king- 
 dom, under the appellation of Etruria, was given to the duke 
 of Parma, of the house of Bourbon, assuming the title of Fran- 
 cis I. 
 
 The naval power of England had never shone more conspic- 
 uously, than during the present contest. So decided had been 
 her superiority, on the ocean, since the commencement of the 
 war, that she had taken not less than three-hundred-and-twenty 
 armed vessels, from the French, and eighty-nine from the Span- 
 iards ; of which, seventy-eight were of the line : — while, on the 
 other hand, only fifty had been captured from the English ; and 
 of these, only three were of a class as large as a frigate. 
 
 Though baffled in their attempts upon Quiberon and Cadiz, 
 the British, navy had better fortune in the reduction of Malta. 
 After a blockade of two years, the garrison having exhausted 
 their provisions, were constrained, on the fifteenth of Septem- 
 ber, to surrender that important station, to an English fleet. 
 
 But, amidst these successes, a storm was gathering, against 
 Britain, in the north. The conduct of the northern sovereigns, 
 began to arouse the jealousy of England. In the early part of 
 the contest, against the French republic. Great Britain had 
 enjoyed the secret or avowed approbation of every neighbour- 
 ing court : but the scene was now changed ; and that country, 
 which had commenced the war with all the states of Europe as 
 her allies, now beheld the majority leagued against her naval 
 ascendancy, and intent upon the reduction of her power. The 
 
NAPOLEON. 9$ 
 
 maritime states complained, that their neutrality was no longer 
 respected ; that their shores and harbours were insulted, by the 
 British cruisers ; and that even their ships of war, were not 
 allowed to afford protection to the merchant-vessels, intrusted 
 to their charge. Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia, were 
 loud in preferring their complaints. They entered into an 
 association, for their mutual protection; revived a treaty of 
 " armed neutrality," which had originated with Russia, near 
 the close of the American war; and formed additional regula- 
 tions, for the extension and security of their commerce. They 
 maintained, that any neutral ship might freely navigate on the 
 coasts of the belligerent powers; and that every thing not ex- 
 pressly contraband, should be free; that the declaration of offi- 
 cers, commanding ships of war, convoying merchant-vessels, 
 should be deemed a sufficient satisfaction, as to the description 
 of their cargoes ; that no search should be permitted, when a 
 vessel was under convoy ; — and, to protect the trade of their 
 respective kingdoms, the contracting parties agreed to provide 
 ipni ^ squadron. The emperor of Russia carried his resent- 
 ment further. He sequestrated all the British vessels, 
 in his ports ; ordered those detained in the harbour of Narva, 
 to be burned, in consequence of the escape of two vessels, in 
 contravention of his decrees ; and declared that the sequestra- 
 tion should not be removed, until Malta were delivered to him, 
 in conformity with a convention, concluded in the year 1798. 
 But, to this requisition, the British ministry thought it not pru- 
 dent to accede. After the defeat of Suwarrow, Paul had with- 
 drawn from co-operation with the Austrians; and had even 
 courted the favour of the first consul, for whose character he 
 professed an extraordinary degree of admiration. To enforce 
 the compact, great preparations were made, in all the northern 
 ports ; and, on the thirtieth day of March, the Prussian mon- 
 arch took possession of Hanover, the hereditary dominion of 
 the king of England. 
 
 To dispel this formidable alliance, the British government 
 was not tardy, in despatching a sufficient force. Eighteen 
 ships of the line, with a due accompaniment of frigates and 
 gun-boats, under the chief command of sir Hyde Parker, but 
 led into action by lord Nelson, attacked the batteries of Copen- 
 hagen, on the second of April ; and, after an action of five 
 hours' duration, more terrible than even the battle of Aboukir, 
 in which the Danes evinced an heroic gallantry, worthy of their 
 ancient fame, the crown-prince, in order to prevent the de- 
 struction of every thing within the reach of the British fire, 
 
94 THE LIFE OF 
 
 agreed to suspend the operations of the armed neutrality, as 
 far as related to Denmark. 
 
 Seventeen vessels of the line, were sunk, burned, or taken 
 Yet, the condition of the assailants, was, at one period of the 
 attack, so hopeless, that admiral Parker exhibited a signal, 
 ordering the vessels to withdraw. This, however, lord Nelson 
 thought proper to disobey. He was then walking on the 
 quarter-deck, and said to captain Foley, with considerable agi- 
 tation — " Do you see what's shown on board the commander- 
 in-chief?" — " Why, to leave oif action !" — " Leave off action !" 
 he repeated; and then added, with a shrug — " Now, d — n me, 
 if I do. You know, Foley," added he " I have only one eye, 
 and have a right to be blind sometimes;" and then, with an 
 archness, pecuUar to his character, putting the glass to his 
 blind eye, he exclaimed — -" I really don't see the signal." 
 
 The moral justice of this mode of negotiation, may well be 
 questioned. All further diplomacy, however, of the same kind, 
 was unexpectedly prevented, by the death of the emperor Paul ; 
 who fell, by the hands of his indignant courtiers, on the twenty- 
 second of March. His son and successor, Alexander I., was 
 a prince of much greater talents, and of a most amiable dispo- 
 sition : — by his interference, the confederacy against England 
 was dissolved, and the strictness of the rules, with regard to 
 the right of search, in some degree relaxed. 
 
 The better fortune of the first consul, prevented him from 
 falling a victim to a new mode of assassination. The ever- 
 watchful eye of the French police, had defeated a counter-revo- 
 lution, attempted, towards the close of the preceding year, by 
 the royalists ; of whom, Pichegru was the chief; but his de- 
 struction, by the explosion of a contrivance, called, afterwards, 
 the " infernal machine," was averted solely by the effect of 
 chance. On the evening of the third Nivose, as the first consul 
 was proceeding, in his carriage, to the opera, he passed through 
 the Rue Vicaise, a narrow street, in which stood a cart, contain- 
 ing a barrel, resembhng that in which water is carried through 
 the streets of Paris, filled with gunpowder and grape-shot, and 
 placed in such a situation, as almost to obstruct the way. The 
 coachman, being in a state of intoxication, drove with unusual 
 rapidity ; but he had passed the car only a few seconds, when 
 it exploded, with dreadful effect ; nearly demolished several 
 adjacent houses, killed twenty persons, and wounded above 
 fifty ; amongst the latter, a person named St. Regent, who had 
 fired the match. Buonaparte, who had been, at this time, 
 asleep, dreaming, as he has informed us, of the danger he had 
 
NAPOLEON. 9S 
 
 escaped, in passing the Tagliamento, some years before, in- 
 stantly exclaimed, to Lasnes and Bessieres, who were v/ith 
 him, — " We are blown up !" — The attendants would have 
 stopped the carriage ; but, with more presence of mind, the 
 consul ordered them to drive on, and arrived safely at the 
 opera; his coachman, entirely ignorant of what had occurred, 
 but conceiving that his master had only been saluted by a dis- 
 charge of cannon. 
 
 The police collected all the remnants of the cart and the 
 machine, and invited all the workmen of Paris to view them. 
 The pieces were recognized by several. One said, I made 
 this — another, that — and all agreed that they had sold them to 
 two men, who, by their accent, they knew to be Bas Bretons; 
 but nothing more could, by this means, be ascertained. Shortly 
 afterwards, the hackney coachmen and other persons of that 
 description, gave a great dinner, in the Champs Elysee, to 
 Cesar, the first consul's coachman ; thinking that he had saved 
 the consul's life, by his skill and activity, at the moment of the 
 explosion. At this dinner, they all " took their bottle freely," 
 and drank to Cesar's health. One of them, when drunk, said, 
 " Cesar, I know the men who tried to blow the first consul up, 
 the other day. In such a street, and such a house (naming 
 them,) I saw, on that day, a cart, like a water-cart, coming 
 out of a passage, which attracted my attention, as I never had 
 seen one there before. I observed the men and the horse, and 
 would know them again." — The minister of the police was 
 called, the informant was interrogated, and brought the officers 
 to the house which he had mentioned ; where they found the 
 measure with which the conspirators had put the powder into 
 the barrel, with some of the powder still adhering to it. A 
 httle was also found scattered about. The master of the house, 
 on being questioned, said, that there had been three persons 
 there, for some time, whom he took to be sinugglers ; that, on 
 the day in question, they had gone out with the cart, which he 
 thought contained a load of smuggled goods. He added that 
 they were Bas Bretons, and that one of them appeared to be 
 master over the other two. Having now a description of their 
 persons, every search was made, and St. Regent and another 
 of the assassins, named Carbon, were taken, tried, and executed. 
 
 It was a singular circumstance, that an inspector of police 
 had noticed the cart standing, at the corner of the street, for a 
 long time, and had ordered the person who was with it, to drive 
 it away ; but he made some excuse, and said that there was 
 plenty of room, and the other, seeing it was a water-cart, with 
 
96 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a miserable horse, not worth twenty francs, did not suspect any 
 mischief. 
 
 But, although invested witji supreme authority, on the banks 
 of the Seine, the first consul could not recollect the borders of 
 the Nile, without a pang. Abandoned to their fate, cut off 
 from all communication with their native land, the army of 
 Egypt considered the conduct of their former leader as treach- 
 erous, and loaded him with execrations. The grand vizier 
 assembled a new army, for the purpose of recovering the con- 
 quered provinces of his master ; and the pachas were repair- 
 ing, to his standard, from every quarter of Asiatic Turkey. 
 Very different, were the resources of the French. Within the 
 space of a single year, one-third of Kleber's forces had been 
 destroyed ; and it became, at length, difficult for him to as- 
 semble, at any one point, more than ten-thousand men. His 
 antagonists, at the same time, had concentrated more than 
 eighty thousand ; and, after a siege of a few days, obtained the 
 surrender of El Arish. Meanwhile, a treaty was discussing, 
 between the French general and sir Sydney Smith ; which was 
 at length concluded, on terms highly favourable, both to the 
 Turkish government and the French ; for, while the latter 
 were allowed to return home, with the undiminished honours 
 of war, Egypt was to be restored to the Ottoman Porte. 
 
 This convention, however, the British ministers refused to 
 ratify. They judged it impolitic, to allow so many veteran 
 troops, to be reconducted to the European continent ; and 
 there, again, oppose their own armies, in the field ; — or, what 
 is more likely, they reserved the plains of Egypt, as a theatre, 
 on which to retrieve the character of the British army; sacri- 
 ficed, by William Pitt, and his no less visionary associates in 
 the cabinet, to a diffusive scheme of land-operations, more 
 frivolous than any that were ever planned, in any age : — they 
 therefore resolved to send a powerful army into Egypt, and 
 cause the Flench troops to evacuate the disputed province ; 
 not as men emancipated by a treaty, but as prisoners of war. 
 
 To command the British forces, they selected one of the first 
 soldiers of their army — the veteran Abercrombie — accompa- 
 nied by subordinate generals, not surpassed in gallantry, how- 
 ever they might be in experience, by the ablest officers of the 
 Buonapartean school of war. Besides the chivalric Smith, the 
 commander-in-chief was aided by generals Hutchinson and 
 Moore ; Ludlow, Coote, and Craddock ; lord Cavan, Doyle, 
 and Stuart. Of these officers, the only Englishmen were Stuart 
 and sir Sydney Smith : Abercrombie and Moore were natives 
 
NAPOLEON. 97 
 
 of Scotland; the rest, of Ireland. The expedition was well 
 concerted. It was the only important enterprise, by land, since 
 the commencement of the war, in which the British forces were 
 successful. Besides the army under sir Ralph Abercrombie, 
 which was to debark in Aboukir Bay, another body, of native 
 troops, from India, under sir David Baird, was to land at Cos- 
 sier, on the Red Sea ; while a third, under the conduct of the 
 Grand Vizier, was to penetrate into Egypt, across the desert. 
 
 Meanwhile, hoslihties between the grand vizier and the 
 French army, recommenced. The advanced posts of the 
 Turkish army, were then at Mataria, the Heliopolis of the 
 ancients, within five miles of Cairo. Here, was fought, a short, 
 but decisive action ; in which, general Kleber, who lost only 
 fifty men, in killed and wounded, routed the Turks, with a loss 
 of eight-thousand ; and, retreating thence with precipitation, 
 they fled to Jaffa ; their numbers lessened one-half, before they 
 reached that place of refuge, by hunger, desertion, and the 
 sword. 
 
 This was the last exploit of general Kleber. When walking 
 on the terrace of the great square, at Cairo, a wretch, insti- 
 gated, as he afterwards declared, by one of the agas of the 
 Janissaries, struck him, with a poniard, and inflicted a mortal 
 wound. 
 
 Kleber was succeeded by Menou ; an officer much inferior 
 in abilities ; who, having married a Mahometan, had assumed 
 the prenomen of Abdallah, with the habit and manners of a 
 Turk. 
 
 On the second of March (1801) the British army, amount- 
 ing to fifteen-thousand men, arrived in Aboukir Bay. ~ On the 
 eighth, the first division, consisting of six-thousand, landed, 
 under a most terrific discharge of shot, shells, and grape ; by 
 which, not less than seven-hundred were placed kors de combat: 
 on the following day, the remainder were disembarked ; and, 
 on the next morning, there commenced a series of actions, 
 which evinced equal bravery, on each side. But the French, 
 at length, lost much of their accustomed enthusiasm: they had 
 become weary of their secluded exile, and desired rather to see 
 their native homes, than a field of battle. On the twenty- 
 seventh of June, general BelUard surrendered Cairo, by capitu- 
 lation ; and his division, amounting to thirteen-thousand-six- 
 hundred men, were escorted to Rosetta ; whence, they were 
 conveyed, at the expense of the allied powers, to a port in 
 France. General Hutchinson then returned fo Alexandria, 
 laid siege to that city, and compelled general Menou, on the 
 
 I 
 
M THE LIFE OF 
 
 thirtieth of August, to accept, for his division, of ten-thousand 
 men, the same terms, as had been granted to Belliard. Thus, 
 ended, the last campaign of the French, in Egypt ; in which, 
 each army — the victors and the vanquished — were deprived of 
 the service of several thousand men ; and the Enghsh had to 
 deplore, in the battle of Alexandria, the death of their com- 
 mander-in-chief: — and thus, did the British ministry ejEFect the 
 evacuation of a country, by the sword, which could previously 
 have been accomplished by capitulation. 
 
 A singular incident occurred, in the battle of Alexandria. 
 Major Hall, aid-de-camp to general Craddock, when on a mis- 
 sion, -with orders,^ had his horse killed. Seeing sir Sydney 
 Smith, he begged permission to mount the horse of his orderly- 
 dragoon. Sir Sydney was turning round, to bid him give it to 
 the major, when a cannon-ball struck off the dragoon's head : 
 ■ — "This," exclaimed sir Sydney Smith, "is destiny : the horse, 
 major Hall, is yours." 
 
 The expulsion of the French from Egypt, was the last im- 
 portant movement of the war. The inhabitants of both France 
 and England, having become heartily tired of a contest, long 
 since devoid of any rational object, before the issue of the 
 Egyptian campaign was known, in Europe, the belligerants 
 had tendered to each other, the olive-branch of peace. On 
 the first of October, preliminaries were signed, between Eng- 
 land, on the one part, and France, Spain, and Holland, on the 
 ifin9 other; and, on the twenty-seventh of March, in the en- 
 suing year, a definitive treaty of peace was concluded, 
 at Amiens ; on which occasion, the marquis Cornwallis repre- 
 sented Great Britain, and Joseph Buonaparte, the consulate 
 of France. The latter agreed to evacuate the territories of 
 Rome and Naples. England restored, to her three antagonists, 
 all the conquests made by her, during the war, except Trinidad 
 and Ceylon ; the Cape of Good Hope was to be opened, as a 
 free port ; and Malta to be restored to the knights of St. John, 
 under many stipulations, guaranteed by all the great powers of 
 e. 
 
NAPOLEON. 9^ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 RENEWAL OF THE WAR. BUONAPARTE DECLARED FIRST CONSUL 
 
 FOR LIFE. 
 
 The storm, which had so long desolated the world, was 
 hushed. The war-worn combatants now rested upon their 
 arms, and ceased, for a while, to crimson their swords with 
 blood. The chief actors in the tragic drama, reflected on the 
 armies that had fallen, and the millions that had been lavished, 
 in the mortal strife ; and, dissatisfied with the little they had 
 accomplished, at so great a cost, now retired, in seeming peace, 
 while preparing to renew the war. 
 
 The first consul had exerted his accustomed energy, to en- 
 large his power. On the twenty-fifth of January, he was de- 
 clared president of the Cisalpine, now changed, by his own 
 mandate, to the appellation of the Italian Republic : soon af- 
 terwards, having despatched a powerful army into Switzerland, 
 under the command of Ney, the cantons were intimidated, and 
 he assumed the title of Grand Mediator of the Helvetian Re- 
 public ; and, about the same time, he added the territories of 
 Piedmont and Parma, to the dominion of France. On the 
 third of August, he was elected first consul, during his fife, with 
 the power of naming his successor, by the almost unanimous 
 concurrence of the citizens of France ; there being only one 
 dissentient voice in the tribunate — that of Carnot. He was 
 now a king, in authority, and had to ascend only one step, to 
 acquire the name. Not the least politic of his numerous crea- 
 tions, was the institution of the Legion of Honour ; of which, 
 the office of grand-master, was conferred on his brother Joseph : 
 nor, must we omit the organization of the Consular Guards; a 
 corps formed of select men, enjoying extraordinary privileges 
 and pay, and every other mark of favour, that might attach them 
 to his person. 
 
 St. Domingo had, for some time, enjoyed a degree of preca- 
 rious independence. The seas being at length open to the 
 marine of France, an army of forty-thousand men, under the 
 command of general Lecle'rc, was despatched, in order to re- 
 store that extensive colony to the power of France. The 
 general was accompanied by his wife, the beautiful Pauline, 
 the favourite sister of the first consul. Considerable resistance 
 was made, by the negro chieftain, Tuissant ; whose talents had 
 
100 THE LIFE OF 
 
 raised him, from the condition of a slave, to the rank of con- 
 sul, and commander-in-chief of the island ; and he was, for a 
 while, ably seconded, by Christophe, Dessalines, and Boyer ; 
 but, the submission of Christophe, paralyzed the efforts of his 
 more determined associates ; and Tuissant was compelled to 
 end the war, by capitulation. The terms were based on the 
 security of the property, and the personal freedom of the chiefs. 
 But, it is evident, that the French commander had no intention 
 to observe them. Tuissant had retired to his estate, to enjoy 
 that happiness which he had not found in the tented field. Be- 
 fore the expiration of the first month of his retirement, the 
 Creole frigate stood in close to the shore of Gonaives ; troops 
 were immediately landed~; his dwelling was invaded, in the 
 dead of night ; and the brave chieftain, with his wife and chil- 
 dren, were dragged on board the ship of war ; and, on his ar- 
 rival in France, Tuissant himself was immured in a dungeon ; 
 where he died, in the following year, in consequence of the 
 severity of his confinement. 
 
 The tranquillity of St. Domingo, was of short duration. The 
 perfidy with which the French had conducted themselves, 
 towards Tuissant, was repaid, with early vengeance. The yel-, 
 low fever broke out amongst their troops, and, in a short time,^ 
 swept off general Leclerc, with most of his best officers and 
 bravest men. Apprehensive of sharing the same fate as their 
 commander, Christophe and Dessalines excited the whole island 
 to revolt ; and there ensued a most dreadful system of exter- 
 minating war. If the negroes tore out their prisoners' eyes, 
 with cork-screws, the French drowned their captives, by hun- 
 dreds ; and smothered to death great numbers, who were con- 
 fined in hulks, with the fumes of brimstone. The number of 
 the French diminished, daily ; the fury of the negroes, supplied 
 the want of discipline ; and general Rochambeau, the successor 
 of Leclerc, was finally obliged to save the wreck of his fellow- 
 soldiers, by submitting, at discretion, to an English squadron, 
 after the renewal of the war.* 
 
 Now left in undisputed possession, of what is called the 
 French part of St. Domingo, the first measure of the blacks 
 was to declare themselves an independent state ; under the ap- 
 pellation of the Republic of Hayti ; at the head of which, was 
 placed general Dessalines. 
 
 The re-annexation of the other West India Islands, to the 
 government of France, was not the greatest evil, then suffered 
 
 * First of December, 1803, 
 
NAPOLEON. 101 
 
 by the blacks. Having resigned the liberties which they had 
 conquered from their king, the French nation revoked the 
 rights of humanity, which they had ceded to their slaves. On 
 the seventeenth of May, slavery was re-established, in all their 
 colonies ; and the importation of negroes was ordered to be 
 renewed, with all the legislative encouragement, extended to 
 this detestable traffic, before it was abolished, by the national 
 convention. 
 
 But the fermentation thus produced, in the western colonies, 
 was of a moderate temperature, compared with the flame now 
 rekindling in Europe. The embers, which had been covered, 
 but not extinguished, by the peace of Amiens, soon ignited, in 
 their slight concealment, and arose in a terrific blaze. The 
 anniversary of the late pacification, had scarcely passed, when 
 the gauntlet of defiance was hurled against each other, by the 
 two leading champions of the recent struggle, and the lists were 
 again entered, with redoubled rage. The chief-consul com- 
 plained, that Malta and Alexandria, had not been evacuated, 
 by the British troops ; that he was daily slandered, by some of 
 the English journals ; and that several princes of the house of 
 Bourbon, as well as other emigrants, hostile to his government, 
 were allowed to remain, unmolested, in Great Britain. — The 
 British ministers complained of severity and injustice, practised 
 towards the English merchants, since the termination of the 
 war ; of a French army stationed in Holland, contrary to the 
 remonstrance of the Batavian government; of the violation of 
 the independence of Switzerland ; the annexation of Piedmont 
 and Parma, to the French dominions ; the confiscation of the 
 estates of the knights of Malta ; and the maintenance of a vast 
 number of' persons, in the principal sea-ports of Great Britain, 
 under the ostensible character of mercantile agents, but busied 
 in making surveys of her ports and harbours, and acting, in 
 reality, as spies. The non-evacuation of Malta, was assigned 
 to the want of the promised co-operation, by the other great 
 powers of Europe, in guaranteeing its independence : the re- 
 tention of Alexandria was justified, by the avowed design of 
 the first consul, to gain possession of Egypt, either by a treaty 
 with the Turks, or force of arms: the abusive language of the 
 journals, by the freedom of the press, in England ; not shackled, 
 by the inquisitorial veto of a corps of censors, as in France, — 
 but suffered to arraign the conduct, even of the chief magistrate 
 himself, as in the United States ; — and the asylum afforded to 
 the emigrants, was justified, by the law of nations. 
 
 On tlie twelfth of May, the British ambassador lefl Paris ; 
 
 12 
 
102 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and, on the eighteenth, his government declared war against 
 France. 
 
 No sooner had this declaration been promulgated, than all 
 the French armies were put in motion. The army of Italy 
 was reinforced, and pushed forward a large detachment upon 
 Tarentum, and the other strong posts on the Adriatic sea. 
 Nor, on the side of Germany, were the troops less active. On 
 the twenty-sixth of May, general Mortier entered Hanover; in 
 the following month, he obtained possession of the whole elec- 
 torate ; and thus, become masters of the Elbe and the Weser, 
 the invaders levied considerable sums of money, on the Hanse 
 towns of Hamburg and Bremen, in the shape of loans. 
 
 Holland, and also the Italian Republic, were compelled to 
 become parties in the war, on the side of France ; and, while 
 the commercial interests of Italy were severely injured, Holland 
 had, in the course of the year, to deplore the loss of all her 
 colonies in the West Indies. Spain and Portugal were like- 
 wise constrained to furnish pecuniary assistance, to France ; 
 -.Of) A yet, the attack, made off the port of Cadiz, on the fifth 
 of October, by an English squadron, upon four Spanish 
 frigates, laden with treasure, from South America, has been 
 universally condemned, as a barbarous infraction of the law of 
 nations ; and, in the eyes of all Europe, justified the insulted 
 nation, in a declaration of war, against the aggressors. 
 
 Thus far, had hostilities been prosecuted, during the present 
 year, without producing a single event, by which any material 
 impression was made, either on Great Britain, or France. A 
 menacing attitude was maintained, by both. One-hundred- 
 and-fifty-thousand men, encamped in the neighbourhood of 
 Boulogne, were incessantly threatening England with invasion ; 
 while the navy of Britain blockaded all the harbours of France^ 
 and burned her flotillas, in her very ports. 
 
 The first consul, in the mean time, was gradually strength- 
 ening his future throne. Early in the month of February, a 
 plot was discovered, which contributed to accelerate the com- 
 pletion of his project, and to elevate him to the very summit of 
 his ambition. The persons implicated in this conspiracy, were 
 general Pichegru, who had escaped from his place of exile, in 
 Cayenne ; Georges Cadoudal, formerly a leader of the insur- 
 gents in Brittany ; and general Moreau. Pichegru was im- 
 prisoned, in the Temple— the Bastile of repubhcan France ; 
 v/here, in about a month afterwards, he was found strangled, 
 in his bed; Georges, and eleven of his associates, were be- 
 lieaded ; Moreau, against whom no evidence had been adducedj. 
 
NAPOLEON. 103 
 
 was sentenced to be imprisoned two years ; but, dreading the 
 interposition of the army, in his flivour, the first consul per- 
 mitted him to embark for the United States. Captain Wright^ 
 also, an officer of the British navy, who had escaped from the 
 Temple, wuth sir Sydney Smith, and assisted him in repulsing 
 Buonaparte from Acre, having, in the middle of May, been 
 compelled to surrender his brig to a much superior force, was 
 again immured in the Temple, on the charge of having landed 
 some of the conspirators on the coast of France, and found, 
 one morning, dead, in his chamber, with his throat cut. The 
 mysterious deaths of these two officers, we do not directly at- 
 tribute to the first consul. We have no evidence, that he or- 
 dered their assassination ; but, on the contrary, having forfeited 
 their lives, by the laws of France, they might have been judicially 
 condemned, and undergone a public execution. Concerning 
 the death of the duke d'Enghein, there seems to be only one 
 opinion. This young nobleman, of the family of Bourbon, a 
 grandson of the prince of Conde, and the last male descendant 
 of that illustrious house, had served with distinction, in the 
 emigrant armies, against France. Suspected of having par- 
 ticipated in the late conspiracy, a party of fifteen-hundred 
 French dragoons, crossed the Rhine, in the night of the fif- 
 teenth of March, into the electorate of Baden, a state then at 
 peace with France ; and, having overpowered the electoral 
 guards, proceeded to the duke's residence, at Ettenheim ; 
 where they seized the prince and a few old priests and invalids, 
 who dwelt with him, in his retirement ; and, loading him with 
 irons, conveyed him, a prisoner, into France. His doom ap- 
 pears to have been already decided. Immediately on his ar- 
 rival at the Temple, he was hurried, without having been suf- 
 fered to sleep, to the castle of Vincennes, about a mile from 
 Paris ; where, after the delay of a few hours, a mihtary com- 
 mittee, selected by the first consul's brother-in-law, Murat, 
 went through the empty form of a trial, in his absence ; and, 
 without a single witness having been examined, being pro- 
 nounced guilty of bearing arms against France, and aiding in 
 the late conspiracy against the person of the first consul, he 
 was led, by the light of torches, into the wood of Vincennes, 
 and there shot, by a party of Italian soldiers. 
 
 " Paris learned with astonishment and fear, the singular deed,, 
 w^hich had been perpetrated, so near her walls. No act had 
 ever excited more universal horror, both in France and in 
 foreign countries; and none has left so deep a stain on the 
 memory of Napoleon." 
 
104 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The next violation of neutral territory, occurred, in the 
 seizure of sir George Humbold. On the twenty-ninth of Oc- 
 tober, two-hundred-and-fifty French troops landed, between 
 Hamburg and Altona, and, having proceeded to Grindelholf, 
 where that minister resided, as ambassador to the Hanseatic 
 towns, they seized himself and his papers, and carried him to 
 Paris. Having been confined, for a few days, in the Temple, 
 he was released, it is supposed, in consequence of the inter- 
 ference of the court of Berlin ; and, with the loss of his papers, 
 w;as allowed to depart for England. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE CROWNED EMPEROR BATTLE OF , 
 
 AtJSTERLITZ PEACE OF PRESBURG. 
 
 1 nOA ^^ ^^^ eighteenth of May, the senate conferred the 
 title of Emperor, on the first consul ; the only dissent- 
 ing voice, to the consummation of his ambitious views, being 
 that of Carnot. The question, " whether or not the imperial 
 dignity should be hereditary, in the family of Napoleon," hav- 
 ing been submitted to the people, was answered, in the affirma- 
 tive, by an almost unanimous vote. On the second of Decem- 
 ber, he was crowned, with unusual splendour, in the church of 
 Notre Dame, at Paris ; and, to render the ceremony more 
 solemn, the new emperor, and the empress Josephine, were 
 anointed, by the pope. 
 
 The military deputation assembled at six o'clock in the 
 morning, and proceeded to the church of Notre Dame, at 
 seven. The deputations from the several tribunals of justice, 
 and the functionaries, invited by the emperor, met at the palace 
 of justice at seven, and walked to the church, where they arrived 
 before eight. They were followed by the senate, the council 
 of state, the legislative body, and the tribunate. Each of these 
 bodies was escorted by a body of horse. The foreign ambas- 
 sadors had a place assigned them in the church. The pope 
 left the Tuileries at nine ; and at ten, the departure of the em- 
 peror from the palace, Avas announced by a discharge of cannon. 
 
 The pope and the emperor, instead of going directly to the 
 church of Notre Dame, repaired to the archepiscopal palace, 
 
NAPOLEON. 105 
 
 where his holiness pronounced the usual prayers, while the 
 emperor arrayed himself in the imperial robes. They after- 
 wards went, in splendid procession, to the church. The coro- 
 nation ornaments of Charlemagne were borne before Napoleon ; 
 and he was preceded by marshal Serrurier, carrying the ring 
 of the empress, on a cushion ; Moncey, with a basket, to re- 
 ceive the mantle of the empress ; Murat, with the empress's 
 crown ; the empress, with the imperial mantle, supported by 
 the princesses ; Kellerman, carrying the crown of Charle- 
 magne ; Perignon, the sceptre of Charlemagne ; Bernadotte, 
 the collar of the emperor ; general Beauharnois, his majesty's 
 ring ; Berthier, the imperial globe ; and the Grand Chamber- 
 lain, the basket, to receive the emperor's mantle. 
 
 Napoleon then entered the church of Notre Dame, with the 
 crown previously placed on his head by himself. In this, there 
 was a marked deviation from the universal custom, character- 
 istic of the man, the age, and the conjuncture. In all similar 
 solemnities, the crown had been placed upon the sovereign's 
 head by the presiding spiritual person, as representing the 
 Deity, by whose special appointment, monarchs pretend to 
 rule. But not even from the head of the catholic church, 
 would Napoleon consent to receive, as a boon, the symbol of 
 imperial sway, which he was conscious he owed, not to the 
 right or title of another, but to the genius and successes of 
 himself. 
 
 On the imperial throne was seated the emperor, in his or- 
 naments ; the empress, on his right hand, being seated a step 
 lower, in an arm chair. The princesses were on his right 
 hand. On the left of the emperor, but two steps lower, were 
 seated the princes, with the dignitaries of the empire. The 
 throne on which the pope was seated, was elevated, near the 
 altar. At the moment, their majesties entered the porch, the 
 pope descended from his throne, and, advancing to the altar, 
 sang Veni Creator. The emperor and the empress then said 
 prayers on their cushions, and were immediately divested of 
 their imperial ornaments. The grand elector took off the 
 crown from his majesty's head; the arch-chancellor took from 
 him the crown of justice ; other grand officers stripped him of 
 the imperial mantle; while he himself drew his sword, and de- 
 livered it to the constable of the empire. Jn the mean time, 
 the attendants of the empress divested her of the imperial man- 
 tle and ornaments; which, with all the other insignia, were 
 placed upon the altar, for the purpose of being consecrated by 
 the pope. 
 
106 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Then followed the ceremony of inauguration. The grand 
 almoner, with the first of the French cardinals and archbishops, 
 conducted their imperial majesties from the throne to the foot 
 of the altar, there to receive the sacred unction. After hav- 
 ing been anointed, they were re-conducted to the throne, when 
 ,the pope performed the mass. His hohness then said prayers 
 separately over both crowns, and over the mantles, the sceptres, 
 and the hand of justice. When their imperial ornaments were 
 consecrated, the emperor put them on again, and afterwards 
 placed the crown upon the head of the empress. After this, the 
 pope, preceded by the master of the ceremonies, followed the 
 emperor, from the altar to his throne ; where, after pronounc- 
 ing a prayer, he kissed the emperor on the cheek, and cried 
 aloud, to the audience, " Vivat imperator in ceternum!'''' — " May 
 the emperor live for ever;" and the audience exclaimed " Vive 
 V empei'eur ! Vive Vimperatrice!^^ 
 
 At the Agnus Dei, the grand almoner received the kiss of 
 peace from his holiness, and carried it to their imperial majes- 
 ties. The emperor, then, with the crown on his head, and his 
 hand on the gospel, pronounced the coronation oath : the chief 
 herald at arms proclaimed — " The most glorious and most au- 
 gust emperorj Napoleon, emperor of the French, is crowned 
 and enthroned : Long live the emperor.'''' The audience again 
 exclaimed, ^^ Long live the emperor! long live the empress ;^^ 
 and the coronation and enthroning of their majesties was an- 
 nounced by a discharge of cannon. 
 
 On the following day, the heralds at arms proceeded through 
 all the principal streets of the city, and distributed a great quan- 
 tity of medals, of different sizes, destined to commemorate the 
 coronation. On one side of the medals, the emperor was 
 represented, bearing the crown of the Caesars, with this legend : 
 — Napoleon Ernpereur: on the reverse, was the inscription Le 
 Senat et le Peuple, with an allegorical representation of a figure 
 clothed in the attributes of magistracy, and of a warrior newly 
 invested with the imperial attributes. 
 
 An amusing discussion arose out of the ceremony of the 
 coronation, between the celebrated David, the chief of the 
 French school of painting, and cardinal Caprara. That great 
 artist entertained an unconquerable repugnance against repre- 
 senting persons in modern costume ; extending to every spe- 
 cies -of clothing. In his magnificent picture of the Coronation, 
 he represented cardinal Caprara, one of the pope's assistants, 
 without his wig, and with a bald head ; the portrait being a 
 perfect likeness. Little sensible of this advantage, the cardinal 
 
NAPOLEON. 107 
 
 perceived nothing but what the figure wanted, and entreated 
 David to be good enough to restore his periwig. The other 
 protested, that he would never so far degrade his pencil, as to 
 paint it ; his eminence demanded its restitution, without avail ; 
 he addressed himself even to prince Talleyrand, then minister 
 of foreign affairs, and the business was diplomatically treated. 
 The cardinal became the more warm in the discussion, because 
 as the pope had never worn a periwig, in renouncing his own 
 he might be thought to put forth some pretensions to the chair 
 of St. Peter, in case the holy see should become vacant. Da- 
 vid, however, would not yield : he said that his eminence ought 
 to consider himself fortunate that he had taken nothing from 
 him but his wig, and the portrait remained in the picture un- 
 altered. 
 
 It may not be considered trifling, to relate another anecdote, 
 connected with the coronation. Eight days before the time 
 appointed for that splendid ceremony, the emperor commanded 
 Isabey, the highly eminent miniature-painter, who was honoured 
 with the familiar acquaintance of Napoleon, to furnish him 
 seven designs, representing the seven ceremonies which were 
 to be performed in the metropolitan church, but the representa- 
 tion of which could not be effected at Notre-Dame, in presence 
 of the multitude of workmen employed about the embellish- 
 ments and decorations. To make seven designs, each com- 
 prehending more than a hundred pieces in action, in so short 
 a time, was to demand an impossibility. The emperor, how- 
 ever, never admitted any such excuse. The word impossible 
 had, for a long time, found no place in his vocabulary. The 
 happy and fertile imagination of M. Isabey, inspired him, at 
 the moment, with a singular idea. He replied, v/ith confidence, 
 and to the great astonishment of the emperor, that, in eight- 
 and-forty hours, his orders should be executed. He went to 
 the toy-shops, and purchased all the little wooden men, made 
 for the amusement of children, that he could find. He dressed 
 them respectively in the colour and costume of each person 
 who was to take a part in the ceremonies of the coronation ; 
 made a plan of Notre-Dame, proportioned to the size of these 
 little puppets, and on the third day presented himself before 
 Napoleon, who immediately asked him for the seven designs. 
 — " Sire, I bring you something better than designs," replied 
 Isabey. He developed his plan, and set forth the persons who 
 were to act in the first ceremony, and whose names he had 
 written at the base of each figure. This represented the re- 
 
108 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ception, under the canopy, at the church door. The emperoi* 
 was so well satisfied, that he immediately summoned all those 
 who were to conduce to the eclat of that great event. The re- 
 hearsals took place in the emperor's chamber, on a large table. 
 One ceremony alone, more comphcated than the rest, required " 
 an actual rehearsal. This was effected in the gallery of Diana, 
 at the Tuileries, by means of a plan traced with chalk, upon 
 the floor. Isabey had displayed all the grace possible in the 
 dressing of his puppets, and by his talent prevented his plan 
 from appearing in the least ridiculous. The clergy, the ladies, 
 the princesses, the emperor, the pope himself, the whole, were 
 dressed in the most exact and appropriate costume. 
 
 " When the pope had been a few days in Paris," says M. De 
 Bausset, " all concurred in saying, that it was impossible for 
 anyone to conduct himself in a more admirable manner. His 
 habits and style of living, were those of a simple monk. But, 
 what I have said, respecting the temperance and frugality of 
 the pope, must not be applied to all the persons in his suite. 
 When I had been two months appointed prefect of the palace, 
 I examined the accounts and the provision made for the house- 
 hold of the holy father ; and I remarked that there was an in- 
 finite number of unaccountable articles. I knew that the em- 
 peror had directed, that whatever was applied for, should be 
 provided; those employed by the pope knew it also, and they 
 availed themselves largely of the privilege. For instance, they 
 required, every day, five bottles of Chambertin wine, for the 
 pope's table, when his holiness always dined alone, and drank 
 nothing but water. The rest was in proportion. The other 
 tables, prepared for the persons composing the suite, according 
 to their rank, were served with magnificence and profusion ; 
 
 and yet it always appeared, that signior M , one of the 
 
 ecclesiastical ofllicers of his hohness, could not find at the table 
 to which he was admitted, a provision sufficiently copious to 
 
 satisfy his vast appetite. — One day, the count de B- , then 
 
 chamberlain to the emperor, and in attendance on the pope, 
 having occasion to pass into a closet, discovered the gentleman 
 above-mentioned, there, occupied in vigorously devouring the 
 wreck of a large fat pullet with trufl[les, which he had had the 
 address to carry off from the dining table, after making his or- 
 dinary meal. 
 
 Napoleon was well aware, that a nobihty is essential to the 
 support of every throne. The titles of prince and princess, 
 were conferred, respectively, upon the several members of his 
 
NAPOLEON. 109 
 
 family ; while his ablest generals were created marshals, and 
 honoured with the titles either of prince or duke.* 
 
 The most trifling circumstance connected with the life of so 
 distinguished a personage as Napoleon, is interesting. Every 
 morning, at nine o'clock, he quitted his private apartment, 
 dressed for the day. The public functionaries, persons of the 
 highest rank, and the officers of the imperial household, were 
 successively admitted to his presence. Napoleon addressed 
 himself to each person separately, and heard, with kindness, 
 what he desired to say. His round finished, he bowed, and all 
 withdrew. It often happened, however, that some were de- 
 sirous of a private audience : — these waited until the others 
 had retired, and then a second time approaching the emperor, 
 were left alone with him, and made known their wish. 
 
 Napoleon's breakfast was served at half past nine. It was 
 announced by the prefect of the palace, who preceded him into 
 the breakfast-chamber, where he was waited upon by the prin- 
 cipal steward. Napoleon took this meal off a little mahogany 
 table, covered with a napkin. At the end of this little table, 
 the prefect of the palace stood, with his hat under his arm. 
 As temperate as it was possible for a man to be, his breakfast 
 often did not occupy more than eight minutes ; but, when he 
 
 * The following is a list of the principal ministers and marshals, en- 
 nobled by Napoleon : — 
 Ministers: — Talleyrand, prince of Benevento. 
 
 Fouche, duke of Otranto. 
 Marshals: — Murat, grand duke of Berg. 
 
 Berthier, prince of Neufchatel. 
 
 Bernadotte, prince of Ponte Corvo. 
 
 Ney, duke of Elchingen, afterwards prince of Mouskwa 
 
 Massena, duke of Rivoli, prince of Esling. 
 
 Soult, duke of Dalmatia. 
 
 Suchet, duke of Albufuera. 
 
 Davoust, duke of Auerstadt. 
 
 Marmont, duke of Ragusa. 
 
 Mortier, duke of Treviso. 
 
 Junot, duke of Abrantes. 
 
 Lasnes, duke of Montebello. 
 
 Lefebre, duke of Dantzic. 
 
 Macdonald, duke of Tarentum. 
 
 Augereau, duke of Castiglione. 
 
 Victor, duke of Belluno. 
 
 Savary, duke of Rovigo. 
 
 Bessieres, duke of Istria. 
 
 Kellerman, duke of Valmy. 
 
 Arri^his, duke of Padua. 
 
 Caulincourt, duke of Vizenza. 
 
 Moncey, duke of Conegliana. 
 
 Duroc, duke of Friuh. 
 K 
 
110 THE LIFE OF 
 
 experienced the necessity of closing his cabinet, as he said 
 sometimes, smihng, it lasted a considerable length of time. 
 " Then, nothing," according to the relation of M. de Bausset, 
 " could equal the charming gayety of his conversation. His 
 expressions were rapid, decisive, and picturesque. In these 
 periods of my service, I have known the most agreeable hours 
 of my Ufe. While at breakfast, I often proposed to him to re- 
 ceive some of those persons to whom he was in the practice of 
 granting that favour. It was generally to literary men of the 
 first rank, such as Monge, Bertholet, Costaz, Denon, and Cor- 
 visart; also to David, Gerard, Isabey, Talma, and Fontaine. 
 Some of them are still living, and I am well assured they will 
 concur with me in saying, that nothing equalled the grace and 
 amiability of Napoleon. Gifted with a copious mind, superior 
 intelligence, and extraordinary tact, it was in these moments 
 of relaxation, that he most astonished, and most delighted. 
 
 " Returned to his closet, he was occupied in receiving the 
 ministers, or the directors-general, who arrived with their port- 
 folios. These different labours lasted until six o'clock in the 
 afternoon, and were never interrupted, except on the days ap- 
 pointed for holding a council of the ministers, or a council of 
 state. The dinner was regularly served at six o'clock. Their 
 majesties dined alone, except on Sundays, when all the impe- 
 rial family were admitted to the banquet. The emperor, em- 
 press, and the emperor's mother, were seated on great chairs; 
 the other kings, queens, princes, and princesses, had but ordi- 
 nary seats. There was but a single course, which was suc- 
 ceeded by the dessert. — Napoleon preferred the most simple 
 dishes ; he drank no wine except Chambertin, and rarely that 
 undiluted. The attendance was performed by the pages, at- 
 tended by the valets-de-chambre, the stewards, and the carvers, 
 but never by the footmen in livery. The dinner commonly 
 occupied from fifteen to twenty minutes. He never drank any 
 liqueur ; he took habitually two cups of strong coffee, one in 
 the morning, after his breakfast, and the other after his dinner. 
 
 " On their return to the parlour, a page presented to the 
 emperor a gilt salver, on which were a cup and a sugar-basin. 
 The chief attendant poured out the coffee, the empress took 
 the cup from the emperor, the page and the chief attendant 
 retired. I waited till the empress had poured the coffee into 
 the saucer, and presented it to Napoleon. It had so often hap- 
 pened that he had forgot to drink it at the proper time, that 
 the empress adopted this agreeable way of remedying that tri- 
 fling inconvenience. 
 
NAPOLEON. 1 1 1 
 
 " I then," continues M. de Bausset, " withdrew ; and, a short 
 time afterwards, the emperor again retired to his closet, and to 
 labour; for ' rarely,' he said, ' do I put off till to-morrow, what 
 may be done to-day.' The empress descended into her apart- 
 ments by a private stair-case, which served for a communica- 
 tion to the two floors, and to the two apartments. On entering, 
 she was received by her ladies of honour, others who were 
 privileged, and the officers of her household. Card-tables were 
 set out, for form's sake, and to dispel formahty and dulness. 
 Sometimes, Napoleon entered the apartments of the empress, 
 and conversed with as much simplicity as freedom, perhaps 
 with the ladies of the palace, or perhaps with one of us ; but 
 in general, he remained only a short time. The officers on 
 duty ascended to assist at the evening audience, and to receive 
 his orders for the morrow. Such, was the habitual life, that 
 the emperor lived, at the Tuileries ; and its uniformity was 
 never deranged, except by a concert, a play, or a hunt. 
 
 " It must not be imagined, that the court was niggardly or 
 parsimonious. The habits of Napoleon were simple and mod- 
 erate, but he loved splendour and magnificence about him. 
 His court was always brilliant, and in good taste : it was or- 
 derly, and Avithout confusion. 
 
 " When he resided at St. Cloud, the manner of living was the 
 same : there was no other alteration, than the time employed, 
 in the fine season, in driving out in an open carriage. At 
 Fontainbleau, Rambouillet, or Compeigne, when hunting, a 
 tent, for the accommodation of breakfast, was always erected, 
 in the forest; and the whole company were invited to the 
 repast." 
 
 ^^^ The year into which we are now entering, stands 
 forward, in bold relief, in the annals of the world. On 
 the twenty-sixth of May, Napoleon placed upon his head, the 
 iron crown of Charlemagne, as king of Italy, at Milan ; and, 
 immediately afterwards, annexed, to his Itahan kingdom, the 
 republic of Genoa. 
 
 These territorial aggrandizements, together with the execu- 
 tion of the duke d'Enghein, excited, throughout Europe, the 
 most lively indignation. The immense and increasing power 
 of France, occasioned the utmost disquietude and alarm. A 
 stupendous political and military plan, was formed, by the Brit- 
 ish cabinet ; and most of the continental sovereigns, joined, 
 with England, in a confederacy against Napoleon. The ob- 
 jects proposed, were, the independence of Holland and Swit- 
 zerland ; the restoration of Piedmont, to the king of Sardinia ; 
 
112 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and the evacuation of Hanover, the north of Germany, and 
 Italy, by the French. The combined powers were to bring 
 into the field, five-hundred-thousand men. Austria was to fur- 
 nish three-hundred-and-twenty-thousand ; Russia, one-hundred- 
 and-fifteen-thousand ; Naples, Sweden, and some other of the 
 minor states, the remaining sixty-five-thousand ; the whole to 
 be set in motion by the gold of Britain. Still mindful of the 
 chastisement inflicted upon her, by the sans-culottes, Prussia 
 stood by, as a spectator of the approaching combat ; willing to 
 obtain revenge, for her past disgrace, yet resolved to draw her 
 sword against the French army, only in case of its defeat. 
 
 France was not in the least disheartened, by this formidable 
 parade of war. She, too, could bring into the arena, half a 
 million of fearless troops. On the twenty-fourth of September, 
 having appointed his brother Joseph to superintend the govern- 
 ment, in his absence, Napoleoii left Paris ; and, befoi'e the end 
 of the month, the several divisions of his army had passed the 
 Rhine ; under the command of Murat, Bernadotte, and Mar- 
 mont ; Lasnes and Ney ; Davoust and Soult. The Austrians, 
 in the mean time, had advanced, to check their progress ; but, 
 an unexpected movement of the invading enemy, decided the 
 campaign. Having gained a position in the rear of the Aus- 
 trian armies, they intercepted their communication with Vien- 
 na ; and, on the seventeenth of October, the Austrian general, 
 Mack, surrendered Ulm, to the French emperor, under circum- 
 stances at once mysterious and disgraceful. 
 
 The Russians began, at length, to make their appearance ; 
 and the first division of their army, joined the Austrians, near 
 the river Inn. But, on the advance of their antagonists, the 
 Austro-Russian army, not being sufficiently strong to await the 
 attack, abandoned its position, and retired towards Moravia. 
 On the seventh of November, the emperor, Francis, set out 
 for Olmutz, to assume the command of his army, in person ; 
 and, two days afterwards, the French gained possession of Vi- 
 enna. Leaving the greater part of the French army at Vienna, 
 marshal Davoust proceeded, with his division, towards Pres- 
 burg. On his arrival in the vicinity of that city, he received 
 overtures from the governor, proposing that the military prepa- 
 rations in Hungary should be discontinued, on condition that 
 the French general would guarantee the neutrality of that king- 
 dom. To this proposal, marshal Davoust yielded a ready ac- 
 quiescence ; and the principal resources of the Austrians were 
 thus reduced to the army which the archduke Charles had, with 
 so much skill and bravery, conducted, in the face of superior 
 
NAPOLEON. 113 
 
 numbers, from the Adige to the Danube, and to the small force 
 of prince John of Lichtenstein, which had united itself to the 
 first division of the Russian army. 
 
 Prince Murat, with the French cavalry under his command, 
 having crossed the Danube, at Vienna, overtook the allied 
 army of the Austrians and Russians, at Hollabrun. By these 
 movements, the situation of general Kutusofi^'s army, became 
 extremely perilous. Perceiving the difficulties of his situation, 
 he sent the baron de Wintzingerode to Murat, to propose terms 
 of capitulation ; and a convention, subject to the ratification of 
 Napoleon, was concluded ; by which, it was stipulated that the 
 Russian army should retire, by a prescribed route, out of the 
 Austrian dominions, into their own territory ; but. Napoleon, 
 conceiving the Russians to be in his power, and desirous to 
 signahze himself by a complete victory over their army, refused 
 to ratify the convention. In the mean time, general Kutusoff 
 had retired, with the utmost expediton, to Znaim, leaving the 
 division under prince Bagration opposed to the French army. 
 
 The determination of Napoleon, not to ratify the convention, 
 was communicated to the prince without delay ; and, on the 
 expiration of the time limited for the suspension of hostilities, 
 his division, consisting of six-thousand men, was surrounded, 
 and attacked by a French force of thirty-thousand. The prince, 
 who had embraced the magnanimous resolution to cut his way 
 through his enemy, succeeded, after displaying prodigies of 
 valour ; and arrived, with comparatively little loss, at the head- 
 quarters of Wischau. 
 
 On the eighteenth of November, Napoleon entered Znaim, 
 where the Russians had been compelled to leave their sick, 
 besides a large quantity of flour. General Sebastiani, to whose 
 brigade of dragoons was confided the pursuit of the retreating 
 Russian force, favoured by the extensive plains of Moravia, 
 intercepted several corps of the rear guard, and made prisoners 
 of two-thousand men. Meanwhile, the cavalry under Murat, 
 advanced to Brunn — which was evacuated, on their approach 
 — and became masters of sixty pieces of cannon, immense stores 
 of powder, and a very seasonable supply of corn, meal, and 
 clothing. On the twentieth, Napoleon arrived at Brunn, and 
 received a deputation from the Moravian states, with a bishop 
 at their head. The French pursued their advantages, in every 
 direction. Ney was already master of Brixen, Bernadotte 
 occupied Iglau, on the confines of Bohemia ; and on the twen- 
 ty-third of November, they had pushed their advanced parties 
 to the gates of Olmutz. 
 
 K2 
 
114 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The combined forces, at this place, amounted to about one- 
 hundred-thousand men. Of this number, the greater part were 
 Russians ; the remnant of the Austrian army, not amounting, 
 at this time, to more than twenty-five-thousand. Delay was 
 the object of both parties. Exhausted by forced marches, and 
 reduced by hunger and fatigue — dearth, misery, and desolation^ 
 encircled the armies of the confederated sovereigns. Berna- 
 dotte had not joined Napoleon ; a commander who was always 
 peculiarly studious to obtain the advantage of physical strength, 
 and the power of numbers. Much diplomatic artifice seems 
 to have been resorted to, on both sides. As soon as Napoleon 
 was apprized of the arrival of the emperor of Russia in his 
 camp, he sent his aid-de-camp, general Savary, to comphment 
 that prince, in terms of the most courteous civility, and to pro- 
 pose to him an interview. The imperial sovereign declined a 
 personal conference ; but he suffered the French general to 
 remain for three successive days within his camp ; where he 
 did not omit to avail himself of the advantages presented by his 
 singular situation. 
 
 Although Alexander did not choose to meet Napoleon, in 
 person, he sent an aid-de-camp, to explain his sentiments to the 
 French chief. In the mean time, Savary had returned to the 
 camp, and reported to his master the observations which he 
 had been so indiscreetly allowed to make. Napoleon learned 
 that the Russian generals, notwithstanding the deplorable con- 
 dition of their troops, rehed fully on their own strength ; and 
 that presumption, imprudence, and indiscretion, reigned in their 
 military councils. Availing himself of this intelligence, he 
 issued orders for his army to retire, as if apprehensive of an- 
 engagement with so formidable a host. In order to strengthen 
 this impression, the retreat was made under cover of the night,- 
 and the French army took a strong position about ten miles in 
 the rear of its former station. Here, they began to throw up> 
 intrenchments, and to form batteries, as if for the purpose of 
 defending themselves against the attacks of a hostile army. 
 Every thing wore the appearance of alarm and confusion. 
 When the aid-de-camp of the Russian emperor appeared. Na- 
 poleon, as if anxious to conceal from his observation both the 
 temper of his army, and the measures which he had adopted, 
 received him, contrary to bis general practice^ at his outposts. 
 Preparations had been artfully made, for this interview. Wher- 
 ever the Russian directed his eye, he discovered the symptoms 
 o^ anxiety and dismay. The troops were labouring, with the 
 utmost activity, at the intrenchments; all the posts wera- 
 
NAPOLEON. 11^ 
 
 doubled ; every precaution seemed to be observed, to guard 
 against surprise ; and, so completely was the Russian officer 
 impressed with the belief that the French army was on the eve 
 of ruin, that, as a prehminary arrangement to pacification, he 
 proposed to Napoleon that Belgium should be placed at the 
 disposal of the allies, and that he should resign the throne of 
 Italy to the Sardinian king. 
 
 These dispositions seem to have been attended with the de- 
 sired effect. The confidence of the Russians increased ; they 
 considered the victory as certain, and were anxious only to 
 prevent their antagonist's escape. The head-quarters of the 
 emperor of Russia, and the emperor of Germany, were re- 
 moved to Austerlitz ; and Kutusoff, the commander-in-chief, 
 ordered a powerful division to march to the left, for the pur- 
 pose of turning the right flank of the French army. The con- 
 federates executed the orders of their general in five columns. 
 The grand-duke Constantine — a brother of Alexander, drew 
 up the reserve on the hills near Austerlitz, a little in the rear 
 of the whole army ; while prince Bagration threw forward the 
 advanced corps by Holubitz and Blasowitz ; in order to give 
 facility to the third and fourth columns in marching upon their 
 points of destination ; and lieutenant-general Kilnmayer pro- 
 ceeded, by Pratzen, to the front of Aujest. No attempt was 
 made, to interrupt these motions ; and the French withdrew 
 their videttes even as far as Sokolnitz and Tellnitz. From the 
 heights of Schlapanitz, Napoleon beheld, with inexpressible 
 joy, all the movements of the allies ; and, turning to his attend- 
 ants, in an animated manner exclaimed, " Before to-morrow 
 night, that army will be ours !" 
 
 When the day had closed, he determined to proceed, on 
 foot, and incognito, through the several quarters of his camp. 
 His soldiers, however, soon recognised his person, and, in an 
 instant, lighted straw was raised upon a thousand poles. It 
 was the eve of the anniversary of his coronation ; and eighty- 
 thousand men, presenting themselves before their emperor, sent 
 their acclamations to the skies. At one o'clock, in the morn- 
 ing of the second of December, Napoleon mounted his horse, 
 again to inspect his posts : the day, at length, dawned, and the 
 battle of Austerlitz, distinguished by the presence of three em- 
 perors, ended the campaign and the war, and laid the conti- 
 nent of Europe once more at Napoleon's feet. 
 
 The command of the right wing was intrusted to marshal 
 Soult : Bernadotte commanded the centre, and Lasnes the left. 
 The whole of the cavalry, headed by Murat, was posted be- 
 
116 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tween the left wing and the centre. Napoleon himself, attend- 
 ed by his faithful companion in war, marshal Berthier, the 
 chief of his staff, and his aid-de-camp, general Junot, com- 
 manded the reserve, which was composed of ten regiments of 
 the imperial guards, and ten battalions of the grenadiers of 
 Oudinot, with forty pieces of cannon. 
 
 The scene of this tremendous battle, though named after the 
 village of Austerlitz, was the heights of Pratzen, a range of 
 mountains with a small semi-circular inclination in the middle, 
 to the east, running from the lake of Menitz, nearly north and 
 south, to the distance of about eleven miles. At the foot of 
 these mountains, on the western side, and about a mile from 
 their base, is a little stream, which, on the north, divides the 
 defile between the parallel heights of Schlapanitz and Pratzen, 
 and towards the south washes the plain of Turas. Between 
 this stream and the foot of Pratzen, and in the vicinity of the 
 plain of Turas, on the west of the rivulet, are situated the 
 various villages in which the French were posted ; while the 
 allied armies occupied the heights and the hamlets in the 
 ravines to the east. 
 
 The allies conceived that by passing the defiles in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Sokolnitz, and the other villages, the right of the 
 enemy would be sufliciently turned ; and that, by avoiding the 
 formidable ravines, which would obstruct their maneuvres, they 
 might have an opportunity of executing their further intentions, 
 with advantage, in the plain between Schlapanitz and the wood 
 of Turas. They then proposed to press sharply on their ene- 
 my's right flank, by attacking it vigorously, with numerous 
 and compact bodies of troops, in rapid succession. The five 
 columns were then ordered to march for the heights ; and the 
 fortune of the day was made to depend on the success of this 
 attempt to drive back the enemy's right wing. But general 
 Kilnmayer lost both time and advantage, by commencing the 
 attack with an insufficient force. The Austrians had already 
 been engaged about an hour, and had suffered greatly from 
 the French sharp-shooters, who took advantage of the ground, 
 covered as it was with vineyards, and intersected by wet 
 ditches, before Buxhovden appeared, with the first column of 
 the Russians. 
 
 At nine o'clock, the French were strengthened by four-thou- 
 sand men, from the corps under Davoust, and took advantage of 
 a thick fog, which suddenly obscured the valley, to regain their 
 lost ground. When the mist was dispelled, the French were 
 driven back, and forced to abandon the plain between Tellnitz 
 
NAPOLEON. 117 
 
 and Turas ; but the communication between the first and 
 second columns of the alhed armies was not yet estabhshed ; 
 in consequence of which, it was found impossible to improve 
 this advantage. By this time, the second and third column of 
 Russians had quitted the heights of Pratzen, and approached 
 to Sokolnitz. A blind rage seemed to actuate their move- 
 ments ; for, without concerning themselves about the fourth 
 column, and without attending to the offensive movements of 
 their antagonists, they thought of nothing except the first dis- 
 position, and continued their progress upon Sokolnitz ; of 
 which, they took possession, with little resistance, after a long 
 and useless cannonade. 
 
