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diff --git a/35768.txt b/35768.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f844a64 --- /dev/null +++ b/35768.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7843 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Joseph Bonaparte, by John S. C. Abbott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Joseph Bonaparte + Makers of History + +Author: John S. C. Abbott + +Release Date: April 4, 2011 [EBook #35768] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSEPH BONAPARTE *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + Makers of History + + Joseph Bonaparte + + BY + + JOHN S. C. ABBOTT + + WITH ENGRAVINGS + + NEW YORK AND LONDON + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + 1902 + + + + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by + + HARPER & BROTHERS, + + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for + the Southern District of New York. + + Copyright, 1897, by SUSAN ABBOTT MEAD. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The writer trusts that he may be pardoned for relating the following +characteristic anecdote of President Lincoln, as it so fully illustrates +the object in view in writing these histories. In a conversation which +the writer had with the President just before his death, Mr. Lincoln +said: + +"I want to thank you and your brother for Abbotts' series of Histories. +I have not education enough to appreciate the profound works of +voluminous historians, and if I had, I have no time to read them. But +your series of Histories gives me, in brief compass, just that knowledge +of past men and events which I need. I have read them with the greatest +interest. To them I am indebted for about all the historical knowledge I +have." + +It is for just this purpose that these Histories are written. Busy men, +in this busy life, have now no time to wade through ponderous folios. +And yet every one wishes to know the general character and achievements +of the illustrious personages of past ages. + +A few years ago there was published in Paris a life of King Joseph, in +ten royal octavo volumes of nearly five hundred pages each. It was +entitled "_Memoires et Correspondance, Politique et Militaire, du Roi +Joseph, Publies, Annotes et Mis en Ordre par A. du Casse, Aide-de-camp +de S. A. I. Le Prince Jerome Napoleon._" These volumes contained nearly +all the correspondence which passed between Joseph and his brother +Napoleon from their childhood until after the battle of Waterloo. Every +historical statement is substantiated by unequivocal documentary +evidence. + +From this voluminous work, aided by other historical accounts of +particular events, the author of this sketch has gathered all that would +be of particular interest to the general reader at the present time. As +all the facts contained in this narrative are substantiated by ample +documentary proof, the writer can not doubt that this volume presents an +accurate account of the momentous scenes which it describes, and that it +gives the reader a correct idea of the social and political relations +existing between those extraordinary men, Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte. +It is not necessary that the historian should pronounce judgment upon +every transaction. But he is bound to state every event exactly as it +occurred. + +No one can read this account of the struggle in Europe _in favor of +popular rights_ against the old dynasties of _feudal oppression_, +without more highly appreciating the admirable institutions of our own +glorious Republic. Neither can any intelligent and candid man carefully +peruse this narrative, and not admit that Joseph Bonaparte was earnestly +seeking the welfare of the _people_; that, surrounded by dynasties +strong in standing armies, in pride of nobility, and which were +venerable through a life of centuries, he was endeavoring to promote, +under monarchical forms, which the posture of affairs seemed to +render necessary, the abolition of _aristocratic usurpation_, and the +establishment of _equal rights for all men_. Believing this, the writer +sympathizes with him in all his struggles, and reveres his memory. +The universal brotherhood of man, the fundamental principles of +Christianity, should also be the fundamental principles in the State. +Having spared no pains to be accurate, the writer will be grateful to +any critic who will point out any incorrectness of statement or false +coloring of facts, that he may make the correction in subsequent +editions. + +This volume will soon be followed by another, "The History of Queen +Hortense," the daughter of Josephine, the wife of King Louis, the mother +of Napoleon III. + + JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. + + FAIR HAVEN, CONN., + May, 1869. + + + + + CONTENTS + + + Chapter Page + + I. SCENES IN EARLY LIFE 13 + + II. DIPLOMATIC LABORS 36 + + III. JOSEPH THE PEACE-MAKER 67 + + IV. JOSEPH KING OF NAPLES 93 + + V. THE CROWN A BURDEN 135 + + VI. THE SPANISH PRINCES 166 + + VII. JOSEPH KING OF SPAIN 199 + + VIII. THE SPANISH CAMPAIGN OF NAPOLEON 229 + + IX. THE WAR IN SPAIN CONTINUED 264 + + X. THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN 291 + + XI. LIFE IN EXILE 319 + + XII. LAST DAYS AND DEATH 365 + + + + + ENGRAVINGS. + + Page + + JOSEPH AND NAPOLEON--TOUR IN CORSICA 28 + + JOSEPH GIVING HIS CLOAK TO HIS BROTHER LOUIS 41 + + CORNWALLIS AND JOSEPH 88 + + JOSEPH AT MALMAISON 98 + + JOSEPH ON HIS NEAPOLITAN TOUR 155 + + QUEEN JULIE LEAVING NAPLES 187 + + JOSEPH RECEIVING THE ADDRESSES OF THE SPANISH + SENATE 198 + + JOSEPH ENTERING MALAGA 261 + + SACK OF CIUDAD RODRIGO 286 + + ANGUISH OF MARIA LOUISA 314 + + DEATH OF THE DUKE OF REICHSTADT 363 + + + + +JOSEPH BONAPARTE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +SCENES IN EARLY LIFE. + +1768-1793 + +Corsica.--Parentage.--Birth of Joseph Bonaparte.--Journey to +France.--Fraternal Attachment.--Character of Joseph.--Prince of +Conde.--Anecdote.--Letter to Napoleon.--Return to Corsica.--Death +of his Father.--Letitia.--Her Character.--Madame Permon.--Lucien. +--Habits of Napoleon.--Studies of the Brothers.--Mirabeau.--Joseph +studies Law.--Commences Practice.--Treatise of Napoleon.--Testimony +of Joseph.--Ambition of Napoleon.--Foresight of Napoleon.--Constituent +Assembly.--Gratitude of Napoleon.--Anecdote.--Tour in Corsica. +--Characteristics.--Testimony of Louis Napoleon.--Death of Mirabeau. +--French Revolution.--Anecdote.--The Emigrants.--The Republicans. +--Paoli.--His Appreciation of Napoleon.--Corsican Peasantry.--Flight +of the Bonapartes.--Their Arrival in France. + + +The island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean Sea, sixty miles from the +coast of Tuscany, is about half as large as the State of Massachusetts. +In the year 1767 this island was one of the provinces of Italy. There +was then residing, in the small town of Corte, in Corsica, a young +lawyer nineteen years of age. He was the descendant of an illustrious +race, which could be traced back, through a succession of distinguished +men, far into the dark ages. Charles Bonaparte, the young man of whom +we speak, was tall, handsome, and possessed strong native powers of +mind, which he had highly cultivated. In the same place there was +a young lady, Letitia Raniolini, remarkable for her beauty and her +accomplishments. She also was of an ancient family. When but sixteen +years of age Letitia was married to Charles Bonaparte, then but +nineteen years old. + +About a year after their marriage, on the 7th of January, 1768, they +welcomed their first-born child, Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte. In nineteen +months after the birth of Joseph, his world-renowned brother Napoleon +was born. But in the mean time the island had been transferred to +France. Thus while Joseph was by birth an Italian, his brother Napoleon +was a Frenchman. + +Charles Bonaparte occupied high positions of trust and honor in +the government of Corsica, and his family took rank with the most +distinguished families in Italy and in France. Joseph passed the first +twelve years of his life upon his native island. He was ever a boy of +studious habits, and of singular amiability of character. When he was +twelve years of age his father took him, with Napoleon and their elder +sister Eliza, to France for their education. Leopold, the grand duke +of Tuscany, gave Charles Bonaparte letters of introduction to Maria +Antoinette, his sister, who was then the beautiful and admired Queen +of France. + +Leaving Joseph at the college of Autun, in Burgundy, the father +continued his journey to Paris, with Napoleon and Eliza. Eliza was +placed in the celebrated boarding-school of St. Cyr, in the metropolis, +and Napoleon was taken to the military school at Brienne, a few miles +out from the city. The father was received as a guest in the gorgeous +palace of Versailles. Joseph and Napoleon were very strongly attached +to each other, and this attachment continued unabated through life. +When the two lads parted at Autun both were much affected. Joseph, +subsequently speaking of it, says: + +"I shall never forget the moment of our separation. My eyes were flooded +with tears. Napoleon shed but one tear, which he in vain endeavored to +conceal. The abbe Simon, who witnessed our adieus, said to me, after +Napoleon's departure, 'He shed only one tear; but that one testified to +as deep grief in parting from you as all of yours.'" + +The two brothers kept up a very constant correspondence, informing each +other minutely of their studies, and of the books in which they were +interested. Joseph became one of the most distinguished scholars in the +college of Autun, excelling in all the branches of polite literature. He +was a very handsome young man, of polished manners, and of unblemished +purity of life. His natural kindness of heart, combined with these +attractions, rendered him a universal favorite. + +Autun was in the province of Burgundy, of which the Prince of Conde, +grandfather of the celebrated Duke d'Enghien, was governor. The prince +attended an exhibition at the college, to assist in the distribution of +the prizes. Joseph acquitted himself with so much honor as to attract +the attention of the prince, and he inquired of him what profession he +intended to pursue. + +Joseph, in the following words, describes this eventful incident: + +"The solemn day arrived. I performed my part to admiration, and when we +afterward went to receive the crown, which the prince himself placed on +our heads, I was the one whom he seemed most to have noticed. The Bishop +of Autun's friendship for our family, and no doubt also the curiosity +which a little barbarian, recently introduced into the centre of +civilization inspired, contributed to attract the prince's attention. He +caressed me, complimented me on my progress, and made particular +inquiries as to the intentions of my family with respect to me. The +Bishop of Autun said that I was destined for the Church, and that he had +a living in reserve, which he would bestow upon me as soon as the time +came. + +"'And you, my lad,' said the prince, 'have you your own projects, and +have you made up your mind as to what you wish?' + +"'I wish,' said I, 'to serve the king.' Then seeing him disposed to +listen favorably to me, I took courage to tell him that it was not at +all my wish, though it was that of my family, that I should enter the +Church, but that my dearest wish was to enter the army. + +"The Bishop of Autun would have objected to my project, but the prince, +who was colonel-general of the French infantry, saw with pleasure these +warlike dispositions on my part, and encouraged me to ask for what I +wanted. I then declared my desire to enter the artillery, and it was +determined that I should. Imagine my joy. I was proud of the prince's +caresses, and rejoiced more in his encouragement than I have since in +the two crowns which I have worn. + +"I immediately wrote a long letter to my brother Napoleon, imparting my +happiness to him, and relating in detail all that had passed; concluding +by begging him, out of friendship for me, to give up the navy and devote +himself to the artillery, that we might be in the same regiment, and +pursue our career side by side. Napoleon immediately acceded to my +proposal, abandoned from that moment all his naval projects, and replied +that his mind was made up to dedicate himself, with me, to the +artillery--with what success the world has since learned. Thus it was to +this visit of the Prince of Conde that Napoleon owed his resolution of +entering on a career which paved the way to all his honors." + +In 1784, Joseph, then sixteen years of age, returned to Corsica. During +his absence he had entirely forgotten the Italian, his native language, +and could neither speak it nor understand it. After a few months at +home, during which time he very diligently prosecuted his studies, his +father, whose health was declining, found it necessary to visit Paris to +seek medical advice. He took his son Joseph with him. Arriving at +Montpellier, after a tempestuous voyage, he became so ill as to be +unable to proceed any farther. After a painful sickness of three months, +he died of a cancer in the stomach, on the 24th of February, 1785. The +dying father, who had perceived indications of the exalted powers and +the lofty character of his son Napoleon, in the delirium of his last +hours repeatedly cried out, + +"Napoleon! Napoleon! come and rescue me from this dragon of death by +whom I am devoured." + +Upon his dying bed the father felt great solicitude for his wife, who +was to be left, at the early age of thirty-five, a widow with eight +children, six of whom were under thirteen years of age. Joseph willingly +yielded to his father's earnest entreaties to relinquish the profession +of arms and return to Corsica, that he might solace his bereaved mother +and aid her in her arduous cares. Napoleon says of this noble mother: + +"She had the head of a man on the shoulders of a woman. Left without a +guide or protector, she was obliged to assume the management of affairs, +but the burden did not overcome her. She administered every thing with a +degree of sagacity not to be expected from her age or sex. Her +tenderness was joined with severity. She punished, rewarded all alike. +The good, the bad, nothing escaped her. Ah, what a woman! where shall we +look for her equal? She watched over us with a solicitude unexampled. +Every low sentiment, every ungenerous affection was discouraged and +discarded. She suffered nothing but that which was grand and elevated to +take root in our youthful understandings. She abhorred falsehood, and +would not tolerate the slightest act of disobedience. None of our faults +were overlooked. Losses, privations, fatigue had no effect upon her. She +endured all, braved all. She had the energy of a man combined with the +gentleness and delicacy of a woman." + +Madame Permon, mother of the Duchess of Abrantes, a Corsican lady of +fortune who resided at Montpellier, immediately after the death of +Charles Bonaparte, took Joseph, the orphan boy, into her house. Madame +Permon and Letitia Raniolini had been companions and intimate friends in +their youthful days. "She was to me," says Joseph, "an angel of +consolation; and she lavished upon me all the attentions I could have +received from the most tender and affectionate of mothers." + +Joseph soon returned to Corsica. Napoleon had just before been promoted +to the military school in Paris, in which city Eliza still continued at +school. Lucien, the next younger brother, had also now been taken to the +Continent, where he was pursuing his education. The four remaining +children were very young. + +"My mother," says Joseph, "moderated the expression of her grief that +she might not excite mine. Heroic and admirable woman! the model of +mothers; how much thy children are indebted to thee for the example +which thou hast given them!" + +Joseph remained at home about a year, devoting himself to the care of +the family, when Napoleon obtained leave of absence, and, to the great +joy of his mother, returned to Corsica. He brought with him two trunks, +a small one containing his clothing, and a large one filled with his +books. Seven years had now passed since the two affectionate brothers +had met. Napoleon had entirely forgotten the Italian language; but, much +chagrined by the loss, he immediately devoted himself with great energy +to its recovery. "His habits," says Joseph, "were those of a young man +retiring and studious." For nearly a year the two brothers prosecuted +their studies vigorously together, while consoling, with their filial +love, their revered mother. After some months Napoleon left home again, +to rejoin his regiment at Valence. During this brief residence on his +native island, with his accustomed habits of industry, he employed the +hours of vacation in writing a history of the revolutions in Corsica. At +Marseilles he showed the manuscript to the abbe Raynal. The abbe was so +much pleased with it that he sent it to Mirabeau. This distinguished man +remarked that the essay indicated a genius of the first order. + +Joseph decided, being the eldest brother, to remain at home with his +mother, to study law, and commence its practice in Ajaccio, where his +mother then resided. He accordingly went to Pisa to attend lectures in +the law school connected with the celebrated university in that place. +His rank and character secured for him a distinguished reception, and he +was presented by the French minister to the grand duke. Here Joseph +became deeply interested in the lectures of Lampredi, who boldly +advocated the doctrine, then rarely heard in Europe, of the _sovereignty +of the people_. There were many illustrious patriots at Pisa, and many +ardent young men, whose minds were imbued with new ideas of political +liberty. Freely and earnestly they discussed the themes of aristocratic +usurpation, and of the equal rights of all men. Joseph, with enthusiasm, +embraced the cause of popular freedom, and became the unrelenting foe +of that feudal despotism which then domineered over all Europe. His +associates were the most illustrious and cultivated men of the liberal +party. At that early period Joseph published a pamphlet advocating the +rights of the people. + +Having finished his studies and taken his degree, Joseph returned to +Corsica. He was admitted to the bar in 1788, being then twenty years of +age, and commenced the practice of law in Ajaccio. Upon this his return +to Corsica he met his brother Napoleon again, who, a few days before, +had landed upon the island. Napoleon was then intensely occupied in +writing a treatise upon the question, "What are the opinions and the +feelings with which it is necessary to inspire men for the promotion of +their happiness?" + +"This was the subject of our conversations," says Joseph, "in our daily +walks, which were prolonged upon the banks of the sea; in sauntering +along the shores of a gulf which was as beautiful as that of Naples, in +a country fragrant with the exhalations of myrtles and oranges. We +sometimes did not return home until night had closed over us. There will +be found, in what remains of this essay, the opinions and the +characteristic traits of Napoleon, who united in his character qualities +which seemed to be contradictory--the calm of reason, illumined with the +flashes of an Oriental imagination; kindliness of soul, exquisite +sensibility; precious qualities which he subsequently deemed it his duty +to conceal, under an artificial character which he studied to assume +when he attained power, saying that men must be governed by one who is +fair and just as law, and not by a prince whose amiability might be +regarded as weakness, when that amiability is not controlled by the most +inflexible justice. + +"He had continually in view," continues Joseph, "the judgment of +posterity. His heart throbbed at the idea of a grand and noble action +which posterity could appreciate. + +"'I would wish to be myself my posterity,' he said to me one day, 'that +I may myself enjoy the sentiments which a great poet, like Corneille, +would represent me as feeling and uttering. The sentiment of duty, the +esteem of a small number of friends, who know us as we know ourselves, +are not sufficient to inspire noble and conscientious actions. With +such motives one can make sages, but not heroes. If the movement now +commenced continue in France, she will draw upon herself the entire of +Europe. She can only be defended by men passionate for glory, who will +be willing to die to-day, that they may live eternally. It is for an end +remote, indeterminate, of which no definite account is taken, that the +inspired minority triumphs over the inert masses. Those are the motives +which have guided the legislators, who have influenced the destinies of +the world.'" + +It is remarkable that at so early a period Napoleon so clearly foresaw +that the opinions of political equality, then struggling for existence +in Paris, and of which he subsequently became so illustrious an +advocate, would, if successful, combine all the despots of Europe in a +warfare against regenerated France. Joseph and Napoleon both warmly +espoused the cause of popular liberty, which was even then upheaving the +throne of the Bourbons. + +At this time, June, 1789, the Constituent Assembly commenced its +world-renowned session in Paris. As soon as the liberal constitution, +which it adopted, was issued, Joseph, who was then president of the +district in Ajaccio, published an elementary treatise upon the +constitution both in French and Italian, for the benefit of the +inhabitants of his native island. This work conferred upon him much +honor, and greatly increased his influence. + +The mayor of the city, Jean Jerome Levie, was a very noble man, and a +particular friend of the Bonapartes. Very liberally he contributed of +his large fortune to aid the poor. "Napoleon," says Joseph, "honored him +at Saint Helena in his last hour, and left him a hundred thousand +francs. This proves the truth of what I have often said of the kindness +and tenderness of Napoleon's heart. It was this which led him in his +last moments to remember the abbe Recco, Professor of the Royal College +of Ajaccio, who in our early childhood, before our departure for the +Continent, kindly admitted us to his class, and devoted to us his +attention. I recall the incident when the pupils were arranged facing +each other upon the opposite sides of the hall under an immense banner, +one portion of which represented the flag of Rome, and the other that of +Carthage. As the elder of the two children, the professor placed me by +his side under the Roman flag. + +[Illustration: JOSEPH AND NAPOLEON--TOUR IN CORSICA.] + +"Napoleon, annoyed at finding himself beneath the flag of Carthage, +which was not the conquering banner, could have no rest until he +obtained a change of place with me, which I readily granted, and for +which he was very grateful. And still, in his triumph, he was disquieted +with the idea of having been unjust to his brother, and it required all +the authority of our mother to tranquilize him. This abbe Recco was also +remembered in his will." + +On one occasion Napoleon accompanied Joseph on horseback to a remote +part of the island, to attend a Convention, where Joseph was to address +the assembly. + +"Napoleon was continually occupied," says Joseph, "in collecting heroic +incidents of the ancient warriors of the country. I read to him my +speech, to which he added several names of the ancient patriots. During +the journey, which we made quite slowly, without a change of horses, his +mind was incessantly employed in studying the positions which the troops +of different nations had occupied, during the many years in which they +had combatted against the inhabitants of the island. My thoughts ran in +another direction. The singular beauty of the scenery interested me much +more." + +Louis Napoleon, in an article which he wrote while a prisoner at Ham, +upon his uncle, King Joseph, just after his death, says: + +"Joseph was born to embellish the arts of peace, while the spirit of his +brother found itself at ease only amid events which war introduces. From +their earliest years this difference of capacity and of inclination was +clearly manifested. Associated in the college at Autun with his brother, +Joseph aided Napoleon in his Latin and Greek compositions, while +Napoleon aided Joseph in all the problems of physics and mathematics. +The one made verses, while the other studied Alexander and Caesar."[A] + +[Footnote A: Quelques Mot sur Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte; Oeuvres de +Napoleon III., tome ii. p. 452.] + +During the meeting of the Convention at Bastia, above alluded to, the +tidings came of the death of Mirabeau. By the request of the President, +Joseph Bonaparte announced the event to the Convention in an appropriate +eulogy. The two brothers had but just returned to Ajaccio when the +grand-uncle of the Bonaparte children died. He had been a firm friend of +the family, and was greatly revered by them all. A few moments before +his death he assembled them around his dying bed, and took an +affectionate leave of each one. Joseph was now a member of the +Directory of the department. We have the testimony of Joseph that the +dying uncle said to his sobbing niece, + +"Letitia, do not weep. I am willing to die since I see you surrounded by +your children. My life is no longer necessary to protect the family of +Charles. Joseph is at the head of the administration of the country; he +can therefore take care of the interests of the family. You, Napoleon, +you will be a great man." + +The French Revolution was now in full career. Napoleon returned to +Paris, and witnessed the awful scenes of the 10th of August, 1792, when +the palace of the Tuileries was stormed, the royal family outraged, and +the guard massacred. He wrote to Joseph, + +"If the king had shown himself on horseback at the head of his troops, +he would have gained the victory; at least so it appeared to me, from +the spirit which that morning seemed to animate the groups of the +people. + +"After the victory of the Marseillaise, I saw one of them upon the +point of killing one of the body-guard; 'Man of the South,' said I, +'let us save the poor fellow.' 'Are you from the South?' said he. +'Yes,' I replied. 'Very well,' he rejoined, 'let him be saved then.'" + +The French monarchy was destroyed. France, delivered from the despotism +of kings, was surrendered to the still greater despotism of irreligion +and ignorance. Faction succeeded faction in ephemeral governments, and +anarchy and terror rioted throughout the kingdom. Thousands of the +nobles fled from France and joined the armies of the surrounding +monarchies, which were on the march to replace the Bourbons on the +throne. The true patriots of the nation, anxious for the overthrow of +the intolerable despotism under which France had so long groaned, were +struggling against the coalition of despots from abroad, while at the +same time they were perilling their lives in the endeavor to resist +the blind madness of the mob at home. With these two foes, equally +formidable, pressing them from opposite quarters, they were making +gigantic endeavors to establish republican institutions upon the basis +of those then in successful operation in the United States. Joseph and +his brother Napoleon with all zeal joined the Republican party. They +were irreconcilably hostile to despotism on the one hand, and to +Jacobinical anarchy upon the other. In devotion to the principles of +republican liberty, they sacrificed their fortunes, and placed their +lives in imminent jeopardy. Anxious as they both were to see the +bulwarks of the old feudal aristocracy battered down, they were still +more hostile to the domination of the mob. + +"I frankly declare," said Napoleon, "that if I were compelled to choose +between the old monarchy and Jacobin misrule, I should infinitely prefer +the former." + +General Paoli had been appointed by Louis XVI. lieutenant-general of +Corsica. This illustrious man, disgusted with the lawless violence which +was now dominant in Paris, and despairing of any salutary reform from +the revolutionary influences which were running riot, through an error +in judgment, which he afterward bitterly deplored, joined the coalition +of foreign powers who, with fleets and armies, were approaching France +to replace, by the bayonet, the rejected Bourbons upon the throne. Both +Joseph and Napoleon were exceedingly attached to General Paoli. He was a +family friend, and his lofty character had won their reverence. Paoli +discerned the dawning greatness of Napoleon even in these early years, +and on one occasion said to him, + +"O Napoleon! you do not at all resemble the moderns. You belong only to +the heroes of Plutarch." + +Paoli made every effort to induce the young Bonapartes to join his +standard; but they, believing that popular rights would yet come out +triumphant, resolutely refused. The peasantry of Corsica, unenlightened, +and confiding in General Paoli, to whom they were enthusiastically +attached, eagerly rallied around his banner. England was the soul of the +coalition now formed against popular rights in France. Paoli, in loyalty +to the Bourbons, and in treason to the French people, surrendered the +island of Corsica to the British fleet. + +The Bonaparte family, in wealth, rank, and influence, was one of the +most prominent upon the island. An exasperated mob surrounded their +dwelling, and the family narrowly escaped with their lives. The house +and furniture were almost entirely destroyed. At midnight Madame +Bonaparte, with Joseph, Napoleon, and all the other children who were +then upon the island, secretly entered a boat in a retired cove, and +were rowed out to a small vessel which was anchored at a short distance +from the shore. The sails were spread, and the exiled family, in +friendlessness, poverty, and dejection, were landed upon the shores of +France. Little did they then dream that their renown was soon to fill +the world; and that each one of those children was to rise to grandeur, +and experience reverses which will never cease to excite the sympathies +of mankind. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +DIPLOMATIC LABORS. + +1793-1797 + +The Allies.--The National Assembly.--Commission of Napoleon.--Marriage +of Joseph.--Madame Bonaparte.--Letter from Napoleon.--Louis Bonaparte. +--Louis Napoleon.--Anecdote.--Marriage of Napoleon.--Carnot.--Joseph +an Ambassador.--Reconquest of Corsica.--Reception in Corsica.--Return +to the Continent.--Joseph at Parma.--The Duke and Duchess.--Anecdote. +--Eliza Bonaparte.--"Napoleon Dynasty."--Pauline Bonaparte.--Undeserved +Reproach.--The Slandered defended.--Joseph at Rome.--The Allies.--The +Pope.--General Provera.--Letter from Napoleon.--Republicans in Rome. +--Policy of Joseph.--Intrigues of the Allies.--The revolutionary +Spirit.--Anecdote.--Joseph in Rome.--The Revolutionists.--Conflict +with the dragoons.--Prudence of Joseph.--Duphot's contemplated +Marriage.--Invasion of the Palace.--Account of the Insurrection.--Death +of Duphot.--Peril of Joseph.--Note to Talleyrand.--Imbecility of the +Papal Government.--The Ministers of Tuscany and Spain.--Joseph leaves +Rome.--Letter of Talleyrand. + + +It was the year 1793. On the 21st of January the unfortunate and guilty +Louis XVI. had been led to the guillotine. The Royalists had surrendered +Toulon to the British fleet. A Republican army was sent to regain the +important port. Joseph Bonaparte was commissioned on the staff of the +major-general in command, and was slightly wounded in the attack upon +Cape Brun. All France was in a state of terrible excitement. Allied +Europe was on the march to crush the revolution. The armies of Austria, +gathered in Italy, were threatening to cross the Alps. The nobles in +France, and all who were in favor of aristocratic domination, were +watching for an opportunity to join the Allies, overwhelm the +revolutionists, and replace the Bourbon family on the throne. + +The National Assembly, which had assumed the supreme command upon the +dethronement of the king, was now giving place to another assembly +gathered in Paris, called the National Convention. Napoleon was +commissioned to obtain artillery and supplies for the troops composing +the Army of Italy, who, few in numbers, quite undisciplined and feeble +in the materials of war, were guarding the defiles of the Alps, to +protect France from the threatened Austrian invasion in that quarter. He +was soon after named general of brigade in the artillery, and was sent +to aid the besieging army at Toulon. Madame Bonaparte and the younger +children were at Marseilles, where Joseph and Napoleon, the natural +guardians of the family, could more frequently visit them. On the last +day of November of this year the British fleet was driven from the +harbor of Toulon, and the city recaptured, as was universally admitted, +by the genius of Napoleon. + +In the year 1794 Joseph married Julie Clary, daughter of one of the +wealthiest capitalists of Marseilles. Her sister Eugenie, to whom +Napoleon was at that time much attached, afterward married Bernadotte, +subsequently King of Sweden. Of Julie Clary the Duchess of Abrantes +says: + +"Madame Joseph Bonaparte is an angel of goodness. Pronounce her name, +and all the indigent, all the unfortunate in Paris, Naples, and Madrid, +will repeat it with blessings. Never did she hesitate a moment to set +about what she conceived to be her duty. Accordingly she is adored by +all about her, and especially by her own household. Her unalterable +kindness, her active charity, gain her the love of every body." + +The brothers kept up a very constant correspondence. These letters have +been published unaltered. They attest the exalted and affectionate +character of both the young men. Napoleon writes to Joseph on the 25th +of June, 1795: + +"In whatever circumstances fortune may place you, you well know, my dear +friend, that you can never have a better friend, one to whom you will +be more dear, and who desires more sincerely your happiness. Life is +but a transient dream, which is soon dissipated. If you go away, to be +absent any length of time, send me your portrait. We have lived so much +together, so closely united, that our hearts are blended. I feel, in +tracing these lines, emotions which I have seldom experienced; I feel +that it will be a long time before we shall meet again, and I can not +continue my letter." + +Again Napoleon writes on the 12th of August: "As for me, but little +attached to life, I contemplate it without much anxiety, finding myself +constantly in the mood of mind in which one finds himself on the eve of +battle, convinced that when death comes in the midst to terminate all +things, it is folly to indulge in solicitude." + +In these letters we see gradually developed the supremacy of the mind of +Napoleon, and that soon, almost instinctively, he is recognized as the +head of the family. On the 6th of September he writes from Paris: + +"I am very well pleased with Louis.[B] He responds to my hopes, and to +the expectations which I had formed for him. He is a fine fellow; ardor, +vivacity, health, talent, exactness in business, kindness, he unites +every thing. You know, my friend, that I live for the benefits which I +can confer upon my family. If my hopes are favored by that good-fortune +which has never abandoned my enterprises, I shall be able to render you +happy, and to fulfill your desires. I feel keenly the absence of Louis. +He was of great service to me. Never was a man more active, more +skillful, more winning. He could do at Paris whatever he wished." + +[Footnote B: Napoleon's younger brother, father of Napoleon III.] + +None of the members of the Bonaparte family were ever ashamed to remind +themselves of the days of their comparative poverty and obscurity. "One +day," writes Louis Napoleon, now Napoleon III., "Joseph related that his +brother Louis, for whom he had felt, from his infancy, all the cares and +tenderness of a father, was about to leave Marseilles to go to school in +Paris. Joseph accompanied him to the diligence. Just before the +diligence started he perceived that it was quite cold, and that Louis +had no overcoat. Not having then the means to purchase him one, and not +wishing to expose his brother to the severity of the weather, he took +off his own cloak and wrapped it around Louis. This action, which they +mutually recalled when they were kings, had always remained engraved in +the hearts of them both, as a tender souvenir of their constant +intimacy."[C] + +[Footnote C: Oeuvres de Napoleon III., tome deuxieme, p. 451.] + +[Illustration: JOSEPH GIVING HIS CLOAK TO HIS BROTHER LOUIS.] + +On the 6th of March, 1796, Napoleon was married to Josephine +Beauharnais. "Thus vanished," writes Joseph Bonaparte, "the hope which +my wife and I had cherished, for several years, of seeing her younger +sister Eugenie united in marriage with my brother Napoleon. Time and +separation disposed of the event otherwise." A few days after Napoleon's +marriage he took command of the Army of Italy, and hastened across the +Alps to the scene of conflict. After the victory of Mondovi, Napoleon, +cherishing the hope of detaching the Italians from the Austrians, sent +Joseph to Paris to urge upon the Directory the importance of making +peace with the Court of Turin. General Junot accompanied Joseph, to +present to the Directory the flags captured from the enemy. The +astonishing victories which Napoleon had gained excited boundless +enthusiasm in Paris. Carnot, one of the Directors, gave a brilliant +entertainment in honor of the two ambassadors, Joseph and Junot. During +the dinner he opened his waistcoat and showed the portrait of Napoleon, +which was suspended near his heart. Turning to Joseph, he said, + +"Say to your brother that I wear his miniature there, because I foresee +that he will be the saviour of France. To accomplish this, it is +necessary that he should know that there is no one in the Directory who +is not his admirer and his friend." + +The measures which Napoleon had suggested were most cordially approved +by all the members of the Government. One of the most important members +of the Cabinet proposed that Joseph Bonaparte should immediately, upon +the ratification of peace, be appointed ambassador of the French +Republic to the Court of Turin. Joseph, with characteristic modesty, +replied, that though he was desirous of entering upon a diplomatic +career, he did not feel qualified to assume at once so important a post. +He was however prevailed upon to enter upon the office. + +From this mission, so successfully accomplished, Joseph returned to his +brother, and joined him at his head-quarters in Milan. Napoleon pressed +forward in his triumphant career, drove the Austrians out of Italy, and +soon effected peace with Naples and with Rome. + +Having accomplished these results, Napoleon immediately fitted out an +expedition for the reconquest of Corsica, his native island, which the +British fleet still held. The expedition was placed under the command of +General Gentili. The troops sailed from Leghorn, and disembarked at +Bastia. Joseph accompanied them. Immediately upon landing, the +Corsicans generally rose and joined their deliverers, and the English +retired in haste from the island. Joseph gives the following account of +his return to his parental home: + +"I was received by the great majority of the population at the distance +of a league from Ajaccio. I took up my residence in the mansion of +Ornano, where I resided for several weeks, until our parental homestead, +which had been devastated, was sufficiently repaired to be occupied. I +could not detect the slightest trace of any unfriendly feelings toward +our family. All the inhabitants, without any exception, hastened to +greet me. In my turn, I reorganized the government without consulting +any other voice than the public good. A commissioner from the Directory +soon arrived, and he sanctioned, without any exception, all the measures +which I had adopted. + +"Having thus fulfilled, according to my best judgment, the mission which +fraternal kindness had intrusted to me, and leaving our native island +tranquil and happy in finding itself again restored to the laws of +France, I prepared to return to the Continent, having made a sojourn in +Corsica of three months." + +On the 27th of March, 1797, Joseph was appointed ambassador to the Court +of Parma. He presented to the duke credentials from the Directory of the +French Republic, containing the following sentiments: + +"The desire which we have to maintain and to cherish the friendship and +the kind relations happily established between the French Republic and +the Duchy of Parma, has induced us to appoint Citizen Bonaparte to +reside at the Court of your Royal Highness in quality of ambassador. +The knowledge which we have of his principles and his sentiments is to +us a sure guarantee that the choice which we have made of his person to +fulfill that honorable mission will be agreeable to you, and we are +well persuaded that he will do every thing in his power to justify the +confidence we have placed in him. It is in that persuasion that we pray +your Royal Highness to repose entire faith in every thing which he may +say in our behalf, and particularly whenever he may renew the assurance +of the friendship with which we cherish your Royal Highness." + +The Duke of Parma had married an Austrian duchess, sister of Maria +Antoinette. She was an energetic woman, and in conjunction with the +ecclesiastics, who crowded the palace, had great control over her +husband. But the spirit of the French Revolution already pervaded many +minds in Parma. Not a few were restive under the old feudal domination +of the duke and the arrogance of the Church. One day Joseph was walking +through the gardens of the ducal palace with several of the dignitaries +of the Court. He spoke with admiration of the architectural grandeur and +symmetry of the regal mansion. + +"That is true," one replied, "but turn your eyes to the neighboring +convent; how far does it surpass in magnificence the palace of the +sovereign! Unhappy is that country where things are so." + +After the peace of Leoben Napoleon returned to Milan and established +himself, for several months, at the chateau of Montebello. Joseph soon +joined his brother there. In the mean time their eldest sister, Eliza, +had been married to M. Bacciochi, a young officer of great distinction. +He was afterward created a prince by Napoleon. He was a man of elegant +manners, and had attained no little distinction in literary and artistic +accomplishments. + +"We have often been amused," say the authors of the "Napoleon Dynasty," +"to see British writers, some of whom doubtless never passed beyond the +Channel, speak depreciatingly of the manners and refinement of these +new-made princes and nobles of Napoleon's Empire. Those who are familiar +with the elegant manners of the refined Italians read such slurs with a +smile. Whatever may be the crimes of the Italians, they have never been +accused, by those who know them, of coarseness of manner, or lack of +refinement of mind and taste. Eliza is said to have possessed more of +her brother's genius than any other one of the sisters. Chateaubriand, +La Harpe, Fontanes, and many other of the most illustrious men of France +sought her society, and have expressed their admiration of her talents." + +At Montebello the second sister, Pauline, was married to General +Leclerc. Pauline was pronounced by Canova to be the most peerless model +of grace and beauty in all Europe. The same envenomed pen of slander +which has dared to calumniate even the immaculate Josephine has also +been busy in traducing the character of Pauline. We here again quote +from the "Napoleon Dynasty," by the Berkeley men: + +"No satisfactory evidence has ever been adduced, in any quarter, that +Pauline was not a virtuous woman. Those who were mainly instrumental in +originating and circulating these slanders at the time about her, were +the very persons who had endeavored to load the name of Josephine with +obloquy. Those who saw her could not withhold their admiration. But the +blood of Madame Mere was in her veins, and the Bonapartes, especially +the women of the family, have always been too proud and haughty to +degrade themselves. Even had they lacked what is technically called +moral character, their virtue has been intrenched behind their ancestry, +and the achievements of their own family; nor was there at any time an +instant when any one of the Bonapartes could have overstepped, by a +hair's breadth, the bounds of decency without being exposed. None of +them pursued the noiseless tenor of their way along the vale of +obscurity. They were walking in the clear sunshine, on the topmost +summits of the earth, and millions of enemies were watching every step +they took. + +"The highest genius of historians, the bitterest satire of dramatists, +the meanest and most malignant pens of the journalists have assailed +them for more than half a century. We have written these words because +a Republican is the only one likely to speak well even of the good +things of the Bonaparte family. It was, and is, and will be, the dynasty +of the people standing there from 1804 a fearful antagonism against the +feudal age, and its souvenirs of oppression and crime." + +On the 7th of May, 1797, Joseph was promoted to the post of minister +from the French Republic to the Court at Rome. He received instructions +from his Government to make every effort to maintain friendly relations +with that spiritual power, which exerted so vast an influence over the +masses of Europe. Pope Pius VI. gave him a very cordial reception, and +seemed well disposed to employ all his means of persuasion and authority +to induce the Vendeans in France to accept the French Republic. The +Vendeans, enthusiastic Catholics, and devoted to the Bourbons, were +still, with amazing energy, perpetuating civil war in France. The +Allies, ready to make use of any instrumentality whatever to crush +republicanism, were doing every thing in their power to encourage the +Vendeans in their rebellion. The Austrian ambassador at the Papal Court +was unwearied in his endeavors to circumvent the peaceful mission of +Joseph. + +Though the Pope himself and his Secretary of State were inclined to +amicable relations with the French Government, his Cabinet, the Sacred +College, composed exclusively of ecclesiastics, was intent upon the +restoration of the Bourbons, by which restoration alone the Catholic +religion could be reinstated with exclusive power in France. + +By the intrigues of Austria, General Provera, an _Austrian officer_, was +placed in command of all the Papal forces. Joseph immediately +communicated this fact to the Directory in Paris, and also to his +brother. This Austrian officer had been fighting against the French in +Italy, and had three times been taken prisoner by the French troops. + +Napoleon, who had lost all confidence in the French Directory, and who, +by virtue of his victories, had assumed the control of Italian +diplomacy, immediately wrote as follows to Joseph: + + "Milan, Dec. 14, 1797. + +"I shared your indignation, citizen ambassador, when you informed me of +the arrival of General Provera. You may declare positively to the Court +of Rome that if it receive into its service any officer known to have +been in the service of the Emperor of Austria, all good understanding +between France and Rome will cease from that hour, and war will be +already declared. + +"You will let it be known, by a special note to the Pope, which you +will address to him in person, that although peace may be made with his +majesty the Emperor, the French Republic will not consent that the Pope +should accept among his troops any officer or agent belonging to the +Emperor of any denomination, except the usual diplomatic agents. You +will require the departure of M. Provera from the Roman territory within +twenty-four hours, in default whereof you will declare that you quit +Rome." + + * * * * * + +The spirit of the French Revolution at this time pervaded to a greater +or less degree all the kingdoms of Europe. In Rome there was a very +active party of Republicans anxious for a change of government. Napoleon +did not wish to encourage this party in an insurrection. By so doing, he +would exasperate still more the monarchs of Europe, who were already +combined in deadly hostility against republican France; neither did he +think the Republican party in Rome sufficiently strong to maintain their +cause, or the people sufficiently enlightened for self-government. Thus +he was not at all disposed to favor any insurrectionary movements in +Rome; neither was he disposed to render any aid whatever to the Papal +Government in opposing those who were struggling for greater political +liberty. He only demanded that France should be left by the other +governments in Europe in entire liberty to choose her own institutions. +And he did not wish that France should interfere, in any way whatever, +with the internal affairs of other nations. + +While Joseph was officiating as ambassador at Rome, endeavoring to +promote friendly relations between the Papal See and the new French +Republic, he was much embarrassed by the operations of two opposite and +hostile parties of intriguants at that court. The Austrians, and all the +other European cabinets, were endeavoring to influence the Pope to give +his powerful moral support against the French Revolution. On the other +hand there was a party of active revolutionists, both native and +foreign, in Rome, struggling to rouse the populace to an insurrection +against the Government, to overthrow the Papal power entirely, as France +had overthrown the Bourbon power, and to establish a republic. These +men hoped for the countenance and support of France. But Joseph +Bonaparte could lend them no countenance. He was received as a friendly +ambassador at that court, and could not without ignominy take part with +conspirators to overthrow the Government. He was also bound to watch +with the utmost care, and thwart, if possible, the efforts of the +Austrians, and other advocates of the old regime. + +On the 27th of December three members of the revolutionary party called +upon Joseph and informed him that during the night a revolution was to +break out, and they wished to communicate the fact to him, that he might +not be taken by surprise. Joseph reproved them, stating that he did not +think it right for him, an ambassador at the Court of Rome, to listen to +such a communication; and moreover he assured them that the movement was +ill-timed, and that it could not prove successful. + +They replied that they came to him for advice, for they hoped that +republican France would protect them in their revolution as soon as it +was accomplished. Joseph informed them that, as an impartial spectator, +he should give an account to his Government of whatever scenes might +occur, but that he could give them no encouragement whatever; that +France was anxious to promote a general peace on the Continent, and +would look with regret upon any occurrences which might retard that +peace. He also repeated his assurance that the revolutionary party in +Rome had by no means sufficient strength to attain their end, and he +entreated them to desist from their purpose. + +The committee were evidently impressed by his representations. They +departed declaring that every thing should remain quiet for the present, +and the night passed away in tranquillity. On the evening of the next +day one of the Government party called, and confidentially informed +Joseph that the _blunderheads_ were ridiculously contemplating a +movement which would only involve them in ruin. The Papal Government, by +means of spies, was not only informed of all the movements contemplated, +but through these spies, as pretended revolutionists, the Government was +actually aiding in getting up the insurrection, which it would promptly +crush with a bloody hand. + +At 4 o'clock the next morning Joseph was aroused from sleep by a +messenger who informed him that about a hundred of the revolutionists +had assembled at the villa Medici, where they were surrounded by the +troops of the Pope. Joseph, who had given the revolutionists good advice +in vain, turned upon his pillow and fell asleep again. In the morning he +learned that there had been a slight conflict, that two of the Pope's +dragoons had been killed, and that the insurgents had been put to +flight; several of them having been arrested. These insurgents had +assumed the French national cockade, implying that they were acting, +in some degree of co-operation, with revolutionary France. + +Joseph immediately called upon the Secretary of State, and informed him +that far from complaining of the arrest of persons who had assumed the +French cockade, he came to make the definite request that he would +arrest all such persons who were not in the service of the French +legation. He also informed the secretary that six individuals had taken +refuge within his jurisdiction. At Rome the residences of the foreign +ambassadors enjoyed the privilege of sanctuary in common with most of +the churches. Joseph informed the secretary, that if those who had taken +refuge in his palace were of the insurgents, they should be given up. +As he returned to his residence he found General Duphot, a very +distinguished French officer, who the next day was to be married to +Joseph's wife's sister, and several other French gentlemen, eagerly +conversing upon the folly of the past night. Just as they were sitting +down to