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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9883-8.txt b/9883-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..14f3e63 --- /dev/null +++ b/9883-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1758 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and +Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827, by Various + +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: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: December 5, 2011 [EBook #9883] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 27, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, No. 263.] SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +SIR WALTER SCOTT'S LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. + +(_Continued from page 5._ [Note: see Mirror 262]) + + +Robespierre was a coward, who signed death-warrants with a hand that +shook, though his heart was relentless. He possessed no passions on +which to charge his crimes; they were perpetrated in cold blood, and +upon mature deliberation. + +Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate, had attracted the +attention of the lower orders, by the violence of his sentiments in the +journal which he conducted from the commencement of the revolution, upon +such principles that it took the lead in forwarding its successive +changes. His political exhortations began and ended like the howl of a +blood-hound for murder; or, if a wolf could have written a journal, the +gaunt and famished wretch could not have ravened more eagerly for +slaughter. It was blood which was Marat's constant demand, not in drops +from the breast of an individual, not in puny streams from the slaughter +of families, but blood in the profusion of an ocean. His usual +calculation of the heads which he demanded amounted to two hundred and +sixty thousand; and though he sometimes raised it as high as three +hundred thousand, it never fell beneath the smaller number. It may be +hoped, and for the honour of human nature we are inclined to believe, +there was a touch of insanity in this unnatural strain of ferocity; and +the wild and squalid features of the wretch appear to have intimated a +degree of alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre, a coward. +Repeatedly denounced in the assembly, he skulked instead of defending +himself, and lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar among his +cut-throats, until a storm appeared, when, like a bird of ill omen, his +death-screech was again heard. Such was the strange and fatal +triumvirate, in which the same degree of cannibal cruelty existed under +different aspects. Danton murdered to glut his rage; Robespierre to +avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival whom he envied; Marat, +from the same instinctive love of blood, which induces a wolf to +continue his ravage of the flocks long after his hunger is appeased. + +Passing by the horrors of the reign of terror, we shall close the second +volume with a vivid and powerful picture, which we cannot refrain +quoting-- + + +THE DEATH OF ROBESPIERRE. + +Meantime the convention continued to maintain the bold and commanding +front which they had so suddenly and critically assumed. Upon learning +the escape of the arrested deputies, and hearing of the insurrection at +the Hotel de Ville, they instantly passed a decree outlawing Robespierre +and his associates, inflicting a similar doom upon the mayor of Paris, +the procureur and other members of the commune, and charging twelve of +their members, the boldest who could be selected, to proceed with the +armed force to the execution of the sentence. The drums of the National +Guards now beat to arms in all the sections under authority of the +convention, while the tocsin continued to summon assistance with its +iron voice to Robespierre and the civic magistrates. Every thing +appeared to threaten a violent catastrophe, until it was seen clearly +that the public voice, and especially amongst the National Guards, was +declaring itself generally against the Terrorists. + +The Hotel de Ville was surrounded by about fifteen hundred men, and +cannon turned upon the doors. The force of the assailants was weakest in +point of number, but their leaders were men of spirit, and night +concealed their inferiority of force. + +The deputies commissioned for the purpose read the decree of the +assembly to those whom they found assembled in front of the city-hall, +and they shrunk from the attempt of defending it, some joining the +assailants, others laying down their arms and dispersing. Meantime the +deserted group of Terrorists within conducted themselves like scorpions, +which, when surrounded by a circle of fire, are said to turn their +stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding +took place among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means you +promised to furnish?" said Payan to Henriot, whom he found intoxicated +and incapable of resolution or exertion; and seizing on him as he spoke, +he precipitated the revolutionary general from a window. Henriot +survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which he was +afterwards discovered and brought out to execution. The younger +Robespierre threw himself from the window, but had not the good fortune +to perish on the spot. It seemed as if even the melancholy fate of +suicide, the last refuge of guilt and despair, was denied to men who had +so long refused every species of mercy to their fellow-creatures. Le Bas +alone had calmness enough to despatch himself with a pistol-shot. Saint +Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, attempted his own life +with an irresolute hand, and failed, Couthon lay beneath the table +brandishing a knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without +daring to add force enough to reach his heart. Their chief, Robespierre, +in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot himself, had only inflicted a +horrible fracture on his under-jaw. + +In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with +blood, mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay +on a table in an anti-room, his head supported by a deal-box, and his +hideous countenance half-hidden by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round +the shattered chin.[1] + + [1] It did not escape the minute observers of this scene, that + he still held in his hand the bag which had contained the fatal + pistol, and which was inscribed with the words, _Au grand + monarque_, alluding to the sign, doubtless, of the gunsmith who + sold the weapon, but singularly applicable to the high + pretensions of the purchaser. + +The captives were carried in triumph to the convention, who, without +admitting them to the bar, ordered them, as outlaws, for instant +execution. As the fatal cars passed to the guillotine, those who filled +them, but especially Robespierre, were overwhelmed with execrations from +the friends and relatives of victims whom he had sent on the same +melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the cloth +had never been removed till the executioner tore it off, added to the +torture of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch +yelled aloud, to the horror of the spectators.[2] A mask taken from that +dreadful head was long exhibited in different nations of Europe, and +appalled the spectator by its ugliness, and the mixture of fiendish +expression with that of bodily agony. + + [2] The fate of no tyrant in history was so hideous at the + conclusion, excepting perhaps that of Jugurtha. + +Thus fell Maximilian Robespierre, after having been the first person in +the French republic for nearly two years, during which time he governed +it upon the principles of Nero or Caligula. His elevation to the +situation which he held involved more contradictions than perhaps +attach to any similar event in history. A low-born and low-minded +tyrant was permitted to rule with the rod of the most frightful +despotism a people, whose anxiety for liberty had shortly before +rendered them unable to endure the rule of a humane and lawful +sovereign. A dastardly coward arose to the command of one of the bravest +nations in the world; and it was under the auspices of a man who dared +scarce fire a pistol, that the greatest generals in France began their +careers of conquest. He had neither eloquence nor imagination; but +substituted in their stead a miserable, affected, bombastic style, +which, until other circumstances gave him consequence, drew on him +general ridicule. Yet against so poor an orator, all the eloquence of +the philosophical Girondists, all the terrible powers of his associate +Danton, employed in a popular assembly, could not enable them to make an +effectual resistance. It may seem trifling to mention, that in a nation +where a good deal of prepossession is excited by amiable manners and +beauty of external appearance, the person who ascended to the highest +power was not only ill-looking, but singularly mean in person, awkward +and constrained in his address, ignorant how to set about pleasing even +when he most desired to give pleasure, and as tiresome nearly as he was +odious and heartless. + +To compensate all these deficiencies, Robespierre had but an insatiable +ambition, founded on a vanity which made him think himself capable of +filling the highest situation; and therefore gave him daring, when to +dare is frequently to achieve. He mixed a false and over-strained, but +rather fluent species of bombastic composition, with the grossest +flattery to the lowest classes of the people; in consideration of which, +they could not but receive as genuine the praises which he always +bestowed on himself. His prudent resolution to be satisfied with +possessing the essence of power, without seeming to desire its rank and +trappings, formed another art of cajoling the multitude. His watchful +envy, his long-protracted but sure revenge, his craft, which to vulgar +minds supplies the place of wisdom, were his only means of competing +with his distinguished antagonists. And it seems to have been a merited +punishment of the extravagances and abuses of the French revolution, +that it engaged the country in a state of anarchy which permitted a +wretch such as we have described, to be for a long period master of her +destiny. Blood was his element, like that of the other Terrorists, and +he never fastened with so much pleasure on a new victim, as when he was +at the same time an ancient associate. In an epitaph, of which the +following couplet may serve as a translation, his life was represented +as incompatible with the existence of the human race:-- + + "Here lies Robespierre--let no tear be shed; + Reader, if he had lived, thou hadst been dead." + +The commencement of the third volume introduces us to the family of +Bonaparte, who resided in the island of Corsica, which was, in ancient +times, remarkable as the scene of Seneca's exile, and in the last +century was distinguished by the memorable stand which the natives made +in defence of their liberties against the Genoese and French, during a +war which tended to show the high and indomitable spirit of the +islanders, united as it is with the fiery and vindictive feelings proper +to their country and climate. + + +BIRTH OF BONAPARTE. + +Charles Bonaparte, the father of Napoleon, died at the age of about +forty years, of an ulcer in the stomach, on the 24th of February, 1785. +His celebrated son fell a victim to the same disease. During Napoleon's +grandeur, the community of Montpellier expressed a desire to erect a +monument to the memory of Charles Bonaparte. His answer was both +sensible and in good taste. "Had I lost my father yesterday," he said, +"it would be natural to pay his memory some mark of respect consistent +with my present situation. But it is twenty years since the event, and +it is one in which the public can take no concern. Let us leave the dead +in peace." + +The subject of our narrative was born, according to the best accounts, +and his own belief, upon the 15th day of August, 1769, at his father's +house in Ajaccio, forming one side of a court which leads out of the Rue +Charles.[3] We read with interest, that his mother's good constitution, +and bold character of mind, having induced her to attend mass upon the +day of his birth, (being the Festival of the Assumption,) she was +obliged to return home immediately, and as there was no time to prepare +a bed or bedroom, she was delivered of the future victor upon a +temporary couch prepared for her accommodation, and covered with an +ancient piece of tapestry, representing the heroes of the Iliad. The +infant was christened by the name of Napoleon, an obscure saint, who had +dropped to leeward, and fallen altogether out of the calendar, so that +his namesake never knew which day he was to celebrate as the festival of +his patron. When questioned, on this subject by the bishop who +confirmed him, he answered smartly, that there were a great many saints, +and only three hundred and sixty-five days to divide amongst them. The +politeness of the pope promoted the patron in order to compliment the +god-child, and Saint Napoleon des Ursins was accommodated with a +festival. To render this compliment, which no one but a pope could have +paid, still more flattering, the feast of Saint Napoleon was fixed for +the fifteenth August, the birthday of the emperor, and the day on which +he signed the Concordat. So that Napoleon had the rare honour of +promoting his patron saint. + + [3] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + + +NAPOLEON'S EARLY LIFE. + +The young Napoleon had, of course, the simple and hardy education proper +to the natives of the mountainous island of his birth, and in his +infancy was not remarkable for more than that animation of temper, and +wilfulness and impatience of inactivity, by which children of quick +parts and lively sensibility are usually distinguished. The winter of +the year was generally passed by the family of his father at Ajaccio, +where they still preserve and exhibit, as the ominous play-thing of +Napoleon's boyhood, the model of a brass cannon, weighing about thirty +pounds.[4] We leave it to philosophers to inquire, whether the future +love of war was suggested by the accidental possession of such a toy; or +whether the tendency of the mind dictated the selection of it; or, +lastly, whether the nature of the pastime, corresponding with the taste +which chose it, may not have had each their action and reaction, and +contributed between them to the formation of a character so warlike. + + [4] "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + +The same traveller who furnishes the above anecdote, gives an +interesting account of the country retreat of the family of Bonaparte +during the summer. + +Going along the sea-shore from Ajaccio towards the Isle Sanguiniere, +about a mile from the town, occur two stone pillars, the remains of a +doorway, leading up to a dilapidated villa, once the residence of Madame +Bonaparte's half-brother on the mother's side, whom Napoleon created +Cardinal Fesch.[5] The house is approached by an avenue, surrounded and +overhung by the cactus and other shrubs, which luxuriate in a warm +climate. It has a garden and a lawn, showing amidst neglect vestiges of +their former beauty, and the house is surrounded by shrubberies, +permitted to run to wilderness. This was the summer residence of Madame +Bonaparte and her family. Almost enclosed by the wild olive, the cactus, +the clematis, and the almond-tree, is a very singular and isolated +granite rock, called Napoleon's grotto, which seems to have resisted the +decomposition which has taken place around. The remains of a small +summer-house are visible beneath the rock, the entrance to which is +nearly closed by a luxuriant fig-tree. This was Bonaparte's frequent +retreat, when the vacations of the school at which he studied permitted +him to visit home. How the imagination labours to form an idea of the +visions, which, in this sequestered and romantic spot, must have arisen +before the eyes of the future hero of a hundred battles! + + [5] The mother of Letitia Ramolini, wife of Carlo Bonaparte, + married a Swiss officer in the French service, named Fesch, + after the death of Letitia's father. + +Bonaparte's ardour for the abstract sciences amounted to a passion, and +was combined with a singular aptitude for applying them to the purposes +of war, while his attention to pursuits so interesting and exhaustless +in themselves, was stimulated by his natural ambition and desire of +distinction. Almost all the scientific teachers at Brienne, being +accustomed to study the character of their pupils, and obliged by their +duty to make memoranda and occasional reports on the subject, spoke of +the talents of Bonaparte, and the progress of his studies, with +admiration. Circumstances of various kinds, exaggerated or invented, +have been circulated concerning the youth of a person so remarkable. The +following are given upon good authority.[6] + + [6] They were many years since communicated to the author by + Messrs. Joseph and Louis Law, brothers of General Baron + Lauriston, Bonaparte's favourite aid-de-camp. These gentlemen, + or at least Joseph, were educated at Brienne, but at a later + period than Napoleon. Their distinguished brother was his + contemporary. + +The conduct of Napoleon among his companions was that of a studious and +reserved youth, addicting himself deeply to the means of improvement, +and rather avoiding than seeking the usual temptations to dissipation of +time. He had few friends, and no intimates; yet at different times, when +he chose to exert it, he exhibited considerable influence over his +fellow-students, and when there was any joint plan to be carried into +effect, he was frequently chosen dictator of the little republic. + +In the time of winter, Bonaparte, upon one occasion, engaged his +companions in constructing a fortress out of the snow, regularly +defended by ditches and bastions, according to the rules of +fortification. It was considered as displaying the great powers of the +juvenile engineer in the way of his profession, and was attacked and +defended by the students, who divided into parties for the purpose, +until the battle became so keen that their superiors thought it proper +to proclaim a truce. + +The young Bonaparte gave another instance of address and enterprise upon +the following occasion. There was a fair held annually in the +neighbourhood of Brienne, where the pupils of the Military School used +to find a day's amusement; but on account of a quarrel betwixt them and +the country people upon a former occasion, or for some such cause, the +masters of the institution had directed that the students should not on +the fair-day be permitted to go beyond their own precincts, which were +surrounded with a wall. Under the direction of the young Corsican, +however, the scholars had already laid a plot for securing their usual +day's diversion. They had undermined the wall which encompassed their +exercising ground, with so much skill and secrecy, that their operations +remained entirely unknown till the morning of the fair, when a part of +the boundary unexpectedly fell, and gave a free passage to the +imprisoned students, of which they immediately took the advantage, by +hurrying to the prohibited scene of amusement. + +But although on these, and perhaps other occasions, Bonaparte displayed +some of the frolic temper of youth, mixed with the inventive genius and +the talent for commanding others by which he was distinguished in after +time, his life at school was in general that of a recluse and severe +student, acquiring by his judgment, and treasuring in his memory, that +wonderful process of almost unlimited combination, by means of which he +was afterwards able to simplify the most difficult and complicated +undertakings. His mathematical teacher was proud of the young islander, +as the boast of his school, and his other scientific instructors had the +same reason to be satisfied. + +In languages Bonaparte was less a proficient, and never acquired the art +of writing or spelling French, far less foreign languages, with accuracy +or correctness; nor had the monks of Brienne any reason to pride +themselves on the classical proficiency of their scholar. The full +energies of his mind being devoted to the scientific pursuits of his +profession, left little time or inclination for other studies. + +Though of Italian