 General Kutusoff", who had not conceived the possibility of 
 being attacked on the heights, was surprised, in the midst of 
 his combinations, by an unexpected and vigorous assault upon 
 his centre, made by the massy columns which Napoleon had 
 ordered to advance. The faults committed by the Russian 
 general, had not escaped the eagle eye of his opponent ; who 
 perceived the advantage that might be drawn from the circui- 
 tous route which had to be taken by the left wing of the allies. 
 Bernadotte, having crossed the rivulet, by a narrow and ruin- 
 ous bridge, obtained the eminence of Blasowitz, supported by 
 the cavalry of Murat, and by Lasnes with his grand division. 
 From this time, the centre and wing of the allies became en- 
 gaged, in all quarters. The confederates evinced no want of 
 impetuous gallantry : their cavalry made several brilliant 
 charges, which, owing to the precipitate courage of the Hu- 
 lans, whose fiery temperament could not await the formation 
 of the rest of the line, were very destructive to themselves, as 
 well as to their opponents. The centre of the allies, unsup- 
 ported by the third column, had to sustain the fury of the 
 French troops. Twelve thousand men were attacked by twice 
 that number; and, though the French army was numerically 
 inferior to that of the alUes, yet, by a more happy arrangement 
 of its force, its numbers were doubled on the point where the 
 fite of the battle was to be decided. The French succeeded 
 in gaining possession of the heights. The Russian division, 
 which had marched to the left, was thus completely separated 
 from the main army ; and it was evident that the battle was 
 lost, unless the communication could be restored. In this 
 emergency, the imperial guard, commanded by the archduke 
 Constantine, was ordered to advance, and for a moment ar- 
 rested the progress of the assailants, by its impetuous charge. 
 Marshal Bessieres was directed to hasten, at the head of the 
 
118 THE LIFE OF 
 
 French guards, to repair this disaster. The two corps were 
 soon engaged, the fate of the day depended upon the issue of 
 this contest, and the struggle was fierce and desperate. 
 
 But the obstinate valour of the allied troops, was unable to 
 contend against the superior tactics of the French. Before 
 two o'clock in the afternoon, the action was decided along the 
 whole line, when the division of Vandamme rapidly approach- 
 ed, to confirm the general rout. Behind Tellnitz, is a hill of 
 considerable height. Thither, the Russian infantry retired, 
 still under the protection of the Austrian cavalry ; which was 
 cut down, in all directions, by a perpetual cross-fire of grape- 
 shot. Worn out with fatigue, the infantry continued to retire, 
 with tardy steps, and the cavalry had, for a long time, to main- 
 tain their post. 
 
 Napoleon at length gained possession of the ground on 
 which the allies had been drawn up the preceding night. The 
 two emperors having exerted themselves to the utmost of their 
 power, to repair the disasters of the battle, retired, in the even- 
 ing, to Hodiegitz, behind Austerlitz, with the wretched remains 
 of their beaten army. 
 
 The loss in this engagement fell principally upon the Rus- 
 sians. It is stated, in the French account, to have amounted 
 to twenty-two thousand in killed and wounded, and thirty 
 thousand prisoners : but the Russian bulletin makes it consid- 
 erably less. 
 
 The day after the battle. Napoleon addressed to his army 
 the following proclamation : 
 
 " Soldiers, I am satisfied with you : you have, on the day of 
 Austerlitz, justified every thing that I expected from your in- 
 trepidity. You have decorated your eagles with immortal 
 glory. An army of a hundred-thousand men, commanded by 
 the emperors of Russia and Austria, has been, in less than four 
 hours, either cut down or dispersed : — the part that escaped 
 the sword, has been drowned in the lakes. 
 
 " Forty colours, the standards of the imperial Russian guard, 
 one-hundred-and-twenty pieces of cannon, twenty generals, 
 and more than thirty-thousand prisoners, are the result of this 
 ever memorable day. That infantry, so highly boasted, and 
 superior in number, could not resist your attack, and hence- 
 forward you have no more rivals to dread. 
 
 "Thus, in two months, this third coalition has been con- 
 quered and dispersed. Peace can no longer be distant ; but, 
 as I promised my people before crossing the Rhine, I will make 
 
NAPOLEON. 119 
 
 such a peace, only, as shall afford us guarantees, and secure 
 rewards to our allies. 
 
 " Soldiers, when the French people placed upon my head 
 the imperial crown, I relied on you to maintain it always in 
 that splendour of glory, which alone could give it value in my 
 estimation. But, in the same moment, our enemies sought to 
 destroy and degrade it ; and this iron crown, conquered by the 
 blood of so many Frenchmen, they would compel me to place 
 upon the head of our most implacable enemies — rash and fool- 
 ish projects, which on the very day of your emperor's corona- 
 tion, you have frustrated and confounded ! You have taught 
 them, that it is easier to defy and threaten, than to conquer us. 
 " Soldiers, when all that is necessary to secure the happiness 
 and prosperity of our country, shall have been accompHshed, I 
 will lead you back to France. There, you shall be the object 
 of my most tender solicitudes: my people will behold you 
 again, with joy ; and it will be sufficient for you to say, ' / was 
 at the battle of Austerlitz,^ to authorize the reply, ' Behold a 
 brave man.'' " 
 
 This was the victor's fortieth engagement. Three days 
 afterwards. Napoleon and Francis had an interview, and agreed 
 upon an armistice ; in which, Alexander was subsequently in- 
 cluded, on condition that he should withdraw his forces, and 
 evacuate Germany and Austrian Poland; and, on the twenty- 
 sixth of December, this armistice was followed by a peace, 
 between Austria and France. By this treaty, Francis was 
 stripped of the greater part of his hereditary states ; and ac- 
 knowledged the regal titles, conferred, by Napoleon, upon the 
 elector of Bavaria and duke of Wirtemberg, as a reward for 
 their adherence to the French cause. 
 
 The interview between Napoleon and the emperor of Germa- 
 ny, was held in a little cabin, made of turf, hastily constructed 
 by the grenadiers, before the battle, and without a roof Fran- 
 cis resorted to this rustic bivouac, almost in the habit of a sup- 
 pliant. The defeated prince is represented as having thrown 
 the blame of the war upon the English. " They are a set of 
 merchants," he said, " who would set the continent on fire, to 
 secure to themselves the commerce of the world." — This argu- 
 ment was not very rational, as it caused the English previously 
 to destroy the chief portion of the globe, the commerce of 
 which they desired to monopolize ; but the prince by whom it 
 is said to have been used, is not much to be condemned for 
 holding, at such a moment, language which might please the 
 victor. — When Napoleon welcomed him to his military hut, 
 
120 THE LIFE OF , 
 
 and said it was the only palace that he had inhabited for nearly 
 two months, the Austrian answered, with a smile, — " You have 
 obtained so many advantages from this residence, that it must 
 be very agreeable to you." 
 
 The events of the present year, conferred upon the two great 
 rival nations of Europe, an almost uncontrolled dominion over 
 their respective elements. The battle of Austerlitz, gave to 
 France the absolute domination of the European continent : 
 the battle of Trafalgar, confirmed to England the dominion of 
 the sea. The triumphs of Napoleon had been greater, at this 
 period of his reign, than had ever been achieved, before, by a 
 single man. Yet, even these triumphs had their limit ; and all 
 the exertions of his transcendent genius, were unable to acquire 
 for him, his never ceasing desiderata, of " ships, colonies, and 
 commerce." 
 
 On the nineteenth of October, lord Nelson, then blockading 
 the port of Cadiz, detached six sail of the line, to Tetuan, for 
 stores and water. Informed of this event, and supposing, from 
 the deceitful movements of his enemy, that they were much 
 reduced in strength, admiral Villeneuve, commander-in-chief 
 of the combined fleets of France and Spain, availed himself 
 of the apparently favourable juncture, to obey the positive com- 
 mands of his government; and, on the morning of the twenty- 
 first, came in contact with the British fleet, off Cape Trafalgar. 
 Admiral Villeneuve's fleet consisted of thirty-three sail of 
 the line, and seven frigates ; lord Nelson's, of twenty-seven 
 sail of the line, and four frigates. The French commander 
 was a skilful seaman ; and his plan of defence was as well con- 
 ceived, and as original, as the plan of attack.' — Certain of a 
 triumphant issue, lord Nelson asked one of his captains, on the 
 morning of the twenty-first, what he should consider a victory; 
 and, having been answered, that, from the situation of the land, 
 he thought it would be a glorious result, if fourteen of the ene- 
 my's ships were captured, — he replied, " I shall not be satisfied 
 with less than twenty." — These words were scarcely spoken, 
 before the British admiral made his last signal, " England ex- 
 pects every man to do his duty." — "Now," said he, "I can do 
 no more. We must trust to the great disposer of all events, 
 and the justice of our cause." 
 
 Having seen that all was ready, lord Nelson retired to his 
 cabin, and wrote the following prayer : — " May the great God, 
 whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of 
 Europe, in general, a great and glorious victory : and may no 
 misconduct, in any one, tarnish it ; and may humanity, after 
 
NAPOLEON. 121 
 
 victory, be the predominant feature of the British fleet ! For 
 myself, individually, I commit my life to Him that made me ; 
 and may his blessing alight on my endeavours for serving my 
 country faithfully ! To Him, I resign myself, and the just cause 
 which is intrusted to me to defend." 
 
 The British admiral immediately made the signal, to bear up 
 in two columns ; a mode of attack which he had previously 
 directed, to avoid the inconvenience and delay of forming a 
 line of battle, in the usual manner. The commander of the 
 combined fleets, formed his line of battle, with great closeness 
 and correctness ; and, as the mode of attack was unusual, so 
 the structure of his line was new. It formed a crescent, con- 
 vexing to leeward ; so that, in leading down to their centre, 
 admiral Collingwood, the second in command, of the English 
 fleet, had both their van and rear abaft the beam. Before the 
 fire opened, every alternate ship, of the combined fleet, was 
 about a cable's length to windward of her second, a-head and 
 a-stern ; forming a kind of double hne, and appearing, to a 
 person on their beam, to leave a very small interval between ; 
 and this, without crowding their ships. Lord Nelson, in the 
 Victory, led the weather column ; admiral Collingwood, in the 
 Royal Sovereign, the lee. The latter was directed to break 
 through the combined fleet, about the twelfth ship from the 
 rear ^ the former was to lead through the centre; and the 
 advanced squadron, consisting of his fleetest vessels, was to cut 
 off" three or four, a-head from the centre. This plan was 
 adapted to the strength of his antagonist ; so that the British 
 divisions might always be one-fourth superior to the vessels 
 which they severed. 
 
 At half past eleven, the combined fleet began to fire upon 
 the Royal Sovereign. — ' See," exclaimed lord Nelson, " how 
 that noble fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into action!" 
 — In ten minutes afterwards, the Royal Sovereign opened her 
 fire, and cut through the enemy's line, a-stern of a Spanish 
 ship, the Santa Anna, engaging her at the very muzzle of her 
 guns ; when, being delighted at having got into action, Colling- 
 wood, turning to his captain, said, " Rotheram, what would 
 Nelson give to be here !" — The column led on by lord Nelson, 
 had, in the mean time, advanced, towards his enemy's van ; 
 flags having been hoisted, on different parts of the Victory's 
 rigging, by his orders, lest a shot should carry away her ensign. 
 The Victory had lost about twenty men, killed and wounded, 
 before she returned a shot : her mizen topmast, and all her 
 studding-sail booms, had been shot away ; when, at a few min- 
 
 L 
 
122 - THE LIFE OF 
 
 Btes past twelve, she commenced firing her starboard guns. 
 Captain Hardy soon afterwards informed his admiral, that it 
 would be impossible to break the enemy's line, without running 
 on board one of their ships ; and begged to know which he 
 would prefer. " Hardy," replied he, " take your choice ; it 
 does not signify which." Her tiller-ropes being afterwards 
 carried away, the Victory ran on board the Redoubtable; 
 which vessel, having fired a broadside into her assailant, closed 
 her lower-deck ports, to prevent being boarded through them, 
 by the Victory's crew. A few minutes after this, the British 
 ship, Temeraire, likewise fell on board the Redoubtable, on the 
 side opposite to the Victory, having also an enemy's ship on 
 board of herself, on her other side ; so that, there occurred, 
 here, the unprecedented circumstance of four ships of the line 
 being on board of each other, in the heat of battle; forming as 
 compact a tier, as if they had been moored together ; their 
 heads all lying the same way. Another circumstance here 
 occurred, which evinced a remarkable degree of coolness in 
 the British seamen. When the guns of the Victory were run 
 out, they came in contact with the Redoubtable's side ; and, at 
 every discharge, there was reason to fear, that the Frfench ves- 
 sel would take fire, and both the Victory and Temeraire be 
 involved in the flames. The fire-man of each gun stood ready, 
 with a bucket full of water ; which, as soon as the guw was 
 discharged, he dashed into the French ship, through the hole 
 made in her side, by the shot. 
 
 The Redoubtable had, for some time, commenced a heavy 
 fire of musketry, from her tops. At fifteen minutes past one, 
 and a quarter of an hour before that vessel struck, lord Nelson 
 was walking on the quarter-deck, when a musket-ball hit him 
 on the left shoulder, and, entering through the epaulette, passed 
 through the spine, and lodged in the muscles of his back. He 
 instantly fell upon his face ; and, vidaen raised, by some of the 
 marines, " Hardy," said the gallant seaman, " I believe they 
 have done it, at last; my back-bone is shot through." He 
 was carried to the cock-pit ; several wounded officers, and 
 about forty sailors, being conveyed below, at the same time. 
 He was laid on a pallet, in the midshipmen's birth. The blood 
 flowed, internally, from the v/ound, and the lower cavity of the 
 body gradually filled. After the lapse of some minutes, the 
 (crew of the Victory, were heard to cheer, when a lieutenant, 
 who lay, wounded, near him, said, that one of the enemy's ships 
 had struck. Like the expiring Wolfe, a gleam of joy lighted up 
 the countenance of the dying hero ; and as the cheers were 
 
NAPOLEON. 123 
 
 repeated, and marked the progress of the triumph, his satisfac- 
 tion was increased. When captain Hardy came down from 
 the deck, lord Nelson inquired, " How goes the day with us, 
 Hardy ?" — " Ten ships, my lord, have struck." — *' But, none 
 of ours, I hope?" — " Oh, no, my dear admiral, there is no fear 
 of that." — His voice soon became inarticulate; when, after a 
 feeble struggle, he exclaimed, " I thank God, I have done my 
 duty," and expired. 
 
 Meanwhile, the command of the British fleet, had devolved 
 upon admiral Collingwood. Both the French and Spaniards 
 fought most gallantly, and yielded only when their vessels had 
 become a wreck. Twenty ships of the line struck their flags, 
 to the British fleet, in the battle of Trafalgar ; and, two days 
 afterwards, four more of the same class, which had escaped 
 from the victor's grasp, surrendered, to a superior force, com- 
 manded by sir Richard Strachan, off* Ferrol. 
 
 The victory of Trafalgar, was the most splendid that was 
 ever achieved, at sea. The greatest number of vessels, of first- 
 rate magnitude, had, in that action, been taken or destroyed, 
 that ever rewarded a conqueror, in any naval triumph. 
 
 The fate of the gallant Villeneuve, is much to be lamented. 
 Having been suflTered, after his capture, to proceed to Paris, 
 that he might justify his conduct, in the disastrous battle, he 
 evaded the unmerited reproaches, of the enraged Napoleon, and 
 the anticipated sentence of a court-martial, by a voluntary death. 
 
 A few days after the emperor's return from his victorious 
 northern campaign, M. Denon, inspector of medals, was ad- 
 mitted to an audience; in order to present those which he 
 had struck in commemoration of the achievements of the mem- 
 orable campaign of Austerlitz. Denon held in his hands a 
 number of medals. The series commenced with the departure 
 of the army from the camp at Boulogne, on its march to the 
 Rhine. The first represented, on one side, the bust of Napo- 
 leon ; and on the other an eagle, holding an English hon. — 
 "What does this mean?" said Napoleon. — "Sire," said M. 
 Denon, " it is the French eagle, stifling, with his talons, the 
 lion, which is one of the attributes of the arms of England." 
 Napoleon threw the golden medal, with violence, to the end of 
 the chamber, saying to Denon — " Vile flatterer ! How dare you 
 say that the French eagle stifles the English lion ? I cannot 
 launch upon the sea, a single petty fishing-boat, but it is cap- 
 tured by the English. It is, in reality, the lion that stifles the 
 French eagle. Cast the mecjal into the foundry, and never 
 bring me such another 1" 
 
124 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 / 
 
 RENEWAL OF THE WAR, WITH PRUSSIA BATTLE OF JENA 
 
 BATTLE OF FRIEDLAND TREATY OF TILSIT. 
 
 ^oQo The death of William Pitt, the prime minister of 
 England, did not restore, to afflicted Europe, the hap- 
 piness of peace. That arch-disturber of the repose of nations, 
 so signally unable to direct the storm, which he himself had 
 raised, may be numbered amongst those who fell by the battle 
 of Austerlitz. On the twenty-third of January, he died, of a 
 broken heart. The pacific temper of the Grenville administra- 
 tion, of which Mr. Fox held the important office of secretary 
 of state for foreign affairs, could not be accommodated to the 
 overture, made, shortly after their accession, by Napoleon ; as 
 they resolved not to enter into any treaty, which did not include 
 their Russian ally. Nor, could it be expected, that the decease 
 of this illustrious statesman, which occurred in the ensuing au- 
 tumn, would be followed by any variation of sentiment, in his 
 successors. That deeply lamented occurrence, produced no 
 material change in the British cabinet ; except the substitution 
 of lord Howick, as secretary for the foreign department of 
 state, and the admission of the deceased minister's relative, 
 lord Holland. 
 
 On the eighteenth of January, the Cape of Good Hope was 
 taken from the Batavian government, by sir David Baird. In 
 the capture of this important station, he had been aided by a 
 squadron of British vessels, under sir Home Popham ; which 
 officer, after performing this service, ventured, with a body of 
 troops, commanded by general Beresford, but without any au- 
 thority from home, to carry his whole naval force to South 
 America; and, in the beginning of June, having entered the 
 river Plata, the general took possession of Buenos Ayres. 
 Here, was found a considerable treasure. Their cupidity, 
 however, received its merited reward. Scarcely had they 
 begun the embarkation of their booty, when they were attack- 
 ed, by colonel Liniers, a French officer in the Spanish service; 
 and the British troops, after a sanguinary contest, surrendered 
 prisoners of war. 
 
 We have occasionally charged Napoleon with the breach of 
 treaties. But the French emperor was not the only sovereign, 
 guilty of such infractions. The ancient principles of interna- 
 tional law, were, indeed, in the revolutionary struggle, tram- 
 
NAPOLEON. 125 
 
 pled upon, alike, by all parties ; and a self-aggrandizing policy, 
 founded upon casuistical expediency, seemed now the only 
 guide of kings. A treaty had been concluded, between Napo- 
 leon and the king of Naples ; by which, the latter engaged to 
 remain neutral, in the war between France and the allied pow- 
 ers, and to repel every encroachment upon her neutrality, by 
 force. But, scarcely had six weeks elapsed, after the ratifica- 
 tion of this treaty, when a squadron of English and Russian 
 vessels, was permitted, without opposition, to land a body of 
 troops, in the bay of Naples. For this act of perfidy, the king 
 was severely punished. On the morning after the signing of 
 the treaty of Presburg, Napoleon issued a proclamation, in 
 which he declared, that " the Neapolitan dynasty had ceased 
 to reign ;" and, having conferred the crown of the deposed 
 monarch upon his favourite brother, Joseph, the new sovereign, 
 before the end of February, made his triumphal entry into 
 Naples. 
 
 Accompanied by the English army, the exiled monarch re- 
 tired to Messina. In order to test the loyalty of the people to 
 their former government, sir John Stuart landed, in Calabria, 
 with an army of five-thousand men. On the fourth of July, he 
 found himself in the neighbourhood of seven-thousand troops, 
 commanded by general Regnier, on the plains of Maida; and, 
 having assailed his entire line, with the bayonet, routed them, 
 after a short resistance, with dreadful slaughter; seven-hun- 
 dred of the French army being, the next day, buried on the 
 field ; while the loss of the British army, in slain, was only 
 forty-four. 
 
 Our attention is now directed to the north. The attitude 
 of Prussia afforded, at this period, the most interesting object. 
 The relations of neutrality assumed by her temporizing mon- 
 arch, his own imprudence did not suffer him long to maintain. 
 His purchase of Hanover, from the dictator of the continent, 
 produced retaliation, by the government of England ; by whom, 
 an embargo was laid upon all the Prussian vessels, in the Britisi* 
 ports ; and a blockade ordered of all the rivers of Prussia, 
 which ministered to the operations of her commerce. The 
 subserviency of Frederick William, to Napoleon, involved him 
 also in a war with Sweden. His subjects, at length, demanded, 
 that the degrading shackles of foreign domination should be 
 broken, upon the head of him by whom they had been forged ; 
 and his high-spirited queen — young, beautiful, and persuasive 
 — burning with a generous ardour, to retrieve the honour and 
 
 L2 
 
126 THE LIFE OF 
 
 reputation of her husband, joined the insulted nation, in their 
 call for immediate vengeance. 
 
 The first public act of the cabinet of St. Cloud, which gave 
 serious offence and alarm, to the court of Berlin, was the in- 
 vestiture of Murat with the dutchies of Berg and Cleves. But 
 there awaited the Prussian government, a deeper and more 
 sensible injury, than this. While the French minister at Ber- 
 lin, was urging the Prussian minister of that court, to persist 
 in the retention of Hanover, the Prussian resident, at Paris, 
 discovered that the French government had offered, to the king 
 of England, the restitution of his electoral dominions; and that 
 distinct hints had been given, to the Russian ambassador, during 
 a recent negotiation, that, if his court were desirous of annex- 
 ing any part of Polish Prussia to his dominions, no opposition 
 would be made, to such a project, by France. The next cause 
 of alarm, was the "Confederation of the Rhine." By this 
 powerful alhance, of which Napoleon was styled the Protector, 
 the new kingdoms of BaVaria and Wirtemberg, the electorate 
 of Baden, the grand dutchy of Berg, and the other minor prin- 
 cipalities, of which it was composed, were for ever separated 
 from the Germanic body, and combined to make one common 
 cause with France ; the Germanic empire, after an existence 
 of more than a thousand years, was dissolved ; and the house 
 of Austria, stripped of its ancient honours, was compelled to 
 relinquish the title of Emperor of Germany, to retain only the 
 more humble title of Emperor of Austria ; and yield the prece- 
 dence to France. 
 
 Prussia, at length, seeks to retrieve her honour. Great 
 Britain liberates the embargoed vessels. Frederick WiUiam 
 enters the field, with one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand men — the 
 best appointed forces in the world — and joins in the fourth co- 
 alition now forming against France. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth of September, Napoleon left his cap- 
 ital, to assume the connnand of his army. The right wing was 
 commanded by Ney and Soult ; the centre, by Murat, Berna- 
 dotte, and Davoust ; the left, by Augereau and Lasnes. The 
 Prussian army was commanded by the duke of Brunswick, 
 aided by marshal Blucher, and prince Hohenloe. But the tac- 
 tics of the veteran Brunswick, though trained in the school of 
 Frederick the great, were ill adapted to counteract the rapid 
 and novel movements of the Buonapartean mode ; and even a 
 worse fate now befel him, than his discomfiture by the Sans- 
 culottes, 
 
NAPOLEON. 127 
 
 During the first week of October, Napoleon was wholly oc- 
 cupied with geographical charts ; and, when he had acquired 
 an exact knowledge of the positions of the enemy, he was heard 
 to say — " On the eighth, the army will be in the presence of 
 the enemy ; on the tenth, I shall beat them at Scafield ; they 
 will retire to Jena and Wiemar, where I shall beat them again; 
 on the fourteenth or fifteenth, I shall have destroyed the Prus- 
 sian army ; and, before the end of the month, my victorious 
 eagles will be in Berlin." 
 
 The campaign opened, on the ninth of October, with the 
 battle of Schleitz ; and ended with the battle of Jena. This 
 celebrated engagement occurred on the fourteenth. The pre- 
 ceding night was sublimely interesting. The sentinels of the 
 two hostile armies, were almost touching ; and their lights were 
 within half cannon-shot : those of thePrussians illuminated the 
 atmosphere, through an extent of six hours' march ; those of 
 the French were concentrated to a comparatively small point. 
 On both sides, all was watchfulness and motion. The divisions 
 of Ney and Soult were occupied,the whole night, in marching ; 
 and, at break of day, all the French troops were under arms. 
 Every maneuvre, on both sides, was performed with as much 
 exactness, as on a parade ; while two-hundred-and-fifty-thou- 
 sand men, and seven-hundred pieces of artillery, scattered 
 death, in every direction, and exhibited one of the most affect- 
 ing scenes, ever displayed on the theatre of war. The numbers 
 of the two belligerants, were nearly equal. But the Prussian 
 army was much inferior, in commanders. Their confusion be- 
 came, at length, extreme. They were completely routed ; leav- 
 ing twenty-thousand men dead upon the field, and thirty-thou- 
 sand prisoners, besides three-hundred pieces of cannon. — 
 Amongst the prisoners, were more than tw^enty generals : the 
 duke of Brunswick, now in his seventy-third year, was mortally 
 wounded, and general Buchel, killed. 
 
 In a previous battle, at Saalfeld, prince Louis, a brother of 
 the king of Prussia, was killed, in a personal rencontre with a 
 French lieutenant. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth of October, Napoleon visited the palace 
 and tomb of Frederick the great, at Potzdam ; and, three days 
 afterwards, made his public entry into Berlin. 
 
 There followed, rather a succession of capitulations, than of 
 battles. Fortified cities, of the greatest strength, surrendered, 
 on the first summons. We cannot avoid suspecting, that the 
 French commanders entered many with a golden key. Never 
 had Europe seen conquests so rapid. Within the short space 
 
128 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of five weeks, one-hundred-and-forty-thousand prisoners, two- 
 hundred-and-fifty standards, and four-thousand-eight-hundred 
 pieces of artillery, were taken, by the French. 
 
 The Prussian army was annihilated, and the Prussian mon- 
 archy subdued. 
 
 Advancing with rapidity, the French passed the Oder ; and,, 
 at length, having reached the Vistula, on the twenty-eighth of 
 November they entered Warsaw. The Russian emperor had 
 now serious cause of alarm. He was excited to make a grand 
 effort for the protection of his dominions ; and his army, of 
 which general Beningsen was appointed the commander-in- 
 chief, took a position at Pultusk. Here, it was attacked, oo 
 the twenty-sixth of December, by Napoleon ; when, after an 
 obstinate and sanguinary conflict, both armies claimed a vic- 
 tory, and each seemed beaten, by the other. 
 . p^„ Such, was the state of affairs, at the close of the year 
 1806. But, the hostile armies did not long remain in- 
 active. The battle of Pultusk was followed by that of Eylau ; 
 one of the most obstinately contested engagements during the 
 whole war. It was fought on the eighth of February ; and^ 
 after continuing for twelve hours, the ranks of both armies 
 were thinned, by a dreadful slaughter, and both claimed the 
 victory, as at Pultusk. The Russians could exhibit the rare 
 spectacle of twelve imperial eagles, taken, in one action ; the 
 French continued on the field of battle, for several days after 
 the Russians had found it expedient to retreat. 
 
 After this bloody conflict, the grand armies of France and 
 Russia, remained, for some time, inactive. In the mean time» 
 both were receiving strong reinforcements ; and the emperor 
 of Russia having arrived at the scene of war, the battle of 
 Friedland, fought on the fourteenth of June, decided the con- 
 test. This desperate engagement, which occurred on the an- 
 niversary of the battle of Marengo, terminated in the total 
 defeat of the Russians ; who are said to have left fifteen thou- 
 sand men dead on the field. 
 
 The monarch who had come to protect the dominions of 
 another prince, now trembled for his own. A suspension of 
 hostilities was proposed, by Alexander ; and, on the twenty- 
 second of June, an armistice was concluded, at Tilsit. On 
 the twenty-fifth, the two emperors had an interview, on a raft* 
 moored in the Niemen. At ten o'clock, in the morning, Na 
 poleon, accompanied by a number of his generals, set out, in a 
 boat, from the left bank of that river ; and Alexander, accom- 
 panied by his brother, the grand-duke Constantine, and some 
 
NAPOLEON. 129 
 
 of the principal officers of his staff, embarked, from the right. 
 The two boats arrived at the same instant ; and the two empe- 
 rors embraced each other, as soon as they had stepped upon 
 the raft. They remained together for two hours ; and the 
 conference ended in a pacific result. The king of Prussia, 
 with his queen, joined the imperial sovereigns, at Tilsit. En- 
 tertainments followed, in rapid succession. A magnificent 
 dinner was given, by the guards of Napoleon, to those of Alex- 
 ander and Frederick William. At this entertainment, they 
 exchanged uniforms ; and were seen, in the streets, in motley 
 attire, partly Russian, partly Prussian, and partly French. 
 
 On the ninth of July, the arrangements of pacification, were 
 completed. The two emperors then separated, with mutual 
 expressions of attachment, and after having exchanged the dec- 
 orations of their respective orders. 
 
 By the treaty between Prussia and France, the former was 
 despoiled of all her territories on the left bank of the Elbe ; 
 and of all her Polish provinces, except those situated between 
 Pomerania and Newmarke, and ancient Prussia, to the north 
 of the river Netz. The elector, now become the king, of Sax- 
 ony, was to have a part of these severed dominions : Dantzic 
 was to become an independent town : East Friesland was 
 added to the kingdom of Holland ; at the head of which, had 
 been placed Napoleon's brother, Louis : a new sovereignty, 
 for Jerome Buonaparte, under the designation of the kingdom 
 of Westphalia, was formed, out of the provinces ceded by the 
 Prussian monarch, and of others in possession of the French 
 emperor. Prussia recognised the Confederation of the Rhine; 
 and consented to close her ports, and become a party in the 
 maritime war against England. The emperors of France and 
 Russia, mutually guaranteed the integrity of their possessions; 
 and Alexander recognised the kings of Naples, Holland, and 
 Westphalia ; besides acknowledging, in its fullest extent, the 
 Confederation of the Rhine, and promising to exclude the 
 commerce of England, from his ports. 
 
 The great sacrifice to peace, was made by Prussia. She 
 was reduced, at once, from the rank of a primary, to the con- 
 dition of a secondary power of Europe ; Frederick William, 
 by the peace of Tilsit, having lost nearly one-half of his yearly 
 revenue, and five-milhons of his subjects. 
 
 The king of Sweden refused to accede to the treaty of Tilsit, 
 and attempted the defence of Pomerania ; but, abandoned by 
 his continental allies, his efforts were unavailing. Gustavus, 
 however, succeeded in withdrawing his forces from Stralsund, 
 
130 THE LIFE OF 
 
 before the enemy was apprised of his intention ; after which, 
 he crossed the Baltic, and returned to Sweden. 
 
 At this period, Napoleon was in the zenith of his power, and 
 enjoyed the utmost vigour of his faculties. Nothing seemed 
 too vast for his comprehension, nothing too minute for his ob- 
 servation. His exertions were unparalleled, amongst sovereign 
 princes : he inspected every thing with his own eye ; he labour- 
 ed with more industry than any secretary in office ; and his 
 principal relaxation was in the variety of his business. He 
 appointed to important stations, those only, who, by experience 
 or talent, were qualified to discharge their duties ; and super- 
 intended the fulfilment of those duties, with a vigilance, which 
 forbade the approach of dehnquency or inattention. 
 
 Napoleon's manner of living, when with the army, was sim- 
 ple, and without show. Every individual, whatever might be 
 his station, had a right to approach and address him, concern- 
 ing his interests. He heard, interrogated, and decided, at 
 once : if it were a refusal, the reasons were explained in a 
 manner which softened the disappointment. " I was never 
 able to behold, without admiration," says one of his biogra- 
 phers,* from whom we frequently quote, " the simple soldier 
 quit his rank, as his regiment filed oft' before the emperor, 
 approach him, with a serious, measured step, and, presenting 
 arms, place himself before his commander. Napoleon always 
 received the petition, read it entirely -through, and granted all 
 proper requests. That noble privilege which he had bestowed 
 upon bravery and courage, inspired every soldier with a feeling 
 of his importance, and of his duty; and, at the same time, served 
 as a curb, to restrain those amongst his superiors, who might 
 have been inclined to abuse their power. 
 
 " The simphcity of Napoleon's character and manners, was 
 particularly remarkable, when the march was easy, and unin- 
 terrupted by action. Always on horseback, in the midst of his 
 generals, his gallant aides-de-camp, the oflicers of his house- 
 hold, and of his staff", comprised of young and valiant officers, 
 his gayety, I had almost said his good-fellowship, difi'used itself 
 into every heart. He often gave the command to halt, and 
 sat down under a tree, with Berthier, prince of Neufchatel, 
 The provisions were spread before him, and every one, even 
 from the page up to the great officers, one way or another, got 
 every thing that he required. It was truly a fete, for every 
 one of us. By dismissing from about him every thing that had 
 
 * Pe Bausset, 
 
NAPOLEON. 131 
 
 any resemblance to intrigue, lie had inspired tl)e whole of his 
 household with a feeling of aflection, of union, and of recipro- 
 cal good-will, which made all our stations comfortable. The 
 frugality of Napoleon was such, that he gave a preference to 
 the most simple and least seasoned dishes. Thus, his head 
 was always clear, and his labour easy, even when he had just 
 risen from table. Gifted, by nature, with a perfectly good di- 
 gestion, his niglits were as calm as those of an infant : nature 
 had bestowed upon him, also, a constitution so admirably suited 
 to his station, that a single hour of sleep would restore him, 
 after four-and-twenty hours' fatigiie. In the midst of the most 
 serious and urgent events, he had the power of resigning him- 
 self to sleep, at pleasure ; and his mind enjoyed the most per- 
 fect calm, as soon as directions were given for the necessary 
 arrangements. 
 
 '' Every moment of the day was a moment of labour for Na« 
 poleon, even when with the army. If he ceased, for an instant, 
 to consult the charts, to arrange the plans of battle, and to 
 meditate on the prodigious combinations which it was necessary 
 to employ, in order to move, witli matiieuiatical precision, a 
 mass of from four to live-hundred-thousand men, he occuj)ied 
 himself with the domestic administration of the empire. Sev- 
 eral times in the course of the week, a messenger arrived, at 
 tiie imperial (juarters, from the council of state, charged with 
 despatches from all the ministers ; and never was the labour 
 of inspection i)ostponed until the nmrrow : every thiog was ex- 
 amined during the day, signed, and forwarded : — all things 
 moved on together. The days which succeeded a skirmish, 
 an action, or a battle, were employed in receiving the reports 
 from the dilVercnt corps of the army; in uniting together all 
 the isolated facts; in distributing to each his ])roper share of 
 the glory, and in digesting those immortal bulletins, which, 
 through their conciseness, clearness, order, and manly simplic- 
 ity, present a classic model of military eloquence."" 
 
 In the midst of the disasters of the continent, Denmark had 
 remained unmolested. This kingdom, however, was not per- 
 mitted to continue the neutrality, so congenial with hov inter- 
 ests. Her repose was again disturbed, by a most flagrant act 
 of aggression. Fearing that the influence of Napoleon would 
 direct the naval power of Denmark against England, the British 
 ministry despatched, to Coperdiagen, a fleet of twenty-seven 
 sail of the line, under lord Gambier, on board of which, was 
 an army of twenty-thousand men, commanded by lord Cathcart 
 and sir Arthur Wellesley. The crown-prince, having refused 
 
132 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to accede to the requisition, that the Danish fleet should be 
 consigned to the safe-keeping of Great Britain, the troops were 
 landed, on the sixteenth of August 5/ the city was involved in 
 flames ; two-thousand of the Danes were slain or wounded ; 
 and the prince was constrained to surrender the whole fleet, 
 together with all the ammunition and naval stores. 
 
 Universal reprobation was not the only evil result, felt by 
 England, from this atrocious violence. Not Denmark alone, 
 but Russia, also, was rendered inimical to her, by the attack 
 upon Copenhagen, and the deportation of the Danish fleet. 
 On the thirty-first of October, the latter power issued a declara- 
 tion of war, against England; and, so generally was the "con- 
 tinental system " of Napoleon enforced, against her, that, in 
 the beginning of the ensuing year, all the ports of Europe, ex- 
 cept those of Sicily and Sweden, were closed against British 
 vessels and commerce. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 NAPOLEON PLACES JOSEPH BUONAPARTE ON THE THRONE OF 
 
 SPAIN BATTLE OF WAGRAM THE FRENCH AGAIN ENTER 
 
 VIENNA PEACE WITH AUSTRIA NAPOLEON DIVORCES HIM- 
 
 s!eLP from the empress JOSEPHINE, AND MARRIES MARIA 
 LOUISA, DAUGHTER OF THE EMPEROR FRANCIS. 
 
 Having overcome all opposition in the north. Napoleon was 
 now at leisure to pursue his schemes of aggrandizement, in the 
 south. A French army, under general Junot, having marched, 
 through Spain, into Portugal, the court of Lisbon resolved to 
 emigrate to the western hemisphere. On the twenty-ninth of 
 November, when the French had already arrived in the vicinity 
 of Lisbon, and were about to enter the city, the Portuguese 
 fleet, having on board the queen, the prince of Brazil, and the 
 whole royal family of Braganza, sailed out of the Tagus, escort- 
 ed by an English squadron, commanded by sir Sydney Smith ; 
 and, on the eighteenth of January, in the following year, arrived 
 at Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil; which was made the seat of gov- 
 ernment. The French entered Lisbon, without opposition ; 
 and, for a while, became masters of all Portugal. 
 ■,QQn But this unoffending kingdom was not the only suf- 
 ferer, at this time subjected to the hand of violence. 
 Spain, too, was doomed to increase the numerous appanages 
 
NAPOLEON. 133 
 
 of the French empire ; and, for a long series of years, to be 
 drenched in the blood of her indignant citizens. While the 
 court of Madrid was agitated by factions, and Ferdinand, 
 prince of Asturias, meditated the assassination of his aged and 
 imbecile father, Napoleon had withdrawn, from the protection 
 of their native country, the flower of the Spanish forces, and 
 attached them to the French army, in the north ; and, under 
 the character of a friend and ally, having introduced his own 
 troops into Spain, he obtained fraudulent possession of the forts 
 of Pampeluna, St. Sebastian, Figueras, and Barcelona. The 
 artifices practised against these important places, are curious. 
 At Pampeluna, a body of French troops, who were apparently 
 amusing themselves, in throwing snow-balls, at each other, on 
 the esplanafle of the citadel, continued their sport, until they 
 had an opportunity of placing themselves upon the draw-bridge, 
 possessing the gate, and admitting a body of their comrades, 
 who had been held in readiness; and the capture was thus 
 effected. St. Sebastian was overpowered by a body of French, 
 who had been admitted, as patients, into the hospital. Barce- 
 lona was surprised, in a manner not less insidious. The com- 
 mander of the French troops, detached against Barcelona, had 
 obtained permission, from the Spanish governor, to mount 
 guards of French, together with the native soldiers. He then 
 reported, that his troops were about to march ; and, as if pre- 
 vious to their moving, had them drawn up in front of the cita- 
 del of the place. A French general rode up, under a pretence 
 of reviewing these men, then passed forward to the gate, as if 
 to speak to the French portion of the guard. A body of Italian 
 light troops, having then rushed in, close after the French 
 officer and his suite, the citadel of Barcelona was in the hands 
 of the French. 
 
 In the beginning of March, great popular tumults occurred; 
 and, on the nineteenth, his catholic majesty, Charles IV., abdi- 
 cated the throne, in favour of the prince of Asturias, as Ferdi- 
 nand VII. Soon after this event, the two kings of Spain, with 
 the whole of the royal family, were allured to an interview, with 
 Napoleon, at Bayonne. The grand duke of Berg, with a French 
 army, entered Madrid ; but his arrival excited so terrible in- 
 surrections, that he found great difficulty in holding possession 
 of the city. The number slain, on the side of the people, was 
 immense ; and, it is, on good authority, asserted, that they were 
 not brought under subjection, until nearly ten-thousand of Mu- 
 rat's army wpre put to death. 
 
 In the mean time, Napoleon, having both the kings in his 
 
 M 
 
134 THE LIFE OF 
 
 power, compelled them to sign a formal abdication of the throne, 
 and conferred the crown of Spain upon his brother Joseph ; 
 who was constrained to join the emperor in this usurpation, 
 and resign the kingdom of Naples, to prince Joachim Murat, 
 grand duke of Berg. 
 
 Napoleon argued with the Spanish canon, Escoiquiz, in per- 
 fect good humour, on the expediency of this usurpation ; and, 
 as he disputed with him, pulled him, familiarly, by the ear.— 
 "So then, Canon," he said, "you will not enter into my views!" 
 — " On the contrary," replied Escoiquiz, " I wish I could in- 
 duce your majesty to adopt mine, though it were at the expense 
 of my ears." 
 
 The cortege which accompanied their catholic majesties to 
 Bayonne, did not include a great many persons of rank, but 
 there was a considerable number of baggage-wagons, laden 
 with precious stores. The carriages of Charles, made upon 
 the same models as those of the age of Louis XIV., which had 
 been used by Phihp V., on his entrance into Spain, presented 
 a singular contrast to the elegance and lightness of the French 
 equipages. It was astonishing to observe how little progress 
 had been made, in the ornamental arts, in a neighbouring king- 
 dom. The same remark was applicable to all the usages, 
 manners, and refinements of life. Will it be believed, that the 
 etiquette of the court condemned four huge footmen, in fine 
 liveries, to remain standing, and knocking one against another, 
 behind the carriage of the king, from Madrid to Bayonne, ex- 
 posed to the different temperatures, and to all the dust of the 
 roads! The following morning, when the equipages of Napo- 
 leon, attended upon their catholic majesties, who had testified a 
 desire to make the first visit to the empress Josephine, the old 
 king, who was moreover suffering from an attack of gout, ex- 
 perienced the utmost difficulty, in getting into the French ber- 
 lins, and using the modern double footsteps ; on which, he 
 hesitated to trust himself, from being accustomed to the steps 
 and the largeness of his own coaches. 
 
 Napoleon descended to the door of the coach, and was 
 obliged to wait some minutes, in order to give King Charles 
 time to disengage himself from his sword, which annoyed him 
 almost as much as his gout ; and to overcome the footsteps, 
 upon which he hesitated to trust himself. The king was the 
 first to laugh, at his own embarrassment. The empress Jo- 
 sephine, was in readiness to receive these royal personages ; 
 which she did with that grace and amiability, by which she 
 never was deserted. After the usual comphments, the toilet 
 
NAPOLEON. 135 
 
 became the subject of discourse. The empress offered the 
 queen, to send Duplan, her head-dresser, to give the ladies a 
 lesson in that important art, and the proposal was eagerly ac- 
 cepted. Their majesties retired, and returned to dinner ; 
 bringing with them the prince of the peace, who had been in- 
 vited. It was with difficulty the queen was recognized, in her 
 new head-dress. The great talent of Duplan, had miscarried : 
 the queen did not look handsomer, but merely changed. 
 
 The emperor, being informed that dinner was served, pre- 
 sented his hand to the queen of Spain. Napoleon walked more 
 rapidly than usual, apparently without intending it ; and per- 
 ceiving the rapidity himself, he said to the queen — " Your 
 majesty perhaps perceives that I go on too quickly ?" — " Sire," 
 replied the queen, laughing, "it is your usual custom." — Na- 
 poleon then walked more slowly, and said, also laughing, that 
 his " gallantry for the ladies always made it a point of duty with 
 him to consult their tastes." 
 
 During dinner, there was some discussion on the difference 
 of the etiquette and habit of the two courts. King Charles 
 spoke much of his passion for the chase, to which he partly 
 attributed his rheumatism and gout. — " Every day," said he, 
 " whatever may be the weather, winter and summer, after hav- 
 ing taken my breakfast, and heard mass, I hunt until one 
 o'clock ; and I recommence immediately after dinner, and 
 pursue the sport until night. In the evening, Manuel informs 
 me whether affairs go well or ill, and I retire to rest, to recom- 
 mence the morrow in a similar way ; — that is, if some impor- 
 tant ceremony does not compel me to desist." 
 
 The Spanish sceptre had been tendered to Lucien ; who 
 was, after Napoleon, the ablest of the Buonaparte family, and 
 whose presence of mind had so critically assisted his brother, 
 at the expulsion of the council of five-hundred, from Saint 
 Cloud. Lucien had offended Napoleon, by forming a marriage 
 of personal attachment, rather than of family aggrandizement; 
 and, having continued to cherish the sentiments of a true re- 
 publican, he saw, with displeasure, the whole institutions and 
 liberties of his country sacrificed, to promote the grandeur of 
 one man. Even the offer of a kingdom, therefore, did not 
 tempt Lucien from the enjoyments of a private station ; in 
 which, he employed a large income, in collecting paintings and 
 other objects of art, and amused his leisure hours in hterary 
 composition. 
 
 No sooner had the royal captives ratified the treaty of abdi- 
 cation, than they were hurried, from Bayonne, into the interior 
 
136 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of France. Charles, accompanied by his consort, was carried 
 to Compeigne. Ferdinand, with his uncle and brother, was 
 conveyed to Valency ; where he was lodged in a castle belong- 
 ing to Talleyrand ; and their infamous prime-minister, Godoy — 
 the paramour of the self-humiliated queen, and the author 0/ 
 the fatal dissensions in the family of Charles IV. — fixed his 
 residence at a chateau in the environs of Paris. 
 
 In justice to the two ministers, Talleyrand and Fouche, we 
 must not omit stating, that the dethronement of the Spanish 
 race of the house of Bourbon, met, from those sagacious states- 
 men, the most decided opposition. 
 
 The conduct of the French emperor, excited a general in- 
 surrection, throughout Spain. The energies of the people, 
 which had slumbered for so many ages, were aroused. The 
 patriotic flame burst forth in the province of Asturias ; and was 
 rapidly communicated to every part of Spain. The assistance 
 of England was solicited, by the patriots, and granted, with en- 
 thusiastic ardour. The Spanish prisoners in that country, were 
 liberated ; and embarked, for the peninsula, newly clothed and 
 armed. On the fourteenth of June, a French squadron, in the 
 harbour of Cadiz, after sustaining a heavy cannonade from the 
 city, surrendered to the Spaniards. On the twenty-eighth, the 
 French general, Moncey, having made an assault upon Valen- 
 cia, was repulsed, with terrible carnage; and, on the thir- 
 tieth, his army was totally defeated, by the patriots, under 
 generals Cerbellon and Caro. But the most important trans- 
 action, at this period, occurred in the neighbourhood of Andu- 
 jar; where, on the twentieth of July, general Dupont, with an 
 army of twelve-thousand men, and a detachment of eight-thou- 
 sand, then advancing to join him, surrendered, to the Spanish 
 patriots, under general Castanos. On the same day, the in- 
 trusive king made his public entry into Madrid. But the news 
 of that event, and the approach of Castanos, suggested the ne- 
 cessity of a timely flight. On the twenty-seventh, after a resi- 
 dence of only one week, Joseph retired, with precipitation, 
 from Madrid, which was immediately entered by the patriots. 
 
 The French army was now placed in a most embarrassed 
 situation. They began to retreat from the southern and middle 
 provinces of Spain, and to concentrate near the banks of the 
 Ebro. They had httle expected so enthusiastic an opposition. 
 Their affairs assumed every symptom of disaster ; the patriot 
 cause, every appearance of success. About the middle of 
 August, ten-thousand Spanish troops, under the command of 
 the marquis de la Romana, escaped from the Danish islands of 
 
NAPOLEON. 137 
 
 Langeland and Funen, where they had been stationed, in con- 
 formity with the designs of Napoleon ; and, having been con- 
 veyed, by a British squadron, to Spain, they joined the patriot 
 army. 
 
 Portugal soon caught the patriotic flame. Insurrection be- 
 came general, in the northern provinces ; and the French were 
 obliged to concentrate their forces, at Lisbon . Nor were the 
 Portuguese allowed to suffer long, without aid. The British 
 government sent, to their relief, a body of fourteen-thousand 
 men, under sir Arthur Wellesley ; who, on the twenty-first of 
 August, defeated general Junot, at the head of an army of 
 nearly equal number, at Vameira. But the fruits of this bril- 
 liant victory, were lost, by an ill-judged treaty, with the French 
 commander. Having been superseded, in command, by sir 
 Hugh Dalrymple, this officer, together with sir Harry Burrard, 
 induced the illustrious victor to join his superior officers, in the 
 universally deprecated Convention of Cintra ; by which, it was 
 agreed, that the French should evacuate Portugal, and be con- 
 veyed, with all their arms, artillery, and ammunition, to France, 
 in British vessels, without any restrictions, as to future service. 
 On the twenty-sixth of October, the British army, now com- 
 manded by sir John Moore, commenced its march, from Lis- 
 bon, into Spain, and proceeded to Salamanca. In the ensuing 
 month. Napoleon appeared on the contested field, and, on the 
 fourth of December, took possession of Madrid. General 
 Moore, on receiving intelligence of the surrender of the Span- 
 ish capital, meditated a junction with Romana. To accomplish 
 this, he proceeded to Majorga ; and, having been joined by 
 general Baird, who had landed with a body of British troops, 
 at Corunna, the whole army, amounting to about twenty-eight- 
 thousand men, advanced to Sahagan. No commander was 
 ever more unhappily circumstanced. In a country, which he 
 had been compelled, by the British ministry, to penetrate, 
 without having been reconnoitred ; disappointed in the promised 
 supply of provisions ; unsupported, by his Spanish allies ; com- 
 binations were formed, by the emperor himself, to enclose him 
 with an army of seventy-thousand men. General Moore was 
 no sooner apprized of these movements, than he commenced a 
 precipitate retreat, through Gallicia. The movements of the 
 French emperor, were greatly retarded, by the difficult passage 
 of the mountains of Guadarama, which were covered with a 
 deep snow, as well as by incessant rains, and overflowing tor- 
 rents. Yet, notwithstanding these difficulties, few marches 
 have been so rapid. On the second of January, (1809) he 
 
 M2 
 
138 THE LIFE OF 
 
 reached Astorga ; after having traversed three-hundred miles, 
 in fifteen days. Finding, however, that the retreating army 
 had eluded his grasp, he assigned to marshal Soult, duke of 
 Dalmatia, the future operations against the English ; who were 
 pursued, with undiminished vigour, to Corunna. 
 
 At this place, the British army arrived, on the eleventh of 
 January, after one of the most harassing marches ever encoun- 
 tered by any troops. On the following morning, marshal Soult 
 was seen approaching, with twenty-thousand men. On the 
 sixteenth, he made a series of impetuous attacks upon the 
 English, now reduced by sickness, and other casualties, to 
 about fifteen-thousand, who were posted on the heights, before 
 the town : the assaults, however, were sustained, with most 
 gallant firmness ; the French were repulsed ; and the English 
 occupied a station in advance ; but general Baird lost an arm, 
 and sir John Moore received a mortal wound, of which he ex- 
 pired, before midnight. The command then devolved upon 
 general Hope ; all the English cavalry-horses were shot — each 
 trooper discharging his pistol against the faithful steed of his 
 comrade — and the remains of this ill-fated army were embark- 
 ed, without molestation, about ten o'clock, at night, for Eng- 
 land, in a most distressing state of nakedness — the very offi- 
 cers, themselves, being, for the most part, without either shoes 
 or hats. 
 
 Scarcely a ray of hope, now gleamed upon the patriot cause. 
 Though the people continued to prolong the contest, the greater 
 portion of the nobles disgraced themselves, by their treacherous 
 desertion. After the departure of the British forces, the French 
 made most vigorous efforts, to accomplish the entire subjuga- 
 tion of Spain. The defence of Saragossa is an event which 
 can never be forgotten. The siege was conducted by marshal 
 Lasnes, duke of Montebello ; the defence, by Don Joseph Pa- 
 lafox, captain general of Arragon ; and, on the seventeenth of 
 February, the place was taken, by sap ; after a series of tre- 
 mendous assaults, and a resistance unparalleled, except by 
 their ancestors of Numantia, when besieged by the Roman 
 arms; the devoted citizens, joined by their wives and daugh- 
 ters, having fought, for their homes and firesides, with the very 
 "knife." 
 
 During the bombardment, which, in the second siege, con- 
 tinued two-and-forty days, there was no respite, either by day 
 or night, for this devoted city. Even the natural order of light 
 and darkness, was destroyed : — by day, the place was involved, 
 in a red sulphureous atmosphere of smoke^ which hid the face 
 
NAPOLEON. 139 
 
 of heaven : by night, the fire of the cannons and the mortars, 
 with the flames of burning houses, kept the atmosphere in a 
 state of terrific illumination. Disease had subdued the inhabi- 
 tants ; two-thirds of the city had been destroyed ; thirty-thou- 
 sand of the people had perished ; and the French, after a siege 
 of two months, obtained possession of a mass of ruins. 
 
 Much as was the attention of Napoleon required, by the un- 
 expected opposition in the peninsula, yet the affairs of Portugal 
 and Spain were not alone suffered to occupy his comprehen- 
 sive mind. He continued to mould and remodel the relations 
 of foreign countries, in conformity with his own views. He 
 this year made considerable changes in the Itahan states. Un- 
 der the plea, that pope Pius VH. had refused to make war 
 upon England, and that the two kingdoms of Italy and Naples, 
 ought not to be divided, by the intervention of a hostile power, 
 he decreed that the ecclesiastical dutchies, of Urbino, Ancona, 
 Macerata, and Comerino, should be for ever united with the 
 kingdom of Italy, and expelled Pius from Rome ; an exercise 
 of despotic power, which caused his excommunication, by the 
 pope. At the same time, he united Tuscany, Parma, and Pla- 
 centia, to the empire of France, adopted his step-son, Eugene 
 Beauharnois, as his own son, and settled that kingdom upon 
 him and his male heirs. 
 
 ^ j.p.Q Austria was not inactive, since the beginning of the 
 insurrection which had been raised in Spain. A more 
 favourable conjuncture could not have been aflforded, to sever 
 the disgraceful trammels imposed upon her, by triumphant 
 France. Nor were the preparations made, by that country, for 
 war, viewed with indifference, by Napoleon ; and his watchful 
 jealousy was expressed, by his ministers, with reproaches and 
 threats. Austria was charged with having opened the harbour 
 of Trieste, to the English ; with having protected, by her ships 
 of war, British merchant-vessels, in their passage from Malta to 
 the Levant ; with having held conferences with an ofiickl mes- 
 senger from the Spanish patriots, and. promised to assist them, 
 with an army of one-hundred-thousand men. 
 
 In the month of March, preparations were made, by both 
 sides, with uncommon activity and vigour. From Valladolid, 
 Napoleon sent his mandate to the princes of the Confederation 
 of the Rhine, to furnish their contingents, and hold themselves 
 in readiness to enter the field ; and, soon afterwards, he left 
 Spain, and returned to Paris. 
 
 The Austrian army was divided into nine corps ; each con- 
 sisting of from thirty to forty-thousand men. The archduke 
 
140 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Charles was appointed commander-in-chief; and six out of the 
 nine corps, were placed under his immediate command : the 
 seventh was sent, under his brother, the archduke Ferdinand, 
 into Poland ; the eighth and ninth, into Italy ;, the whole force, 
 at the disposal of the commander-in-chief, amounting to at least 
 four-hundred-thousand men. 
 
 On the tenth of April, the archduke Charles entered Bavaria, 
 by a bridge of boats, placed over the river Inn. Intelligence of 
 this hostile movement, reached Napoleon, by telegraph, on the 
 twelfth ; on the evening of that day, he quitted Paris, and on 
 the seventeenth, arrived at Donawarth ; from which place, he 
 removed his head-quarters to Ingolstadt. In his rapid journey, 
 he was without guards, without equipage, and almost with- 
 out a companion, except the faithful Josephine ; who accom- 
 panied him as far as Strasbourg, and there remained, for some 
 time, watching the progress of the campaign. — On the nine- 
 teenth, marshal Davoust, duke of Auerstadt, defeated a division 
 of the Austrians, at Pressing ; on the same day, another division 
 was routed, by the Bavarian troops, under marshal Lefebre, 
 duke of Dantzic ; and a few days afterwards, Napoleon, with 
 a division composed chiefly of the troops of Bavaria and Wir- 
 temberg, attacked the archduke Louis and general Keller, at 
 Ebensberg, and compelled them to retreat, in extreme disor- 
 der ; leaving, in the hands of the victor, eight standards, and 
 eight-thousand of their men. 
 
 The flank of the Austrian army being, by that misfortune, 
 completely opened. Napoleon lost not a moment in advancing 
 to Landshut. The Austrians, who had formed before the city, 
 were driven back, by marshal Bessieres, duke of Istria ; and 
 the place was soon taken, with thirty pieces of cannon, nine- 
 thousand prisoners, and all its magazines. 
 
 In the afternoon of the twenty-second of April, Napoleon 
 arrived before Eckmuhl ; where there were already posted one- 
 hundred-and-ten-thousand men, under the archduke Charles. 
 The number of the Austrian troops, was much superior to that 
 of the French, actually assembled. The mihtary eye of Napo- 
 leon immediately perceived, that the left wing of his antagonist 
 was disadvantageously posted. It was attacked, by the duke 
 of Montebello : the contest was long and obstinate ; but, at the 
 close of the day, the Austrians were driven from all their po- 
 sitions, and compelled to retreat ; and it was entirely owing to 
 the fleelness of his horse, that the archduke himself was not 
 added to the trophies of Napoleon. 
 
 Under cover of the night, the broken divisions of the Aus- 
 
NAPOLEON. 141 
 
 trian army, collected at Ratisbon. A partial breach, in the 
 ancient walls, had been hastily effected ; but, for some time, 
 the French, who advanced to the storm, were destroyed, by the 
 musketry of the defenders. There was, at length, difficulty in 
 finding volunteers, to renew the attack ; when the impetuous 
 Lasnes, by whom they were commanded, seized a ladder, and 
 rushed forward, to fix it, himself, against the walls. " I will 
 show you," he exclaimed, " that your general is still a grena- 
 dier." The example prevailed, the wall was surmounted, and 
 the combat was continued or renewed in the streets of the 
 town, which was speedily on fire. A body of French, rushing 
 to charge a body of Austrians, who still occupied one end of a 
 burning street, were interrupted by some wagons, belonging 
 to the enemies' train. — " They are tumbrils of powder," cried 
 the Austrian, commanding, to the French ; " if the flames 
 reach them, both sides must perish!" — The combat ceased, 
 and the two parties joined, in arresting a calamity, which must 
 have been fatal to both, and finally saved the ammunition from 
 the flames. At length, the Austrians were driven out of Ratis- 
 bon, leaving the field covered with eight-thousand of their slain. 
 
 In these battles, Napoleon pursued his usual plan, of breaking 
 his enemy's forces, into detached parts, and then attacking 
 them, when severed. At no period of his career, did the ge- 
 nius of Napoleon appear more completely to prostrate all op- 
 position. In the short space of five days, the Austrians had 
 lost one-hundred pieces of cannon, and forty-thousand men. 
 