dinner, the porter informed him that some twenty persons were +endeavoring to enter the palace, and that they were distributing French +cockades to the passers-by, and were shouting "Live the Republic." One +of these revolutionists, a French artist, burst like a maniac into the +presence of the ambassador, exclaiming "We are free, and have come to +demand the support of France." + +Joseph sternly reproved him for his senseless conduct, and ordered him +to retire immediately from the protection of the Embassy, and to take +his comrades with him, or severe measures would be resorted to. One of +the officers said to the artist scornfully, "Where would your pretended +liberty be, should the governor of the city open fire upon you?" + +The artist retired in confusion. But the tumult around the palace +increased. Joseph's friends saw, in the midst of the mob, well-known +spies of the Government urging them on, shouting _Vive la Republique_, +and scattering money with a liberal hand. The insurgents were availing +themselves of the palace of the French ambassador as their place of +rendezvous, and where, if need be, they hoped to find a sanctuary. +Joseph took the insignia of his office, and calling upon the officers of +his household to follow him, descended into the court, intending to +address the mob, as he spoke their language. In leaving the cabinet, +they heard a prolonged discharge of fire-arms. It was from the troops of +the Government; a picket of cavalry, in violation of the established +usages of national courtesy, had invaded the jurisdiction of the French +ambassador, which, protected by his flag, was regarded as the soil of +France, and, without consulting the ambassador, were discharging volleys +of musketry through the three vast arches of the palace. Many dropped +dead; others fell wounded and bleeding. The terrified crowd precipitated +itself into the courts and on the stairs, pursued by the avenging +bullets of the Government. Joseph and his friends, as they boldly forced +their way through the flying multitude, encountered the dying and the +dead, and not a few Government spies, who they knew were paid to excite +the insurrection and then to denounce the movement to the authorities. + +Just as they were stepping out of the vestibule they met a company of +fusileers who had followed the cavalry. At the sight of the French +ambassador they stopped. Joseph demanded the commander. He, conscious of +the lawlessness of his proceedings, had concealed himself in the ranks, +and could not be distinguished. He then demanded of the troops by whose +order they entered upon the jurisdiction of France, and commanded them +to retire. A scene of confusion ensued, some advancing, others retiring. +Joseph then facing them, said, in a very decisive tone, "that the first +one who should attempt to pass the middle of the court would encounter +trouble." + +He drew his sword, and Generals Duphot and Sherlock and two other +officers of his escort, armed with swords or pistols and poniards, +ranged themselves at his side to resist their advance. The musketeers +retired just beyond pistol-shot, and then deliberately fired a general +discharge in the direction of Joseph and his friends. None of the party +immediately surrounding the ambassador were struck, but several were +killed in their rear. + +Joseph, with General Duphot, boldly advanced as the soldiers were +reloading their muskets, and ordered them to retire from the +jurisdiction of France, saying that the ambassador would charge himself +with the punishment of the insurgents, and that he would immediately +send one of his own officers to the Vatican or to the Governor of Rome, +and that the affair would thus be settled. The soldiers seemed to pay no +regard to this, and continued loading their muskets. General Duphot, one +of the most brave and impetuous of men, leaped forward into the midst of +the bayonets of the soldiers, prevented one from loading and struck up +the gun of another, who was just upon the point of firing. Joseph and +General Sherlock, as by instinct, followed him. + +Some of the soldiers seized General Duphot, dragged him rudely beyond +the sacred precincts of the ambassador's palace and the flag of France, +and then a soldier discharged a musket into his bosom. The heroic +general fell, and immediately painfully rose, leaning upon his +sabre. Joseph, who witnessed it all, in the midst of this scene of +indescribable confusion called out to his friend, who the next day was +to be his brother-in-law, to return. General Duphot attempted it, when +a second shot prostrated him upon the pavement. More than fifty shots +were then discharged into his lifeless body. + +The soldiers now directed their fire upon Joseph and General Sherlock. +Fortunately there was a door through which they escaped into the garden +of the palace, where they were for a moment sheltered from the bullets +of the assassins. Another company of Government troops had now arrived, +and was firing from the other side of the street. Two French officers, +from whom Joseph had been separated, now joined him and General Sherlock +in the garden. There was nothing to prevent the soldiers from entering +the palace, where Joseph's wife and her sister, who the next day was to +have become the wife of General Duphot, were trembling in terror. Joseph +and his friends regained the palace by the side of the garden. The court +was now filled with the soldiers, and with the insurgents who had so +foolishly and ignominiously caused this horrible scene. Twenty of the +insurgents lay dead upon the pavement. + +"I entered the palace," Joseph writes in his dispatch to Talleyrand; +"the walks were covered with blood, with the dying, dragging themselves +along, and with the wounded, loudly groaning. We closed the three gates +fronting upon the street. The lamentations of the betrothed of Duphot, +that young hero who, constantly in the advance-guard of the armies of +the Pyrenees and of Italy, had always been victorious, butchered by +cowardly brigands; the absence of her mother and of her brother, whom +curiosity had drawn from the palace to see the monuments of Rome; the +fusillade which continued in the streets, and against the gates of the +palace; the outer apartments of the vast palace of Corsini, which I +inhabited, thronged with people of whose intentions we were ignorant: +these circumstances and many others rendered the scene inconceivably +cruel." + +Joseph immediately summoned the servants of the household around him. +Three had been wounded. The French officers, impelled by an instinct +of national pride, heroically emerged from the palace, with the aid +of these domestics, to rescue the body of their unfortunate general. +Taking a circuitous route, notwithstanding the fusillade which was +still continued, they succeeded in reaching the spot of his cowardly +assassination. There they found the remains of this truly noble young +man, despoiled, pierced with bullets, clotted with blood, and covered +with stones which had been thrown upon him. + +It was six o'clock in the evening. Two hours had elapsed since the +assassination of Duphot; and yet not a member of the Roman Government +had appeared at the palace to bring protection or to restore order. +Joseph was, properly, very indignant, and resolved at once to call for +his passports and leave the city. He wrote a brief note to the Secretary +of State, and sent it by a faithful domestic, who succeeded in the +darkness in passing through the crowd of soldiers. As the firing was +still continued, Joseph and his friends anxiously watched the messenger +from the attic windows of the palace till he was lost from sight. + +An hour passed, and some one was heard knocking at the gate with +repeated blows. They supposed that it was certainly the governor or +some Roman officer of commanding authority. It proved to be Chevalier +Angiolini, minister from Tuscany, the envoy of a prince who was in +friendly alliance with the French Republic. As he passed through the +soldiery they stopped his carriage, and sarcastically asked him "if +he were in search of dangers and bullet-wounds." He courageously and +reproachfully replied, "There can be no such dangers in Rome within the +jurisdiction of the ambassador of France." This was a severe reproach +against the officers of a nation who were indebted to the moderation +of the French Republic for their continued political existence. The +minister of Spain soon also presented himself, braving all the dangers +of the street, which were truly very great. They were both astonished +that no public officer had arrived, and expressed much indignation in +view of the violation of the rights of the Embassy. + +Ten o'clock arrived, and still no public officer had made his +appearance. Joseph wrote a second letter to the cardinal. An answer now +came, which was soon followed by an officer and about forty men, who +said that they had been sent to protect the ambassador's communications +with the Secretary of State. But they had no authority or power to +rescue the palace from the insurgents, who were crowded into one part +of it, and from the Government troops, who occupied another part. +No attention had been paid to Joseph's reiterated demands for the +liberation of the palace from the dominion of the insurgents and the +troops. + +Joseph then wrote to the secretary, demanding immediately his passport. +It was sent to him two hours after midnight. At six o'clock in the +morning, fourteen hours after the assassination of General Duphot, the +investment of the palace by the troops and the massacre of the people +who had crowded into it, not a single Roman officer had made his +appearance charged by the Government to investigate the state of +affairs. + +Joseph, after having secured the safety of the few French remaining +at Rome, left for Tuscany, and in a dispatch to the French Government +minutely detailed the events which had occurred. In the conclusion of +his dispatch he wrote: + +"This Government is not inconsistent with itself. Crafty and rash in +perpetrating crime, cowardly and fawning when it has been committed, it +is to-day upon its knees before the minister Azara, that he may go to +Florence and induce me to return to Rome. So writes to me that generous +friend of France, worthy of dwelling in a land where his virtues and +his noble loyalty may be better appreciated." + +In reply to this dispatch the French minister, Talleyrand, wrote to +Joseph, "I have received, citizen, the heart-rending letter which you +have written me upon the frightful events which transpired at Rome on +the 28th of December. Notwithstanding the care which you have taken to +conceal every thing personal to yourself during that horrible day, you +have not been able to conceal from me that you have manifested, in the +highest degree, courage, coolness, and that intelligence which nothing +can escape; and that you have sustained with magnanimity the honor of +the French name. The Directory charges me to express to you, in the +strongest and most impressive terms, its extreme satisfaction with your +whole conduct. You will readily believe, I trust, that I am happy to be +the organ of these sentiments." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +JOSEPH THE PEACE-MAKER. + +1798-1802 + +Elected to the Council of Five Hundred.--Remarks of Napoleon. +--Napoleon's Patriotism.--The Directory.--State of France.--Anarchy. +--Joseph sends to Napoleon.--Return of Napoleon.--Remarks of Moreau. +--18th Brumaire.--Character of Joseph.--Plans and Measures of Napoleon. +--Joseph an Ambassador.--Peace of Luneville.--Hostility of England. +--Religious Reaction.--The Concordat.--The Re-establishment of +Christianity.--Peace of Amiens.--Anecdote of Lord Cornwallis.--Hostility +of the English Government.--Treaty of Amiens Concluded.--Bernardin de +St. Pierre.--Talleyrand.--Madame de Stael. + + +Joseph, after a short tarry at Florence, returned to Paris, where he +again met his brother. Napoleon was much disappointed with the result +of the embassy to Rome, for he had ardently hoped to cultivate the +most friendly relations with that power. Joseph was favored with a +long interview with the Directory, by whom he was received with great +cordiality. In testimony of their satisfaction, they offered him +the embassy to Berlin. He, however, declined the appointment, as he +preferred to enter the Council of Five Hundred, to which office he had +been nominated by the Electoral College of one of the departments. The +Government of France then consisted of an Executive of five Directors, a +Senate, called the Council of Ancients, and a House of Representatives, +called the Council of Five Hundred. + +Preparations were now making for the expedition to Egypt. The command +was offered to Napoleon. For some time he hesitated before accepting it. +One day he said to his brother Joseph, + +"The Directory see me here with uneasiness, notwithstanding all my +efforts to throw myself into the shade. Neither the Directory nor I can +do any thing to oppose that tendency to a more centralized government, +which is so manifestly inevitable. Our dreams of a republic were the +illusions of youth. Since the ninth Thermidor,[D] the Republican +instinct has grown weaker every day. The efforts of the Bourbons, of +foreigners, sustained by the remembrance of the year 1793, had re-united +against the Republican system an imposing majority. But for the +thirteenth Vendemiaire[E] and the eighteenth Fructidor,[F] this majority +would have triumphed a long time ago. The feebleness, the dissensions +of the Directory, have done the rest. It is upon me that all eyes are +fixed to-day. To-morrow they will be fixed upon some one else. While +waiting for that other one to appear, if he is to appear, my interest +tells me that no violence should be done to fortune. We must leave to +fortune an open field. + +[Footnote D: 9th Thermidor, 28th of July, 1794. This was the date of the +overthrow of Robespierre, and of the termination of the Reign of Terror. +The enormous atrocities perpetrated under the name of the Republic had +excited general distrust of republican institutions.] + +[Footnote E: 13th Vendemiaire, 5th of October, 1795, when Napoleon +quelled the insurgent sections.] + +[Footnote F: 18th Fructidor, 4th of September, 1797. On this day the +majority of the French Directory overthrew the minority, who were in +favor of monarchical institutions. Sixty-three Deputies were banished +for conspiring to introduce monarchy. Both councils renewed their oath +of hatred against royalty.] + +"Many persons hope still in the Republic. Perhaps they have reason. I +leave for the East, with all means for success. If my country has need +of me--if the number of those who think with Talleyrand, Sieyes, and +Roederer should increase, should war be resumed, and prove unfriendly +to the arms of France, I shall return more sure of the opinion of +the nation. If, on the contrary, the war should be favorable to the +Republic, if a military statesman like myself should rise and gather +around him the wishes of the people, very well, I shall render, perhaps, +still greater services to the world in the East than he can do. I shall +probably overthrow English domination, and shall arrive more surely at +a maritime peace, than by the demonstrations which the Directory makes +upon the shores of the Channel. + +"The system of France must become that of Europe in order to be durable. +We see thus very evidently what is required. I wish what the nation +wishes. Truly I do not know what it wishes to-day, but we shall know +better hereafter. Till then let us study its wishes and its necessities. +I do not wish to usurp any thing. I shall, at all events, find renown in +the East; and if that renown can be made serviceable to my country, I +will return with it. I will then endeavor to secure the stability of the +happiness of France in securing, if it is possible, the prosperity of +Europe, and extending our free principles into neighboring states, who +may be made friends if they can profit from our misfortunes." + +"Such," says Joseph, "were the habitual thoughts of General Bonaparte. +His happiness was not to depend merely upon the possession of power. He +wished to merit the gratitude of his country and of posterity by his +deeds, and to conform his life to duty, sure that it was by such renown +alone that his name could pass down to future ages." + +Joseph was now a member of the Council of Five Hundred. His brother +Lucien, though he was still very young, had also been elected a member +of the same body. The brilliant achievements of the young conqueror in +the East roused the enthusiasm of France. The conquest of Malta, the +landing at Alexandria, the battle of the Pyramids, and the entrance +into Cairo, had been reported through France, rousing in every hill +and valley shouts of exultation. Napoleon was rapidly gaining that +renown which would enable him to control and to guide his countrymen. + +The Directory still nominally governed France, though the affairs of +the nation, under their inefficiency and misrule, were passing rapidly +to ruin. The Directors contemplated with alarm the rising celebrity +which Napoleon was acquiring in the East. They made a formidable attack +upon him, through a committee, in the Council of Five Hundred. Joseph +defended his absent brother with so much eloquence and power, as to +confound his accusers, and he obtained a unanimous verdict in his favor. + +The state of things in France was now very deplorable. The Allies with +vigor had renewed the war. The Austrian armies had again overrun Italy, +and were threatening to scale the Alps, and to rush down upon the plains +of France. The British fleet, the most powerful military arm the world +has ever known, had swept the commerce of France from all seas, had +captured many of her colonies, and was bombarding, with shot and shell, +every city of the Republic within reach of its broadsides. The five +Directors were quarrelling among themselves, some favoring monarchy, +others republicanism. The two councils, that of the Ancients and that of +the Five Hundred, were at antagonism. Many formidable conspiracies were +formed, some for the support of the Allies and the restoration of the +Bourbons, others for the re-introduction of the Jacobinical Reign of +Terror. + +France was in a state of general anarchy. There was no man of sufficient +celebrity to gain the confidence of the people, so that he could assume +the office of leader, and bring order out of chaos. The once mighty +monarchy of France was in the condition of a mob, without a head, +careering this way and that way, in tumultuous and inextricable +confusion. Joseph sent a special messenger, a Greek by the name of +Bourbaki, to Jean d'Acre, to communicate to Napoleon the state of +affairs. + +Informed of these facts, at this momentous crisis Napoleon, having +attained renown which caused every eye in France to be fixed upon him, +landed at Frejus, and was borne along, with the acclamations of the +multitude, to Paris. Immediately upon the young general's arrival, +General Moreau hastened to his humble residence in the Rue de la +Victoire, and earnestly said to him, + +"Disgusted with the government of the lawyers, who have ruined the +Republic, I come to offer you my aid to save the country." + +A number of the most distinguished men of France crowded the small +parlors of General Bonaparte. As he was speaking, with that genius which +ever commanded attention and assent, of the political condition and +wants of France, Moreau interrupted him, saying, + +"I only desire to unite my efforts with yours to save France. I am +convinced that you only have the power. The generals and the officers +who have served under me are now in Paris, and are ready to co-operate +with you." The little saloon was crowded. General Macdonald was present. +Generals Jourdan and Augereau had conversed with Salicetti, and reported +that Bernadotte and a majority of the Council of Five Hundred were in +favor of the movement. + +Joseph co-operated diligently with Napoleon in the measures now set on +foot to rescue France from destruction. Joseph dined with Sieyes. At +the table Sieyes said to his guests, + +"I wish to unite with General Bonaparte, for of all the military men he +is the most of a statesman." + +On the 18th Brumaire[G] the Directory was overthrown, and, without one +drop of blood being shed, a new government was organized, and Napoleon +was made consul. The world is divided, and perhaps may forever remain +divided, in its judgment of this event. Some call Napoleon a usurper. +France then called him, and still calls him, the saviour of his country. + +[Footnote G: _18th Brumaire_, Nov. 9th, 1799.] + +In the midst of these tumultuary scenes, when it was uncertain whether +Napoleon would gain his ends or fall upon the scaffold, General Augereau +came, in great alarm, to St. Cloud, and informed Napoleon that his +enemies in the two councils were proposing to vote him an outlaw. + +"Very well," said Napoleon calmly, "you and I, General Augereau, have +long been acquainted with each other. Say to your friends the cork is +drawn, we must now drink the wine." + +Joseph Bonaparte, who a little before these events had withdrawn from +the Council of Five Hundred, was with his brother constantly through +these momentous scenes. Immediately after the establishment of the new +government he was appointed a member of the legislative body, and soon +after of the Council of State. Joseph had become a very wealthy man, +having acquired a large fortune by his marriage. He owned a very +beautiful estate at Mortfontaine, but a few leagues from Paris. Both +Joseph and his wife were extremely fond of the quiet, domestic pleasures +of rural life. Neither of them had any taste for the excitement and the +splendors of state. But France, in her condition of peril, assailed by +the allied despotism of Europe without, and agitated by conspiracies +within, demanded the energies of every patriotic arm. Joseph was thus +constrained to sacrifice his inclinations to his sense of duty. He +rendered his brother invaluable assistance by the energy and the +conciliatory manners with which he endeavored to carry out the plans of +the First Consul. Lucien Bonaparte, eight years younger than Joseph, +accepted the post of Minister of the Interior. + +Before the overthrow of the Directory mob law had reigned triumphant in +Paris. Napoleon, as first consul, immediately took up his residence in +the palace of the Tuileries. It was proposed to him that he should close +the gates of the garden of the Tuileries, that it might no longer be a +place of public resort. Joseph strenuously opposed the measure, and it +was renounced. The great object Napoleon aimed at was to ascertain the +wishes of the people, that he might be the executor of their will. His +only power consisted in having cordially with him the masses of the +population. He was untiring in his endeavors to ascertain public +sentiment, and endeavored to adopt those measures which should, from +their manifest wisdom and justice, secure public approbation. In this +service Joseph was invaluable to his brother. He gave brilliant +entertainments at his chateau at Mortfontaine; and being a man of +remarkably amiable spirit and polished manners, he secured the +confidence of all parties, and exerted a very powerful influence in +healing the wounds of past strife. At these entertainments Joseph made +it his constant object to study the wishes and the opinions of the +different classes of society. + +The Directory had involved the public in serious difficulties with the +United States. Napoleon immediately appointed Joseph, with two +associates, to adjust all the differences between the two countries. As +both parties were disposed to friendly relations, all difficulties were +speedily terminated, and a treaty was signed on the 30th of September, +1800, at Joseph's mansion at Mortfontaine. + +England and Austria, with great vigor, still pressed the war upon +France, notwithstanding the earnest appeals of Napoleon to the King of +England and the Emperor of Austria in behalf of peace. This refusal to +sheathe the sword rendered the campaign of Marengo a necessity. Napoleon +crossed the Alps, and upon the plains of Marengo almost demolished the +armies of Austria. The haughty Emperor was compelled to sue for that +peace which he had so scornfully rejected. The commissioners of the two +powers met at Luneville. Napoleon, highly gratified at the skill which +Joseph had displayed in adjusting the difficulties in the United States, +appointed him as the ambassador from France to secure a treaty with +Austria. The two brothers were in daily, and sometimes in hourly +conference in reference to the questions of vast national importance +which this treaty involved. But Joseph was again entirely successful. On +the 9th of February, 1801, the peace of Luneville was concluded, to the +great satisfaction of the Emperor, and to the great gratification of +France. Napoleon says, in the conclusion of a letter which he wrote to +Joseph upon this subject, "The nation is satisfied with the treaty, and +I am exceedingly pleased with it." + +France was now at peace with all the Continent. England alone implacably +continued the war. But England was inaccessible to any blows which +France could strike without making efforts more gigantic than nation +ever attempted before. Napoleon resolved to make these efforts to attain +peace. He prepared almost to bridge the Channel with his fleet and +gun-boats, that he might pour an army of invasion upon the shores of the +belligerent isle, and thus compel the British to sheathe the sword. +While these immense preparations were going on, the First Consul devoted +his energies to the reconstruction of society in France. + +Revolutionary fury had swept all the institutions of the past into +chaotic ruin. The good and the bad had been alike demolished. +Christianity had been entirely overthrown, her churches destroyed, and +her priesthood either slaughtered upon the guillotine, or driven from +the realm. France presented the revolting aspect of a mighty nation +without morality, without religion, and without a God. The masses of the +people, particularly in the rural districts of France, had become +disgusted with the reign of vice and misery. They longed to enjoy again +the quietude of the Sabbath morning, the tones of the Sabbath bell, +the gathering of the congregations in the churches, and all those +ministrations of religion which cheer the joyous hours of the bridal, +and which convey solace to the chamber of death. The overwhelming +majority of the people of France were Roman Catholics. Among the +millions who peopled the extensive realm there were but a few thousands +who were Protestants. Napoleon had not the power, even had he wished it, +of establishing Protestantism as the national religion. + +He therefore, in accordance with his policy of adopting those measures +which were in accordance with the wishes of the people, resolved to +recognize the Catholic religion as the religion of France, while at the +same time he enforced perfect liberty of conscience for all other +religious sects. He also determined that all the high dignitaries of the +Church should be appointed by the French Government, and not by the +Pope. He deemed it not befitting the dignity of France, or in accordance +with her interests, that a foreign potentate, by having the appointment +of all the places of ecclesiastical power, should wield so immense an +influence over the French people. + +But to re-establish the Catholic religion, and to invest it with the +supremacy which it had gained over the imaginations of men, it was +necessary to bring the system under the paternal jurisdiction of the +Pope, who throughout all Europe was the recognized father and head of +the Church. + +But the Pope was jealous of his power. He would be slow to consent that +any officers of the Church should be appointed by any voice which did +not emanate from the Vatican. It was also an established decree of the +Church that heresy was a crime, meriting the severest punishment, both +civil and ecclesiastical. The Pope, therefore, could not consent that +anywhere within his spiritual domain freedom of conscience should be +tolerated. Under these circumstances, nothing could be more difficult +than the accomplishment of the plan which Napoleon had proposed for the +promotion of the peace and prosperity of France. + +The eyes of the First Consul were immediately turned to his brother +Joseph, as the most fitting man in France to conduct negotiations of +somuch delicacy and importance. He consequently was appointed, in +conjunction with M. Cretet, Minister of the Interior, and the abbe +Bernier, subsequently Bishop of Orleans, as commissioner on the part +of France to a conference with the Holy See. The Pope sent, as his +representatives, the cardinals Consalvi and Spina, and the father +Caselli. Here again Joseph was entirely successful, and accomplished +hismission by securing all those results which the First Consul so +earnestly had desired. + +The celebrated Concordat[H] was signed July 15th, 1801, at the +residence of Joseph in Paris, in the Rue Faubourg St. Honore. It was two +o'clock in the morning when the signatures of the several commissioners +were affixed to this important document. + +[Footnote H: "I hold it for certain that in 1802 the Concordat was, on +the part of Napoleon, an act of superior intelligence, much more than of +a despotic spirit, and for the Christian religion in France an event as +salutary as it was necessary. After the anarchy and the revolutionary +orgies, the solemn recognition of Christianity by the State could alone +give satisfaction to public sentiment, and assure to the Christian +influence the dignity and the stability which it was needful that it +should recover."--Meditations sur l'etat Actuel de la Religion +Chretienne, par M. Guizot, p. 5.] + +"At the same hour," writes Joseph, "I became the father of a third +infant, whose birth was saluted by the congratulations of the +plenipotentiaries of the two great powers, and whose prosperity was +augured by the envoys of the vicar of Christ. Their prayers have not +been granted. A widow at thirty years of age, separated from her father, +proscribed, as has been all the rest of her family, there only remains +to her the consolation of reflecting that she has not merited her +misfortunes."[I] + +[Footnote I: This daughter subsequently married her cousin, the brother +of the Emperor Napoleon III., the second son of Louis Bonaparte. He died +at an early age, in a campaign for the liberation of Italy.] + +Thus did Napoleon re-establish the Christian religion throughout the +whole territory of France. In this measure he was strenuously opposed by +many of his leading officers, and by the corrupt revolutionary circles +of France, yet throughout all the rural districts the restoration of +religion was received with boundless enthusiasm. + +"The sound of the village bells," writes Alison, "again calling the +faithful to the house of God, was hailed by millions as the dove with +the olive-branch, which first pronounced peace to the green, undeluged +earth. The thoughtful and religious everywhere justly considered the +voluntary return of a great nation to the creed of its fathers, from the +experienced impossibility of living without its precepts, as the most +signal triumph which has occurred since it ascended the imperial throne +under the banners of Constantine." + +Nearly all the powers upon the Continent of Europe were now at peace +with France. England alone still refused to sheathe the sword. But the +_people_ of England began to remonstrate so determinedly against this +endless war, which was openly waged to force upon France a detested +dynasty, that the English Government was compelled, though with much +reluctance, to listen to proposals for peace. + +The latter part of the year 1801, the plenipotentiaries of France and +England met at Amiens, an intermediate point between London and Paris. +England appointed, as her ambassador, Lord Cornwallis, a nobleman of +exalted character, and whose lofty spirit of honor was superior to every +temptation. "The First Consul," writes Thiers, "on this occasion made +choice of his brother Joseph, for whom he had a very particular +affection, and who, by the amenity of his manners, and mildness of his +character, was singularly well adapted for a peace-maker, an office +which had been constantly reserved for him." + +Napoleon, who had nothing to gain by war, was exceedingly anxious for +peace with all the world, that he might reconstruct French society from +the chaos into which revolutionary anarchy had plunged it, and that he +might develop the boundless resources of France. Lord Cornwallis was +received in Paris, with the utmost cordiality by Napoleon. Joseph +Bonaparte gave, in his honor, a magnificent entertainment, to which all +the distinguished Englishmen in France were invited, and also such +Frenchmen of note as he supposed Lord Cornwallis would be glad to meet. + +La Fayette was not invited. Cornwallis had commanded an army in +America, where he had met La Fayette on fields of blood, and where he +subsequently, with his whole army, had been taken prisoner. Joseph +thought that painful associations might be excited in the bosom of his +English guest by meeting his successful antagonist. He therefore, from a +sense of delicacy, avoided bringing them together. But Cornwallis was a +man of generous nature. As he looked around upon the numerous guests +assembled at the table, he said to Joseph, + +"I know that the Marquis de la Fayette is one of your friends. It would +have given me much pleasure to have met him here. I do not, however, +complain of your diplomatic caution. I suppose that you did not wish to +introduce to me at your table the general of Georgetown. I thank you for +your kind intention, which I fully appreciate. But I hope that when we +know each other better, we shall banish all reserve, and not act as +diplomatists, but as men who sincerely desire to fulfill the wishes of +their governments, and to arrive promptly at a solid peace. Moreover, +the Marquis de la Fayette is one of those men whom we can not help +loving. During his captivity I presented myself before the Emperor (of +Germany) to implore his liberation, which I did not have the happiness +of obtaining." + +Cornwallis left Paris for Amiens. Joseph immediately after proceeded to +the same place. As he alighted from his carriage in the court-yard of +the hotel which had been prepared for him, one of the first persons whom +he met was Lord Cornwallis. The English lord, disregarding the +formalities of etiquette, advanced, and presenting his hand to Joseph, +said, + +"I hope that it is thus that you will deal with me, and that all our +etiquette will not retard for a single hour the conclusion of peace. +Such forms are not necessary where frankness and honest intentions rule. +My Government would not have chosen me as an ambassador, if it had not +been intended to restore peace to the world. The First Consul, in +choosing his brother, has also proved his good intentions. The rest +remains for us." + +[Illustration: CORNWALLIS AND JOSEPH.] + +Louis Napoleon gives the following rather amusing account of this +incident. + +"When Joseph, plenipotentiary of the French Republic, journeyed with his +colleagues toward Amiens, to conclude peace with England, in 1802, they +were much occupied, he said, during the route, as to the ceremonial +which should be observed with the English diplomatists. In the interests +of their mission they desired not to fail in any proprieties. Still, +being representatives of a republican state, they did not wish to show +too much attention, _prevenance_, to the grand English lords with whom +they were to treat. + +"The French ambassadors were therefore much embarrassed in deciding to +whom it belonged to make the first visit. Quite inexperienced, they were +not aware that foreign diplomatists always conceal the inflexibility of +their policy under the suppleness of forms. Thus they were promptly +extricated from their embarrassment; for, to their great astonishment, +they found, upon their arrival at Amiens, Lord Cornwallis waiting for +them at the door of his hotel, and who, without any ceremony, himself +opened for them the door of their carriage, giving them a cordial grasp +of the hand."[J] + +[Footnote J: Oeuvres de Napoleon III. tome ii. p. 456.] + +Lord Cornwallis, however, found himself incessantly embarrassed by +instructions he was receiving from the ministry at London. They were +very reluctantly consenting to peace, being forced to it by the pressure +of public opinion. They were, therefore, hoping that obstacles would +arise which would enable them, with some plausibility, to renew the war. +Napoleon continually wrote to his brother urging him to do every thing +in his power to secure the signing of the treaty. In a letter on the +10th of March, he writes, + +"The differences at Amiens are not worth making such a noise about. A +letter from Amiens caused the alarm in London by asserting that I did +not wish for peace. Under these circumstances delay will do real +mischief, and may be of great consequence to our squadrons and our +expeditions. Have the kindness, therefore, to send special couriers to +inform me of what you are doing, and of what you hear; for it is clear +to me that, if the terms of peace are not already signed, there is a +change of plans in London." + +The treaty was signed on the 25th of March, 1802. Joseph immediately +prepared to return to Paris. Lord Cornwallis, in taking leave of Joseph, +said, + +"I must go as soon as possible to London, in order to allay the storm +which will there be gathering against me." + +"When I arrived in Paris," writes Joseph, "the First Consul was at the +opera; he caused me to enter into his box, and presented me to the +public in announcing the conclusion of the peace. One can easily imagine +the emotions which agitated me, and also him, for he was as tender a +friend, and as kind a brother, as he was prodigious as a man and great +as a sovereign." + +Bernardin de St. Pierre, in his preface to "Paul and Virginia," renders +the following homage to the character of Joseph at this time: + +"About a year and a half ago I was invited by one of the subscribers to +the fine edition of Paul and Virginia to come and see him at his +country-house. He was a young father of a family, whose physiognomy +announced the qualities of his mind. He united in himself every thing +which distinguishes as a son, a brother, a husband, a father, and a +friend to humanity. He took me in private, and said, 'My fortune, which +I owe to the nation, affords me the means of being useful. Add to my +happiness by giving me an opportunity of contributing to your own.' This +philosopher, so worthy of a throne, if any throne were worthy of him, +was Prince Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte." + +While the treaty of Amiens was under discussion, Talleyrand wrote to +Joseph: "Your lot will indeed be a happy one if you are able to secure +for your brother that peace which alone his enemies fear. I embrace you, +and I love you. I think that this affair will kill me unless it is +closed as we desire." + +At the conclusion of the treaty, Talleyrand again wrote: "MY DEAR +JOSEPH,--Citizen Dupuis has just arrived. He has been received by the +First Consul as the bearer of such good, grand, glorious news as you +have just sent by him should be received. Your brother is perfectly +satisfied (_parfaitement content_"). + +Madame de Stael wrote to Joseph: "Peace with England is the joy of the +world. It adds to my joy that it is you who have promoted it, and that +every year you have some new occasion to make the whole nation love and +applaud you. You have terminated the most important negotiation in the +history of France. That glory will be without any alloy." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JOSEPH KING OF NAPLES. + +1803-1807 + +Rupture of the Peace of Amiens.--Conspiracy to assassinate Napoleon. +--Arrest of the Duke d'Enghien.--Joseph's Interview with Napoleon. +--Conflicting Views.--Madame de Stael.--Execution of the Duke +d'Enghien.--Statement of Joseph Bonaparte.--Statement of Count Real. +--Expulsion of the English.--Conquest of Naples.--Debasement of the +Neapolitans under the Old Regime.--Debasement of Naples.--Administration +of King Joseph.--Embarrassments.--Philanthropic Labors.--The +Lazzaroni.--Vigorous Measures.--Letters from Napoleon and others.--The +British Fleet.--Brigandage.--Success of the new Measures.--Ancient +Corruptions.--Prison Reform.--Financial Reform.--Encouragement to +Education.--Opposition to Reform.--The Fine Arts.--Monasteries.--Debate +in the Council.--Reform of Monastic Institutions.--Ecclesiastical +Reforms.--New Public Works.--Report of Joseph to the Emperor.--Letter +from Napoleon.--Letter from Meneval.--Letter from Joseph to his Wife. + + +The peace of Amiens was of short duration. In May, 1803--but fourteen +months after the signing of the treaty--England again renewed +hostilities without even a declaration of war. This was the signal +for new scenes of blood and woe. Napoleon now resolved to assail +his implacable foe by carrying his armies into the heart of England. +Enormous preparations were made upon the French coast to transport a +resistless force across the Channel. Joseph Bonaparte was placed in +command of a regiment of the line, which had recently returned, with +great renown, from the fields of Italy. + +In the midst of these preparations, which excited fearful apprehensions +in England, the British Government succeeded in organizing another +coalition with Austria and Russia, to fall upon France in the rear. The +armies of these gigantic Northern powers commenced their march toward +the Rhine. Napoleon broke up the camp of Boulogne and advanced to meet +them. The immortal campaigns of Ulm and Austerlitz were the result. +Incredible as it may seem, England represented this as an unprovoked +invasion of Germany by Napoleon. This incessant assault of the Allies +upon France was a great grief to the Emperor. In the midst of all the +distractions which preceded this triumphant march, he wrote to his +Minister of Finance: + +"I am distressed beyond measure at the necessities of my situation, +which, by compelling me to live in camps, and engage in distant +expeditions, withdraw my attention from what would otherwise be the +chief object of my anxiety, and the first wish of my heart--a good and +solid organization of all which concerns the interests of banks, +manufactures, and commerce." + +While Napoleon was absent upon this campaign, Joseph was left in Paris, +to attend to the administration of home affairs. This he did, much to +the satisfaction of Napoleon, and with great honor to himself. Napoleon +was now Emperor of France, and the Senate and the people had declared +Joseph and his children heirs of the throne, on failure of Napoleon's +issue. + +A gigantic conspiracy was formed in England by Count d'Artois, +subsequently Charles X., and other French emigrants, for the +assassination of Napoleon. The plan was for a hundred resolute men, +led by the desperate George Cadoudal, to waylay Napoleon when passing, +as was his wont, with merely a small guard of ten outriders, from the +Tuileries to Malmaison. The conspirators flattered themselves that +this would be considered war, not assassination. The Bourbons were +then to raise their banner in France, and the emigrants, lingering +upon the frontiers, were to rush into the empire with the Allied armies, +and re-establish the throne of the old regime. The Princes of Conde +grandfather, son, and grandson, were then in the service and pay of +Great Britain, fighting against their native land, and, by the laws of +France traitors, exposed to the penalty of death. The grandson, the Duke +d'Enghien, was on the French frontier, in the duchy of Baden, waiting +for the signal to enter France arms in hand. + +It was supposed that he was actively engaged in the conspiracy for the +assassination, as he was known frequently to enter France by night and +in disguise. But it afterward appeared that these journeys were to visit +a young lady to whom the duke was much attached. + +Napoleon, supposing that the duke was involved in the conspiracy, and +indignant in view of these repeated plots, in which the Bourbons seemed +to regard him but as a wild beast whom they could shoot down at their +pleasure, resolved to teach them that he was not thus to be assailed +with impunity. A detachment of soldiers was sent across the border, who +arrested the duke in his bed, brought him to Vincennes, where he was +tried by court-martial, condemned as a traitor waging war against his +native country, and, by a series of accidents, was shot before Napoleon +had time to extend that pardon which he intended to grant. The friends +of Napoleon do not severely censure him for this deed. His enemies call +it wanton murder. Joseph thus speaks of this event: + +[Illustration: JOSEPH AT MALMAISON.] + +"The catastrophe of the Duke d'Enghien requires of me some details +too honorable to the memory of Napoleon for me to pass them by in +silence. Upon the arrival of the duke at Vincennes, I was in my home at +Mortfontaine. I was sent for to Malmaison. Scarcely had I arrived at the +gate when Josephine came to meet me, very much agitated, to announce the +event of the day. Napoleon had consulted Cambaceres and Berthier, who +were in favor of the prisoner; but she greatly feared the influence of +Talleyrand, who had already made the tour of the park with Napoleon. + +"'Your brother,' said she, 'has called for you several times. Hasten to +interrupt this long interview; that lame man makes me tremble.' + +"When I arrived at the door of the saloon, the First Consul took +leave of M. de Talleyrand, and called me. He expressed his astonishment +at the great diversity of opinion of the two last persons whom he +had consulted, and demanded mine. I recalled to him his political +principles, which were to govern all the factions by taking part with +none. I recalled to him the circumstance of his entry into the artillery +in consequence of the encouragement which the Prince of Conde had given +me to commence a military career. I still remembered the quatrain of +the verses composed by the abbe Simon: + + "'Conde! quel nom, l'univers le venere; + A ce pays il est cher a jamais; + Mars l'honore pendant la guerre, + Et Minerve pendant la paix.'