origin, Bonaparte had not a decided taste for the fine +arts, and his taste in composition seems to have leaned towards the +grotesque and the bombastic. He used always the most exaggerated +phrases; and it is seldom, if ever, that his bulletins present those +touches of sublimity which are founded on dignity and simplicity of +expression. + +Notwithstanding the external calmness and reserve of his deportment, he +who was destined for such great things had, while yet a student at +Brienne, a full share of that ambition for distinction and dread of +disgrace, that restless and irritating love of fame, which is the spur +to extraordinary attempts. Sparkles of this keen temper sometimes showed +themselves. On one occasion, a harsh superintendant imposed on the +future emperor, for some trifling fault, the disgrace of wearing a +penitential dress, and being excluded from the table of the students, +and obliged to eat his meal apart. His pride felt the indignity so +severely, that it brought on a severe nervous attack; to which, though +otherwise of good constitution, he was subject upon occasions of +extraordinary irritation. Father Petrault, the professor of mathematics, +hastened to deliver his favourite pupil from the punishment by which he +was so much affected. + +It is also said that an early disposition to the popular side +distinguished Bonaparte even when at Brienne. Pichegru, afterwards so +celebrated, who acted as his monitor in the military school, (a singular +circumstance,) bore witness to his early principles, and to the peculiar +energy and tenacity of his temper. He was long afterwards consulted +whether means might not be found to engage the commander of the Italian +armies in the royal interest. "It will be but lost time to attempt it," +said Pichegru. "I knew him in his youth--his character is inflexible--he +has taken his side, and he will not change it." + +In 1783, Napoleon Bonaparte, then only fourteen years old, was, though +under the usual age, selected by Monsieur de Keralio, the inspector of +the twelve military schools, to be sent to have his education completed +in the general school of Paris. It was a compliment paid to the +precocity of his extraordinary mathematical talent, and the steadiness +of his application. While at Paris he attracted the same notice as at +Brienne; and among other society, frequented that of the celebrated Abbé +Raynal, and was admitted to his literary parties. His taste did not +become correct, but his appetite for study in all departments was +greatly enlarged; and notwithstanding the quantity which he daily read, +his memory was strong enough to retain, and his judgment sufficiently +ripe to arrange and digest, the knowledge which he then acquired; so +that he had it at his command during all the rest of his busy life. +Plutarch was his favourite author; upon the study of whom he had so +modelled his opinions and habits of thought, that Paoli afterwards +pronounced him a young man of an antique caste, and resembling one of +the classical heroes. + +Some of his biographers have about this time ascribed to him the +anecdote of a certain youthful pupil of the military school, who desired +to ascend in the car of a balloon with the aëronaut Blanchard, and was +so mortified at being refused, that he made an attempt to cut the +balloon with his sword. The story has but a flimsy support, and indeed +does not accord well with the character of the hero, which was deep and +reflective, as well as bold and determined, and not likely to suffer its +energies to escape in idle and useless adventure. + +A better authenticated anecdote states, that at this time he expressed +himself disrespectfully towards the king in one of his letters to his +family. According to the practice of the school, he was obliged to +submit the letter to the censorship of Monsieur Domairon, the professor +of belles lettres, who, taking notice of the offensive passage, insisted +upon the letter being burnt, and added a severe rebuke. Long afterwards, +in 1802, Monsieur Domairon was commanded to attend Napoleon's levee, in +order that he might receive a pupil in the person of Jerome Bonaparte, +when the first consul reminded his old tutor good-humouredly, that times +had changed considerably since the burning of the letter. + +Napoleon Bonaparte, in his seventieth year, received his first +commission as second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery, and was +almost immediately afterwards promoted to the rank of first lieutenant +in the corps quartered at Valence. He mingled with society when he +joined his regiment, more than he had hitherto been accustomed to do; +mixed in public amusements, and exhibited the powers of pleasing, which +he possessed in an uncommon degree when he chose to exert them. His +handsome and intelligent features, with his active and neat, though +slight figure, gave him additional advantages. His manners could +scarcely be called elegant, but made up in vivacity and variety of +expression, and often in great spirit and energy, for what they wanted +in grace and polish. + +He became an adventurer for the honours of literature also, and was +anonymously a competitor for the prize offered by the Academy of Lyons +on Raynal's question, "What are the principles and institutions, by +application of which mankind can be raised to the highest pitch of +happiness?" The prize was adjudged to the young soldier. It is +impossible to avoid feeling curiosity to know the character of the +juvenile theories respecting government, advocated by one who at length +attained the power of practically making what experiments he pleased. +Probably his early ideas did not exactly coincide with his more mature +practice; for when Talleyrand, many years afterwards, got the essay out +of the records of the academy, and returned it to the author, Bonaparte +destroyed it after he had read a few pages. He also laboured under the +temptation of writing a journey to Mount Cenis, after the manner of +Sterne, which he was fortunate enough finally to resist. The affectation +which pervades Sterne's peculiar style of composition was not likely to +be simplified under the pen of Bonaparte. + +Sterner times were fast approaching, and the nation was now fully +divided by those factions which produced the revolution. The officers of +Bonaparte's regiment were also divided into royalists and patriots; and +it is easily to be imagined, that the young and friendless stranger and +adventurer should adopt that side to which he had already shown some +inclination, and which promised to open the most free career to those +who had only their merit to rely on. "Were I a general officer," he is +alleged to have said, "I would have adhered to the king; being a +subaltern, I join the patriots." + +There was a story current, that in a debate with some brother officers +on the politics of the time, Bonaparte expressed himself so +outrageously, that they were provoked to throw him into the Rhone, where +he had nearly perished. But this is an inaccurate account of the +accident which actually befell him. He was seized with the cramp when +bathing in the river. His comrades saved him with difficulty, but his +danger was matter of pure chance. + +Napoleon has himself recorded that he was a warm patriot during the +whole sitting of the National Assembly; but that on the appointment of +the Legislative Assembly, he became shaken in his opinions. If so, his +original sentiments regained force, for we shortly afterwards find him +entertaining such as went to the extreme heights of the revolution. + +Early in the year 1792, Bonaparte became a captain in the artillery by +seniority; and in the same year, being at Paris, he witnessed the two +insurrections of the 20th of June and 10th of August. He was accustomed +to speak of the insurgents as the most despicable banditti, and to +express with what ease a determined officer could have checked these +apparently formidable, but dastardly and unwieldy masses. But with what +a different feeling of interest would Napoleon have looked on that +infuriated populace, those still resisting though overpowered Swiss, and +that burning palace, had any seer whispered to him, "Emperor that shall +be, all this blood and massacre is but to prepare your future empire!" +Little anticipating the potent effect which the passing events were to +bear on his own fortune, Bonaparte, anxious for the safety of his mother +and family, was now desirous to change France for Corsica, where the +same things were acting on a less distinguished stage. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MILITARY EXPLOIT. + +Napoleon's first military exploit was in the civil war of his native +island. In the year 1793, he was despatched from Bastia, in possession +of the French party, to surprise his native town Ajaccio, then occupied +by Paoli or his adherents. Bonaparte was acting provisionally, as +commanding a battalion of National Guards. He landed in the Gulf of +Ajaccio with about fifty men, to take possession of a tower called the +Torre di Capitello, on the opposite side of the gulf, and almost facing +the city. He succeeded in taking the place; but as there arose a gale of +wind which prevented his communicating with the frigate which had put +him ashore, he was besieged in his new conquest by the opposite faction, +and reduced to such distress, that he and his little garrison were +obliged to feed on horse-flesh. After five days he was relieved by the +frigate, and evacuated the tower, having first in vain attempted to blow +it up. The Torre di Capitello still shows marks of the damage it then +sustained, and its remains may be looked on as a curiosity, as the first +scene of _his_ combats, before whom + + --"Temple and tower + Went to the ground.