 The defeat of the Austrian armies, had laid open the capital, 
 to the invaders. On the tenth of May, Napoleon appeared 
 before the gates of Vienna, a city enclosed by a very feeble 
 barrier; and, on the twelfth, after sustaining a destructive 
 bombardment, for about twenty-four hours, it was surrendered, 
 by capitulation. The palace of the emperor was directly in 
 front of this terrible fire. The emperor, himself, and all his 
 family, but one, who was confined, by indisposition, had retir- 
 ed to Buda: — this was Maria Louisa, the young archduchess; 
 who soon afterwards became empress of France. On receiv- 
 ing information of this circumstance. Napoleon ordered that 
 the palace should be respected, and the shells thrown against 
 other quarters of the town. 
 
 Meanwhile, the archduke Charles had fixed his head-quarters 
 at Entzersdorf Napoleon lost not a moment in determining to 
 assail him, in this new position. The French army was marched 
 down the river, to Ebersdorf; where two islands divide the 
 
142 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Danube into three branches, of the average breadth of about 
 two-hundred yards. On the nineteenth of May, the French 
 engineer threw two bridges from the right bank of the river, ~ 
 to the smaller island, and, on the next day, two other bridges, 
 from that island, to the island of In-der Lobau ; which forms a 
 convenient rendezvous for troops, and where Napoleon estab- 
 lished his head-quarters. In three hours, a bridge, consisting 
 of fifteen pontoons, was thrown over that arm of the river, 
 which separates Lobau from the left bank; and the archduke 
 having resolved not to interrupt the passage of his enemy, they 
 were permitted to extend themselves along the river, without 
 molestation. Thus, left at liberty to choose the field of battle, 
 Napoleon determined to post the right wing of his army on the 
 village of Esling, and the left on the neighbouring village of 
 Aspern. 
 
 A series of battles now commenced, surpassing, in obstinacy, 
 any combats in which Napoleon had hitherto been engaged. 
 The possession of Aspern was necessary, in order to enable 
 the Austrian artillery to play, with effect, upon the centre of 
 the French lines. The contest, here, was most resolute and 
 murderous. In every street, every house, every out-building, 
 the battle raged, with unexampled fury : every wall was an 
 impediment to the assailants, and a rampart for the attacked. 
 The steeples, attics, and cellars, were to be conquered, before 
 either party could style themselves masters of the place; and 
 for seven hours, the contest continued, each party rivalling the 
 other in courage and perseverance ; until the French were, at 
 length, completely routed, and the Austrians, at the close of 
 the first day, remained in possession of the village. 
 
 Esling was a position, of as much importance to the right of 
 the assailants, as Aspern was to their left. Here, the French 
 fought with still greater obstinacy and courage, than they had 
 displayed in the defence of Aspern ; and, at the termination of 
 the first day's engagement, it was in their possession. 
 
 On the following day, new efforts were to be expected. Na- 
 poleon's glory, as well as the existence of his army, was at 
 stake; and the fate of the Austrian empire, depended upon the 
 success of the army under the archduke. During the battle of 
 the twenty-first, the latter had ordered fire-ships to be sent 
 down the river ; by which, the two bridges connecting the 
 island of Lobau with the small island, and that island with the 
 right bank of the Danube, were destroyed. In consequence 
 of this. Napoleon was rendered less able to repair his disasters j 
 
NAPOLEON. 143 
 
 and, in case the battle of the succeeding day should prove de- 
 cidedly adverse, it was apprehended that it would be impossible 
 for him to effect a retreat. 
 
 At four o'clock, on the morning of the twenty-second, the 
 battle recommenced, and the duke of Rivoli succeeded in estab- 
 lishing himself in Aspern. TJie desperate courage, displayed, 
 by both armies, on the preceding day, was repeated. Night 
 closed upon the infuriated combatants, before the wavering 
 scales of victory preponderated, in favour of either. At length, 
 the French could no longer sustain the enthusiastic charges of 
 the Austrian columns ; and, before day-light, on the morning 
 of the twenty third, they evacuated all the positions which they 
 had held on the left bank of the Danube, and accomplished 
 their retreat, to Lobau. 
 
 The loss, on both sides, was prodigious, but the French army 
 suffered most. Marshal Lasnes, duke of Montebello, and three 
 other French generals, were killed ; eight generals were wound- 
 ed, and two were made prisoners; and, according to the Aus- 
 trian bulletin, eight-thousand French soldiers were buried on 
 the field of battle. The interment of the fallen combatants was 
 continued for several days; and, in the figurative language of 
 the Austrian gazette, " a pestilential air was wafted down the 
 theatre of death." 
 
 The war, in other parts, was attended with various success. 
 A most formidable insurrection had sprung up, in Saxony, 
 Westphalia, and Hanover. Hut, no sufficient aid having been 
 afforded to the insurgents, either by the Austrians or the Eng- 
 lish, they were crushed, by superior discipline. At the head 
 of these northern patriots, were two officers, Schill and the 
 duke of Brunswick, well calculated, by their character, their 
 talents, and their influence, to animate their followers. The 
 former was killed, in the defence of Stralsund ; the latter was 
 compelled to seek for safety, in flight, and embarked, with his 
 little corps, for England. 
 
 The operations of the hostile armies in Italy, were more im- 
 portant than those of the armies in the north of Germany, or 
 Poland. At the beginning of the campaign, in Italy, the Aus- 
 trians were eminently successful ; but the victories of the French 
 emperor so near Vienna, rendered it expedient for the archduke 
 John, who commanded his brother's troops in Italy, to retrace 
 his steps. The French army, under Eugene Beauharnois, son 
 of the empress Josephine, having pursued the archduke towards 
 the Danube, advanced towards the Austrian capital, and, by 
 the presence of his victorious legions, served to swell the num- 
 
144 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ber of combatants in the approaching great and decisive battle 
 of Wagram. 
 
 From the day of the battle of Aspern, to the end of the first 
 week in July, Napoleon continued stationary, on the south 
 bank of the Danube. But, though stationary, he was, by no 
 means, inactive. He was making the most formidable prepa- 
 rations, not merely to guard himself from an attack, by the 
 archduke Charles, but also to resume offensive operations, in 
 such a manner as to ensure success. The construction of the 
 bridges over the Danube, in place of those which had been de- 
 stroyed, was intrusted to count Bertrand. In the short space 
 of a fortnight, this engineer formed a bridge of sixty arches, so 
 broad that three wagons could pass abreast, to In-der Lobau, 
 over four-hundred fathoms of a rapid river. A second bridge, 
 eight feet broad, was made, for infantry. Opposite EsHng, on 
 the left arm of the Danube, another bridge was formed, by the 
 duke of Rivoli ; which, as well as the two others, were guarded 
 by a tete du ponf. At this time, the Austrian army was strongly 
 intrenched on the north bank of the Danube, the left wing 
 stretching towards Entzersdorf, the right resting on the village 
 of Aspern. 
 
 While Napoleon was thus engaged, in fortifying his positions, 
 and in |ireparing so stupendous means for crossing the Danube, 
 the archduke Charles had not only raised works, and planted 
 cannon, to guard himself against an attack, but he had also 
 received immense reinforcements. Each army might now be 
 estimated at one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand men. As the prin- 
 cipal means of passing the Danube had been formed directly 
 opposite the Austrian redoubts, between Aspern and Esling, 
 the attention of the archduke was, in a great measure, confined 
 to this point. But the object of Napoleon, in making so much 
 parade about this bridge, was to divert the attention of the arch- 
 duke, but, by no means, to cross the river, in the face of the 
 enemy's most formidable position. During the night of the 
 fourth of July, four new bridges were completed : one, in a 
 single piece, eighty toises long, was fixed in less than five min- 
 utes ; and the three others, consisting of boats and rafts, thrown 
 over the river. The night was unusually dark, the rain fell in 
 torrents, and the operations of the French commander were 
 concealed by the violence of the storm. At two o'clock, on 
 the morning of the fifth, the whole French army had crossed 
 the Danube ; and at day-break they were arranged, in order 
 of battle, at the extremity of the left flank of the Austrians. In 
 like manner, had general Wolfe surprised the French garrison, 
 
NAPOLEON. 145 
 
 at Quebec. The archduke Charles was completely out-gene- 
 raled. His works were rendered useless. He was compelled 
 to abandon his strong position, and fight his enemy on the spot 
 chosen by themselves. At six o'clock, the French had taken 
 all the Austrian fortifications, between Eshng and Entzersdorf ; 
 the garrisons of which were nearly all either killed or wounded. 
 
 A general engagement had now become inevitable. On the 
 morning of the sixth, the two armies, each provided with up- 
 wards of five-hundred pieces of cannon, were drawn out for 
 battle. The left of the French army was commanded by the 
 prince of Ponte Corvo ; the right, by the duke of Auerstadt ; 
 the centre, by Napoleon himself. 
 
 The corps of prince Rosenberg, and that of the duke of Au- 
 erstadt, encountered each other, in the morning, and gave the 
 signal for battle. The cannonade soon became general ; and 
 the efi'ect of the injudicious dispositions of the Austrian com- 
 mander, in weakening his centre, soon became manifest. Sur- 
 prised at this maneuvre. Napoleon at first suspected some 
 stratagem. But he was soon convinced, that his antagonist 
 had committed a fatal error ; of which, he hastened to take ad- 
 vantage. A furious effort was directed' against the Austrian 
 centre. Unable to withstand this tremendous onset, it fell 
 back, a league. The right, perceiving the dangerous position 
 in which it was now placed, retreated, to the same ground : 
 and the left, being outflanked, fell back upon Wagram. At 
 noon, this important position was carried, the battle was com- 
 pletely won, and the Austrians retired upon Bohemia. 
 
 The fate of Germany was now decided. The number of the 
 Austrians slain, was immense ; while ten pair of colours, forty 
 pieces of cannon, and twenty-thousand prisoners, were the 
 trophies of the victory of Wagram. No time was lost, in pur- 
 suing the archduke. On the tenth of July, he was again de- 
 feated, at Znaim ; on the twelfth, an armistice was signed, 
 which plainly indicated the extent of the Austrian losses. From 
 causes, which, at the time, were not understood, but which a 
 subsequent matrimonial alliance tended, in some degree, to 
 explain, the negotiations for a definitive treaty, between France 
 and Austria, proceeded very slowly, and were not finally closed 
 until the fourteenth of October. The terms imposed upon the 
 vanquished, were considered as by no means severe. The ces- 
 sions made by the emperor Francis, were, however, very great ; 
 and may be comprised under three heads : — those to the sove- 
 reigns of the Confederation of the Rhine ; those to the king of 
 Saxony ; and those to the emperor of France. The Austrian 
 
 N 
 
146 THE LIFE OF 
 
 monarch agreed to acknowledge Joseph Buonaparte, as king 
 of Spain ; to accede to the continental system, and to break 
 off all intercourse with England. 
 
 In the course of these negotiations, Napoleon, according to 
 his custom, reviev/ed the several corps of the army. The pa- 
 rade took place every morning, at nine o'clock, in the large 
 and beautiful square of the palace of Schoenbrunn. One morn- 
 ing, a youth, of about eighteen years of age, clothed in a plain 
 blue riding-coat and a military hat, with a metal button, bear- 
 ing on it the eagle, but without a cockade, and holding a paper 
 in his hand, seeing that Napoleon did not stop, as usual, at the 
 foot of the great staircase, to receive petitions, insisted on fol- 
 lowing him, and presenting his petition himself Berthier, 
 who was behind the emperor, told this intruder that he could 
 present it when the parade was ended. But the youth was 
 determined to proceed. Notwithstanding the observation of 
 the prince of Neufchatel, he continued to follow ; pretending 
 that the subject of his request would not occasion any delay, 
 and that he wished to speak to Napoleon. General Rapp, the 
 aid-de-camp on duty, seeing that he persisted in minghng with 
 the general officers who followed the emperor, seized him by 
 the collar of his coat, desiring him warmly to retire : in doing 
 this, general Rapp having felt the handle of an instrument 
 v/hich the young man had in his side-pocket, he grasped him 
 more strongly, had him arrested, and conducted to the guard- 
 house. Having been there searched, a knife was discovered 
 on him, with a long blade, sharpened on both edges ; with 
 which, he frankly avowed his intention to kill the emperor. 
 Shortly afterwards, he was brought before Napoleon. The 
 emperor asked him what he wanted. He replied, " to kill 
 you." Napoleon asked him what he had done to him, to make 
 him desire to take away his life. He answered, that Napoleon 
 had done a great deal of mischief to his country ; that he had 
 desolated and ruined it, by the war which he had waged against 
 it. Napoleon inquired, why he did not kill the emperor of 
 Austria, instead of him, as he was the cause of the war, and 
 not Napoleon. He replied, " Oh, he is a blockhead, and, if ^e 
 were killed, another like him would be put upon the throne ; 
 but if you were dead, it would not be easy to find such another." 
 He said that he had been called upon, by God, to kill Napoleon, 
 and quoted Judith and Holifernes, spoke much about religion, 
 cited several parts of the Bible which he thought appropriate 
 to his project, and said that he was the son of a protestant 
 clergyman at Erfurth. He had not made his father privy to 
 
NAPOLEON. 147 
 
 his design, and had left his house without money ; having sold 
 his watch, in order to purchase the murderous knife. He said 
 that he trusted in God, to find the means to effect his purpose. 
 The emperor called his surgeon, ordered him to feel the youth's 
 pulse, and see if he were mad. He did so, and every thing 
 was calm. Napoleon desired him to be taken aWay, and locked 
 up in a room, with a gendarme; to have no sort of food for 
 twenty-four hours, but as much cold Avater as he liked. He 
 wished to give him time to cool and reflect, and then to ex- 
 amine him, when his stomach was empty, and at a time when 
 he might not be under the influence of any thing that would 
 heat or exalt his imagination. After the twenty-four hours 
 were expired, the emperor sent for him, and asked, — " If I were 
 to pardon you, would you make another attempt upon my life ?" 
 He hesitated a long time, and at last, with great difficulty, said 
 that he would not ; as then it would not appear to be the in- 
 tention of God that he should kill him, otherwise he would have 
 allowed him to do it, at first. The emperor ordered him to be 
 removed. He intended to pardon him ; but it was represented 
 that his hesitation, after twenty-four hours' fasting, was a sure 
 evidence that his designs were bad, and that he still intended 
 to assassinate ; that he was an enthusiast, a fanatic, and that, 
 in such a case, impunity would set a very bad example : — he 
 was therefore tried by a military commission, and shot. 
 
 The most humiliating condition of the treaty of Schcenbrunn, 
 was that by which the Austrian monarch assigned the inhabi- 
 tants of the Tyrol, to Bavaria. Though deserted by their sove- 
 reign, the Tyrolese still refused submission to the conqueror. 
 Their resistance was most formidable : some of the most expe- 
 rienced generals of Napoleon, were frequently defeated, and 
 driven back, with great loss. The brave Hoffer animated and 
 directed the exertions of his countrymen. On the conquest of 
 the province, however, the French emperor was determined ; 
 and at length he effected his purpose, by pouring in continual 
 reinforcements, and by the capture and universally reprobated 
 execution of their gallant leader. 
 
 The Austrians censured the want of tactics of the Tyrolese. 
 Some poetical sharp-shooter defended his country by an epi' 
 gram, of which the following is a translation : — 
 
 " It is but chance, our learn'd tacticians say, 
 Which, without science, gains the battle day; 
 Yet, would I rather win the field by chance. 
 Than study tactics, and be beat by France." 
 
 Soon after the breaking out of the war, between France and 
 
148 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Austria, the British ministry began to make preparations for a 
 large and formidable expedition. Forty-thousand troops, in- 
 tended to be assisted, in their operations, by thirty-five sail of 
 the line, and about two-hundred sail of smaller vessels, were 
 assembled, in the latter end of July, on the coasts of Kent and 
 Hampshire ; for the purpose of gaining possession of the isle 
 of Walcheren, and destroying the French ships of war, in the 
 Scheldt. A more gallant army, or a nobler fleet, had never 
 sailed from the harbour of any country. Nothing was wanted, 
 to ensure success, but an able general. Had the activity of 
 the admiral, sir Richard Strachan, been seconded by the com- 
 mander of the land-forces, the earl of Chatham, the object of 
 the English ministry might have been accomplished. But, 
 after having destroyed the dock-yards of Flushing, the British 
 general, whose indolence w^as proverbial, paused, in the com- 
 pletion of the enterprise, until a considerable army had been 
 assembled, for the defence of Antwerp ; no further advance 
 was attempted, and the troops were allowed to remain amidst 
 pestiferous marshes, until a large portion of their number had 
 fallen victims to the prevailing epidemic. 
 
 We have said, that the terms granted to the prostrate Fran- 
 cis, were considered mild. In a territorial view, they were 
 certainly most liberal ; but, there was one cession, the subject 
 of a secret article, to which the proud spirit of the house of 
 Hapsburg, must have yielded with a bitter pang. His daughter 
 had been thrown into the diplomatic scale ; and, what was 
 wanting in the extent of territorial assignments, was supplied 
 by the sacrifice of parental love. After a union of fifteen years, 
 the empress Josephine had blessed her husband with no heir 
 to his imperial throne ; and Napoleon resolved to sever the 
 connubial bond, and unite his hymeneal fortune with a younger 
 bride. 
 
 " There is perhaps no part of the varied life of the wonderful 
 person of whom we treat," observes an eminent writer, " more 
 deeply interesting, than the change which took place in his 
 domestic establishment, shortly after the peace of Presburg. 
 The main causes of that change, are strongly rooted in human 
 nature ; but there were others, which arose out of Napoleon's 
 peculiar situation. The desire of posterity — of being repre- 
 sented long after our own earthly career is over, by those who 
 derive their life and situation in society from lis — is proper to 
 our species. In all ages and countries, children are accounted 
 a blessing, barrenness a misfortune, at least, if not a curse. This 
 desire of maintaining a posthumous connexion with the world, 
 
NAPOLEON. 149 
 
 through the medium of our descendants, is increased, when 
 there is property or rank to be inherited ; and, however vain 
 the thought, there are few to which men chng with such sincere 
 fondness, as the prospect of bequeathing to their children's 
 children, the fortunes they have inherited from their fathers, or 
 acquired by their own industry. There is kindness, as well as 
 some vanity, in the feeling ; for the attachment which we bear 
 to the children whom we see and love, naturally carries itself 
 to our lineage, whom we may never see. The love of distant 
 posterity is, in some degree, the metaphysics of natural affec- 
 tion. 
 
 " It was impossible that the founder of so vast an empire as 
 that of Napoleon, could be insensible to a feeling which is so 
 deeply ingrafted in our nature, as to influence the most petty 
 proprietor of a house and a few acres : — it is of a character to 
 be felt in proportion to the extent of the inheritance ; and, so 
 viewed, there never existed in the world, before, and it is de- 
 voutly to be hoped, will never be again permitted, by Provi- 
 dence, to arise, a power so extensive, so formidable, as that of 
 Napoleon. 
 
 " The sterihty of the empress Josephine, was now rendered, 
 by the course of nature, an irremediable evil, over which she 
 mourned, in hopeless distress ; and, conscious on what precari- 
 ous circumstances, the continuance of their union seemed now 
 to depend, she gave way, occasionally, to fits of jealousy, less 
 excited, according to Napoleon, by personal attachment, than 
 by suspicion that her influence over her husband's mind might 
 be diminished, in case of his having offspring by some paramour. 
 
 " She turned her thoughts to seek a remedy, and exerted 
 her influence over her husband, to induce him to declare some 
 one his successor, according to the unlimited powers vested in 
 him, by the imperial constitution. In the selection, she naturally 
 endeavoured to direct his choice towards his step-son, Eugene 
 Beauharnois, her own son, by her first marriage ; but this did 
 not meet Napoleon's approbation. A child, the son of his 
 brother Louis, by Hortense Beauharnois, appeared, during its 
 brief existence, more hkely to become the destined heir to this 
 immense inheritance. Napoleon seemed attached to the boy, 
 and when he manifested any spark of childish spirit, rejoiced 
 in the sound of the drum, or showed pleasure in looking upon 
 arms, and the image of war, he is said to have exclaimed, — 
 ' There, is a child, fit to succeed, perhaps to surpass me.' 
 
 " But the son of Louis and Hortense died of a disorder, inci- 
 dent to childhood ; and thus was broken, while yet a twig, the 
 
 N2 
 
150 THE LIFE OF 
 
 shoot, that, growing to maturity, might have been reckoned on,' 
 as the stay of an empire. 
 
 " Yet, setting aside her having the misfortune to bear him no 
 issue, the claims of Josephine, on her husband's affections, vv^ere 
 as numerous as could be possessed by a wife. She had shared 
 his more lowly fortunes ; and, by her management and address, 
 during his absence in Egypt, had paved the way for the splen- 
 did success which he had attained, on his return. She had 
 also done much to render his government popular, by softening 
 the sudden and fierce bursts of passion, to which his tempera- 
 ment induced him to give way. No one could understand, hke 
 Josephine, the peculiarities of her husband's temper; no one 
 dared, like her, to encounter his displeasure, rather than not 
 advise him for his better interest ; no one could possess such 
 opportunities of watching the fit season for intercession ; and 
 no one, it is allowed, on all hands, made a more prudent, or a 
 more beneficent use, of the opportunities she enjoyed. Vehe- 
 ment by nature, a soldier by education, and invested, by fortune, 
 with the most despotic power, Buonaparte required peculiarly 
 the moderating influence of such a mind, which could interfere 
 without intrusion, and remonstrate without offence. 
 
 " To maintain this influence over her husband, Josephine 
 made, not only unreluctantly, but eagerly, the greatest personal 
 sacrifices. In all the rapid journeys which he performed, she 
 was his companion. No obstacle, of road or weather, was 
 permitted to interfere with her departure. However sudden 
 the call, the empress was ever ready ; however untimely the 
 hour, her carriage was in instant attendance. The influence 
 which she maintained, by this sacrifice of her personal comforts, 
 was used for the advancement of her husband's best interests, 
 ——relieving those who were in distress, and averting the con- 
 sequences of hasty resolutions, formed in a moment of violence 
 and irritation. 
 
 " Besides her considerable talents, and her real beneficence 
 of disposition, Josephine was possessed of other ties over the 
 mind of her husband. The mutual passion which had subsisted 
 between them for many years, if its warmth had abated, seem.s 
 to have left behind affectionate remembrances, and mutual es- 
 teem. The grace and dignity with which Josephine played 
 her part, in the imperial pageant, was calculated to gratify the 
 pride of Napoleon, which might have been shocked at seeing 
 the character of empress discharged with less ease and adroit- 
 ness ; for, her temper and manners enabled her, as one early 
 accustomed to the society of persons of political influence, tos 
 
NAPOLEON. 151 
 
 conduct herself with singular dexterity, in the intrigues of the 
 splendid and busy court, where she filled so important a char- 
 acter. Lastly, it is certain, that Buonaparte, who, like many 
 of those who affect to despise superstition, had a reserve of it 
 in his own bosom, believed that his fortunes were indlssolubly 
 connected with those of Josephine ; and, loving her as she 
 deserved to be beloved, he held his union with her the more 
 intimate, that there was attached to it, he thought, a spell, 
 affecting his own destinies, which had ever seemed most pre- 
 dominant, when they had received the recent influence of Jo- 
 sephine's presence. 
 
 " Fouche, the minister of police, the boldest political in- 
 triguer of his time, discovered speedily to what point the em- 
 peror must ultijnately arrive ; and seems to have meditated 
 the ensuring of his own power and continuance in favour, by 
 taking the initiative in a measure, in which, perhaps. Napoleon 
 might be ashamed to break the ice, in person. Sounding art- 
 fully his master's disposition, Fouche was able to discover, that 
 the emperor was struggling between the supposed political ad- 
 vantages to be derived from a new matrimonial union, on the 
 one hand, and, on the other, love for his present consort, habits 
 of society which particularly attached him to Josephine, and 
 the species of superstition which we have already noticed. 
 Having been able to conjecture the state of the emperor's 
 inclinations, the crafty counsellor determined to make Josephine 
 herself the medium of suggesting to Buonaparte, the measure 
 of her own divorce, and his second marriage, as a sacrifice 
 necessary to consolidate the empire, and complete the happi- 
 ness of the emperor. 
 
 " One*evening, at Fontainbleau, as the empress was returning 
 from mass, Fouche detained her in the embrasure of a window 
 in the gallery ; while, with an audacity almost incomprehensi- 
 ble, he explained, with all the qualifications his ingenuity could 
 suggest, the necessity of a sacrifice, which he represented as 
 equally sublime and inevitable. The tears gathered in Joseph- 
 ine's eyes — her colour came and went — her lips swelled — and 
 the least which the counsellor had to fear, was, that his advice 
 had brought on a severe nervous affection. She commanded 
 her emotions, however, sufficiently to ask Fouche, with a fal- 
 tering voice, whether he had any commission to hold such lan- 
 guage. He rephed in the negative, and said that he had ven- 
 tured on such an insinuation, from his having predicted, with 
 certainty, what must come to pass, and from his desire to turn 
 
152 THE LIFE OF 
 
 her attention to what so nearly concerned her glory and hap- 
 piness. 
 
 " In consequence of this interview, an impassioned and inter- 
 esting scene is said to have taken place, between Buonaparte 
 and his consort ; in which, he naturally and truly disavowed 
 the communication of Fouche, and attempted, by every means 
 in his power, to dispel her apprehensions. But he refused to 
 dismiss Fouche, when she demanded it, as the punishment due 
 to that minister's audacity, in tampering with her feelings ; and 
 this refusal alone might have convinced Josephine, that, though 
 ancient habitual affection might, for a time, maintain its influ- 
 ence in the nuptial chamber, it must, at length, give way, before 
 the suggestions of pohtical interest, which were sure to pre- 
 dominate in the cabinet. 
 
 " On the thirtieth of November, Napoleon made Josephine 
 acquainted with the cruel certainty, that the separation was 
 ultimately determined upon. But, not the many months which 
 had passed since the subject was first touched upon, by Fouche; 
 not the conviction which she must have long since received 
 from various quarters, that the measure was unalterably fixed, 
 could strengthen her, to hear the tongue of her beloved husband 
 announce, what was, in fact, though not in name, a sentence 
 of repudiation."* 
 
 " The storm," relates De Bausset, "burst forth on the thir- 
 tieth of November. Their majesties went to table. Josephine 
 wore a large white hat, tied under her chin, which concealed 
 a part of her face. I thought, however, I perceived that she 
 had been weeping, and that she then restrained her tears with 
 difficulty. She appeared to me the image of grief and despair. 
 The most profound silence reigned throughout the dinner ; and 
 they touched the dishes that were presented to them, out of 
 mere form. The only words uttered, were those addressed to 
 me, by Napoleon, — " How is the weather ?" — In pronouncing 
 them, he rose from table. Josephine followed slowly. Coffee 
 was served, and Napoleon took himself the cup which was held 
 
 * The foregoing preliminary of the manner in which the intended 
 divorce was communicated to the empress Josephine, is nearly a 
 hteral extract from Scott's Life of Napoleon ; with only a few occa- 
 sional alterations, where the language was grossly ungrammatical, or 
 remarkably ungraceful in the style ; faults for which that work is 
 signally distinguished : indeed, so hasty, and slovenly, and chaotic a 
 production, is a disgrace to the literature of the present age; and 
 would sink the reputation of almost any other writer, than Sir Walter 
 Scott. 
 
NAPOLEON. 153 
 
 by tlie page on duty, and gave the sign that he wished to be 
 alone. I immediately retired ; but, restless, and a prey to my 
 sad thoughts, I sat down in the attendance room, which was 
 commonly used for their majesties to dine in, in an arm-chair, 
 on the side of which was the door to the emperor's room. I 
 was mechanically watching the servants, who were clearing 
 the table, when, on a sudden, I heard violent cries from the 
 empress Josephine, issue from the emperor's chamber. The 
 usher of the chamber, thinking she was taken ill, was on the 
 point of opening the door, when I prevented him, observing, 
 that the emperor would call for assistance, if he thought it 
 necessary. I was standing close to the door, when the emperor 
 himself opened it, and, perceiving me, said quickly, — ' Come 
 in, Bausset, and shut the door.' I entered the chamber, and 
 saw the empress Josephine stretched on the carpet, uttering 
 piercing cries and complaints. ' No, I will never survive it,' 
 said she. — Napoleon said to me, ' are you sufficiently strong to 
 raise Josephine, and to carry her to her apartments, by the 
 private staircase, in order that she may receive the care and 
 assistance that she requires ?' I obeyed, arid raised the princess, 
 who, I thought, was seized with a nervous affection. With the 
 aid of Napoleon, I raised her into my arms, and he himself 
 taking a hght from the table, opened the door, which, by an 
 obscure passage, led to the little staircase, of which he had 
 spoken. When we reached the first step, I observed to Napo- 
 leon, that it was too narrow, to permit me to descend, without 
 the danger of falling. He immediately called the keeper of 
 the portfolio, who, day and night, was in attendance at one of 
 the doors of his closet, the entrance to which was on the land- 
 ing-place of this little staircase. Napoleon gave him the 
 lamp, of which we had now little need, for the passages had 
 become light. He 'commanded the keeper to go on before, 
 and took himself the feet of Josephine, in order to assist me in 
 descending with less difficulty. At one moment, however, I 
 was embarrassed by my sword, and I thought we must have 
 fallen, but at length we descended, without any accident, and 
 deposited the precious burthen upon an ottoman in the sleeping- 
 chamber. Napoleon immediately pulled the little bell, and 
 summoned the empress's women. When I raised the empress 
 in the chamber, she ceased to moan, and I thought that she 
 had fainted ; but at the time I was embarrassed by my sword, 
 in the little staircase, of which I have already spoken, I was 
 obliged to hold her firmly, to prevent a fall, which would have 
 been dreadful to the actors in this melancholy scene. I held 
 
154 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the empress in my arms, which encircled her waist, her back 
 rested against my chest, and her head leaned upon my right 
 shoulder. When she felt the efforts which I made, to prevent 
 falling, she said to me, in a very low tone, — ' You press me too 
 hard.' — I then saw that I had nothing to fear for her health, 
 and that she had not, for an instant, lost her senses. 
 
 " During the whole of this scene, I was exclusively occupied 
 with Josephine, whose situation afflicted me : I had not power 
 to observe Napoleon ; but, when the empress's women had 
 come, he retired to a little room, in front of the sleeping-cham- 
 ber, and I followed him. His agitation and inquietude were 
 extreme. In his distress, he made me acquainted with the 
 cause of every thing that had happened, and said to me these 
 words : — ' The interest of France and of my dynasty, does vio- 
 lence to my heart — the divorce has become a rigorous duty to 
 me — I am the more afflicted by what has happened to Joseph- 
 ine, because three days ago, she must have learned it from^ 
 Hortensia : — the unhappy obligation which condemns me to 
 separate myself from her — I deplore it with all my heart, but I 
 thought she possessed more strength of character, and I was 
 not prepared for the bursts of her grief.' 
 
 " The emotion which oppressed him, caused him to make a 
 long pause between each phrase that he uttered, in order to 
 breathe. His words came from him with labour, and without 
 connexion ; his voice was tremulous, and oppressed, and his 
 eyes were moistened with tears. It seemed as if he were beside 
 himself, to give so many details to me, who was so far removed 
 from his councils and his confidence. 
 
 " The whole of this transaction did not occupy more than- 
 seven or eight minutes. Napoleon immediately sent persons 
 to seek for Corvisart, queen Hortensia, Cambaceres, and 
 Fouche ; and, before he returned to his apartment, he assured 
 himself of the condition of Josephine, whom he found more 
 calm and more resigned. 
 
 " This divorce produced no division in the family. The em^- 
 peror always continued the most tender friend of Josephine, 
 and preserved a truly paternal affection, all his life, for the 
 viceroy and queen Hortensia. Josephine was then forty-six 
 years of age, and it was impossible for her to possess more 
 graceful manners and appearance. The expression of her eyes 
 was enchanting, her smile was full of charms, and the whole 
 of her features and her voice, were extremely gentle : her figure 
 was nobje, flexible, and perfect ; the purest taste, and the most. 
 
NAPOLEON. 155 
 
 consummate elegance, presided at her toilet, and made her 
 appear much younger than she really was. 
 
 " But all these brilliant advantages were nothing, when com-^ 
 pared with the goodness of her heart. Her wit was pleasing 
 and gay ; it never wounded the feelings of any one, and never 
 gave birth to any thing disagreeable. Devoted to Napoleon, 
 she communicated to him her sweetness and her good-nature, 
 without his perceiving it, and gave him, in a jesting manner, 
 advice, which more than once proved useful. 
 
 " The moment of weakness which seized her, when she 
 heard her fate from the mouth of Napoleon, was the only one 
 that she exhibited. She made it her glory to conquer herself, 
 and to devote herself to the new duties which were traced out 
 to her, without apparent effort. I even believe she was more 
 happy, less dependent, and more herself, than at the Tuileries; 
 where her life was often mingled with constraint, in the infinity 
 of little trifles, and of court details, from which she was liber- 
 ated, by this new species of emancipation. Having no other 
 desires, than to conform to the tastes and habits of Napoleon, 
 she was often obliged to receive and to show kindness to per- 
 sons who were not of her taste : she was nearly always com- 
 pelled, also, to repair to table, and to wait for the emperor, 
 who, deeply engaged in his cabinet, forgot the hour. The 
 dinner was regularly served at six o'clock : — it happened one 
 day, or rather one evening, that Napoleon forgot the announce- 
 ment which had been made to him, until eleven, and, on leaving 
 his closet, he said to Josephine, — ' I think it is rather late ?' — 
 ' Past eleven o'clock,' replied she, laughing. — ' I thought I had 
 dined,' said Napoleon, sitting down to table. 
 
 " This self-denial was a virtue which Josephine had to exer- 
 cise on more than one occasion. Napoleon was perfectly right, 
 when he said : — ' I win nothing but battles, while Josephine, 
 by her goodness, wins all hearts.' 
 
 On the sixteenth of December, the design to dissolve his 
 marriage, was formally announced, to the conservative senate ; 
 and on the same day, the law, authorizing the divorce, was 
 enacted. Josephine was allowed to retain the title of empress, 
 during her life, and took up her residence at the villa of Mal- 
 maison, near St. Germains. Here, she principally dwelt, during 
 her remaining years ; which were spent chiefly in cultivating the 
 fine arts ; but especially in the almost daily practice of benevo- 
 lence and charity. 
 ^jj.„ On the eleventh of March, the nuptials between Na- 
 poleon and Maria Louisa, were celebrated, by proxy, 
 
156 THE LIFE OF 
 
 at Vienna ; and, on the first day of April, the parties were 
 joined in matrimony, at Paris, by Napoleon's uncle. Cardinal 
 Fesch. 
 
 Every husband, every father, humanity itself, must revolt, at 
 this demoralizing act. The beautiful and accomplished woman ; 
 the partner of his youth ; the prudent counsellor ; the faithful 
 friend ; the beloved and virtuous wife ; the ornament of his 
 imperial court ; the moderator of his angry passions ; — who 
 sympathized with him, in his afflictions, and rejoiced with him, 
 in his joys : — from such a woman, as this, what Man could 
 part ! 
 
 The most splendid festivals were given, on this important 
 occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which embittered 
 the relish for these numerous fetes. Prince Schwartzenberg 
 had given a distinguished ball ; when, unhappily, the dancing- 
 room, which was temporary, and erected in the garden, caught 
 fire. Several persons perished, and amongst the number, the 
 sister of the prince himself; — a tragic incident, which diffused 
 a damp over the public mind, and was considered as a bad 
 omen ; especially, when it was remembered, that the marriage 
 of Louis XVL, with a former princess of Austria, had been 
 signalized by a similar disaster. 
 
 " It was, at first, generally, indeed almost universally imag- 
 ined," says an impartial historian, " that the archduchess was 
 an unwilling, though resigned victim, to the preservation of her 
 family — another virgin of Gilead, obedient to the calls of fihal 
 reverence and duty ; but no supposition could be more errone- 
 ous. It soon appeared, how much of the blood of the Lor- 
 raines, flowed in her veins; and, so early did she begin to 
 identify herself with the French nation, and to exult in the 
 glory of her future lord, that, according to the foreign journals, 
 she, one day, before she left Vienna, hastened eagerly into her 
 father's apartment, and announced to him a French victory, 
 in the peninsula, by exclaiming, in a tone of triumph. We have 
 obtained great advantages, in Spain." 
 
 Maria Louisa, however, confessed afterwards to the emperor, 
 that, when her marriage with him was first proposed, she could 
 not help feeling a kind of terror, owing to the accounts which 
 she had heard of him, from the individuals of her family. When 
 she mentioned these reports to her uncles, who were very 
 urgent for the marriage, they replied, — " That was all very 
 true, while he was our enemy ; but the case is altered now." 
 
 One of the young archdukes had frequently burned his dolls, 
 which he called roasting Napoleon. He afterwards declared, 
 
NAPOLEON. 157 
 
 that he would not roast him any more, for he loved him very 
 much, because he had given his sister Louisa plenty of money 
 to buy him playthings. 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 DETHRONEMENT OF NAPOLEON. 
 
 RENEWAL OF THE WAR WITH RUSSIA BURNING OF MOSCOW 
 
 DISASTROUS RETREAT OF THE FRENCH ARMY BATTLE OP 
 
 LEIPSIC PARIS ENTERED BY THE ALLIES NAPOLEON DE- 
 THRONED, AND EXILED TO ELBA RESTORATION OF THE 
 
 BOURBONS. 
 
 In the midst of the nuptial ceremonies, the affairs of Holland, 
 gave no small degree of uneasiness to Napoleon's mind. The 
 urgent petitions of his subjects, had so far prevailed over the 
 mild and liberal disposition of his brother Louis, that he open- 
 ed the Dutch ports, and repealed his decrees against British 
 commerce. This conduct of the tributary sovereign, having 
 been highly resented, by the emperor, Louis abdicated the 
 thro!ie of Holland, and, on the ninth of July, that kingdom was 
 united, by Napoleon, to the French empire. 
 
 Ever since the commencement of the revolutionary war, 
 Sweden had maintained a most obstinate resistance to the 
 domination of the French. The affairs of this kingdom, how- 
 ever, had now become desperate. Gustavus Adolphus, whose 
 romantic disposition baffled all the ordinary calculations of pru- 
 dence, had embarked his country in a war, to which its re- 
 sources were totally inadequate. Russia had conquered nearly 
 the whole of Finland; and the army having learned that it was 
 the determination of the king to measure his strength against 
 the empires both of Russia and France, there was excited uni- 
 versal discontent, throughout Sweden ; and a confederacy was 
 formed against Gustavus, which, on the thirteenth of March, 
 terminated in his expulsion from the throne. The duke of 
 Sudermaniii, uncle of the deposed monarch, was chosen king, 
 under the title of Charles XHL ; the former relations, between 
 France and Sweden, were revived; and Napoleon prevailed 
 upon his new ally, to join in excluding British commerce from 
 the Baltic. Charles Augustus, prince of Augustenburg, who 
 had been elected crown-prince, or heir apparent to the Swe- 
 
 O 
 
168 THE LIFE OF • ' 
 
 dish throne, when reviewing a body of troops, in the month of 
 May, in the following year, (1810) dropped dead, from his 
 horse ; and, on the fifteenth of August, the four estates of Swe- 
 den elected, to the vacant dignity, marshal Bernadotte, prince 
 of Ponte Corvo; who, on the d6ath of Charles XIII., succeeded 
 to the vacant throne, and, at the instigations of Napoleon, but 
 contrary to his own inclination, was constrained to issue a 
 (declaration of war against Great Britain. 
 
 This distinguished officer was married to a sister of Joseph 
 Buonaparte's wife, daughter of a respectable individual, named 
 Clary ; and had conciliated the friendship of the Swedes, by 
 his conduct when governor of Pomerania. 
 
 On the peninsula, the progress of Napoleon, began to expe- 
 rience a check. Another British army, of about thirty-thousand 
 men, under the command of sir Arthur Wellesley, having arrived 
 in the Tagus, the French were soon driven out of Portugal. 
 The British forces then advanced into Spain, with the design 
 of obtaining possession of Madrid; and, having formed a junc- 
 tion with general Cuesta, the united armies, consisting of about 
 sixty-thousand men, took a strong position at Talavera, on the 
 Tagus, in the province of New Castile. 
 
 Here, they were attacked, on the twenty-seventh of July, 
 (1809) by marshal Victor ; but all his efforts were unsuccessful, 
 and the allied troops remained in possession' of their ground. 
 The French repeated the attack, about midnight; but were 
 again repulsed, with great slaughter. Both armies passed the 
 night on the field; and several partial engagements were fought, 
 before the dawn of the following day. These nightly combats 
 v/ere conducted with most determined fury : the men, after 
 they had discharged their fire-arms, frequently closed, and beat 
 out each other's brains, with their muskets. At day-break, 
 on the following morning, the French advanced, with three 
 regiments, against an eminence, occupied by general Hill : but 
 here, again, they were resisted, with the bayonet, and driven 
 back : leavin^f the field covered with their slain. About eleven 
 
 7 D 
 
 o'clock, the assailants suspended the attack, and dined on the 
 field of battle. Wine and bread were, at the same time, served 
 out to the British troops ; and during this pause, in the work 
 of destruction, the men, in both armies, repaired to a brook, to 
 quench their thirst ; and stooped to the stream, in the presence 
 of each other, without molestation ; while numbers of them 
 shook hands, across the rivulet, before the battle recommenced. 
 About noon, the conflict was renewed. But no impression 
 could be made, upon the British line. Marshal Victor was 
 
NAPOLEON. 159 
 
 again repulsed ; but retreated in the most regular order, across 
 the Alberche. 
 
 The battle of Talavera will always hold a high rank, in the 
 annals of destructive war. The loss, on both sides, was severe: 
 that of the French, in killed and wounded, was about ten-thou- 
 sand men; the loss of the allied army, above six thousand. 
 
 The campaign of the ensuing year, opened with an aspect 
 favourable to France. Having forced the passages of the 
 Sierra Morena, the French made themselves masters of Gre- 
 nada and Andalusia. In consequence of this irruption, the 
 Spanish patriot government, or Cortes, retired, from Seville, 
 to Cadiz. In the mean time, Massena, formerly duke of Rivoh, 
 but who, from his bravery, on the Danube, was now distinguish- 
 ed by the title of the prince of Esling, having command of the 
 grand army of France, made preparations for the conquest of 
 Portugal. Sir Arthur Wellcsley, now created, on account of 
 his brilliant exploits, viscount Wellington, having retired, a few 
 days after the battle of Talavera, upon Lisbon, took a strong 
 position at Torres Vedras ; Massena having followed his move- 
 ments, and encamped directly in his front. The position occu- 
 pied by the British general, was strong, by nature, but rendered 
 ^pi-i impregnable, by art: Massena, therefore, seeing it was 
 impossible to attack the British army, with any prospect 
 of success, began his retreat; being severely harassed by lord 
 Wellington, who followed closely, in his rear. 
 
 Nor were the hostile generals less active, in other quarters 
 of the peninsula. On the eighth of May, marshal Beresford, 
 who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Portuguese 
 army, invested the strong fortress of Badajoz. But, on receiv- 
 ing information, that the duke of Dalmatia was advancing to 
 its relief, the British general raised the siege ; and, being joined 
 by the Spanish generals, Castanos and Blake, prepared to meet 
 the French. On the sixteenth of May, they encountered, at 
 Albuera; where was fought one of the most sanguinary battles 
 of the whole war ; the French having lost nearly a half, and 
 the allies almost a third of their numerous troops. The latter 
 purchased the victory with the loss of six-thousand men ; while 
 the former, having been driven over the small river Albuera, 
 with the loss of nine-thousand, returned towards Seville. Within 
 the circumscribed space, where the battle raged, not less than 
 seven-thousand men were stretched dead upon the field ; and 
 the rain, which ran from the heights, reddened the rivulet, with 
 blood. 
 
 In the eastern part of Spain, the operations of the French 
 
160 THE LIFE OF 
 
 were successful. On the twenty-eighth of June, marshal Su- 
 chet carried Tarragona, by assault ; on the twenty-sixth of 
 October, he made himself master of the castle of Murveidro, 
 built on the ruins of the ancient Saguntum ; and, on the twenty- 
 sixth of December, defeated general Blake, who took refuge 
 in Valencia. 
 .o.c> On the ninth of January, Suchet gained possession 
 of this important city ; general Blake, and the garrison 
 of sixteen-thousand men, having surrendered prisoners of war. 
 These signal achievements obtained, for marshal Suchet, the 
 title of duke of Aibufuera. But the acquisition of Valencia, 
 was counterbalanced, by the loss of Ciudad Rodrigo, and 
 Badajoz ; which were taken by lord Wellington ; not, however, 
 until he had sustained a very considerable loss. 
 
 After the reduction of the two last mentioned cities, lord 
 Wellington marched into the interior of Spain ; and entered 
 Salamanca, in triumph. A grand scene of military operations, 
 was, soon afterwards, opened. The French army, commanded 
 by marshal Marmont, duke of Ragusa, began, on the evening 
 of the sixteenth of July, to make a series of intricate move- 
 ments, preparatory to the battle of Salamanca ; which com- 
 menced on the twenty-second, about two, in the afternoon,, 
 and continued until night. This action terminated in the total 
 defeat of the French. But the allies purchased their victory 
 with the loss of five-thousand men, placed hors de combat ; that 
 of the French being much greater, besides seven-thousand 
 prisoners, and a severe wound received by their commander. 
 
 One of the first consequences of the defeat at Salamanca, 
 was the evacuation of Madrid, by the intrusive king ; and the 
 surrender of that capital, to lord Wellington, on the twelfth of 
 August — the birth-day of the prince regent of England. 
 
 Soon afterwards, the British commander adva'nced to Bur- 
 gos, and gained possession of some of the outworks : but he 
 failed, in all his attempts, against the castle, and at length re- 
 tired, from before the place, with great loss. The British 
 troops were, in the month of October, withdrawn from Madrid, 
 and that city was again entered by the brother of Napoleon. 
 In the mean time, the different Spanish corps, together with 
 the guerillas — a sort of irregular militia — had several success- 
 ful skirmishes, with the French ; and, in the autumn, the latter 
 withdrew from before Cadiz, and evacuated all the south of 
 Spain. 
 
 The colonial aflTairs of Napoleon, during the peninsular strug- 
 gle, exhibited nothing but disaster. There was not now re- 
 
NAPOLEON. 161 
 
 maining, either to Fraiice or Holland, a single colony, either 
 in the eastern or the western hemisphere ; their jflags were 
 expelled from the ocean, and their commerce almost totally 
 destroyed. 
 
 Even had Napoleon succeeded in the subjugation of Spain, 
 he would have seized a victim, undecked with the accustomed 
 honours, for the sacrifice ; the vast provinces of the American 
 Indies, having rejected the domination of their European pa- 
 rent, and finally established their independence. 
 
 But the deprivation suffered, by Napoleon, in the loss of his 
 colonies, was trifling, in comparison with the disasters which 
 he was now preparing for himself, in the north. The friend- 
 ship which apparently cemented the emperor of France, with 
 the autocrat of Russia, was affected, by Alexander, no longer 
 than necessity constrained him. By the treaty of Tilsit, the latter 
 had bound himself to accede to the " continental system ;" and 
 to exclude, from his ports, all British manufactures and colonial 
 produce. It was found, however, impossible for Alexander to 
 adhere to that engagement. The merchants remonstrated, on 
 the loss of their most profitable commerce ; the nobles were 
 indignant at the degradation of their country ; and Alexander 
 was, at length, induced to admit the forbidden commodities, by 
 special license, and in neutral ships. Nor was the Russian 
 emperor the only infractor of the peace of Tilsit. Napoleon 
 had seized the dominions of the duke of Oldenburg, the brother- 
 in-law of Alexander, and refused to withdraw his troops from 
 Prussia and Swedish Pomerania ; and thus, instead of having 
 a neutral territory interposed between Russia and France, gar- 
 risons were held, in convenient readiness, to invade, at any 
 time, the Russian borders. 
 
 In the beginning of the present year, both emperors made 
 preparations against the approaching storm. The army of 
 Napoleon, amounted to at least four-hundred-thousand men ; 
 three-fourths of whom were French ; the remainder, consisting 
 of the troops of the Confederation of the Rhine, a body of 
 Prussians, and auxiliaries from Italy, commanded by the king 
 of Naples. 
 
 On the twenty-second of June, Napoleon arrived on the banks 
 of the Niemen. On the twenty-fourth, he passed that river, 
 three leagues beyond Kowno. When the head of the French 
 emperor's column, had reached the bank, he advanced, in per- 
 son, to reconnoitre, when his horse stumbled, and threw him. 
 — " A bad omen," said a voice ; but whether that of Napoleon, 
 or one of his suite, could not be distinguished : — " a Roman 
 
 02 
 
162 THE LIFE OF 
 
 would return." — On the Russian bank, appeared only a single 
 Cossack ; who challenged the first party of the French that 
 crossed the river, and demanded their purpose, in the territories 
 of Russia: — " To beat you, and advance to Wilna," was the 
 reply ; when the Cossack withdrew, nor was another soldier 
 then seen. 
 
 The French army pushed forward, with great rapidity, to 
 Wilna. Little opposition had hitherto been given, to the in- 
 vaders. The plan of defence, resolved upon, by the Russians, 
 was not, in the early stage of the campaign, to risk a general 
 battle ; but only to retard their progress, by a bold resistance, 
 at all points where a stand could easily be made, and to deso- 
 late the country around them. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth of June, Napoleon entered the capital 
 of Russian Poland. Here, having proclaimed the re-establish- 
 ment of the kingdom of Poland, the national enthusiasm was 
 excited, in his favour, and the ranks of his armies swelled, by 
 Polish levies ; and, soon afterwards, Austria lent her powerful 
 aid, in the subversion of her northern rival. 
 
 In the beginning of July, the Hetman Platolf, with his Cos- 
 sacks, left Grodno, and proceeded to Mir. On the seventh, 
 he encountered the advanced guard of the French army, under 
 Jerome Buonaparte, which he drove back, with great slaughter ^ 
 and, on the following day, he repulsed a still stronger force, 
 under the Polish chief, Rominski. Yet, notwithstanding these 
 partial advantages, in ten days after the opening of the cam- 
 paign, the advanced posts of the invading army were on the 
 Dwina ; and nearly all Lithuania, a country containing four- 
 millions of inhabitants, was conquered. 
 
 A ponderous volume would be required, to give only a brief 
 narrative of the battles which ensued. On the seventeenth of 
 August, the Russian General, Witgenstein, dislodged marshal 
 Oudinot from his intrenched camp, at Polotsk ; and, on the 
 other hand, the French gained a dearly purchased victory, at 
 Smolensko. Here, the Russians had determined to make their 
 first stand. The French were commanded by Napoleon, in 
 person ; the Russians, by general Barclay de Tolly. The battle 
 continued to rage, after the sun had withdrav/n his light. The 
 city was soon afterwards on fire : at two o'clock, in the morn- 
 ing, the French grenadiers advanced, to mount the breach, but 
 they were astonished at meeting no resistance; and soon dis- 
 covered that the place was entirely evacuated. All the streets 
 were covered with the bodies of expiring Russians ; over which» 
 the flames shed a melancholy glare, which aggravated the hor- 
 
NAPOLEON. 163 
 
 rors of the surrounding scene. When Napoleon entered the 
 city, he found it a heap of ruins ; and, in an agony of disap- 
 pointment, he exclaimed, " Never did defence assume so hos- 
 tile a shape, against the common feelings of self-preservation : 
 — these people treat their country as if they were its enemies!" 
 
 The French continued to advance; the Russians, to retreat. 
 On the morning of the twenty-ninth, the invaders arrived at 
 Viasma ; a town which had contained ten-thousand inhabitants, 
 but when entered, by the French, was a deserted heap of ruins. 
 
 At this period, the chief command of the Russian army, was 
 transferred from Barclay de Tolly, to his elder in commission, 
 prince Kutusoff; a general grown hoary in arms, and now re- 
 turned from waging a successful war against the Turks. That 
 he might the better defend Moscow, he took a strong position, 
 at a village, situated on an elevated plain, called Borodino. On 
 the fifth of September, Napoleon appeared before the place. 
 The morning of the seventh, at length arose, and thousands 
 beheld the dawn, for the last time. Two-thousand pieces of 
 artillery broke the pause of expectation, and aroused at once 
 all the horrors of war. A veil of smoke shut out the combatants 
 from the sun, and left them no other light, by which to pursue 
 the work of death, than the flashes which blazed from the mus- 
 ketry and cannon. The sabres of forty-thousand dragoons, 
 met each other, clashing in the horrid gloom, and the moving 
 ramparts of countless bayonets, strewed the earth with slain. 
 This was the most sanguinary battle, of modern times. Fif- 
 teen-thousand of the Russians were killed, and thirty-thousand 
 wounded ; nor was the advantage claimed by the French army, 
 gained with a much smaller sacrifice of human life. The vic- 
 tory was claimed also by the Russians ; but an impartial his- 
 torian can award the bloody palm to neither. The Russians 
 failed in their object, whicii was to arrest the progress of their 
 enemy : — the French, at the close of the battle, were obliged 
 to retire, for several miles ; and, while Tc Deum was perform- 
 ing, at St. Petersburgh, the French army arrived before the 
 walls of Moscow. 
 
 An interesting incident occurred, to the French emperor, 
 before the battle of Borodino. An officer brought him a por- 
 trait of his infant boy, the young Napoleon, king of Rome, 
 (born the twentieth of March, 1811,) which he displayed on 
 the outside of his tent ; to satisfy not only the officers, but the 
 soldiers, who crowded to behold the resemblance of their great 
 chieftain's son. 
 
 The fourteenth of September was the day, on which the 
 
164 THE LIFE OF 
 
 French entered the ancient capital of the Czars. The city 
 had, however, been nearly deserted, by its two-hundred-and- 
 fifty-thousand inhabitants ; and, scarcely had the French taken 
 up their residence, within the sacred precincts of the Kremlin, 
 when Moscow appeared, at different quarters, in flames. — The 
 governor, Rostopchin, by whose orders this sacrifice was made 
 — the most sublime act of patriotic devotion, ever contemplated 
 by the mind of man — had ordered the fire-engines to be de- 
 stroyed ; and the invaders were too intent on plunder, to sup- 
 ply their place, by those persevering exertions, by which, alone, 
 the progress of the devouring element might have been arrest- 
 ed. On the morning of the sixteenth, a violent wind arose^ 
 which spread the flames, in every direction. The whole ex- 
 tent of this ancient capital, seemed, at length, a sheet of flame, 
 a wilderness of fire ; and the sky was hidden from the view, by 
 a dense column of rolhng smoke. The lofty palaces of the 
 luxHrious noble — the clay-built cottages of the wretched boor 
 — the bazaars, loaded with the costly merchandise of the east 
 — the churches, with their beautiful steeples, resplendent as 
 gold — sunk, in chaotic ruin : the hospitals, containing more 
 than twenty-thousand wounded Russians, began to burn, and, 
 with nearly all their helpless inmates, were soon consumed ; — 
 and, in six days after Napoleon had entered, in silent triumph, 
 into Moscow, only one-tenth part of a city, twenty-six miles in 
 circumference, remained, as a cover to the unhfippy victors. 
 
 Napoleon now saw himself reduced to a level with common 
 mortals ; and all the horrors of his situation, at once, opened 
 to his view. His soldiers were deprived of shelter, his stores 
 were exhausted, his supplies intercepted, his troops were be- 
 come the victims of famine and disease. Like the duke of 
 Brunswick, when he led the German confederacy, to crush the 
 growing liberties of revolutionary France, his pride was hum- 
 bled, he paused in his wild career, and saw that all things can 
 be accomphshed by God alone. For the first time, in his 
 eventful life, he sued for peace. Thrice, did he tender the 
 oHve-branch, to Alexander; and thrice was it rejected, by the 
 indignant Czar. He would enter into no treaty, until his do- 
 minions were evacuated by the French. 
 
 On the sixteenth of October, Napoleon prepared to retreat 
 from Moscow ; and, on the nineteenth, before day-break, after 
 an abode of thirty-four days, the grand army, amounting to 
 about one-hundred-and-twenty-thousand men, left the city, 
 taking the great road to Kalouga. In his advance, he had 
 left strong garrisons at Smolensko, and other places of ioi- 
 
NAPOLEON. 165 
 
 portance, to command the route. A council of war was held, 
 in the head-quarters of the en)peror, the iiut of a poor weaver, 
 divided by a screen, which was the only partition. Here, he 
 received and meditated on the reports of his generals, together 
 with their opinions, and learned, to his distress, that Bessieres, 
 and other skilful officers, reported that the position occupied 
 by KutusofFwas unassailable. He resolved to judge, with his 
 own eyes, on the next day ; and, in the mean time, turned a 
 deaf ear to the information that the Cossacks were stealing 
 through the woods, and insinuating themselves between him 
 and his advanced guard. 
 
 At the dawning. Napoleon mounted his horse, in order to 
 reconnoitre, and incurred, in the attempt, a great risk of his 
 freedom, or his life. It was about day-break, when, attended 
 by his staff and a few soldiers, he crossed the little plain on the 
 northern side of the I^ouja, in order to gain the bridge; the 
 level ground was suddenly filled with fugitives, some black 
 masses appearing in their rear. At first, their cries seemed to 
 be those of Vive VEmpereur; but the wild hourra of the Cos- 
 sacks, and the swiftness of their advance, soon announced the 
 children of the desert. " It is the Cossacks," said general 
 JRapp, seizing the reins of the emperor's bridle. — " You must 
 turn back." — Napoleon refused to retreat, drew his sword, as 
 did his attendants, and placed himself on the side of the high- 
 way. Rapp's horse was wounded, and borne down by one of 
 these impetuous lancers ; but the emperor and suite preserved 
 their liberty, by standing their ground, while the cloud of Cos- 
 sacks, more intent on plunder, than prisoners, passed them, 
 within lance's length, without observing the inestimable prey 
 that was within their grasp, and threw themselves upon some 
 carriages, that were more attractive. — 'I'he Hetman PlatofT 
 had promised, as a reward, for Napoleon's head, his daughter, 
 in marriage, with a princely fortune. — The arrival of the cav- 
 alry of the guard, cleared the plain of this subtle and pertina- 
 cious enemy; and Napoleon proceeded to cross the river, and 
 ascend the further bank. 
 
 The defeat, suffered by the king of Naples, at Tauratino, was 
 counterbalanced, in the battle of Malo-Jaroslavitz ; but, with 
 this dearly-bought advantage, the sun of Napoleon's Russian 
 victories sunk below the horizon, to rise no more. A scene 
 of horrors now commenced, such as never before darkened 
 the historic page. FHght and disgrace, fatigue, famine, and 
 pestilence, were before the French soldier — misery in all its 
 various aspects. The pursuing Russians attacked the retreat- 
 
166 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ing army, in the rear — -other bodies of regular forces, inter- 
 cepted their advance, in front — while thousands of ambuscading 
 Cossacks, every w^here assailed them, on their flanks. Men 
 and horses, worn out with fatigue, tiould scarcely drag them- 
 selves along; and, as soon as the horses fell, exhausted, the 
 soldiers eagerly divided the carcasses amongst themselves, and 
 hastened to broil the flesh, upon the coals, for food. Suffering 
 yet more from cold, than from hunger, they abandoned their 
 ranks, to warm themselves by the hastily kindled fires ; but, 
 when they w^ished to rise, their frost-bitten limbs refused their 
 oflice, a partial insensibility crept over them, and many pre- 
 ferred falling into the hands of the enemy, to making further 
 efforts for the continuation of their route. While the right of 
 the French army was menaced by Platofl^, the left was pressed 
 upon, by the main Russian army, under Kutusoff". On the 
 sixth of November, the atmosphere, which had hitherto been 
 clear, became darkened and chilled, with vapoury clouds. The 
 thermometer fell to twenty-eight degrees below the freezing 
 point. The sun, darkened by thick mists, disappeared from 
 their sight ; and snow, falHng in large flakes, obscured the day. 
 The wind howled dreadfully through the forests ; while the 
 country around, as far as the eye could reach, presented the 
 appearance of savage wildness. The soldiers, vainly struggling 
 with the snow and the tempest, which rushed upon them with 
 the force of a whirlwind, could no longer distinguish the road; 
 and, falling into ditches, many of theto there found their graves. 
 Others pressed on, towards the end of their journey, scarcely 
 able to drag themselves along ; — without food, badly clothed, 
 and shivering with cold ; becoming selfish, through despair, 
 they afforded neither succour, nor the glance of pity, to those 
 who expired around them. 
 