[K] + + [Footnote K: + "Conde! what a name! the universe reveres it; + To this country it is ever dear; + Mars honors it during war, + And Minerva during peace."] + +"Little did we then think that we should ever be deliberating upon the +fate of his grandson. Tears moistened the eyes of Napoleon. With a +nervous gesture, which always with him accompanied a generous thought, +he said, 'His pardon is in my heart, since it is in my power to pardon +him. But that is not enough for me. I wish that the grandson of Conde +should serve in our armies. I feel myself sufficiently strong for that.' + +"With these impressions I returned to Mortfontaine. The family were at +the dinner-table. I took a seat by the side of Madame de Stael, who had +at her left M. Mathieu de Montmorency. Madame de Stael, with the +assurance which I gave her of the intention of the First Consul to +pardon a descendant of the great Conde, exclaimed in characteristic +language, + +"'Ah! that is right; if it were not so, we should not see here M. +Mathieu de Montmorency.' + +"But another nobleman present, who had not emigrated, said to me, on the +contrary: 'Will it then be permitted to the Bourbons to conspire with +impunity? The First Consul is deceived if he think that the nobles who +have not emigrated, and particularly the historic nobility, take any +deep interest in the Bourbons.' Several others present expressed the +same views. + +"The next day, upon my return to Malmaison, I found Napoleon very +indignant against Count Real; whose motives he accused, reproaching him +with having employed in his government certain men too much compromised +in the great excesses of the Revolution. _The Duke d'Enghien had been +condemned and executed even before the announcement of his trial had +been communicated to Napoleon._ + +"Subsequently he was convinced of the innocence of Real, and of the +strange fatality which had caused him for a moment to appear culpable in +his eyes. In the mean time, resuming self-control, he said to me, +'Another opportunity has been lost. It would have been admirable to have +had, as aid-de-camp, the grandson of the great Conde. But of that there +can be no more question. The blow is irremediable. Yes; I was +sufficiently strong to allow a descendant of the great Conde to serve in +our armies. But we must seek consolation. Undoubtedly, if I had been +assassinated by the agents of the family, he would have been the first +to have shown himself in France, arms in his hands. I must take the +responsibility of the deed. To cast it upon others, even with truth, +would have too much the appearance of cowardice, for me to be willing to +do it.' + +"Napoleon," continues Joseph, "has never appeared with greater eclat +than under these sad and calamitous circumstances. I only learned, +several years afterward, in the United States, from Count Real himself, +the details of that which passed at the time of the death of the Duke +d'Enghien. It was at New York, in the year 1825, at Washington Hall, +where we met, by an arrangement with M. Le Ray de Chaumont, the +proprietor of some lands, a portion of which he had sold to me and to M. +Real, that he informed me how a simple emotion of impatience on his part +had very involuntarily the effect of preventing the kindly feeling +which the First Consul cherished in favor of the Duke d'Enghien. + +"M. Real, one of the four counsellors of state charged with the police +of France, had charge of the arrondissement of Paris and of Vincennes. A +dispatch was sent to him in the night, informing him of the condemnation +of the prince. The police clerk, attending in the chamber which opened +into his apartment, had already awoke him twice for reasons of but +little importance, which had quite annoyed M. Real. The third dispatch +was therefore placed upon his chimney, and did not meet his eye until a +late hour in the morning. + +"Opening it, he hastened to Malmaison, where he was preceded by an +officer of the gendarmerie, who brought information of the condemnation +and execution of the prince. The commission had judged, from the silence +of the Government, that he was not to be pardoned. I need not dwell upon +the regret, the impatience, the indignation of Napoleon." + +The crown of Lombardy was, about this time, offered to Joseph, which +he declined, as he did not wish to separate himself from France. The +kingdom of Naples was now influenced by England to make an attack +upon Napoleon. The King of Naples supposed that France could be +easily vanquished, with England, Russia, Austria, and Naples making a +simultaneous attack upon her. But the great victory of Austerlitz, which +compelled Austria and Russia to withdraw from the coalition, struck the +perfidious King of Naples with dismay. France had done him no wrong, and +the only apology the Neapolitan Court had for commencing hostilities +was, that if the French were permitted to dethrone the Bourbons and to +choose their own rulers, the Neapolitan might claim the same privilege. + +A few days after the battle of Austerlitz Joseph received orders from +his brother to hasten to the Italian Peninsula, and take command of +the Army of Italy, and march upon Naples. The King of Naples had, in +addition to his own troops, fourteen thousand Russians and several +thousand English auxiliaries. Joseph placed himself at the head of forty +thousand French troops, and in February, 1806, entered the kingdom of +Naples. The Neapolitans could make no effectual resistance. Joseph soon +arrived before Capua, a fortified town about fifteen miles north of the +metropolis of the kingdom. Eight thousand of the Neapolitan troops took +refuge in the citadel, and made some show of resistance. They soon, +however, were compelled to surrender. + +The Neapolitan Court was in a state of consternation. The English +precipitately embarked in their ships and fled to Sicily. The Russians +escaped to Corfu. The Court, having emptied the public coffers, and even +the vaults of the bank, took refuge in Palermo, on the island of Sicily. +The prince royal, with a few troops of the Neapolitan army, who adhered +to the old monarchy, retreated two or three hundred miles south, to the +mountains of Calabria. On the 15th of February, Joseph, at the head of +his troops, marched triumphantly into Naples. He not only encountered no +resistance, but the population, regarding him as a liberator, received +him with acclamations of joy. + +On the 30th of March, 1806, Napoleon issued a decree, declaring Joseph +king of Naples. The _decret_ was as follows: + +"Napoleon, by the grace of God and the constitutions, Emperor of the +French and King of Italy, to all those to whom these presents come, +salutation. + +"The interests of our people, the honor of our crown, and the +tranquillity of the Continent of Europe requiring that we should assure, +in a stable and definite manner, the lot of the people of Naples and of +Sicily, who have fallen into our power by right of conquest, and who +constitute a part of the grand the empire, we declare that we recognize, +as King of Naples and of Sicily, our well-beloved brother, Joseph +Napoleon, Grand Elector of France. This crown will be hereditary, by +order of primogeniture, in his descendants masculine, legitimate, and +natural," etc. + +The former Government of Naples was detested by the whole people. The +warmest advocates of the Allies have never yet ventured to utter a word +in its defense. Even the grandees of the realm were heartily glad to be +rid of their dissolute, contemptible, and tyrannical queen, who regarded +the inhabitants of the kingdom but as her slaves, and the wealth +of the kingdom but as her personal dowry, to be squandered for the +gratification of herself and her favorites. With great energy Joseph +immediately commenced a reform in all the administrative departments. +He carefully sought out Neapolitan citizens of integrity, intelligence, +and influence, to occupy the important public stations. Accompanied by +a guard of chosen men, he made a tour of the country; thus informing +himself, by personal observation, of the character of the inhabitants, +and of the wants and capabilities of the kingdom. It was indeed a gloomy +prospect of indolence and poverty which presented itself to his eye, +though the climate was enchanting, with its genial temperature, its +brilliant skies, and its fertile soil. The landscape combined all the +elements of sublimity and of beauty, with towering mountains and lovely +meadows, streams and lakes watering the interior, and harbors inviting +the commerce of the world. But the condition of the populace was +wretched in the extreme. The Government, despotic and corrupt, seized +all the earnings of the people, and consigned nearly the whole +population to penury and rags. King Ferdinand and his dissolute queen, +Louisa, made an effort to rouse the people to resist the French. Their +efforts were, however, entirely in vain. Joseph issued the following +proclamation to the Neapolitans, which they read with great +satisfaction: + +"People of the kingdom of Naples; the Emperor of the French, King of +Italy, wishing to save you from the calamities of war, had signed, with +your Court, a treaty of neutrality. He believed that in that way he +could secure your tranquillity, in the midst of the vast conflagration +with which the third coalition has menaced Europe. But the Court of +Naples has zealously allied itself with our enemies, and has opened +its states to the Russians and to the English. + +"The Emperor of the French, whose justice equals his power, wishes to +give a signal example, commanded by the honor of his crown, by the +interests of his people, and by the necessity of re-establishing in +Europe the respect which is due to public faith. + +"The army which I command is on the march to punish this perfidy. But +you, the people, have nothing to fear. It is not against you that our +arms are directed. The altars, the ministers of your religion, your +laws, your property, will be respected. The French soldiers will be +your brothers. If, contrary to the benevolent intentions of his majesty, +the Court which excites you will sacrifice you, the French army is so +powerful that all the forces promised to your princes, even if they were +on your territory, could not defend it. People! have no solicitude. +This war will be for you the epoch of a solid peace, and of durable +prosperity." + +Ferdinand, upon retiring to the island of Sicily, had swept the +continental coast of every vessel and even boat. Joseph thus found it +quite impossible to transport his troops across the strait of Messina to +pursue the fugitive king. He, however, made a very thorough survey of +the continental kingdom, and having planned many measures of internal +improvement of vast magnitude, which were subsequently executed, he +returned to Naples. He was here received with congratulations by all +classes of his subjects. + +The clergy, led by Cardinal Ruffo, and even the nobility, vied with each +other in their expressions of satisfaction in a change of dynasty. The +great majority of the most intelligent people in the kingdom were weary +of the corrupt Court which, swaying the sceptre of feudal despotism, +had consigned Naples to indolence, dilapidation, and penury. Joseph +immediately selected the most distinguished Neapolitans as members of +his council. He made every effort to introduce into his kingdom all the +benefits which the French Revolution had brought to France, while he +carefully sought to avoid the evils which accompanied that great popular +movement. + +Though Joseph soon found himself firmly seated on the throne, war still +lingered along the coasts, and in the more remote parts of his kingdom. +The fortress of Gaeta, almost impregnable, was still held by a garrison +of Ferdinand's troops. Marauding bands of Neapolitans, lured by love of +plunder, infested and pillaged the unprotected districts. The English +fleet was hovering along the coast, watching for opportunities of +assault. It landed an army at the Gulf of St. Euphemia, and discomfited +a small division of Joseph's troops. Thus the kingdom was in a general +state of disorder wherever the influence of Joseph was not sensibly +felt. + +But the wise and energetic measures he adopted removed one after another +of these evils. He found but little difficulty in persuading all those +who co-operated with him in the government, both French and Neapolitans, +that the interests of each individual class in the community were +dependent upon the elevation and improvement of the whole country; and +it is a remarkable fact that the principal noblemen in Naples were +among the first to appreciate and adopt the great ideas of reform which +Joseph introduced. Influenced by his arguments, they, of their own +accord, relinquished their feudal privileges, and adopted those +principles of equal rights upon which the empire of Napoleon was +founded, and which gave it its almost omnipotent hold upon popular +affections. Even the ecclesiastics, men of commanding character and +intelligence, who had been introduced into the Council of State, voted +for the suppression of monastic orders, and for the use of their funds +to place the credit of the kingdom upon a solid basis. + +Reform was thus extended, wisely and efficiently, through all the +departments of Government. And though the masses of the people, being +illiterate peasants, incapable of any intelligent administration of +public affairs, had but little voice in the Government, every thing was +done for their welfare that enlightened patriotism could suggest. All +writers, friends and foes, agree alike in their testimony to the wise +measures adopted by Joseph. He founded colleges for the instruction of +young men, and many other institutions of a high character for male and +female education. Splendid roads were constructed from one extremity +of the kingdom to the other; manufactories of various kinds were +established and encouraged; the arts were rewarded; agriculture received +a new impulse; the army was efficiently organized and brought under +salutary discipline; a topographical bureau was created, the whole +kingdom carefully surveyed, and a fine map constructed. The mouldering +ramparts of the city were rebuilt, and new fortresses reared. + +Naples had for ages been filled with a miserable idle population, called +lazzaroni. They infested the streets and the squares, and were devoured +by vermin, and half-covered with rags. With no incitement to industry, +indeed with hardly the possibility of obtaining any work, they had +fallen into the most abject state of vice and despair. These men, in +large numbers, were collected, comfortably clothed, well fed, well paid, +and were employed in constructing a new and splendid avenue to the +metropolis. Made happy by industry, and inspired by its sure reward, +they became contented and useful subjects. + +The Ministry of the Interior was confided to Count Miot. It was his duty +to devote all his energies to promote the interests of agriculture, +commerce, manufactures, the arts, the sciences, public instruction, and +all liberal institutions. The country had been filled with brigands, +rioting in violence, robbery, and murder. To repress their excesses, +Joseph established a military commission with each army corps, whose +duty it was to judge and execute, without appeal, the brigands taken +with arms in their hands. + +The English fleet commanded the Mediterranean. The Neapolitan troops, +under the command of Ferdinand, had fled to Calabria, and, under the +protection of the English fleet had crossed the straits of Messina to +the island of Sicily. The British squadron then swept the coasts of +Calabria, applying the torch to all the public property which could not +be carried away. While these scenes were transpiring, Napoleon wrote to +Joseph almost daily, giving him very minute directions. He wrote to him +on the 12th of January, 1806: "Speak seriously to M---- and to L----, +and say that you will have no robberies. M---- robbed much in the +Venetian country. I have recalled S---- to Paris for that reason. He is +a bad man. Maintain severe discipline." + +Again he wrote on the 19th: "It is my intention that the Bourbons should +cease to reign at Naples. I wish to place upon that throne a prince of +my family; you first, if that is agreeable to you; another, if that +is not agreeable to you. The country ought to furnish food, clothing, +horses, and every thing that is necessary for your army; so that it +shall cost me nothing." + +Again, on the 27th, Napoleon wrote from Paris: "I have only to +congratulate myself with all that you did while you remained in Paris. +Receive my thanks, and, as a testimony of my satisfaction, my portrait +upon a snuff-box, which I will forward by the first officer I send to +you. Tolerate no robbers. I have just received a letter from the Queen +of Naples. I shall not reply. After the violation of the treaty, I can +no longer trust her promises." + +Again, on the 3d of February, 1806, he writes: "Believe in my +friendship. Do not listen to those who wish to keep you out of +fire, _loin du feu_. It is necessary that you should establish +your reputation, if there should be opportunity. Place yourself +conspicuously. As to real danger, it is everywhere in war." + +The Prince-royal of Naples wrote a letter to Joseph, with the hope of +regaining his crown. He stated that the King and Queen had abdicated +in favor of their son. Joseph replied that he could not listen to the +appeal; that he could only execute the orders which he received, and +that the application was too late. + +The city of Gaeta was one of the strongest positions in Europe. The +troops of Ferdinand maintained a siege there for many months. They +were very efficiently aided by the British fleet, which brought them +continual re-enforcements and supplies. Its capture was considered one +of the most brilliant achievements in modern warfare. There was now +not a spot upon the Continent of Europe where a flag floated in avowed +hostility to France. Ferdinand of Naples, with a small army, had fled +to the island of Sicily, where, for a short time, he was protected by +the British fleet. + +In the mean time King Joseph was devoting himself untiringly and with +great wisdom to the development of the new institutions of reform, +and of equal rights for all, which everywhere accompanied the French +banners. Marshal Massena was sent to the provinces of Calabria to put a +stop to brigandage. The brigands were merciless. Severe reprisals became +necessary. The British fleet, under Sir Sidney Smith, hovered along the +shores of the gulfs of Salerno and of Naples, striving to rouse and +encourage resistance to the new Government. + +There was a renowned bandit, named Michael Pozza, who, from his energy +and atrocities, had acquired the sobriquet of _Fra Diavolo_, or brother +of the devil. His bands, widely scattered, were at times concentrated, +and waged fierce battle. Gradually French discipline gained upon them. +Large numbers of the Neapolitans, hating the old regime, and glad to be +rid of it, enlisted in defense of the new institutions. The robbers were +at length cut to pieces. Fra Diavolo escaped to the mountains, where he +was taken and shot. In this warfare with the brigands, the Neapolitan +troops, emboldened by the presence and protection of the French army, +displayed very commendable courage. + +While engaged in these warlike operations, through his able generals, +Joseph was much occupied with the employment, more congenial to him, of +conducting the interior administration. It was his first endeavor to +eradicate every vestige of the old despotism of feudalism--a system +perhaps necessary in its day, but which time had outgrown. The whole +political edifice was laid upon the foundation of the _absolute +equality of rights of all the citizens_--a principle until then unknown +in Naples. There had been no gradations in society. There were a few +families of extreme opulence, enjoying rank and exclusive privileges, +and then came the almost beggared masses, with no incentives to +exertion. The enervating climate induced indolence. Life could be +maintained with but little clothing, and but little food. The cities +and villages swarmed with half-clad multitudes, vegetating in a joyless +existence. + +Joseph gave his earnest attention to rousing the multitude from this +apathy. He thought that one of the most important means to awaken a love +of industry was to make these poor people, as far as possible, landed +proprietors. The man who owns land, though the portion may be small, is +almost resistlessly impelled to cultivate it. His ambition being thus +roused, his intellectual and social condition becomes ameliorated, and +he is prepared to take part, as a citizen, in the administration of +affairs. A new division of territory was created into provinces and +districts, in which the prominent men, who were imbued with the spirit +of reform, were appointed to the administration of local interests. +Still many of the old nobility struggled hard to maintain their feudal +power. But resolutely Joseph proceeded in laying the foundations of a +national representation, derived from popular election, which should be +the organ of the whole nation, to make known to the King the wishes and +necessities of the people. + +This was an immense stride in the direction of a popular government It +endangered the feudal privilege, which upheld the throne and the castle, +in other lands. Hence it was that the throne and the castle combined to +overthrow institutions so republican in their tendencies. + +The whole system of administration had been awfully corrupt. Justice was +almost unknown. All the tribunals were concentrated in the city of +Naples. There were tens of thousands of prisoners, very many for +political offenses, awaiting trial. In the provinces of Calabria Joseph +appointed judicial commissions to attend to these cases. In three months +about five thousand prisoners had a hearing. Many of them had been +detained over twenty years. Not a few were incarcerated through +malicious accusations. Those guilty of some slight offense were +imprisoned with assassins, all alike exposed to the damp of dungeons +and infected air. + +A system of very effective prison reform was immediately established +by Joseph. The prisoners were placed in apartments large and +well-ventilated. They were separated in accordance with the nature +of the offenses of which they were accused. Distinct prisons were +appropriated to females. Hospitals were established for the sick of both +sexes, with every necessary arrangement for the restoration of health. + +A thorough reform was introduced into the finances. Under the old +regime, all had been confusion and oppression. The only object of the +Government seemed to be to get all it could. In the country the people +often were compelled to pay their lords not only money, but also very +onerous personal services. This was all remedied by the adoption of an +impartial system of taxation. And it was found that the new imposts, +honestly collected, were far less oppressive to the people, and more in +amount. + +The overthrow of the feudal system placed at the disposal of the State +a vast amount of land which had been uncultivated. This was divided +among a large number of people, who paid for it an annual sum into the +treasury. Thus the welfare of these individuals was greatly promoted, +and the resources of the State increased. + +And now Joseph turned his attention to public instruction. The last +Government had been opposed to education. It had entered into open +warfare against the sciences, prohibiting the introduction of the most +important foreign publications. Joseph immediately established schools +for primary instruction all over the realm. Normal schools were +organized for the education of teachers. In the smallest hamlets +teachers were provided to instruct the children in the elements of the +Christian religion, and school-mistresses, who, in addition to the same +lessons, were to teach the young girls the duties proper to their sex. + +This impulse to education spread rapidly through all the provinces. The +free schools established in Naples were soon so crowded that it became +necessary to add to their number. The university at Naples, frowned +upon by the former Government, had fallen into deep decline. Nineteen +chairs of professors were vacant. Others were occupied, but their duties +quite neglected. The university was reorganized in accordance with the +enlightenment of modern times. New professorships were endowed in the +place of those which had become useless. Especial efforts were made to +secure learned men for those chairs from the kingdom of Naples. But +education was at so low an ebb that it was necessary to obtain several +professors from abroad. Everywhere a thirst for knowledge seemed to +manifest itself. + +These reforms were exceedingly popular with the great majority of the +Neapolitans. But there were not wanting those who opposed them. There +were those of the privileged class who had been enriched by the +ignorance and debasement of the people. These men began gradually to +develop their opposition. Joseph had endeavored to employ Neapolitans +as much as possible in the Government. He employed Frenchmen in the +military and civil service only where he could find no Neapolitans equal +to the post. Some of the Neapolitans, jealous of French influence, while +also secretly clinging to ancient abuses, began cautiously the attempt +to retard these reforms. Joseph listened patiently to their objections +in cabinet council, and then said: + +"I have carefully followed a discussion which relates so intimately +to the public welfare. I had hoped to hear reasons. I have heard only +passions. I look in vain for any indications of love of country in the +objections to the proposed laws. I must say that I see only the spirit +of party." + +He then examined, one by one, the objections which had been brought +forward, and added, "Do you think, gentlemen, that I am willing to +sustain these exclusive privileges? We have not destroyed these Gothic +institutions, the remnants of barbarism, in order to reconstruct them +under other forms. And can any of you cherish the thought that this +resistance, which ought to surprise me, can induce me to retrograde +toward institutions condemned by the spirit of the age? No; too long +have the people groaned under the weight of intolerable abuses. They +shall be delivered from them. If obstacles arise, be assured that I +shall know how to remove them." + +The fine arts were also languishing, with every thing else, under the +execrable regime of the Bourbons of Naples. But the taste for the fine +arts survived their decay. The new Government instituted schools of art +under the direction of the most skillful masters. Painting, drawing, +sculpture, engraving, all received a new impulse. + +There were difficulties to be encountered in this attempt to regenerate +an utterly depraved state more than can now be easily imagined. He who +should attempt to erect a modern mansion upon the ruins of the Castle of +Heidelberg would find more difficulty in removing the old foundations +than in rearing the new structure. Thus Joseph found ancient abuses, +hallowed by time, and oppressive institutions interwoven with the very +life of the people, which it was necessary utterly to abolish or greatly +to modify. The monastic institution was one of these. The land was +filled with gloomy monasteries, crowded with idle, useless, and often +dissolute monks. There had been in past ages seasons of persecution, in +which the refuge of these sanctuaries was needed, but the spirit of the +age no longer required them. They had rendered signal service in times +of barbarism, but it was no longer needful for religion to hide in the +obscurity of the cloister. + +"Altars," said Joseph, "are now erected in the interior of families. The +regular clergy respond to the wants of the people. The love of the arts +and of the sciences, widely diffused, and the colonial, commercial, and +military spirit constrain all the Governments of Europe to direct to +important objects the genius, activity, and pecuniary resources of +their nations. The support of considerable land and sea forces involves +the necessity of great reforms in other departments of the general +economy of the State. The first duty of peoples and princes is to +place themselves in a condition of defense against the aggressions of +their enemies. Still we do not forget that we ought to reconcile +these principles with the respect with which we should cherish those +celebrated places which, in barbaric ages, preserved the sacred fire +of reason, and which became the depot of human knowledge." + +The debates upon this subject in the Council of State were long and +animated. The peasantry, ignorant and superstitious, clung to their old +prejudices, and could not easily throw aside the shackles of ages. Many +of these religious communities were wealthy, the recipients of immense +sums bequeathed to them by the dying. There was no _legal_ right, no +right but that of revolution and the absolute necessities of the State, +for wresting this property from them. But it was manifest to every +intelligent mind that the Neapolitan kingdom could never emerge from the +stagnation of semi-barbarism without the entire overthrow of many, and +the radical reform of the remainder of these institutions. + +At length a law, very carefully matured, was enacted, suppressing a +large number of these religious orders, and introducing essential +changes into those which were permitted to survive. The possessions of +those which were abolished, generally consisting of large tracts of +land, reverted to the State, and were sold at auction in small farms. +The money thus raised helped replenish the bankrupt treasury. The poor +monks, expelled from their cells, with no habits of industry, and no +means of obtaining a support, received a life pension, amounting to a +little more than one hundred dollars a year. + +The three abbeys of Mount Cassin, Cava, and Monte Vergine contained very +considerable libraries, and were the depots of important records and +manuscripts. These were intrusted to the keeping of a select number of +the most intelligent monks. It was their duty to arrange and catalogue +the books and manuscripts, and to search out those works which could +throw light upon the sciences, the arts, and the past history of the +realm. They retained the buildings, the necessary furniture, and +received a small additional stipend. + +There were some passes through the mountains which were perilous in the +winter season. Upon these bleak eminences houses of refuge were erected, +to shelter travellers and to help them on their way. In each of these +twenty-five monks were placed. Their labors were arduous, as often all +the necessaries of life had to be brought upon their backs from the +plains below. They received a frugal but comfortable support. + +The salaries of the hard-working clergy were increased. The vases and +ornaments from the suppressed convents were distributed among those +poorer parishes which were in a state of destitution. The furniture of +the convents was transferred to the civil and military hospitals. The +pictures, bas-reliefs, statuary, and other objects of art were collected +for the national museum which the King wished to establish. The +mendicant friars, who had sufficient education, were intrusted with the +instruction of the children. + +The number of priests under the old regime had increased to a degree +entirely disproportioned to the wants of the community. They were +consequently wretchedly poor. A fixed salary was assigned to the +rectors, that they might live respectably, and the ordinations in each +diocese were so regulated that there should be but one priest for about +one thousand souls. + +It is not to be supposed that such changes could be effected without +much friction. Not only bigotry opposed them, but there was a +deep-seated, though unintelligent religious sentiment, which +remonstrated against them. The advocates of the old regime availed +themselves, in every possible way, of this sentiment, while the British +fleet, continually hovering around the coasts, and occasionally landing +men at unguarded points, contributed much toward keeping the spirit of +insurrection alive, and preventing the tranquillity of the country. + +New public works were commenced in the capital, to employ the idle and +starving multitudes there. The country roads, so long infested with +robbers, were in a wretched condition. The entire stagnation of all +internal commerce had left them unused and almost impassable. The old +roads were repaired, and new ones vigorously opened. The inhabitants of +the provinces, and even the soldiers who could be conveniently spared, +were employed in these enterprises. The soldiers, receiving slight +additional pay, cheerfully contributed their labors. French officers of +engineers, of established ability, superintended these national works. + +King Joseph was but the agent of his brother Napoleon. Though himself a +man of superior ability, and imbued with an ardent spirit of humanity, +in these great enterprises he was carrying out the designs with which +the imperial mind of his brother was inspired. Thus the kingdom of +Naples, in a few months, under the reign of Joseph, made more progress +than had been accomplished in scores of years under the dominion of the +Neapolitan Bourbons. + +On the 8th of May, 1806, Joseph wrote to Napoleon: "My previous letters +have announced to your Majesty that perfect order is restored in the +Calabrias. I am not less pleased with the inhabitants of Apulia. They +are more enlightened, less passionate, but equally zealous with the +Calabrians to withdraw their country from the debasement into which it +is plunged. I am particularly satisfied with the priests, the nobles, +and the landed proprietors. + +"I now fully recognize the justice of the principles which I have so +often heard from the lips of your Majesty. And I confess that experience +has proved to me how true it is that it is necessary to see to every +thing one's self; that not a moment of time must ever be lost; that we +can not rely upon the activity of any person, and that every thing is +possible, with a determined will on the part of the chief. I say to +myself, ten times a day, the Emperor was right. + +"I have established in each province a president, or prefect, who is +entirely independent of the military commandant. I have decreed the +formation in each province of a legion whose organization I will soon +send to your Majesty. It is not paid. It is commanded by those men who +are the most opulent, the most respectable, and the most attached to +the present order of things. In each province I form a company of +gendarmerie, composed of Frenchmen and Neapolitans. It is with some +pride that I see that all the measures which your Majesty has prescribed +to me I have adopted in advance. + +"Whatever I may say, your Majesty can form no conception of the state of +oppression, barbarism, and debasement which existed in this realm. And I +can assure your Majesty that the Neapolitan officers returning to their +homes become well pleased in witnessing the spirit which animates their +fellow-citizens. I derive much advantage from the knowledge I have of +the language, the manners, and customs of the country. The inhabitants +of the mountains and of the villages resemble closely those of Corsica. +And I do not think that I can be mistaken when I assure your Majesty +that the people regard themselves as happy in being governed by a man +who is so nearly related to your Majesty, and who bears a name which +your Majesty rendered illustrious before he became an emperor, and which +has for them the advantage of being Italian." + +On the 22d of June, 1806, Napoleon wrote to Joseph, "MY BROTHER--the +Court of Rome is entirely surrendered to folly. It refuses to recognize +you, and I know not what sort of a treaty it wishes to make with me. It +thinks that I can not unite profound respect for the spiritual authority +of the Pope, and at the same time repel his temporal pretensions. It +forgets that Saint Louis, whose piety is well known, was almost always +at war with the Pope, and that Charles V., who was a very Christian +prince, held Rome besieged for a long time, and seized it, with every +Roman state." + +On the 28th of February, 1806, M. de Meneval, the Emperor's secretary, +had written to Joseph, "The Emperor works prodigiously. He holds three +or four councils every day, from eight o'clock in the morning, when he +rises, until two or three o'clock in the morning, when he goes to bed." + +Napoleon well knew the fickle, unreliable, debased character of the +Italian populace. He was sure that Joseph, in the kindness of his heart, +was too confiding and unsuspicious. He wrote reiteratedly upon this +subject: "Put it in your calculations," said he, "that sooner or later +you will have an insurrection. It is an event which always happens in +a conquered country. You can never sustain yourself by _opinion_ in +such a city as Naples. Be sure that you will have a riot or an +insurrection. I earnestly desire to aid you by my experience in such +matters. Shoot pitilessly the lazzaroni who plunge the dagger. I am +greatly surprised that you do not shoot the spies of the King of Naples. +Your administration is too feeble. I can not conceive why you do not +execute the laws. Every spy should be shot. Every lazzaroni who plies +the dagger should be shot. You attach too much importance to a populace +whom two or three battalions and a few pieces of artillery will bring to +reason. They will never be submissive until they rise in insurrection, +and you make a severe example. The villages which revolt should be +surrendered to pillage. It is not only the right of war, but policy +requires it. Your government, my brother, is not sufficiently vigorous. +You fear too much to indispose people. You are too amiable, and have +too much confidence in the Neapolitans. This system of mildness will +not avail you. Be sure of that. I truly desire that the mob of Naples +should revolt. Until you make an example, you will not be master. With +every conquered people a revolt is a necessity. I should regard a revolt +in Naples as the father of a family regards the small-pox for his +children. Provided it does not weaken the invalid too much, it is a +salutary crisis." + +Such were the precautions which Napoleon was continually sending to +Joseph. His amiable brother did not sufficiently heed them. He fancied +that the most ignorant, fanatical, and debased of men could be held in +control by kind words and kind deeds alone. But he awoke fearfully to +the delusion when a savage insurrection broke out among the peasants and +the brigands of the Calabrias, and swept the provinces with flame and +blood. Then scenes of woe ensued which can never be described. It became +necessary to resort to the severest acts of punishment. Much, if not all +of this, might have been saved had the firm government which Napoleon +recommended been established at the beginning. It is cruelty, not +kindness, to leave the mob to feel that they can inaugurate their reign +of terror with impunity. + +The following extracts from a letter which Joseph wrote his wife, dated +Naples, March 22d, 1806, throw interesting light upon the characters of +both the King and the Emperor. + +"I repeat it, the Emperor ought not to remain alone in Paris. Providence +has made me expressly to serve as his safeguard. Loving repose, and yet +able to support activity; despising grandeurs, and yet able to bear +their burden with success, whatever may have been the slight +differences between him and me, I can truly say that he is the man of +all the world whom I love the best. I do not know if a climate and +shores very much resembling those which I inhabited with him, have given +back to me all my first love for the friend of my childhood; but I can +truly say that I often find myself weeping over the affections of twenty +years' standing as over those of but a few months. + +"If you can not come to me immediately, send Zenaide[L]. I would give +all the empires of the world for one caress of my tall Zenaide, or for +one kiss of my little Lolotte. As for you, you know very well that I +love you as their mother, and as I love my wife. If I can unite a +dispersed family and live in the bosom of my own, I shall be content; +and I will surrender myself to fulfill all the missions which the +Emperor may assign to me, provided they can be temporary, and that I may +cherish the hope of dying in a country in which I have always wished to +live." + +[Footnote L: Zenaide and Lolotte (Charlotte), the two daughters of +Joseph.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CROWN A BURDEN. + +1806-1807 + +Jena and Auerstadt.--Death of Fox.--England's New Alliance.--Napoleon's +Address to Europe.--Views of the Emperor.--Message to the Senate. +--Fearful Outrages in Calabria.--Advice of Napoleon.--The English +Fleet.--Testimony of Napoleon at Saint Helena.--The Napoleon Brothers +and Sisters.--The Royal Academy of History and Antiquities.--Relations +between Napoleon and Joseph.--Letter from Joseph.--Frank Admissions and +Advice of Joseph.--Tacit Reproaches and Response.--Animadversions of +the Emperor.--Domestic Affections of Joseph.--Letter to Julie.--Reforms. +--Tour through the Provinces.--Daily Correspondence with Napoleon. +--Testimony of Joseph to the Character of Napoleon. + + +The close of the year 1806 was rendered memorable by the victories of +Jena and Auerstadt, and the occupation of Prussia by the armies of +Napoleon. The war was wantonly provoked by Prussia. Napoleon wrote to +Joseph from St. Cloud, on the 13th of September: + +"Prussia makes me a thousand protestations. That does not prevent me +from taking my precautions. In a few days she will disarm, or she will +be crushed. Austria protests her wish to remain neutral. Russia knows +not what she wishes. Her remote position renders her powerless. Thus, in +a few words, you have the present aspect of affairs." + +A few days after he wrote again to Joseph from St. Cloud: "MY +BROTHER,--I have just received the tidings that Mr. Fox is dead. Under +present circumstances, he is a man who dies regretted by two nations. +The horizon is somewhat clouded in Europe. It is possible that I may +soon come to blows with the King of Prussia. If matters are not soon +arranged, the Prussians will be so beaten in the first encounters, that +every thing will be finished in a few days." + +Napoleon cautioned his brother against making the contents of his +letters known to others, saying, "I repeat to you, that if this letter +is read by others than yourself, you injure your own affairs. I am +accustomed to think three or four months in advance of what I do, and I +make arrangements for the worst." + +England, Russia, and Prussia entered into a new alliance to crush the +Empire in France. The armies of Prussia, two hundred thousand strong, +commenced their march by entering Saxony, one of the allies of Napoleon. +Alexander of Russia was hastening to join Prussia, with two hundred +thousand men in his train. England was giving the most energetic +co-operation with her invincible fleet and her almost inexhaustible +gold. Upon the eve of this terrible conflict, Napoleon, in the following +terms, addressed Europe, to which address no reply was returned but that +of shot and shell: + +"Why should hostilities arise between France and Russia? Perfectly +independent of each other, they are impotent to inflict evil, but +all-powerful to communicate benefits. If the Emperor of France exercises +a great influence in Italy, the Czar exerts a still greater influence +over Turkey and Persia. If the Cabinet of Russia pretends to have a +right to affix limits to the power of France, without doubt it is +equally disposed to allow the Emperor of the French to prescribe the +bounds beyond which Russia is not to pass. + +"Russia has partitioned Poland. Can she then complain that France +possesses Belgium and the left banks of the Rhine? Russia has seized +upon the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the northern provinces of Persia. Can +she deny that the right of self-preservation gives France a title to +demand an equivalent in Europe. Let every power begin by restoring the +conquests which it has made during the last fifty years. Let them +re-establish Poland, restore Venice to its Senate, Trinidad to Spain, +Ceylon to Holland, the Crimea to the Porte, the Caucasus and Georgia to +Persia, the kingdom of Mysore to the sons of Tippoo Saib, and the +Mahratta States to their lawful owners, and then the other powers may +have some title to insist that France shall retire within her ancient +limits." + +It was important to prevent the union of these mighty hosts, now +combined to overthrow the new system in France. As Napoleon left Paris, +to strike the Prussian army before it could be strengthened by the +arrival of the Russians, he wrote to Joseph: + +"Give yourself no uneasiness. The present struggle will be speedily +terminated. Prussia and her allies, be they who they may, will be +crushed. And this time I will settle finally with Europe. I will put +it out of the power of my enemies to stir for ten years." + +In his parting message to the Senate, he said, "In so just a war, which +we have not provoked by any act, by any pretense, the true cause of +which it would be impossible to assign, and where we only take arms to +defend ourselves, we depend entirely upon the support of the laws, and +upon that of the people, whom circumstances call upon to give fresh +proof of their devotion and courage." + +The Prussian army was overwhelmed at Jena and Auerstadt, and then +Napoleon, pressing on to the north, met the Russians at Friedland, and +annihilated their forces also. The atrocities perpetrated by the Italian +bandits were so terrible, that the exasperated soldiers often retaliated +with fearful severity. Joseph, by nature a very humane man, endeavored +in every way in his power to mitigate this ferocity. The revolt in +Calabria was attended with almost every conceivable act of perfidy +and cruelty. The wounded French were butchered in the hospitals; the +dwellings of Neapolitans friendly to the new government were burnt, and +their families outraged; treachery of the vilest kind was perpetrated by +those acting under the mask of friendship. The crisis, which Napoleon +had been continually anticipating and warning his brother against, had +come. The case demanded rigorous measures. It was necessary to the very +existence of the Government that it should prove, by avenging crime, +that it was determined to protect the innocent. Still the amiable Joseph +was disposed to leniency. Napoleon wrote him: + +"The fate of your reign depends upon your conduct when you return to +Calabria. There must be no forgiveness. Shoot at least six hundred +rebels. They have murdered more soldiers than that. Burn the houses of +thirty of the principal persons in the villages, and distribute their +property among the soldiers. Take away all arms from the inhabitants, +and give up to pillage five or six of the large villages. When Placenza +rebelled, I ordered Junot to burn two villages and shoot the chiefs, +among whom were six priests. It will be some time before they rebel +again." + +Where there is this energy to punish crime, the good repose in safety. +This apparent inhumanity may be, with a ruler who has millions to +protect, the highest degree of humanity. When a lawless mob is rioting +through the streets of a city, robbing, burning, murdering, it is not +well for the Government affectionately to address them with soothing +words. It is far more humane to mow down the insurgents with grape and +canister. + +The English fleet still menaced and assailed the kingdom of Naples at +every available point. It held possession of the island of Capin, near +the mouth of the gulf of Naples. There was a Neapolitan, by the name +of Vecchioni, who had professed the warmest attachment to the new +government, and whom Joseph had appointed as one of his counsellors of +state. This man entered into a conspiracy with the English, to betray +to them the King to whom he had perfidiously sworn allegiance. His +treason was clearly proved. But he was an old man. His life had hitherto +been pure. The tender heart of Joseph could not bear to inflict upon him +merited punishment. He said compassionately, "The poor old man has +suffered enough already. Let him go." To govern an ignorant, fanatical, +and turbulent nation swarming with brigands, requires a character of +stern mould. But for the energies communicated to Joseph by Napoleon, +Joseph could not long have retained his throne. The Emperor at Saint +Helena, speaking of his brother, said: + +"Joseph rendered me no assistance, but he is a very good man. His wife, +Queen Julia, is the most amiable creature that ever existed. Joseph and +I were always attached to each other, and kept on good terms. He loves +me sincerely, and I doubt not that he would do every thing in the world +to serve me; but his qualities are only suited to private life. He is of +a gentle and kind disposition, possesses talent and information, and is +altogether a most amiable man. In the discharge of the high duties which +I confided to him, he did the best he could. His intentions were good, +and therefore the principal fault rested not so much with him as with +me, who raised him above his proper sphere. When placed in important +circumstances, he found himself unequal to the task imposed upon him." + +On another occasion, the Emperor at Saint Helena, speaking of the +different members of his family, said, "In their mistaken notions of +independence, the members of my family sometimes seemed to consider +their power as detached, forgetting that they were merely parts of a +great whole, whose views and interests they should have aided, instead +of opposing. But, after all, they were very young and inexperienced, and +were surrounded by snares, flatterers, and intriguers with secret and +evil designs. + +"And yet, if we judge from analogy, what family, in similar +circumstances, would have acted better? Every one is not qualified to be +a statesman. That requires a combination of powers that does not often +fall to the lot of one. In this respect, all my brothers are singularly +situated. They possessed at once too much and too little talent. They +felt themselves too strong to resign themselves blindly to a guiding +counsellor, and yet too weak to be left entirely to themselves. But, +take them all in all, I have certainly good reason to be proud of my +family. + +"Joseph would have been an ornament to society in any country; and +Lucien would have been an honor to any political assembly. Jerome, as he +advanced in life, would have developed every qualification requisite in +a sovereign. Louis would have been distinguished in every rank and +condition in life. My sister Eliza was endowed with masculine powers of +mind; she must have proved herself a philosopher in her adverse fortune. +Caroline possessed great talents and capacity. Pauline, perhaps the most +beautiful woman of her age, has been, and will continue to be to the end +of her life, the most amiable creature in the world. As to my mother, +she deserves all kind of veneration. + +"How seldom is so numerous a family entitled to so much praise? Add to +this that, setting aside the jarring of political opinions, we sincerely +loved each other. For my part, I never ceased to cherish fraternal +affection for them all; and I am convinced that, in their hearts, they +felt the same sentiments toward me, and that, in case of need, they +would have given me proof of it." + +The soil of Italy presented widely, upon its surface, impressive +monuments of the past. The grand memories inspired by these creations of +olden time tended to arouse the sluggish spirit of the degenerate +moderns. To promote these ennobling studies, and to increase the taste +for the fine arts, Joseph established "The Royal Academy of History and +Antiquities." The number of members was fixed at forty. The King +appointed the first twenty members, and they nominated, for his +appointment, the rest. A museum was formed for the collection of antique +works of art found in the excavations. An annual fund, of about ten +thousand dollars, was appropriated to the expenses of the institution. +Two grand sessions were to be held each year, at which time prizes were +awarded by the Academy to the amount of about two thousand dollars for +the most important literary works which had been produced. The first +sessions were held in the hall of the palace. The King wished thus to +manifest his interest in the objects of the Academy, to co-operate +in their labors, and to avail himself of the advantages of their +researches. The clergy, and the medical and legal professions, were +alike represented in this learned body. + +It is an interesting fact, illustrative of the state of learning at the +time, that of the twenty academicians first appointed by the King, +eleven were ecclesiastics. Two only were nobles. This class, rioting in +sensual indulgence, disdained any intellectual labor. Notwithstanding +all these expenses, such system and economy were introduced into the +finances, that they were rapidly becoming extricated from the chaos in +which they had long been plunged. + +In the midst of these incessant and diversified labors, letters were +almost daily passing between Joseph and his brother the Emperor. On +the first day of the year 1807, Napoleon was, with his heroic and +indomitable army, far away amidst the frozen wilds of Poland. Joseph +sent a special deputation to his brother, with earnest wishes for "a +happy new year." Napoleon thus replied, under the date of Warsaw, +January 28, 1807: + +"MY BROTHER,--I have not received the letter of your Majesty and his +wishes for my happiness without lively emotion. Your destinies and my +successes have placed a vast country between us. You touch, on the +south, the Mediterranean. I touch the Baltic. But, by the harmony of +our measures, we are seeking the same object. Watch over your coasts; +shut out the English and their commerce. Their exclusion will secure +tranquillity in your states. Your realm is rich and populous. By the +aid of God it may become powerful and happy. Receive my most sincere +wishes for the prosperity of your reign, and rely at all times upon my +fraternal affection. The deputation which your Majesty has sent to me +has honorably fulfilled its mission. I have requested it to bear to your +Majesty the assurance of my sincere attachment. Whereupon, my brother, I +pray that God may ever have you in his holy and worthy keeping." + +Some reference was made in one of Joseph's letters to the sufferings +which the army in Naples endured. Napoleon replied, "The members of +my staff, colonels, officers, have not undressed for two months, and +some for four. (I myself have been fifteen days without taking off my +boots), in the midst of snow and mud, without bread, without wine, +without brandy, eating potatoes and meat; making long marches and +counter-marches, without any kind of rest; fighting with the bayonet, +and very often under grapeshot: the wounded being borne on sledges in +the open air one hundred and fifty miles. + +"It is then ill-timed pleasantry to compare us with the Army of Naples, +which is making war in the beautiful country of Naples, where they have +bread, oil, cloth, bedclothes, society, and even that of the ladies. +After having destroyed the Prussian monarchy, we are now contending +against the rest of the Prussians, against the Russians, the Cossacks, +the Calmucks, and against those tribes of the north which formerly +overwhelmed the Roman empire. In the midst of these great fatigues, +every body has been more or less sick. As for me, I was never better, +and am gaining flesh. + +"The Army of Naples has no occasion to complain. Let them inquire of +General Berthier. He will tell them that their Emperor has for fifteen +days eaten nothing but potatoes and meat, whilst bivouacking in the +midst of the snows of Poland. Judge from that what must be the condition +of the officers. They have nothing but meat." + +On the 26th of March, 1807, Joseph wrote, in a letter to his brother +Napoleon, urging the promotion of Colonel Destrees, who, by his probity, +had won the affections of the people. + +"Here, sire, an honest man is worth more to me than a man of ability. +When I find both qualities united in the same person, I esteem him of +more value than a regiment. It is for this reason that I value so highly +Reynier, Partouneaux, Donzelot, Lamarque, Jourdan, Saligny, and Mathieu; +it is this which leads me to prize so highly Roederer and Dumas." + +Again he wrote to his brother on the 29th of March: "Sire, as I see more +of men and become better acquainted with them, I recognize more and more +the truth of what I have heard from your Majesty during the whole of my +life. The experience of government has confirmed the truth of that which +your Majesty has so often said to me. I hope your Majesty will not +regard this as flattery. But it is true; and I never cease to repeat, +and particularly to myself, that you have been born with a superiority +of reason truly astonishing, and now I recognize fully that men are +what you have always told me that they were. How many abuses, which I +confess still astonish me, have I encountered, in the journey which I +have just made. A prince confiding and amiable is a great scourge from +heaven. I am instructed, sire, and I hope ere long to be a better ruler +by not giving the majority of men the credit for that spirit of justice +and humanity which I hope your Majesty recognizes in me. I have +assembled the notables of this province. How docile these people are! +but they are very badly governed. I have dismissed the prefect, the +sub-prefect, the general, the commandant, a set of rascals who were here +the instruments and the agents of an honest prince. This province, the +most tranquil in the realm, had become, in the opinion of notables, the +most disaffected and the most ready to desire the arrival of the enemy. +I journeyed from village to village, and speedily repaired the evil. +These people have so much vivacity of spirit and ardor of soul, that +both good and evil operate easily upon them. Their inconstancy is not +so much the result of their character as of their topographical and +military position. + +"I am aware, sire, that I have not, as your Majesty has, the art of +employing all kinds of men. I need honest men, in whom I can repose +some confidence. Sire, I am in that mood of mind, which your Majesty +recognizes in me, in which I love to say whatever I think right. +Your Majesty ought to make peace at whatever price. Your Majesty is +victorious, triumphant everywhere. You ought to recoil before the blood +of your people. It is for the prince to hold back the hero. No extent of +country, be it more or less, should restrain you. All the concessions +you may make will be glorious, because they will be useful to your +peoples, whose purest blood now flows; and victorious and invincible as +you are, by the admission of all, no condition can be supposed to be +prescribed to you by an enemy whom you have vanquished. + +"Sire, it is the love which I bear for a brother who has become a father +to me, and the love which I owe to France and to the people whom you +have given me, which dictates these words of truth. As for me, sire, I +shall be happy to do whatever may be in my power to secure that end." + +This strain of remark must have been not a little annoying to the +Emperor. While Joseph did not deny that the Emperor was waging war +solely in self-defense, he assumed that he was now so powerful that he +could make peace at any time upon his own terms. But dynastic Europe was +allying itself, coalition after coalition, in an interminable series, +with the avowed object of driving Napoleon from the throne, reinstating +the Bourbons, re-establishing the old feudal despotisms, and of then +overthrowing the regenerated kingdoms of Italy and of Naples, and all +the other popular governments established under the protection of +Napoleon. Against these foes the Emperor was contending, not for France +alone, but for the rights of humanity throughout Europe and the world. +As Napoleon left Paris for the campaigns of Jena and Auerstadt, he said +to the Senate, + +"In so just a war, which we have not provoked by any act, by any +pretense, the true cause to which it would be impossible to assign, and +where we only take up arms to defend ourselves, we depend entirely upon +the support of the laws and of the people." + +No man could deny the truth of this statement. Napoleon was driven to +all the rigors of a winter's campaign in the wilds