--" + +A relation of Napoleon, Masserio by name, effectually defended Ajaccio +against the force employed in the expedition. + +The strength of Paoli increasing, and the English preparing to assist +him, Corsica became no longer a safe or convenient residence for the +Bonaparte family. Indeed, both Napoleon and his brother Lucien, who had +distinguished themselves as partisans of the French, were subjected to a +decree of banishment from their native island; and Madame Bonaparte, +with her three daughters, and Jerome, who was as yet but a child, set +sail under their protection, and settled for a time, first at Nice, and +afterwards at Marseilles, where the family is supposed to have undergone +considerable distress, until the dawning prospects of Napoleon afforded +him the means of assisting them. + +Napoleon never again revisited Corsica, nor does he appear to have +regarded it with any feelings of affection. One small fountain at +Ajaccio is pointed out as the only ornament which his bounty bestowed on +his birthplace. He might perhaps think it impolitic to do any thing +which might remind the country he ruled that he was not a child of her +soil, nay, was in fact very near having been born an alien, for Corsica +was not united to, or made an integral part of France, until June, 1769, +a few weeks only before Napoleon's birth. This stigma was repeatedly +cast upon him by his opponents, some of whom reproached the French with +having adopted a master, from a country from which the ancient Romans +were unwilling even to choose a slave; and Napoleon may have been so far +sensible to it, as to avoid showing any predilection to the place of his +birth, which might bring the circumstance strongly under the observation +of the great nation, with which he and his family seemed to be +indissolubly united. But, as a traveller already quoted, and who had the +best opportunities to become acquainted with the feelings of the proud +islanders, has expressed it,--"The Corsicans are still highly patriotic, +and possess strong local attachment--in their opinion, contempt for the +country of one's birth is never to be redeemed by any other qualities. +Napoleon, therefore, certainly was not popular in Corsica, nor is his +memory cherished there."[7] + + [7] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 121. + +The feelings of the parties were not unnatural on either side. Napoleon, +little interested in the land of his birth, and having such an immense +stake in that of his adoption, in which he had every thing to keep and +lose,[8] observed a policy towards Corsica which his position rendered +advisable; and who can blame the high-spirited islanders, who, seeing +one of their countrymen raised to such exalted eminence, and disposed to +forget his connexion with them, returned with slight and indifference +the disregard with which he treated them? + + [8] Not literally, however: for it is worth mentioning, that + when he was in full-blown possession of his power, an + inheritance fell to the family, situated near Ajaccio, and was + divided amongst them. The first consul, or emperor, received an + olive-garden as his share.--_Sketches of Corsica_. + +The siege of Toulon was the first incident of importance which enabled +Bonaparte to distinguish himself in the eyes of the French government +and of the world at large. Shortly afterwards he was appointed chief of +battalion in the army of Italy, and on the fall of Robespierre, +Bonaparte superseded in command. At the conflict between the troops of +the Convention under Napoleon, and those of the Sections of Paris under +Damican, the latter was defeated with much slaughter, and Bonaparte was +appointed general-in-chief in command of the army of the interior. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MARRIAGE. + +Meantime circumstances, which we will relate according to his own +statement, introduced Bonaparte to an acquaintance, which was destined +to have much influence on his future fate. A fine boy, of ten or twelve +years old, presented himself at the levee of the general of the +interior, with a request of a nature unusually interesting. He stated +his name to be Eugene Beauharnois, son of the ci-devant Vicomte de +Beauharnois, who, adhering to the revolutionary party, had been a +general in the republican service upon the Rhine, and falling under the +causeless suspicion of the committee of public safety, was delivered to +the revolutionary tribunal, and fell by its sentence just four days +before the overthrow of Robespierre. Eugene was come to request of +Bonaparte, as general of the interior, that his father's sword might be +restored to him. The prayer of the young supplicant was as interesting +as his manners were engaging, and Napoleon felt so much interest in him, +that he was induced to cultivate the acquaintance of Eugene's mother, +afterwards the empress Josephine. + +The lady was a Creolian, the daughter of a planter in St. Domingo. Her +name at full length was Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie. She had +suffered her share of revolutionary miseries. After her husband, General +Beauharnois, had been deprived of his command, she was arrested as a +suspected person, and detained in prison till the general liberation, +which succeeded the revolution of the 9th Thermidor. While in +confinement, Madame Beauharnois had formed an intimacy with a companion +in distress, Madame Fontenai, now Madame Tallien, from which she derived +great advantages after her friend's marriage. With a remarkably graceful +person, amiable manners, and an inexhaustible fund of good-humour, +Madame Beauharnois was formed to be an ornament to society. Barras, the +Thermidorien hero, himself an ex-noble, was fond of society, desirous of +enjoying it on an agreeable scale, and of washing away the dregs which +Jacobinism had mingled with all the dearest interests of life. He loved +show, too, and pleasure, and might now indulge both without the risk of +falling under the suspicion of incivism, which, in the Reign of Terror, +would have been incurred by any attempt to intermingle elegance with the +enjoyments of social intercourse. At the apartments which he occupied, +as one of the Directory, in the Luxemburg Palace, he gave its free +course to his natural taste, and assembled an agreeable society of both +sexes. Madame Tallien and her friend formed the soul of these +assemblies, and it was supposed that Barras was not insensible to the +charms of Madame Beauharnois,--a rumour which was likely to arise, +whether with or without foundation. + +When Madame Beauharnois and General Bonaparte became intimate, the +latter assures us, and we see no reason to doubt him, that although the +lady was two or three years older than himself,[9] yet being still in +the full bloom of beauty, and extremely agreeable in her manners, he was +induced, solely by her personal charms, to make her an offer of his +hand, heart, and fortunes,--little supposing, of course, to what a pitch +the latter were to arise. + + [9] Bonaparte was then in his twenty-sixth year. Josephine gave + herself in the marriage contract for twenty-eight. + +Although he himself is said to have been a fatalist, believing in +destiny and in the influence of his star, he knew nothing, probably, of +the prediction of a negro sorceress, who, while Marie Joseph was but a +child, prophesied she should rise to a dignity greater than that of a +queen, yet fall from it before her death.[10] This was one of those +vague auguries, delivered at random by fools or impostors, which the +caprice of fortune sometimes matches with a corresponding and conforming +event. But without trusting to the African sibyl's prediction, Bonaparte +may have formed his match under the auspices of ambition as well as +love. The marrying Madame Beauharnois was a mean of uniting his fortune +with those of Barras and Tallien, the first of whom governed France as +one of the Directors; and the last, from talents and political +connexions, had scarcely inferior influence. He had already deserved +well of them for his conduct on the Day of the Sections, but he required +their countenance to rise still higher; and without derogating from the +bride's merits, we may suppose her influence in their society +corresponded with the views of her lover. It is, however, certain, that +he always regarded her with peculiar affection; that he relied on her +fate, which he considered as linked with and strengthening his own; and +reposed, besides, considerable confidence in Josephine's tact and +address in political business. She had at all times the art of +mitigating his temper, and turning aside the hasty determinations of his +angry moments, not by directly opposing, but by gradually parrying and +disarming them. It must be added to her great praise, that she was +always a willing and often a successful advocate in the cause +of humanity. + + [10] A lady of high rank, who happened to live for some time in + the same convent at Paris, where Josephine was also a pensioner + or boarder, heard her mention the prophecy, and told it herself + to the author, just about the time of the Italian expedition, + when Bonaparte was beginning to attract notice. Another clause + is usually added to the prediction--that the party whom it + concerned should die in an hospital, which was afterwards + explained as referring to Malmaison. This the author did not + hear from the same authority. The lady mentioned used to speak + in the highest terms of the simple manners and great kindness + of Madame Beauharnois. + +They were married 9th of March, 1796; and the dowry of the bride was the +chief command of the Italian armies, a scene which opened a full career +to the ambition of the youthful general. Bonaparte remained with his +wife only three days after his marriage, hastened to see his family, who +were still at Marseilles, and, having enjoyed the pleasure of exhibiting +himself as a favourite of fortune in the city which he had lately left +in the capacity of an indigent adventurer, proceeded rapidly to commence +the career to which fate called him, by placing himself at the head of +the Italian army. + +The renowned Italian campaigns occupy the remainder of the third, and +some part of the fourth volume, to which we now proceed. It will be +remembered that the war in Egypt being triumphantly concluded on the +part of Great Britain, the news of the contest reached France some time +before the English received it. Napoleon, on learning the tidings, is +reported to have said, "Well, there remains now no alternative but to +make the descent on Britain." + + +PROPOSED INVASION OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +As the words of the first consul appeard to intimate, preparations were +resumed on the