THE SECRET HISTORY COURT AND CABINET ST. CLOUD. •\ V ■O >«^..5 .iiJVj VS IN A SERIES Of letters :FR0M a resident in PARIS to a nobleman in LONDON, WRITTEN DURING THE MONTHS OF AUGUST, septbmb^r'^nd OCXpB«Ri 1805. PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED rOR ANB SOLD BY JOHN WATTS, North-east Corner of Second in Dock Street. 30LD ALSO BY ALL THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS^ 1806. KAJJiiroToirj ADVERTISEMENT - THIS work, of which an immense number has been sold in England within a few weeks, is respectfully offered to the American public, as a most interesting production. By favor of a friend, the Publisher obtained a copy of it early, and immediately put it to press, under a full conviction that it would not only prove highly entertaining, biit eminently useful, to every de- scription of persons in the United States. The author, it appears, is a resident at Paris, and on an intimate footing at the Thuileries. He has had a full opportunity of weighing men and things at his leisure ; and his descriptions bear the most unequivocal marks of mental capacity. " Of all the portraits I have delineated," says the writer to his friend, " the originals not only exist, but are yet occupied in the present busy scenes of the continent, and figuring either at courts, in camps, or in cabinets." i ADVERTISEMENT. This work abounds in anecdotes, mostly ori- ginal, highly piquant, and well related. To the ; politician it offers an exquisite treat ; the historian | will find in it a record of events which he could not obtain from any other source ; and the de- i sultory reader cannot fail to derive from it the greatest amusement. j If it were just to withhold any part of this i work from the American reader, the Editor! might perhaps draw his pen through many para- 1 graphs, which 'appear to him illiberal, and notj well founded ; but the good sense of the citizens j of the United States makes this unnecessary. ' The anxiety expressed by the friends of the Publisher for the immediate appearance of this volume, induced him to put it into the hands of several printers, who have completed it within fifteen days. This haste, it is hoped, will apo- logize for any trifling errors of the press which may be observed. CONTENTS. LETTER I. Buonaparte's political character contrasted with his military education and life — governed by courtiers and favourites. General Duroc — his character — the causes of his advancement — his military exploits in Italy and Egypt, and political missions to Berlin, and St. Petersburgh — visits Madame Bonoeil, a female intriguer — his- blunder in consequence —the PoUsh Count S tz — his character — dupes Duroc — Duroc's marriage. LETTER IL Joseph Buonaparte — his character as a negotiator — the puppet of Talley- rand. Talleyrand's intrigues, and motives for employing the brothers of Buonaparte. Lucien's embassy to Spain. Joseph's rapacity, connec- tion vs^ith an army contractor, and stock-jobbing. Secret articles of the treaty of Luneville — Buonaparte's offence at them — reproaches Talley- rand. Departure of Lord Whitworth in 1803 — Buonaparte's rage and speech to Talleyrand on the occasion, and violent conduct towards his mother, wife, &c. LETTER III. Debates on the religious concordat — opposed by different factions— Buon- aparte's mother, how far instrumental in procuring the restoration of religious worship. Cardinal Gonsalvi and Bishop Bernier — their in- trigues and characters. Madame Buonaparte's astonishment on being ordered to attend mass, &c. — her hypocrisy — watched by spies — her mode of passing her time at chapel discovered — regulations in conse- quence. Conversation at Viscount de Segur"s, on the religious princi- ples of the French — imprudent remark of a young officer' — ^the cause of his transportation to Cayenne. LETTER IV. The assumption of the Imperial dignity, long determined on by Buona- parte — delayed by the rupture with England. His good fortune mista- ken for political foresight. The disgrace of Moreau, the murder of the, Duke of Enghien, Pichegru, and Georges, and the treachery towards Mr. Drake, not necessary steps to his elevation. Moreau not dangerous as a rival to Buonaparte — why not assassinated. Honoiu-able conduct of Pichegru, the day before hie d'^at^i. Murat the executioner of the Duke of Enghiep. B ii CONTENTS. LETTER V. The characters of the principal emigrants well known to the French go- vernment — Mehee de la Touche— his perfidy and mgratitude — his mis- sion and intrigues in England — refused the wages of his infamy by Tal- leyrand. Real, a forgery committed by him in 1788 — strange mixture of society at his house. Madame de Soubray— her severe reproof of Mehee de la Touche. • LETTER VI. Unliappiness of Madame Napoleone on the day of her coronation — discipline of the Coiu-t of St. Cloud entirely military — formation of the household entrusted to Madame Napoleone — consequent embarrassment — extri- cated by an expedient proposed by De Segur. Madame Napoleone con- fined — released at the intercession of her daughter. LETTER VII. Religious discussion tolerated — why — remonstrance of Cardinal Caprara on the subject. Two authors transported to Cayenne — Pigault Le Brun owes his escape to Madame Murat — Cardinal Caprara's influence over Buonaparte — defeats a cabal formed against him, and tm-ns it to his ad- ^ vantage — employed by the Pope in his secret negotiations at Paris— teazes Buonaparte, and is confined by him, but obtains his object — ^trick attempted to be played upon him, ends unfortunately for the contrivers. LETTER VIII. Grave dress and puritanical demeanor of the company at Madame Napo- leone's last levee previous to meeting the Pope — Buonaparte surround- ed by Cardinals and Priests — remark of General Kellerman, occasions his disgrace — conduct of the company on quitting the levee — Princess Borghese's ideas respecting a parrot and an almoner, monkeys and chap, lains. LETTER IX. The reception of Buonaparte as Emperor by the army of England, not flat- tering — ascribed by him to the adlierents of Pichegru and Moreau — his conduct in consequence — orders a grenadier to be shot, and disbands a regiment. Effect produced on the military by the disti-ibution of the ribands, &c. of the Legion of Honour. The French ports declared to be in a state of blockade by the English — Buonaparte's rage and agita- tion — fires at some British cruizers — breaks six officers of artillery, and assaults another — quits the camp in disgust. LETTER X. Count Cobentzel advises his sovereign to assume the title of Emperor of Austria — his political employments and character — his passion for wo- men — Talleyi'and's opinion of him — invited by Buonaparte to visit the camps of the army of England. Talleyrand's note, proscribing all British, agents and ambassadors. Buonaparte's arrival at Aix la Chapelle — ^is met there by the foreign ambassadors — ^jiresented with relics of Charle- magne, and punishes a German professor for proving them forgeries. LETTER XI. Buonaparte finds his wife involved in gambling debts, and surrounded by Jews and other creditors — Talleyr^d's mode of settling their demands CONTENTS. iii —Count de Segur completes Buonaparte's household establishment— his character, and public emplojments — his domestic misfortunes. Cha- racter of the members of Buonaparte's civil list — methods adopted to augment it with Prussian and German nobles. LETTER XII. Buonaparte's intention to seize on the empire of Germany — his secret treaties with the petty German Princes at Mentz — the French revolu- tion not looked on us dangerous in Germany — why. The Elector of Ba- varia — his character and obligations to Loui-s XVI — governed by Mont- gelas, the idol of illuminati, and patron of atheists — ^the progress of illu- mination in Bavaria — Montgelas concerned m the plot against Mr. Drake —his character. LETTER XIII. Attendance of German Princes and Princesses on the Empress Josephine at Mentz, and rich presents to her — bribery and corruption openly prac- tised there — disappointment of the German Princes — high price demand- ed by Talle^Tand for indemnities — his intrigue with the Countess de L andtiie Baroness de S z — repulsed by the Princess of H Buonaparte's jealousy — mistakes the object of Count de L ge's at- tention to the Empress Josephine — his proceedings in consequence.— The avarice of the Empress. LETTER XIV. Former intimacy of the writer with Madame Napoleone and her daughter — tlieir friendly behaviour on his first introduction to them smce their ele- vation — subsequent change— the writer declines the oiler of a pubhc situation — arrested — interview with General Mmat — sentenced to be transported to Cayenne on the report of Fouche, but protected by Prin- cess Louis — cause of Fouche's enmity — ^liis infamous character, and un- bomided authoritj^ — the oubliettes, his invention — his immense property — Buonaparte's reasons for employing him. LETTER XV. The poverty and dependent situation of the foreign Ambassadors at Paris — invited by Talleyrand to a diplomatic dinner — his manoeuvre to obtain their declarations i-especting the pretended correspondence of Mr. Drake — servility of the Danisli and American ambassadors — theis cha- racters — Baron de Dreyer's reasons for wishing to maintain his situa- tion. Count de Haugwitz — his birth, political life, and character. LETTER XVI. The writer accepts an invitation from Princess Louis Buonaparte to din- ner — The conquest of Great Britain the subject of conversation — dif- ferent opinions respecting the proper mode of treating the inhabitants when vanquished. Imprudent observations of Marquis de F — ex- iled to Blois in consequence, and saved from severer punishment only by tlte interference of Princess Louis — her good-natm-e — character of Louis. LETTER XVII. Violent. debates in the Sacred College, on the journeyof the Pope to France — the members bribed by Cardinal Fesch. Birth of Cardinal Fesch — his life and adventures — his marriage, and desertion of his wife — ^liei- iv CONTENTS. application to the Pope — his libertinism and adventure at Lyons — his wealth, dignities, and expectations. ' LETTER XVIIL The Margrave of Baden made an Elector by the intrigues of Talleyrand and Baron Edelsheim. Character and political life of Edelsheim. Haughty and indecent conduct of Buonaparte to the Elector at Mentz — • secret treaty signed there. The vanity and affected consequence of Edelsheim played on and exposed by Talleyrand — his fondness for or- ders of knighthood — fawns on Buonaparte, to obtain admission into the Legion of Honour. LETTER XIX. The journey of the Pope to France unfavourable to the cause of religion. The restoration of Christianity the most popular act of Buonaparte's government — the opinion of the people respecting the act of inaugura- tion by the Pope — their faith in his infallibility shaken. Manners and character of the Pope — promises made to him by Buonapai-te not per- formed — refuses to admit De Lalande to see him — De Lalande's athe- ism — enmity between him and Talleyrand. The Pope's aversion to Fouche — FoucLe s impious conduct at Lyons. LETTER XX. Buonaparte's mother the favourite of the Pope — family parties invited to meet him — ceremony observed on such occasions. Superstition of Ma- dame LK:titia Buonaparte — ^lier fondness for rehcs — buys the shoulder- bone of St. John the Baptist — robbed of her relics — Foucl'^ applied to — who discovers pieces of them all in the possession of a favovu-ite servant — the rest found on Madame Genlis, who had bought them of a priest — the priest ai-rested — claims the protection of Madame Lsetitia — threat- ened with the rack, and confesses his imposture. LETTER XXL Decrease in the population of Paris not to be lamented — ^the crimes com- mitted there not suffered to be published. The system of espionage. Immense number of spies — how paid. Buonaparte's private spies imder the direction of Duroc. Dispute between Fouclie and Talleyrand. Du- croux employed as a spy by Buonaparte and Fouche on each other — ^liis blunder and execution. LETTER XXIL The Pope's manner of passing his time at Paris — great stress laid on his performing the ceremony of inauguration, and sacrifices intended to have been made, had he refused — all promises to him disregarded — his blind partiality for Buonaparte. Caprara dissuades Buonaparte from be- ing crowned by the Pope as King of Italy. LETTER XXIII. King and Qiieen of Naples — their firm and dignified conduct. Chevalier Acton — ^liis birth — political character — enemy of the French Revolution. Neutrality of Naples violated. The removal of Acton insisted on by the French government. Marquis de Gallo — ^his public employments — a fa- vourite with Buonaparte^— suspected of being tainted with modern phi- losophy. The Neapolitan Revolution in 1799 favoured by the Nobles. Character of the Marquis de Gallo. CONTENTS. LETTER XXIV. Buonaparte and all his family married by the Pope — ^his corn-tiers and grand functionaries by the Cardinals — their regular attendance at mass and vespers — trick of Salmatoris to expose their hypocrisy — is pvmish- ed. FoucLc's visit to the Imperial chapel — his discovery there. The indifference of the common people to religious worship — the miUtary compelled to attend mass — singular occurrence in consequence, and injustice of Buonaparte. LETTER XXV. Seizure of Sir George Rumbold — intended to have been tortured and put to death — why not — Rheinhard officially disavows the outrage — is dis- graced in consequence — his political life and character. Bourrienne — his employment under Buonaparte— his dispute with him, and impri- sonment — released and pensioned — his extortions and stock-jobbing — his character. LETTER XXVL Joseph Buonaparte's retired mode of life at Paris — his hospitality at Morfontaine — amusements there, and freedom allowed to the guests. Montaigne, a yovuig poet, a visitor there — his drunkenness — writes a poem against it. Madame Joseph's gallantries — duel between her gal- lants. Eugenius de Beauharnois forbidden the house of Joseph. Ma- dame Miot detected by her husband in an intrigue with Captain d'Hor- teuil — the gallant beats Miot, who begs pardon — Miot's infamous life and character. LETTER XXVIL Conduct of the King of Spain — his weak character. The present the age of upstarts. The Prince of Peace — his former occupation — his want of talents — cause of his advancement — his intrigue witli the Queen, and favour with the King — weakness and ignorance of his ad- ministration — disgrace, and misfortunes produced by it. Gravina — his character and ambition — his military exploits — intrigue with an opera girl — his marriage -mania involves him in a disagreeable scrape. LETTER XXVIIL Vicious morals, gross manners, and open corruption of the Court of St. Cloud. Anecdotes. Merlin of Douai — his public employments — infa- mous character, and great wealth. LETTER XXIX. Immense number of Buonaparte's household troops — -regularly paid, and strictly disciplined — their privileges, &c. Military reviews — their use — less frequent since Buonaparte's coronation. Number of military posted in and near Paris. Army of Invalids — their prejudices — how employed. Mode of enforcing payment of taxes at Paris. Houses of the invalids — their reading-rooms, libi-aries, &c. — their licentiousness and crimes — screened from punishment by the orders of Buonaparte. Rabais, a horse grenadier — his amours and debaucheries — accused be- fore Thuriot, and acquitted — his intrigue with Madame Thuriot — dis- covered by her jealousy — Thuriot applies in vain for redress. Rabais's intrigue with Madame Bachiocchi — denounced by Thuriot — arrest and punishment of Rabais — curious effects discovered in his trunk — Thu- riot's rage and violence in consequence — his employment and crimes. Vi CONTENTS. LETTER XXX. The writer visits Lucien Buonapax-te at his country seat — Lucien's valu- able collection of pictures — his hospitality and eng'aging manners con- trasted virith those of Napoleone and Joseph — his liberality — anecdotes — his republicanism — his vices compared w^ith those of Napoleone — his immense Avealth, how acquired — instance of his generosity and perversity. LETTER XXXL Reasons for not incorporating the Batavian republic with the French em- pire — partition treaty of Holland offered by France to Prussia — why declined. Buonaparte displeased wth the Batavian government — vio- lates its neutrality — remonstrance of Count Markofl, how answered by Buonaparte — his determination to change the form of government in Holland —difficulty of finding fit magistrates — Holland not kttely productive of great men — Admiral de Winter — his character — political connections and employments — Generals Daendeis and Dumonceau — their lives and characters. LETTER XXXII. Buonaparte advises Prussia of his intention to change the form of govern- ment in Holland — chief magistra: es thought of — young Prince of Orange — Elector of Bavaria — Buonaparte's inoeasing displeasure with the Batavian directory — intended to make his brother Stadtholder. Schim- melpennuick — his education — want of talents — apolitical connections and opiiiions — his embassy to France — bribes Talle\Tand to procure him the appointment of Grand Pensionaiy — his character — Madame Schimmel- penninck — her talents and amiable manners — Schimmelpenninck's fe- male friends of the Palais Royal. LETTER XXXIII. Buonaparte's cool reception at Milan — ascribed by him to the intrigues of England and Russia — measures of security adopted. Frequency of conspiracies in France since the revolution — Buonaparte's reasons for concealing them — Plot of Charlotte Encore — attempts to stab Buona- parte — ^{irevented by Duroc — expires on the rack, refusing to name her accomplices — their plan and names how discovered. LETTER XXXIV. All women forbidden to approach Buonaparte without permission — a fe- male servant of Cardinal Fesc.h, whom Buonaparte had sediw^ed, at- tempts to poison him— discovered and poisons herself — plot to assassinate him at Milan — his agitation on the discovery — speech of one of 'the conspirators, who stabs himself — the others torn to pieces on the rack — proceedings in conseqtience of tliis conspiracy. Buonaparte an ob- ject of ridicide in Italy — league of generals against him — its object — the generals disgraced. LETTER XXXV. Vanity and caprice of Buonaparte — his rage, on the Emperor of Germa- ny's refusing to become a member of the Legion of Honour — his threat, and violent conduct td the Austrian ambassadoi- — determines to incorporate the Ligiu'ian republic with France — Salicetti, the Frenclv minister at Genoa — his birth — employments — a terrorist— recommends CONTENTS. vii Buonapai'te to Barvas — displeases him by his familiarity. Liicien Buon- aparte intended to have been made Sovereign of the LjgiirliiU republic — vsrhy not — the chang-e of govei-iiment how etTected — the Doge and Ligui'ian Deputation do homag-e to Bu-onaparte Jis sovereig-n at Milan — their gi-ief and indignation — The Pa triotic Robbers — stop Salicet- ti, and seize his papers — Patrioi ic Avengers. LETTER XXXVI. Exchange of orders of knighthood between Buonaparte and sovereign princes. Foreign ambassadois invited to his coronation at Milan — some decline to attend. Expenses of the journey to Milan, and coro- nation — General Joiu-dan — Ins marriage, and military appointments — cause of his enmity to Pichegru — his military and political exploits— his quarrel with Massena — his character. LETTER XXXVIL Conservative Senate, its heterogeneous composition — character of its members. Senatorial Commission of Personal Liberty — its members — Lenoir Laroche, Boissy d'Anglas, Sers — their" lives and character. Senatorial Commission of the Liberty of the Press — Garat and Roede- rer its principal members — pedantry and inhumanity of Garat — an ene- my to the liberty of the press — Rosderer unprincipled and profligate — rejected by all factions — employed first by Buonaparte — his nicest — his wealth, Hbertinism, and foppery. LETTER XXXVIII. Turkish empire preserved by the mutvial jealousies of Austria, France, and Russia — its weakness and anarchy — political intrigues at Constan- tinople — the neutrality of the Porte more useful t]ian its alliance — in- trigue of the Brissot faction in 1792, to engage it in a war with Aus- tria — counteracted by coimt de Choiseul Gouffier, tlien French ambas- sador there — De Semonville sep.t on an embassy thither, in 1793, with. rich presents — made prisoner by the Austrians — the Sultan declares war against France — peace concluded — Sebastiani's mission to Egypt and Syria — General Brune appointed ambassador to the Poi-te — his character — Ms vices — political intrigues, and military emploj'- ments. LETTER XXXIX. Brune's numerous suite — of what composed — real object of his mission avowed by Talle}Tand — Markoff remonstrates. Count Italinski — his character — warns the Divan against Brune — libelled by him in the Moniteur. Brune's reception at Constantinople — his chagi-in — demands his recal, upon the Porte's refusal to acknowledge Buonaparte as em- peror. Joubert, a bearer of a letter from Buonaparte to the Grand Signior — his education and emplojTnents. Young men educated at the expense of the French government in foreign countries — for wliat pur- pose. Joubert's interview with the Sultan — how obtained — its result — his second message, and failure. French emissaries in Austria, Hun- gary, and Servia — French Officers in the service of Czerni Georg'e and and Paswan Oglou. Brune quits Constantinople — appointed to the command of the army of observation opposite the English coast — his instructions — his wealth, ostentation, and vanitv. viii CONTENTS. LETTER XL. Madame de C n — ^her fashionable parties — her marriage with count de C n disputed — character of count de C n — his physiog- nomical pursuits — trick played on him — purchases Madame de C ^n from a Circassian merchant, and sends her to be educated in France— his death — Madame de C n's numerous suitors and gallants — her pretended brother — her own story — birth and splendid christening of the son of count de P 1. Villetard — his crimes and violence — his sacrilege and infamous conduct at Loretto — treachery and hypocri- sy. Cardinal de Bellois — his birth — governed by his grand vicaries. Treilhard steals Madame de C n's gold plates — his political life. Madame Francois de Nantes — ^her theft, gambling, and prostitu- tion. LETTER XLL 111 temper of Buonaparte on Ms return from Milan — from what arising — his violence and insolence to the Prussian and Saxon ambassadors. Restoration of ancient etiquette a desirable point to insist on from Buonaparte. His conduct to the army of England — Captain Fournois stabs himself on being struck by him — his proceedings in consequence- Discipline and spirit of the French troops — instance of heroism in a private soldier. General Savary — his character, birth, and employ- ments. LETTER XLII. The Bank of France ordered by Buonaparte to furnish him with a mil- lion and a half sterling at two hours notice — alarm of the public — run upon the bank — notes paid in copper coin— the people grow clamorous 1— many arrested, and transported to Cayenne — total stagnation of trade — some Jews offer to purchase the notes at discount — are transported — arrangement for resuming payment — amount of notes in circulation at the time of stopping, and of specie in the bank — shock given to its credit — attempted to be supported by tyranny — suspicion and severity of the police — anecdotes. LETTER XLIIL Rapacity and extortions of French officers in Hanover — ^bribe Madame Buonaparte for their appointment — General Mortier — his birth — ^mili- tary appointments — mean addresses to Buonaparte — ^his marriage — his lady's gallantries — splendid christening of his child — his wealth and character — a great favourite with Buonaparte. Bernadotte — his birth, political intrigues, military exploits and violence — sent ambassador to Vienna — his insolent coiiduct there — bribed by Buonaparte on his as- suming the Imperial dignity — his bai'barities and merciless extortions — his character. LETTER XLIV. Men of letters patronised bj^ Buonaparte — some obscure writers in En- gland and Ireland pensioned by him — literary mission to England intend- ed — Buonaparte's liberal rewards to his panegyrists — examples — great number of works dedicated to him — more by Germans and Italians than by the French — Spanicetti and Ritterstien, genealogists of Buonaparte, magnificently rewarded by him — vast number of pictures, statues and busts representing his person and exploits. Schumaker, a German ar- tist, executes a model of a tomb for Buonaparte — ^how remunerated. CONTENTS. it LETTER XLV. Misery and poverty of the French people — wretchedness of the ci-devant nobles, and returned emigrants — their employments — anecdotes — grea^ number of suicides. LETTER ZLVI. Different opinions respecting Buonaparte's private character — apparent attachment to his wife — his proposed divorce from her, and marriage ■ with a Russian Princess — his intrigue with Mademoiselle. George — her insolent conduct. Chaptal — his former occupation — political intrigues and employments — his wealth and character. LETTER XLVIL Miserable state of Spain — ignorance and presumption of the Prince of Peace — the Prince of Asturias endeavours to remove him — ^receives a deputation from the Spanish nobles — Character of the Princess of As- turias. The Prince of Peace informed of their plans — his" measures in consequence — tries to conciliate the Prince and Princess — is repulsed. Character of Herman, secretary to the Frencli embassy in Spain — the Prince of Peace — his illiberal prejudices — not liked by the Fi'ench go- vernment — Herman's intrigue with a girl in the suite of the Princess of Astiu'ias — ^his discovery in consequence. Plan of the Prince and Princess — disclosed by the French ambassador to the favourite — conse- quent proceedings — the Duke of Montemar interferes — ^liis speech to the king — note of the Prince of Astiu'ias to the king — their reconcili- ation. LETTER XLVin. The Prince of Peace places spies round the Prince and Princess of Astu- rias — his insolent conduct to them — indignation of the Spanish nobles — the lustory of Don Carlos written by order of the favourite — burnt by the queen's confessor — dissimulation of the Frencli ambassador, Beurnonville — immense sums paid by Spain to France — deranged state of the Spanish finances — intrigue of Beurnonville to obtain a subsidy — the Prince and Princess of Asturias disavow his assei'tions — ^jnmished in tlie persons of their favourites — ^revolution and change of dj-nasty expected in Spain — sovereignties intended for Buonaparte's brothers — Beurnonville's birth and character — his political and military employ- ments. LETTER XLIX. Madame Buonaparte's fears of her brothers-in-law — their powers dmnng Napoleone's absence — his policy. Supposed consequence of Buona- parte's death. New military manners — General Liebeau — his birth, vulgarity, and character — description of a military wedding — Colonel Frial — his birth and character — disputes about their respective preten- sions to the Imperial crown among the military members of the party— a common subject of discussion and dispute among tlie military in general. LETTER L. Madame Chevalier — her person and manners — her early prostitution, and first entrance on the stage — her husband joins the Jacobin clubs, and is imprisoned as a terrorist. First appearance of Madame Chevalier X CONTENTS. on the Hamburgh stage— riot in consequence^her gallantries and ava* rice — employed by one of Talle5rrand's female agents to go to Russia — her intrigues with the Emperor Paul — her cruelty and avarice — pro- cures the cruel treatment of the Sardinian secretary — number of hef victims — her insinuation, cunning, and eErontery — anecdotes. Female political incendiaries and intriguers sent by tlie French government to Vienna, St. Petersburgh, and Berlin. Two ladies intended ibr the P of W and D of Y their persons and ac- complishments. LETTER LI. Submission of America to the mandates of France. View^s of France on the American Continent — foments the disagreement between Spain ' and the United States — captures and plunders American ships — con- demns all neutral ships trading with St. Domingo. General i*******^ French ambassador to the U***'** S***** — discontented with President J******** — why — birth of T*******' — his political intr.gues, and mili- . tary exploits — horrors committed by him in La Vendee — his letter to the National Convention — arrested as a Terrorist — -writes Memoirs of the Vendean war. Anecdote of Buonaparte. Wealth of T*******— his conceit, and character. LETTER LII. Discontent of Buonaparte's Italian subjects — their miserable condition — oppressed and plundered by French generals and governors. Menou — his birth and infamous character. Fate of the nobility who have join- ed the French Revolution. Melzi-Eril seduced by French philosophers — approves of the French Revolution — appointed Vice-president of the Italian Republic — his chagi-in on Buonaparte's assuming the sove- reignty — is refused leave to retire to Spain — Attempts suicide by poi- son. LETTER LIIL The foreign ambassadors hesitate to salute Cambaceres and Le Brun, Se- rene Highnesses — Buonaparte insists — they bribe Talleyrand, who ob- viates the difficulty. Cambaceres bribes Talleyrand, and is created a Prince. Madame B s, a female intriguer -and tool of Talleyrand, alarms the Bavarian minister Cetto^he conducts this petty intrigue. Cambaceies — his birth — infamous character — raised to the consulate by Buonaparte — his wealth and titles — his brother. LETTER LIV. King of Sweden hated by Buonaparte' — national character of the Swedes — cause of Buonaparte's hatred — Baron Ehi-ensward constantly insulted by him — orders issued to imprison the Baron for expressing his sen- timents. Education and character of Baron Ehrensward. King- of Swe- den writes to Buonaparte on the seizure of the Duke of Enghien — re- calls Ehrensward, and orders a court mourning. General Caulincourt and iifty4>anditti hired to seize the King of Sweden' — intentions of the French Government, if their plot had succeeded — their plan to parti- tion the Swedish territory. Character of the King of Sweden and his counsellors. D'Ehrenheim. Count de Fersen — his attachment and fi- delitj^ to the royal family of France — refused admission to the Congress of Radstadt by Buonaparte. Baron d'Armfeldt — the friend of Gustavus III — ^appointed guardian of the present King — sent ambassador to Italy CONTENTS. xi —outlawed — stakes refuge in Russia, and serves with distinction under Suwarrow — recalled to his country, and restored to liis dignities — his military talents and spirit. LETTER LV. Buonaparte dreads the liberty of the press — all foreign printers and book- sellers under the control of his police — emissaries employed to travel to collect literary intelligence — number of French newspapers before and during the Revolution — i-educed by Buonaparte — under the sole direction of Barrere — foreign papers and publications prohibited under severe penalties. Examples of severiiy — official presses established to forge foreign papers — dangerous to question the veracity of tlie Moni- teui\ Anecdote. LETTER LVL Prince of Borghese — his birth — ;joins the Revolution — ^liis meanness and pride — marries Madame Le Clerc's fortune — her vices — despises her husband — her curious request to Buonaparte. Buonaparte exacts chas- tity from his sisters-in-law — sudden disappearance of Princesses Jo- seph's and Louis's gallants. Princess Louis visits Madame Ney — a midnight occxu-rence during her stay — she is placed under the care of Madame Murat — discovers a singular intrigue — arrangements in con- sequence — Princess Louis's maids confined by the police — one of them pregnant by Louis. LETTER LVIL Different sensations of the army of England on being ordered to march for Germany — company of performers sent from Paris to amuse them — pla}'s and ballads written for the occasion — great effect produced by them — the Grenadier's Adieu, a ballad written by three authors pro- fusely rewarded by Buonaparte. Stanzas on the rumour of a war with Austria — distributed to the company at Madame Joseph's. Other poet- asters how rewarded. Curious blunder at Madame Talleyrand's. Anecdote of an ancient Tyrant. LETTER LVIII. Portugal forced from her neutrality by her connexion with Spain — Poi*- tuguese plenipotentiary at Paris in 1797 imprisoned in the Temple- extravagant demands of France on Portugal supported by the Prince of Peace — unmerciful plunder of Portugal by France. General Lasnes — his birth — former emplo3anents, and infamous character — his mis- sion to Portugal a punishment for robbing the miUtary chest — his inso- lent manners at the Court of Lisbon — smuggles — quits his post, and returns without apology — demands a change of ministry — is recalled. General Junot — his birth — military appointments and exploits — his ty- ranny and corruption while Governor of Paris — ^liis connexion with a gang of robbers — anecdote of his swindling. Fitte, his infamous cha- racter — emigrates to England — cheats the English ministry — procures the murder of his brother and sister. LETTER LIX. Impolicy of the league of 1793 in admitting any neutrality — danger of neutral states. The late Count Bernstorf — his political character. The present Coi^jit Bernstorf — ^liis system of politicr. not adapted to exist- xii CONTENTS. jjig eircvimstances— impolicy in chang-ing the alliance of Russia for that of Prussia. Prince Royal of Denmark, his talents and character —incapacity of his counsellors. A paragraph in the Moniteur dis- bands a Danish army — neutrality of Denmark violated. Grouvelle, late French ambassador in Denmark — protects and encourages illumi- nati and innovators there — his education — ingi-atitude to the Prince of Conde — his talents and vices. Dag-uesseau, his insignificant character* —his secretary, Desaugiers, an incendiary. LETTER LX. Avarice and rapacity of the Buonaparte family — immense wealth of Na- poleone — ^liis imperial and royal palaces. Private chateaux of Madame Napoleone. Palaces and estates of Joseph, Lucien, Louis, and Je- rome — of Madame Laetitia Buonaparte, Pi'incess Bachiocchi, Santa Cruce, Murat, Borghese — of Cardinal Fesch — and other relatives of Buonaparte. Unparallelled revolution of property — -just cause of alarm to England. LETTER LXL Daru pays an immense bribe for the place of commissary-general to the French army in Germany — his great wealth acquired by gambling — the terror of all the gambling banks on the Continent. Extortions of the French Generals in Germany. Augereau, his birth — serves as a spy — as a common soldier, deserts — is flogged — his infamy and crimes. Van Damme, his birth — condemned to be hanged — spared by the judge, and sent to the galleys — his ingi-atitude — disgraced by Moreau and Pichegru for his ferocity and crimes — restored to rank by Buona- parte — his wealth. LETTER LXII. Pillage and extortions of the French armies. General Ney, his conduct at Wetzlar — his birtli, former occupation — political intrigues and mi- litary appointments — his wife, maid of honour to Empress Josephine her bii-th — gallantries — pleasing manners — gambling and prostitution. Prince Murat, his crimes — birth — marries Buonaparte's sister — his im- mense wealth — promotes and enriches his relations — effect of his ele- vation on his father and mother. Rapine the chief object of revolu- tionists. Murat the executioner of Buonaparte's despotic and murder- ous commands — jealous of his wife with her brother Lucien — her co- quetry and gallantries — her favourite, Flahault. LETTER LXIIL Increased vigilance of the police at Paris since Buonaparte's departure for German)' — all mandates of arrest expedited by Louis Buonaparte — his vicious character — a tragical intrigue — another intrigue. LETTER LXIV. Dignified condvict of Russia, its able ministers — Couiit Woronzoff— his talents, services, and amiable character — instance of his magnanimity. Prince Czartorinsky — ^his great information and polished manners, Coimt de Markoff^ — his political services — exiled by Paul — recalled by Alexander, and appointed ambassador to France — his surprise at the conduct of Buonapaz-te to foreig-n ambassadors — his witty letter to his CONTENTS. xia Court on tli« occasion— his dignified conduct — ^hated by Talleyrand. Talleyrand's low malice — attempts to corrupt the fidelity of Madame Pus, the mistress of Count Markoff.— conversatioii of Count Markoff witli him on the subject, ^ LETTER LXV. Legion of Honour, when determined on — distribution of arms of honour among the military — creation of knights — members of the Legion of Honour divided into classes — Buonaparte's desire to have Sovereigns for members — exchange of orders between Buonaparte and the Kings" of Spain and Prussia. Foreign orders debased by being conferred on Cambaceres, Fouche, &c. Grand officers of the Legion of Honour, ci-devant tailors, shoemakers, barbers, &c. kings, electors, and princes. Effect of the institution on the people — ^Villeaume, an engraver, forges letters of knighthood, sells them, and escapes. Baron Von Rinken, the agent of a petty German Prince, confined in the Temple for offer- ing patents of knighthood to sale. Anecdotes of Captain Rouvais and a cobler. Cambaceres reproved for partiality to the Prussian Eagle — Buonaparte ornamented with an immense number of Orders — ^present. ed with the Grand Cross of Malta. Order of confidence, intended to be instituted by the Empress Josephine. — ^her mantle and star. LETTER LXVI. Fifteen persons brought prisoners from La Vendee — ^their crime not known — what reported to be. Impolicy and cruelty of attempting to excite an insurrection in the Chouan departments. Apathy of the French people — the general poverty — anecdote — poverty of merchants and tradesmen — vast number of speculators and bankruptcies — nume- rous forgeries and swindling — ^landholders burthened with taxes — ex- ample — their spii'it and independence. LETTER LXVIL Military education of the French youth — the independence of Europe threatened by it — the only mode of averting the danger. Berthier's compliment to Buonaparte — the advantage of the French over their al- lies. Bad consequences of an education entirely military — pointed out by Arnaud — his exile from Paris in consequence. Instance of severity against a schoolmaster, for deviating from the established mode — his pupils taken care of by Government. Another instance of severity in this respect. New organization of the Ministry of Police, and num- ber of Spies increased. LETTER LXVin. The Pope's Nuncio publicly rebuked by Buonaparte. The relatives of Buonaparte's Great officers generally appointed to the chief dignities of the Galilean Church — their infamous characters. The brother of General Miollls — his notorious atheism and profligacy — nominated by Buonaparte to the Bishopric of Digne — the Pope hesitates to gi-ant a bull for that purpose — his Nuncio at Paris applies to Buonaparte — how answered — the nomination of Miollls confirmed by the Pope. De- bauched character of the Italian Bishops. Anecdotes of the Bishop of Pavia, and of his Grand Vicars, Sarini and Rami. Hj^pocrisy of XIV CONTENTS. the French Clergy — anecdotes. Indifference of the French Govern- ment respecting' the Religious Establishment — want of Ministers — to what to be attributed — Buonaparte refuses the Pope to except the Stu- dents in Theology from the Military Conscription — permits him to es- tablish a Seminary in the Ecclesiastical States. LETTER LXIX. Violation of the Prussian Neutrality — sudden alteration in the expres- sions of the French Courtiers in regard to Prussia — whence arising. Buonaparte's ascendancy in Prussia — friendly intercourse between him and the King of Prussia, and the Empress Josephine and the Qiieen. Friendship of upstarts dangerous. Dlu-oc's mission to Berlin — its ob- ject — followed by warlike preparations in Prussia — necessity of Prus- sia's instantly joining the league against France. Reports of an alli- ance between Prussia and England. A war with Prussia desii'ed in France-~why. LETTER LXX. Instances of impolitic and degrading civility of the Prussian Monarchs to the French. Field-marshal Knobelsdorff, his satirical reply to Sieyes. General Knobelsdorff, his insignificant character — affection for Buona- parte — his favour with his Sovereign, and political missions. Object of Count Haugwitz's mission to Vienna — annvial subsidy proposed by France to Prussia refused. Baron de Hardenberg — ^liis political cha- racter — his talents — public employments — his private agents in foreign countries. Baron de Bulow — his singular person and manners — con- fined in the Temple, and supported by Sir Sydney Smith. Marquis de Lucchesini, his character and political transactions. Marchioness de Luccliesini — her manners and gallantries. Prince Bachiocchi, his for- mer occupation. LETTER LXXI. Unexampled cruelty of the French Government to Captain Wright. Ne- cessity of regulating the distinction and treatment of prisoners of war — generous conduct of the English to the officers and men of French ships landing rebels in Scotland and Ireland, and malefactors in Wales, The firmness of Captain Wright, offends the French Government — riches and rank offered to him, indignantly refused — he is put on the rack, and most inhumanly toi-tured — his heroic conduct — is placed un- der the care of a surgeon — new offers made him — again racked — un- dergoes the INFERNAL toi'mcnts — description of them — strangled by a Mameluke. The particulars of his horrid transaction how discovered — the release of Captain Wright promised to the Spanish ambassador- why. LETTER LXXIL Great changes to be made in the constitution and internal Government of France, should Buonaparte return victorious — heterogeneous compo- sition of the tribunate and legislative corps. Carnot declaims against Buonaparte's Imperial dignity, by his permission — his birth — education and ingratitude to the House of Bom-bon — his crimes and falsehood — his letter to Lebon — his talents and presumption — his wealth — instance of his libertinism and cruelty — despised and mistrusted by Buonaparte. Cavaignac — his former occupation — his revolutionary exploits — ^his atro- cities^.— anecdotes. Pinet — his lust and cruelty. CONTENTS. XV LETTER LXXIII. Vast naval schemes of Buonaparte — his immense resources— great num. ber of ships built since the present war— Malouet's official account of the number of officers and sailors^the conscripts universally prefer the naval to the military service. Genoa, an important naval station acquir- ed by France — number of ships building there and at Antwerp — Naples and Venice threatened — deficiency of French admirals — Murat appoint- ed to the chief command of the combined fleets — the proposed plan of operations, deranged by subsequent eyents. Admiral Truguet, his opi- nion of the French flotillas — occasion of his disgrace — ^his character — public employmenss — hated by Talleyrand — canes him publicly. Ville- neuve — his naval exploits — his gasconade. Gantheaume — his promo- ' lions — saves himself by swimming, when I'Orient blew up at Aboukir — letter of Buonaparte to him on the occasion — his naval exploits and cha- racter. La Crosse— his intrigues, fanaticism, and cruelty. LETTER LXXIV. Apathy of the French people — indiflerent £^bout the victories obtained over the Austrians. Rejoicmgs at Madame Joseph Buonaparte's — patriotic verses and ballads — list of Buonaparte's intended Kings, Em- perors, &c. Artliur O'Connor, his present rank and views in France; The Irish rebels universally despised — treated as criminals, and act as such — ^their infamy and ingratitudCi^ Anecdote. LETTER LXXV. Absurdity and incoherence of the plan of the campaign of the Austrians. Inactivity of the army under the Archduke Charles, to what to be attri- buted — character of the Archduke — his military life — respected by his enemies — his proclamations composed with great adroitness. Massena — deserts the army of his Sovereign — cause of his advancement in the French service — his military exploits and merciless pillage — quarrels with Buonaparte — appointed by him to the chief command in Italy — his wealth and good fortune — Disliked by the Buonapartes for his familiar- ity. Great talents of General St. Cyr — his achievements. Count de Bellegarde— his eminent services tnd distinguished talents. LETTER LXXVI. Buonaparte's insolent threat at Ulm against the Emperor of Germany — conclusions to be drawn from it — Louis Buonaparte's public comment on it. Able Sieyes — his sanguinary plots and intrigues — has betrayed and survived all factions — his restlessness and craft — cowardice and ambition — ^his wealth — Talleyrand's opinion of him. Buonaparte's appa- rently indiscreet threat at Ulm accounted for. General Maimont — his military education, and public emplojments — his honourable character ,■ — Buonaparte demands for him in marriage the daughter of the banker Perregaux — Industry and ambition of Periegaux — his public life — and intrigue with Mademoiselle Mars. General Marmont's distinguished services — a great favouiite of Buonaparte. LETTER LXXVII. Another great revolution supposed necessary to ccu.rterbalance that of France — Insignificance and presumption of General Mack — his personal intrepidity at Lissa — his theoretical knowledge and declamation impost- on the Emperor Joseph — ^his campaigns — his bad conduct at the head of the Neapolitan army — his pusillanimous conduct in the present cam- paign— ^^his ill health— his fdelitv and honoiu-. THE SECRET HISTORY COURT AND CABINET ST. CLOUD. LETTER I. Paris, Jlugu&t 1805. MY LORD, T PROMISED you not to pronounce in haste on persons and ■'' events passing under my eyes: thirty-one months have quickly passed away, since I became an attentive spectator of the extraordinary transactions, and of the extraordinary cha- racters, of the extraordinary Court and Cabinet of St. Cloud. If my talents to delineate equal my zeal to inquire, and my industry to examine ; if I am as able a painter as I have been an indefatigable observer, you will be satisfied, and with your approbation at once sanction and reward my labours. With most princes, the supple courtier and the fawning favourite have greater influence than the profound statesman and. subtle minister; and the determinations of cabinets are therefore frequently prepared in drawing-rooms, and discussed in the closet. The politician and the counsellor are frequently applauded or censured for transactions, which the intrigues of anti-chambers conceived, and which cupidity and favour gave power to promulgate. It is very generally imagined, but falsely, that Napoleone Buonaparte govei'ns, or rather tyrannizes by himself; according B 2 SECRET HISTORY OF THE to his own capacity, caprices, or interest: that all his acts, al! his changes, are the sole consequence of his own exclusive, unprejudiced will, as well as unlimited authority ; that both his greatness and his littleness, his successes and his crimes, ori- ginate entirely with himself; that the fortunate hero, who march- ed triumphant over the Alps, and the dastardly murderer that disgraced human nature at Jaffa, because the same per- son, owed victory to himself alone, and by himself alone com- manded massacre ; that the same genius, unbiassed and unsup- ported, crushed factions, erected a throne, and reconstructed racks ; that the same mind restored and protected Christianity, and proscribed and assassinated a d'Enghien. All these contradictions, all these virtues and vices, may be found in the same person ; but Buonaparte, individually, or isolated^ has no claim to them. Except on some sudden occa- sions, that call for immediate decision, no sovereign rules less by himself than Buonaparte ; because no sovereign is more sur- rounded by favourites and counsellors, by needy adventurers and crafty intriguers. '~ "What sovereign has more relatives to enrich, or more ser- vices to recompense ; more evils to repair, more jealousies to dread, more dangers to fear, more clamours to silence ; or stands more in need of information and advice ? Let it be remembered, that he, who now governs empires and nations, ten years ago commanded only a battery ; and five years ago was only a mili- tary chieftain. The diffei'ence is as immense, indeed, between « the sceptre of a monarch and the sword of a general, as between the wise legislator, who protects the lives and property of his contemporaries, and the hireling robber who wades through rivers of blood to obtain plunder at the expense and misery of generations. The lower classes of all countries have produced persons, who have distinguished themselves as warriors ; but what subject has yet usurped a throne, and by his eminence and achievements, without infringing on the laws and liberties of his country, proved himself worthy to reign ? Besides, the educa- tion which Buonaparte received was entirely military ; and a man (let his innate abilities be ever so surprising or excellent) who, during the first thirty years of his life, has made either military or political tactics or exploits his only study, certainly COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 3 cannot excel equally in the cabinet and in the camp. It would be as foolish to believe, as absurd to expect, a perfection almost beyond the reach of any man ; and of Buonaparte more than of any one else. A man who, like him, is the continual slave of his own passions, can neither be a good nor a just, an inde- pendent nor immaculate master. Among the courtiers who, ever since Buonaparte was made First Consul, has maintained a great ascendency over him, is -rthe present grand marshal of his court, the general of division, Diiroc. With some parts, but greater presumption, this young man is destined by his master to occupy the most confidential places near his person ; and to his care are entrusted the most difficult and secret missions at foreign courts. When he is . absent from France, the liberty of the continent is in danger ; and when in the Thuileries, or at St. Cloud, Buonaparte thinks himself always safe. Gerard Christophe Michel Duroc was born at Ponta-Mous- son, in the department of Meurthe", on the 25th of October 1772, of poor but honest parents. His father kept a petty chandler's shop;-bi?f by the interest and generosity of Abbe Duroc, a distant relation, he was so well educated, that, in March 1792, he became a sub-lieutenant of the artillery. In 1796 he served in Italy, as a captain, under General Andreossy, by whom he was recommended to General I'Espinasse, then commander of the artillery of the army of Italy, who made him an aide-de- camp. In that situation Buonaparte remarked his activity, and was pleased with his manners, and therefore attached him as an aide-de-camp to himself. Duroc soon became a favourite with his chief, and, notwithstanding the intrigues of his rivals, he has continued to be so to this day. It has been asserted, by his enemies no doubt, that by impli- cit obedience to his general's orders, by an unresisting compla- cency, and by executing, without hesitation, the most cruel mandates of his superior, he has fixed himself so firmly in his good opinion, that he is irremoveable. It has also been stated that it was Duroc who commanded the drowning and burying. alive of the wounded French soldiers in Italy in 1797 ; and that it was he who inspected their poisoning in Syria in 1799, where he was wounded during the siege of St. Jean d'Acre. He was 1^ 4 SECRET HISTORY OF THE among the few officers whom Buonaparte selected for his com-^ panions, when he quitted the army of Egypt, and landed with him in France in October 1799. Hitherto Duroc had only shown himself as a brave soldier and obedient officer; but after the revolution which made Buona- parte a First Consul, he entered upon another career. He was then, for the first time, employed in a diplomatic mission to Berlin, where he so far insinuated himself into the good graces of their Prussian Majesties, that the King admitted him to the royal table, and on the parade at Potsdam presented him to his generals and officers, as an aide-de-camp du plus grand homme que je connoia ; whilst the Queen gave hfm a scarf, knitted by her own fair hands. The fortunate result of Duroc's intrigues in Prussia, in 1799, encouraged Buonaparte to dispatch him, in 1801, to Russia; where Alexander I received him with that noble condescension, so natural to this great and good prince. He succeeded at St. Pe- tersburgh in arranging the political and commeixial difficulties and disagreements between France and Russia ; but his pro- posal for a defensive alliance was declined. An anecdote is related of his political campaign in the North, upon the barren banks of the Neva, which, in causing much entertainment to the inhabitants of the fertile banks of the Seine, has not a little displeased the military diplomatist. Among Talleyrand's female agents, sent to cajole Paul I, dur- ing the latter part of his reign, was a Madame Bonoeil, whose real name is de F— — .. When this unfortunate prince was no moi'e, most of the French male and female intriguers in Rus- sia thought it necessary to shift their quarters, and to expect on the territory of neutral Prussia further instructions from Paris, where and how top roceed. Madame Bonosil had removed to Koenigsberg. In the second week of May 1801, when Duroc passed through that town for St. Petersburgh, he visited this lady, according to the orders of Buonaparte, and obtained from her a list of the names of the principal persons, who were in- clined to be serviceable to France, and might be trusted by him upon the present occasion. By inattention or mistake she had mis-spelled the name of one of the most trusty and active adhe- rents of Buonaparte ; and Duroc, therefore, instead of addressing COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 5 himself to the Polisli Count de S — Iz, went to tlie Polish Count de S .■ - .tz. This latter was as much flattered as surprised, upon seeing an aide-de-camp and envoy of the First Consul of France enter his apartments, seldom visited before but by usu- rers, gamesters, and creditors ; and on hearing the object of this visit, began to think either the envoy mad or himself dreaming. Understanding, however, that money would be of little consider- ation, if the point desired by the First Consul could be carried, he determined to take advantage of this fortunate hit, and in- vited Duroc to sup with him the same evening ; when he pro-- mised him he should meet with persons who could do his bu- siness, provided his pecuniary resources were as ample as he had stated. This Count de S - tz, was one of the most extravagant and profligate subjects that Rvissia had acquired by the parti- tion of Poland. After squandering away his own patrimony, he had ruined his mother and two sisters, and subsisted now en- tirely by gambling and borrowing. Among his associates, in similar circumstances with himself, was a Chevalier de Causae, a French adventurer, pretending to be an emigrant from the vicinity of Thoulouse. To him was communicated what had happened in the morning ; and his advice was asked how to act in the evening. It was soon settled, that de Causae should be transformed into a Russian Count de W— , a nephew and con- fidential secretary of the chancellor of the same name ; and that one Caumartin, another French adventurer, who taught fencing at St. Petersburgh, should act the part of Prince de M— , an aide-de-camp of the emperor ; and that all three together should strip Duroc, and share the spoil. At the appointed hour Buon- aparte's agent arrived, and was completely the dupe of these adventurers, who plundered him of twelve hundred thousand livres, 50,000i^. Though not many days passed before he dis- covered the imposition, prudence prevented him from denounc- ing the impostors ; and this blunder would have remained a se- cret between himself, Buonaparte, and Talleyrand, had not the unusual expenses of Caumartin excited the suspicion of the Russian police miinister, who soon discovered the source from which they had flowed. De Causae had the imprudence to re- turn to this capital last spring, and is now shut up in the Tem- ple, where he probably will be forgotten. 6 SECRET HISTORY OF THE As this loss was more ascribed to the negligence of' Madame lionceil, than to the mismanagement of Duroc, or his want of penetration, his reception at the Thuileries, though not so gracious as on his return from Berlin, nineteen months before, was however such as convinced him, that if he had not increased, he had at the same time not lessened, the confidence of his master : and indeed shortly afterwards Buonaparte created him first prefect of his palace, and procured him for a wife the only- daughter of a rich Spanish banker. Rumour however . says, that Buonaparte was not quite disinterested, when he com- manded and concluded this match, and that the fortune of Madame Duroc has paid for the expensive supper of her husband with Count de S tz at St. Petersburgh. LETTER II. Paris ^ August 1805. MY LORD, THOUGH the treaty of Luneville will probably soon be buried in the rubbish of the treaty of Amiens, the influence of their parents in the cabinet of St. Cloud is as great as ever : I say their parents, because the crafty ex-bishop Talleyrand, foreseeing the short existence of these bastard diplomatic acts, took care to compliment the innocent Joseph Buonaparte with a share in the parentage, although they were his own exclusive oflspring. Joseph Buonaparte, who, in 1797, from an attorney's clerk, at Ajaccio, in Corsica, was at once transformed into an ambas- sador to the court of Rome, had hardly read a treaty, or seen a dispatch written, before he was himself to conclude the one, and to dictate the other. Had he not been supported by able secretaries, government would soon have been convinced, that it is as impossible to confer talents, as it is easy to give places to men to whom nature has refused parts, and on whom a scanty or neglected education has bestowed no improvements. Deep COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 7 and reserved, like a true Italian, but vain and ambitious, like his brothers, under the character of a statesman, he has only been the political puppet of Talleyrand. If he has sometimes been applauded upon the stages where he has been placed, he is also exposed to the hooting and hisses of the suffering multitude ; while the minister pockets undisturbed all the entrance-money, and conceals his wickedness and art under the cloak of Joseph ; which protects him besides against the anger and fury of Napo- leone. No negotiation of any consequence is undertaken, no diplomatic arrangements are under consideration, but Joseph is always consulted, and Napoleone informed of the consultation. Hence none of Buonaparte's ministers has suifered less from his violence and resentment than Talleyrand, who in the political department governs him who governs France and Italy. As early as 1800, Talleyrand determined to throw the odium of his own outrages against the law of nations upon the brother of his master. Lucien Buonaparte was that year sent ambas- sador to Spain, but not sharing with the minister the large profits of his appointment, his diplomatic career was but short. Joseph is as greedy and as ravenous as Lucien, but not so frank or indiscreet. Whether he knew or not of Talleyrand's immense gain by the pacification at Luneville in February 1801, he did not neglect his own individual interest. The day previous to the signature of this treaty, he dispatched a courier to the rich army contractor CoUot, acquainting him, in secret, of the issue of the negotiation, and ordering him at the same time to pur- chase six millions of livres, 250,000/. in the stocks, on his account. On Joseph's arrival at Paris, Collot sent him the state bonds for the sum ordered, together with a very polite letter ; but though he waited on the grand pacificator several times afterwards, all admittance was refused, until a douceur of one million of livres, nearly 42,000/. of Collot's private profit, opened the door. In return, during the discussions between France and England in the summer of 1801, and in the spring of 1802, Collot was continued Joseph's private agent, and shared with his patron, within twelve months, a clear gain of thirty-two millions of livres. Some of the secret articles of the treaty of Luneville gave Austria, during the insurrection in Switzerland, in the autumn 8 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of 1802, an opportunity and a right to make representations against the interference of France ; a circumstance which greatly displeased Buonaparte, who reproached Talleyrand for his want of foresight, and of having been outwitted by the cabinet of Vienna. The minister, on the very next day, laid before his master the coiTespondence that had passed between him and Joseph Buonaparte, during the negotiation, concerning these secret articles, which were found to have been entirely proposed and settled by Joseph ; who had been induced by his secretary and factotum (a creature of Talleyrand) to adopt sentiments, for which that minister had been paid, according to report, six hundred thousand livres ; 25,000/. Sevei'al other tricks have in the same manner been played upon Joseph, who notwithstanding has the modesty to consider himself (much to the advantage and satisfaction of Talleyrand) the fii'st statesman in Europe, and the good fortune to be thought so by his brother Napoleone. When a rupture with England was apprehended, in the spring of 1803, Talleyrand never signed a dispatch, that was not previ- ously communicated to, and approved by Joseph, before its contents were sanctioned by Napoleone. This precaution chiefly continued him in place, when Lord Whitworth left this capital, a departure that incensed Napoleone to such a degree, that he entirely forgot both the dignity of his rank amidst his generals, a becoming deportment to the members of the diplomatic corps, and his duty to his mother and brothers, who all, more or less, experienced the effiicts of his violent passions. He thus accosted Talleyrand, who purposely arrived late at his circle : " Well I the English ambassador is gone ; and we must again go to war. Were my generals as great fools as some of my ministers, I should despair indeed of the issue of my contest with these insolent islanders. Many believe that had I been more ably supported in my cabinet, I should not have been under the necessity of taking the field, as a I'upture might have been prevented." " Such, Citizen First Consul !" answered the tre;m bling a nd bowing^ ministeivJ-' is not the opinion of the counsellor of s^te, citizen Joseph Buonaparte." Well then,** said Napoleone, as recollecting himself, " England wishes for war, and she shall suffer for it — This shall be a war of exter- mination, depend upon it." The name of Joseph alone moderated COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 9 Napoleone's fury, and changed its object. It is with him what the harp of David was with Saul. Talleyrand knows it, and is no loser by that knowledge. I must, however, in justice say, that had Buonaparte followed his minister's advice, and suffered himself to be entirely guided by his counsel, all hostilities with England, at that time, might have been avoided; her government would have been lulled into security by the cession of Malta and some commercial regulations, and her future conquest, during a time of peace, have been attempted upon plans duly organized, that might have ensured success. He never ceased to repeat, " Citizen First Consul ! some few years longer peace with Great Britain, and the Te Deums of modern Britons, for the conquest and possession of Malta, will be considered by their children as the funeral hymns of their liberty and independence." It was upon this memorable occasion, of Lord Whitworth's departure, that Buonaparte is known to have betrayed the most outrageous acts of passion; he rudely forced his mother from' his closet, and forbade his own sisters to approach his person ; he confined Madame Buonaparte for several hours to her cham- ber ; he dismissed favourite generals ; treated with ignominy members of his council of state ; and towards his physician, secretaries, and principal attendants, he committed unbecoming and disgraceful marks of personal outrage. I have heard it affirmed, that though her husband, when shutting her up in her dressing-room, put the key in his pocket, Madame Napoleone found means to resent the ungallant behaviour of her spouse, with the assistance of Madame Remusat. 10 SECRET HISTORY OF THE LETTER III. Paris, August ISOS.^ U\ LORD, NO act of Buonaparte's government has occasioned sa many, so opposite, -and so violent debates, among the remnants of revolutionary factions, composing his senate and council of state, as the introduction and execution of the i-eligious concor- dat signed with the Pope. Joseph was here again the osten- sible negotiator, though he, on this as well as on former occa- sions, concluded nothing that had not been prepai'ed and di- gested by Talleyrand. Buonaparte does not in general pay much attention to the opi- nions of others, when they do not agree with his own views and interests, or coincide with his plans of reform or innovation ; but having, in his public career, professed himself by turns an atheist and an infidel, the worshipper of Christ and of Maho- met, he could not decently silence those who, after deserting or denying the God of their forefathers, and of their youth, con- tinued constant and firm in their apostacy. Of those who de- liberated concerning the restoration or exclusion of Christianity, and the acceptance or rejection of the concordat, Fouche, Francois de Nantz, Roederer, and Sieyes, were for the religion of nature; Volney, Real, Chaptal, Bourrienne, and Lucieri Buonaparte, for atheism; and Portalis, Gregoire, Cambaceres, Le Brun, Talleyrand, Joseph and Napoleone Buonaparte, for Christianity. Besides the sentiments of these confidential coun- sellors, upwards of two hundred memoirs, for or against the Christian religion, were presented to the First Consul, by unin- vited and volunteer counsellors ; all differing as much from each other as the members of his own privy council. Many persons do Madame Buonaparte, the mother, the honour of supposing that to her assiduous representations is princi- pally owing the recal of the priests, and the restoration of the altars of Christ. She certainly is the most devout, or rather the most superstitious, of her family, and of her name ; but had not Talleyrand and Portalis pi'eviously convinced Napoleone of COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 11 tlie policy of re-establishing a religion, which, for fourteen cen- turies, had preserved the throne of the Bourbons from the machinations of republicans and other conspirators against mon- archy, it is very probable that her representations w;ould have been as ineffective as her piety or her prayers. So long ago as 1796, she implored the mercy of Napoleone for the Roman Catholics in Italy ; and entreated him to spare the Pope, and the papal ter- ritory, at the very time that his soldiers were laying waste and ravaging the legacy of Bologna, and of Ravenna, both incor- porated with his new-formed Cisalpine Republic ; where one of his first acts of sovereignty, in the name of the then sovereign people, was, the confiscation of church lands, and the sale of the estates of the clergy. Of the prelates who with Joseph Buonaparte signed the concordat, the Cardinal Gonsalvi and the Bishop Bernier have, by their labours and intrigues, not a little contributed to the present church establishment in this country; and to them Napoleone is much indebted for the intrusion of the Buonaparte dynasty among the houses of sovereign princes. The former, intended from his youth for the church, sees neither honour in this world, nor hopes for any blessing in the next, but exclu- sively from its bosom and its doctrine. With capacity to figure as a country curate, he occupies the post of the chief secre- tary of state to the Pope ; and though nearly of the same age, but of a much weaker constitution than his sovereign, he was am- bitious enough to dpmand Buonaparte^s promise of succeeding to the papal see, and weak and wicked enough to wish and ex- pect to survive a benefactor of a calmer mind and better health than himself. It was he who encouraged Buonaparte to require the presence of Pius VII in France, and who persuaded this weak pontiff to undertake a journey that has caused so much scandal among the truly faithful ; and which, should ever Aus- tria regain her fornier supremacy in Italy, will send the present Pope to end his days in a convent, and make the successors of St. Peter, what this apostle was himself, a bishop of Rome, and nothing more. Bernier was a curate in La Vendue before the revolution, and one of those priests who lighted the torch of civil war in that unfortunate country, under pretence of defending the throne of 13 SECRET HISTORY OF THE his King, and the altars of his God. He not only possessed great popularity among the lower classes, but acquired so far the confidence of the Vendean chiefs, that he was appointed one of the supreme and directing council of the Royalists and Chouans. Even so late as the summer of 1799, he continued not only unsuspected, but was trusted by the insurgents in the west- ern departments. In the winter, however, of the same year, he had been gained over by Buonaparte's emissaries, and was seen at his levees in the Thuileries. It is stated that General Brune made him renounce his former principles, desert his former companions, and betray to the then First Consul of the French Republic the secrets of the friends of lawful monarchy, of the faithful subjects of Louis XVIII. His perfidy has been rewarded with one hundred and fifty thousand livres in ready mo- ney, with the see of Orleans, and with a promise of a cardinal's hat. He has also, with the Cardinals Gonsalvi, Caprara, Fesch, Cambaceres, and Mauri, Buonaparte's promise, and, of course^ the expectation of the Roman tiara. He was one of the prelates who officiated at the late coronation, and is row confided in as a person who has too far committed hitnself with his legitimate, prince, and whose past treachery therefore answers for his future fidelity. This religious concordat, of the 10th September 1801, as well as all other constitutional codes emanating from revolution- ary authorities, proscribes even in protecting. The professors and protectors of the religion of universal peace, benevolence and forgiveness, banish, in this concordat, from France, for ever, the Cardinals Rohan and Montmorency, and the Bishop of Ar- ras ; whose dutiful attachment to their unfortunate prince would, in better times, and in a more just and generous nation, have been recompensed with distinctions, and honoured even by raagt nanimous foes. When Madame Napoleone was informed by her husband of the necessity of chusing her almoner and chaplain, and of at- tending regularly the mass, she first fell a laughing, taking it merely for a joke : the serious and severe looks, and the harsh and threatening expressions, of the First Consul, soon, however, convinced her how much she was mistaken. To evince her re- pentance, she, on th© very next day, attended her mother-in-law. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 13 to church, who was highly edified by the sudden and religious turn of her daughter, and did not fail to ascribe to the effica- cious interference of one of her favourite saints this conversion of a profane sinner. But Napoleone was not the dupe of this church-going mummery of his wife, whom he ordered his spies to watch ; these were unfortunate enough to discover, that she went to the mass more to fulfil her appointments with her lovers than to pray to her Saviour ; and that even by the side of her mother she read billets-doux and love-letters, when that pious lady supposed that she read her prayers, because her eyes were fixed upon her breviary. Without relating to any one this dis- covery of his Josephine's frailties, Napoleone, after a violent connubial fracas and reprimand,- and after a solitary confinement of her for six days, gave immediate orders to have the chapels of the Thuileries and of St. Cloud repaired ; and, until these were ready. Cardinal Cambaceres and Bcrnier, by turns, said the mass in her private apartments, where none but selected favourites or favoured courtiers were admitted. Madame Napo- leone now never neglects the mass, but, if not accompanied by her husband, is escorted by a guard of honour, among whom she knows that he has several agents watching her motions, and her very looks. In the month of June 1803, I dined with Viscount de Segur ; and Joseph and Lucien Buonaparte were among the guests. The latter jocosely remarked with what facility the French christians suffered themselves to be hunted in and out of their temples, according to the fanaticism or policy of their rulers ; which he adduced as a proof of the great progress of philosophy and toleration in France. A young officer of the party, Jacque- mont, a relation of the former husband of the present Madame Lucien, observed, that he thought it rather an evidence of the indifference of the French people to all religion ; the conse- quence of the great havoc the tenets of infidelity and of atheism had made among the flocks of the faithful. This was again de- nied by Buonaparte's ^ide-de^camp, Savary, who observed that, had this been the case, the First Consul (who certainly was as well acquainted with the religious spirit of Frenchmen as any body else) would not have taken the trouble to conclude a reli- gious concordat, nor have been at the expense of providing for 14 SECRET HISTORY OF THE the clergy. To this assertion Joseph nodded assent. When tl)^ dinner was over, de Segur took me to a window, expressing his uneasiness at what he called the imprudence of Jacquemont, lyhp, he apprehended, from Joseph's silence and manner, would not escape punishment, for having indirectly blamed both the restorer of religion and his plenipotentiary. These apprehen- sions were justified : pn the next day Jjacquemont received orr ders to join the colonial depot at Havre ; but refusing to obey, by giving in his resignation as a captain, he was arrested, shut up in the Temple, and afterwards transported to Cayenne or Madaga.scar. His relatives and friends are still ignorant whether he is dead or alive, and what is ojf has been his place of exile. To a petition presented by Jacquempnt's sister, Madame de Veaux, Joseph answered, "that he pever interfered with the acts of the haute police of his brother I*J"apoleone*s government, being well convinced both of its justice apd moderation,'^ LETTER IV. Paris, August 1805. MY LORD, THAT Buonaparte had, as far back as February 1803 (when the king of Prussia proposed to Louis XVIII the formal renun- ciation of his hereditary rights in . favour of the First Consul) determined to assume tlie rank and title, with the power, of a sovereign, nobody can doubt. Had it not been for the war with England, he would, in the spring of that year, or twelve months earlier, have proclaimed himself emperor of the French, and probably would have been acknowledged as such by all other princes. To a man so vain and so impatient, so accustomed to command and to intimidate, this suspension of his favourite plan was a considerable disappointment, and not a little increased his bitter and irreconcilable hatred of Great-Britain. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 15 Here, as well as in foreign countries, the multitude pay hom- age only to Napoleone*s uninterrupted prosperity ; without penetrating or considering whether it be the consequence of chance or of well-digested plans ; whether he owes his suc- cesses to his own merit, or to a blind fortune. He asserted, in his speech to the constitutional authorities, immediately after hostilities had commenced with England, that the ivar would be of short duration^ and he firmly believed what he said. Had he by his gun-boats, or by his intrigues or threats, been enabled to extort a second edition of the peace of Amiens, after a war- fare of some few months, all mouths would have been ready to exclaim, Oh the illustrious warrior ! Oh the profound politician I Now, after three ineffectual campaigns on the coast, when the extravagance and ambition of our government have extended the contagion of war over the continent ; when both our direct of- fers of peace, and the negotiations and mediations of our allies have been declined by, or proved unavailing with, the cabinet of St. James, the inconsistency, the ignorance, and the littleness of the fortunate great man seem to be not more remembered than the outrages and encroachments that have provoked Austria and Russia to take the field. Should he continue victorious, and be in a position to dictate another peace of Luneville, which pro- bably will be followed by another pacific overture to or from England, mankind will again be ready to call out, ^' Oh the il- lustrious warrior ! Oh the profound politician ! he foresaw, in his wisdom, that a continental war was necessary to terrify or to sub- due his maritime foe ; that a peace with England could only be obtained in Germany ; and that this war must be excited by ex- tending the power of France on the other side of the Alps. Hence his coronation as king of Italy ; hence his incorpoi'ation of Parma and Genoa with France ; and hence his donation of Piombino and Lucca to his brother-in-law, Bacchiochi !" No where in history have I read of men of sense being so easily led astray, as in our times, by confounding fortuitous events with consequences resulting from preconcerted plans and well or- ganized designs. Only rogues can disseminate, and fools believe, that the dis- grace of Moreau, and the execution of the Duke of Enghien, of Pichegru, and Georges, were necessary as footsteps to Buona- 16 SECRET HISTORY OF THE parte's imperial throne ; and that, without the treachery of Meh6e de la Touche, and the conspiracy he pretended to have discovered, France vi^ould still have been ruled by a First Con- sul. It is indeed true, that this plot is to be counted (as the im- becility of Melas, which lost the battle of Marengo) among those accidents presenting themselves a-propos to serve the fa- vourite of fortune in his ambitious views ; but without it he would equally have been hailed an emperor of the French in May 1804. When he came from the coast, in the preceding wintei^, and was convinced of the impossibility of making any impres- sion on the British islands with his flotilla, he convoked his con.- fidential senators, who then, with Talleyrand, settled the Senatus Consultum, which appeared five months afterwards. Mehee's correspondence with Mr. Drake was then known to hina ; but he and the minister of police were both unacquainted with the residence and arrival of Pichegru and Georges in France, and of their connexion with Moreau ; the particulars of which were first disclosed to them in the February following, when Buona- parte had been absent from his army of England six weeks. The assumption of the imperial dignity procured him another decent opportunity of offering his olive-branch to those who had caused his laurels to wither^ and by whom, notwithstanding his abuse, calumnies, and rhenaces, he would have been more proud to be saluted Emperor, than by all other nations upon the continent. His vanity, interest, and policy, all required this last degree of supremacy and elevation at that period. Buonaparte had so well penetrated the weak side of Moreau's character, that, although he could not avoid. doing justice to this general's military talents and exploits, he neither esteemed him as a citizen nor dreaded him as a rival. Moreau possessed great popularity ; but so did Dumourier and Pichegru before him : and yet neither of them had found adherents enough to shake those republican governments with which they avowed themselves openly discontented, and against which they secretly plotted. I heard Talleyrand say, at Madame de Montlausier's, in the presence of fifty persons : « Napoleone Buonaparte had never any thing to apprehend from General Moreau, and from his popularity, even at the head of an army. Dumourier too was at the head of an army, when he revolted against the Na- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 17 tional Convention ; but had he not saved himself by flight, his own troops would have delivered him up to be punished as a traitor. Moreau^ and his popularity^ could only be dangerous to the Buonaparte dynasty^ noere he to survive J^apoleone ; had not this Emperor wisely averted this danger'* From this official de- claration of Napoleone's confidential minister, in a society of known anti -imperialists, I draw the conclusion, thatMoreau will never more, during the present reign, return to Finance. How very feeble, and how badly advised must this general have been, when, after his condemnation to two years imprisonment, he ac- cepted of a perpetual exile ; and renounced all hopes of ever again entering his own country. In the Temple, or in any other prison, if he had submitted to the sentence pronounced against him, he would have caused Buonaparte more uneasiness than when at liberty ; and been more a point of rally to his adherents and friends, than when at his palace of Grosbois ; because com- passion and pity must have invigorated and sharpened their feel- ings. If report be true, however, he did not voluntarily exchange imprisonment for exile ; racks were shown him ; and by the act of banishment was placed a poisonous draught. This report gains considerable credit, when it is remembered, that imme- diately after his condemnation, Moreau furnished his apartments in the Temple in a handsome manner, so as to be lodged well, if not comfortably, with his^ wife and child, whom, it is said, he was not permitted to see, before he had accepted of Buonaparte's proposal of transportation. It may be objected to this supposition, that the man in power, who did not care about the barefaced murder of the Duke of Enghien, and the secret destruction of Pichegru, could neither much hesitate, nor be very conscientious, about adding Mo- 'reau to the number of his victims. True, but the assassin in authority is also generally a politician. The untimely end of the Duke of Enghien and of Pichegru was certainly lamented and deplored by the great majority of the French people; but though they had many who pitied their fate, but few had any relative interest to avenge it ; whilst in the assassination of Moreau, every general, every officer, and every soldier of his former army, might/have read the destiny reserved for himself D 18 SECRET HISTORY OF THE by that chieftain, who did not conceal his preference of those who had fought under him in Italy and Egypt ; and his mistrust and jealousy of those who had vanquished under Moreau in Germany ; numbers of whom had already perished at St. Do- mingo, or in the other colonies, or were dispersed in separate and distant garrisons of the mother country. It has been calcu- lated, that of eighty-four generals, who made, under Moreau, the campaign of 1 800, and who survived the peace of Luneville, sixteen had been killed or died at St. Domingo, four at Guada- loupe, ten in Cayenne, nine at Isle de France, and eleven at risle Reunion and in Madagascar. The mortality among the officers and men has been in proportion. An anecdote is related of Pichegru, which does honour to the memory of that unfortunate general. Fouche paid him a visit in prison the day before his death, and offered him " Buona- parte's commission as a field marshal, and a diploma as a grand officer of the Legion of Honour, ^provided he would turn in- former against Moreau, of whose treachery against himself, in 1797, he was reminded. On the other hand, he was informed, that, in consequence of his former denials, if he persisted in his refractory conduct, he should never more appear before any judge, but that the affairs of state and the safety of the country required that he should be privately dispatched in his gaol." " So," answered this virtuous and indignant warrior, " you will only spare my life, upon condition that I prove myself unwor- thy to live. As this is the case, my choice is made without hesitation : I am prepared to become your victim, but I will never be numbered among your accomplices. Call in your exe- cutioners ; I am ready to die as I have lived, a man of honour, and an irreproachable citizen." Within twenty-four hours after this answer, Pichegru was no more. That the Duke of Enghien was shot in the night of the 2 1st of March 1 804, in the wood or in the ditch of the castle of Vincennes, is admitted even by government ; but who really were his assas- sins is still unknown. Some assert that he was shot by the gre- nadiers of Buonaparte's Italian guard ; others say, by a detach- ment of the gens d'armes d'Elite ; and others again, that the men of both these corps refused to fire ; and that General Mu- rat, hearing the troops murmur, and fearing their mutiny, was COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 19 himself the executioner of this young and innocent prince of the House of Bourbon, by riding up to him, and blowing out his brains with a pistol. Certain it is, that Murat was the first, and Louis Buonaparte the second in command, on this dreadful occasion. LETTER V. Paris, August 1805. MY LOliD, THANKS to Talleyrand's fiolitkal emigration, our govern- ntfent has never been in ignorance of the characters and foibles of the leading members among the emigrants in England. Otto, however, finished their picture, but added some new groups to those delineated by his predecessor. It was according to his plan that the expedition of Mehee de la Touche was undertaken, and it was in following his instructions that the campaign of this traitor succeeded so well in Great Britain. Under the ministry of Vergennes, of Montmorin, and of Delessart, Mehee had been employed as a spy in Russia, Sweden, and Poland,^ and acquitted himself perfectly to the satisfaction of his masters. By some accident or other, Delessart discovered, however, in December 1791, that he had, while pocketing the money of the cabinet of Versailles, sold its secrets to the. cabinet of St. Petersburgh. He, of course, was no longer trusted as a spy, and therefore turned a Jacobin, and announced himself to Brissot as a persecuted patriot. All the calumnies against this minister in Brissot's daily paper Le Patriot Franqois^ during January, Februaiy, and March 1792, were the productions of Mehee's malicious heart and able pen. Even after they had sent Delessart a state prisoner to Orleans, his inveteracy continued, and in September the same year, he went to Versailles to enjoy 20 SECRET HISTORY OF THE the sight of the murder of his former master. Some go so far as to say, that the assassins were headed by this monster, who aggra- vated cruelty by insult, and informed the dying minister of the hands that stabbed him, and to whom be was indebted for a pre- mature death. To these and other infamous and barbarous deeds, Talleyrand was not a sti'anger, when he made Mehee his secret agent, and entrusted him with the mission to England. He took, therefore, such steps, that neither his confidence could be betrayed, nor his money squandered. Mehee had instructions how to proceed in Great Britain, but he was ignorant of the object government had in view by his mission ; and though large sums Avere promised if successful, and if he gave satisfaction by his zeal and discre- tion ; the money advanced him was a mere trifle, and barely suf- ficient to keep him from want. He was, therefore, really dis- tressed when he fixed upon some necessitous and greedy emi- grants for his instruments to play on the credulity of the Eng- lish ministers, in some of their unguarded moments. Th'eir generosity in forbearing to avenge upon the deluded French ex- iles, the slur attempted to be thrown upon their official capacity, and the ridicule intended to be cast on their private characters, has been much approved and admired here by all liberal minded persons ; but it, has also much disappointed Buonaparte and Talleyrand, who expected to see these emigi'ants driven from the only asylaim, which hospitality has not refused to their mis- fortunes and misery. Mehee had been promised, by Talleyrand, double the amount of the sums which he could swindle from your government ; but though he did more mischief to your counti'y than Avas expected in this ; and though he proved, that he had poqketed upwai'ds of ten thousand English guineas, the wages of his infamy, when he hinted about the recompense he expected here, Durant, Talleyrand's chief du bureaux^ advised him as a friend^ not to remind the minister of his presence in France, as Buon- aparte never pardoned a Septembrizer, and the English guineas he possessed might be claimed and seized, as national pro- perty, to compensate some of the sufferers by the unprovoked war with England. In vain did he address himself to his fellow- labourer in revolutionary plots, the counsellor of state, Real, COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 21 who had been the intermedium between him and Talleyrand, when he was first inlisted among the secret agents : instead of receiving money he heard threats ; and therefore, with as good grace as he could, he made the best of his disappointment ; he sported a carriage, kept a mistress, went to gambling houses, and is now in a fair way to be reduced to the statu quo before his brilliant exploits in Great Britain. Real, besides the place of a counsellor of state, occupies also the office of a director of the internal police. Having some difference with my landlord, I was summoned to appear before him at the prefecture of the police. My friend M. de Sab — r, formerly a counsellor of the parliament at Rouen, happened to be with me when the summons was delivered, and offered to accompany me, being acquainted with Real. Though thirty persons were waiting in the anti-chamber at our arrival, no sooner was my friend's name announced, than we were admitted, and I obtained not only more justice than I expected, or dared to claim, but an invitation to Madame Real's tea party the same evening. This justice and this politeness surprised me, until my friend shewed me an act of forgery, in his posse&eion, com- mitted by Real in 1788, when an advocate of the parliament, and for which the humanity of my friend alone prevented him from being struck of the rolls, and otherwise punished. As I conceived my usual societies and coteries could not approve my attendance at the house of such a personage, 1 was intent upon sending an apology to Madame Real. My friend however assured me, that I should meet in her saloon persons of all classes and of all ranks ; and many I little expected to see associating together. I went late, and found the assembly very numerous : at the upper part of the hall were seated princesses Joseph and Louis Buonaparte, with Madame Fouche, Madame Rcederer ; the ci-devant Duchess de Fleury, and Marchioness de Clermont. They were conversing with M. Mathew de Mont- morency ; the contractor (a ci-devant lacquey) CoUot ; the ci-devant Duke Fitzjames, and the legislator Martin, a ci-devant porter : several groups in the several apartments were composed of a similar heterogeneous mixture of ci- devant nobles, and ci-devant valets ; of ci-devant princesses, marchionesse?, countesses, and baronesses, and of ci-devant 22 SECRET HISTORY OF THE chamber-maids, mistresses, and poissardes. Round a gambling table, by the side of the ci-devant Bishop of Autun, Talleyrand, sat Madame Hounguenin, whose husband, a ci'devant shoeblack, has, by the purchase of national property, made a fortune of nine millions of livres ; 575,000/. Opposite them were seated the ci'devant Prince de Chalais, and the present Prince Cambaceres, with the ci-devant Countess de Beauvais, and Madame Fauve, the daughter of a fish-woman, and the wife of a tribune, a ci'devant barber. In another room the Bavarian minister Cetto was conferring with the spy Mehee de la Touche ; but observed at a distance by Fouche's secretary, Desmarets, the son of ^ tailor at Fontainbleau, and for years a known police spy. When I was just going to retire, the handsome Madame Gillot, and her sister Madame de Soubray, joined me. You have per- haps known them in England, where, before their marriage, they resided for five years with their parents, the Marquis and Marchioness de Courtin ; and were often admired by the loun- gers in Bond-street. The one married for money, Gillot, a ci-devant drummer in the French guards, but who, since the Revolution^ has, as a general, made a large fortune ; and the other united herself to a ci'devant Abb6, from love ; but both are now divorced from their husbands ; who passed them with- out any notice while they were chatting with me. I was hand- ing Madame Gillot to her carriage, when from the staircase, Madame de Soubray called to us not to quit her, as she was pur-' sued by a man whom she detested, and wished to avoid. We had hardly turned round, when Mehee offered her his arm ; and she exclaimed with indignation, " how dare you, infamous Wretch, approach me, when I have forbid you ever to speak to me. Had you been reduced to become a highwayman or a house-breaker, I might have pitied your infamy — but a spy— is a villain who aggravates guilt by cowardice and baseness ; and can inspire no noble soul with any other sentiment but abhor- rence, and the most sovereign contempt." Without being dis- concerted, Mehee silently returned to the company, amidst bursts of laughter from fifty servants, and as many masters^ waiting for their carriages. M. de Cetto was among the latter, but though we all fixed our eyes stedfastly upon him, no alter- ation could be seen upon his diplomatic countenance : his face must surely be made of brass, or his heart of marble. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 23 LETTER VL Parisy August 1805. MY LORD, THE day on which Madame Napoleone Buonaparte was elect- ed an Empress of the French, by the constitutional authorities of her husband's empire, was, contradictory as it may seem, one of the most uncomfortable in her life. After the show and ceremony of the audience and of the drawing-room were over, she passed it entirely in tears, in her library, where her husband shut her up and confined her. The discipline of the Court of St. Cloud is as singular as its composition is unique. It is, by the regulation of Napoleone, entirely military. From the Empress to her lowest chamber- maid, from the Emperor's first aide-de-camp down to his youngest page, any slight oifence or negligence is punished with confinement, either private or public. In the former case, the culprits are shut up in their own apartments ; but in the latter, they are ordered into one of the small rooms, constructed in the dark galleries at the Thuileries and St. Cloud, near the kitchens ; where they are guarded day and night by sentries, who answer for their persons, and that nobody visits them. When, on the 98th of March 1804, the senate had deter- mined on offering Buonaparte the Imperial dignity, he imme- diately gave his wife full powers, with order to form her house- hold of persons who, from birth, and from their pi'inciples, might be worthy and could be trusted, to encompass the Imperial couple. She consulted Madame Remusat, who in her turn con- sulted her friend de Segur, who also consulted his bonne mniey Madame de Montbrune. This lady determined, that if Buon- aparte and his wife were desirous to be served, or waited on, by persons above them by ancestry and honour, they should pay liberally for such sacrifices. She was not, therefore, idle, but wishing to profit herself by the pride of upstart vanity, she had at first merely reconnoitred the ground, or made distant over- tures to those families of the ancient French nobility who had 24 SECRET HISTORY OF THE been ruined by the Revolution, and whose minds she expected to have found on a level with their circumstances. These, however, either suspecting her intent and her views, or prefer- ring honest poverty to degrading and disgraceful splendor, had started objections which she was not prepared to encounter. Thus the time passed away ; and when, on the 1 8th of the fol- lowing May, the senate proclaimed Napoleone Buonaparte Em- peror of the French, not a chambei'lain was ready to attend him, nor a maid of honour prepared to wait on his wife. In the morning of the 20th of May, the day fixed for the constitutional republican authorities to present their homage as subjects^ Napoleone asked his Josephine, who were the persons, of both sexes, she had engaged, according to his carte blanche given her, as necessary and as unavoidable decorations of the drawing-room of an Emperor and Empress, as thrones and as canopies of state. She referred him to Madame Remusat, who, though but half-dressed, was instantly ordered to appear before him. This lady avowed, that his grand master of the ceremo- nies, de Segur, had been intrusted by her with the whole ar- rangement, but that she feared that he had not yet been able to complete the full establishment of the Imperial court. The aide-de-camp Rapp was. then dispatched after de Segur, who as usual presented himself smiling and cringing. " Give me the list," said Napoleone, " of the ladies and gentlemen you have no doubt engaged for our household.'' " May it please your Majesty," answered de Segur, (trembling with fear) " I hum- bly supposed that they were not requisite, before the day of your Majesty's coronation." " You supposed 1" retorted Na- poleone, " how dare you suppose differently from our com- mands ? Is the Emperor of the Great Nation not to be encom- passed with a more numerous retinue, or with more lustre than a First Consul ? Do you not see the immense difference between the sovereign monarch of an empire, and the citizen chief ma- gistrate of a commonwealth ? Are there not starving nobles in my empii'e, enough to furnish all the courts in Europe with at- tendants, courtiers, and valets ? Do you not believe that with a nod — with a single nod, I might have them all prostrated before my throne ? What can then have occasioned this impertinent de- lay ?"— .« Sire !" answered de Segur, « it is not the want of nura- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 2S bers, but the difficulty of the choice among them. I will never recommend a single individual, upon whom I cannot depend ; or who, on some future day, may expose me to the greatest of all evils, the displeasure of my prince." — " But," continued Napo- leone, " what is to be done to-day, that I may augment the number of my suite, and by it impose upon the gaping multi- tude, and the attending deputations ?" — " Command," said de Segur, " all the officers of your Majesty's staff, and of the staff of the Governor of Paris, General Murat, to surround your Majesty's sacred person, and order them to accoutre themselves in the most shining and splendid manner possible. The pre- sence of so many military men will also, in a political point of view, be useful. It will lessen the pretensions of the constitut- ed authorities, by telling them indirectly : It is not to your Se- natus Consultum, to your decrees, or to your votes, that I am indebted for my present sovereignty : I owe it exclusively to my own merit and valour, and to the valour of my brave officers and men, to whose arms I trust more than to your counsels." This advice obtained Napoleone's entire approbation, and was followed. De Segur was permitted to retire, but when Madame Remusat made a curtesy also to leave the room, she was stopped with his terrible, aux arrets ! and left under the care and re- sponsibility of his aide-de-camp I^e Brun, who saw her safe into her room, at the door of which he placed two grenadiers. Napoleone then went out, ordering his wife, at her peril, to be in time ready and brilliantly dressed, for the drawirig-room. Dreading the consequences of her husband's wrath, Madame Napoleone was not only punctual, but so elegantly and tastefully decorated with jewels and ornaments, that even those of her ene- mies or rivals who refused her beauty, honour, and virtue, allow- ed her taste and dignity. She thought that even in the regards of Napoleone, she read a tacit approbation. When all the troublesome bustie of the morning was gone through, and when! senators, legislators, tribunes, and prefects, had complimented her as a model of female perfection, on a signal from her husband, she accompanied him in silence, through six different apart* ments, before he came to her library, where he surlily ordered her to enter, and to remain until further orders. " What have I E 26 SECRET HISTORY OF THE done, Sire ! to deserve such treatment ?" exclaimed she trem- bling.—." If," answered Napoleone, " Madame Remusat, your favourite, has made a fool of you, this is only to teach you, that you shall not make a fool of me. Had not de Segur, fortunately for him, had the ingenuity to extricate us from the dilemma into which my confidence and dependence on you had brought me, I should have made a fine figure, indeed, on the first day of my Emperorship.— Have patience, Madame, you have plenty of books to divert yp,u, but you must remain vi^here you are, until I am in- clined to release you." So saying, Napoleone locked the door, and put the key in his pocket. It was near two o'clock in the afternoon when she was thus shut up. Remembering the recent flattery of her courtiers, and comparing it with the unfeeling treatment of her husband, she found herself so much the more unfortunate, as the expressions of the former were regarded by her as praise due to her merit, while the unkindness of the latter was unavailingly. resented as the undeserved oppression of a capricious despot. Business, or perhaps malice, made Napoleone forget to send her any dinner ; and when, at eight o'clock, his brothers and sisters came according to invitation to take tea, he said coldly, " A-propos, I forgot it, my wife has not dined yet ; she is busy, I suppose, in her philosoplxical meditations in her study." Ma- dame Louis Buonaparte, her daughter, flew directly towards the study, and her mother could scarcely, for her tears, inform her that she was a prisoner, and that her husband was her gaoler. " Oh, Sire !" said Madame Louis, returning, " even this remark- able day is a day of mourning for my poor mother !" — " She de- serves worse," answered Napoleone, " but, for your sake, she shall be released ; here is the key, let her out." Madame Napoleone was, however, not in a situation to wish to appear before her envious brothers and sisters-in-law. Her eyes were so swollen with crying, that she could hardly see ; and her tears had stained those imperial robes, which the unthinking and inconsiderate, no doubt, believed a certain preservative against sorrow and affliction. At nine o'clock, however, another aide-de- camp of her husband presented himself, and gave her the choice, either to accompany him back to the study, or to join the family party of the Buonapartes. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 27 In deploring her mother's situation, Madame Louis Buona- pai'te informed her former governess, Madame Cam — n, of these particulars, which I heard her relate at Madame de M — r's, almost verbatim as I report them to you. Such, and other scenes nearly of the same description, are neither rare nor singular, in the most singular court that ever existed in civilized Europe. LETTER VIL Paris f August 1805. MY LORD, THOUGH government suffer a religious, or rather anti-religi- ous liberty of the press, the authors who libel or ridicule the Christian, particularly the Roman Catholic religion, are excluded from all prospect of advancement, or, if in place, are not trusted or liked. Cardinal Caprara, the nuncio of the Pope, proposed last year, in a long memorial, the same severe restrictions on the dis- cussions or publications in religious matters, as were already or- dered in those concerning politics. But both Buonaparte, and his minister in the affairs of the church, Portalis, refused the intro- duction of what they called a tyranny on the conscience. Capra- ra then addressed himself to the ex-bishop Talleyrand, who on this occasion was more explicit than he generally is. " Buonaparte," said he, " rules not only over a fickle but a gossiping (bavard) people, whom he has prudently forbidden all conversation and writing concerning government, or affairs of state. They would soon (accustomed as they are, since the Revolution, to verbal and written debates), be tired of talking about fine weather or about the opera. To occupy them and their attention, some ample subject of diversion was necessary, and religion was surrendered to them at discretion ; because, enlightened as the world now is, even atheists, or Christian fanatics, can do but little harm to society. They may spend rivers of ink, but they will be unable 28 SECRET HISTORY OF THE to shed a drbp of blood,"— " True," answered the Cardinal, " but only to a certain degree. The licentiousness of the press, with re- gard to religious matters, does it not also furnish infidelity with new arms to injure the faith ? and have not the horrors from which France has just escaped proved the danger and evil consequences of irreligion; and the necessity of encouraging and protecting Christianity? By the recal of the clergy, and by the religious concordat, Buonaparte has shown himself convinced of this truth." " So he is," interrupted Talleyrand, " but he abhors intoleration and persecution" (not in politics). " I shall however, to please your Eminence, lay the particulars of your conversation before him." Sometime afterwards, when Talleyrand and Buonaparte must have agreed about some new measure, to indirectly chastise im- pious Writers, the senators Garat, Jaucourt, Roederer, and De- meuniex', four of the members of the senatorial commission of the liberty of the press, were sent for, and remained closeted with Napoleone, his minister Portalis, and Cardinal Caprara, for two hours. What was determined on this occasion has not transpir- ed, as even the Cardinal, who is not the most discreet person when provoked, and his religious zeal gets the better of his politi- cal prudence, has remained silent, though seemingly contented. Two rather insignificant authors, of the name of Varennes and Beaujou, who published some scandalous libels on Christianity, have since been taken up, and after some months' imprisonment in the Temple, been condemned to transportation to Cayenne for life; not as infidels or atheists, but as conspirators against the state, in consequence of some unguarded expressions, which pre- judice or ill-will alone would judge connected with politics. No- thing is now permitted to be printed against religion, but with the author's name ; but by affixing his name, he may abuse the ■worship and gospel as much as he pleases. Since the example of severity alluded to above, however, this practice is on the decline. Even Pigault Le Brun, a popular but immoral novel writer, nar- rowly escaped lately a trip to Cayenne, for one of his blasphemous publications ; and owes to the protection of Madame Murat, exclu- d.vely, that he was not sent to keep Varennes and Beaujou com- pany. Some years ago, when Madame Murat was neither so great nor so rich as at present, he presented her with a copy of COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 29' his works, and she has been unfashionable enough not only to re- member the compliment, but wished to return it, by nominating' him her private secretary ; which, however, the -veto of Napoleone prevented. Of Napoleone Buonaparte's religious sentiments, opinions are not divided in France. The influence over him, of the petty superstitious Cardinal Caprara, is therefore inexplicable. This prelate has forced from him assent to transactions which had been refused both to his mother and his brother Joseph, who now often employ the Cardinal with success, where they either dare riot nor will not show themselves. It is true, his Eminence is not easily rebuked, but returns to the charge unabashed by new repulses : and he obtains by teasing more than by persuasion; but a man by whom Buonaparte suffers himself to be teased with impunity is no insignificant favourite, particularly when, like this Cardinal, he unites cunning with devotion, craft with superstition ; and is as accessible to corruption as tormented by ambition. As most ecclesiastical promotions passed through his pure and disinterested hands, Madame Napoleone, Talleyrand, and Porta- lis, who also wanted some douceurs for their extraordinary ex- penses, united together last spring to remove him from France, and Napoleone was cajoled to nominate him a grand almoner of the kingdom of Italy; and the Cardinal set out for Milan. He was, however, artful enough to convince his Sovereign of the propriety of having his grand almoner by his side; and he is therefore ob- liged to this intrigue of his enemies, that he now disposes of the benefices in the kingdom of Italy, as well as those of the French empire. During the Pope's residence in this capital his Holiness often made use of Cardinal Caprara in his secret negotiations with Buonaparte ; and whatever advantages were obtained by the Ro- man Pontiff for the Galilean church, his Eminence almost extort- ed ; for he never desisted, where his interest or pride were con- cerned, till he had succeeded. It is said that one day last January, after having been for hours exceedingly teasing and troublesome, Buonaparte lost his patience, and was going to treat his Eminence as he frequently does his relatives, his ministers and counsellors, that is to say, to kick him from his presence ; but suddenly recol- lecting himself, he said, " Cardinal, remain here in my closet 30 SECRET HISTORY OF THE until my return, when I shall have more time to listen to what you have to relate." It was at ten o'clock in the morning, and a day of great military audience and grand review. In going out he put the key in his pocket, and told the guards in his anti- chamber to pay no attention, if they should hear any noise in his closet. ' It was dark before the review was over, and Buonaparte had a large party to dinner. When his guests retired, he went into his wife's drawing-room, where one of the Pope's chamberlains waited on him, with the information, that his Holiness was much alarmed about the safety of Cardinal Caprara, of whom no account could be obtained, even by the assistance of the police, to which application had been made, since his Eminence had so suddenly disappeared. " Oh! how absent I am!" answered Napokone, as Avith surprise ; " I entirely forgot that I left the cardinal in my closet this morning : I will go myself and make an apology for my -blunder." His Eminence, quite exhausted, was found fast asleep ; but no sooner was he a little recovered, than he inter- rupted Buonaparte's affected apology with the repetition of the demand he had made in the morning ; and so well was Napoleone pleased with him, for neglecting his personal inconvenience, only to occupy himself with the affairs of his Sovereign, that he consented to what was asked, and in laying his hand upon the shoulders of the prelate, said: " Faithful minister! were every pi-ince so well served as your Sovereign is by you, many evils might be prevented, and much good effected." The same evening Duroc brought him as a present, a snuff-box with Buonaparte's portrait, set round with diamonds, worth one thousand Louis d'ors. The adventures of this day certainly did not lessen his Eminence in the favour of Napoleone or of Pius VII. Last November, some not entirely unknown persons intended to amuse themselves at the Cardinal's expense. At seven o'clock one evening, a young Abbe presented himself at the Cardinal's house, hotel de Montmorin, rue Plumet, as by appointment of his Eminence; and was by his secretary ushei-ed into the study, and asked to wait there. Hardly half an hour afterwards, two persons, pretending to be agents of the police, arrived just as the Cardinal's carriage had stopped. They informed him, that the woman intro- -duced into his house in the dress of an Abbe was connected with COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 31 a gang of thieves and house-breakers, and demanded his permis- sion to arrest her. He protested that, except the wife of his porter, no woman in any dress whatever could be in his house, and that, to convince themselves, they were very welcome to accompany his valet-de-chambre into every room they wished to see. To the great surprise of his servant, a" very pretty girl was found in the bed of his Eminence's bed-chamber, which joined his study ; who, though the pretended police agents insisted on her getting up, refused, under pretence that she Was there waiting for her bon amie, the Cardinal. His Eminence was no sooner told of this, than he shut the gate of his house, after sending his secre- tary to the commissary of police of the section. In the meantime, both the police agents and the girl entreated him to let them out, as the whole was merely a badinage; but he remained inflexible, and they were all three carried by the real police commissary to prison. Upon a complaint made by his Eminence to Buonaparte, the police minister, Fouche, received orders to have those who had dared thus to violate the sacred character of the representative of the holy PontiflP, immediately and without farther ceremony transported to Cayenne. The Cardinal demanded, and obtained a proces verbal of what had occurred, and of the sentence on the culprits, to be laid before his Sovereign. As Eugenius de Beau- harnois interested himself so much for the individuals involved iii this affair, as both to implore Buonajjarte's pardon and the Car- dinal's interference for them, many were inclined to believe that he was in the secret, if not the contriver of this unfortunate joke. This supposition gained credit, when, after all his endeavours to save them proved vain, he sent them seventy-two thousand livres, 30001. to Rochfort, that they might on their arrival at Cayenne be able to buy a plantation. He procured them also letters of recom- mendation to the governor, Victor Hughes, to be treated diffe- rently from other transported persons. 32 SECRET HISTORY OF THE LETTER Vni. Paris, August \Q05. MY LORD, I WAS particularly attentive in observing the countenances and demeanour of the company, at the last levee which Madame Na- poleone Buonaparte held, previous to her departure with her hus- band, to meet the Pope at Fontainebleau. I had heard from good authority, " that to those whose propensities were known, Duroc's information, that the Empress was visible, was accompanied with a kind of admonitory or courtly hint, that the strictest decency in dress and manners, and a conversation chaste, and rather of an unusually modest turn, would be highly agreeable to their Sove- reigns ; in consideration of the solemn occasion of a Sovereign Pontiff's arrival in France ; an occurrence that had not happened for centuries, and probable would not happen for centuries to come." I went early, and was well rewarded for my punctuality. There came the senator Fouche, handing his amiable and chaste spouse, walking with as much gravity as formerly, when a friar, he marched in a procession. Then presented themselves the se- nators Sieyes and Roederer, with an air as composed, as if the former had still been an Abbe, and the confessor of the latter. Next came Madame Murat, whom three hours before I had seen in the Bois de Boulogne, in all the digusting display of fashionable nakedness, now clothed and covered to her chin. She was follow- ed by the pious Madame Le Clerc, now Princess Borghese, who was sighing deeply and loudly. After her came limping the godly Talleyrand, dragging his fiure moiety by his side, both with downcast and edifying looks ; the Christian patriots Gravina and Lima; Dreyer and Beust, Dalberg and Cetto, Malsburgh and Pappenheim, with the Catholic Schimmelpenninck, and Mohamed- Sayd-Halel-Effendy, all presented themselves as penitent sinners imploring absolutions, after undergoing mortifications. But it would become tedious, and merely a repetition, were I to depict separately the figures and characters of all the personages at this politico-comical masquerade. Their conversation was hovr- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 33 ever more uniform, more contemptible, and more laughable, than their accoutrements and grimaces were ridiculous. To judge from what they said, they belonged no longer to this world ; all their thoughts were in heaven, and they considered themselves either on the borders of eternity or on the eve of the day of the last judgment. The truly devout Madame Napoleone spoke with rapture of martyrs and miracles, of the mass and of the vespers, of agnuses and relics of Christ her Saviour, and of Pius VII, his vicar: had not her enthusiasm been interrupted by the enthu- siastic commentaries of her mother-in-law, I saw every mouth open, ready to cry out as soon as she had finished. Amen ! Amen I Amen! Napoleone had placed himself between the old Cardinal de Bel- lois and the not young Cardinal Bernier, so as to prevent the ap- proach of any profane sinner, or unrepentant infidel. Round him and their clerical chiefs, all the curates and grand vicafs, almoners and chaplains of the court, and the capitals of the.Princess, Prin- cesses, and grand officers of state, had formed a kind of cordon. " Had," said the young General Kellerman to me, " Buonaparte always been encompassed by troops of this description, he might now have sung hymns as a saint in heaven, but he would never have reigned as an Emperor upon earth." This indiscreet remark was heard by Louis Buonaparte, and on the next morning Keller- man received orders to join the army in Hanover, where he was put under the command of a general younger than himself. He would have been still more severely punished, had not his father the senator, General Kellerman, been in such great favour at the court of St. Cloud, and so much firotected by Duroc, who had made in 1792, his first campaign under this officer, then com- mander in chief of the army opf the Ardennes. When this devout assembly separated, which was by courtesy an hour earlier than usual, 1 expected every moment to hear a chorus of horse-laughs, because I clearly perceived that all of them were tired of their assumed parts ; and with me inclined to be gay at the expense of their neighbours. But they all remem- bered also that they were watched by spies, and that an imprudent look or an indiscreet word, gaiety instead of gravity, noise when silence was commanded, might be followed by an airing in the wilderness of Cayenne. They therefore all called out, " Coach- F 34 SECRET HISTORY OF THE man, to our hotel 1" us much as to say, we will to-day, in compli- ment to the new born Christian zeal of our Sovereigns, finish our evening as piously as we have begun it. But no sooner were they out of sight of the palace than they hurried to scenes of dissi- pation ; all endeavouring, in the debauchery and excesses so natu- ral to them, to forget their unnatural affectation and hypocrisy. Well you know the standard of the faith even of the members of the Buonaparte family. Two days before this Christian circle at Madame Napoleone's, Madame de Chateaureine, with three other ladies, visitcjd the Princess Borghese. Not seeing a fa- vourite parrot they had often previously admired, they inquired what was become of it. " Oh, the poor creature !" answered the Princess, "I haA^e disposed of it as well as of two of my monkeys. The Emperor has obliged me to engage an almoner and two chap- lains, and it would be too extravagant in me to keep six useless aniiTials in ray hotel : I must now submit to hearing the disgusting howlings of my almoner, instead of the entertaining chat of my parrot ; and to see the awkward bows and kneelings of my chap- lains, instead of the amusing capering of my monkeys. Add to this, that I am forced to transform into a chapel my elegant and tasty boudoir.) on the ground floor, where I have passed so many* fortunate moments, so many delicious tete-a-tetes. Alas ! what a change ! — what a shocking fashion, that we are now all again to be Christians ! ! 1" COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 35 LETTER IX. Paris, August 1805. MY LORD, NOTWITHSTANDING what was inserted in our public prints to the contrary, the reception Buonaparte experienced from his army of England in June last year, the first time he presented himself to them as an Emperor, was far from such as flattered either his vanity or views. For the first days, some few solitary voices alone accompanied the Vive V Emjiereur ! of his generals, and of his aides-de-camp. This indifference, or, as he called it, mutinous spirit, was so much the more provoking, as it was vin- expected. He did Dot, as usual, ascribe it to the emissaries or gold of England, but to the secret adherents of Pichegru and Mo- reau, amongst the brigades or divisions that had served under these unfortunate generals. He ordered,-in consequence, his mi- nister Berthier to make out a list of all these corps : .having ob- tained this, he separated them, by ordering some to Italy, others to Holland, and the rest to the frontiers of Spain or Germany. This act of revenge or jealousy was regarded both by the officers and men as a disgrace, and as a doubt thrown out against their fidelity ; and the murmur was loud and general. In consequence of this, some men were shot, and many more arrested. Observing, how- ever, that severity had not the desired effect, Buonaparte suddenly changed his conduct ; released the imprisoned, and rewarded with the crosses of his Legion of Honour every member of the so lately Suspected troops, who had ever performed any brilliant or valorous exploits under the prosci-ibed generals. He even incorporated among his own body-guards and guides, men v/ho had served in the same capacity under these rival commanders; and numbers of their children were received in the Prytanees and military free schools. The enthusiastic exclamation that soon greeted his ears convinced him that he had struck upon the right string of his sol- diers' heart. Men, who some few days before, wanted only the signal of a leader to cut an Emperor they hated to pieces, would 30 SECRET HISTORY OF THE now have contended, who should be foremost to shed their last drop of blood for a chief they adored. This affected liberality towards the troops, who had served un- der his rivals, roused some slight discontent among those to whom he was chiefly indebted for his own laurels. But if he knew the danger of reducing to despair slighted men with arms in their hands, he also was well aware of the equal danger of endur- ing licentiousness or audacity, among troops who had, on all occasions, experienced his preference and partiality ; and he gave a sanguinary proof of his opinion on this subject, at the grand pa- rade of the 12th July 1804, preparatory to the grand fete of the 14th. A grenadier of the 21st regiment (which was known in Italy under the name of the Terrible), in presenting arms to him, said: "Sire! I have served under you four campaigns, fought under you in ten battles or engagements ; have received in your service seven wounds, and am not a member of your Legion of Honour; whilst many, who served under Moreau, and are not able to shew a scratch from an enemy, have that distinction." Buonaparte instantly ordered this man to be shot by his own com- rades, in the front of the regiment. The six grenadiers selected to fire seeming to hesitate, he commanded the whole corps to lay down their arms ; and, after being disbanded, to be sent to the dif- ferent colonial depots. To humiliate them still more, the muti- nous granadier was shot by the gens-d'armes. When the review was over, Vive VEmfiereur! resounded from all parts, and his popularity among the troops has since rather increased than di- minished. Nobody can deny that Buonaparte possesses a great presence of mind, an undaunted firmness, and a perfect knowledge of the character of the people over whom he reigns. Could but justice and hum£\nity be added to his other qualities! — ^but unfor- tunately for my natioJV^-fear that the answer of General Mortier tp a remark of a friend of mine on this subject, is not problemati- cal : " Had," said this imperial favourite, " Napoleone Buonaparte been just and humane, he would neither have vanquished nor reigned." All these scenes occurred before Buonaparte, seated on a throne received the homage, as a Sovereign, of one hundred and fifty thousand warriors, who now bowed as subjects, after having for years fought for liberty and equality, and sworn hatred to all COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 37 monarchical institutions ; and who hitherto had saluted and obeyed him only as the first among equals. What an inconsistency ! — The splendor and show that accompanied him every where, the pageantry and courtly pomp that surrounded him, and the deco- rations of the stars and ribands of the Legion of Honour, which he distributed with bombastic 'speeches among troops, to whom those political impositions and social cajoleries were novelties, made such an impression upon them, that had a bridge been then fixed between Calais and Dover, brave as your countrymen are, I should have trembled for the liberty and independence of your country. The heads and imaginations of the soldiers, I know from the best authority, were then so exalted, that though they might have been cut to pieces, they could never have been defeated or routed. — I pity our children, when I reflect, that their tranquillity and happiness will perhaps depend upon such a corrupt and un- principled people of soldiers ; easy tools in the hands of every im- postor or mountebank. The lively satisfaction which Buonaparte must have felt at the pinnacle of grandeur, where fortune had placed him, was not, however, entirely unmixed with uneasiness and vexation. Ex- cept at Berlin, in all the other great courts, the Emperor of the French was still Monsieur Buonaparte ; and your country, of the subjugation of which he had spoken with such lightness and such inconsideration, instead of dreading, despised his boasts and defied his threats. Indeed, never before did the Cabinet of St. James more opportunely expose the reality of his impotency, the imper- tinence of his menaces, and the folly of his parade, for the invasion of your country, than by declaring all the ports, containing his in- vincible armada, in a state of blockade. I have heard from an ofiicer who witnessed his fury, when, in May 1799, he was com- pelled to retreat from before St. Jean d'Acre, and who was by his side in the camp at Boulogne, when a dispatch informed him of this circumstance, that it was nothing, compared to the violent rage into which he flew upon reading it. For an hour afterwards, not even his brother Joseph dared approach him ; and lais passion got so far the better of his policy, that what might still have long been concealed from the troops was knpwn within the evening to the whole camp. He dictated to his secretary orders for his mi- nisters at "Vienna, Berlin, Lisbon, and Madrid, and couriers were 38 SECIIET HISTORY OF'THE sent away with them ; but half an hour afterwards other couriers were dispatched after, them, with other orders ; which were re- voked in their turn, when at last Joseph had succeeded in calm- ing him a little. He passed, however, the whole following night full dressed and agitated ; lying down only for an instant, but hav- ing always in his room Joseph and Duroc, and deliberating on a thovisand methods of desti'oying the insolent islanders ; all equally violent, but all equally impracticable. The next morning, when, as usual, he went to see the ma- nosuvres of his flotilla, and the embarkation and landing of his troops, he looked so pale, that he almost excited pity. Your cruizers, however, as if they had been informed of the situation of our hero, approached unusually near, to evince, as it were, their contempt and derision. He ordered instantly ali the batte- ries to fire, and went himself to that which carried its shot farthest ; but that moment six of your vessels, after taking in their sails, cast anchor, with the greatest sang froid, just with- out the reach of our shot. In unavailing anger he broke up- on the spot six ofEcers of artillery, and pushed one Captain d'Ablincourt down the precipice, vmder the battery, where he narrowly escaped breaking his neck as well as his legs ; for which injury he was -compensated by being made an officer of the Legion of Honour. Buonaparte then convoked upon the spot a council of his generals of artillery and of the engineers, and, within an hour's time, some guns and mortars, of still heavier metal and greater calibre, were carried up to replace the others ; but, fortunately for the generals, before a trial could be inade of them, the tide changed, and your cruizers sailed. In returning to breakfast, at General Soult's, he observed the countenances of his soldiers rather inclined to laughter than to wrath ; and he heard some jests, significant enough in the voca- bulary of encampments, and which informed him that contempt was not the sentiment with which your navy had inspired his troops. The occurrences of these two days hastened his de- parture from the coast for Aix la Chapelle, where the cringing of his courtiers consoled him, in part, for the want of respect or gallantry in your English tars. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. S9 LETTER X. Paris, August 1805. MY LORD, ACCORDING to a general belief in our diplomatic circles, it was the Austrian ambassador in France, Count Cobentzel, who principally influenced the determination of Francis II to assume the hereditary title of Emperor of Austria, and to acknowledge Napoleone Emperor of the French. Jean Philippe Count de Cobentzel enjoys, not only in his owii country, but through all Europe, a great reputation as a statesman, and has for a number of years been employed by his court in the most intricate and delicate political transactions. In 1790 he was sent to Brabant to treat with the Belgian insurgents, but the States of Brabant refusing to receive him, he retired to Lux- emburg, where he published a proclamation, in which Leopold II revoked all those edicts of his predecessor Joseph II, v/hich had been the principal cause of the troubles ; and re-established every thing upon the same footing as during the reign of Maria Theresa. In 1791, he was appointed ambassador to the court of St. Petersburgh, where his conduct obtained the approbation of his own Prince, and of the Empress of Russia. In 1793, the Committee of Public Safety nominated the intri- guer, De Semonville, ambassador to the Ottoman Porte. His mission was to excite tlie Turks against Austria and Russia, and it became of great consequence to the two Imperial courts, to seize this incendiary of regicides. He was therefore stopped, on the 25th of July, in the village of Novate, near the lake of Chia- venne. A rumour was very prevalent at this time that some papers wei'e found in De Semonville's port-folio implicating Count de Cobentzel as a correspondent with the "revolutionary French generals. The continued confidence of his sovereign contradicts, however, this inculpation, which seems to have been merely the invention of rivalry or jealousy. In October 1795, Count de Cobentzel signed, in name of the Emperor, a treaty with England and Russia ; and in 1797 he was 40 SECRET HISTORY OF THE one of the Imperial plenipotentiaries sent to Udine to negociate ■with Buonaparte, with whom, on the 1 7th of October, he signed the treaty of Campo Formio. In the same capacity, he went afterwards to Radstadt, and when this congress broke up, he re- turned again as an ambassador to St. Petersburgh. After the peace of Luneville, when it required to have a man of experience and talents, to oppose to our so deefily able mi- nister, Talleyrand, the Cabinet of Vienna removed him from Russia to France, where, with all other representatives of princes, he has experienced more of the frowns and rebukes, than of the dignity and good grace, of our present Sovereign. Count de Cobentzel's foible is said to be a passion for women ; and it is reported that our worthy minister Talleyrand has been kind enough to assist him frequently in his amours. Some adventures of this sort, which occurred at Radstadt, af- forded much amusement at the Count's expense. Talleyrand, from envy, no doubt, does not allow him the same political merit as his other political contemporaries, having frequently repeated, " that the official dinners o£ Count de Cobentzel were greatly preferable to his official notes." So well pleased was Buonaparte with this ambassador, when at Aix la Chapelle last year, that, as a singular favour, he per- mitted him, with the Marquis de Gallo (the Neapolitan minister, and another plenipotentiary at Udine) to visit the camps of his army of England on the coast. It is true that this conde- scension was perhaps as nmch a boast, or a threat, as a com- pliment. The famous diplomatic note of Talleyrand, which, at Aix la Chapelle, proscribed en masse all your diplomatic agents, was only a slight revenge of Buonaparte's for your mandate of block- ade. Rumour states, that this measure was not approved of by Talleyrand, as it would not exclude any of your ambassadors from those courts not immediately under the whip of our Napo- leone. For fear, however, of some more extravagant deter- mination, Joseph Buonaparte dissuaded him from laying before his brother any objections or representations ; " But what absur- dities do I not sign !" exclaimed the pliant minister. Buonaparte, on his arrival at Aix la Chapelle, found there, according to command, most of the members of the foreign COtTRt OF ST. CLOUD. 41 Uiplomatic corps in France, waiting to present their new creden- tials to him as Emperor. Charlemagne had been saluted as such in tlie same place, eight hundred years before ; an induce- ment for the modern Charlemagne, to set all these ambassadors travelling some hundred miles, without any other object, but to gratify his impertinent vanity. Every spot where Chai'lemagne had walked, sat, slept, talked, eaten or prayed, was visited by him with great ostentation ; always dragging behind him the foreign repi'esentatives, and by his side his wife. To a peasant who pre- sented him a stone, upon which Charlemagne was said to have once kneeled, he gave nearly half its weight in gold ; on a priest who offered him a small crucifix, before which that Prince was reported to have prayed, he bestowed an episcopal see ; to a ma- nufacturer he ordered one thousand Louis, for a portrait of Charlemagne, said to be drawn by his daughter, but wnich, in fact, was from the pencil of the daughter of the manufacturer ; a German savant was made a member of the National Institute, for an old diploma, supposed to have been signed by Charlemagne, who many believe was not able to write ; and a German Baron Krigge, was registered in the Legion of Honour,, for a ring pre- sented by this Emperor to one of his ancestors, though his no- bility is well known not to be of sixty years standing. But wo to him who dated to suggest any doubt about what Napoleone be- lieved, or seemed to believe ! A German professor Richter, more ^ pedant than a courtier, and more sincere than wise, addressed a short memorial to Buonaparte, in which he proved, from his in=- timacy with antiquity, that most of the pretended relics of Charlemagne were impositions on the credulous ; that the por- trait was a drawing of this century ; the diploma written in the last ; the crucifix manufactured within fifty, and the ring, per- haps, within ten years. The night after Buonaparte had perused this memorial, a police commissary, accompanied by four gens- d'armes, entered the professor's bed-room, forced him to dress, and ushered him into a covered cart, which carried him under es- cort to the left bank of the Rhine ; where he was left with or- ders, under pain of death, never more to enter the territoi-y of the French empire. This expedition and summary justice si- lenced all other connoisseurs and antiquarians ; and relics of Charlemagne have since poured in, in such numbers, from all G 4/2 SECRET HISTORY OF THE parts of France, Italy, Germany, and even Denmark, that wc are here in hope to see one day established a museum Charle- magne, by the side of the museums Napoleone and Josephine. A ballad written in monkish Latin, said to be sung by the daughters and maids of Charlemagne, at his court on great fes- tivities, was addressed to Duroc, by a Danish professor Craneneri Who in return was presented, on the part of Buonaparte, with a diamond ring, worth twelve thousand livres ; 5001. This ballad may, perhaps, be the foundation of a future Btbliothequc or XyceM7K— .Charlemagne. LETTER XI. FariSfJugust 1805. M\ Loafij ON the aiTival of hef husband at Aix la Chapelle, Madame Napoleone had lost her money by gambling, without recovering her health by using the baths and drinking the waters ; she was therefore as poor as low-spirited, and as ill-tempered as dis- satisfied. Napoleone himself was neither much in humour to supply her present wants, provide for her extravagancies, or to forgive her ill-nature ; he ascribed the inefEcacy of the waters to her excesses ; and reproached her for too great condescension to many persons, who presented themselves at her drawing-room, and in her circle, but who, from their rank in life, were only fit to be seen as supplicants in her anti-chambers, and as associates with her valets or chambermaids. The fact was, that Madame Napoleone knew as. well as hef husband, that these gentry were not in their place, in the com- pany of an Empress ; but they were her creditors, some of them even Jews ; and as long as she continued debtor to them, she could not decently, or rather she dared not, prevent them from COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 43 being visitors to her. By confiding her situation to her old friend, Talleyrand, she was, however, soon released from those trouble* some personages. When the minister was informed of the oc* casion of the attendance of these impertinent intruders, he hum» bly proposed to Buonaparte, not to pay their demands and their due ; but to majte them examples of severe justice, in transport^ ing them to Cayenne, as the only sure means to prevent, for the future, people of the same description, from being familiar or audacious. When, thanks to Talleyrand's interference, these family ar- rangements were settled, Madame Napoleone recovered her health with her good humour ; and her husband, who had began to forget the English blockade, only to think of the papal accolade (dubbing) was more tender than ever. I am assured, that dur- ing the fortnight he continued with his wife at Aix la Chapelle, he only shut her up or confined her twice, kicked her thi'ee time^ and abused her once a day. It was during their residence in that capital, that Count de Segur, at last, completed the composition of their household ; and laid before them the list of the ladies and genliemen, who had consented to put on their livery. This de Segur is a kind of amphibious animal, neither a royalist nor a republican ; neitlier a democrat nor an aristocrat ; but a disaffected subject under a king ; a dangerous citizen of a com^ionwealth ; ridiculing both the friend of equality and the defender of prerogatives ; no exact definition can be given from his past conduct and avowed profeS' sions, of his real, moral, and political character. One thing is only cei*tain-™-he was an ungrateful traitor to Louis XVI, and is a submissive slave under Napoleone the First, Though not of an ancient family. Count de Segur was a noble- man by birth, and ranked among the ancient French nobility, because one of his ancestors had been a field-mareschal. Being early introduced at court, he acquired, with the common corrup- tion, also the pleasing manners of a courtier ; and by his assidui- ties about the ministers, Counts de Maurepas and de Vergennes, he procured from the latter the place of an ambassador to the Court of St. Petersburg. With some reading and genius, but with more boasting and presumption, he classed himself among Fjfench men of letters, and was therefore *3 such received wiJh 44 SECRET HISTORY OF THE distinction by Catharine II, on whom, and on whose government, he in return published a libel. He was a valet under La Fayette, in 1789, as he has since been under every succeeding king of fac- tion. The partisans of the Revolution pointed him out as a fit ambassador from Louis XVI to the late King of Prussia ; and he went in 1791 to Berlin, in that capacity ; but Frederic William II refused him admittance to his person, and after some ineffec- tu..l intrigues with the illuminati and philosofihers at Berlin, he returned to Paris as he left it ; provided, however, with materials for another libel on the Prussian monai'ch, and on the House of Brandenburgh, wliich he printed in 1796. Ruined by the Revo- lution which he had so much admired, he was imprisoned under Rob spierre, and was near starving under the Directory, having nothing but his literary productions to subsist on. In 1799, Buonaparte made him a legislator, and in 1803, a counsellor of state ; a place which he resigned last year, for that of a grand master of the ceremonies at the present Imperial court. His an- cient inveteracy against your country has made him a favourite with Buonaparte. The indeliciite and scandalous attacks in 1796 and 1797, against Lord Malmesbury, in the then official journal, le Redact eur., were the offspring of his malignity and pen ; and the philippics and abusive notes in our present oHlcial Moniteur^ against your government and country, are frequently his patriotic progeny, or ratber, he often shares with Talleyrand and Hauterive their paternity. The Revolution has not made Count de Segur more happy with regard to his family, than in his circumstances, which, not- withstanding his brilliant grand mastership, are far from being affluent. His amiable wife died of terror, and bi'oken-hearted, from the sufferings she had experienced, and the atrocities she had witnessed ; and when he had enticed his eldest son to accept the place of a sub-prefect under Buonaparte, his youngest son, who never approved our present regeneration, challenged his brother to fight, and after killing him in a duel, destroyed him- self. Count de Segur is therefore at present neither a husband nor a father, but only a grand master of ceremonies ! What an indemnification ! Madame Napoleone, and her husband, are both certainly un- der much obligation to this nobleman, for his care to procure COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 45 tJiem comparatively decent persons to decorate their levees and drawing-rooms ; who, though they have no claim either to mo- rality or virtue, either to honour or chastity, are undoubtedly a great acquisition at the Court of St. Cloud, because none of them has either been accused of murder, or convicted of plun- der ; which is the case with some of the ministers, and most of the generals, senators, and counsellors. It is true, that they are a mixture of beggared nobles, and enriched valets ; of mar- ried courtezans and divorced wives ; but, for all that, they can ■with justice demand the places of honour of all other Imperial courtiers of both sexes. When Buonaparte had read over the names of these court re- cruits, engaged and enlisted by de Segur, he said, " Well, this lumber must do until \i^ can exchange it for better furniture." At that time, young Count d'Arberg (of a German family, on the right bank of thit Rhine) but whose mother is one of Ma- dame Buonaparte's maids of honour, was travelling for him in Germany, and in Prussia, where, among o\}s\qx negotiations^ he was charged to procure some persons of both sexes, of the most an- cient nobility, to augment Napoleone's suite, and to figure in his livery. More individuals presented themselves for this honour than he wanted, but they were all without education, and without address ; ignorant of the world as of books .; not speaking well their own language, much less understanding French or Italian ; vain of their birth, but not ashamed of their ignorance, and as proud as poor. This project was therefore re- linquished for the present ; but a number of the children of the principal ci-devant German nobles, who, by the treaty of Lune- ville and Ratisbon, had become subjects of Buonaparte, were, by the advice of Talleyrand, offered places in French Prytanees, ■where the Emperor promised to take care of their future ad- -vancement. Madame Buonaparte, at the same time, selected twenty-five young girls of the same families, whom she also of- fered to educate at her expense. Their parents understood too well the meaning of these generous offers^ to dare decline their acceptance. These children are the plants of the Imperial nursery, intended to produce future pages, chamberlains, equer- ries, maids of honour, and ladies in waiting, who, for ancestry Toay bi can entertain little doubt, but that he is seriously bent on seizing and adding the sceptre of Germany to the crowns of France and Italy. During his stay last autumn at Mentz, all those German Electors, who had spirit and dignity enough to refuse to attend on him there in person, were obliged to send extraordinary am- bassadors to wait on him, and to compliment him on their part. Though hardly one corner of the veil that covered the intrigues going forward there is yet lifted up, enough is already seen to warn Europe and alarm the world. The secret treaties he con- cluded there with most of the petty Princes of Germany, COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 47 against the Chief of the German empire (which not only entire* ly detached them from their country andits legitimate Sovereign, but made their individual interests hostile, and totally opposite to that of the German commonwealth, transforming them also from independent princes into vassals of France) both directly increased his already gigantic power, and indirectly encouraged him to extend it beyond what his most sanguine expectation had induced him to hope. I do not make this assertion from a mere supposition in consequence of ulterior occurrences. At a sup- per with Madame Talleyrand last March, I heard her husband, in a gay, unguarded, or perhaps firemeditated moment, say, when mentioning his proposed journey to Italy, " I prepared myself to pass the Alps last October at Mentz. The first ground-stone of the throne of Italy was, strange as it may seem, laid on the banks of the Rhine : with such an extensive foundation, it must be difficult to shake, and impossible to overturn it.'' We were in the whole twenty-five persons at table when he spoke thus, many of whom he well knew, Avere intimately acquainted both with the Austrian and Prussian ambassadors, who, by the bye, both on the next day sent couriers to their respective courts. The French Revolution is neither seen in Germany in that dangerous light which might naturally be expected from the sufferings in which it has involved both princes and subjects, nor are its future effects dreaded from its past enormities. The cause of this impolitic and anti-patriotic apathy is to be looked for in the palaces of Sovereigns, and not in the dwellings of their people. There exists hardly a single German Prince, whose ministers, courtiers, and counsellors are not numbered, and have long been notorious among the anti-social conspirators, the illu- minati : most of them are knaves of abilities, who have usurped the easy direction of ignorance, or forced themselves as guides on weakness or folly, which bow to their charlatanism, as if it was sublimity, and hail their sophistry and imposture as inspi- ration. Among princes, thus encompassed, the Elector of Bavaria must be allowed the first place. A younger brother of a youn- ger branch, and a colonel in the service of Louis XVI, he neither acquired by education, nor inherited from nature, any talent to reign, nor posses.sed any one quality that fitted him for a higher 48 SECRET HISTORY OF THE situation than the head of a regiment, or a lady's drawing-room. He made himself justly suspected of a moral corruption, as well 'as of a natural incapacity, when he announced his approbation of the Revolution against his benefactor, the late King of France, who, besides a regiment, had also given him a yearly pension of one hundred thousand livres, 4000/. Immediately after his un- expected accession to the Electorate of Bav -ria, he concluded a subsidiary treaty with your country, and his troops were ordered to combat rebellion, under the standard of Austrian loyalty. For some months it was believed that the Elector wished, by his conduct, to obliterate the memory of the errors, vices, and principles of the Duke of Deux Fonts (his former title). But placing all his confidence in a political adventurer and revolution- ary fanatic, Montgelas, without either consistency or firmness, without being either bent upon information, or anxious about po- pularity, he threw the whole burthen of state on the shoulders of this dangerous man, who soon showed the world that his master, by his first treaties, intended only to pocket your money, with- out serving your cause or interest. This Montgelas is, on account of his cunning and long stand*^ ing among them, worshipped by the gang of German iiiuminati as an idol, rather than revered as an apostle. He is their Baal, before whom they hope to oblige all nations upon earth to pros- trate themselves, as soon as infidelity has entirely banished Christianity ; for the iiiuminati do not expect to reign till the last Christian is buried under the rubbish of the last altar of Christ. It is not the fault of Montgelas, if such an event has not already occurred in the Electorate of Bavaria. Within six months after the treaty of Luneville, Montgelas began in that country his political and religious innovations. The nobility and the clergy were equally attacked ; the privi- leges of the former were invaded, and. the property of the lat- ter confiscated ; and had not his zeal carried him too far, so. as to alarm our new nobles, our new men of property, and new Christians, it is very pi'obable that atheism would have al- ready, without opposition, reared its head in the midst of Ger- many, and proclaimed there the rights of man, and the code of liberty and equality. The inhabitants of Bavaria are, as you know, all Roman Ca,- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 49 tholics, and the most superstitious and ignorant Catholics of Germany. The step is but short from superstition to infidelity ; and ignorance has furnished in France more sectaries of atheism than perversity. The illuminati, brothers scad friends of Montge- las, have not been idle in that country. Their writings have per- verted those who had no opportunity to hear their speeches, or to witness their example ; and I am assured by Count de Buest, who travelled in Bavaria last year, that their progress among the lower classes is astonishing, considering the short period these emissaries have laboured. To any one looking on the map of the continent, and acquainted with the spirit of our times, this impious focus of illumination must be ominous. Among the members of the foreign diplomatic corps, there exists not the least doubt but that this Montgelas, as well as Buonaparte's minister at Munich, Otto, was acquainted with thd treacherous part Meh6e de la Touche played against your minister, Drake ; and that it was planned between him and Tal- leyrand, as the surest means to break off all political connexions between your country and Bavaria. Mr. Drake was personally liked by the Elector, and was not inattentive either to the plans and views of Montgelas, or to the intrigues of Otto. They were, therefore, both doubly interested to remove such a trouble- some witness. M. de Montgelas is now a grand officer of Buonaparte's Le- gion of Honour, and he is one of the few foreigners nominated, the most worthy of such a distinction. In France he would have been an acquisition either to the factions of a Marat, of a Brissot, or of a Robespierre ; and the Goddess of Reason, as well as the God of the Theophilanthropists, might have been sure of count- ing him among their adorers. At the clubs of the Jacobins or Cordeliers, in the fraternal societies, or in a revolutionary tribu- nal ; in the Committee of Public Safety, or in the council cham- ber of the Directory, he would equally have made himself noto- rious and been equally in his place. A stoic sans-culotte under Du Clots, a staunch republican under Robespierre, he would now have been the most pliant and brilliant courtier of Buona- parte. H so SECRET HISTORY OF THE LETTER XIIL Parisf August. 