 From that day, the army lost its courage, and its military 
 attitude. The soldier no longer obeyed his colonel ; the colonel 
 separated himself from his general. The horses fell by thou- 
 sands. The cannon and the baggage, which were now aban- 
 doned, served only to obstruct their way ; and, no sooner did 
 the soldiers separate themselves from their corps, than they 
 were assailed by a population, eager to avenge the horrors in- 
 flicted upon their country. The French soldiers were without 
 shoes, and almost without clothes. Sitting on their knapsacks, 
 they slept upon their knees ; and from this benumbing position, 
 they arose, only to broil some slices of horse-flesh, or to melt 
 a few morsels of ice. 
 
 A horse grenadier of the imperial guard, presented himself 
 
NAPOLEON. 167 
 
 at one of the fires of the bivouac. This brave man uras covered 
 with rags, of various colours, and had nothing left, of his hand- 
 some uniform, but his sabre and some slireds of the fur of his 
 cap, with which he protected his head, ears, and a part of his 
 face. The cold, which, in the language of one of his com- 
 panions, " vitrified his breath," caused a number of isicles to 
 hang from his mustachios and the fur which covered his face. 
 He had but a single boot ; the foot which had been so unfor- 
 tunate as to lose its proper covering, was wrapped in ^ piece 
 of old cloth, tied round his leg with a strip of leather. His 
 figure was tall, and even elegant, and his features showed se- 
 verity, calmness, and resignation. He displayed a piece of 
 linen, which served him as a handkerchief; and, approaching 
 the fire to dry it, said, " Come, I must do my washing." When 
 it was quite dry, he carefully scraped up the tobacco which it 
 contained, and wrapped it in a piece of dirty paper, which he 
 used as a snuff-box. He observed, in a lively tone, " We are 
 in a bad plight, but it is all the same ; we have beaten them 
 well: these Russians are nothing but beginners." 
 
 The retreat was covered by marshal Ney, who, for his sin- 
 gular good conduct, and devotion to the service of his fellow- 
 soldiers, was hailed, by his imperial master, as " the bravest of 
 the brave." 
 
 Napoleon reached Smolensko, on the ninth of November ; 
 and on the tenth, the first instance occurred, of a French corps 
 surrendering, without firing a gun. 
 
 On approaching the Beresina, Napoleon had stretched him- 
 self on a miserable couch, and apparently slumbered, while his 
 faithful servants Duroc and Daru, sitting in his apartment, 
 talked over their critical situation. In their whispered con- 
 versation, the words " prisoner of state" reached the sleepless 
 ears of Napoleon. — " Howl" said he, raising himself, *' do you 
 think they would dare ?" — In reply, Daru mentioned the phrase, 
 well known to the emperor, of state policy^ as a tiling inde- 
 pendent of public law or of morality. — " But France," said the 
 emperor, to whom state policy sounded less pleasantly than 
 when appealed to for directing some great movement of hi^ 
 own: — "what will France say?" — "Who can answ^er that 
 question. Sire?" continued Duroc; at the same time, adding, 
 " that it was his warmest wish that the emperor, at least, could 
 reach France, were it through the air, if earth were stopped 
 against his passage." 
 
 " Then, I am in the way, I suppose," said Napoleon. — "You 
 are, Sire," rephed Duroc. 
 
168 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " And you," continued the emperor, with an affectation of 
 treating the matter Hghtly, " have no wish to become a prisoner 
 of state." — " To be a prisoner of war, is sufficient for me," 
 said Duroc. 
 
 Napoleon was silent, for a time, then asked if the reports of 
 his ministers were burned. — " Not yet," was the reply. — " Then 
 let them be destroyed ; for it must be confessed we are in a 
 lamentable condition." 
 
 This was the strongest sign, yet given, of Napoleon's deeply 
 feelincp the situation to which he had reduced himself In 
 studying the map, to discover the fittest place to pass the 
 Beresina, he approached his finger to the country of the Cos- 
 sacks, and was heard to murmur, " Ah, Charles XII. — Pul- 
 tawa." But these were only momentary ejaculations, dictated 
 by a sense of his condition : all his resolutions were calmly and 
 firmly taken, with a sense of what was due to his followers and 
 himself 
 
 On the twenty-seventh, he crossed the Beresina, at the vil- 
 lage of Studzianca. On the morning of the twenty-eighth, the 
 bridge for carriages and cavalry, broke down ; and the baggage 
 and artillery advancing towards the bridge intended for the in- 
 fantry, there arose a scene of horror and confusion, that cannot 
 be described. Numbers perished by the hands of their com- 
 rades, but a greater number were suffocated at the head of the 
 bridge ; and the bodies of men and horses, so choked every 
 avenue, that it was necessary to climb over mountains of dead, 
 in order to reach the river. Some, buried in these horrible 
 heaps, still breathed, and, struggling with the agonies of death, 
 caught hold of those who mounted over them. The cannon- 
 balls struck the miserable crowds, the shells burst in the midst 
 of them ; and terror and despair took possession of every heart. 
 Hundreds were crushed to death, by the wheels of the cannon; 
 others, hoping to save themselves by swimming, were frozen, 
 in the midst of the river; thousands, deprived of hope, threw 
 themselves into the Beresina, and perished in the waves ; while 
 crowds upon crowds, still pressing towards the burning bridge, 
 choking up the passage, amidst bursting flames, the whole, at 
 length, sunk, with a tremendous crash, into the bosom of the 
 river. 
 
 On the fourth of December, Napoleon reached Smorgoni. 
 Here, having heard of a conspiracy, formed against his govern- 
 ment, by general Maret, he appointed the king of Naples his 
 lieutenant-general, and, committing himself and his fortunes to 
 a sledge, in which was Cauhncourt, duke of Vizenza, as his 
 
NAPOLEON. 169 
 
 companion, he abandoned the remains of his once formidable 
 host ; and, pursuing his rapid journey, on the tenth of Decem- 
 ber, he arrived at Warsaw. 
 
 Here, the Abbe de Pradt, then minister of France to the 
 Diet of Poland, was in the act of endeavouring to reconcile the 
 various rumours which poured in, from every quarter, when a 
 figure, like a spectre, wrapped in furs, which were stiffened by 
 hoar frost, stalked into his apartments, supported by a domes- 
 tic, and was with difficulty recognised, by the ambassador, as 
 the duke of Vizenza. 
 
 "You here, Caulincourt 1" said the astonished prelate — 
 " And where is the emperor ?" 
 
 " At the hotel d' Angletere, waiting for you." 
 
 " Why not stop at the palace ?" 
 
 "He travels incognito." 
 
 "Do you need any thing?" 
 
 " Some Burgundy or Malaga." 
 
 " All is at your service — but whither are you travelling ?" 
 
 " To Paris." 
 
 " To Paris ! — but where is the army?" 
 
 " It exists no longer," said Cauhncourt, looking upwards. 
 
 " And the victory of the Beresina — and the six-thousand 
 prisoners ?" 
 
 " We got across, that is all : — the prisoners were a few hun- 
 dred, who have escaped. We have had other business, than to 
 guard them." 
 
 His curiosity thus far satisfied, the Abbe de Pradt hastened 
 to the hotel. In the yard stood three sledges, in a shattered 
 condition : — one for the emperor and Caulincourt ; the second, 
 for two officers of rank; the third, for his favourite Mameluke, 
 Rustan, and another domestic. He was introduced, with some 
 mystery, into a miserable room of a wretched inn, where a ser- 
 vant girl was blowing a fire, made of green wood. Here, was 
 the emperor, whom the Abbe had last seen when he played 
 king of kings, amongst the assembled sovereigns, at Dresden. 
 He was dressed in a green pelisse, covered with lace, and lined 
 with furs ; and, by walking briskly about the apartment, was 
 endeavouring to obtain the warmth which was refused by a 
 half-kindled fire. He saluted " Monsieur I'Ambassadeur," as 
 he termed him, with gayety. The Abbe felt a movement of 
 sensibility, to which he was disposed to yield : but he limited 
 his expressions of devotion, to helping to pull off Napoleon's 
 cloak. He heard, from his minister, that the minds of the 
 inhabitants of the Grand Dutchy had been much changed since 
 
 P 
 
170 THE LIFE OF 
 
 they had despaired of the liberation of their country; and that 
 they were, already, since they could not be free Polanders, 
 studying how to reconcile themselves to their former governors 
 of Prussia. The entrance of two Polish ministers, checked the 
 ambassador's communication. The conversation was main- 
 tained, from that moment, by Napoleon alone ; or rather he 
 indulged in a monologue, turning upon the idea he entertained, 
 that the failure of his Russian expedition would diminish his 
 reputation, while he struggled against the painful conviction, 
 by numbering the plans by which he might repair his losses, 
 and alleging the natural obstacles to which he had been obhged 
 to yield. 
 
 " We must levy ten-thousand Poles," he said, " and check 
 the advance of these Russians. A lance and a horse are all 
 that is required. — There is but one step between the sublime 
 and the ridiculous." 
 
 The functionaries congratulated him on his escape from so 
 many dangers. 
 
 " Dangers !" he replied ; " none in the world. I live in agi- 
 tation. The more I bustle, the better I am. It is for kings 
 of Cockaigne, to fatten in their palaces — horseback and the 
 field are for me. — From the sublime, to the ridiculous, there is 
 but a single step. — Why do I find you so much alarmed, here ?" 
 
 " We are at a loss to gather the truth, about the news from 
 the army." 
 
 *' Bah," rephed the emperor; "the army is in a superb con- 
 dition. I have a hundred-and-twenty-thousand men — I have 
 beaten the Russians in every action — they are no longer the 
 soldiers of Friedland and Eylau. The army will recruit at 
 Wilna. — I am going to bring up three-hundred-thousand men. 
 • — Success will render the Russians fool-hardy — I will give 
 them battle twice or thrice upon the Oder, and, in a month, I 
 will be again on the Niemen. I have more weight on my 
 throne, than at the head of an army. Certainly, I quit my 
 soldiers with regret ; but I must watch Austria and Prussia, 
 and I have more weight seated on my throne, than at the head 
 of an army. All that has happened, goes for nothing — a 
 mere misfortune, in which the enemy can claim no merit. 
 — I beat them every where — they wished to cut me off at 
 the Beresina — I made a fool of that ass of an admiral — 
 (He could never pronounce the name TchitchuzofF) — I had 
 good troops and cannon — the position was superb — five-hun- 
 dred toises of marsh — a river — " This, he repeated twice, 
 then ran over the distinction in the twenty-ninth bulletin, be- 
 
NAPOLEON. 171 
 
 tvveen men of strong and of feeble minds, and proceeded, — " I 
 have seen worse affairs, than this. — At Marengo, I was beaten 
 till six o'clock in the evening — next day, I was master of Italy. 
 — At Esling, that archduke tried to stop me. — He published 
 something or other. — My army had already advance/i i^ajf a 
 league. — I did not even condescend to make any disposition. 
 All the world knows how such things are managed, when I am 
 in the field. I could not help the Danube's rising sixteen feet, 
 in one night. — Ah ! but for that, there would have been an 
 end of the Austrian monarchy. But it was written, in heaven, 
 that I should marry an archduchess. — In the same manner, in 
 Russia, I could not prevent its freezing. They told me, every 
 morning, that I had lost ten-thousand horses, during the night. 
 — Well, farewell to you!" — He bade them adieu five or six 
 times, in the course of the harangue, but always returned to 
 the subject. — "Our Norman horses," he continued, "are less 
 hardy than the Russian : — they sink under ten degrees of cold 
 (below zero.) It is the same, with the men. Look at the 
 Bavarians : there is not one left. — Perhaps, it may be said, that 
 I stopped too long at Moscow : — that may be true ; but the 
 weather was fine — the winter came on prematurely — besides, 
 I expected peace. On the fifth of October I sent Lauriston 
 to treat. I thought of o-oinir to St. Petersburoh, and I had time 
 enough to do so, or to go to the south of Russia, or to Smo- 
 lensk. Well, we will make head at Wilna : — Murat is left 
 there. Ha, ha, ha ! It is a great political game. Nothing 
 venture, nothing win. — It is but one step from the sublime to 
 the ridiculous. The Russians have shown they have character 
 — their emperor is beloved by his people — they have clouds 
 of Cossacks — it is something, to have such a kingdom: the 
 peasants of the crown love their government — the nobihty are 
 all mounted on horseback. I made regular v/ar upon the em- 
 peror Alexander; but who could have expected such a blow 
 as the burning of Moscow ? — that sacrifice would have done 
 honour to ancient Rome." 
 
 The fire went out, and the counsellors listened in frozen 
 despair, while, keeping himself warm, by walking up and down, 
 and by his own energies, the emperor proceeded in his mono- 
 logue ; now betraying feelings and sentiments which he would 
 have concealed; now dwelling upon that which he wished 
 others to believe. 
 
 His passage through Silesia being mentioned, he answered, 
 in a doubtful tone, " Ha, Prussia ?" — as if questioning the se- 
 curity of that route. At length, he determined to depart; 
 
172 THE LIFE OF 
 
 interrupted the respectful wishes for the preservation of his 
 health, with the brief assurance, that he " could not be in bet- 
 ter health, were the very devil in him ;" and threw himself into 
 the humblfi d^^gp. which carried the destinies of Europe. The 
 : — -^c sprung forward, nearly overturning the carriage as it 
 crossed the court-yard gate, and disappeared in the gloom of 
 night. 
 
 Continuing his journey in secrecy, on the fourteenth of De- 
 cember, Napoleon arrived at Dresden; and, pursuing his course 
 with unabated rapidity, by the way of Leipsic and Mentz, at 
 midnight, on the eighteenth, he entered Paris. 
 
 Napoleon and his attendant were not readily admitted into 
 the Tuileries, at so late an hour. Two figures, muffled in furs, 
 entei ed the ante-room, and one of them directed his course ta 
 the door of the empress's sleeping-chamber. The lady in wait- 
 ing hastened to throw herself between the intruder and the 
 entrance ; bat, recognising the emperor, she shrieked aloud, 
 and alarmed the empress. Their meeting was most affectionate,, 
 and showed, that, although he had been deserted by fortune, he 
 still enjoyed the tender sympathies of a loving wife. 
 
 It is difficult to ascertain the loss of the French army, in this 
 dreadful campaign. No official statement has ever been pub- 
 lished, by the French; but, it is probable, that, of nearly four- 
 hundred-thousand troops, not fifty-thousand were suffered to 
 escape from Russia. 
 
 1 R1 "^ With Alexander at their head, the victorious Russians 
 still continued the pursuit. On the fourth of March, 
 they entered Berlin ; where they were received, not as enemies,, 
 but as friends — not as invaders, but as liberators from the gall- 
 ing chains of France. The nations which had been constrained 
 to submit to the overwhelming power of Napoleon, now re- 
 solved to throw off the yoke. Prussia set the example ; which 
 was followed by several more of the German states ; and the 
 crown-prince of Sweden, Bernadotte, joined in the great north- 
 ern league. 
 
 In the mean time, the shattered remains of the French army,^ 
 having received some reinforcements, concentrated upon the 
 Elbe. The spring had not far advanced, before all traces of 
 the Russian disasters, were effaced. The three-hundred-and- 
 fifty-thousand conscripts, however, now levied, in France, con- 
 tained a much larger proportion, than was usual, of boys ; as 
 well as numbers of men beyond the appointed age for mihtary 
 service. 
 
 The king of Prussia, having offered his mediation, between 
 
NAPOLEON. 173 
 
 the allied sovereigns and Napoleon, the latter rejected the lib- 
 eral terms proposed as the basis of pacification ; and Frederick 
 WiUiam joined the confederation against France. Prince 
 Kutusoff having, about this period, died, general Witgenstein 
 was invested with the chief command of the allied armies. 
 
 On the fifteenth of April, Napoleon, having appointed the 
 empress regent, left Paris. On the first of May, he defeated 
 the confederates, at Lutzen ; on the twentieth, at Bautzen ; and 
 the next day, at Hochkirk, after one of the most sanguinary 
 engagements recorded in military annals. In the battle of 
 Lutzen, marshal Bessieres was killed ; and at Hochkirk, Na- 
 poleon had to deplore the loss of his faithful associate in arms, 
 marshal Duroc. At this period of the campaign, an armistice 
 was negotiated, between the belligerants, by the emperor of 
 Austria ; but, Napoleon having refused to concur in the terms, 
 proposed by the allied sovereigns, for the restoration of the 
 balance of power, in Euro]3e, Francis joined the confederacy 
 against the husband of his daughter; and, on the tenth of Au- 
 gust, hostilities recommenced. Great Britain, Russia, Austria, 
 and Prussia ; Sweden, Spain, and Portugal ; were ranged on 
 one side : France, Holland, and Denmark ; Italy, Bavaria, and 
 Saxony, and the minor states of Germany ; on the other. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of August, Napoleon entered Dresden. 
 The Russian, Prussian, and Austrian, armies, were then before 
 the city, commanded by their respective sovereigns, in person. 
 They resolved, if possible, to expel the French ; but, finding 
 themselves in danger of being intercepted in their communica- 
 tion with Bohemia, they determined to retreat ; and. Napoleon 
 sallying out upon the retiring army, there ensued a series of 
 engagements, in which twenty-five-thousand prisoners were 
 taken from the allies ; and general Moreau, who had left his 
 exile, in the United States, and joined the Russian army, on 
 the invitation of Alexander, received a mortal wound. He 
 was conversing with the emperor, surrounded by a brilliant 
 assemblage of imperial officers, when Napoleon ordered a dozen 
 cannon-balls to be throAvn, at once, amongst the group ; one 
 of which passed through the general's horse, and carried off 
 both his legs. — The advantage, however, gained, by Napoleon, 
 before Dresden, was, soon afterwards, counterbalanced, by the 
 defeat and capture of general Vandamme, and his army of ten- 
 thousand men, by the Russian commander, count Osterman ; 
 also, by the discomfiture of several other corps, by the Prussian 
 general Blucher; and, by one of Napoleon's former generals, 
 the crown-prince of Sweden. 
 
 P 2 
 
174 THE LIFE OF 
 
 But all these engagements, were only a prelude to the great 
 and decisive battle of Leipsic ; where the arm of the giant was 
 broken, and the eagles of France were once more stripped 
 of their brilliant plumes. This mighty struggle commenced 
 on the sixteenth of October ; a day which will ever be distin- 
 guished, in the narrative of great events. Never^ on the en- 
 sanguined fields of Europe, had any military operations been 
 exhibited, on so grand a scale. The allies were commanded 
 by the Austrian general, prince Schwartzenberg, the crown- 
 prince Bernadotte, and marshal Blucher. Napoleon, with his 
 ablest generals, commanded the troops of France. The sev- 
 enteenth was occupied, by the French, in replacing the eighty- 
 thousand cannon-balls, fired, by them, on the preceding day ; 
 and, by the allies, in bringing up their reinforcements. On the 
 eighteenth, prince Schwartzenberg determined to execute the 
 design of the allied sovereigns, and to bring the fate of Europe 
 to its final crisis. At two o'clock, in the morning. Napoleon 
 was on the ground. The sun arose, and the combatants began 
 the work of death. At no period, had human blood been 
 spilled upon a wider field. The theatre of their operations 
 extended over a circle of many miles ; within which, the life 
 of man was wasted, at the same moment, by the mouths of fif- 
 teen-hundred pieces of cannon. In the battle, were assembled, 
 three emperors, two sovereign princes, and the heir-apparent 
 to a crown ; more than half-a-million of warriors formed the 
 combatants, and the stake at issue, was nothing less than the 
 independence of continental Europe. At three o'clock, in the 
 afternoon, victory still hovered between the two armies, when 
 seventeen battalions of Wirtemberg and Saxon troops, went 
 over to the enemy. This defection of their German auxiliaries,^ 
 caused an opening in the French lines. Disorder now pre- 
 vailed, in Napoleon's ranks ; the allies established themselves 
 on the left bank of the Partha, and soon advanced within half 
 a league of Leipsic. The French army had, within five days^ 
 expended two-hundred-and-twenty-thousand cannon-balls; their 
 ammunition was nearly exhausted, and a further supply could 
 be obtained only at Magdeburg or Erfurt. The evening had 
 scarcely closed, when the army began to defile ; and the whole 
 nio'ht of the eighteenth, was occupied in the retreat. Napoleon,, 
 with the main body of his guards, remained in the vicinity of 
 Leipsic, until the morning of the nineteenth ; when the victo- 
 rious army of the confederates, made every preparation, to 
 storm his last strong hold. At nine o'clock, the bombardment 
 recommenced ; the French were assailed, in all directions, with 
 
NAPOLEON. 175 
 
 the bayonet ; and notwitlistanding the obstinacy of their de- 
 fence, they were overthrown, in every quarter, and put com- 
 pletely to the rout. 
 
 Napoleon did not quit Leipsic, until a few minutes before 
 the entrance of the allies. Before his departure, he had order- 
 ed the engineers to form a mine, under the great bridge, be- 
 tween Leipsic and Lindenau ; with directions to blow it up, 
 when all the French troops had marched over ; and thus to 
 retard the advance of their pursuers. This duty, by a strange 
 neglect of the colonel, charged with its execution, was confided 
 to a corporal and four sappers ; who, ill comprehending the 
 nature of the service, upon hearing the first shot discharged 
 from the ramparts of the city, set fire to the mine, and blew 
 up the bridge. When this explosion took place, the whole of 
 the rear-guard of the French army, under marshal Macdonald 
 and prince Poniatowski, were still on the Leipsic side of the 
 river, with a park of eighty pieces of cannon, and several hun- 
 dred wagons. A cry of dismay spread through the ranks, on 
 the approach of the troops to the river. — " The enemy are 
 close upon our rear, and the bridges are destroyed !" — was 
 heard, on every side. The soldiers dispersed, and were all 
 either killed or taken prisoners ; marshal Macdonald swam 
 across the river; but Poniatowski, less fortunate, plunged into 
 the Elster, and sunk, to rise no more. 
 
 The battle of Leipsic was alike momentous, as regarded the 
 extent of its operations, and the character of its result. The 
 French had fifteen general officers captured, amongst whom 
 were generals Regnier and Lauriston : two-hundred-and-fifty 
 pieces of cannon, and fifty-thousand prisoners, including the 
 king of Saxony, and all his court, fell into the hands of the 
 alhes, besides several eagles and stands of colours. In a few 
 weeks afterwards, fifty-thousand more of the French army sur- 
 rendered ; thus reducing their numbers, within a month, one- 
 hundred-and-forty-thousand men. 
 
 ^oiA Meanwhile, the victories of lord Wellington, in Spain, 
 particularly at Vittoria and St. Sebastian, had enabled 
 him to drive the French army over the Pyrennees, and gain a 
 firm footing in France. On the twelfth of March, a division, 
 commanded by marshal Beresford, occupied Bourdeaux; where 
 the mayor, and the principal inhabitants, assumed the white 
 cockade, and declared for the Bourbons. The defection of the 
 dependent states, became universal. Holland, as well as Swit- 
 zerland, cast off the Buonapartean yoke ; and the prince of 
 Orange being invited, by the unanimous voice of the Dutch 
 
176 THE LIFE OF 
 
 nation, returned, from England, after an absence of nineteen 
 years, and was reinstated in his former sovereignty ; while, at 
 the same time, Denmark and Naples acceded to the grand 
 alliance. 
 
 In the short space of a year, two armies of Frenchmen had 
 been lost. The month of January had not elapsed, before the 
 energies of Napoleon, aided by the enthusiastic veneration of 
 the people, brought a third army into the field ; unripe, indeed, 
 in years, inexperienced in military discipline, but quick in re- 
 ceiving instruction, and zealous to repel the invaders of their 
 native soil. The confederate armies, under prince Schwartzen- 
 berg and marshal Blucher, had followed the relics of the re- 
 treating French ; and, on the twentieth of December, in the 
 preceding year, had passed the Rhine. Never did the military 
 genius of Napoleon, shine forth, with so resplendent lustre, as 
 in the long series of murderous conflicts that ensued ; never 
 had he exposed his person to so much danger. Leading on 
 his cavalry to the charge, he penetrated through the most solid 
 masses of the opposing foe. Surrounded by enemies, four times 
 the number of his own troops, he foiled them, in almost every 
 attempt to intercept his movements ; and repulsed the musta- 
 choed veterans of the invading armies, with beardless boys. 
 Like the fabled bird of antiquity, he seemed to rise more glo- 
 rious from the ashes of his former ruin ; and, like the expiring 
 lamp, to shine with a loftier flame, at the moment of his ex- 
 tinction. Twice, did he refuse offers of pacification, on condi- 
 tion that the boundaries of France should be the Pyrennees, 
 the Alps, and the Rhine. But his enemies, at length, achieved, 
 by their superior numbers, what they were unable to accom- 
 plish by their skill. Taking the advantage of a movement made 
 by Napoleon, intended to intercept their supposed retreat upon 
 the Rhine, the allies proceeded rapidly in an opposite direction; 
 and, on the twenty-ninth of March, appeared before the feeble 
 walls of Paris. Yet, so obstinate was the defence, made by 
 Joseph Buonaparte, and marshals Marmont and Mortier — the 
 artillery being, for the most part, served by the students of the 
 polytechnic school, boys of from twelve to fourteen years of 
 age— that, had not Napoleon given orders, that the capital 
 should not be defended to extremity, the allied sovereigns 
 would, most likely, have been repulsed, after havijig raised a 
 countervallation, around the city, with their slain. The hazard, 
 however, to the citizens, from a protracted defence, was great, 
 should an infuriated soldiery, in the end, prevail.- — Yielding, 
 therefore, to overruling necessity, and prudence, the imperial 
 
NAPOLEON. 177 
 
 family retired, to a place of safety ; and the capital was sur- 
 rendered, by capitulation, after a bombardment of eleven hours, 
 on the thirtieth of March. 
 
 On the morning of the thirty-first, the royalists were seen in 
 groups in the Place Louis Quinze, the garden of the Tuileries, 
 the Boulevards, and other places of general resort. They dis- 
 tributed the proclamations of the alhes, and raised the long 
 forgotten cry of Vive le Roi! At first, none, except those 
 engaged in the perilous experiment, durst repeat so dangerous 
 a signal ; but, by degrees, the crowds increased, the leaders 
 mounted on horseback, and distributed white cockades, lihes, 
 and other emblems of attachment to the Bourbons. The ladies 
 of the royal party came to their assistance. The princess of 
 Leon, viscountess of Chateaubriand, countess of Choiseuil, and 
 other women of high rank, joined the procession, distributing, 
 on all sides, the emblems of their party, and tearing their 
 dresses to make white cockades, when those which they had 
 brought with them were exhausted. The better class of the 
 burgeois, began to catch the flame, and remembered their old 
 royalist opinions, and by whom they were defeated in the battle 
 of the sections, when Napoleon laid the foundation of his fame, 
 in the discomfiture of the national guards. Whole picquets 
 began to adopt the white, instead of the tri-coloured cockade ; 
 yet the voices were far from unanimous, and, at many places, 
 parties of different principles met and skirmished together, in 
 the streets. 
 
 But the tendency to discord was soon diverted, and the atten- 
 tion of the Parisians, of all classes and opinions, suddenly con- 
 centrated upon the imposing and terrible spectacle of the allied 
 army, which now began to pour its columns into the captured 
 city. 
 
 The sovereigns had previously received, at the village of 
 Pantin, the magistrates of Paris'; and Alexander had expressed 
 himself in language still more explicit, than that of their proc- 
 lamation. He made war, he said, on Napoleon alone; one 
 who had been his friend, but had relinquished that character, 
 to inflict great evils upon his empire. He had not, however, 
 come, to retaliate those injuries, but to make a secure peace, 
 with anv sovernment which France might choose for herself. — 
 " I am at peace," continued the emperor, " with France, and 
 at war with Napoleon alone." 
 
 An immense crowd filled the Boulevards — a large open 
 promenade, which, under a variety of distinctive names, forms 
 a circuit around the city — to witness the entrance of the allied 
 
178 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sovereigns and their army, whom this volatile people were now 
 disposed to regard rather as friends than enemies, — a disposi- 
 tion which increased, until it amounted to enthusiasm for the 
 persons of those princes, against whom a sanguinary contest 
 had been maintained only the day before. Even at their first 
 entrance within the barriers, the crowd was so enormous, as 
 well as the acclamations so great, that it was difficult to move 
 forward ; but, before the monarchs had reached the gate of St. 
 Martin, to turn on the Boulevards, it was impossible to proceed 
 further; all Paris seemed to be assembled and concentrated to 
 one spot — one spring evidently directed all their movements. 
 They thronged around the monarchs, with the most unanimous 
 shouts of " Long live the emperor Alexander ! — Long live the 
 king of Prussia !" mingled with the loyal exclamations, " Long 
 live the king ! — Long live Louis XVIIL ! — Long live the Bour- 
 bons !" 
 
 The procession continued several hours ; during which, fifty- 
 thousand chosen troops of the grand army filed along the Bou- 
 levards, in broad and deep columns ; exhibiting a whole forest 
 of bayonets, mingled with long trains of artillery, and preceded 
 by numerous regiments of cavalry, of every description. After 
 making the circuit of the half of Paris, by the interior Boule- 
 vards, the monarchs halted in the Champs Elysees, and the 
 troops passed in review before them, as they were dismissed to 
 their respective quarters in the city ; none of the various na- 
 tions exciting so much curiosity, as the Cossacks ; whose ap- 
 pearance was most picturesque, loaded as they were with the 
 plunder of a long campaign, placed, for the most part, beneath 
 their saddles, which vi^ere thus raised, a considerable height, 
 above their horses' backs, while geese, turkeys, and every other 
 species of domestic fowls, were dangling from their saddle-bows 
 and the sides of their prancing steeds. 
 
 When the imperial family had reached the palace of Ram- 
 bouillet — situated about twenty-seven miles south-west of Paris 
 — the emperor of Austria sent a message to Maria Louisa, 
 saying that he would breakfast with her. Apprised of his ap- 
 proach, the empress, followed by her son, her ladies who had 
 not left her, and the officers of her household, w^ent to the very 
 bottom of the stairs leading to the palace-gate. The emperor's 
 calash stopped ; he instantly alighted, and, when he came to 
 the empress, she took her son from the hands of madame de 
 Montesquieu, and quickly placed him in his grandfather's arms, 
 before she herself received his first embraces. This action, so 
 natural to the feelings of a mother, produced a visible emotion 
 
NAPOLEON. 179 
 
 on the features of her father. Perhaps, at that moment, he 
 repented having listened to old resentments, and was sorry that 
 he had seconded the efforts of the other powers. 
 
 The emperor Alexander, also, came after wai*ds to breakfast 
 with the empress. He was so agreeable, and so much at his 
 ease, that a spectator would have been almost induced to be- 
 lieve that no serious event had occurred, at Paris. After 
 breakfast, the czar asked of the empress pennission to see her 
 son ; and, turning to the prefect, with whom he had become 
 acquainted in the north, he said : " M. de Bausset, will you 
 have the goodness to conduct me to the apartments of the little 
 king ?" When Alexander saw the child, he kissed him, exam- 
 ined him attentively, and loaded him with caresses. He said 
 many flattering things to madame de Montesquiou ; and, before 
 going away, again kissed " the little king," whose father he 
 had just assisted to dethrone. 
 
 While two-hundred-thousand men were preparing to enter 
 the capital of Napoleon, the unconscious hero was enjoying a 
 few hours' repose, at a small inn, about four leagues from Paris. 
 Informed of the surrender of the city, he collected all his troops, 
 at Fontainbleau, amounting to sixty-thousand men, and an- 
 nounced his intention of marching to the capital, and expelling 
 the invaders. General Belliard reminded him, that there were 
 no longer any troops in Paris — " It matters not," said Napo- 
 leon ; " I will find the national guard there. The army will 
 join me to-morrow, or the day after, and I will put things on a 
 proper footing." — " But, I must repeat to your majesty," re- 
 joined Belliard, " that you cannot go to Paris. The national 
 guard, in virtue of the treaty, mount guard at the barriers ; 
 and, though the alUes are not to enter until seven o'clock in 
 the morning, it is possible they may have found their way to 
 the out-posts, and that your majesty may find Russian or Prus- 
 sian parties at the gates, or on the Boulevards." — " It is all 
 the same," returned Napoleon, "I am determined to go there. 
 — My carriage ! — Follow me, with your cavalry." — " But, sire, 
 your majesty will expose Paris to the risk of storm or pillage. 
 More than twenty-thousand men are in possession of the 
 heights : for myself, I have left the city in consequence of a 
 convention, and cannot therefore return." — "What is that 
 convention ? Who has concluded it ?" — " I cannot tell, sire ; 
 I only know, from the duke of Treviso, that such exists, and 
 that I must march to Fontainbleau." — " What is Joseph about ? 
 Where is the minister at war?" — "I do not know: we have 
 received orders from neither of them, the whole day. Each 
 
180 THE LIFE OF 
 
 marshal acted on his own responsibility. They have not been 
 seen to-day, with the army ; at least, not with the duke of Tre- 
 viso's corps." — " Come, we must to Paris: — nothing goes on 
 right, when I am absent — they do nothing but make blunders." 
 
 But some of his marshals, had already given in their adhe- 
 rence to the provisional government ; and a majority of the 
 others, refused to aid in the romantic enterprise. On the fourth 
 of April, therefore. Napoleon sent a deputation to the senate, 
 offering to abdicate the throne, in favour of his infant son. 
 But the Napoleon dynasty had ceased. The palladium of the 
 French empire, was now in the possession of the allied sov- 
 ereigns, and they determined to restore the Bourbons. They 
 proposed, at the same time, to guarantee the personal safety 
 of Napoleon and his family ; to allow all the nobility, of his 
 creation, to retain their honours and estates ; to permit him to 
 retire to the isle of Elba, which he was to hold, in full sove- 
 reignty, during his life, with a yearly pension of two-millions 
 of francs ; also, to retain the title of emperor ; and Maria 
 Louisa, to have the dutchies of Parma, Guestalla, and Placen- 
 tia, with succession to Francis Napoleon, her son. 
 
 When the deputation returned. Napoleon listened to the 
 news of the rejection of his proposition, as a matter which he 
 had expected. But, recollecting his disinterested behaviour, 
 when they parted, they were surprised when he almost instantly 
 demanded, what provision had been made for himself They 
 informed him, that it was proposed he should reside, as an inde- 
 pendent sovereign, "in Elba, or somewhere else." Napoleon 
 paused for a moment. " Somewhere else ?" he exclaimed. 
 *' That must be Corsica. — Elba? Who knows any thing of 
 Elba? Seek out some officer who is acquainted with Elba. 
 Collect what books or charts can inform us about Elba." 
 
 In a moment, he was as deeply interested in the position and 
 capabilities of this little islet, as if he had never been emperor 
 of France, and had nearly become the ruler of the world. After 
 a night's consideration, he despatched Caulincourt and Mac- 
 donald once more to Paris, to treat with the allies upon the 
 terms of the unconditional abdication of the empire. " The 
 allied powers," says the fallen chieftain, in the document to be 
 presented to the sovereigns, " having proclaimed that the em- 
 peror Napoleon is the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of 
 peace in Europe, he declares, that he renounces, for .himself 
 and his heirs, the throne of France and Italy, because there is 
 no personal sacrifice, not even that of life itself, which he is not 
 ready to make, for the interests of France." 
 
NAPOLEON. 181 
 
 Maria Louisa made several efforts to join her husband, but 
 they were discouraged by Napoleon himself, who, while he had 
 continued to attempt a renewal of the war, could not desire to 
 have the empress with him, exposed to so much danger. Shortly 
 afterwards, the emperor of Austria visited his daughter and her 
 son, then at Rambouillet, and informed her, that she was, for 
 some time at least, to remain separate from her husband, and 
 that her son and she were to return to Vienna, with himself. 
 
 Having at length resigned himself entirely to his fate. Napo- 
 leon, on the twentieth of April, prepared for his departure. 
 But first he had the painful task of bidding farewell to that part 
 of his army which was most attached to him, — his celebrated 
 Imperial Guard. As many as could be collected, were drav/n 
 out before him, in review. Tears dropped from his eyes, and 
 his features had the marks of strong emotion, while reviewing, 
 for the last time, as he must then have thought likely, tlie com- 
 panions of so many victories. He advanced to them on horse- 
 back, then dismounted, and took his solemn leave. " All Eu- 
 rope," he said, " had armed against him : France herself had 
 deserted him, and chosen another dynasty. He might," he 
 said, "have maintained, with his soldiers, a civil war of years; 
 but it would have rendered France unhappy. Be faithful," he 
 continued, " to the new sovereign whom France has chosen. 
 Do not lament my fate : I will always be happy, when I know 
 that you are so. I could have died — nothing was easier — but 
 I will always follow the road of honour. I will record, with 
 my pen, the deeds we have done together. I cannot embrace 
 you all, but I will embrace your general." — (he pressed Mac- 
 donald to his bosom.) — " Bring hither the eagle." — (He em- 
 braced the standard, and concluded,) — " Beloved eagle, may 
 the kisses I bestow on you, long resound in the hearts of the 
 brave ! Adieu, my children — Adieu, my brave companions : — 
 Surround me once more — Adieu." 
 
 On the same day, the ex-emperor departed, for his little insu- 
 lar dominion, accompanied by generals Bertrand and Drouet, 
 who retired with him to his place of exile ; and, on the third 
 of May, Louis XVHL, elder brother of the decapitated mon- 
 arch — who had, for several years, been residing in Great Brit- 
 ain — after an expatriation of nearly twenty-five years, made his 
 entry into Paris. 
 
 Napoleon was escorted, on his journey, by four superior 
 officers, acting as commissioners to the allied powers, together 
 with one-hundred-and-fifty foreign troops; supported by "de- 
 tachments, placed at a distance from each other. The cries 
 
 Q 
 
182 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of Vive VEmpereur ! which attended the departure of the im- 
 perial cavalcade, were reiterated, in every town and village, 
 from Fontainbleau to Moulins ; and the discontent of the pop- 
 ulace, at the presence of the commissioners, and the object of 
 their journey, was expressed in the most unqualified terms of 
 abuse. At Lyons — which city Napoleon passed through, near 
 midnight, on the twenty-third — a few persons were assembled, 
 and saluted him with the cry so familiar to his ears in the day 
 of his prosperity. 
 
 But the troops belonging to marshal Augereau's corps, 
 though wearing white cockades, received the emperor with mil- 
 itary honours ; and their indignation was manifested, in no very 
 equivocal terms, towards the commissioners in his suite. Here, 
 however, his triumphs ended ; and his lacerated feelings were 
 no longer soothed with the homage of acclamations. At 
 Avignon, on the morning of the twenty-fifth, a great concourse 
 of persons was assembled, and the emperor and his attendants 
 were saluted with the cries of "Fz^^e le Roil Vivent les allies! 
 A has Nicolas! A has le tyran, le coquin, le mauvais gueux!^^ 
 — " Long hve the king ! Success to the allies ! Down with Nic- 
 olas !^ Down with the tyrant, the rascal, the beggar!" — and 
 even still coarser abuse. The conduct of the populace at Orgon 
 and Aix, was equally insulting. At the former, a gallows was 
 erected, exactly on the spot where the relays of horses stood ; 
 from which, was suspended a figure, in French uniform, sprin- 
 kled with blood, bearing a paper on its breast, with the in- 
 scription : — 
 
 " Tel sera, tot ou tard, le sort du Tyran /" 
 '[" Such will be, sooner or later, the fate of a tyrant."] 
 
 At Aix, the landlady, who did not recognise him, asked him: 
 " Well, have you met Buonaparte ? I am curious to see how 
 he will save himself. I do believe the people will murder him, 
 and, it must be confessed, the scoundrel has well deserved it. 
 But tell me, they are going to embark him for his island, are 
 they not?" — "Certainly," rephed the emperor — "Ah! but 
 they will drown him, I hope." — " Oh, without doubt," said the 
 emperor. 
 
 The adjutant of general Schunaloff, the Russian commission- 
 er, was constrained to put on the blue great coat and round 
 
 * A name applied familiarly to Buonaparte, when a student at the 
 college of Brienne, and revived, as a terra of opprobrium, after his 
 abdication ; under an erroneous idea, that JSTicolas was really his 
 christian name. 
 
NAPOLEON. 183 
 
 hat, in which the emperor had reached the inn ; that, in case 
 of necessity, he might be insuUed, and even murdered, for him. 
 
 He was quite rejoiced at general Roller's being taken for 
 the emperor, in a conversation held by him with a French 
 officer, a native of Corsica. Roller was obliged to put various 
 questions to him, which Napoleon whispered in his ear ; and 
 which led the officer to conclude that it must be the emperor 
 who spoke with him, since no Austrian general could have so 
 intimate a knowledge of the island. 
 
 These repeated demonstrations of popular indignation, be- 
 came so alarming, that Napoleon changed his dress, in his car- 
 riage, soon after he left the town ; and, mounting a post-horse, 
 rode on, before, in the character of a courier. At a small inn, 
 on the other side of Orgon, the imperial suite stopped to din- 
 ner ; and here, in a kind of charpber, the former ruler of the 
 world was found, by the commissioners, buried in thought, with 
 his head resting on his hand, and his countenance bedewed with 
 tears. 
 
 When his mind had resumed some degree of composure, he 
 spoke freely of his political projects, while emperor of France; 
 but he declared that now, every thing that could happen in the 
 political world, was, to him, perfectly indifferent ; and he felt 
 himself extremely happy, in anticipating the tranquil life, which 
 he should pass in Elba, far from the intrigues of courts, and in 
 the full enjoyment of political pursuits. Yes ! the throne of 
 Europe might now, with safety, be offered to him — he would 
 reject it : — this conduct of the French towards him, had evinced 
 so black ingratitude, as entirely to disgust him with the ambi- 
 tion of reigning. 
 
 On the morning of the twenty-seventh, the emperor and his 
 train, arrived in the neighbourhood of Frejus ; when, finding 
 himself under the protection of a body of Austrian troops, he 
 resumed his uniform, and once more occupied his own carriage. 
 The Undaunted, an English frigate, under the command of 
 captain Usher, (Napoleon having refused to sail in a French 
 ship of war,) awaited his arrival ; and, at eleven o'clock in the 
 night of the twenty-eighth, he embarked on board that vessel, 
 under a salute of twenty-four guns, in the harbour of St. Ra- 
 phor, where, fourteen years before, he had landed, on his re- 
 turn from Egypt. 
 
 During the five days passed at sea, the manners of the em- 
 peror were usually courteous and condescending. General 
 Roller and colonel Campbell, the two commissioners on the 
 part of Austria and Great Britain, as well as the captain and 
 
184 THE LIFE OF 
 
 first lieutenant of the frigate, were daily invited to his table ; 
 and he frequently expressed his regret at the scenes which the 
 two former had been called to witness, during the latter days 
 of his journey, through the instigation, as he imagined, of the 
 Bourbons. 
 
 He inquired minutely respecting the discipline of the English 
 frigate ; which he commended highly ; at the same time, assur- 
 ing captain Usher, that, had he retained the imperial sovereignty 
 only five years longer, he would have had three-hundred sail 
 of the line. The captain very naturally inquired, how so many 
 vessels were to have been manned. Napoleon replied, that he 
 had resolved- upon a naval conscription, in all the sea-ports, 
 and throughout all the sea-coast frontier of France, for the 
 purpose of manning his fleet ; which was to be exercised in the 
 Zuder Zee, until tit for servige on the ocean. This sort of 
 fresh-water seamanship, caused no small degree of amusement 
 to the veteran sailor. He scarcely suppressed a smile, as he 
 replied, that the marine conscripts would make a sorry figure 
 in a gale of wind. — He conversed on a variety of subjects, with 
 great apparent frankness ; and seemed desirous in every respect 
 to make himself agreeable to his companions on board. Even 
 the seamen, who at first regarded him with wonder, mixed with 
 surprise, did not escape the charm of his affability, by which 
 they were soon won over ; all except the boatswain, Hinton, 
 a tar of the old school ; who could never hear the emperor's 
 praises, without muttering a vulgar but expressive phrase,* to 
 indicate his dissent. The honest boatswain, however, was at 
 length induced to think that Napoleon was not wholly without 
 merit. When returning thanks, in the name of the ship's com- 
 pany, for two-hundred iouis, with which the emperor presented 
 them, he wished " his honour good health, and better luck the 
 next time." 
 
 ¥/ith the same good humour, Napoleon admitted any slight 
 jest that might be passed, even at his own expense. When ofi' 
 Corsica, he proposed, that captain Usher should fire a gun, to 
 bring-to a fishing boat, from which he hoped to hear some 
 news. Captain Usher excused himself, saying, that, such an 
 act of hostility, towards a neutral, v/ould denationahze her, in 
 direct contradiction of Napoleon's doctrine concerning the 
 rights of nations. The emperor shook his sides with laughter. 
 At another time, he amused himself by supposing what admira- 
 ble caricatures his voyage would produce, in London ; a spe- 
 
 * Humbug J 
 
NAPOLEON. 185 
 
 cies of graphic satire, with which he seemed wonderfully famil- 
 iar, though so peculiarly English. 
 
 On the third of May, the Undaunted arrived off the coast of 
 Elba ; and, on the following day, the bee-studded flag of the 
 Elbese empire floated over the watch-towers of Porto-Ferrajo. 
 — The island was found to be in some confusion. The inhab- 
 itants had recently been in a state of insurrection against the 
 French, which had been quieted by the governor, and by the 
 troops giving in their adherence to the Bourbons. This state 
 of things naturally increased Napoleon's apprehension ; which 
 had never entirely subsided since the dangers undergone by 
 him in Provence. Even on board the English frigate, where 
 he was so much respected, he had requested that a sergeant 
 of marines might sleep, every night, on the outside of his cabin- 
 door, a trusty domestic also mounting guard within. He now 
 showed some unwillingness, when they reached the island, to 
 the ship running close under the batteries ; and, when he first 
 landed, in the morning, it was at an early hour, and in disguise, 
 having previously obtained, from captain Usher, a sergeant's 
 party of marines, to attend him. 
 
 Having returned on board, to breakfast. Napoleon, about 
 two o'clock, debarked, in form, upon this little speck' of sove- 
 reignty — this mark, as it were, or memorial of his former great- 
 ness — which seemed designed only to rest, for a while, his weary 
 foot, and remind him of his sudden fall. On the beach, he was 
 received by the governor, the prefect, and other oflicial persons, 
 v/ith such means of honour as they possessed, and conducted 
 in procession, under a canopy of old scarlet cloth, and preceded 
 by a band of fiddlers ; the people welcoming their illustrious 
 sovereign with shouts. 
 
 In answer to a congratulatory oration from the municipal 
 body of his new capital, the emperor assured them, that the 
 mildness of the climate, and the gentle manners of the inhab- 
 itants of Elba, had induced him to select this alone, of all his 
 extensive possessions ; in the hope that the people would know 
 how to estimate the distinction, and to love him as obedient 
 children, while he should ever conduct himself towards them, 
 as a provident father and sovereign. 
 
 Elba is an island opposite the coast of Tuscany ; its popula- 
 tion being about twelve-thousand, and its circumference about 
 sixty miles. The air is healthy, except in the neighbourhood 
 of the salt-marshes. The country is mountainous, the vegeta- 
 tion florid ; its general appearance resembling Italy, and beau- 
 tifully romantic. It produces little grain, but exports a con- 
 
 Q2 
 
5S6 THE LIFE OF 
 
 3iderable quantity of wines, and its iron-ore has been famou:g 
 since the days of Virgil, who describes Elba as 
 
 " Insula inexhaustis chalyhum generosa metallis.^'* 
 
 Accompanied by sir Neil Campbell, Napoleon frequently 
 rode around the shores of his little state. In one of these ex- 
 ploring excursions, one or two of the poorer class of inhabit- 
 ants, knelt, and even prostrated themselves, when they met him. 
 He seemed disgusted, and imputed this humiliating degree of 
 abasement, to the wretchedness of their education, under the 
 auspices of the monks.. On these excursions, he betrayed the 
 same apprehension of being assassinated, that had marked his 
 journey to Frejus. Two couriers, well armed, rode before 
 him, and examined every suspicious spot. But, as he climbed 
 a mountain, above Ferrajo, and saw the ocean, in almost every 
 direction, approach its foot, a good-humoured smile diffused 
 itself over his expressive features, when he exclaimed, — " It 
 must be confessed, my isle is very small!" 
 
 Small, however, as was now the territorial possession of 
 Napoleon, yet did he think it worthy of his most serious atten- 
 tion. The energies of his ever-active mind, were immediately 
 applied to complete the fortifications of his capital, improve 
 the public roads, and add to the agricultural and mineralogicai 
 resources of the island. " His days," says one of his attend- 
 ants, " passed in the most pleasing occupations. All his hours 
 were employed. That indefatigable activity which, in other 
 times, he applied to execute the vast conceptions of genius, he 
 employed, in the isle of Elba, in studying the embellishment of 
 his retreat. In the morning, he shut himself up in his library. 
 He often rose before the sun, and applied himself, for several 
 hours, to study. About eight o'clock, he indulged in some 
 relaxation, visited the works which he had projected, and spent 
 a considerable time with his workmen, amongst whom were 
 many soldiers of his guards. One of his first, and perhaps most 
 characteristic proposals, was, to aggrandize and extend his 
 little dominions, by the occupation of an uninhabited island, 
 called Rinosa, which had been left desolate on account of the 
 frequent descents of the Moorish corsairs. . He sent thirty 
 soldiers on this expedition, sketched out a plan of fortifications, 
 and remarked, with complacency, ' Europe will say that I have 
 already made a conquest.' Whatever might be the state of 
 the weather, he repaired daily to the chateau, at St. Martin ; 
 and there, as in the city, he was occupied with the internal 
 
 ^ " An island yielding an inexhaustible supply of the hardest iron. 
 
NAPOLEON. 187 
 
 management of his house, required an exact account of every 
 thing, and entered into the smallest details of domestic and 
 rural economy. Often, after breakfast, he reviewed his little 
 army, consisting of about nine-hundred men, required the 
 greatest regularity in their maneuvres, and caused them to 
 observe the strictest discipline. After the review, he mounted 
 his horse, for his morning ride, generally attended by marshal 
 Bertrand and general Drouet, and in his excursion, frequently 
 gave audience to those who met him. At dinner, all who were 
 admitted to his table, were treated with cordiality and kindness; 
 and he seemed to have discovered the secret of enjoying the 
 most intimate and familiar society, without surrendering any 
 part of his dignity. 
 
 " Napoleon's household, though reduced to thirty-five persons, 
 still held the titles, and affected the rank, proper to an imperial 
 court. He displayed a national flag, having a red bend dexter, 
 in a white field, the bend bearing three bees ; and, to dignify 
 his capita], having discovered that the ancient name of Porto- 
 Ferrajo was Comopoli — the city of Como — he commanded it 
 to be called Cosmopoli, or the city of the world." 
 
 When the emperor received the visits of strangers, which 
 often happened, he entered freely into conversation. He fre- 
 quently spoke of the last campaign — of his views and hopes — 
 of the defection of his marshals — of the capture of Paris — and 
 of his abdication : — on these topics, he would descant, with 
 great earnestness, exhibiting, in rapid succession, traits of elo- 
 quence — for in impassioned eloquence he was never surpassed, 
 in any age — of military genius, of indignation, and of inordi- 
 nate self-estimation. The chief violence of his rage, was di- 
 rected against Marmont, for the surrender of Paris, and against 
 Augereau, for the surrender of Lyons. " Had it not been," 
 said he, on one occasion, " for that stupid beast of a general, 
 who made me believe that it was Schwartzenberg who followed 
 me to St. Dizier, while it was only Winzingerode ; and that 
 other ass, who caused me to march afterwards upon Troyes, 
 where I expected to meet forty-thousand Austrians, and did 
 not find a cat ; I should have marched upon Paris, should have 
 arrived there before the allies, and should not have been where 
 I am now : but I have always been badly surrounded ; and 
 then, those pick-thanks of prefects, who assured me that the 
 levee en masse was organizing, with the greatest success ; lastly, 
 that traitor Marmont finished the business ; but there were 
 other marshals equally evil disposed — amongst the rest Suchet, 
 who, as well as his wife, I have always known to be intriguers." 
 
188 THE LIFE OF 
 
 For the allied continental troops, as compared with his own, 
 he expressed the most profound contempt : the Prussians he 
 considered the best ; but he would beat even them, he said, 
 with one-third their number. In the vexation of his heart, 
 however, he did justice to Blucher; " Ce vieux diabW — 
 " That old devil," said he, " never gave me any rest. I beat 
 him to-day — he attacked me to-morrow. I beat him in the 
 morning, he was ready to fight again in the evening. He suf- 
 fered enormous losses, and, according to all calculation, ought 
 to have thought himself too happy, to be allowed to remain 
 unmolested ; instead of which, he immediately advanced upon 
 me again ; — ah ! le vieux diable!''^ 
 
 About the middle of summer. Napoleon was visited by his 
 mother, and his sister, the princess Pauhne. At this time, he 
 seems to have expected to be rejoined also by the empress 
 Maria Louisa ; who, it was said, was coming to take possession 
 of her Italian dominions. Their separation, with the incidents 
 which occurred before Paris, was the only subject on which 
 Jie seemed to lose his temper. On these topics, he used strong 
 and violent language. He said, that the interdicting him from 
 the society of his wife and son, excited universal reprobation, 
 at Vienna ; that no such instance of inhumanity and injustice, 
 could be pointed out, in modern times ; that the empress was 
 detained a prisoner, an orderly officer constantly attending her: 
 — finally, that she had been informed, before she left Orleans, 
 that she was to obtain permission to join him at the island of 
 Elba, though it was now denied her. It was possible, he pro- 
 ceeded, to perceive, in this separation, a shade of policy, though 
 none of justice. Austria had meant to unite the child of her 
 sovereign with the emperor of France, but desired to break 
 off the intercourse with the emperor of Elba; as it might be 
 apprehended, that the respect due to the daughter of the house 
 of Hapsburg, had she resided with her husband, would have 
 reflected too much lustre on the abdicated sovereign. 
 
 About the middle of May, baron Roller bid farewell to Na- 
 poleon, and returned to the Austrian court. Sir Neil Camp- 
 bell, was now the only one of the four commissioners who 
 continued to remain at Elba. It was difficult to say, what his 
 office was, or what were his instructions. He had no author- 
 ity to interfere with Napoleon's motions: the emperor had 
 been recognised, by a treaty, as an independent sovereign. It 
 was therefore only as envoy, that colonel Campbell could be 
 permitted to reside at his court ; and as an envoy also not of 
 the usual character for setthng affairs, concerning the court 
 
NAPOLEON. 189 
 
 from which he was deputed, but in a capacity most invidious — 
 not generally avowed — of observing the conduct of the court 
 at which he was sent to remain. 
 
 On the thirtieth of May, treaties of peace were signed, at 
 Paris, between France and the confederated powers of Europe. 
 The same hmits were assigned to France, that had formed her 
 boundary, in the year 1792, before the revolutionary war. She 
 also recovered all her colonies, except the islands of Mauritius 
 and Bourbon, which were ceded to Great Britain. Belgium 
 and Holland were united, and the whole was erected into a 
 monarchy, called the kingdom of the Netherlands, under the 
 sovereignty of the prince of Orange ; to which. Great Britain 
 restored all the Dutch colonies, except the Cape of Good Hope, 
 the island of Ceylon, Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice. The 
 emperor Francis, recovered all his dominions, with the cities 
 and territories of Venice. The pope was reinstated in his spir- 
 itual and temporal authority ; and — amazing as it may appear 
 — Murat was confirmed in the sovereignty of Naples. Spain 
 and Portugal were restored to their ancient masters ; part of 
 Saxony was annexed to Prussia ; while Norway was taken from 
 Denmark, and assigned to Sweden. In a distinct article, be- 
 tween France and England, Louis engaged to join his efforts, 
 to the latter, to procure a total abolition of the slave-trade ; and 
 to abolish it, with regard to France, at the end of five years; a 
 humane stipulation, which he most shamefully evaded. 
 
 Millions of human beings had bled in the revolutionary con- 
 test, but their blood was not shed in vain. The lives of a whole 
 generation, are not too high a price, with which to purchase 
 the liberties of their posterity. France was not now subject 
 to the nod of despotism ; nor were Frenchmen any longer 
 treated, by the monarch, as born only to obey his will. They 
 had risen, in their might, against oppression, and had broken 
 the iron sceptre of the tyrant, to be repaired no more. Hence- 
 forth, France was ruled by a limited monarchy, upon the model 
 of that of England ; from which, have been framed the unri- 
 valled constitution of the United States, and that of every other 
 free country, throughout the world. 
 
190 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 RESTORATION OF THE BOURBONS. 
 LOUIS XVIII. 
 
 JlETURN OF NAPOLEON, FEOM ELBA BATTLE OP WATERLOO 
 
 NAPOLEON EXILED TO ST. HELENA. 
 
 noiA The restoration of the family of the Capets, after a 
 lapse of so many years since their dethronement, is an 
 event unparallelled in the history of kings. The generation 
 which, from their infancy, had been taught to utter the accents 
 of adulation to the Bourbons, had passed away ; and a new 
 race of Frenchmen, at first reared in the principles of a repub- 
 lic, and afterwards trained to offer incense at the foot of an 
 imperial throne, became the subjects of a monarch, who, in 
 penury and hopeless exile, had subsisted on the precarious 
 bounty of foreign states. 
 
 In the eye of reason, Louis XVIII. ascended his ancestral 
 throne, by the right of conquest. The instability of such a title, 
 could not be overlooked, even by a less sagacious monarch : — 
 to identify, therefore, the officers and institutions of Napoleon, 
 with his own dynasty, was a policy demanded to insure its 
 safety. The French marshals had all sent in their adherence 
 to the new government; but, to place it upon a still firmer 
 ground of security, marshal Soult, whose military talents had 
 ranked him amongst the most distinguished generals of the age, 
 was appointed minister of war ; and Talleyrand, the early coun- 
 sellor of Napoleon, one of the most consummate statesmen that 
 ever lived, was elevated to the office of prime-minister ; while, 
 at the same time, the king published a royal ordonnance, con- 
 firming the establishment of the legion of honour ; and declared 
 that it was his desire, that the sales of all property, made by 
 the revolutionary tribunals, should remain undisturbed ; and 
 that the emigrants should be restored to that portion of their 
 estates, which had not been sold. 
 