of Poland. To have +received, by the side of his bleak bivouac, whilst thus struggling to +defend the rights of humanity throughout Europe, a letter from his +amiable brother, written in such a strain of implied reproach, must have +been extremely annoying. One would look for an outburst of indignation +in response. We turn to the Emperor's reply. It was as follows. + +"MY BROTHER,--I have received your letter of the 29th of March, and I +thank you for all that you have said. Peace is a marriage which depends +upon a union of wills. If it be necessary still to wage war, I am in a +condition to do so. You will see, by my message to the Senate, that I +am about to raise additional troops." + +Joseph had expressed the opinion that the Neapolitans truly loved him. +Napoleon, in his reply, said, + +"I am not of the opinion that the Neapolitans love you. It is all +resolved to this. If there were not a French soldier in Naples, could +you raise there thirty thousand men to defend you against the English +and the partisans of the Queen? As the contrary is evident to me, I can +not think as you do. Your people will love you undoubtedly, but it will +be after eight or ten years, when they will truly know you, and you +will know them. To love, with the people, means to esteem; and they +esteem their prince when he is feared by the bad, and when the good have +such confidence in him that he can, under all circumstances, rely upon +their fidelity and their aid." + +In a letter to Joseph, written a few days before this, the Emperor made +the following striking remarks: "Since you wish me to speak freely of +what is done at Naples, I will say to you that I was not just pleased +with the preamble to the suppression of the convents. In referring to +religion, the language should be in the spirit of religion, and not in +that of philosophy. Why do you speak of the services rendered to the +arts and the sciences by the religious orders? It is not that which has +rendered them commendable; it is the administration of the consolations +of religion. The preamble is entirely philosophical, and I think that +it should not be so. It ought to have been said that the great number +of the monks rendered their support difficult; that the dignity of +the State required that they should be maintained in a condition of +respectability: hence the necessity for reform, that a portion of the +clergy must be retained for the administration of the sacraments, that +others must be dismissed. I give this as a general principle." + +Joseph was well aware how difficult it is for truth to reach the steps +of the throne. In his tour through the provinces, he often, on foot, +penetrated the crowd which surrounded him, and conversed with any +one whose intelligence attracted his attention. He listened to every +well-founded complaint, and avowed himself deeply moved in view of the +oppression which the people had suffered even from his own agents. But +for this personal observation, he would have remained in ignorance of +these wrongs which he promptly and vigorously repressed. Joseph was a +man of the purest morals, and, as a husband and father, was a model of +excellence. While engaged in these labors at Naples, his wife, Julie, +who was in delicate health, remained in Paris, occupying the palace of +the Luxembourg. They exchanged _daily_ letters. The following extract +from one of Joseph's letters, written on the 26th of April, 1807, will +give the reader some insight to the nature of this correspondence, and +to the heart of Joseph. + +[Illustration: JOSEPH ON HIS NEAPOLITAN TOUR.] + +"MY DEAR JULIE,--I have received no letter from you to-day. I pray +you not to fail to write to me. I can not but feel anxious when I +receive no letter, since your correspondence is otherwise regular. +I wrote you yesterday of the rumors which malevolence had set in +circulation, but that facts will gradually destroy them. I can give +you the positive assurance that you need have no solicitude upon that +point. + +"I have come to pass Sunday here. It is somewhat remarkable that _fete_ +days are the seasons which I choose for a little recreation. This shows +with what constancy I am employed on other days in the labors of the +Cabinet. Moreover, the response to every accusation is the result which +has already been attained here. Notes upon the Bank of Naples, which +were twenty-five per cent. below par when I came here, are now at par. I +have, with my own resources, conducted the war and the siege of Gaeta, +which has cost six millions of francs ($1,200,000); I have found the +means to support and pay ninety thousand men, for I have, besides sixty +thousand land soldiers, thirty thousand men as marines, invalids, +pensioners of the ancient army, coast guards, shore gunners; and I have +fifteen hundred leagues of coast, all beset, blockaded, and often +attacked by the enemy. + +"With all this, I have not so much increased the taxes as to excite +the discontent of the landed proprietors and the people. There is so +little dissatisfaction that I can travel almost anywhere alone without +imprudence; that Naples is as tranquil as Paris; that I can borrow here +whatever one has to lend; that I have not a single class of society +discontented; and it is generally admitted that if I do not do better it +is not my fault; that I set the example of moderation, of economy; that +I indulge in no luxuries; that I make no expenses for myself; that I +have neither mistresses, minions, nor favorites; that no person leads +me, and, indeed, that every thing is so well ordered here that the +officers and other Frenchmen whom I am compelled to send away complain, +when they are absent, that they can not remain in Naples. + +"Read this, my good Julie, to mamma and to Caroline, since they are +anxious, and say to them that if they knew me better, they would feel +less solicitude. Say to them that one does not change at my age; remind +mamma that at every period of my life, an obscure citizen, cultivator, +magistrate, I have always sacrificed with pleasure my time to my +duties. It surely is not I, who prize grandeurs so little, who can fall +asleep in their bosom. I see in them only duties, never privileges. + +"I work for the kingdom of Naples with the same good faith and the same +self-renunciation with which, at the death of my father, I labored for +his young family, whom I never ceased to bear in my heart, and all +sacrifices were for me enjoyments. I say this with pride, because it is +the truth. I live only to be just; and justice requires that I should +render this people as happy as the scourge of war will render possible. +I venture to say, notwithstanding their situation, that the people of +Naples are perhaps more happy than any other people. + +"Be tranquil, then, my love, and be assured that these sentiments are as +unchanging in my soul as the immortal attachment which I bear for you +and for my children; if there be any sacrifice which they cost me, it is +being separated from you. Ambition certainly would not have led me away +two steps if I could have remained tranquil. But honor and the sentiment +of my duty induce me, three times a year, to make the tour of my realm +to solace the unhappy. + +"Under these circumstances, I thank Heaven for having given me health +and ability to bear the burden of affairs, and moderation which does not +permit me to be dazzled by grandeur, and energy which does not allow me +to slumber at my post; and a good conscience and a good wife to +pronounce judgment upon what I ought to do. I embrace you all tenderly." + +It was clear that the statesmanship of Napoleon was the controlling +influence in Joseph's administration, for in reading the details of his +interior policy, we find that the institutions of regenerated France +were taken as the models. To invest with honor the profession of a +soldier, no one who had been condemned for crime was permitted to enter +the army. Degrading punishments were abolished; distinctions and rewards +were accorded to eminent merit. Promotion depended no longer upon the +accident of birth, but upon services rendered, so that every office of +honor or emolument was alike within the reach of all. Joseph, in his +tour through the provinces, received very touching proofs of the +affections of the people. It was indeed manifest to all that a new era +of prosperity had dawned upon Naples. Still no devotion to the interests +of the people can save a ruler from enemies. Two assassins attempted +the life of the King. They were arrested, tried, condemned, and +executed.[M] + +[Footnote M: "The entrance of Joseph to Cosenza, the capital of hither +Calabria, on the 11th of April, was as a national fete. Guards of honor, +chosen from among the most distinguished families, all the clergy, all +the population were at the gates to receive him. He was accompanied +into the city with shouts of joy, the streets being ornamented with +triumphal arches. One would have thought that he was a sovereign +returning after a long absence to the midst of a people by whom he +was idolized."--_Memoires et Correspondence Politique et Militaire, +du Roi Joseph_, p. 127.] + +On the 14th of May, 1807, Joseph set out on a tour through the provinces +of the Abruzzes, a mountainous region traversed by the Apennines. He +found the government admirably administered under the authority of the +French General, Guvion Saint Cyr. The people were everywhere prosperous +and happy. The region, abounding in precipitous crags and gloomy +defiles, with communications often rendered impracticable by the rains +and the melting snows cutting gullies through the soil of sand and clay, +had become quite isolated. + +The inhabitants spontaneously arose to celebrate the arrival of the King +by constructing durable roads. Joseph promptly lent the enterprise his +royal support. He appointed a committee of able men, selected from each +of the capitals of the three provinces, with three road engineers, to +secure the judicious expenditure of the money and the labor; and offered +rewards to those communes which should push the improvements with the +greatest vigor. A system of irrigation and drainage was also adopted +which contributed immensely to the prosperity of the region, checking +emigration by opening wide fields to agricultural industry. + +During all this time Joseph kept up almost a daily correspondence with +his brother. The letters of Napoleon were written hurriedly, in the +midst of overwhelming cares, intended to be entirely private, with no +idea that their unstudied expressions, in which each varying emotion of +his soul, of hope, of disappointment, of irritation, found utterance, +would be exposed to the malignant comments of his foes. The friends of +Napoleon appeal triumphantly to this unmutilated correspondence, running +through the period of many long and eventful years, to prove that +Napoleon was animated by a high ambition to promote the interests of +humanity; that he was one of the most philanthropic as well as one of +the greatest of men. Joseph himself, whose upright character no +intelligent man has yet questioned, says, in his autobiography, written +at Point Breeze, New Jersey, when sixty-two years of age: + +"Having attained a somewhat advanced age, and enjoying good health, +disabused of many of the illusions which enable me to bear the storms of +life, and replacing those illusions by that tranquillity of soul which +results from a good conscience, and from the security which is afforded +by a country admirably constituted, I regard myself as having reached +the port. Before disembarking upon the shores of eternity, I wish to +render an account to myself of the long voyage, and to search out the +causes which have borne so high, in the ranks of society, my family, and +which have terminated in depriving us of that which appertains to the +humblest individual--a country which was dear to us, and which we have +served with good faith and devotion. + +"It is neither an apology nor a satire which I write. I render an +account to myself of events, and I wish to place upon paper the +recollections which they have left behind. There are some transactions +which I now condemn, after having formerly approved of them; there are +others of which I to-day approve, after having formerly condemned +them. Such is the feebleness of our nature, dependent always upon the +circumstances which surround us, and which frequently govern us--a +thought which ought to lead every true and reflective man to charity. + +"I venture to affirm that it is the love of truth which leads me to +undertake this writing. _It is a sentiment of justice which I owe to the +man who was my friend, and whom human feebleness has disfigured in a +manner so unworthy. Napoleon was, above all, a friend of the people, and +he was a just and good man, even more than he was a great warrior and +administrator. It is my duty, as his elder brother, and one who has not +always shared in his political opinions, to speak of that which I know, +and to express convictions which I profoundly cherish._ I am now in a +better situation to appreciate what were the causes foreign to his +nature, which forced him to assume a factitious character--a character +which made him feared by the instruments which he had to employ, in +order to sustain against Europe the war which the oligarchy had declared +against the principles of the revolution, and which the British Cabinet +waged against that France whose supremacy it could prevent only by +exciting against her Continental wars and civil dissensions, and those +despotic principles of government which no longer belonged to the nation +or the age in which we lived." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SPANISH PRINCES. + +1807-1808 + +Letter to Julie.--Victories of the Emperor.--Joseph and Napoleon meet at +Venice.--Joseph returns to Naples.--Lucien Bonaparte.--Letter from Eliza +Bonaparte.--Letter from Joseph to Napoleon.--Interchange of Letters. +--Attempt to assassinate Salicetti.--Napoleon complains of Roederer. +--Queen Julie and her Children repair to Naples.--Treachery of Spain. +--Plan of Napoleon.--Testimony in Favor of Joseph.--Joseph's Journey to +Bayonne.--Forebodings of Joseph.--The Brigands.--Queen Julie leaving +Naples.--Summary of Joseph's Benefactions to Naples.--Hostility of the +British Government.--Condition of Europe.--Measures of the Bourbons of +Spain.--Character of the Royal Family of Spain.--The Spanish Princes. + + +Toward the close of the year 1807 brigandage was entirely suppressed, +all traces of insurrection had disappeared, and tranquillity and +prosperity reigned throughout the kingdom of Naples. In July Joseph +wrote from Capo di Monte to Queen Julie, who was then at Mortfontaine, +as follows: + +"MY DEAR JULIE,--I have received your letter of the 15th from +Mortfontaine. The sentiment which you have experienced in returning to +that beautiful place, where we have been so happy for so long a time, +and at so little expense, needs not the explanation of any supernatural +causes. You perceive that there you have been happier than you are now, +than you will be for a long time. The happiness which you have there +enjoyed is sure as the past; that which is destined for you here is as +uncertain as the future. Life at Mortfontaine is that of innocence and +peace; it is that of the patriarchs. The life at Naples is that of +kings. It is a voyage over a sea, often calm, but sometimes stormy. The +life at Mortfontaine was a promenade as placid as its waters. It flowed +noiselessly like the light skiff which a slight effort of the oars of +Zenaide[N] sufficed to push forward around the isle of Molton.[O] + +[Footnote N: Daughter of the king.] + +[Footnote O: An island in the lake of Mortfontaine.] + +"But after all these regrets of a good heart, gentle and reasonable, +there come the results of the reflections of a strong mind and an +elevated soul which owes itself entirely to the will of Providence, +manifested by the spontaneous coming, and not desired by us, of +grandeurs which point us to other duties. I console myself, in this new +career, by seeing it traversed by my wife and my children. The most +unpleasant part of the voyage is over, that which I have taken without +them. Now peace will reunite us. And if you do not find here your own +country, our reunion will give us the illusion of it. As we shall be the +same to each other, I believe that, come what may, you will find +Mortfontaine, where you see me happy in the love of my family, and in +the happiness which I shall be able to confer, and in that still +greater happiness of which I shall dream. Adieu, my dear Julie. I +embrace you tenderly." + +The victories of the Emperor, the peace of Tilsit, the Russian alliance, +had greatly diminished the influence of the British Cabinet upon the +Continent, and, in the same proportion, had increased that of France. +Still the Cabinet of St. James was unrelenting in opposition to +Napoleon. The British cruisers ran along the coast of Italy, landing +here and there Sicilian or Calabrian brigands, who were under the pay of +Ferdinand and Caroline. It was also proved that assassins were in the +employ of Ferdinand and his queen. + +Toward the end of November Napoleon visited Venice, and, by appointment, +met his brother Joseph there. It has generally been affirmed that there +was a _secret_ article in the treaty of Tilsit authorizing Napoleon to +dethrone the Bourbons of Spain, who had treacherously endeavored to +strike him in the back when, in the campaigns of Jena, Auerstadt, and +Austerlitz, he was contending against England, France, and Russia. But +that secret article, if there were such, has been kept so secret, that +no sufficient evidence has yet been adduced that it existed. Joseph, +however, wrote, when an exile in America: + +"At the time of my interview with the Emperor at Venice, he spoke to me +of troubles in the royal family of Spain as probably leading to events +which he dreaded. 'I have enough work marked out,' he said. 'The +troubles in Spain will only aid the English to impair the resources, +which I find in this alliance, to continue the war against them.'" + +On the 16th of December Joseph returned to Naples, and the next day +presided at the council of ministers. He did not make any communication +of importance. "It is only known," writes the Count of Melito, "that he +sent one of his aides on a mission to the Emperor Alexander. It was +hence concluded that arrangements of some nature had been entered into +at Venice in harmony with the views of the Emperor of Russia." Joseph, +however, writes, in reference to this mission, "General Marie took +letters to Russia and congratulations, and brought me back letters, +affectionate even, from the Emperor Alexander, and his compliments; that +was all." + +Lucien Bonaparte, a very independent and impulsive young man, was not +disposed to submit to the dictation of his elder brother Napoleon. He +had entered into a second marriage, which displeased Napoleon, as it +very seriously interfered with his plans of forming a dynasty. Joseph +was sent to meet the refractory brother at Modena, and to endeavor to +promote reconciliation. The following letter from Eliza, written to her +brother Lucien upon this subject will be read with interest. It was +dated Marlia, June 20th, 1807: + +"MY DEAR LUCIEN,--I have received your letter. Permit, to my friendship, +a few reflections upon the present state of things. I hope that you will +not be annoyed by my observations. + +"Propositions were made to you, a year ago, which you should have found +seasonable, and which you should immediately have accepted, for the +happiness of your family and of your wife. You now refuse them. Do you +not see, my dear friend, that the only means of placing obstacles in the +way of adoption is, that his Majesty should have a family of which he +can dispose? In remaining near Napoleon, or in receiving from him a +throne, you will be useful to him. He will marry your daughters; and so +long as he can find, in the members of his family, the instruments for +executing his projects and his policy, he will not choose strangers. We +must not treat with the master of the world as with an equal. Nature +made us the children of the same father, and his prodigies have rendered +us his subjects. Although sovereigns, we hold every thing from him. It +is a noble pride to acknowledge this; and it seems to me that our only +glory should be to prove by our manner of governing that we are worthy +of him and of our family. + +"Reflect then anew upon the propositions which are made to you. Mamma +and we all should be so happy to be re-united, and to make only one +political family. Dear Lucien, do that for us, who love you, for the +people whom my brother has given for you to govern, and to whom you will +bring happiness. + +"Adieu. I embrace you. Do not feel unkindly to me for this; and believe +that my tenderness will always be the same for you. Embrace your wife +and your amiable family. Chevalier Angelino, who has come to see me, has +often spoken to me of you and of your wife. My little one is charming. I +have weaned her. I shall be very happy if she is soon able to play with +all the family. Adieu. + + "Your sister and friend, ELIZA." + +The letters of the Emperor were sometimes severe in reproof of the +policy of his brother. It is evident that Joseph was, at times, quite +wounded by these reproaches. At the conclusion of a long letter, written +on the 19th of October, 1807, Joseph says: + +"I am far from complaining of any one. The people and the enemy are what +they must be. But it would be pleasant to me, could your Majesty truly +know my position, and render some justice to the efforts and to the +privations of every kind which I impose upon myself to do the best I +can. Although the present state of affairs may not be good, still I hope +for better times. No person desires it more than I do. When I have a +thousand ducats I give them; and I can assure your Majesty that I have +never in my life, which has been composed of so many different shades, +found less opportunity to gratify my private inclinations. I have no +expenses but for the public wants. I occupy myself day and night in the +administration. I think the administration as good as possible; but it +has no more the power than have I to correct the times, and to create +that which does not exist and can not exist, except where there is +interior tranquillity and external peace." + +On the 13th of August, 1806, Joseph wrote to his brother, "I remain here +till your Majesty's birthday, on which I wish you joy. I hope that you +may receive with some little pleasure this expression of my affection. +The glorious Emperor will never replace to me the Napoleon whom I so +much loved, and whom I hope to find again, as I knew him twenty years +ago, if we are to meet in the Elysian Fields." + +Napoleon replied from Rambouillet, on the 23d of August, + +"MY BROTHER,--I have received your letter of the 13th of August. I am +sorry that you think that you will find your brother again only in the +Elysian Fields. It is natural that at forty he should not feel toward +you as he did at twelve. But his feelings toward you are more true and +strong. His friendship has the features of his mind." + +In December Napoleon had a personal interview with Lucien, and he gives +the following account of it, in a letter to Joseph, dated Mantua, 17th +December, 1807: + +"MY BROTHER,--I have seen Lucien at Mantua. I talked with him several +hours. He undoubtedly will inform you of the disposition in which he +left. His thoughts and his language are so different from mine that I +found it difficult to get an idea of what he wished. I think that he +told me that he wished to send his eldest daughter to Paris, to be near +her grandmother. If he continue in that disposition, I desire to be +immediately informed of it. And it is necessary that that young person +should be in Paris in the course of January, either accompanied by +Lucien, or intrusted by him to the charge of a governess, who will +convey her to Madame.[P] Lucien seems to be agitated by contrary +sentiments, and not to have sufficient strength to come to a decision. + +[Footnote P: Madame Letitia, Napoleon's mother.] + +"I have exhausted all the means in my power to recall Lucien, who is +still in his early youth, to the employment of his talents for me and +for the country. If he wish to send his daughter, she should leave +without delay, and he should send a declaration by which he places her +entirely at my disposal, for there is not a moment to be lost; events +hurry onward, and I must accomplish my destiny. If he has changed his +opinion, let me immediately be informed of it, for then I must make +other arrangements. + +"Say to Lucien that his grief and the parting sentiments which he +manifested moved me; that I regret the more that he will not be +reasonable, and contribute to his own repose and to mine. I await with +impatience a reply clear and decisive, particularly in that which +relates to Charlotte." + +On the 31st of January, 1808, a fiend-like attempt was made to blow up +the palace of Salicetti, Joseph's minister of police. About one o'clock +in the morning, just as the minister was entering his chamber, there was +a terrific explosion. An infernal machine had been placed in the cellar. +The whole palace was shattered and rent, while large portions were +thrown into utter ruin. Salicetti, severely wounded, heard the shrieks +of his daughter, the Duchess of Lavello, and rushed to her aid. He found +her buried five or six feet deep in the debris which had been thrown +upon her. It was more than a quarter of an hour before her agonized +father, aided by the domestics, could succeed in extricating her. +Though alive, she was sadly maimed. Two of the inmates of the palace +were killed, and others were severely injured. + +Napoleon, when informed of the event, wrote to Joseph, under date of +February 11th, 1808: "The terrible misfortune which has happened to +Salicetti seems to me to have been the result of over-indulgence. When +were traitors ever before allowed to live free in a capital--wretches +who had plotted against the State? Their lives ought not to be spared; +but if that is done, at least you ought to send them sixty leagues from +the capital or shut them up in a fortress. Any other conduct is +madness." + +Napoleon, having gained a glorious peace upon the plains of Poland, +which disarmed the nations of the north, now turned his special +attention to the south--to Portugal, Spain, Italy, Rome, and Naples. The +possession of the kingdom of Naples, instead of being a source of profit +to the Emperor, occasioned him continued and heavy expense. Joseph was +ever calling for money to meet the innumerable demands involved in +carrying on war with the English, and in urging forward those reforms +which were essential to the regeneration of a realm which former +misgovernment had plunged to a very low abyss of poverty and ruin. +The Emperor, bearing the burden of the exhaustive wars ever waged +against him, while continually aiding Joseph, still often and severely +reproached him with the manner in which his finances were conducted. On +the 11th of February, 1808, he wrote: + +"MY BROTHER,--The administration of the realm of Naples is very bad. +Roederer makes brilliant projects, ruins the country, and pays no money +into your treasury. This is the opinion of all the French who come from +Naples. Roederer is upright, and has good intentions, but he has no +experience." + +Again, on the 26th of February, he wrote: "Roederer is of the race of +men who always ruin those to whom they are attached. Is it want of tact, +is it misfortune? No matter which; there is not one of your friends who +does not detest Roederer. He is at Naples as at Paris, without credit +with any party; a man of no sagacity, of no tact, whom, however, I +esteem for many good qualities, but whom, as a statesman, I can make +nothing of." + +Joseph, however, earnestly defended his financial agent as an able and +an honest man, who made enemies only of those who wished to plunder the +treasury. This led Joseph, whose constant effort it was to promote the +happiness of his people, to whose interests he was entirely devoted, to +order a minute statement to be drawn up of the condition of the realm +in all respects. This remarkable document was written by Count Melito, +the Minister of the Interior. It gave an accurate narrative of all the +ameliorations which had been introduced by Joseph, and will ever remain +a monument of his goodness and tireless energies as a sovereign. As none +of the statements could be doubted, the document at the time produced a +profound impression throughout Europe. + +Queen Julie now came to Naples with her children to join her husband. +She was received with great enthusiasm. There has seldom been found, +in the history of the world, a worse woman than Caroline, the wife of +Ferdinand, the former King of Naples. And history records the name +perhaps of no better woman than Julie, the wife of Joseph. The King met +the Queen on the 4th of April at Saint Lucie, and conducted her, greeted +by the acclamations of their rejoicing subjects, into their beautiful +capital. + +The treachery of the Court of Spain, which, like an assassin, endeavored +to strike the Empire of France stealthily, with a poisoned dagger, in +the back, was known throughout Europe. These proud dynasties regarded +Napoleon, because he was an _elected_, not a _legitimate_ sovereign, +as an outlaw, with whom no treaties were binding, and whom they could +betray, entrap, and shoot at pleasure. + +When Napoleon was far away, in his winter campaign, bivouacking upon the +cold summit of the Landgrafenberg, the evening before the battle of Jena +he received information that the Bourbons of Spain, then professing +friendship, and bound to him by a treaty of alliance, were secretly +entering into a contract with England to assail him in the rear. +Napoleon had neither done nor meditated aught to injure Spain. His crime +was that he had accepted the crown from the people, and was ruling in +behalf of their interests, and not in the interests of the nobles alone. + +"A convention," says Alison, "was secretly concluded at Madrid between +the Spanish Government and the Russian ambassador, to which the Court +of Lisbon was also a party, by which it was agreed that, as soon as +the favorable opportunity was arrived, by the French armies being far +advanced on their road to Berlin, the Spanish Government should commence +hostilities in the Pyrenees, and invite the English to co-operate." + +Napoleon, by his camp-fire, upon the eve of a terrible battle, read the +account of this perfidy. As he folded the dispatches, he said calmly, +but firmly, "The Bourbons of Spain shall be replaced by princes of my +own family." + +"The Spanish Bourbons," says Napier, "could never have been sincere +friends to France while Bonaparte held the sceptre; and the moment that +the fear of his power ceased to operate, it was quite certain that their +apparent friendship would change to active hostility." + +"When I made peace on the Niemen," said Napoleon, "I stipulated that if +England did not accept the mediation of Alexander, Russia should unite +her arms with ours, and compel that power to peace. I should be indeed +weak if, having obtained that single advantage from those whom I have +vanquished, I should permit the Spaniards to embroil me afresh on my +weak side. Should I permit Spain to form an alliance with England, it +would give that hostile power greater advantages than it has lost by the +rupture with Russia. I wish, above all things, to avoid war with Spain. +Such a contest would be a species of sacrilege. If I can not arrange +with either the father or the son, I will make a clean sweep of them +both." + +Rumor was busy throughout Europe in discussing the plans of Napoleon. +The report soon became general that the crown of Spain was to be offered +to Joseph. His kindness of heart, his nobleness of character, and the +immense benefits which he had conferred upon the Neapolitan realm, had +secured for him almost universal respect and affection. The Neapolitans +were greatly alarmed from fears that he would be transferred to Spain. + +"The King," writes his very able biographer, A. du Casse, "was +universally beloved, because he began to be appreciated at his true +value. His good qualities, the love with which he cherished his +subjects, had won all hearts. His departure was dreaded. Joseph, +however, did not slacken the reins of government. The Councils of State +and the ministers, presided over by him, continued their labors to +ameliorate the administration of the realm, to embellish Naples, to +encourage discoveries, to unite the learned in a literary corps. The +King wished that, even after his departure, the impulse which he had +given should continue uninterrupted." + +It was at Naples, under the encouragement of Joseph, that the art of +lithography was discovered. On the 23d of May, 1808, the King, by the +request of Napoleon, left Naples for France. He left his family behind +him, and hastened through Turin and Lyons to meet his brother at +Bayonne. His departure caused great anxiety and sadness throughout the +kingdom of Naples. Who would wear the crown about to be vacated? Would +the Two Sicilies be annexed to the kingdom of Italy under Eugene? Would +Louis, Lucien, or one of Napoleon's marshals succeed Joseph? + +On the journey Joseph met the Bishop of Grenoble, formerly the abbe +Simon, his ancient professor of mathematics and philosophy in the +College of Autun. Joseph had ever cherished the memory of his teacher +with great affection, and, upon meeting, threw his arms around him in a +tender embrace. As the bishop complimented him upon his high destiny, +and congratulated him upon the probability of his immediate elevation to +the throne of Spain, Joseph replied sadly,[Q] + +[Footnote Q: We are indebted, for the report of this conversation, to M. +Simon, of Nantes, a nephew of the bishop.] + +"May your felicitations, Monsieur the Bishop, prove of happy augury to +your former pupil. May your prayers avert the calamities which I +foresee. As for me, ambition does not blind me. The joys of the crown of +Spain do not dazzle my eyes. I leave a country in which I think that I +have done some good, where I flatter myself to have been beloved, and +that I leave behind me some regrets. Will it be the same in the new +realm which awaits me? + +"The Neapolitans have, so to speak, never known nationality. By turns +conquered by the Normans, the Spaniards, the French, it was little +matter to them who their masters were, provided that these masters left +them their blue skies, their azure sea, their spot in the sunshine, and +a few pence for their macaroni. + +"Arriving among them, I found every thing to do. I stimulated their +natural apathy, gave nerve to the administration, introduced some order +everywhere. They were pleased with my good intentions, with my efforts. +They loved me with the same fervor with which they hated the King of +Sicily and his odious ministers. In Spain, on the contrary, I shall +labor in vain; I can not so completely lay aside my title of a foreigner +that I can escape the hatred of a people proud and sensitive upon the +point of honor; of a people who have known no other wars but wars of +independence, and who abhor, above all things, the French name. + +"The Peninsula contains at this moment, under arms, nearly one hundred +thousand national soldiers, who will excite, at the same time, against +my government, the monks, the clergy, the friends (and they are still +numerous) of legitimacy, the ancient and faithful servants of old +Charles IV., the gold and the intrigues of England. Every thing will +prove an obstacle to my plans of amelioration. They will be +misrepresented, calumniated, disowned. + +"In view of the insurrection of which the Prince of Asturias has +recently given an example against his own father, in the midst of +license and anarchy, the natural consequence of long demoralization and +the disorders of a dissolute court, of a dynasty used up, will not all +wise and well-moderated liberty be regarded as the equal of tyranny? +Monsieur the Bishop, I see a horizon charged with very black clouds. +They contain in their bosom a future which terrifies me. The star of my +brother, will it always shine luminous and brilliant in the skies? I do +not know; but sad presentiments oppress me in spite of myself. They +besiege me; they govern me. I greatly fear that, in giving me a crown +more illustrious than that which I lay aside, the Emperor will place +upon my brow a burden heavier than it can bear. Pity me, then, my dear +teacher, pity me; do not felicitate me." + +The brigands in the kingdom of Naples, and the eternal and natural +enemies of repose which are to be found in all countries, availing +themselves of the absence of King Joseph, and encouraged by the presence +of the British fleet and the gold of the British Cabinet, redoubled +their efforts in local insurrections, and committed cowardly +assassinations. The bandits would land here and there, and perpetrate +the most atrocious crimes, burning, plundering, murdering. + +Joseph was anxious, before leaving Naples, to establish _institutions +of liberty_ which might be permanent. On the 21st of July, the Council +of State received from the King a constitution, which he had drawn up +with the aid of his ministers. It contained the clear announcement of +the principles which had animated him during his reign, and was founded +upon the constitutions in France and in the kingdom of Italy. Though the +constitution was not perfect--for the world is ever making progress--it +was greatly in advance of any thing which had been known in the kingdom +of Sicily before, and conferred immense advantages upon the realm. There +was but one legislative body. It consisted of five sections, equal +in number: the clergy, the nobility, the landed proprietors, the +philosophers, and the merchants. The Council of State chose five of the +most distinguished persons, of the various classes, to convey to Joseph +their thanks for the constitution he had conferred upon the realm. + +[Illustration: QUEEN JULIE LEAVING NAPLES.] + +On the 6th of July, Queen Julie, with her children, left Naples to join +her husband in Spain. A numerous cortege escorted her from the city with +every testimonial of regret. On the 8th Joseph abdicated the crown, +which was subsequently transferred to the brow of Napoleon's cavalry +leader, Murat, who had married Caroline Bonaparte. + +"Here terminates," writes M. du Casse, "our task relative to the short +reign of Joseph in Naples. That prince had rendered to that beautiful +country services which, long after his departure, conferred blessings +upon the realm, which had been surrendered until then to the sad regime +of a feudalism crushing to the people. His successor found the ground +clear, war extinct almost everywhere, the conquest assured, tranquillity +established, abuses reformed, civil administration organized, the +monks suppressed, the finances restored, credit consolidated, public +instruction and legislation founded upon liberal bases, and wisely +adapted to the manners of the inhabitants. + +"The army was formed under the shade of the flag of France; the marine +commenced to be regenerated. The sciences and the arts, encouraged, +were beginning to diffuse themselves; brigandage was breathing its last +sigh. There remained for Murat only to reap the fruits of the wise and +paternal conduct of the older brother of the Emperor. He inherited a +country of rich and fertile soil, with a delightful climate, inhabited +by a population blessing the guardian hand which had delivered them from +the ignorance into which the ancient Government seemed to have plunged +them by design. The task of the new sovereign seemed to be only to +complete the work of the philosophic King." + +It was the implacable hostility of the British Government, ever ready to +avail itself of the treachery of Spain, which in the view of Napoleon +rendered it necessary for him, as an act of self-preservation, to place +the government of the Spanish Peninsula in friendly hands. On the 18th +of April, 1808, Napoleon had written to Joseph, + +"England begins to suffer. Peace with that power alone will enable me to +sheathe the sword and restore tranquillity to Europe." + +Before we accompany Joseph to Spain, let us briefly review the condition +of Europe at this time. By the peace of Tilsit, the Emperor Alexander +had recognized all the changes which the sword of Napoleon had effected +upon the Continent of Europe. The Czar was on terms of personal +friendship with Napoleon, and it was understood that he had given his +consent to Napoleon's design to dethrone the Bourbons of Spain. The +infamous British expedition to Copenhagen, with the bombardment of the +city and the destruction of the Danish fleet, had created general +indignation throughout the European world. England had but one single +ally left, the half-mad King of Sweden. The ships of England, excluded +from every port upon the Continent, wandered idly over the seas. + +Austria, humiliated by the treaty of Presburg, was sullen and silent, +watching for an opportunity to regain its former ascendency and military +prestige. In Prussia the House of Brandenburg had been terribly +punished. Though it still reigned, it was with diminished territory, +with its military strength nearly destroyed, and with all its strong +places held by French troops. The Cabinet at Berlin could not venture in +any way to oppose the will of Napoleon. All the kings and princes of the +Confederation of the Rhine were united to France by the closest +alliance. + +Jerome, Napoleon's youngest brother, was king of Westphalia. Louis +reigned in Holland. French influence was supreme in Switzerland. The +Emperor Napoleon was king of Italy, and Joseph, reigning at Naples, +was about to be transferred to Spain. Turkey was allied with France, +seeking from the Emperor protection from the encroachments of Russia. +Consequently England was at war with the Porte. + +Spain occupied a peculiar position. The King, Charles IV., a near +relative of Louis XVI., had united with allied Europe in the war against +the French Republic. Terribly punished by the French armies, Spain had +made peace at the treaty of Basle in July, 1795. Soon after, the two +powers entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, engaging to +assist each other with both land and sea forces. + +This brought down upon Spain the vengeance of the British Government, +which, with its invincible fleet, swept all seas. Spanish commerce at +once became the prey of English privateers. Cadiz was bombarded, and the +Spanish naval fleet encountered very severe loss. The peace of Amiens, +to which the British Government had been very reluctantly compelled to +assent by the pressure of English public opinion, gave peace to Spain. +But when the Court of Saint James, by the rupture of the peace of +Amiens, renewed its assault upon France, the Spanish Court, anxious to +avoid a war with England, proposed to Napoleon that, instead of aiding +him directly by fleet and army, according to the terms of the alliance, +Spain should pay France an annual subsidy of six million francs. The +proposition was accepted. + +The English minister, ascertaining this, _without any declaration of +war_, seized every thing belonging to Spain which could be found afloat. +As Spain, supposing that her assumed neutrality would be respected, had +her fleet and merchandise everywhere exposed, her loss was very severe. + +When the Bourbons of Spain saw that the British Government had succeeded +in forming a new alliance against Napoleon, which would compel the +French Emperor to take his armies hundreds of leagues north to struggle +against the united armies of Prussia and Russia, it was thought that +Napoleon must inevitably fall. Spain decided again to make common cause +with the Allies, as we have before mentioned. A vehement proclamation +was issued, calling the Spaniards to arms. The utter crushing of Prussia +on the fields of Jena and Auerstadt literally frightened Spain out +of her wits. She sent an ambassador extraordinary to _congratulate +Napoleon upon his victory, and to assure him of the continued +friendship of the Spanish Government_. Napoleon concealed his just +resentment. The time to rectify the wrong had not yet come. + +Queen Caroline, the wife of Charles IV. of Spain, was one of the most +infamous of women; still she could not be worse than her husband. +There was a very handsome young fellow in the body-guard, named Godoy. +Caroline fell in love with him, made him her intimate friend, lavished +upon him titles and wealth and posts of responsibility. He was called +the Prince of Peace, in consequence of the agency he had in effecting +the treaty of Basle. He was in all respects a very weak and worthless +creature, but he had become in reality the sovereign of Spain, governing +with unlimited power. This man, in his anxiety to disarm the anger of +Napoleon, sent an ambassador to the Emperor to renew his pledges of +friendship, and to give assurance of his entire submission in all things +to Napoleon's will. A secret treaty was accordingly made on the 27th of +October, 1807, which enabled Napoleon, among other concessions, to +station large bodies of French troops within the Spanish territory. + +The King's eldest son, Ferdinand, the heir to the throne, was then +twenty-five years of age, and bore the title of the Prince of Asturias. +His mother had truly characterized him as having "a mule's head and a +tiger's heart." He hated Godoy, and was accused of attempting to poison +his father and mother, that he might get the crown. His arrest and +threatened execution by his father roused the masses of Madrid to a fury +of insurrection. Much as they detested Ferdinand, they hated still more +implacably the King and Queen, and the Queen's infamous paramour, +Godoy. A raging insurrection swept the streets of Madrid. The King +was terror-stricken, and implored help from Napoleon. He wrote: + +"SIRE, MY BROTHER,--I have discovered with horror that my eldest son, +the heir presumptive to the throne, has not only formed the design to +dethrone me, but even to attempt the life of myself and his mother. Such +an atrocious attempt merits the most exemplary punishment. I pray your +Majesty to aid me by your light and council." + +Ferdinand also appealed to the Emperor. He wrote, "The world more and +more daily admires the greatness and goodness of Napoleon. Rest assured +that the Emperor shall ever find in Ferdinand the most faithful and +devoted son. Ferdinand implores, therefore, his powerful protection, and +prays that he will grant him the honor of an alliance with some august +princess of his family." + +Thus Napoleon suddenly and unexpectedly found the King of Spain, Godoy, +and the Ferdinands, all kneeling at his feet. Speaking upon this subject +at Saint Helena, he said: + +"The fact is, that had it not been for their broils and quarrels among +themselves, I should never have thought of dispossessing them. When I +saw those imbeciles quarrelling and trying to dethrone each other, I +thought I might as well take advantage of it, and dispossess an inimical +family. Had I known at first that the transaction would have given me so +much trouble, or that even it would have cost the lives of two hundred +men, I would never have attempted it. But being once embarked, it was +necessary to go forward." + +[Illustration: JOSEPH RECEIVING THE ADDRESSES OF THE SPANISH SENATE.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +JOSEPH KING OF SPAIN. + +1808 + +Abdication of Charles IV.--Ferdinand claims the Crown.--Measures of +Murat.--Ferdinand visits Bayonne.--The Royal Family follow.--Remarks +of Napoleon.--Proclamation of Charles IV.--Joseph Proclaimed King of +Spain.--Remarks of Napoleon.--Opinions of the Junta.--Motives of +Joseph.--Address of the Duke of Infantado.--Addresses from other +Bodies.--Letter from Ferdinand.--A Constitution adopted.--Joseph +leaves Bayonne.--Efforts of the Monks.--Insurrections.--Disappointment +of Joseph.--The Friends of Joseph overawed and silenced.--Encouragement +from the Emperor.--Capitulation of Junot.--Napoleon aroused.--Peril of +Joseph's Government.--Speech to the Legislative Corps.--The marvellous +Energy of Napoleon.--Napoleon visits Spain.--Spanish Boasting.--The +triumphant March of the Emperor.--Napoleon enters Madrid.