1805^ MY LORDy NO Queen of France ever saw so many foreign princes and princesses in her drawing-rooms as the first Empress of the French did last year at Mentz ; and no Sovereign was ever be- fore so well paid, or accepted with less difficulty donations and presents for her gracious protection. Madame Napoleone her- self, on her return to this capital last October, boasted that she was ten millions of livres (420,000/) richer in diamonds } two millions of livres (62,000/) richer in pearls, and three millions of livres (125,000/). richer in plate and china, than in the June before, when she quitted it. She acknowledged that she left behind her some creditors and some money at Aix la Ghapelle } but at Mentz, she did not want to borrow, nor had time to gam- ble ; the gallant ultra Rhonians provided every thing, even to the utmost extent of her wishes j and she, on her part, could not but honour those with her company as much as possible, particularly as th^y required nothing else for their civilities. Such was the Empress's expression to her lady in waiting, the handsonic Madame Seran, with whom no confidence, no tale, no story, and no scandal expires ; and who was in a great hurry to inform, the same evening, the tea party at Madame de Beauvais of this good news; complaining at the same time of not having had the least share in this rich harvest. , No where indeed were bribery and corrupted carried to a grea- Xsx extent, or practised with more effrontery, than at Mentz. Madame Napoleone had as much her fixed price for every favourable word she spoke, as Talleyrand had for every line he wrote. , Even the attendants of the former, and the clerks of the latter, demanded or rather extorted douceurs from the exhausted and almost ruined German petitioners ; who in the end were re- warded for all their meanness and for all their expenses with promises at best ; as the new plan of supplementary indiemnities was, on the very day proposed for its final arrangement, postponed COURT OF ST. CLOUb. 51 by the desire of the Emperor of the French until farther orders.' This firovoking delay could no more be foreseen by the Empress than by the minister, who, in retitrn for their presents and money, almost overpowered the German Princes with his protestations of regret at their disappointments. Nor was Madame Buona- parte less sorry or less civil. She sent her chamberlain, Dau- busson la Feuillad, with regular compliments of condolence, to fevery Prince who had enjoyed her protection. They returned to their homes, therefore, if not wealthier, at least happier ; flat- tered by assurances and condescensions, confiding in hope as in certainties. Within three months, however, it is supposed that they would willingly have disposed both of promises and expec- tations, at a loss of fifty per cent. . r By the cupidity and selfishness of these and other Gennaii Princes, and their want of patriotism, Talleyrand wjts become perfectly acquainted with the value and production of every prin- cipality, bishopric, county, abbey, barony, convent, and evea village in the German empire ; and though most national pro- perty in France was disposed of at one or two years purchase, he required five years purchase-money for all the estates and lands 6n the other side of the Rhine ; of which, under the name of indemnities, he stripped the lawful owners, to gratify the ambi- tion or avidity of intruders. This high price has cooled the claims of the bidders, and the plan of the supplementary indem- nities is still suspended, and probably will continue so until our minister lowers his terms. A combination is supposed to have been entered into by the chief demanders of indemnities, by which they have bound themselves to resist all further extortions. They do not, however, know the man they have to deal with ; he will, perhaps, find out some to lay claim to their own private and hereditary property, whom he will produce and support, and tvho certainly will have the same right to pillage them, as they had to the spoils of others. It was repoi'ted in our fashionable circles last autumn, and smiled at by Talleyrand, that he promised the Countess de L. an abbey, and the Baroness de S— -z, a convent, for certain per- sonal favours, and that he offered a bishopric to the Princess of H ^ 1.1 1 I . on the same terms ; but this lady answered, " that she 52 SECRET HISTORY OF THE would think of his offers after he had put her husband in pos- session of the bishopric." It is not necessary to observe that both the Countess and the Baroness are yet waiting to enjoy his liberal donations, and to be indemnified for their prostitution. Napoleone Buonaparte was attacked by a fit of jealousy at Mentz. The young nephew of the Elector Arch-Chancel- lor, Count de L— ge, was very assiduous about the Empress, who, herself, at first mistook the motive. Her confidential se- cretary, Deschamps, however, afterwards informed her, that this nobleman wanted to purchase the place of a coadjutor to his un- cle, so as to be certain of succeeding him. He obtained, there- fore, several private audiences, no doubt to regulate the price ; when Napoleone put a stop to this secret negotiation, by having the Count carried by gens-d'armes, nvith great politeness, to the other side of the Rhine. When convinced of his error, Buona- parte asked his wife what sum had been proposed for her firotec^ Hon, and immediately gave her an order on his minister of the treasury, Marbois, for the amount. This was an act of justice* aiid a reparation worthy of a good and tender husband ; but when, the very next day, he recalled this order, threw it into the fire before her eyes, and confined her for six hours in her bedr room, because she was not dressed time enough to take a walk with him on the ramparts, one is apt to believe that military des- potism has erased from his bosom all connubial affection ; and that a momentary effusion of kindness and generosity can but little alleviate the frequent pangs caused by repeated insults and oppression. Fortunately, Madame Napoleone's disposition is proof against rudeness as well as against brutality. If what her friend and consoler, Madame Dula9ay, reports of her is not ex- aggerated, her tranquillity is not much disturbed, nor her happi- ness affected, by these explosions of passionate authority ; and she prefers admiring in vmdisturhed solitude her diamond box to the most beautiful prospects in the most agreeable company j and she inspects with more pleasure in confinement her rich wardrobe, her beautiful china, and her heavy plate, than she would find satisfaction, surrounded with crowds, in contemplating na- ture even in its utmost perfection. « The paradise of Madame Napoleone," says her friend, « must be of metal, and lighted by COURT OF ST. CLOUD. S3. the lustre of brilliants, else she would decline it for a hell, and accept Lucifer himself for a spouse, provided gold flowed in his infernal domains, though she were even to be scorched by its heat." LETTER XIV. Parisy jiugust 1805. MY LOHD, I BELIEVE that 1 have mentioned to you, when in England, that I was an old acquaintance of Madame Napoleone, and a vi- sitor at the house of her first husband. When introduced to her after some years absence, during which, fortune had treated us very differently, she received me with more civility than I was prepared to expect ; and would, perhaps, have spoken to me more than she did, had not a look of her husband silenced her. Madame Louis Buonaparte was still more condescending, and re- called to my memory, what I had not forgotten, how often she had been seated, when a child, on my lap, and played on my knees with her doll. Thus they behaved to me, when I saw them for the first time in their present elevation ; I found them afterwards in their drawing-rooms, or at their routs and pai'ties, more shy and distant. This change did not much surprise me, as I hard- ly knew any one, that had the slightest pretension to their ac- quaintance, who had not troubled them for employment, or bor- rowed their money ; at the same time that they complained of their neglect, and their breach of promises. I continued, how- ever, as much as etiquette and decency required, assiduous, but never familiar ; if they addressed me, I answered with respect, but not with servility ; if not, I bowed in silence when they pass- ed. They might easily perceive that I did not intend to be* come an intruder, nor to make the remembrance of what was past an apology or a reason for applying for present favours. A lady, on intimate terms with Madame Napoleone, and once $4 SECRET HISTORY OF THE our common friend, informed me, shortly after the untimely end of the lamented Duke of Enghien, that she had been asked, whether she knew any thing that could be done for me, or whe- ther I would not be flattered by obtaining a place in the Legisla- tive Body, or in the Tribunate ? I answered as I thought, that were I fit for a public life, nothing could be more agreeable, or suit me better ; but having hitherto declined all employments, that might restrain that independence, to which I had accus- tomed myself from my youth, I was now too old to enter upon a new career. I added, that though the Revolution had reduced my circumstances, it had not entirely ruined me. I was still in- dependent, because my means were the boundaries of my wants. A week after this conversation, General Murat, the governor of this capital, and Buonaparte's favourite brother-in-law, invi- ted me to a conversation, in a note delivered to me by an aide-de- camp, who told me that he was ordered to wait for my com- pany, or, which was the same, he had orders «ot to lose sight of me, as I was his prisoner. Having nothing with which to re- proach myself, and all my written remarks being deposited with a friend, whom none of the Imperial functionaries could suspect, I entered a hackney coach without any fear or apprehension ; and we drove to the governor's hotel. From the manner in which General Murat addressed me, I was soon convinced, that if I had been accused of any error or indiscretion, the accusation could not be very grave in his eyes. He entered with me into his cabinet, and inquired whether I had any enemies at the police office ? I told him not, to my know- ledge.^" Is the police minister and senator Fouche, your friend," continued he ?.-^" Fouche," said I, " has bought an es- tate that formerly belonged to me : may he enjoy it with the same peace of mind as I have lost it. I have never spoken to him in my life." — ^" Have you not complained at Madame die la Force's, of the execution of the ci'devant Duke of Enghien, and agreed, with the other members of her coterie, to put on mourn- ing for him." — " I have never been at the house of that lady since the death of the Prince ; nor more than once in my life." •— " Where did you pass the evening last Saturday ?" — " At the hotel, and in the assembly, of Princess Louis Buonaparte."—. « Did she sec you ?" <' I believe that she did, because she re- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 55 teimed my salute." — ^« You have known her Imperial Highness along time ?" « From her infancy."—" Well, I congratulate you. You have in her a generous protectress. But for her, you would now- have been on the M'ay to Cayenne. Here you see the list of persons condemned yesterday, upon the report of Fouch6, to- transportation. Your name is at the head of them. You were not only accused of being an agent of the Bourbons, but of having intrigued to become a member of the Legislature, or of the Tribunate, that you might have so much the better opportunity to serve them. Fortunately for you, the Emperor remembered that the Princess Louis had demanded such a fa- vour for you, and he informed her of the character of her firotegS. This brought forward your innocence, because it was discovered that, instead of asking for, you had declined, the of- fer she had made you through the Empress.— -Write the Princess a. letter of thanks — -You have indeed had a narrow escape, but it. has been so far useful to you, that government is now aware of your having some secret enemy in power, who is not delicate about the jneans of injuring you.** In quitting General Murat, I could not help deploring the fate of a despot, even while I abhorred his unnatural power. The curses, the complaints, and reproaches for all the crimes, all the violence, all the oppression perpetrated in his name, are en- tirely thrown upon him ; while his situation and occupation do not admit the seeing and hearing every thing and every body himself ; he is often forced therefore to judge, according to the. report of. an impostor ; to sanction with his name the hatred, malignity or vengeance of culpable individuals ; and to sacrifice innocence to gratify the vile passions of his vilest slave. I have not so bad an opinion of Buonaparte, as to think him capable of wilfully condemning any person to death or transportation, of whose innocence he was convinced, provided that person stood riot in the way of his interest and ambition ; but suspicion and ty- ranny are inseparable companions, and injustice their common progeny. The unfortunate beings on the long list General Mu- rat shewed me, were, I dare say, most of them as mnocent as myself, and all certainly condemned unheard. But suppose, even, that they had been indiscreet enough to put on mourning for a prince of the blood of their former kings, did their imprudence 56 ^j SECRET HISTORY OF THE deserve the same punishment as the deed of the robber, the forger, or the house-breaker ? and indeed it was more severe than what our laws inflict on such criminals, who are only con- demned to transportation for some few years, after a public trial and conviction ; while the exile of these unconvicted, untried, and most probably innocent persons, is continued for life, on charges as unknown to themselves, as their destiny and resi- dence remain to their families and friends. Happy England ! where no one is condemned unheard, and no one dares attempt to make the laws subservient to his passions or caprice. As to Fouche*s enmity, at which General Murat so plainly hinted, I had long apprehended it, from what others, in similar circumstances with myself, had suffered. He has, since the Revolution, bought no less than sixteen national estates, seven of the former proprietors of which have suddenly disappeared since his ministry, probably in the manner he intended to re- move me. This man is one of the most immoral characters the Revolution has dragged forward from obscurity. It is more difficult to mention a crime that he has not perpetrated than to discover a good or just action that he ever performed. He is so notorious a villain, that even the infamous National Conven- tion expelled him from its bosom, and since his ministry no man has been found base enough, in my debased country, to extenu- ate, much less to defend, his past enormities. In a nation so greatly corrupted and immoral, this alone is more than negative evidence. As a friar before the Revolution, he has avonved^ in his corres- pondence with the National Convention, that he never believed in a God J and as one of the first public functionaries of a Re- public, he has officially denied the existence of virtue. He is therefore as unmoved by tears as by reproaches, and as inaccessi- ble to remorse as hardened against repentance. With him in- terest and bribes are every thing, and honour and honesty nothing. The suppliant, or the pleader, who appears before him with no other support than the justice of his cause, is fortunate indeed, if, after being cast, he is not also confined or ruined, and per- haps both ; while a line from one of the Buonapartes, or a purse of gold, changes black to white, guilt to innocence, removes the scaffold waiting for the assassin, and extinguishes the f«g- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. $7 gots lighted for the parricide. His authority is so extensive, that, on the least signal,' with one blow, from the extremities of France to her centre, it crushes the cot and the palace ; and his decisions, against which there is no appeal, are so de- structive, that they never leave any traces behind them, and Buonaparte, Buonaparte alone-, can prevent or arrest their effect- • Though a traitor to his former benefactor, the ex-Director Barras, he possesses now the unlimited confidence of Napoleone Buonaparte, and, as far as is known, has not yet done any thing to forfeit it ; if private acts of cruelty cannot, in the agent of a tyrant, be' called breach of trust or infidelity. He shares with Talleyrand the fraternity of the vigilant, immoral and tormenting secret police ; and with Real, and Dubois, the prefect of police, the rep'roduction, or rather the invention, of new tortures and improved racks; 'the ott6/£eifife«, which are wells or pits dug un- der the Temple, and most other prisons, are the works of his own infernal genius. They are covered with trap doors, atld any person whom the rack has mutilated, or not obliged to spealc: out ; whose return to society is thought dangerous, or whose dis- cretion is suspected ; who has been imprisoned by mistake, or discovered to be innocent ; who is disagreeable to the Buona- partes, their favourites, or the mistresses of their favourites ; who has displeased Fouche, or offended some other placeman ; any who have refused to part with their property for the reco- very of their - liberty, are all precipitated into these artificial abysses — ,there to he forgotten ; or worse, to be starved to death, if they have not been fortunate enough to break their neck, and be killed by the fall. The property Fouche has acquired by his robberies, within these last twelve years, is at the lowest rate valued at fifty mil- lions of livres, 2,100,000/. which must increase yearly; as a man who disposes of thp liberty of fifty millions of people is also in a great part master of their wealth. Except the chiefs of tlie governments, and their ofiicers of state, there exists not an inhabitant of France, Italy, Hollapd, or Switzerland, who can consider himself secure for an instant, of not being seized, imprisoned, plundei-ed, tortured or exterminated, by the orders of Fouche, and by the hands of his agents. SS SECRET HISTORY OF THE "^ou will no doubt exclaim, how can Buonaparte employ^ how dares he confide in such a man ? Fouche is as able as unprincipled, and, with the most unfeeling and perverse heart, possesses great talents. There is no infamy he will not stoop to, and no crimen however execrable, that he will hesitate to commit, if his Sove- reign orders it. He is therefore a most useful instrument in the hand of a despot, who, notwithstanding what is said to the con- trary in France, and believed abroad, would cease to rule the day he became just, and the reign of laws and of humanity ha* nished terror and tyranny. It is reported that some person, pious or revengeful^ present-* cd some time ago, to the devout mother of Napoleone, a long me» morial, containing some particulars of the crimes and vices of Fouche and Talleyrand ; and required of her, if she wished to prevent the curses of Heaven from falling on her son, to inform him of them, that he might cease to employ men, so unworthy of him, and so offensive to religion. Napoleone, after reading through the memorial, is stated to have answered his mother, who was always pressing him to dismiss these ministers : " The me-s morial, Madame, contains nothing, of which I was not previoualy informed. Louis XVI did not select any but those whom h© thought the most virtuous and moral of men, for his ministers and counsellors 5 and where did their virtues and morality bring him ?• If the writer of the memorial will mention two honest ^nd irreproachable characters, with equal talents, and geal to serve we, neither Fou<:h^ nor Talleyrsind shall again he admitted inta n\y pjegeneq." : COURT OF ST. CLOUD, S9 LETTER XV. Paris^ Augutt IZQS. Mt LoiRfi, YOU have \vith some reason, in England, complained of the conduct of the members of the foreign diplomatic corps in France, when the fw-etended correspondence between Mr. Drake and Meh6e de la Touche was published in our official gazette. Had you, howevei", like myself, been in a situation to study the charac- ters, and appreciate the 'ivortk of most of them, this conduct would have excited no surprise ; and pity would have taken the place both of accusation and reproach. Hardly one of theni, except Count Philippe de Cobentzel, the Austrian ambassador (and even he is considerably involved), possesses any property, or has any thing else but his salary to depend upon for subsistence. The least offence to Buonaparte or Talleyrand would instantly deprive them of their places ; and, unless they were fortunate enough to obtain some other appointment, reduce them to live in obscurityj and perhaps in want, upon a trifling pension in their own country. The day before Mr. Drake's correspondence appeared in the Moniteur, in March 1804, Talleyrand gave a grand diplomatic dinner; in the midst of which, as was previously agreed with Buo* naparte, Duroc called him out oa the part of the First Consul. After an absence of near an hour, which excited great curiosity and some alarm among the diplomatics, he returned very thought- ful, and seemingly very low spirited. " Excuse me, gentlemen," said he, " I have been unpolite against my inclination. The First Consul knew that you honoured me with your company to day, and would therefore not have interrupted me by his orders, had not a discovery of a most extraordinary nature against the law of nations just been made ; a discovery which calls for the immediate indignation against the cabinet of St. James, not only of France, but of every nation, that wishes for the preservation of civilized society. After dinner I shall do myself the honour of communi- cating to you the particulars, well convinced that you will all enter with warmth into the just resentment of the First Consul," 60 SECRET HISTORY OF THE During the repast, the bottle went freely round, and as soon as they had drank their coffee and liqueurs, Talleyrand rung a bell, and Hauterive presented himself, with a large bundle of papers. The pretended original letters of Mr. Drake were handed about, with the commentaries of the minister and his secretary. Their' heads heated with wine, it was not difficult to influence their minds, or to mislead their judgment, and they exclaimed, as in a chorus, C'est abominable .' Cela faitfremir ! Talleyrand took advantage of their situation, as well as of their indiscretion. " I am glad, gen- tlemen,", said he, " and shall not fail to inform the First Consul of yonr unanimous sentiments on this disagreeable subject; but verbal expressions are not sufficient in an affair of such great con- sequence. I have orders to demand your written declarations, w-hich, after what you have already expressed, you cannot hesitate about sending to me to night, that they may accompany the denunciation which the First Consul dispatches within some few hours, to all the courts on the Continent. You would much please the First Consul, were you to write as near as possible according to the formula which' my secretary has drawn up. It states nothing either against convenance^ or against the customs of sovereigns, or etiquettes of courts ; and I am certain, is also per- fectly congenial with your individual feelings." A silence of some moments now followed (as all the diplomatists were rather taken by surprise, with regard to a written declaration), which the Swedish ambassador. Baron Ehrensward, interrupted by saying, " that though he personally might have no objection to sign such a declaration, he must demand some time to consider, whether he had a right to write in the name of his Sovereign, without his orders, on a subject still unknown to him." This re- mark made the Austrian ambassador. Count de Cobentzel, pro- pose a private consultation among the members of the foreign diplomatic corps at one of their hotels, to which the Russian charge d'affaires, d'Oubril, who was not at the dinner party, was invited to assist. They met accordingly, at the hotel de Mont- morency, rue de Lille, occupied by Count de Cobentzel ; but they came to no other unanimous determination, than that of answer- ing a written communication of Talleyrand, by a written note, ac- cording as every one judged most proper and prudent, and cor- responding with the supposed sentiments of his Sovereign. COURT OF ST. CLOUD, 61 As all this official correspondence has been published in England, you may, upon reading the notes presented by Baron de Dreyer, and Mr. Livingston,* the neutral ambassadors of Denmark and America, form some tolerably just idea of Talley- rand's formula. Their impolitic sei'vility was blamed even by the other members of the diplomatic corps. Livingston, you know, and perhaps have not. to learn, though a staunch republican in America, was the most abject courtier in France ; and though a violent defender of liberty and equa- lity on the other side of the Atlantic, no man bowed lower to usurpation, or revered despotism more in Europe. Without talents, and almost without education, he thinks, intrigues negotia- tions, and conceives that policy and duplicity are synonymous. He was called here " the courier of Talleyrand," on account of his voyages to England, and his journeys to Holland ; where this minister sent him to intrigue, with less ceremony than one of his secret agents. He acknowledged that no government was more liberal, and no nation more free, than the British; but he hated the one, as much as he abused the other ; and he did not conceal sentiments that made him always so welcome to Buonaparte and Talleyrand. Never over nice in the choice of his companions, Arthur O'Connor, and "other Irish traitors and vagabonds, used his house as their own; so much so, that when he invited other am- bassadors to dine with him, they, before they accepted the invita- tion, made a condition, that no outlaws or adventurers should be of the party. In your youth. Baron de Dreyei* was an ambassador from the court of Copenhagen to that of St. James. He has since been in the same capacity to the courts of St. Petersburgh and Madrid. Born a Norwegian, of a poor and obscure family, he owes his ad- vancement to his own talents ; but these, though they have procu- red him rank, have left him without a fortune. When he came * In consequence of this conduct, Livingston was recalled by his govern- ment, and lives now in obscurity and disgrace in America. To console him, however, in his misfortune, Buonaparte, on his departure, presented him with his portrait, enamelled on the lid of a snufF-box, set round with diamonds, and valued at one thousand Louis d'ors. 62 SECRET HISTORY OF THE here, in June 1797, from Spain, he brought a mistress with him, and several children he had had by her, during his residence in that country. He also kept an English mistress, some thirty years ago in London, by whom he had a son, M. Guillaumeau, who is now his secretary. Thus encumbered, and thus situated, at the age of 70, it is no surprise if he strives to die at his post ; and that fear to offend Buonaparte and Talleyrand sometimes gets the better of his prudence. . In Denmai'k, as well as in all other Continental States, the pensions of diplomatic invalids are more scanty than those of mi- litary ones ; and totally insufficient for a man, who, during half a century nearly, has accustomed himself to a certain style of life, and to expenses requisite to represent his Prince with dignity. No wonder therefore that Baron de Dreyer prefers Paris to Co- penhagen, and that the cunning Talleyrand takes advantage of this preference. It was reported here, among our foreign diplomatists, that the English minister in Denmark complained of the contents of Ba- ron de Dreyer's note, concerning Mr. Drake's correspondence ; and that the Danish prime minister, Count de Bernstorf, wrote to him in consequence, by the order of the Prince Royal, a severe reprimand. This act of political justice is, however, denied by him, under pretence that the cabinet of Copenhagen has laid it down as an invariable rule, never to reprimand, but always to dis- place those of its agents with whom it has reason to be discontent- ed. Should this be the case, no Sovereign in Europe is better sei'ved by his representatives than his Danish Majesty, because Mo one seldomer changes or removes them. While I am speaking of diplomatists, I cannot forbear giving you a short sketch of one, whose weight in the scale of politics entitles him to particular notice : I mean the Count de Haugwitz, insidiously complimented by Talleyrand, with the title of " The Prince of Neutrality, the Sully of Prussia." Christian Henry Curce, Count de Haugwitz, who, until lately, has been the chief director of the political conscience of his Prussian Majesty, as his minister of the foreign department, was born in Silesia, and is the son of a nobleman, who was a General in the Austrian service, when Frederic the Great made the conquest of that country. At the death of this King in 1786, Count de Haugwitz occupied an COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 63 inferior place in the foreign office, where Count de Hertzberg ob- served his zeal and assiduity, and recommended him to the notice of the late King Frederic William II. By the interest of the celebrated Beshopswerder, he procured in 1792 the appointment of an ambassador to the court of Vienna, where he succeeded Baron de Jacobi, the present Prussian minister in your country. In the autumn of the same year he went to Ratisbon, to co-operate with the Austrian ambassador, and to persuade the Princes of the German empire to join the coalition against France. In the month of March 1794 he was serit to the Hague, where he nego- ciated with Lord Malmesbury concerning the affairs of France; shortly afterwards his nomination as a minister of state took place ; and from that time his political sentiments seem to have under- gone a revolution, for which it is not easy to account ; but, what- ever were the causes of his change of opinions, the treaty of Basle, concluded between France and Prussia in 1795, was cer- tainly negociated under his auspices; and in August 1796 he signed, with the French minister at Berlin, citizen Caillard, the first and famous treaty of neutrality ; and a Prussian cordon was accordingly drawn, to cause the neutrality of the North to be ob- served and protected. Had the Count de Haugwitz of 1795 been the same as the Count de Haugwitz of 1792, it is probable we should no longer have heard of either a French republic or a French empire; but a legitimate Monarch of the kingdom of France would have ensured that security to all other legitimate Sovereigns, the want of which th§y themselves, or their children, will feel and mourn in vain, as long as unlimited usurpations ty- rannize over my wretched country. It is to be hoped, however, that the good sense of the Count will point out to him, before it is too late, the impolicy of his present connections ; and that he will use his interest with his Prince, to persuade him to adopt a line of conduct suited to the grandeur and dignity of the Prussian monarchy, and favourable to the independence of insulted Europe. When his present Prussian Majesty succeeded to the throne, Count de Haugwitz continued in office, with increased influence ; but he sometime since resigned, in consequence, it is said, of a difference of opinion with the other Prussian ministers, on the subject of a family alliance, which Buonaparte had the modest-^ 64 SECRET HISTORY. OF THE to propose) between the illustrious house of Napoleone the First and the royal line of Brandenburgh. ; On this occasion, his King, to evince his satisfaction, with, liis past conduct, bestowed on him not only a large pension, but an estate in Silesia, where he before possessed some propei'ty. :Puonaparte, also, to express his regret at his retreat, pro- claimed his Excellency a grand officer of the Legion, of Honour. \ Talleyrand insolently calls the several cordons, or ribands, dis- tributed by Buonaparte among the Prussian ministers and gene- rals, "his leading-strings." . It. is to be hoped, that Frederic William III is sufficiently upon his guard, to preyent these strings ivovsx strangling the Prussian Monarchy, and the, Branden- burgh Dynasty* LETTER XVI. Paris, August 1805, MY LORD, UPWARDS of two months after my visit to General Murat, I was surprised at the appearance of M. Darjuson, the cham- berlain of Princess Louis Buonaparte. He told me that he came on the part of Prince Louis, who honoured me with an invi- tation to dine with him the day after. Upon my inquiry, whe- ther he knew if the party would be very numerous, he answered, between forty and fifty ; and that it was a kind of farewel din- ner ; because the Prince intended shortly to set out for Com- piegne, to assume the command of the camp formed in, its vicinity, of the dragoons and other light troops of the army of England. The principal personages present at this dinner were Joseph Buonaparte, and his wife ; General and Madame Murat j the COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 65 ministers Berthier, Talleyrand, Fouche, Chaptal, and Portalis. The conversation was entirely military, and chiefly related to the probable conquest or subjugation of Great Britain, and the probable consequence to mankind in general of such a gr^at event. No difference of opinion was heard with regard to its immediate benefit to France, and gradual utility to all other nations ; but Berthier seemed to apprehend, that before France could have timie to organize this valuable conquest, she would be obliged to support another war, with a formidable league, perhaps of all other European nations. The issue, however, he said, would be glorious to France, who, by her achievements would force all people to acknowledge her their mother country ; and then first Europe would constitute but one family. Chaptal was as certain as every body else, of the destructioa of the tyrants of the seas ; but he thought France would never be secure against the treachery of modern Carthage, until ,she followed the example of Rome towai-ds ancient Carthage; and therefore, after reducing London to ashes, it would be proper to disperse round the universe, all the inhabitants of the British islands, and to re-people them with nations less evil-disposed, and less corrupted. Portalis observed, that it was moi'e easy to conceive than to execute such a vast plan. It would not be an undertaking of five, of ten, nor of twenty years, to transplant these nations ; that misfortunes and proscription would not only inspire courage and obstinacy, but desperation. " No people,'* continued he, " are more attached to their customs and countries than islanders in general ; and though British subjects are the greatest travellers, and found every where, they all suppose their country the best, and always wish to return to it, and finish tlieir days amidst their native fogs and smoke. Neither the Saxons nor the Danes, nor Norman conquerors, transplanted them, but after reducing them, incorporated themselves by mar- riages among the vanquished; and in some few generations, were but one people. It is asserted by all persons who have lately visited Great Britain, that, though the civilization of the lower classes, is much behind that of the same description in France, the higher orders, the rich and the, fashionable, are, with regard to their manners, more French than English ; and might easily be cajoled into obedience and subjection to the sove- K 66 SECRET' HISTORY OF THE teighty of a nation, whose customs by free choice they havt adopted in preference to their own ; and whose language forms a necessary part of their education ; and indeed, of the education of almost every class in the British empire. The universality of the French language is the best ally France has in assisting her to conquer an universal dominion. He wished, therefore, that when we were in a situation to dictate in England, instead of proscribing Englishmen, we should proscribe the English language ; and advance and reward in preference all those parents tvhpse children were sent to be educated in France, and all those families who voluntarily adopted in their houses and societies exclusively the French language. Murat was afraid that if France did not transplant the most stubborn Britons, iaftd settle among them French colonies, when once their - military and commercial navy was annihilated, they Would turn pirates, and perhaps, within half a century, lay all other nations as much under contribution by their piracies as they now do by their industry ; and that, like the pirates on the coast of Barbary, the instant they had no connexions with other civilized nations, cut the throats of each other, and agree in nothing but in plun- dering, and considering all other people in the world their natu* yal enemies and purveyors.^ To this opinion Talleyrand, by nod- ding assent, seemed to adhere j but he added, " Earthquakes are generally dreaded as destructive, but such a convulsion of nature as would swallow up the British islands, with all their inha- bitants, would be the greatest blessing Providence ever conferred on mankind." Louis Buonaparte then addressed himself tome, and to the Marquis de F- : " Gentlemen," said he, " you have been in •England ; what is your opinion of the character of these islan- ders, and of the probability of their subjugation V I answered, that during the fifteen months I resided in London, I was too much occupied to prevent myself from starving, to meditate about any thing else ; that my stomach was my sole meditation, as well as anxiety. That, however, I believed, that in England, as every where else, a mixture of good and bad qu;alities was to %e found; but which prevailed would be presumption in me, front my position, to detide. But I did not doubt, that if We t^ot^ially hated the English, they returned us the compliment COURT OF ST: GLOUD. ^J^ 'with interest, and therefore the contest with them would be a severe one. The Marquis de F— ...-^imprudently attempted to, convince the company, that it was difficult, if not impossible, for our army to land in England, much less to conquer it, until we were masters of the seaa by a, superior navy. — .He would, perhaps, have been still more indiscreet, had not Madam,e. Loyis interrupted him, and given another turn to the convert. 30.tion), by inquiring about the fair pex in England, and ; if ^ it wa,f tj'Ufi that handsome women were more numerous there than in, France ? Here again the Marquis, instead of paying her a <5orapliment, as she perhaps expected, roundly assured her, tha| for one beauty, in France, hundreds might be counted in Engi» land, where gentlemen were therefore not so easily satisfied; and that a woman, regarded by them only as an ordinary person, would pass ft»r a first rate beauty anj^ong French beaux, oq.. account of the great scarcity of them here.— ^« You must excus^ the Marquis, ladies," said I in my turn, " he has not been in love in England ; there perhaps he found the belles less cruel than in France ; where^ for the cruelty of one lady, or for help insensibility of his merit, he revenges himself on the whole. 5£X."— ^" I apply to M. Talleyrand," answered the Marquis ; « he has been longer in England than myself." — " I am not a competent judge," retorted the minister ; *' Madame Talleyrand is here, and has not the honour of being a Frenchwoman, but J dare say the Marquis will agree with me, that in no society in the Bi'itish island, among a do^en of ladies, has he counted ' Bftore beautiesi, or admired greater accomplishments, or more^" perfection/' To this the Marquis bowed assent, saying, that in all his general remarks, the party present of course was not included. All the ladies, who were well acquainted with hi^ absent and blundering conversation, very good humouredly laugh- ed ; and Madame Murat assured him that if he would give her the address of the belle in France who had transformed a gallant Frenchman into a chevalier of British beauty, she would attempt to make up their difference, " She is no more, Madame," js.n5wered the Marquis ; " she was unfortunately guillotined tvo days before--.Cthe father of Madame Louis, he was going to say, when Talleyrand interrupted him with a significant Iqok, and said) " before the fall of Robespierre, you mean." 68 SECRET HISTORY OF THE From these and other traits of the Marquis's character, you may see that he erred more from absence of mind than any premeditation to give offence. He received, however, the next morning a lettre de cachet from Fouche, which exiled him to Blois, and forbade him to return to Paris without further orders from the minister of police. I know from high authority, that to the interference of Princess Louis alone is he indebted for not being shut up iji the Temple, and perhaps transported to our colonies, for having depreciated the power and means of France to invade England. I am perfectly convinced that none of thos« "Who spoke on the subject of the invasion expressed any thing but what they really thought ; and that of the whole party, none, except Talleyrand, the Marquis, and myself, entertained the least doubt pf the success of the expedition ; so firmly did they rely on the former fortune of Buonaparte, his boastings and hi» assurance, After dinner, \ had an opportunity of conversing for ten min« utes with Madame Louis Buonaparte, whom I found extremely amiable ; but I fear that she is not happy. Her husband, though the most stupid, is however the best tempered of the Buona- partes, and seemed very attentive and attached to her. She was far advanced in her pregnancy, and looked notwithstanding uncommonly well. I have heard that Louis is inclined to ine- briatiouj and when in that situation, is very brutal to his wife, and very indelicate with other women before her eyes. He intrigues with her own servants ; and the number of his illegiti- mate children is said to be as many as his years. She asked General Murat, to present me and recommend me to FouchiS,' which he did with gre^t politeness, and the minister assured me, that he should be glad to see me at his hotel j which I much^ doubt. The last word Madame Louis said to me, in showing; me a princely crown richly set with diamonds, and given her by her father-iurlaw Napoleone, were, "Alas! grandeur is not always happiness, nor the most elev?ited the most fortunate lot,'* COURT OF ST. CLOUD, 69 LETTER XVII. Pflrisy August 1805. MT LORD, THE arrival of the Pope in this country was certainly a grand epoch, not only in the history of the Revolution, but in the annals of Europe. The debates in the sacred college for and against this journey, and for and against his coronation of Buona- parte, are said to have been long as well as violent ; and only arranged according to the desires of Cardinal Fesch, by the means of four millions of livres, 166,000/, distributed a-propos among its pious members. Of this money, the Cardinals Mat- tei, Pamphili, Dugnani, Maury, Pignatelli, Roverella, Somaglia, Pacca, Brancadoro, Litta, Gabrielli, Spina, Despuig, and Galeffi, are said to have shared the greatest part ; and, from the most violent anti-Buonapartists, they instantly became the strenuous adherents of Napoleone the Fir^t ; who of course cannot be igno- rant of their real worth. The person entrusted by Buonaparte and Talleyrand to carry on at Rome the intrigue which sent Pius VII to cross the Alps, was Cardinal Fesch, brother of Madame Lastitia Buonaparte by the side of her mother, who, in a second marriage, chose a ped- lar of the name of Nicolo Fesch, for her husband. Joseph, Cardinal Fesch, was born at Ajaccio in Corsica, on the 8th of March 1763, and was in his infancy received as a singing boy, (enfant de chxur) in a convent of his native place. In 1782, whilst he was on a visit to some of his relations, in the island of Sardinia, being on a fishing party some distance from shore, he was, with his companions, captured by an Algerine felucca, and carried a captive to Algiers. Here he turned Mus- sulman, and until 1790 was a zealous believer In, and professor of, the Alcoran. In that year he found an opportunity to escape from Algiers, and to return to Ajacglo, when he abjured his renegacy, exchanged the Alcoran for the Bible, and In 1791 was made a constitutional curate, that is to say, a revolutionary Christian priest. In 1793, wlien even those were proscribed, he renounced IKI SECRET HISTORY OF THE the sacristy of his church for the bar of a tavern, where, during 1794 and 1795, he gained a small capital by the number and liberality of his English customers. After the victories of his nephew Napoleone in Italy, during the following year, he was ad- vised to reassume the clerical habit ; and after Napoleone's pro- clamation of a First Consul, he was made Archbishop of Lybns. In 1802, Pius VII decorated him with the Roman purple ; and h© is now a pillar of the Roman faith,' in a fair way of seizing the Roman tiara. If letters from Rome can be depended upon, Car- dinal Fesch, in the name of the Emperor of the French, informed his Holiness the Pope, that he must either retire to a convent or travel to France, either abdicate his own sovereignty, or Inaugu- rate Napoleone the First a Sqvereign of France, Without the decision of the sacred college, effected in the manner already stated, the majority of the faithful believe that this Pontiff would have preferred obscurity to disgrace, While Joseph Fesch was a master of a tavern, he mairied the daughter of a tinker, by whom he had three children. This, marriage, according to the republican regulations, had only, been celebrated by the municipality at Ajaccio. Fesch, therefore, upon again entering the bosom of the church, left his municipal wife and children to shift for tliemselves, considering himself still, according to the canonical laws, a bachelor. But Madame Fesch, hearing in 1801 of her ci-devant husband's promotion, to the Archbishopric of Lyons, wrote to him for some succours, be- ing with her children reduced to great misery. Madame Lsetitia Buonapart« answered her letter, inclosing a draft of six hundred livres, 25/, informing her, that the same sum would be paid hei; every six months, as long as she continued with her chjldren to. re- side at Corsica; but that it would cease the instant she left that island. Either thinking herself not sufficiently paid for her dis- cretion, or enticed by some enemy of the Buonaparte family, she ar- rived secretly at Lyons in October last year, where she remained unknown until the awival of the Pope. On the first day his Holi- ness gave there his public benediction, she found means to piefcc the crowd, and to approach his pe^rson, when Cardinal Fesch was by bis side. Profiting by a moment's silence, she called oui^ loudly, throwing herself at his feet : " Holy Father ! I am the lawful wife of Cardinal Fesch, and these are our children ; he COURT GF,ST. CL017D. ft "Canhoti he dares not, deny this truth; Had- he behaved libef- HiWy to mci I should not have disturbed him in his present grandeur ; I supplicate you, Holf Father, not to restore me my husband, but to force him to provide for his wife and childrenj ac- cording to his present circumstances -^Matta-'^eUa e matta^ santh' wncr/?aappear more ridiculous, nothing could inspii'e more contempt of our versatility and inconsistency, than to remark O 98 SECRET HISTORY OF THE among the foremost to demand the nuptial benediction, a Talleyrandj a Fouche, a Real, an Augereau, a Chaptal, a Reubel, a Lasnes, a Bessieres, a Thuriot, a Treilhard, a Merlin, with a hundred other equally notorious revolutionists, who were, twelve or fifteen years ago, not only the first to declaim against religious ceremonies as rii« diculous, but against reli^on itself as useless : whose motives pro- duced, and whose votes sanctioned those decrees of the legislature, which proscribed the worship, together with its priests and sectaries. But then the fashion of barefaced infidelity was as much the order of the day, as that of external sanctity is at present. I leave to ca- suists the decision, whether to the morals of the people, naked atheism, exposed with all its deformities, is more or less hurtful, than concealed atheism covered with the garb of piety ; but for my part, I think the noon-day murderer less guilty, and much less de- testable, than the midnight assassin who stabs in the dark. A hundred anecdotes are daily related of our new saints, and fa- shionable devotees ; they would be laughable were they not scanda- lous, and contemptible, did they not add duplicity to our other vices. Buonaparte and his wife go now every morning to hear mass^ and on every Sunday or hoUday, they regularly attend at vespers ; when, of course, all those who wish to be distinguished for their piety, or rewarded for their flattery, never neglect to be present. In the evening of last Christmas day, the Imperial chapel was as usual early crowded, in expectation of their Majesties^ when the cham- berlain Salmatoris entered, and said to the captain of the guard, loud enough to be heard by the audience, the Emperor and the Empress have just resolved not to come here to-night; his Majesty being engaged by some tmexpected business, and the Empress not wishing to come without her consort. In ten minutes, the chapel Was emptied of every person but the guards, the priests, and three old women, who had no where else to pass an hour. At the arrival of our Sovereigns, they were astonished at the unusual vacancy, and indignantly regarded each other. After vespers were over, one of Buonaparte's spies informed him of the cause ; when, instead of pt;nishing the despicable and hypocritical courtiers, or shewing them any signs of his displeasure, he ordered Salmatoris under COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 99 aiTcst; who would have experienced a complete disgrace, had not his friend Duroc interfered, and made his peace. At another time, on a Sunday, Fouche entered the chapel in the midst of the service, and wliispered to Buonaparte, who immediately i>eckoned to his lord in waiting, and to Duroc. These both left the Imperial chapel, and returning in a few minutes at the head of five grenadiers, entered the grand gallery, generally frequented by the most scrupulous devotees, and seized every book. The cause of this domiciliary visit was' an anonymous communication received by- the minister of police, stating, that libels against the Imperial familyj bound in the form of prayer books, had been placed there. No such libels were however found : but of one hundred and sixty pretended breviaries, twenty-eight were volumes of novels, sixteen of poems, and eleven of indecent books. It is not necessary to add, that the proprietors of these edifying works never reclaimed them. The opinions are divided here, whether this curious discovery originated in the malice of Fouche, or whether Talleyrand took this method of duping his rival, and at the same time of gratifying his own malignity. Certain it is, that Fouche was severely reprimanded for the transaction, and that Buonaparte was highly offended at the disclosure. The common people, and the middle classes, are neither so ostentatiously devout, nor so basely perverse. They go to church as to the play, to gape at others, or to be stared at themselves ; to pass the time, and to admire the show : and they do not conceal that such is the object of their attendance. Their indifference about futurity equals their ignorance of religious duties. Om* revolutionary charlatans have as much brutalized their understand- ing, as corrupted their hearts. They heard the grand mass said by the Pope with the same feelings as they formerly heard Robespierre proclaim himself an high priest of a Supreme Being ; and they looked at the imperial processions with the same insensibility as they once saw the daily caravans of victims passing for execution. Even in Buonaparte's own guard, and among the officers of his household troops, several examples of rigour were necessary, before they would go to any pl^ce of worship, or suffer in their corps any 100 SECRET HISTORY OF THE almoners : but now, after being drilled into a belief of Chri&tianity, they march to the mass as to a parade or to a review. With any other people, Buonaparte would not so easily have changed in two years the customs of twelve, and forced military men to kneel before priests, whom they but the other day were encouraged to hunt and massacre like wild beasts. On the day of the assumption of the Holy Virgin, a company of gens-d'armes d'Elite, headed by their officers, received publicly, and by orders, the sacrament : when the Abbe Frelaud approached towards Lieutenant Ledoux, he fell into convulsions, and was carried into the sacristy. After being a little recovered, he looked round him, as if afraid that some one would injure him ; and said to the grand vicar Clauset, who enquired the cause of his accident and terror : " Good God ! that man who gave me, on the 2d of Septem- ber 1792, the five wounds in the convent of the Carenes, from which I still suffer, is now an officer, and was about to receive the sacra- ment from my hands." When this occurrence was reported to Buonaparte, Ledoux was dismissed ; but Abbe Frelaud was trans- ported, and the grand vicar Clauset sent to the Temple, for the scandal their indiscretion had caused. This act was certainly as unjust towards him who was bayonetted to the altar, as towards those who served the altar, under the protection of the bayonets. LETTER XXV. Paris, August 1805. MY LORD, ALTHOUGH the seizure of Sir George Rumbold might in your country, as well as every where else, inspire indignation, it could no where justly excite surprise. We had crossed the Rhine, seven months before, to seize the Duke of Enghien : and, when any prey invited, the passing of the Elbe was only a natural consequence of COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 101 the former outrage ; of audacity on our part, and of endurance or indifference on the part of other Continental States. Talleyrand's note at Aix-la-Chapelle had also informed Europe that we had adopted a new and military diplomacy ; and, in confounding power with right, would respect no privileges at variance with our ambi- tion, interest, or suspicions, or any independence it was thought use- ful or convenient for us to invade. It was reported here, at the time, that Buonaparte was much offended with General Frere, who commanded this political expedi- tion, for permitting Sir George's servant to accompany his master ; as Fouche and Real had already tortures prepared and racks waiting, and, after forcing your agent io speak out, would have announced his sudden death, either by his own hands, or by a coup-dc-sang, before any Prussian note could require his release. The known morality of our goverament must have removed all doubts of the veracity of this assertion : a man might, besides, from the fatigues of a long journey, or from other causes, expire suddenly; but the exit of two, in the same circumstances, would have been thought at least extraordinary, even by our friends, and suspicious by our enemies. The official declaration of Rheinhard (our minister to the Circle of Lower Saxony) to the Senate at Hamburgh, in which he disavowed all knowledge on the subject of the capture of Sir George Rumbold, occasioned his disgrace. This man, a subject of the Elector of Wirtemberg by birth, is one of the negative accomplices of the criminals of France, who, since the Revolution, have desolated Europe. He began in 1792 his diplomatic career, under Chauvelin and Talleyrand in London, and has since been the tool of every faction in power. In 1796 he was appointed a minister to the Hanse Towns ; and, without knowing why, was hailed as the point of I'ally to all the philosophers, philanthropists, illuminati, and other revolutionary amateurs, with whom the north of Gei^raany, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden then abounded. A citizen of Hamburgh, or rather of the luorld, of the name of Seveking, bestowed on him the hand of a sister : and though he is not accused of avarice, some of tlie contributions, extorted by our government from the neutral Hanse Town are said to have been left behind in his coffers, instead 102 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of being forwarded to this capital. Either on this account, or for some other reason, he was recalled from Hamburgh in January 1797, and remained unemployed until the latter part of 1798, when he was sent a minister to Tuscany. When, in the summer of 1799, Talleyrand was forced by the Jacobins to resign his place as a minister of the foreign department, he had the adroitness to procure Rheinhard to be nominated his successor. So that, though no longer nominally the minister, he still continued to influence the decisions of our government as much as if still in office ; because, though not without parts, Rheinhard has neither energy of character, nor consistency of conduct. He is so much accustomed, and wants so much to be governed, that in 1796, at Hamburgh, even the then emigrants, Madame de Genlis, and General Valence, directed him, when he was not ruled or dictated to by his wife or brother-in-law. In 1 800, Buonaparte sent him as a representative to the Helvetian Republic, and, in 1802, again to Hamburgh; w^here he was last winter superseded by Bourrienne, and ordered to an inferior station at the Electoral Court at Dresden. Rheinhard will never become one of those daring diplomatic banditti, whom revolutionary governments always employ in preference. He has some moral principles, and though not religious, is rather scrupulous. He would certainly sooner resign, than undertake to remove by poison, or by the steel of a bravo, a rival of his own, or a person obnokious to his employers. He would never indeed betray the secrets of his government, if he understood they intended to rob a dispatch, or to stop a messenger; but no allurements whatever would induce him to head the parties perpetrating these acts of cur modern diplomacy. Our present minister at Hamburgh, Bourrienne, is far from being so nice. A revoiulionist from the beginning of the Revolution, he shared with the partizans of La Fayette imprisonment under Robespierre, and escaped death only by emigration. Recalled afterwards by his friend, the late Director, Barras, he acted as a kind of secretary to him until 1796, when Buonaparte demanded him, having known him at the military college. During all Buona- parte's campaigns in Italy, Egypt, and Syria, he was his sole and COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 103 confidential secretary ; a situation which he lost in 1 802, when Talleyrand denounced his corruption and cupidity ; because he had rivalled him in speculating in the funds, and profiting by the infor- mation which his place afforded him. He was then made a coun- sellor of state ; but in 1803 he was involved in the fraudulent bank- ruptcy of one of our principal houses, to the amount of a million of livres, 42,000/. ; and, from his correspondence with it, some reasons appeared to suspect that he frequently had committed a breach of confidence against his master ; who, after erasing his name from among the counsellors of state, had him conveyed a prisoner to the Temple, where he remained six months. A small volume, called Le Livre Rouge of the Consular Court, made its appearance about that time, and contained some articles, which gave Buonaparte reason to suppose that Bourrienne was its author. On being questioned by the grand judge Regnier, and the minister Fouche^ before whom he was carried, he avowed that he had written it, but denied that he had any intention of making it public. As to its having found its way to the press, during his confinement, that could tonly be ascribed to the ill will or treachery of those police agents who inspected his papers, and put their seals upon them. " Tell Buonaparte," said he, " that had I been inclined to injure him in the public opinion, I should not have stooped to such trifles as Le Livre Rouge, while I have deposited with a friend his original or- ders, letters, and other curious documents, as materials for an edifying history of our military hospitals, during the campaigns of Italy and Syria ; all authentic testimonies of his humanity and tenderness for the wounded and dying French soldiers.'* After the answers of this interrogatory had been laid before Buo- naparte, his brother Joseph was sent to the Temple to negociate with Bourrienne, who was offered his liberty, and a prefecture, if he would give up all the original papers, that, as a private secretary, he had had opportunity to collect. " These papers," answered Bourrienne, " are my only security against your brother's wrath, and his assassins. Were I weak enough to deliver them up to-day, to-morrow probably I should no longer be counted among the^ living; but I have now taken my measures so effectually, thatweire 104 SECRET HISTORY OF TttE I murdered to-day, these originals would be printed to-morroW. If Napoleone does not confide in my word of honour, he may trust to an assurance of discretion, with which my own interest is nearly connected. If he suspects me of having wronged him, he is con- vinced also of the eminent services I have rendered him, sufficient surely to outweigh his present suspicion. Let him again employ me in any post worthy of him and of me, and he shall soon see how much I will endeavour to regain his confidence." Shortly afterwards Bourrienne was released, and a pension, equal to the salary of a counsellor of state, was granted him, until some suitable place became vacant. On Champagny's being appointed a minister of the home department, the embassy at Vienna was de- manded by Bourrienne, but refused, as previously promised to La Rochefoucault, ovir late minister at Dresden. When Rheinhard, in a kind of disgrace, was transferi'ed to that relatively insignificant post, Bourrienne was ordered, with extensive instructions, to Ham- burgh. The Senate soon found the difference between a timid and honest minister, and an unprincipled and crafty mtriguer. New loans were immediately required from Hanover ; but hardly were these acquitted, than fresh extortions were insisted on. In some secret conferences, Bourrienne is however said to have hinted.^ that some douceurs were expected, for alleviating the rigour of his in- structions. This hint has no doubt been taken, because he suddenly altered his conduct, and instead of hunting the purses of the Ger- mans, pursued the persons of his emigrated countrymen ; and, in a memorial, demanded the expulsion of all Frenchmen, who were not registered and protected by him, under pretence that every one of them who declined the honour of being a subject of Buonaparte must be a traitor against the French government and his country. Bourrienne is now stated to have connected himself with several stock-jobbers, both in Germany, Holland, and England ; and already to have pocketed considerable sums by such connexions. It is, however, not to be forgotten, that several houses have been ruined in this capital by the iirqfits allowed him, who always refused to share their losses j but, whatever were the consequencesj enforced COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 105 to its foil amount the payment of that value, which he chose to set on his commvmications. A place in France would no doubt ha.ve been preferable to Bour- rienne, particularly one near the person of Buonaparte. But if nothing else prevented the accomplishment of his wishes, his long familiarity with all the Buonapartes, whom he always treated as equals, and even now (with the exception of Napoleone) does not think his superiors, will long remain an insurmountable barrier. I cannot comprehend how Buonaparte (who is certainly no bad judge of men) could so long confide in Bourrienne, who, with the usual presumption of my countrymen, is continually boasting, to a degree that borders on indiscretion, and, by an artful questioner, may easily be led to overstep those bounds. Most of the particulars of his quarrel with Napoleon^ I heard him relate himself, as a proof of his great consequence, in a company of forty individuals, many of whom were imknown to him. On the first discovery which Buonaparte made of Bourrienne's infidelity, Talleyrand complimented him upon not having suffered more from it. " Do you not see,'' answered Buonaparte, " it is also one of the extraordinary gifts of my extraordinary good fortune ? Even traitors are unable to betray me. Plots respect me as much as bullets." I need not tell you, that Fortune is the sole divinity sincerely worshipped by Napoleone, LETTER XXVL Parisy August 1805. WY LORD, JOSEPH BUONAPARTE leads a much more retired life, and sees less company, than any of his brothers or sisters. Except the members of his own family, he but seldom invites any guests, nor has Madame Joseph those regular assemblies and circle^ which 106 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Madame Napoleone and Madame Louis Buonaparte have. His hospitality is, however, greater at his country seat, Morfontaine, than at his hotel here. Those whom he likes, or does not mistrust (who, by the bye, are very few), may visit him without much for- mality in the country, and prolong their stay according to their own inclination or discretion ; but they must come without their servants, or send them away on their arrival. As sQon as an agreeable visitor presents himself^ it is the etiquette of the house to consider him as an inmate ; but to allow him, at the same time, a perfect liberty to dispose of his hours and his person, as suits his convenience or caprice. In this fextensive and superb mansion a suit of apartments is assigned him, with a valet-de-cham- bre, a lackey, a cpachipan, a groom, and a jockey, all under his own exclusive command. He has allotted him a chariot, a gig, and riding horses, if he prefers such an exercise. A catalogue is given him of the library of the chateau ; and every morning he is informed what persons compose the company at breakfast, dinner, and supper, and of the hours of these different repasts. A bill of fare is at the same time presented to him, and he is asked to poiht out those dishes to which he gives the preference, and to declare whether he chuses to join the company, or to be served in his own rooms. During the summer season, players from the different theatres of Paris are paid to perform three times in the week ; and each gue^t, according to the period of his arrival, is asked in his turn to command either a comedy or a tragedy, a farce or a ballet. Twice in the week concerts are executed by the first performers of the Opera Buffa ; and twice in the week invitations to tea parties are sent to some of the neighbom's, or accepted from them. Besides four billiard tables, there are other gambling tables for Rouge et JVoir^ Trente et Quarante, Pharo., La Roulette^ Birribiy and other games of hazard. The bankers are young' men from Corsica, to whom Joseph, who advances the money, allows all the gain, while he alone suffers the loss. Those who are inclined may play fromraorning till night, and from night till morning, without interruption, as no one interferes. Should Joseph hear that any person has been too severely treated by fortune, or suspects that he COURT OF ST. cloud: 107 has not much xash remaining, some rouleaus of Mt/ioleone's d'ors are placed on the table of his dressing-room, which he may use or leave untouched, as he judges proper. The hours of Joseph Buonaparte are neither so late as yours in England, nor so early as they were formerly in France. Breakfast is ready served at ten o'clock, dinner at four, and supper at nine. Before midnight he retires to bed with his family ; but victors do as they like, and follow their own usual hours, and their servants are obliged to wait for them. When any business calls Joseph away, either to preside in the Senate here, or to travel in the provinces, he notices it to his visitors ; telling them at the same time not to displace themselves on account of his absence, but wait till his return, as they would not observe any difference in the economy of his house, of which Madame Joseph always does the honours, or in her absence some lady appointed by her. Last year, when Joseph first assumed a military rank, he passed nearly four months with the army of England on the coast, or in Brabant. On his return all his visitors were gone, except a young poet of the name of Montaigne, who does not want genius, but who is rather too fond of the bottle. Joseph is considered the best gour- met^ or connoisseur in liquors and wines, of this capital ; and Mon- taigne found his Champaigne and Bourgogne so excellent, that he never once went to bed that he was not heartily intoxicated. But the best of the story is, that he employed his moi^nings in com- posing a poem, holding out to abhorrence the disgusting vice of drunkenness;, and presented it to Joseph, requesting permission to dedicate it to him when published. To those who have read it, or only seen extracts from it, the compilation appears far from being contemptible ; but Joseph still keeps the copy, though he has made the author a present of one hundred Napoleone's d'ors, and procured him a place of an amanuensis in the Chancellory of the Senate, having resolved never to accept any dedication, but wishing also not to hurt the feelings of the author by a refusal. In a chateau where so many visitors of licentious and depraved morals meet, of both sexes, and where such an unlimited liberty 108 SECRET mSTORY OF THE reigns, intrigues must occur, and have of course not seldom fur- nished materials for the scandalous chronicle. Even Madame Joseph herself has either been gallant or calumniated : report says, that to the nocturnal assiduities of Eugenius de Beauharnois, and of Colonel la Fond-Blaniac, she is exclusively indebted for the honour of maternity, and that these two rivals even fought a duel concerning the right of paternity. Eugenius de Beauharnois never was a great favourite with Joseph Buonaparte, whose reserved manners and prudence form too great a contrast to his noisy and blundering way, to accord with each other. Before he set out for Italy, it was well known in our fashionable circles, that he had been interdicted the house of his uncle, and that no reconciliation took place, notwith- standing the endeavours of Madame Napoleone. To humble him so much the more, Joseph even nominated La Fond-Blaniac an equerry to his wife, who therefore easily consoled herself for the departure of her dear nephew. The husband of Madame Miot (one of Madame Joseph's ladie& in waiting) was not so patient, or such a philosopher as Joseph Buonaparte. Some charitable person having reported in the com- pany of a bonne amie of Miot, that his wife did not pass her nights in solitude, but that she sought consolation among the many gallants and disengaged visitors at Morfontaine, he determined to surprise her. It was past eleven o'clock at night when his arrival was announced to Joseph, just retired to his closet. Madame Miot had been in bed ever since nine, ill of a migraine., and her husband was too affectionate not to be the first to inform her of his presence, ivithout permitting any body previously to disturb her. With great reluctance, Madame Miot's maid delivered the key of her rooms, while she accompanied him with a light. In the anti-chamber he found a hat and a great-coat, and in the closet adjoining the bed- room, a coat, a waistcoat, and a pair of breeches, with drawers, stockings, and slippers. Though the maid kept coughing all the time, Madame Miot and her gallant did not awake from their slum- ber tUl the enraged husband began to use the bludgeon of the lover, which had also been left in the closet. A battle then ensued, in which the lover retaliated so vigorously, that the husband called out COURT OF ST. ClOUD. 109 murder! murder! with all his might. The chateau was instantly in an uproar, and the apartments crowded with half dressed and half naked lovers. Joseph Buonaparte alone was able to separate the combatants ; and inquiring the cause of the riot, assured tliem that he would suffer no scandal and no intrigues in his house, without seriously resenting it. An explanation being made, Madame Miot was looked for,_'but in vain; and the maid declared, that being warned by a letter from Paris of her husband's jealousy and deter- mination to surprise her, her mistress had reposed herself in her roona ; while, to punish the ungenerous suspicions of her husband> she had persuaded Captain d'Horteuil to occupy her place in her own bed. The maid had no sooner finished her deposition, than her mistress made her appearance, and upbraided her husband severely, in which she was cordially joined by the spectators. She inquired if, on seeing the dress of a gentleman, he had also discovered the attire of a female ? and she appealed to Captain d'Horteuil, whether he had not the two preceding nights also slept in her bed. To this he of course assented; adding, that had M. Miot attacked him the first night, he would not then perhaps have been so roughly handled as now ; for then he was prepared for a visit, which this night was rather unexpected. This connubial farce ended by Miot begging pardon of his wife and her gallant ; the former of whom, after much entreaty by Joseph, at last consented to share with him her bed- But being disfigured with two black eyes, and suffering from several bruises, and also ashamed of his unfashionable behaviour, he conti- nued invisible for ten days aftei'wards, and returned to this city as he had left it, by stealth. This Miot was a spy under Robespierre, and is a counsellor of State under Buonaparte. Without bread, as well as without a home, he was, from the beginning of the Revolution, one of the most ardent fiatriots, and the first republican minister in Tuscany. After the Sovereign of that country had in 1793 joined tlie league, Miot returned to France, and was, for his want of address to negociate a^ a minister, shut up to perform the part of a spy in the Luxembui*gh» then transformed into a prison of suspected persons. Thanks to his fiatriotzsm, upwards of two hundred individuals of both sexes 110 SECRET HISTORY OF THE were denounced, transfei-f-ed to the Concier^erie prisonjand after- wards guillotined. After that, until 1799, he continued so despised, that no faction would accept him for art accomplice ; but in the November of that year, after Buonaparte had declared himself a First Consul, Miot was appointed a tribune, an office from which he was advanced, in 1803, to be a counsellor of state. As Miot squan- ders away his salary With harlots, and in gambling houses, and is pursued by creditors he neither Will nor can pay, it was merely from charity that his wife was received among the other ladies of Madame Joseph Buonaparte's household. LETTER XXVn. Paris, August 1805. MY LORD,^ NOTWITHSTANDING the ties of consanguinity, honour, duty, interest, and gratitude, which bound the Spanish Bourbons to the cause of the Bourbons of France, no monarch has rendered more service to the cause of rebellion, and done more harm to the cause of royalty, than the king of Spain. But here again you must understand me : when I speak of Prmces, whose talents are known not to be brilliant, whose intellects are known to be feeble, and whose good intentions are rendered null, by a want of firmness of character, or consistency of conduct ; while I deplore their weakness, and the consequent misfortunes of their contemporaries, I lay all the blame on their wicked or ignb- rant counsellors ; because, if no ministers were fools or traitors, no Sovereigns would tremble on their thrones, and no subjects dare to shake their foundation. Had Providence blessed Charles IV of Spain with that judgment in selecting his ministers, and that con- stancy in persevering in his choice, as your George III ; had the helm of Spain been in the firm and able hands of a Grenville, a COURT OF ST. CLOUD. Ill Windhamj and a Pitt, the cabinet of Madrid would never have been oppressed by the yoke of the- cabinet of St. Cloud, nor paid a heavy tribute for its bondage, degrading as well as ruinous. " This is the age of Upstarts," said Talleyrand to his cousin Prince de Chalais, who rept-oached him for an unbecoming servility to low and vile personages ; " and I prefer bowing to them, to being trampled upon and crushed by them.'