 These resolutions displayed no less the justice, than the wis- 
 dom of the new king. But his general deportment, afterwards, 
 was inconsistent with the moderation developed in the first days 
 of his elevation ; and displayed a leaven of those erroneous 
 notions, with respect to the divine right and natural legitimacy 
 of monarchs, which had caused the head of his brother to be 
 laid upon the block. 
 
NAPOLEON. 191 
 
 ,p. - The state of parties, in France, at the beginning of 
 the present year, indicated a wide difference of opinions, 
 entertained by large classes of the community ; and there was 
 sufficient reason to apprehend, that these secret dissensions 
 could not long subsist, without bursting into a flame. In the 
 military class, in particular, who deeply felt the humihation of 
 the French arms, the hostility to the reigning family was not 
 long disguised. A spirit of military enterprise, still predomi- 
 nated in the nation. A recent order, for the reduction, to 
 half-pay, of all officers not actually employed, combined with 
 the recall of the Swiss guards, to Paris, swelled the accumu- 
 lating mass of discontent. Suspicions had long been enter- 
 tained, of a design to restore the principles of the ancient 
 monarchy ; and the exhumation and re-interment of the nearly 
 consumed remains of Louis XVL, and his queen, together with 
 the introduction, into the French liturgy, of a service to com- 
 memorate the death of the royal martyr, served to encourage 
 the apprehension. 
 
 The discontents of his former subjects, were not unknown 
 to Napoleon, in his place of exile. They awoke his slumber- 
 ing ambition ; a communication was promptly opened, with 
 his most devoted friends, amongst whom, marshal Soult, com- 
 mander-in-chief of the army, was his most active partisan ; and 
 the crouching lion prepared to rouse himself from his short 
 repose. 
 
 When the first impressions of novelty were effaced. Napo- 
 leon's mind seems to have subsided into a state bordering upon 
 ennui. He grew corpulent, took less exercise, and slept more. 
 But the discussions in the congress at Vienna, regarding his 
 future destiny, and the arrangement of the Italian states, par- 
 ticularly of those which had been assigned, by the treaty of 
 Fontainbleau, to the empress and his son, soon roused him 
 from this state of torpor. Hitherto, he had evinced a decided 
 predilection for the society of sir Neil Campbell, the British 
 accredited agent at Elba : he seemed to have nothing to con- 
 ceal, and courted the strictest scrutiny : — he thought of nothing, 
 he declared to colonel Campbell, beyond the verge of his little 
 isles : he could have supported the war for twenty years, if he 
 had chosen : he was now a deceased person, occupied with 
 nothing but his family, his retreat, his house, his poultry, and 
 his cows. But, having received a visit from some of his ref- 
 lations and friends, who had recently left Paris, and by whom 
 the proceedings of the congress were reported, he became 
 restless and dissatisfied. He shunned the company of the 
 
192 THE LIFE OF 
 
 British officer, and almost excluded himself from society. 
 Often, he would spend seven or eight hours in his closet, no 
 one daring to intrude upon his retirement ; and, at other times, 
 he would wander, i)n the shore, with folded arms, and fre- 
 quently with an un'equal and agitated step. The embelhsh- 
 ment of his capital, and the improvement of the island, were 
 neglected, and almost forgotten ; the discontents of the Frenclh 
 people, which had now come to his knowledge, had awakened 
 his slumbering ambition, and the incipient conspiracy to effect 
 his restoration, absorbed all his thoughts. 
 
 The striking alteration in the conduct of Napoleon, and the 
 frequent intercourse now opened by him, with his friends in 
 Leghorn, Florence, and other parts of Italy, were not con- 
 cealed from the principal governments of Europe ; and there is 
 no doubt that sir Neil Campbell reported all that appeared to 
 him deserving of notice, as well in the island of Elba, as on 
 the neighbouring peninsula. It is impossible to conceive any 
 situation, in Europe, less calculated for a place of security, or 
 more favourable for conducting a conspiracy, than the island 
 of Elba. That it was the place of Napoleon's selection, as he 
 informed the inhabitants, on bis first arrival amongst them, may 
 easily be imagined ; but that the allies should have acceded to 
 such a choice, is not so easily discovered. Situated in the vi- 
 cinity of France, Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, it afford- 
 ed a centre of unrestricted communication, with the principal 
 scenes of his former usurpations ; and, that nothing might be 
 wanting, to give to Napoleon's genius for intrigue the most 
 unbounded scope, a corvette was assigned him, to hold com- 
 munication with the ports of the Mediterranean ; and no cruiser, 
 of any nation, had a right to violate his flag. 
 
 Under circumstances so auspicious to his designs, the rami- 
 fications of the conspiracy soon became widely extended. On 
 the banks of the Seine, as well as on the shores of the lake of 
 Geneva, the violet was the secret symbol, by which the con- 
 spirators denoted their chief, and- recognised each other. 
 Kings of a violet colour, with the device, " Elle reparaitra an 
 printeins'''' — (It will re-appear in the spring) — became fashion- 
 able. The ladies were dressed in violet-coloured silks ; and 
 the men displayed violet-coloured watch-ribbons. When they 
 asked, " Aimez vous la violette?'"' — (Are you fond of the vio- 
 let?) — if the answer was simply " Oui'" — (yes) — it was inferred 
 that the respondent was not a confederate ; but, if he exclaimed 
 *^ Eh Bien,'" — (Ah! Well!) — they recognised a brother, initi- 
 
NAPOLEON. 193 
 
 ated in the secrets of the conspiracy ; and completed the sen- 
 tence, by remarking, " Elle reparaitra au printems.''^ 
 
 Napoleon determined to return to France, to drive the Bour- 
 bon from his inglorious throne, and again to place upon his head 
 the imperial crown. At nine o'clock, in the evening of Sun- 
 day, the twenty-sixth of February, he sailed from Forto-Ferrajo, 
 with a fleet of seven small vessels, accompanied by general 
 Bertrand, and the other officers of his staff, and about eleven- 
 hundred soldiers, chiefly of the old guard. Short, as was the 
 voyage, it was attended with no inconsiderable risk. It was 
 found expedient, on the night of his departure, to change the 
 painting of the Inconstant — a brig of twenty-six guns, in which 
 Napoleon sailed — to avoid the observation of those who might 
 otherwise have recognised the vessel. The next day, two 
 French frigates, and an armed brig, bore down upon them ; 
 and it required the exercise of no small ingenuity, to conceal 
 their destination. — " We are bound from Elba, to Genoa," 
 said the lieutenant of the Inconstant, to the commander of the 
 royal squadron ; " and shall be happy to execute any commis- 
 sion for you, at that place." — This civility the captain declined, 
 and, at parting, cried — " How's the emperor?" to which, Na- 
 poleon himself replied, " Wonderfully well I" and the ships then 
 pursued an opposite course. Fortune was with Napoleon ; 
 and, on the first of March, at five o'clock, in the evening, the 
 troops were disembarked, near Cannes, a small sea-port, in the 
 gulf of St. Juan, not fir from Frejus. 
 
 Placing himself at the head of his little army, about midnight. 
 Napoleon advanced to Cannes; and, in the evening of the sec- 
 ond, he arrived at Sernon, having already traversed a distance 
 of twenty leagues. His appearance produced, in the inhabit- 
 ants, a mingled sensation of astonishment, fear, and joy. His 
 mnrch was rather a triumph, than an invasion. On the fourth, 
 he dined at Digne, and on the fifth, he entered Gap ; at which 
 place, he issued two proclamations, written, by him, on his 
 voyage from Elba. 
 
 One of these proclamations was addressed to the French 
 people, the other to the army. 
 
 "Soldiers!" says Napoleon, in the latter, "We were not 
 conquered: — two men, raised from our ranks, betrayed our 
 laurels, their country, their prince, their benefactor. 
 
 "Those whom, during twenty-five years, we have seen tra- 
 versing all Europe, to raise up enemies against us ; who have 
 passed tiieir lives in fighting against us, in the ranks of foreign 
 armies, cursing our fine France ; shall they pretend to control 
 
 R 
 
194 THE LIFE OF 
 
 our eagles, on which they have not dared ever to look ? Shall 
 we endure, that they shall inherit the fruits of our glorious la- 
 bours — that they shall clothe themselves with our honours and 
 our goods — that they shall calumniate our glory ? If their reign 
 would continue, all would be lost, even the memory of those 
 immortal days. With what fury, do they pervert their very 
 nature ! they seek to poison what the world admires ; and, if 
 there still remain any defenders of our glory, it is amongst those 
 very enemies whom we have fought in the field of battle. 
 
 " Soldiers ! in my exile, I heard your voice : I have arrived 
 through ail obstacles, and all perils ; your general, called to 
 the throne by the/ choice of the people, and educated under 
 your banners, is restored to you : — come and join him. 
 
 " Tear down those colours, which the nation has proscribed, 
 and vv'hich, for twenty-five years, served as a, rallying signal for 
 all the enemies of France : mount the tri-coloured cockade : 
 you bore it in the days of your greatness. 
 
 " We must forget that we have been masters of nations ; but 
 we must not suffer any to intermeddle with our affairs. 
 
 " Who shall presume to be master over us ? Who would 
 have the power? Hecover those eagles which you had at Ulm, 
 at Austerlitz, at Jena, at Eylau, at Friedland, at Tudela, at 
 Eckmuhl, at Esling, at Wagram, at Smolensko, at Moscow, 
 at Lutzen, at Vurken, at Montmirail. Do you think that the 
 handful of Frenchmen who are now so arrogant, will endure 
 to look on them ? They shall return whence they came ; and 
 there, if they please, they shall reign, as they pretend to have 
 reigned during nineteen years. Your possessions, your rank, 
 your glory — the possessions, the rank, the glory, of your chil- 
 dren, have no greater enemies than those princes whom foreign- 
 ers have imposed upon us : — they are the enemies of our glory, 
 because the recital of so many heroic actions, which have glo- 
 rified the people of France, fighting against them, to withdraw 
 themselves from their yoke, is their condemnation. 
 
 *' The veterans of the armies of the Sambre and the Meuse, 
 of the Rhine, of Italy, of Egypt, of the West, of the grand army, 
 are all humiliated : their honourable wounds are disgraced : — 
 their successes were crimes ; those heroes were rebels, if, as 
 the enemies of the people pretend, the legitimate sovereigns 
 were in the midst of the foreign armies. 
 
 " Honours, rewards, affection, are given to those who have 
 served against their country, and us. 
 
 " Soldiers I come and range yourselves under the standards 
 of your chief: — ^his existence is composed only of yours ; his 
 
NAPOLEON. 195 
 
 rights are those only of the people and yours : — his interest, 
 his honour, his glory, are only your interest, your honour, and 
 your glory. Victory shall march at the charge-step : the eagle, 
 with the national colours, shall fly from steeple to steeple, even 
 to the towers of Notre-Dame. Then, you will be able to show 
 your scars, with honour ; then, you will be able to glory in what 
 you have done ; you will be the deliverers of th^ country. In 
 your old age, surrounded and esteemed by your fellow-citizens, 
 they will hear, with respect, while you recount your high deeds : 
 — you will be able to say, with pride, — ' And I, too, was part 
 of that grand army, which entered twice the v/alls of Vienna, 
 those of Rome, of Berlin, of Madrid, of Moscow ; and which 
 delivered Paris from the foul blot, imprinted on it by treason 
 and the presence of the enemy.' 
 
 " Honoured be those brave soldiers, the glory of the coun- 
 try ; and eternal shame to those guilty Frenchmen, in what- 
 ever rank fortune caused them to be born, who fought, for 
 twenty-five years, with the foreigner, to tear the bosom of the 
 country." 
 
 Five days after his debarkation, he met the advanced guard 
 of the garrison of Grenoble, at Mure, coming to arrest his 
 progress. Undismayed, by the threatened resistance of a force 
 amounting to eight-hundred men. Napoleon proceeded, to meet 
 them, followed by about fifty grenadiers, w^ith their arms re- 
 versed. Advancing to the right of the battalion, he threw open 
 his outer coat, and, presenting his breast, exclaimed : — " Sol- 
 diers, you have been told that I fear death ; — if there be amongst 
 you one man who w^ould kill his emperor, let him plunge his 
 bayonet into my bosom." — The effect was instantaneous ; the 
 arms of the soldiers were hurled to the ground, the guard and 
 the soldiers embraced each other, and the air resounded with 
 the cries of " Vive VEmpereur!'''' 
 
 The next day, the garrison of Grenoble, consisting of six- 
 thousand men, with Napoleon at their head, marched towards 
 Lyons, having hoisted their tri-coloured cockades, which were 
 found sewed in the bottom of their knapsacks ; and which they 
 presented to the emperor, exclaiming, " They are the same 
 that we wore at AusterUtz and Marengo." 
 
 Marshal Soult, whose attachment to his old master, began 
 now to be suspected, resigned his oflice, on the eleventh ; and 
 Ney, who had been despatched against Napoleon, about the 
 same time, went over to the imperial standard, with twelve- 
 thousand men. The decisive moment was now approaching. 
 On the part of the Bourbons, the rencontre was expected, on 
 
196 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the declining plains of Melun ; where, on the twentieth of 
 March, (the-birth day of Napoleon's son,) the national guard, 
 of one-hundred-thousand men, under the Duke of Berri, with 
 marshal Macdonald as his lieutenant, was drawn up, in three 
 lines. All was anxious expectation. On the side of Fontain- 
 bleau, no sound, as of an army rushing to battle, was heard. 
 At length, a hght tramp of horses met the ear. An open car- 
 riage, attended by a few hussars, was seen, on the skirts of the 
 forest. It drove down the hill, with the rapidity of hghtning, 
 and reached the advanced posts, before the surprise, occasion- 
 ed, by its appearance, had subsided — " Vive VEmpereur,^^ 
 burst from the astonished soldiery. — ''Napoleon — Napoleon, le 
 grandl''^ spread from rank to rank; while, bare-headed — Ber- 
 trand seated on his right, and Drouet on his left — Napoleon 
 continued his course ; and, passing through the ranks of the 
 royal army, reached Paris, at eight o'clock in the evenings 
 without a shot having been fired, on either side, and, after an 
 exile of about ten months, reasccnded the imperial throne. 
 
 The following day, the small army of Elba arrived, having, 
 in twenty days, performed a march of two-hundred-and-forty 
 leagues. 
 
 " The journey of Napoleon," it has been well observed, 
 " from Cannes to Paris, is without a parallel in history, and 
 much beyond the limits of probable fiction. Every soldier sent 
 against him, joined his force. Where resistance seemed, for a 
 moment, to be threatened, it was disarmed by the sound of his 
 voice. The ascendence of a victorious leader over soldiers; 
 the talent of moving armed multitudes by a word; the inex- 
 tinguishable attachment of an army, to him in whom glory is 
 concentrated and embodied ; were never before so brilliantly 
 and tremendously exemplified. Civilized society v/as never 
 before so terribly warned of the force of those military virtues 
 which -are the greatest of civil vices. In twenty day;? he found 
 himself quietly seated on the throne of France, without having 
 spilled a drop of blood. The change had no resemblance to 
 a European revolution, in a European country, where great 
 bodies of men are interested in the preservation of authority, 
 and v/here every one takes some interest for or against politi- 
 cal mutation. It had nothing of the violence of popular revolt. 
 It was a bloodless and orderly military sedition. In the levity 
 with v/hich authority was transferred, it bore some resemblance 
 to an oriental revolution ; but the total absence of those great 
 characteristic features, the murder or imprisonment of princes, 
 destroy the likeness. It is, in short, an event of which the 
 
r NAPOLEON. 19'7 
 
 I scene could have been laid, by a romance writer bold enough 
 to have imagined it, in no other time and country than France, 
 in the year 1815."* 
 
 Happily for Louis, he had not waited the near approach' of 
 the unwelcome intruder. At ten o'clock, in the morning^ of 
 the night in which Napoleon entered Paris, the Bourbon king^, 
 with about two-hundred of his household troops — the only por- 
 tion of his army which had adhered to the royal cause — had 
 left Paris, on his way to Ghent ; to which place, the duke of 
 Ragusa and duke of Belluno had repaired. Marshal Berthier, 
 also, had followed the fortunes of the Bourbons ; but the con- 
 flict of feeling, arising out of his attachment to his former mas- 
 ter,' and his sense of loyalty towards his present sovereign, had 
 subdued his once vigorous mind ; and, on the first of June, he 
 threw himself from a window, in the palace of Bamberg, and 
 was killed, by the fall. 
 
 It was not to be expected, that those powers who had united 
 in the dethronement of Napoleon, would acquiesce in his re- 
 sumption of the imperial crown. Austria, Russia, Prussia, and 
 Great Britain, determined, each, to keep in the field, one-hun- 
 dred-and-fifty-thousand men, until he should be again expelled ; 
 while the troops to be furnished by Bavaria, Baden, Saxony, 
 Hanover, the Hanse Towns, and the smaller states of the Rhine, 
 amounted to two-hundred-thousand more. 
 
 Aware of the approaching storm. Napoleon sought to di- 
 minish its violence, by pacific overtures ; and, one of his first 
 acts, on reascending the throne of France, was to address a 
 letter, in his own hand-writing, to each of the sovereigns of 
 Europe, announcing his restoration, and expressing his sincere 
 desire to maintain the repose of the world. But the couriers, 
 charged with his declaration, were not allowed to proceed to 
 many of the courts, and returned to France, with their deS' 
 patches unopened. 
 
 The letter of Napoleon was speedily followed by a justifica- 
 tory manifesto ; in which, were enumerated the several articles 
 of the treaty of Fontainbleau, which had been violated, by the 
 allied sovereigns. This exposition contained many truths ; 
 and must, in a great measure, if not entirely, justify the empe- 
 ror's return from Elba. The empress and his son, were to 
 have obtained passports, to repair to the emperor; but, instead 
 of a compliance with this stipulation, the wife had been forcibly 
 separated from her husband, and the child from its father : she 
 
 * Edinburcrh Review, 
 R 2 
 
! 198 THE LIFE OP 
 
 bad been deprived of her three dutchies: the private property 
 of Napoleon and his family, had been sequestrated : the pay- 
 ment of their stipulated pensions, had been withheld, from 
 which cause, Napoleon was suffering extreme pecuniary dis- 
 tress ; and there was much reason to suppose, that it was con- 
 templated to remove him from Elba, to a more distant isle. 
 .The attempts made, in different parts of France, by the 
 Bourbon princes, to excite the people against Napoleon, had 
 all been unsuccessful. On the twenty-seventh of April, in little 
 more than one month after the arrival of the emperor, at Paris, 
 the news of the whole French territory being restored to tran- 
 quillity, was announced, by a salute of artillery, fired, at one 
 o*clock, from the batteries, in every part of the empire. 
 
 Already, had the French army marched to the frontier. The 
 combined armies, also, were in motion. A million of warriors 
 were advancing, from the north, to prostrate, by their united 
 efforts, the barrier of France, spread over a frontier of one- 
 thousand miles. Murat, the only prince who tendered his ser- 
 vice to the emperor, had been expelled from Naples ; and Na- 
 poleon had to contend, single-handed, against all the sovereigns 
 of Europe. 
 
 The decisive blow was to be struck in Belgium. Quitting 
 Paris, early in the morning of the twelfth of June, attended by 
 marshals Soult and Ney, his lieutenant-gienerals, on the four- 
 teenth hie presented himself, at the head of a formidable army, 
 on the battle-field. The French troops were in the highest 
 order. The marches and combinations of the various corps, 
 .were marked, in a distinguished manner, by that unrivalled 
 military talent, which planned Napoleon's most fortunate cam- 
 paigns. In the same day, and almost at the same hour, the 
 three grand cdvisions of his army, attained, by a simultaneous 
 movement, a united allignment, upon the frontiers of Belgium. 
 
 On the night of the fifteenth, the news arrived, at Brussels, 
 that hostilities had commenced. The duke of Wellington, in 
 some degree, taken by surprise, was sitting, ailer dinner, with 
 a party of officers, when he received the despatches from mar- 
 shal Blucber. On the same night, the duchess of Richmond 
 gave a ball, at Brussels, at which, the duke of Brunswick, and 
 many of the British officers, were present; and the duke of 
 Wellington, considering the first intimation as merely relating 
 to an affair of posts, after giving orders, that the troops should 
 hold themselves in readiness, had joined the dance. At mid- 
 night, a second messenger arrived, with intelligence that 
 Qharleroi was taken, that the French had advanced to Fleurus, 
 
f- NAPOLEON. 199 
 
 jand that there was every prospect of a general engagement, 
 on the following day. In the midst of the festivities, the bugle 
 sounded, and the drums beat to arms. The officers hastened 
 to place themselves at the head of their troops ; and many of 
 them received their death- wounds, on the approaching day, in 
 their ball-room dresses. In less than an hour, the troops be- 
 'gan to assemble, in the park ; and, at sunrise, the march began. 
 >. Pursuing his usual mode of tactics, the French emperor de- 
 termined to' assail the British and Prussian armies, while the 
 Austrians and Russians were yet too distant to afford them 
 succour. , On the fifleenth, he drove in the Prussian posts, 
 upon the Sambre ; and the next day, defeated their commander- 
 in-chief, marshal Blucber, on the heights of Ligny, between 
 Brie and Sombref ; where the Prussians lost, in killed and 
 wounded, fifteen-thousand men. Lord Wellington had directed 
 his whole force to advance upon Quatre Bras ; where the first 
 division of Picton had arrived, followed by a corps, under the 
 command of the duke of Brunswick, and by the troops of Nas- 
 sau. It was the duke of Wellington's desire, to afford assist- 
 ance to marshal Blucher; but he was, himself, attacked, at 
 Quatre Bras, by marshal Ney, before his own cavalry had 
 arrived. A warm action ensued. But the repeated charges 
 of the French, were steadily repulsed ; yet not without con- 
 siderable loss, including the duke of Brunswick ; who, with his 
 corps of cavalry, in mourning, had sought to revenge his father's 
 death. 
 
 Blucher retreated, during the night, to Wavre, and lord Wel- 
 lington made a corresponding movement, towards the village 
 of Waterloo; his left communicating, slightly, with marshal 
 Blucher. Napoleon seemed to have accomplished his design, 
 of separating the British and Prussian armies. 'J'he French 
 troops glowed with the most sanguine expectations ; no one 
 suffered himself to believe, that the English would halt, until 
 they reached their vessels ; and Napoleon himself, having des- 
 patched marshal Grouchy, to follow the Prussians, calculated 
 confidently upon holding one of his grand Sunday reviews, in 
 the Place Royale, at Brussels. 
 
 The night of the seventeenth was dreadful : the rain fell in 
 torrents ; the soldiers, in their open bivouacs, were almost up 
 to their knees, in mud ; and numbers, particularly the officers 
 who had come from Brussels, in their ball-room dresses, worn 
 out by fatigue, stretched themselves, on this cheerless bed, to 
 rise no more. — It was generally apprehended, in the French 
 army, that the English would disappear, in the night ; and, when 
 
200 THE LIFE OP 
 
 the gloomy dawn of the morniog of the eighteenth, exhibited 
 them still in possession of the opposing heights, Napoleon could 
 not suppress his satisfaction ; but exclaimed, while he extended 
 his arm towards their position, "Ah I je lea tiens, done, ces 
 Anglais !^^ — " Ah, these English, I have them, at last I" 
 
 The adverse armies were now preparing for battle. For the 
 first time, the two generab, the most renowned of their age and 
 respective nations, were opposed to each other; and they were 
 most powerfully excited, to .call into exercise all the genius of 
 their inexhaustible minds. Since the battle of Pharsalia, no 
 engagement was pregnant with consequences so momentous, 
 as the battle of Waterloo. jjThe ground occupied by the two 
 armies, was the sniallest, in extent of front, compared with the 
 numbers engaged, of any field of battle in the recollection of 
 military men. The English line did not exceed a mile and a 
 half, in length ; the French, not more than two miles. The 
 ground in front of the British army, formed a gentle declivity, 
 inclining into a valley, nearly half a mile in breadth ; which lay 
 between the two armies, and, at that time, bore a tall and luxu- 
 riant crop of grain. The French position extended along an 
 eminence, parallel to the British lines, at a distance cf about 
 twelve-hundred yards ; and the opposing hills were each lined 
 with three-hundred pieces of artillery. At nine o'clock, the 
 rain had, in. some degree, abated ; and the first corps of the 
 French army was placed opposite the centre of the British po- 
 sition, "with the left on the road to Brussels. 
 
 The force of the two armies, has been variously stated ; but, 
 we are not far from the truth, when we rate them at about 
 eighty-thousand men, each ; Napoleon's consisting of the flower 
 of the French soldiers ; lord Wellington's, of thirty-eight thou- 
 sand British, — the remainder being chiefly Belgian and Hano- 
 verian troops. Jerome Buonaparte commanded on the left; 
 counts Reille and d'Erlon, the centre ; count Lobau, on the 
 right. 
 
 The emperor rode along the ranks. This was the fiftieth 
 Engagement in which he had commanded. It would be diffi- 
 cult to express the enthusiasm which animated his soldiers. 
 The victory appeared certain. The infantry raised their caps 
 on the points of their bayonets ; the cavalry, their caps and 
 helmets on the points of their swords ; while shouts of " Live 
 the Emperor," ascended to the skies. 
 
 A little before noon, the battle commenced, by the almost 
 simultaneous advance of three entire French corps, on the 
 right, centre, and left, of the British lines. The attack on tho 
 
t 
 
 NAPOLEON. 201 
 
 fr /ight, was made by a division under the command of Jerome 
 ■Buonaparte; and so great was its fury and impetuosity, that 
 ' the Belgian troops abandoned their posts, at Hougoumont, in 
 i dismay. Here, as in the other parts of the field, the British 
 ^ force was drawn up in squares ; each regiment forming a sepa- 
 f rate square, by itself, not quite solid, but nearly so; the men 
 ' standing several files deep. The distance between the masses, 
 ;- afforded space to draw up the battalion in line, when ordered 
 y to deploy ; and the regiments were posted, with reference to 
 , each other, like the alternate squares upon a chess-board. It 
 l-«ras, of course, impossible for a squadron of cavalry to penetrate 
 ^ between two of these squares, without exposing it to the dan- 
 '■■■ ger of being assailed, at once, by a fire in front, from that 
 • square which-was in the rear ; and on both flanks, from those 
 ' between which it had moved forward. The attack upon Hou- 
 goumont, was accompanied by a heavy fire, from more thaa 
 two-hundred pieces of cannon, upon the whole British line. 
 In vain, the French artillery mowed down whole ranks of their 
 enemies. The chasms were instantly filled, and not a foot 
 of ground was lost. — "What brave troops!" exclaimed Na- 
 poleon, to his staff: "it is a pity to destroy them; but I 
 shall beat them, after all." — Nothing could be more tremen- 
 dous, than the mode of attack ; it was headed by artillery, 
 which discharged showers of iron grape-shot, each larger than 
 a walnut. It was a battle, on the part of the French, of cav- 
 alry and cannon ; and, at the head of their columns, were the 
 iron-cased cuirassiers, in complete mail ; upon which, the 
 musket-balls were heard to ring, as they glanced from the 
 polished surface, without injuring the wearer. At this period 
 of the battle, two gallant generals of the British army, Picton 
 and Ponsonby, were killed, while leading on their divisions to 
 the charge. — " These English fight admirably ;" said Napoleon, 
 to Soult; "but they must give way." — "No, sire," was the 
 reply; "they prefer being cut to pieces." He was particu- 
 larly struck with the Scotch Greys; and he often repeated, 
 ^^Regardez ces chevaux gris!^^ — Observe those grey horses! 
 In another part of the field, the Hanoverian hussars of Cum- 
 berland, as they were called, a corps distinguished for their 
 high plumes, and the other embellishments of continental 
 foppery, were ordered to avail themselves of an opportunity 
 that presented, to charge the French cavalry ; but, instead 
 of making the proposed advance, they retreated, and took 
 up a position behind the hamlet of St. Jean. The colonel of 
 this regiment, when ordered to advance, urged the enemy*s 
 
202 THE LIFE OF * 
 
 strength — their cuirasses — -and, the consideration, which h^d,fl 
 unaccountably, escaped the commander-in-chief, that his regi- ' 
 ment "were all gentlemen." This diverting apology, was ■ 
 carried back to the duke of Wellington ; who despatched the '^ 
 messenger, again, to say, that, if the gentlemen would t^^ke post I • 
 upon an eminence, which he pointed out, in the reir, thejt^i, 
 would have an excellent view of the battle ; and he .would ieaY6,| 
 the choice of a proper time, entirely to their own sagacity and'j| 
 discretion, in which he had the fullest confidence !— The coloneJj J 
 not perceiving the sarcasm conveyed by the messenger, actually «j 
 thanked the aid-de-camp, for this distinguished post of honour^ 
 and, followed by his gallant train, was out of danger, in a mo-*^i 
 ment. . ./"'i 
 
 It was now five o'clock, and still the Prussians, so long ex- 
 pected, by lord Wellington, had not yet. arrived. Marshal 
 Grouchy was, with no less impatience, expected .by Napoleon. | 
 The British reserves were all in action ; their loss was already " 
 severe, in the extreme. The success of the French seemed,- 
 Xo their commander, no longer doubtful ; and he despatched a 
 courier, to Paris, to announce that he had gained the day. At 
 this^ juncture, an aid-de-camp came to lord WelHngton, with 
 the information, that the fifth division was almost destroyed ; I 
 and' that it was impossible that they could longer maintain i 
 their ground, against so continued a series of murderous at- 
 tacks. " I cannot help it," said the duke ; *' they must keep 
 th^ir ground. They and I, and every Englishman in ihe field, \ 
 must die, on the spot, rather than give way. Would to God, 
 that night or Blucher were come!" 
 
 The frequency and impetuosity of Napoleon's attacks, were 
 now redoubled. At seven o'clock, in the evening, an officer, 
 at length, appeared, with intelligence, that the Prussians were 
 advancing, in the rear of his right wing. But Napoleon ap- 
 peared incredulous : he affirmed, that it was the corps of 
 Grouchy, and that the success of the day was now certain and 
 complete. It was not marshal Grouchy, however, that was 
 approaching : — that officer never reached the field of Waterloo: 
 — it was general Bulow, with the advanced guard of fifty-thou- 
 sand Prussians. Napoleon had still, in reserve, four regiments 
 of the middle guard ; who, remaining on the heights of La^ Belle 
 Alliance, or covered by the hill, had not yet come into battle. 
 They were ordered to make a charge, and were led by the 
 dauntless Ney. But, the emperor, in failing to take the per- 
 sonal command of these guards, disappointed both his friends 
 and his enemies. A body of Brunswickers, at first attempted 
 
if. NAPOLEON. 203 
 
 Mo oppose them ; but, after an ineffectual resistance, they were 
 ^.defeated, with immense slaughter. The French troops had 
 ^now penetrated within the British lines; and it seemed impos- 
 ^ gible for ;:he duke to rally a sufficient force, to arrest their pro- 
 ^ grass. They bore down every thing before them ; and, once 
 f more, in this eventful conflict, victory inclined to the side of 
 I Napoleon. ** But the English," it seems, " did not know that 
 5 theynvere beaten.*' Immediately in the rear, was the duke of 
 ' WelUngton, riding backwards and forwards, and using every 
 -^expedient, to avert the fury of the storm ; and, on the brow of 
 ; the hill, immediately in front of the French advancing column, 
 ^ a regiment of English guards had been ordered to lie down, to 
 • shelter themselves from their enemy's fire. The imperial 
 ' guards still advanced, and had approached within a hundred 
 yards, when the duke suddenly exclaimed, " Up, guards, and 
 It them." , In an instant, the guards sprung upon their feet, 
 and assumed the offensive. The unexpected appearance of 
 this fine body of men, startled the French battalions ; but, 
 immediately recovering themselves, they advanced still more 
 rapidly, and were in the act of dashing upon their opponents, 
 with the bayonet, when a volley was poured upon them, by the 
 British, which literally threw the assailants back, with the 
 shock. A second volley heightened their confusion ; and, be- 
 ing charged, in their turn, by the British guards, they were put 
 to flight. — The main body of the Prussians, had now arrived. 
 The countenance of the duke of Wellington brightened into a 
 smile : his watch, so long held in his hand, to mark the pro- 
 gress of time, while he wished for the arrival of night or the 
 Prussians, was restored to his pocket ; and he exultingly ex- 
 claimed, '* There, goes old Blucher, at last; we shall beat 
 them yet." 
 
 The critical moment had now arrived. The duke ordered 
 the whole line to move forward. The centre of the advancing 
 army, led on by the duke of Wellington, in person, proceeded 
 to the decisive charge, while the flank regiments were formed 
 into hollow squares. Nothing could resist the impetuosity of 
 the attack. The French fought with desperation ; but their 
 first line, was speedily broken ; the second afforded little more 
 resistance ; and complete confusion and rout ensued* Cries 
 of « All is lost," issued from every part of the French aniiy ; 
 and they, were thus forced from their position, upon the heights. 
 While these events were passing, in the centre, the Prussian 
 columns continued to advance. General Zeithen charged upon 
 the right flank of the French army. Their wing was broken, 
 
204 THE LIFE OF ' -J; 
 
 in three places : they abandoned their position, and the Prus-*^^^! 
 sian troops, rushing forward, at the pas de charge, completed 
 their overthrow. The wiiole Frencli army, was now nothing 
 but a mass of confusion : all the soldiers, of every descriptiony-ii 
 were mixed, pell-mell, and it was impossible to rally a single^! 
 corps.. -Perceiving that all was lost, Napoleon exclaimed, to*J' 
 Bertrand, " We must save ourselves — we must decamp — wef>i 
 must decamp," — and the emperor aiid his suite galloped off| 
 the field. *^ ' ' . . § 
 
 The pursuit of the retreating army, was assigned to the>s 
 Prussians. The tremendous scenes of the day, were surpassed fr^ 
 by the horrors of the night. The last stand, made by the'i 
 wreck of the French army, was at Gemappe. The progress" • 
 of the Prussian troops, was, for a moment, arrested, by a fire^'- 
 of musketry : some cannon-shot, however, and a loud hurrah," 
 served to renew the panic ; and the same men, whose bravery, - 
 a few hours before, excited the warmest admiration of their 
 enemies, were now incapable of the least resistance. 
 
 On the night of the eighteenth. Napoleon, surrounded by a 
 few officers of his staff, halted about three leagues from Char- 
 leroi. In the bivouac, at this place, upon a grass-plat, a fire 
 was kindled, and refreshments prepared, of which he partook; 
 being the first food he had tasted for fourteen hours. 
 
 The loss sustained, by the conflicting armies, was immense. 
 In no action, of the previous war, had so many British officers 
 been slain. One-hundred officers were killed,' and five-hun-- 
 dred wounded : the total loss of the British and Hanoverians, 
 by death, or wounds, in the battle of Waterloo, was not less 
 than twelve-thousand ; and, of the whole French army,notmore 
 than about forty-thousand lefl the field. 
 
 At Gemappe, amongst other equipages, the carriage of Na^ 
 poleon, containing his papers, but not his person, was captur- 
 ed; his hat, sword, and casket of treasure, well stored with 
 Napoleons, enhancing the value of the prize. His travelling 
 library, also, consisting of nearly eight-hundred volumes, in six 
 chests, was taken ; and amongst the books were found French 
 translations of Homer and Ossian, the Bible, and the Pucelle 
 of Voltaire. The imperial carriage was afterwards carried to 
 England, and exhibited, for many months, at the London Mu- 
 seum. In this favourite vehicle. Napoleon travelled to Mos- 
 cow, and afterwards to Dresden. After the campaign of Paris, 
 it bore him to the shores of tiie Mediterranean, and was shipped 
 with him for Elba. On his return from that island, he made 
 in this, his moving palace, his triumphal journey to Paris, and 
 
NAPOLEON. 205 
 
 _ it he was conveyed to the field of Waterloo. But he had 
 never entered it after the battle. It would be impossible to 
 imacrine a more perfect specimen of elegance and convenience : 
 ic^j_-.though only of the ordinary size, it is a complete bed-room, 
 l^ressing-room, dining-room, kitchen, and ofRces. Packed in 
 llhe most compact manner, are whole services of china, with 
 ^knives, forks, spoons, and decanters, with a dressing-case, con- 
 ?taining every article for the toilette. A complete wardrobe, 
 i' bedstead, bed, and mattresses, afforded their respective accom- 
 t modations ; and all so arranged, as to present themselves with- 
 £ out incommoding the traveller. 
 
 |, - Without endeavouring to rally his broken forces. Napoleon .. 
 g hastened back to Paris; where he arrived on the evening of' 
 pthe twentieth of June; and, assembling his council, requested 
 I to be made dictator. This desire, however, being resisted, by 
 t Carnot, La Fayette, and other leading members of the legisla- 
 *. ture ; and Napoleon, perceiving that further exertions to main- 
 . tain his throne, would eventuate in a civil war ; issued a decla- 
 - ration, in which, "offering himself a sacrifice to the hatred of 
 the enemies of France," he proclaimed his son. Emperor, 
 by the title of Napoleon IL But the nomination of his son, 
 seemed less acceptable to the legislature, than his own abdica- 
 tion; and commissioners repaired to the allied armies, with 
 . proposals of peace. The victors, however, would treat only 
 ' under the walls of Paris. They reached the capital, on the 
 '. twenty-ninth of June ; and, after considerable opposition, by 
 the forces stationed on the adjacent heights, on the third 
 . of July, the city -surrendered, by capitulation ; and, on the 
 sixth, it was entered, by the invading troops. Thus, was the 
 • -French capital, a second time, in possession of the allies; and 
 . thus, ended Napoleon's second reign, of one-hundred days. 
 The white standard of the Bourbons now displaced the tri- 
 coloured flag on the towers of Paris; and the intention of 
 Louis XVIIL to re-enter his capital on the eighth, was ofliicially 
 announced. The Parisians, to whom a public spectacle has - 
 irresistible charms, hastened to behold, and to swell, the royal 
 procession. When the king reached the barriers, which were 
 thrown open for his admission, the acclamations of the popu- 
 lace became unbounded; and the prefect of Paris, attended by 
 the whole municipal body, addressed a congratulatory speech 
 to his majesty, full of those protestations of inextinguishable 
 loyalty, to liis person and his house, which, only about three 
 months before, had been lavished, with equal profusion, upon 
 the returning emperor. 
 
 S 
 
206 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The day after his arrival, the king announced his new minis- 
 try. It consisted of prince Talleyrand, president of the coun- 
 cil, and secretary of state for foreign affairs; baron Louis, i 
 minister of finance; the duke of Otranto, minister of pblice; ,, 
 baron Pasquier, minister of justice; marshal St. Cyr, minister j 
 of war f count Jaucour, minister of marine;, and the-' duke' of -j 
 Richelieu, minister of the household. , In the choice of this ] 
 ministry, the object of the king was'to include men of all par- ij 
 ties, and thereby inspire universal confidence; but this was a i 
 vain effort, and a short time served to dissolve a body, in which 
 there was no common principle of adhesion. . v_ 
 
 Louis was thus once more seated on the throne, but he reigri^ 
 ed only in the Tuileries. To the foreign troops, by which he 
 was surrounded, he was solely indebted for his elevation. The j 
 national will had not been consulted ; and the same power, I 
 only, which placed the sceptre in his hands, could enable him | 
 to wield it. Indebted to the enemies of his country for his I 
 elevation — surrounded by a discordant ministry — compelled to 
 impose^ heavy burthens upon the people, as the price of bis j 
 restoration — and forced to subscribe to conditions humiliating | 
 to the glory of France; the opening of his second reign, was i 
 inauspicious in the extreme, but it was not entirely hopeless. | 
 Whatever might have been the errors of his former govern- I 
 ment, or however unpromising his present circumstances, he ; 
 enjoyed personally the respect of the French nation. The ' 
 people were wearied with revolutions. Their military passion, ! 
 which, before the return of Napoleon, constituted the great dan- 
 ger of the French monarchy, was subdued; and the nation 
 wished for peace, and a moderate share of freedom, both of 
 which the king possessed the power and the inclination to ; 
 confer. 
 
 The short but splendid campaign of the alhed armies under 
 the command of the duke of Wellington and marshal Blucher, 
 obscured the operations of the Austrians and the Russians, and 
 their advance from the Rhine to the French capital, though 
 distinguished by several spirited engagements, did not fix, for 
 a moment, the attention of Europe. Two days after the return 
 of Louis, the emperor of Russia and the king of Prussia, ar- 
 rived in Paris; and lord Castlereagh, with several others of 
 the most distinguished statesmen and ministers attached to the 
 principal courts of Europe, had repaired to the same city, to 
 negotiate those treaties by which the relations of France with 
 the other states of Europe, were to be regulated and guaran- 
 teed ; and the humiliated kingdom was to be occupied, during 
 
NAPOLEON. 207 
 
 five years, by one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand troops, furnished 
 by the great allied powers, and maintained at the expense of 
 France. 
 
 Napoleon was, in the mean time, occupied with the care of 
 his own safety ; endeavouring to reach a seaport, and embark 
 for the United States. On the third of July, accompanied by 
 counts Montholon and Bertrand, together with the duke of 
 Rovigo, generals L'Allemand, Gourgaud, and the count de Las 
 Cases, he arrived atRochefort. The port, however, being closely 
 watched, by English cruisers, after some unsuccessful attempts 
 to elude their vigilance, he placed himself under British pro- 
 tection : — to use his own words, " he came, like Themistocles, 
 to throw himself upon the honour of the British nation \ the 
 most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous, of 
 his enemies." On the fifteenth, he went, with his suite and 
 baggage, on board the Bellerophon, a ship of war, commanded 
 by captain Maitland. He professed his desire to pass the re- 
 mainder of his days in England. But this proposal was not 
 acceded to, by the allied powers. They determined, that he 
 should be carried, as a state prisoner, to St. Helena ; a British 
 bland, in the Southern Atlantic ; there, to remain> under the 
 strictest guard, within specified limits, for recreation. The 
 Bellerophon, having sailed for Torbay, the illustrious captive 
 was there transferred to the British ship of war, Northumber- 
 land, of seventy-four guns, commanded by captain Ross, and 
 bearing the flag of rear-admiral sir George Cockburn. Count 
 Bertrand, his wife, and three children ; the count and cduntess 
 Montholon, and child ; count de Las Cases and general Gour- 
 gaud; with nine men and three women servants; remained 
 with Napoleon ; and, on the seventeenth of October, after a 
 passage of seventy-two days, he who had once aspired to the 
 dominion of Europe, found himself immured in a small volcanic 
 island, at a distance of six-thousand miles from the scenes of 
 his immortal exploits ; and separated from the continents of 
 Africa and America, by unfathomable seas. 
 
 Misfortune had not impaired the personal appearance of Na- 
 poleon. When chief consul of France, his figure was slender, 
 his visage thin, and rather haggard ; when he assumed the im- 
 perial purple, he was more robust ; but, since adversity first 
 hurled him from his giddy eminence, he had become actually 
 corpulent. His person is thus described by an officer of the 
 Bellerophon : — " Napoleon is about five feet seven inches in 
 height, very strongly made, and well-proportioned ; his chest 
 is very broad and deep ; his legs and thighs are proportioned. 
 
208 THE LIFE OF 
 
 with symmetry and strength ; he has a round and handsome 
 foot. His countenance is sallow, and, as it were, deeply tinged 
 by hot climates ; but he has the most commanding air I ever 
 saw. His hair is dark brown, his eyes are grey, and the most 
 piercing that you can imagine. His glance, you fancy, searches 
 into your inmost thoughts. His features are handsome now, 
 and when younger, he must have been a very handsome man. 
 He is rather fat, and his body protuberant, but, notwithstand- 
 ing, he appears active. His step and demeanour, are gllto- 
 gether commanding : he looks about forty-five' or forty-six 
 years of age." 
 
 St. Helena, so far from being desolate and barren, as is 
 generally imagined, is, in many parts, pre-eminently fertile, 
 and capable of the highest improvement. The land, of which 
 between two and three thousand acres might be ploughed, and 
 even much more brought into cultivation, is not inferior, in the 
 production of wheat, and every other grain, as well as of po- 
 tatoes, and all other kinds of esculents, to the very best land of 
 Europe. The annual produce is indeed much greater,, on ae<^ 
 count of the certainty of two seasons of rain, and two harvests^ 
 in the year. The plain of Longwood and Deadwood comprises 
 fifteen-hundred acres, elevated two-thousand feet above the sea, 
 with a beautiful verdure, covering a deep and fertile soil, and 
 is become the first place of pasture in the island ; but, with all 
 these advantages, the greater part of St. Helena exhibits the 
 appearance of a barren and reluctant waste. The climate is 
 represented as the mildest and most salubrious in the world, 
 and as remarkably congenial to human feehngs. Neither too 
 hot nor too cold, it presents, throughout the year, that medium 
 temperature which is always agreeable. From thunder and 
 lightning this chmate may be said to be wholly exempt. In the 
 course of sixty years, only two flashes of lightning are recollect- 
 ed ; and even these are said not to have been accompanied by 
 thunder. Neither is this settlement subject to those storms and 
 hurricanes, which occasionally afflict and desolate many other 
 ir€)pical islands. The population of the island, in 1812, was 
 five-hundred-and-eighty-two white persons, and one-thousand- 
 one-hundred-and-fifty black. Provisions are always plentiful ; 
 and the supply of fish is so ample, that more than seventy spe- 
 cies are enumerated, as frequenting the coast. 
 
 As a military station, this settlement is impregnable. The 
 principal landing-places, which consist of Rupert's Bay, James- 
 'I'cwn, and Lemon Valley, are all well fortified with batteries, 
 provided with furnaces for heating shot, and flanked by cannon^ 
 
NAPOLEON. 209 
 
 placed upon the cliffs, far above the reach of ship-guns. Mor- 
 tars and howitzers also are provided, for showering grape-sliot 
 upon the decks of ships, or upon boats attempting to land. 
 Two or three men, provided with iron crows, and stationed on 
 the heights, just above the entrance to any of the ravines, 
 would render it impossible for any number of troops, however 
 great, to advance ten yards within the landing-places. A 
 stone of moderate size, which may be easily displaced, thrown 
 down from one of the ridges, collects so many myriads in its 
 train, before it reaches the bottom of the hill, that, if a whole 
 battalion of troops were drawn up in the ravine, not a single 
 man could escape alive. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DEFEAT AND EXECUTION OF MURAT. 
 
 The affairs of Europe were now rapidly tending towards the 
 system of political restoration. Napoleon, the founder of the 
 new dynasties, had fallen, and none of the monarchs indebted 
 for their elevation to that most extraordinary man, the king of 
 Sweden alone excepted, had retained their crowns. In Hol- 
 land, Spain, and Germany, tlie Napoleon race had, in succes- 
 sion, disappeared from the list of sovereign princes; and in 
 Italy, the sceptre of Joachim Murat was, within the period of 
 the second reign of his imperial relation, wrested from his 
 grasp. During the exile of Napoleon, in the isle of Elba, there 
 had been an active correspondence between Porto-Eerrajo and 
 the king of Naples. At this time, two contending parties ex- 
 isted in the latter court — the French and the Neapolitans. 
 The attachment of the king was manifestly to the former ; and, 
 on the return of Napoleon to the French capital, little difficulty 
 was found, by this party, in fixing the sovereign in alliance with 
 the prince to whom he owed his crown ; and to whose friend- 
 ship alone he began to suspect that he must be indebted for its 
 preservation. The policy of Murat was to preserve his king- 
 dom ; and the same motives which induced him to join the 
 allies, in 1814, now led him to espouse the cause of the French 
 emperor. No sooner had the intelligence of the triumphal 
 entry of Napoleon into Lyons, arrived at Naples, than Joachim 
 quitted his capital, to place himself at the head of his army. 
 On the nineteenth of March, he arrived at Ancona, with fifty- 
 
 S2 
 
210 THE LIFE OF 
 
 thousand men ; and, forcing a passage through the papal do- 
 ininions, without explaining his intentions, he occupied Rome, 
 the pope and the cardinals flying before him : — and thence, 
 proceeding to the north, on the thirtieth of the same month, he 
 commenced hostihties with Austria, by attacking an imperial 
 army posted at Casena. 
 
 The grand object of Murat was to unite Lombardy and the 
 other states of Italy, against the house of Austria ; and one of 
 his first acts, on the breaking out of the war, was to issue a 
 proclamation, dated from Rimini, on the thirty-first of March, 
 invoking the Italians to repair to his standard, and to drive from 
 amongst them all foreign power.—" One cry," says this proc- 
 lamation, " echoes from the Alps to the straits of Scylla — ' The 
 independence of Italy !' — What right have strangers to rob you 
 of independence, the first right and blessing of all people ? It 
 is in vain, that nature has given you the Alps for a bulwark, 
 and the invincible discrepancy of your character, as a barrier 
 still more insurmountable. No ! let every foreign domination 
 disappear from the soil of Italy. Formerly masters of the 
 world, you have expiated that fatal glory, by a servitude of two- 
 thousand years. Let it now be your glory to have masters no 
 longer. Eighty-thousand Italians, at Naples, hasten to you, 
 under the command of the king : they swear never to rest, till 
 Italy be free ; and they have proved, more than once, that they 
 know how to keep their oaths. Arise, Italians, and march in 
 the closest union ; and, at the same time that your courage 
 shall assert your internal independence, let a government of 
 your choice, a truly national representation, a constitution 
 worthy of you and of the age, guarantee your internal liberty, 
 and protect your property. I invite all brave men to join my 
 standard ; I invite all enlightened men, who have reflected on 
 the wants of their country, to prepare, in the silence of the 
 passions, the constitution and laws, which must, in future, gov- 
 ern happy and independent Italy." 
 
 At first, Murat seemed rapidly advancing to the completion 
 of his object. The imperial general, Bianchi, retired before 
 the Neapolitan army, the grand-duke of Tuscany quitted his 
 capital, and on the sixth of April the invading army entered 
 Florence. But, notwithstanding this success, the Italians did 
 not repair to the standard of independence, in any considerable 
 numbers; or'display any portion of that zeal, which was indis- 
 pensable, in order to resist, with success, the imperial arms. 
 
 in the mean time, the Austrian forces were collected under 
 marshal Beiiegarde; who, in a proclamation, dated the fifth 
 
NAPOLEON. 211 
 
 of April, reminded the people of Italy, that Murat, the de- 
 nouncer of foreign influence, was himself a foreigner! Murat's 
 character as a tactician was far inferior to that which he de- 
 servedly bore as a soldier in the field of battle ; and he was 
 still a worse politician, than a general. He seemed to ac- 
 knowledge, by his military movements, that he had attempted 
 a scheme far beyond his strength and understanding. No sooner 
 had the main body of the Austrian armies come in contact with 
 the Neapolitan troops, than the latter fell back to Ancona, 
 pursued by the Austrian generals, Bianchi and Frimont. He 
 now made overtures of peace ; but, they were rejected, and, 
 finding himself in danger of being cut off from the Roman and 
 NeapoHtan states, he abandoned Ancona, and marched in the 
 direction of Macerata, to Tolentino. At this place, a series 
 of bloody engagements was fought, on the second and third of 
 May, and for some time victory seemed to hover between the 
 contending armies, but at length she fixed her standard on the 
 side of the imperiahsts ; and the disorderly retreat of the panic- 
 struck Neapohtans rendered it evident that the term of the 
 "handsome swordsman's" royalty had ended. 
 
 The defeated prince now learned that the Calabrians were 
 in insurrection, and that an EngHsh fleet, escorting an invading 
 army from Sicily, had appeared in the bay of Naples. His 
 army, reduced to an inconsiderable number, by repeated skir- 
 mishes, in which he had behaved with so much temerity, as to 
 induce his followers to suppose that he courted death, was 
 directed to seek refuge in Capua. He himself, w^ho had left 
 Naples splendidly apparelled, according to his usual custom, 
 and at the head of a gallant army, now entered its gates attend- 
 ed only by four lancers, alighted at the palace, and appeared 
 before the queen, pale, and haggard, with his clothes almost 
 in rags, and with all the signs of extreme dejection and fatigue. 
 His salutation was affecting: — " Madam, I have not been able 
 to find death." — He presently found that remaining at Naples, 
 w'hich was about to fall into other hands, would endanger his 
 liberty, perhaps his life; he took leave, therefore, of his queen, 
 cut oft* his luxuriant hair, and, having disguised himself in a 
 grey frock, escaped to the little island of Tschia, situated near 
 the entrance to the bay of Naples, on the twenty -fifth of May 
 reached Cannes, which had received Napoleon a few weeks 
 before, on his return from Elba, and soon afterwards went to 
 reside at Toulon ; while madame Murat and her family found 
 an asylum in the Austrian states. 
 
 The events attendant on the battle of Waterloo, having com- 
 
212 THE LIFE OF 
 
 pelled Murat to quit France, in the month of September he 
 appeared in the island of Corsica. Here, he assembled a num- 
 ber of partisans, as a parody on the great and successful enter- 
 prise of Napoleon in the early part of the same year ; deter- 
 mined to invade the kingdom of Naples, for the purpose of 
 driving out the Bourbon sovereign, Ferdinand IV., who, after 
 an absence of nine years, had made his pubhc entry into Na- 
 ples, on the seventeenth of June ; and to reascend the throne 
 from which he had been so recently expelled. At mid-day, 
 on the eighth of October, Murat arrived on the Calabrian 
 coast, with two small vessels, and disembarked near Pizzo, with 
 a suite of thirty persons. From the coast, the invaders marched, 
 without interruption, to the first village ; where Murat, hoping 
 to excite a rising of the people, in his favour, exclaimed, " I am 
 Joachim, your king; it is your duty to acknowledge me." 
 These words served to rouse the people to arms — not to aid, 
 but to crush, a desperate enterprise, which threatened to in- 
 volve their country in the horrors of a civil war. Perceiving, 
 when it was too late, that popular feeling, in this part of Italy, 
 was against him, Murat and his suite sought refuge in the moun- 
 tains, whence they attempted to open to themselves a way to 
 the coast, for the purpose of reimbarking ; but, overcome by 
 the number of their pursuers, after a most gallant resistance, 
 they were made prisoners, and conducted to the fort of Pizzo. 
 Brief, is the interval between the deposition and the death of a 
 sovereign. Immediately after his capture, Murat was tried 
 before a military commission ; by whom, he was condemned to 
 be shot, in company with his followers ; and, at three o'clock 
 in the afternoon of the thirteenth of October, the apprehensions 
 of the reigning family were extinguished, in their rival's blood. 
 
 Murat met his fate as became a soldier, and a man. Having 
 fastened his wife's picture to his breast, he refused to have his 
 eyes bandaged, or to use a seat, and received six balls through 
 his heart. 
 
 Joachim Murat was born in the year 1767, — about two years 
 before Napoleon Buonaparte — in the department of Lot, in 
 France. His father was an innkeeper, by whom he was sent 
 to Toulouse, with a design to have him educated for holy orders. 
 But he soon returned, and employed himself as an assistant at 
 the inn, until the commencement of the revolution ; when he 
 entered the army, as a private soldier, and, having joined the 
 Jacobins, was soon advanced to the rank of lieutenant-col- 
 onel. Shortly afterwards, he was cashiered, with Buonaparte ; 
 and it was at that time that their intimacy commenced. He 
 
NAPOLEON. 213 
 
 first distinguished himself in the campaign of Italy, under Buo- 
 naparte, where his merits procured him the rank of general ; 
 and, in 1799, he married Caroline, the youngest sister of the 
 first consul. 
 
 As a soldier, Murat may be ranked, for bravery and enter- 
 prise, amongst the first military characters of the age; and as 
 a prince, his endeavours were assiduously directed to correct 
 the vices, and to ameliorate the condition, of his subjects; but, 
 as a statesman, he was weak and irresolute, and, although the 
 desertion of the cause of the allies, after his brother-in-law's 
 return from Elba, cost him his life, his treachery to Napoleon, 
 (to whom he was indebted for every thing,) after his discom- 
 fiture at Leipsic, will be esteemed, by an impartial posterity, 
 as the vital error of a career, short, splendid, and tragical. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION ASCENDANCY OF THE ULTRA- 
 ROYALISTS PROSCRIPTIONS EXECUTION OF LABEDOYERE 
 
 AND NEY ESCAPE OF LAVALETTE. 
 
 On the thirteenth of July, the king of France published an 
 ordinance, announcing the dissolution of the chamber of depu- 
 ties, and convoking a new assembly, to meet on the fourteenth 
 of August. In order that the people might enjoy a more nu- 
 merous representation, than at that time existed, the number 
 of members was increased, by this edict, from two-hundred-and- 
 sixty-two, to three-hundred-and-ninety-five ; but the mode of 
 election was exposed to great objections. During the whole 
 period of Napoleon's imperial sway, no vacancies whatever had 
 been supphed, in the electoral colleges ; and, from death and 
 other causes, the numbers, on the gecond restoration of the 
 Bourbons, were reduced to nearly one-half their original 
 amount. Instead of referring to the primary electors, to supply 
 these vacancies, the king judged it proper to direct that the 
 prefects of the departments, all of them newly appointed, and 
 men of highly royal principles, should complete the number, 
 by nominating twenty members for each college. As might 
 have been expected, these supplementary members, with very, 
 few exceptions, proved to be of the same character as the pre- 
 fects ; and the deputies, chosen under such auspices, instead 
 
214 THE LIFE 01^ 
 
 of being the independent representatives of the people, became 
 the devoted servants of the court ; or rather of that ultra-royal- 
 ist party, whose views of the omnipotence of the royal prerog- 
 atives, far exceeded those either of the king or his ministry. 
 
 The edict for dissolving the chamber of deputies, vi^as fol- 
 lowed by two other ordinances ; by one of which, a number 
 of peers, who had accepted seats in the soi-disant chamber of 
 peers, named and established by Napoleon, since the twentieth 
 of March, were declared to have acted in a manner incompat- 
 ible with their dignity, and to have forfeited their right to the 
 peerage of France. By the other ordinance, it was directed, 
 that a number of general and other officers, who had betrayed 
 the king, before the twenty-third of March, or who had attack- 
 ed France and the government, with arms in their hands, and 
 those who had, by violence, obtained possession of power, 
 should be arrested, and carried before the competent councils 
 of war, in their respective divisions ; also, that a number of 
 other individuals should quit the city of Paris in three days, 
 and should retire into the interior of France, to places pointed 
 out by the minister of police ; where they should remain, under 
 his superintendence, until the chambers had decided upon those 
 who should be banished from the country, or delivered for 
 trial, to the tribunals.* ^ 
 
 The freedom of the press, from which a royal ordinance had, 
 
 * PROSCRIPTION LISTS. 
 
 Peers expelled. Counts — Clement de Ris, Colchen, Cornudet, 
 d'Aboville. Marshal Lefebi-e, duke of Dantzic. Counts — De Croix, 
 Dedeley d'Agier, Dejean, Fabre de I'Aude, Gassendi, Lacepede, 
 Latour Maubourg. Dukes of Prasline, Plaisance, Le Brun. Mar- 
 shals — Duke of Elching;en, (Ney); Albufuera, (Suchet); Conegliana, 
 (Moncey); Treviso, (Mortier). Counts — De Barral. archbishop of 
 Tours; Boissy d'Anglas. Duke de Cadore, (Champagny.) Counts 
 — De Canclaux, Cassabianca, De Montesquiou,Ponte-coulant, Ram- 
 pon, Segur, Valence, and Belliard. 
 