French coast for the invasion of Great Britain. Boulogne +and every harbour along the coast was crowded with flat-bottomed boats, +and the shores covered with camps of the men designed apparently to fill +them. We need not at present dwell on the preparations for attack, or +those which the English adopted in defence, as we shall have occasion to +notice both, when Bonaparte, for the last time, threatened England with +the same measure. It is enough to say, that, on the present occasion, +the menaces of France had their usual effect in awakening the spirit +of Britain. + +The most extensive arrangements were made for the reception of the +invaders should they chance to land, and in the meanwhile, our natural +barrier was not neglected. The naval preparations were very great, and +what gave yet more confidence than the number of vessels and guns, +Nelson was put into command of the sea, from Orfordness to Beachy-head. +Under his management, it soon became the question, not whether the +French flotilla was to invade the British shores, but whether it was to +remain in safety in the French harbours. Boulogne was bombarded, and +some of the small craft and gun-boats destroyed--the English admiral +generously sparing the town; and not satisfied with this partial +success, Nelson prepared to attack them with the boats of the squadron. +The French resorted to the most unusual and formidable preparations for +defence. Their flotilla was moored close to the shore in the mouth of +Boulogne harbour, the vessels secured to each other by chains, and +filled with soldiers. The British attack in some degree failed, owing to +the several divisions of boats missing each other in the dark; some +French vessels were taken, but they could not be brought off; and the +French chose to consider this result as a victory, on their part, of +consequence enough to balance the loss at Aboukir;--though it amounted +at best to ascertaining, that although their vessels could not keep the +sea, they might, in some comparative degree of safety, lie under close +cover of their own batteries. + +The preliminaries of peace, however, were signed, and the treaty was +confirmed at Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802. Napoleon still +prosecuted his ambitious projects, extended his power in Italy, and +caused himself to be appointed consul for life, with the power of naming +his successor. + + +SCHEME OF INVASION RENEWED. + +It must be in the memory of most who recollect the period, that the +kingdom of Great Britain was seldom less provided against invasion than +at the commencement of this second war; and that an embarkation from the +ports of Holland, if undertaken instantly after the war had broken out, +might have escaped our blockading squadrons, and have at least shown +what a French army could have done on British ground, at a moment when +the alarm was general, and the country in an unprepared state. But it +is probable that Bonaparte himself was as much unprovided as England +for the sudden breach of the treaty of Amiens--an event brought about +more by the influence of passion than of policy; so that its +consequences were as unexpected in his calculations as in those of Great +Britain. Besides, he had not diminished to himself the dangers of the +undertaking, by which he must have staked his military renown, his +power, which he held chiefly as the consequence of his reputation, +perhaps his life, upon a desperate game, which, though he had already +twice contemplated it, he had not yet found hardihood enough seriously +to enter upon. + +He now, however, at length bent himself, with the whole strength of his +mind, and the whole force of his empire, to prepare for this final and +decisive undertaking. The gun-boats in the Bay of Gibraltar, where calms +are frequent, had sometimes in the course of the former war been able to +do considerable damage to the English vessels of war, when they could +not use their sails. Such small craft, therefore, were supposed the +proper force for covering the intended descent. They were built in +different harbours, and brought together by crawling along the French +shore, and keeping under the protection of the batteries, which were now +established on every cape, almost as if the sea-coast of the channel on +the French side had been the lines of a besieged city, no one point of +which could with prudence be left undefended by cannon. Boulogne was +pitched upon as the centre port, from which the expedition was to sail. +By incredible exertions, Bonaparte had rendered its harbour and roads +capable of containing two thousand vessels of various descriptions. The +smaller sea-ports of Vimereux, Ambleteuse, and Etaples, Dieppe, Havre, +St. Valeri, Caen, Gravelines, and Dunkirk, were likewise filled with +shipping. Flushing and Ostend were occupied by a separate flotilla. +Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort, were each the station of as strong a naval +squadron as France, had still the means to send to sea. + +A land army was assembled of the most formidable description, whether we +regard the high military character of the troops, the extent and +perfection of their appointments, or their numerical strength. The +coast, from the mouth of the Seine to the Texel, was covered with +forces; and Soult, Ney, Davoust, and Victor, names that were then the +pride and the dread of war, were appointed to command the army of +England, (for that menacing title was once more, assumed,) and execute +those manoeuvres, planned and superintended by Bonaparte, the issue of +which was to be the blotting out of Britain from the rank of +independent nations. + +Far from being alarmed at this formidable demonstration of force, +England prepared for her resistance with an energy becoming her ancient +rank in Europe, and far surpassing in its efforts any extent of military +preparation before heard of in her history. To nearly one hundred +thousand troops of the line, were added eighty thousand and upwards of +militia, which scarce yielded to the regulars in point of discipline. +The volunteer force, by which every citizen was permitted and invited to +add his efforts to the defence of the country, was far more numerous +than during the last war, was better officered also, and rendered every +way more effective. It was computed to amount to three hundred and fifty +thousand men, who, if we regard the shortness of the time and the nature +of the service, had attained considerable practice in the use and +management of their arms. Other classes of men were embodied, and +destined to act as pioneers, drivers of wagons, and in the like +services. On a sudden, the land seemed converted to an immense camp, the +whole nation into soldiers, and the good old king himself into a +general-in-chief. All peaceful considerations appeared for a time to be +thrown aside; and the voice, calling the nation to defend their dearest +rights, sounded not only in Parliament, and in meetings convoked to +second the measures of defence, but was heard in the places of public +amusement, and mingled even with the voice of devotion--not unbecoming +surely, since to defend our country is to defend our religion. + +Beacons were erected in conspicuous points, corresponding with each +other, all around and all through the island; and morning and evening, +one might have said, every eye was turned towards them to watch for the +fatal and momentous signal. Partial alarms were given to different +places, from the mistakes to which such arrangements must necessarily be +liable; and the ready spirit which animated every species of troops +where such signals called to arms, was of the most satisfactory +description, and afforded the most perfect assurance, that the heart of +every man was in the cause of his country. + +Amidst her preparations by land, England did not neglect or relax her +precautions on the element she calls her own. She covered the ocean with +five hundred and seventy ships of war of various descriptions. +Divisions of her fleet blocked up every French port in the channel; and +the army destined to invade our shores, might see the British flag +flying in every direction on the horizon, waiting for their issuing from +the harbour, as birds of prey may be seen floating in the air above the +animal which they design to pounce upon. Sometimes the British frigates +and sloops of war stood in, and cannonaded or threw shells into Havre, +Dieppe, Granville, and Boulogne itself. Sometimes the seamen and marines +landed, cut out vessels, destroyed signal posts, and dismantled +batteries. Such events were trifling, and it was to be regretted that +they cost the lives of gallant men; but although they produced no direct +results of consequence, yet they had their use in encouraging the +spirits of our sailors, and damping the confidence of the enemy, who +must at length have looked forward with more doubt than hope to the +invasion of the English coast, when the utmost vigilance could not +prevent their experiencing insults upon their own. + +During this period of menaced attack and arranged defence, Bonaparte +visited Boulogne, and seemed active in preparing his soldiers for the +grand effort. He reviewed them in an unusual manner, teaching them to +execute several manoeuvres by night; and experiments were also made upon +the best mode of arranging the soldiers in the flat-bottomed boats, and +of embarking and disembarking them with celerity. Omens were resorted to +for keeping up the enthusiasm which the presence of the First Consul +naturally inspired. A Roman battle-axe was said to be found when they +removed the earth to pitch Bonaparte's tent or barrack; and medals of +William the Conqueror were produced, as having been dug up upon the same +honoured spot. These were pleasant bodings, yet perhaps did not +altogether, in the minds of the soldiers, counterbalance the sense of +insecurity impressed on them by the prospect of being packed together in +these miserable chaloupes, and exposed to the fire of an enemy so +superior at sea, that during the chief consul's review of the +fortifications, their frigates stood in shore with composure, and fired +at him and his suite as at a mark. The men who had braved the perils of +the Alps and of the Egyptian deserts, might yet be allowed to feel alarm +at a species of danger which seemed so inevitable, and which they had no +adequate means of repelling by force of arms. + +A circumstance which seemed to render the expedition in a great measure +hopeless, was the ease with which the English could maintain a constant +watch upon their operations within the port of Boulogne. The least +appearance of stir or preparation, to embark troops, or get ready for +sea, was promptly sent by signal to the English coast, and the numerous +British cruisers were instantly on the alert to attend their motions. +Nelson had, in fact, during the last war, declared the sailing of a +hostile armament from Boulogne to be a most forlorn undertaking, on +account of cross tides and other disadvantages, together with the +certainty of the flotilla being lost if there were the least wind +west-north-west. "As for rowing," he adds, "that is impossible.