^ Indeed, as far as I remem- ber, no where in history are hitherto recorded so many low persons, who, from obscurity and meanness, have suddenly and at once attained rank and notoriety. Where do we read of such a numerous crew of upstart emperors, kings, grand pensionaries, directors, imperial highnesses, princes, field-marshals, generals, senators, mi- nisters, governors, cardinals, 8cc. as we now witness figuring upon the theatre of Europe, and who chiefly decide on the destiny of nations? Among these, several are certainly to be found, whose superior parts have made them worthy to pierce the crowd, and to shake off their native mud ; but others again, and by far the great- est number of these novi homines^ owe their present elevation to shameless intrigues or atrocious crimes. The prinie minister, or rather the viceroy of Spain, the Prince of Peace, belongs to the latter class. From a man in the ranks of the guards, he was promoted to a general in chief, and from a harp- player in antichambers, to a president of the counsels of a Prince ; and that within the short period of six years. Such a fortune is not common; but to be absolutely without capacity as well as virtue, genius as well as good-breeding, and nevertheless to continue in an elevation so little merited, and in a place formerly so subject to changes, and so unstable, is a fortune that no upstart ever before experienced in Spain. An intrigue of his elder brother with the present Queen, then Princess of Asturia, which was discovered by the late King, intro- duced him first at court as a harp-player ; and when his brother was exiled, he was entrusted with the correspondence of the Princess with her gallant. After she had ascended the throne, he thought it more profitable to be the lover than the messenger, and contrived, therefore, to supplant his brother in the royal favour. Promotions ii2 SECRET HISTORY OF THE and riches were consequently heaped upon him ; and, what is sur- prising, the more undisguised the partiality of the Queen was, the greater the attachment of the King displayed itself ; and it has ever since been an emulation between the royal couple, who should the most forget and vilify birth and supremacy, by associating this man not only in the courtly pleasures, but in the functions of sovereignty. Had he been gifted with sound understanding, or possessed any share of delicacy, generosity, or discretion, he would, while he pro^ fited by their imprudent condescension, have prevented them from exposing their weaknesses and frailties to a discussion and ridicule among courtiers, and from becoming objects of humiliation and scandal among the people. He would have warned them of the danger, which at all times attends the publicity of the foibles and vices of Princes, but particularly in the present times of trouble and innovations. He would have told them : Make me great and wealthy, but not at the expence of your o\m grandeur, or of the loyalty of your people. Do not treat an humble subject as an equal ; nor suf- fer your Majesties, whom Providence destined to go^ern a high spirited nation, to be openly ruled by one born to obey. I am too dutiful not to lay aside my private vanity, when the happiness of my King, and the tranquillity of my fellow subjects are at stake. I am already too high. In descending a little, I shall not only rise m the eyes of my contemporaries, but in the opinion of posterity. Every step I am advancing undermines your throne. In retreating a little, if I do not strengthen, 1 can never injure it. But I beg your pardon for this digression, and for putting the language of dignified reason into the mouth of a man as corrupt as he is imbecile. Do not suppose, because the Prince of Peace is no fi'iend of my nation, that I am his enemy. No! had he shewn himself a true patriot, a friend of his own country, and of his too liberal Prince, or even of monarchy in general, or of any body else but himself, although I might have disapproved of his policy, if he has any, I would never have lashed the individual for the acts of the minister. But you must have observed with me, that never, before his adminis- tration, was the cabinet of Madrid worse conducted at home, or more despised abroad ; the Spanish monarch more humbled, or Spanish COURT OF ST. CLOtJt), 113 subjects more wretched ; the Spanish power more dishonoured, or the Spanish resources worse employed. Never before the treaty with France of 1796, conckided by this wiseacre (which made him a Prince of Peace, and our government the sovereign of Spain), was the Spanish monarchy reduced to such a lamentable dilemma, as to be forced into an expensive war without a cause, and into a disgrace- ful peace, not only unprofitable, but absolutely disadvantageous. Never before were its treasures distributed among its oppressors, to support their tyramiy, nor its military and naval forces employed to fight the battles of rebellion. The loyal subjects of Spain have only one hope left. The delicate state of his pi'esent Majesty's health does not prom':te a luuch longer continuance of his reign ; and the Prince of Asturia is too well informed, to endure the guidance of the most ignorant minister that ever was admitted into the cabinet and confidence of a sovereign. It is more than proba- ble, that under a new reign the misfortunes of the Prince of Peace will inspire as much compassion, as his rapid advancement has excited astonishment and indignation. A cabinet thus badly directed, cannot be expected to have repre- sentatives abroad,, either of abilities or patriotism. The Admiral and General Gravina, who but lately left this capital, as an ambas- sador from the Court of Spain, to assume the command of a Spa- nish fleet, is more valiant than wise, and more an enemy of your country than a friend of his ov/n. He is a profound admirer of Buonaparte's virtues and successes ; and was, during his residence, one of the most ostentatiously awkward courtiers of Napoleone tl^e First. It is said, that he has the modesty and loyalty to wish to be- come a Spanish Buonaparte ; and that he promises to restore, by his genius and exploits, the lost lustre of the Spanish monarchy. When this was reported to Talleyrand, he smiled v/ith contempt ; but when it was told to Buonaparte, he stamped with rage at the im- pudence of the Spaniard, in daring- to associate his name of acquired and established greatness, with his own impertinent schemes of ab- surdities and impossibilities. In the summer of 1793, Gravina commanded a division of the Spanish fleet in the Mediterranean, of which Admiral Langara was Q 114 SECRET HISTORY OF THE the commander-in-chief. At the capitulation of Toulon, after the combined English and Spanish forces had taken possession of it, when Rear-Admiral Goodall was declared governor, Gravina was made the commandant of the troops. At the head of these he often fought bravely in different sorties, and on the first of October was wounded at the re-capture of Fort Pharon. He complains still of having suffered insults or neglects from the English ; and even of having been exposed unnecessarily to the fire and sword of the ene- my, merely because he was a patriot, as well as an envied or sus- pected ally. His inveteracy against your country takes its date, no ^ doubt, from the siege of Toulon, or perhaps from its evacuation. When, in May 1794, our troops were advancing towards Coli- oures, he was sent with a squadron to bring it succours ; but he ar- rived too late, and could not save that important place. He was not iTxore successful at the beginning of the campaign of 1795 at Rosa, where he had only time to carry away the artillery, before the ene- . my entered. In August that year, during the absence of Admiral Massaredo, he assumed ad interim the command of the Spanish fleet in the Mediterranean, but in the December following he was dis- graced, arrested, and shut up as a state prisoner. During the embassy of Lucien Buonaparte to the Court of Ma- drid, m the autumn 1800, Gravina was by his influence restored to favour, and after the death of the late Spanish ambassador to tlie 'i Cabinet of St. Cloud, Chevalier d' Azzara, by the special desire of Na- i; poleone was nominated both his successor, and a representative of the King of Etruria. Among the members of our diplomatic corps, he was considered somewhat of a Spanish gasconader and a bully. He more frequently boasted of his wounds and battles, than of his nego- ciations or conferences, though he pretended, indeed, to shine as much in the cabinet as in the field. In his suite were two Spanish women, one about forty, and the other about twenty years of age : nobody knew what to make of them, as they were neither treated as wives, mistresses, nor servants, and they avowed themselves to be no relations. After a residence here of some weeks, he was, by Buperior orders^ way -laid one night at the opera, by a young and beautiful dancing girl, of the name of COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 115 Barrois, who engaged him to take her into keeping. He hesitated, indeed, for some time ; at last, however, love got the better of his scruples, and he furnished for her an elegant apartment on the new Boulevard. On the day he carried her there, he was accompanied by the chaplain of the Spanish Legation ; and told her that, previous to any further intimacy, she must be married to him, as his reli- gious principles did not permit him to cohabit with a woman, who was not his wife ; at the same time he laid before her an agreement to sign, by Which she bound herself never to claim him as a hus- band before her turn, that is to say, until sixteen other women, to whom he had been previously married, were dead. She made no opposition either to the marriage, or to the conditions annexed to it. This girl had a sweetheart of the name of Valere, an actor at one of the little theatres on the Boulevards, to whom she communicated her adventure ; he advised her to be scrupulous in her turn, and to ask a copy of the agreement. After some difficulty, this was ob- tained. In it no mention was made of her maintenance, nor in what manner her children were to be regarded, should she have any : Valere had, therefore, another agreement drawn up, in which all these points were arranged according to his own interested views. Gravina refused to subscribe to what he plainly perceived were only extor- tions ; and the girl, in her turn, not only declined any farther con- nexion with him, but threatened to publish the act of polygamy. Before they had done discussing this subject, the door was suddenly opened, and the two Spanish ladies presented themselves. After, severely upbraiding Gravina, who was struck mute by surprise, they announced to the girl, that whatever promise or contract of marriage she had obtained from him was of no value, as before they came with him to France, he had bound himself, before a public notary at Ma*? drid, not to forrn any new connexions, nor to marry any other woman without thei^- written consent. One of these ladies declared that she had been married to Gravina twenty-two years, and was his oldest wife but one ; the other said that she had been married to him six year^. They insisted upon his following theni) which he did, after putting a purs^ of gold into Barrois' hand. 116 SECRET HISTORY OF THE When Valere heard from his mistress this occurrence, he advised her to make the most money she could of the Spaniard's curious scruples. A letter therefore was written to him, demanding one himdred thousand livres, 4000/. as the price of secrecy, and with- holding the particulars of this busmess from the knowledge of the tribunals and the police ; and an answer was required within twenty- four hours. The same night Gravina offered one thousand Louis, which were accepted, and the papers returned ; but the next day Valere went to his hotel, rue de Provence, where he presented him- self as a brother of Barrois. He stated, that he still possessed au^ thenticated copies of the papers returned, and that he must have either the full sum first asked by his sister, or an annuity of twelve thou- sand livres settled upon her. Instead of an answer, Gravina ordered him to be turned out of the house. An attorney then waited on his Excellency, on the part of the brother and the sister, and repeated their threats and their demands, adding, that he would write a me- morial both to the Emperor of the French, and to the King of Spain, were justice refused to his principals any longer. Gravina was well aware, that this affair, though more laughable than criminal, would hurt both his character and credit, if it were known in France ; he therefore consented to pay seventy-six thou- sand livres more, upon a formal renunciation by the party of all fu- ture claims. Not having money sufficient by him, he went to bor- row it from a banker, whose clerk was one of Talleyrand's secret agents. Our minister, therefore, ordered every step of Gravina to be watched ; but he soon discovered, that instead of wanting this money for a political intrigue, it was necessary to extricate him out of an amorous scrape. Hearing, however, in what a scandalous manner the ambassador had been duped and imposed upon, he re- ported it to Buonaparte, who gave Fouche orders to have both Va- lere, BaiTois, and the attorney immediately transported to Cayenne, and to restore Gravina his money. The former part of this order, the minister of the police executed so much the more willingly as it was according to his plan that Barrois had pitched upon Gravina for a lover. She had been intended by him for a spy on hi§ Excelleji- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 117 cy ; but had deceived him by her reports ; a crime for which trans- portation was an usual punishment. Notwithstanding the care of our government to conceal and bury this affair in oblivion, it furnished matter both for conversation in our fashionable circles, and subjects for our caricaturists. But these artists were soon seized by the police, who found it more easy to chastise genius than to silence tongues. The declaration of war by Spain against your country, was a lucky opportunity for Gravina to quit with honour a Court, where he was an object of ridicule, to as- sume the command of a fleet, Avhich might one day make him an object of terror. When he took leave of Buonaparte, he was told to return to France victorious, or never to return any more,; and Talleyrand warned him as a friend, " whenever he returned to hi« post in France, to leave his marriage mania behind him in Spain. Here," said he, " you may, without I'idicule, intrigue with a hundred women, but you run a great risk only by marrying one." I have been in company with Gravina, and after what I heard him say, so far from judging him superstitious, I thought him really im- pious. But infidelity and bigotry are frequently next door neigh- bours. LETTER XXVIII. Par/?, August 1805. MY LORD, IT cannot have escaped the observation of the most superficial traveller of rank, that at the Court of St. Cloud want of morals is not atoned for by good breeding or good manners. The hideous- ness of vice, the pretensions of ambition, the vanity of rank, the pride of favour, and the shame of venality, do not wear here that delicate veil, that gloss of virtue, which, in other courts, lessens the deformity of corruption, and the scandal of depravity. Duplicity 118 SECRET HISTORY OF THE and hypocrisy are here very common indeed, more so than dissi- mulation any where else; but barefaced knaves and impostors must always make indifferent courtiers. Here the minister tells you, I must have such a sum for a place ; and the chamberlain tells you,- count down so much for my protection. The princess requires a necklace of such a value, for interesting herself for your advance- ment ; and the lady in waiting demands a diamond of such worth on the day of your promotion. This tariff of favours and of infamy descends ad infinitum. The secretary for signing, and the clerk for writing your commissions ; the cashier for delivering it, and the messenger for informing you of it, have all their fixed prices. Have you a lawsuit, the judge announces to you, that so much has been offered by your opponent, and so much is expected from you, if you desire to win your cause. When you are the defendant against the crown, the attorney or solicitor-general lets you know, that such a douceur is requisite to procure such an issue. Even in criminal proceedings, not only honour, but life, may be saved by pecuniary sacrifices. A man of the name of Martin, by profession a stock-jobber, killed in 1803 his own wife ; and for twelve thousand livres, 500^. he was acquitted, and recovered his liberty. In November last year, in a quarrel with his own brother, he stabbed him through the heart, and for another sum of twelve thousand livres, he was acquitted and released before last Christmas. This wretch is now in prison again, on suspicion of having poisoned his own daughter, with whom he had an incestuous intercourse, and he boasts publicly of the certainty of soon being liberated. Another person, Louis de Saurac, the younger son of Baron de Saurac, who, together with his eldest son, had emigrated, forged a will in the name of his parent, whom he pretended to be dead, which left him the sole heir of all the disposable property, to the exclusion of two sisters. After the nation had shared its part, as heir of all emigrants, Louis took possession of the remainder. In 1802, both his father and brother accepted of the general amnesty, and returned to France. To their great surprise, they heard that this Louis had by his ill treatment forced his sisters into servitude, refusing them COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 119 even the common necessaries of life. After upbraiding him for his want of duty, the father desired, according to the law, the restitu- tion of the unsold part of his estates. On the day fixed for settling the accounts, and entering into his right. Baron de Saurac was arrested as a conspirator, and imprisoned in the Temple. He had been denounced as having served in the army of Conde, and a& being a secret agent of Louis XVIII. To disprove the first part of the charge, he produced certificates from America, where he had passed the time of his emigration, and even upon the i^ack he denied the latter. During his arrest, the eldest son discovered, that Louis had become the owner of their possessions by means of the will he had forged in the name of his' father; and that it was he who had been unnatural enough to denounce the author of his days. With the wreck of their fortune in St. Domingo, he procured his father's release ; who, being acquainted with the perversity of his younger son, addressed himself to the department, to be reinstated in his property. This was opposed by Louis ; who defended his title to the estate by the revolutionary maxim, which had passed into a law, enacting, that all emigrants should be considered as politically dead. Hitherto Baron de Saurac had, from affection, declined to mention the forged will; but shocked by his son's obduracy, and being reduced to distress, his counsellor produced this document, which not only went to deprive Louis of his property, but exposed him to a criminal prosecution. This unnatural son, who was not yet twenty-five, had imbibed all the revolutionary morals of his contemporaries, and was well ac- quainted with the moral characters of his revolutionary countrymen. He addressed himself therefore to Merlin of Douai, Buonaparte's Imperial attorney -general, and commander of his Legion of Honour ; who, for a bribe of fifty thousand livres, 2,100/. obtained for him, after he had been defeated in every other court, a judgment in his favour, in the tribunal of cassation ; under the sophistical cc!;cIusion, that all emigrants being, according to law, considered as politically dead, a will in the name of any one of them was merely a pious fraud, to preserve the property in the family. 120 SECRET HISTORY OF THE This Merlin is the son of a labourer of Anchin, and was a servant of the abbey of the same name. One of the monks, observing in him some application, charitably sent him to be educated at Douai, after having bestowed on him some previous education. Not satis- fied with this generous act, he engaged the other monks, as well as the chapter of Cambray, to subscribe for his expences of admission, as an attorney, by the parliament of Douai, in which situation the Revolution found him. By his dissimulation and assumed modesty, he continued to dupe his benefactors ; who by their influence ob- tained for him the nomination as a representative of the people to our first National Assembly. They soon, however, had reason to repent of their generosity. He joined the Orleans faction, and became one of the most persevering, violent, and cruel persecutors of the privileged classes, particjularly of the clergy, to whom he was indebted for every thing. In 1792 he was elected a member of the National Convention, where he voted for the death of his King. It was he who proposed a law (justly called by Prudhomme the pro- duction of the deliberate homicide Merlin) against suspected persons, which was decreed on the 17th September 1793, and caused the imprisonment or proscription of two hundred thousand families. This decree procured him the appellation of Merlin Suspects^ and of Mar tin Potence, In 1795 he was first appointed a minister of police, and soon afterwards a minister of justice. After the revolu- tion in favour of the Jacobins, of the 4th September 1797, he was made a Director ; a place which he was obliged by the same Jaco- bins to resign in June 1799. Buonaparte expressed at first the most sovereign contempt for this Merlin ; but on account of one of his sons, who was his aide-de-camp, he was appointed by him, when First Consul, his attorney-general. As nothing paints better the true features of a government than the morality or -vices of its functionaries, I will finish this man's portrait with the following characteristic touches. Merlin de Douai has been successively the counsel of the late Duke of Orleans, the friend of Danton, of Chabot, and of Hebert, the admirer of Marat, and the servant of Robespierre. An accom- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 121 plice of Rewbel, Barras, and la Reveilliere, an author of the law of suspected persons, an advocate of the Septembrisers, and an ardent apostle of the St. Guillotme. Cunning as a fox and ferocious as a tiger, he has outlived all the factions with which he has been con- nected. It has been his policy to keep in continual fermentation, rivalships, jealousies, inquietudes, revenge, and all other odious passions ; establishing by such means his influence on the terror of some, the ambition of others, and the credulity of them all. Had I, when Merlin proposed his law concerning suspected persons, in the name of libertij and equality, been free and his equals I should have said to him : " Monster, this your atrocious law is your sentence of death : it has brought thousands of innocent persons to an un- timely end ; you shall die by my hands as a victim, if the tribunals do not condenm you to the scaffold as an executioner, or as a criminal." Merlin has bought national property to the amount of fifteen millions of liyres, 625,000/. and he is supposed to possess money nearly to the same amount, in your or our funds. For a man born a beggar, and educated by charity, this fortune, together with the liberal salaries he enjoys, might seem sufficient, without selling justice, protecting guilt, and oppressing or persecuting innocence. 122 SECRET HISTORY OF TH^ LETTER XXIX. Paris, August 1805* MY LORO^ THE household troops of Napoleone the First are by thousands more numerous than those even of Louis XIV were. Grenadiers on foot and on horseback ; riflemen on foot and on horseback ; hea- vy and light artillery; dragoons and hussars; mamelukes and sailors ; artificers and pontoneers ; gens-d'armes and gens-d'armes d'Elite ; Velites and veterans ; with Italian grenadiers, riflemen, dra- goons, 8cc. See. compose all together a no inconsiderable army. Though it frequently happens, that the pay of the other troops is in arrear, those appertaining to Buonaparte's household are as regu- larly paid as his senators, counsellors of state, and other public functionaries. All the men are picked, and all the officers, as much as possible, of birth, or at least of education. In the midst of this voluptuous and seductive capital, they are kept very strict, and the least negligence or infraction of military discipline is more severely punished than if committed in garrison, or in an encampment. They are both better clothed, accoutred, and paid, than the troops of the line, and have every where the precedency of them. All the officers, and many of the soldiers, are members of Buonaparte's Legion of Honour ; and carry arms of honour, distributed to them by Imperial favour, or for military exploits. None of them are quartered upon the citizens ; each corps has its own spacious bar- racks, hospitals, drilling ground, riding or fencing houses, gardens, bathing-houses, billiard table, and even libraries. A chapel has lately been constructed near each barrack, and almoners are already appointed. In the mean time, they attend regularly at mass, either in the Imperial chapel or in the parish churches. Buonaparte dis- courages much all marriages among the mihtary in general, but particularly among those of his household troops. That they may COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 123 not, however, be entirely deprived of the society of women, he allows five to each company, with the same salaries as the men, under the name of washerwomen. With a vain and fickle people, fond of shows and innovations, nothing, in a military despotism, has a greater political utility, gives greater satisfaction, and leaves behind a more useful terror and awe, than Buonaparte's grand military reviews. In the beginning of his consulate, they regularly occurred three times in the month ; after his victory of Marengo, they were reduced to once in a fortnight ; and since he has been proclaimed Emperor, to once only in the month. This ostentatious exhibition of usurped power is always closed with a diplomatic review of the representatives of lawful Princes ; who introduce, on those qccasions, their fellow subjects tp another subject, who successfully has seized, and continues to usurp, the authority of his own sovereign. What an example for ambi- tion 1 what a lesson to tre^achery ! Besides the household troops, this capital and its^vicinity have, for these three years past, never conta.ined less than from fifteen to twenty thousand men of the regiment^ of the line ; belonging to what is called the first rnilitary division of the army of the interior. These troops are selected from among the brigades that served under Buonaparte in Italy and Egypt with the greatest eclat, and constitute a kind of depot for recruiting his household with tried and trusty men. They are also regularly paid, and generally better accoutred than their comrades enpamped on the coast, or quartered in Italy or Holland. But a standing army, upon which all revolutionary rulers can de- pend, and that will always continue their faithful support, unique in its sort and composition, exists in the bosom as well as iii the extre- mities of this country, I mean, one hundred and twenty thousand invalids, mostly young rnen u^der thirty, forced by conscription against their will into the field ; quartered and taken care of by our government, and all possessed with the absurd prejudice, that, as they have been maimed in fighting the battles of rebellion, the res- toration of legitimate sovereignty would to them be an epoch of destruction, or at least of misery and want ; and this prejudice is 124 SECRET HISTORY OF THE kept alive by emissaries employed on purpose to mislead them. Of these, eight thousand are lodged and provided for in this city ; ten thousand at Versailles; and the remainder in Piedmont, Brabant, and in the conquered departments on the left bank of the Rhine ; countries where the inhabitants are discontented and disaffected, and require therefore to be watched, and to have a better spirit infused. Those whose wounds permit it are also employed to do garrison duty, in fortified places not exposed to an attack by enemies, and to assist in the different arsenals and laboratories, founderies and depots of military or naval stores. Others are attached to the police offices, and some as gens-d'armes to arrest suspected or guilty indi^ viduals ; or as garnissaires, to enforce the payment of contributions from the unwilling or distressed. When the period for the payment of taxes is expired, two of these garnissaires present themselves at the house of the persons in arrears, with a billet signed by the director of the contributions, and countertsigned by the police com- missary. If the money is not immediately paid, with half-a-crown to each of them besides, they remain quartered in the house, where they are to be boarded, and to receive half-a-ci'own a day each, vmtil an order from those who sent them informs them that what was due to the state has been acquitted. After their enrtrance into a house, and during their stay, no furniture or effects whatever can be removed or disposed of; nor can the master or mistress go out of doors without being accompanied by one of them. In the houses appropriated to our invalids, the inmates are very well treated, and government takes ^reat care to make them satisfied with their lot. The officers have large halls, billiards, and reading- room to meet in ; and the common men are admitted into apart- ments adjoining libraries, from which they cfin borrow v/hat books they contain, and read them at leisure. This is certainly a very good and even humane institution, though these libraries chiefly contain military liistories or novels. As to the morals of these young invalids, they .may be well con- ceived when you remember the 7norality of our revolution ; and that they, without any religious notions or restraints, were not only permitted, but encouraged, to partake of the debauchery and licen* COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 125 tiousness which were carried to such an extreme in our armies and encampments. In an age when the passions are strongest, and often blind reason and silence conscience, they have not the means nor the permission to marry ; in their vicinity it is, therefore, more difficult to discover one honest woman, or a dutiful v/ife, than hun- dreds of harlots and of adulteresses. Notwithstanding that many of them have been accused before the tribunals of seductions, rape, and violence against the sex, not one has been punished for what the morality of our government consider merely as bagatelles. Even in cases where husbands, brothers, and lovers have been killed by them, while defending or avenging the honour of their wives, sisters, and mistresses, our tribunals have been ordered by our grand judge, according to the commands of the Emperor, not to proceed. As most of them have no occupation, the vice of idleness augments the mass of their corruption ; for men of their principles, when they have nothing to do, never do any thing good. I do not know if my countrywomen feel themselves honoured by or obliged to Buonaparte, for leaving their virtue and honour un- protected, except by their own prudence and strength ; but of this I am certain, that all our other troops, as well as the invalids, may live on free quarters with the sex, without fearing the consequences, provided they keep at a distance from the females of our Imperial family, and of those of our grand officers of state and principal func- tionaries. The wives and the daughters of the latter have, how- ever, sometimes declined the advantage of these exclusive privileges. A horse grenadier of Buonaparte's Imperial guard, of the name of Rabais, notorious for his amours and debauchery, was accused before the Imperial judge Thuriot, at one and the same time, by several husbands and fathers, of having seduced the afiections of their wives, and of their daughters. As usual, Thuriot refused to listen to their complaints; at the same time insultingly advising them to retake their v/ives and children, and for the future to be more careful of them. Triumphing, as it were, in his injustice, he inconsiderately mentioned tjie circumstance to his own wife ; ob- serving, that he never knew so fnany charges of the same sort exhibited against one man. 126 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Madame Thuriot, who had been ,a servant-maid to her husband before he made her his v>'ife, instead of being disgusted at the re- cital, secretly determined to see this Rabais. An intrigue was then begun, and carried on for four months, if not with discretion, at least without discovery ; but the lady's own imprudence at last be- trayed her: or I should say rather, her jealousy. But foi this, she might still have been admired among our modest women, and Thu- riot among fortunate husbands and happy fathers ; for the lady, for the first time since her marriage, proved, to the great joy and pride of her husband, in the family way. Suspecting, however, the fidelity of her paramour, she watched his motion so closely, that she dis- covered an intrigue between him and the chaste spouse of a rich banker ; but the consequence of this discovery was the detection of her oAvn crime. On the discovery of his disgrace, Thuriot obtained an audience of Buonaparte, in which he exposed his misfortune, and demanded punishment on his wife's gallant. As, however, he also acknow- ledged that his own indiscretion was an indirect cause of their con- nection, he received the same advice which he had given to other unfortunate husbands : to retake, and for the future guard better, his dear moiety. Thuriot had, however, an early opportunity of wreaking his ven- geance on the gallant Rabais. It seems his prowess had reached the ears of Madame Bachiocchi, the eldest sister of Buonaparte. This lady has a children mania, which is very troublesome to her husband, disagreeable to. her relations, and injurious to herself. She never beholds any lady, particularly any of her family, in the way T.vhich women wish to be who love their lords, but she is absolutely frantic. Now Thuriot's worthy friend Fouche hjid discovered by his spies, that Rabais paid frequent and secret visits to the hotel Bachiocchi, and that Madam Bachiocchi was the object of these vi- sits. Thuriot, on this discovery, instantly denounced him to Buona- parte. Had Rabais ruined all the v/omen of this capital, he would not ■ordy have been forgiven, but applauded by Napoleone, and his counsellors and courtiers ; but to dare to approach, or only to cas.t COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 127 his eyes on one of our Imperial Highnesses, was a crime nothing Gould extenuate or avenge but the most exemplary punishment. He was therefore arrested, sent to the Temple, and has never since been- heard of; so that his female friends are still in the ci-uel urxer- tainty, whether he has died on the rack, been buried alive in the dubliettesy or is wandermg an exile in the wilds of Cayenne. In examining his trunk, among the curious effects discovered by the police, were eighteen portraits, and one hundred billet-doux^ with medallions, icings, bracelets, tresses of hair, &c. as numerous. Two of the portraits occasioned much scandal, and more gossiping. They were those of two of our most' devout and most respectable court ladies, maids of honour to our empress, Madame Ney arid Madame Lasnes ; who never miss an opportunity of going to church, who have received tlie private blessing of the Pope, and who regularly confess to some bishop or other, once in a fortnight. Madame Napoleone cleared them, however, of all susfiicion, by declaring publicly in her drawing-room, that these portraits had coine into the possession of Rabais by the infidelity of their maids ; who had confessed their faults, and, therefore, had been charitably pardoned. -Whether the opinions of Generals Ney and Lasnes coin- cide with Madaitie Napoleone's assertion is uncertain ; but Lasnes has been often heard to say, that from the instant his wife began to confess, he was convinced she was inclined to dishonour him ; so that nothing surpi'ised him. One of the medallions in Rabais' collection contained on one side the portrait of Thuriot, and on the other that of his wife ; both set with diamonds, and presented to her by him on their last wedding day. For the supposed theft of this medallion two of Thuriot's servants were in prison, Avhen the arrest of Rabais explained the manner in which it had been lost. This so enraged him, that he beat and kicked his wife so heartily, that for some time even her life was in danger, and Thuriot lost all hopes of being a father. Before the Revolution, Thuriot had been, for fraud and forgery, struck off the roll as an advocate, and therefore joined it as a patriot. In 1791 he was chosen a deputy to the National Assembly, and in 1793 to the National Convention. He alwavs shewed himself one 128 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of the most ungenerous enemies of the clergy, of monarchy, and of his King; for whose death he voted. On the 25th of May 1792, in declaiming against Christianity and priesthood, he wished them both, ybr the ivelfare of mankind, at the bottom of the sea; and on the 1 8th of December the same year, he declared in the Jacobin Club, that if the National Convention evinced any signs of clemency towards Louis XVI, he would go himself to the Temple, and blow out the brains of this unfortunate King. He defended in the tri- bune the massacres of the prisoners, affirming, that the tree of liberty could never flourish without being inundated with the blood of aristocrates, and other enemies of the Revolution. He has been convicted by rival factions of the most shameful robberies, and his infamy and depravity were so notorious, that neither Marat, Brissot, Robespierre, nor the Directory would or could employ him. After the revolution of the 9th November 1799, Buonaparte gave him the office of Judge of the Criminal Tribunal, and in 1 804 made him a Commander of his Legion of Honour. He is now one of our Em- peror's most faithful subjects, and most sincere Christians. Such is now his tender conscientiousness, that he was among those who were the first to be married again by some Cardinal to their present wives ; to whom they had formerly been united only by the muni- cipality. This new marriage, however, took place before Madame Thuriot had introduced herself to the acquaintance of the Imperial Grenadier Rabais. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 121 LETTER XXX. Paris f August 1805. MY LORD, BEING considered as a connoisseur, though I have no pretensions but that of being an amateur, Lucien Buonaparte, shortly before his disgrace, invited me to pass some days with him in the country, and to assist him in arranging his very valuable collection of pictures ; next our public ones, the most curious and most valuable in Europe, and of course in the world. I found here, as at Joseph Buonaparte's, the same splendour, the same etiquette, and the same liberty; which latter was much enhanced by the really engaging and unassum- ing manners and conversation of the host. At Joseph's, even in the midst of abundance and of liberty, in seeing the person, or meditating on the character of the host, you feel both your inferiority of fortune and the humiliation of dependence, and that you visit a master instead of a friend, who indirectly tells you, ' eat, di'ink, and rejoice, as long and as much as you like; but remember, that if you are happy, it is to my generosity you are indebted ; and, if unhappy, that I do not care a pin about you.' With Lucien it is the very reverse. His conduct seems to indicate, that, by your company, you confer an obli- gation on him ; and he is studious to remove, on all occasions, that distance which fortune has placed between him and his gr.ests; and as he cannot compliment them upon being weal- thier than himself, he seizes with delicacy every opportunity to shew that he acknowledges their superiority in talents and in genius, as more than an equivalent for the absence of riches. He is nevertheless himself a young man of uncommon parts, and, as far as I could judge from my short intercourse with the reserved Joseph, and with the haughty Napoleone, he is abler and better informed than either, and much more open and sincere. His manners are also more elegant, and his language more polished ; which is the more creditable" to 122 SECRET HISTORY OF THE him, when it is remembered how much his education has been neglected, how vitiated the revolution made him, and that but lately^ his principal associates were, like himself, from among the vilest and most vulgar of the rabble. It is not necessary to be a keen observer to remark in Napoleone the upstart sol- dier, and in Joseph the former low member of the law ; but I defy the most refined courtier to see in Lucien any thing indi- cating a ci-devant Sans Culotte. He has, besides, other quali- ties (and those more estimable) which will place him much above his elder brother^ in the opinion of posterity. He is ex- tremely compassionate and liberal to the truly distressed ; ser- viceable to those whom he knows are not his friends, and forgiving and obliging even to those who have proved and avowed themselves his enemies. These are virtues commonly very scarce, and hitherto never displayed by any other member of the Buonaparte family. An acquaintance of yours, and a friend of mine, Count de T , at his return here from emigration, found, of his whole former fortune, producing once eighty thousand livres (33001.) in the year, only four farms unsold; and these were advertised for sale. A man who had once been his servant, but was then a groom to Lucien, offered to present a memorial for him to his master, to prevent the disposal of the only support which remained to subsist himself, with a wife and four chil- dren. lAicien asked Napoleone to prohibit the sale, and to re- store the count the farms, and obtained hjs consent; but Fouche, whose cousin wanted them, having purchased other national pro-* perty in the neighbourhood, prevailed on Napoleone to forget his promise, and the farms were sold. As soon as Lucien heard of it, he sent for the count, delivered into his hand an annuity of six thousand livres (2501.) for the life of himself, his wife, and his children, as an indemnity for the inefficacy of his endea- vours to serve him, as he expressed himself. Had the count re- covered the farms, they would not have given him a clear pro- fit of half the amount, all taxes paid. A young author, of the name of Gauvan, irritated by the loss of parents and fortune by the revolution, attacked, during 1799, in the public prints, as well as in pamphlets, every revolution- ist who had obtained notoriety or popularity. He was particu^ COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 123 larly vehement against Lucien, and laid before the public all his crimes, and all his errors, and asserted as facts atrocities which were either calumnies or merely rumouro. When, after Napoleone's assumption of the consulate, Lucien was appointed a minister of the interior, he sent for Gauvan, and said to him, " Great misfortunes have early made you wretched, and unjust ; and you have frequently revenged yourself on those who could not prevent them ; among whom I am one. You do not want capacity, nor, I believe, probity. Here is a commission, which makes you a director of the contributions in the departments of ' the Rhine and Moselle, an oflRce with a salary of twelve thou- sand livres (5001.), but producing double that sum. If you meet with any difficulties, write to me 1 am your friend. Take those one hundred louis-d'ors for the expenses of your journey. Adieu !" — This anecdote I have read in Gauvan's own hand- writing, in a letter to his sister. He died in 1802; but Made- moiselle Gauvan, who is not yet fifteen, has a pension of three thousand livres a year (1251.) from Lucien, who has never seen her. Lucien Buonaparte has another good quality ; he is consist- ent in his political principles. Either from conviction or delu- sion, he is still a republican ; and does not conceal that, had he suspected Napoleone of any intent to re-establish monarchy, much less tyranny, he would have joined those deputies, who, on the 9th of November, 1799, in the sitting, at St. Cloud, de- manded a decree of outlawry against him. If the present quar- rel between these two brothei's were sifted to the bottom, per- haps it would be found to originate more from Lucien's repub- licanism than from his marriage. I know, with all France and Europe, that Lucien's youth has been very culpable ; that he has committed many indiscre- tions, much injustice, many imprudences, many errors, and, I fear, even some crimes. I know that he has been the most profligate among the profligate, the most debauched among li- bertines, the most merciless among plunderers, and the most perverse among rebels. I know that he is accused of being a Septembrizer ; of having murdered one wife, and poisoned Jino- ther; of having been a spy, a denouncer, a persecutor of inno- cent persons in the reign of terror. I know that he is accused 124 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of having fought his brothers-in-law ; of having ill used his mo- ther ; and of an incestuous commerce with his own sisters. I have read and heard of these and other enormous accusations; and far be it from me to defend, extenuate, or even deny them. But suppose all his infamy to be real, to be proved, to be authen- ticated, which it never has been, and, to its whole extent, I am persuaded, never can be ; what are the cruel and depraved acts of which Lucien has been accused, to the enormities and bar- barities of which Napoleone is convicted. Is the poisoning a wife more criminal than the poisoning a whole hospital of wounded soldiers? or the assisting to kill some confined persons, sus- pected of being enemies, more atrocious than the massacre, in cold blood, of thousands of disarmed prisoners."* Is incest with a sister more shocking to humanity than the well-known, unnatural, pathic but I will not continue the disgusting comparison. As long as Napoleone is unable to acquit him- self of such barbarities and monstrous crimes, he has no right to pronounce Lucien unworthy to be called his brother; nor have Frenchmen, as long as they obey the former as a sove- any reign, nor has the continent, as long as it salutes him as such, reason to despise the latter, for crimes which lose their enormity when compared to the horrid perpetrations of his Im- perial brother. An elderly lady, a relation of Lucien's wife, and a person in whose veracity and morality I have the greatest confidence, and for whom he always had evinced more regard than even for his own mother, has repeated to me many of their conversations. She assures me, that Lucien deplores frequently the Avant of a good and religious education, and the tempting examples of perversity he met with almost at his entrance upon the revolu- tionary scene. He says that he determined to get rich Jierfas aut nefas, because he observed that money was every thing; and that most persons plotted and laboured for power merely to be enabled to gather treasure; though, after they had obtain- ed both, much above their desert and expectation, instead of be- ing satiated, or even satisfied, they bustled and intrigued for more, until success made them unguarded, and prosperity in- discreet, and they became, with their wealth, the easy prey of rival factions. Such was the case of Danton, of Fabre d'Eglan- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 125 tine, of Chabot, of Chautnette, of Stebert, and other contemptir ble wretches, butchered by Robespierre and his partisans; vie* tims in their turn to men as unjust and sanguinary as them-f selves. He had therefore laid out a different plan of conduct for himself. He had fixed upon fifty millions of livres (2,100,0001.) as the maximum he should wish for ; and when that sum was in his possession, he resolved to resign all pretensions to rank and employment, and to enjoy otium cum dignitate. He has kept to his determination, and so regulated his income, that, with the expenses, pomp, and retinue of a prince, he is enabled to make more persons happy and comfortable than his extort tions have ruined, or even embarrassed. He now lives like a fi/iUoso/i/ieryand endeavours to forget the past, to delight in the present, and to be indifferent about futurity. He chose there- fore for a wife a lady whom he loved and esteemed, in prefer- ence to one whose birth would have been a continual reproach to the meanness of his own origin. You must with me admire the modesty of a citizen Sans Cu-t lotte, who, without a shilling in the world, fixes upon fifty mil- lions as a reward for his revolutionary achievements, and with which he would be satisfied to sit down and begin his singular course of singular philosophy. But his success is more extra-^ ordinary than his pretensions were extravagant. This im- mense sum was amassed by him in the short period of four years, chiefly by bribes from foreign courts, and by selling his protections in France. But most of the other Buonapartes have made as great and afs rapid fortunes as Lucien ; and yet instead of being generous, contented, or even /i/iilosofihers, they are still profiting, by every occasion, to increase their ill-gotten treasures; and no distress was ever relieved, no talents encouraged, or virtues recompensed by them. The mind of their garrets lodges with them in their palaces ; while Lucien seems to ascend as near as possible to a level with his circumstances. Without being ostentatious, I have myself found him beneficent. Among his numerous pictures I observed four that had for- merly belonged to my father's, and afterwards^ to my oWn cabinet. I inquired how much he had paid for them, without giving the least hint that they had been my property, and were 1^5 SECRET HISTORY OF THE plundered from me by the nation. He had indeed paid their full value. In a fortnight after I had quitted him, these, with six other pictures, were deposited in my room, with a very po- lite note, begging my acceptance of them, and assuring me, he had but the day before heard, from his picture-dealer, that they had belonged to me. He added that he would never re- take them, unless he received an assurance from me that I parted with them without reluctance, and at the same affixed price. I returned them, as I knew they were desired by him for his collection; but he continued obstinate. I told him therefore, that, as 1 was acquainted with his inclination co per- form a generous action, I would instead of payment for the pic- tures, indicate a person deserving his assistance. I mentioned the old Duchess de****, who is seventy-four years of age, and blind r and, after possessing in her youth an income of eight hundred thousand Uvres, (33.0001.) is now in her old age almost destitute. He did for this worthy lady more than 1 expected; but happening in his visits to relieve my friend, to cast his eye on the daughter of the landlady, where she lodged, he found means to prevail on the simplicity of the poor girl, and seduced her. So much do I know personally of Lucien Buonaparte; who certainly is a composition of good and bad qualities, but ■which of them predominate I will not take upon me to decide. This I can affirm — Lucien is not the worst member of the Buona- parte family. LETTER XXXI. Farisj .August 1805. My lore. AS long as Austria ranks among independent nations, Buonaparte will take care not to offend or alarm the ambition and interest of Prussia, by incorporating the Batavian Republic with the other provinces of his empire. Until that period, the Dutch must continue (as they have been these last ten years) COURT OF ST. CLOUD, 127 under the appellation of allies, oppressed like subjects, and plun- dered like foes. Their mock sovereignty will continue to weigh heavier on them than real servitude does on their Belgic and Flemish neighbours, because Frederic the Great pointed out to his successors the Elbe and the Texel as the natural borders of the Prussian monarchy, whenever the right bank of the Rhine should form the natural frontiers of the kingdom of France. That during the present summer, a project for a partition treaty of Holland has by the cabinet of St. Cloud been laid be- fore the cabinet of Berlin, is a fact, though disseminated only as a rumour by the secret agents of Talleyrand. Their object was on this, as on all previous occasions, when any names, rights or liberties of people were intended to be erased from among the annals of independence, to sound the ground, and to prepare by such rumours the mind of the public for another outrage and another overthrow. But Prussia as well as France knows the value of a military and commercial navy, and that to obtain it, good harbours and navigable rivers are necessary, and therefore, as well as from principles of justice perhaps, de- clined the acceptance of a plunder, which though tempting, was contrary to the policy of the house of Brandenburgh. According to a copy circulated among the members of our diplomatic corps, this partition treaty excluded Prussia from, all the Batavian sea-ports, except Delfzyl, and those of the river Ems; but gave her extensive territories on the side of Guelderland, and a rich country in Friesland. Had it been ac- ceded to by the court of Berlin, with the annexed condition of a defensive and offensive alliance with the court of St. Cloud, the Prussian monarchy would, within half a century, have been swallowed up in the same gulf, with the Batavian common- wealth and the Republic of Poland ; and by some future scheme of some future Buonaparte or Talleyrand, be divided in its turn, and serve as a pledge of reconciliation or inducement of connec- tion between some future rulers of the French and Russian empires. Talleyrand must indeed have a very mean opinion of the capacity of the Prussian ministers, or a high notion of his own Influence over them, if he was serious in this overture. For 128 SECRET HISTORY OF THE my part, I am rather inclined to think that it was merely thrown out to discover whether Frederick William HI had en- tered into any, engagement contrary to the interest of Napoleon the first; or to allure his Prussian majesty into a negotiation, which would suspend or at least interfere with those supposed to be then on the carpet with Austria, Russia, or perhaps even with England. The late Batavian government had, ever since the begin- ning of the present war with England, incurred the displeasure of Buonaparte. When it apprehended a rupture from the turn which the discussion respecting the occupation of Malta as- sumed, the Dutch ambassadors at St. Petersburgh and Berlin were ordered to demand the interference of these two cabinets, for the preservation of the neutrality of Holland; which your country had promised to acknowledge, if respected by France. No sooner was Buonaparte infermed of this step, than he marched troops into the heart of the Batavian Republic, and oc- cupied its principal forts, ports, and arsenals. When, sometime afterwards, Count de Markoff received instructions from his court, according to the desire of the Batavian Directory, and demanded in consequence an audience from Buonaparte, a map was laid before him, indicating the position of the Fi*ench troops in Holland, and plans of the intended encampment of our Ar- my of England on the coast of Flanders and France ; and he was asked, whether he thought it probable that our government would assent to a neutrality, so injurious to its offensive opera- tions against Great Britain? "But," said the Russian ambassa- dor, "the independence of Holland has been admitted by you in formal treaties:" — " So has the cession of Malta by England," interrupted Buonaparte with impatience. — " True," replied Markoff, " but you are now at war with England for this point, while Holland, against which you have no complaint, has not only been invaded by your troops, but, contrary both to its in- clination and interest, involved in a war with you, by which it has much to lose, and nothing to gain. — " " 1 have no account to render to any body for my transactions, and I desire to hear nothing more on this subject," said Buonaparte, retiring furi- ous, and leaving Markoff to meditate on our sovereign's singu^ lar principles of political justice, and o^ jus gentium- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 129 From that period, Buonaparte resolved on another change of the executive power of the Batavian Republic. But it was more easy to displace one set of men for another, than to find proper ones to occupy a situation, in which, if they do their duty as patriots, they must offend France ; and if they are our tools, instead of the independent governors of their country, they must excite a discontent among their fellow- citizens ; dis- gracing themselves as individuals, and exposing themselves as chief magistrates to the fate of the De Witts, should ever for- tune forsake our arms, or desert Buonaparte. No country has of late been less productive of great men than Holland. The Van Tromps, the Russels, and the Wil- liams III, all died without leaving any posterity behind them; and the race of Batavian heroes seems to have expired with them, as that of patriots with the De Witts and Barneveldt.-^ Since the beginning of the last century we read indeed of some able statesmen, as most, if not all, the former grand pen- sionaries have been ; but the name of no warrior of any great eminence is recorded. This scarcity of native genius and va- lour has not a little contributed to the present humbled, dis- graced and oppressed state of wretched Batavia. Admiral de Winter certainly neither wants courage nor genius, but his private character has a great I'esemblance to that of general Moreau. Nature has destined him to obey, and not to govern ; he may direct as ably and as valiantly the manoeuvres of a fleet as Moreau does those of an army ; but neither the one nor the other at the head of his nation would long render himself respected, his country flourishing, or his countrymen happy and tranquil. Destined from his youth for the navy, admiral de Winter entered into the naval service of his country before he was fourteen, and was a second lieutenant when the Batavian pa-' triots^ in rebellion against the Stadtholder, were in 1787 re- duced to submission by the duke of Brunswick, the command* er of the Prussian army that invaded Holland. His parents and family being of the anti -orange party, he emigrated to France, where he was made an officer in the legion of Batavian refugees. During the campaign of 1793 and 1794, he so much distinguished himself, under that competent judge -of merit, 130 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Pichegru, that this commander obtained for him the commis* sion of a general of brigade in the service of the French; which, after the conquest of Holland in January 1795, was exchanged for the rank of a vice-admiral of the Batavian Republic. His exploits as commander of the Dutch fleet, during the battle of the 1 1th of October 1797, with your fleet under Lord Duncan, I have heard applauded even in your presence, when in your country. Too honest to be seduced, and too brave to be inti- midated, he is said to have incurred Buonaparte's hatred by re- sisting both his offers and threats, and declining to sell his own liberty as well as to betray the liberty of his fellow-subjects. When, in 1800, Buonaparte proposed to him the presidency and consulate of the United States for life, on condition that he should sign a treaty, which made him a vassal of France, he refused with dignity and with firmness; and preferred retire- ment to a supremacy so dishonourably acquired, and so disho- nourably occupied. General Daendels, another Batavian revolutionist of some notoriety, from an attorney became a lieutenant-colonel, and served as a spy under Dumourier in the winter of 1792, and in the spring of 1793. Under Pichegru he was made a general, and exhibited those talents in the field which are said to have before been displayed in the forum. In June 1795 he was made a lieutenant-general of the Batavian Republic, and he was the commander-in-chief of the Dutch troops, combating in 1799 your army, under the Duke of York. In this place he did not much distinguish himself, and the issue of the contest was entirely owing to our troops and to our generals. After the peace of Amiens, observing that Buonaparte in- tended to annihilate instead of establish universal liberty, Daendels gave in his resignation, and retired to obscurity ; not wishing to be an instrument of tyranny, after having so long fought for freedom. Had he possessed the patriotism of a Bru- tus or a Cato, he would have bled or died for his cause and country, sooner than have deserted them both; or had the am- bition and love of glory of Caesar held a place in his bosom, he would have attempted to be the chief of his country, and by generosity and clemency atone, if possible, for the loss of liber- ty. Upon the line of basehess the deserter is placed next to the traitor. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 131 Dumonceau, another Batavian general of some publicity, is not by birth a citizen of the United States, but was born at Brussels in 1758 ; and was by profession a stone-mason, when in 1789 he joined, as a volunteer, the Belgian insurgents. After their dispersion in 1790, he took refuge and served in France, and was made an officer in the corps of Belgians, formed after the declaration of war against Austria in 1792. Here he fre- quently distinguished himself, and was therefore advanced to the rank of a general; but the Dutch general officers being bet- ter paid than those of the French Republic, he was, with the permission of our Directory, received in 1795, as a lieutenant- general of the Batavian Republic. He has often evinced bra- very, but seldom great capacity. His natural talents are con- sidered as but indiffisrent, and his education is worse. These are the only three military characters who might, with any prospect of success, have tried to play the part of a Napoleone Buonaparte in Holland. LETTER XXXII. Paris, August 1805. My lord, NOT to give umbrage to the cabinet of Berlin, Buonaparte communicated to it the necessity he was under of altering the form of government in Holland, and, if report be true, even con- descended to ask advice concerning a chief magistrate for that country. The young Prince af Orange, brother-in-law of his Prussian Majesty, naturally presented himself; but after some time, Talleyrand's agents discovered that great pecuniary sa- crifices could not be expected from that quarter, and perhaps less submission to France experienced than from the former governors. An eye was then cast on the Elector of Bavaria, whose past patriotism^ as well as that of his ministers, were full guarantees for future obedience. Had he consented to such an arrangement, Austria might have aggrandized herself on the 132 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Inn ; Prussia in Franconia, and France in Italy ; and the pre- sent bone of contest been chiefly removed. This intrigue, for it was nothing else, was carried on by the cabinet of St. Cloud in March 1804, about the time that Ger- many was invaded, and the Duke of Enghien seized. This ex- plains to you the reason why the Russian note delivered to the Diet of Ratisbon on the 8th of May following, was left without any support, except the ineffectual one from the king of Swe- den. How any cabinet could be dupe enough to think Buona- parte serious, or the Elector of Bavaria so weak as to enter into his schemes, is difficult to be conceived, had not Europe wit- nessed still greater credulity on one side, and still greater ef- frontery on the other. In the mean time Buonaparte grew every day more discon- tented with the Batavian Directory, and more irritated against the members who composed it. Against his regulations for excluding the commerce and productions of your country, they represented with spirit, instead of obeying without murmur, as was required. He is said to have discovered, after his own sol- diers had forced the custom-house officers to obey his orders, that, while in their proclamations the directors publicly prohi- bited the introduction of British goods, some of them were se- cret insurers of this forbidden merchandise, introduced by fraud and by smuggling; and that while they officially wished for the success of the French arms and destruction of England, they withdrew by stealth what property they had in the French funds, to place it in the English. This refractory and, as Buon- aparte called it, mercantile spirit, so enraged him, that he had already signed an order for arresting and transferring en masse his high allies, the Batavian directors, to his Temple, when the representations of Talleyrand moderated his fury, and caused the order to be recalled, which Fouche was ready to execute. Had Jerome Buonaparte not offended his brother by his transatlantic marriage, he would long ago have been the Prince Stadtholder of Holland ; but his disobedience was so far useful to the cabinet of St. Cloud, as it gave it an opportunity of in- triguing with or deluding other cabinets, that might have any pretensions to interfere in the regulation of the Batavian go- vernment. By the choice finally ipade, you may judge how COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 133 difficult it Was to find a suitable subject to represent it, and that this representation is intended only to be temporary. Schimmelpenninck, the present grand pensionary of the Ba- tavian Republic, was destined by his education for the bar, but by his natural parts, to await in quiet obscurity the end of a dull existence. With some property, little information, and a tolera- bly good share of common sense, he might have lived and died respected, and even regretted, without any pretension, or per- haps even ambition to shine. The anti-orange faction to which his parents and family appertained, pushed him forward, and elected him, in 1795, a member of the first Batavian National Convention, where according to the spirit of the times, his speeches were rather those of a demagogue tlian those of a re- pubUcan. Liberty, equality and fraternity were the constant themes of his political declamations ; infidelity his religious pro- fessions; and the examples of immorality his social lessons. So rapid and dangerous are the strides with which seduction frequently advances on weak minds. In 1800, he was appointed an ambassador to Napoleone Buonaparte and Charles Maurice Talleyrand. The latter used him as a stock -broker, and the foi-mer for any thing he thought proper; and he was the humble and submissive valet of both. More ignorant than malicious, and a greater fool than rogue, he was more laughed at and despised than trusted or abused. His patience being equal to his phlegm, nothing either moved or confoimded him; and he was, as Talleyrand remarked, "a model of an ambassador, according to which he and Buonaparte wished that all other independent princes and states would choose their representatives to the French government." When our minister and his sovereign were discussing the the difficulty of firop-erly filling ufi the vacancy of the Dutch go- vernment, judged necessary by both, the former mentioned Schimmelpenninck with a smile ; and, serious as Buonaparte commonly is, he could not help laughing. " I should have been less astonished," said he, " had you proposed my Mameluke Rostan." This rebuke did not deter Talleyrand (who had set- tled his terms with Schimmelpenninck) from continuing to point out the advantage which France would derive from this nomi- nation, " because no man could easier be directed when in of- 134 SECRET HISTORY OF THE fice, and no man easier turned out of office when disagreeable and unnecessary. Both as Batavian Plenipotentiary at Amiens, and as Batavian ambassador in England, he had proved himself as obedient and submissive to France as when in the same ca- pacity at Paris." By returning often to the charge) with these and other re- marks, Talleyrand at last accustomed Buonaparte to the idea, which had once appeared so hutniliating, of writing to a man so much inferior in every thing, " Great and Dear Friend!" and therefore said to the minister, " Well ! let us then make him a grand pensionary and a locum tenens for Jive years; or until Jerome, when he repents, returns to his duty, and is par- doned." — " Is he then not to be a grand pensionary for life V asked Talleyrand ; " whether for one month or for life, he would be equally obedient to resign when commanded; but the latter would be more popular in Holland, where they were tired of so many changes." — " Let them complain, if they dare," replied Buonaparte. " Schimmelpenninck is their chief magistrate only for five years, if so long; but you may add that they may re- elect him." It was not before Talleyrand had compared the pecuniary proposal, made to his agents by foreign princes, with those of Schimmelpenninck to himself, that the latter obtained the pre- ference. The exact amount of the purchase-money for the supreme magistracy in Holland is not well known to any but the contracting parties. Some pretended that the whole was paid down before-hand, being advanced by a society of mer- chants at Amsterdam, the friends or relatives of the grand pen- sionary ; others, that it is to be paid by annual instalments of two millions of livres (84,0001.) for a certain number of years. Certain it is, that this high office was sold and bought; and that had it been given for life, its value would have been propor- tionably enhanced; which was the reason that Talleyrand en- deavoured to have it thus established. Talleyrand well knew the precarious state of Schimmelpen- ninck's grandeur; that it not only depended upon the whim of Napoleone, but had long been intended as an hereditary so- vereignty for Jerome. Another Dutchman asked him not to ruin his friend and his family, for what he was well aware could COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 135 never be called a sinecure place, and was so precarious in its tenure. " Foolish vanity," answered the minister, " can never pay enough for the gratification of its desires. All the Schim- melpennincks in the world do not possess property enough to recompense me for the sovereign honours which I have procu- red for one of their name and family, were he even deposed within twenty-four hours. What treasures can indemnify me for connecting such a name and such a personage with the great name of the emperor of the French?" I have only twice in my life been in Schimmelpenninck'S company, and T thought him both timid and reserved ; but, from what little he said, I could not possibly judge of his character and capacity. His portrait and its accompaniments have been presented to me, such as delivered to you by one of his coun- trymen, a Mr. M (formerly an ambassador also), who was both his school-fellow and his class-mate at the university. I shall add the following traits in his own words, as near as pos- sible. " More vain than ambitious, Schimmelpenninck from, his youth, and particularly from his entrance into public life, tried every means to make a noise, but found none to gain a reputation. He caressed in succession all the systems of the French revolution, without adopting one for himself. All the kings of faction received in their turns his homage and felicita- tions. It was impossible to mention to him a man of any noto- riety, of whom he did not become immediately a partisan. — The virtues or the vices, the merit or defects, of the individual were of no consideration ; according to his judgment it was suf- ficient to be famous. Yet, with all the extravagances of a head filled with paradoxes, and of a heart spoiled by modern philoso- phy, added to a habit of licentiousness, he had no idea of be- coming an instrument for the destruction of liberty in his own country, much less of becoming its tyrant, in submitting to be the slave of France. It was but lately that he took the fancy, after so long admiring all other great men of our age, to be atj any rate one of their number, and of being admired as a great man in his turn. On this account many accuse him of hypo- crisy, but no one deserves that appellation less ; his vanity and exaltation never permitting him to dissimulate, and no pre- sumption therefore was less disguised than his, to those who 136 SECRET HISTORY OF THE studied the man. Without acquired ability; without natural genius or political capacity ; destitute of discretion and address ; as confident, and obstinate as ignorant he is only elevated to fall, and to rise no more.'* Madame Schimmelpenninck, I was informed, is as amiable and accomplished as her husband is awkward and deficient; though well acquainted with his infidelities and profligacy, she is too virtuous to listen to revenge, and too generous not to for- give. She is, besides, said to be a lady of uncommon abilities, and of greater information than she chooses to display. She has never been the worshipper of Buonaparte, nor the friend of Talleyrand; she loved her country and detested its tyrants. — Had nhe been created a grand pensionary, she would certainly have swayed with more glory than her husband ; and been hailed by contemporaries, as well as posterity, if not a heroine, at least a patriot — a title which, in our times, though often prosti- tuted, so few have any claim to, and therefore so much the more valuable. When it was known at Paris that Schimmelpenninck had set out for his new sovereignty, no less than sixteen girls of the Palais Royal demanded passes for Holland. Being ques- tioned by Fouche as to their business in that country, they an- swered, that they intended to visit their friend the grand pen- sionary, in his new dominions. Fouche communicated to Tal- leyrand both their demands and their business, and asked his advice. He replied, " Send two, and those of whose vigilance and intelligence you are sure. Refuse, by all means, the other fourteen. Schimmelpenninck's time is precious; and were they at the Hague, he would neglect every thing for them. If they are fond of travelling, and are handsome and adroit, advise them to set out for London or St. Petersburg: and if they consent, order them to my office, and they shall be supplied, if approved of, both with instructions and with their travelling expenses." — Fouche answered his colleague " that they were in every re- spect the very reverse of his description ; that they seemed to have passed their lives in the lowest stage of infamy, and that they could neither read nor write." You have therefore no rea- son to fear that these belies will be sent to disseminate corrup- tion in your happy island. COURT OF ST. CLOUt). 