--Proclamation +of Napoleon. + + +After a series of the wildest, most tumultuous, and frantic scenes of +which even Spanish history gives any account, Charles IV. abdicated in +favor of his son Ferdinand. On the 20th of March, 1808, the new King, +Ferdinand VII., was saluted by the acclamations of the people and the +soldiers, and received the homage of the Court. One of his first acts +was to arrest the hated Manuel Godoy. Murat was then in command of the +French troops in Spain, and was about entering Madrid. Junot, with a +French army, had taken possession of Portugal. Spain was nominally in +alliance with France. England was consequently waging war against Spain. +The French troops were in Spain to protect the kingdom from the English. + +The young King Ferdinand immediately dispatched the Duke of Pargue to +convey assurances of friendship to Murat, and to sound his intentions. +At the same time he sent three of the grandees of Spain to announce his +accession to the throne to Napoleon, and to give him renewed pledges of +his friendship and devotion. On the 23d of April Murat took military +possession of Madrid. The next day Ferdinand made his triumphal entrance +into the metropolis. He was received with boundless exultation, so +greatly were the people rejoiced to be delivered from the detestable +Godoy. Thus far Napoleon did not recognize the accession of Ferdinand. +He however sent the Duke of Rovigo to Madrid to ascertain the +circumstances of the abdication. In the mean time the old King, who had +retired with the Queen to Aranjuez, wrote a letter to the Emperor, in +which he said that he had been forced to abdicate in favor of his son +by the clamors of the people and the insurrection of the soldiers, +threatening him with instant death if he refused. + +"I protest and declare," he said, "that my decree of the 19th of March, +in which I abdicated the crown in favor of my son, is an act to which I +have been forced to prevent the greatest misfortunes and the effusion of +the blood of my well-beloved subjects. It ought consequently to be +regarded as of no value." + +The Queen also wrote to Murat, entreating him, in the most supplicating +terms, to rescue her paramour Godoy from prison, and stating that they +had abdicated only to save their lives. While Charles IV. and Caroline +were making these secret protestations to Napoleon and Murat, the +abdicated King, to lull the suspicions of Ferdinand, was reiterating the +public declaration that the abdication was free and unconstrained, and +that never in his life had he performed an act more agreeable to his +inclinations. + +Murat took the old King and Queen under his protection, provided them +with a suitable guard, and demanded the liberation of Godoy. Ferdinand, +convinced that he could not maintain the throne without the support of +Napoleon, sent his younger brother, Don Carlos, to intercede with the +Emperor in his favor. While these scenes were transpiring, Savary, Duke +of Rovigo, arrived at Madrid. He assured Ferdinand that it was the +Emperor's desire to unite France and Spain in the closest alliance. +He proposed that Ferdinand should visit Napoleon, that in a personal +interview they might the better mutually understand each other. The +counsellors of Ferdinand urged the adoption of this measure, as one +which would secure the confidence of the Emperor, and which might +induce him to give a princess of his family to Ferdinand. Such was the +condition of affairs in April, 1808. The great object of Napoleon was +to secure a government in Spain whose treachery he need not fear, and +upon whose friendly co-operation he could rely. Charles IV., the weakest +of weak men, enslaved by long habit, was the obsequious tool of his +stronger-minded wife. The Queen, Caroline, sought, at whatever price, to +save her lover Godoy. Ferdinand wished to crush Godoy, his implacable +foe. + +Ferdinand decided to visit the Emperor, and on the 10th of April left +Madrid for that purpose. When he reached his frontiers he wrote a very +suppliant letter to Napoleon, entreating the recognition of his right to +the throne, and pledging his friendship. Napoleon replied that he was +ready to recognize the Prince of Asturias as King of Spain if it should +appear that Charles IV. had not been compelled to abdicate through fear +of his life. By this extraordinary concurrence of circumstances Napoleon +became the judge between the father and the son, both of whom had +appealed to his decision. + +Ferdinand, with his suite, crossing the frontiers, hastened to Bayonne, +and entered the city on the morning of the 20th of April. He was +received by the Emperor with distinguished marks of attention and +kindness, but not with regal honors. The Prince of Peace, whose +liberation Murat had secured, came hurrying on to Bayonne, to plead +his cause before the Emperor; and he was followed, in a few hours, by +Charles IV. and the Queen. Thus the whole family was assembled at +Bayonne. The result of several stormy interviews, in which the King, +the Queen, and their son exhausted upon each other the language of +vituperation, and in which the enraged old King was with difficulty +restrained from a violent personal attack upon his son, the parties all +agreed to cede to Napoleon the crown of Spain. Ferdinand first renounced +his rights in favor of his father, and Charles IV. transferred the +sceptre to Napoleon. The imperial palace of Campiegne, its parks and +forests, were placed at the disposition of Charles IV. for himself, his +Queen, and Godoy, during his life, with an annual pension of thirty +million reals. He was also given the _proprietorship_ of the chateau +of Chambord, with its parks, forests, and farms, to dispose of as he +pleased. Upon the death of the King, the Queen was to receive a pension +of two million reals. The two princes, Ferdinand and Don Carlos, were +assigned to the castle of Valencay, its park, forests, and farms, with +an income amounting to about half a million dollars. + +It is said that Napoleon obtained at Bayonne such developments of the +character of Ferdinand that he saw that it was utterly in vain to +attempt to make a respectable king of him; one upon whom he could repose +the slightest reliance; and he could no longer think of sacrificing the +daughter of Lucien to so worthless a creature. Speaking upon this +subject at Saint Helena, Napoleon said to Las Casas: + +"Ferdinand offered, on his own account, to govern entirely at my +devotion, as much so as the Prince of Peace had done in the name of +Charles IV. And I must admit that if I had fallen into their views I +should have acted much more prudently than I have actually done. When +I had them all assembled at Bayonne, I found myself in command of much +more than I could have ventured to hope for. The same occurred there, as +in many other events of my life, which have been ascribed to my policy, +but in fact were owing to my good-fortune. + +"Here I found the Gordian knot before me. I cut it. I proposed to +Charles IV. and the Queen that they should cede to me their rights to +the throne. They at once agreed to it, I had almost said voluntarily; so +deeply were their hearts ulcerated toward their son, and so desirous had +they and their favorite now become of security and repose. The Prince of +Asturias did not make any extraordinary resistance. Neither violence nor +menaces were employed against him. And if fear decided him, which I well +believe was the case, it concerns him alone." + +On the 8th of May Charles IV. issued a proclamation to the Spanish +nation, informing them that he had ceded the crown to Napoleon, and +enjoining it upon them to transfer their homage to him. "We have," said +he, "ceded all our rights over Spain to our ally and friend the Emperor +of the French, by a treaty signed and ratified, stipulating the +integrity and independence of Spain and the preservation of our holy +religion, not only as dominant, but as alone tolerated in Spain." + +As the throne was thus transferred without any action of the people +whatever, Napoleon felt the necessity of obtaining something like a +national sanction of the deed, and an expression of the national will +in respect to the sovereign who should be placed over them. Murat, at +Madrid, announced to the council-general of Castile, to the junta or +council of the Government, and to the municipality, that the Emperor +desired to know their opinion in reference to the choice of a sovereign +from the princes of his own family. All these three bodies united in the +expression of the wish that the choice should fall upon Prince Joseph, +King of Naples. A deputation of distinguished men was sent to convey +this wish to the Emperor. Fortified by these documents, Napoleon, on the +6th of June, proclaimed that the crown of Spain was transferred to his +brother Joseph. + +Joseph was at that time on the road to Bayonne, not yet knowing the +decision of his brother, and in heart very reluctant to assume the +crown of Spain. Napoleon rode out from Bayonne to meet Joseph, whom he +sincerely loved, and who was so ready to sacrifice his inclinations and +his happiness to aid the Emperor in his gigantic plans. The Emperor made +the following statement to Joseph as they rode back together to Bayonne: + +"The passions of the princes of the House of Spain have precipitated a +crisis which has arrived too soon. They could no more agree together at +Bayonne than they could in Spain. Charles IV. preferred to retire to +France upon certain conditions, rather than go back to Spain without the +Prince of Peace. The Queen also preferred to see a stranger ascend the +throne rather than Ferdinand. Neither Ferdinand nor any other Spaniard +wished for Charles IV. if the reign of Godoy were to be recommenced; +they preferred a stranger to him. I am fully satisfied," said the +Emperor, "that it would require greater efforts to sustain Charles and +the Prince of Peace than to change the dynasty. Ferdinand has shown +himself so moderate in ability, and so unreliable in character, that it +would be inconsistent for me to commit myself for him in sustaining a +son who has dethroned his father. This dynasty is no longer suitable +for Spain. With it no regeneration is possible. The most prominent +personages of the monarchy, in rank, in intelligence, and in character, +assembled at Bayonne in a national junta, are, in general, convinced of +this truth. Since destiny has so ordered it, and since it is in my power +now to do that which I had no wish to undertake, I have designed to +regenerate Spain by placing over it my brother, the King of Naples, +who is agreeable to the junta, and who will be also so to the nation. +Ferdinand has, for a long time, sought one of my nieces in marriage. But +since the interview at Bayonne, knowing more intimately the character of +the prince, I can not think it proper to accede to his demands. + +"The Spanish princes have already left for France. They have ceded their +rights to the crown. I wish to transfer the crown to my brother, the +King of Naples. It is important that he should not hesitate. The +Spaniards, as also foreign sovereigns, will think that I wish to place +that crown upon my head, as I have done with that of Lombardy when +Joseph refused to accept it. The tranquillity of Spain, of Europe, the +reconciliation of all the members of the family[R] depend upon the +decision which Joseph now makes. I will not cherish the thought that the +regret to leave a beautiful country, where there are no longer any +dangers to be encountered, can induce Joseph to refuse a throne, where +there are great obstacles to be overcome, and much good to be +accomplished." + +[Footnote R: Napoleon then contemplated making Lucien King of Naples.] + +When they reached Bayonne, Joseph found all the members of the Junta +assembled in the chateau of Marrac. He responded vaguely to the address +of congratulation the Junta made to him, wishing first to converse with +each individual member of that body. The Spanish princes left for +Valencay, and Charles IV. had no partisans whatever. The Duke of +Infantado and M. Cevallos had been considered the warmest advocates of +Ferdinand. They both called upon Joseph, and held a long interview with +him. The duke offered him his services, saying that he had possessions +in the kingdom of Naples, and that his agents there had informed him of +the wonders which Joseph had wrought. "If Joseph," said he, "can be in +Spain what he has been in Naples, there is no doubt that the entire +nation will rally around him." M. Cevallos expressed the same views. +Joseph then saw every member of the Junta individually, nearly one +hundred in number. They all, without exception, described the +wretchedness into which Spain had fallen, and the apparent facility with +which it could be regenerated. Upon one point they all agreed: that it +would be impossible to live in peace under either the father or the son; +that Joseph alone, sacrificing the throne of Naples that he might ascend +that of Spain, would meet the wishes of all parties, and bring back +prosperity to the distracted realm. + +These assurances, which were given to Joseph by all the members of the +Spanish Junta assembled at Bayonne, that his acceptance of the throne +would calm all troubles, assure the independence of the monarchy, the +integrity of its territory, its liberty, and its happiness, roused his +generous enthusiasm. "He yielded," writes his biographer, "sacrificing +his dearest interests to the hope of doing good to a greater number +of people, and decided to accept the crown which was offered him. He +considered it his duty to occupy the most dangerous post. Virtue, not +ambition, led Joseph to Spain." + +The Emperor wished to introduce into Spain the same advanced principles +of popular liberty which Joseph, by the Constitution, had conferred upon +Naples. With that object he convoked at Bayonne, on the 15th of June, a +Spanish assembly, called the _Constitutional Junta_. This Congress was +to consist of one hundred and fifty persons of the most distinguished +orders in the state, though but about one hundred were actually +convened. A large number had already assembled when Joseph reached +Bayonne. They hastened to welcome him. Many of them, however, afterward +proved his most inveterate enemies. The Duke of Infantado, addressing +him in the name of the grandees of Spain, said, + +"Sire, the Spaniards expect, from the reign of your Majesty, all their +happiness. They ardently desire your presence in Spain to fix ideas, to +conciliate all interests, and to establish that order so necessary for +the regeneration of the country. Sire, the grandees of Spain have always +been distinguished by their fidelity to their sovereigns. Your Majesty +will experience this, as also our personal affection. Receive, sire, +these testimonies of our loyalty with that kindliness so well known by +your people of Naples, the renown of which has reached even to us." + +The deputation of the Royal Council of Castile said to the new King: +"Sire, your Majesty is a branch of a family destined by Heaven to reign. +May Heaven grant that our prayers may be heard, and that your Majesty +may become the most happy King in the universe, as we desire for him in +the name of the supreme tribunal of which we are the deputies." + +Even the Inquisitor, Don Raymond Estenhard, organ of the councils of +the Inquisition, declared in their name "that they were full of fidelity +and of affection; that they offered their prayers for Joseph, who was +charged to govern the country, that he might find happiness in his own +heart by contributing to the happiness of his subjects, and that he +might elevate them to that degree of prosperity which might be expected +from him, particularly when aided by the genius and power of his august +brother, Napoleon the Great." + +The Duke of Pargue, at the head of a deputation representing the army, +gave the same assurances of homage and support. Even Ferdinand wrote +Joseph a letter of congratulation, dated Valencay, June 22. It was as +follows: + +"SIRE,--Permit me, in the name of my brother and of my uncle,[S] as well +as in my own, to testify to your Majesty the part which we have taken +in his induction to the throne of Spain. The object of all our desires +having ever been the happiness of the generous nation which he is +called to govern, that happiness is now complete, in view of the +accession to the throne of Spain of a prince whose virtues have rendered +him so dear to the Neapolitans. We hope your Majesty will accept our +prayers for his happiness, to which is united that of our country, and +that he will grant to us his friendship, to which we are entitled, for +the friendship which we feel for your Majesty. I pray your Catholic +Majesty to receive the oath which I owe him as King of Spain, and also +the oath of the Spaniards who are now with me. From your Catholic +Majesty's affectionate brother." + +[Footnote S: Don Carlos and Don Antonio.] + +The Constitutional Junta of Spain commenced its session at Bayonne on +the 15th of June. Ninety-one members were present. A constitution was +presented very much resembling that which had been conferred upon +Naples. It was discussed and voted upon with perfect freedom. Finally, +on the 7th of July, it was accepted as amended by the signature of all +the members; "considering," as the act said, "that we are convinced +that under the regime which the Constitution establishes, and under the +government of a prince as just as the one whom we have the happiness +to possess, Spain and all its possessions will be as happy as we can +desire it to be." + +The Constitution being accepted, Joseph appointed his ministry and +constituted his court; placing all the important offices in the hands +of distinguished Spaniards. On the 9th of July Joseph left Bayonne and +entered Spain, accompanied by the members of the Junta, many grandees +of Spain, his ministers, and the officers of his household. + +Many have reproached Joseph for having accepted the crown. But it should +be remembered that when he arrived at Bayonne, the treaty of abdication +by the Spanish princes had already been signed. An assemblage of Spanish +notables met him there, and entreated him to accept the crown, to rescue +Spain from ruin. There seemed to be no dissent from the opinion that his +presence would be the signal of peace and harmony, that it would calm +agitation, and unite all parties. In a word, they declared that it +was the only way to rescue the country from anarchy, and from those +calamities which menaced its entire ruin. The intelligence of the nation +exulted in the change, as promising a new era of equality and +prosperity. + +On the 20th of July Joseph arrived in Madrid. There were about eighty +thousand French troops in Spain. Much to Joseph's surprise and +disappointment, he found, all over the kingdom, in the provinces, +insurrection rising against him. These scattered bands soon amounted, +it was estimated, to one hundred and fifty thousand men. The fanatic +monks, alarmed in view of the changes which had been effected in Naples, +were very active in rousing the peasantry to resistance. The British +Government, which was then at war with Spain because it was the ally +of Napoleon, instantly espoused the cause of the insurgents, and +contributed all its energies of fleet and army and money to drive Joseph +out of Spain. + +The new sovereign had entered Madrid without being greeted with any +signal demonstrations of enthusiasm. In accordance with the established +etiquette of the realm, he was received at the foot of the grand stairs +of the palace by the nobility of the country, and was proclaimed king in +the public squares and principal streets of Madrid with the accustomed +ceremonies upon the advent of a new sovereign. Intensely occupied with +the cares of his new government, Joseph did not, for some time, fully +comprehend the perils which menaced him. Step by step he was led on, as +he quelled here and there a popular insurrection, until he found himself +involved in a stern war with the great mass of the Spanish peasantry, +with all the priesthood fanning the flames of opposition, and the +British Government energetically co-operating with purse and sword. It +would require volumes to describe, with any degree of minuteness, the +tremendous struggle. Napier has performed that task in his immortal work +upon the Peninsular War. + +Joseph soon awoke to a full realization of the peril of his position. On +the 13th of July he wrote to the Emperor from Burgos at three o'clock in +the morning, "It seems to me that no person has been willing to tell +the exact truth to your Majesty. I ought not to conceal it. The task +undertaken is very great. To accomplish it with honor will require +immense resources. Fear does not make me see double. + +"In leaving Naples, I have indeed yielded my life to the most hazardous +events. My life is of but little consequence. I surrender it to you. But +in order not to live with the shame attached to failure, great resources +are requisite in men and money. I am not alarmed, in view of my +position. But it is unique in history. I have not here a single +partisan." + +Again, on the 19th, he wrote, "It is evident that we have not the soil, +since all the provinces are in insurrection or occupied by considerable +armies of the enemy." + +On the 28th of July he wrote, "I have no need to inform your Majesty +that one hundred thousand men are necessary to conquer Spain. I repeat +it, that we have not a partisan, and the entire nation is exasperated, +and decided to sustain with arms the part which it has embraced. + +"All my Spanish officers except five or six have abandoned me. The +disposition of the nation is unanimous against that which has been done +at Bayonne." + +On the 6th of August he wrote, "Your Majesty recommends me to be happy. +Never have I been so tranquil and so well, and so indefatigable; and if +I have occasion to envy in your Majesty a superior genius which has +always enabled him to command victory, I have that in common with all +the world. But I have no need to envy any person for composure and +tranquillity of soul. And I must avow that I find that adversity enables +me to experience a sentiment which is not without a certain charm; it +is to be above adversity." + +The Emperor endeavored to cheer his despondent brother with hopeful +words. On the 19th of July he wrote him, "I see with pain that you are +troubled. It is the only misfortune which I fear. You have a great many +partisans in Spain, but they are intimidated. They are all the honest +people. I do not the less admit that your task is great and glorious. +You ought not to consider it extraordinary that you have to conquer your +kingdom. Philip V. and Henry IV. were obliged to conquer theirs. Be +happy. Do not permit yourself to be easily affected, and do not doubt +for an instant that every thing will end sooner and more happily than +you think." + +Again, on the 1st of August, Napoleon wrote, "Whatever reverses fortune +may have in store for you, do not be uneasy; in a short time you will +have more than one hundred thousand men. All is in motion, but it must +have time. You will reign. You will have conquered your subjects, in +order to become their father. The best of kings have passed through this +school. Above all, health to you and happiness, that is to say, strength +of mind." + +On the 3d of August the Emperor again wrote, "You can not think, my +friend, how much pain the idea gives me, that you are struggling with +events as much above what you are accustomed to, as they are beneath +your natural character.... Tell me that you are well, in good spirits, +and are becoming accustomed to the soldier's trade. You have a fine +opportunity to study it." + +General Junot, with a small French force, at that time held possession +of Portugal. The Cabinet of Saint James offered to the Spanish Junta at +Seville to send an army of about thirty thousand men to co-operate with +the Spaniards in their struggle against the French. For some unknown +reason the offer was declined, and the troops were sent to Portugal. +These British troops, acting in vigorous co-operation with the +Portuguese, greatly outnumbered the French, and, after a severe battle +at Torres Vedras, Junot capitulated at the Convention of Cintra, and his +army re-embarked, and was transported to France. This event added +greatly to the embarrassment of Joseph. Junot had afforded him much +moral and even material support. Now Junot was driven from the +Peninsula, and a British army of over thirty thousand men, under the +ablest officers, and flushed with victory, was on the frontiers of +Spain, ready in every way to co-operate with the Spaniards. + +This roused Napoleon. He was the last man to recoil before difficulties. +He had the honor of his arms to avenge, and his policy to justify by +success. Never before, in the history of the world, was there such a +display of energy, sagacity, and power. He well knew that all dynastic +Europe was hostile to those principles of popular liberty which were +represented by his name, and that, notwithstanding the obligations of +treaties, they were ever ready to spring to arms against him whenever +they should see an opportunity to strike him a fatal blow. + +Napoleon at once ordered eighty thousand veteran troops of the grand +army from the north to assemble at Bayonne. He hastened to Erfurt to +hold an interview with Alexander to strengthen their alliance, and to +prevent, if possible, a new coalition from being formed against him +while absent with his troops in Spain. The Spanish insurgents, as they +were called--for they had no established government--were everywhere +triumphant. The French army was driven out of Madrid, and, in a state +of great destitution, was standing on the defensive. Joseph and all his +generals were thoroughly disheartened, and were only anxious to devise +some honorable way by which they could abandon the enterprise. The +priests, with a crucifix in one hand and a dagger in the other, had +traversed the realms of Spain and Portugal, rousing the religious +fanaticism of the unenlightened masses almost to frenzy. Charles IV., +his Queen, and Ferdinand had all been intensely devoted to the interests +of the Church. The French were represented as infidels, and as the foes +of the Church. The whole nation was roused against them. Even the women +took an active part in the conflict, perilling their own lives upon the +field, and inspiring the men with the courage of desperation. The +English, victorious in Portugal, were now welcomed into Spain. They +lavished their gold in paying the Spanish armies. Their fleet was busy +in transporting supplies. To all Europe the position of Joseph seemed +utterly hopeless. + +On the 25th of October, Napoleon, on the eve of leaving Paris for Spain, +said, at the opening of the Legislative Corps: + +"A part of my troops are marching against the armies which England has +formed or disembarked in Spain. It is an especial favor of Providence, +which has constantly protected our arms, that passion has so blinded the +counsels of the English, that they have renounced the protection of the +seas, and at length present their armies on the Continent. + +"I leave in a few days, to place myself at the head of my army, and, +with the aid of God, to crown in Madrid the King of Spain, and to plant +my eagles upon the forts of Lisbon. + +"The Emperor of Russia and I have met at Erfurt. Our first thought has +been of peace. We have even resolved to make many sacrifices that, if +possible, the hundred millions of men whom we represent may enjoy the +benefits of maritime commerce. We are in perfect harmony, and +unchangeably united for peace as for war." + +In the mean time Joseph, struggling heroically against adversity, and +exceedingly embarrassed by the false position in which he found himself +placed, received many consoling messages of confidence and affection +from prominent men in the Spanish nation. We present the following +extract from a letter addressed to him on the 2d of September, 1808, by +M. M. Azanza and Urquijo, as a specimen of many others which might be +quoted: + +"We do not doubt that your Majesty contemplates, with deepest grief, the +disasters with which Spain is menaced, by the obstinacy of those people +who will not know the true interests of the realm. But at least no one +is ignorant that your Majesty has done and is doing every thing which is +humanly possible to avoid such calamities for his subjects. The day will +come when they will recognize the benevolent intentions and paternal +kindness of your Majesty; and they will respond to it by testimonies of +gratitude and of fidelity which will fill with contentment the noble +heart of your Majesty." + +The almost supernatural power of the Emperor was never more +conspicuously displayed than in the brief, triumphant, overwhelming +campaign which ensued. He wrote to Joseph from Erfurt, "I leave +to-morrow for Paris, and within a month shall be at Bayonne. Send me the +exact position of the army, that I may form a definite organization by +making as little displacement as possible. In the present state of +affairs, we may conclude that the presumption of the enemy will lead +him to remain in the positions which he now occupies. The nearer he +remains to us the better it will be. The war can be terminated in a +single blow by a skillfully-combined manoeuvre, and for that it is +necessary that I should be there." + +The single blow Napoleon contemplated would unquestionably have +annihilated his foes, but for an inopportune movement of Marshal +Lefebre. As it was, it required three or four blows, which were +delivered with stunning and bewildering power and rapidity. On the 29th +of October Napoleon took his carriage for Bayonne. Madrid was distant +from Paris about seven hundred miles. The rains of approaching winter +had deluged the roads. He soon abandoned his carriage, and mounted his +horse. Apparently insensible to exposure or fatigue, he pressed forward +by night and by day, until, at two o'clock in the morning of the 3d of +November, he reached Bayonne. He found that his orders had not been +obeyed, and that the troops, instead of being concentrated, had been +dispersed. Instantly, at the very hour of his arrival, new life was +infused into every thing. He seemed by instinct to comprehend the +posture of affairs, and to know just what was to be done. Orders were +issued with amazing rapidity; couriers flew in all directions. Barracks +were erected; the troops were reviewed; unexecuted contracts were thrown +up; agents were sent in every direction to purchase all the cloths in +the south of France; hundreds of hands were busy in cutting and making +garments; and at the close of a day of such work as few mortals have +ever accomplished, Napoleon leaped into his saddle and galloped sixty +miles over the mountains to Tolosa, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. +Here he indulged in an hour or two of rest, and then galloped on thirty +miles farther to Vittoria. He encamped with the Imperial Guard outside +of the city. + +The Spaniards have always been accused of a tendency to vainglorious +boasting. The trivial successes which they had attained, in alliance +with the English, quite intoxicated them. "We have conquered," they +said, "the armies of the great Napoleon. We will soon trample all his +hosts in the dust. With an army of five hundred thousand indignant +Spaniards we will march upon Paris, and sack the city. The powers of +Russia, Austria, and Prussia have fallen before Napoleon; but Spanish +peasants, headed by the priests and the monks, will roll back the tide +of victory." Such was the insane boasting. + +Napoleon was, at the same time, the boldest and the most cautious of +generals. He ever made provision for every possible reverse. Stationing +two strong forces to guard his flanks, he took fifty thousand of the +_elite_ of his army, and plunged upon the centre of the Spanish troops. +Such an onset none but veterans could withstand. There was scarcely the +semblance of a battle. The Spaniards fled, throwing down their arms, +and leaping like goats amidst the crags of the mountains. Pressing +resistlessly forward, Napoleon reached Burgos on the night of the 11th. +Here the Spaniards attempted another stand upon some strongly intrenched +heights. A brief conflict scattered them in the wildest confusion, +defeated, disbanded, leaving cannon, muskets, flags, and munitions of +war. + +Onward he swept, without a check, without delay, crushing, overwhelming, +scattering his foes, over the intrenched heights of Espinosa, through +the smouldering streets of the town, across the bridge of Trueba, choked +with terrified fugitives, through the pass of Somosierra, in one of the +most astounding achievements which war has ever witnessed, till he led +his victorious troops, with no foe within his reach, into the streets of +Madrid. He commenced the campaign at Vittoria on the 9th of November, +and on the 4th of December his army was encamped in the squares of the +Spanish metropolis. Europe gazed upon this meteoric phenomenon with +astonishment and alarm. + +The Spanish populace had been roused mainly by the priests. In their +frenzy, burning and assassinating, they overawed all who were in favor +of regenerating Spain by a change of dynasty. It is the undisputed +testimony that the proprietors, the merchants, the inhabitants generally +who were rich, or in easy circumstances, and even the magistrates and +military chiefs, were quite disposed to listen to the propositions of +the Emperor. But overawed by the populace, who threatened to carry +things to the last extremity, they dared not manifest their sentiments. + +As the French army took possession of the city, order was immediately +restored. The theatres were re-opened, the shops displayed their wares, +the tides of business and pleasure flowed unobstructed along the +streets. Numerous deputations, embracing the most wealthy and +respectable inhabitants of Madrid, waited upon the Emperor with their +congratulations, and renewed their protestations of fidelity to Joseph. +The Emperor then issued a proclamation to the Spanish nation, in which +he said, + +"I have declared, in a proclamation of the 2d of June, that I wished to +be the regenerator of Spain. To the rights which the princes of the +ancient dynasties have ceded to me, you have wished that I should add +the rights of conquest. That, however, shall not change my inclination +to serve you. I wish to encourage every thing that is noble in your +exertions. All that is opposed to your prosperity and your grandeur I +wish to destroy. The shackles which have enslaved the people I have +broken. I have given you a liberal constitution, and, in the place of an +absolute monarchy, a monarchy mild and limited. It depends upon +yourselves whether that constitution shall still be your law." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE SPANISH CAMPAIGN OF NAPOLEON. + +1808-1809 + +Retreat of Sir John Moore and Sir David Baird.--The Spanish Deputation. +--Anecdote of Napoleon.--Atrocities of the English.--Testimony of +Alison.--Napoleon at Astorga.--A new Coalition.--Anxiety of the +Emperor.--New Year's Wishes.--Napoleon's Response.--Magnanimity of +Napoleon.--Reforms introduced.--Escape of Sir John Moore.--Efforts of +the British Government.--Testimony of Alison.--Fury of the Populace. +--The Siege of Saragossa.--Savagery of Armies.--Discouragement of the +Spaniards.--Victory of General St. Cyr.--French Victories.--Desolations +of War.--Testimony of Alison.--Joseph's mistaken Views.--The Hostility +of the Allies to Napoleon personally.--Joseph's Want of Appreciation. +--Character of Joseph.--Remarks of the Duke of Wellington.--Siege of +Oporto.--Awful Slaughter.--Oporto Taken by Storm.--Continued Scenes +of Carnage.--Napoleon's Remarks to O'Meara.--Joseph at Malaga. +--Embarrassments of Joseph's Position. + + +In less than five weeks from the time when Napoleon first placed his +foot upon the soil of Spain he was master of more than half the kingdom. +Sir John Moore, with an army of about 30,000 Englishmen, was marching +rapidly from Portugal, to form a junction with another English army +of about 10,000 men under Sir David Baird, who were advancing from +Corunna. It was supposed in England that the co-operation of these +highly-disciplined troops with the masses of the Spaniards who had +already fought so valiantly, would speedily secure the overthrow of the +French. + +But when Sir John Moore and Sir David Baird learned that Napoleon +himself was in Spain, that he had scattered the Spanish armies before +him as the tornado drives the withered leaves of the forest, that he was +already in possession of Madrid, and would soon be ready to direct all +his energies against them, they were both greatly alarmed, and, turning +about, fled precipitately back to their ships. A deputation of about +twelve hundred of the notables of Spain called upon Napoleon, to confer +with him respecting the affairs of the kingdom. He informed them very +fully of the benefits he wished to confer upon Spain by rescuing the +people from the dominion of the old feudal lords, and bringing them into +harmony with the more enlightened views of modern times. He closed his +remarks to them by saying, + +"The present generation will differ in opinion respecting me. Too many +passions have been called into exercise. But your posterity will be +grateful to me as their regenerator. They will place in the number of +memorable days those in which I have appeared among you. From those days +will be dated the prosperity of Spain. These are my sentiments. Go +consult your fellow-citizens. Choose your part, but do it frankly, and +exhibit only true colors." + +General Moore was retreating toward Corunna. An English fleet had +repaired to that port to receive the troops on board. On the 22d of +December Napoleon left Madrid, with 40,000 men, to pursue the flying +foe. The Spaniards, instead of rallying to the support of the English, +whom they never loved, dispersed in all directions, leaving them to +their fate. "The Spanish insurgents," says Napier, "were conscious that +they were fighting the battles of England. To restore Spain to +Ferdinand, England expended one hundred millions sterling ($500,000,000) +on her own operations. She subsidized Spain and Portugal besides, and +with her supply of clothing, arms, and ammunition, maintained the armies +of both, even to the guerrillas."[T] + +[Footnote T: Napier, vol. iii. p. 78, vol iv. p. 438.] + +By forced marches the Imperial troops rushed along, threading the +defiles of the mountains of Gaudarrama in mid-winter, through drifts and +storms of snow. Napoleon climbed the mountains on foot, sharing all the +toil and peril of his troops. Such a leader any army would follow with +enthusiasm. In one of the wildest passes of the mountains he passed a +night in a miserable hut. Savary, who was with him, writes: + +"The single mule which carried his baggage was brought to this wretched +house. He was provided with a good fire, a tolerable supper, and a bed. +On those occasions the Emperor was not selfish. He was quite unmindful +of the next day's wants when he alone was concerned. He shared his +supper and his fire with all who had been able to keep up with him, and +even compelled those to eat whose reserve kept them back." + +General Moore was straining every nerve to escape. The weather was +frightful, and the miry roads almost impassable. The advance-guard of +Napoleon was soon within a day's march of the foe. General Moore, as he +fled, blew up the bridges behind him, and recklessly plundered the +wretched inhabitants. His troops became exceedingly exasperated against +the Spaniards for their cowardly desertion, and reproached them with +ingratitude. + +"We ungrateful!" the Spaniards replied; "you came here to serve your own +interests, and now you are running away without defending us." + +So bitter was the hostility which thus arose between the English and the +Spaniards, and the brutality of the drunken English soldiers was so +insupportable, that the Spaniards often welcomed the French troops, who +were under far better discipline, as their deliverers. Sir Archibald +Alison, in his account of these scenes, says: + +"The native and uneradicable vice of northern climates, drunkenness, +here appeared in frightful colors. The great wine-vaults of Bembibre +proved more fatal than the sword of the enemy. And when the gallant +rear-guard, which preserved its ranks unbroken, closed up the array, +they had to force their way through a motley crowd of English and +Spanish soldiers, stragglers and marauders, who reeled out of the houses +in disgusting crowds, or lay stretched upon the roadside, an easy prey +to the enemy's cavalry, which thundered in close pursuit. + +"The condition of the army became daily more deplorable; the frost had +been succeeded by the thaw; rain and sleet fell in torrents; the roads +were almost broken up; the horses foundered at every step; the few +artillery-wagons which had kept up fell, one by one, to the rear; and +being immediately blown up to prevent their falling into the hands of +the enemy, gave melancholy tokens, by the sound of their explosions, of +the work of destruction which was going on." + +On the 2d of January Napoleon's advance-guard had reached Astorga. +Notwithstanding the condition of the roads, and all the efforts of the +retreating foe, an army of forty thousand men had marched two hundred +miles in ten days. It was a cold and stormy winter morning when +Napoleon left Astorga, in continuance of the pursuit. He had proceeded +but a few miles on horseback, when he was overtaken by a courier from +France, bearing important dispatches. The Emperor alighted by the +roadside, and, standing by a fire which his attendants kindled, read the +documents. His officers gathered anxiously around him, watching the +expression of his countenance as he read. + +The dispatches informed Napoleon that Austria had entered into a new +alliance with England to attack him on the north, and that the +probability was, that Turkey, exasperated by Napoleon's alliance with +Russia, would also be drawn into the coalition. It was also stated that, +though Alexander personally was strong in his friendship for Napoleon, +the Russian nobles, hostile to the principle of equal rights, inscribed +upon the French banners, were raising an opposition of such daily +increasing strength, that it was feared the Czar also might be compelled +to join in the new crusade against France. + +To conduct the war in Spain, Napoleon had withdrawn one hundred +thousand of his best troops from the Rhine. His frontiers were thus +greatly exposed. For a moment it was said that Napoleon was staggered +by the blow. The vision of another European war, France struggling +single-handed against all the combined powers of the Continent, appalled +him. Slowly, sadly he rode back to Astorga, deeply pondering the awful +question. There was clearly but one of two courses before him. He must +either ignobly abandon the conflict in favor of equality of rights, and +allow the chains of the old feudal despotism to be again riveted upon +France, and all the new governments in sympathy with France, or he must +struggle manfully to the end. All around him were impressed with the +utter absorption of his mind in these thoughts. As he rode back with +his retinue, not a word was spoken. Napoleon seldom asked advice. + +Soon his decision was formed, and all dejection and hesitation +disappeared. It was necessary for him immediately to direct all his +energies toward the Rhine. He consequently relinquished the personal +pursuit of the English; and commissioning Marshal Soult to press them +with all vigor, he prepared to return to France. Rapidly retracing +his steps to Valladolid, he spent five days in giving the most minute +directions for the movements of the army, and for the administration +of affairs in Spain. In those few days he performed an amount of labor +which seems incredible. He had armies in France, Spain, Italy, and +Germany, and he guided all their movements, even to the minute details. + +On the first day of the year Joseph had written to Napoleon, and, in the +expression of those kindly sympathies which the advent of a new year +awakens, had said, "I pray your Majesty to accept my wishes that, in the +course of this year, Europe, pacified by your efforts, may render +justice to your intentions." + +Napoleon replied, "I thank you for what you say relative to the new +year. I do not hope that Europe can this year be pacified. So little +do I hope it, that I have just issued a decree for levying one hundred +thousand men. The rancor of England, the events of Constantinople, +every thing, in short, indicates that the hour of rest and quiet is +not arrived." + +The Emperor, having finished his dispatches at Valladolid, mounted his +horse, and set out for Paris. Mr. J. T. Headley thus describes this +marvellous ride: + +"In the first five hours he rode the astonishing distance of +eighty-five miles, or seventeen miles the hour. This wild gallop was +long remembered by the inhabitants of the towns through which the +smoking cavalcade of the Emperor passed. Relays of horses had been +provided on the road; and no sooner did he arrive at one post, than he +flung himself on a fresh horse, and, sinking his spurs in his flanks, +dashed away in headlong speed. Few who saw that short figure, surmounted +with a plain chapeau, sweep by on that day, ever forgot it. His pale +face was calm as marble, but his lips were compressed, and his brow knit +like iron; while his flashing eye, as he leaned forward, still jerking +impatiently at the bridle as if to accelerate his speed, seemed to +devour the distance. No one spoke, but the whole suite strained forward +in the breathless race. The gallant chasseurs had never had so long and +so wild a ride before." + +Napoleon had acted a very noble part toward his brother. The masses +of the Spanish people were very ignorant and fanatical. The priests, +wielding over them supernatural terrors, controlled them at will. There +were certain reforms which were essential to the regeneration of Spain. +But these reforms would exasperate the priests, and, through them, the +people. Napoleon, anxious to save his brother from the odium of these +necessary measures, took the responsibility of them upon himself. He +issued a series of decrees when he entered Madrid as a conqueror, and +by virtue of the acknowledged rights of conquest, in which, after +proclaiming pardon for all political offenses, he introduced the +following reforms. + +The execrable institution of the Inquisition was abolished. The number +of convents, which had been thronged with indolent monks, was reduced +one-half. One-half of the property of these abolished convents was +appropriated to the payment of the salary of the laboring clergy. +The other half was set apart to the payment of the public debt. The +custom-houses between the several provinces of the kingdom, which had +been a great source of national embarrassment, were removed, and +imposts were collected only on the frontiers. All feudal privileges +were annulled. + +These measures, of course, exasperated the priests and the nobles. +Unfortunately the people were too ignorant to appreciate their full +value. As Joseph returned to Madrid, under the protection of the arms +of his imperial brother, though the bells rang merrily, and pealing +cannon uttered their voices of welcome, and though the most respectable +portion of the middle class received him with satisfaction, there was no +enthusiasm among the populace, and the clergy and the nobility received +him with suspicion and dislike. The Emperor, upon his departure, had +confided to Joseph the command of the army in Spain. But the great +generals of Napoleon, ever ready to bow to the will of the Emperor, +whose superiority they all recognized, yielded a reluctant obedience to +Joseph, whom they did not consider their superior in the art of war. + +Sir John Moore continued his precipitate flight, vigorously pursued by +Marshal Soult. "There was never," says Napier, "so complete an example +of a disastrous retreat. Abandoning their wagons, blowing up their +ammunition, and strewing their path with the debris of an utterly routed +army, they finally, with torn, bleeding, and greatly-diminished columns, +escaped to their ships." + +The new coalition in Germany against Napoleon rendering it necessary +for him to withdraw a large part of his troops from Spain, greatly +encouraged the foes of the new regime. The British Government, animated +by its success in inducing Austria again to co-operate in an attack upon +France, and sanguine in the hope of drawing Russia and Turkey into the +coalition, which would surely bring the armies of Prussia into the same +line of battle, redoubled its efforts in Spain and Portugal. Emissaries +were sent everywhere to rouse the populace. Gold was lavished, and arms +and ammunition were transmitted by the British fleet to important +points. + +A central junta was assembled at Seville. It issued a proclamation, +calling upon the people everywhere to rise in guerrilla bands. The +whole male population was summoned to the field. Death was the penalty +denounced upon all those who, by word or deed, favored the French. +Twenty thousand troops in Portugal were taken under British pay, and +placed under British officers, so that, while nominally it was a +Portuguese army, it was in reality but a British force of mercenaries. +Numerous transports conveyed a large body of troops from England under +Sir Arthur Wellesley, which was landed in Lisbon. + +Where the French army had control, there seemed to be a disposition, +especially among the most intelligent and opulent portion of the +people, to accept the new regime of Joseph. The bitterest foe of Joseph +will not deny that the reforms which he was endeavoring to introduce +were admirable, and absolutely essential to the regeneration of Spain. +The British Government wished to restore the old regime under Ferdinand; +for that Government was in sympathy with the British rule of +aristocratic privilege. The French Government wished to maintain the new +regime under Joseph, because that Government would bring Spain into +sympathy with France, in her defensive struggle against the combined +despotisms of Europe. Popular opinion in Spain seemed now to be upon one +side, and again upon the other, according to the presence of the +different armies. + +"At Madrid," says Alison, "Joseph reigned with the apparent consent of +the nation. Registers having been open for the inscription of those who +were favorable to his government, no less than twenty-eight thousand +heads of families in a few days enrolled themselves. And deputations +from the Municipal Council, the Council of the Indies, and all the +incorporations, waited upon him at Valladolid, to entreat that he would +return to the capital and reassume the royal functions, to which he at +length complied." + +At Saragossa, on the other hand, Joseph was opposed with persistence +and bravery, which has rendered the siege of Saragossa one of the most +memorable events in the annals of war. A very determined leader, +Parafox, with about thirty thousand men, threw himself into that city. A +proclamation was issued, declaring that no mercy would be shown to those +who manifested any sympathy for the reign of Joseph. Suspicion was +sufficient to doom one to mob violence and a cruel death. + +"Terror," says Alison, "was summoned to the aid of loyalty. And the +fearful engines of popular power, the scaffold and the gallows, were +erected on the public square, where some unhappy wretches, suspected +of a leaning to the enemy, were indignantly executed. + +"The passions of the people were roused to the very highest pitch by the +dread of treason, or any accommodation with the enemy. And popular +vehemence, overwhelming all restraints of law or order, sacrificed +almost every night persons to the blind suspicions of the multitude, who +were found hanging in the morning on the gallows erected in the Corso +and market-place." + +The priests summoned the peasants from all the region around, so that +soon there were fifty thousand armed men within the walls, inspired by +as determined a spirit of resistance as ever possessed the human heart. +The siege was commenced about the middle of December with thirty-five +thousand men, according to the statement of Napier. It is generally +understood in warfare that one man, acting upon the defensive within a +fortress, is equal to at least five men making the assault from the +outside. But in the memorable siege of Saragossa, the besieged had a +third more men than the besiegers. Alison thinks Napier incorrect, and +makes the besieging force forty-three thousand. This gives the besieged +a superiority of seven thousand men. It surely speaks volumes for the +courage and skill of the French army, that under such circumstances the +siege could have been conducted to a successful issue, especially when +the determination and bravery of the people of Saragossa are represented +as almost without a parallel. + +The scenes of woe which ensued within the walls of Saragossa no pen can +describe, no imagination can conceive. In addition to the garrison of +fifty thousand men, the city was crowded with women and children, the +aged and the infirm. For fifty days the storm of war raged, with +scarcely a moment's intermission. Thirty-three thousand cannon shots and +sixteen thousand bombs were thrown into the thronged streets. Fifty-four +thousand human beings perished in the city during these fifty days--more +than a thousand a day. Many perished of famine and of pestilence. When +the French marched into the town, there were six thousand dead still +unburied. There were sixteen thousand helplessly sick, and many of them +dying. Only twelve thousand of the garrison remained, pale, emaciate, +skeleton men, who, as captives of war, were conveyed to France. When we +reflect that all this heroism and bravery were displayed, and all these +unspeakable woes endured, to re-introduce the reign of as despicable a +monarch as ever sat upon a throne, and to rivet the chains of despotism +upon an ignorant, debased, and enslaved people, one can not but mourn +over the sad lot of humanity. + +The rank and file of armies is never composed of men of affectionate, +humane, and angelic natures. It is the tiger in the man which makes the +reckless soldier. Familiarity with crime, outrage, misery, renders the +soul callous. There is no rigor of army discipline which can prevent +atrocities that should cause even fiends to blush. The story of the +sweep of armies never can be truly told. + +As all the physical strength of the region for leagues around Saragossa +had been gathered in that city, its fall secured the submission of the +surrounding country. Lannes was called to join the grand army in +Germany. Junot, who was left in command of the troops at Saragossa, +prepared for an expedition against Valencia. City after city passed, +with scarcely any resistance, into the hands of the French. The campaign +in Germany rendered it necessary for Napoleon to withdraw all his best +troops, leaving Joseph to maintain his position in Spain, with a motley +group of Italians, Swiss, and Germans, who were by no means inspired +either with the political intelligence or the martial enthusiasm of the +French. + +The Spanish peasants, depressed by failure, and inspired, not by +intelligent conviction, but by momentary religious fanaticism, threw +down their arms and returned to their homes. There was but little +integrity or sense of honor to be found in Spain, long demoralized by a +wretched government; and the immense supplies which England furnished +were embezzled or misapplied. The Spaniards are not cowards. The feeble +resistance they often made proved that they took but little interest in +the issues of the war. Ferdinand had done nothing to win their regard. +But he was a Spanish prince, in the regular line of descent from their +ancient kings. Joseph Bonaparte was a stranger, a foreigner, about to be +imposed upon them by the aid of foreign arms. It was easy, under these +circumstances, to rouse a transient impulse for Ferdinand, but not an +abiding devotion. + +General Duhesme was in Barcelona with a few thousand troops, cut off +from communication with his friends by the English fleet, and a large +army of Spanish peasants which was collected to secure his capture. +General St. Cyr, with about sixteen thousand infantry and cavalry, +marched to his relief. In a narrow defile, amidst rocks and forests, he +encountered a Spanish force forty thousand strong, drawn up in a most +favorable position to arrest his progress. St. Cyr formed his troops in +one solid mass, and charging headlong, without firing a shot, in half an +hour dispersed the foe, killing five hundred, wounding two thousand, +and capturing all their artillery and ammunition. The next day St. Cyr +entered Barcelona. The Spaniards were so utterly dispersed that not ten +thousand men could be re-assembled two days after the battle. + +But the English fleet was upon the coast, with encouragement and +abundant supplies. After a little while, another Spanish army, twenty +thousand strong, was rendezvoused at Molinas del Rey. St. Cyr again fell +upon these troops. They fled so precipitately that but few were hurt. +Their supplies, which the British had furnished them, were left upon +the field. St. Cyr gathered up fifty pieces of cannon, three million +cartridges, sixty thousand pounds of powder, and a magazine containing +thirty thousand stand of English arms. Lord Collingwood, who commanded +the British fleet, declared that all the elements of resistance in the +province were dissolved. These events took place just before the fall of +Saragossa. + +In the middle of February of this year, 1809, St. Cyr had twenty-three +thousand men concentrated at Villa Franca. Forty thousand Spaniards were +collected to attack him. Almost contemptuously, he took eleven thousand +of his troops, surprised the Spaniards, and scattered them in the +wildest flight. He pursued the fugitives, and wherever they made a stand +dispersed them with but little effort or loss upon his own side. There +was no longer any regular resistance in Catalonia, though guerrilla +bands still prowled about the country. + +Thus the wretched, desolating warfare raged, month after month. Nothing +of importance toward securing the abiding triumph of either party was +gained. Whenever the French army withdrew from any section of country, +British officers entered, to re-organize, with the aid of the Spanish +priests, the peasants to renewed opposition, and British gold was +lavished in paying the soldiers. Junot was taken sick, and Suchet, whom +Napoleon characterized at Saint Helena as the first of his generals, was +placed in command. We have not space to