--It is +perfectly right to be prepared for a mad government," continued this +incontestable judge of maritime possibilities; "but with the active +force which has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable." + +Before quitting the subject, we may notice, that Bonaparte seems not to +have entertained the least doubts of success, could he have succeeded in +disembarking his army. A single general action was to decide the fate of +England. Five days were to bring Napoleon to London, where he was to +perform the part of William the Third; but with more generosity and +disinterestedness. He was to call a meeting of the inhabitants, restore +them what he calls their rights, and destroy the oligarchical faction. A +few months would not, according to his account, have elapsed, ere the +two nations, late such determined enemies, would have been identified by +their principles, their maxims, their interests. The full explanation of +this gibberish, (for it can be termed no better, even proceeding from +the lips of Napoleon,) is to be found elsewhere, when he spoke a +language more genuine than that of the _Moniteur_ and the bulletins. +"England," he said, "must have ended, by becoming an appendage to the +France of _my_ system. Nature has made it one of our islands, as well as +Oleron and Corsica." + +It is impossible not to pursue the train of reflections which Bonaparte +continued to pour forth to the companion of his exile, on the rock of +Saint Helena. When England was conquered, and identified with France in +maxims and principles, according to one form of expression, or rendered +an appendage and dependency, according to another phrase, the reader may +suppose that Bonaparte would have considered his mission as +accomplished. Alas! it was not much more than commenced. "I would have +departed from thence [from subjugated Britain] to carry the work of +European regeneration [that is, the extention of his own arbitrary +authority] from south to north, under the Republican colours, for I was +then Chief Consul, in the same manner which I was more lately on the +point of achieving it under the monarchical forms." When we find such +ideas retaining hold of Napoleon's imagination, and arising to his +tongue after his irretrievable fall, it is impossible to avoid +exclaiming, Did ambition ever conceive so wild a dream, and had so wild +a vision ever a termination so disastrous and humiliating! + +It may be expected that something should be here said, upon the chances +which Britain would have had of defending herself successfully against +the army of invaders. We are willing to acknowledge that the risk must +have been dreadful; and that Bonaparte, with his genius and his army, +must have inflicted severe calamities upon a country which had so long +enjoyed the blessings of peace. But the people were unanimous in their +purpose of defence, and their forces composed of materials to which +Bonaparte did more justice when he came to be better acquainted with +them. Of the three British nations, the English have since shown +themselves possessed of the same steady valour which won the fields of +Cressy and Agincourt, Blenheim and Minden--the Irish have not lost the +fiery enthusiasm which has distinguished them in all the countries of +Europe--nor have the Scots degenerated from the stubborn courage with +which their ancestors for two thousand years maintained their +independence against a superior enemy. Even if London had been lost, we +would not, under so great a calamity, have despaired of the freedom of +the country; for the war would in all probability have assumed that +popular and national character which sooner or later wears out an +invading army. Neither does the confidence with which Bonaparte affirms +the conviction of his winning the first battle, appear go certainly well +founded. This, at least, we know, that the resolution of the country was +fully bent up to the hazard; and those who remember the period will bear +us witness, that the desire that the French would make the attempt, was +a general feeling through all classes, because they had every reason to +hope that the issue might be such as for ever to silence the threat +of invasion. + +The next most important occurrence that claims our notice in this +volume, and which fully delineates the nature and character of this +wonderful and ambitious individual, is the account of his declaration as +Emperor of France, and his subsequent Coronation. + + +CORONATION OF NAPOLEON. + +Measures were taken, as on former occasions, to preserve appearances, by +obtaining, in show at least, the opinion of the people, on this radical +change of their system. Government, however, were already confident of +their approbation, which, indeed, had never been refused to any of the +various constitutions, however inconsistent, that had succeeded each +other with such rapidity. Secure on this point, Bonaparte's accession to +the empire was proclaimed with the greatest pomp, without waiting to +inquire whether the people approved of his promotion or otherwise. The +proclamation was coldly received, even by the populace, and excited +little enthusiasm. It seemed, according to some writers, as if the +shades of D'Enghien and Pichegru had been present invisibly, and spread +a damp over the ceremony. The Emperor was recognised by the soldiery +with more warmth. He visited the encampments at Boulogne, with the +intention, apparently, of receiving such an acknowledgment from the +troops as was paid by the ancient Franks to their monarchs, when they +elevated them on their bucklers. Seated on an iron chair, said to have +belonged to king Dagobert, he took his place between two immense camps, +and having before him the Channel and the hostile coasts of England. The +weather, we have been assured, had been tempestuous, but no sooner had +the Emperor assumed his seat, to receive the homage of his shouting +host, than the sky cleared, and the wind dropt, retaining just breath +sufficient gently to wave the banners. Even the elements seemed to +acknowledge the imperial dignity, all save the sea, which rolled as +carelessly to the feet of Napoleon as it had formerly done towards those +of Canute the Dane. + +The Emperor, accompanied with his Empress, who bore her honours both +gracefully and meekly, visited Aix-la-Chapelle, and the frontiers of +Germany. They received the congratulations of all the powers of Europe, +excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, upon their new exaltation; and +the German princes, who had everything to hope and fear from so powerful +a neighbour, hastened to pay their compliments to Napoleon in person, +which more distant sovereigns offered by their ambassadors. + +But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to +be made, by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon +determined should take place with circumstances of solemnity, which had +been beyond the reach of any temporal prince, however powerful, for +many ages. His policy was often marked by a wish to revive, imitate, and +connect his own titles and interest with, some ancient observance of +former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered +more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low +birth, when raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to conceal +the obscurity of their origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope +Leo, he remembered, had placed a golden crown on the head of +Charlemagne, and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. Pius VII. he +determined should do the same for a successor to much more than the +actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome +to receive inauguration from the hands of the Pontiff of that day, +Napoleon resolved that he who now owned the proud, and in Protestant +eyes profane, title of Vicar of Christ, should travel to France to +perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See of Rome +had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom +also her power had been re-erected and restored, not only in Italy, but +in France itself. + +Humiliating as the compliance with Bonaparte's request must have seemed +to the more devoted Catholics, Pius VII. had already sacrificed, to +obtain the Concordat, so much of the power and privileges of the Roman +See, that he could hardly have been justified if he had run the risk of +losing the advantages of a treaty so dearly purchased, by declining to +incur some personal trouble, or, it might be termed, some direct +self-abasement. The Pope, and the Cardinals whom he consulted, implored +the illumination of heaven upon their councils; but it was the stern +voice of necessity which assured them, that, except at the risk of +dividing the Church by a schism, they could not refuse to comply with +Bonaparte's requisition. The Pope left Rome on the 5th of November. He +was everywhere received on the road with the highest respect, and most +profound veneration; the Alpine precipices themselves had been secured +by parapets wherever they could expose the venerable Father of the +Catholic Church to danger, or even apprehension. Upon the 25th of +November, he met Bonaparte at Fontainbleau; and the conduct of the +Emperor Napoleon was as studiously respectful towards him, as that of +Charlemagne, whom he was pleased to call his predecessor, could have +been towards Leo. + +On the 2nd of December, the ceremony of the coronation took place in +the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony +which could be devised to add to its solemnity. Yet we have been told +that the multitude did not participate in the ceremonial with that +eagerness which characterises the inhabitants of all capitals, but +especially those of Paris, upon similar occasions. They had, within a +very few years, seen so many exhibitions, processions, and festivals, +established on the most discordant principles, which, though announced +as permanent and unchangeable, had successively given way to newer +doctrines, that they considered the splendid representation before them +as an unsubstantial pageant, which would fade away in its turn. +Bonaparte himself seemed absent and gloomy, till recalled to a sense of +his grandeur by the voice of the numerous deputies and functionaries +sent up from all the several departments of France, to witness the +coronation. These functionaries had been selected with due attention to +their political opinions; and many of them holding offices under the +government, or expecting benefits from the Emperor, made up, by the +zealous vivacity of their acclamations, for the coldness of the good +citizens of Paris. + +The Emperor took his coronation oath, as usual on such occasions, with +his hands up on the scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated +to him by the Pope. But in the act of coronation itself, there was a +marked deviation from the universal custom, characteristic of the man, +the age, and the conjuncture. In all other similar solemnities, the +crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding spiritual +person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not even +from the head of the Catholic Church would Bonaparte consent to receive +as a boon the golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he +owed solely to his own unparalleled train of military and civil +successes. The crown having been blessed by the Pope, Napoleon took it +from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his brows. He then +put the diadem on the head of his Empress, as if determined to show that +his authority was the child of his own actions. _Te Deum_ was sung; the +heralds, (for they also had again come into fashion,) proclaimed, "that +the thrice glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French, +was crowned and installed." Thus concluded this remarkable ceremony. +Those who remember having beheld it, must now doubt whether they were +waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so dazzling in its +appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so +ephemeral in its endurance. + +The very day before the ceremony of coronation, (that is, on the 1st of +December,) the senate had waited upon the Emperor with the result of the +votes collected in the departments, which, till that time, had been +taken for granted. Upwards of three millions five hundred thousand +citizens had given their votes on this occasion; of whom only about +three thousand five hundred had declared against the proposition. The +vice-president, Neufchateau, declared, "this report was the unbiassed +expression of the people's choice. No government could plead a title +more authentic." + +Sir Walter occupies his sixth volume with details of the celebrated +battles that were fought between the French and English armies in the +Spanish territories, and which are told with great truth and develope +the extraordinary powers of this celebrated writer. The divorce of +Josephine, and marriage of Maria Louisa, commence the succeeding volume. +The sterility of Bonaparte's wife was now an irremediable evil; and +political motives were to supersede the ties of endearment, affection, +talents, and virtue. Fouché the minister of police, made Josephine the +means of suggesting to Napoleon, the measure of her own divorce, and +subsequently Napoleon made Josephine acquainted with the cruel +certainty, that the separation was ultimately determined upon. + + +NAPOLEON DIVORCED FROM JOSEPHINE. + +When this sentence had finally dissolved their union, the emperor +retired to St. Cloud, where he lived in seclusion for some days. +Josephine, on her part, took up her residence in the beautiful villa of +Malmaison, near St. Germains. Here she principally dwelt for the +remaining years of her life, which were just prolonged to see the first +fall of her husband; an event which might have been averted had he been +content to listen more frequently to her lessons of moderation. Her life +was chiefly spent in cultivating the fine arts, of which she collected +some beautiful specimens, and in pursuing the science of botany; but +especially in the almost daily practice of acts of benevolence and +charity, of which the English _detenus_, of whom there were several at +St. Germains, frequently shared the benefit. Napoleon visited her very +frequently, and always treated her with the respect to which she was +entitled. He added also to her dowry a third million of francs, that +she might feel no inconvenience from the habits of expense to which it +was her foible to be addicted. + + +BONAPARTE MARRIES MARIA LOUISA. + +This important state measure was no sooner completed, than the great +council was summoned, on the 1st of February, to assist the emperor in +the selection of a new spouse. They were given to understand, that a +match with a grand duchess of Russia had been proposed, but was likely +to be embarrassed by disputes concerning religion. A daughter of the +king of Saxony was also mentioned, but it was easily indicated to the +council that their choice ought to fall upon a princess of the house of +Austria. At the conclusion of the meeting, Eugene, son of the repudiated +Josephine, was commissioned by the council to propose to the Austrian +embassador a match between Napoleon and the archduchess Maria Louisa. +Prince Schwarzenberg had his instructions on the subject; so that the +match was proposed, discussed, and decided in the council, and +afterwards adjusted between plenipotentiaries on either side, in the +space of twenty-four hours. The espousals of Napoleon and Maria Louisa +were celebrated at Vienna, 11th March, 1810. The person of Bonaparte was +represented by his favourite Berthier, while the archduke Charles +assisted at the ceremony, in the name of the emperor Francis. A few days +afterwards, the youthful bride, accompanied by the queen of Naples, +proceeded towards France. + +With good taste, Napoleon dispensed with the ceremonies used in the +reception of Marie Antoinette, whose marriage with Louis XVI., though +never named or alluded to, was in other respects the model of the +present solemnity. Near Soissons, a single horseman, no way +distinguished by dress, rode past the carriage in which the young +empress was seated, and had the boldness to return, as if to reconnoitre +more closely. The carriage stopped, the door was opened, and Napoleon, +breaking through all the tediousness of ceremony, introduced himself to +his bride, and came with her to Soissons. The marriage ceremony was +performed at Paris by Bonaparte's uncle, the Cardinal Fesch. The most +splendid rejoicings, illuminations, concerts, festivals, took place upon +this important occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which threw a +shade over these demonstrations of joy. Prince Schwarzenberg had given a +distinguished ball on the occasion, when unhappily the dancing-room, +which was temporary, and erected in the garden, caught fire. No efforts +could stop the progress of the flames, in which several persons +perished, and particularly the sister of Prince Schwarzenberg himself. +This tragic circumstance struck a damp on the public mind, and was +considered as a bad omen, especially when it was remembered that the +marriage of Louis XVI. with a former princess of Austria had been +signalized by a similar disaster. + +As a domestic occurrence, nothing could more contribute to Bonaparte's +happiness than his union with Maria Louisa. He was wont to compare her +with Josephine, by giving the latter all the advantages of art and +grace; the former the charms of simple modesty and innocence. His former +empress used every art to support or enhance her personal charms; but +with so much prudence and mystery, that the secret cares of her toilette +could never be traced--her successor trusted for the power of pleasing +to youth and nature. Josephine mismanaged her revenue, and incurred debt +without scruple. Maria Louisa lived within her income, or if she desired +any indulgence beyond it, which was rarely the case, she asked it as a +favour of Napoleon. Josephine, accustomed to political intrigue, loved +to manage, to influence, and to guide her husband; Maria Louisa desired +only to please and to obey him. Both were excellent women, of great +sweetness of temper, and fondly attached to Napoleon. In the difference +between these distinguished persons, we can easily discriminate the +leading features of the Parisian, and of the simple German beauty; but +it is certainly singular that the artificial character should have +belonged to the daughter of the West Indian planter; that marked by +nature and simplicity, to a princess of the proudest court in Europe. + +Bonaparte, whose domestic conduct was generally praiseworthy, behaved +with the utmost kindness to his princely bride. He observed, however, +the strictest etiquette, and required it from the empress. If it +happened, for example, as was often the case, that he was prevented from +attending at the hour when dinner was placed on the table, he was +displeased if, in the interim of his absence, which was often prolonged, +she either took a book, or had recourse to any female occupation,--if, +in short, he did not find her in the attitude of waiting for the signal +to take her place at table. Perhaps a sense of his inferior birth made +Napoleon more tenacious of this species of form, as what he could not +afford to relinquish. On the other hand, Maria Louisa is said to have +expressed her surprise at her husband's dispensing with the use of arms +and attendance of guards, and at his moving about with the freedom of +an individual; although this could