137 LETTER XXXIIL Paris, August 1805^ My lord, THE Italian subjects of Napoleone the first wei'e far from displaying the same zeal and the same gratitude for his paternal care and kindness, in taking upon himself the trouble of govern- ing them, as we good Parisians have done. Notwithstanding that a brigade of our police-agents and spies, drilled for years to applaud and to excite enthusiasm, proceeded as his advanced guard to raise the public spirit, the reception at Milan was cold, and every thing else but coi'dial or pleasing. This absence of duty did not escape his observation and resentment. Convinced, in his own naind, of the great blessing, prosperity, and liberty his victories and sovereignty have conferred on the inhabitants of the other side of the Alps, he ascribed their present passive or mutinous behaviour to the effect of foreign emissaries, from courts envious of his glory, and jealous of his authority. He suspected particularly England and Russia, of having selected this occasion of a solemnity that would complete his grandem', to humble his just pride. He had also some idea within himself that even Austria might indirectly have dared to influence the sentiments and conduct of her ci-devant sub- jects of Lombardy ; but his own high opinion of the awe which his very name inspired at Vienna, dispersed these thoughts, and his wrath fell entirely on the audacity of Pitt and Markoff. Strict orders were therefore issued to the prefects and commis- saries of police, to watch vigilantly all foreigners and strangers who might have arrived, or who should arrive, to witness the ceremony of the coronation, and to arrest instantly any one who should give the least reason to suppose that he was an ene- my, instead of an admirer of his imperial and royal majesty. He also commanded the prefects of his palace not to permit any persons to approach his sacred person, of whose morality iind politics they had not previously obtained a good account. T 138 SECRET HISTORY OF THE These great measures of security were not entirely un- necessary. Individual vengeance, and individual patriotism, sharpened their daggers, and, to use senator Rcederer's lan- guage, " were near transforming the most glorious day of re- joicing into a day of universal mourning." All our writers on the revolution agree, that in France, withiE|4he first twelve years after we had reconquered our lost liberty^ more conspiracies have been denounced, than during the six centuries of the most brilliant epoch of ancient and free Rome. These facts and avowals are speaking evidences of the internal tranquillity of our unfortunate country, of our affection to our rulers, and of the unanimity with which all the changes of government have been, notwithstanding our printed votes, re- ceived and approved. The frequency of conspiracies not only shews the discon- tent of the governed, but the insecurity and instability of the governors. This truth has not escaped Napoleone, who has therefore ordered an expeditious and secret justice to dispatch instantly the conspirators, and to bury the conspiracy in obli- vion, except when any grand coufi-d^etat is to be struck; or, to excite the passions of hatred, any proofs can be found, or must be fabricated, involving an inimical or rival foreign government in an odious plot. Since the farce which Mehee de la Touche exhibited, therefore, you have not read in the Moniteur either of the danger our emperor has incurred several times since, from the machinations of implacable or fanatical foes, or of the alarm these have caused his partisans. They have, indeed, been hint- ed at in some speeches of our public functionaries, and in some paragraphs of our public prints ; but their particulars will re- main concealed from historians, unless some one of those, com- posing our court, our fashionable, or our political circles, have taken the trouble of noting them down; but, even to those, they are but imperfectly or incorrectly known. Could the veracity of a Fouche, a Real, a Talleyrand, or a Duroc (the only members of this new secret and invisible tribu- nal for expediting conspirators) be depended upon, they would be the most authentic annalists of these and other interesting secret occurrences. What I intend relating to you on this subject, are circum- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 139 stances such as they have been reported in our best-informed societies, by bur most inquisitive companions. Truth is cer- tainly the foundation of these anecdotes ; but their parts may be extenuated, diminished, altered, or exaggerated. Defective or incomplete as they are, I hope you will not judge them un- worthy of a page in a letter, considering the grand personage they concern, and the mystery with which he and his govern- ment encompass themselves, or in which they wrap up every thing, not agreeable, concerning them. A woman is said to have been at the head of the first plot against Napoleone, since his proclamation as an emperor of the French. She called herself Charlotte Encore; but her real name is not known. In 1803, she had lived and furnished a house at Abbeville, where she passed for a young widow of pro- perty, subsisting on her rents. About the same time, several other strangers settled there ; but though she visited the prin- cipal inhabitants, she never publicly had any connection with the new comers. In the summer of 1803, a girl at Amiens, some say a real enthusiast of Buonaparte's, but, accoi'ding to others, engaged by Madame Buonaparte to perform the parts she did, demand- ed, upon her knees, in a kind of paroxysm of joy, the happi- ness of embracing him; in doing which she fainted, or pretend- ed to faint away, and a pension of three thousand livres (1251.) was settled on her for her affection. Madame Encore, at Abbeville, to judge of her discourse and conversation, was also an ardent friend and well-wisher of the emperor; and when, in July, 1804, he passed through Abbe- ville, in his journey to the coast, she also threw herself at his feet, and declared that she would die content, if allowed the ho- nour of embracing him. To this he was going to assent, when Duroc stepped between them, seized her by the arm, and drag^ ged her to an adjoining room, whither Buonaparte, near faint- ing from the sudden alarm his friend's interference had occa- sioned, followed him, trembling. In the right sleeve of Ma- dame Encore's gown was found a stiletto, the point of which was poisoned. She was the same day transported to this capi- tal, under the inspection of Duroc, and imprisoned in the tem- ple. In her examination she denied having any accomplicesj 401 SECRET HISTORY OF THE and she expired on the rack without telHng even her name. The sub-prefect at Abbeville, the once famous Andre Dumont, was ordered to disseminate a report that she was shut up, as . insane, in a mad-house. In the strict search made by the police in the house occu- pied by her, no papers, or any indications were discovered, that involved other persons, or disclosed who she was, or what in- duced her to attempt such a rash action. Before the secret tri- bunal, she is reported to have said, " that being convinced of Buonaparte's being one of the greatest criminals that ever breathed upon the earth, she took upon herself the office of a volunteer executioner, having, with every other good or loyal person, a right to punish him, whom the law could not, or dared not reach." When, however, some repairs were made in the house at Abbeville by a new tenant, a bundle of papers was found, which proved that a M. Franquonville, and about thirty other individuals, many of whom were the late new comers there, had for six months been watching an opportunity to sieze Buonaparte in his journeys between Abbeville and Mon- treuil, and to carry him to some part of the coast, where a ves- sel was ready to sail for England with him. Had he, however, made resistance, he v/ould have been shot in France, and his assassins might have saved themselves in the vessel. The numerous escoi't that always, since he was an emperor, accompanied him, and particularly his concealment of the days of his journeys, pi-evented the execution of this plot; and Ma- dame Encore therefore took upon her to sacrifice herself for what she thought the welfare of her country. How Duroc sus- pected or discovered her intent is not known ; some say, that an anonymous letter informed him of it, while others assert that, in throwing herself at Buonaparte's feet, this prefect ob- served the steel through the sleeve of her muslin gown. Most of her associates were secretly executed ; some, however, were carried to Boulogne, and shot at the head of the army of Eng- land, as English spies. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 141 LETTER XXXIV. Paris ^ August 1805. Mt lord, AFTER the discovery of Charlotte Encore's attempt, Buo- naparte, who hitherto had flattered himself that he possessed the good wishes, if not the affection, of his female subjects, made a regulation, according to which no women, who have not pre- viously given in their names to the prefects of his palaces, and obtained previous permission, can approach his person, or throw themselves at his feet, without incurring his displeasure, and even arrest. Of this imperial decree, ladies, both of the capi- tal, and of the provinces, when he travels, are officially inform- ed. Notwithstanding this precaution, he was a second time, last spring, at Lyons, near falling the victim of the vengeance or malice of a female. In his journey to be crowned King of Italy, he occupied his uncle's episcopal palace at Lyons, during the forty-eight hours he remained there. Most of the persons of both sexes, composing the household of cardinal Fesch, were from his own country, Corsica; among these was one of the name of Pau- line Riotti, who inspected the economy of the kitchens. It is Buonaparte's custom to take a dish of chocolate in the fore- noon, which she, on the morning of his departure, against her ciistom, but under pretence of knowing the taste of the family, desired to prepare. One of the cooks observed that she mixed with it something from her pocket, but without saying a word to her that indicated suspicion, he warned Buonaparte, in a note delivered to a page, to be upon his guard. When the cham- berlain carried in the chocolate, Napoleone ordered the person who had prepared it to be brought before him. This being told Pauline, she fainted away, after having first drank the I'e- maining contents of the chocolate pot. Her convulsions soon indicated that she was poisoned, and, notwithstanding the en- deavours of Buonaparte's physician Corvisart, she expired with- in an hour, protesting that her crime was an act of revenge 142 SECRET HISTORY OF THE against Napoleone, who had seduced her when young, under a promise of marriage ; but who, since his elevation, had not only neglected her, but reduced her to despair, by refusing an honest support for herself and her child, sufficient to preserve her from the degradation of servitude. Cardinal Fesch received a severe reprimand for admitting among his domestics indivi- duals with whose former lives he was not better acquainted ; and the same day he dismissed every Corsican in his service. The cook was, with the reward of a pension, made a member of the legion of honour, and it was given out by Corvisart that Pau- line died insane. Within three weeks after this occurrence, Buonaparte was at Milan, again exposed to an imminent danger. According to his commands, the vigilance of the police had been very strict, and even severe. All strangers who could not give the most satisfactory account of themselves, had either been sent out of the country, or were imprisoned. He never went out but strong- ly attended, and during his audiences the most trusty officers always surrounded him ; these precautions increased in propor- tion as the day of his coronation approached. On the morning of that day, about nine o'clock, when full-dressed in his impe- rial and royal robes, and all the grand officers of state by his side, a paper was delivered to him by his chamberlain Talley- rand, a nephew of the minister. The instant he had read it, he flew into the arms of Berthier, exclaiming, " My friend, I am betrayed; are you among the number of conspirators? Jour- dan, Lasnes, Mortier, Bessieres, St. Cyr, are you also forsaking your friend and benefactor?" They all instantly encompassed him, begging that he would calm himself; that they were all what they always had been, dutiful and faithful subjects. " But read this paper from my prefect Salmatoris; he says that if I move a step I may cease to live, as the assassins are near me, as well as before me." The commander of his guard then entered with fifty grena- diers, their bayonets fixed, bringing with them a prisoner, who pointed out four individuals not far from Buonaparte's person, two of whom were Italian officers of the royal Italian guard, and two were dressed in Swiss uniforms. They were all imme- diately seized, and in their boots were found three daggers. One COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 143 of those in Swiss regimentals exclaimed, before he was taken, " Tremble, tyrant of my country ! Thousands of the descend- ants of William Tell have, with me, sworn your destruction. You escape this day ; but the just vengeance of outraged hu- manity follows you like your shade. Depend upon it, an un- timely end is irremediably reserved for you." So saying, he pierced his own heart, and fell a corpse into the arms of the grenadiers, who came to arrest him. This incident suspended the procession to the cathedral for an hour, when Berthier announced that the conspirators were punished. Buonaparte evinced on this occasion the same ab- sence of mind and of courage as on the 9th of November 1799, when Arena and other deputies drew their daggers against him at St. Cloud. As this scene did not redound much to the ho* nour of the Emperor and King, all mention of the conspiracy was severely prohibited, and the deputations, ready to congra- tulate him on his escape, were dispersed to attend their other duties. The conspirators are stated to have been four young men, who had lost their parents and fortunes by the revolutions ef- fected by Buonaparte in Italy and Switzerland, and who had sworn fidelity to each other, and to avenge their individual wrongs, with the injuries of their countries at the same time. They were all prepared and resigned to die, expecting to be cut to pieces the moment Buonaparte fell by their hands ; but one of the Italians, rather superstitious, had, before he went to the drawing-room, confessed, and received absolution from a priest, whom he knew to be an enemy of Buonaparte: but the priest, in hope of reward, disclosed the conspiracy to the master of the ceremonies, Salmatoris. The three surviving conspirators are said to have been literally torn to pieces by the engines of tor-, ture, and the priest was shot for having given absolution to aa assassin, and for having concealed his knowledge of the plot an hour after he was acquainted with it. Even Salmatoris had some difficulty to avoid being disgraced, for having written a terr rifying note, which had exposed the Emperor's weakness, and shown that his life was dearer to him at the head of empires than when only at the head of armies. My narrative of this event I have from an. officer present. 144 SECRET HISTORY OF THE whose veracity I can guarantee. He also informed me that, in consequence of it, all the officers of the Swiss brigades in the French service, that were quartered or encamped in Italy, were to the number of near fifty dismissed at once. Of the Italian guards, every officer who was known to have suffered any losses by the new order of things in his country was ordered to re- sign, if he would not enter into the regiments of the line. Whatever the police agents did to prevent it, and in spite of some unjust and cruel chastisement, Buonaparte :ontinued, dur- ing his stay in Italy, an object of ridicule in conversation as well as in pamphlets and caricatures. One of these represent- ed him in the ragged garb of a Sans Culotte, pale and trem- bling, on his knees, with bewildered looks, and his hair standing upright on his head, like pointed horns, tearing the map of the world to pieces, and, to save his life, offering each of his ge- nerals a slice, who in return regarded him with looks of con- tempt, mixed with pity. I have just heard of a new plot, or rather a league, against Buonaparte's ambition. At its head the generals Jourdan, Macdonald, Le Courbe and Dessolles are placed, though many less victorious generals and officers, civil as well as military, are reported to be its members. Their object is not to remove or displace Buonaparte as an Emperor of the French ; on the con- trary, they offer their lives to strengthen his authority, and to resist his enemies; but they ask and advise him to renounce for himself, for his relations, and for France, all possessions on the Italian side of the Alps, as the only means to establish a perma- nent peace, and to avoid a war with other states, whose safety is endangered by our great encroachments. A mutinous kind of address to this effect has been sent to the camp of Boulogne, and to all other encampments of our troops, that those generals and other military persons there, who chose, might both see the object and the intent of the associates. It is reported that Buo- naparte ordered it to be burnt by the hands of the common exe- cutioner at Boulogne ; that sixteen officers there, who had sub- scribed their names in approbation of tilt address, were broken, and dismissed with disgrace ; that Jourdan is deprived of his command in Italy, and ordered to render an account of his con- duct to the emperor. Dessolles is also said to be dismissed. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 145 and with Macdonald, Le Courbe, and eighty-four others his Majesty's subjects, whose names appeared under the remon- strance, or petition (as some call it) exiled to different depart- ments of this country, where they are to expect their sove- reign's farther determination, and in the mean time remain un- der the inspection and responsibility of his constituted authori- ties and commissaries of police. As it is as dangerous to inquire as to converse on this and other subjects, which the mysterious policy of our government condemns to silence or oblivion, I have not yet been able to ga- ther any rhore or better information concei'ning this league, ox' unconstitutional opposition to the executive power; but as I am intimate with one of the actors, should he have an opportunity, he will certainly Avrite to me at full lenth, and be very explicit. LETTER XXXV. Paris., August 1805, My 1.0RD, I BELIEVE I have before remarked that, under the go- vernment of Buonaparte, causes relatively the most insignificant have frequently produced effects of the greatest consequence. A capricious or whimsical character, swaying with unlimited power, is certainly the most dangerous guardian of the prero- gatives of sovereignty, as well as of the rights and liberties of the people. That Buonaparte is as vain and fickle as a coquette, as obstinate as a mule, and equally audacious and um-elenting, every one, who has witnessed his actions or meditated on his transactions, must be convinced. The least opposition irritates his pride, and he determines and commands in a moment of impatience or vivacity what may cause the misery of millions for ages, and perhaps his own repentance for years. When Buonaparte was officially informed by his ambassa- .dor at Vienna, the young La Rochefoucault, that the emperor of Germany had declined being one of his grand officers of the le^ 146 SECRET HISTORY OF THE gion of honour, he flew into a rage, and used against this prince the most gross, vulgar, and unbecoming language. I have heard it said, that he went so far as to say, " Well, Francis II is tired of reigning. I hope to have strength enough to carry a third crown; He who dares refuse to be and continue my equal shall soon as a vassal think hittiself honoured with the regard which as a master I may condescend, from compassion, to be- stow on him.*' Though forty-eight hours had elapsed after this furious sally, before he met with the Austrian ambassador, count Cobentzel, his passion was still so furious that, from his grossness and violence, all the members of the diplomatic corps trembled both for this their respectable member, and for the ho- nour of our nation thus represented. When the diplomatic audience was over, he said to Talley- rand in a commanding and harsh tone of voice, in the presence of all his aid-du-camps and generals, '' Write this afternoon, by an extraordinary courier, to my minister at Genoa, Salicetti, to prepare the Doge and the people for the immediate incorpo- ration of the Ligurian Republic with my empire. Should Aus- tria dare to murmur, I shall within three months also incorporate the ci-devant Republic of Venice with my kingdom of Italy !" — " But — but — Sire !" uttered the minister, trembling, " There ex- ists no but, and I will listen to no but," interrupted his Majes- ty "Obey my orders without further discussions. Should Austria dare to arm, I shall, befoi'e next Christmas, make Vien- na the head quarters of a fiftieth military division. In an hour I expect you with the dispatches ready for Salicetti." This Salicetti is a Corsican of a respectable family, born at Bastia, in 1758, and it was he, who, during the siege of Toulon in 1793, introduced his countryman, Napoleone Buonaparte, his present sovereign, to the acquaintance of Barras; an occurrence which has since produced consequences so terribly notorious. Before the Revolution, an advocate of the supei'ior council of Corsica, he was elected a member to the first National As- sembly, where, on the 30th of November 1789, he pressed the decree which declared the island of Corsica an integral part of the French monarchy. In 1792 he was sent by his fellow-ci- tizens as a deputy to the National Convention, where he joined the terrorist faction, and voted for the death of his King. In COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 147 May 1793, he was in Corsica, and violently opposed the parti- sans of general Paoli, Obliged, to save himself, to make his es- cape in August from that island, he joined the army of general Carteaux, then marching against the Marseilles insurgents, whence he was sent by the National Convention with Barras, Gasparin, Robespierre the younger, and Ricrod, as a represen- tative of the people to the army before Toulon, where, as well as at Marseilles, he shared in all the atrocities committed by his colleagues and by Buonaparte ; for which, after the death of the Robespierres, he was arrested with him as a terrorist. He had not known Buonaparte much in Corsica, but finding him and his family in great distress, with all the other Corsican refugees, and observing his adroitness as a captain of artillery, he recommended him to Barras, and upon their representation to the comiTiittee of Public Safety, he was promoted to a chef de brigade^ or colonel. In 1796, when Barras gave Buonaparte the command of the g.rmy of Italy, Salicetti was appointed a commissary of government to the same army, and in that capa- city behaved with the greatest insolence towards all the princes of Italy, and most so towards the duke of Modena, with whom he and Buonaparte signed a treaty of neutrality, for which they received a large sum in ready money ; but shortly afterwards the duchy was again invaded, and an attempt made to surprise and seize the duke. In 1797 he was chosen a member of the Council of Five Hundred, where he always continued a sup- porter of violent measures. When in 1799 his former protege, Buonaparte, was pro- claimed a first Consul, Salicetti desired to be placed in the Con- servative senate ; but his familiarity displeased Napoleone, who made him first a commercial agent, and afterwards a minister to the Ligurian Republic, so as to keep him at a distance. Du- ring his several missions, he has amassed a fortune, calculated, at the lowest, at six millions of livres (250,0001.) The order Salicetti received to prepare the incorporation of Genoa with France, would not, without the presence of our troops, have been very easy to execute, particularly as he, six months before, had prevailed on the Doge and the senate to re- sign all sovereignty to L^cien Buonaparte, under the title of a grand duke of Genoa, 148 SECRET HISTORY 01" THE The cause of Napoleone's change of opinion with regard to his brother Lucien was, that the latter would not separate from a wife he loved; but preferred domestic happiness to external splendor, frequently accompanied with internal misery. So that this act of incorporation of the Ligurian Republic, in fact, ' originated, notwithstanding the great and deep calculations of our profound politicians and political schemers, in nothing else but in the keeping of a wife and in the refusal of a riband. That corruption, seduction, and menaces seconded the in- trigues and bayonets which convinced the Ligurian government of the honour sxid advantage of becoming subjects of Buonaparte, I have not the least doubt; but that the Doge, Jerome Durazzb, and the senators Morchio, Maglione, Travega, Magheila, Rog- gieri, Taddei, Balby, and Langlade, sold the independence of their country for ten millions of livres (430,0001.) though it has been positively asserted, I can hardly believe ; and indeed mo- ney was as little necessary, as resistance would have been una- vailing; all the forts and strong positions being in the occupa- tion of our troops. A general officer, present when the Doge of Genoa, at the head of the Ligurian deputation, offered Buona- parte their homage at Milan, and exchanged liberty for bond- age, assured me that this ci-devant chief magistrace spoke with a faltering voice, and with tears in his eyes; and that indigna- tion was read on the countenance of every member of the de- putation thus forced to prostitute their rights as citizens, and to vilify their sentiments as patriots. When Salicetti, with his secretary Milhaud, had arranged this honourable affair, they set out from Genoa to announce to Buonaparte, at Milan, their success. Not above a league from the former city, their carriage was stopped, their persons strip- ped, and their papers and effects seized by a gang, called in the country, the gang of patriotic robbers, commanded by Mulieno. This chief is a descendant of a good Genoese fami- ly, proscribed by France, and the men under him are all above the common class of people. They never commit any murders, nor do they rob any but Frenchmen, or Italians, known to be adherents of the French party. Their spoils they distribute among those of their countrymen, who like themselves have suffered from the revolutions in Italy within these last nine COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 149 years. They usually send the amount destined to relieve these persons to the curates of the several parishes, signifying in what manner it is to be employed. Their conduct has procured them many friends among the low and the poor, and though frequently pursued by our gens d'armes^ they have hitherto al- ways escaped. The papers captured by them on this occasion from Salicetti are said to be of a most curious nature, and throw great light on Buonaparte's future views on Italy. The ori- ginal act of consent of the Ligurian government to the incor- poration with France was also in this number. It is reported that they were deposited with the Austrian minister at Genoa, who found means to forward them to his court; and it is sup- posed that their contents did not a little hasten the present movements of the emperor of Gei'many. Another gang, known under the appellation of patriotic AVENGERS, also desolatcs the Ligurian Republic. They never rob, but always murder those whom they consider as enemies of their country. Many of our officers, and even our sentries on duty, have been wounded or killed by them ; and after dark, therefore, no Frenchman dares walk out unattended. Their chief is supposed to be a ci-devant abbe Sagati, considered a political as well as religious fanatic. In consequence of the deeds of these patriotic 'avengers, Buonaparte's first act as a so- vereign of Liguria was the establishment of special military commissions, and a law prohibiting, under pain of death, every person from carrying arms, who could not sheAv a Avintten per- mission of our commissary of police. Robbers and assassins are unfortunately common to all nations, and all people of all ages ; but those of the above description are only the produc- tion and progeny of revolutionary and troublesome times. They pride themselves, instead of violating the laws, on supplying their inefficacy and counteracting their partiality. 150 SECRET HISTORY OF THE LETTER XXXVI. Paris, Sefitember 1805. My LORD) BUONAPARTE is now knight of more royal orders than any sovereign in Europe, and were he to put them on all at once, their ribands would form stuff enough for a light sum- mer coat, of as many different colours as the rainbow. The kings of Spain, of Naples, of Prussia, of Portugal, and of Etru- ria, have admitted him a knight-companion, as well as the elec- tors of Bavaria, Hesse and Baden, and the pope of Rome. In return he has appointed these princes his grand officers of his Legion of Honour, the highest rank of his newly -instituted im- perial order. It is even said, that some of these sovereigns have been honoured by him with the grand star and broad ri- band of the order of his Iron Crown of the kingdom of Italy. Before Napoleone's departure for Milan last spring, Talley- rand intimated to the members of the foreign diplomatic corps here, that their presence would be agreeable to the emperor of the French, at his coronation at Milan, as king of Italy. In the preceding summer, a similar hint, or order, had been given by him for a diplomatic trip to Aix-la-Chapelle, and all their excellencies set a packing instantly ; but some legitimate sove- reigns, having since discovered that it was indecent for their representatives to be crowding the suite of an insolently and proudly travelling usurper, under different pretences declined the honour of the invitation and journey to Italy. It would, be- sides, have been pleasant enough to have witnessed the ambas- sadors of Austria and Prussia, whose sovereigns had not ac- knowledged Buonaparte's right to his assumed title of king of Italy, indirectly approving it, by figuring at the solemnity which inaugurated him as such. Of this inconsistency and impropri- ety Talleyrand was well aware ; but audacity on one side, and endurance and submission on the other, had so often disregard- ed these considerations before, that he saw no indelicacy or im- pertinence in the proposal. His master had, however, the gra- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 151 tification to see at his levee, and in his wife's drawing-room, the ambassadors of Spain, Naples, Portugal, and Bavaria, who laid at the imperial and royal feet the Order-decorations of their own princes, to the no little entertainment of his imperial and royal majesty, and to the great edification of his dutiful subjects, on the other side of the Alps. The expenses of Buonaparte's journey to Milan, and his coronation there (including also those of his attendants, from France) amounted to no less a sum than fifteen millions of livres (625,0001,); of which, one hundred and fifty thousand livres (60001.) were laid out in fireworks; double that sum in decorations of the royal palace and the cathedral; and three millions of livres (125,0001.) in presents to different generals, grand officers, deputations, 8cc. The poor also shared his boun- ty; medals to the value of fifty thousand livres (21001.) were thrown out among them on the day of the ceremony, besides an equal sum given by Madame Napoleone to the hospitals and orphan houses. These last have a kind of hereditary ov family claim on the purse of our sovereign ; their parents were the victims of the Emperor's first step towards glory and gran- deur. Another three millions of livres were expended for the march of troops from France to form pleasure camps in Italy ; and four millions more were requisite for the forming and sup- port of these encampments during two months; and the Empe- ror distributed among the officers and men composing them, two millions-worth of rings, watches, snuff-boxes, portraits set with diamonds, stars, and other trinkets, as evidences of his Majesty's satisfaction with their behaviour, presence, and per- formances. These troops were under the command of Buonaparte's field- marshal, Jourdan, a general often mentioned in the military annals of our revolutionary war. During the latter part of the American war, he served under general Rochambeau as a common soldier, and obtained in 1783, after the peace, his dis- charge. He then turned pedlar, in which situation the revo- lution found him. He had also married, for her fortune, a lame daughter of a tailor, who brought him a fortune of two thousand livres (841,) from whom he has since been divorced, 152 SECRET HISTORY OF THE leaving her to shift for herself as she can, in a small milliner's shop at Limoges, where her husband was born in 176.3. Jourdan was among the first members and pillars of the Ja- cobin club, organized in his native town, which procured him rapid promotion in the national guards, of whom in 1792 he was already a colonel. His known love of liberty and equality induced the committee of Public Safety in 1793 to appoint him to the chief command of the armies of Ardennes and of the North, instead of Lamarche and Houchard. On the I7th of October, the same year, he gained the victory of Wattignies, which obliged the united forces of Austria, Prussia, and Ger- many, to raise the siege of Maubeuge. The jealous republican government, in reward, deposed him, and appointed Pichegru his successor, which was the origin of that enmity and mialig- nity with which Jourdan pursued this unfortunate general even to his grave. He never forgave Pichegru the acceptance of a command which he could not decline without risking his life; and when he should have avenged his disgrace on the real causes of it, he chose to resent it on him, who like himself was merely an instrument, or a slave in the hands and under the whip of a tyrannical power. After the imprisonment of General Hoche in March 1794, Jourdan succeeded him as chief of the army of the Moselle. In June he joined, with thirty thousand men, the right wing of the army of the North, forming a new one under the name of the army of the Sambre and Meuse. On the 16th of the same month he gained a complete victory over the Prince of Cobourg, who tried to raise the siege of Charleroy. This battle, which was fought near Trasegnies, is nevertheless com- monly called the battle of Fleuries. After Charleroy had sur- rendered on the 25th, Jourdan and his army were ordered to act under the direction of General Pichegru, who had drawn the plan of that brilliant campaign. Always envious of this ge- neral, Jourdan did every thing to retard his progress; and at last intrigued so well, that the army of the Sambre and the Meuse Avas separated from that of the North. With the former of these armies, Jourdan pursued the retreating confederates, and after driving them from different stEinds and positions, he repulsed them to the banks of the COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 153 Rhine, which river they were obliged to pass. Here ended his successes this year; successes that were not obtained without great loss on our side. Jourdan began the campaigns of 1795 and 1796 with equal brilliancy, and ended them with equal disgrace. After pene- trating into Germany with troops as numerous as well disci- plined, he was defeated at the end of them by Archduke Charles, and retreated always with such precipitation, and in such con- fusion, that it looked more like the flight of a disorderly rabble than the retreat of regular troops; and had not Moreau in 1796 kept the enemy in awe, few of Jourdan's officers or men would again have seen France; for the inhabitants of Franconia rose on these marauders, and cut them to pieces, wherever they could surprise or way-lay them. In 1797, as a member of the council of Five Hundred, he headed the Jacobin faction, against the moderate party, of which Pichegru was a chief; and he had the cowardly vengeance of base rivalry, to pride himself upon having procured the trans- portation of that patriotic general to Cayenne. In 1799 he again assumed the command of the army of Alsace and of Switzerland; but he crossed the Rhine and penetrated into Sua- bia, only to be' again routed by the Archduke Charles, and to repass this river in disorder. Under the necessity of resigning as a general in chief, he returned to the council of Five Hun- dred, more violent than ever, and provoked there the most op- pressive measures against his fellow-citizens. Previous to the revolution effected by Buonaparte in November that year, he had entered with Garreau and Santerre into a conspiracy, the object of which was to restore the reign of terror, and to pre- vent which Buonaparte said he made those changes which placed him at the head of government. It was even printed in the papers of that period, which Buonaparte on the 10th of November addressed to the then deputy of Mayenne, Prevost: " If the plot entered into by Jourdan and others, and of which they have not blushed to propose to me the execution, had not been defeated, they would have surrounded the place of your sitting, and, to crush all future opposition, ordered a number of deputies to be massacred. That done, they were to establish the sanguinary despotism of the reign of terror." But whethei' X 154 SECRET HISTORY OF THE such was Jourdan's project, or whether it was merely given out to be such by the consular faction, to extenuate their own usurpation, he certainly had connected himself with the most guilty and contemptible of the former terrorists, and drew upon himself by such conduct the hatred and blame even of those, whose opinion had long been suspended on his account. General Jourdan was among those terrorists, whom the consular government condemned to transportation; but after several interviews with Buonaparte he was not only pardoned, but made a counsellor of state of the military section ; and af^ terwards, in 1801, an administrator general of Piedmont, where he was replaced by general Menou in 1803, being himself en- trusted with the command in Italy. This place he has pre- served until last month, when he was ordered to resign it to Massena, with whom he had a quarrel, and would have fought him in a duel, had not the viceroy Eu genius de Beauharnois put him under arrest and ordered him back hither, where he is daily expected. If Massena's report to Buonaparte be true, the army of Italy was very far from being as orderly and numerous as Jourdan's assertions would have induced us to believe. But this accusation of a rival must be listened to with caution ; be- cause, should Massena meet with a repulse, he will no doubt make use of it as an apology ; and should he be victorious, hold it out as a claim for more honour and praise. The same doubts which still continue of Jourdan's political opinions remain also with regard to his military capacity. But the unanimous declaration of those who have served under his orders as a general must silence both his blind« admirers and unjust slanderers. They all allow him some military ability: he combines and prepares in the cabinet a plan of defence and attack with method and intelligence ; but he does not possess the quick coufi-d'odl^ and that promptitude which perceives, and rectifies accordingly, an error on the field of battle. If on the day of action some accident or some manoeuvre occurs which was not foreseen by him, his dull and heavy genius does not enable him to alter instantly his dispositions, or to remedy er- rors, misfortunes, or improvidence. This kind of talent, and this kind of absence of talent, explain equally the causes of his advantages, as well as the origin of his frequent disasters. No- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 155 body denies him courage, but with most of our other republi- can generals he has never been careful of the lives of the troops under him. I have heard an officer of superior talents and rank assert, in the presence of Carnot, that the number of wounded and killed under Jourdan, when victorious, frequently surpassed the number of enemies he had defeated. I fear it is too true that we are as much, if not more, indebted for our successes to the superior number as to the superior valour of our troops. Jovii'dan is, with regard to foi'tune, one of our poorest repub- lican generals, who have headed armies. He has not, during all his campaigns, collected more than a capital of eight mil- •lions of livres (333,0001.), a mere trifle compared to the fifty millions of Massena, the sixty millions of Le Clerc, the forty millions of Murat, and the thirty-six millions of Augereau ; not to mention the hundred of millions of Buonaparte. It is also true that Jourdan is a gambler and a debauch^, fond of cards, dice, and women ; and that in Italy, except two hours in twen- ty-four allotted to business, he passed the remainder of his time either at the gambling-tables, or in the boudoirs of his seraglio —I say seraglio, because he kept in the extensive house joining his palace, as governor and commander, ten women; three French, three Italians, two Germans, and two Irish or English girls. He supported them all in style ; but they were his slaves, and he was their sultan, whose official mutes (his aides-de-camp) both watched them, and, if necessary, chastised them. LETTER XXXVII. Paris J September 1805. My lord, I CAN truly defy the world to produce a corps of such an he- terogeneous composition as our Conservative Senate, when I ex- cept the members composing Buonaparte's Legion of^Honour. Some'of our senators have been tailors, apothecaries, merchants, chymists, quacks, physicians, barbers, bankers, soldiers, drum- 1^6 SECRET HIST6RY OF THE mers, dukes, shopkeepers, mountebanks, abbes, generals, sa- vans, friars, ambassadors, counsellors, or presidents of parlia- ment, admirals, barristers, bishops, sailors, attornies, authors, barons, spies, painters, professors, ministers, Sans Culottes, atheists, stone-masons, robbers, mathematicians, philosophers, regicides, and a long et cxtera. Any person reading through the official list of the members of the senate, and who is ac- quainted with their former situations in life, may be convinced of this truth. Should he even be ignorant of them, iQt him but inquire, with the list in his hand, in any of our fashionable or political circles, he will meet with but few persons who are not able or willing to remove his doubts, or to gratify his curiosity. There are not many of them whom it is possible to elevate, but those are still more nutnerous whom it is impossible to degrade. Their past lives, vices, errors, or crimes, have settled their cha- racters and reputation ; and they must live and die in statu quo, either as fools, or as knaves, and, perhaps, as both. I do not mean to say that they are all criminals, or all equal- ly criminal, if insurrection against lawful authority, and obedi- ence to usurped tyranny, are not to be considered as crimes ; but there are few indeed who can lay their hands on their bo- soms, and say, vitavi refiendere vero. Some of them, as a La- grange, Berthollet, Chaptal, La Place, Fran9ois de Neuf Cha- teau, Tronchet, Monge, Lacepede, and Bougainville, are cer- tainly men of talents ; but others, as a Porcher, Resnier, Vimar, Auber, Pere, Sers, Vernier, Vien, Villetard, Tascher, Rigal, Bacchiocchi, Beviere, Beauharnois, de Luynes (a ci-devant d\x\iQ, known under the name of Le Gros Cochon), nature never des- tined but to figure among those half idiots and half imbeciles, who are, as it Vt^ere, . intermedial between the brute and human creation, Sieyes, Cabanis, Garran Coulon, Lecouteul, Canteleu, Lenoin Laroche, Volney, Gregoire, Emmery, Joucourt, Boissy d'An- glas, Fouche, and Roederer, form another class. Some of them regicides, others assassins and plunderers, but all intriguers, whose machinations date from the beginning of the revolution. They are all men of parts, of more or less knowledge, and of great presumption. As to their morahty, it is on a level with their religion and loyalty. They betrayed their king, and had denied their God already in 1789. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 157 After these come some others, who agam have neither ta- lents to boast of, nor crimes of which they have to be ashamed. They have but little pretention to genius, none to consistency, and their honesty equals their capacity. They joined our po- litical revolution, as they might have done a religious proces- sion. It was at that time a fashion; and they applauded our re- volutionary innovations, as they would have done the introduc- tion of a new opera, of a new tragedy, of a new comedy, or of a new farce. To this fraternity appertain a ci-devant Count de- Stult-Tracy, Dubois, — Dubay, Kellerman, Lambrechts, Leraer- cier, Pleville, — Le Pelley, Clement de Ris, Peregeaux, Berthc- lemy, Vaubois, Perignon, d'Agier, Abrial, de Belloy, Delannoy, Aboville, and St. Martin La Motte. Such are the characteristics of men, whose senatus consuUum bestows an emperor on France, a king on Italy, makes of prin- cipalities departments of a republic, and transforms republics into provinces or principalities. To shew the absurdly fickle and ridiculously absurd appellations of our shamefully pervert- ed institutions, this senate was called the Conservative Senate; that is to say, it was to preserve the republican consular consti- tution in its integrity, both against the encroachments of the ex- ecutive and fegislative power, both against the manoeuvres of the factious, the plots of the royalists or monarchists, and the clamours of a populace of levellers. — But during the five years that these honest wiseacres have been preserving, every thing has perished, — the republic, the consuls, free discussions, free election, the political liberty, and the liberty of the press — all — all ai'e found no where but in old, useless, and rejected codes. They have, however, in a truly fiatriotic manner, taken care of their own dear selves. Their salaries are more than doubled since 1799. Besides, mock senators, mock prsetors, mock quxstors, other nomina libertatis are revived, so as to make the loss of the reali- ty so much the more galling. We have also two curious com- missions ; one called " the Senatorial Commission of Personal Liberty," and the other, " the Senatorial Commission of the Li- berty of the Press." — The imprisonment without cause, and transportation without trial, of thousands of persons of both sexes, weekly, shew the grand adviintages which arise from the 158 SECRET HISTORY OF THE former of these commissions; and the contents of our new books, and daily prints, evince the utility-and liberaUty of the latter. But from the past conduct of these our senators, members of these commissions, one may easily conclude what is to be expected in future from their justice and patriotism. Lenoin Laroche, at the head of the one, was formerly an advocate of some practice, but attended more to politics than to the busi- ness of his clients, and was, therefore, at the end of the session of the first assembly, of which he was a member, forced, for subsistence, to become the editor of an insignificant journal. — Here he preached licentiousness, under the name of liberty, and the Agrarian law in recommending equality. A prudent courtier of all systems in fashion, and of all factions in power, he escaped proscription, though not accusation of having shared in the national robberies. A short time, in the summer 1797, after the dismissal of Cochon, he acted as a minister of police, and in 1798 the jacobins elected him a member of the Council of Ancients, where he, with other deputies, sold him- self to Buonaparte, and was in return rewarded with a place in the senate. Under monarchy, he was a republican — and under a republic, he extolled monarchical institutions. He wished to be singular, and to be rich. Among so many shocking origi- nals, however, he was not distinguished; and among so many philosophical marauders, he had no opportunity to pillage above two millions of livres (84,0001.) This friend of liberty is now one of the most despotic senators ; and this lover of equality never answers when spoken to, if not addressed as ' his Excel- lency,' or ' Monseigncur.' Boissy d'Anglas, another member of this commission, was, before the revolution, a steward to Louis XVIH, when Mon- sieur; and, in 1789, was chosen a deputy of the first assembly, where he joined the factious, and in his speeches and writings defended all the enormities that dishonoured the beginning as well as the end of the revolution. A member afterwards of the National Convention, he was sent in mission to Lyons, where, instead of healing the wounds of the inhabitants, he in- flicted new ones. When, in March 15th, 1796, in the Council of Five Hundred, he pronounced the oath of hatred to royalty, he added, that (his oath ii>as in fas heart, otherwise no power eOURT OF ST. CLOUD. 159 upon earth could have forced him to take it ; and he is now a sworn subject of Napoleorie the First ! He pronounced the pa- negyric of Robespierre, and the apotheosis of Marat. " Th« soul," said he, " was moved and elevated, in hearing Robespierre speak of the Supreme Being with philosophical ideas, embellish- ed by eloquence ;" and he signed the removal of the ashes of Marat to the temple consecrated to humanity .'-—la September, 1797, he was, as a royalist, condemned to transportation by the Directory; but, in 1799, Buonaparte recalled him, made him first a tribune, and afterwards a senator. Boissy d'Anglas, though an apologist of robbers and assasv sins, has neither murdered nor plundered; but, though he has not enriched himself, he has assisted in ruining all his formei' protectors, benefactors, and friends. Sers, a third member of this commission, was, before the revolution, a bankrupt merchant at Bourdeaux, but in 1791 a municipal officer of the same city, and sent as a deputy to the National Assembly, where he attempted to rise from the clouds that encompassed his heavy genius, by a motion for pulling down all the statues of kings throughout France. He seconded another motion of Buonaparte's prefect, Jean Debrie, to decree a corps of tyrannicides, destined to murder all emperors, kings, and princes. At the club of the jacobins at Bourdeaux he prided himself on having caused the arrest and death of three hundred aristocrats; and boasted that he never went out with- out a dagger, to dispatch, by a summary justice, those who had escaped the laws. ' After meeting with well-merited contempt, and living for some time in the greatest obscurity, by a hand- some present to Madame Buonajiarte, in 1799, he obtained the favour of Napoleone, who dragged him forward to be placed among other ornaments of his senate. Sers has just cunning enough to be taken for a man of sense, when with fools; when with men of sense, he re-assumes the place allotted him by na- ture. Without education, as well as without parts, he for a long time confounded brutal scurrility Avith oratory, and thought himself eloquent, when he was only insolent or impertinent. His ideas of liberty are such, that, when a municipal officer, he signed a mandate of arrest against sixty-four individuals of both sexes, wlio were at a ball, because they had refused to invite to it one of his nieces. 160 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Abrial, Emmery, Vernier, and Lemercier, are the other four members of that commission ; of these, two are old in- triguers, two are nullities, and all four are slaves. Of the seven members of the senatorial commission, for preserving the Hberty of the press, Garat and Roederer are the principal. The former is a pedant, while pretending to be a philosopher; and he signed the sentence of his good king's death, while declaring himself a royalist. A mere valet to Ro- bespierre, his fawning procured him opportunities to enrich himself with the spoil of those whom his calumnies and plots caused to be massacred or guillotined. When, as a minister of justice, he informed Louis XVI of his condemnation, he did it with such an affected and atrocious indifference, that he even shocked his accomplices, whose nature had not much of tendei'- ness. — As a member of the first assembly, as a minister under the convention, and as a deputy of the council of Five Hundred, he always opposed the liberty of the press. " The laws, you say, (exclaimed he in the council) punish libellers; so they do thieves and house-breakers ; but would you, therefore, leave your doors unbolted ? Is not the character, the honour, and the tranquillity of a citizen, preferable to his treasures ? and, by the liberty of the press, you leave them at the mercy of every scrib- bler who can write or think. The wound inflicted may heal, but the scar will always remain. Were you, therefore, determined to decree the motion for this dangerous and impolitic liberty, I make this amendment, that conviction of having written a libel carries ivith it capital punishment^ and that a label be fastened on the breast of the libeller, when carried to execution, with this inscription, a social murderer, or a murderer of characters!" Rcederer has belonged to all religious or anti-religious sects, aiid to all political or anti-social factions, these last twenty years ; but after approving, applauding and serving them,he has deserted them, sold them, or betrayed them. Before the revolution, a coun- sellor of parliament at Metz, he was a spy of the court on his colleagues; and since the revolution he served the jacobins as a spy on the court. Immoral, and unprincipled to the highest degree, his profligacy and duplicity are only equalled by his perversity and cruelty. It was he who, on the 10th of August, 1792, betrayed the king and the royal family into the hands of COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 161 their assassins, and who himself made a merit of this infamous act. After being i-epulsed by all, even by the most sanguinary of our parties and partisans, by a Brissot, a Marat, a Robes- pierre, a Tallien, and a Burras, Buonapai^te adopted him first as a counsellor of state, and afterwards as a senator. His own and only daughter died in a miscarriage, the consequence of an incestuous commerce with her unnatural parent; and his only son is disinherited by him for resenting his father's base- ness, in debauching a young girl whom the son had engaged to marry. With the usual consistency of my revolutionary countrymen, he has, at one period, asserted that the liberty of the press was necessary for the preservation both of men and things, for the protection of governors, as well as of the governed, and that it was the best support of a constitutional government. — At another time he wrote, that, as it was impossible to fix the limits be- tween the liberty and the licentiousness of the press, the latter destroyed the benefits of the former; that the liberty of the press was only useful against a government which one wished to overturn, but dangerous to a government which one wished to preserve. To shew his indiiTerence about his own character, as well as about the opinion of the public, these opposite decla- rations were inserted in one of our daily papers, and both were signed " Rcederer." In 1789. he was indebted above one million two hundred thousand livres (50,0901.), and he now possesses national pro- perty, purchased for seven millions of livres (292,0001.), and he avows himself to be worth three millions more in mo- ney, placed in our public funds. He often says, laughingly, that he is under great obligations to Robespierre, whose guillo- tine acquitted in one day all his debts. AU his creditors, after being denounced for their aristocracy, were all murdered en masse by this instrument of death. Of all the old beaux and superannuated libertines, whose company I have had the misfortune of not being able to avoid) Roederer is the most affected, silly, and disgusting. His wrin- kled face, and effeminate and childish air ; his assiduities about every woman of beauty or fashion ; his confidence in his own merit, and his presumption in his own power, wear such a curi- y 162 / SECRET HISTORY OF THE ous contrast with his trembling hands* running eyes, and ener- vated person, that I have frequently been ready to laugh at him in his face, had not indignation silenced all other feeling. A light-coloured wig covers a bald head; his cheeks and eye- lids are painted, and his teeth false ; and I have seen a woman faint away from the effect of his breath ; notwithstanding that he infects with his musk and perfumes a whole house-only with his presence. — When in the ground floor, you may smell him in the attic story. LETTER XXXVIII. Paris, Sefitember 1805. My lord, THE reciprocal jealousy and even interest of Austria, France and Russia, have hitherto prevented the tottering Turk- ish empire from being partitioned like Poland, or seized like Italy ; to serve as indemnities, like the German empire, or to be shared, as reward to allies, like the empire of Mysore. When we consider the anarchy that prevails, both in the go- vernment and among the subjects, as well in the capital as in the provinces of the Ottoman Porte ; when we reflect on the mutiny and cowardice of its armies and navy, the ignorance and incapacity of its officers and military and naval command- ers, it is surprising indeed, as I have heard Talleyrand often declare, that more foreign political intrigues should be carried on at Constantinople alone, than in all other capitals of Europe, taken together. These intrigues, however, instead of doing honour to the sagacity and patriotism of the members of the Divan, expose only their corruption and imbecility ; and instead of indicating a dread of the strength of the sublime Sultan, shows a knowledge of his weakness, of which the gold of the most wealthy, and the craft of the most subtle, by turns are striving to profit. Beyond a doubt, the enmity of the Ottoman Porte can do COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 163 more mischief than its friendship can do service. Its neutrality is always useful ; while its alliance becomes frequently a bur- then, and its support of no advantage. It is therefore more fr(^m a view of preventing evils, than from expectation of profit, that all other powers plot, cabal and bribe. The map of the Turkish empire, explains what may be thought absurd or nu- gatory in this assertion. As soon as a war with Austria was resolved on by the Bris- sot faction, in 1792, emissaries were dispatched to Constantino- ple, to engage the Divan to invade the provinces of Austria and Russia; thereby to create a diversion in favour of this country. Our ambassador in Turkey at that time, Count de Choiseuil Gouffier, though an admirer of the revolution, was not a repub- lican, and therefore secretly counteracted what he officially seemed to wish to effect. The Imperial court succeeded there- fore in establishing the neutrality of the Ottoman Porte, but Count de Choiseuil was proscribed by the Convention. As aca- demician^ he was, however, at St. Petersburg, liberally recom- pensed by Catharine II, for the services the ambassador had performed at Constantinople. In May 1793 the Con^mittee of Public Safety determined to expedite another embassy to the Grand Signior, at the head of which was the famous intriguer De Semonville; whose re- volutionary diplomacy had, within three years, alarmed the courts of Madrid, Naples, and Turin, as well as the republican government of Genoa. His career towards Turkey was stop- ped in the Grison republic, on the 25th of July following, where he, with sixteen other persons of his suite, was arrested, and sent a prisoner, first to Milan, and afterwards to Mantua. He carried with him presents of immense value, which were all seized by the Austrians. Among them were four superb coaches, highly finished, varnished and gilt; what in common carriages is iron or brass, was here gold or silver gilt. Two large chests were filled with stuff of gold brocade, India gold muslins and shawls, and laces of very great value. Eighty thou- sand louis-d'ors (80,0001.) in ready money; a service of gold jilate of twenty covers, which formerly belonged to the kings of France ; two small boxes full of diamonds and brilliants, the intrinsic worth of which was estimated at forty-eight millions 164 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of livres (2,000,0001.), and a great number of jewels, among others the crown diamond, called here the Regent's, and in your country the Pitt Diamond fell, with other riches, into the hands of the captors. Notwithstanding this loss and this disappoint-* ment, we contrived in vain to purchase the hostility of the 1 urks against our enemies, though with the sacrifice of no less a sum (according to the report of St. Jufet, in June 1794) than seventy miUions of livres, (3,000,0001.) These official statements prove the means which our so-often-extolled economical and moral re- publican governments have employed in their negotiations. After the invasion of Egypt, in time of peace, by Buona- parte, the Sultan became at last convinced of the siiictriiy of our professions of friendship, which he returned with a de- claration of war. The preliminaries of peace with your coun- try, in October, 1801, were, however, soon followed with a renewal of our former friendly intercourse with the Ottoman Porte. The voyage of Sebastiani into Egypt and Syria, in the autumn of 1802, shewed that our tenderness for the inhabitants of these countries had not diminished ; and that we soon intend- ed to confer on them new hugs of fraternity. Your pretensions to Malta impeded our prospects in the East, and your obstinacy obliged us to postpone our so-well-planned schemes of encroach- ment. It was then first that Buonaparte selected for his repre- sentative to the Grand Signior, General Brune, commonly called, by Moreau, Macdonald, and other competent judges of military merit, an intriguer at the head of armies, and a warrior in time of peace, luhen seated in the council-chamber . This Brune was, before the revolution, a journeyman prin- ter, and married to a washer-woman, whose industry and labour alone prevented him from starving, for he was as vicious as idle. The money he gained when he chose to work was gene- rally squandered away in brothels, among prostitutes. To sup- ply his excesses he had even recourse to dishonest means, and was shut up in the prison of Bicetre, for robbing his master of types and of paper. In the beginning of the revolution, his very crimes made him an acceptable associate of Marat, who, Avith the money ad- advanced by the Orleans faction, bought him a printing-office, and he printed the so dreadfully well-known Journal, called COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 165 VAmie du Peufile. From the principles of this atrocious paper, and from those of his sanguinary patron, he formed his own political creed. He distinguished himself frequeatly at the clubs of the Cordeliers, and of the Jacobins, by his extravagant motions, and by provoking law^s of proscription against a wealth he did not possess, and against a rank he would have disho- noured, but did not see without envy. On the 30th of June, 1791, he said, in the fortner of these clubs, " We hear every where complaints of poverty: were not our eyes so often dis- gusted with the sight of unnatural riches, our hearts would not so often be 'shocked at the unnatural sufferings of humanity. — The blessings of our revolution will never be felt by the world, until we are in France on a level, with regard to rank as well as to fortune. I, for my part, know too well the dignity of hu- man nature, ever to bow to a superior ; but, brothers and friends, it is not enough that we are all politically equal, we must also be all equally rich, or equally poor — we must either all strive to become men of property, or reduce men of property to be- come Sans Culottes. Believe me, the aristocracy of property is more dangerous than the aristocracy of prerogative or fa- naticism, because it is more common. Here is a list sent to UAmie du Peufile^ but of which prudence yet prohibits the publication. It contains the names of all the men of property of Paris, and of the department of the Seine, the amount of their fortunes, and a proposal how to reduce and divide it among our patriots. Of its great utility in the moment when we have been striking our grand blows, nobody dares doubt; I therefore move, that a brotherly letter be sent to every society of our brothers and friends, in the provinces, inviting each of them to compose one of similar contents and of similar tenden- cy in their own districts, with what remarks they think proper to affix, and to Ibrwai'd them to us, to be deposited in the mo- ther club, after taking copies of them for the archives of their own society." His motion was decreed. Two days afterwards he again ascended the tribune. "You approved," said he, " of Avhat measures I lately proposed against the aristocracy of property ; I will now tell you of another aris- tocracy which we must also crush — I mean that of religion, and of the clergy. Their supports are folly, cowardice, and ig- 166 SECRET HISTORY OF THE noratice. All priests are to be proscribed, and punished as criminals, and despised as impostors or idiots ; and all altars must be reduced to dust, as unnecessary. To prepare the pub- lic mind for such events, we must enlighten it; which can only- he done by disseminating extracts from UAmie du Feuple^ and othav /ifiilosofihical publications. I have here some ballads of my own composition, which have been sung in my quarter ; where all superstitious persons have already trembled, and all fanatics are leaving. If you think proper, I will, for a mere trifle, print twenty -thousand copies of them, to be distributed and dis- seminated gratis all over France." After some discussion, the treasurer of the club was ordered to advance citizen Brune the sum I'equired, and the secretary to transmit the ballads to the fraternal societies in the provinces. Brune put on his first regimentals as an aide-du-camp to Ge- neral Santerre, in December 1792, after having given proofs of his military prowess, the preceding September, in the massa- cre of the prisoners in the Abbey. In 1793 he was appointed a colonel in the revolutionary army, which, during the reign of terror, laid waste the departments of the Gironde; where he was often seen commanding his corps, with a human head fixed on his sword. On the day when he entered Bourdeaux with his troops, a new-born child occupied the same place, to the great horror of the inhabitants. During tiiis brilliant expedi- tion he laid the first foundation of his present fortune, having pillaged them in a most merciful manner, and arrested or shot every suspected person, who could not, or would not exchange property for life. On his return to Paris his palriodsm was re- compensed with a commission of a General of Brigade. On the death of Robespierre he was arrested as a terrorist, but after some tnonths imprisonment again released. In October 1795 he assisted Napoleone Buonaparte, in the massacre of the Parisians, and obtained for it, from the director Barras, the rank of a general of division. Though occupying in time of war such a high military rank, he had hitherto never seen an enemy, or witnessed an engagement. After Buonaparte had plaimed the invasion and pillage of Switzerland, Brune was charged to execute tliis unjust outrage against the law of nations. His capacity to intrigue procured COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 167 him this distinction, and he did honour to the choice of his em- ployers. You have no doubt read that, after lulling the govern- ment of Berne into security by repeated proposals of accom- modation, he attacked the Swiss and Bernese troops during a truce, and obtained by treachery successes which his valour did not promise him. The pillage, robberies, and devastations in Helvetia added several more millions to his previously great riches. It was after his campaign in Holland, during the autumn of 1799, that he first began to claim some military glory. He owed, however, his successes to the superior number of his troops, and to the talents of the generals and officers serving under him. Being made a counsellor of state by Buonaparte, he was intrusted with the command of the army against the Chouans. Here again he seduced by his promises, and duped by his intrigues; acted infamously, but was successful. LETTER XXXIX. Paris, September 1805. My lord, THREE months before Brune set out on his embassy to Constantinople, Talleyrand and Fouche were collecting toge- ther all the desperadoes of ovir revolution, and all the Italian, Corsican, Greek and Arabian renegadoes and vagabonds in our country, to form him a set of attendants, agreeable to the real object of his mission. You know too much of our national chai'acter, and of my own veracity, to think it improbable, when I assure you that most of our great men in place are as vain as presumptuous, and that sometimes vanity and presumption get the better of their discretion and prudence. What I am going to tell you, I did not hear myself, but it was reported to me by a female friend as estimable for her virtues as admired for her accom- plishments. She is often honoured with invitations to Talley- X^S SECRET HISTORY OF THE rand's familiar parties, composed chiefly of persona, whose for- tunes are independent as their principles ; who though not ap- proving the revolution, neither joined its opposers, nor opposed its adherents, preferring tranquillity and obscurity to agitation ^nd celebrity. Their nunaber is not much above half a dozien, and the minister calls them the only honest people in France, ■\yith whom he thinks himself safe. When it was reported here that two hundred persons of Brune's suite had embarked at Marseilles, and eighty-four at Genoa, and when it was besides known that near fifty indivi- duals accompanied him in his outset, this unusual occurrence caused much conversation and many speculations in all our co- teries and fashionable circles. About that time my friend dined with Talleyrand, and by chance also mentioned this grand em- bassy, observing, at the same time, that it was too much honour done the Ottoman Porte, and too much money thrown away upon splendor, to honour such an imbecile and tottering go- vernment. " How people talk" interrupted Talleyrand " about what they do not comprehend. Generous as Buonaparte is, he does not throw away his expenses; perhaps within twelve months all these renegadoes, or adventurers, whom you all con- sider as valets of Brune, will be three-tailed Pachas or Beys, leading friends of liberty, who shall have gloriously broken their fetters as slaves of a Selim, to become the subjects of a Napoleone. The Eastern empire has indeed long expired, but it may suddenly be revived."-^" Austria and Russia," replied my friend, " would never suffer it, and England would sooner ruin her navy and exhaust her treasures than permit such a re- volution."—" So they have tried to do," retorted Talleyrand " to bring about a counter-revolution in France. Biit though only a moment is requisite to erect the standai'd of revolt, ages often are necessary to conquer and seize it. Turkey has long been ripe for a revolution. It wanted only chiefs and directors. In time of war, ten thousand Frenchmen, landed in the Darda- nelles, would be masters of Constantinople, and perhaps of the empire. In time of peace, four hundred bold and well-inform- ed men, may produce the same effect. — Besides, with some temporary cession of a couple of provinces to each of the Im- perial courts, and witli the temporary pi*esent of an island to COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 16p Great Britain, every thing may be settled pro temfiore^ and q Jose/ih Buonaparte be fiernutted to reign at Constantinofile, as a Napoleone does at Paris ;" That the minister made use of this language, I can take upon me to affirm; but whether purposely or unintentionally, whether to give an high opinion of his plans, or to impose upon his company, I will not and cannot assert. On the subject of this numerous suite of Brune, MarkofF is said to have obtained several conferences with Talleyrand, and several audiences of Buonaparte, in which representations, as just as energetic, were made; which, however did not alter the intent of our government, or increase the favour of the Rus- sian ambassador at the court of St. Cloud. But it proved that our schemes of subversion are suspected, and that our agents of overthrow would be watched and their manceuvres inspected. Count Italinski, the Russian ambassador to the Ottoman Porte, is one of those noblemen, Avho unite rank and informa- tion, talents and modesty, honour and patriotism, wealth and li- berality. His personal character and his individual virtues, made him therefore more esteemed and revered by tlie members of the Divan, than the high station he occupied, and the powerful prince he represented made him feared or respected. His warn- ings had created prejudices against Brune, which he found dif- ficult to remove. To revenge himself in his own way, our am- bassador inserted several paragraphs in the Moniteur, and in our other papers, in which count Italinski was libelled, and his transactions or views calumniated. After his first audience with the Grand Signior, Brune com- plained bitterly of not having learned the Turkish laiiguage, and of being under the necessity therefore of using interpret- ers, to whom he ascribed the renewed obstacles he encountered in every step he took, while his hotel was continually surrounded with spies, and the persons of his suite followed like criminals every where, when they went out. Even the valuable presents he carried with him, amounting in value to twenty-four millions of livres, (100,0001.) were but indifferently received, the accept- ors seeming to suspect the object and the honesty of the donor. In proportion as our politics became embroiled with those ©f Russia, the post of Brune became of more importance ; but 2 17b SECI^ET HISTORY OF THE the obstacles thrown in his way augmented daily, and h6 was forced to avow that Russia and England had greater influence and more credit than the French Republic and its chief. When Buonaparte was proclaimed an Emperor of the French, Brune expected that his acknowledgment as such, at Constantinople, would be a mere matter of course, and announced officially on the day he presented a copy of his new credentials. Here again he was disappointed, and therefore demanded his I'ecal from a place, where there was no probability, under the present circum- stances, of either exciting the subjects to revolt, of deluding the prince into submission, or seducing ministers, who in pocketing his bribes forgot for what they were given. It was then that Buonaparte sent Joubert with a letter, in his own hand-writing, to be delivered into the hands of the Grand Siguier himself. This Joubert is a foundling, and was, from his youth destined, and educated to be one of the secret agents of our secret diplomacy. You may already perhaps have heard that our government selects yearly a number of young found- lings, or orphans, whom it causes to be brought up in foreign countries at its expense, so as to learn the language as natives of the nation, where, when grown up, they are chiefly to be employed. Joubert had been educated under the inspection of cur consuls at Smyrna, and when he assumes the dress of a Turk, from his accent and manners, even the mussulmen mis- take him for one of their creed, and of their country. He was introduced to Buonaparte in 1797, and accompanied him to Egypt, where his services were of the greatest utility to our army. He is now a kind of under-secretary in the office of our secret diplomacy, and a member of our Legion of Honour. — Should ever Joseph Buonaparte be an Emperor or Sultan of the East, Joubert will certainly be his Grand Vizier. There is another Joubert (with whom you must not confound him), who ■was also a kind of Dragoman at Constantinople some years ago ; and who is still somewhere on a secret mission, in the East Indies. Joubert's arrival at Constantinople, excited both curiosity among the people, and suspicion among the ministry. There is no example in the Ottoman history, of a chief of a Christian nation having written to the Sultan by a private messenger, or COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 171 of his highness having condescended to receive the letter from the bearer, and to converse with him. The Grand Vizier de- manded a copy of Buonaparte's letter, before an audience could be granted. This was refused by Joubert ; and as Brune threat- ened to quit the capital of Turkey, if any longer delay was ex- perienced, the letter was delivered in a garden near Constanti- nople, where the Sultan met Buonaparte's agent as if by chance, who it seems, lost all courage and presence of mind, and did not utter four words, to which no answer was given. This impertinent intrigue, and this novel diplomacy, there- fore, totally miscarried, to the great shame and greater disap- pointment of the schemers and contrivers. I must, however, do Talleyrand the justice to say, that he never approved of it, and even foretold the issue to his intimate friends. It was en- tirely the whim and invention of Buonaparte himself, upon a suggestion of Brune ; who was far from being so well acquaint- ed with the spirit and policy of the Divan, as he had been with the genius and plots of Jacobinism. Not rebuked, however, Joubert was ordered away a second time with a second letter, and after an absence of four months returned again as he went, jless satisfied with the second than with his first journey. In these trips to Turkey, he had always for travelling com- panions some of our emissaries to Austria, Hungaria, and in particular to Servia, where the insurgents were assisted by our councils, and even guided by some of our officers. The princi- pal aide-de-camp of Czerni George, the Servian chieftain, is one St. Martin, formerly a captain in our artillery, afterwards an officer of engineers in the Russian service, and finally a volun- teer in the army of Conde. He and three other officers of ar- tillery were, under fictitious names, sent by our government during the spring last year, to the camp of the insurgents.