describe the numerous battles +which were fought, and the patience of our readers would be exhausted by +the dreary narration. The siege of Gerona by St. Cyr occupied seven +months. + +Joseph was still in Madrid. As we have said, the more intelligent and +opulent classes rallied around him. Sir Archibald Alison, ever the +advocate of aristocratic privilege, while admitting the fact of +Joseph's apparent popularity in Madrid, in the following strain of +remark endeavors to explain that fact: + +"Addresses had been forwarded to Joseph Bonaparte at Valladolid from +all the incorporations and influential bodies at Madrid, inviting him +to return to the capital and resume the reins of government. Registers +had been opened in different parts of the city for those citizens to +inscribe their names who were favorable to his cause. In a few days +thirty thousand signatures, chiefly of the more opulent classes, +had been inscribed on the lists. In obedience to these flattering +invitations, the intrusive King had entered the capital with great pomp, +amidst the discharge of a hundred pieces of cannon, and numerous, if not +heartfelt, demonstrations of public satisfaction; a memorable example of +the effect of the acquisition of wealth, and the enjoyments of luxury, +in enervating the minds of their possessors, and of the difference +between the patriotic energy of those classes who, having little to +lose, yield to ardent sentiments without reflection, and those in whom +the suggestions of interest and the habits of indulgence have stifled +the generous emotions of nature." + +The great defect in Joseph's character as an executive officer, under +the circumstances in which he was placed, was his apparent inability +fully to comprehend the grandeur of Napoleon's conceptions. Instead of +looking upon Spain as an essential part of the majestic whole, and +which, by its money and its armies, must aid in sustaining the new +principle of equal rights for all, he forgot the general cause, and +sought only to promote the interests of his own kingdom. Napoleon, +having secured the reign of the new regime of equality in France, in +antagonism to the old regime of privilege, immediately found all Europe +banded against him. France could not stand alone against such +antagonism. Hence it became essential that alliances should be formed +for mutual protection. The genius of Napoleon was of necessity the +controlling element in these alliances. + +In that view, he had enlarged and strengthened the boundaries of France. +He had created the kingdoms of Italy and Naples. He had, impelled by +the instinct of self-preservation, bought out the treacherous Bourbons +of Spain, and was endeavoring to lift up the Spaniards from ages of +depressing despotism, that Spain, under an enlightened ruler, rejoicing +in the intelligence and prosperity which existed under all the new +governments, might contribute its support to the system of equal rights +throughout Europe. + +England, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and the aristocratic party throughout +all Europe, were in deadly hostility to the principle of abolishing +privileged classes, and instituting equal rights for all. They were ever +ready to squander blood and treasure, to violate treaties, to form open +or secret coalitions, in resisting these new ideas. Regarding Napoleon +as the great champion of popular rights, and conscious that there was no +one of his marshals who, upon Napoleon's downfall, could take his place, +all their energies were directed against him personally. + +Thus we have the singular spectacle, never before witnessed in the +history of the world, never again to be witnessed, of the combined +monarchs of more than a hundred millions of men waging warfare against +one single man. And therefore Napoleon called upon all the regenerated +nations in sympathy with his views to rally around him. He regarded them +as wings of the great army of which France was the centre. In combating +the coalition, he was fighting battles for them all. They stood or fell +together. In the terrific struggle which deluged all Europe in blood, +Napoleon was the commander-in-chief of the whole army of reform. He was +such by the power of circumstances. He was such by innate ability. He +was such by universal recognition. + +When therefore Napoleon regarded the sovereigns appointed over the +nations whom his genius had rescued from despotism but as the generals +of his armies, who were to co-operate at his bidding in defense of the +general system of dynastic oppression, it was not arrogance, it was +wisdom and necessity that inspired his conduct. Louis in Holland, Jerome +in Westphalia, Eugene in Italy, Murat in Naples, Joseph in Spain, all +were bound, under the leadership of Napoleon, to contribute their +portion to the general defense. + +Very strangely, Joseph seemed never to be able fully to comprehend this +idea. He was a man of great intelligence, of high culture, and a more +kindly, generous heart never throbbed in a human bosom; and yet, +notwithstanding all Napoleon's arguments, it seemed impossible for him +to comprehend why he should not be as independent as the King of Spain, +as Napoleon was in the sovereignty of France. Fully recognizing the +immeasurable superiority of his brother to any other man, and loving him +with a devotion which has seldom if ever been exceeded, he was still +disposed to regard himself as placed in Spain only to promote the +happiness of the Spanish people, without regard to the interests of the +general cause. Instead of being ready to contribute of men and money +from Spain to maintain the conflict against coalesced Europe, he was +continually writing to his brother to send him money to carry on his own +Government, and to excuse him from making any exactions from the people. +He was exceedingly reluctant to deal with severity, or to quell the +outrages of brigands with the necessary punishment. His letters to the +Emperor are often filled with complaints. He deplores the sad destiny +which has made him a king. He longs to return, with his wife and +children, to the quiet retreat of Mortfontaine. + +Napoleon dealt tenderly with his brother. He fully understood his +virtues; he fully comprehended his defects. Occasionally an expression +of impatience escaped his pen, though frequently he made no allusion, in +his reply, to Joseph's repinings. + +The Duke of Wellington is reported to have said that "a man of refined +Christian sensibilities has no right to enter into the profession of a +soldier." A successful warrior must often perform deeds at which +humanity shudders. Joseph was, by the confession of all, one of the most +calm and brave of men upon the field of battle. Still, he was too modest +a man, and had too little confidence in himself to perform those +hazardous and heroic deeds of arms which war often requires. Napoleon, +conscious that his brother was not by nature a warrior, and also wishing +to save him from the unpopularity of military acts in crushing sedition, +left him as much as possible to the administration of civil affairs in +Madrid. His statesmanship and amiability of character could here have +full scope. + +To his war-scarred veterans, Junot, Soult, Jourdan, Suchet, the Emperor +mainly intrusted the military expeditions. Still, to save Joseph from a +sense of humiliation, the Emperor acted as far as possible through his +brother, in giving commands to the army. But the marshals, obedient as +children to the commands of Napoleon, whose superior genius not one of +them ever thought of calling in question, often manifested reluctance in +executing operations directed by Joseph. At times they could not +conceal from him that they considered their knowledge of the art of war +superior to his. Joseph was king of Spain, and was often humiliated by +the impression forced upon him that he was something like a tool in the +hands of others. + +During the year 1809 Joseph remained most of the time in Madrid. There +were innumerable conflicts during the year, from petty skirmishes to +pretty severe battles, none of which are worthy of record in this brief +sketch. + +The latter part of April the Duke of Wellington landed in Portugal, with +English re-enforcements of thirty thousand men. With these, aided by +such forces as he could raise in Portugal and rally around him in Spain, +he was to advance against the French. Napoleon had been compelled to +withdraw all of the Imperial Guard, and all of his choicest troops, to +meet the war on the plains of Germany. Marshal Soult was on the march +for Oporto. With about twenty thousand troops he laid siege to the city. +The feebleness of the defense of the Portuguese may be inferred from the +fact that the city was protected by two hundred pieces of cannon, and by +a force of regular troops and armed peasants amounting to about seventy +thousand men. Soult, having made all his preparations for the assault, +and confident that the city could not resist his attack, wrote a very +earnest letter to the magistrates, urging that by capitulation they +should save the city from the horrors of being carried by storm. No +reply was returned to the summons except a continued fire. + +The attack was made. The Portuguese peasants had tortured, mangled, +killed all the French prisoners that had fallen into their hands. Both +parties were in a state of extreme exasperation. The battle was short. +When the French troops burst through the barriers, a general panic +seized the Portuguese troops, and they rushed in wild confusion through +the streets toward the Douro. The French cavalry pursued the terrified +fugitives, and, with keen sabres, hewed them down till their arms were +weary with the slaughter. + +A bridge crossed the river. Crowded with the frenzied multitude, it sank +under their weight, and the stream was black with the bodies of drowning +men. Those in the rear, by thousands, pressed those before them into the +yawning gulf. Boats pushed out from the banks to rescue them, but the +light artillery of the French was already upon the water's edge, +discharging volleys of grape upon the helpless, compact mass. Before the +city surrendered, four thousand of these unhappy victims of war, torn +with shot, and suffocated by the waves, were swept down the stream. +Though the marshal exerted himself to the utmost to preserve discipline, +no mortal man could restrain the passions of an army in such an hour. +The wretched city experienced all the horrors of a town taken by storm. +The number of the slain, according to the report of Marshal Soult, was +more than eighteen thousand, not including those who were engulfed in +the Douro. Multitudes of the wounded fled to the woods, where they +perished miserably of exposure and starvation. But two hundred and fifty +prisoners were taken. The French took two hundred thousand pounds of +powder, a vast amount of stores, and tents for the accommodation of +fifty thousand men. They captured also in the port thirty English +vessels loaded with wine. The loss of the French in capturing Oporto, +according to the report of the general-in-chief, was but eighty killed, +and three hundred and fifty wounded. + +It is heart-sickening to proceed with the recital of these horrors. +Similar scenes took place in Tarancon, where General Victor destroyed +the remains of the regular Spanish army with terrible slaughter. A band +of about twelve thousand men were cut to pieces by General Sebastiani. +Again the Spaniards met with a fearful repulse upon the plains of +Estremadura. The Spanish general, Cuesta, with twenty thousand infantry +and four thousand horse, was attacked by General Victor with fifteen +thousand foot and three thousand horse. As usual, the French cut to +pieces their despised foes, capturing all their artillery, inflicting +upon them a loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, of ten thousand men, +while the French lost but about one thousand. + +While these scenes were transpiring, Joseph, at Madrid, not only +occupied himself with the general direction of the war, so far as the +instructions which he perpetually received from Paris enabled him to +do, but labored incessantly, as he had done in Naples, in promoting all +needful reforms, and in forming and executing plans for the happiness +of his subjects. He caused a constitution, which had been formed at +Bayonne, to be published and widely circulated, that the Spaniards +might be convinced that it was his desire to reign over them as a father +rather than as a sovereign. + +Napoleon, speaking of his brother Joseph to Dr. O'Meara at Saint Helena, +said: + +"Joseph is a very excellent man. His virtues and his talents are +appropriate to private life. Nature destined him for that. He is too +amiable to be a great man. He has no ambition. He resembles me in +person, but he is much better than I. He is extremely well educated." + +"I have always observed," O'Meara remarks, "that he spoke of his brother +Joseph with the most ardent affection." + +The fickleness of the multitude was very conspicuous during all these +stormy scenes. Joseph made a short visit to the southern provinces. +Everywhere he was received with the greatest enthusiasm, the people +crowding around him, and greeting him with shouts of "_Vive le Roi._" +Deputations from the cities and villages hastened to meet him with +protestations of homage and fidelity. Joseph responded, in those +convincing accents which the honesty of his heart inspired, that he +wished to forget all the past, to maintain the salutary institutions of +religion, and to confer upon Spain that constitutional liberty which +would secure its prosperity. Joseph and the friends who accompanied him +were so much impressed with the apparent cordiality of their greeting +that they were sanguine in the hope that the nation would rally around +the new dynasty. On the 4th of March the King entered Malaga. The +enthusiasm of his reception could scarcely have been exceeded. The +streets through which he passed were strewn with flowers, and the +windows filled with the smiling faces of ladies. He remained there for +eight days, receiving every token of regard which affection and +confidence could confer. + +[Illustration: JOSEPH ENTERING MALAGA.] + +But in other parts of the country where Joseph was not present it seemed +as if the whole population, without a dissenting voice, was rising +against him. His embarrassments became extreme. He not only had no wish +to impose himself upon a reluctant people, but no earthly consideration +could induce him to do so. It was his sincere and earnest desire to lift +up Spain from its degradation, and make it great and prosperous. The +emissaries of Great Britain were everywhere busy recruiting the Spanish +armies, lavishing gold in payment, supplying the troops abundantly +with clothing and all the munitions of war, and giving them English +officers. Guerrilla bands were organized, with the privilege of +plundering and destroying all who were in favor of the new regime. The +friends of the new regime dared not openly avow their attachment to the +government of Joseph, unless protected by French troops. It was thus +extremely difficult to ascertain the real wishes of the nation. + +The Duke of Wellington was upon the frontiers, with an army of seventy +thousand English and Portuguese. If Joseph remained in Spain, it was +clear that he had a long and bloody struggle before him. If he threw +down the crown and abandoned the enterprise, it was surrendering Spain +to England, to be forced inevitably into the coalition against France. +Thus the existence of the new regime in France seemed to depend upon the +result of the struggle in Spain. Joseph could not abandon the enterprise +without being apparently false to his brother, to his own country, and +to the principle of equal rights for all throughout Europe. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE WAR IN SPAIN CONTINUED. + +1809-1812 + +Wellington in Spain.--Battle of Talavera.--Retreat of Wellington. +--Complaints of the English.--Remarks of Alison.--Battle of the 3d +of November.--Triumph of Joseph.--Failure of Wellington.--Persistent +Hostility of the British Government.--The Conflict renewed.--Causes +of the Strife.--Conscientiousness of the Antagonists.--Painful Position +of Joseph.--Birth of the King of Rome.--Dispatch from Napoleon.--The +Emperor's Address.--Grandeur of Napoleon.--The Constitution of 1812. +--Letter from Joseph to Napoleon.--Spanish Antipathy to the Duke of +Wellington.--Embarrassments of the British Government.--The Campaign +to Moscow.--Miseries of the Conflict.--Destitution of the Army.--Ciudad +Rodrigo.--Badajoz.--Famine in Spain.--Desperate Condition of Joseph. + + +In July of 1809 Joseph was in Madrid, with an army of about forty +thousand men. The rest of the French army was widely dispersed. The +Duke of Wellington thought this a favorable opportunity to make a rapid +march and seize the Spanish capital. Collecting a force of eighty-five +thousand troops, he pressed rapidly forward to Talavera, within two +days' march of Madrid. Joseph, being informed of the approach of +this formidable allied army, and that they were expecting still very +considerable re-enforcements, resolved to advance and attack them before +those new troops should arrive. By great exertions he collected about +forty-five thousand veterans, and on the 27th of July found himself +facing his vastly-outnumbering foes, very formidably posted among the +groves and hills of Talavera. For two days the battle raged. It was +fearfully destructive. The allied army lost between six and seven +thousand men, the French between eight and nine thousand. The tall grass +took fire, and, sweeping along like a prairie conflagration, fearfully +burned many of the wounded. The Spaniards and Portuguese were easily +dispersed. They seemed to care but little for the conflict, regarding +themselves as the paid soldiers of England, fighting the battles of +England. But the British troops fought with the determination and +bravery which has ever characterized the men of that race. + +At the close of the second day's fight the French troops drew off in +good order, and encamped about three miles in the rear. Though unable +to disperse the army of Wellington, Joseph had accomplished his purpose +in so crippling the enemy as to arrest his farther advance, and thus to +save Madrid. Joseph waited in his encampment for the arrival of Soult, +Ney, and Mortier, who were hastening to his aid. Wellington, finding +that he could place but very little reliance upon his Portuguese and +Spanish allies, decided to retreat, abandoning his wounded to the +protection of some Spanish troops whom he left as a rear-guard, who in +turn abandoned the sufferers entirely and returned to Portugal. + +The British complained bitterly of the lukewarmness and even treachery +of their Spanish allies. Alison gives utterance to these complaints in +saying: + +"From the moment the English troops entered Spain, they had experienced +the wide difference between the promises and the performance of the +Spanish authorities. We have the authority of Wellington for the +assertion that if the Junta of Truxillo had kept their contract for +furnishing two hundred and forty thousand rations, the Allies would, on +the night of the 27th of July, have slept in Madrid. But for the month +which followed the battle of Talavera their distresses in this respect +had indeed been excessive, and had reached a height which was altogether +insupportable. Notwithstanding the most energetic remonstrances from +Wellington, he had got hardly any supplies from the Spanish generals or +authorities from the time of his entering Spain. Cuesta had refused to +lend him ninety mules to draw his artillery, though at the time he had +several hundred in his army doing nothing. The troops of all arms were +literally starving. During the month which followed the junction of the +two armies, on the 22d of July, they had not received ten days' bread. +On many days they got only a little meat without salt, on others nothing +at all. The cavalry and artillery horses had not received, in the same +time, three deliveries of forage, and in consequence a thousand had +died, and seven hundred were on the sick list. + +"These privations were the more exasperating that, during the greater +part of the time, the Spanish troops received their rations regularly, +both for men and horses. The composition of the Spanish troops, and +their conduct at Talavera and upon other occasions, was not such as to +inspire the least confidence in their capability of resisting the attack +of the French armies. The men, badly disciplined and without uniform, +dispersed the moment they experienced any reverse, and permitted the +whole weight of the contest to fall on the English soldiers, who had +no similar means of escape. These causes had gradually produced an +estrangement, and at length a positive animosity between the privates +and officers of the two armies. An angry correspondence took place +between their respective generals, which widened the breach." + +A few skirmishes ensued between the contending parties until the 3d of +November, when Joseph, with thirty thousand men, encountered fifty-five +thousand Spaniards. The odds in favor of the Spaniards was so great that +they rushed vigorously upon the French. A battle of four hours ensued. +The Spanish army was broken to pieces, dispersed, trampled under foot. +Twenty thousand prisoners, fifty-five pieces of cannon, and the whole +ammunition of the army were captured by the French. + +"Wearied with collecting prisoners," says Alison, "the French at length +merely took the arms from the fugitives, desiring them to go home, +telling them that war was a trade which they were not fit for." + +From this conflict Joseph returned in triumph to his capital. It seemed +for a time that no more resistance could be offered, and that his +government was firmly established. Wellington was driven back into +Portugal, and loudly proclaimed that he could place no reliance upon the +promises or the arms of the Spaniards or the Portuguese. + +Napoleon had returned from the triumphant campaign of Wagram. Again he +had shattered the coalition in the north, and was upon the pinnacle of +his greatness. The total failure of Wellington's campaign had greatly +disappointed the British people. The Common Council of London petitioned +Parliament for an inquiry into the circumstances connected with this +failure. + +"Admitting the valor of Lord Wellington," they said in their address, +"the petitioners can see no reason why any recompense should be bestowed +on him for his military conduct. After a useless display of British +valor, and a frightful carnage, that army, like the preceding one, was +compelled to seek safety in a precipitous flight before an enemy who we +were told had been conquered, abandoning many thousands of our wounded +countrymen into the hands of the French. That calamity, like the others, +has passed without any inquiry, and, as if their long-experienced +impunity had put the servants of the Crown above the reach of justice, +ministers have actually gone the length of advising your majesty to +confer honorable distinctions on a general who has thus exhibited, with +equal rashness and ostentation, nothing but a useless valor." + +Still, after an angry debate, in which there was very strong opposition +presented against carrying on the war in Spain, it was finally decided +to prosecute hostilities against Napoleon in the Peninsula with renewed +vigor. The advocates of the measure urged that there was no other point +in Europe where they could gain a foothold to attack Napoleon, and that +by protracting the war there, and drawing down the French armies, they +might afford an opportunity for the Northern powers again to rise in a +coalition against the new regime. These views were very strenuously +urged in the House of Lords by Lord Wellesley, Lord Castlereagh, and +Lord Liverpool. The vote stood sixty-five for the war, thirty-three +against it. It was resolved to concentrate the whole force of England +for a new campaign in the Peninsula. One hundred millions of dollars +were voted to the navy, one hundred and five millions to the army, and +twenty-five millions for the ordnance. The British navy engaged in the +enterprise consisted of a thousand and nineteen vessels of war. In +addition to these forces, the English were to raise all the troops they +could from Spain and Portugal, offering them the most liberal pay, and +encouraging them to all those acts of guerrilla warfare for which they +were remarkably adapted, and which might prove most annoying to the +French communications. + +Napoleon, to meet the emergency, had in the Peninsula an army of two +hundred and eighty thousand men ready for service. Slowly the months of +the year 1810 rolled away over that wretched land. There were battles on +the plains and among the hills, sieges, bombardments, conflicts hand to +hand in the blood-stained streets, outrages innumerable, pestilence, +famine, conflagration, misery, death. The causes of the conflict were +clearly defined and distinctly understood by the leading men on each +side. Never was there a more momentous question to be decided by the +fate of armies. England was fighting to perpetuate in England and on +the Continent the old regime of _aristocratic privilege_. France +was fighting to defend and maintain in France and among the other +regenerated nations of Europe, the new regime of _equal rights for all +men_. The intelligent community everywhere distinctly comprehended the +nature of the conflict, and chose their sides. The unintelligent masses, +often blinded by ignorance, deluded by fanaticism, or controlled by +power, were bewildered, and swayed to and fro, as controlled by +circumstances. + +The year 1811 opened sadly upon this war-deluged land. It would only +lacerate the heart of the reader to give an honest recital of the +miseries which were endured. No one can read with pleasure the account +of these scenes of blood, misery, and death. Equal bravery and equal +determination were displayed by the French and by the English, and, alas +for man, there was probably much conscientiousness on both sides. There +were religious men in each army, men who went from their knees in prayer +into the battle. There were men who honestly believed that the interests +of humanity required that the government of the nations should be in the +hands of the rich and the noble. There were others who as truly believed +that the old feudal system was a curse to the nations, and that a new +era of reform was demanded, at whatever expense of treasure and blood. +And thus these children of a common father, during the twelve long +months of another year, contended with each other in the death-struggle +upon more battle-fields than history can record. + +Joseph, in view of this slaughter and this misery, was at times +extremely wretched. He knew not what to do. Nothing can exceed the +sadness of some of his letters to his brother. To abandon the conflict +seemed like cowardice, and might prove the destruction of the popular +cause all over Europe. To persevere was to perpetuate blood and misery. +Seldom has any man been placed in a position of greater difficulty, but +the integrity, the conscientiousness, and the humanity of the man were +manifest in every word he uttered, in every deed he performed. + +"My first duties," said Joseph, "are for Spain. I love France as my +family, Spain as my religion. I am attached to the one by the affections +of my heart, and to the other by my conscience." + +Napoleon, wearied with these incessant wars, which were draining the +treasure and the blood of France, thought that if he could connect +himself by marriage with one of the ancient dynasties, he could thus +bring himself into the acknowledged family of kings, and secure such an +alliance as would prevent these incessant coalitions of all dynastic +Europe against France. In March, 1810, the Emperor, having committed the +greatest mistake of his life in the divorce of Josephine--a sin against +God's law, though with him, at the time, a sin of ignorance and of good +intentions--a mistake which he afterward bitterly deplored as the +ultimate cause of his ruin--married Maria Louisa, the daughter of the +Emperor of Austria. This union seemed to unite Austria with France in a +permanent alliance, and for a time gave promise of securing the great +blessing which Napoleon hoped to attain by it. On the 20th of March, +1811, Napoleon wrote to Joseph: + +"MONSIEUR MON FRERE,--I hasten to announce to your Majesty that the +Empress, my dear wife, has just been safely delivered of a prince, who +at his birth received the title of the King of Rome. Your Majesty's +constant affection towards me convinces me that you will share in the +satisfaction which I feel at an event of such importance to my family +and to the welfare of my subjects. + +"This conviction is very agreeable to me. Your Majesty is aware of my +attachment, and can not doubt the pleasure with which I seize this +opportunity of repeating the assurance of the sincere esteem and tender +friendship with which I am," etc. + +On the same day, a few hours later, he wrote again to his brother giving +a minute account of the accouchement, which was very severe. He closed +this letter by saying: + +"The babe is perfectly well. The Empress is as comfortable as could be +expected. This evening, at eight o'clock, the infant will be privately +baptized. As I do not intend the public christening to take place for +the next six weeks, I shall intrust General Defrance, my equerry, who +will be the bearer of this letter, with another in which I shall ask you +to stand godfather to your nephew." + +In May, Joseph, accompanied by a small retinue, visited Paris, to have a +personal conference with his brother upon the affairs of Spain. He was +much dissatisfied that the French marshals there were so independent +of him in the conduct of their military operations. The result of the +conversations which he held with his brother was, that he returned to +Spain apparently satisfied. He entered Madrid on the 15th of July, in +the midst of an immense concourse of people. The principal inhabitants +of the city, in a long train of carriages, came out to meet him, a +triumphal arch was constructed across the road, and joy seemed to beam +from every countenance. He immediately consecrated himself with new +ardor to the administration of the internal affairs of his realm. + +There was very strong opposition manifested by the people of England +against the Spanish war. There were many indications that the British +Government might be forced, by the voice of the people, to relinquish +the conflict. Animated by these hopes, Joseph announced his intention +of calling a Spanish congress, in which the people should be fully +represented, to confer upon the national interests. Wellington was +thoroughly disheartened. His dispatches were full of bitter complaints +against the incapacity of the British Government. Napoleon, in his +address to the legislative body on the 18th of June, 1811, in the +following terms alluded to the war in Spain: + +"Since 1809 the greater part of the strong places in Spain have been +taken, after memorable sieges, and the insurgents have been beaten in +a great number of pitched battles. England has felt that the war is +approaching a termination, and that intrigues and gold are no longer +sufficient to nourish it. She has found herself, therefore, obliged to +alter the nature of her assistance, and from an auxiliary she has become +a principal. All her troops of the line have been sent to the Peninsula. + +"English blood has, at length, flowed in torrents in several actions +glorious to the French arms. This conflict with Carthage, which seemed +as if it would be decided on fields of battle on the ocean or beyond the +seas, will henceforth be decided on the plains of Spain. When England +shall be exhausted, when she shall at last have felt the evils which for +twenty years she has with so much cruelty poured upon the Continent, +when half her families shall be in mourning, then shall a peal of +thunder put an end to the affairs of the Peninsula, the destinies of her +armies, and avenge Europe and Asia by finishing this second Punic +War."[U] + +[Footnote U: Moniteur, Jan. 11, 1811.] + +At the close of the year 1811 Napoleon stood upon the highest pinnacle +of his power. Coalition after coalition had been shattered by his +armies, and now he had not an avowed foe upon the Continent. The Emperor +of Russia was allied to him by the ties of friendship; the Emperor of +Austria by the ties of relationship. Other hostile nations had been too +thoroughly vanquished to attempt to arise against him, or, by political +regeneration, had been brought into sympathy with the new regime in +France. + +The English, aided by their resistless fleet, still held important +positions in Portugal. They however had no foothold in Spain excepting +at Cadiz, situated upon the island of Leon, upon the extreme southern +point of the Peninsula. The usual population of the city of Cadiz was +one hundred and fifty thousand. But this number had been increased by a +hundred thousand strangers, who had thrown themselves into the place. +About fifty thousand troops under Marmont were besieging the city. The +garrison defending Cadiz consisted of about twenty thousand men, five +thousand of whom were English soldiers. The British fleet was also in +its harbor, with encouragement and supplies. Here and there predatory +bands occasionally appeared, but this was nearly all the serious +opposition which was then presented to the reign of Joseph. The French +lines encompassing the city were thirty miles in length, extending from +sea to sea. + +To the great chagrin of England, the Spanish leaders in Cadiz convened a +Congress, which formed a constitution, called the Constitution of 1812, +far more radically democratic than even Napoleon could advocate for +Spain. Wellington was exceedingly vexed, and complained bitterly of this +conduct on the part of the men whose battle he assumed to be fighting. +"The British Government were well aware," says Alison, "while democratic +frenzy was thus reigning triumphant at Cadiz, from the dispatches of +their ambassador there, the Honorable H. Wellesley, as well as from +Wellington's information of the dangerous nature of the spirit which had +been thus evolved, that they had a task of no ordinary difficulty to +encounter in any attempt to moderate its transports."[V] + +[Footnote V: Alison, vol. iii. p. 407.] + +Joseph grew more and more disheartened. All his plans for the +pacification of the country were baffled. On the 23d of March, 1812, he +wrote to his brother from Madrid as follows: + +"SIRE,--When a year ago I sought the advice of your Majesty before +coming back to Spain, you urged me to return. It is therefore that I am +here. You had the kindness to say to me that I should always have the +privilege of leaving the country if the hopes we had conceived should +not be realized. In that case your Majesty assured me of an asylum in +the south of the Empire, between which and Mortfontaine I could divide +my residence. + +"Events have disappointed my hopes. I have done no good, and I have no +longer any hopes of doing any. I entreat, then, your Majesty to permit +me to resign to his hands the crown of Spain, which he condescended to +transmit to me four years ago. In accepting the crown of this country, I +never had any other object in view than the happiness of this vast +monarchy. It has not been in my power to accomplish it. I pray your +Majesty to receive me as one of his subjects, and to believe that he +will never have a more faithful servant than the friend whom nature has +given him." + +The resignation was not then accepted, and circumstances soon became +such that Joseph felt that he could not with honor withdraw from the +post he occupied. + +The Spaniards looked with great distrust upon the Duke of Wellington, +who was the embodiment of the principles of aristocracy, the more to be +feared in consequence of his inflexible will. The English deemed the +re-enthronement of Ferdinand VII. and his despotic sway essential to the +success of their cause. The uncrowned King and his brother Don Carlos +were living very sumptuously and contentedly, chasing foxes and hares at +Valencay, and cutting down the park to build bonfires in celebration of +Napoleon's victories. + +The British Government, alarmed in view of the democratic spirit +unexpectedly developed by a portion of the Spanish allies, sent a secret +agent, Baron Rolli, a man of great sagacity, address, and intrepidity, +to persuade Ferdinand to violate his pledge of honor, to escape from +Valencay, and place himself at the head of the Spaniards who were in +opposition to Joseph. It was hoped that this would awaken new enthusiasm +on the part of the Church and the advocates of the old regime, and that +it would check the spirit of ultra democracy which was threatening to +sweep every thing before it. + +The nearest approach to an honorable deed to which Ferdinand ever came, +was in the very questionable act of revealing the plot to the French +Government. Rolli was arrested and sent to Vincennes. The democratic +leaders in Cadiz were so incensed against what Alison calls "the orderly +spirit of aristocratic rule in England," that, burying their animosity +against the French invasion, they almost welcomed those foreign armies, +who bore everywhere upon their banners "Equal Rights for all Men." They +opened secret negotiations with Joseph, offering to surrender Cadiz to +the French troops, and to secure the entire submission of the whole +peninsula to the government of Joseph if he would accept the radical +Constitution of 1812 in place of the more moderate Republicanism of the +Constitution of Bayonne. The hostility of the Spanish generals and +soldiers to Wellington and the English troops was bitter and +undisguised.[W] + +[Footnote W: Napier, v. 406, 407.] + +But more bloody scenes soon ensued. Napoleon, deeming the war in Spain +virtually ended, had been induced to withdraw large numbers of his +troops, and to embark in his fatal campaign to Moscow. Thus Russia +became allied to England, and a new opportunity, under more favorable +auspices, was afforded to renew the war in Spain. England concentrated +her mightiest energies upon the Peninsula against the remnants of the +French army which Napoleon had left there. The Emperor, with all his +chosen troops, composing an army of over five hundred thousand men, was +on the march thousands of miles toward the north. On the 9th of May, +1812, the Emperor left Paris, to place himself at the head of his troops +in Dresden. The war in Spain was now urged by the British Government +with renovated fury. The mind is wearied and the heart is sickened, in +reading the recital of sieges, and battles, and outrages which make a +humane man to exclaim, in anguish of spirit, "O Lord, how long! how +long!" Equal ferocity was upon both sides. French, English, Spanish, and +Portuguese soldiers, maddened by passion and inflamed with intoxicating +drinks, perpetrated deeds which fiends could scarcely exceed. Tortosa, +Tarragona, Mauresa, Saguntum, Valencia, Badajoz, Ciudad Rodrigo, and a +score of other places, testified to the bravery, often the tiger-like +ferocity, of the contending parties, and to the misery which man can +inflict upon his brother-man. + +Physical bravery is the cheapest and most vulgar of all earthly virtues. +The vilest rabble gathered from the gutters of any city can, by a few +months of military discipline and experience in the horrors of war, +become so reckless of danger that bullets, shells, and grapeshot are as +little regarded as snowflakes. Robber bands and piratic hordes will +often fight with ferocity and desperation which can not be surpassed. It +is the cause alone which can ennoble the heroism of the battle-field. In +these terrific conflicts, especially when the French and the British +troops were brought into contact, there often were exhibited all the +energy and desperation of which human nature is capable. + +As the Emperor set out on the Russian campaign, he invested Joseph with +the command of the armies in Spain. These troops were widely dispersed, +to protect different points in the kingdom. But few could be promptly +rallied upon any one field of battle. The Emperor, burdened with the +expense of his immense army, and far away amidst the wilds of Russia, +could give but little attention to the affairs of Spain, and could send +neither money nor supplies to his brother, who was so uneasily settled +upon an impoverished throne. As days of darkness gathered around the +Emperor, a sense of honor prevented Joseph from abandoning his post. His +troops were everywhere in a state of great destitution and suffering. +His humane heart would not allow him to wrest supplies from the people, +who were often in a still greater state of poverty and want. + +[Illustration: SACK OF CIUDAD RODRIGO.] + +Marshal Massena had entered Portugal with an army of seventy-five +thousand men. Reduced by sickness and destitution, he was compelled +to withdraw with but thirty-five thousand men. Thus the English army, +no longer held in check, occupied Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz.[X] + +[Footnote X: Encyclopaedia Americana, article Joseph Bonaparte.] + +Three thousand men were left in garrison at Ciudad Rodrigo. Forty +thousand men under Wellington besieged it. After opening two practicable +breaches, Wellington summoned a surrender. The French general, Barrie, +replied: + +"His Majesty, the Emperor, has intrusted me with the command of Ciudad +Rodrigo. I and my garrison are resolved to bury ourselves beneath the +ruins." + +The place was taken by assault, the British troops rushing into the +breaches with courage which could not have been surpassed. The French, +after losing half their number, were overpowered. The victorious British +soldiers, forgetting that the inhabitants of the city were their allies, +pillaged the houses and the shops, and committed every conceivable +outrage upon the inhabitants. Sir Archibald Alison thus describes the +scene: + +"The churches were ransacked, the wine and spirit cellars pillaged, and +brutal intoxication spread in every direction. Soon flames were seen +bursting in several quarters. Some houses were burned to the ground, +others already ignited. By degrees, however, the drunken men dropped +down from excess of liquor, or fell asleep; and before morning a degree +of order was restored." + +Advancing from Ciudad Rodrigo, Wellington, at the head of a force then +numbering sixty thousand men, laid siege to Badajoz, crossing the +Guadiarra above and below the city. The garrison in the city consisted +of but forty-five hundred combatants. The trenches were opened upon the +night between the 17th and 18th of March. There was no more desperate +fighting during all the wars of Napoleon than was witnessed within and +around the walls of Badajoz. The British lost five thousand officers and +men ere the city was captured. Again had the Spaniards bitter cause to +mourn over the victory of those who called themselves their allies. As +the British troops rushed into the streets of this Spanish city which +they had professedly come to rescue from the government of Joseph +Bonaparte, Alison says: + +"Disorders and excesses of every sort prevailed, and the British +soldiery showed, by their conduct after the storm, that they inherited +their full share of the sins as well as the virtues of the children of +Adam. The disgraceful national vice of intemperance, in particular, +broke forth in its most frightful colors. All the wine shops and vaults +were broken open and plundered. Pillage was universal. Every house +was ransacked for valuables, spirits, or wine; and crowds of drunken +soldiers for two days and nights thronged the streets, while the +breaking open of doors and windows, the report of casual muskets, and +the screams of despoiled citizens resounded on all sides." + +The throne of Joseph was now enveloped in gloom. To add to his trouble +and anguish of spirit, a dreadful famine afflicted Spain. But the +British fleet, in undisputed command of the seas, could convey ample +supplies to the army of Wellington, and British gold was lavished in +keeping alive the flames of insurrection. Troops were landed at various +points, and resistance to the French was encouraged by every means in +the power of the British Government. At Madrid every morning there were +found in the streets many dead bodies of those who had perished during +the night. The French in the capital, animated by the benevolent spirit +of Joseph, imposed upon themselves the severest sacrifices to succor the +perishing. The situation of Joseph had become deplorable. The best +troops were withdrawn for the Russian campaign. Those which remained +were starving, and without means of transport. A new government, under +the protection of the English, was organized at Cadiz, and guerrilla +bands were springing up in all directions. + +Joseph had but about twenty thousand troops in the vicinity of Cadiz, +with which force he could be but little more than a spectator of events +as they should occur. Wellington had a highly-disciplined army of sixty +thousand men, independent of the guerrilla bands whom he could summon to +his aid. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE EXPULSION FROM SPAIN. + +1812-1813 + +Increasing Gloom.--Defeat of Marmont.--Retreat of Joseph.--Spanish +Exiles.--Return to Madrid.--Difference between the French and +English.--Withdrawal of the French Troops from Spain.--Outrages of +the English.--Wellington intrusted with the supreme Command.--Battle +of Vittoria.--Victory of the British.--Retreat of the French.--San +Sebastian.--Excesses of the British Troops.--Destruction of St. +Sebastian.--Joseph abandons Spain.--Napoleon's last Struggle.--Joseph's +Devotion to his Brother.--The Surrender of Paris.--Great Perplexities. +--The Empress decides to leave Paris.--Disappointment of Napoleon. +--Panic in Paris.--Grief of the Empress.--Departure of the Empress.--The +Allied Armies.--Joseph joins the Empress.--Retirement of Joseph. + + +Joseph was much embarrassed. Should he leave his scattered forces +in the south of Spain, there was danger that they would be attacked +and destroyed piecemeal by Wellington. Should he withdraw them, and +concentrate his forces in the north, the whole south of Spain would be +instantly overrun by the English, and Joseph would lose one-half of his +kingdom. His total force in Spain, garrisoning the forts and composing +his detached bands in the south, the centre, the north, and the west, +amounted to a little over two hundred and thirty thousand men. + +In the early part of May of this year, 1812, the English, having taken +the defenses which were erected for the fortification of the Tagus, +became dominant in that region. Disaster followed disaster. The King's +couriers were captured, so that his orders did not reach the marshals. +It is hard to be amiable in seasons of adversity, and the marshals +reproached each other. Supplies and communications were cut off, and +women and children were dying of famine. The deadly warfare of guerrilla +bands increased rapidly. The most atrocious acts of vengeance and +atrocity were multiplied, and Joseph had no power to prevent them. As +Marmont was in danger of being cut off by Wellington, Joseph, leaving a +small garrison behind him, took all the troops that could be spared, and +marched rapidly to the relief of the marshal. Leaving the Escurial on +the 23d of July, he reached Peneranda on the 25th, where he learned that +Marmont had attacked Wellington on the 23d at Arapiles, and, after a +desperate conflict, had been repulsed. Marmont was severely censured for +not awaiting the arrival of Joseph, whom he knew to be at hand. He was +accused, perhaps without reason, of precipitating the conflict from fear +that Joseph might take the command and gain the renown. Marmont reported +his total loss in the battle to have been about six thousand men and +nine guns, which were left because their carriages were knocked to +pieces. Wellington reported his own loss at five thousand two hundred +and twenty. + +Marmont retreated to Valladolid, to meet re-enforcements which would +join him there. Joseph returned to Madrid, entering the city on the 2d +of August. As the English approached, Joseph, with two thousand horse, +met their advance-guard, and, with the courage of despair, drove them +back in the wildest confusion. He then, at the head of but twelve +thousand troops, commenced his retreat toward Valence. Twenty thousand +Spaniards, men and women, dreading the vengeance of their enemies, +followed, in his retreat, the King whom they had much cause to love. It +was a mournful spectacle. Nobles of the highest rank, and the most +intelligent and opulent of the city, toiled along in their weary march, +the women and the children often unable to restrain their tears and +sobs. The partisans of the English, who crowded into the city, received +Wellington and his troops with every demonstration of joy. The friends +of the new regime who remained behind, crushed in all their hopes, +closed the shutters of their houses, retired to the remote apartments, +and buried their griefs in silence. + +Into whatever city the English or the French entered, they were alike +received with unbounded enthusiasm. In every large city there is a +throng ready to shout hosanna to the conqueror, whoever he may be. When +Wellington and his squadrons entered a Spanish city, the friends of the +old regime gathered around them. And so it was with the French and their +friends when they were the victors. Thus at Valence, where Joseph +arrived on the 31st of August, he was received with all the honors which +could be conferred upon the most beloved sovereign. An immense crowd +thronged the streets, and lavished upon him every demonstration of +gratitude. The devout King, much moved by this exhibition of popular +affection in these dark hours of defeat and humiliation, repaired at +once to the cathedral, and in a solemn _Te Deum_ gave expression to his +gratitude to God. + +Joseph's first care was for the unhappy fugitives who, dreading the +vengeance of the foe, had abandoned home and all, to accompany him in +his flight. He had neither money, food, nor shelter to give them. He +therefore sent this sorrow-stricken band, counting over twenty thousand, +under an escort across the Pyrenees into France, where they would be +protected and provided for. + +At Valence Joseph concentrated his scattered forces, and early in +November commenced his march back to Madrid. It is very difficult to +ascertain the precise number of the forces on each side. Wellington's +army was estimated at ninety-two thousand men. Joseph had collected +superior numbers, and marched eagerly to attack him. Wellington rapidly +retreated toward Ciudad Rodrigo, and on the 3d of December Joseph +entered Madrid again in triumph. + +Conciliation, kindness, deference to the wishes of others are not +characteristic virtues of the English. They had long assumed, and with +no little semblance of reason, that in wealth, power, arts, and arms +they were the leading nation upon the globe. This assumption has made +them unpopular as a people. They are so honest and plain-spoken that +they never attempt to disguise their contempt for other nations. The +victorious soldiers of Wellington particularly despised the Spaniards. +This contempt neither officers nor soldiers attempted to conceal. + +It is just the reverse with the French. The characteristic politeness of +the nation leads them to compliment others, and to pay them especial +deference. They conceal the sense of superiority which they may perhaps +cherish. It is frequently said, as characteristic of the two nations, +that the stranger in London gets the impression that every Englishman he +meets has taken a special dislike to him personally; in Paris, on the +other hand, he receives the impression that every Frenchman with whom he +is brought into contact has a special fancy for him, perceiving in him +virtues and excellences which he never supposed that he possessed. + +The Duke of Wellington himself was a haughty, overbearing man. No +soldier loved him, but all bowed submissive to his inflexible will. The +deportment of the British troops in the Spanish capital was such as to +alienate those who at first welcomed them, and they soon became +universally disliked. The Spaniards are proud, proverbially proud; and +they could not endure this contemptuous assumption of superiority. So +great became the dissatisfaction that many of the Spanish generals +proposed to unite their troops with those of King Joseph if he would +grant them independent commands. + +Exultantly the English on the Peninsula heard the tidings of the +terrible disasters Napoleon was encountering in Russia. They could +scarcely exaggerate them. It was manifest that for a long time, at +least, Joseph could receive no assistance from France; on the contrary, +many regiments of infantry and cavalry, and a number of companies of +artillery, received orders immediately to leave Spain, and to hasten to +the aid of the Emperor. Joseph, thus hopelessly crippled, was directed +by the Emperor to concentrate his enfeebled forces upon the line of the +Douro. Leaving a garrison of ten thousand men in Madrid, Joseph, with +the remainder of his troops, retired toward the north. + +In Wellington's retreat from Madrid, his troops committed all imaginable +outrages. In his dispatch to his officers commanding his divisions and +brigades, he said: + +"From the moment the troops commenced their retreat from the +neighborhood of Madrid on the one hand, and Burgos on the other, the +officers lost all command over the men. Irregularities and outrages of +all descriptions were committed with impunity, and losses have been +sustained which ought never to have occurred. The discipline of every +army, after a long and active campaign, becomes in some degree relaxed; +but I am concerned to observe that the army under my command has fallen +off in this respect, in the late campaign, _to a greater degree than any +army with which I have ever been, or of which I have ever read_."