 Proscribed Officers and Public Functionaries. — To he ar- 
 rested, and brought to trial. — Ney, Labedoyere, the two Lallemands, 
 Drouet d'Eslon, Lefebre Desnouettes, Ameilh, Braver, Gilly, Mou- 
 ton Duvernet, Grouchy, Clausel, Laborde, Debelle, Bertrand, Drouet, 
 Cambronne, Lavalette, and Rovigo. 
 
 To T"^ ^aris, and aioait the decision of the Chambers— Sonlt, Alix, 
 Exelmans, Bassano, Marbot, ¥e\H L^pellitier, Boulay de la Me- 
 urthe, Mehee, Fressinet, Thibaudeau, Carnot, Vandarnme, La^ 
 marque. Lobau, Harnel, Pere, Barrere, Arnault, Pommereuil, Reg- 
 nault de St. Jean d'Angeiy, Arrighi (Padua); Dejean, (the son;) 
 Garnau, Real, Bouvier, Dumoulard, Merlin de Douay, Durbach, 
 Dirat, Deferment, Borv St. Vincent, Felix Desportes, Gamier de 
 Saintes, Mellinet, Hullin, Cluys, Courtin, Forbin Janson (the eldest 
 son,) and Lorgne Dideville, 
 
NAPOLEON. 215 
 
 soon after the return of the king from Ghent, removed all re- 
 strictions, was soon deemed too potent an instrument in the 
 hands of the disaffected ; and, on the eighth of August, a second 
 ordinance was issued, revoking all the licenses given to public 
 journals, of every kind ; and suspending their further appear- 
 ance, until fresh authority was received, by each, from the 
 minister of general police: — and, that not a vestige of freedom 
 might be enjoyed, by any branch of the periodical press, it was 
 further directed, that all periodical writings should be submit- 
 ted to the examination of a commission of censorship, the mem- 
 bers of which should be appointed by the king. 
 
 The first officer brought before the tribunals, was colonel 
 Labedoyere, on a charge of treason, rebellion, and the seduc- 
 tion of his troops from their allegiance. On the twelfth of 
 August, Labedoyere was arraigned before a military tribunal, 
 held at Paris ; when, after a long deliberation, the president, 
 with visible expression of grief, pronounced the prisoner guilty 
 of treason and rebellion, and condemned him to suffer death. 
 
 When his family learned that the council of revision had 
 confirmed the sentence passed upon Labedoyere, his wife, clad 
 in mourning, appeared before the king, as he was entering his 
 carriage, and, falling at his feet, exclaimed, — " Pardon, Sire ! 
 Pardon !" — " Madame," said Louis, " I know your sentiments, 
 and those of your family, and never was it more painful to me 
 to pronounce a refusal. If your husband had offended only 
 against me, his pardon should have been granted ; but all 
 France demands the punishment of a man, who has brought 
 upon her all the scourges of war. I promise my protection to 
 yourself and your child." 
 
 Execution followed soon after the sentence of the court, and 
 colonel Labedoyere displayed, in his last moments, the most 
 heroic fortitude. In the evening of the nineteenth of August, 
 he was led to the plain of Crenelle. After receiving, on his 
 knees, the benediction of the confessor, he stood erect, and, 
 without waiting for his eyes to be bandaged, laid open his 
 breast to his military executioners, saying, — " Sur tout, ne me 
 manquez pas,'"' (above all, do not miss me.) The veterans 
 levelled, and, in an instant he was no more. 
 
 The day after the execution of Labedoyere, marshal Ney, 
 who had been apprehended in the department of Lot, and 
 brought to Paris, underwent his first examination, at the Con- 
 cergerie ; but the final proceedings, in the marshal's case, did 
 not occur until near the end of the year. 
 
 In the same month, another of the French marshals, and one 
 
§16 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of the generals of Napoleon, marshal Brune, finding himself 
 exposed to the indignation of a royalist mob, at Avignon, took 
 refuge in a tavern, in that city, and, at the moment when he 
 conceived that the door of his asylum was about to be forced, 
 terminated his life, with a pistol. This act of desperation was 
 Inot sufficient to rescue him from the fury of his persecutors. 
 After placing his body upon a hurdle, they promenaded it igno- 
 miniously through the streets, and concluded the savage pro- 
 cession, by casting the remains of their victim into the Rhone. 
 
 The pride of the French nation had been greatly humbled 
 by the second conquest of their country ; but the humiliation 
 was not so complete, as to cause the inhabitants of the metrop- 
 olis to submit to the degradation that awaited them, without 
 the most bitter complaints, against what they termed the injus- 
 tice and rapacity of their conquerors. Like the bird imagined 
 in the fables of Esop, the galleries of the arts, in Paris, were 
 now stripped of their borrowed plumes. Soon after the allied 
 armies had entered the city, marshal Blucher visited that vast 
 depository, called the Louvre, and insisted upon sending back, 
 to his country, all the pictures and other works of art, which 
 had been seized by the French, not only in Prussia, but all 
 those also which had been taken from Cologne and A-ix-la- 
 Chapelle, cities on the left bank of the Rhine. This example 
 was some time afterwards followed, by the other states of Eu- 
 rope : — the emperor Francis, on behalf of Florence, Modena, 
 Milan, Parma, Verona, and Venice, claimed every painting of 
 value, of which they had been deprived. The duke of Wel- 
 lington, in support of the rights of the king of the Netherlands, 
 demanded the pictures stripped from the catholic churches in 
 Belgium ; while the Spaniards, claiming their share in the 
 general distribution, seized upon an exhibition consisting of 
 those of the Spanish school. 
 
 In the midst of the irritation produced, in Paris, by the dis- 
 mantling of the Louvre, the conflicts of parties raged with con- 
 siderable violence. In the cabinet, the contest lay principally 
 between the friends and the enemies of proscription — between 
 those who recommended measures of concihation, and those 
 who preferred the influence of rigorous retribution. The for- 
 mer wished to throw a mantle of clemency and a veil of obliv- 
 ion, over the past, and to retain whatever was valuable in the 
 institutions of the country, although of a date subsequent to the 
 period of the revolution ; while the younger branches of the 
 royal family, ranging themselves at the head of the latter party, 
 called for justice upon the heads of the regicides, and wished 
 
NAPOLEON. 217 
 
 to bring back France to the ancient regime. The princes and 
 their party — more zealous than the king — laboured incessantly 
 to effect the removal of the existing administration ; and the 
 influence of these ultra-royalists at length prevailed over the 
 advice of the duke of Wellington and other ministers of the 
 allied sovereigns. A total change in the ministry was the con- 
 sequence ; Talleyrand and the duke of Otranto resigned their 
 situations, and on the twenty-fifth of September, the following 
 list of the new cabinet appeared in the official gazette: — 
 
 The duke of Richelieu, for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 The duke of Feltre, for the Department of War. 
 
 Viscount Doubouchage, for the Marine and Colonies. 
 
 Count de Vaublanc, for the Interior. 
 
 The Sieur de Casas, for General Police. 
 
 Count Barbe de Marbois, Keeper of the Seals. 
 
 Count Corvetto, for the Finances. 
 
 One of the principal benefits of the French revolution, was 
 the suppression of religious intolerance ; and one of the first 
 acts of the revolutionary government, was the admission of 
 protestants to a participation in the religious privileges, and 
 the political rights, of their catholic countrymen. The distin- 
 guished merit of redressing many of the grievances under which 
 the protestants had laboured, before the accession of Louis 
 XVI. to the throne, belonged to that monarch ; the republican 
 government advanced still further, in the work of amelioration; 
 and Napoleon, by the provisions of the concordat, placed their 
 religion precisely upon the same footing as the catholic faith, 
 both in establishment and privilege. The protestants, with 
 feelings natural to men, could not but admire and applaud 
 measures by which they were raised, from being outcasts of 
 society, and from a state of degradation and infamy, to that of 
 citizens, with equal rights. Unfortunately, after the restoration 
 of the BourbonsR, a very unfavourable change occurred : the 
 royal charter declared the catholic faith to be the established 
 religion of France ; and the protestants again became only a 
 tolerated sect; persons who had long been absent, returned, 
 with all their former prejudices ; the distinction of catholic and 
 protestant was revived, in a hostile sense; and evident indica- 
 tions were exhibited of a wish to restore the ancient regime. 
 During this period, the protestants, in the south of France, 
 were insulted, by the populace, on the ground of their religion; 
 and their ears became familiarized with songs and exclama- 
 tior)s, menacing them with a repetition of the horrors of St« 
 Bartholomew's day. 
 
 T 
 
218 THE LIFE OF 
 
 For several months, the protestant population of Nismes was 
 exposed to outrages of every kind. The cries of" down with 
 the Hugonots ! Vive le St. BartelemiP'' resounded through the 
 streets ; their houses were plundered or pulled down ; the rich 
 were laid under ruinous contributions ; the looms of the poor 
 manufacturers were destroyed; and women were stripped and 
 scourged in the streets. No fewer than thirty females were 
 subjected to these atrocities, eight of whom died, either under 
 the hands of their persecutors, or in consequence of their 
 stripes. Two-hundred-and-forty persons were murdered, in 
 cold blood ; and upwards of two-thousand more, became the 
 subjects of this persecution, either in their persons or in their 
 property. A wretch, of the name of Trestaillon, was the chief 
 leader in the atrocities at Nismes ; but this man, though twice 
 taken into custody, was never brought to trial. At this place, 
 indeed, the murderers were exempted from the punishment of 
 the most numerous of their crimes, by an official order, direct- 
 ing that no examinations should be made into the disorders at 
 Nismes, previous to the first of September. Besides Trestail- 
 lon, there was another notorious murderer, named Graftan, 
 otherwise Quatre Taillon, the scene of whose bloody exploits 
 was at Uzes, sixteen miles from Nismes ; and, although this 
 wretch is said to have killed fourteen persons, with his own 
 hands, he, like Trestaillon, escaped unpunished. 
 
 The rage of bigotry at length rose to a height calculated to 
 arouse the indignation of the surrounding states, and compelled 
 the French government to interfere, with a strong hand. The 
 duke of Angouleme, who had repeatedly visited Nismes, during 
 the murders, and whose devoted attachment to the catholic 
 religion had rendered him suspected of conniving at the perse- 
 cution of the protestants, issued an order for the re-opening of 
 their places of worship, which, ever since the month of July, 
 they had been under the necessity of keeping shut. On quitting 
 the place, orders were left, by the duke, with general La Garde, 
 a member of the reformed church, to afford protection to the 
 persons and property of the protestants, and to guard their 
 temples against outrage. Under this guarantee, public worship 
 was resumed ; but, on Sunday, the twelfth of November, at the 
 moment when the general was performing the duty confided to 
 him, a furious mob assembled, to resist the opening of the prot- 
 estant churches, and a ruffian levelled a pistol at the general, 
 and shot him through the breast. The wound was severe, but 
 not mortal ; and the assassin was seized by the military, but 
 was afterwards suflTered to escape. On receiving intelligence 
 
NAPOLEON. 219 
 
 of this atrocity, the king issued an ordinance, which, after 
 recognizing the liberty of worship, granted by the royal consti- 
 tutional charter, directed that proceedings should be instituted 
 against the authors of the assassination ; and, on the twenty- 
 fifth of December, the protestant churches were re-opened. 
 
 The enslaved state of the French press, prevented the voice 
 of the persecuted protestants from being heard, in their own 
 country. The police would not suffer a single document, nor 
 even a paragraph, to appear, in any of the public papers, 
 respecting their suiferings; while the conductors of those shac- 
 kled mediums of public information, were permitted, and even 
 solicited, to pubUsh sentiments calculated to palliate the enor- 
 mities of their oppressors, and to swell the tide of popular fury 
 which had begun to rush with so much violence against the 
 oppressed ; and even in the chamber of deputies, if any mem- 
 ber of liberal sentiments attempted to invite the attention of 
 the legislature to the subject, a great part of the assembly arose, 
 in a tumultuous manner, and, in the coarsest terms, insisted 
 that he should be called to order. 
 
 In England, however, where the press, as in the United 
 States, is as free as the air we breathe, the situation of the 
 French protestants, as depicted in the public journals, excited 
 a lively interest. Meetings were held in London, and other 
 parts of the kingdom, the interference of the British govern- 
 ment, in favour of the sufferers, was implored, and subscrip- 
 tions, to a considerable amount, were raised, for the purpose 
 of ameliorating their condition. 
 
 We have already mentioned the apprehension and examina- 
 tion of marshal Ney. The first indication of that system of 
 vigour, so loudly demanded by the ultra-royalists of France, 
 and so confidently anticipated from the new ministry, was dis- 
 played in the trial and execution of that distinguished soldier. 
 The crime with which the marshal stood charged, was high 
 treason ; and, on the fourth of December, the peers, having 
 erected themselves into a criminal tribunal, he was impeached 
 at the bar. It appeared, from the evidence, that, until the 
 seventh of March, he was ignorant of the landing of Napoleon, 
 in the south of France ; and that on the ninth, he received 
 instructions, from the minister of Louis XVIII., to repair to 
 the head of his government, at Besangon, for the purpose of 
 arresting the progress of the invader. Before his departure 
 from the capital, he obtained an audience of the king, and, 
 during the conference, he observed, " that should Buonaparte 
 be taken, he would deserve to be conducted to Paris in an iron 
 
220 - THE LIFE OF 
 
 cage," and, on taking leave, kissed the king's hand. For some 
 days, he remained faithful to the royal cause; but his subse- 
 quent conduct proved, that he soon began to imbibe the general 
 spirit of disaffection, which pervaded the army. On his arriv- 
 ing at Lons-le-Saulnier, four days after his audience with his 
 sovereign, he addressed a proclamation to his troops, beginning 
 with these words, — " The cause of the Bourbons is for ever 
 lost;" and soon afterwards he himself and his whole corps 
 joined the invading army. 
 
 Finding it impossible to resist the proofs of marshal Ney's 
 treasonable disaffection, his counsel rested his defence chiefly 
 on the impunity granted to the marshal, as a resident in Paris, 
 by the twelfth article of the capitulation of that city, which pro- 
 yided — 4hat no person in the capital should he disturbed, or 
 called to account, for his political conduct; and subsequently, 
 that, should any doubt arise as to the interpretation of any 
 article of the capitulation, the interpretation should be made 
 in favour of the besieged. No plea, however, would have been 
 avaihng. It seemed determined, by the court, that the duke 
 of Elchingen should die. Instead of fairly meeting that objec- 
 tion, which was indeed unanswerable, the attorney-general in- 
 terrupted the defendant's counsel, and required that the advo- 
 cates of the accused should be interdicted, by the court, from 
 availing themselves of the convention of the third of July ; on 
 the ground, that this mihtary convention was the work of for- 
 eigners, and was neither signed nor ratified by the king! Mar- 
 shal Ney, indignant at an injustice which showed a determina- 
 tion to sacrifice him, declared that he would rather not be 
 defended, at all, than have only the shadow of a defence. — " I 
 am accused," exclaimed he, " contrary to the faith of treaties, 
 and they will not suffer me to justify myself I will act like 
 Moreau — I will appeal to Europe, and to posterity. I forbid 
 my counsel to utter another word." — There now reigned, 
 in the chamber, for some time, a profound silence; which was 
 at length broken by the attorney-general's expressing his de- 
 termination to waive the right of reply, since the marshal had 
 declined all further defence. 
 
 The trial terminated in a unanimous award of guilty. Of the 
 one-hundred-and-sixty peers, who voted, one-hundred-and-thir- 
 ty-nine doomed the marshal to suffer death, while seventeen 
 voted for banishment, and four declined giving any opinion on 
 the sentence. The fortitude and bravery of marshal Ney, never 
 forsook him, in any stage of the proceedings ; and when the 
 proper officer repaired to his apartments to announce to him. 
 
NAPOLEON. 221 ' 
 
 his sentence, the marshal^ begged that he would, without apol- 
 ogy or circumlocution, proceed directly to the fact. When, in 
 reading the fatal judgment, his titles were detailed, he said, — 
 " What good can this do now ? — Michel Ney — then a heap of 
 dust — that is all." — The day of execution immediately followed 
 that of the conviction ; and at four o'clock in the morning of 
 the seventh, the marshal took his last farewell of his wife and 
 children. 
 
 At nine o'clock, accompanied by his confessor, he was con- 
 ducted, in a carriage, to the grand alley, leading to the observ- 
 atory, the place appointed for his execution. A picquet of 
 veterans, sixty in number, awaited his arrival. Having alighted 
 from the carriage, the marshal faced his executioners ; and, 
 after taking off his hat with his left hand, and placing his right 
 upon his breast, he exclaimed, with a loud, and unfaltering 
 voice — " Comrades, straight at the heart — fire." The officer 
 gave the signal, at the same moment, with his sword, and he 
 fell dead, without a struggle ; twelve balls having taken effect ; 
 three of them in the head. 
 
 The execution of marshal Ney deeply affected the public 
 feelings. History affords no example, that we recollect, of a 
 judicial murder, so horribly atrocious. When the trial was 
 pending, the marshal had written a letter to the duke of Wel- 
 lington, claiming the indemnity stipulated in the convention of 
 Paris. The duke replied, that " the convention of the third 
 of July, was clearly and expressly a military convention ; and 
 that it could not, and did not, promise pardon for political 
 offences, on the part of the French government." But to this, 
 a very short and conclusive answer may be given, — that " it 
 was by the operation of that convention, that the Bourbon sov- 
 ereign obtained possession of the person of marshal Ney, and 
 consequently the power of bringing him to trial for the treason 
 of which we reluctantly acknowledge he had previously been 
 guilty." 
 
 General Count Lavalette, related, by marriage, to the family 
 of Buonaparte, was the next person of importance, bropght to 
 trial by the French court. In his case, also, the convention 
 of Paris was violated. Having held the office of director of 
 the posts, under the imperial government, Lavalette took forci^ 
 ble possession of the post-office of Paris, in March, when Na- 
 poleon was at Fontainbleau, on his way from Elba ; and thus, 
 by suppressing the king's proclamation, and circulating the 
 intelligence of the invader's progress, contributed essentially to 
 re-establish him upon the throne. Of this crime, he was con- 
 
 T 2 
 
222 THE LIFE OF 
 
 victed, and was sentenced to death, as a traitor. The generous 
 interference of marshal Marmont, procured for madauie Lava- 
 lette an opportunity of imploring, in person, the royal clemen- 
 cy ; but the king could not be softened, either by the power of 
 this amiable woman's language, or the mute eloquence of her 
 tears ; and her husband was ordered for execution. Yet, what 
 could not be effected by her prayers, was accomplished by her 
 skill and courage; and her husband was indebted for his life, 
 to the same stratagem, which, in the year 1621, had rescued 
 Grotius from perpetual imprisonment, in the fortress of Lou- 
 vestien, and, in 1716, snatched lord Nithesdale from the fate 
 that awaited him in the Tower of London. At three o'clock 
 in the afternoon of the twentieth of December, the day imme- 
 diately preceding that of Lavalette's intended execution, his 
 wife, accompanied by her daughter and her governess, repaired 
 to the Conciergerie, in a sedan-chair, for the purpose of dining 
 with her husband. The countess, who had recently been con- 
 fined, and was still in a delicate state of health, came to the 
 prison, wrapped in a large mantle, and the sedan-chair was 
 permitted to be brought into the room, adjoining her husband's 
 apartment. About seven o'clock, she prepared to depart; but, 
 while the gaoler was despatched, on some errand, into an ad- 
 joining room, she threw her dress, in a moment, over her hus- 
 band, and, receiving his cloak, in exchange, sunk back into his 
 chair ; while Lavalette, arrayed in his disguise, quitted the 
 prison, and, supported by his daughter and one of the turnkeys, 
 descended to the sedan. No sooner had the chair reached the 
 quay, beyond the gates of the prison, than Lavalette stepped 
 into a cabriolet, prepared for the purpose, and, after driving 
 about Paris, for two hours, to prevent all traces by the police, 
 took refuge in the house of one of his friends. 
 
 In the mean time, madame Lavalette personated her hus- 
 band, and, with a book before her face, appeared absorbed in 
 meditation. After the lapse of nearly an hour, the gaoler 
 spoke to his prisoner, but,, receiving no answer, he advanced 
 nearer to the chair, when the lady, with a smile, succeeded by 
 strong convulsions, ex;claimed, — // est parti — He is gone. — - 
 The alarm was instantly given, but no trace of the fugitive 
 could be discovered. 'J'he keeper of the Conciergerie, and the 
 turnkej', were immediately ordered into custody, by the police ; 
 and madame Lavalette was for some time detained in prison, 
 exulting, there is no doubt, in the success of her enterprise, but 
 still agitated with apprehension, with regard to its final result. 
 
 For several days, the search after Lavalette was continued,. 
 
NAPOLEON. 223 
 
 with most unremitting assiduity, but without success ; and the- 
 enraged ministry, conceiving that he had completely escaped, 
 directed that the criminal should be executed in effigy ! 
 
 Twelve days had now elapsed, and Lavalette was still in 
 Paris. To eflect his escape from the French territory, became 
 an affair of extreme difficulty and hazard. His friends, placing 
 their hope and confidence in a young Englishman, whose noble 
 mind and chivalrous character presented him to them, as the 
 only person capable of completing that design which madame 
 Lavalette had so auspiciously begun, addressed a letter, on the 
 .p^^ second of January, to Mr. Crawford Bruce; confiding 
 to him the secret, that Lavalette was still in Paris, and 
 imploring his friendship and assistance. Moved solely by the 
 commiseration which the fate of the unfortunate man excited, 
 after some deliberation he embarked in the enterprise. To 
 eflfect his escape without assistance, was impossible; Mr. Bruce, 
 therefore, pressed into this hazardous service, captain Hutch- 
 inson, a young Irish gentleman, of noble family, an officer in 
 the guards, and sir Robert Wilson, an officer well known in. 
 Europe, not only for his military, but his literary services,, 
 against Napoleon. Through the agency of these three, aided 
 by another military officer, named Elhster, Lavalette, disguised 
 in a British uniform, and accompanied by sir Robert Wilson, 
 left Paris, in an open carriage, at half past seven o'clock, in 
 the morning of Monday, the eighth of January ; and, taking the 
 route of Compeigne, Cambray, and Valenciennes, passed the 
 French frontier, at Mons, in the afternoon of the following day. 
 After receiving the assurance of eternal gratitude from Lava- 
 lette, sir Robert Wilson returned to Paris, in the evening of 
 the tenth. The vigilance of the police^ though unable to pre- 
 vent the escape of Lavalette, succeeded in discovering his ben- 
 efactors. On the thirteenth of January, sir Robert Wilson, 
 Mr. Bruce, and captain Hutchinson, were all arrested ; and, 
 having been put upon their trial, were pronounced guilty, and 
 sentenced to three months' imprisonment — the most lenient 
 punishment inflicted by the French laws. 
 
 General Lallemand, Lefebre Desnouettes, marshal Grouchy,, 
 captain Sari, and several more of the proscribed officers; also,. 
 Joseph Buonaparte, with one of his daughters, (followed, some 
 years afterwards, by Charles Buonaparte, a son of Lucien, and 
 by two sons of the unfortunate Murat,) found an asylum in the 
 United States; while Lucien Buonaparte,, as well as his brothers 
 Louis and Jerome, were allowed to fix their residence in dif- 
 ferent parts of Europe. For his gentlemanly, yet unostenta* 
 
224 THE LIFE OF - 
 
 tious deportment, in his American abode, Joseph, who assumed 
 the title of count de Survelliers, is universally esteemed. Very 
 different, are the sentiments entertained towards his brother 
 Jerome. His desertion, in obedience to Napoleon's man- 
 date, of his beautiful and accomplished American bride, and 
 his subsequent marriage with a daughter of the king of Wirtem- 
 berg, have stamped his character with indelible disgrace and 
 detestation ; and for ever deprived him of an asylum amongst 
 a people by whom his brother is so much beloved. 
 
 On the thirteenth of February, (1820) a horrible assassina- 
 tion was perpetrated, upon a member of the royal family of 
 France. At ten o'clock, in the night, the duke of Berri, only 
 son of the count d'Artois, and presumptive heir to the crown, 
 having been at the opera-house, was attending the duchess to 
 her carriage : — she was already seated, when a person, passing 
 quickly by his royal highness, encircled him with his left arm, 
 and thrust a poniard into his left breast. On feeling the 
 wound, he uttered a cry, and fell senseless into the arms of his 
 servants. The duchess herself sprang out of the carriage, and 
 drew the dagger from the duke's breast, whose only exclama- 
 tion was "Je me me.urs^'''' — " I am dying;" soon after which, 
 he expired, in the forty-third year of his age. 
 
 The assassin, named Pierre Joseph Louvel, was employed 
 in the saddlery of the king. On being interrogated, he boldly 
 declared, that he had meditated the murder ever since 1814 ; 
 and that he had quitted Metz, for Calais, with the intention of 
 assassinating the king, on his re-entry, but had arrived too late; 
 that he had at length determined on the extermination of the 
 duke of Berri, as the youngest of the family, knowing that 
 nature would soon relieve him from the necessity of abridging 
 the days of the king. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 NAPOLEON IN ST. HELENA. 
 
 HIS DEATH. 
 
 During the voyage from Torbay to St Helena, Napoleon 
 did not suffer much from sea-sickness, after the first week. 
 He rarely appeared on deck, until after dinner. He break- 
 fasted in his own cabin, at ten or eleven o'clock, and spent a 
 considerable portion of the day in writing and reading. Be- 
 
NAPOLEON. 225 
 
 fore he sat down to dinner, he generally played a game at 
 chess, and remained at that meal, in compliment to the admi- 
 ral, about an hour ; at which time, coflee was brought to him, 
 and he left the table, to take a walk on the deck, accompanied 
 by count Bertrand or Las Cases ; the admiral and the officers 
 who had dined with him, continuing at table an hour or two 
 longer. 
 
 While walking on the quarter-deck, he freely spoke to all 
 the officers who could understand and converse with him ; and 
 often asked Mr. Warden, the surgeon of the Northumberland, 
 questions in regard to the prevailing complaints, and mode of 
 treating the sick. He occasionally played a game at whist, 
 and generally retired to his cabin about nine ; this being his 
 uniform course of passing the time, throughout the whole 
 voyage. 
 
 The little Bertrands were interesting children : the youngest 
 was between three and four years old ; the eldest is a native 
 of Trieste, and was born when his father was governor of the 
 Illyrian provinces ; the second was a girl of an animated 
 disposition, that betrayed occasional symptoms of violence. 
 The military character seemed to have almost exclusively 
 seized upon the minds of these sprightly little voyagers ; from 
 morning till night, they were employed in fencing, marching, 
 and charging at a half-canter, in imitation of cavalry ; in which, 
 the girl joined, with a true Amazonian spirit, under the direc- 
 tion of a little French boy, who appeared to have been born 
 in a camp. 
 
 Frequent attempts were n'tade upon the loyalty of the little 
 Bertrands, by courting them, in very seducing ways, to say, 
 Vive le Rot, and Vive Louis dix-huit. But the two eldest 
 never failed to reply with, Vive V Empereur. The youngest 
 of the three was, however, at length, bribed, by irresistible 
 sweetmeats, to say, Vive Louis dix-huit. But this defection 
 was invariably followed by the reproaches of his incorruptible 
 brother and sister. That charming boy is said to bear a strong 
 resemblance to the young Napoleon, and acquired, on board 
 the Northumberland, the title of John Bully which he tri- 
 umphantly retained ; and, if asked who he was, appeared 
 pleased to exclaim, Jean Booll. 
 
 Whenever an opportunity offered, the zealous attendants of 
 Napoleon never failed to represent him in a manner that might 
 lessen any unfavourable impressions, which they supposed the 
 English entertained respecting him. The impetuosity of his 
 temper being mentioned, it was not denied ; but his frequent 
 
226 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and even habitual correction of it, was illustrated by several 
 anecdotes, related by Las Cases : 
 
 " The emperor," said this vrarmly attached follower, " had 
 a confidential secretary, a man of superior talents, who was 
 blessed with a disposition so mild, and a temper so smooth, 
 that it was almost impossible to trouble the one, or to ruffle 
 the other. The impetuosity of his imperial master, with the 
 uncertain hours at which he was frequently summoned to his 
 duty, and the calm preparation in which he was ever found to 
 perform it, sufficiently proves the character that has been 
 given of him. Napoleon seldom took a pen into his hand : 
 his general practice was to dictate to others, which he did 
 with the rapidity of thought; and, if an idea struck him in the 
 middle of the night, the secretary in waiting was instantly sum- 
 moned, to transmit it to paper. This officer had happened, 
 on one of these hasty occasions, to mistake an expression, as 
 it was dictated to him ; and, for this accidental mistake, was 
 dismissed from the emperor's presence, in terms of the severest 
 displeasure.. The next morning, the emperor sent for his 
 secretary ; and, when the latter entered the saloon, with his 
 usual placid and undisturbed countenance, the emperor, with 
 rather an angry look, demanded of him, if he had slept, the 
 preceding night ; and, on being informed that he had enjoyed 
 'his usual hours of comfortable repose, this reply was given: 
 " Then, you have been more fortunate than myself; so take 
 your pen;' — and a decree for a very liberal pension to the 
 secretary, was instantly dictated." 
 
 The empress Josephine became the subject of conversation, 
 between Mr. Warden the surgeon of the Northumberland, and 
 Las Cases. The sudden death of this excellent woman, was 
 universally lamented, and is attributed to a very extraordi- 
 nary circumstance, and a very exalted personage. Josephine 
 had so far won the admiration and high esteem of the em- 
 peror Alexander, that he used to dedicate many of his leisure 
 hours to the pleasure of her fascinating conversation. His 
 visits were not only frequent, but continual, during his stay at 
 Paris. Her state of health was precarious, and, on some par- 
 ticular occasion, her physician had prescribed medicines of a 
 nature that required the utmost care and precaution, and an 
 absolute confinement to her chamber: but, at this time, the 
 emperor paid one of his visits ; when her respect for him ren- 
 dered her incautious, and she received the imperial guest in 
 the usual manner. They walked, during the time of his stay, 
 in the gardens of Mal-Maison, and the consequence of this 
 
NAPOLEON. 227 
 
 promenade was fatal : — she was seized with a violent inflam- 
 mation in the lungs, which defied all medical assistance, and, 
 in a few days, she was no more. 
 
 From the same authority,* we have an account of her mar- 
 riage with Napoleon. An order, issued by the convention, to 
 disarm, the citizens, occasioned the introduction of Buona- 
 parte, then a general, and high in military command, to Jose- 
 phine. Her husband, count Beauharnois, had been guillotined 
 about eighteen months. He had left a son, Eugene Beau- 
 harnois, at this time a most interesting youth, who took an 
 opportunity of addressing the general on parade, and soliciting 
 his father's sword ; which, according to a late order, had been 
 removed from his mother's residence. Charmed by the re- 
 quest, and the animated modesty with which it was made, 
 Buonaparte instantly granted the petition. The mother wrote 
 a letter the next day, to thank the general for his kindness to 
 her son. This grateful attention produced a visit, on his part; 
 and the lady not being at home, on her return she sent a note 
 of apology and particular invitation. An interview of course 
 followed : he was instantly captivated, and in six weeks she 
 became his wife. 
 
 On the twenty-second of August, the Northumberland reach- 
 ed Madeira, and one of her consorts, the Havanna frigate, was 
 sent into the port of Funchal, for refreshments. During this- 
 time, there prevailed a tempest, called a scirocco levaiite, which 
 did much injury to the grapes; a visitation attributed, by the 
 ignorant and superstitious inhabitants, to the presence of Na- 
 poleon. 
 
 With regard to phenomena, chance produced one of a much 
 more extraordinary kind, on the twenty-third of September ; 
 when the Northumberland crossed the line in 0° latitude, 0° 
 longitude, and 0° declination. This is a circumstance which 
 chance alone may perhaps repeat only once in a century; 
 since it is necessary to arrive precisely at the first meridian 
 about noon, in order to pass the line at that same hour, or to 
 arrive there at the same time with the sun. 
 
 The crossing of the equator caused great merriment and 
 disorder amongst the crew, and the ceremony which the En- 
 glish sailors call the christening. They dress themselves up in 
 a most grotesque fashion : one is disguised as Neptune, and 
 all persons on board the ship, w'ho have not previously crossed 
 the line, are formally presented to him ; an immense razor, 
 
 * Las Cases. 
 
228 THE LIFE OF 
 
 formed generally out of an old rusty hoop, is passed over thei^ 
 chins, previously smeared with a lather made of pitch ; buckets 
 of water are thrown over them, and the loud bursts of laugh^ 
 ter which accompany their retreat, complete their initiation 
 into the mystic rite. No one is spared ; the officers being 
 generally more roughly used than the lowest of the sailors. 
 
 The French party submitted, with perfect good humour, to. 
 the novel freedoms of the marine saturnalia. Nor had the 
 Neptune and Amphitrite of the day, any cause of complaint. 
 They were seated in a boat filled with water — the throne, a 
 match-tub, the sceptre, a painter's brush. They were sur- 
 rounded by their tritons, consisting of fifty or sixty of the most 
 athletic men in the ship, naked to the waist, and bedaubed 
 with various colours, each bearing a pail of salt water, to 
 drench the subjects of the briny god. The license of the pas- 
 time may be imagined, when captain Ross, the commander, 
 received the contents of one with the utmost pleasantry. 
 
 Bertrand, Montholon, Gourgaud, and Las Cases, with all 
 the domestics, presented themselves to the temporary, but po- 
 tent Neptune, and received, wnth the necessary cheerfulness, 
 their share of his ablutions. The first two led forward their 
 children ; each of them presenting, from their extended little 
 hands, a double Napoleon, to the presiding deity of the deep. 
 A sea-boy sang the song of "The snug little Island;" some 
 of the lines of which were not very complimentary to the enc'- 
 mies of Great Britain ; yet the sentiments did not produce 
 even an unpleasant look. The ladies viewed the scene from 
 an elevated position, and seemed equally amused and astonish- 
 ed at the festivities ; but Neptune was rather disappointed that 
 Napoleon did not make his appearance, though he acknow- 
 ledged the sovereign dignity, by sending his tribute. 
 
 One afternoon, the sailors caught an enormous shark. The 
 emperor inquired the cause of the great noise and confusion 
 which he suddenly heard overhead, and being informed of 
 what had occurred, he expressed a wish to have a sight of the 
 sea-monster. He accordingly went up to the poop, and in- 
 cautiously approached too near the animal, which, by a sudden 
 movement, knocked down four or five of the sailors, and had 
 nearly broken Napoleon's legs. He descended the gangway, 
 covered with blood ; the spectators thinking him severely hurt, 
 but it proved to be only the blood of the shark. 
 
 On the evening of the seventeenth of October, Napoleon 
 landed at Jamestown, in the island of St. Helena. He was 
 conducted to a house belonging to a gentleman named Porte- 
 
NAPOLEON. 229 
 
 ous, which had been rented, for his accommodation, by the ad- 
 miral, and was one of the best habitations in the town. It 
 was not, however, free from inconvenience. Napoleon, could 
 not make his appearance at the windows, or even descend 
 from his bed-chamber, without being exposed to the rude and 
 ardent gaze of those who wished to gratify their curiosity with 
 a sight of the imperial captive. Counts Bertrand and Montho- 
 fon, also, with their ladies and children ; count Las Cases and 
 his son ; general Gourgaud and Mr. O'Meara, (a surgeon of 
 the British navy, whom Napoleon had invited to attend him as 
 physician) were accommodated in the same house. 
 
 At at early hour, on the morning of the eighteenth. Napo- 
 leon, accompanied by the admiral and Las Cases, proceeded 
 up to Longwood, a country-seat of the lieutenant-governor, 
 about two leagues from Jamestown, which he was informed 
 was, the place deemed the most proper for his future residence. 
 He was mounted on a spirited little black horse, lent to him, 
 for the occasion, by the governor, colonel Wilkes. On his 
 way, he observed a neat little spot, called the Briars, about 
 two-hundred yards from the road, belonging to a gentleman 
 named Balcombe, who, Napoleon was informed, was to be his 
 purveyor ; with the romantic situation of which, Napoleon 
 seemed much pleased. 
 
 LongVv'ood is situated on a plain, formed on the summit of 
 a mountain, about eighteen-hundred feet above the level of the 
 sea ; and, including Deadwood, comprises about fifteen-hun- 
 dred acres, planted with an indigenous tree, called gumwood. 
 Its appearance is sombre and unpromising. Napoleon, how- 
 ever, said that he would be more contented to fix his residence 
 there, than to remain in the town, as a mark for the prying 
 curiosity of importunate spectators. The house consisted of 
 only five rooms, on a ground floor, built one after another, ac- 
 cording to the wants of the family, without any regard either 
 to order or convenience, and totally inadequate to the accom- 
 modation of himself and his suite. Several additions were con- 
 sequently required ; which it was evident could not be com- 
 pleted for some weeks, even.under the superintendence of so 
 active an oflficer as sir Georo-e Cockburn. 
 
 On his return from Longwood, Napoleon proceeded to the 
 Briars, and intimated to the admiral that he would rather re- 
 main there until the necessary additions were made to Long- 
 wood, than return to Jamestown^ provided that he could ob- 
 tain the proprietor's consent ; a request which was immediately 
 granted. 
 
 U 
 
230 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The Briars is the name of an estate, situated about a mile 
 and a half from Jamestown. It comprises a few acres of 
 highly cultivated land, with extensive kitchen-gardens and ex- 
 cellent fruit, plentifully supphed with water, adorned with 
 many delightful shady walks, and long celebrated for the hos- 
 pitahty of the proprietor, Mr. Balcombe. On an elevated 
 mound, about fifty yards from the dwelling-house, stood a little 
 pavilion of the gothic form, consisting of one good room on 
 the ground-floor, and two garrets ; which Napoleon, not wish- 
 ing to cause any inconvenience to the family of his host, se- 
 lected for his abode. In the lower room, was his camp-bed, 
 and in this room he eat, drank, slept, and dictated a por- 
 tion of his eventful life. Las Cases and his son were accom- 
 modated in one of the garrets above, and Napoleon's first 
 valet-de-chambre, Marchand, and a ^ew more members of his 
 household, slept in the other, and on the floor in a little hall, 
 opposite the entrance of the lower room. At first, his dinner 
 was sent ready cooked from the town ; but afterwards Mr. 
 Balcombe had a kitchen prepared for his use. The accom- 
 modations were so insufljcient, that Napoleon frequently walk- 
 ed out, after he had finished his dinner, in order to allow his 
 domestics an opportunity of eating theirs in the room which 
 he had just left. 
 
 Mr. Balcombe's family consisted of his wife, two daughters, 
 one about twelve, and the other fifteen years of age, and two 
 boys of five or six. Napoleon and Las Cases had no sooner 
 entered the garden, one morning, than they were met by the 
 young ladies — the younger, sprightly, giddy, and caring for 
 nothing — the elder more sedate, but, at the same time, pos- 
 sessing great naivete of manner ; and both speaking a little 
 French. They had ranged through the garden, and put all 
 the flowers in contribution, to present them to the emperor, 
 whom they overwhelmed with the most whimsical and ridiculous 
 questions. Napoleon was much amused by this familiarity, 
 to which he was so little accustomed. — "We have been at 
 a masked ball," said he, when the young ladies had retired. 
 
 In the evening. Napoleon went .to visit his neighbours. Mr. 
 Balcombe, who was suffering under a fit of the gout, lay 
 stretched on a sofa : his wife and the two young ladies, vi^ere 
 beside him. The " masked ball" was resumed, with great 
 spirit. The conversation turned on novels. One of the young 
 ladies liad read Madame Cottin's Mathilde, and was delighted 
 to find that the emperor was acquainted with the work. An 
 Englishman, with a great round face, who had been listening 
 
NAPOLEON. 231 
 
 eariioatly, in order to turn liis liltl(? knouh'dno of Froncli to 
 the best account, modestly ventured to ask tlu; onipcror, 
 vvliether the princess, the friend of Matilda, whose cljaraeter 
 he particularly admircMl, was still living. 'I'he en)p<'r()r, with 
 a very solenni air, replied, " No, sir, she is dead and huried :" 
 and he was almost tempted to believe bo was himself iioaxed, 
 until ho found that the melancholy tifliiins drew tears from the 
 great starinrj ey(>s of the Mnjvlishman. 
 
 The young ladies evinced no less simplicity, though in them 
 it was more pardonahhi ; however, their visiters were; l(;d to 
 believe that they had not studied chronolojjy v(My deeply. One 
 of them, turning over Florian's " Kstelle," to show that she 
 could read Trench, haj)pened to light upon the name of (iastoii 
 d(; l'\)ix, and finding him distinguished by tlie tith; ol' general^ 
 she asked the emperor, whetiier ho had been satislied with his 
 coiMluct in the army, whether he had escaped the dangers of 
 war, and whether Imj was still alive. 
 
 Napoleon frecpiently tlrt)pped in to Mr. nalcombe's, to play 
 a rubber of whist, or bold a little iurnrcr.'s'azione. On one ac- 
 cusion, he indulged the children by joining in a game of blind- 
 man's-bulV, allording nuich annisement to the young ladies. 
 Nothing was omitted, by this worthy family, that could lessen 
 the inconveniences of his situation. A captain of artillery re- 
 sided at the Rriars, together with an orderly olllcer, and at 
 first an ollicer and some privates, also, were stationed there, 
 as an additional security against the escape of tho imperial 
 captive; but, on a remonstrance being made to sir George 
 Cockburn, lie ordered ihem to be remov(ul. 
 
 Mr. lialcombe's little garden, in which Napoleon so often 
 walked, was su|)(!ri!itcnded by a Malay Indian. The first limo 
 the en)p(!ror saw him, he d«!sired l/is ('ases, according to his 
 usual custom, to question him respecting his history ; and his 
 answei-s strongly excit(;d Napoleon's interest. He had been 
 forced, he said, from his home, by tlu; crew of an lOnglish vchscI, 
 and sold at St. FTelena ; where he had continued, ever since, a 
 slave. His story bore every niark of triilh. His countenance 
 liad a frank and benevolent expression; his eyes were ani- 
 mat(!d and sparkling ; his apj)eararice was !)y no means abject; 
 but, on the contrary, truly pre|)ossessing. 
 
 The history of the poor fidlow's nnsfortune filled the empe- 
 ror with indignation ; and, a fv.w days atlerwards, he expressed 
 a wish to purchase him, and send him back to his own country. 
 He mentioned the subject to the admiral. The latter at first 
 defended his countrymen, and declared that old Toby (which 
 
232 THE LIFE OF 
 
 was the name of the unhappy slave) must be an impostor, for 
 the thing was impossible. He, however, inquired into the 
 matter, and finding the story true, he participated in the indig- 
 nation expressed by the emperor, and promised to exert his 
 best endeavours for the fulfilment of his humane design. 
 
 When Napoleon and Las Cases were in the garden, the for- 
 mer generally stopped near Toby's hut, and made the latter 
 question him respecting his country, the days of his youth, his 
 family, and his present situation. One would have supposed, 
 that he wished to study the feelings of the old slave; and he 
 always closed the conversation by giving him a Napoleon. 
 Toby was much attached to the illustrious stranger and his 
 companion : their presence seemed always to fill him with joy. 
 When they entered the garden, he immediately suspended his 
 work, and, resting on his spade, gazed on them with an air 
 of satisfaction. He called the emperor the good gentleman : 
 this was the only name he ever applied to him, and he knew 
 him by no other. 
 
 " Poor Toby," said the emperor, one day, " has been torn 
 from his family, from his native land, and sold to slavery: 
 could any thing be more miserable to himself, or more criminal 
 in others ? If this crime be the act of the English captain alone, 
 he is doubtless one of the vilest of men ; but, if it be that of 
 the whole crew, it may have been committed by men perhaps 
 not so base as might be imagined ; for vice is always indi- 
 vidual, and scarcely ever collective. Joseph's brethren could 
 not bring themselves to slay him ; while Judas, a cool, hypo- 
 critical, calculating villain, betrayed his master. A philoso- 
 pher has affirmed, that men are born wicked : it would be 
 both difficult and idle to attempt discovering whether the as- 
 sertion be true. This, at least, is certain, that the great mass 
 of society is not wicked ; for if the majority were determined 
 to be criminal, and violate the laws, who would have the 
 power to restrain or prevent them ? This is the triumph of 
 civilization; this happy result springs from its bosom, and 
 arises out of its nature. Sentiments are, for the most part, 
 traditionary: we feel them, because they were felt. by others 
 who preceded us : thus, we must look to the developement of 
 human reason and faculties, for the only key to social order,, 
 the only secret of the legislator. Only those who wish to de- 
 ceive the people, and rule them for their own personal advan-. 
 tage, would desire to keep them in ignorance. The more 
 they are enlightened, the more will they be convinced of the 
 utility of laws, and of the necessity of defending them ; and the 
 
NAPOLEON. 233 
 
 more steady, happy, and prosperous, will society become. 
 If, however, knowledge should ever be dangerous to the mul- 
 titude, it can be only when the government, in opposition to 
 the interests of the people, drives them into an unnatural situa- 
 tion, or dooms the lower classes to perish for want. In such 
 a case, knowledge would inspire them with a spirit to defend 
 themselves, or to become criminal. 
 
 " Look at the United States, where, without any apparent 
 force or effort, every thing goes on prosperously ; every one 
 is happy and contented : and this is because the public wishes 
 and interests are in fact the ruling power. 
 
 " When I acquired the supreme direction of affairs, it was 
 wished that I might become a Washington. Words cost noth- 
 ing ; and no doubt those who were so ready to express the 
 wish, did so without any knowledge of times, places, persons^ 
 or things. Had I been in America, I would wilhngly have 
 been a Washington, and I should have had little merit in so 
 being; for I do not see howl could reasonably have acted 
 otherwise. But, had Washington been in France, exposed to 
 discord within, and invasion from without, I would have de- 
 fied Him to be what he was in America ; at least, he would 
 have been a fool to attempt it, and would only have prolonged 
 the existence of evil." 
 
 On another occasion, pausing before Toby, he said, — " What, 
 after all, is this poor human machine ? There is not one whose 
 exterior form is like another, or whose internal organization 
 exactly resembles the rest ! It is by disregarding this truth, 
 that we are led into so many errors ! Had Toby been a Brutus* 
 he would have put himself to death ; if an Esop, he would 
 now, perhaps, be the governor's adviser ; if an ardent and 
 zealous Christian, he would have borne his chains in the sight 
 of God, and blessed them. As for poor Toby, lie endures his 
 misfortunes very quietly ; he stoops to his work, and spends 
 his days in innocent tranquillity." — Then, after looking at him,, 
 a few moments, in silence, he turned away, and said, " Cer- 
 tainly, there is a wide step, from poor Toby to a king Richard ! 
 —and yet," continued he, as he walked along, " the crime is 
 not the less atrocious ; for this man, after all, had his family, 
 his happiness, and his liberty ; and it was a horrible act of 
 cruelty to bring him here, to languish in the fetters of his 
 slavery." — Then, suddenly stopping short, he added, "But I 
 read in your eyes, that you think he is not the only example 
 of the sort, at St. Helena !' 
 
 Napoleon used to relate, that, after one of his great actions 
 
 U2 
 
234 THE LIFE OF 
 
 in Italy, he passed over the field of battle, before the bodies- 
 were interred. " In the deep silence of a beautiful moonlight 
 night," said the emperor, " a dog leaped suddenly from beneath 
 the clothes of his dead master, rushed, upon us, and then im- 
 mediately returned to his hiding-place, howling piteously. He 
 alternately licked his master's hand, and ran towards us, at 
 once soliciting aid, and seeking revenge. Whether owing to 
 my own particular turn of mind, at the moment," continued 
 the emperor, " the time, the place, or the action itself, I know 
 not ; but certainly no incident, on any field of battle, ever pro- 
 duced upon me, so deep an impression. I involuntarily stop- 
 ped, to contemplate the scene. This man, thought I, perhaps 
 has friends in the camp, or in his company ; and here he lies, 
 forsaken by all, except his dog ! What a lesson Nature here 
 presents, through the medium of an animal! What a strange 
 being is man ! and how mysterious are his impressions ! I had, 
 without emotion, ordered battles which were to decide the fate 
 of an army ; I had beheld, with tearless eyes, the execution of 
 those operations, by which numbers of my countrymen were 
 sacrificed; and here my feelings were aroused, by the mourn- 
 ful howling of a dog ! Certainly, at that moment,. I should 
 have been easily moved by a suppliant enemy : I could very 
 well imagine Achilles surrendering the body of Hector, at the 
 sight of Priam's tears." 
 
 Counts Bertrand and Montholon, with their ladies and chil- 
 dren, and also general Gourgaud and Dr. O'Meara, hved to- 
 gether, at the house of Mr. Porteous. When any of them de-- 
 sired to visit the Briars, or to go out of the town elsewhere,. 
 no other restriction was imposed upon them, than causing 
 them to be accompanied by Mr. O'Meara, or some other 
 British officer, or to be followed by a soldier. In this manner, 
 they were permitted to visit any part of the island, except the 
 batteries and forts. They were visited by colonel and Mrs. 
 Wilkes, lieutenant-colonel and Mrs. Skelton, the members 
 of the council, and most of the respectable inhabitants, as well 
 as the officers belonging to. the garrison and squadron, and 
 their families. Little evening parties were, occasionally, givea 
 by the French ; matters being so conducted that there was 
 little appearance of constraint ; and sir George Cockburn gave 
 several well-attended balls, to all of which they were invited,, 
 and, with the exception of Napoleon, they frequently went. 
 
 In the mean time, no exertions were spared, by the admiral, 
 to enlarge and improve the old building of Longwood, so as to, 
 render it capable of containing so great an increase of in-- 
 
NAPOLEON, 236 
 
 mates. For this purpose, all the workmen, not only in the 
 squadron, but in the island also, were employed ; and Long- 
 wood, for nearly two months, presented as busy a scene as 
 ever had been witnessed, during the war, in any of the English 
 dock-yards, while a fleet was preparing for sea, under the per- 
 sonal directions of some of the first naval commanders. Inde- 
 fatigable in his exertions, the admiral frequently arrived at 
 Longwood shortly after sunrise, stimulating, by his presence, 
 the St. Helena workmen, who, lazy and indolent, in general, 
 beheld, with astonishment, the activity and despatch of a man 
 of war, succeeding the characteristic idleness which, till then, 
 they had been accustomed both to witness and to practise. 
 Every day, bodies of two or three-hundred seamen were em- 
 ployed, in carrying up, from Jamestown, timber and other 
 materials for building, together with furniture ; which, though 
 the best was purchased, at an enormous expense, wherever it 
 could be procured, was paltry and old-fashioned. So deficient 
 was the island in the means of transportation, that almost every 
 thing, even the very stones for building, were carried up the 
 steep side-path on the heads and shoulders of the seamen, oc- 
 casionally assisted by fatigue-parties of the fifty-third regiment. 
 By means of incessant labour, Longwood-House was enlarged, 
 so as to admit, on the ninth of December, Napoleon and part 
 of his household, count and countess Montholon and children, 
 together with count and young Las Cases. 
 
 Napoleon rode to Longwood on a horse which had been 
 brought for him from the Cape. He had not seen him before : 
 he was a small, sprightly, and rather a handsome animal. The 
 emperor wore his uniform of the chasseurs of the guard ; his 
 graceful figure and handsome countenance being particularly 
 remarkable. His appearance attracted general notice ; many 
 persons had collected on the road, to see him pass ; the admi- 
 ral was very attentive to him, and several other English officers, 
 together with those of his own household, formed his escort. 
 
 At the entrance of Longwood, a guard was under arms, 
 who rendered the prescribed honours to the august captive. 
 The emperor's horse, which was spirited and untractable, beins" 
 unused to this kind of parade, was startled at the sound of the 
 drum : he refused to pass the gate, and it was only by the help 
 of the spur, that his rider succeeded in forcing him to ad- 
 vance. 
 
 The admiral took great pains to point out to its new resi- 
 dents, even the minutest details at Longwood. He had super- 
 intended all the arrangements, and some things were the work 
 
236 THE LIFE OF 
 
 even of his own hands. The emperor was satisfied with every 
 thing, and the admiral seemed highly pleased : he had antici- 
 pated petulance and disdain ; but Napoleon manifested perfect 
 good humour. 
 
 He retired at six o'clock, and beckoned Las Cases to follow 
 him to his chamber. Here, he examined various articles of 
 furniture, and inquired whether his friend were similarly pro- 
 vided. On Las Cases replying in the negative, he insisted on" 
 his accepting of them ; saying, in the most engaging manner, 
 " Take them, I shall want for nothing ; I shall be taken better 
 care of than you." 
 
 Napoleon himself had a small narrow bed-room, on the 
 ground-floor; a writing-room of the same dimensions ; and a sort 
 of small ante-chamber, in which there was a bath. The writing- 
 room opened into a dark and low apartment, which W<is con- 
 verted into a dining-room. The opposite wing consisted of a 
 bed-room, larger than Napoleon's, which,, with an ante-cham- 
 ber and a closet, formed the accommodations for the count 
 and countess Montholon, and son. From the dining-room, a 
 door led to a small drawing-room. To extend the latter, one 
 longer, much higher, and more airy, was built, of wood, by sir 
 George Cockburn, with three windows on each side, and a ve- 
 randa, leading to the garden. This was the only good room 
 in the building. Las Cases had, at this time, a room next the 
 kitchen, through the ceiling of which an aperture Was cut, so 
 as to admit a very narrow stair, which led to a sort of cock- 
 loft, above, where his son reposed ; but, some time afterwards, 
 an apartment was built for the count and his son, in the rear 
 of the house. The garrets aver the old building were floored, 
 and converted into apartments for the servants; and subse- 
 quently additional rooms were constructed, for the latter, as 
 well as for general Gourgaud, the orderly officer, and Dr. 
 O'Meara, who, in the mean time, were lodged in tents. Count 
 and countess Bertrand and family, were lodged in a small 
 house at Hut's Gate, about a mile from Longwood ; which, 
 though uncomfortable, was nevei'theless hired at their own re- 
 quest, and was the only habitation that could be procured, at 
 a moderate rent, in the neighbourhood ; as it was found im- 
 possible to accommodate them at Longwood, until a new house, 
 the foundation of which was immediately laid, could be fin- 
 ished. 
 
 A space of about twelve miles in circumference was allow- 
 ed to Napoleon, within which he might ride or walk, without 
 being accompanied by a British ofiicer. Within this space» 
 
NAPOLEON. 237 
 
 was the camp of the fifty-third regiment; one division at 
 Deadwood, about a mile from Longvvood-House, another at 
 Hut's Gate, opposite to Bertrand's, close to whose door there 
 was an officer's guard. An arrangement was made with Ber- 
 trand, by the means of which persons furnished with a pass 
 from him, had permission to enter Longwood grounds. A 
 subaltern's guard was placed at tha entrance to Longwood, 
 about six-hundred paces from the house, and a cordon of sen- 
 tinels and picquets was stationed around the house. At nine 
 o'clock at night, the sentinels were drawn in, and stationed in 
 communication with each other ; surrounding the house, in 
 such positions, that no persons could enter or depart, without 
 being seen and examined by them. At the entrance of the 
 house, double sentinels were placed, and patroles were contin- 
 ually traversing the grounds. After nine, Napoleon was not 
 permitted to leave the house, unless in company with a field- 
 officer ; and no person whatever was allowed to pass without 
 the countersign. These regulations continued until daylight. 
 Every landing-place in the island, and indeed every place which 
 bore the semblance of one, was furnished with a picquet ; and 
 sentinels were placed even upon every goat-path leading to 
 the sea, although the obstacles presented by nature, in nearly 
 all the paths in that direction, would, of themselves, have proved 
 insurmountable, to a person so corpulent as Napoleon. 
 
 From the various signal-posts on the island, ships are fre- 
 quently discovered at twenty-four leagues' distance, and always 
 a long time before they can approach the shore. Every vessel, 
 except a British ship of war, was accompanied, on her ap- 
 proach, by one of the cruisers; which remained with her until 
 she was either allowed to anchor, or was ordered to depart. 
 No foreign vessel was suffered to anchor, except under cir- 
 cumstances of great distress ; in which case, no person from 
 her was permitted to land, and an officer and party were sent 
 on board, to take charge of her, as long as she remained. 
 Every fishing-boat belonging to the island, was numbered, and 
 anchored every evening, at sunset, under the superintendence 
 of a captain of the navy ; after which, no boat, except guard- 
 boats from the ships of war, which rowed about the island all 
 night, were allowed to be at sea. The orderly officer was also 
 instructed to ascertain the actual presence of Napoleon, twice 
 in the course of twenty-four hours ; which was done with as 
 much dehcacy as possible ; and every human precaution, to 
 prevent escape^ except imprisoning or chaining him, was 
 adopted, by sir George Cockburn. 
 
238 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The officers of the fifty -third regiment, and of the St. 
 Helena corps, and several of the most respectable inhabitants^ 
 with their wives, were introduced to Napoleon ; at whose 
 table, some of them were weekly invited to dine. Officers and 
 other respectable passengers from India and China, went, in 
 great numbers, to Longwood, to request a presentation to the 
 fallen chief; in which expectation, they were rarely disappoint- 
 ed. Many ladies and gentlemen, who went up at an incon- 
 venient time, have remained, in Dr. O^Meara's room, long 
 after the topsail of the ship which was to waft them to Eng- 
 land, was loosed, in the hope that Napoleon would present him- 
 self at one of the windows. " I have frequentl}^," says Dr.. 
 O'Meara, " been unable to withstand the solicitude of more 
 than one fair expectant, to place some of the servants of the 
 house in a situation where they might be enabled to apprize 
 them of his approach to the windows or door of the drawing- 
 room, where they might be afforded an opportunity of stealing 
 a glance at the renowned captive." 
 
 Napoleon's hours of rising were uncertain ; much depend- 
 ing upon the quantity of rest enjoyed by him during the night. 
 He was, in general, a bad sleeper, and frequently rose at three 
 or four o'clock ; in which case, he read or wrote until six or 
 seven ; when, if the weather were fine, he sometimes went out 
 to ride, attended by some of his generals, or lay down again, to 
 rest, for about two hours. When he retired to bed, he could 
 not sleep, unless a perfect state of darkness were obtained, by 
 the closing of every cranny through which there might pass a 
 ray of light ; although he sometimes fell asleep on the sofa, 
 and remained so, for a few minutes, in the middle of the'day. 
 When ill, his first valet-de-chambre occasionally read to him, 
 until he fell asleep. When he breakfasted in his own room, 
 it was generally served on a little round table, between nine 
 and ten ; when in company with his suite, at eleven. After 
 breakfast, he mostly dictated to some of his officers, for a few 
 hours, and at two or three o'clock, received such visiters, as, 
 by previous appointment, had been directed to present them- 
 selves. Between four and five in the afternoon, he rode out 
 for an hour or two, on horseback^ or in the carriage, accom- 
 panied by all his suite ; then returned, and dictated or read 
 until eight, or occasionally played a game of chess ; when din- 
 ner was announced, he eat heartily, and did not appear par- 
 tial to highly seasoned or rich foods. One of his most favourite 
 dishes, was a roasted leg of mutton, and he was partial also to 
 mutton chops. He rarely drank, at his dinner, as much as a 
 
NAPOLEON. 239 
 
 pint of claret, which was much diluted with water. When the 
 servants had withdrawn, and there were no visiters, he some- 
 times played at chess, or at whist, but more frequently sent 
 for a volume of Corneille, or of some other esteemed author, 
 and read aloud, for half an hour, or chatted with the ladies and 
 the officers of his suite. He never eat more than two meals 
 each day, and usually retired to rest between ten and eleven 
 o'clock. 
 