— They pretended to be of the Grecian religion, and fornverly Russian officers, and were immediately, employed. St. Martin has gained great influence over Czerni George, and directs hbth his political councils and military operations. Besides the indi- viduals left behind by Joubert, it is said that upwards of one hundred persons of Brune's suite have been ordered for the same destination. You see how great the activity of our go- vernment is, and that nothing is thought unworthy of its vigi- 172 SECRET HISTORY OF THE lance, or its machinations. In the staff of Paswan Oglou, six of my countrymen have been serving ever since 1796, always in the pay of our government. It was much both against the inclination and interest of our Emperor, that his ambassador at Constantinople should leave the field of battle there to the representatives of Russia, Aus- tria, and England. But his dignity was at a stake. After many threats to deprive the Sultan of the honour of his presence, and even after setting out once for some leagues on his return, Brune observing that these marches and counter-marches ex- cited more mirth than teri'or, at last fixed a day, when finally either Buonaparte must be acknowledged by the Divan as an Emperor of the French, or his departure would take place. On that day he indeed began his retreat, but, under different pre- texts, he again stopped, sent couriers to his secretaries, waited for their return, and sent new couriers again — but all in vain, the Divan continued refractory. At his first audience, after his return, the reception Buona- parte gave him was not very cordial. He demanded active em- ployment, in case of a continental war either in Italy or in Ger- many ; but received neither. When our army of England was already on its march towards the Rhine, and Buonaparte re- turned here, Brune was ordered to take command on the coast, and to organise there an army of observation ; destined to suc- cour Holland in case of an invasion, or to invade England should a favourable occasion present itself. The fact is, he is charged to intrigue rather than to fight; and were Napoleone able to force upon Austria another peace of Luneville, Brune will pro- bably be the plenipotentiary that would ask your acceptance of another peace of Amiens. It is here a general belief that his present command signifies another pacific overture from Buona- parte before your parliament meet, or at least before the new year. Remember that our hero is more to be dreaded as a Philip than as an Alexander. General Brune has bought landed property for nine millions of livres (375,0001.), and has, in different funds, placed ready- money to the same amount. His own and his wife's diamonds are valued by him at three millions ; and when he has any par- ties to dinner, he exhibits them with great complaisance as pre- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 173 sents forced upon him during his campaign in Smtzerland and Holland, for the firotection he gave the inhabitants. He is now so vain of his wealth and proud of his rank, that he not only dis- regards all former acquaintances, but denies his own brothers and sisters ; telling them frankly that the Field Marshal Brune can have no shoe-maker for a brother, nor a sister married to a chandler ; that he knows of no parents, and of no relatives, being the ipaker of his own fortune and of what he is ; that his children will look no farther back for ancestry than their father. One of his first cousins, a postilion, who insisted rather obsti- nately on his family alliance, was recommended by Brune to his friend Fouche, who sent him on a voyage of discovery to Cayenne, from which he probably will not return very soon. LETTER XL. Paris^ Sefitember 1805. My lord, MADAME de C— — n is now one of our most fashionable ladies. Once in the week she has a grand tea party; once in a fortnight a grand dinner; and once in the month a grand ball. Foreign gentlemen are particularly well received at her house, which of course is much frequented by them. As you intend to visit this country after a peace, it may be of some service to you not to be unacquainted with the portrait of a lady, whose in- vitation, to see the original, you may depend upon the day. after your arrival. Madame de C n is the widow of the great and useless traveller. Count de C n, to whom, his relatives pretend that she was never married. Upon his death-bed he acknowledged her, however, for his wife, and left her mistress of a fortune of three hundred thousand livres a-year, (12,0001.) The first four years of her widowhood she passed in law-suits before the tri- bunals, where the plaintiffs could not prove that she was un- married, nor she herself that she was married. But Madame 174 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Napoleone Buonaparte, for a smo//- douceur, speaking in her fa- vour, the consciences of the juries and the understanding of the judges were all convinced at once, that she had been the lawful wife, and was the lawful heiress, of Count de C n, who had no children, or nearer relatives than third cousins. Count de C n was travelling in the East Indies, when the Revolution broke out. His occupation there was a very in- nocent one ; he drew countenances, being one of the most en- thusiastic sectaries of Lavater, and modestly called himself the first physiognomist in the world. Indeed he had been at least the most laborious one ; for he left behind him a collection of six thousand two hundred portraits drawn by himself in the four quarters of the world, during a period of thirty years. He never engaged a servant, nor dealt with a tradesman, whose physiognomy had not been examined by him. In his travels, he preferred the worst accommodations in a house, where he approved of the countenance of the host, to the best where the traits or lines of the landlord's fuce were irregular or did not coincide with his ideas of physiognomical propriety. The cut of a face, its expression, the length of the nose, the width or smallness of the mouth, the form of the eye-lids or of the ears, the colour or thickness of the hair, with the shape and tout ensemble of the head, were always minutely considered and discussed, before he entered into any agreement on any subject with any individual whatever. Whatever recommendations, or whatever attestations were produced, if they did not corres- pond with his own physiognomical remarks and calculations, they were disregarded; while a person, whose physiognomy pleased him, required no other introduction to obtain his confi- dence. Whether he thought himself wiser than his forefathers, he certainly did not grow richer than they were. Charlatarut who imposed upon his credulity, and impostors who flattered his mania; servants who robbed him, and mistresses who de- ceived him, proved, that if his knowledge of physiognomy was great, it was by no means infallible. At his death, of the for- tune left him by his parents, only the half remained. His friends often amused themselves at the expense of his foibles. When he prepared for a journey to the East, one of them recommended him a servant, upon whose fidelity he could COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 175 depend. After examining with minute scrupulosity the head of the person, he wrote, " My friend, I accept your valuable present. From calculations, which never deceive me, Mauville (the servant's name) possesses, with the fidelity of a dog, the intrepidity of the lion. Chastity itself is painted on his front, modesty in his looks, temperance on his cheek, and his mouth and nose bespeak honesty itself." Shortly after the Count had landed at Pondicherry, Mauville, who was a girl, died in a con- dition which shewed that chastity had not been the divinity to whom she had chiefly sacrificed. In her trunk were found se- veral trinkets belonging to her master, which she honestly had appropriated to herself. His miscalculation on this subject the Count could not but avow; he added, however, that it was the entire fault of his friend, who had duped him with regard to the sex. Madame de C n was, on account of her physiognomy, purchased by her late husband, then travelling in Turkey, from a merchant of Circassian slaves, when she was under seven years of age ; and sent her for education to a relation of the Count, an Abbess of a convent in Languedoc. On his return from Turkey some years afterwards, he took her under his own care ; and she accompanied him over all Asia, and returned first to France in 1796, where her husband's name was upon the list of emigrants, though he had not been in Europe for ten years before the Revolution. However, by some pecuniary ar- rangements with Barras, hp recovered his property, which he did not long enjoy, for he died in 1798. Mistress of a large fortune, with some remnants of beauty and elegance of man- ners, the suitors of Madame de C n have been numerous, and among them several senators and generals, and even the minister Chaptal. But she lias politely declined all their offers, preferring her liberty and the undisturbed right of following her own inclination^ to the inconvenient ties of Hymen. A gen- tleman, whom she calls^ and who passes for, her brother. Cheva- lier de M — de T , a Knight of Malta, assists her in doing the honours of her house, and is considered as her favourite lover ; though report and the scandalous chronicle say, that she bestows her favours on every person who wishes to bestow on her his name, and that therefore her gallants are at least as nu' merous as her suitors. 176 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Such is the true statement of the past as well as the present with regard to Madame de C n. She relates, however, a different story. She says that she is a daughter of the Marquis de M de T , of a Languedoc family ; that she sailed when a child, with her mother in a felucca from Nice to Malta, there to visit her brother ; was captured by an Algerine pirate, separated from her mother and carried to Constantinople by a merchant of slaves; there she was purchased by Count de C n, who restored her to her family, and whom therefore, notwithstanding the difference of their ages, she married from gratitude. This pretty romantic story is ordered in our court circles to be officially believed ; and of course is believed by no- body, not even by the Emperor and Empress themselves, who would not give her the place of a lady in waiting, though her request was accompanied with a valuable diamond to the latter. The present was kept, but the offer declined. All the members of the Buonaparte family, females as well as males, honour her house with their visits, and with the ac- ceptance of her invitations ; and it is, therefore, among our fa- shionables, the haut ton to be of the society and circle of Ma- dame de C— — n. Last February, Madame de P 1 (the wife of Count de P 1, a relation by her husband's side, who by the Revolu- tion have lost all their property, and live with her as compa- nions), was brought to bed of a son ; the child was baptized by the Cardinal de Belloy, and Madame Joseph, and Prince Louis Buonaparte stood sponsors. This occurrence was celebrated with great pomp, and a fete was given to near one hundred and fifty persons of both sexes ; as usual a mixture of ci-devant no- bles and oi ci-devant Sans Culottes; of rank and meanness; of upstart wealth and beggared dignity. What that day struck me most was the audacity of the se- nator Villetard, in teasing and insulting the old Cardinal de Bel- loy with his impertinent conversation and affected piety. This Villetard was, before the Revolution, a journeyman barber, and was released in 1789 by the mob from the prison of the Chate- let, whei'e he was confined for theft. In 179 1 his fiatriotism was so well known in the department of Yonne, that he was deput- ed by the Jacobins there, to the Jacobins of the capital, with an COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 177 address, encouraging and advising the deposition of Louis XVI j and in 1792 he was chosen a member of the National Conven- tion, w^here the most sanguinary and most violent of the fac- tious were always certain to reckon him in the number of their adherents. In December 1797, when an insurrection, prepared by Jo- seph Buonaparte at Rome, deprived the late revered Pontiff both of his sovereignty and liberty, Villetard was sent by the Jacobin and atheistical party of the Directory to Loretto, to sieze and carry off .the celebrated Madonna. In the execution of this commission, he displayed a conduct worthy the little- ness of his genius and the criminality of his mind. The wooden image of the holy virgin, a black gown said to have appertained to her, together with three broken china plates, which the Ro- man Catholic faithful have for ages believed to have been used by her, were presented by him to the Directory with a cruelly scandalous show, accompanied by a horribly blasphemous let- ter. He passed the next night, after he had perpetrated this sacrilege, with two prostitutes, in the chapel of the holy virgin; and on the next morning placed one of them naked on the pe- destal where the statue of the virgin had formerly stood; and ordered all the devotees at Loi'etto, and two leagues I'ound, to prostrate themselves before her. This shocking command, oc- casioned the premature death of fifteen ladies; two of whom, who were nuns, died on the spot, on beholding the horrid out- rage ; and many more were deprived of their reason. How bar- barously unfeeling must that wretch be, who in bereaving the religious, the pious, and the conscientious of their consolation and hope, adds the tormenting reproach of apostacy, by forcing virtue upon its knees to bow before what it knows to be guilt and infamy.!! ! A traitor, to his associates as to his God, it was he, who in November 1799, presented at St. Cloud the Decree, which ex- cluded all those who opposed Buonaparte's authority from the council of Five Hundred, and appointed the two committees, which made him a First Consul. In reward for this act of treachery, he was nominated to a place in the Conservative Se- nate. He has i:iow ranked himself among our modern saints, goes regularly to mass, and confesses; has made a brother of A a 178 SECRET HISTORY OF THE his, who was a drummer, an abbe; and his assiduity about the cardinal was probably with a view to obtain advancement for this edifying priest. , The Cardinal de Belloy is now ninety-six years of age, be- ing born in 1709, and has been a Bishop for fifty -three years, but during the revolution was proscribed with all other pi'e- lates. He remained, however, in France where his age saved him from the guillotine ; but not from being reduced to the greatest want. A descendant of a noble family, and possessing an unpolluted character, Buonaparte fixed upon him, as one of the pillars for the re-establishment of the catholic worship: wade him an archbishop of Paris, and procured him the rank of a cardinal from Rome- But he is now in his second child- hood, entirely directed by his grand vicaries Malaret, De Mons, and Legeas, who are in the pay of, and absolutely devoted to, Buonaparte. An innocent instrument in their hands, of those impious compliments, pronounced by him to the Emperor and the Empress, he did not perhaps even understand the meaning. From such a man the vile and artful Villetard might extort any promise. I observed, however, with pleasure, that he was watched by the grand vicar Malaret, who seldom loses sight of his eminence. These two so opposite characters, I mean de Belloy and Villetard, are already speaking evidences of the composition of the society, at Madame de C n's. But I will tell you some- thing still more striking. This lady is famous for her elegant services of plate, as much as for her delicate taste, in entertain- ing her parties. After the supper" on this night, eleven silver and four gold plates, besides numerous silver and gold spoons, forks, Sec. were missed; she informed Fouche of her loss, who had her house surrounded by spies, with orders not to let any servant pass, without undergoing a strict search. The first gentleman who called for his carriage, was his excellency, tljie counsellor of state and grand officer of the Legion of Honour, Treilhard. His servants were stopped and the cause explained. They willingly, and against the protest of their master, suffer- ed themselves to be searched. Nothing was found upon them; but the police agents observing the full-dressed hat of their master rather bulky under his arm, took the liberty to look into COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 179 it, where they found one of Madame de C n's gold plates, and two of her spoons. His excellency immediately ordered his servants to be arrested, for having concealed their theft there. Fouche, however, when called out, advised his friend to forgive them for misplacing them, as the less said on the subject.^ the bet- ter. When Madame de C n heard of this discovery, she asked Fouche to recal his order, or to alter it; "a repetition of such misfilacings in the hats, or in the pockets of the masters," said she, " would injure the reputation of my house and com- pany." She never recovered the remainder of her loss, and that she might not be exposed in future to the same occurren- ces, she the following day bought two services of china, to be used when she had mixed society. Treilhard had, before the revolution, the reputation of be- ing an honest man, and an able advocate ; but has since joined the criminals of all factions, being an accomplice in their guilt and a sharer of their spoils. In the convention, he voted for the death of Louis XVI, and pursued without mercy the unfor- tunate Maria Antoinette to the scaffold. During his missions in the departments, wherever he went, the guillotine was erect- ed, and blood flowed in streams. He was nevertheless accused by Robespierre of moderatism. At Lille, in 1797, and at Ras- tadt, in 1798, he negotiated, as a plenipotentiary with the re- presentatives of princes, and in 1799 corresponded as a director with emperors and kings, to whom he wrote as his great and dear friends. He is now a counsellor of state, in the section of^ legislation, and enjoys a fortune of several millions of liyres, arising from estates in the country and from leases in the capi- tal. As this accident at Madame de C n's was soon public, his friends gave out that he has of late been exceedingly ab- sent, and from absence of mind, puts every thing, he can lay hold of into his pocket. He is not a favoui'ite with Madame Buo- naparte; and she asked her husband to dismiss and disgrace him for an act so disgraceful to a grand officer of the Legion of Honour, but was answered, " Were I to turn away all the thieves and rogues that encompass me I should soon cease to reign. I despise them, but I must employ them" It is wh spered that the police have discovered another of l^adame de C — -—n's lost gold plates, at a pawn-broker's, where 180 SECRET HISTORY OF THE it had been pledged by the wife of another counsellor of state, Frangais de Nantes. This I give you merely as a report! though the fact is that Madame Francais is very fond of gam- bling, but very unfortunate ; and she, with other of our fashion- able ladies, has more than once resorted to her charms, for the payment of her gambling debts. LETTER XLI. Paris, September 1805. My lord, SINCE my return here, I have never neglected to present myself before our sovereign, on his days of grand reviews, and grand diploinatic audiences. I never saw him more conde- scending, more agreeable, or, at least, less offensive, than on the day of his last levee, before he set out to be inaugurated a king of Italy ; nor worse tempered, petulant, agitated, abrupt, and rude, than at his first grand audience after his arrival from Milan, when this ceremony had been performed. I am not the only one who made this remark ; he did not disguise either his good or ill humour; and it was only requisite to have eyes and ears, to see and be disgusted at the difference of behaviour. I have heard a female friend of Madame Buonaparte ex- plain, in part, the cause of this alteration. Just before he set out for Italy, the agreeable news of the success of the first Rochefort squadron in the West Indies, and the escape of our Toulon fleet from the vigilance of Lord Nelson, highly elevated his spirits, as it was the first naval enterprise of any conse- quence since his reign. I am certain that one grand naval vic- tory would flatter his vanity and ambition more than all the glo- ry of one of his most brilliant continental campaigns. He had also, at that time, great expectations that another negotiation with Russia would keep the continent submissive under his dic- tature, until he should find an opportunity of crushing your power. You may be sure that he had no small hopes of strik- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 181 ing a blow in your country, after the junction of our fleet with the Spanish ; not by any engagement between our Brest fleet and your Channel fleet, but under a supposition that you would detach squadrons to the East and West Indies, in search of the combined fleet, which, by an unexpected return, according to orders, would have then left us masters of the Channel, and, if joined with the Batavian fleet, perhaps even of the North Sea. By the incomprehensible activity of Lord Nelson, and by the defeat (or, as we call it here, the negative victory) of Villeneuvc and Gravina, all this first prospect had vanished. Our ven- geance against a nation of shopkeepers, we were not only un- der the necessity of postponing, but, from the unpolite threats anc} treaties of the cabinet of St. Petarsburgh, with those of Vi- enna and St. James's, we were on the eve of a continental war, and our gun-boats, instead of being useful in carrying an army to the destruction of the tyrants of the seas, were burthensome, as an army was necessary to guard them, and to prevent these tyrants from capturing or destroying thein. Such changes in so short a period of time as three months, might irritate a tem- per less patient than that of Napoleone the first. At his grand audience here, even after the army of Eng- land had moved towards Germany, when the die was cast, and his mind should, therefore, have been made up, he was almost insupportable. The low bows, and the still humbler expres- sions of the Prussian ambassador, the Marquis of Lucchesini, were hardly noticed; and the Saxon ambassador. Count de Bu- neau, was addressed in a language that no well-bred master ^ever uses in speaking to a menial servant. He did not cast a look, or utter a word, that was not an insult to the audience, and a disgrace to his rank. I never before saw him vent his rage and disappointment so indiscriminately. We were, in- deed, (if I may use the term), humbled and trampled upon en masse. Some he put out of countenance, by staring angrily at them; others he shocked by his hoarse voice, and harsh words; and all — all of us were afraid, in our turn, of experiencing something worse than our neighbours. I observed more than one minister, and more than one general, change colour, and even perspire, at his Majesty's approach. I believe the members of the foreign diplomatic corps here 182 SECRET HISTORY OF THE will all agree with me, that, at a future congress, the restora- tion of the ancient and becoming etiquette of the kings of France would be as desirable a point to demand from the Emperor of the French, as the restoration of the balance of power. > Before his army of England quitted its old quarters on the coast, the officers and men often felt the effects of his ungovern- able temper. When several regiments of grenadiers, of the di- vision of Oudinot, were defiling before him, on the 25th of last month, he frequently, and severely, though without cause, re- probated their manner of marching; and once rode up to Cap- tain Fournois, pushed him forwards with the point of a small cane, calling out " Sacra Dieii ! advance, you walk like a tur- key." In the first moment of indignation, the captain, striking at the cane with his swoi'd, made a push, or a gesture, as if threatening the person of Buonaparte, who called out to his aide-de-camp, Savary, " Disarm the villain, and arrest him !" " It is unnecessary," the captain replied, " I have served a ty- rant, and merit my fate!" — so saying, he thrust his s\vord through his heart. His whole company stopped instantly, as at a word of command, and a general murmur was heard. " Lay down your arms, and march out of the file instantly," commanded Buonaparte, " or you shall be cut down for your mutiny by my guides." They hesitated for a moment, but the guides advancing to surround them, they obeyed, and were disarmed. On the following afternoon, by a special military commission, each tenth man was condemned to be shot; but Buonaparte pardoned them, upon condition of serving for life in the colonies; and the whole company was ordered to the colonial depots. The widow and five children of Captain Four- nois, the next morning, threw themselves at the Emperor's feet, presenting a petition, in which they stated that the pay of the captain had bt;en tlieir only support. — " Well," replied Buonaparte to the kneeling petitioners, " Fournois was both a fool and a traitor; but, nevertheless, 1 shall take care of you." Indeed, they have been so well taken care of, that nobody knows what has become of them. I am almost certain that I am not telling you what you did not know before-hand, in informing you, that the spirit of our troops is greatly different from that of the Germans, and even COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 183 from that of your own country. Every one of our soldiers would prefer being shot to being beat or caned. — Flogging is with us out of the question. It may, perhaps, be national va- nity, but I am doubtful whether any other army upon the globe is, or can be, governed, with regard to discipline, in a less vio- lent and more delicate manner ; and nevertheless be kept in su- bordination, and perform the most brilliant exploits. Remem- ber, I speak of our spirit of subordination and discipline, and not of our character as citizens, as patriots, or as subjects. I have often hinted it, but, I believe, I have not explained myself so fully before ; but my firm opinion and persuasion is, that, with regard to our loyalty, our duty, and our moral and political principles, I do not think that another such an inconsistent and despicable people exist in the universe. The condition of the slave is certainly in itself that of vile- ness ; but is that slave a vile being, who for a blow pierces his bosom because he is unable to avenge it? And what epithet can be given him, who braves voluntarily a death seemingly cer- tain, not from the love of his country, but from a principle of honour, almost incompatible with the dishonour of bondage. During the siege of York Town, in America, we had, dur- ing one night, erected. a battery, with intent to blow up a place which, according to the report of our spies, was your magazine of ammunition, Sec. We had not time to finish it before day- light ; but one loaded twenty -four pounder was mounted ; and our cannoneer, the moment he was about to fire it, was killed. Six more of our men, in the same attempt, experienced the same fate. My regiment constituted the advanced guard near- est to the spot, and la Fayette brought me the order from the Commander in Chief, to engage some of my men upon that desperate undertaking. I spoke to them, and two advanced, but were both instantly shot by your sharp-shooters. 1 then looked at my grenadiers without uttering any thing, when, to my sorrow, one of my best and most orderly men advanced, saying: " My colonel, permit me to try my fortune!" Having assented, he went coldly amidst hundreds of bullets whistling around his ears, set fire to the cannon, which blew up a depot of powder as was expected, and in the confusion returned un- hurt. La Fayette then presented him with his purse. " No, 184 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Sir," replied he, " money did not make me venture upon such a perilous undertaking." I understood my man, promoted him to a sergeant, and recommended him to Rocliambeau, who, in some months procured him the commission of a sub-lieutenant. He is now one of Buonaparte's field-marshals, and the only one of that rank who has no crimes to reproach himself with. — This man was the soldier of a despot, but was his action that of a man of honour, which a staunch republican of ancient Rome would have been proud of? Who can explain this contradiction? This anecdote about Fournois I heard General Savary relate at Madame Duchatel's, as a proof of Buonaparte's generosity and clemency, which he affirmed excited the admiration of the whole camp at Boulogne, I do not suppose this officer to be above thirty years of age, of which he has passed the first twen- ty-five in orphan-houses or in watch-houses: but no tyrant ever had a more cringing slave, or a more abject courtier. His af- fectation to extol every thing that Buonaparte does, right or wrong, is at last become so habitual, that it is naturalized, and you may mistake that for sincerity which is nothing but impos- ture or flattery. This son of a Swiss poi'ter is now one of Buonaparte's adju- tant-general's, a colonel of the Gens d' Armes d'Elite, a general of brigade in the army, and a commander of the Legion of Ho- nour — all these places he owes, not to valour or merit, but to abjectness, immorality and servility. When an aide-de-camp with Buonaparte in Egypt, he served him as a spy on his com- rades, and on officers of the staff; and was so much detested, that near Aboukir several shots were fired at him in his tent, by his own countrymen. He is supposed still to continue the same espionage; and as a colonel of the Gens d' Armes d'Elite, he is charged with the secret execution of all proscribed per* sons or state prisoners, Avho have been secretly condemned; a commission that a despot gives to a man he trusts, but dares not offer to a man he esteems. He is so well known, that, the instant he enters a society, silence immediately fblloAvs, and he has the whole conversation to himself. This he is stupid enough to take for a compliment, or for a mark of respect, or an acknowledgment of his superior parts and intelligence; when, in fact, it is a direct reproach with which prudence arms COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 185 itself against suspected or known dishonesty. Besides his wife, b^has to support six other women whom he has seduced and ruined; and notwithstanding the numerous opportunities his master has procured him of pillaging and enriching himself, he is still much in debt; but wo to his creditors, where they indis- creet enough to ask for their payments! The Secret Tribunal would soon seize them, and transport them, or deliver them over to the hands of their debtor, to be shot as traitors or conspira- tors. LETTER LXII. Paris, Sefitember ' 1 805. My lord, I AM told that it was the want of pecuniary resources that made Buonaparte so ill-tempered on his last levee-day. - He would not have come here at all, but preceded his army to Strasburgh, ha<5 his minister of finances, Gaudin, and his minis- ter of the public treasury, Marbois, been able to procure forty- four millions of livres, (1,800,0001.) to pay a part of the arrears of the troops ; and for the speedy conveyance of ammunition and artillery towards the Rhine. Immediately after his arrival here, Buonaparte sent for the Directors of the bank of Fx'ance, informing them that within twenty-four hours they must advance him thirty-six millions of livres, (1,500,0001.) upon the revenue of the last quarter of 1808. The president of the bank. Senator Garrat, demanded two hours to lay before the Emperor the situation of the bank, that his Majesty might judge what sum it was possible to spare, without ruining the credit of an establishment, hitherto so use- ful to the commerce of the empire. To this Buonaparte re- plied, that he was not ignorant of the resources, or of the cre- dit of the bank, no more than of its public utility; but that the affairs of state suffered from every hour's delay, and that there- fore he insisted upon having the sum demanded,, even within Bb 1S6 SECRET HISTORY OF THE two hours, partly in paper and partly in cash } and were they to shew any more opposition, he would order the bank and all its effects to be seized that moment. The Directors bowed, and returned to the bank ; whither they were followed by four waggons escorted by Hussars, and belonging to the financial de- partment of the Army of England. In these were placed eight millions of livres in cash ; and twenty -ei^ht millions in bank notes were delivered to M. Lefevre, the secretary -general of Marbois, who presented, in e:^i:change, Buonaparte's bond and security for the amount, bearing an interest of five per cent, yearly. When this money-transaction was known to the public, the alarm became general, and long before the hour the bank is usually open, the adjoining streets were crowded with persons, desiring to exchange their notes for cash. During the night, the Directors had taken care to pay themselves for the bank notes in their own possession with silver or gold ; and as they expected a run, they ordered all persons to be paid in copper coin, as long as any money of this metal remained. IfVequired a long time to count those half-pennys and centimes, (five of which make a sous or half-penny) but the people were not tired with waiting until towards three o'clock in the afternoon, when the bank is shut up. They then became so clamorous, that a company of Gens d'Armes was placed, for protection, at the entrance of the bank; but as the tumult increased, the street was surrounded by the police guards, and above six hundred individuals, many of them women, were carried, under an es- cort, to different police commissaries, and to the prefecture of the police; there most of them, after being examined, were reprimanded and released. The same night the police spies reported in the coffee-houses of the Palais Royal, and on the Boulevards, that this run on the bank was encouraged, and paid for by English emissaries, some of whom were already taken, and would be executed on the next day. On the morn- ing, however, the streets adjoining the bank were still more crowded, and the crowd still more tumultuous, because pay- ment was refused for all notes but those of five hundred livres (211.). The activity of the police agents, supported by the Gens d'Armes and police soldiers, again restored order, after several COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 187 hundred persons had been again taken up for their mutinous conduct. Of these, many were, on the same evening, loaded with chains, and placed in carts, under military escort, paraded about near the bank and the Palais Royal ; the police having- as a measure of safety, under suspicion that they were influenced by British gold, condemned them to be transported to Cayenne ; and the carts set out on the same night for Rochefort, the place of their embarkation. On the following day, not an individual approached the bank, but all trade and all payments were at a stand; nobody would sell but for ready-money, and nobody, who had bank notes, would part with cash. Some Jews and money-brokers, in the Palais Royalj offered cash for these bills, at a discount of from ten to twenty per cent. But these usurers were, in their turn, taken up and transported, as agents of Pitt. An interview was then demanded by the directors and principal bankers, with the mi- nisters of finances and of the public treasury. In this confer- ence it was settled, that as soon as the two millions of dollars, on their way from Spain, had arrived at Paris, the bank should re-assume its payments. These dollars government would lend the bank for three months, and take in return its notes, but the bank was nevertheless to pay an interest of six per cent, during that period. All the bankers agreed not to press, unnecessarily, for any exchange of bills into cash; and to keep up the credit of the bank even by the individual credit of their own houses. You know, I suppose, that the bank of France has never issued but two sort of notes; those of one thousand livres (421.) and those of five hundred livres (2 11.), At the day of its stop- page, sixty millions of livres, (2,500,0001.) of the former, and fifteen millions of livres (625,0001.) of the latter, were in circu- lation ; and I have heard a banker assert, that the bank had not then six millions of livres (250,0001.) in money and bullion, to satisfy the 'claims of its creditors, or to honour its bills. The shock given to the credit of the bank by this last requi- sition of Buonaparte, will be felt for a long tirpe, and will with difficulty ever be repaired under his despotic government. Even now, when the bank pays in cash, our meixhants make a differ- ence from five to ten per cent, between purchasing for specie or. paying in bank notes ; and this mistrust will not be lessened 186 SECRET HISTORY OF THE hereafter. You may, perhaps, object, that as long as the bank pays, it is absurd for any one possessing its bills to pay dearer than with cash, which might so easily be obtained. This objec- tion would stand with regard to your, or any other free coun- try, but here where no payments are made in gold, but always in silver or copper, it requires a cart to carry away forty, thirty, or twenty thousand livres, in coin of these metals; and would immediately excite suspicion, that a bearer of these bills was an emissary of our enemies, or an enemy of our government. With us, unfortunately, suspicion is the same as conviction, and chastisement follows it as its shadow, A manufacturer of the name of Debrais established in the Rue St. Martin, where he had for years carried on business in the woollen line, went to the bank, two days after it had began to pay. He demanded, and obtained exchange, for twenty-four thousand livres, ( lOOOl.) in notes, necessary for him to pay what was due by him to his workmen. The same afternoon six of our custom-house officers, accompanied by police agents and Gens d'Armes, paid him a domiciliary visit, under pretence of searching for English goods. Several bales, as being of that description, were seized, and Debrais was carried a prisoner to La Force. On being examined by Fouch6, he offered to prove by the very men who had fabricated the suspected goods, that they were not English. The minister silenced him by saying, that government had not only evidence of the contrary, but was convinced that he was employed as an English agent to hurt the credit of the bank, and therefore if he did not give up his accomplices or employers, had condemned him to transporta- tion. In vain did his wife and daughters petition to Madame Buonaparte ; Debrais is now at Rochefort, if not already em- barked for our colonies. When he was ai'rested, a seal, as usual, was put on his house ; from which his wife and family were turned out, until the police should have time to take an inventory of his effects, and had decided on his fate. When JVIadame Debrais, after much trouble and many pecuniary sacrifices, at last obtained permission to have the seals removed, and re-enter her house, she found that all her plate, and more than half her goods and furniture, had been stolen and carried away. Upon her conrv- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 189 plaint of this theft, she was thrown into prison for not being able to support her complaint with proofs, and for attempting to vilify the characters of the agents of our government. She is still in prison, but her daughters are by her orders disposing of the remainder of their parents' property, and intend to join their father, as soon as their mother has recovered her liberty. The same tyranny that supports the credit of our bank, also keeps up the ptice of our stocks. Any of our great stock-hold- ers, who sell out to any large amount, if they are unable to ac- count for, or unwilling to declare the manner in which they in- ten,d to employ their money, are immediately arrested; some- times transported to the colonies; but more frequently exiled into the country, to remain under the inspection of some police agent ; and are not allowed to return here without the previous permission of our government. Those of them who are up- starts, and have made their fortunes since the revolution by plunder, or as contractors, are still more severely treated ; and are often obliged to renounce part of their ill-gotten wealth to save the remainder; or to preserve their liberty or lives. A revisal of their former accounts, or an inspection of their past transactions, are certain and efficacious threats to keep them in silent submission, as they all well understand the meaning of them. Even foreigners, whom our numerous national bankruptcies have not yet disheartened, are subject to these measures of ri- gour or vigour requisite to preserve our public credit. In the autumn last year a Dutchman of the name of Vander Winkel, sold out by his agent for three millions of livres (125,0001.) in our stock, on one day, for which he bought up bills upon Ham- burgh and London. He lodged in the hotel des quatre nations. Rue Crenelle, where the landlord, who is 2i patriot^ introduced some police agents into his apai-tments during his absence. These broke open all his trunks, drawers and even his writing desk, and, when he entered, seized his person, and carried him to the Temple. By his correspondence it was discovered that all this money was to be brought over to England; a reason more than sufficient to incur the suspicion of our government. Vander Winkel spoke very little French, and he continued therefore in confinement three Aveeks before he was examined, 190 SECRET HISTORY OF THE as our secret police had not at Paris, any of its agents, who spoke Dutch. Carried before Fouch^., he avowed that the mo- ney was destined for England, there to pay for some planta- tions which he desired to purchase in Surinam and Barbice. His interpreter advised him by the orders of Fouche, to alter his mind ; and as he was fond of colonial property, lay out his money in plantations at Cayenne, which was in the vicinity of Surinam, and where government would recommend him advan- tageous purchases. It was hinted to him, also, that this was a particular favour, and a proof of the generosity of our govern- ment; as his papers contained many matters, that easily might be construed to be of a treasonable nature. After consulting with Schimmelpenninck, the ambassador of his country, he wrote for his wife and children, and was seen safe with them to Bourdeaux by our police agents, who had hired an American vessel to carry them all to Cayenne. This certainly is a new method to populate our colonies with capitalists. LETTER XLIII. Paris, September 1805. My lord, HANOVER has been a mine of gold to our government, to its generals, to its commissaries, and to its favourites. Ac- cording to the boasts of Talleyrand, and the avowal of Berthier, we have drawn from it, within two years, more wealth than has been paid in contributions to the Electors of Hanover for this century past; and more than half a century of peace can re- store to that unfortunate country. It is reported here, that each person employed in a situation to make his fortune, in the continental states of the King of England (a name given here to Hanover in courtesy to Buonaparte) was laid under contri- bution, and expected to make certain douceurs to Madame Buo- naparte ; and it is said that she has received from Mortier, tiiree COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 191 hundred thousand livres, and from Bernadotte two hundred and fifty thousand livres, besides other large sums from our mili- tary commissaries, treasurers, and other agents in the Electo- rate. General Mortier is one of the few favourite officers of Buo- naparte, who have distinguished themselves under his rivals Pichegru and Moreau, without ever serving under him. Ed- ward Adolph Casimer Mortier, is the son of a shopkeeper, and was born at Cambray in 1768. He was a shopman with his father until 1791, when he obtained a commission, first as lieu- tenant of Carabiniers, and afterwards as captain of the first bat- talion of volunteers of the department of the North. His first sight of an enemy was on the 30th of April 1792, near Quiev- rain, where he had a horse killed under him. He was present in the battles of Jamappes, of Nerwinde, and of Pellenberg. At the battle of Houdscoote he distinguished himself so much, as to be promoted to an adjutant-general. He was wounded at the battle of Fleures, and again at the passage of the Rhine in 1795 under General Moreau. During 1796 and 1797, he continued to serve in Germany, but in 1798 and 1799, he headed a divi- sion in Switzerland ; from which Buonaparte recalled him in 1800 to command the troops, in the capital and its environs. His address to Buonaparte, announcing the votes of the troops under him respecting the consulate for life, and the elevation to the Imperial throne, contain such mean and abject flattery, that, for a true soldier, it must have required more self-com- naand and more courage to pronounce them, than to brave the fire of a hundred cannons; but these very addresses, contemp- tible as their contents are, procured him the field-marshal's staff. Mortier well knew his man, and that his cringing in an- ti-chambers would be better rewarded than his services in the field. I was not pixsent Avhen Mortier spoke so shamefully ; but I have heard from persons who witnessed this farce, that he had his eyes the whole time fixed on the ground, as if to say; " I grant that I speak as a despicable being, and I grant that I am so ; but what shall I do, tormented as I am by ambition, to figure among the great, and to riot among tife wealthy. Have compassion on my weakness, or if you have not, I will console myself with the idea, that my meanness is only of the duration 192 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of half an hour, while its recompense — my rank, — will be per- manent." Mortier married in 1.799 the daughter of the landlord of the Belle Sauvage inn at Coblentz, who was pregnant by him, or by some other guests of her father. She is pretty but not hand- some ; and she takes advantage of her husband's complaUance^ to console herself both for his absence and infidelities. When she was delivered of her last child, Mortier positively declared that he had not slept with her for twelve months, and the babe has, indeed, less resemblance of him than of his valet-de-cham- bre. The child was baptised with great splendour; the Em- peror and the Empress were the sponsors, and it was christen- ed by cardinal Fesch. Buonaparte presented Madame Mortier on this occasion with a diamond necklace, valued at one hun- dred and fifty thousand livres (60001.) During his different campaigns, and particularly during his glorious campaign in Hanover, he has collected property to the amount of seven millions of livres, laid out in estates and lands. He is considered by other generals as a brave captain, but an indifferent chief; and among our fashionables and our courtiers, he is held up as a model of connubial fidelity ; satisfying him- self with keeping three mistresses only. There was no truth in the report, that his recal from Hano- ver, was in consequence of any disgrace ; on the contrary it was a new proof of Buonaparte's confidence and attachment. He was recalled to take the command of the artillery of Buona- parte's household's troops, the moment Pichegru, George and Moreau were arrested, and when the Imperial title had been resolved on. More resistance against this innovation was at that time .expected than experienced. Bernadotte, who succeeded Mortier in the command of our army in Hanover, is a man of a different stamp. His father was a chairman, and he was born at Paris in 1763. In 1779 he enlisted in the regiment called La Vieille Marine.) where the Revolution found him a serjeant. This regiment was then quartered at Toulon, and the emissaries of anarchy and licenti- ousness engaged him as one of their agents. His activity soon destroyed all discipUne, and the troops instead of attending to their military duty, followed him to the debates and discussions COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 193 of the Jacobin clubs. Being arrested and ordered to be tried for his mutinous scandalous behaviour, an insurrection liberated him, and forced his accusers to save their lives by flight. In April 1790 he headed the banditti, who murdered the governor of the fort St. Jean at Marseilles, and who afterwards occasion- ed the civil war in Comtat Venaigin, where he served under Jourdan, known by the name of Coufi-tell, or cut-throat, who made him a colonel, and his aide-de-camp. In 1794 he was em- ployed as a general of bi'igade, in the army of the Sambre and Meuse; and during the campaigns of 1795 and 1796 he served under another Jourdan, the general, without much distinction; except that he was accused by him of being the cause of all the disasters of the last campaign, by the complete route he suffer- ed near Neumark, on the 23d of August 1796. His division was ordered to Italy in 1797, where against the laws of nations, he arrested M. d'Antraigues, who was attached to the Russian legation. When the Russian ambassador tried to dissuade him from committing this injustice, and this violation of the rights of privileged persons, he replied ; " There is no question here of any other right or justice, than the right and justice of pow- er, and I am here the strongest. M. d'Antraigxje^s is our ene- my ; were he victorious, he would cause us all to be shot. I re- peat, I am here the strongest, et nous verrons." After the peace of Campo Formio, Bernadotte was sent as an ambassador to the court of Vienna, accompanied by a nume- rous escort of jacobin propagators. Having procured the liberty of Austrian patriots, whose lives, forfeit to the law, the lenity of the cabinet of Vienna had spared, he thought that he might at- tempt any thing; and, therefore, on the anniversary -day of the f^te for the levy en masse of the inhabitants of the capital, he in- sulted the feelings of the loyal, and excited the discontented to rebellion, by placing over the door and in the windows of his house, the tri-coloured flags. This outrage the Emperor was unable to prevent his subjects from resenting. Bernadotte's house was invaded, his furniture broken to pieces, and he was forced to save himself at the house of the Spanish ambassador. As a satisfaction for this attack, provoked by his oAvn insolence, he demanded the immediate dismissal of the Austrian minister, Baron Thugut, and threatened, in case of refusal, to leave Vi- c c 194 SECRET HISTORY OE THE enna, which he did on the next day. So disgraceful was his conduct* regarded, even by the Directory, that this event made but little impression, and no alteration in the continuance of their intercourse with the Austrian government. In 1799, he was, for some few weeks, a minister of the war department, from which his incapacity caused him to be dis- missed. Wlien Buonaparte intended to seize the reins of state, he consulted Bernadotte, who spoke as an implacable jacobin, mitil a douceur of three hundred thousand livres (12,0001.) calmed him a little, and convinced him that the jacobins were not infallible, or their governments the best of all possible go- vernments. In 1801, he was made the commander in chief in the Western Department, where he exercised the greatest bar- barities against the inhabitants, whom he accused of being still chouans and royalists. With Angereau and Massena, Bernadotte is a merciless plunderer. In the summer 1796, he summoned the magis- trates of the free and neutral city of Nuremburg to bring him, tinder pain of military execution, within twenty-four hours, two millions of livres (84,0001.). With much difficulty this sum was collected. The day after he had received it, he insisted upon another sum, to the same amount, within another twenty -four houi's, menacing, in case of disobedience, to give the city up to a general pillage by his troops. Fortunately, a column of Aus- trians advanced, and delivered them from the execution of his threats. The troops under him were, both in Italy and in Ger- many, the terror of the inhabitants ; and, when defeated, were, from their pillage and murder, hunted like wild beasts. Berna- dotte has, by these means, within ten years, become master of a fortune often millions of livres (420,OOol.). Many have considered Bernadotte a revolutionary fanatic: but they are in the wrong. Money engaged him in the cause of the revolution, where the first crimes he had perpetrated, fixed him. The many massacres under Jourdan the cut-throat, committed by him in the court at Venaigin, no doubt, display a most sanguinary character ; a lady, however, in whose house, in La Vendee, he was quartered six months, has assured me, that to judge from his conversation, he is not naturally cruel; but that his imagination is continually tormented with the fcav 'i COURT OF ST. CLOUD. i9S of gibbets, which he knows that his crimes have merited ; an4 that therefore when he stabs others, he thinks it commanded by the necessity of preventing others from stabbing him. Were he sure of impunity, he would perhaps shew humanity as well as justice. Bernadotte is not only a grand officer of the Legion of Honour, but a Knight of the Royal Prussian Order of the Black Eagle. LETTER XLIV. Paris, September 1805. My LORD, BUONAPARTE has taken advantage of the remark of Voltaiye, in his Hfe of Louis XIV, that this Prince owed much of his celebrity to the well-distributed pensions among men of letters in France and in foreign countries. According to a list, shown me by Fontanes, the president of the legislative corps, and a director of literary pensions, even in your country and in Ireland he has nine literary pensioners. Though the names of your principal authors and men of letters are not unknown to me, I have never read nor heard of any of those I saw in the list, except two or three as editors of some newspapers, maga- zines, or trifling and scurrilous party pamphlets. I made this this observation to Fontanes, who replied, that these men, though obscure, had' during the last peace been very useful, and would be still more so after another pacification; and that Buonaparte must be satisfied with these, until he could gain over men of greater talents. He granted also that men of true genius and literary eminence were, in England, more careful of the dignity of their character than those of Germany and Italy, and more difficult to be bought over ; he added, that as soon as the war ceased, he should cross the channel on a lite- rary mission, from which he hoped to derive more success than from that which was undertaken three years ago by Fieve. To thes« men of letters, who are themselves, with theijj 196 SECRET HISTORY OF THE writings, devoted to Buonaparte) he certainly is very liberal.—^ Some he has made tribunes, prefects, or legislators; others he has appointed his ministers in foreign countries ; and on those to whom he has not yet been able to give places, he bestows much greater pensions than any former sovereign of this coun- try allowed to a Corneille, a Racine, a Boileau, a Voltaire, a Crebillon, a D'Alembert, a Marmontel, and other heroes of our literature and honours to our nation. This liberality is often carried too far, and thrown av/ay upon worthless subjects, whose very flattery displays absence of taste and genius as well as of modesty and shdme. To a fellow of the name of Dagee, who sung the coronation of Napoleone the First, in two hun- dred of the most disgusting and ill-digested lines that ever were written, containing neither metre nor sense, was assigned a place in the administration of the forest department, worth 12 thousand livres in the year, (5001.) besides a pi-esent, in ready- money, of one hundred Napoleone d'ors. Another poetaster, Barre, who has served and sung the chiefs of all former fac- tions, received for an ode of forty lines on Buonaparte's birth- day, an office at Milan, worth twenty thousand livres in the year, (8401.) and one hundred Napoleone d'ors for his travel- ling expenses. The sums of money, distributed yearly by Buonaparte's agents, for dedications to him by French and foreign authors, are still greater than those fixed for regular literary pensions. Instead of discouraging these foolish and impertinent contribu- tions which genius, ingenuity, necessity or intrusion lay on his vanity, he rather encourages them. His name is therefore found in more dedications published within these last five years, than those of all other sovereign Princes of Europe taken toge- ther for this last century. In a man, whose name, unfortunately for humanity, must always live in history, it is a childish and unpardonable weakness to pay so profusely for the short and uncertain immortality which soine dull or obscure scribbler or poetaster confers on him. During the last Christmas holidays I dined at Madame Re- misatu's in company with Duroc. The question turned upon literary productions and the comparative merit of the composi- tions of modern French and foreign authors. " As to the me- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 197 rits or the quality," said Duroc, " I will not take upon me to judge, as I profess myself totally incompetent; but as to their size and quantity I have tolerably good information, and it will jiot therefore be very improper in me to deliver my opinion. I am convinced that the German and Italian authors are more numerous than those of my own country, for the following rea- sons. I suppose, from what I have witnessed and experienced for some years past, that, of every book or publication printed in France, Italy, and Germany, each tenth is dedicated to the Emperor; now, since last Christmas, ninety -six German and seventy-one Italian authors have inscribed their works to his Majesty and been rewarded for it ; while during the same pe- riod only sixty-six Frenchmen have presented their oiFerings to their sovereign." For my part I think Duroc's conclusion to* krably just. Among all the numerous hordes of authors who have been paid, recompensed or encouraged by Buonaparte, none have ex- perienced his munificence more than the Italian Spanicetti and the German Ritterstein. The former presented him a genea- logical table, in which he proved that the Buonaparte family, be- fore their emigration from Tuscany to Corsica, four hundred years ago, were allied to the most ancient Tuscany families, even to that of the house of Medicis : and as this house has given two queens to the Bourbons when sovereigns of France, the Buonapartes are therefore relatives of the Bourbons; and the sceptre of the French empire is still in the same family^ though in a more ivorthy branch. Spanicetti received one thou- sand louis d'ors (lOOOl.) in gold, a pension of six thousand li-. vres, (2501.) for life, and the place of a cheif du bureaux, in the ministry of the home department of the kingdom of Italy, pro- ducing eighteen thousand livres, yearly, (7501.). Ritterstein, a Bavarian genealogist, proved the pedigree of the Buonapartes as far back as the first crusades, and that the name of the friend of Richard Coeur de Lion was not Blondel, but Buonaparte ; that he exchanged the latter for the former, only to marry into the Plantagenet family ; the last branch of which has since been extinguished by its intermarriage and in- corporation with the house of Stuart, and that therefore Napo- leone Buonaparte is not only related to most sovereign Princes 198 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of Europe, but has more right to the throne of Great Britain than George the Third, being descended from the male branch of the Stuart's; while this prince is only descended from the female branch of the same royal house. Ritterstein was pre- sented with a snuff-box with Buonaparte's portrait set with dia- mond's, valued at twelve thousand livres, and received twenty- four thousand livres, ready-money, together with a pension of nine thousand livres (3751.) in the'year, until he could be bet- ter provided for. He was, besides, nominated a knight of the Legion of Honour. It cannot be denied but that Buonaparte rewards like a real Emperor. But artists as well as authors obtain from him the same encouragement, and experience the same liberality. In our different museums we therefore already see and admire up- wards of two hundred pictures, representing the different ac- tions, scenes, and achievements of Buonaparte's public life. It is true, they are not all highly finished or well composed or de- lineated, but they all strike the spectators more or less with surprise or admiration; and it is with us, as I suppose with you, and every where else, the multitude decide: for one com- petent judge or real connoisseur, hundreds pass, who sture, gape, are charmed, and inspire thousands of their acquaint- ance, friends, and neighbours, with their own satisfaction. Be- lieve me, Napoleone the First well knows the age, his contem- poraries, and, I fear, even posterity. , That statuaries and sculptors consider him also as a gene- rous patron, the numerous productions of their chissels in France, Italy, and Germany, having him for their object, seem to evince. Ten sculptors have already represented his passage over the mount St. Bernai^d, eighteen his passage over Pont de Lodi, and twenty-two that over Pont d'Arcole. At Rome, Milan, Turni, Lyons, and Paris, are statues of him, representing liis natui'al size ; and our ten thousand municipalities have each one of his busts; without mentioning the thousands of busts all over Europe, not excepting even your own country. When Buona- parte sees under the windows of the Thuilleries the statue of Cffisar placed in the garden of that palace, he cannot help say- ing to himself, " Marble lives longer than man." Have you any doubt that his ambition and vanity extend beyond the grave ? COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 199 The only artist I ever heard of who was disappointed and unrewarded for his labour, in attempting to eternize the mci- mory of Napoleone Buonaparte, was a German, of the name of Schumacker. It is indeed allowed that he was more industri- ous, able, and well-meaning, than ingenious or considerate. He did not consider that it would be no compliment to give the immortal hero a hint of being a mortal man. Schumacker had employed near three years 'in planning and executing in marble the prettiest model of a sepulchral monument I have ever seen, read, or heard of. He had inscribed it, The future tomb of Buo- naparte the Great. Under the patronage of Count de Beust, he arrived here; and I saw the model in the house of this minis- ter, of the German Elector Arch-Chancellor, w^here also many French artists went to inspect it. Count de Beust asked De Segur, the grand master of the ceremonies, to request the Em- peror to grant Schumacker the honour of shewing him his per- formance. De Segur advised him to address himself to Duroc, who referred him to Denon, who, after looking at it, could not help paying a just tribute to the execution and to the talents of the artist, though he disapproved of the subject, and declined mentioning it to the Emperor. After three months attendance in this capital, and all petitions and memorials to our great folks remaining unanswered, Schumacker obtained an audience of Fouche, in which he asked permission to exhibit his model of Buonaparte's tomb to the public for money, so as to be ena- bled to return to his country. " Where is it now?" asked Fouche. " At the minister's of the Elector Arch-Chancel- lor," answered the artist. " But where do you intend to shew it for money?" continued Fouche. " In the Palais Royal" — " Well, bring it there," replied Fouche. The same evening that it was brought there Schumacker was arrested by a police commissary; his model packed up, and with himself put un- der the care of two gens-d'armes, who carried them both to the other side of the Rhine. Here the Elector of Baden gave him' some money to return to his home, near Aschaffenburgh, where he has since exposed for money the model of a grand tomb for a little man. I have just heard that one of your coun- trymen has purchased it for one hundred and fifty louis d'ors. 200 SECRET HISTORY OF THE LETTER XLV. Paris, Sejjtember 1805. My lord, THOSE, who only are informed of the pageantry of our court, of the expenses of our courtiers, of the profusion of our Emperor, and of the immense wealth of his family and favour- ites, may easily be led to believe, that France is one of the hap- piest and most prosperous countries in Europe. But for those, ■who walk in our streets, who visit our hospitals, who count the number of begp^ars and of suicides, of orphans and of criminals, of prisoners and of executioners, it is a painful necessity to re- verse the picture, and to avow that no where comparatively can there be found so much collective misery. And it is not here, as in other states, that these unfortunate, reduced, or guilty, are persons of the lowest classes of society ; on the contrary many, and, I fear, the far greater part, appertain to the ii-devant privileged classes, and descend from ancestors noble, respecta- ble, and wealthy, but by the revolution have been degraded to misery or infamy, and perhaps to both. When you stop but for a moment in our streets, to look at something exposed for sale in a shop-window, or for any other cause of curiosity or want, persons of both sexes, decently dress- ed, approach you, and whisper to you — " Sir, bestow your cha- rity on the Marquis, or Marchioness — on the Baron, or Baron- ess, such-a-one, ruined by the revolution ;" and you sometimes hear names on which history has shed so brilliant a lustre, that while you contemplate the deplorable reverse of human greatness, you are not a little surprised to find, that it is in your power to relieve with a trifle the wants of the grandson of an il- lustrious warrior, before whom nations trembled, or of the granddaughter of that eminent statesman, who often had in his hands the destiny of empires. Some few solitary walks, hicog- nitoy by Buonaparte, in the streets of his capital, would perhaps be the best preservative against unbounded ambition and con- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 201 fident success, that philosophy could present to unfeeling ty-i ranny. Some author has written, " that want is the parent of indus- try, and wretchedness the mother of ingenuity." I know that you have often approved and rewarded the ingenious produc- tions of my emigrated countrymen in England;, but here their labours and their endeavours are disregarded : and if they can- not or will not produce any thing to flatter the pride or appetite of the powerful or rich upstarts, they have no other choice left but beggary or ci'ime, meanness or suicide. How many have I heard repent of ever returning to a country, where they have no expectation of justice in their claims, no hope of relief in their necessities, where death, by hunger, or by their own hands, is the final prospect of all their sufferings. Many of our ballad-singers are disguised emigrants; and I know a ci-devant Marquis, who is, incognito^ a groom to a con- tractor, the son of his uncle's porter. Our old pedlars com- plain that their trade is ruined by the Counts, by the Barons, and Chevaliers, who have monopolized all their business. Those who pretend to more dignity^ but who have in fact less honesty, are employed in our billiard and gambling-houses. I have seen two music grihders, one of whom was formerly a captain of in- fantry, and the other a counsellor of parliament. Every day you may bestow your penny or halfpenny on two veiled girls playing on the guitar or harp, the one the daughter of a ci-de- ■vant Duke, and the other of a ci-devant Marquis, a general un- der Louis XVL They are usually placed, the one on the Bou- levards, and the other in the Elysian fields, each with an old woman by her side, holding a begging-box in her hand. I am told one of the women has been the nurse of one of those la- dies: What a recollection, if she thinks of the past, in contem- plating the present! On the day of Buonaparte's coronation, and a little before he set out with his Pope and other splendid retinue, an old man was walking slowly on the Quay de Voltaire, without saying a word, but a label was pinned to his hat with this inscription — i ^^ I had sixty thousand livres rent^ (25001.); I am eighty years of age; and I request alms." Many individuals, even some of Buonaparte's soldiers, gave him their mite ; but as soon as Dd 202 SECRET HISTORY OF THE he was observed, he was seized by the police-agents, and has not since been heard of. I am told his name is de la Roche, a ■ci-devant Chevalier de St. Louis, whose property was sold in 1793 as belonging to an emigrant, though at the time he was shut up here as a prisoner, suspected of aristocracy. He has since, for some years, been a water-carrier; but his strength failing, he supported himself lately entirely by begging. The value of the dress of one of Buonaparte's running footmen might have been sufficient to relieve him for the probably short remainder of his days. But it is more easy and agreeable iix this country to bury undeserved want in dungeons, than to re- nounce unnecessary and useless show to relieve it. In the evening, the remembrance of these sixty thousand livres of the poor Chevalier deprived me of all pleasure in beholding the 60 thousand lamps decorating and illuminating Buonaparte's pa- lace of the Thuilleries. Some of the emigrants, whose strength of body age has not impaired, or whose vigour 6f mind misfortunes have not de- pressed, are now serving as officers or soldiers under the Em- peror of the French, after having for years fought in vain for the cause of a king of France in the brave army of Conde. — Several are even doing duty in Buonaparte's household troops, where I know one who is a captain, and who, for distinguishing himself in combating the republicans, received the order of St. Louis, but is now made a knight of Napoleone's republican or- der, the Legion of Honour, for bowing gracefully to her Impe- rial Majesty the Empress. As he is a man of real honour, this favour is not quite in its place; but I am convinced, that should one day an opportunity present itself, he will not miss it, but prove that he has never been misplaced. Another emigrant, who, after being a page to the Duke of Angouleme, made four campaigns as an officer of the Uhlans in the service of the Em- peror of Germany, and was rewarded with the military order of Maria Theresa, is now a knight of the Legion of Honour, and an officer of the Mamelukes of the Emperor of the French. Four more emigrants have engaged themselves in the same corps as common Mamelukes, after being for seven years volun- teers in the legion of Mirabeau, under the Prince de Conde. It ■were to be wished that the whole of this favourite corps were COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 203 composed of returned emigrants. I am sure they would never 6etray the confidence of Napoleone, but they would also never swear allegiance to another Buonajparte. While the humbled remnants of one sex of the ci-devant privileged classes are thus or worse employed, many persons of the other sex have preferred domestic servitude to courtly splendour, and are chambermaids or governesses, when they might have been maids of honour or ladies in waiting. Made- moiselle de R , daughter of Marquis de R , was offered a place as a maid of honour to Princess Murat, which she de- clined, but accepted at the same time the offer of being a com- panion of the rich Madame Moulin, whose husband is a ci-de- vant valet of Count de Brienne. Her father and brother suf- fered for this choice and preference, which highly offended Buonaparte, who ordered them both to be transported to Gua- daloupe, under pretence that the latter had said, in a coffee- house, that his sister would rather have been the housemaid of the wile of a ci-devant valet, than the friend of the wife of a ci- devant assassin and septembrizer. It was only by a valuable present to Madame Buonaparte than Madame Moulin, that Mademoiselle de R was not included in the act of proscrip- tion against her father and brother. I am sorry to say that returned emigrants have also been arrested for frauds and debts, and even tried and convicted of crimes. But they are proportionally few, compared with those who, without support, and perhaps without hope, and from want of resignation and submission to the will of Providence, have in despair had recourse to the pistol or dagger, or in the i-iver Seine buried their remembrance both of what they have been, and of what they were. The suicides of this vicious capital are reckoned upon an average to amount to one hundred in the month ; and for these last three years, one-tenth at least have been emigrants of both sexes ! 