[Y] + +[Footnote Y: Wellington to Officers commanding Divisions and Brigades, +ix. 574, 575.] + +Thus terminated the year 1812. The disappointment of the British +Government, in view of the discomfiture and retreat of Wellington, was +very great, and the indignation of that portion of the English people +who were opposed to this interminable warfare against the new regime in +France knew no bounds. That the English army had, through a long line of +disastrous retreat, according to the testimony of its commander, +inflicted outrages upon the Spanish people, its allies, _greater than +that commander had ever read of in history_, keenly wounded the national +pride. + +As fresh tidings arose of the disasters which had befallen Napoleon in +the north, the British Government renewed their zeal to assail him from +the south. Large re-enforcements were sent out during the winter with +such abundant supplies as to enable Wellington to commence the spring +campaign with every assurance of success. The Cortes in Cadiz, with +ever-varying policy, much to the disgust of many of the Spanish +generals, invested the British duke with the supreme command. The +opposition, however, was so great that the duke's brother, Mr. Henry +Wellesley, who was then British ambassador at Cadiz, advised him not to +accept the office. But the energetic duke was confident that, by +combining the whole military strength of the Peninsula with the army and +fleet of England, he could drive the feeble remnants of the French from +the kingdom. He therefore undertook the command. + +The Cortes was led to this decisive measure from the fact that there was +a strong and increasing party of their own number in favor of rallying +to the support of Joseph. Their only choice lay between Joseph or +Ferdinand, or the experiment of a democratic republic. Wellington's +visit to Cadiz, says Alison, "brought forcibly under his notice the +miserable state of the Government at that place, ruled by a furious +democratic faction, intimidated by an ungovernable press, and +alternately the prey of aristocratic intrigue and democratic fury. He +did not fail to report to the Government this deplorable state of +things." + +In the beginning of May Wellington was prepared to take the field with +an allied army of two hundred thousand men. The navy of England actively +co-operated with this immense force, conveying supplies and protecting +the extreme flanks of the line, which stretched across the kingdom. +The storm of war burst forth again in all its fury. Manfully Joseph +contended to the last. In the vicinity of Valladolid he had concentrated +fifty thousand men, and hoped to be able there to give battle. But +Wellington came upon him with an army one hundred thousand strong, which +was reported to be one hundred and ninety thousand. + +The French on the 14th of June retreated to Vittoria. The garrison in +Madrid and the civil authorities now abandoned the capital and took +refuge with the army. Here a short but terrible battle ensued. The +English had eighty thousand combatants on the field; the French, +according to their statement, had but half as many. Alison states their +force at sixty-five thousand. It was an awful battle. Both parties +fought desperately. The loss of the French was six thousand nine hundred +and sixty; that of the English five thousand one hundred and eighty.[Z] +The French army was impoverished after weary months of warfare, in a +land stricken by famine, and wasted by the sweep of armies and the +plundering of banditti. It was with very great difficulty that Joseph +could support his destitute troops. Yet Alison, in that strain of +exaggeration which sullies his often eloquent pages, writes: + +[Footnote Z: King Joseph, writing to Clarke, under date of July 6, 1813, +says: "Our army at Vittoria was but thirty-five thousand. That fact can +not be contested. The enemy had certainly seventy thousand combatants. I +can not be deceived when I say that his force was double of ours."] + +"Independent of private booty, no less than five millions and a half of +dollars in the military chest of the army were taken; and of private +wealth the amount was so prodigious that for miles together the +combatants may almost be said to have marched upon gold and silver, +without stooping to pick it up." + +In the hour of victory Wellington seemed to have no control over his +soldiers, whom his pen describes as drunken and brutal. Reeling in +intoxication, they wandered at will. Wellington states that three weeks +after the battle above twelve thousand of his soldiers had abandoned +their colors. "I am convinced," he says in a dispatch to Lord Bathurst, +"that we have out of our ranks doubled our loss in the battle, and have +lost more men in the pursuit than the enemy have." + +The retreat of the French was conducted with the firmness and admirable +discipline characteristic of French soldiers. As the troops slowly +and sullenly retired toward the French frontier, pressed by superior +numbers, they turned occasionally upon their pursuers, and the +advance-guard of the foe encountered several very bloody repulses. + +We have not space to allude to these various conflicts, which only +checked for a moment the onrolling tide of the victorious allied army. +Wellington's troops took the town of San Sebastian by storm. This was a +beautiful Spanish city, through which the French retreated, and where +they made a short and desperate stand. We will leave it to Mr. Alison +to describe the conduct of Lord Wellington's troops. + +"And now commenced," writes Alison, "a scene which has affixed as +lasting a stain on the character of the English and Portuguese troops, +as the heroic valor they displayed in the assault has given them +enduring and exalted fame. The long endurance of the assault had +wrought the soldiers up to perfect madness. The soldiers wreaked their +vengeance with fearful violence on the unhappy inhabitants. Some of the +houses adjoining the breaches had taken fire from the effects of the +explosion. The flames, fanned by an awful tempest which burst on the +town, soon spread with frightful rapidity. The wretched inhabitants, +driven from house to house as the conflagration devoured their +dwellings, were soon huddled together in one quarter, where they fell a +prey to the unbridled passions of the soldiery. + +"Attempts were at first made by the British officers to extinguish +the flames, but they proved vain among the general confusion which +prevailed. The soldiers broke into the burning houses, pillaged them of +the most valuable articles they contained, and rolling numerous casks of +spirits into the streets, with frantic shouts, emptied them of their +contents, till vast numbers of them sank down like savages, motionless, +some lifeless, from the excess. + +"Carpets, tapestry, beds, silks and satins, wearing apparel, jewelry, +watches, and every thing valuable, were scattered about upon the bloody +pavements, while fresh bundles of them were thrown from the windows +above to avoid the flames, and caught with demoniac yells by the drunken +crowds beneath. Amidst these scenes of disgraceful violence and +unutterable woe, nine-tenths of the once happy, smiling town of St. +Sebastian were reduced to ashes. And what has affixed a yet darker blot +on the character of the victors, deeds of violence and cruelty were +perpetrated hitherto rare in the British army, and which causes the +historian to blush, not merely for his country, but for his species." + +The account which is given by Spanish historians of these transactions +is even far more dreadful than the above; so revolting that we can not +pain our readers by transcribing it upon these pages. A document issued +by the Constitutional Junta, after describing crimes as awful as even +fiends could commit, adds: + +"Other crimes more horrible still, which our pen refuses to record, were +committed in that awful night, and the disorders continued for some days +after without any efficient steps being taken to arrest them. Of above +six hundred houses, of which St. Sebastian consisted on the morning of +the assault, there remained at the end of three days only +thirty-six."[AA] + +[Footnote AA: Manifeste par la Junte Constitutionale, et les habitans de +St. Sebastien.] + +The Duke of Wellington, in his dispatch to the Spanish Minister of War, +said, in reference to these excesses, that it was impossible for him to +restrain the passions of his soldiers, that he and his officers did +their utmost to stop the fire and to avoid the disorders, but that all +their efforts were ineffectual. + +Joseph, in his retreat, threw three thousand men into the citadel of St. +Sebastian. They held back the British army sixty days. Their skill and +valor extorted the commendation of their foes. The siege cost the allied +army three thousand eight hundred men, and delayed for three months the +invasion of the southern provinces of France. + +Joseph slowly retreated, fighting his way, step by step, across the +Pyrenees into France, pursued by the victors. On the 12th of April, +Joseph, having crossed the mountains, and being thus driven from his +kingdom, had no longer any legitimate power. The command of the French +army devolved upon Soult. Utterly weary of the cares and harassments of +royalty, for which Joseph never had any inclination, he joined his wife +and children at his estate at Mortfontaine. England had wrested the +crown of Spain from Joseph Bonaparte, one of the best men whom a crown +has ever adorned, and soon, with the aid of allied Europe, placed that +crown upon the brow of Ferdinand VII., one of the worst men who has ever +disgraced a throne. The result was that Spain was consigned to another +half-century of shame, debasement, and misery. + +Joseph had scarcely re-united himself with his wife and children in +their much-loved home at Mortfontaine, when the allied armies, numbering +more than a million and a half of bayonets, came crowding upon France +from the north, from the east, and from the south; while the fleet of +England, mistress of all the seas, lent its majestic co-operation on the +west. Then ensued the sublimest conflict of which history gives us any +account. Never before, in all Napoleon's world-renowned campaigns, had +he displayed such vigor as in the masterly blows with which he struck +one after another of his thronging assailants, and drove them, staggered +and bleeding, before him. + +France was exhausted. All Europe had combined to crush the Republican +Empire, and restore the despotism of the old regime. Through an almost +uninterrupted series of victories, Napoleon lost his crown. When in any +one direction he was driving his foes headlong before him, from all +other points they were rushing on, till France and Paris were well-nigh +whelmed in the mighty inundation. In these hours of disaster, Joseph +offered life, property, all to the service of his brother. They held a +few hurried interviews in Paris, and then separated, each to fulfill his +appointed task in the terrible drama. + +The Emperor confided to Joseph the defense of Paris, and the protection +of his son and of the Empress. On the 16th of March, 1814, the Emperor +wrote to his brother from Reims: + +"In accordance with the verbal instructions which I gave you, and with +the spirit of all my letters, you must not allow, happen what may, the +Empress and the King of Rome to fall into the hands of the enemy. The +manoeuvres I am about to make may possibly prevent your hearing from +me for several days. If the enemy should march on Paris with so strong a +force as to render resistance impossible, send off toward the Loire the +Regent, my son, the great dignitaries, the ministers, the senators, the +President of the Conseil d'Etat, the chief officers of the crown, and +Baron de la Bouillerie, with the money which is in my treasury. Never +lose sight of my son, and remember that I would rather know that he was +in the Seine, than that he was in the hands of the enemies of France. +The fate of Astyanax, prisoner to the Greeks, has always seemed to me +the most lamentable in history." + +Faithfully, energetically, wisely, Joseph fulfilled the mission +intrusted to him. In every possible way he endeavored to aid the Emperor +in his heroic efforts; recruiting troops, arming them, and hurrying them +off to the points where they were most needed. It was not till the +allied forces were upon the heights of Montmartre, and where further +resistance would but have exposed the capital to the horrors of a +bombardment, that he consented to a surrender. All the arms in the city +had been given out to the new levies, as they had been sent to the seat +of war, and none remained to place in the hands of the populace, even +were it judged best to summon them to the defense of the metropolis. A +grand council was called on the 29th of March. The ministers, the grand +dignitaries, the presidents of the sections, of the Council of State, +and the President of the Senate were present. + +The majority of the council were in favor of defending the city to the +last possible moment. There were at hand the two corps of the dukes of +Ragusa and Trevise, consisting of about seventeen thousand combatants, a +few thousand of the National Guard, poorly armed, a few batteries served +by the students of the schools and by the Invalides, and a few hundred +recruits not yet organized. It was urged that the Empress, like another +Maria Theresa, should remain with her son in the city, to assure the +populace by her presence, and embolden the defense. She was to show +herself to the people at the Hotel de Ville, with her son in her arms. +Should the Empress leave the city, it would so discourage the people +that all attempts at defense would be hopeless. Should she remain, the +danger was very great that both she and her son might be captured; and +unless she should immediately escape, all egress might be cut off, as +the Allies were rapidly surrounding the city. + +Toward the close of the discussion, the Emperor's letter to Joseph of +the 16th of March was presented and read. In this it will be remembered +that he said: + +"You must not allow, happen what may, the Empress and the King of Rome +to fall into the hands of the enemy. Never lose sight of my son, and +remember that I would rather know that he was in the Seine, than that +he was in the hands of the enemies of France. The fate of Astyanax, +prisoner to the Greeks, has always seemed to me the most lamentable in +history." + +This settled the question. The situation of affairs was so desperate +that for the Empress to remain in Paris would be extremely perilous. It +was therefore decided that she, with the Government, should retire to +Chartres, and thence to the Loire. But Joseph stated that it was +important to ascertain the real force of the hostile army, which was +driving before them the two marshals, Marmont and Mortier. He therefore +offered to remain in the city, making all possible arrangements for its +defense, till that fact should be ascertained. Should it be found that +resistance was quite impossible, he would rejoin the Government upon the +Loire. + +It is very evident that Joseph and the assembled Senate, and that +Napoleon himself, hoped that Maria Louisa, from her own inward impulse, +would soar to the heights of a heroine. Napoleon could not ask her to +come thus to his defense. At St. Helena the Emperor allowed the regret +to escape his lips that Maria Louisa was not able to rise to the +sublimity of the occasion. The Empress, however, was but an ordinary +woman, incapable of a grand action, and it is to be remembered that she +must have been embarrassed by the thought that, in striving to arouse +France for the defense of her husband, she was arraying the empire +against her own father. Maria Louisa, as regent, presided over this +private council. The session was prolonged until after midnight. Joseph +and the arch-chancellor accompanied the Empress to her home. It is +evident, even then, that Joseph hoped that the Empress would assume the +responsibility of a heroic act. M. Meneval, the secretary of the +Empress, who was present at this interview, says: + +"After the exchange of a few words upon the disastrous consequences of +abandoning Paris, Joseph and the arch-chancellor ventured to say that +the Empress alone could decide what course it was her duty to pursue. +The Empress replied 'that they were her appointed advisers, and that she +could not undertake any course unless she was advised to do it by them, +over their own seal and signature.' Both declined to assume this +responsibility." + +The departure of the Empress was fixed at eight o'clock the next +morning. Joseph had already passed the barriers, to proceed to the +advance posts of the army to reconnoitre the foe. The day had not +yet dawned, when the saloons of the palace were filled with those who +were to accompany the Empress in her flight. Anxiety sat upon every +countenance, and the solemnity of the occasion caused every voice to be +hushed, so that impressive silence reigned. Early as was the hour, the +alarming rumor that the Empress was to abandon Paris had reached the +ears of the National Guard. Suddenly the officers of the guard who +were stationed at the palace, with several others who had joined them, +precipitately entered, and, by their earnest request, were conducted to +the Empress. They entreated her not to leave Paris, promising to defend +her to the last possible extremity. + +[Illustration: ANGUISH OF MARIA LOUISA.] + +The Empress was moved to tears by their devotion, but alleged the order +of the Emperor. Nevertheless, conscious of the discouraging effect of +her departure, she delayed hour after hour, hoping without venturing to +avow it that some chance might arise which would enable her to remain. +M. Clarke, the Minister of War, alarmed at the danger that soon all +egress would be impossible, sent an officer to the Empress to represent +to her the necessity of an immediate departure. Thus urged by some +to go, by others to remain, the Empress was agitated by the most +distracting embarrassment. She returned to her chamber, threw her hat +upon her bed, seated herself in a chair, buried her face in her hands, +and burst into an uncontrollable flood of tears. "O my God," she was +heard to exclaim, "let them decide this question among themselves, and +put an end to this my agony." + +About ten o'clock the Minister of War sent again to her a message +stating that she had not one moment to lose, and that unless she left +immediately she was in danger of falling into the hands of the Cossacks. +As Joseph was now absent, and she could receive no further counsel from +him, she hastened her departure. It was indeed true that the delay of a +few hours would have rendered her escape impossible, for that very day +the banners of the Allies presented themselves before the walls of the +metropolis. + +Joseph had returned rapidly to the city, to make as determined a defense +as possible. The National Guard hastened to the posts assigned them. +Volunteers, many of them armed with shot-guns, advanced to operate as +skirmishers against the foe. The students of the Polytechnic School +served the artillery confided to their "young and brilliant" valor. The +thunders of the cannonade were soon heard, rousing the populace to a +frenzy of courage. They rushed through the streets demanding arms, but +there were none to be given them. The arsenals were all empty. + +The allied troops came pouring on like the raging tides of the sea. +Their numbers in advance and in the rear far exceeded a million of +bayonets. It was all dynastic Europe arrayed against one man. Distinctly +the allied kings had declared to the world that they were not fighting +against France, but against Napoleon. + +The next day, the 30th, Joseph received a note from General Marmont, +written in pencil, from the midst of the conflict, stating that it would +be impossible to prolong the resistance beyond a few hours, and that +measures must immediately be adopted to save Paris from the horrors of +being carried by storm. Joseph instantly convoked a council, and the +opinion was unanimous that a capitulation was inevitable. Accordingly +Joseph at once sent General Stroltz, his aide-de-camp, to Marshals +Marmont and Mortier, authorizing them to enter into a conference with +the enemy, while they were to continue their resistance as persistently +as possible. + +All hope of defending Paris was now abandoned. In accordance with the +instructions of the Emperor, it was the duty of Joseph to join himself +to the Empress and her son. At four o'clock he crossed the Seine. A few +moments after the bridges were seized by the enemy. Napoleon had retired +to Fontainebleau. Passing through Versailles, where he ordered the +cavalry in that city to follow him, Joseph proceeded to Chartres, where +he joined the Empress and her son, and with them advanced to Blois. He +hoped to join his brother at Fontainebleau, there to confer with him +upon the measures to be adopted in these hours of disaster. With this +intention he set out from Blois, but squadrons of hostile cavalry were +sweeping in all directions, and his communication beyond Orleans was cut +off. He was therefore compelled to return to Blois. There he was in the +greatest peril, for the Cossacks were in his immediate vicinity. He +could neither reach the Emperor nor communicate with him. Neither could +he ascertain the result of the negotiation entered into at Paris with +the foe. + +Almost immediately the news came of the Emperor's abdication. The +Cossacks escorted Maria Louisa and the King of Rome to Rambouillet, +where they were placed under the care of her father, the Emperor of +Austria. The Emperor was sent to Elba. Joseph, who was still wealthy, +purchased the estate of Prangins, on the border of the lake of Geneva. +Here he had a brief respite from the terrible storms of life, with his +wife and children, in that retirement which he loved so well. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LIFE IN EXILE. + +1815-1832 + +Attempt to assassinate Napoleon.--Landing of Napoleon in France. +--Attempt to Escape.--Vigilance of the Allies.--Generosity of +Joseph.--Joseph escapes from France.--Selects Point Breeze.--Calumnies +of the Allies.--Noble Character of Joseph Bonaparte.--Death of the +Emperor.--Letter of General Bertrand.--Marriage of Princess Charlotte. +--The Crown of Mexico.--Visit of La Fayette.--General Lamarque.--Letter +from General Lamarque.--Letter to Francis Leiber.--Letter to La +Fayette.--Letter to Maria Louisa.--Letter to Prince Metternich.--Letter +to the Emperor of Austria.--Appeal to the Chamber of Deputies.--Letter +to General Lamarque.--Letter to General Bernard.--Letter to La +Fayette.--Letter to the Duke of Reichstadt. + + +While Joseph was enjoying his peaceful residence upon the shores of +Europe's most beautiful lake, Madame de Stael hastened to inform him +of a plot which had been revealed to her for the assassination of the +Emperor at Elba. The evidence was conclusive. Joseph was at breakfast +with the celebrated tragedian Talma. Both Talma and Madame de Stael +were anxious to hasten to Elba to inform the Emperor of his danger. +But Joseph sent a personal friend, and two of the assassins were +arrested.[AB] + +[Footnote AB: "I thanked them for their generous offer, but preferred to +charge with that difficult commission M. Boisneau, whose patriotism and +personal attachment to Napoleon I had known at the siege of Toulon. You +know with what success he fulfilled his commission."--Memoires du Roi +Joseph, tome dixieme, p. 342.] + +At Prangins, in 1815, Joseph learned that Napoleon had landed in France, +had advanced as far as Lyons, and was desirous of seeing him in Paris +as soon as possible. Joseph's wife, Julie, was then in Paris, having +been drawn there by the sickness and death of the mother, Madame Clary. +He immediately left his chateau, after having buried all his valuable +papers in a box in the forest, setting out secretly at ten o'clock at +night, accompanied by the two princesses, his daughters. A few hours +after his departure, an armed band, sent by the influence of the Allies, +arrived at the chateau to arrest him. Joseph upon his arrival in France, +immediately, with characteristic devotion, placed himself entirely at +the disposition of the brother he loved so well. + +As Joseph traversed France, he was everywhere met with great enthusiasm, +the people shouting, "Napoleon the Emperor of our choice;" "The nation +desires him alone;" "No aristocracy;" "Away with the old regime." + +Before the departure of the Emperor for Waterloo, many distinguished +persons, among others Benjamin Constant, who assisted in drawing up the +celebrated Additional Act, were introduced to him by Joseph. One day he +conducted to the Tuileries the son of Madame de Stael, who bore a letter +from his mother to the Emperor, in which, speaking of the _Additional +Act_, she said, "It is every thing which France can now need; nothing +but what it needs, nothing more than it needs." + +In speaking of the "_Acte Additionel_" Mr. Alison says, "It excited +unbounded opposition in both the parties which now divided the nation, +and left the Emperor in reality no support but in the soldiers of the +army." A few paragraphs later, when stating that the "_Acte_" was +submitted to the people to be adopted or rejected by popular suffrage, +he says truthfully, though in manifest contradiction to his former +statement: + +"The '_Acte Additionel_' was approved by an immense majority of the +electors; the numbers being fifteen hundred thousand to five hundred." + +After the disaster at Waterloo, Joseph was the constant companion of his +brother during those few days of anguish in which he remained in Paris. +On the 29th of June he left the metropolis to join his brother, who had +preceded him, at Rochefort, where the two intended to embark for America +in two different ships, the _Saale_ and the _Medusa_. After several days +of necessary delay, at four o'clock in the afternoon of July 8th +Napoleon was rowed out to the _Saale_, which was anchored at a distance +from the quay. But the Bourbons and the Allies were now in power in +France, and British guard-ships were doubled along the French coast. No +vessel was allowed to leave. + +Joseph, who had received letters from his wife informing him of all that +had transpired in Paris, proposed that the Emperor should return to +land, place himself at the head of the Army of the Loire, summon the +population of France to rise _en masse_, and again appeal to the +fortunes of war. But the Emperor could not be persuaded to resort to a +measure which would enkindle the flames of civil war in France, and +which might also expose the kingdom to dismemberment, since the Allies +already held a considerable portion of its territory. + +Joseph then urged his brother to embark in a small American vessel which +chanced to be in the port, while Joseph, personating Napoleon, whom he +strongly resembled, should surrender himself as the Emperor. It was +thought that the British cruisers, thus deceived, would allow the +American vessel to sail without a very rigid search. But the Emperor +declined the offer to escape at the hazard of his brother's captivity. +Neither would his pride of character allow him to seek flight in the +garb of disguise. He therefore urged Joseph to leave him to his destiny, +and to provide immediately for his own safety. + +During the whole of Napoleon's career there were always multitudes ready +to lay down their lives at any time for his protection. The captain of +the _Medusa_, a sixty-gun frigate, offered to grapple the English +frigate _Bellerophon_, of seventy-four guns, and to maintain the unequal +and desperate conflict until the _Saale_ could escape with the Emperor. +But as this would be sacrificing many lives to his personal safety, +Napoleon declined the magnanimous offer. + +Leaving matters in this state of uncertainty, Joseph retired from +Rochefort to the country-seat of a friend, at the distance of a few +leagues. He left his secretary behind, to keep him informed of all that +transpired. Two days after he received a letter announcing that the +Emperor had taken the fatal resolution to surrender himself to the +British Government. Joseph could no longer be of any assistance to his +brother, and he decided to leave France as soon as possible. Under the +assumed name of M. Bouchard, he embarked at Royan on the 29th of July, +with four of his suite, on board the bark _Commerce_, bound for the +United States. The vessel was visited several times by the British +cruisers without his being recognized. On the 28th of August, 1815, +Joseph landed at New York. Captain Misservey, of the bark, was not aware +of the illustrious rank of his passenger, but supposed him to be General +Carnot. The Mayor of New York, under the same impression, called upon +him as General Carnot, to congratulate him upon his safe passage. + +There were at the time two English frigates cruising before the harbor +of New York, to search all vessels coming from Europe. One of these +frigates bore down upon the _Commerce_, but the wind, and the skill of +the American pilot, saved the ship from a visit. If the English had +succeeded in seizing the person of Joseph, they would have taken him +back to England, and thence to Russia, where the Allies had decided to +hold him in captivity. + +It was not known in America until Joseph's arrival that Napoleon had +confided himself to the English. The illustrious exile, much broken +in health by care and sorrow, assumed the title of the Count of +Survilliers, the name of an estate which he held in France, and sought +the retreat of a quiet, private life, as a refuge from the storms by +which he had so long been tossed. + +After having travelled through many of the States of the Union, and +having visited most of the principal cities, he purchased in New Jersey, +upon the banks of the Delaware, a very beautiful property, called _Point +Breeze_. Here he lived the sad life of an exile, reflecting upon the +ruin and dispersion of his family, and exposed to every species of +contumely from the European press, then controlled by the triumphant +dynasties of the old feudal oppression. It was for the interest of all +these regal courts to convince the world that the Bonapartes were the +enemies, not the friends of humanity; that they were struggling, not for +the rights of mankind, but to impose upon the world hitherto unheard-of +despotism; and that in principles and practice they were the most +godless and dissolute of men. In this they succeeded for a time, and +there are thousands who still adhere to the senseless calumny. Terrible +indeed is the condition of a family when it is for the vital interests +of all the crowns of Europe to consecrate their influence, and lavish +their money to blacken the character of all its members. + +But the noble character of Joseph Bonaparte could not be concealed. His +record had been written in ineffaceable lines. His illustrious name, +purity of morals, large fortune, simple and cordial manners, and his +wide-reaching liberality, endeared him greatly to his neighbors and +multiplied his friends. His wife was in such extremely delicate health +that it was not deemed safe for her to undertake a voyage across the +ocean. But his two daughters, the Princess Zenaide and Charlotte, and +subsequently his son-in-law, Charles Bonaparte, elder brother of the +present Emperor, Napoleon III., shared with him his exile. + +The entire overthrow of the popular governments which had been +established by the aid of Napoleon, and the relentless spirit manifested +by the conquerors, filled all lands with exiles. Many of the most +distinguished men of Europe sought a refuge with Joseph, where they were +received with the most generous hospitality. When the tidings reached +Point Breeze of the destitution in which Napoleon was living in the +dilapidated hut at St. Helena, Joseph immediately placed his whole +fortune at the disposal of his brother. It was, however, too late, and +the Emperor profited but little from this generous offer. A few years +passed wearily away, when in May, 1821, Napoleon, through destitution, +insults, and anguish, sank sadly into his grave. General Bertrand, who +had so magnanimously accompanied the captive in his imprisonment at +Saint Helena, and had shared in all his sufferings, communicated the +tidings of the death of the Emperor to Joseph in the following touching +letter. General Bertrand had returned from Saint Helena, and his letter +was dated London, September 10, 1821: + +"PRINCE,--I write to you for the first time since the awful misfortune +which has been added to the sorrows of your family. Your Highness is +acquainted with the events of the first years of this cruel exile. Many +persons who have visited Saint Helena have informed you of what was +still more interesting to you, the manner of living and the unkind +treatment which aggravated the influence of a deadly climate. + +"In the last year of his life, the Emperor, who for four years had taken +no exercise, altered extremely in appearance. He became pale and +feeble. From that time his health deteriorated rapidly and visibly. He +had always been in the habit of taking baths. He now took them more +frequently, and staid longer in them. They appeared to relieve him for +the time. Latterly Dr. Antommarchi forbade him their use, as he thought +that they only increased his weakness. + +"In the month of August he took walking exercise, but with difficulty; +he was forced to stop every minute. In the first years he used to walk +while dictating. He walked about his room, and thus did without the +exercise which he feared to take out-of-doors, lest he should expose +himself to insult. But latterly his strength would not admit even of +this. He remained sitting nearly all day, and discontinued almost all +occupation. His health declined sensibly every month. + +"Once in September, and again in the beginning of October he rode out, +as his physicians desired him to take exercise; but he was so weak that +he was obliged to return in his carriage. He ceased to digest; shivering +fits came on, which extended even to the extremities. Hot towels applied +to the feet gave him some relief. He suffered from these cold fits to +the last hour of his life. As he could no longer either walk or ride, he +took several drives in an open carriage at a foot pace, but without +gaining strength. + +"He never took off his dressing-gown. His stomach rejected food, and at +the end of the year he was forced to give up meat. He lived upon jellies +and soups. For some time he ate scarcely any thing, and drank only a +little pure wine, hoping thus to support nature without fatiguing the +digestion; but the vomiting continued, and he returned to soups and +jellies. The remedies and tonics which were tried produced little +effect. His body grew weaker every day, but his mind retained its +strength. He liked reading and conversation. He did not dictate much, +although he did so from time to time up to the last days of his life. He +felt that his end was approaching, and frequently recited the passage +from 'Zaire,' which closes with this line: + + "'A revoir Paris je ne dois plus pretendre.' + +"Nevertheless the hope of leaving this dreadful country often presented +itself to his imagination. Some newspaper articles and false reports +excited our expectations. We sometimes fancied that we were on the eve +of starting for America. We read travels, we made plans, we arrived at +our house, we wandered over that immense country, where alone we might +hope to enjoy liberty. Vain hopes! vain projects! which only made us +doubly feel our misfortunes. + +"They could not have been borne with more serenity and courage--I might +almost add gayety. He often said to us in the evening, 'Where shall we +go? to the Theatre Francais or to the Opera?' And then he would read a +tragedy by Corneille, Voltaire, or Racine; an opera of Quinault's, or +one of Moliere's comedies. His strong mind and powerful character were +perhaps even more remarkable than on that larger theatre where he +eclipsed all that is brightest in ancient and in modern history. He +often seemed to forget what he had been. I was never tired of admiring +his philosophy and courage, the good sense and fortitude which raised +him above misfortune. + +"At times, however, sad regrets and recollections of what he had done, +contrasted with what he might have done, presented themselves. He talked +of the past with perfect frankness, persuaded that, on the whole, he +had done what he was required to do, and not sharing the strange and +contradictory opinions which we hear expressed every day on events which +are not understood by the speakers. If the conversation took a +melancholy turn, he soon changed it. He loved to talk of Corsica, of his +old uncle Lucien, of his youth, of you, and of all the rest of the +family. + +"Toward the middle of March fever came on. From that time he scarcely +left his bed except for about half an hour in the day. He seldom had the +strength to shave. He now for the first time became extremely thin. The +fits of vomiting became more frequent. He then questioned the physicians +upon the conformation of the stomach, and about a fortnight before his +death he had pretty nearly guessed that he was dying of cancer. He was +read to almost every day, and dictated a few days before his decease. +He often talked naturally as to the probable mode of his death, but +when he became aware that it was approaching he left off speaking on +the subject. He thought much about you and your children. + +"To his last moments he was kind and affectionate to us all. He did not +appear to suffer so much as might have been expected from the cause of +his death. When we questioned him he said that he suffered a little, but +that he could bear it. His memory declined during the last five or six +days. His deep sighs, and his exclamations from time to time, made us +think that he was in great pain. He looked at us with the penetrating +glance which you know so well. We tried to dissimulate, but he was so +used to reading our faces that no doubt he frequently discovered our +anxiety. He felt too clearly the gradual decline of his faculties not to +be aware of his state. + +"For the last two hours he neither spoke nor moved. The only sound was +his difficult breathing, which gradually but regularly decreased. His +pulse ceased. And so died, surrounded by only a few servants, the man +who had dictated laws to the world, and whose life should have been +preserved for the sake of the happiness and glory of our sorrowing +country. + +"Forgive, prince, a hurried letter, which tells you so little when you +wish to know so much; but I should never end if I attempted to tell +all. I must not omit to say that the Emperor was most anxious that his +correspondence with the different sovereigns of Europe should be +printed. He repeated this to us several times.[AC] In his will the +Emperor expressed his wish that his remains should be buried in France; +however, in the last days of his life, he ordered me, if there was any +difficulty about it, to lay him by the side of the fountain whose waters +he had so long drunk." + +[Footnote AC: The Emperor was very desirous that his correspondence with +the allied sovereigns should be published. He wrote to Joseph from Saint +Helena to secure their publication in the United States if possible. "It +will be the best response," he said, "to all the calumnies which have +been uttered against me." During Joseph's sojourn in England, he learned +from Dr. O'Meara that the autograph originals of these letters addressed +by Napoleon to the sovereigns had been offered for sale in London in the +year 1822; that they had been in the hands of Mr. Murray, a well-known +publisher; that the letters relating to Russia had been purchased by +a diplomatic agent of that power for ten thousand pounds sterling. +There was no longer any hope of obtaining them, since they were in +the hands of those interested in having them destroyed.--_Memoires et +Correspondence, Politique et Militaire du Roi Joseph, tome dixieme_, n. +231.] + +Joseph loved his brother tenderly, and he never could speak without +emotion of the indignities and cruelties Napoleon suffered from that +ungenerous Government to whose mercy he had so fatally confided himself. +Anxious to do every thing which he thought might gratify the departed +spirit of his brother, he implored permission of Austria to visit +Napoleon's son, the Duke of Reichstadt, that he might sympathize with +him in these hours of affliction. The Court of Austria refused his +request. + +In 1824, Joseph's youngest daughter, the Princess Charlotte, left Point +Breeze to join her mother in Europe, where she was to be married to +Charles Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, the son of Louis and Hortense, and +the elder brother of the present Emperor of the French. The tastes of +Joseph inclined him to the country, and to its peaceful pursuits. He +had, however, a city residence in Philadelphia, where he usually passed +the winters. While thus residing on the banks of the Delaware, sadly +retracing the memorable events of the past and recording its scenes, he +received a proposition which surprised and gratified him. A deputation +of Mexicans waited upon him at Point Breeze, and urged him to accept the +crown of Mexico. The former King of Naples and of Spain in the following +terms responded to the invitation: + +"I have worn two crowns. I would not take a single step to obtain a +third. Nothing could be more flattering to me than to see the men who, +when I was at Madrid, were unwilling to recognize my authority, come +to-day to seek me, in exile, to place the crown upon my head. But I do +not think that the throne which you wish to erect anew can promote your +happiness. Every day I spend upon the hospitable soil of the United +States demonstrates to me more fully the excellence of republican +institutions for America. Guard them, then, as a precious gift of +Providence; cease your intestine quarrels; imitate the United States and +seek from the midst of your fellow-citizens a man more capable than I am +to act the grand part of Washington."[AD] + +[Footnote AD: Quelque Mot sur Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte, par Napoleon +III.] + +When La Fayette in 1824 made his triumphal tour through the United +States, he visited Point Breeze to pay his respects to the brother of +the Emperor. Upon that occasion the marquis expressed deep regret in +view of the course he had pursued at the time of the abdication of +Napoleon. + +"The dynasty of the Bourbons," said he, "can not maintain itself. It too +manifestly wounds the national sentiment. We are all persuaded in France +that the son of the Emperor alone can represent the interests of the +Revolution. Place two million francs at the disposal of our committee, +and I promise you that in two years Napoleon II.[AE] will be upon the +throne of France."[AF] + +[Footnote AE: The Duke of Reichstadt, son of the Emperor, then thirteen +years of age, living at Vienna, in the Court of the Emperor of Austria, +his grandfather. He died of consumption in July, 1832.] + +[Footnote AF: Oeuvres de Napoleon III., tome deuxieme, p. 439.] + +Joseph, however, did not think it best to embark at that time in any new +enterprise for the restoration of popular rights to France. The Bourbon +throne seemed to be for a time firmly established. Joseph was getting to +be advanced in years. The storms of his life had been so severe that he +longed only for repose. + +The following extracts from the correspondence of Joseph, while he +was an exile in America, throw interesting light upon his political +principles and upon his social character. General Lamarque was one +of the veteran generals of the Empire. After the restoration of the +Bourbons, he was highly distinguished for his eloquence in the Tribune +as the antagonist of aristocratic privilege. Napoleon, when on his +death-bed at Saint Helena, in view of his earnest support of popular +rights, both on the battle-field and in the Chamber of Deputies, +recommended him for a marshal of France. Those friends of the Empire who +had been prosecuted for the part they took in the _Hundred Days_, had +found in him a zealous friend. His devotion to the interests of Poland +had secured for him the homage of that chivalrous people. The liberal +party in France, with great unanimity, regarded him as their leader. +Upon the occasion of his funeral, in June, 1832, the Liberals in Paris +made a desperate endeavor to overthrow the government of Louis Philippe. +The insurgents numbered over one hundred thousand. The attempt was +bloodily repulsed by the royalist troops. On the 27th of March, 1824, +General Lamarque wrote a letter from Paris to Joseph, from which we make +the following extracts: + +"MONSIEUR LE COMTE,--The memory of your kindnesses lives as vividly +in my heart as on the day in which I received them, and I ever seek +occasions to prove this to you. Already I have refuted, in many articles +of the journals, the atrocious calumnies which have been published +against you, and I ever avow myself to the world as your admirer and +grateful friend. Be assured that your reputation is honorable and +glorious. Truth has already dispelled many clouds; soon it will shine +forth in all its brilliance. + +"You do well to consecrate a portion of your time to writing your +memoirs. It seems to me that the part most interesting will be your +reign in Naples. You were there truly the philosopher upon the throne, +which Plato desired for the interests of humanity. I recall your +journeys in which you urged upon the nobles love for the people; upon +the priests tolerance; upon the military, order and moderation. Not +being able to establish political liberty, you wished to confer upon +your subjects all the benefits of municipal regime, which you regarded +as the foundation of all institutions. + +"Under your reign--too short for a nation which has so deeply +regretted you--feudalism was destroyed, brigandage disappeared, the +system of imposts was changed, order was established in the finances, +administration created, the nobles and the people reconciled, new routes +opened in all directions, the capital embellished, the army and marine +reorganized, the English driven out of the whole realm, and Gaeta, +Scylla, Reggio, Manthea, and Amanthea taken. + +"Your memoirs will be a lesson for kings. But that they may be received +with the religious respect due to a great misfortune, it seems to me +that you ought to efface yourself from the scene of the world, that +your writings should be like a voice coming from the depths of the tomb, +and that you should only ask of your contemporaries not to calumniate +and hate the memory of a man who, having attained the height of all +dignities, has descended from it with serenity, with resignation, and +almost with pleasure. As to Spain, were I in your place, I should say +but one word; that word would be regret in not having been able to +accomplish for Spain the good which was accomplished for Naples. + +"Like you, I have been proscribed. Like you, I have wandered in foreign +lands, breathing always wishes for my country. I know how irritable +and sensitive one thus is, and how keenly one feels the attacks of his +enemies. But upon my return I perceived that in exile we exaggerate the +importance of such attacks. Let not the calumnies which reach you, after +having traversed the seas, disturb for a moment your domestic happiness, +and the calm of your situation. They are the last gusts of the tempest, +the last noise of the expiring waves." + +In a letter to Francis Leiber, dated July 1, 1829, Joseph writes: + +"Walter Scott wrote for the English Government, and from information +furnished him by the Government which succeeded that of the Emperor +Napoleon. Napoleon found France in delirium. He wished to rescue it +from the anarchy of 1793, and from a counter-revolution. That he well +understood the national will, his miraculous return from the isle of +Elba will prove sufficiently to posterity. The English Cabinet always +prevented the surrender of his dictatorship by perpetuating the war. +Napoleon was thus under the necessity of assuming the forms of the other +governments of Continental Europe, to reconcile them with France. All +that which Napoleon did, his nobility (which was not feudal), his family +relations, his Legion of Honor, his new realms, etc., he was under the +necessity of doing. The English ever forced him to these acts, that he +might put himself in apparent harmony with all those governments which +he had conquered, and which he wished to withdraw from the seduction of +England. Napoleon often said to me, 'Ten years more are necessary in +order to give entire liberty. I can not do what I wish, but only what +I can. These English compel me to live day by day.'" + +As the tidings reached the ears of Joseph of the great Revolution of +1830 in France, in which the throne of Charles X. was demolished, he +wrote to La Fayette under date of Sept. 7, 1830: + +"MY DEAR GENERAL,--General Lallemand, who will hand you this letter, +will recall me to your memory. He will tell you with what enthusiasm the +population of this country, American and French, have received the news +of the glorious events of which Paris has been the theatre. If I had +not seen at the head of affairs a name[AG] with which mine can never +be in accord, I should be with you immediately with General Lallemand. +You will recall our interview in this hospitable and free land. My +sentiments are as invariable as yours and those of my family. _Every +thing for the French people._ + +[Footnote AG: Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans.] + +"Doubtless I can not forget that my nephew, Napoleon II.,[AH] was +proclaimed by the Chamber which, in 1815, was dissolved by the bayonets +of foreigners. Faithful to the motto of my family, _Every thing by +France and for France_, I wish to discharge my duties to her. You know +my opinions, long ago proclaimed. Individuals and families can have only +_duties_ to fulfill in their relation to nations. The nations have +_rights_ to exercise. If the French nation should call to the head of +affairs the most obscure family, I think that we ought to submit to its +will entirely. The nation alone has the right to destroy its work. + +[Footnote AH: Napoleon's son, the Duke of Reichstadt.] + +"I ask for the abolition of that tyrannic law which has shut out from +France a family which had opened the kingdom to all those Frenchmen whom +the Revolution had expelled. I protest against any election made by +private corporations, or by bodies not having obtained from the nation +the powers which the nation alone has the right to confer. + +"Adieu, my dear general. My letter proves to you the justice I render to +the sentiments you expressed to me during the triumphal journey you made +among this people, where I have seen, for fifteen years, that liberty is +not a chimera, that it is a blessing which a nation, moderate and wise, +can enjoy when it wishes." + +To Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, and mother of the +Duke of Reichstadt, Joseph wrote the next day, September 10, as +follows: + +"MADAME MY SISTER,--The events which transpired in Paris at the close of +July, and of which we have received intelligence, through the English +journals, to the 1st of August, remove the principal difficulties in +the way of the return of Napoleon II. to the throne of his father. If +the Emperor, his grandfather,[AI] lends him the least support, if he +will permit that, under my guidance, he may show himself to the French +people, his presence alone will re-establish him upon the throne. The +Duke of Orleans can rally around him partisans, only in consequence of +the absence of the son of your Majesty. It is his re-establishment in +France which alone can reunite all parties, stifle the germs of a new +revolution, and thus secure the tranquillity of Europe. + +[Footnote AI: The Emperor of Austria.] + +"If I were in a position to unfold to your august father the reasons +which render this step indispensable on his part at this moment, he +could have no doubt of its imperious necessity. His ministry would +perceive that the happiness of his grandson, that of France, the +tranquillity of Italy, and perhaps of the rest of Europe, depend upon +the re-establishment of the throne of Napoleon II. He is the only one +chosen by the voice of the nation. He alone can prevent a new revolution +the results of which no mortal can foresee. I hope that the many +misfortunes which we have encountered have not effaced from the heart +of your Majesty the affection she has manifested for me under diverse +circumstances. I can only offer to her myself for her son. For a long +time I have been disabused of the illusions of human grandeur; but I +am more than ever the slave of that which I deem to be my duty." + +On the 18th of September, 1830, Joseph wrote a letter to the Emperor +of Austria, which he inclosed in a letter of the same date to Prince +Metternich. In his letter to Metternich, Joseph wrote: + +"I do not doubt, sir, that you desire the welfare of the grandson +of the Emperor whom you have so long served, the welfare of Austria, +the tranquillity of Europe, and even of France, if these are +all reconcilable. I am convinced that they are to-day perfectly +reconcilable, and that Napoleon II. restored to the wishes of the +French people can alone secure all these results. I offer myself to +serve him as a guide. The happiness of my country, the peace of the +world, will be the noble ends of my ambition. + +"Napoleon II. arriving in France under the national colors, conducted +by a man whose sentiments and patriotic affections are well known, can +alone prevent the usurpation of the Duke of Orleans, who, being neither +called to the throne by the rights of succession nor by the national +will, clearly and legitimately expressed, can maintain himself in power +only by caressing all parties, and finally becoming subordinate to the +one which offers him the best chances of success, whatever may be the +means to be employed for that end." + +Joseph's letter to the Emperor of Austria contained the following +expressions: "The particular esteem with which the virtues of your +Majesty inspire me, embolden me to recall myself to his recollection +under circumstances in which the general welfare appears to me to be +in accord with the sentiments of his heart, that he may restore to the +wishes of the French people a prince who alone can confer upon them +internal peace, and assure the tranquillity of Europe. This peace and +tranquillity would be disturbed by the efforts which must be made to +sustain in France a government of usurpation like that of the Duke of +Orleans, or even a republic, if the absence of the son of Napoleon, the +grandson of your Majesty, should constrain the nation, thus abandoned +by the prince of its choice, to surrender itself to another form of +government. Sire, if you will entrust to me the son of my brother, +that son whom he enjoined, upon his death-bed, to follow my advice in +returning to France, I guarantee the success of the enterprise. Alone, +with a tri-color scarf, will Napoleon II. be proclaimed. + +"Will it be necessary for me to speak of myself to your Majesty to +give him confidence in my character? Must I recall to his remembrance +that, after the treaty of Luneville, he communicated to me, through an +autograph letter to Count Cobentzl, that the opinion he had formed of +my moderation was such that he would with pleasure see me placed upon +the throne of Lombardy? I refused that throne. I preferred to remain +in France. Since then, at Naples, in Spain, has that character been +falsified? + +"To-day, as then, I am guided by the single sentiment of duty. My +ambition limits itself to doing what I ought for France, for the +memory of my brother, and to die upon my native soil a witness of +the happiness of the grandson of your Majesty, which is inseparable +from that of France and from the tranquillity of Europe. I can only +contribute to that to-day by my wishes. May your Majesty second them by +his powerful influence, and thus consolidate the peace of the world and +the eternal glory of his name." + +On the same day, September 18, Joseph wrote an earnest appeal to the +French Chamber of Deputies.