 Napoleon was not inattentive to the duties of the toilette. 
 He usually appeared, in the morning, in a white night-gown, 
 with loose trowsers and stockings joined in one, a chequered 
 red Madras handkerchief round his head, and his shirt collar 
 open. When dressed, he wore a green uniform, very plainly 
 made, and without ornament, similar to that, which, by its 
 simphcity, used to mark the sovereign, amongst the splendid 
 dresses at the Tuileries, — white waistcoat, and white or nan- 
 keen small-clothes, with silk stockings, and shoes with gold 
 buckles ; a black stock, a triangular cocked hat, with a very 
 small tri-coloured cockade. 
 
 On the thirtieth of December, Napoleon rode out at ran- 
 dom, and soon found himself in a field where some labourers 
 were engaged in ploughing. He seemed highly interested in 
 the operation. He alighted from his horse, seized the plough, 
 and, to the great astonishment of the man who was holding it, 
 he himself traced a furrow of considerable length. 
 
 Before evening, the httle colony at Longwood was increased 
 by the arrival of captain Piontkowsky, a native of Poland. 
 He was one of those individuals whom the emperor had left 
 behind him, at Plymouth ; but his devotedness to the emperor, 
 and his grief at being separated from him, had subdued the 
 severity of the English ministers, and he received permission 
 to proceed to St. Helena. 
 
 " In our customary rides," narrates the pleasingly garrulous 
 Las Cases, " we had, for some days, fixed on a regular resting- 
 place, in the middle of the valley. There, surrounded by 
 desert rocks, an unexpected flower displayed itself: under an 
 humble roof, we discovered a charming young girl, of about 
 sixteen years of age. We had surprised her, the first day, in 
 her usual costume : it announced any thing but affluence. 
 The following morning, we found she had bestowed the great- 
 est pains upon her toilette ; but our pretty blossom of the fields 
 now appeared to us nothing more than a very ordinary garden- 
 flower. Nevertheless, we henceforth stopped at her dwelling, 
 a few moments, every day ; she always approached, a few 
 
240 THE LIFE OF 
 
 paces, to catch the two or three sentences which the emperof 
 either addressed, or caused to be translated to her, as he passed 
 by, and we continued our route, discoursing on her charms. 
 From that time, she formed an addition to the particular no- 
 menclature of Longwood : she became our nymph. — Amongst 
 those who were intimate with him, the emperor used, without 
 premeditation, to invent new names, for every person and ob- 
 ject that attracted his notice. Thus, the pass through which 
 we were proceeding at the moment of which we are now 
 writing, received the name of the Valley of Silence ; our host 
 at the Briars was our Amphitrion ; his neighbour, the major, 
 who was five feet high, was our Hercules ; sir George Cock- 
 burn was my Lord Admiral, as long as we were in good 
 spirits, but, when ill-humour prevailed, there vv^as no title for 
 him but such as the shark. 
 
 " Our nymph is the identical heroine of the little pastoral, 
 with which Dr. Warden has been pleased to embellish his letters. 
 I am told that Napoleon brought her great good fortune. The 
 celebrity which she acquired through him, attracted the curi- 
 osity of travellers, and her own charms effected the rest : she 
 is become the wife of a very rich merchant, or captain, in the 
 service of the East India Company of England." 
 
 When making another excursion, through the valley, the 
 confined tourist determined to snatch a probable amusement, 
 by paying a visit to a farmer. Fortunately for Napoleon, the 
 family were taken by surprise ; as the apprehension of receiv- 
 ing such a guest, would have emptied the house of its inhab- 
 itants. The tenant of the mansion, named Legg, a plain hon- 
 est countryman, met him at the door ; when the extraordinary 
 visiter, on the invitation given to him, dismounted from his 
 horse, and, accompanied by the count de las Cases, entered 
 the house, famiharly took his seat, and began his interroga- 
 tories : — 
 
 " Have you a wife ?" 
 
 " Yes, an't please you, sir emperor." 
 
 " Have you any children ?" 
 
 « Six." 
 
 *' How much land have you got ?" 
 
 " A hundred acres." 
 
 " All capable of being cultivated ?" 
 
 " No ; not one half" 
 
 *' What profit does it bring you ?" 
 
 " Not a great deal : but it is much improved, since you, 
 Mr, Emperor, came amongst us." 
 
NAPOLEON. 241 
 
 " Ay ! how do you make that out ?" 
 
 " Why, you must know, sir emperor, we do not raise grain 
 in this here island ; and our green truck requires a ready 
 market. We have mostly had to wait for the arrival of a 
 fleet ; and then, rat 'em, our things would sometimes all spoil : 
 but now, sir general, we have a prime sale for every article." 
 
 " Where is your wife ?" 
 
 " Dang it, an't please you, I believe she is scared ; for I see 
 my children have all run out !" 
 
 " Send for them, and let me be introduced. Pray, have you 
 any good water ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and wine too, such as is to be had from the 
 Cape." 
 
 Tlie good woman's alarm had, by this time, subsided ; she 
 was persuaded, by her husband, to make her appearance, and 
 entered Avith every mark of respect, and some astonishment. 
 Napoleon, Las Cases, the farmer, and his wife, sat down to 
 four glasses of Cape wine ; and when they were emptied, the 
 visit was concluded. 
 
 The honest farmer and his family had been placed so much 
 at their ease, by the courteous demeanour of their unexpected 
 guests, that the subsequent visits laid them under no restraint; 
 and even the little children used frequently to express their 
 wishes, by inquiring of their mother, " When will Boney come 
 and see us again ?" 
 
 ■tn-ir' On the fourteenth of April, the Phaeton frigate, com- 
 manded by captain Stanfell, arrived from England ; hav- 
 ing on board lieutenant-general sir Hudson Lowe, and lady 
 Lowe ; sir Thomas Read, deputy adjutant general ; major 
 Gorrequer, aid-de-camp to sir Hudson Lowe ; lieutenant 
 colonel Lyster, inspector of militia ; major Emmett, of the 
 engineers ; Mr. Baxter, deputy inspector of hospitals ; to- 
 gether with lieutenants Wortham and Jackson, of the engineers 
 and staff corps ; and other officers in the employment of the 
 British government. 
 
 On the following day, sir Hudson Lov/e landed, and was 
 installed as governor, with the customary forms. A message 
 was then sent to Longwood, announcing that the new governor 
 would visit Napoleon, at nine o'clock, on the succeeding morn- 
 ing. A little before that time, sir Hudson Lowe arrived, ac- 
 companied by sir George Cockburn, and a numerous staff. 
 As the appointed hour was rather unseasonable, and one at 
 which Napoleon had never received any person, intimation was 
 given to the governor, that Napoleon was indisposed, and could 
 
 X 
 
242 THE LIFE OF 
 
 not see any visitors, that morning. This appeared to discon- 
 cert sir Hudson ; who, after pacing up and down, for a few 
 minutes, before the windows of the drawing-room, demanded 
 at what time, on the following day, he could be introduced. 
 Two o'clock was appointed, for the interview ; at which time, 
 he arrived, accompanied, as before, by the admiral, and fol- 
 lowed by his staff. They were, at first, ushered into the dining- 
 room, behind which was the saloon, where they were to be re- 
 ceived. A proposition was made, by sir George Cockburn, to 
 sir Hudson Lowe, that the latter should be introduced by him, 
 as being, in his opinion, the most official and proper manner 
 of resigning to him the charge of the prisoner ; for which pur- 
 pose, sir George suggested that they should enter the room 
 together. To this arrangement, sir Hudson Lowe acceded. 
 At the door of the drawing-room, stood Novarri, one of the 
 French valets, whose business it was to announce the names 
 of the persons introduced. After waiting a few minutes, the 
 door was opened, and the governor called. As soon as the 
 word governor was announced, sir Hudson Lowe started up, 
 and stepped forward so hastily, that he entered the room be- 
 fore sir George Cockburn was well aware of his departure. 
 The door was then closed, and when the admiral presented 
 himself, the valet, not having heard his name called, told him 
 that he could not enter. Sir Hudson Lowe remained about a 
 quarter of an hour with Napoleon, during which time, the con- 
 versation was carried on chiefly in Italian ; and subsequently 
 the officers of his staff were introduced.^ 
 
 A few days afterwards. Dr. O'Meara brought to Longwood 
 some newspapers, which had been sent to him by admiral 
 Cockburn. Napoleon said he believed that sir George had 
 been rather ill-treated, the day on which he came up with the 
 new governor ; and inquired what observation the admiral had 
 made. His physician replied, that he considered it an insult 
 offered to him, and felt much offended. Napoleon said, " He 
 should have sent me word that he wanted to see me, by Ber- 
 trand ; but," continued he, " he wished to embroil me with 
 the new governor ; and, for that purpose, persuaded him to 
 come up here at nine o'clock in the morning, though he well 
 knew that I never had received any person, and never would, 
 at that hour. It is a pity that a man who appears to have 
 talents, for I believe him to be a very good officer in his own 
 service, should have behaved in the manner he has done to 
 me. It shows the greatest want of generosity, to insult the 
 unfortunate ; because insulting those who are in your power. 
 
NAPOLEON. 245 
 
 and consequently cannot make any opposition, is a certain 
 sign of an ignoble mind." Dr. O'Meara said, that he was 
 convinced the whole was a mistake, and that the admiral never 
 had the smallest intention of insulting or embroiling him with 
 the governor. The emperor resumed : — " In my misfortune, 
 I sought an asylum, and instead of that have found contempt, 
 ill-treatment, and insult. Shortly after I went on board of his 
 ship, as I did not wish to sit after dinner, for two or three 
 hours, guzzling down wine, to make myself drunk, I got up 
 from table, and walked out upon deck. While I was going 
 out, he said, in a contemptuous manner, " I believe the general 
 has never read lord Chesterfield ; meaning that I was deficient 
 in politeness, and did not know how to conduct myself at 
 table." 
 
 The emperor and Las Cases were walking one afternoon in 
 the garden, when a sailor, about twenty-three years of age, 
 with a frank and open countenance, approached them, with 
 gestures expressive of eagerness and joy, mingled with appre- 
 hension of being perceived from without. He spoke nothing 
 but English, and told Las Cases, in a hurried manner, that he 
 had twice braved the obstacle of sentinels, and all the dangers 
 of severe prohibition, to get a close view of the emperor. He 
 had obtained this good fortune, he said — looking stedfastly at 
 Napoleon — and should die content; that he offered up his 
 prayers to Heaven, that Napoleon might enjoy good health, 
 and be one day" more happy. Las Cases dismissed him ; but 
 on quitting them he hid himself amongst the trees and hedges, 
 in order to have a longer view of them. 
 
 Napoleon frequently met similar unequivocal proofs of the 
 good-will of the English sailors. Those of the Northumber- 
 land, especially, considered themselves as having formed a con- 
 nexion with him. While he resided at the Briars, where his 
 seclusion was not so close, they often hovered, on a Sunday, 
 around the place, saying that they came to take another look 
 at their shipmate. The day on which he removed from the 
 Briars, Las Cases was with the emperor, in the garden ; when 
 one of the sailors presented himself at the gate, and asked 
 the former if he might step in, without offence. Las Cases 
 inquired, of what country he was, and what religion he pro- 
 fessed. He answered, by making various signs of the cross, 
 in token of his having understood him, and of fraternity. Then,, 
 looking stedfastly at the emperor, before whom he was then 
 standing, and raising his eyes to heaven, he began to hold a 
 conversation with himself, by gestures, which his stout jovial 
 
244 THE LIFE OF 
 
 figure rendered partly grotesque and partly sentimental. Yet 
 it would have been difficult to express more naturally, admi- 
 ration, respect, sympathy, and kind wishes ; while big tears 
 started in his eyes. — " Tell that dear man," said he, " that I 
 wish him no harm, but all possible happiness. So, do most 
 of us. Long life and health to him!" — He had a nosegay of 
 wild flowers in his hand, which he seemed desirous to offer 
 them ; but he appeared restrained by the emperor's presence, or 
 his own feelings, and he stood wavering, as if contending with 
 himself, for some time ; then suddenly made a bow, and disap- 
 peared. 
 
 The emperor could not refrain from evincing some emotion 
 at these two circumstances, so strongly did the countenances, 
 accents, and gestures, of the two men, bear the stamp of truth. 
 
 " About four o'clock, in the morning of the tenth of Jan- 
 uary," says Las Cases, " the emperor desired that I should be 
 called into his room. He was dressed, and had his boots on; 
 his intention being either to get on horseback, or take a walk 
 in the garden ; but a gentle shower of rain was falling. We 
 walked about, in conversation, waiting for the weather to clear 
 up. He opened the door of his room, leading to the topo- 
 graphical cabinet, in order that we might extend our walk the 
 whole length of this chamber. As we approached the bed, 
 he asked me if I always slept in it. I answered, that I had 
 ceased to sleep in it, since the moment that I became ac- 
 quainted with his wish of going out early in the morning* 
 ' What has that to do with it?' said he: 'return to it; I shall 
 go out, when I please, by the back door.' The drawing-room 
 stood half open, and he entered it : Montholon and Gourgaud 
 were there. They were endeavouring to fix a very pretty 
 lustre, and a small glass, over the chimney-piece. The em- 
 peror desired that the latter might be set straight, as it inclined 
 a little on one side. He was much pleased at this improve- 
 ment in the drawing-room furniture ; a proof that every thing 
 is relative I What could these objects be, in the eyes of a man, 
 who, only a few months before, had, in his palaces, furniture 
 to the value of forty-millions!" 
 
 The emperor had, for several days, left off his excursions on 
 horseback. The result of his attempt to resume them, was 
 calculated neither to revive his partiality for this amusement, 
 nor to render it again habitual to him. He had descended 
 into the valley as usual, and was reascending it, at the back 
 part, opposite Longwood, when a soldier, from one of the 
 heights, where there had hitherto been no post, called out 
 
NAPOLEON. 245 
 
 several times, and made various signs to him and his compan- 
 ions. As they were in the very centre of their circuit, they 
 paid no atttention to him ; upon which, he hurried down to- 
 wards them, charging his musket, as he ran. General Gour- 
 gaud remained behind, to see what the pursuer wanted, while 
 the rest of the party continued their route. After dodging 
 the fellow many times, the general collared him, and for some 
 time held him fast, but he at length escaped. It was found that 
 he was a drunken corporal, who had not rightly understood the 
 countersign. He had frequently levelled his musket at the 
 imperial party ; a circumstance which made his followers 
 tremble for the emperor's life. Napoleon, however, looked 
 upon it only as an affront, and a fresh obstacle to the con- 
 tinuance of his exercises on horseback. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth of April, colonel and Miss Wilkes,, 
 then preparing to return to England, went up to Longwood^ 
 and had a long interview with Napoleon. He was greatly 
 pleased with Miss Wilkes, a highly accomplished and elegant 
 young lady ; and gallantly told her, that " she surpassed the 
 description which had been given to him of her." 
 
 In the beginning of May, the weather was extremely wet 
 and foggy, with high winds, for several days ; during which 
 time, Napoleon did not go out of doors. 
 
 Many changes relative to the treatment of the French, were 
 made, shortly after the arrival of sir Hudson Lowe. The 
 boundaries within which they had been allowed to exercise, 
 were curtailed ; the shop-keepers were ordered not to sell any 
 article to them, except for ready money ; and to hold no com- 
 munication with them, unless by the governor's permission^ 
 Several officers of the fifty-third regiment, who were in the 
 habit of calling to see madame Bertrand, at Hut's Gate, re- 
 ceived hints that their visits were not pleasing to the authorities 
 lately arrived ; the officer of the guard was ordered to report 
 the names of all persons entering Bertrand's house ; and sen- 
 tinels were placed, in different directions, to prevent the ap- 
 proach of visiters, several of whom, including some ladies, were 
 turned back. 
 
 Messengers and letters continually arrived at Longwood, 
 from Plantation House* The governor was apparently very 
 anxious to see Napoleon, and seemingly distrustful, although 
 the officer at Longwood was assured of his actual presence, 
 by the sound of his voice. He had some communication with 
 Bertrand, in relation to the necessity which he said there was, 
 that some of his officeFS should see Napoleon daily. He also 
 
 X2 
 
246 THE LIFE OF 
 
 went to Longwood frequently, himself, and finally, after some 
 difficulty, obtained an interview with him, in his bed-chamber, 
 which lasted about a quarter of an hour. Some days before, 
 he had sent for Dr. O'Meara, asked a variety of questions con- 
 cerning the captive, walked round the house several times, and 
 before the windows, measuring and laying out the plan of a 
 new ditch, which he said he would order to be made, to pre- 
 vent the trespass of cattle. He observed a tree, the branches 
 of which considerably overhung one of the old ditches. This 
 appeared to excite considerable alarm in his excellency's 
 breast, as he sent instantly for the superintendent of the gar- 
 dens, to have it lopped. 
 
 " On the fifth of May," says Dr. O'Meara, " Napoleon sent 
 Marchand for me, about nine o'clock. I was introduced, by 
 the back door, into his bed-room, a description of which I 
 shall endeavour to give, as minutely and correctly as possible. 
 It was about fourteen feet long, and twelve broad ; and ten 
 or eleven feet high. The walls were lined with brown nan- 
 keen, bordered and edged with common green paper. Two 
 small windows, without pulleys, looked towards the camp of 
 the fifty-third regiment, one of which was thrown up, and fas- 
 tened by a piece of notched wood. The window-curtains were 
 of white long-cloth ; there was a small fire-place, a shabby 
 grate, and fire-irons to match, with a paltry mantle-piece of 
 wood, painted white, on which stood a small marble bust of 
 his son. Above the mantle-piece, hung the portrait of Maria 
 Louisa, and four or five of young Napoleon, one of which was 
 embroidered by the hands of his mother. A little more to the 
 right, hung also a miniature picture of the empress Josephine 5 
 and to the left was suspended the alarm chamber-watch of 
 Frederick the Great, obtained, by Napoleon, at Potsdam ; 
 while, in another place, the consular watch, engraved with the 
 cypher B, hung by a chain of the plaited hair of Maria Louisa, 
 from a pin stuck in the nankeen lining. The floor was cov- 
 ered with a second-hand carpet,- which had once decorated the 
 dining-room of a lieutenant of the St. Helena artillery. In the 
 right-hand corner, was placed the little, plain, iron camp bed- 
 stead, with green silk curtains ; upon which, its master had re- 
 posed on the fields of Marengo and Austerlitz. Between the 
 windows, there was a paltry second-hand chest of drawers ; 
 and an old book-case, with green blinds, stood on the left of 
 the door, leading to the next apartment. Four or five cane- 
 bottomed chairs, painted green, were standing here and there^ 
 about the room. Before the back door, there was a screen^ 
 
NAPOLEON. 247 
 
 covered with nankeen ; and, between that and the fire-place, 
 an old-fashioned sofa, covered with white long-cloth ; upon 
 which, recUned Napoleon, in his morning dress. His air was 
 melancholy and troubled. Before him, stood a little round 
 table, with some books ; at the foot of which, lay, in confusion, 
 on the carpet, a heap of volumes, which he had already perused; 
 and at the foot of the sofa, facing him, was suspended a por- 
 trait of Maria Louisa, with her son in her arms. In front of 
 the fire-place, stood Las Cases, with his arms folded over his 
 breast, and some papers in one of his hands . Of all the former 
 magnificence, of the once mighty emperor of France, nothing 
 was present except a superb wash-hand-stand, containing a 
 silver basin, and a water-jug of the same material, in the left- 
 hand corner." 
 
 "I understand," said Napoleon, " that sir Hudson Lowe 
 proposes that an officer should enter my chamber, to see me, 
 if I did not stir out. Any person," continued he, with much 
 emotion, " who endeavours to force his way into my a])artment, 
 shall be a corpse, the moment he enters. If ever he eats bread 
 or meat again, I am not Napoleon. On this, I am determined, 
 though I know I shall be killed afterwards, as what can one 
 man do against a camp ? I have faced death too many times, 
 to fear it. Besides, I am convinced that this governor has been 
 sent out by lord Castlereagh. I told him, a few days ago, 
 that, if he wanted to put an end to me, he would have a very 
 good opportunity, by sending somebody to force his way into 
 my chamber, that I would instantly make a corpse of the first 
 that entered, and then I should be, of course, despatched, and 
 he might write home, that ' Buonaparte'' had been killed in a 
 brawl. I told him to leave me alone, and not to torment me 
 with his hateful presence. I have seen Prussians, Tartars, 
 Cossacks, and Calmucks, but never before, in my life, have I 
 beheld so ill-favoured and forbidding a countenance. He has 
 the devil stamped upon his face. 
 
 " During the short interview that this governor had with me," 
 continued Napoleon, " in my bed-chamber, one of his first pro- 
 posals was, to send you away, and to take his own surgeon in 
 your place. This, he repeated twice ; and, so earnest was he 
 to gain his object, that, although I gave him a decided refusal, 
 when he was going out he turned round, and proposed it again. 
 I never saw so horrid a countenance. He sat on a chair, op- 
 posite to my sof^i ; and, on the little table between us, there 
 was a cup of coffee. His physiognomy made so unfavourable 
 an impression on me, that I thought his looks had poisoned it» 
 
248 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and I ordered Marchand to throw it out of the window : — I 
 could not have swallowed it for the world." 
 
 On the seventeenth, Napoleon was in very good spirits. He 
 demanded what the news was, and was told that the ladies he 
 had received, a few days before, were highly delighted with his 
 manners ; especially, as, from what they had read and heard, 
 they had been prepossessed with opinions of a very different 
 kind. " Ah," said he, laughing, " I suppose they imagined I 
 was some ferocious horned animal." 
 
 He asked his physician, if he had not had a very large party, 
 to dinner, on the preceding day. Mr. O'Meara rephed, " a 
 few." — " How many of you were drunk ?" he inquired. The 
 doctor replied " none." — " Bah, bah, what none ? Why, they 
 could not have done any honour to your entertainment. Was 
 not captain Ross a little gay ?" — The reply was, " Captain 
 Ross is always gay." — Napoleon laughed at this, and said, 
 " Ross is a very fine fellow ; and the ship's-company are very 
 happy in having such a captain." 
 
 Napoleon was told that news had reached the island that 
 the queen of Portugal was dead, and also that a French frigate 
 had arrived, at Rio- Janeiro, to demand one of the king's 
 daughters in marriage for the duke of Berri. " The queen," 
 said he, " has been mad for a long time, and the daughters 
 are all ugly." 
 
 On the seventh of June, Dr. O'Meara breakfasted with 
 Napoleon, in the garden. The doctor had a long medical ar- 
 gument with him ; in which, he maintained that Ids practice, 
 in case of malady — that is, to eat nothing, drink plenty of 
 barley-water, and no wine, and ride for seven or eight leagues,, 
 to promote perspiration — was much better than the doctor's. 
 
 The conversation afterwards turned upon the manner of 
 living in France and England. — " Which eats the most," said 
 he, " the Frenchman or the Englishman ?" — Dr. O'Meara 
 said, "I think the Frenchman." — "I don't believe it,"" said 
 Napoleon.- — The doctor rephed, that the French, though they 
 nominally make but two meals a day, really have four. — 
 " Only two," said Napoleon. — The other replied, " They take 
 something at nine in the morning, and at eleven ; at four and 
 at seven or eight in the evening." — " I," rejoined Napoleon, 
 " never eat more than twice a day : you English always eat 
 four or five times. Your cookery is more healthy than ours. 
 Your soup is, however, very bad ; nothing but bread, pepper, 
 and water. You drink an enormous quantity of wine. Piont- 
 kowsky, who dines sometimes in camp, with the officers of the 
 
NAPOLEON. 249 
 
 fifty-third, says that tliey drink by the hour; that, after the 
 cloth is removed, they pay so much ar> hour, drink as much 
 as they like, and sometimes sit until four or five o'clock in the 
 morning." — O'Meara replied, " So far from the truth, is this, 
 that some of the oflScers do not drink wine more than twice a 
 week ; and that on days when they are permitted to invite 
 strangers. There is a third of a bottle put upon the table, for 
 each member that drinks wine ; and when that is exhausted, 
 another third is put on, and so on ; members paying only in 
 proportion to what they drink." — The emperor appeared sur- 
 prised at this explanation ; and observed how easily a stranger, 
 having only an imperfect knowledge of the language, was led 
 to give a wrong interpretation to the customs and actions of 
 other nations. 
 
 On the seventeenth of June, three commissioners arrived, 
 in the Newcastle frigate, from England: — count Balmaire, 
 for Russia ; baron Sturmer, for Austria, accompanied by the 
 baroness, his wife ; marquis Montchenu, for France, with his 
 aidrde-camp, captain Gor. 
 
 Several cases of books, which had been ordered, by Ber- 
 trand, when at Madeira, and brought out in the Newcastle, by 
 sir Pulteney Malconi, were sent to Longwood. Dr. O'Meara 
 found Napoleon in his bed-chamber, surrounded by heaps of 
 books ; his countenance was smiling, and he was in perfect 
 good-humour. He had been occupied in reading, nearly all 
 the preceding night. "Ah," said he, pointing to some volumes 
 which he had thrown upon the floor, according to his custom, 
 after having read them, " what a pleasure I have enjoyed. 
 What a difference! I can read forty pages of French, in the 
 time that 1 would comprehend two in English." — His anxiety 
 to see them was so great, that he had laboured hard himself, 
 with a hammer and chisel, in opening the case that contained 
 them. 
 
 Early in the ensuing month, sir Pulteney and lady Malcom 
 had an interview of nearly two hours, with Napoleon ; who 
 was much pleased with both. 
 
 On the sixteenth of August, there arrived at Longwood one 
 of Leslie's pneumatic machines for making ice. Napoleon 
 asked several questions about the process ; and it was evident 
 that he was well acquainted with the principles upon which 
 air-pumps are formed. He expressed great admiration for the 
 science of chemistry, spoke of the great improvements lately 
 made in it, and observed that he had always promoted and en- 
 couraged it, to the best of his power. A cup full of water 
 
250 THE LIFE OF 
 
 was frozen in about fifteen minutes; and he waited upwards 
 of half an hour, to see if the same quantity of lemonade would 
 freeze ; but it did not succeed. Milk was then tried, but with 
 rib better success. Napoleon took in his hand the piece of 
 ice, produced from the water, and observed what a gratifica- 
 tion that would have been in Egypt. The first ice ever seen in 
 St. Helena, was made by this machine, and was viewed with 
 no sniall degree of surprise by the yam-stocks — a cant name 
 by which the natives of the island are known ; some of whom 
 could with diflSculty be persuaded, that the solid lump in their 
 hands was really composed of water, until they had witnessed 
 its return to a fluid state. 
 
 A few days afterwards, sir Hudson Lowe paid a visit to Na- 
 poleon. He saw his captive walking in the garden; other- 
 wise, in consequence of the ungentleraanhke and severe man- 
 ner in which h^ had treated Napoleon, he would not have 
 been admitted to his presence. He wished to enter into some 
 details about reducing the expenses of the establishment at 
 Longwood. He had the audacity to tell Napoleon, that things 
 were, then, just as he had found them, and that he came up to 
 justify himself, and said that he had been there twice or three 
 times before, but that Napoleon was in a bath. The emperor 
 replied, " No, sir, I was not in a bath, but I ordered one, on 
 purpose to avoid seeing you. In endeavouring to justify your- 
 self, you make matters worse." — Sir Hudson said, that Na- 
 poleon did not know him ; that, if he knew him, he would 
 change his mind. — "Know you, sir?" Napoleon answered^ 
 " How could I know you ? People make themselves known by 
 their actions; by commanding in battles. You have never 
 commanded in battle. You have never commanded any but 
 vagabond Corsican deserters, Piedmontese, and Neapolitan 
 brigands. I know the name of every English general who 
 has distinguished himself; but I never heard of you, except as 
 a scrivano (a clerk) to Blucher,or as a commandant of brig- 
 ands. You have never commanded, or been accustomed to 
 men of honour." — The governor said that he had not sought 
 for the employment. Napoleon told him that such employ- 
 ments were not solicited ; that they were given, by govern- 
 ments, to people who had dishonoured themselves, but that he 
 did not think that any government would be so mean, as to 
 give such orders as he caused to be executed ; that he would 
 go over and dine with the brave officers of the fifty-third ; that 
 he was sure there was not one of them who would not be 
 happy to give a plate at the table, to an old soldier. " You 
 
NAPOLEON. 261 
 
 have power over my body," continued Napoleon, " but none 
 over my soul. That soul is as proud, fierce, and determined, 
 at the present moment, as when it commanded Europe : you 
 are a shirro Siciliano (a Sicilian bravo) and not an Enghsh- 
 man : let me not see you again, until you come with orders to 
 despatch me, when you will find all the doors thrown open to 
 receive you." 
 
 On the twenty-seventh, Napoleon inquired if the French 
 commissioners and madame Sturmer had not had a quarrel. 
 He was informed that Montchenu had said, that madame 
 Sturmer did not know how to come into a drawing-room. 
 Napoleon laughed at this : " I will venture to say," said he, 
 *' that the old booby says so because she is not sprung from 
 some of those imbeciles, the old noblesse ; because her father 
 is a plebeian. These old emigrants hate and are jealous of all 
 that are not hereditary asses, like themselves. — To give an in- 
 stance of the general feehng in France, towards the Bourbons," 
 continued Napoleon, " I will relate to you an anecdote. On 
 my return from Italy, while my carriage was ascending the 
 steep hill of Tarare, I alighted, and walked up, without any 
 attendants, as was often my custom. My wife and my suite 
 were at a little distance behind me. I saw an old woman, 
 lame, and hobbling about with the help of a crutch, endeavour- 
 ing to ascend the mountain. I had a great coat on, and was 
 not recognized. I went up to her, and said, ' Well, ma bonne, 
 where are you going with a haste which so little belongs to 
 your years ? What is the matter?' — ' Ma foi,'' replied the old 
 dame, ' they tell me the emperor is here, and I want to see 
 him, before I die.' ' Bah, bah,' said I, ' what do you want to 
 see him for ? What have you gained by him ? he is a tyrant, 
 as well as the others. You have only changed one tyrant for 
 another.' — ^Mais monsieur, that may be ; but, after all, he 
 is the king o^ Xhe people, and the Bourbons were the kings 
 of the nobles. We have chosen him, and if we are to have 
 a tyrant, let him be one chosen by ourselves.' — There," said 
 Napoleon, "you have the sentiments of the French nation, ex- 
 pressed by an old woman." 
 
 Napoleon showed Mr. O'Meara the marks of two wounds ; 
 one, a very deep cicatrice, above the left knee, which he said 
 he had received in his first campaign of Italy, and was of so 
 serious a nature, that the surgeons were in doubt whether it 
 might not be ultimately necessary to amputate. He observed, 
 that when he was wounded, it was always kept a secret, in 
 order not to discourage the soldiers. The other was on the 
 
S52 THE LIFE OF 
 
 toe, and had been received at Eckmuhl. " At the siege of 
 Acre," continued he, " a shell, thrown by sir Sydney Smith, 
 fell at my feet. Two soldiers seized and embraced me, one 
 in front, and the other on one side, and made a rampart of 
 their bodies for me, against the effect of the shell, which ex- 
 ploded, and overwhelmed us with sand. We sunk into the 
 hole, formed by its bursting ; one of the men was wounded. I 
 made them both officers. One has since lost a leg at Moscow, 
 and commanded at Vincennes, when I left Paris. When sum- 
 moned by the Russians, he replied, that as soon as they sent 
 him back the leg which he had lost at Moscow, he would 
 surrender the fortress. — Many times in my life," he resumed, 
 " have I been saved, by officers and soldiers throwing them- 
 selves before me, when I was in the most imminent danger. 
 At Areola, when I was advancing, colonel Meuron, my aid- 
 de-camp, threw himself before me, covered me with his body, 
 and received the wound destined for me. He fell at my feet, 
 and his blood spouted up in my face. He gave his life to pre- 
 serve mine. Never yet, I believe, has there been such devo- 
 tion shown by soldiers, as mine have manifested for me. In 
 all my misfortunes, never has the soldier, even when expiring, 
 forgotten me — never has man been served more faithfully by 
 his troops. With the last drop of blood gushing out of their 
 veins, they exclaimed, Vive VEmpereur.^'^ 
 
 " During the war with you," he continued, " all the intelli- 
 gence I received from England, came through the smugglers. 
 They are terrible people, and have courage and ability to do 
 any thing for money. They had, at first, a part of Dunkirk 
 allotted to them, to which they were restricted; but, as they 
 latterly went out of their limits, committed riots, and insulted 
 every one, I ordered Gravelines to be prepared for their re- 
 ception, where they had a little camp for their accommodation, 
 beyond which they w^ere not permitted to go. At one time, 
 there were more than five-hundred of them in Dunkirk. I 
 had every information that I wanted through them. They 
 brought over newspapers and despatches, from the spies that 
 I had in London. They took over spies from France, landed 
 and kept them in their houses for some days, then dispersed 
 them over the country, and brought them back, when wanted. 
 The police had in pay a number of French emigrants, who 
 gave constant information of the acts of the Vendean party, 
 Georges and others, at the time they were preparing to assas- 
 sinate me. All their movements were made known. Besides, 
 the police had in pay many EngUsh spies, many of hi^h quality; 
 
NAPOLEON. 253 
 
 amongst whom, were several ladies. There was one lady, in 
 particular, of very high rank, who furnished considerable infor- 
 mation, and was sometimes paid as high as three-thousand dol- 
 lars in one month. The spies came over," continued ho, " in 
 boats not larger than this bath. It was really astonisiiing, to 
 see them passing your seventy-four gun ships, in defiance. 
 They are terrible people, and did great mischief to the En- 
 glish government. They took from France, annually, forty or 
 fifty millions' worth of silks and brandy. They assisted the 
 French prisoners to escape from England. The relations of 
 Frenchmen, prisoners in your country, were accustomed to go 
 to Dunkirk, and bargain with them to bring over a certain 
 prisoner. All that they wanted was the name and age, and a 
 private token, by means of which the prisoner might repose 
 confidence in them. Generally, in a short time afterwards, 
 they executed their commission ; as, for men like them, they 
 had a great deal of honour in their dealings. They offered, 
 several times, to bring over Louis and the other Bourbons, for 
 a sum of money ; but, they wanted to stipulate, that, if they 
 met with any accident, or interruption to their designs, they 
 might be allowed to kill them. To this, I would not consent. 
 They also offered to bring over Dumourier, Sarazin, and others, 
 whom they thought I hated ; but I held them in too much con- 
 tempt, to take any trouble about them." 
 
 On the twenty-third of November, the emperor was deprived 
 of the society of one of the most devoted of his companions in 
 exile. It appears, that count Las Cases had given a letter, 
 written upon silk, to Scott, his servant, with which he was to 
 proceed to England. Scott told this to his father ; in conse- 
 quence of which information, he was carried before the gov- 
 ernor, by whom he was committed to prison. The governor 
 ordered Las Cases to dismiss his servant, and accept of another, 
 chosen by himself; with which injunction, Las Cases would 
 not comply. His journal and papers, except a few of no im- 
 portance, were accordingly seized, and on the twenty-ninth 
 of December, he and his son were embarked on board the 
 Griffon sloop of war, for the Cape of Good Hope ; Las Cases 
 having previously assigned four-thousand pounds (which he 
 had deposited with a banker in London) for Napoleon's use. 
 
 Las Cases was one of the ancient nobility of France, and 
 amonjrst the earliest who emigrated after the commencement 
 of the revolution. He sought refuge in England. On entering 
 London, he had only three louis in his pocket ; but, like the 
 majority of his countrymen, he soon applied himself to a means 
 
 Y 
 
254 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of gaining a support : being an accomplished scholar, he com- 
 menced the profession of teacher, wrote and published, under 
 the name of Le Sage, a geography and atlas, which obtained a 
 very high repute ; and, when the directory was succeeded by the 
 consular government, he returned to his native country, with 
 a sum of money which insured him an independence, and at- 
 tached himself, with ardour and fidelity, to the fortunes of 
 Napoleon. 
 *nirr Thc first iucidcut that we think worthy of recording, 
 in the present year, is rather of a ludicrous kind. On 
 the twelfth of January, when Napoleon was rising from table, 
 and in the act of taking his hat ofi' the sideboard, a large rat 
 sprung out of it, and ran between his legs. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh, his physician informed Napoleon, that 
 he had received a book, containing an account of a society 
 named " Philadelphi," which had been formed against him, 
 and expressed his surprise that he had never fallen by the 
 hands of some conspirators. The emperor rephed, " No person 
 knew, five minutes before I put it into execution, that I in- 
 tended to go out, or whither I would go. The conspirators 
 were thus baffled, as they knew not w[iere to lay the scene of 
 their enterprise. Shortly after I was made consul, there was 
 a conspiracy formed against me, by about fifty persons ; the 
 greater number of whom had once been much attached to me, 
 and consisted of officers of the army, men of science, painters, 
 and sculptors. They were all stern republicans ; their minds 
 were heated ; each fancied himself a Brutus, and me a Caesar. 
 Amongst them, was Arena, a countryman of mine, a man who 
 had been much attached to me before, but, thinking me a 
 tyrant, he determined to get rid of me, imagining, that, by so 
 doing, he should render a service to France. There was also 
 one Ceracchi, another Corsica n, and a famous sculptor, who, 
 when I was at Milan, had made a statue of me. He, too, 
 had been greatly attached to me ; but, being a fanatical repub- 
 lican, he determined to kill me ; for which purpose, he came 
 to Paris, and begged to have the honour of making another 
 statue for me, alleging that the first was not sufficiently well 
 executed, for so great a man. Though I then knew nothing 
 of the conspiracy, I refused my consent ; as I did not like the 
 trouble of sitting two or three hours, in the same posture, for 
 some days, especially as I had sat before, to the same artist. 
 This saved my life; his intention beinir to poniard me, while I 
 was sitting. In the mean time, they had arranged their plans. 
 Amongst them, was a captain, who had been a great admirer 
 
NAPOLEON. 255 
 
 of me. This man agreed with the rest, that it was necessary 
 to overturn the tyrant ; but he would not consent that I should 
 be killed, though he strenuously joined in every thing else. 
 All the others, however, differed with him in opinion, and in- 
 sisted that it was absolutely necessary to despatch me, as the 
 only means of preventing France from being enslaved ; that 
 while I lived, there would be no chance of freedom. This 
 captain, finding that they were determined to shed my blood, 
 gave information of their names and plans. They were to as- 
 sassinate me on the first night that I went to the theatre, in 
 the passage, as I was returning. Every thing was arranged 
 with the police ; I went the same evening to the theatre, and 
 actually passed through the conspirators ; some of whom I 
 personally knew : they were armed with poniards under their 
 cloaks. Shortly after my arrival, the police seized them all. 
 They were searched, and the poniards found upon them, were 
 afterwards tried and some of them executed." 
 
 Napoleon then related the particulars of the attempt to de- 
 stroy him by the infernal machine, and also to assassinate him 
 at Schoenbrun ; incidents which we have already noticed, in 
 the order of time in which they occurred. 
 
 "Another time," proceeded the emperor, "a letter was 
 sent to me, by the king of Saxony, containing information that 
 a person was to leave Stutgard, on a certain day, for Paris; 
 where he would probably arrive on a day that was pointed out, 
 and slating that his intention was to murder me. A minute 
 description of his person, was also given. The police arranged 
 their plans, and on the appointed day, he arrived. They had 
 him watched. He was seen to enter my chapel, to which I 
 had gone, on the celebration of some festival. He was arrested, 
 and examined. He confessed his intention, and said, that 
 when the people knelt down, on^ the elevation of the host, he 
 saw me gazing at the fine women : at first, he intended to ad- 
 vance, and fire at me (in fact, he had approached near to me, 
 at the moment); but, on a little reflection, he thought that 
 would not be sure enough, and he determined to stab me, with 
 a knife, which he had brought with him, for that purpose. I 
 did not like to have him executed, and ordered that he should 
 be kept in prison. When I was no longer at the head of 
 affairs, this man, who had been imprisoned for seven months 
 after I left Paris, and ill-treated, I believe, got his liberty. 
 Soon afterwards, he said that he no longer harboured the design 
 of killing me, but that he would murder the king of Prussia, 
 for having ill-treated the Saxons. On my return from Elba^ 
 
256 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I was to be present at the opening of the legislative body, which 
 was to be done with great state and ceremony. When I went to 
 open the chamber, this same man accidentally fell down ; and 
 a parcel, containing some chemical preparation, exploded, in 
 his pocket, and wounded him severely. It never has been 
 clearly ascertained, what his intentions were, at this time. The 
 occurrence caused great alarm, amongst the legislative body : 
 he was arrested ; and I have since learned that he threw him- 
 self into the Seine." 
 
 On the sixteenth of March, Napoleon spoke at length, about 
 Talleyrand. " The triumph of Talleyrand," said he, " is the 
 triumph of immorality. In him, we behold a priest, united to 
 another man's wife ; having paid her husband a large sum of 
 money, to leave her with him ; — a man who has sold every 
 thing, betrayed every body, and every side. I forbade madame 
 Talleyrand the court ; first, because she was a disreputable 
 character, and also because I discovered that some Genoese 
 merchants had paid her four-hundred-thousand francs, in order 
 to gain some commercial favours, by means of her husband. She 
 was a very fine-looking woman, Enghsh or East Indian, but sotte, 
 and grossly ignorant. I sometimes asked Denon to breakfast 
 with me, as I took a pleasure in his conversation, and conversed 
 very freely with him. All the intriguers and speculators paid 
 their respects to Denon, with a view of inducing him to men- 
 tion their projects or themselves to me, supposing that even 
 being mentioned by such a man as Denon, for whom I had a 
 great esteem, might materially serve them. Talleyrand, who 
 was a great speculator, invited Denon to dinner. When he 
 went home to his wife, he said, ' My dear, I have invited Denon 
 to dine. He is a great traveller, and you must say something 
 handsome to him, about his travels, as he may be useful to us, 
 with the emperor.' His wife, having perhaps never read any 
 other book of travels, than that of Robinson Crusoe, concluded 
 that Denon could be nobody else than Robinson. Wishing 
 to be very civil to him, she asked him, before a large com- 
 pany, divers questions about his man Friday ! Denon, aston- 
 ished, did not know what to think, at first, but at length dis- 
 covered, by her inquiries, that she really supposed him to be 
 Robinson Crusoe. His astonishment, and that of the company, 
 cannot be described ; nor the peals of laughter which it ex- 
 cited in Paris, as the story flew like wildfire through the city, 
 and even Talleyrand himself was ashamed of it." 
 
 " It has been said," continued he, "that I turned Mahom- 
 etan, in Egypt. It is not true. I never followed any of the 
 
NAPOLEON. 25T 
 
 tenets of that religion: I never prayed in the mosques: I 
 never abstained from wine, or was circumcised ; neither did I 
 profess it. I said merely that we were the friends of the 
 Mussulmans, and that I respected Mahon)et, their prophet ; 
 which was true. I respect him now. I wanted to induce the 
 Imans to cause prayers to be offered up in the mosques, for 
 me ; in order to make the people respect me still more than 
 they actually did, and obey me more readily. The Imans re- 
 plied, that there was a great obstacle, because their prophet 
 had inculcated to them, in the Koran, that they were not to 
 obey, respect, or hold faith with infidels; and that I came 
 under that denomination. I then desired them to hold a con- 
 sultation, and see what was necessary to be done, in order to 
 become a Mussulman, as some of their tenets could not be 
 practised by us : that, as to circumcision, God had made us 
 unfit for that : that, with respect to drinking wine, we were 
 poor cold people, inhabitants of the north, who could not exist 
 without it ; therefore, that we could neither circumcise, nor ab- 
 stain from wine. They accordingly consulted together, and 
 in about three weeks, issued a Fetham, declaring that circum- 
 cision might be omitted, because it was merely a profession ^ 
 that, as to drinking wine, it might be drunk by Mussulmans, 
 but, that those who drank it, would not go to paradise, but to 
 hell. I rephed, that this would not do ; that we had no occa- 
 sion to make ourselves Mahometans, in order to go to hell; 
 that there were many ways of getting there, without coming^ 
 to Egypt ; and desired them to hold another consultation. 
 Well, after deliberating and battling together, for I believe 
 three months, they finally decided that a man might become a 
 Mussulman, and neither circumcise nor abstain from wine ; 
 but, that in proportion to the wine drunk, he must do some 
 good works. I then told him, that we were all Mussulmans, 
 and friends of the prophet; which they readily believed, as the 
 French soldiers never went to church, and had no priest with 
 them. During the revolution, there was no religion at all, in 
 the French army. Menou," continued Napoleon, " really 
 turned Mahometan, which was the reason that I left him be- 
 hind." 
 
 At a subsequent time, speaking of the royal family of France, 
 " These Bourbons," said Napoleon, " are the most timorous 
 race imaginable : put them in fear, and you may obtain any 
 thing. While I was at Elba, an actress, named mademoiselle 
 Racour, died. She was greatly beloved by the public, and an 
 immense concourse of people went to her funeral. When 
 
 Y2 
 
258 THE LIFE OF 
 
 they arrived at the church of St. Roque, in order to have the 
 funeral service celebrated over her corpse, they found the doors 
 shut, and were refused admittance. IN or would the priests 
 allow it to be interred in consecrated ground ; as, by the old 
 regulations of the church, people of her profession were ex- 
 cluded from Christian burial. The populace broke open the 
 doors, with sledges, and, perceiving that there was no priest, 
 to perform the funeral service, they became clamorous, and 
 their rage knew no bounds. They cried, ' to the castle, to the 
 castle of the Tuileries! We will see what right these priests 
 have, to refuse interment to a Christian corpse !' Their fury 
 was heightened still more, by learning that the very coquin, 
 the curate of St. Roque, who had refused burial to the corpse 
 of mademoiselle Racour, had been in the constant habit of re- 
 ceiving presents from her, both for himself and for the poor, 
 (for she was extremely charitable) and had frequently dined 
 and supped at her house. Moreover, he had actually adminis- 
 tered the sacrament to her, a few days before her death. The 
 populace cried out, ' Here is a canaille of a priest, who ad- 
 ministers the sacrament to a woman, and afterwards denies her 
 body Christian burial! if she were worthy of the sacrament, 
 she surely is worthy of burial. He receives her benefactions, 
 eats her dinners, and refuses her body interment !" About fifty- 
 thousand of them went to the Tuileries, to seek redress from 
 the king. Not being, at first, aware that the mob was so nu- 
 merous, Louis said, ' the curate is right : those players are 
 ungodly gentry, they are excommunicated, and have no right 
 to Christian burial :' — A few minutes afterwards, Blacas enter- 
 ed, in a great fright, and said that there were above seventy- 
 thousand furious people about the palace, and that he was 
 afraid they would pull it down about their heads. Louis, almost 
 out of his senses, with fear, cried out, that immediate orders 
 should be given to have the body buried according to the 
 rites of the church ; and actually hurried some persons away, 
 to have it instantly carried into execution. He was not freed 
 from his terror, for some days. — Those priests tried me with 
 an experiment of a similar nature, with the body of a beauti- 
 ful dancer, but, per Dio, (said Napoleon, with emotion) they 
 had not Louis to deal with. I soon settled the affair. I ren- 
 dered all the burying places independent of the priests. I 
 hated friars, (^frati^) and was the annihilation of them, and of 
 their receptacles of crime — the monasteries — where every vice 
 was practised, with impunity. They are a set of miscreants, 
 who are, in general, a dishonour to the human race. Of 
 
NAPOLEON. 259 
 
 priests, I would have allowed a sufficient number, but no 
 fratiy 
 
 " I always had a high opinion of the British seamen," said 
 Napoleon, at another time. " When I was returning from 
 Holland, along with the empress Maria Louisa, we stopped to 
 rest at Givet. During the night, a violent storm of wind and 
 rain occurred ; which swelled the Meuse so much, that the 
 bridge of boats over it was carried away. I was very anxious 
 to depart, and ordered all the boatmen in the place to be as- 
 sembled, that we might be enabled to cross the river. They 
 .-aid, that the waters were so high, it would be impossible to 
 pass, for two or three days. I questioned some of them, and 
 soon discovered that they were fresh-water seamen. I then 
 recollected that there were English prisoners in the caserns ; 
 and ordered that some of the oldest and best seamen amongst 
 them should be brought before me, to the banks of the river. 
 The waters were very high, and the current rapid and danger- 
 ous. I asked them if they could join a number of boats, so 
 that I might pass over. They answered, that it was possible, 
 but hazardous. I desired them instantly to begin the work. 
 In the course of a few hours, they effected what the other i7«- 
 beciles \\;i(\ pronounced impossible; and I crossed before the 
 evening was over. I rewarded these gallant fellows. I or- 
 dered each to receive a sum of money, a suit of clothes, and 
 his liberty ; and they soon afterwards found themselves amongst 
 their friends, in England. 
 
 " When I was at Boulogne," continued the emperor, " two 
 English sailors arrived there, who had made their escape from 
 Verdun, and had passed through the country, undiscovered. 
 They had remained there for some time. Having no money, 
 they were at a loss how to effect their escape, and there was 
 so vigilant a watch kept upon the boats, that they despaired 
 of being able to seize one. They made a sort of vessel, of little 
 ribs of wood, which they formed with their knives, Hving as 
 well as they could, upon roots and fruits. This bark, they cov- 
 ered with calico, which they stretched over the ribs : when fin- 
 ished, it was not more than about three feet and a half in length, 
 and of a proportionate breadth, and so light, that one of them 
 carried it on his shoulders. In this little toy, they resolved to 
 attempt their passage to England. Seeing an English frigate 
 approach very near the shore, they launched their bark, and 
 attempted to join her ; but, before they had proceeded far, they 
 were discovered by the douaniers, seized, and brought back. 
 The story spread about, in consequence of the astonishment 
 
260 THE LIFE OF 
 
 excited, at seeing two men venture out to sea, in so fragile a 
 conveyance. I heard of it, and ordered them, with their little 
 ship, to be brought before me. I was, myself, struck with as- 
 tonishment, at the idea of men trusting their lives to such an 
 article ; and asked them if it were possible they could have 
 intended to go to sea in that. They answered, that, to con- 
 vince me of it, they were ready that moment to attempt it 
 again, in the same vessel. Admiring the boldness of the en- 
 terprise, and the bluntness of the reply, I ordered that they 
 should be set at Hberty, some napoleons given to them, and 
 that they should be provided with conveyance to the English 
 squadron." 
 
 " When I was at Tilsit, with the emperor Alexander and 
 the king of Prussia, / was the most ignorant of the three in 
 military affairs. These two sovereigns, especially the king of 
 Prussia, were completely au faity as to the number of buttons 
 there ought to be in front of a jacket, how many behind, and 
 the manner in which the skirts ought to be cut. Not a tailor 
 in the army, knew better than king Frederick, how many meas- 
 ures of cloth it took, to make a jacket. In fact," continued 
 Napoleon, laughing, " I was nobody, in comparison with them. 
 They continually tormented me about matters belonging to 
 tailors, of which I was entirely ignorant; though, in order not 
 to affront them, I answered just as gravely as if the fate of an 
 army depended on the cut of a jacket. When I went to see 
 the king of Prussia, instead of a library, I found he had a large 
 room, like an arsenal, furnished with shelves and pegs, in 
 which were placed fifty or sixty jackets, of various modes. 
 Every day, he changed his fashion, and put on one of a different 
 make. He was a tall, dry-looking fellow, and would give a 
 good idea of Don Quixote. He attached more in)portance to 
 the cut of a dragoon or a hussar uniform, than was required 
 for the salvation of a kingdom. At Jena, his army performed 
 the finest and most showy maneuvres possible ; but I soon put 
 a stop to their coglionerie, and taught them, that to fight, and 
 to execute dazzling maneuvres, and wear splendid uniforms, 
 were very different affairs. If," added he, " the French army 
 had been commanded by a tailor, the king of Prussia would 
 certainly have gained the day, from his supeiior knowledge in 
 that profession ; but, as victories depend more on the skill of 
 the general who commands the troops, than on that of the 
 tailor who makes their jackets, he consequently was defeated." 
 
 Mr. O'Meara informed him, that colonel Macirone, aid- 
 de-camp to Murat, had published some anecdotes of his late 
 
NAPOLEON. 261 
 
 master. "What does he say of me.^" inquired Napoleon. 
 Mr. O'Meara replied, that he had not seen the book, but had 
 been informed, by sir Thomas Reade, that he spoke ill of him. 
 "Oh," said the emperor, laughing, "that is nothing; I am 
 well accustomed to it. But what does he say ?" ^is physician 
 replied, that it was asserted that Murat had imputed the loss 
 of the battle of Waterloo to the cavalry not having been properly 
 employed, and had said, that if he — Murat — had commanded 
 them, the French would have gained the day. — " It is very 
 probable," rejoined Napoleon ; " I could not be every where, 
 and Murat was the best cavalry officer in the world. He would 
 have given more impetuosity to the charge. There wanted 
 very little, I assure you, to gain the day for me ; enf oncer 
 deux ou trois hattaillons, to break through three or four bat- 
 talions, and in all probability Murat would have effected 
 that. There were not, I believe, two such officers in the 
 world, as Murat for the cavalry, and Drouet for the artillery. 
 Murat was a most singular character. Four-and-twenty years , 
 ago, when he was a captain, I made him my aid-de-camp, 
 and subsequently raised him to what he was. He loved, I 
 may rather say, adored me. In my presence, he was, as it 
 were, struck with awe, and ready to fall at my feet. I acted 
 wrong, in having separated him from me ; as, without me, 
 he was nothing ; with me, he was my right arm. Order Mu- 
 rat to attack and destroy four or five thousand men, in such 
 a direction, it was done in a moment ; but leave him to him- 
 self, he was an imbecile^ without judgment. I cannot conceive 
 how so brave a man could be so lache. He was nowhere 
 brave, except before the enemy. There, he was probably the 
 bravest man in the world. His boiling courage carried him 
 into the midst of the enemy, covered with feathers, and glitter- 
 ing with gold. How he escaped, is a miracle, being a dis- 
 tinguished mark, and fired at by every one. Even the Cos- 
 sacks admired him, on account of his extraordinary courage. 
 Every day, Murat was engaged in single combat with some of 
 them, and never returned without his sabre dropping with the 
 blood of those whom he had slain. Murat and Ney were the 
 bravest men I ever witnessed. 
 
 " It is strange, however, that Murat, though he loved me, did 
 me more mischief than any other person in the world. When 
 I left Elba, I sent a message, acquainting him with what I had 
 done. Immediately, he must attack the Austrians. The mes- 
 senger went upon his knees, to prevent him ; but, in vain. 
 He thought me already master of France, Belgium, and Hoi- 
 
262 THE LIFE OF 
 
 land. Like a madman, he attacked the Austrians, with his 
 canaille, and- ruined me. At that time, there was a negotia- 
 tion pending between the Austrians and me, stipulating that 
 Francis should remain neuter ; which vyould finally have been 
 concluded, pijnd I should have continued undisturbed. But, as 
 soon as Murat attacked the Austrians, the emperor imme- 
 diately conceived that lie was acting according to my direc- 
 tions ; and indeed it will be difficult to make posterity believe 
 to the contrary. Metternich said, ' Oh, the emperor Napoleon 
 is the same as ever — -a man of iron.' " 
 
 On the eleventh of June, there was sent up to Longwood, 
 a beautiful white marble bust of young Napoleon, about the 
 natural size; accompanied by presents from laxly Holland 
 and Mr. Manning. This image of a beloved infant, so many 
 thousand miles distant from its imprisoned father, had been de- 
 tained, for several days, by the cruel governor, sir Hudson 
 Lowe; who contemplated its destruction, or its being thrown 
 into the sea, to prevent his captive from enjoying the pleasure 
 of beholding the delineated features of his absent child. 
 
 Some time after the bust arrived. Napoleon sent for his p'^y- 
 sician, it was placed on the mantle-piece, in the draw' ig- 
 room. "Look at that," said the emperor; "look at that 
 image. Barbarous and atrocious, must he the man, who would 
 break such an image as that. I esteem the man capable of 
 executing, or of ordering it, to be worse than a person who 
 administers poison to another. The latter has some object to 
 gain ; the former is instigated by nothing but the blackest 
 malignancy, and is capable of committing any crime. That 
 countenance must melt the heart of the most ferocious wild 
 beast. The man who gave orders to break that image, would 
 plunge a knife into the heart of the original, if it were in his 
 power." — He gazed on the statue, for several minutes, with 
 great satisfaction and delight; his face covered with smiles, 
 and strongly expressive of paternal love, and in the pride felt 
 by him, in being the father of so lovely a boy. 
 
 In the following month, there arrived some further presents. 
 These were a superb set of chessmen and a table; two mag- 
 nificent carved ivory work-baskets, with a set of ivory counters 
 and a box, all of Chinese manufacture. They were accom- 
 panied by a letter, stating that they had been made by order 
 of the honourable Mr. Elphinstone, for the purpose of being^ 
 presented to the distinguished personage whose initials they 
 bore ; as a mark of the gratitude entertained by the donor, for 
 
NAPOLEON. 263 
 
 the extraordinary humanity displayed by Napoleon, which had 
 been the means of saving the life of a beloved brother. 
 
 The day before the battle of Waterloo, captain Elpliiiistone 
 had been severely wounded, and made prisoner. His situation 
 attracted the attention of Napoleon, who instantly ordered his 
 surgeon to dress his wounds; and, perceiving that he was 
 faint, from loss of blood, sent him a goblet of wine, from his 
 own canteen. 
 
 Dr. O'Meara inquired of the emperor, in what engagements 
 he considered himself to have been in the greatest personal 
 danger. " In the commencement of my campaigns," replied 
 Napoleon, " at Toulon, and particularly at Areola. At Areola, 
 my horse was shot under me ; when, rendered furious by the 
 wound, the animal seized the bit between his teetii, and gal- 
 loped on, towards the enemy. In the agonies of deafl), he 
 plunged into a morass, and there expired; leaving me nearly 
 up to my neck in the swamp, and in a situation from vvliich I 
 could not extricate myself. I thought, at one moment, that 
 the Austrians would have come, and cut off my head, which 
 was just above the surf ice of the morass, and which they could 
 have done, without my being able to offer the least resistance. 
 However, the difficulty of getting at me, and the approach of 
 my soldiers, who rescued me, prevented them." 
 
 He was asked, whether he had not been often slightly 
 wounded. He replied, "several times; but scarcely more 
 than once had I occasion for surgical assistance, or any fever, 
 in consequence of a wound. At Marengo, a cannon-shot 
 carried away a piece of the boot of my left leg, and a little of 
 the skin ; but I used no other application to it, than a piece 
 of linen, dipped in salt and water." — He was asked, if he had 
 not had horses frequently killed tinder him ; to which, he an- 
 swered, eighteen or nineteen, in the course of his life. 
 