204 SECRET HISTORY OF THE LETTER XLVL Paris, September 1805. My LORD, NOBODY here, except his courtiers, denies, that Buona- parte is vain, cruel, and ambitious; but as to his private, per- sonal, or domestic vices, opinions are various, and even oppo- site. Most persons who have long known him, assert, that wo- men are his aversion; and many anecdotes have been told of his unnatural and horrid propensities. On the other hand, his seeming attachment to his wife is contradictory to these ru- mours, which certainly are exaggerated. It is true, indeed, that it was to oblige Barras, and to obtain her fortune, that he accepted of her hand, ten years ago; though insinuating, she is far from being handsome, and has long passed the period of inspiring love by her charms; her husband's conduct towards her, may therefore be construed perhaps into a proof of indif- ference towards the whole sex, as much as into an evidence of his affection towards her. As he knew tvho she ivas, when he received her from the chaste arms of Barras, and is not unac- quainted with her subsequent intrigues, particularly during his stay in Egypt, policy may influence a behaviour which has some resemblance to esteem: he may chuse to live with her, but it is impossible he can love her, A lady very intimate with Princess I^ouis Buonaparte, has assured me, that had it not been for Napoleone's singular incli- nation for this step-daughter of his, he would have divorced his wife the first year of his consulate; and that indirect proposals on that subject had already been made her by Talleyrand ; it was then reported that Buonaparte had his eyes fixed upon a Russian Princess, and that from the friendship which the late Emperor Paul professed for him, no obstacles to the match w6re expected to be encountered at St. Petersburgh. The un- timely end of this prince, and the supplications of his wife and daughter, have since altered his intent, and Madame Napoleone COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 205 and her children are now, if I may use the expression, incor- porated and naturalised with the Buonaparte family. But what has lately occurred here will better serve to shew, that Buonaparte is neither averse nor indifferent to the sex. You read last summer, in the public 'prints, of the then minis- ter of the interior, Chaptal, being made a Senator, and that he was succeeded by our Ambassador at Vienna, Champagny.. This promotion was the consequence of a disgrace, occasionec] by his jealousy of his mistress, a popular actress. Mademoiselle George ; one of the handsomest women of this capital. He was informed by his spies, that this lady frequently, in the dusk of the evening, or when she thought him employed in his office, went to the house of a famous milliner in the rue St. Honore; where, through a door in an adjoining passage, a person who carefully avoided shewing his face, always entered immediately before or after her, and remained as long as she continued there. The house was then, by his orders, beset with spies, who were to inform him the next time she went to the milli- ner. To be near at hand, he had hired an apartment in the neighbourhood, where the very next day her visit to the milli- ner's was announced to him. While his Secretary, with four other persons, entered the milliner's house through the street door, Chaptal, with four of his spies, forced the door of the pas- sage open; which was no sooner done, than the disguised gal- lant was found and threatened in the most rude manner by the minister and his companions; he would have been still worse used, had not the unexpected appearance of Duroc and a whis- per to Chaptal put a stop to the fury of this enraged lover. The incognito is said to have been Buonaparte himself, who, the same evening, deprived Chaptal of his ministerial port folio, and would have sent him to Cayenne instead of to the senate, had not Duroc dissuaded his sovereign from giving an eclat to an affair, which it would be best to bury in oblivion. Chaptal has never from that day approached Mademoiselle George, and, according to report, Napoleone has also renounced this conquest in favour of Duroc ; who is at least her nominal gallant. The quantity of jewels with which she has recently been decorated, and displayed with so much ostentation in the 206 SECRET HISTORY OF THE new tragedy, The Templars, indicate, however, a sovereign rather than a subject for a lover. And indeed she already treats the directors of the theatre, her comrades, and even the public, more as a real than a theatrical princess. Without any cause whatever, but from a mere cafirice to see the camp on the coast, she set out without leave of absence and without any previous notice, on the very day she was to play ; and this popular and interesting tragedy was put off for three weeks, until she chose to return to her duty. When complaint was made to the pre- fects of the palace, now the governors of our theatres, Duroc said that the orders of the Emperor were, that no notice should be taken of this etourderie, which should not occur again. Chaptal was, before the revolution, a bankrupt chymist at Montpellier, having ruined himself in search after the philoso- pher's stone. To persons in such circumstances, with great presumption, some talents, but no principles, the revolution could not, with all its anarchy, confusion, and crime, but be a real blessing; as Chaptal called it in his Jirs( speech at the Ja- cobin Club. Wishing to mimic at Montpellier the taking of the Bastille at Paris, he in May 1790 seduced the lower classes and the suburbs to an insurrection, and to an attack on the cita- del, Avhich the governor, to avoid all effusion of blood, surren- dered without resistance. He was denounced by the munici- pality to the National Assembly for these and other plots and attempts ; but Robespierre and other Jacobins defended him, and he escaped even imprisonment. During 1793 and 1794, he monopolized the contract for making and providing the ar- mies with gunpowder; a favour for which he paid Barrere, Carnot, and other members of the Committee of Public Safety, six millions of livres, (250,0001.) but by which he pocketed thirty-six millions of livres, (1,500,0001.) himself. He was un- der the Directory, menaced with a prosecution for his pillage, but bought it off by a douceur to Rewbel, Barras, and Sieyes. In 1799 he advanced Buonaparte twelve millions of livres, (500,0001.) to bribe adherents for the new revolution he medi- tated, and was in recompense, instead of interest, appointed first counsellor of state; and when Lucien Buonaparte, in Septem- ber 1800, was sent on an embassy to Spain, Chaptal succeeded COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 207 him in the ministry of the interior. You may see by this short account that the chymist Chaptal has, in the revolution, found the true philosophical stone. He now lives in great style, and has, besides three wives alive, (from two of whom he has been divorced,) five mistresses, with each a separate establishmenti This Chaptal is regarded here as the most moral character that has figured in our revolution, having yet neither committed a single muMer, nor headed any of our massacres. LETTER XLVIL Paris, Sefitember 1803,, Mt lord, I HAVE read a copy of a letter from Madrid, circulated among the members of our foreign diplomatic corps, which draws a most deplorable picture of the court and kingdom of Spain. Forced into an unprofitable and expensive war, famine ravaging some, and disease other provinces ; experiencing from allies the treatment of tyrannical foes, disunion in his family and among his ministers, his Spanish Majesty totters on a throne, exposed to the combined attacks of internal disaffec- tion and external plots, with no other support than the advice of a favourite, who is either a fool or a traitor, and perhaps both. As the Spanish monaixhy has been more humbled and re- duced during the twelve years administration of the Prince of Peace, than during the whole period that it has been governed by Px-inces of the house of Bourbon, the heir of the throne, the young Prince of Asturias, has, with all the moderation consist- ent with duty, rank, and consanguinity, tried to remove an up- start, universally despised for his immorality, as well as for his incapacity : and who, should he continue some years longer to rule in the name of Charles IV, >vill certainly involve his king 208 SECRET HISTORY OF THE and his country in one common ruin. Ignorant and presump- tuous even beyond upstarts in general, the Prince of Peace treats with insolence all persons raised above him by birth or talents, who refuse to be his accomplices or valets. Proud and certain of the protection of the queen, and of the weakness of the king, by him the Spanish nobility is not only humbled, pro- voked, and wronged, but openly defied and insulted. You know the nice principles of honour and loyalty that have always formerly distinguished the ancient fainilies of Spain. Believe me that, notwithstanding what appearances in- dicate to the contrary, the Spanish Grandee, who ordered his house to be pulled down because the rebel Constable had slept in it, has still many descendants ; but loyal men always decline to use that violence, to which rebels always resort. Soon after the marriage of the Prince of Asturia, in October, 1 80 1 , to his cousin, the amiable Marie Antoinette Therese, Princess Royal of Naples, the ancient Spanish families sent some deputies to their Royal Highnesses, not for the purpose of intriguing, but to lay before them the situation of the kingdom, and to inform them of the real cause of all disasters. They were received as faithful subjects and true patriots; and their Royal Highnesses promised every support in their power towards remedying the evil complained of, and preventing, if possible, the growth of others. The Princess of Asturia is a worthy grand-daughter of Ma- ria Therese, of Austria, and seems to inherit her character as well as her virtues. She agreed with her Royal consort, that after having gained the affection of the queen, by degrees, it would be adviseable for her to insinuate some hints of the dan- ger that threatened their country, and the discontent that agi- tated the people. The Prince of Asturia was to act the same part with his father, as the Princess did >vith his mother. As there is no one about the person of their Spanish Majesties, from the highest lord to the lowest servant, who is not placed there by the favourite, and act as his spies, he was soon aware that he had no friend in the heir of the throne. His conversa- tion with their Majesties confirmed him in this supposition, and that some secret measures were going on to deprive him of the COURT OF ST. CLOUi). 209 place he occupied, if not of the Royal favour. All visitors to the Prince and Princess of Asturia were therefore watched by his emissaries ; and all the letters or memorials sent to them by the post, were opened, read, and, if contrary to his interest, destroyed, and their writers imprisoned in Spain, or banished to the colonies. These measures of injustice created suspicion, disunion, and, perhaps, fear, among the members of the Astu- fian cabal, as it was called: all farther pursuit, therefore, was deferred until more propitious times, and the Prince of Peace remained undisturbed and in perfect security, until the rupture with your coxmtry last Autumn. It is to be lamented, that with all their valuable qualities and feelings of patriotism, the Prince and Princess of Asturias do not possess a little dissimulation and more knowledge of the world. The favourite tried by all means to gain their good opinion, but his advances met with that repulse they morally deserved, but which, from policy, should have been suspended or softened, with hope of future accommodation. Bournonville, the ambassador of our court to the court of Madrid, was here upon leave of absence when war was declared by Spain against your country, and his first secretary, Herman, acted as charge d'affaires. This Herman has been brought up in Talleyrand's office, and is both abler and more artful than Bournonville : he possesses also the full confidence of our mi- nister, who in several secret and pecuniary transactions, has ob- tained many proofs of this secretary's fidelity as well as capa- city. The views of the cabinet of St. Cloud were therefore not lost sight of, nor its interest neglected at Madrid. I suppose you have heard that the Prince of Peace, like all other ignorant and illiberal people, believes no one can be a good or clever man who is not also his countryman, and that all the ability and probity of the world is confined within the li- mits of Spain: on this principle he equally detests France and England, Germany and Russia, and is therefore not much liked by our government, except for his imbecility, which makes him its tool and dupe. His disgrace would not be much regretted here, where we have it in our power to place or displace minis- ters in certain states, whenever and as often as we like. On this IP e 210 SECRET HISTORY OF THE occasion, . however, we supported him, and helped to dissolve) the. cabal formed against him; and that for the following rea- sons: By the assurances of Bournonville, Buonaparte and Talley- rand had been led to believe that the Prince and Princess of As- turia were well affected to France, and to them personally ; and conceiving themselves much more certain of this than of the good disposition of the favourite, though they did not take a di- rect part against him, at the same time they did not disclose what they knew was determined on, to remove him from the helm of affairs. During Bournonville's absence, howevei', Her- man had formed an intrigue with a Neapolitan girl, in the suite of the Princess of Asturia, who, influenced by love or bribes, introduced him into the cabinet where her mistress kept her correspondence with her Royal parents. With a pick-lock key he opened all the drawers, and even the writing-desk, in which he is said to have discovered written evidences, that though the Princess was not prejudiced against France, she had but an indifferent opinion of the morality and honesty of our present government, and of our present governors. One of these ori- ginal papers Herman appropriated to himself, and dispatched to this capital by an extraordinary courier, whose dispatches, more than the rupture with your country, forced Bournonville away in a hurry from the agreeable society of gamesters and prostitutes, chiefly frequented by him in this capital. It is not, and cannot be known yet, what was the exact plan of the Prince and Princess of Asturia and their adherents ; but a diplomatic gentleman, who has just arrived from Madrid, and who can have no reason to impose upon me, has informed me of the following particulars : Their Royal Highnesses succeeded perfectly in their endea- vours to gain the well-merited tenderness and approbation of their sovereigns, in every thing else, but when the favourite was mentioned Avith any slight, or when any insinuations were thrown out concerning the mischief arising from his tenacity of power, and incapacity of exercising it with advantage to the state. The queen was especially irritated vv'hen such was the subject of conversation or of remark; and she finally prohibited COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 211 it under pain of her displeasure. A report even reached their Royal Highnesses, that the Princ^ of Peace had demanded their separation and separate confinement. . Nothing could therefore be effected to impede the progress of wickedness and calamity, but by some temporary measure of severity. In this disagree- able dilemma, it w^as resolved by the cabal to send the queen to a convent, until her favourite had been arrested and imprison- ed; to declare the Prince of Asturia regent, during the king's illness, (his majesty then still suffered from several paralytic strokes) and to place men of talents and patriotism, in the place of the creatures of the Prince of Peace. As soon as this revo- lution w^as organized, the queen would have been restored to full liberty, and to that respect due to her rank. This plan had been communicated to our ambassador, and approved of by our government; but when Herman, in such an honest manner, had inspected the confidential correspond- ence of the Princess of Asturia, Bournonville was instructed by Talleyrand to warn the favourite of the impending danger, and to advise him to be before-hand with his enemies. Instead of telling the truth, the Prince of Peace alarmed the King and Queen with the most absurd fabrications; and assured their Majesties, that their son and their daughter-in-law had deter- rnined not only to dethrone them, but to keep them prisoners for life, after they had been forced to witness his execution. Indolence and weakness are often more fearful than guilt. Every thing he said was at once believed ; the Prince and Pi'in- cess were ordered under arrest in their own apartments, with- out permission to see or correspond with any body : and so cer- tain was the Prince of Peace of a complete and satisfactory re- venge for the attempt against his tyranny, that a frigate at Ca- diz was ready waiting to carry the Princess of Asturia back to Naples. All Spaniards, who had the honour of their sovereigns and of their country at heart, lamented these rash proceedings; but no one dared take any measures to counteract them. At last, however, the Duke of Montemar, grand officer to the Prince of Asturias, demanded an audience of their Majesties, in the presence of the favourite. He began, by begging his Sovereign to recollect, that, for the place he occupied, he was 212 SECRET HISTORY OF THE indebted to the Prince of Peace; and he called upon him to de- clare, whether he had ever had reason to suspect him either of ingratitude or disloyalty. Being answered in the negative, he said, that though his present situation and office near the heir of the throne was the pride and desire of his life, he would have thrown it up the instant that he had the least ground to suppose that this Prince ceased to be a dutiful son and subject: but so far from this being the case, he had observed him in his most jnguarded moments-^in moments of conviviality had heard him speak of his royal parents with as much submission and I'espect as if he had been in their presence. " If," continued he, " the Prince of Peace has said otherwise, he has misled his king and his queen, being no doubt deceived himself. To over- throw a throne, and to seize it, cannot be done without accom- plices, without arms, without money. Who are the conspira- tors hailing the Prince as their chief? I have heard no name but that of the lovely Princess, his consort, the partaker of his sentiments as well as of his heart. And his arms ? They are in the hands of those guards his royal parent has given to aug- ment the necessary splendour of his rank. And as to his mo- ney ? He has none but what is received from royal and paternal Hiunificence and bounty. You, my Prince," said he to the fa- vourite, (who seemed much offended at the impression the speech made on their Majesties) " will one day thank me, if I am iMippy enough to dissuade dishonourable, impolitic, or un- just resentments. Of the approbation of posterity I am cer- tain." " If," interrupted the favourite, "the Prince of Astu- via and his consort will give up their bad counsellors, I hope their Majesties will forget and forgive every thing with my- self." ." Whether their Royal Highnesses," replied the Duke of Montemar, " have done any thing that deserves forgiveness, or whether they have any counsellors I do not knovv, and am incompetent to judge ; but I am much mistaken in the charac- ter of their Royal Highnesses, if they wish to purchase favour at the expense of confidence and honour. An order from his Majesty may immediately clear up this doubt." The Pi'ince of Peace was then ordered to write, in the name of the King, to his children, in the manner he proposed, and to command an COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 213 answer by the messenger. In half an hour the messenger re- turned with a letter addressed to the favourite, containing only these lines: " A King of Spain is well aware that a Prince and Princess of Asturia can have no answer to give to such propo- sals or to such questions." After six days arrest, and after the Prince of Peace had, in vain, endeavoured to discover some- thing to inculpate their Royal Highnesses, they were invited to court, and reconciled both to him and their royal parents. LETTER XLVIIL Paris, September 1805. My toRD, I WILL add, in this letter, to the communication of the gen- tlemen, mentioned in my last, what I remember myself of the letter, which was circulated among our diplomatists concerning the intrigues at Madrid. The Prince of Peace, before he listened to the advice of Duke de Montemar, had consulted Bournonville, who dissuaded all violence, and as much as possible all noise. This accounts for the favourite's pretended moderation on this occasion. But though he was externally reconciled, and, as was reported at Madrid, had stvorn his reconciliation even by taking the sacrament, all the undertakings of the Prince and Princess of Asturia were strictly observed and reported by the spies whom he had placed round their Royal Highnesses. Vain of his success and victo- ry, he even lost that respectful demeanour, which a good, naj' a well-bred subject always shews to the heir of the throne, and the Princes related to his sovereign. He sometimes behaved with a premeditated familiarity, and with an insolence provok- ing or defying resentment. It was on the days of great festi- vities, when the court was most brilliant and the courtiers mos* 214 SECRET HISTORY OF THE numerous, that he took occasion to be most arrogant to those, whom he traitorously and audaciously dared to call his rivals. On the 9th of last December, at the celebration of the queen's birth-day, his conduct towards their Royal Highnesses excited such general indignation, that, the remembrance of the occa- sion of the fete, and the presence of their sovereigns could not repress a murmur Avhich made the favourite tremble. A sig- nal from the prince of Asturia would then have been sufficient to have caused the insolent upstart to be seized and thrown out of the window. I am told that some of the Spanish grandees laid even their hands on their swords, fixing their eyes on the heir of the throne, as if to say ; " command, and. your unwor- thy enemy shall exist no more." To prepare, perhaps, the royal and paternal mind for deeds which contemporaries always condemn and posterity will al- ways reprobate, the Prince of Peace procured a history to be written in his own way and manner, of Don Carlos, the unfortu- nate son of the barbarous and imnatural Philip H: but the queen's confessor, though like all her other domestics, a tool of the favourite, threw it into the fire with reproof, saying, " that Spain did not remember in Philip II the grand and powerful monarch, but abhorred in- him the royal assassin;" adding, "that no laws human or divine, no institutions, no supremacy whatever, could authorize a parent to stain his hands in the blood of his children." — These anecdotes are sufficient both to elucidate the inveteracy of the favourite, the abject state of the heir to the throne, and the incomprehensible infatuation of the king and queen. Our ambassador in the mean time dissembled always with with the Prince and Princess of Asturia ; and even made them understand that he disapproved of those occurrences so disa- greeable to them ; but he neither offered to put an end to them, nor to be a mediator for a perfect reconciliation with their so- vereigns. Me was guided by no other motive, but to keep the favourite in subjection and alarm, by preserving a correspond- ence with his rivals. That this was the case and the motive, can not be doubted, from the financial intrigue he carried on in the beginning of last month. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 215 Foreigners have but an imperfect or erroneous idea of the amount of the immense sums Spain has paid to our govern- ment, in loans, in contributions, in donations, and in subsidies. Since the reign of Buonaparte, or for these last five years, up- wards of half the revenue of the Spanish monarchy, has either been brought into our national treasury, or into the privy purse of the Buonaparte family. Without the aid of Spanish money, neither would our gun-boats have been built, our fleets equip- ped, or our armies paid. The dreadful situation of the Spanish finances is therefore not surprising. — It is indeed still more surprising that a general bankruptcy has not already involved the Spanish nation in a general ruin. When, on his return from Italy, the recal of the Russian negotiator and the preparations of Austria convinced Buona- parte of the probability of a continental war, our troops on the coast had not been paid for two months, and his Imperial mi- nisters of finances had no funds either to discharge the arrears or to provide for future payments, until the beginning of year XIV, or the 22d instant: Bournonville was therefore ordered to demand peremptorily from the cabinet of Madrid forty mil- lions of livres, (1,666,0001.) in advance upon future subsidies. Half of that sum had indeed shortly before arrived at Cadiz from America, bvit much more was due by the Spanish govern- ment to its own creditors, and promised them in payment of old debts. The Prince of Peace, in consequence, declared that, however much he wished to oblige the French government, it was utterly impossible to procure, much less to advance such sums. Bournonville then became more assiduous than ever about the Prince and Princess of Asturia; and he had the im- pudence to assert, that they had promised, if their friends were at the head of affairs, to satisfy the wishes and expectation of tiie Emperor of the French, by seizing the treasury at Cadiz, and paying the state creditors in vales deinero ; notes hitherto payable in cash, and never at a discount. The stupid favourite swallowed the palpable bait; four millions in dollars were sent under an escort to this country, while the Spanish notes in- stantly fell to a discount of, at first, at four and afterwards of six per cent, and probably will fall lower still, as no treasures are S16 SECRET HISTORY OF THE expected from America this Autumn. It was with two millions of these dollars that the credit of the bank of France was re-, stored, or at least, for some time^ enabled to re-assume its pay- ments in specie. Thus wretched Spain pays abroad for the forging of those disgraceful fetters, which oppresses her at home; and supports a foreign tyranny, which finally must pro* duce domestic misery as well as slavery. When the Prince and Princess of Asturia were informed of the scandalous and false assertion of Bournonville, they and their adherents not only publicly and in all societies contradicted it, but affirmed, that rather than obtain authority or influence on such ruinous terms, they would have consented to remain discarded and neglected during their lives. They took the more care to have their sentiments known on this subject, aS our ambassador's calumny had hurt their popularity. It was then first that, to revenge the shame with which his duplicity had covered him, Bournonville permitted and persuaded the Prince of Peace to begin the chastisement of their royal high- nesses in the persons of their favourites. Duke de Montemar, the grand officer to the Prince of Asturia; Marquis de Villa Franca, the grand equerry to the Princess of Asturia; Count de Minanda, cliamberlain to the king ; and the countess Dow- ager Del Monte, with six other court ladies and four other no- blemen, were therefore exiled from Madrid into different pro- vinces, and forbad to reside in any filace within twenty leagues of the residence of the royal family. According to the last let- ters and communications from Spain, the Prince and Princess of Asturia had not appeared at court since the insult offered them in the disgrace of their friends, and were resolved not to appear in any place where they might be likely to meet with the favourite. Among our best informed politicians here, it is expected that a revolution and a charge of dynasty will be the issue of this, our political embryo in Spain. Napoleone has more than once indirectly hinted, that the Buonaparte dynasty will never be firm and fixed in France, as long as any Bourbons reign in Spain or Italy. Should he prove victorious in the present con- tinental contest, another peace, and not the most advantageous, COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 217 will again be signed with your country — a peace, which, I fear, will leave him absolute master of all continental states. His family arrangements are publicly avowed to be as follow: — His third brother Louis, and his sons, are to be the heirs of the French empire. Joseph Buonaparte is, at the death or resig- nation of Napoleone, to succeed to the kingdom of Italy, includ- ing Naples. Lucien, though at present in disgrace, is consi- dered as the person destined to supplant the Bourbons in Spain ; where, during his embassy in 1800 and 1801, he formed cer- tain connections^ which Napoleone still keeps up and preserves. Holland will be the inheritance of Jerome, should Napoleone not live long enough to extend his power in Great Britain. Such are the modest pretensions our imperial courtiers bestow upon the family of our sovereign. As to the Prince of Peace, he is only an imbecile instrument in the hands of our intriguers and innovators, which they make use of as long as they find it necessary; and when that ceases to be the case, break it and throw it away. This idiot is made to believe, that both his political and physical existence depends entirely upon our support; and he has infused the same ridicu- lous notion into his accomplices and adherents. Guilt, igno- rance, and cowardice thus misled, may, directed by art, interest and craft, perform wonders to entangle themselves in the de- struction of their country. Bournonville, our present ambassador at Madrid, is the son of a porter, and was a porter himself, when he, in 1770, enlisted as a soldier in one of our regiments, serving in the East-Indies. Having there collected some pillage, he purchased the place of a major in the militia of the island of Bourbon, but was for his immorality broken by the governor. Returning to France, he bitterly complained of this injustice; and after much cringing in the anti-chambers of ministers, he obtained, at last, the cross of St. Louis, as a kind of indemnity. About the same time he also bought, with his Indian wealth, the place of an officer in the Swiss guard of Monsieur, the present Louis XVIII. Being refused admittance into any genteel societies, he resorted with Barras, and other disgraced nobles, to gambling-houses ; and he' even kept two himself when the revolution took place. He haxl Ff 218 , SECRET HISTORY OF THE at the same time, and for a certain interest, advanced Madame D'Estainville money to establish her famous, or rather infa- mous house, in the Eue de Bonnes Enfans^ near the Palais Royal; a house that soon became the fashionable resort of our friends of liberty and equality. In 1790 Bournonville offered his services, as aide-de-camp, to our then hero of great ambition and small capacity, La Fay- ette, who declined the honour ; the jacobins were not so nice. In 1792 they appointed him a general under Dumourier, who baptized him, his Ajax. This modern Ajax, having obtained a separate command, attacked Treves in a most ignorant manner, and was worsted, with great loss. The official reports of our re- volutionary generals have long been admired for their modesty as well as -veracity ; but Bournonville has almost outdone them all, not excepting our great Buonaparte. In a report to the National Convention, concerning a terrible engagement of three hours, near Grewenmacker, Bournonville declares, that though the number of the enemy killed was immense, his troops got out of the scrape with the loss of only the little fin- ger of one of his riflemen. On the 4th of February, 1793, a fortnight after the execution of Louis XVI, he was nominated minister of the War Department; a place which he refused, under a pretence that he was better able to serve his country with his sword than with his pen, having already been in one hundred and twenty battles; where, he did not enumerate or state. On the 14th of the following March, however, he ac- cepted the ministerial port folio, which he did not keep long, being delivered up by his Hector, Dumourier, to the Austrians. He remained a prisoner at Olmutz until the 22d of November, 1795, when he was included among the persons exchanged for the daughter of Louis XVI, her present Royal Highness the Duchess of Angoulesme. In the Autumn of 1796 he had a temporary command of the dispersed remnants of Jourdan's army; and in 1797 he was sent as a French commander to Holland. In 1799 Buonaparte appointed him an ambassador to the Court of Berlin ; and in 1803 removed him in the same character to the court of Ma- dj'id. In Prussia his talents did not cause him to be dreaded, COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 219 nor did his personal qualities make him esteemed. In France he is laughed at as a boaster, but not trusted as a warrior. In Spain he is neither dreaded nor esteemed, neither laughed at nor courted; he is there universally despised. He studies to be thought a gentleman; but the native porter breaks through the veil of a ridiculously-affected, and outre politeness. Not- withstanding the complacent grimaces of his face; the self-suf- ficiency of his looks, his systematically-powdered and dressed hair, his shov/y dress, his counted and short bows, and his pre- sumptuous conversation, teeming with ignorance, vulgarity, and obscenity, he cannot escape even the most inattentive ob- server. The ambassador, Bournonville, is now between fifty and sixty years of age ; is a grand officer of our Imperial Legion of Honour ; has a brother who is a turnkey, and two sisters, one married to a tailor, and another to a merchant — who cries dogs* and cats'-meat in our streets. LETTER XLIX. Paris J September 1805. My lord> BUONAPARTE did not at first intend to take his wife with him, when he set out for Strasburgh ; but her tears, the effect of her tenderness and apprehension for his person, at last altered his resolution. Madame Napoleone, to tell the truth, does not like much to be in the power of Joseph, nor even in that of her son-in-law Louis Buonaparte, should any accident make her a widow. During the Emperor's absence the former is the president of the Senate ; and the latter the governor of this capital, and commander of the ti-oops in the interior ; so that the one dic" 220 SECRET HISTORY QF THE tates the Senatus Consultum, in case of a vacancy of the throne, and the other supports these civil determinations with his mili- tary forces. Even with the army in Germany, Napoleone's brother-in-law, Murat, is as a pillar of the Buonaparte dynasty, and to prevent the intrigues and plots of other generals, from an imperial diadem; while, in Italy, his son-in-law, Eugenius de Bucharnois, as a viceroy, commands even the commander- in-chief Massena. It must be granted, that the Emperor has so ably taken his precautions, that it is almost certain that, at Jirst, his orders will be obeyed, even after his death ; and the will deposited by him in the Senate, without opposition, carried into execution. These very precautions evince, however, how uncertain and precarious he looks upon his existence to be, and that, notwithstanding addresses and oaths, he apprehends that the Buonaparte dynasty will not survive him. Most of the generals now employed by him, are either of his own creation, or men on whom he has conferred i-ank and wealth, which they might consider unsafe under any other prince but a Buonaparte. The superior officers, not included in the above description, are such insignificant characters, that though he makes use of their experience and courage, he does not fear their views or ambition. Among the inferior officers, and even among the men, all those who have displayed, either at reviews or in battles, capacity, activity, or valor, are all mem- bers of his Legion of Honour ; and are bound to him by the dou- ble tie of gratitude and self-interest. They look to him alone for future advancements, and for the preservation of the dis- tinction they have obtained from him. His emissaries artfully disseminate, that a Bourbon would inevitably overthrow every thing a Buonaparte has erected; and that all military and civil officers, rewarded or favoured by Napoleone the First, will not only be discarded, but disgraced, and perhaps punished by a Louis XVIII. Any person who would be imprudent enough to attempt to prove the impossibility, as well as the absurdity, of these impolitic and retrospective measures, would be instantly taken up and shot as an emissary of the Bourbons. I have often amused myself in conversing with our new ge- jjerals, and new officers; there is such a curious mixture of igr COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 221 norance and information, of credulity and disbelief, of real boast- ing and affected modesty, in every thing they say or do in com- pany; their manners are far from being elegant, but also very distant from vulgarity; they do not resemble tliose, of w^hat we formerly called gens comme il faul^ and la bonne societe! nor those of the Bourgoisie, or the lower classes. They form a new species of fashionables, and a /laut ton miliiaire^ which strikes a person, accustomed to courts, at first, with surprise, and, per- haps, with indignation; though, after a time, those of our sex, at least, become reconciled, if not pleased with it, because there is a kind of military frankness interwoven with the military roughness. Our ladies, however, (I mean those who have seen other courts, or remember our other coteries) complain loudly of this alteration of address, and of this fashionable innovation ; and pretend that our military, under the notion of being frank, are rude, and, by the negligence of their manners and language, are not only offensive, but inattentive and indelicate. This is so much the more provoking to them, as our imperial courtiei'S and imperial placemen do not think themselves fashionable, without imitating our military gentry, who take Napoleone for their exclusive model and chief in every thing, even in man- ners. What I have said above, only applies to those ofRcers, whose parents are not of the lowest class, or who entered so early or so young into the army, that they may be said to have been 'educated there ; and, as they advanced, have assumed the ton of their comrades of the same rank. I was invited, some time ago, to a wedding, by a jeweller, whose sister had been my nurse, and whose daughter was to be married to a captain of Hussars, quartered here. The bridegroom had engaged seve- ral other officers to assist at the ceremony, and to partake of the fete and ball that followed. A general of the name of Lie- beau was also of the party, and obtained the place of honour by the side of the bride's mother. At his entrance into the apart- ment, I formed an opinion of him, which his subsequent con- duct, during the ball, confirmed. During the dinner he seemed to forget that he had a knife and a fork, and he did not eat of a dish, (and he ate of them all. 222 SECRET HISTORY OF THE numerous as they were), without bespattering or besmearing himself or his neighbours. He broke two glasses and one plate, and, for equality sake, I suppose, when he threw the wine on the lady to his right, the lady to his left was inundated with sauces. In getting up from dinner, to take coffee and liqueurs, according to our custom, as he took the hand of the mistress of the house, he seized at the same time a corner of the napkin, and was not aware of his blunder, till the destruction of bottles, glasses, and plates, and the screams of the ladies, informed him of the havoc and terror his awkward gallantry had occasioned. When the ball began, he was too vain of his rank and pre- cedency to suffer any one else to lead the bi'ide down the first dance; but she was not, I believe, much obliged to him for his politeness; it cost her the tail of her wedding gown and a broken nail, and she continued lame during the remainder of the night. In making an apology to her for his want of dex- terity, and assuring her that he was not so awkward in hand- ling the enemies of his country in battle, as in handling the friends he esteemed in a dance, he gave no quarter to an old maiden aunt, whom in the violence of his gesticulation he knocked down with his elbow, and laid sprawling on the ground. He was sober when these accidents literally occurred. Of this original I collected the following particulars : Before the Revolution he was a soldier in the regiment of Flanders, from which he deserted and became a corporal in another regi- ment: in 1793 he was a drum-major in one of the battalions, in garrison in Paris. You remember the struggles of factions in the latter part of May, and in the beginning of June the same year, when Brissot and his accomplices were contending with Marat, Robespierre, and their adherents, for the reins of pow- er. On the first of June, the latter party could not get a drum- mer to beat the alarm, though they offered money and advance- ment; at last, Robespierre stept forwards to Liebeau, and said, " Citizen, beat the alarm march, and to day you shall be nomi- nated a general." Liebeau obeyed, Robespierre became victo- rious, and kept his promise; and thus my present associate gained his rank. He has since been employed under Jourdan in Germany, and under Le Courbc in Switzerland. When un- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 223 der the former, he was ordered to retreat towards the Rhine, he pointed out the march route to his division, according to his geographical knowledge, but mistook upon the map the river Maine for a turnpike road, and commanded the retreat accord- ingly. Ever since, our troops have called that river La chausee de Liebeau. He was not more fortunate in Helvetia. Being ordered to cross one of the mountains, he marched his men in- to a glacier, where twelve perished, before he was aware of his mistake. Being afterwards appointed a governor of Blois, he there became a petty insupportable tyrant, and laid all the inhabitants indiscriminately under arbitrary contribution. Those who re- fused to pay, were imprisoned as aristocrats, and their property confiscated in the name and on the part of the nation ; that is to say, he appropriated to himself, in the name of the nation, every thing that struck his fancy ; and if any complaints were made, the owners were seized, and sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal at Paris, to be condemned, as the correspondents or adherents of the royalists of La Vendee. After the death of Robespierre, he was deprived of this profitable place, in which, during the short space of eleven months, he amassed five mil- lions of livres (208,0001.). The Directory then gave him a di- vision, first under Jourdan, and afterwards under Le Courbe. Buonaparte, after witnessing his incapacity in Italy, in 1800, put him on the full half pay, and has lately made him a com- mander of the Legion of Honour. His dear spouse, Madame Liebeau, is his counterpart. When he married her, she was crying mackerel and herrings in our streets; but she told me, in confidence, during the dinner, be- ing seated by my side, that her father was an officer of fortune, and a Chevalier of the Order of St. Louis. She assured me, that her hvisband had done greater services to his country than Buonaparte; and that, had it not been for his patriotism in 1793, the Austrians would have taken Paris. She was very an- gry with Madame Napoleone, to whom she had been present- ed, but who had not shewn her so much attention and civility as was due to her husband's rank, having never invited her more than to one supper and two tea parties ; and, when invito- 224 SECRET HISTORY OF THE eel by her, had sent Duroc with an apology that she was unable to come, though the same evening she went to the opera. Another guest, in the regimentals of a colonel, seemed ra- ther bashful when 1 spoke to him. I could not comprehend the reason, and therefore inquired of our host, Avho he was?— (You know, that with us it is not the custom to introduce per- sons by name, &c. as in your country, when meeting in mixed companies.) He answered, "Do you not remember your bro- ther's jockey, FriaH" — " Yes," said I; " but he was estabHshed by my brother as a hair-dresser." — " He is the very sanie per- son," replied the jeweller; "he has fought very bravely, and is now a colonel of dragoons, a great favourite with Buonaparte, and will be a general at the first promotion." As the colonel did not seem to desire a renewal of acquaintance with me, I did not intrude myself upon him. During the supper the military gentlemen were encouraged by the bridegroom, and the bottle went round very freely ; and the more they drank, the greater and more violent became their political discussions. Liebeau vociferated in favour of republi- can and revolutionary measures, and avowed his approbation of requisitions, confiscations, and the guillotine ; while Frial in- clined to the regular and organised despotism of one, to secret trial, and still more secret executions; defending arbitrary im- prisonment, exiles, and transportations. This displeased Ma- dame Liebeau, who exclaimed, — " Since the colonel is so fond of an imperial government, he can have no objection to remain a faithful subject, whenever my husband, Liebeau, becomes an Antoine the first, Emperor of the French." Frial smiled with contempt. " You seem to think it improbable," said Liebeau. " I, Antoine Liebeau — I have more prospect of being an em- peror, than Napoleone Buonaparte had ten years ago, when he \vas only a colonel, and arrested as a terrorist ; and am I not a Frenchman? and is he not a foreigner? Come, shake hands with me ; as soon as I am an emperor, depend upon it you shall be a general, and a grand officer of the Legion of Honour." — -" Ah ! my jewel," interrupted Madame Liebeau ; " how hap- py v,'ill France then be. You are such a friend of peace ; we will then have no wars — no contributions — all the English my COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 225 lords may then come here and spend their money — ^nobody cares about where or how. Will you not, then, my sweet love> make all the gentlemen here your chamberlains, and permit me to accept of all the ladies of the company for my maids of honour or ladies in waiting ?" " Softly, softly," cried Frial, who now began to be as intoxi- cated and as ambitious as the general ; " whenever Napoleone dies, I have more hope, more claim, and more right than you to the throne. I am in actual service; and had not Buonaparte been the same, he might have still remained upon the half-payj obscure and despised. Were not most of the field-marshals and generals under him now, above him ten years ago? May I not, ten years hence, if I am satisfied with yovi. General Lie- beau, make you also a field-marshal, or my minister of war? and you, Madame Liebeau, a lady of my wife's wardrobe, as soon as I am married? I, too, have my plans, and my views, and, perhaps, one day you will recollect this conversation, and not be sorry for my acquaintance." — " What, you a colonel, an emperor, before me, who have so long been a general ?" howl- ed Liebeau, who was no longer able to speak. " I would sooner knock your brains out with this bottle, than suffer such a pre- cedence ; and my wife a lady of your wardrobe ! she who has possessed from her birth the soul of an empress ! No, Sir ! never will I take the oath to you, nor suffer any body else to take it." " Then I will punish you as a rebel," retorted Frial; " and as sure as you stand here you shall be shot." Liebeau then rose up to fetch his sword, but the company interfered, and the dispute about the priority of claim to the throne of France, be- tween the ci-devant drummer and ci-devant jockey, was left un- decided. From the words and looks of several of the captains present, I think that they seemed, in their own opinions, to have as much prospect and expectation to reign over the French empire, as either the General Liebeau or Colonel Frial. As soon as I returned heme, I wrote down this curious con- versation and this debate about supremacy. To what a degra- dation is the highest rank in my unfortunate country reduced, when two such personages seriously contend about it ! I col- lected more subjects for meditation and melancholy in this low G g 226 SECRET HISTORY OF THE company (where, by the by, I witnessed more vulgarity and more indecencies than I had before seen during my life) than from all former scenes of humiliation and disgust since my re- turn here. When I, the next day, mentioned it to General de M , whom you have known an emigrant officer in your ser- vice, but whom policy has since ranged under the colours of Buonaparte, he assured me that these discussions about the im- perial throne are very frequent among the superior officers, and have caused many bloody scenes ; and that hardly any of our generals of any talents exist, who have not the same arriere fiensee of some day or other. Napoleone cannot, therefore, well be ignorant of the many other dynasties here now rivalling that of the Buonapartes, and who wait only for his exit to tear his senatus consultum, his will, and his family, as Avell as each other, to pieces. LETTER L. FariSf September 1805. My lord, I WAS lately invited to a tea party by one of our rich up- starts, who, from a scavenger, is by the revolution and by Buo- naparte transformed into a legislator, commander of the Le- gion of Honour, and possessor of wealth amounting to eighteen millions of livres, (750,0001.)- In this house I saw, for the first time, the famous Madame Chevalier, the mistress, and the in- direct cause of the untimely end, of the unfortunate Paul the first. She is very short, fat and coarse. I do not know whe- ther prejudice, from what I have heard of her vile, greedy, and immoral character, influenced my feelings, but she appeared to me a most artful, vain and disagreeable woman. She looked to be about thirty-six years of age ; and though she might, when COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 227 younger, have been well made, it is impossible that she could ever have been handsome. The features of her face are far from being regular. Her mouth is large, her eyes hollow, and her nose short. Her language is that of brothels, and her man- ners correspond with her expressions. She is the daughter of a workman at a silk manufactory at Lyons ; she ceased to be a maid, before she had attained the age of a woman, and lived in a brothel in her native city, kept by a Madame Thibault, where her husband first became acquainted with her. Having then a tolerably good voice, and being young and insinuating, he in- troduced her on the same stage where he was one of the infe- rior dancers. Here in a short time she improved so much, that she was engaged as a supernumerary: her salary in France as an actress was, however, never above twelve hundred livres in the year, (501.) which was four hundred livres more than hei* husband received. He, with several other inferior and unprincipled actors and dancers, quitted the stage in the beginning of the revolution foi^ the clubs ; and instead of diverting his audience, resolved to re- form and regenerate his nation. His name is found in the an- nals of the crimes perpetrated at Lyons, by the side of that of a Fouche, a Collot d'Herbois, and other wicked offsprings of re- bellion. With all other terrorists he was imprisoned for some tim.e after the death of Robespierre; as soon as restored to liberty, he set out with his wife for Hamburgh, where some amateurs had constructed a French theatre. It was in the Autumn of 1795, when Madame Chevalier was first heard of in the north of Europe, where her arrival occa- sioned a kind of theatrical war between the French, American, and Hamburgh jacobins on one side, and the English and emi- grant loyalists on the other. Having no money to continue her pretended journey to Sweden, she asked the manager of the French theatre at Hamburgh to allow her a benefit, and to play on that night. She selected of course a part in which she could appear to the most advantage, and was deservedly ap- plauded. The very next evening the jacobin cabal called the- manager upon the stage, and insisted that Madame Chevalier should be given a regular engagement. He replied, that n® 228 SECRET HISTORY OF THE place suitable to her talents was vacant, and that it would be ungenerous to turn away, for her sake, another actress with whom the public had hitherto declared their satisfaction. The jacobins continued inflexible, and here, as well as every where else, supported injustice by violence. As the fiatriotism of the husband, more than the charms of the wife, was known to have produced this indecent fracas, which for upwards of a week in- terrupted the plays, all anti-jacobins united to restore order. In this they would, perhaps, have finally succeeded, had not the bayonets of the Hamburgh soldiers interfered, and forced this precious piece of revolutionary furniture upon the manager and upon the stage. After displaying her gratitude in her own way to each indi- vidual of the jacobin levy-en-masse in her favour, she was taken into keeping by a then rich and married Hamburgh merchant, who made her a present of a richly and elegantly-furnished house, and expended besides ten thousand louis-d'ors on her, before he had a mortifying conviction that some other had par- taken those favours for which he had so dearly paid. A coun- tryman of yours then showed himself with more noise than ho- nour upon the scene, and made his debut with a phxton and four, which he presented to his theatrical goddess, together with his own dear portrait, set round with large and valuable diamonds. Madame Chevalier, however, soon afterwards hear- ing that her English gallant had come over to Germany for economy, and that his credit with his banker was nearly ex- hausted, had his portrait changed for that of another and richer lover, preserving however the diamonds ; and she exposed this inconstancy even upon the stage, by suspending, as if in tri- umph, the new portrait fastened on her bosom. The English- man wishing to retrieve his phaston and horses, which he pro- tested only to have lent his belle, found that she had put the whole equipage into a kind of lottery, or raffle, to which all her numerous friends had subscribed, and that an Altona jew had won it. The successor of your countryman was a Russian noble- man, succeeded in his turn by a Polish jew, who was ruined and discarded within three months. She then became the property COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 229 of the public, and by her active industry^ during a stay of four years at Hamburgh, she was enabled to remit to France, before her departure for Russia, one million two hundred thousand livres, (50,0001.). Her popularity was, however, at that period very much on the decline, as she had stooped to the most inde- licate means to collect money and to extort it from her friends and acquaintances. She had always lists of subscriptions in her pocket ; some, with proposals to play in her lotteries for trink- ets unnecessary to her; others, to procure her, by the assist- ance of subscribers, some trinkets which she wanted. I suppose it to be no secret to you, that the female agents of Talleyrand's secret diplomacy are frequently more useful than those of the other sex. I am told that Madame Roche- chouart was that friend of our minister who engaged Madame Chevalier in her Russian expedition, and who instructed her how to act her parts well at St. Petersburgh. I need not repeat what is so well known, that after this artful emissary had ruined the domestic happiness of the Russian monarch, she degraded him in his political transactions, and became the indirect cause of his untimely end, in procuring, for a bribe of fifty thousand roubles in money and jewels, the recal of P — Z. one of the principal conspirators against the unfortunate Paul. The wealth she plundered in the Russian capital within the short period of twenty months, amounted to much above one million of rovibles. For money she procured impunity to crime, and brought upon innocence the punishment merited by guilt. The scaffolds of Russia were bleeding, and the roads to Siberia crowded with the victims of the avarice of this female demon, who often promised what she was unable to pei'form ; and to silence complaint, added cruelty to fraud : and after pocketing the bribe, resorted to the executioner to remove those whom she had duped. The shocking anecdote of the Sardinian secre- tary, from whom she swindled near one hundred thousand rou- bles, and on whom she afterwards persuaded her imperial lover ' to inflict capital . punishment, is too recent and too public to be unknown or forgotten. A Russian nobleman has assured me, that the number of unfortunate individuals, whom her and her husband's intrigues have caused to suffer capitally, during 1 800 230 SECRET HISTORY OF THE and 1801, were forty -six; and thatiaear three hundred persons besides, who could not, or would not, pay their extortions, were exiled to Siberia, during the same period of time. You may perhaps think that a low woman, who could pro- duce such great and terrible events, must be mistress of natu- ral charms, as well as of acquired accomplishments. As I have already stated, she can have no pretensions to either, but she is extremely insinuating, sings tolerably well, has a fresh and healthy look, and possesses an unusually good share of cun- ning, presumption, and duplicity. Her husband, also, every- where took care to make her fashionable; and the vanity of the first of their dupes increased the number of her admirers, and engaged the vanity of others in their turn to sacrifice them- selves at her shrine. The immorality of our age, also, often procured her popu- larity for what deserved, and, in better times, would have en- countered the severest reprobation. In 1797 an emigrant lodged at an inn at Hamburgh, where another traveller was robbed of a large sum in ready-money and jewels. The unfoi'tunate is always suspected ; and in the visit made in his room by the ma- gistrates, was found a key that opened the door of the apart- ment where the theft had been committed. In vain did he re- present, that had he been the thief, he should not have kept an instrument, which was, or might be construed into an argument of guilt: he was carried to prison, and though none of the pro- perty was discovered in his possession, would have been con- demned, had he not produced Madame Chevalier, who avowed that the key opened the door of her bed-room, which the smith who had made it confirmed, and swore that he had fabricated eight other keys for the same actress, and for the same purpose. At that time this woman lived in the same house with her husband, but cohabited there with the husband of another wife. She had also places of assignation Avith other gallants at private apartments, both in Hamburgh and at Altona. All these her scandalous intrigues were known even to the common porters of these cities. The first time after the affair of the key had become public, she acted in a play where a key was mentioned, and the audience immediately repeated, the key ! the key ! Far COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 231 from being ashamed, she appeared every night in pieces se- lected by her, where there was mention of keys, and thus tired the jokes of the public. This impudence might have been ex- pected from her, but it was little to be supposed that her bare- faced vices should, as really was the case, augment the crowd of suitors, and occasion even some duels, which latter she both encouraged and rewarded. Two brothers of the name of de S , v/ere both in love with her, and the oldest, as the richest, became her choice. Offended at his refusal of a too large suA of money, she wrote to the younger de S , and offered to accede to his proposals, if, like a gentleman, he would revenge the affront she had experienced from his brother. He consulted a friend, who, to expose her infamy, advised him to send some confiden- tial person to inform her, that he had killed his elder brother, and expected the recompense on the same night. He went and was received with open arms ; and had just retired with her when the elder brother accompanied by his friend entered the room. Madame Chevalier, instead of upbraiding, laughed ; and the next day the public laughed with her, and applauded her more than ever. She knew very well what she was doing. The stories of the key and the duel produced for her more than four thousand louis d'ors, by the number of new gallants they enticed. It was a kind of emulation among all young men in the North, who should be foremost to dishonour and ruifi himself with this infamous woman. Madame Chevalier and her husband now live here in grand style, and have their grand parties, grand teas, grand assem- blies, and grand balls. Their hotel, I am assured, is even vi- sited by the Buonapartes, and by the members of the foreign diplomatic corps. In the house whei'e I saw her, I observed that Louis Buonaparte and two foreign ambassadors spoke to her as old acquaintances. Though rich to the amount of ten million of livres, (416,0001.) she, or rather her husband, keeps a gambling-house, and her superannuated charms are still to be bought for money, at the disposal of those amateurs who are fond of antiques. Both her husband and herself are still mem- bers of our secret diplomacy, though she complains loudly, thait 232 SECRET HISTORY OF THE of the two millions of livres (64,0001.) promised her, in 1799, by Buonaparte and Talleyrand, if she could succeed to persuade Paul I to withdraw from his alliance with England and Austria, only six hundred thousand livres (25,0001.) have been paid her. I cannot finish this letter without telling you, that before our military forces had reached the Rhine, our political incen- diaries had already taken the field, and were in full march to- wards the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian capitals. The ad- vanced guard of this dangerous corps, consists entirely of fe- males, all gifted with beauty and parts as much superior to those of Madame Chevalier, as their instructions are better di- gested. Buonaparte and Talleyrand have more than once re- gretted, that Madame Chevalier was not ordered to enter into the conspiracy against Paul, (whose inconsistency and violence they foresaw would make his reign short) that she might have influenced the conspirators to have fixed upon a successor, more pliable and less scrupulous ; and who would have suffer- ed the cabinet of St. Cloud to dictate to the cabinet of St. Pe- te rsburgh. I dined in company several times this last spring with two ladies, who rumour said have been destined for your P — of W — and D-^ of Y — ever since the peace of Amiens. Tal- leyrand is well informed what figures and what talents are i^e- quisite to make an impression on these princes, and has made his choice accordingly. These ladies have lately disappeared, and when inquired after, are stated to be in the country, though I do not consider it improbable that the^ are ah'eady arrived at head-quarters. They are both rather fair and lusty, above the middle size, and about twenty-five years of age. They speak, besides French, the English and Italian languages. They are good drawers, good musicians, good singers, and, if necessary, even good drinkers. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 241 LETTER LL Paris, September 1803. My lord, HAD the citizens of the United States been as submissive to the taxation of your government as to the vexations of our ruler, America would perhaps have been less free,, and Europe more tranquil. After the treaty of Amiens had produced a general pacifi- cation, our government was seriously determined to reconquer from America, a part of those treasures its citizens had gained during the revolutionary war, by a neutrality which our policy and interest required, and which the liberality of your government en- dured. Hence, the acquisition we made of New Orleans from' Spain, and hence the intrigues of our emissaries in that colony, and the peremptory requisitions of provision for St. Domingo, by eur minister and our generals. Had we been victorious in St. Do- mingo, most of our troops there were destined for the American continent, to invade, according to circumstances", either the Spanish colonies on the Terra Firma, or the States of the American Com- monwealth. The unforeseen rupture with your country post- poned a plan that is far from being laid aside. You may perhaps think that, since we sold Louisiana, we have no footing in America that can threaten the peace or inde- pendence of the United States; but may not the same dictates that procured us at Madrid the -acquisition of New Orleans also make us masters of Spanish Florida? and do you believe it im- probable that the present disagreement between America and Spain are kept up by our intrigues and by our future views ? Would not a word from us settle in an instant, at Madrid, the dif- ferences, as well as the frontiers, of the contending parties in America? And does it not seem to be the regular and systematic plan of our government to provoke the retaliation of the Ameri- cans, and to show our disi'egard of their privilege of neutrality, and rights of independence ; and, that we insult them, only hecau3«^ I I 242 SECRET HISTORY OF THE "we despise them, and despise tliem only because we do not appre ) hend their resentment? I have heard the late American minister here assert, that the American vessels captured by Our cruisers, and condemned by our tribunals, only during the last war, amounted to above five hundred ; and their cargoes (all American property), to one hun- dred and fifty millions of li res, 6,000,000/. Some few days ago, I saw a printed list, presented by the American Consul to our minister of the marine department, claiming one hundred and twelve American ships, captured in the West Indies, and on the coast of America, within these last two years ; the cargoes of which have all been confiscated, and most of the ci'ews still continue pri- soners at Martinico, at Guadeloupe, or Cayenne. Besides these, sixty-six American ships, after being plundered, in part, of their cargoes e.t sea by our privateers, had been released; and their claims for property thus lost, or damage thus done, amounted to one million three hundred thousand livres, 54,000/. You must have read the proclamations of our governors in the West Indies, and therefore remember that one dated at Guada- loupe, and another dated at the city of San Domingo, both declare, without farther ceremony, all American and other neutral ships and cargoes good and lawful prizes, when coming from or destined to any port in the Island of St. Domingo ; because Buonaparte^ s subjects there were in a state of rebellion. What would these phi- lanthropists, who twelve years ago wrote so many libels against your ministers, for their pretended system of famine, have said, had they, instead of prohibiting the carrying of ammunition and provisions to the ports of France, thus extended their orders with- out discrimination or distinction ? How would the neutral Ameri- cans, and the neutral Danes, and their then allies, philosophers and jacobins of all colours and classes, have complained and declaimed against the tyrants of the seat ; against the enemies of humanity, liberty and equality. Have not the negroes now as much as our Jacobins had in 1793, a right to call upon all those tender-hearted schemers, dupes or impostors, to interest humanity in their favour? But, as far as I know, no friends of liberty have yet written a line in favour of these oppressed and injured men, whose former slavery was never doubtful, and who therefore had more reason COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 243 to rise against their tyrants, and to attempt to shake off their yoke, than our French insurgents; who, free before, have, never since they revolted against hxwful authority, enjoyed an hour's freedom. But the Emperor Jacques the First has no propagators, no emis- saries, no learned mien, and no secret agents to preach insurrec- tion in other states, while defending his own usurpation ; besides, his treasury is not in the most brilliant and flourishing situation, and the crew of our white revolutionists are less attached to liberty than to cash. Our ambassador to the U**** S****, General T*******, is far from being contented with our friend, the president Jefferson, whose patriotic notions have not yet soared to the level of our pa- triotic transactions. He refused both to prevent the marriage of Jerome Buonaparte with a female American citizen, and to detain her after her marriage, when her husband returned to Europe. To our continual representation, against the liberties which the American newspapers take with our government, with our Em- peror, with our Imperial family, and with our Imperial ministers, the answer has always been, " prosecute the libeller, and as soon as he is convicted, he will be punished." This tardy and negative justice is so opposite to our expeditious and summary mode of proceeding, of punishing first, and trying afterwards, that it must be both humiliatihg and ofiensive. In return, when the Ameri- cans have complained to T*******, against the piracy of our pri- vateers, he has sent them here to seek redress, Avhere they also will to their cost discover that, in civil cases, our justice has not the same rapid march, as when it is a question of arresting or transporting suspected persons, or of tormenting, shooting, or guillotining a pretended spy, or supposed conspirator. Had the peace of Europe continued, Bernadotte was the per- son selected by Buonaparte and Talleyrand, as our representative in America; because we then intended to strike^ and not to nego- ciate. But, during the present embroiled state of Europe, an^in- triguer was more necessary there than either a warrior or a poli- tician. A man, who has passed through all the mire of our own Revolution, who has been in the secrets, and an accomplice of all our factions, is undoubtedly an useful instrument, where factions are to be created and directed,- where ivealth is designed for pil- 244 SECRET HISTORY OF THE lage, and a state for overthrow. General T******* is therefore in his place, and at his proper post, as ambassador in America. This son of a valet of the late Duke of Bouillon, T *******, called himself, before the Revolution, Chevalier de Grambouville, and was in fact, a Chevalier d'hidustiie, who supported him- self by gambling and cheating. An associate of Beurnonville, Barras, and other vile characters, he with them joined the co- lours of rebellion, and served under the former in 1792, in the army of the Moselle ; first as a volunteer, and afterwards as an aide-de-camp. In a speech at the Jacobin Club at Quesnoy, on the 20th of November 1 792, he made a motion, " that, throughout the whole republican army, all hats should be prohibited, and red caps substituted in their place ; and that not only portable guillo- tines, but fiortable Jacobin Clubs, should accompany the soldiers of liberty and equality." A cousin of his was a member of the National Convention, and one of those called Mountaineers, or sturdy partisans of Marat and Robespierre. It was to the influence of this his cousin that he was indebted first for a commission as an Adjutant-General, and afterwards for his promotion to a General of Brigade. In 1793, he was ordered to march under the command of Santerrc, to La Vendee, where he shared in the defeat of the republicans at Vihiers. At the engagement near Roches d'Erigne, he com- manded for the first time a separate column, and the capacity and abilities which he displayed on that occasioi:» were such as might have been expected frona a man who had passed the first thirty years of his life in brothels and gambling-houses. So pleasant were his dispositions, that almost the whole army narrowly es- caped having been thrown and pushed into the river Loire. The battle of Doue was the only one in which he had a share, where the republicans were not routed ; but some few days afterwards, near Coron, all the troops under him were cut to pieces, and he was himself wounded. The confidence of his friends the Jacobins increased, how- ever, in proportion to his disasters, and he was in 1794, after the superior number of the republican soldiers had forced the rem- ijants of the Royalists to evacuate, what was properly called La Vendee, appointed a comijiander in chief. He had now an op- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. ' 245 portunity to display his infamy and barbarity. Having establislied his head-quarters at Nantes, where he was safe, amidst the maS" sacres of women and children, ordered by his friend Carriere, he commanded the republican army to enter La Vendee in twelve columns, preceded by fire and sword ; and within four weeks, one of the most populous countries of France, to the extent and cir- cumference of sixty leagues, was laid waste ; not a house, not a cottage, not a tree was spared, all was reduced to ashes ; and the unfortunate inhabitants, who had not perished amid the ruin of their dwellings, were shot or stabbed while attempting to save themselves from the common conflagration. On the 22d of Ja- nuary 1794, he wrote the Committee of Public Safety of the Na- tional Convention : " Citizen Representatives ! a country of sixty leagues extent, I have the hapjiiness to inforna you, is now a per* feet desert; not a dwelling, not a bush, but is reduced to ashes ^ and of one hundred and eighty thousand worthless inhabitants, not a soul breathes any longer. Men and women, old men and chil- dren, have all experienced the national vengeance, and are no more. It was a ideasure to a true republican to see, upon the bayonets of each of our brave republicans, the children of traitors or their heads. According to the lowest calculation, I have dispatdied^ within three months, two hundred thousand individuals of both sexes, and of all ages — Vive la Refiublique ! !!" In the works of Prudhomme and our republican vwiters are inserted hundreds of letters, still more cruelly extravagant, from this ci-devant friend of liberty and equality, and at present faithful subject, and grand officer of the Legion of Honour, of his Imperial Majesty Napo- leone the First. After the death of Robespierre, T*******, then a governor at Bcllisle, was arrested as a terrorist, and shut up at du Plessis? until the general amnesty released him in 1795. During his im- prisonment, he amused himself with writing the memoirs of the war of La Vendee, in which he tried to prove that ail his barbari- ties had been perpetrated for the sake of humanity, and to save the, lives of republicans. He had also the modesty to announce that, as a military work, his production would be equally interesting as those of a Folard and Guibert. These memoirs, however, proved aiothing, but that he was equally ignorant and wicked, presump- tuous and ferocious. 246 SECRET HISTORY OF THE During the reign of the Directory, he was rather discarded, or only employed as a kind of recruiting officer, to hunt young conscripts; but, in 1800, Buonaparte gave him a command in the army of reserve ; and in 1802, another in the army of the interior. He then became one of the most assiduous and cringing courtiers at the Emperor's levees ; while in the Empress's drawing-room he assumed liis former air and ton of a chevalier, in hope to im- pose upon those who did not remember the nickname which his soldiers gave him ten years before, of Chevalier of the Guillotine. At a ball of the Buonaparte family, to which he was invited, the Emperor took the fancy to dance with his step-daughter Madame Louis. He therefore unhooked his sword, which he handed to a young colonel d'Avry, standing by his side. This Colonel, who had been a page at the Court of Louis XVI, knew that it would have been against etiquette, and even unbecoming of him, to act as a valet to Napoleone, while other valets were in the room ; he therefore retreated, looking round for a servant : " Oh !" said the Emperor! "I see that I am mistaken; here Generals," continued he, (addressing himself to half a dozen, with whose in- dependent principles and good breeding he was acquainted), " take this sword during my dance." They all pushed forward, but Tur- reaux and La Grange, another General and intjiguer, were fore- most ; the latter, however, received the preference. On the next day d'Avry was ordered ufion »ervice to Cayenne. T ******* has acquired, by his patriotic deeds in La Vendee, a fortune of seven millions of livres, 292,000/. He has the high- est opinion of his own capacity, while a moment's conversation will inform a man of sense that he is only a conceited fool. As to his political transactions, he has by his side, as a secretary, a man of the name of Petry, who has received a diplomatic educa- tion, and does not want either subtlety or parts ; and on him, no doubt, is thrown the dioidgery of business. During an European war, T*******'s post is of little relative consequence ; but should Napoleone Buonaparte live to dictate another general pacification, the U**** S**** will be exposed on their frontiers or in their interior, to the same outrages their commercial navy now experi- ences on the main. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 247 LETTER LII. Parisy September 1805. MY Loac, A GENERAL officer, who is just arrived from Italy, has assured me that so far from Buonaparte's subjects on the other side of the Alps being contented and attached to his person and government, M^ere a victorious Austrian army to enter the plains of Lombardy, a general insurrection would be the consequence. During these last nine years, the inhabitants have not enjoyed a moment's tranquillity or safety. Every relation or favourite whom Napoleone wished to provide for, or to enrich, he has saddled upon them as in free quarters ; and, since 1796, when they first had the horiotir of our Emperor's acquaintance, they have paid more in taxes, in forced loans, requisitions and extortions, of eve- ry desription, than their ancestors or themselves had paid during the one hundred and ninety-six preceding years. Such is the public spirit, and such have been the sufferings of the people in the ci-devant Lombardy : in Piedmont, they are still worse off, having more national character, and more fidelity towards their Sovei-eign, than their neighbours ; they are also more cruelly treated. Their governor, General Menou, has caus- ed most of the departments to be declared under martial law, and without right to claim the protection of our happy constitution. In every city or town are organized special tribunals, the progeny of our revolutionary tribunals ; against the sentences of which no appeal can be made, though these sentences are always capital ones. Before these, suspicion is evidence, and an imprudent word is subject to the same punishment as a murderous deed. Mxir- mur is regarded as mutiny, and he who complains is shot as a conspirator. There exist only two ways for the wretched Piedmontese to escape these legal assassinations. They must either desert their country, or sacrifice a part of their property. In the former case, if retaken, they are condemned as emigrants ; and in the latter they incur the risk, that those to whom they have already given 248 SECRET HISTORY OF THE a part of their possessions will also require the remainder, and having obtained it, to enjoy in security the spoil, will send them ta the tribunals and to death. Menou has a fixed tariff for his protection, regulated according to the riches of each person ; and the tax-gatherers collect these arbitrary contributions with the regular ones ; so little pains are taken to conceal or to disguise these robberies, Menou, by turns a nobleman and a sans-culotte, a Christian, and a Mussulman, is wicked and profligate, not from the impulse of the moiTtient, or of any sudden gust of passion, but coldly and deliberately. He calculates with sangfroid the profit and the risk of every infamous action he proposes to commit, and determines accordingly. He owed some riches, and the rank of a major-ge- neral to the bounty of Louis XVI ; but when he considered the immense value of the revolutionary plunder, called national pro- perty, and that those who confiscated could also promote, he did not hesitate what party to take. A traitor is generally a coward ; he has every where experienced defeats ; he was defeated by his Royalist countrymen in 1793, by his Mahometan sectaries in 1 800, and by your countrymen in 1801. Besides his Turkish wife, Menou has in the same house with her one Italian and two French girls, who live openly with him ; but who are obliged to keep themselves, by selling their influence and .protection, and perhaps sometimes even their personal fa- vours. He has also in his hotel several gambling tables, where those who are too bashful to address themselves to himself or his mistresses, may deposit their donations, and if they are thought sufficient, the hint is taken, and their business done. He never pays any debts, and never buys any thing for ready money, and all persons of his suite, or appertaining to his establishment, have the same privilege. Troublesome creditors are recommended to the care of the special tribunals ; which also find means to reduce the obstinacy of those refractory merchants or traders who refuse giving any credit. All the money he extorts or obtains is brought to this capital, and laid out by his agents in purchasing estates, which, from his advanced age, and weak constitution, he has little prospect of long enjoying. He is a grand officer of Buonaparte's Legion of Honour ; and has a long claim to that distinction, be- cause, as early as on the 25th of June 1790, he made a motion in COURT OF ST. CLOUD. ^49 the National Assembly, to suppress all former Royal orders in France, and to create in their place only a national one. Always an incorrigible flatterer, when Napoleone proclaimed himself Ali the Mussulman, Menou professed himself Abdaliah the believer in the Alcoran. The late vice-president of the Italian republic, Melzi-Eril, is now in complete disgrace with his Sovereign Napoleone the First. If persons of rank and property would read through the list of those, their equals by birth and wealth, who, after being seduced by the sophistry of impostors, dishonoui'ed and exposed them- selves by joining in the Revolution, they jnight see that none of them have escaped insults, many have suffered death, and all have been or are vile slaves, at the mercy of the whip of some upstart beggar, and trampled upon by men started up from the mud of lowest birth and basest morals. If their revolutionary mania were not incurable, this truth, and this evidence, would retain them with- in their duty, so corresponding Avith their real interest, and prevent them fi'om being any longer borne along by a current of infamy and danger, and preserve them from being lost upon quicksands or dashed against rocks. The conduct and fate of the Italian nobleman and Spanish grandee, Melzi-Eril, has induced me to make these reflections. Wealthy, as well as elevated, he might have passed his life in un- intemipted tranquillity, enjoying its comforts without experienc- ing its vicissitudes ; with the esteem of his contemporaries, and without reproach from posterity or from his own conscience. Unfortunately for him, a journey into this country made him ac- quainted both with our philosophers and with our philosophical works ; and he had neither natural capacity to distinguish errors from reality, nor judgment enough to perceive, that what appear- ed improving and charming in theory, frequently became destruc- tive and improper, when attempted to be put into practice. Re- turned to his own country, his acquired half-learning made him wholly dissatisfied with his government, with his religion, and with himself. In our Revolution, he thought that he saw the first approach towards the perfection of the human species ; and^ that it would soon make mankind as good, and as regenerated in so- ciety as was proniised in books. With our own regenerators, he extenuated the crimes, which sullied their work from its first page;, K K 2'50 SECRET HISTORY OF THE and declared them even necessary to make the conclusion so much the more complete. When, therefore, Buonaparte, in 1796, en- tered the capital of Lombardy, Melzi was among the fii'st of the Italian nobility who hailed him as a deliverer. The numerous vexations, and repeated pillage of our govern- ment, generals, commissaries, and soldiers, did not abate his zeal, nor alter his opinion. " The faults and sufferings of individuals,'' he said, " are nothing to the goodness of the cause, and do not impair the utility of the whole." To him, every thing the Revo- lution produced was the best ; the murder of thousands and the I'uin of millions were with him nothing, compared with the bene- fit the universe would one day derive from the principles and in- struction of our armed and unarmed philosophers. In recompence for so much complacency, and such great patriotism, Buonaparte appointed him, in 1797, a plenipotentiary from the Cisalpine Re- public to the Congress at Radstadt ; and in 1802, a vice-president of the Italian Republic. As Melzi was a sincere and disinterested republican fanatic, he did not much appi'ove of the strides Buonaparte made towards a sovereignty that annihilated the sovereignty of his sovereign people. In a conference, however, with Talleyrand at Lyons, in February 1802, he was convinced that this age was not yet ripe for all the improvements our philosophers intended to confer on it ; and that to prevent it from retrograding to the point where it was found by our Revolution, it was necessary that it should be ruled by enlightened men, such as he and Buonaparte, to whom he advised him by all means never to give the least hint about liberty and equality. Our minister ended his fraternal counsel with obliging Melzi to sign a stipulation for a yearly sum, as a douceur for the place he occupied. The sweets of power shortly caused Melzi to forget both the tenets of his philosophy and his schemes of regeneration. He trusted so much to the promises of Buonaparte and Talleyrand, that he believed himself destined to reign for life, and was there- fore not a little surpiised when he was ordered by Napoleone the First, to descend, and salute Eugenius de Beauharnois, as the de- puty sovereign of the Sovereign King of Italy. He was not phi- losopher enough to conceal his chagrin, and bowed with such a bad gyi'ace to the itew Viceroy, that it vas visible he Avould have COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 251 preferred seeing in that situation an Austrian Archduke, as a gq- vernor-general. To soften his disappointment, Buonaparte offer- ed to make him a Prince, and with that rank indemnify him for breaking the promises given at Lyons ; where it is known that the influence of Melzi, more than the intrigues of Talleyrand, de- termined the Italian Consulta in the choice of a president. Immediately after Buonaparte's return to France, Melzi left Milan, and retired to an estate in Tuscany : from that place he wrote to Talleyrand a letter, full of reproach, and concluded by asking leave to pass the I'emainder of his days in Spain, among his relatives. An answer was presented him by an officer of Buonaparte's gens-d'armes d'Elite, in which he was forbid to quit Italy, and ordered to return with the officer to Milan, and there occupy his office of Arch-Chancellor, to which he had been nomi- nated. Enraged at such treatment, he endeavoured to kill him- self with a dose of poison, but his attempt did not succeed. His health was, however, so much injured by it, that it is not supposed he can live long. What a lesson for reformers and innovators ! LETTER LIII. Paris.) September 1805. MY lORD, A RIDICULOUS affair lately occasioned a great deal of bus- tle among the members of our foreign diplomatic corps. When Buonaparte demanded for himself and for his wife the title of Imperial Majesty, and for his brothers and sisters that of Imperial Highness, he also insisted on the salutation of a Serene Highness being given to his Arch-Chancellor Cambaceres, and his Arch- Treasurer Le Brun. The political consciences of the independent representatives of independent continental Princes immediately took the alarm at the latter innovation ; as the appellation of Serene Highness has never hitherto been bestowed on persons who had not princely rank. They complained to Talleyrand, th^y petitioned' 25^ SECRET HISTORY OF THE Buonaparte, and they dispatched couriers to their respective Courts. The minister smiled ; the Emperor cursed, and their own cabinets deliberated. All routs, all assemblies, all circles, and all balls, were at a stop. Cambaceres applied to his Sovereign, to support his pretensions, as connected Avith his own dignity ; and the diplomatic corps held forward their dignity as opposing the pretensions of Cambaceres. In this dilemma, Buonaparte order- ed all the ambassadors, ministers, envoys, and agents en masse.^ to the castle of the Thuileries. After hearing, with apparent pa- tience, their arguments in favour of established etiquette and cus- toms, he remained inflexible, upon the ground that he, as master, had a right to confer what titles he chose, within his own domi- nions, on his own subjects; and that those foreigners who refused to submit to his regulations might return to their own country. This plain explanation neither effecting a conversion nor making any impression, he grew warm, and left the refractory diploma- tists, with these remarkable words : " Were I to create my Ma- meluke, Rostan, a King, both you and your masters Should acknow- ledge him in that rank." After this conference, most of their Excellencies were seized with terror and fear, and would, perhaps, have subscribed to the commands of our Emperor, had not some of the wisest among them proposed, and obtained the consent of the rest, to apply once niore to Talleyrand, and purchase by some douceur, his assistance in this great business. The heart of our minister is easily soften- ed ; and he assented , upon certain conditions, to lay the whole be- fore his Sovereign in such a manner that Cambacei'es should be made a Prince, as well as a Serene Highness. It is said that Buonaparte was not easily persuaded to this measure, and did not consent to it, before the minister remarked, that his condescension in this insignificant opposition to his will, would proclaim his moderation and generosity, and empower him to insist on obedience, when matters of the greatest consequence should be in question or dispute. Thus our regicide Cambace- res owes his princely title to the shallow intrigues of the agents of legitimate Sovereigns. Their nicety in talking of innovations with regard to him, after they had without difficulty hailed a sans- culotte an Emperor, and other sans-culottes Imperial Highnesses, vvas as absurd as improper. Report, however, states what is very COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 25a probable, that they were merely the duped tools of Cambaceres's ambition and vanity, and of Talleyrand's corruption and cupidity. Cambaceres expected to have been elevated to a Prince, on the same day that he was made a Serene Highness ; but Joseph Buonaparte represented to his brother that too many other Prince- doms would diminish the respect and value of the Princedoms of the Buonaparte family. Cambaceres knew that Talleyrand had some reason at that period to be discontented with Joseph, and therefore asked his advice, how to get made a Prince against the wishes of this Grand Elector. After some consideration, the mi- nister replied that he was acquainted with one way, which would with his support certainly succeed ; but it required a million of livres to set the wheels in motion, and keep them going after- wards. The hint was taken, and an agreement signed for one million, payable on the day when the princely patent should be delivered to the Arch-Chancellor. Among the mistresses provided by our minister for the members of the foreign diplomatic coi^is, Madame B s is one of the ablest in the way of intrigue. She was instructed to alarm her donne amie, the Bavarian minister Cetto, who is always bustling and pushing himself forwards in the grand questions of etiquette. A fool rather than a rogue, and an intriguer while he thinks himself a negotiator, he was happy to have this occasion to prove his penetrating genius and astonishing information. A con- vocation of the diplomatic corps was therefore called, and the suggestions of Cetto were regarded as an inspiration, and approv- ed of, with a resolution to persevere unanimously. At their first audience with Talleyrand on this subject he seemed to incline in their favour ; but as soon as he observed how much they shewed themselves interested about this trifling punctilio, it occurred to him that they as well as Cambaceres might in some Avay or other reward the service he intended to perform. Madame B s was again sent for ; and she once niore advised her lover, who again advised, his colleagues. Their scanty purses were opened, and a subscription entered into for a very, valuable diamond, which, Avith the million of the Arch-Chancellor, gave satisfaction to all parties ; and even Joseph Buonaparte was reconciled, upon the consideration that Cambaceres has no chikben, and that therefore the Prince will expire with the Grand Officer of State. 2S4, SECT^ET HISTORY OF THE Cambacercs, though before the Revolution a nobleman ot* a parliamentary family, was so degraded and despised for his unna- tural and beastly propensities, that to see him in the ranks of re- bellion was not unexpected. Born in Languedoc, his countrymen were the first to suffer from his revolutionary proceedings, and reproached him as one of the most active instruments of persecu- tion against the clergy of Thoulouse, and as one of the causes of all the blood that flowed in consequence. A coward as well as a traitor, after the death of Louis XVI he never dared ascend the tribune of the National Convention, but always gave a silent vote to all the atrocious laws proposed and carried by Marat, Robes- pierre, and their accomplices. It was in 1795, when the reign of terror had ceased, that he first displayed his zeal for anarchy and his hatred to royalty : his contemptible and disgusting vices were however so publicly reprobated, that even the Directory dared not nominate him a minister of justice, a place for which he in- trigued in vain from 1796 to 1799 : when Buonaparte, either not so scrupulous, or setting himself above the public opinion, caused him to be called to the Consulate : which, in 1802, was ensured him for life, but exchanged in 1804, for the ofTice of an Arch- Chancellor. He is now worth thirty millions of livrcs, 1,250,000/. all ho- nestly obtained by his revolutionary industry. Besides a Prince, a Serene Highness, an Arch-Chancellor, a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, he is also a Knight of the Prussian Black Eagle! For his brother, who was for a long time an emigrant clergyman, and whom he then renounced as a fanatic, he has now procured the Arch-Bishoprick of Rouen, and a Cardinal's hat. His Emi- nence is also a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honouf in Francc«- and a Pope in petto at Rome. COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 255 LETTER LIV. PariSf September 1805. mi toRu, NO sovereign prince has more incurred the hatred of Buonfi- parte than the present King of Sweden ; and 1 have heard from good authority, that our government spares neither bribes nof intrigues to move the sails of those factions, which were dissolved, but not crushed, after the murder of Gustavus IIL The Swedes are generally brave and loyal, but their history bears witness that they are easily misled ; all their grand achievements are their own, and the consequences of their national spirit and national valour, while all their disasters have been effected by the influence of foreign gold, and of foreign machinations. Had they not been the dupes of the plots and views of the cabinets of Versailles and St. Petersburgh, their country might have been as powerful in the nineteenth century as it was in the seventeenth. That Gustavus Adolphus IV both knew the danger of Eu- rope, and indicated the remedy, his Majesty's notes, as soon as of age, presented by the able and loyal minister Bildt, to the Diet of Ratisbon, evince. Had they been more attended to during 1798 and 1799, Buonaparte would not perhaps have now been so great, but the continent would have remained more free and more inde- pendent. They were the first causes of our Emperor's official anger against the cabinet of Stockholm. When, however, his Swedish Majesty entered into the northern league, his ambassador. Baron Ehrensward, was for some lime treated here with no insults distinct or different from . those to which all foreign diplomatic agents have been accustomed to, during the present reign ; but when he demanded reparation for the piracies committed, during the last war, by our privateers, ou the cpmmerce of his njdion, the tone was changed ; and when his Sovereign, in 1803, was on a visit to his father-in-law, the Elector of Baden, and thers, preferred the agreeable company of the un- fortunate Duke of Enghien to the society of our minister. Baron Ehrensward never entered Napoleone's diplomatic circle, or Madame Napoleone's drawing-room, without hearing rebukes 256 SECRET HISTORY OF THE and experiencing disgusts. One day, when more than usually attacked, he said, on leaving the apaitment, to another ambassador, and in the hearing of Duroc, " that it required more real courage to encounter with dignity and self-command unbecoming provo- cations, which the person who gave them knew could not be re- sented, than to brave a death which the mouths of cannon vomit, or the points of bayonets inflict." Duroc reported to his master what he heard, and, but for Talleyrand's interference, the Swedish ambassador would, on the same night, have been lodged in the Temple. Orders were already given to that purpose, but were revoked. This Baron Ehrensward, who is also a general in the service of his country, has almost from his youth passed his time at courts ; first in his own country, and afterwards in Spain, where he resided twelve years as our ambassador. Frank as a soldier, but also po- lite as a courtier, he was not a little surprised at the new etiquette of our new court, and at the endurance of all the members of the diplomatic corps, of whom hardly one had spirit enough to re- member that he was the representative of one, at least nominally, independent prince or state. It must be added, that he was the only foreign diplomatist with Count MarkofF, who was not the choice of our cabinet, and therefore was not in our secrets. As soon as his Swedish Majesty heard of the unexpected and unlawful seizure of the Duke of Enghien, he wrote a letter with his own hand to Buonaparte, which he sent by his Adjutant- general Tawast ; but this officer arrived too late, and only in time to hear of the execution of the pxince he intended to save, and the indecent expressions of Napoleone, when acquainted with the object of liis mission. Baron Ehrensward was then recalled, and a court mourning ordered by Gustavus Adolphus IV, as well as by Alexander the First, for the lamented victim of the violated laws of nations and humanity. This so enraged our ruler, that General Cauiincourt (the same who commanded the expedition which crossed the Rhine, and captured the Duke of Enghien) was engaged to head and lead fifty other banditti, who Vfsva des- tuied to fiass in disguise into Baden, and to briisg the King of Swe- den a prisoner to this capital: fortunately, his Majesty had some suspicion of the attempt, and removed to a greater distance from our frontiers than Carlsruhe. So certain was our government of COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 257 the success of this shameful enterprise, that our charge d'affairs in Sweden was preparing to engage the discontented and disaf- fected there for the convocation of a diet, and the establishment of a regency. According to the report in our diplomatic circle, Buonaparte and Talleyrand intended never more to release their royal captive, when once in their power ; but, after forcing him to resign the throne to his son, keep him a prisoner for the remainder of his days, which they would have taken care should not have been long. The Duke of Sudermania was to have been nominated a regent until the majority of the young king, not yet six years of age. The Swedish diets were to recover that influence, or rather that licentiousness, to which Gustavus III, by the revolution of the 19th of August 1772, put an end. All exiled regicides, or traitors, were to be recalled, and a revolutionary focus organized in the north, equally threatening Russia and Denmark. The dreadful consequences of such an event are incalculable. Thanks to the prudence of his Swedish Majesty, all these schemes evaporated in air. Not being able to dethrone a Swedish monarch, our cabinet resolved to partition the Swedish territory ; to which effect I am. assured that proposals were last summer made to the Cabinets of St. Petersburgh, Berlin, and Copenhagen. Swedish Finland was stated to have been offered to Russia, Swedish Pomerania to Prus- sia, and Scania and Bleking to Denmark ; but the overture was rejected. The King of Sweden possesses both talents and information, superior to most of his contemporaries ; and he has surrounded himself with counsellors who, with their experience, make wisdom more firm, more useful, and more valuable. His chancellor, d'Eh- renheim, unites modesty with sagacity ; he is a most able states- man, an accomplished gentleman, and the most agreeable of men. He knows the languages, as well as the constitutions, of every country in Europe, with equal perfection as his native tongue and national code. Had his Sovereign the same ascendency over the European politics as Christina had during the ftegotiation of the treaty of Munster, other states would admire, and Sweden be proud of another Axel Oxe^istierna, L L 258 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Count de Fersen, who also has, and is worthy of the confi- dence of his prince, is a nobleman, the honour and pride of his rank. A colonel, before the revolution, of the regiment Royal Suedois, in the service of my country, his principles were so well appreciated, that he was entrusted by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, when so many were justly suspected, and served royalty in distress, at the risk of his own existence. This was so much the more generous in him, as he was a foreigner, of one of the most ancient families, and one of the richest noblemen in his own country. To him Louis XVIII is indebted for his life ; and he brought consolation to the deserted Marie Antoinette even in the dungeon of the Conciergerie, when a discovery would have been a sentence of death. In 1797, he was appointed by his king plenipotentiary to the Congress of Radstadt, and arrived there just at the time when Buonaparte, after the destruction of happiness in Italy, had resolved on the ruin of liberty in Switzerland, and came there proud of past exploits, and big with future schemes of mischief. His reception from the conqueror of Italy was such as might have been expected by distinguished loyalty from suc- cessful rebellion. He was told that the Congress of Radstadt was not his place ! — and this was true ; for what can be common be- tween honour and infamy, between virtue and vice ? On his return to Sweden, Count de Fersen was rewarded with the dignity of a grand officer of state. Of another faithful and trusty counsellor of his Swedish Ma- jesty, Baron d'Ai'mfeldt, a panegyric would be pronounced, in saying that he was the friend of Gustavus HI. From a page to that chevalier of royalty, he was advanced to the rank of general ; and during the war with Russia, in 1789 and 1790, he fought and bled by the side of his prince and benefactor. It was to him that his King said, when wounded moi'tally, by the hand of a regicide, at a masquerade, in March 1792, " Don't be alarmed, my friend I You know as well as myself, that all wounds are not dangerous." Unfortunately his were not of that description. In the will of this great monarch, Baron d'Armfeldt was no- minated one of the guardians of his present Sovereign, and a governor of the capital ; but the Duke Regent, who was a weak prince, guided by philosophical adventurers, by illuminati and free- COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 259 masons, maost of whom hacf imbibed the French revokitionary maxims, sent him, in a kind of honourable exiles as an ambassador to It^ly. Shortly afterwards, under pretence of having discovered a conspiracy, in which the Baron was implicated, he was outlawed ; he then took refuge in Russia, where he was made a general, and as such distinguished himself under Suwarrow, during the cam- paign of 1799. He was then recalled to his country, and restored to all his former places and dignities, and has never since ceased to merit and obtain the favour, friendship, and approbation of his King. He is said to be one of the Swedish general officers in- tended to serve in union with the Russian troops expected in Pomerania. Wherever he is employed, I am convinced that he will fight, vanquish, or perish like a hero. Last spring he was offered the place of a lieutenant-general in the Austrian service, which, with regard to salary and emoluments, is greatly superior to what he enjoys in Sweden; he declined it, however; because, with a warrior of his stamp, interest is the last consideration. LETTER LV. Paris, September, 1505. MY LORD, BELIEVE me, Buonaparte dreads more the liberty of the press than all other engines, military or political, used by his rivals or foes for his destruction. He is aware of the fatal con- sequences all former factions suffered from the public exposure of their past crimes and future views ; of the reality of their guilt, and of the fallacy of their boasts and promises. He does not doubt, but that a faithful account of all the actions and in- trigues of his government, its imposition, fraud, duplicity, and tyranny, would make a sensible alteration in the public opinion; and that even those, who, from motives of patriotism, from being tired of our revolutionary convulsions, or wishing for tranquillity, have been his adherents, might alter their sentiments, when they 260 SECRET HISTORY OF THE read of enormities which must indicate insecurity, and prove t© every one, that he w^ho waded through rivers of blood to seize power, will never hesitate about the means of preserving it. There is not a printing-office, from the banks of the Elbe to the gulf of Naples, which is not under the direct or indirect inspection of our police agents: and not a bookseller in Ger- many, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland or Switzerland, publishes a work, which, if contrary to our policy or our fears., is not either confiscated or purchased on the day it makes its appearance. Besides our regular erriissaries, we have persons travelling from the beginning to the end of the year, to pick up information of what literary productions are printing ; of what authors are popular, of their political opinions and private circumstances. This branch of our haute police extends even to your countiy. Before the revolution, we had in this capital only two daily papers, but from 1789 to 1799, never less than thirty, and fre- quently sixty journals were daily printed. After Buonaparte Lad assumed the Consular authority, they were reduced to ten. But though these we}'e under a very sti'ict inspection of our minister of police, they were regarded still as too numerous, and have lately been diminished to eight, by the incorfioration of Le Clef du Cabinet., and Le Bulletin de I* Europe, with Gazette de France; a paper of which the infamously famous Barrere is the editor. ' According to a proposal of Buonaparte, it was lately debated in the council of state, whether it would not be politic to suppress all daily prints, with the sole exception of the Moni- teur. Fouche and Talleyrand spoke much in favour of this measure of security. Real, however, is said to have suggested another plan, Avhich was adopted ; and our government, instead of prohibiting the appearance of our daily papers, has resolved by degrees to purchase them all, and to entrust them entirely to the direction of Barrere, who is now consulted in every thing concerning books or newspapers. All circulation of foreign papers is prohibited, until they have previously obtained the stajnp of approbation from the grand literary censor, Barrere. Any person offending against this law, is most severely punished. An American gentleman, of the name of C^unpbeU, was last spring sent to the Temple, COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 26\ for lending one of your old daily papers to a person who lodged in the same hotel with him. After an imprisonment of ten weeks, he made some pecuniary sacrifices to obtain his liberty; but was carried to Havre, under an escort of gens-d'armes, put on board a neutral vessel, and forbade under pain of death, ever to set his foot on French ground again. An American vessel was, about the same time confiscated at Bourdeaux, and the captain and crew imprisoned, because some English books were found on board, in which Buonaparte, Talleyrand, Fouche, and some of our great men were rather ill treated. The crew has since been liberated, but the captain has been brought here, and is still in the Temple. The vessel and the cargo have been sold as lawful captures, though the captain has proved from the names written in the books, that they belonged to a passenger. A young German student in surgery, who came here to improve himself, has been nine months in the same state prison, for having with him a book printed in Germany, during Buonaparte's expedition to Egypt, wherein the chief and the undertaking are ridiculed. His mother, the widow of a clergyman, hearing of the misfortune of her son, came here ; and has presented to the emperor and empress half a dozen petitions, without any effect whatever, and has almost ruined herself and her other children, by the expenses of the journey. During a stay of four months, she has not yet been able to gain admittance into the Temple, to visit or see her son ; who perhaps expired in tortures, or died broken hearted before she came here. A dozen copies of a funeral sermon on the duke of Enghien had found their way here, and were secretly circulated for some time ; but at last the police heard of it, and every person who was suspected of having read them was arrested. The number of these unfortunate persons, according to some, amounted to one hundred and thirty, while others say, that they were only eighty- four, of whom twelve died suddenly in the Temple, and the re- mainder were transported to Cayenne ; upwards of half of them were women, some of the ci-devant highest rank among subjects. A Prussian, of the name of Bulow, was shot as a spy in the camp of Boulogne, because in his trunk was an English book, with the lives of Buonaparte, and of some of his generals Every day, such and other examples of thg severity of our government are 262 SECRET HISTORY OF THE related ; and foreigners who visit us continue nevertheless to l>e off their guard. They would be less punished had they with them forged bills, rather than printed books or newspapers in which our Imperial Family, and public functionaries, are not treated with due respect. Buonaparte is convinced, that in every book where he is not spoken of with praise, the intent is to blame him ; and such intents or negative guilt, never escape with impunity. As, notwithstanding the endeavours of our government, we are more fond of foreign prints, and have more confidence in them than in our own, official presses have lately been established at Antwerp, at Cologne, and at Mentz, where the Gazette de Ley- den, Hamburgh Correspondent en, and Journal de Frankfort are reprinted, some articles left out, and others inserted in their room. It was intended to reprint also the Courier de Londres, but our types, and particularly our paper, would detect the fraud. I have read one of our own Journal de Frankfort^ in which were extracts from this French paper, printed in your country, which I strongly suspect are of our own manufactory. I am told that several n£w books, written by foreigners, in praise of our present brilliant government, are now in the presses of those of our fron- tier towns, and will soon be laid before the public as foreign productions. A clerk of a banking-house had lately the imprudence to mention, during his dinner at the restaurateur's of Cadran Vert, on the Boulevards, some doubt of the veracity of an official arti- cle in the Moniteur. As he left the house he was arrested, car- ried before Fouche, accused of being an English agent, and before supper-time, he was on the road to Rochefort, on his way to Cayenne. As soon as the banker Tournon was informed of this exfieditious justice, as it is called here, he waited on Fouche, who threatened even to transport him, if he dared to interfere with the transactions of the police. This banker was himself seized in the spring last year, by a police agent, and some gens- d'armes, and carried into exile, forty leagues from this capital, where he remained six months, until a pecuniary douceur pro- cured him a recal. His crime was the having inquired after General Moreau when in the Temple, and of having left his card there. COURT OF ST, CLOUD. 263 LETTER LVI. Paris J September 1803. MY LORD, THE Prince of Borghese has lately been appointed a captain of the Imperial guard of his Imperial brother-in-law Napoleone the First, and is now in Germany, making his first campaign, A descendant of a wealthy and ancient Roman family, but born with a weak understanding, he was easily deluded into the rank of the Revolutionists of his own country, by a Parisian Abbe, his in- structor and governor, and the gallant of the Princess Borghese his mother. He was the first secretary of the first jacobin club estab- lished at Rome, in the spring 1798 ; and in December the same year when the Neapolitan troops invaded the Ecclesiastical States, he, with his present brother-in-law, another hopeful Roman Prince, Santa Cruce, headed the Roman sans-culottes in their retreat. To show his love of equality, he had previously served as a common-man in a company, of which the captain was a fel- low that sold cat's-meat and tripe in the streets of Rome, and the lieutenant a scullion of his mother's kitchen. Since Imperial aristocracy is now become the order of the day, he is as insup- portable for his pride Mid vanity, as he some years ago was con- temptible for his meanness. He married, in 1803, Madame Le CI ere, who between the death of a first and a wedding with a second husband, a space of twelve months, had twice been in a fair way to become a mother. Her portion was estimated at eighteen millions of livres, 750,000/. a sum sufficient to palliate many faux pas, in the eyes of a husband more sensible and more delicate than her present Serene Idiot., as she styles the Prince of Borghese. This lady is the favourite sister of Napoleone, the ablest, but also the most wicked of the female Buonapartes. She has, almost from her infancy, passed through all the filth of prostitution, de- bauchery, and profligacy, before she attained her present eleva- tion ; rank, however, has not altered her morals, but only procured her the means of indulging in new excesses. Ever since the wed- ^64 SECRET HISTORY OF THE ding night, the Prince of Borghese has been excluded from her bed ; for she declared frankly to him, as well as to her brother, that she would never endure the approach of a man with a bad / breath ; though many, who, from the opportunities they have had of judging, certainly ought to know, pretend that her own breath is not the sweetest in the world. When her husband had marched towards the Rhine, she asked her brother, as a favour, to procure the Prince of Borghese, after an useless life, a glorious death. This curious demand of a wife was made in Madame Buona- parte's drawing-room, in the presence of fifty persons. " You are always etourdie" replied Napoleone, smiling. If Buonaparte, however, overlooks the intrigues of his sisr ters, he is not so easily pacified, when any reports reach him, inculpating the virtues of his sisters-in-law.' Some gallants of Madame Joseph Buonaparte, have already disappeared to return no more, or are wandering in the wilds of Cayenne : but the Em- peror is particularly attentive to every thing concerning the mo- rality oi'Mdid-eume, Louis, whose descendants are destined to continue the Buonaparte dynasty. Two officers, after being cashiered, were, with two of Madame Louis's maids, shut up last month in the Temple, and have not since been heard of, upon suspicion that the Princess preferred their society to that of her husband. Louis Buonaparte, whose constitution has been much im- paired by his debaucheries, was last July advised by his physicians to use the baths at St. Amand. After his wife had accompanied him as far as Lille, she went to visit one of her friends, Madame Ney, the wife of General Ney, who commanded the camp near Montreuil. This lady resided in a castle called Leek, in the vicinity, where dinners, concerts, balls, and other festivities, celebrated the arrival of the Princess ; and to these the principal officers of the camp were invited. One morning, about an hour after the company had retired to bed, the whole castle was dis- turbed and alarmed by an uproar in the anti-room of Princess Louis's bed-chamber : on coming to the scene of riot, two officers were found there fighting, and the Princess Louis more than half undressed, came out and called the sentries on duty to separate the combatants, who were both wounded. This affair occasioned great scandal ; and General Ney, after having put the officers under arrest, sent a courier to Napoleone at Boulogne, relating COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 265 the particulars, and demanding his Majesty's orders. It was related and believed as a fact, that the quarrel originated about two of the maids of the Princess (whose virtue was never suspected) with whom the officers were intriguing. The Emperor ordered the culprits to be broken, and delivered up to his minister of po- lice, who knew how to proceed. The Princess Louis also received an invitation to join her sister-in-law Madame Murat, then in the camp at Boulogne, and to remain under her care until her husband's return from St. Amand. General Murat was then at Paris, and his lady was merely on a visit to her Imperial brother, who made her responsible for Madame Louis, whom he severely I'eprimanded for the miscon- duct of her maids. The bed-rooms of the two sisters were on the same floor; one night' Princess Louis thought she heard the foot- steps of a person on the staircase, not like those of a female, and aftei'wards the door of Madame Murat's room opened softly. This occurrence deprived her of all desire to sleep ; and curiosity or perhaps revenge excited her to remove her doubts concerning the virtue of her guardian. In about an hour afterwai'ds, she stole into Madame Murat's bed-i'oom, by the way of their sitting room, the door in the passage bemg bolted. Passing her hand over th& pillow, she almost pricked herself with the strong beard of a man, and screaming out, awoke her sister, who inquired what she could want at such an unusual hour. " I believe," replied the Princess, " my room is haunted, I have not shut my eyes, and m- tended to ask for a place by your side, but I find it is already engaged." " My maid always sleeps with me, when my husband is absent," said Madame Murat. " It is very rude of your maid to go to bed with her mistress, without first shaving herself," said the Piincessj and left the room. The next morning an explanation took place ; the ladies understood each other, and each, during the remaining part of her husband's absence, had for consolation, a maid for a bed fellow. — Madame Murat also convinced the Em- peror that his suspicions with regard to the Princess Louis were totally unfounded ; and he, with some precious presents, indemni- fied her for his harsh treatment. It is reported, that the two maids of the Princess Louis, when before Fouche, first denied all acquaintance with the officers ; but being threatened with torture^ they- signed a /irocesa verbal ac" M M 266 SECRET HISTORY OF THE knowledging their guilt. This valuable and authentic documeaot the minister sent by an extra courier to the Emperor, who shewed it to his step-daughter. Her generosity is proverbial here, aiid therefoi'e nobody is sui'prised that she has given a handsome sum. of money to the parents of her maids, who had in vain applied to see their children ; Fouche having told them affairs of state still required their confinement. One of them, Mariothe, has been in the service of the Princess ever since her marriage, and is known to possess all her confidence ; though during that period of four years she has twice been in a state of pregnancy, through the con- descending attentions of her princely master. LETTER LVn. Paris, September 1805. MY LORD, WHEN preparations were made for the departure of our army of England for Germany, it excited both laughter and mur- muring among the troops. Those who always had regarded the conquest of England as impracticable in present circumstances, laughed ; and those who had in their imagination shared the wealth of your country, shewed themselves vexed at their disap- pointment. To keep them in good spirits, the company of the theatre of the Vaiidevilles wei'e ordered from hence to Boulogne, and several plays composed for the occasion were performed, in which the Germans were represented as defeated, and the Eng- lish begging for peace on their knees, which the Emperor of the French grants, upon condition that one hundred guineas, ready money, should be paid to each of his soldiers and sailors. Every corps in its turn was admitted gratis, to witness this exhibition of the end of all their labours ; and you can fo^hn no idea what effect it produced, tliough you are not a stranger to our fickle and incon- siderate character. Ballads, with the same predictions, and the same promises, were written, and distributed among the soldiers, and sung by M'omen sent by Fouche to the coast. As all produc • COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 267 tions of this sort were, as usual, liberally rewarded by the Empe- ror, they poured in from all parts of his Empire. Three poets and authors for the theatre of the Vaudevilles, Barre, Radet, and Desfontaines, received each two hundred Na- poleone's d'or, for their common production of a ballad, called " Les Adieux d'un Grenadier au Camp, de Boulogne /* from this, I have extracted the following sample, by which you may judge of the remainder : . Le tambour bat ; il faut partir : Ailleurs on nous appelle ; Et de lauriers, il va s'offiir Une moisson nouvelle. Si la-bas ils sont assez fous Pour troubler I'AIlemagne, Tant pis pour eux, tant mieux pour nous j Allons : vite en campagne ! La par ses exploits eclataijs On connoit notre armee ; C'est la qu'elle est depuis long-temps A vaincre accoutumfee ; C'est la que nos braves guerriers Vont triompher d'embl6e ; C'est le pays ou les lauriers Sont en coupe reglee. Adieu, mon cher petit jardin, Ma cabane jolie, •« Toi que j'ai plante de ma main, Et toi que j'ai batie ! Puisqu'il faut prendre mon mousquetj Et quitter ma chaumiere, Je m'en vais planter le piquet Par de-la la frontiere. Adieu, poules, pigeons, lapins, Et ma chatte gentille, 268 SECRET HISTORY OF THE Autour de moi toiis les matins Rassembles en famille ! Toi, mon chien, ne me quitte pas ! Compagnon de ma gloire^ Tu dois toujours suivre mes pas : Ton nom est la Vict aire. Sans adieu, peniches, bateaux. Frames et cannonieres, Qui dtrviez porter sur les eaux Nos braves militaires ! Vous, ne soyez pas si contens. Messieurs de la Tamise : Seulement pour quelquea instan* La partie est remise I THE GRENADIER'S ADIEU TO THE CAMP AT BOULOGNE. The drum is beating, we must march, We're summon'd to another field, A field^that to our conqu'ring swords Shall soon a laurel harvest yield. If English folly light tlie torch Of war in Germany again, — The loss is theirs, — ^the gain is ours, — March ! march ! commence the bright campaign. There, only by their glorious deeds Our chiefs and gallant bands are known ; There, often have they met their foes, And victory was all their own :— There, hostile ranks, at our approach, Prostrate beneath ouv feet shall bow ; II COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 269 There, smiling conquest waits to twine A laurel wreath round every brow. Adieu, my pretty turf-built * hut ! Adieu, my little * garden too ! I made, I deck'd you all myself, And I am loth to part with you : But since my arms I must resume, And leave your comforts all behind, Upon the hostile frontier soon My tent shall flutter in the wind. My pretty fowls and doves adieu ! Adieu, my playful cat to thee ! Who every morning round me came, And form'd my little family. But thee, my dog, I shall not leave,— No, thou shalt ever follow me, Shalt share my toils, shalt share my fame, — For thou art called Victory. Biit no farewel I bid to you, Ye praams, and boats, who, o'er the wave, Were doom'd to waft to England's shore Our hero chiefs, our soldiers brave. To you, good gentlemen of Thames, Soon, soon our visit shall be paid, Soon, soon your merriment be o'er,— 'Tis but a few short hours delay'd. As I am writing on the subject oi poetical agents, I will also say some words of our poetical flatterers, though the same persons * During the long continuance of the French encampment at Bou- logne, the troops had forined, as it were, a romantic town of huts. Every hut had a garden surrounding it, kept in excellent order and stocked with vegetables and. flowers. They had besides, fowls, pigeons, and rabbits ; and these, whh a cat and a dog, generally formed the little household of every soldier. 270 SECRET HISTORY OF THE frequently occupy both the one office and the other. A man of the name of Richaud, who sang formerly the glory of Marat and Robespierre, offered to Buonaparte, on the evening preceding his departure for Strasburgh, the following lines ; and was in re- turn presented with a purse full of gold, and an order to the mi- nister of the interior, Champagny, to be employed iu his offices, until better provided for. STANCES, , SUR LES BRUITS PE GUERRE AVEC l'aUTRICHE. Rois tant de fois vaincus ! O Rois dont I'imprudence Menace encore votre vainqueur, Fixez en ce moment vos regards sur la France, Et perdez tout espoir en voyant sa sfilendeur. Quel orgueil deplorable, insenses que vous etes, Pent done encore vous abuser ? Tremblez, si votre voix invoque les tempetes La foudre va partir ; mais pour vous ecraser. Et toi, Napoleon, s'il faut a la victoire Ramener ce peuple guerrier, Vas, I'Eux'ope est temoin qu'au laurier de la gloii'e Ton caur eut p.refere le modeste olivier, Mais du soldat Fran^ais la valeur irrit6e T'appelle a de nouveaux exploits, Dis un mot, un seul mot, et Vienne epouvantee Vas revoir nos drapeaux.... /Jowr la demierefois. STANZAS, ON THE RUMOUR OF A WAR WITH AUSTRIA. Kings, who so often vanquish'd, vainly dare Menace the victor that has laid you low,— COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 271 Look now at France, — and view your own despair In the majestic splendor of your foe. What miserable pride, ye foolish kings, Still your deluded reason thus misleads ? Provoke the storm, — the bolt vsdth light'ning wings Shall fall,— .but fall on your devoted heads. And thou, Napoleon, if thy mighty sword Shall for thy people conquer new renown ; Go, — ^Europe shall attest, thy heart preferr'd The modest olive to the laurel crown. But thee, lov'd chief, to new achievements bold The aroused spirit of the soldier calls ; Speak ! — and Vienna cowering shall behold Our banners waving o'er her prostrate walls. I received four days afterwards, at the circle of Madame Jo- seph Buonaparte, with all other visitors, a copy of these stanzas ; most of the foreign ambassadors were of the party, and had also a share of this patriotic donation. Count de Cobentzel had pru- dently absented himself; otherwise this delenda of the Austrian Carthage would have been officially announced to him. Another poetaster, of the name of Brouet, in a long, dull, dis- gusting poem, after comparing Buonaparte with all great men of antiquity, and p.roving that he surpasses them all ; tells his coun- trymen that their Emperor is the deputy divinity upon earth, the mirror of wisdom, a demigod, to whom future ages will erect sta- tues, build temples, burn incense, fall down and adore : a propor- tionate share of abuse is, of course, bestowed on your nation. He says, A Londres on vit briller d'un eclat ephem^re Le front tout radieux d'un ministre influent ; Mais pour faire palir Tetoile d'Angleterre, Un SoLEiL tout nouveau parut au firmament j Et ce soieil du peuple franc, Admire de I'Europe entiere, Sur la terre est nomme Bonaparte le Grand. 272 SECRET HISTORY OF THE For this delicate compliment Brouet was made deputy p>ostmas- ter-general in Italy, and a kni.^ht of the Legion of Honour. It must be granted, that if Buonaparte is fond of flattery, he does not receive it gratis, but pays for it like a real Emperor. It has lately become the etiquette, not only in our court circle, and official assemblies, but even in fashionable societies of persons M^ho are or w^ish to become Buonaparte's public function- aries, to distribute and have read and applauded these disinterested effusions of our"'poetical genuises. This fashion occasioned lately a curious blunder at a tea party, in the hotel of Madame Talley- rand. The same printer who had been engaged by this lady had also been employed by Chenier, or some other poet, to print a short satire against several of our literary ladies, in which Madame de Genlis, and Madame de Stael, who has just arrived here from her exile, were with others very severely handled. By mistake, a bundle of this production was given to the porter of Madame Talleyrand, and a copy was handed to each visitor, even to Ma- dame de Genlis, and Madame de Stael, who took them without noticing their contents. Picard, after reading an act of a new play, was asked by the lady of the house to read this poetic worship of the Emperor of the French. After the two first lines he stopped short, looking round him confused, suspecting a trick had been played upon him. This induced the audience to read what had been given them, and Madame Talleyrand with the rest ; who, instead of permitting Picard to continue with another scene of his play, as he had adroitly began, made the most awkward apology in the world, and by it still more exposed the ladies who were the objects of the satire ; which, in an hour afterwards was exchang- ed for the verses intended for the homage of the Emperor, and the cause of the error was cleared up. I have read somewhere of a tyrant of antiquity, who forced all his subjects to furnish one room of their houses in the best possible manner according to their circumstances, and to have it consecrated for the reception of his bust, before which, under pain of death, they were commanded to prostrate themselves, morning noon and night. They Avere to enter this room bare-headed and bare-footed, to remain there only on their knees, and tp leave it without turning their back towards the sacred representative of tlieir prince. All laughing, sneezing, coughing, speaking, or even^ COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 273 whispering, were capitally prohibited ; but crying was not only permitted, but commanded, when his majesty was offended, angry, or unwell. Should our system of cringing continue progressively to increase, as it has done these last three years, we too shall very soon have rooms consecrated, and an idol to adore. LETTER LVIII. FariS) Septeinber 1805. MY LORD, PORTUGAL has suffered more from the degraded state of Spain, under the administration of the Prince of Peace, than we have yet gained by it in France. Engaged by her, in 1793, in a war against its inclination and interest, it was not only deserted afterwards, but sacrificed. But for the dictates of the Court of Madrid, supported perhaps by some secret influence of the Court of St. James,' the Court of Lisbon would have preserved its neu- trality, and, though not a well-wisher of the French Republic, never have been counted among her avowed enemies. In the peace of 1795, and in the subsequent treaty of 1796, which transformed the family compact of the French and Spanish Bourbons into a national alliance between France and Spain, there was no question about Portugal. In 1797, indeed, our go- vernment condescended to receive a Portuguese plenipotentiary, but merely for the purpose of plundering his country of some millions of money, and to insult it by shutting up its representa- tive as a state prisoner in the Temple. Of this violation of the laws of civilized nations Spain never complained, nor had Portu- gal any means to avenge it. After four years of negotiation, and an expenditure -of thirty millions, the imbecile Spanish premier supported demands made by our government, which, if assented to, would have left their Most Faithful Majesty without any ter- ritory in Europe, and without any place of refuge in America. Circumstances not permitting your country to send any but pecu- ' N N 274 SECR3ET HISTORY OF THE •niary succours, Portugal would have become an easy prey to the united Spanish and French forces, had the marauders agreed about the partition of the spoil. Their disunion, the consequence - of their avidity, saved it from ruin, but not from pillage. A pro- vince was ceded to Spain ; the banks and the navigation of a river to France ; and fifty millions to the private purse of the Buona- parte family. It might have been supposed that such renunciations, and such offerings, would have satiated ambition, as well as cupidity ; but though the Cabinet of Lisbon was in peace with the Cabinet of St. Cloud, the pretensions and enci'oachments of the latter left the former no rest. While pocketing tributes, it required com- mercial monopolies, and when its commerce was favoured, it de- manded sea-ports to ensure the security of its trade. Its preten- sions rose in proportion to the condescensions of the state it op- pressed. With the money and the value of the diamonds, which Portugal has paid in loans, in contributions, in requisitions, in do- nations, in tributes, and in presents, it might have supported during ten yeai's an army of one hundred thousand men: and could it then have been worse situated than it has been since, and is still at this moment ? But the manner of extorting, and the individuals employed to extort, were more humiliating to its dignity and independence than the extortions themselves were injuriousto its I'esources. The first revolutionary ambassador Buonaparte sent thither evinced both his ingratitude and his contempt. Few of oiw many upstart generals have more illiberal senti- ments, and more vulgar and insolent manners, than General Las- nes. The son of a publican and a smuggler, he was a smuggler himself in his youth, and afterwards a postilion, a dragoon, a de- serter, a coiner, a jacobin, and a terrorist; and he has, with the meanness and brutality of these different trades^ a kind of native impertinence and audacity which shocks and disgusts. He seems to say, I am a villain ; I know that I am so ; and I am proud of being so. To obtain the rank I possess, I have respected no human laws, and I bid defiance to all divine vengeance. I might be murdered or hanged, but it is impossible to degrade me. On a gibbet, or in the palace of a prhice, — seized by the executioner, or dinmg with sovereigns, I am, I will, and I must always remain COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 275 the same. Infamy cannot debase me, nor is it in the power of gran- deur to exalt me. General, ambassador, field-marshal, first consul, or emperor, Lasnes will always be the same polluted but daring individual ; a stranger to remorse and repentance, as well as to honour and virtue. Where Buonaparte sends a bandit of such a stamp, he has resolved on destruction. A kind of temporary disgrace was said to have occasioned Lasnes's first mission to Portugal. When commander of the con- sular guard, in 1802, he had appropriated to himself a sum of money from the regimental chest, and, as a punishment, was exiled as an ambassador^ as he said himself. His resentment against Buonaparte he took care to pour out on the Regent of Portugal. Without inquiring or caring about the etiquette of the Court of the Thuilleries with him, and determined to fraternize with a foi'eign and legitimate Sovereign, as he had done with his own sans-culotte fi'iend and First Consul ; and, what is the most surprising, he carried his point. The Prince Regent not only ad- mitted him to the royal table, but stood sponsor to his child by a wife, who had been two years his mistress, before he was divorced from his first spouse, and with whom the Prince's consort, a Bourbon Princess, and a daughter of a King, was also obliged to associate. Avaricious as well as unprincipled, he pursued, as an ambas- sador, his former business of a smuggler, and instead of being ashamed of a discovery, proclaimed it publicly, deserted his post, was not reprimanded in France, but was, without apology, received back again in Portugal. His conduct afterwards could not be sur- prising. He only insisted that some faithful and able ministers should be removed, and others appointed in their place, more complaisant, and less honest. New plans of Buonaparte, however, delivered Portugal from this plague ; but what did it obtain in return ? another grenadier ambassador, less brutal, but more cunning; as abandoned, but more dissimulating. General Junot is the son of a corn-chandler, near the corn- market of this capital, and was a shopman to his father in 1789. Having committed some pilfering, he was turned out of the pa- rental dwelling, and therefore lodged himself as an inmate of the Jacobin Club. In 1792 he entered as a soldier in a regiment of 276 SECRET HISTORY OF THE the army iiaarching against the county of Nice; and in 1793 he served before Toulon, where he became acquainted with Buona- parte, whom he, in January 1794, assisted in dispatching the un- fortunate Toulonese ; and with whom also, in the autumn of the same year, he therefore was arrested as a terrorist. In 1796, when commander in chief, Buonaparte made Junot his aide-de-camp ; and in that capacity he accompanied him, in 1798, to Egypt. There,^as well as in Italy, he fought bravely, but had no particular opportunity of distinguishing himself. He was not one of those select few, whom Napoleone brought with him to Europe, in 1799, but returned first to France in 1801, when he was nominated a general of division, and commander of this capital ; a place he resigned last year to General Murat. His despotic and cruel behaviour, while commander of Paris, made him not much regretted. Fouche lost in him, indeed, an able support, but none of us here ever experienced from him justice, much less protection. As with all other of our modem public functionaries, without money nothing was obtained from him. It required as much for not doing any harm, as if, in re- nouncing his usual vexatious oppressions, he had conferred bene- fits. He was much suspected of being, with Fouche, the patron of a gang of street-robbers and house-breakers, who, in the winter of 1803, infested this capital, and who, when finally discovered, were screened from justice, and suffered to escape punishment. I will tell you what I personally have seen of him. Happen- ing one evening to enter the I'ooms at Frescati, where the gambling tables are kept, I observed him undressed, out of I'egi- mentals, in company with a yoting man, who afterwards avowed himself an aide-de-camp of this general, and who was playing with rouleaux of Louis d'ors, supposed to contain fifty each, at Rouge et Koir. As long as he lost any, which he did several, he took up the rouleaux on the table, and gave another from his pocket. At last he won, when he asked the bankers to look at their loss, and count the money in his rouleau before they peud him. On opening it, they found it contained one hundred bank notes, of one hundred thousand livres each, 4500/. folded in a man- ner to resemble the form and size of Louis d'ors. The bankers refused to pay, and applied to the company, whether they were not in the right to do so, after so many rouleaux had been chartged COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 277 by the person who now I'equired such an unusual sum in such an unusual manner.. Before any answer could be given, Junot in- terfered, asking the bankers whether they knew who he was ? upon their answering in the negative, he said, " I am General Junot, the commander of Paris ; and this officer who has Avon the money is my aide-de-camp, and I insist upon your paying him this instant, if you do not wish to have your bank confiscated, and your persons arrested." They refused to part with money which they protested was not their own ; and most of the individuals present joined them in their resistance. " You aix altogether a set of scoundrels and sharpers, interrupted Junot; your business shall soon be done." So saying he seized all the money on the table ; and a kind of boxing-match ensued between him and the bankers, in which he, being a tall and strong man, got the better of them. The tumult, however, brought in the guard, whom he ordered, as their chief, to carry to prison sixteen persons he point- ed out ; fortunately I was not of the number ; I say fortunately, for I have heard that most of them remained imprisoned six months, before this delicate affair was cleared vip and settled. In the mean time, Junot not only pocketed all the money he pretend- ed was due to his aide-de-camp, but the whole sum contained in the bank, which was double the amount. It was believed, by every one present, that this was an affair arranged between him and his aide-de-camp before-hand, to pillage the bank. What a com- mander, what a general, and what an ambassador ! Fitte, the secretary of our embassy to Portugal, was former- ly an abbe, and must be well remembered in your country, where he passed some years as an emigrant, but was in fact a spy of Tal- leyrand. I am told, that by his intrigues, he even succeeded to swindle your ministers out of a sum of money^ by some plausible schemes he proposed to them. He is, as well as all other apostate priests, a very dangerous man, and an immoral and unprincipled wretch. During the time of Robespierre, he is said to have caused the murder of his elder brother and younger sister ; the former he denounced, to appropriate to himself his wealth ; and the latter he accused of fanaticism, because she refused to cohabit with him. He daily boasts of the great protection and great friendship of Talleyrand. Qualis rex, talis, gr ex. 278 SECRET HISTORY OF THE LETTER LIX. Paris f September 1805. MY LORD, IN some of the ancient republics, all citizens, who, in time of danger and trouble, remained neutral, were punished as traitors, or treated as enemies. When, by our Revolution, civilized so- ciety and the European commonwealth were menaced with a total overthrow, had each member of it been considered in the same light, and subjected to the same laws, some individual states might perhaps have been less wealthy, but the whole community would have been more happy and more tranquil, which would have been much better. It was a great error in the powerful league of 1793 to admit any neutrality at all; every government that did not combat rebellion should have been considered and treated as its ally. The man who continues neutrals, though only a passenger, when hands are wanted to preserve the vessel from sinking, de- serves to be thrown overboard, to be swallowed up by the waves, and to perish the first. Had all other nations been united and unanimous, during 1793 and 1794, against the monster Jaco- binism, we should not have heard of either jacobin Directors, jacobin Consuls, or a jacobin Emperor. But then, from a petty regard to a temporary profit, they entered into a truce with a re- volutionary volcano, which, sooner or later, will consume them all ; for I am afraid that it is now too late for all human power, with all human means, to preserve any state, any government, or any people, from suffering by the threatening conflagration. Switzer- land, Venice, Geneva, Genoa, and Tuscany, have already gather- ed the poisoned fruits of their neutrality. Let but Buonaparte establish himself undisturbed in Hanover some years longer, and you will see the neutral Hanse Towns, neutral Prussia, and neutral Denmark, visited with all the evils of invasion, pillage, and destruc- tion, and the independence of the nations in the north will be buried in the rubbish of the liberties of the people of the south of Europe, COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 279 These ideas have frequently occurred to me, on hearing our agents pronounce, i>nd their dupes repeat, * Oh ! the wise govern- ment of Denmark ! Oh what a wise statesman the Danish minis- ter. Count Bernstorf is 1' I do not deny that the late Count Bem- storf was a great politician ; but I assert also that his was a great- ness more calculated for regular times than for periods of unusual political convulsion ; like your Pitt, the Russian Woronzow, and the Austrian Colloredo, he was too honest to judge soundly and to act rightly, according to the present situation of affairs; he adhered too much to the old routine, and did not perceive the immense difference between the government of a revolutionary ruler and the govemnnent of a Louis XIII, or a Louis XIV. — I am certain, had he still been alive, he would have repented of his errors, and ti'ied to have repaired tliem. His son, the present Danish minister, follows his fathei'^s plans, and adheres, in 1805, to a system laid down by him in 1795.; while the alterations that have occurred within these ten years have more aflPected the real and relative power aud weakness of states, than all the revolutions which have been produced by the insurrections, wars, and pacifications of the two preceding cen- turies. He has even gone farther, in some parts of his admini- stration, than his father ever intended. Without remembering the political truth, that a weak state which courts the alliance of a powerful neighbour always becomes a vassal while desiring to become an ally, he has attempted to exchange the connexions of Denmark and Russia, for new ones with Prussia ; and forgot- ten the obligations of the Cabinet of Copenhagen to the Cabinet of St. Petersburgh, and the interested policy of the House of Bran- denburgh. That, on the contrary, Russia has always been a gene- rous ally of Denmark, the flourishing state of the Danish domini- ons, since the beginning of the last century, evinces. Its distance and geographical position prevent all encroachments from being feared or attempted, while at the same time it affords protection equally against the rivalry of Sweden and the ambition of Prussia. The Prince Royal of Denmark is patriotic as well as en- lightened, and would rule. with more true policy and lustre, were he to follow seldomer the advice of his counsellors, and oftener the dictates of his own mind. Count de Schimmelman, Count de Reventlow,and Count Bernstorf, are all good and moral characters, 280 SECRET HISTORY OF THE but I fear that their united capacity taken together will not fill up the vacancy left in the Danish Cabinet by the death of its late pi'ime minister. I have been personally acquainted with them all three, but I draw my conclusions from the acts of their admi- nistration, not from my own knowledge. Had the late Count Bernstorf held the ministerial helm in 1803, a paragraph in the Moniteur would never have disbanded a Danish army in Holstein ; nor would, in 1805, intriguers have been endured, who preached neutrality, after witnessing repeated violations of the law of nations, not on the remote banks of the Rhine, but on the Danish frontiers, on the Danish territory, on the banks of the Elbe. It certainly was no compliment to his Danish Majesty, when our government sent Grouvelle as a representative to Copen- hagen ; a man who owed his education and information to the Conde branch of the Bourbons, and who afterwards audaciously and sacrilegiously read the sentence of death on the chief of that family, on his good and legitimate King, Louis XVI. It can nei- ther be called dignity nor prudence in the Cabinet of Denmark, to suffer this regicide to serve as a point of rally to sedition and innovation ; to be the official propagator of revolutionary doctrines, and an official protector of all proselytes and sectaries of this anti- social faith. Before the Revolution, a secretary to the prince of Conde, Grouvelle was trusted and rewarded by his Serene Highness, and in return betrayed his confidence ; and repaid benefactions and generosity witli calumny and persecution, when his patron was obliged to seek safety in emigration, against the assassins of suc- cessful rebellion. JlVhen the national seals were put on the es- tates of the Prince,Tie appropriated to himself, not only the whole of his Highness's library, but a part of his plate. Even the ward- robe, and the cellar, were laid under contributions by this do- mestic marauder. With natural genius, and acquired experience, Grouvelle unites impudence and immorality ; and those on whom he fixes for his prey are therefore easily duped, and irremediably undone. He has furnished disciples to all factions, and to all sects ; — assas- sins to the revolutionary tribunals, as well as victims for the revo- lutionary guillotine ; sans-culottes to Robespierre, Septembrizers to Marat, republicans to the Directory ; spies to Talleyrand, and COURT OF ST. CLOUD. 281 slaves to Buonaparte, who, in 1 800, nominated him a tribune, but in 1 804 disgraced him, because he wished that the Duke of En- ghien had rather been secretly poisoned in Baden than publicly condemned, and privately executed in France. Our present minister at the Court of Copenhagen, Dagues- seau, has no virtues to boast of, but also no crimes to blush for. With inferior capacity, he is only considered by Talleyrand as an inferior intriguer, employed in a country ruled by an inferior po- licy, neither feared nor esteemed by our government. His secre- tary, Desaugiers the elder, is our real and confidential firebrand in the north, commissioned to keep burning those materials of combustion, which Grouvelle and others of our incendiaries have lighted and illuminated in Holstein, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. LETTER LX. Paris, October 1805. MY LORD, THE insatiable avarice of all the members of the Buona- parte family has already and frequently been mentioned ; some of our philosofihers, however, pretend, that ambition and vanity ex- clude from the mind of Napoleone Buonaparte the passion of covetousness ; that he pillages only to get money to pay his mili- tary plunderers, and hoards treasures only to purchase slaves, or to recompense the associates and instruments of his authority. Whether their assertions be just or not, I will not take upoii myself to decide ; but, to judge from the Imperial and Royal pa- laces, from the great augmentation of the Imperial and Royal do- raiains; from the immense and valuable quantity of diamonds, jewels, pictures, statues, libraries, museums, &c. disinterestedness and self-denial are certainly not among Napoleone's virtues. In France, he not only disposes of all the former palaces and extensive demesnes of our King, but has greatly increased them, O o ^2 SECRET HISTORY OF THE by national property and by lands and estates bought by the Impe- rial treasury, or confiscated by Imperial decrees. In Italy, he has, by an official act, declared to be the property of his crown, Firet, the royal palace at Milan, and a royal villa, which he now calls Villa Buonaparte ; Second, the palace of Monza and its dependen- cies ; Third, the palace of Mantua, the palace of The, and the ci- devant ducal palace of Modena ; Fourth, a palace situated in the vicinity of Brescia, and another palace in the vicinity of Bologna j Fifth, the ci-devant ducal palaces of Parma and Placenza ; Sixth, the beautiful forest of Tesin. Ten millions were, besides, ordered to be drawn out of the royal treasury at Milan, to purchase lands for the formation of a park, pleasure-grounds, Sec. To these are added all the royal palaces and domains of the former kings of Sardinia, of the Dukes of Brabant, of the Counts of Flanders, of the German Electors, Princes, Dukes, Counts, Barons, &c. who, before the last war, were Sovereigns on the right tank of the Rhine. I have seen a list, according to which the number of palaces and chateaux appertaining to Napoleone, as Emperor and King, are stated to be seventy -nine ; so that he may change his habitations six times in the month, without occupying during the same year the same palace, and nevertheless ahvays sleeji at home. In this number are not included the private chateaux and es- tates of the Empress, or those of the Princes and Princesses Buonaparte. Madame Napoleone has purchased, since her hus- band's consulate, in her own name, or in the name of her children, nine estates with their chateaux, four national forests, and six hotels at Paris. Joseph Buonaparte possesses four estates and chateaux in France, three hotels at Paris and at Brussels, three chateaux and estates in Italy, and one hotel at Milan, and another at Turin. Lucien Buonaparte has now remaining only one hotel at Paris, another at Bonne, and a third at Chamberry. He has one estate in Burgundy, two in Languedoc, and one in the vicinity of this capital. At Bologna, Ferraira, Florence, and Rome, he has his own hotels, and in the Papal States he has obtained, in exchange for property in France, three chateaux with their dependencies. Louis Buonaparte has three hotels at Paris, one at Cologne, one at Strasburgh, and one at Lyons. He has two estates in Flanders, COURT OF ST. CLOUD. !^8^ three in Burgundy, one in Franche Comte^ and another in Alsace. He has also a chateau four leagues from this city. At Genoa he has a beautiful hotel, and upon the Genoese tenitory a large estate. He has bought three plantations at Martinico, and two at Guadaloupe. To Jerome Buonaparte has hitherto been present- ed only an estate in Brabant, and an hotel in this capital. Some of the former domains of the House of Orange, in the Batavian Re- public, have been purchased by the agents of our governmenl;, and are said to be intended for him. But while Napoleone Buonaparte has thus heaped wealth on his wife and his brothers, his mother and sisters have not been neglected or left unprovided for. Madame Buonaparte his mother has one hotel at Paris, one at Turin, one at Milan, and one at Rome. Her estates in France are four, and in Italy two. Ma- dame Bachiocchi, Princess of Piombino and Lucca, possesses two hotels in this capital, and one palace at Piombino, and another at Lucca. Of her estates in France, she has only retained two, but she has three in the kingdom of Italy, and four in her husband's and her own dominions. The Princess Santa Cruce possesses one hotel at Rome, and four chateaux in the papal ter- ritory. At Milan, she has, as well as at Turin and at Paris, hotels given her by her Imperial brother, together with two estates in France, one in Piedmont, and two in Lombardy. The Princess Murat is mistress of two hotels here, one at Brussels, one at Tours, and one at Bourdeaux, together with three estates on this, and five on the other side of the Alps. The Princess Borghese has purchased three plantations at Guadaloupe, and two at Mar-- tinico, with a pait of the treasures left her by her first husband^ Le Clerc. With her present husband she received two palaces at Rome, and three estates on the Roman territory ; and her Im- perial brother has presented her with one hotel at Paris, one at Cologne, one at Turin, and one at Genoa, together with three es- tates in France and five in Italy. For his mother, and for each of his sisters, Napoleone has also purchased estates, or lands to form estates, in their native island of Corsica. The other near or distant relatives of the Emperor and King have also experienced his bounty. Cardinal Fesch has his hotels at Paris, Milan, Lyons, Turin, and Rome ; with estates both in France and Italy. -Seventeeen, either first, second, or third 284 SECRET HISTORY OF THE cousins, by his father or mother's side, have all obtained estates either in the French empire, or in the kingdom of Italy, as well as all brothers, sisters, or cousins of his own wife, and the wives of his brothers, or of the husbands of his sisters. Their exact num- ber cannot be well known, but a gentleman who has long been collecting materials for some future history of the house of Buonaparte, and of the French empire, has already shewn me sixty-six names of individuals of that description, and of both sexes, who, all, thanks to the Imperial liberality, have suddenly and unexpectedly become people of property. When you consider that all these immense riches have been seized and distributed within the short period of five years, it is not hazardous to say, that in the annais of Europe, another such revo- lution in property, as well as in power, is not to be found. The wealth of the families of all other Sovereigns taken together does not amount to half the value of what the Buonapartes have ac- quired 7 (4' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 019 648 081 A