[AJ] The following extracts will show its +character. "It is impossible that a house, reigning through the +principle of divine right, should maintain itself upon a throne from +which it has been expelled by the nation. The divorce between the House +of Bourbon and the French people has been pronounced, and nothing can +destroy the souvenirs of the past. In vain the Duke of Orleans abjures +his house in the moment of its misfortunes. A Bourbon himself, returning +to France, sword in hand, with the Bourbons, in the train of foreign +armies, what matter is it that his father voted for the death of the +King, his cousin, that he might take his place? What matter is it that +the brother of Louis XVI. named him lieutenant-general of the realm, +and regent of his grandson? Is he the less a Bourbon? Has he the less +pretension of being entitled to the throne by the right of birth? Is it +through the choice of the people, or the right of birth, that he claims +to sit upon the throne of his ancestors? + +[Footnote AJ: Oeuvres de Napoleon III. tome deuxieme, p. 441.] + +"The family of Napoleon has been elected by three million five hundred +thousand votes. If the nation deem it for its interest to make another +choice, it has the power and the right to do so; but the nation alone. +Napoleon II. was proclaimed king by the Chamber of Deputies in 1815, +which recognized in him a right conferred by the nation. That he may be +the legitimate sovereign, in the true acceptation of the word, that is +to say, legally and voluntarily chosen by the people, there is no need +of a new election so long as the nation has not adopted any other form +of government. Still the nation is supreme to confirm or reject the +titles it has given according to its pleasure. Till then, gentlemen, you +are bound to recognize Napoleon II. And until Austria shall restore him +to the wishes of France, I offer myself to share your perils, your +efforts, your labors, and, upon his arrival, to transmit to him the +will, the examples, the last dispositions of his father, dying a victim +of the enemies of France upon the rock of Saint Helena. These words the +Emperor addressed to me through General Bertrand: + +"'Say to my son that he should remember, first of all, that he is a +Frenchman. Let him give the nation as much liberty as I have given it +equality. Foreign wars did not permit me to do that which I should have +done at the general peace. I was perpetually in dictatorship. But I ever +had, as the motive in all my actions, the love and the grandeur of the +great nation. Let him take my device, _Every thing for the French +people_. It is to that people we are indebted for all that we have been. + +"'The liberty of the press is the triumph of truth. It is that which +should diffuse general intelligence. Let it speak, and let the will of +the great mass of the people be accomplished.'" + +Again, on the 26th of September, Joseph wrote to General Lamarque: "The +Duke of Orleans, by his birth, by his connection with the reigning +branches of the family of Bourbon, which he in vain attempts to ignore, +will soon be suspected by the patriots of France, and by the liberals +of Italy and of Spain. The act which places him upon the throne, not +emanating from the nation, can not constitute him king of the French. +A few capitalists in Paris are not France. He can not therefore have +the cordial assent of the liberals of any country. He can not have the +support of those who believe in the legitimacy of the elder branch of +his house. He can not have the assent of those who have not lost the +memory of the votes which the nation gave to Napoleon, and to Napoleon +II., whom the Chamber of Deputies proclaimed in 1815. + +"The Duke of Orleans, was he not a pupil of Dumourier? Did he not, like +Dumourier, desert the cause of the nation? Did he not, in London, in +the presence of all the emigrant French nobility, ask pardon and make +the _amende honorable_ for having, for one instant, borne the national +colors? Did he not go to Cadiz, sent by the English, to fight the French +troops who did not then wear the white cockade of the Bourbons? Did he +not enter France in the train of the Allies, sword in hand, with his +cousins? Was he not rescued with them, and did he not owe to the +disaster at Waterloo his return to France? + +"The thirty-two individuals who called him first to the +lieutenant-generalship of the realm would have called some one else if +they had not been greatly influenced by his rights of birth. Was there +no other man in France more worthy to take temporarily the helm of +state? General La Fayette, who was at the head of the provisory +government, would he not have given to the nation, and to the friends +of liberty and of order in the two worlds, stronger guaranties than a +prince of the House of Bourbon? The enthronement of the Duke of Orleans +can be approved only by the enemies of France. His illegitimacy, both in +view of the sovereignty of the people and of the partisans of divine +right, is so evident that he can only govern by being submissive to the +will of the factions, whom he will be compelled to obey, now one, and +now another. The time for representative governments has arrived. +Liberty, equality, public order can not exist where those governing are +of a different species from those who are governed." + +In a letter to General Bernard, on the 29th of September, Joseph uttered +the following prophetic sentiment: "You were deceived by your informants +when you said that the name of Napoleon was not pronounced by the +combatants. It was pronounced by them. It was pronounced by the Army of +Algiers. It is to-day pronounced by the people in the departments and +will soon be by entire France. The artifices of intrigue and deception +are temporary. The national will, sooner or later, must triumph." + +La Fayette had been mainly instrumental in placing the Duke of Orleans +upon the throne of France. He wrote to Joseph Bonaparte explaining his +reasons for this. In allusion to the fact that he was compelled to +yield to the pressure of circumstances, he said, "You know that in home +affairs, as in foreign affairs, no one can do just what he wishes to +have done. Your incomparable brother, with his power, his character, +his genius, experienced this himself." He also expressed his strong +disapproval of the dictatorship of Napoleon, and of the aristocracy +which he introduced. Joseph replied from Point Breeze, under date of +January 15, 1831: + +"MY DEAR GENERAL,--I have received your letter of the 26th of November. +I am satisfied that under the circumstances you did that which you +conscientiously thought it your duty to do. You have thought, as have I, +and as did the Emperor Napoleon, that a republic could not, at present, +be established in France. You have recoiled before the confusion which +it would introduce in the interior. You could undoubtedly have found a +remedy for that in the family which the nation had called to such high +destinies. But the hatred of foreigners against that family which France +had chosen, inclined you to a prince between whom and legitimacy there +was but a single child.[AK] + +[Footnote AK: Charles X. abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Duke of +Bordeaux, a child seven or eight years old. Should that child die, the +Duke of Orleans would be the _legitimate_ Bourbon candidate for the +throne.] + +"My reply is short. Let France preserve peace and liberty with that +family. Let such become the _national will legitimately expressed_, and +the conduct of the sixty-two Deputies, who have called the second branch +of the House of Bourbon to power, will no longer be discussed by any +one. Will this be done? Time alone can tell us. + +"The portion of your letter in which you speak of the Napoleonic system +as impressed with despotism and aristocracy merits, on my part, a more +detailed response. While I render justice to your good intentions, I can +not but deplore the situation in which you found yourself when released +from the prisons of Austria. That imprisonment did not permit you to +judge the influence exerted upon the national opinion and character +by the wretched Reign of Terror. You had only seen the liberal system +of America, and you have condemned the all-powerful man who did not +transfer that system to France. I remember that one day my brother, in +coming from an interview with you, my dear general, said to me these +words: + +"'I have just had a very interesting conversation with the Marquis de la +Fayette upon the subject of the disorderly persons whom the police have +sent from Paris. I have said to him that this was done that they might +not disturb the tranquillity of good men like himself, whose residence +in France appeared to them one of my crimes.[AL] The Marquis de la +Fayette does not know the character of these people in whom he interests +himself. He was in the prisons of despotism when these people made all +France to tremble. But France remembers this too well. We are not here +in America.' + +[Footnote AL: The Jacobins wished all whom they termed aristocrats +guillotined or expelled from France.] + +"Napoleon never doubted your good intentions. But he thought that you +judged too favorably of your contemporaries. He was forced into war by +the English, and into the dictatorship by the war. These few words are +the history of the Empire. Napoleon incessantly said to me, 'When will +peace arrive? Then only can I satisfy all, and show myself as I am.' + +"The aristocracy of which you accuse him was only the mode of placing +himself in harmony with Europe. But the old feudal aristocracy was never +in his favor. The proof of this is that he was its victim, and that he +expiated, at Saint Helena, the crime of having wished to employ all +the institutions in favor of the people; and the European aristocracy +contrived to turn against him even those very masses for whose benefit +he was laboring. The French nation renders him justice; and the European +masses will not be slow to say that Napoleon had ever in view the +suffrage of posterity, whose verdict is always in favor of him who has +only in view the happiness of his country." + +On the 15th of February, 1832, Joseph wrote from Point Breeze to the +Duke of Reichstadt as follows: + +"MY DEAR NEPHEW,--The bearer of this letter will be the interpreter of +my sentiments. He has passed several weeks in my retreat. They have +been occupied with the souvenirs of your father, and of your future +lot. I was born eighteen months before your father. We were brought up +together. Nothing has ever diminished the warm affection which united +us. At his death he entrusted to me the care of communicating to you his +last wishes. But before my distance from you enabled me to fulfill that +duty, his testament had been published in all the leading journals of +Europe. + +"When, in 1830, the house imposed upon France by foreigners was again +expelled by the nation, I hastened to address to the Chamber of +Deputies, and to his Imperial Majesty, your grandfather, the inclosed +letters. But my distance from France still thwarted my wishes, and the +younger branch of that same house was again imposed upon France by a +factious minority. Innumerable calumnies, intended to alienate the +nation from you, were scattered abroad with profusion. A chamber, +controlled by the Government usurping the rights of the nation, +proscribed us anew. But the voice of the people called you. Of that +I have conclusive evidence. + +"Let his Imperial Majesty consent to entrust you to my care; let him +send me a passport that I may come to him and to you, I will quit my +retreat to respond to his confidence, to yours, to the sentiment which +commands me to spare no efforts to restore to the love of the French the +son of the man whom I have loved the most of any one upon earth. My +opinions are well known in France. They are in harmony with those of the +nation. If you enter France with me and a tri-color scarf, you will be +received there as the son of Napoleon. + +"When you were born in Paris, the 20th of March, 1811, your father had +become, through the love of the French people as well as through the +obstinacy of the English oligarchy making war upon him, the most +powerful prince in Europe. The English oligarchy foresaw the prosperity +which France, governed in accordance with the liberal doctrines of the +age, would attain if she had peace. That oligarchy feared the contagion +of the example upon other states. Therefore it did not cease to employ +the immense resources which the monopoly of the commerce of the world +placed at its disposal to excite against Napoleon enemies at home and +abroad, and to stifle, at its birth, the union of the peoples and the +kings for the reform of the anti-social privileges of the oligarchy. It +therefore provoked incessant war, and thus rendered France every day +more powerful, through the victories she obtained under the direction of +your father, whom it accused of the calamities inseparable from a war +kindled by itself, and with the sole object of maintaining its unjust +privileges. + +"It was at the close of a strife incessantly renewed, excited by the +Government of a nation sufficiently rich to pay the soldiers of the +others, and sheltered by its insular position against all attempts +against itself, that, after the triumphs of twenty years, your father +succumbed beneath the united efforts of the Allies of England, who +perceived too late their fatal errors. + +"Napoleon was the friend both of the peoples and of the kings. He wished +to reconcile them to each other. He wished to save other states from the +misfortunes which a bloody revolution had inflicted upon France. These +were the reforms which he desired, voluntary ameliorations, commended +by the increasing civilization of the world, and the widely-extended +interests of all classes, and not violent commotions, which always pass +beyond the end desired. His greatest vengeance against England did not +exceed that which the advocates of the bill of reform seek for to-day. + +"I think that now you are placed in a position to continue the work with +which a divine genius inspired your father. France will accept you with +enthusiasm. Factions will subside. The power with which your father was +invested is no longer needful for the accomplishment of his designs. It +was war which elevated upon the thrones of Europe the princes of his +family. But it was not that he might give them thrones that he engaged +in war. They were military positions occupied during the general +struggle which the oligarchies had decided never to close but by the +abasement of France. It was necessary to allow the conquered countries +to be invaded by the republican system for which they were not prepared, +or to cause them to be governed by men of whose devotion to France and +to himself he was fully assured. And where could he find better +guaranties than in his brothers, whom nature, as well as the favors +which they had received from the nation, had destined to share his +adverse as well as his good-fortune, both inseparable from that of +France? + +"To-day time has borne its fruits. Nations are more enlightened +respecting their interests. They know well that the most happy nation +is that in which the greatest number of men enjoy the most prosperity; +which obeys a supreme magistrate whom it loves, and who himself has not +the baleful power to abuse the life, the property, the liberty of the +people, whom he represents only that he may protect the rights which +they have entrusted to him. Such were the opinions, and especially the +instinct, of your father. _Every thing for the people!_ And at the +general pacification which he desired with all his heart, _Every thing +by the people, and for the people_. He did not live long enough. + +"May I live long enough to see you return to our country, restored to +herself, the worthy heir of his heart, all French, of his generous +intentions. As for his immense genius, it is no longer necessary for +France or for Europe. You are destined, by your birth, to unite peoples +and kings, and to reconcile the old and the new civilization; to prevent +new upheavings, to moderate all political passions, and thus to bring +forward that prosperity of individuals and of nations which can only +arise from justice, from the free development of all rights, from the +equilibrium of all duties. + +"Your father was accustomed to say to me, 'When will the time arise when +justice alone shall reign? When shall I finish my dictatorship? We do +not yet see that time. The English oligarchy will not have it so. My son +perhaps will see it. May that presage be soon accomplished.' + +"This is also the fondest wish of my heart. Receive it with the +tenderness of the old friend of your glorious father, at Point Breeze, +State of New Jersey, in the United States of America, where I live as +happy as one can be far from his country, in the most prosperous land +upon the earth, under the name which I have adopted, of the Count of +Survilliers." + +The elder brother of the present Emperor, Napoleon III., who had married +the youngest daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, died in Italy in March, 1831. +With his younger brother, Louis Napoleon, he had joined the Italians in +their endeavor to throw off the yoke of Austria. The young prince, who +had developed a very noble character, fell a victim to the fatigues of +the campaign. _By the vote of the French people_, the Duke of Reichstadt +was the first heir to the throne of the Empire. In case of his death, +the crown passed to Joseph Bonaparte. As Joseph had no children, his +decease would transfer the sceptre to his brother, Louis Bonaparte, and +from Louis it would pass to Louis Napoleon, his only surviving son. + +When, in 1832, Joseph heard of the dangerous sickness of the Duke of +Reichstadt, whose death, as we have mentioned, would constitute Joseph +first heir to the throne, he with some hesitancy decided to leave his +peaceful retreat at Point Breeze and repair to England. He hoped to +obtain permission to visit his dying nephew in Vienna, and then to +reunite himself in Italy with his wife, and with his revered mother, who +was still living. Upon his landing in Liverpool he received the sad +tidings that the Duke of Reichstadt had breathed his last on the 22d of +July. He was twenty-one years of age, tall, graceful, affectionate, and +of marvellous beauty. His mother and other friends wept at the side of +his couch. Devoutly he partook of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, +and, with a smile lingering upon his cheek, fell asleep. We trust + + "Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep, + From which none ever wake to weep." + +[Illustration: DEATH OF THE DUKE OF REICHSTADT.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +LAST DAYS AND DEATH. + +1832-1844 + +Joseph in England.--Letter from La Fayette.--Letter from Joseph to La +Fayette.--Letter from Victor Hugo.--Letter from the Duchess of Abrantes. +--Restoration of Napoleon's Statue to the Column of Austerlitz.--The +Law of Proscription.--Letter from Madame Letitia.--Letter from Joseph +to Louis.--Meeting of the Brothers in London.--Testimony of Louis +Napoleon.--The Attempt at Strasbourg.--Letter from Louis Napoleon to +his Uncle Joseph.--Failing Health of Joseph.--The Remains of the Emperor +brought back to France.--Letter of Thanks from Joseph.--Sickness and +Death.--Character of Joseph. + + +Joseph, finding himself in England in 1832, and his nephew, the Duke +of Reichstadt, no longer living, took up his residence in London. He +earnestly desired to join his wife and mother in Italy. But the jealousy +of the Allies would not allow him, until he was absolutely sinking in +death, to place his foot upon the Continent. His universally recognized +virtues secured for him, from all classes of society, a cordial +reception. + +While Joseph resided in England, the celebrated Spanish chief, Mina, who +had been one of the most formidable of the leaders of the guerrillas, +made several visits to the ex-King, expressing the deepest regret that +he had not sustained him. He stated to Joseph that his intercepted +letters had so revealed his true character, that others of the leaders +who had operated against him were now in his favor. + +La Fayette wrote Joseph a letter of sympathy in view of his double +affliction in the loss of his son-in-law, Napoleon Louis, and his +nephew, the Duke of Reichstadt. The letter, from which we make the +following extract, was dated La Grange, October 13, 1832: + +"MY DEAR COUNT,--I am deeply affected by those testimonials of +confidence and friendship which you kindly give me. And I merit them +by all those affections which attach me to you. It is with profound +sympathy that I share in your grief from the two cruel bereavements. +I should immediately have written to you in London, had I not been +informed that you were on the route to Italy. I have, however, since +learned that your entrance into Rome has been interdicted to your filial +piety by a base and barbarous policy." + +La Fayette also expresses his deep regret that the Orleans Government +persisted in the decree which banished the Bonaparte family from France. +Joseph, in a reply dated London, Nov. 10, 1832, writes: + +"MY DEAR GENERAL,--I have received your kind letter, and I thank you +with all my heart. It is true that I love, as much as you do, the +institutions of the United States. But I am near to France, and I do not +wish to see it vanish from my eyes like a new Ithaca. I prefer France +to the United States as the residence for my declining years, and I rely +upon your powerful co-operation to secure that for me. It only remains +for me to hope to see my country as happy as that which I have just +left--a country which I love above all others except my native soil. A +day will come undoubtedly, in which France will have no occasion to envy +even happy America. As soon as it shall be clearly understood that all +ought to devote themselves to the happiness of all, the most difficult +thing will be accomplished. May we live long enough to witness that, and +may I have the happiness of renewing my long friendship in our common +country, in sometimes speaking to you of the admiration and gratitude +with which you are regarded in the New World." + +The following letter from Victor Hugo reflects such light upon the +reputation of Joseph Bonaparte, as to merit insertion here. It was dated +Paris, Feb. 27, 1833: + +"SIRE,--I avail myself of the first opportunity to reply to you. +Monsieur Presle, who leaves for London, kindly offers to place this +letter in the hands of your Majesty. Permit me, sire, to treat you ever +royally, _vous traiter_ _toujours royalement_. The kings whom Napoleon +made, in my opinion nothing can unmake. There is no human power which +can efface the august sign which that grand man has placed upon your +brow. I have been profoundly moved by the sympathy which your Majesty +has testified for me upon the occasion of my prosecution for '_Le Roi +S'amuse._' You love liberty, sire. Liberty also loves you. Permit me to +send you, with this letter, a copy of the discourse which I pronounced +before the Tribunal of Commerce. I am very desirous that you should see +it in a form different from the reports in the journals, which are +always inexact. + +"I should be very happy, sire, to go to London to clasp that royal hand +which has so often clasped the hand of my father. M. Presle will inform +your Majesty of the obstacles which at the present moment prevent me +from realizing a wish so dear. I have very many things to say to you. It +is impossible that the future should be wanting to your family, great as +has been the loss of the past year. You bear the grandest of historic +names. In truth, we are moving rather toward a republic than toward a +monarchy. But, to a sage like you, the exterior form of government is +of but little importance. You have proved, sire, that you know how to be +worthily the citizen of a republic. Adieu, sire; the day in which I +shall be permitted to press your hand in mine will be one of the most +glorious of my life. While waiting for this your letters render me proud +and happy." + +The celebrated Duchess of Abrantes, wife of Marshal Junot, sent her +_Memoirs_ to King Joseph by the hands of M. Presle. The following +extracts from the letter of the duchess to M. Presle shows the +enthusiastic attachment which Joseph won from his friends. The letter +is dated Paris, 1833. + +"Will you be so good, sir, as to have the kindness to take charge of +the book which I send with this, and also of the letter which I address +to his Majesty, King Joseph? I earnestly desire that both should be +transmitted to him as promptly as possible. I very much wish, sir, I +could have the pleasure of seeing you. My attachment for King Joseph is +so profound and so true, of such long-standing, so established upon +bases which can never crumble, that I would give days of my life to talk +a moment with persons loving him as I do, and speaking to me as I speak +of him and think of him. As for me, to see him for one moment would be +now the fulfillment of the most ardent of my wishes. + +"With these feelings, you will perceive, sir, how happy I shall be to +have him soon receive this letter, which I entrust to you. It contains +my wishes for the new year. And I can truly say that there is not +another heart in France more sincerely devoted to his happiness--his +true happiness and his glory. Ah! sir, I assure him that in France there +is one being who is warmly attached, sincerely devoted to him, as are +all hers. My children have been cradled in the name of Napoleon, and +that without concealment. The misfortune of their father has been an +additional tie to attach them to the memory of the Emperor, and to +all those who bear his revered name. The bust of the Emperor is in my +alcove, by the side of the font in which I place my lustral water. There +I every morning and evening repeat my prayers. Why should I not say +this? I do it because my love for my country constrains me to fall upon +my knees before that name which constituted its glory and its happiness +for fifteen years." + +On the 28th of July, 1833, the Louis Philippe Government, in reluctant +concession to the almost universal voice of the French people, restored +the statue of Napoleon to the Column of Austerlitz, in the Place +Vendome. It is scarcely too much to say that as that statue rose to +its proud eminence, the whole French nation raised a shout of joy. A +Parisian journal, _The Tribune_, intending perhaps to reflect upon the +Government, expressed surprise in not seeing a single member of the +Bonaparte family shaking the dust of exile from his feet, and coming, in +the broad light of July, claiming a "just reparation." Joseph wrote to +the editor from London a letter containing the following sentiments: + +"I have read in your journal of July 29th the article in which you give +an account of the solemnity which took place on the 28th at the foot of +the Column of Austerlitz, upon the inauguration of the statue of the +Emperor Napoleon. You attribute the absence of his brothers to very +strange sentiments. Are you ignorant, then, that an iniquitous law, +dictated by the enemies of France to the elder branch of the Bourbons, +excluded these brothers, out of hatred to the name of Napoleon? Would +you wish that, in defiance of a law which the National Majesty has not +yet repealed, we should bear the brands of discord into our country at +the moment when it re-erects the statue of our brother? _Every thing for +the nation_, was the motto of our brother. It shall be ours also. + +"Instead of speaking, as a hostile journal would have done, in casting +the blame upon patriots proscribed, who wander over the world the +victims of the enemies of their country, would it not have exhibited +more of courage and of justice on your part, sir, to recall to the +electors of France that Napoleon has a mother who languishes upon a +foreign soil, without it being possible for her children to speak to +her a last adieu? She shares with three generations of her kindred, +including sixty French, the rigors of an exile of twenty years. They are +guilty of no other crime than that of being the relatives of a man whose +statue is re-erected by national decree. + +"The name of Napoleon will never be the banner of civil discord. Twice +he withdrew from France, that he might not be the pretext for the +infliction of calamities upon his country. Such are the doctrines which +Napoleon has bequeathed to his family. It is because the French people +know well that his pretended despotism was but a dictatorship, rendered +necessary by the wars which his enemies waged against him, that his +memory remains popular. Is it just, is it honorable that his family +should still be condemned to endure the anguish of exile, and to hear +even his ancient enemies reproach the French with the injustice of their +proscription?" + +This law of proscription, dictated by the Allies on the 12th of January, +1816, and re-affirmed by the Government of Louis Philippe, was as +follows: + +"The ascendants and descendants of Napoleon Bonaparte, his uncles and +his aunts, his nephews and his nieces, his brothers, their wives and +their descendants, his sisters and their husbands, are excluded from the +realm forever." + +The penalty for violating this decree of banishment was _death_. Madame +Letitia had been informed in Rome that the Louis Philippe Government +contemplated abolishing the decree of exile, so far as _she alone_ was +concerned. In response she wrote, April, 1834, to a distinguished +gentleman in Paris, M. Sapey, as follows: + +"MONSIEUR,--Those who recognize the absurdity of maintaining the law +of exile against my family, and who wish nevertheless to propose an +exception, do not know either my principles or my character. I was left +a widow at thirty-three years of age, and my eight children were my only +consolation. Corsica was menaced with separation from France. The loss +of my property and the abandonment of my fireside did not terrify me. +I followed my children to the Continent. In 1814 I followed Napoleon +to the island of Elba. In 1816, notwithstanding my age, I should have +followed him to Saint Helena had it not been prohibited. I resigned +myself to live a prisoner of state at Rome; yes, a prisoner of state. +I know not whether that was through an amplification of the law which +exiled me with my family from France, or by a protocol of the allied +powers. + +"I then saw persecution reach such a pitch as to compel the members +of my family, who had devoted themselves to live with me at Rome, to +abandon the city. I then decided to withdraw from the world, and to seek +no other happiness than that of the future life; since I saw myself +separated from those for whom I clung to life, and in whom reposed all +my souvenirs and all my happiness, if there were any more happiness +remaining for me in this world. How could I hope to find any equivalent +in France, which was not already poisoned by the injustice of men in +power who could not pardon my family the glory which it has acquired? + +"Leave me, then, in my honorable sufferings, that I may bear to the tomb +the integrity of my character. I will never separate my lot from that +of my children. It is the only consolation which remains to me. Receive, +nevertheless, monsieur, my thanks for the kind interest which you have +taken in my affairs." + +On the 15th of January, 1835, Joseph wrote to his brother Louis, the +father of Napoleon III., as follows: + +"MY DEAR BROTHER,--I have received your letter of the 27th of December. +I am afflicted by the depression of spirits in which it was written. It +is true that for many years fortune has been constantly severe with us. +But it is something to be able to say to one's self that fortune is +blind. And an irreproachable conscience and a good heart offer many +consolations. They accompany us wherever we go, and prevent us from +being too severe in our turn against fortune and her favorites of the +day. + +"It is indeed true that there are but few gleams of happiness to be met +in this life. The least unfortunate have still their storms. There are +but few privileged men. How many there are whom we must admit to be more +unhappy than we are. And we do not sufficiently take into account the +sufferings of dishonored men, whose conscience will at times awake and +react upon those who have done it violence. Those who have borne arms +against their country, against their benefactor, who have sold their +services to foreigners, think you they can be happy? The consciousness +of not having merited the abandonment of which you speak, is not that +a happy sentiment? It is necessary then for us to perceive what we +are in this life, and not what we could wish to be. Being men, we are +destined to live, that is to say, to suffer. But we can preserve our +own self-respect, and the esteem of the friends who appreciate us. So +long as that continues, one is not absolutely unhappy. In that point +of view, no person ought to be more satisfied than yourself, my dear +Louis. All other evils over which we have no control are hard to endure, +undoubtedly. But their necessity, in spite of ourselves, should lead us +to bear them. We ought to submit to that which we can not prevent. + +"Still, I can say nothing upon this subject which you do not know +as well as I do. But I am not writing a dissertation. I recount my +sensations and my sentiments as they flow from my pen. The consciousness +of not meriting the evil which one suffers greatly mitigates that evil. +Adieu, my dear Louis. I love you as ever. We have not known any +revolutions in our affections." + +Soon after Joseph had established himself in London, he called his +brothers Lucien and Jerome, and his nephew, Prince Louis Napoleon, to +join him there. The acts of the Government of Louis Philippe and the +intense opposition they encountered engrossed his meditations. Fully +satisfied that the Government could not maintain itself in the course +it was pursuing, Joseph deemed it important for the triumph of what +he called the popular cause, to effect a cordial union between the +Republican and Imperial parties. The Government thwarted this union by +sending spies into the clubs, who, joining those associations, assumed +to be earnest democrats, and strove in every way to promote discord, +while they extolled in most extravagant terms the brutal deeds of Marat, +St. Just, and Robespierre. Joseph could not act in harmony with such +men, and the projected alliance was abandoned.[AM] + +[Footnote AM: Oeuvres de Napoleon III., tome deuxieme, p. 449.] + +In a brief sketch which Louis Napoleon, while a prisoner at Ham, wrote +of his uncle Joseph just after his death, he says: "In general, Prince +Louis Napoleon was in accord with his uncle upon all fundamental +questions; but he differed from him upon one essential point, which +offered a very strange contrast. The old man, whose days were nearly +finished, did not wish to precipitate any thing. He was resigned to +await the developments of time. But the young man, impatient, wished to +act, and to precipitate events. + +"The insurrection at Strasbourg, in the month of October, 1836, thus +took place without the authorization and without the participation of +Joseph. He was also much displeased with it, since the journals deceived +him respecting the aim and intentions of his nephew. In 1837 Joseph +revisited America. Upon his return to Europe in 1839 he found his +nephew in England. Then, enlightened respecting the object, the means, +and the plans of Prince Louis Napoleon, he restored to him all his +tenderness. The publication of _Les Idees Napoleoniennes_ merited his +entire approbation. And upon that occasion he declared openly that, in +his quality of friend and depositary of the most intimate thoughts of +the Emperor, he could say positively that that book contained the exact +and faithful record of the political intentions of his brother." + +It will be remembered that Louis Napoleon, after the attempt at +Strasbourg, was sent in a French frigate to Brazil, and thence to New +York, where he remained but a few weeks, when he returned to Europe to +his dying mother. At New York, under date of April 22, 1837, he wrote +the following letter to his uncle Joseph at London. The letter very +clearly reveals the relation then existing between them. + +"MY DEAR UNCLE,--Upon my arrival in the United States, I hoped to have +found a letter from you. I confess to you that I have been deeply pained +to learn that you were displeased with me. I have even been astonished +by it, knowing your judgment and your heart. Yes, my uncle, you must +have been strangely led into error in respect to me, to repel as enemies +men who have devoted themselves to the cause of the Empire. + +"If, successful at Strasbourg, and it was very near a success, I had +marched upon Paris, drawing after me the populations fascinated by the +souvenirs of the Empire, and, arriving in the capital a pretender, I had +seized upon the legal power, then indeed there would have been nobleness +and grandeur of soul in disavowing my conduct, and in breaking with me. + +"But how is it? I attempt one of those bold enterprises which could +alone re-establish that which twenty years of peace have caused to be +forgotten. I throw myself into the attempt, ready to sacrifice my life, +persuaded that my death even would be useful to our cause. I escape, +against my wishes, the bayonets and the scaffold; and, having escaped, +I find on the part of my family only contumely and disdain. + +"If the sentiments of respect and esteem with which I regard you were +not so sincere, I should not so deeply feel your conduct in respect to +me; for I venture to say that public opinion can never admit that there +is any alienation between us. No person can comprehend that you disavow +your nephew because he has exposed himself in your cause. No one can +comprehend that men who have perilled their lives and their fortune to +replace the eagle upon our banners can be regarded by you as enemies, +any more than they could comprehend that Louis XVIII. would repel the +Prince of Conde or the Duc d'Enghien because they had been unfortunate +in their enterprises. + +"I know you too well, my dear uncle, to doubt the goodness of your +heart, and not to hope that you will return to sentiments more just in +respect to me, and in respect to those who have compromised themselves +for your cause. As for myself, whatever may be your procedure in +reference to me, my line of conduct will be ever the same. The sympathy +of which so many persons have given me proofs; my conscience, which does +in nothing reproach me; in fine, the conviction that if the Emperor +beholds me from his elevation in the skies, he would approve my conduct, +are so many compensations for all the mortifications and injustice which +I have experienced. My enterprise has failed; that is true. But it has +announced to France that the family of the Emperor is not yet dead; +that it still numbers many devoted friends; in fine, that their +pretensions are not limited to the demand of a few pence from the +Government, but to the re-establishment, in favor of the people, of +those rights of which foreigners and the Bourbons have deprived them. +This is what I have done. Is it for you to condemn me? + +"I send you with this a recital of my removement from the prison of +Strasbourg, that you may be fully informed of all my proceedings, and +that you may know that I have done nothing unworthy of the name which I +bear. I beg you to present my respects to my uncle Lucien. I rely upon +his judgment and affection to be my advocate with you. I entreat you, my +dear uncle, not to be displeased with the laconic manner in which I +represent these facts, such as they are. Never doubt my unalterable +attachment to you. + + "Your tender and respectful nephew, + "NAPOLEON LOUIS."[AN] + +[Footnote AN: For a short time after the death of his elder brother, +Louis Napoleon, in accordance with the understood wish of the Emperor, +adopted the signature of Napoleon Louis. Soon, however, he again resumed +his original name.] + +In 1840 the health of Joseph began to be seriously impaired. In London +he had an attack of paralysis, which induced him to go to the warm baths +of Wildbad, in Wurtemberg. He was somewhat benefited by the waters, and +cherished the hope that he might join members of his family in Italy. +But the Continental sovereigns so feared the potency of the name +of Bonaparte upon the masses of the people that his request was +peremptorily refused. Thus repulsed, he returned to the cold climate +of England. + +In 1841, the King of Sardinia, who was strongly leaning toward popular +principles, allowed Joseph to take up his residence in Genoa. He was +conveyed to that city in an English ship. He had been there but a few +weeks, when the Duke of Tuscany, commiserating his dying condition, +kindly consented that he should join his wife, his children, and his +brothers in Florence. + +In 1842 Joseph bequeathed to the principal cities of Corsica several +hundred valuable paintings, which he had received as a legacy from his +uncle, Cardinal Fesch. + +In 1843, the Government of Louis Philippe, with marvellous +inconsistency, voted to demand the remains of the Emperor Napoleon from +the British Government, and to rear to his honor, beneath the dome of +the Invalides, the monument of a nation's gratitude, while at the same +time that Government persisted in banishing from France all the members +of the Napoleon family. + +A very earnest petition was sent at this time to the Government, +numerously signed by Frenchmen, praying that the decree of banishment +against the Bonaparte family might be annulled. But the Louis Philippe +Government declared in council that the resolution of the Government to +prolong the exile of the family of Napoleon was positive and unchanging. +Joseph wrote a letter of thanks in behalf of the Bonaparte family to the +signers of the petition, in which he said: + +"The elder branch of the Bourbons, brought back to France by foreign +bayonets, we have ever frankly treated as enemies. They did not conceive +the hope of degrading us in our own eyes. It has been reserved for the +younger branch to call artifice to its aid--to glorify the dead +Napoleon, and to traduce, to proscribe his mother, his sisters, his +nephews, fifty or sixty French people, charged with the crime of bearing +his name. + +"Were Napoleon living to-day, he would think as we do. He would +recognize in France no other sovereign than the French people, who alone +have the right to establish such a form of Government as to them may +seem best for their interests. The too long dictatorship of Napoleon was +prolonged by the persistence of the enemies of the Revolution, who +endeavored to destroy in him the principle of national sovereignty from +which he emanated. + +"At a general peace, universal suffrage, liberty of the press, and all +the guaranties for the perpetual prosperity of a great nation, which +were in the plans of Napoleon, would have been unveiled before entire +France, and would have made him the greatest man in history. His whole +thoughts were made known to me. It is my duty loudly to proclaim them. +He sacrificed himself twice, that he might save France from civil war. +The heirs of his name would renounce forever the happiness of breathing +the air of their native country, did they think that their presence +would inflict upon it the least injury. Such are the principles, the +opinions, the sentiments of all the members of the family of Napoleon, +of which I am here the interpreter. _Every thing for and by the +people._" + +In the few remaining years of his life, nursed by the tender care of his +wife Julie, who was to him an angel of consolation, Joseph remained in +Florence, his mind entirely engrossed with the misfortunes of his +family. He had become fully reconciled to his nephew, and keenly +sympathized with him in his captivity at Ham. The glaring inconsistency +of the Government of Louis Philippe in persisting to banish from France +the relatives of a man whom all France almost adored, simply because +they were that great man's relatives, often roused his indignation. + +The thought that he was an exile from his native land--from France, +which he had served so faithfully, and loved so well--embittered his +last hours. Supported by the devotion of Julie, and by the presence of +his brothers, Louis and Jerome, to both of whom he was tenderly +attached, he awaited without regret the approach of death. + +On the 23d of July, 1844, Joseph breathed his last at Florence, at the +age of sixty-six years. He left his fortune, which was not very large, +to his eight grandchildren. He also requested that his remains should be +deposited in Florence until the hour should come when they could be +removed to the soil of his beloved France. Queen Julie survived him but +a few months. Her remains were deposited by the side of those of her +husband, and of her second daughter, the Princess Charlotte, who died in +1839. + +Joseph was eminently calculated to embellish society and to adorn the +arts of peace. His literary attainments were very extensive, and in the +Tribune he was eminent, both as an orator and a ready debater. Familiar +with all the choicest passages of the classic writers of France and +Italy, and thoroughly read in all the branches of political economy, +with great affability of manners and spotless purity of character, he +would have been a man of distinction in any country and in any age. To +say that he was not equal to his brother Napoleon is no reproach, for +Napoleon has never probably, in all respects, had his equal. But Joseph +filled with distinguished honor all the varied positions of his eventful +life. As a legislator, an ambassador, a general, a monarch, and a +private citizen, he was alike eminent. + +From the commencement of his career until his last breath, he was +devoted to those principles of popular rights to which the French +Revolution gave birth, and which his more illustrious brother so long +and so gloriously upheld against the combined dynasties of Europe. This +sublime struggle of the people throughout Europe, under the banners of +Napoleon, against the old regime of aristocratic oppression, profoundly +moved the soul of Joseph. The honors he received, the flattery at times +lavished upon him, did not corrupt his heart. "Under the purple," says +Napoleon III., "as under the cloak of exile, Joseph ever remained the +same; the determined opponent of all oppression, of all privilege, of +every abuse, and the earnest advocate of equal rights and of popular +liberty." + +In his last days, Joseph, whose conversational powers were remarkable, +loved to recall the scenes of his memorable career. With the most +touching simplicity, and with a charm of quiet eloquence which moved all +hearts, he held in breathless interest those who were grouped around +him. With pleasure he alluded to the comparatively humble origin of his +family, which had counted among the members so many kings. He was fond +of relating anecdotes of the brother of whom he was so proud, and whom +he so tenderly loved. One of these characteristic anecdotes was as +follows: + +"Joseph," said the Emperor to me one day, "T----[AO] has infinite +ability, has he not? Well, do you know why he has never accomplished any +thing great? It is because grand thoughts come only from the heart, and +T---- has no heart." + +[Footnote AO: Talleyrand.] + +Though Joseph was a man of extraordinary gentleness of character and +sweetness of disposition, the cruel treatment of his brother at Saint +Helena he could never allude to without intense emotion. In speaking of +the destitution of the Emperor in the hovel on that distant rock, his +eyes would fill with tears, and his voice would tremble under the +vehemence of his feelings. + +The course pursued by the Government of Louis Philippe, the whole +internal and external policy of that unhappy monarch, arresting the +progress of popular rights at home and degrading France abroad, and +especially its gross inconsistency in lavishing honors upon the memory +of Napoleon, and yet persisting in banishing his descendants, roused +his indignation. + +We can not conclude this brief sketch more appropriately than in the +words of Louis Napoleon, written when he was a captive at Ham, and +when his uncle Joseph had just died in exile at Florence. + +"If there existed to-day among us a man who, as a deputy, a diplomatist, +a king, a citizen, or a soldier, was invariably distinguished for his +patriotism and his brilliant qualities; if that man had rendered himself +illustrious by his oratorical triumphs, and by the advantageous treaties +he had concluded for the interests of France; if that man had refused +a crown because the conditions which it imposed upon him wounded his +conscience; if that man had conquered a realm, gained battles, and had +exhibited upon two thrones the light of French ideas; if, in fine, in +good as in bad fortune, he had always remained faithful to his oaths, +to his country, to his friends; that man, we may say, would occupy the +highest position in public esteem, statues would be raised to him, and +civic crowns would adorn his whitened locks. + +"Well! this man lately existed, with all these glories, with all these +honorable antecedents. Nevertheless upon his brow we see only the +imprint of misfortune. His country has requited his noble services by an +exile of twenty-nine years. We deplore this, without being astonished +at it. There are but two parties in France; the vanquished and the +vanquishers at Waterloo. The vanquishers are in power, and all that +is national is crushed beneath the weight of defeat." + +These words were written in the year 1844. The Empire is now restored. +The decree of exile against the Bonaparte family is annulled. The heir +of the Emperor sits upon the throne, recognized by all the nations in +the Old World and the New. The time has come when the character of +Joseph Bonaparte can be, and will be justly appreciated. + + THE END. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + +1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to +ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the original book. + +2. 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