 " When I was about seventeen years of age," continued 
 Napoleon, "I narrowly escaped being drowned in the Seine. 
 While swimming, I was seized with cramp, and, after several 
 ineflfectual struggles, sunk. I experienced all the sensations 
 of dying, and lost all recollection. However, after I had sunk, 
 the current carried me on a bank of sand, and threw we on 
 its edge; where I lay senseless, for I know not how long, and 
 was restored to life by the aid of some of my companions, 
 who, by accident, saw me lying there. Previous to this, 
 they had given me up for lost ; as they saw me sink, and I had 
 been carried down, a considerable distance, by the curient." 
 
 "On one occasion, at Marli," said the emperor, "at a 
 
264 ^ THE LIFE OP 
 
 boar hunt, I kept my ground, with Soult and Berthier, against 
 three enormous wild-boars, who charged us up to the bayo- 
 net's point. All the hunting party fled : it was a complete 
 military rout. We killed the three animals ; but I had a 
 scratch from mine, and had nearly lost my finger. But the 
 jest was, to see numbers of men, surrounded by their dogs, 
 concealing themselves behind us, and crying aloud—' to the 
 emperor's assistance! save the emperor! help the emperor!' 
 — and so forth ; but not one coming forward." 
 
 Dr. O'Meara had a jocular conversation with Napoleon, 
 about patron saints. The emperor asked him who was his 
 patron saint — ^what was his Christian name. Mr. O'Meara 
 replied, that his first was a family name, that he was called 
 after Barry Yelverton, lord Avonmore, an Irish peer. — " But," 
 said Napoleon, laughing, " you must have some patron saint, 
 to befriend you, and plead your cause in the next world." The 
 doctor mentioned his second Christian name, Edward. — 
 " Ah!" said Napoleon, " then he will plead for you. St. Na- 
 poleon ought to be very much obliged to me, and do every thing 
 in his power for me, in the world to come. Poor fellow, nobody 
 knew him before. He had not even a day in the calendar. 
 I got him one, and persuaded the pope to give him the fifteenth 
 of August, my birth-day. I recollect," continued he, " when 
 I was in Italy, a priest preaching about a poor sinner who 
 had departed this life. He was required to give an account 
 of all his actions. The evil and the good were afterwards 
 thrown into opposite scales, in order to see which prepon- 
 derated. The scale containing the good, proved much the 
 lightest, and instantly flew up to the beam. His poor soul 
 was condemned to the infernal regions, conducted to the bot- 
 tomless pit, consigned over to devils, and thrown into the 
 flames. * Already,' said the preacher, ' had the devouring ele- 
 ment covered his feet and legs, and proceeded upwards, even 
 unto his bowels ; in his vitals, oh ! brethren, he felt them. He 
 sunk, and only his head appeared above the waves of fire, when 
 he cried out to his patron saint ! — ' Oh ! patron,' said he, ' look 
 down upon me, oh ! lake compassion on me, and throw into 
 the scale of my good deeds, all the hme and stone that I gave, 
 
 to repair the convent of- .' His saint instantly took the 
 
 hint, gathered together all the lime and stone, and threw them 
 into the scale of good, which immediately preponderated; the 
 scale of evil sprung up to the beam, and the sinner's soul into 
 paradise, at the same moment. Now, you see, by this, breth- 
 ren, how useful it is to keep the convents in repair ; for, had 
 
NAPOLEON. 265 
 
 it not been for the lime and stone, bestowed by this sinner, his 
 poor soul would, even now, children, be consuming in hell- 
 jire ; and yet you are so blind, as to let the convent and the 
 church, built by your forefathers, fall to ruin.' — At this 
 time," continued Napoleon, laughing, " these canaille wanted 
 to get a new convent built, and had recourse to this expedient, 
 to procure money ; which, after this, poured in upon them, 
 from all quarters." 
 
 The conversation led to the subject of the post-office estab- 
 lishments of Europe. " I have heard," said Dr. O'Meara, 
 " that, in all the states on the continent, official letters are 
 opened." — " Certainly, they are," answered Napoleon ; " but 
 they have not the impudence to deny it, like your ministers, 
 though it is carried to as great an extent amongst you, as any 
 where else. In France," continued the emperor, "an ar- 
 rangement was made, so that all the letters sent by the ambas- 
 sadors, or other diplomatic characters, all the household, and 
 all persons connected with foreign affairs, were sent to a secret 
 department of the post-office, in Paris ^ no matter in what 
 part of France they were put in. All letters and despatches, 
 in like manner, for foreign courts or ministers, were sent to 
 this office, where they were opened and deciphered. The 
 writers often used several different ciphers, not continuing the 
 same for more than ten lines, in order to prevent their being 
 understood. This, however, did not avail. To enable a per- 
 son to decipher the most ingenious and difficult, it was only 
 necessary to have fifty pages of the same cipher ; which, from 
 the extent of the correspondence, was soon obtained. So 
 clever were the agents employed, and so soon did they read 
 the ciphers, that, latterly, only fifty louis were paid for dis- 
 covering the means of deciphering a new one. By opening 
 all the letters addressed to diplomatic persons, the post-office 
 police became acquainted with their correspondents ; and all 
 letters subsequently addressed to them, were treated in the 
 same manner. The ambassadors suspected that there were 
 some infidelities practised upon their correspondence, and to 
 prevent it, used generally to change their cipher every three 
 months. But this only gave a little additional trouble. They 
 sent their letters sometimes to a post-office town a few miles 
 distant from that in which they resided, thinking that they 
 were very cunning, and would thus escape observation ; not 
 knowing of the arrangement which I have mentioned. The 
 ambassadors of the lesser powers, such as Denmark, Sweden, 
 and even Prussia, used, through avarice, in order to save the 
 
 Z 
 
26Q THE LtFE OF 
 
 expense of couriers, to send their despatches through the post 
 office, in cipher. How often have 1 laughed, within myself, to 
 see them licking the dust from under my feet, at my levee, 
 after having read, in the morning, the hetises which they had 
 written of me to their sovereigns. Through the correspond- 
 ence of the lesser powers, I became acquainted with the opin- 
 ions of the greater. The ability of those who conducted this 
 machine, was astonishing. There was no species of writing, 
 which they could not imitate ; and in the post-office, were 
 kept seals, similar to those used by the ambassadors of all the 
 foreign powers of Europe, besides an immense number of 
 others, belonging to families of different countries. If they 
 met with a seal, for which they had not a facsimile, they could 
 get one made in twenty-four hours. This arrangement," con- 
 tinued Napoleon, " was not an invention of mine. It was first 
 begun by Louis XIV. ; and some of the grand-children of the 
 agents originally employed by him, filled, in my time, situations 
 which had been transmitted to them from their fathers." 
 
 "The emperor Francis," related Napoleon, " whose head 
 is crammed with ideas -of high birth, was very anxious to prove 
 that I was descended from some of the old tyrants of Treviso ; 
 and, after my marriage wnth Maria Louisa, employed several 
 persons to search into the musty records of genealogy, in 
 which they thought they could find something to prove what 
 they desired. He imagined that he had succeeded, at last, 
 and wrote to me, asking my consent that he should publish the 
 account, with all official formalities. I refused. He was so 
 intent, however, upon this favourite object, that he again ap- 
 plied, and said, ' Do permit me : you need not appear to take 
 any part in it.' — I replied, that this was impossible, as, if pub- 
 lished, I should be constrained to notice it ; that I preferred 
 being the son of an honest man, to being descended from any 
 mean little Italian tyrant; that I was the Rudolph* of my 
 family." 
 
 " 'Jl'here was formerly," added Napoleon, " one Buonaven- 
 tura Buonaparte, who lived and died a monk. The poor man 
 lay quietly in his grave : nothing was thought about him, until 
 I was on the throne of France. It was then discovered, that 
 he had possessed many virtues, which never had been attributed 
 to him before ; and the pope proposed to me, to canonize 
 him. * Holy father,' said I, ' spare me that ridicule : — you 
 
 * Rudolph of Hapsburg ; the founder of the Austrian dynasty. 
 
NAPOLEON. 267 
 
 being in my power, all the world will say that I forced you to 
 make one of my family a saint." 
 
 On the thirteenth of August, captain Basil Hall, of the 
 British navy, w'as presented to Napoleon. The journal of this 
 enterprising and distinguished navigator, afibrds a pleasing ex- 
 ample of the extent of the emperor's memory. He instantly 
 recognized the name of captain Hall, from having seen his 
 father, sir James Hall, when at the military academy of Bri- 
 enne ; to which visit, the baronet had been led by the love of 
 science. Napoleon explained the cause of his recollecting a 
 private individual, after the intervention of occurrences so 
 m^omentous as those in which he had been himself concerned. 
 " It is not," said he, " surprising. Your father was the first 
 Englishman that I ever saw ; and I have recollected him, all 
 my life, on that account." 
 
 The emperor was at length led to the very interesting sub- 
 ject of the newly discovered island of Loo-Choo. " Having 
 settled," says captain Hall, " the geographical position of the 
 island, he cross-questioned me, about the inhabitants, with a 
 closeness — I may call it a severity, of investigation — which far 
 exceeds every thing I have met with, in any other instance. 
 His questions were not, by any means, put at random,! but 
 each one had a definite reference to that which preceded, or 
 was about to follow. I felt, in a short time, so completely ex- 
 posed to his view, that it would have been impossible to con- 
 ceal or qualify the smallest particular. Such, indeed, was the 
 rapidity of his apprehension of the subjects which interested 
 him, and the astonishing ease with which he arranged and 
 generalized the few points of information I gave him, that he 
 sometimes outstripped my narrative, saw the conclusion I 
 was coming to before I spoke it, and fairly robbed me of my 
 story." 
 
 " Several circumstances, however, respecting the Loo-Choo 
 people, surprised even him, a good deal ; and I had the satis- 
 faction of seeing him more than once completely perplexed, 
 and unable to account for the pjhenomena which I related. 
 Nothing struck him so much, as their having no arms. — ' Point 
 d'armes!' he exclaimed; ^ c^est a dire, point de canons — Us 
 ont des fusils?'' (' that is to say, no cannon — they have mus- 
 kets ?') — Not even muskets, I replied. — * Well then, they have 
 lances; or at least, bows and arrows?' — ^I told him they had 
 neither the one nor the otiier. — ' No poniards ?' cried he, with 
 increasing vehemence. No, none. — ' But,' said Buonaparte, 
 clenching his fist, and raising his voice to a loud pitch ; ' But 
 
268 THE LIFE OF 
 
 without arms, how do they fight ?' — I could only reply, that, as 
 far as we had been able to discover, they had never any wars, 
 but remained in a state of internal and external peace. — ' No 
 wars!' cried he, with a scornful and incredulous expression, 
 as if the existence of any people under the sun, without wars, 
 was a monstrous anomaly. 
 
 " In like manner, but without being so much moved, he 
 seemed to discredit the account I gave him of their having no 
 money, and of their setting no value on our gold or silver 
 coins. After hearing these facts stated, he mused, for some 
 time, muttering, to himself, in a low tone, * Not know the use 
 of money — are careless about gold and silver!' Then, looking 
 up, he asked, sharply, ' How, then, did you manage to pay 
 these strangest of all people, for the bullocks and other good 
 things, which they seem to have sent on board, in such quan- 
 tities ?' When I itiformed him that we could not prevail upon 
 the people of Loo-Choo to receive payment of any kind, he 
 expressed great surprise at their liberahty, and made me re- 
 peat to him, twice, the list of things with which we were sup- 
 phed by these hospitable islanders." 
 
 Captain Hall illustrated the ignorance of the people of Loo- 
 Ghoo, with respect to all the world, except Japan and China, 
 by saying, that they knew nothing of France and England — 
 nothing of Europe, at all — and never had heard even of his 
 majesty ; at which last proof of their absolute seclusion from 
 the world. Napoleon burst into a hearty fit of laughter. 
 
 " Buonaparte," says that acute traveller, " struck me as 
 difi'ering considerably from the pictures and busts I had 
 seen of him. His face and figure looked much broader, 
 and more square ; larger, indeed, in every way, than any 
 representation I had met with. His corpulency, at this time 
 universally reported to be excessive, was by no means re- 
 markable. His flesh looked, on the contrary, firm and mus- 
 cular. There was not the least trace of colour in his cheeks ; 
 in fact, his skin was more like marble, than ordinary flesh. 
 Not the smallest trace of a wrinkle was discernible, on his 
 brow ; nor an approach to a furrow, on any part of his coun- 
 tenance. His health and spirits, judging from appearances, 
 were excellent ; though, at this period, it was generally be- 
 lieved, his spirits were entirely gone. His manner of speaking 
 was rather slow, than otherwise, and perfectly . distinct : he 
 waited, with great patience and kindness, for my answers to 
 his questions ; and a reference to count Bertrand was necessary 
 only once, during the whole conversation. The brilliant, and 
 
NAPOLEON. 269 
 
 sometimes dazzling expression of his eye, could not be over- 
 looked. It was not, however, a permanent lustre, for it was 
 remarkable only when he was excited by some point of par- 
 ticular interest. It is impossible to imagine an expression of 
 more entire mildness, I may almost call it, of benignity and 
 kindness, than that which- played over his features, during the 
 whole interview. If, therefore, he were, at this time, out of 
 health, and in low spirits, his power of self-command must 
 have been more extraordinary, than is generally supposed ; for 
 his whole deportment, his conversation, and the expression of 
 his countenance, indicated a frame in perfect health, and a 
 mind at ease." 
 in^n The time at length arrived, when Dr. O'Meara was 
 ■ removed, in a compulsory manner, from Napoleon. 
 The fidelity with which this gentleman had served the emperor, 
 who had, for a considerable time past, shown symptoms of that 
 hereditary and incurable disease which finally removed him 
 from this " sea of troubles" — the firmness with which he re- 
 fused to disclose the confidential communications with which 
 the illustrious prisoner had honoured his attached physician— 
 the unyielding spirit, which could not be overcome by the many 
 threats of the unfeehng governor — all these causes roused the 
 vengeance of sir Hudson Lowe : he received authority from 
 lor<l Bathurst, one of the British ministers, to withdraw Dr. 
 O'Meara from his attendance on Napoleon, and, on the twenty- 
 fifth of July, ordered him immediately to quit Longwood, and 
 to hold no further communication with any of the persons re- 
 siding there. 
 
 Humanity, the duties of his profession, and the state of Na- 
 poleon's health, alike forbade a compliance with this unchari- 
 table mandate. He determined to disobey it. Napoleon's 
 health required that he should prescribe for him a regimen, 
 and prepare the medicines necessary for him to take, in the 
 absence of a surgeon — an absence likely to be of long duration 
 — as it was certain that Napoleon would accept of none recom- 
 mended by sir Hudson Lowe. He accordingly went into the 
 emperor's apartment, "and communicated the order which he 
 had received. *' The crime will soon be consummated," said 
 Napoleon : " I have lived too lon^ for them. Your minister 
 is very cruel," added he : " when the pope was detained in 
 France, sooner would 1 have cut off my right arm, than have 
 signed an order for the removal of his surgeon." 
 
 Napoleon, however, desired his physician to obey. After 
 some further conversation, and Mr. O'Meara had given him 
 
 Z2 
 
270 THE LIFE OF 
 
 some hasty medical instruction, Napoleon said, " When you 
 arrive in JEurope, you will either go yourself, or send to my 
 brother Joseph : you will inform him that I desire he will give 
 to you the private and confidential letters written to me by the 
 emperors Alexander and Francis, the king of Prussia, and the 
 other sovereigns of Europe, which I delivered to his care, at 
 Rochefort. You will publish them, to cover with shame those 
 sovereigns, and manifest to the world the abject homage which 
 those vassals paid to me, when asking favours, or supplicating 
 for their thrones. When I was strong, and in power, they 
 courted my protection and the honour of my alliance, and 
 licked the dust from under my feet. Now, in my old age, they 
 basely oppress and take my wife and child from me. I require 
 of you to do this, and if you see any calumnies published of 
 me during the time that you have been with me, and that you 
 can say, ' I have seen with my own eyes, that this is not true,' 
 contradict them." 
 
 Napoleon soon afterwards dictated a short letter, addressed 
 generally to his relations, desiring that they would give credit 
 to any thing that Dr. O'Meara should write concerning him; 
 and added a postcript, in his own hand-writing, requesting that 
 if the doctor should meet the empress Maria Louisa, she would 
 permit him to kiss her hand. He then presented his departing 
 friend with a superb snuff-box, and a statue of himself, enjoin- 
 ing him, on his arrival in Europe, to make inquiries about his 
 family, and communicate to the several members of it, that he 
 did not wish that any of them should come to St. Helena, to 
 witness the miseries and humiliations under which he laboured. 
 — " You will express the sentiments which I preserve for 
 them," added he. " You will bear my affections to my good 
 Louisa, to my excellent mother, and to Pauline. If you see 
 my son, embrace him for me : may he never forget that he 
 was born a French prince ! Testify to lady Holland the sense 
 I entertain of her kindness, and the esteem which I bear to 
 her. Finally, endeavour to send ma authentic intelligence of 
 the manner in which my son is educated." — The emperor then 
 shook him by the hand, and embraced him, saying, " Adieu 
 O^Meara; nous ne reverrons jamais encore. Soyez heureuxy 
 " Adieu O'Meara ; we shall never meet again. May you be 
 happy." 
 
 On Mr. O'Meara's return to Europe, he used every exertion 
 to obtain the important letters from the continental sovereigns 
 of Europe, to Napoleon ; but his efforts were not attended 
 with success. Before Joseph Buonaparte had left Rochefort,. 
 
NAPOLEON. 271 
 
 for America, apprehensive that he might be seized by the alhed 
 powers, he judged it prudent to deposit his precious charge in 
 the hands of a person upon whose integrity he thought he 
 could rely ; but, who, it has since appeared, basely betrayed 
 his trust, as the letters were afterwards carried to London, for 
 sale, and offered for thirty-thousand pounds. This was imme- 
 diately communicated to some of the British ministers, and to 
 the foreign ambassadors, and it is believed that the Russian 
 ambassador paid ten-thousand pounds to redeem the letters of 
 his master. 
 
 Unpleasant and discreditable disputes, such as we have often 
 already noticed, form unhappily the most marked events of Na- 
 poleon's latter days. In the five years and seven months during 
 which he remained in the island of St. Helena, few circum- 
 stances occurred, to vary the melancholy tenor of his life, ex- 
 cept those which affected his temper or his health. Reports 
 had been long current, concerning the decline of Napoleon's 
 health, even before the battle of Waterloo; and many imputed 
 his failure in that decisive campaign, less to the superiority of 
 his enemies, than to the decrease of his own habits of activity. 
 But there seems no ground for such a conclusion. The rapid 
 manner in which he concentrated his army upon Charleroi, 
 showed that he retained all his energies, in their pristine 
 vigour. He was occasionally subject to short fits of drowsi- 
 ness, such as are incident to most men, especially after the 
 age of forty, who sleep ill, rise early, and work hard. 
 
 That the malady of Napoleon was- produced by the chmate 
 of St. Helena, we are not disposed to believe. The island, on 
 the contrary, has maintained a high reputation for salubrity of 
 air. Of Napoleon's numerous family, of nearly fifty persons, 
 Englishmen included, only one died, during their residence of 
 more than five years ; and that person — Cipriani, the maitre 
 d'hotel — had contracted the illness which terminated his ex- 
 istence, being a species of consumption, before he left his na- 
 tive land. 
 
 About the end of September, Napoleon's health seems to 
 have been seriously affected. He complained much of nausea, 
 his legs swelled, and there were other symptoms which induced 
 his physicians to inform him that he was of a temperament 
 that required much activity, and that without exercise he must 
 soon lose his health. He immediately declared, that, while 
 exposed to the challenge of sentinels, he never would take ex- 
 ercise, however necessary to preserve his life. Mr. O'Meara 
 had proposed to call in the assistance of Dr, Baxter, a medical 
 
272 THE LIFE OF 
 
 gentleman of eminence on sir Hudson Lowe's staff'. " He 
 could but say the same as you do,'' said Napoleon, and recom- 
 mend my riding abroad ; nevertheless, as long as the present 
 system continues, I will never leave the house." When the 
 governor sent to oflTer him some extension of his riding-ground, 
 and Dr. O'Meara wished him to avail himself of the permis- 
 sion, he replied, that he should be insulted by the challenge of 
 the sentinels, and that he did not choose to submit to the ca- 
 price of the governor, who, granting an indulgence one day, 
 might recall it the next. 
 
 After the removal of Mr. O'Meara, sir Hudson Lowe again 
 offered the assistance of Dr. Baxter : but this was construed, 
 at Longwood, into an additional offence. It was even treated 
 as an Offer big with suspicion. The governor endeavoured, 
 it was said, to intrude his own private physician upon the em- 
 peror, that he might have his life more effectually in his 
 power. — Of so insidious and atrocious a design, we most un- 
 hesitatingly and positively acquit both the governor and the 
 English ministry. Assassination is a crime which the British 
 nation hold in the utmost abhorrence : it is, moreover, incon- 
 sistent with the morality of the present age; and in no country 
 in Europe, do we think that any military officer of fuir reputa- 
 tion, much less a whole cabinet of ministers, could be induced 
 to perpetrate or encourage a deed so horrid. 
 
 Dr. Stokoe, surgeon of the Conqueror, was at length called 
 in, to prescribe for the illustrious patient. But differences 
 arose between him and sir Hudson Lowe, and, after a few 
 visits, he was discharged. 
 
 Napoleon now expressed his determination, whatever might 
 be the extremity of his case, not to permit the visits of an 
 English physician: a commission was therefore sent to Italy,- 
 to obtain a medical man of eminence in that country. At the 
 same time, he signified a desire to have the conversation of a 
 catholic priest. The proposition for this purpose, came 
 through his uncle, cardinal Fesch, to the papal g(wernment, 
 ■,p-,q and readily received the assent of the British ministry. 
 Two churchmen were despatched to b't. Helena, in- 
 stead of one. The senior priest, father Bonavita, was an 
 elderly, infirm man ; his recommendation to the office which 
 be now undertook, was, his liaving been father confessor to 
 Napoleon's mother. His companion was a young abbe, called 
 Vignali. Both were pious, good men, well qualified to give 
 Napoleon the comfort held out by their church to those who 
 
NAPOLEON. 273 
 
 receive its tenets , but not so well skilled to cause the return 
 of one who had strayed beyond the shepherd's fold. 
 
 Argument or controversy, however, was not required. Na- 
 poleon had declared his resolution to die in the faith of his 
 fathers. He was neither an infidel, he said, nor a philosopher. 
 On various occasions, he had expressed, with deep feelings of 
 devotion, his belief in the existence of the Deity, the great 
 truth on which the whole system of religion rests ; and this at a 
 time when the doctrines of atheism and materialism were gen- 
 erally current in France. 
 
 The same vessel which brought those physicians for the 
 mind, brought also Dr. F. Antommarchi, who had been as- 
 sistant professor of anatomy in a public hospital In Florence. 
 This gentleman seems to have been acceptable to Napoleon ; 
 the more so, as he was a native of Corsica. He brought news 
 also from his family, and particularly from the princess Pau- 
 line Borghese ; who had offered her service to attend him. — 
 " Let her remain where she is," said Napoleon ; " I would not 
 have her witness the degraded state to which I am reduced." 
 
 His case was mentioned, in the British parliament, on the 
 twelfth of July, in the present year. The subject was introduced 
 into a debate on finance ; when Mr. Charles Hely Hutchinson 
 pointed out the yearly cost of detaining Napoleon at St. 
 Helena, as a useless expenditure of pubhc money. The com- 
 plexion of the times, it was answered, had become such as to 
 strengthen every reason that existed for detaining him in cap- 
 tivity. The state of England, owing to the sufferings and 
 discontents of the manufacturing districts, and more especially 
 the state of Italy, convulsed by the short-lived revolutions of 
 Naples and Savoy, rendered the safe custody of Napoleon a 
 matter of more deep importance, than it had been at any other 
 time since his fall. 
 
 As Napoleon's health grew weaker, his mind became pro- 
 portionably depressed. In the absence of other means of 
 amusing himself, he became interested in the construction of 
 a pond and fountain, in the garden of Longwood, which was 
 stocked with a variety of small fishes. A mixture of copperas 
 in the substance used to cement the basin, had infused its 
 poison through the water. The creatures, which had employ- 
 ed much of Napoleon's attention, began to sicken and die. 
 He was deeply affected by the circumstance ; and in the most 
 feeling language, expressed his sense of the fatality which 
 seemed to attach itself to him. — " Every thing I love — every 
 thing that belongs to me," he exclaimed, " is immediately 
 
274 THE LIFE OF 
 
 struck. Heaven and mankind unite to afflict me." — The bed, 
 he said, was now a place of luxury, which he would not ex- 
 change for all the thrones upon the earth. His eyes, formerly 
 so watchful and so brilliant, could now scarcely be opened, 
 and all their fiery lustre had passed away. He recollected 
 that he used to dictate to four or five secretaries, at once. 
 " But then," he said, " I was Napoleon — now I am no longer 
 any thing : — my strength, my faculties, forsake me — I no longer 
 live — I only exist." 
 . o^^ The generous feelings of the British sovereign, seem- 
 * ed deeply interested in the fate of the imperial exile, 
 and prompted him, by every means in his power, and espe- 
 cially by expressions of his own sympathy, to extend such hope 
 and comfort to Napoleon, as he could be supposed to receive 
 while in the situation of a captive : — 
 
 " I am aware," says lord Bathurst, in his despatch to sir 
 Hudson Lowe, dated the sixteenth of February, " how diffi- 
 cult it is to make any communication to the general, which 
 will not be liable to misrepresentation ; and yet, if he be really 
 ill, he may derive some consolation by knowing, that the re- 
 peated accounts which have lately been transmitted, of his de- 
 clining health, have not been received with indifference. You 
 will therefore communicate to general Buonaparte, the great 
 interest which his majesty has taken in the recent accounts of 
 his indisposition ; and the anxiety which his majesty feels to 
 afford him every relief of which his situation admits. You will 
 assure general Buonaparte, that there is no alleviation which 
 can be derived from additional medical assistance, nor any ar- 
 rangement consistent with the safe custody of his person at St. 
 Helena, (and his majesty cannot now hold out any expectation 
 of his removal,) which his majesty is not most ready and de- 
 sirous to afford. You will not only repeat the offer which has 
 been more than once made, of such further medical assistance 
 as the island of St. Helena affords, but you will give him the 
 option of procuring the attendance of any of the medical gen- 
 tlemen who are at the Cape, where there is one, at least, of 
 considerable eminence in his profession : and, in case of any 
 wish being expressed by the general, to receive such assistance, 
 you will consider yourself authorized to make a communica- 
 tion to the Cape, and take such other measures as may be 
 necessary, to secure the immediate attendance of the person 
 whom the general may name." 
 
 Napoleon had not the satisfaction to know the interest which 
 the king of England took in his illness. Towards the end of 
 
NAPOLEON. 276 
 
 February, his disease assumed a character still more formida- 
 ble ; and Dr. Antommarchi, after much solicitation, obtained 
 permission from Napoleon to consult with Dr. Arnott, surgeon 
 of the twentieth regiment. But the united opinion of the 
 medical gentlemen could not overcome the aversion of Napo- 
 leon to medicine, or shake the belief reposed by him in the 
 gloomy doctrine of fatalism. " Qvod scripium, scriptvm,'" 
 he replied, in the language of a Moslem. " All that is to 
 happen is written down. Our hour is marked, and it is not 
 in our power to claiuj a moment longer of life, ihan is predes- 
 tined for us, by fate." 
 
 From the fifteenth to the twenty-fifth of April, Napoleon 
 was engaged, from time to time, in making his testamentary 
 bequests. 
 
 As the strength of the patient sunk, the symptoms of his 
 disorder became less equivocal ; until, on the twenty-seventh 
 of April, the ejection of a dark-coloured fluid, afforded further 
 insight into the nature of his malady. On the twenty-eighth, 
 Napoleon gave instructions to Antommarchi, that after his 
 death, his body should be opened, but that no English medical 
 man should touch him, unless assistance were absolutely neces- 
 sary ; in which case, he permitted Antommarchi to call in Dr. 
 Arnott. He directed that his heart should be conveved to 
 Parma, to Maria Louisa ; and that his stomach should be 
 particularly examined, and the report transmitted to his son. 
 
 During the third of May, it was seen that the earthly tene- 
 ment of Napoleon would soon be vacated by his immortal 
 spirit. About two o'clock in the afternoon, the priest Vignali 
 administered the sacrament of extreme unction. Some days 
 before. Napoleon had explained to him the manner in which 
 his body should be laid out in state, in an apartment lighted 
 by torches, or what catholics call un chamhre ardente. " I am 
 neither," he said, in the same phrase which we have already 
 quoted, •' a })hilosopher nor an infidel. I believe in God, and 
 am of the religion of my father. It is not every one that can 
 be an atheist. 1 was born a catholic, and will fulfil all the 
 duties of the catholic church, and receive the assistance which 
 it administers." He then turned to Antommarchi, whom he 
 seems to have suspected of heterodoxy, which the doctor, how- 
 ever, disowned. — "How can you carry it so far'" he said. 
 " Can you not believe in God, whose existence every thing 
 proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have believed ?" 
 
 " As if to mark a closing point of resemblance between 
 Cromwell and Napoleon, a dreadful tempest arose on the 
 
276 THE LIFE OF 
 
 fourth of May, which preceded the day that was to terminate 
 the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A willow, 
 which had been the exile's favourite, and under which he had 
 often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the hurricane ; 
 and nearly all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate. 
 
 " The fifth of May came amidst wind and rain. Napoleon's 
 passing spirit was deliriously engaged in a strife more terrible 
 than that of the elements around. The words ' tete d''armee^'' 
 the last that escaped his lips, intimated that his thoughts were 
 watching the current of an impetuous fight. About eleven 
 minutes before six in the evening, Napoleon, after a struggle 
 which indicated the original strength of his constitution, 
 breathed his last. 
 
 " The officers of Napoleon's household were disposed to 
 have the body anatomized in secret. But sir Hudson Lowe 
 had too deep a sense of the responsibility under which he and 
 his country stood, to permit it. He declared, that even if he 
 were reduced to make use of force, he would insure the pres- 
 ence of English physicians at the dissection." 
 
 Generals Bertrand and Montholon, with Marchand, the valet- 
 de-chambre of the deceased, were present at the operation ; 
 which was witnessed also by sir Thomas Reade, and some 
 British staff-officers. Drs. Thomas Shortt, Archibald Arnott, 
 Charles Mitchell, Matthew Livingstone, and Francis Burton, 
 all medical men, were likewise present. The cause of his 
 death was sufficiently evident. A large ulcer occupied almost 
 the whole of the stomach. It was only the strong adhesion 
 of the diseased parts of that organ to the concave surface of 
 the lobe of the liver, which, being over the ulcer, had prolong- 
 ed the patient's life, by preventing the escape of the contents 
 of the stomach into the cavity of the abdomen. 
 
 The gentlemen of Napoleon's suite were desirous that his 
 heart should be preserved, and given to their custody. But 
 sir Hudson Lowe did not feel authorized to allow this. He 
 agreed, however, that the heart should be placed in a silver 
 vase, filled with spirits, and interred with the body ; so that, 
 in case his instructions from home should so permit, it might 
 be afterwards disinhumed, and sent to Europe. 
 
 The place of interment became the next subject of discus- 
 sion. On this subject. Napoleon had been inconsistent. His 
 testamentary disposition expressed a wish that his remains 
 should be deposited on the banks of the Seine ; a request with 
 which he could not have supposed the European sovereigns 
 would have complied. A grave for the emperor within the 
 
NAPOLEON. 277 
 
 limits of the rocky island where he had expired, was the only 
 alternative that remained ; and, sensible that this would be the 
 determination, he had himself indicated the spot where he 
 wished to lie. It was a small secluded recess, called Slane's 
 or Haine's Valley, where a fountain arose, at which the 
 Chinese domestics used to fill the silver vessels which they 
 carried to Longwood for Napoleon's use. The spot was more 
 verdant and shady than any in the neighbourhood ; and the 
 illustrious captive often reposed under the beautiful weeping 
 willows which overhung the spring. 
 
 The body, after lying in state, in his small bed-room, was, 
 on the eighth of May, carried to the place of interment. The 
 pall which covered the coffin, was the military cloak which 
 Napoleon had worn at the battle of Marengo. The members 
 of his late household attended, as mourners ; followed by the 
 governor, the admiral, and all the civil and military authorities 
 of the island. All the troops were under arms. As the road 
 did not permit a near approach of the hearse to the place of 
 sepulture, a party of British grenadiers had the honour of 
 bearing the coffin to the grave. The funeral service was sol- 
 emnized by the abbe Vignali. Minute-guns were fired from 
 the admiral's ship ; and the coffin was let down into the grave 
 under a discharge of three successive volleys of artillery ; 
 fifteen pieces of cannon firing three rounds each. 
 
 Napoleon Buonaparte, to whom it is probable that future 
 ages will assign the character of Great, had lived fifty-one 
 years, eight months, and twenty days. 
 
 " Few men," observes an impartial historian, " have done 
 more mischief in the world, than Napoleon — and not many 
 have done more good. In giving liberty of conscience to pro- 
 fessors of all religions ; in finally destroying every vestige of 
 the feudal system ; in overturning the detestable power of the 
 inquisition ; and, lastly, in the promulgation of his edict for 
 the abolition of the slave-trade ; whatever construction we 
 may attach to the motives, we cannot but sincerely approve 
 the deeds." 
 
 Aa 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abercrombie, Ralph, 74, 96, 97, 
 
 98. 
 Aboukir, battle of, 70, 71, 79. 
 Abrantes, duke of: see Junot. 
 Achmet D'jezzar, 75, 78. 
 Acre, siege of, 76, 77, 78, 79,252. 
 iEronauts, 33, 34. 
 Albuera, battle of, 159. 
 Albufuera, duke of: see Suchet. 
 Alexander, emp. 94, 114, 119, 128, 
 
 129, 161, 164, 172, 173, 174, 206, 
 
 226, 260. 
 Alexandria, 63, 64, 75, 97, 179. 
 Alps, passage of, 89, 90. 
 Alvinzi, marshal, 49. 
 Amiens, peace of, 98. 
 Andreossi, gen. 44, 62, 80. 
 Andujar, battle of, 136. 
 Angouleme, duke of, 218. 
 Antommarchi, Dr. 273, 275. 
 Areola, battle of, 49, 50. 
 Arlon, battle of, 33. 
 Armed Neutrality, 93. 
 Arrighis, gen. 109, 214. 
 Aspern, battle of, 143, 144. 
 Auerstadt, duke of: see Davoust. 
 Augereau, gen. 44, 45, 60, 109, 
 
 126. 
 Austerlitz, battle of, 115, 116, 117, 
 
 118, 119,120. 
 
 B. 
 
 Badajoz, siege of, 159. 
 Bagration, prince, 113, 115. 
 Baird, sir David, 97, 124. 
 Ballinamuck, battle of, 72. 
 Balloon, 33, 34. 
 Barclay de Tolly, 162, 163. 
 Barras, 30, 41, 42, 44, 60, 82, 83. 
 Barrere, 32. 
 Barthelemi, abbe, 60. 
 Basle, treaty of, 38. 
 Bathurst, lord, 269, 274. 
 Bautzen, battle of, 173. 
 Bavaria, kingdom of, 126. 
 Beauharnois, covmt, 227. 
 Beauharnois, Eugene, 44, 139, 143, 
 149, 227. 
 
 Beaulieu, gen. 33, 44, 46, 48. 
 Bellegarde, marshal, 210. 
 Belliard, gen. 97, 98, 179. 
 Belluno, duke of: see Victor. 
 Bender, marshal, 42. 
 Benevento, prince of : see Talley- 
 rand. 
 Beningsen, gen. 128. 
 Beresford, gen. 124, 159, 175. 
 Beresina, passage of the, 168. 
 Berg, grand-duke of: see Murat. 
 Berlin, capture of, 127. 
 Bernadotte, gen. 105, 109, 112, 
 
 113, 115, 126, 145, 158, 172, 173, 
 
 174. 
 Berri, duke of, 196, 224. 
 Berthier, gen. 44, 61, 62, 80, 105, 
 
 109, 115, 130, 197,264. 
 Berthollet, 42, 62, 110. 
 Bertrand, gen. 144, 181, 187, 196, 
 
 204, 207,214, 225, 228, 229,234. 
 
 236, 237, 245, 249, 276. 
 Bessieres, gen. 80, 95, 109, 117, 
 
 140, 165, 173. 
 Bianca, com. 71. 
 Blake, gen. 159, 160. 
 Blucher, marshal, 126, 173, 174, 
 
 176, 198, 199, 203, 206, 216. 
 Bon, gen. 78. 
 Bonavita, 272. 
 Borodino, battle of, 163. 
 Bouvet, adm. 53, 197, 264. 
 Boyer, gen. 100. 
 Bridport, adm. lord, 38. 
 Brienne, mil. acad. at, 10, 11 
 Brissot, 18, 22, 
 Bruce, Crawford, 223. 
 Brueyes, adm. 70, 71. 
 Brune, gen. 61, 74, 92, 216. 
 Brunswick, duke of, 126, 127. 
 Brunswick, duke of, the younger, 
 
 143, 199. 
 Buenos Ayres, 124. 
 Buonaparte, CaroHne, 9, 211,213. 
 Buonaparte, Charles, 9. 
 Buonaparte, Francis Napoleon, 
 
 163. 
 Buonaparte, Jerome, 9, 17, 129 
 
 162, 200,201,223,224. 
 
280 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Buonaparte, Joseph 9, 61, 81, 90, 
 92,98, 112, 125, 134, 136, 146, 
 160, 176,223,224,270. 
 
 Buonaparte, Louis, 9, 129, 157, 
 223. 
 
 Buonaparte, Lucien, 9, 16, 17, 81, 
 85, 87, 135, 223. 
 
 Buonaparte, Madame, 9, 17, 188, 
 270. 
 
 Buonaparte, Maria Anne, 9. 
 
 Buonaparte, Maria Pauline, 9, 99, 
 188, 270. 
 
 Buonaparte, Napoleon, 9, 10, 11, 
 12, 13,14, 15,16, 17, 18,26,41, 
 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 
 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 
 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 75, 77, 
 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 
 87,88,89,90,91,94,99,101,102, 
 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 
 110,111,112,113,114,115,116, 
 117, 118, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 
 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 
 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 
 140, 141, 142. 144, 145, 146, 147, 
 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 
 155, 156, 157, 158, 161, 162, 163, 
 164, 165, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 
 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 179, 180, 
 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 
 188, 191, 192, 193, 195, 196, 197, 
 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 
 205, 207, 208, 224, 225, 226, 227, 
 228, 229, 230, 231 , 232, 233, 234, 
 235,236,237,238,239,240,241, 
 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 
 250, 251, 252,-253. 254, 255, 256, 
 257, 258, 259, 260, 261,262, 263, 
 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 
 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277. 
 
 Buonaparte, Nap. the younger, 
 163, 180, 205, ^ 
 
 Burgos, siege of, 160. 
 
 Burrard, sir H. 137. 
 
 Buxhov^den, gen. 116. 
 C. 
 
 CafFerelli, gen. 79. 
 
 Cairo, capture of, 68, 97. 
 
 Calendar, new, 25, 26. 
 
 Cambaceres, 86, 154. 
 
 Campbell, sir N. 183, 186, 188, 191 , 
 192. 
 
 Camperdown, battle of, 59. 
 
 Campo Formio, treaty of, 57, 92. 
 
 Cape of Good Hope, 43, 98, 124. 
 
 Caprara, card. 106. 
 
 Carnot, 37, 42, 60, 87, 99, 104, 
 
 205, 214. 
 Carriere, 32. 
 Cartaux, gen. 25, 26. 
 Castanos, gen. 136, 159. 
 Castiglione, battle of, 48. 
 Castiglione, duke of: see Au- 
 
 gereau. 
 Cathcart, lord, 131 
 Catherine II. 54. ' 
 
 Caulincourt, 109, 168, 169, 180. 
 Cavan, gen. lord, 96. 
 Charles, archduke, 19, 52, 53, 55, 
 
 56, 73, 88, 112, 139, 140, 141, 
 
 142 144 145. 
 Charles IV. 133, 134, 135, 136. 
 Charleroi, capture of, 198. 
 Chatham, gen. lord, 148. 
 Chebrissa, battle of, 66. 
 Christophe, gen. 100. 
 Cintra, convent, of, 137. 
 Cisalpine Republic, 49, 57. 
 Cispadane Republic, 49. 
 Ciudad Rodrigo, 160. 
 Clairfait, gen. 19. 
 Cloots, Anacharsis, 28. 
 Cobentzel, count, 92. 
 Cobourg, prince of, 24. 
 Cockburn, sir George, 207, 229, 
 
 236,237,240,241,242. 
 Collingwood, adm. 121, 123. 
 Collot, d'Herbois, 25, 32. 
 Condorcet, 22. 
 
 Conegliana,dukeof: seeMoncey. 
 Confederation of the Rhine, 126, 
 
 129, 139. 
 Constantine, grand d. 115, 117, 
 
 128. 
 Continental System, 132, 161. 
 Convention, National, 28. 
 Coote, gen. 96. ^ 
 
 Copenhagen, 93, 131, 132, 
 Corday, Charlotte, 21. 
 Cordova, don Joseph de, 58. 
 Cornwallis, marquis, 71, 72, 98. 
 Corsica, 34, 49. 
 Corunna, battle of, 138. 
 Corvisart, 110, 154. 
 Costaz, 110. 
 
 Council of Elders, 40, 81, 82. 
 Council of Five Hundred, 40, 60, 
 
 82. 
 Couthon, 21, 30,31. 
 Craddock, gen. 96. 
 Cuesta, gen. 158. 
 Custine, gen. 22, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 281 
 
 D. 
 
 Dalmatia, duke of: see Soult. 
 
 Dalrymple, sir, H. 137. 
 
 Dampiere, gen. 20. 
 
 Danton, 29. 
 
 Dantzic, duke of: see Lefebre. 
 
 David, 90, 106, 107, 1 10. 
 
 Davoust, gen. 62, 109, 112, 116, 
 
 126, 140, 145. 
 D'Artois, count, 87, 88. 
 DeBausset, M. 108,110,111,130. 
 D'Eglantine, Fabre, 29. 
 D'Herbois, Collot, 32. 
 D'Enghein, duke, 103, 112. 
 De Guiche, duchess, 87, 88. 
 Denon, 62, 64, 110, 123, 256. 
 Depaux, 80. 
 De Pradt, abbe, 169. 
 D'Eslon, count, 200. 
 Desmoulins, Camille, 29. 
 Dessaix, gen. 62, 65, 66, 75, 91. 
 Dessalines, gen. 100. 
 De Winter, adm. 59. 
 Directory, 38, 40, 73. 
 Doyle, gen. sir John, 96. 
 Dresden, battle of, 173. 
 Drouet, gen. 181, 187, 196, 214. 
 Ducos, Roger, 73, 80, 81, 85. 
 Dugomier, gen. 19, 20,26. 
 Durnourier, gen. 19. 
 Duncan, adm. 58. 
 Dnndas, gen. 34. 
 Dunkirk, siege of, 23. 
 Dupont, gen. 136. 
 Duroc, gen. 26, 109, 167, 168, 173. 
 
 E. 
 
 Ebensberg, battle of, 140. 
 Eckmuhl, battle of, 140. 
 Et^'alite, the younger, 19. 
 El Arish, capture of, 75, 96. 
 Elba, 185, 186. 
 
 Elchingen, duke of: see Ney. 
 Elphinstone, adm. 43. 
 Elphinstone, capt. 263. 
 Esling, battle of, 142, 144, 145. 
 Esling, prince of: see Massena. 
 Etrufia, kingdom of, 92. 
 
 F. 
 
 Feltre, duke of, 217. 
 Ferdinand, archduke, 140. 
 Ferdinand VII. 133, 135, 136. 
 Fesch, cardinal, 156. 
 Fiume, capture of, 55. 
 Fleurus, battle of, 33. 
 
 Aa2 
 
 Fontaine, HO. 
 Foquiere de Tinville, 32. 
 Fouche, 87, 109, 136, 151, 152, 
 
 154,206,217. 
 Fourcroix, 42. 
 Fox, Charles J. 124. 
 Francis 11.33,57,73,92,112,119. 
 
 126, 145, 148, 173, 174, 178, 189, 
 
 216,266. 
 Frederick William II. 34, 60, 
 Frederick William III. 61, 125. 
 
 126, 129, 172, 173, 206,260. 
 Friedlaiid, battle of, 128. 
 Friuli, duke of: see Duroc. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gambier, adm. lord, 131. 
 
 Gaza, capture of, 75, 79. 
 
 Georges, Cadoudal, 102. 
 
 Gerard, 110. 
 
 Godoy, prince of peace, 135, 136. 
 
 Gonier, 73. 
 
 Gourgaud, gen. 207, 228, 229, 234, 
 
 236, 245. ' 
 Grenvilie, lord, 88, 124. 
 Gressier, gen. 75. 
 Grouchy, gen. 199, 202, 214,228, 
 Guadaloupe, 38. 
 Gustavus Adolphus, 157. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hall, capt, 267, 268. 
 
 Hall, major, 98. 
 
 Hassan Bey, 75. 
 
 Hayti, 100. 
 
 Hebert, 28, 29. 
 
 Helvetic Republic, 61. 
 
 Hill, gen. 158. 
 
 Hoche, gen. 23,25, 38, 39, 53, 7(. 
 
 Hochkirk, battle of, 173. 
 
 H offer, 147. 
 
 Hohenlinden, battle of, 91. 
 
 Hohenloe, prince, 126. 
 
 Holland, kingdom of, 129. 
 
 Holland, lady, 262, 270. 
 
 Holland, lord, 124,270. 
 
 Hood, admiral, 17, 34. 
 
 Hope, gen. 138. 
 
 Hotham, admiral, 38. 
 
 Houchard, gen. 23. 
 
 Howe, admiral, lord, 35, 36. 
 
 Howick, lord, 124. 
 
 Humbert, gen. 72. 
 
 Hnmbold,gen. 104. 
 
 Hutchinson, capt. 223. 
 
 Hutchinson, gen. 96, 97. 
 
282 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ik J. 
 Ibrahain Bey, 70, 75. 
 Infernal Machine, 94, 95, 96. 
 Institute of Egypt, 70. 
 Ireland, invasion of, 53. 
 Isabey, 107, 108, 110. 
 Istria, duke of: see Bessieres. 
 Italian Republic, 99, 102. 
 Jaifa, capture of, 75,, 79. 
 Jena, battle of, 127. 
 Jervis, sir John, 58. 
 John, archduke, 91, 143. 
 Josephine, empress, 17, 44, 87, 88, 
 
 104, 105, 110, 111, 134, 135, 140, 
 
 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 
 
 155, 226, 227. 
 Joubert, gen. 44, 50, 51, 73. 
 Jourdan, gen. 23, 24, 32, 33, 42, 
 
 43 52 73. 
 Junot, gen. 18, 77, 109, 116, 132, 
 
 137. 
 
 K. 
 
 Keith, Elphinstone, sir George, 43. 
 
 Keller, gen. 140. 
 
 Kellerman, gen. 105, 109. 
 
 Kilnmayer, 116. 
 
 Kleber, gen. 62, 65, 77, 78, 80, 96, 
 
 97. 
 Koller,*gen. 182, 188. 
 Kray, field-marshal, 88, 89. 
 KutusolF, gen. 115, 117, 163, 166, 
 
 173. 
 
 Labedoyere, col. 214, 215. 
 
 La Fayette, 87, 205. 
 
 La Harpe, gen. 45. 
 
 L'Allemagne, gen. 207, 214. 
 
 Landshut, battle of, 140. 
 
 La Place, 39, 42. 
 
 Las Cases, count de, 207, 225, 
 
 226, 228, 229, 231, 232, 236, 239, 
 
 243, 244, 247, 253, 254. 
 Lasnes, gen. 44, 62, 78, 80, 90, 95, 
 
 109,112,115,117,126, 138,140, 
 
 141, 143. 
 Latour Maubourg, 87. 
 Lauriston, gen. 175. 
 Lavalette, M. 214, 221, 222, 223. 
 Lav alette, madame, 222. 
 La Vendee, 24, 25. 
 Lavosier, 23. 
 Le Brun, 86. 
 Leclerc, gen. 85,99,100, 109, 140, 
 
 214. 
 
 Lefebre Desnouettes, gen. 214, 
 
 223. 
 Legion of Honour, 99. 
 Leipsic, battle of, 174, 175. 
 Leoben, treaty of, 57. 
 Lepaux, Larevelliere, 42, 60, 73. 
 Letourneur, 42. 
 
 Lichtenstein, prince John of, 1 13. 
 Ligny, battle of, 199. 
 Liniers, col. 124. 
 Lisbon, capture of, 132. 
 Lobau, battle of, 142, 143, 144, 
 
 214. 
 Lobau, count, 200, 214. 
 Lodi, battle of, 46. 
 Lough Swilly, 72. 
 Louis, archduke, 140. 
 Louis XVII. 17. 
 Louis XVIIL 87, 181, 190, 197, 
 
 205, 206, 213. 
 Louis of Prussia, prince, 127. 
 Lowe, sir H. 241, 242, 245', 247^ 
 
 250, 253, 269, 272, 276. 
 Luckner, marshal, 22. 
 Ludlow, gen. 96. 
 Luneville, treaty of, 92. 
 Lutzen, battle, of, 173. 
 Lyons, city of, 22, 25. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macdonald,gen. 91, 109, 175, 180, 
 
 181,196. 
 Mack, gen. 112. 
 Maida, battle of, 125. 
 Maitland, capt. 207. 
 Malcom, sir P. 249. 
 Malesherbes, 30. 
 Malmsbwry, lord, 53. 
 Malo-Jaroslavitz, battle of, 165.^ 
 Malta, 62, 63, 92, 98. 
 Mamelukes, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69. 
 Mantua, siege of, 47, 48, 51, 52, 
 
 54, 55, 92. 
 Marat, 20, 21. 
 Marboeuf, count de, 10. 
 Marengo, battle of, 90, 91. 
 Maret, gen. 168. 
 Maria Louisa, 57, 141, 148, 155, 
 
 156, 172, 173, 178, 179, 180, 181, 
 
 197 259 270. 
 Marmont,'gen. 80, 89, 109, 112, 
 
 176, 197, 222. 
 Marmontel, 42. 
 Marseilles, 22, 25. 
 Martin, admiral, 38^ 
 Martinico, 38» 
 
INDEX. 
 
 283 
 
 Massena, gen. 44, 45, 49, 59, 73, 
 74,91, 109, 143, 144,159. 
 
 Mataria, battle of, 97. 
 
 Melas, gen. 73, 90, 91. 
 
 Menou, gen. 97, 257. 
 
 Merlin, Antoine, 60, 73, 80. 
 
 Meuron, col. 252. 
 
 Milesimo, battle of, 45, 
 
 Miranda, gen. 19. 
 
 Moira, earl of, 24, 
 
 Moncey, gen. 90, 105, 109, 136, 
 2J4. 
 
 Monge, 62, 100. 
 
 Monroe, James, 36. 
 
 Montebello, duke of: see Lasnes. 
 
 Montenotte, battle of, 45. 
 
 Montholon, count, 207, 228, 229, 
 234 236, 276. 
 
 Moore, gen. sir J.'96, 137, 138. 
 
 Moreau, gen. 32, 42, 52, 73, 88, 
 91, 102. 
 
 Mortier, gen. 102, 176, 180,214. 
 
 Moscow, 163, 164, 173. 
 
 Moulin, 73, 80. 
 
 Mount Tabor, battle of, 77. 
 
 Murad Bey, 67, 70, 75. 
 
 Murat, gen. Joachim, 44, 62, 80, 
 85, J03, 105, 109, 112, 113, 115, 
 117,126, 133, 134,161,168,189, 
 198, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 261, 
 262. 
 
 Mustapha Bey, 79. 
 
 N, 
 
 Naples, kingdom of, 129. 
 
 Napoleon : see Buonaparte. 
 
 Napoleon, the younger: see Buo- 
 naparte. 
 
 National Institute, 42. 
 
 Nelson, adm. lord, 59, 62, 70, 93, 
 94, 120, 121, 122, 123. 
 
 Netherlands, kingdom of, 189, 
 
 Neufchateau, Francis de, 60. 
 
 Neufchatel, prince of: see Ber- 
 thier. 
 
 Ney, gen. 109, 112, 113, 126, 127, 
 167, 195, 198, 199, 214, 215, 219, 
 220, 221. 
 
 O. 
 
 O'Meara, Dr. 229, 234, 236, 238, 
 242, 243, 246, 248, 249, 251,260, 
 261, 263, 264, 265, 269, 270, 271, 
 272. 
 
 Orange prince of, 175, 189. 
 
 Orleans, duke of, 23, 
 
 Otranto, duke of: see Fouche. 
 Oudinot, gen. 116, 162. 
 
 Padua, duke of: see Arrighis. 
 
 Paine, Thomas, 30. 
 
 Palafox, gen. 138. 
 
 Paoli, gen. 16. 
 
 Paris, capture, of, 176, 177. 
 
 Paris, peace of, 189. 
 
 Parker, sir Hyde, 93, 94. 
 
 Paul, emperor, 73, 74, 93, 94. 
 
 Petion, 22. 
 
 Philippeaux, col. 76, 77. 
 
 Pichegru, gen. 10, 23, 32, 33, 37, 
 
 38,42, 43,52,60, 94, 102. 
 Piontkowsky, capt. 239, 248. 
 Pitt, William, 96, 124. 
 Pius VI. 44,49,61. 
 Pius VTI. 104, 105, 106, 108, 139. 
 
 189, 210. 
 PlatofF, gen. 162, 165,166. 
 Polotsk, battle of, 162. 
 Poniatowski, prince, 175. 
 Ponte Corvo, prince of: see Ber* 
 
 nadotte. 
 Popham, sir Home, 124. 
 Pozzolo, battle of, 73. 
 Pressing, battle of, 140. 
 Puissaye, marquis of, 39. 
 Pultusk, battle of, 128. 
 Pyramids, battle of the, 67, 68. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quatre Bras, battle of, 199. 
 Quiberon Bay, 39. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radstadt, congress of, 72. 
 Ragusa, duke of: see Marmont. 
 Rampon, gen. 77. 
 Rapp, gen. 165. 
 Ratisbon, capture of, 141. 
 Raynal, abbe, 15, 42. 
 Regnier, gen. 62, 75, 125, 175. 
 Reille, count, 200. 
 Rewbell, 42, 60. 
 Richelieu, duke of, 206, 217. 
 Rivoli, battle of, 49, 50. 
 Rivoli, duke of: see Massena. 
 Robespierre, Maximilian, 20, 22, 
 
 28,29,30,31,32. 
 Robespierre, the younger, 32. 
 Rochambeau, gen. 100. 
 Roland, 22. 
 
284 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Roland, madame, 22. 
 Romana, marquis de la, 136. 
 Rombaud, gen. 78. 
 Ross, capt. 207, 248. 
 Rostopchin, gov. 164. 
 Rovigo, duke of: see Savary. 
 
 S. 
 Saalfeld, battle of, 127. 
 Salamanca, battle of, 160. 
 Saragossa, siege of, 138, 139. 
 Sari, capt. 223. 
 
 Savary, gen. 109, 114, 207, 214. 
 Saxe-Cobourg, prince of, 19. 
 Schill, 143. 
 
 Schleitz, battle of, 127. 
 Schoenbrunn, treatjr of, 147. 
 Schwartzenberg, prince, 156, 174, 
 
 176. 
 Sebastiani, gen. 113. 
 Sedimen, battle of, 75. 
 Serrurier, gen. 44, 105. 
 Sieyes, abbe, 42, 80, 81, 85, 86. 
 Slavery, 27, 101, 189. 
 Smith, sir Sydney, 26, 76, 78, 96, 
 
 98, 132, 252. 
 Smolensko, battle of, 162. 
 Soliraan Bey, 75. 
 Soult, gen. 109, 112, 115, 126, 127, 
 
 138, 159, 190, 195,198,214, 264. 
 Stadtholder, 37. 
 Stael, baron de, 36. 
 vStandz, battle of, 61 , 
 Starray, gen. 91. 
 St. Cyr, marshal, 206. 
 St. Domingo, island of, 27, 38. 
 St. Helena, 208. 
 St. .Just, 30. 
 St. Lucia, 38. 
 St. Pierre, abbe de, 42. 
 St. Regent, 94, 95. 
 St. Sebastian, 175. 
 St. Vincent, battle of, 58. 
 Strachan,sir R. 123, 148. 
 Stuart, sir John, 96, 125. 
 Suchet, gen. 109, 160, 214. 
 Suwarrow, gen. 73, 74. 
 
 T. 
 
 Talavera, battle of, 158, 159. 
 Talleyrand, 81, 87, 109, 136, 190, 
 
 206,217,256. . 
 Tallien, 30. 
 Talma, 110. 
 Tarentum, duke of: see Mac- 
 
 donald» 
 
 Tarragona, capture of, 160. 
 
 Telegraph, 37. 
 
 Tenerifte, 59. 
 
 Tilsit, treaty of, 128, 129. 
 
 Tinville, F. de, 32. 
 
 Tone, Theobald Wolfe, 72. 
 
 Toulon, city of, 17, 22, 25, 26. 
 
 Trafalgar, battle of, 120, 121, 122^ 
 
 123. 
 Traillard, 73, 80. 
 Transpadane Republic, 49. 
 Trenck, baron, 30. 
 Treviso, duke of: see Mortier. 
 Trieste, capture of, 55. 
 Truxtun, com. 54. 
 Tuileries, attack upon, 21. 
 Tuissant, 99, 100. 
 Turgot, admiral, 17. 
 Tyrol, 147. 
 
 U. 
 Ulm, surrender of, 112» 
 Usher, capt. 183, 184. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valence, gen. 19. 
 Valencia, capture of, 160. 
 Valenciennes, siege of, 23. 
 Valetta, siege of, 62. 
 Valmy, duke of: see Kellerman. 
 Vameira, battle of, 137. 
 Vandamme, gen. 118, 173,214. 
 Venaux, col. 78. 
 Victor, gen. 109, 158, 197. 
 Vienna, capture of, 1 12. 
 Vignali, abbe, 272, 275, 277. 
 Villaret, admiral, 36, 53. 
 Villeneuve, admiral, 120, 123, 
 Vittoria, battle of, 175. 
 Vizenza, duke of: see Caulin^ 
 
 court. 
 Volney,42, 81., 
 
 W. 
 Wagram, battle of, 144, 145. 
 Walcheren, 148. 
 Warden, Dr. 225, 226, 240 
 Warren, sir John B. 72. 
 Warsaw, capture of, 128. 
 Waterloo, battle of, 199, 200, 201, 
 
 202, 203, 204, 205. 
 Wellesley, sir A. : see duke of 
 
 Wellington. 
 Wellington, duke of, 131, 137, 158, 
 
 159, 160, 175, 198, 199, 200, 202» 
 
 203,206,216,217,221.. 
 
Westphalia, kingdom of, 129. 
 Wilson, sir R. 223. 
 Wimpsen, gen. 24. 
 Wintzingerode, gen. 113. 
 Wirtemberg, kingdom of, 126. 
 Witgenstein, gen. 162, 173. 
 Wright, capt. 103. 
 
 INDEX. 285 
 
 Wurmser, gen. 23, 48, 49, 54. 
 
 York, duke of, 18, 23, 33, 34, 74. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Znaim, battle of, 145. 
 
 THE END. 
 

 
I