be no great novelty to a member of +the imperial family of Austria, most of whom, and especially the Emperor +Francis, are in the habit of mixing familiarly with the people of +Vienna, at public places, and in the public walks. + +From this date may be traced the declination of Napoleon's greatness. In +the field he was generally unsuccessful, and occasionally murmurs of +discontent were whispered by citizen and soldier. The plot thickens in +the eight volume, and his abdication of the throne of France, and +subsequent journey to Elba, are feelingly narrated by our author. + + +RETURN OF MARIA LOUISA TO HER FATHER, AND DEATH OF JOSEPHINE. + +Maria Louisa made more than one effort to join her husband, but they +were discouraged on the part of Napoleon himself, who, while he +continued to ruminate on renewing the war, could not desire to have the +empress along with him in such an adventure. Shortly afterwards, the +emperor of Austria visited his daughter and her son, then at +Rambouillet, and gave her to understand that she was, for some time at +least, to remain separate from her husband, and that her son and she +were to return to Vienna along with him. She returned, therefore, to her +father's protection. + +It must be also here mentioned, as an extraordinary addition to this +tale of calamity, that Josephine, the former wife of Bonaparte, did not +long survive his downfall. It seemed as if the Obi-woman of Martinico +had spoke truth; for at the time when Napoleon parted from the sharer of +his early fortunes, his grandeur was on the wane, and her death took +place but a few weeks subsequent to his being dethroned and exiled. The +emperor of Russia had visited this lady, and showed her some attention, +with which Napoleon, for reasons we cannot conjecture, was extremely +displeased. She was amply provided for by the treaty of Fontainbleau, +but did not survive to reap any benefit from the provision, as she +shortly after sickened and died at her beautiful villa of Malmaison. She +was buried on the 3rd of June, at the village of Ruel. A vast number of +the lower class attended the obsequies; for she had well deserved the +title of patroness of the poor. + +The residence at Elba, the return, the treachery of Ney, the arrival at +Paris, and Napoleon's repossession of the throne, now occupy the page. +The battle of Waterloo is briefly, but finely described, and indeed the +whole of the ninth volume, to which we have now arrived, is deeply +interesting. We find, however, that we have nearly reached our limits, +and as we shall take an early opportunity of again referring to this +elaborate history, we shall now close with the following extracts;-- + + +CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON ON HIS WAY TO ST. HELENA. + +Upon the Northumberland crossing the line, the emperor desiring to +exhibit his munificence to the seamen, by presenting them with a hundred +louis d'or, under pretext of paying the ordinary fine, Sir George +Cockburn, considering this tribute to Neptune as too excessive in +amount, would not permit the donative to exceed a tenth part of the sum; +and Napoleon offended by the restriction, paid nothing at all. Upon +another occasion, early in the voyage, a difference in national manners +gave rise to one of those slight misunderstandings which we have +noticed. Napoleon was accustomed, like all Frenchmen, to leave the table +immediately after dinner, and Sir George Cockburn, with the English +officers, remained after him at table; for, in permitting his French +guests their liberty, the admiral did not choose to admit the right of +Napoleon to break up the party at his, Sir George's, own table. This +gave some discontent. Notwithstanding these trifling subjects of +dissatisfaction, Las Cases informs us that the admiral, whom he took to +be prepossessed against them at first, became every day more amicable. +The emperor used to take his arm every evening on the quarter-deck, and +hold long conversations with him upon maritime subjects, as well as past +events in general. + +While on board the Northumberland, the late emperor spent his mornings +in reading or writing; his evenings in his exercise upon deck, and at +cards. The game was generally _vingt un_. But when the play became +rather deep, he discouraged that amusement, and substituted chess. Great +tactician as he was, Napoleon did not play well at that military game, +and it was with difficulty that his antagonist, Montholon, could avoid +the solecism, of beating the emperor. + +During this voyage, Napoleon's _jour de fęte_ occurred, which was also +his birthday. It was the 15th of August; a day for which the Pope had +expressly canonized a St. Napoleon to be the emperor's patron. And now, +strange revolution, it was celebrated by him on board of an English +man-of-war, which was conducting him to his place of imprisonment, and, +as it proved, his tomb. Yet Napoleon seemed cheerful and contented +during the whole day, and was even pleased at being fortunate at play, +which he received as a good omen. + +Upon the 15th of October, 1815, the Northumberland reached St. Helena, +which presents but an unpromising aspect to those who design it for a +residence, though it may be a welcome sight to the seaworn mariner. Its +destined inhabitant, from the deck of the Northumberland, surveyed it +with his spy-glass. St. James' Town, an inconsiderable village, was +before him, enchased, as it were in a valley, amid arid and scarped +rocks of immense height; every platform, every opening, every gorge, was +bristled with cannon. Las Cases, who stood by him, could not perceive +the slightest alteration of his countenance. The orders of government +had been, that Napoleon should remain on board till a residence could be +prepared suitable for the line of life he was to lead in future. But as +this was likely to be a work of time, Sir George Cockburn readily +undertook, on his own responsibility, to put his passengers on shore, +and provide in some way for the security of Napoleon's person, until the +necessary habitation should be fitted up. He was accordingly transferred +to land upon the 16th of October; and thus the emperor of France, nay, +wellnigh of Europe, sunk into the recluse of St. Helena. + + +DEATH OF NAPOLEON + +During the 3rd of May, it was seen that the life of Napoleon was drawing +evidently to a close; and his followers, and particularly his physician, +became desirous to call in more medical assistance;--that of Dr. Shortt, +physician to the forces, and of Dr. Mitchell, surgeon of the flag-ship, +was referred to. Dr. Shortt, however, thought it proper to assert the +dignity belonging to his profession, and refused to give an opinion on a +case of so much importance in itself, and attended with so much +obscurity, unless he were permitted to see and examine the patient. The +officers of Napoleon's household excused themselves, by professing that +the emperor's strict commands had been laid on them, that no English +physician, Dr. Arnott excepted, should approach his dying bed. They +said, that even when he was speechless they would be unable to brook his +eye, should he turn it upon them in reproof for their disobedience. + +About two o'clock of the same day, the priest Vignali administered the +sacrament of extreme unction. Some days before, Napoleon had explained +to him the manner in which he desired his body should be laid out in +state, in an apartment lighted by torches, or what Catholics call _une +chambre ardente_. "I am neither," he said in the same phrase which we +have formerly quoted, "a philosopher nor a physician. I believe in God, +and am of the religion of my father. It is not everybody who can be an +atheist. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of the +Catholic church, and receive the assistance which it administers." He +then turned to Dr. Antommarchi, whom he seems to have suspected of +heterodoxy, which the doctor, however, disowned. "How can you carry it +so far?" he said. "Can you not believe in God, whose existence every +thing proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have believed?" + +As if to mark a closing point of resemblance betwixt Cromwell and +Napoleon, a dreadful tempest arose on the 4th of May, which preceded the +day that was to close the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A +willow, which had been the exile's favourite, and under which he had +often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the hurricane; and almost +all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate. + +The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Napoleon's passing spirit was +deliriously engaged in a strife more terrible than that of the elements +around. The words "_tęte d'armée_" the last which escaped his lips, +intimated that his thoughts were watching the current of a heady fight. +About eleven minutes before six in the evening, Napoleon, after a +struggle which indicated the original strength of his constitution, +breathed his last. + + +HIS FUNERAL. + +Bonaparte was buried on the 8th of May, in a small secluded recess +called Slane's, or Haine's Valley, where a fountain arose, at which his +Chinese domestics used to fill the silver pitchers, which they carried +to Longwood for Napoleon's use. "All the troops were under arms upon the +solemn occasion. As the road did not permit a near approach of the +hearse to the place of sepulture, a party of British grenadiers had the +honour to bear the coffin to the grave. The prayers were recited by the +priest, Abbé Vignali. Minute guns were fired from the admiral's ship. +The coffin was then let down into the grave, under a discharge of three +successive volleys of artillery, fifteen pieces of cannon firing fifteen +guns each. A large stone was then lowered down on the grave, and covered +the moderate space now sufficient for the man for whom Europe was once +too little." + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + +***** This file should be named 9883-8.txt or 9883-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/8/9883/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: December 5, 2011 [EBook #9883] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 27, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + +</pre> + + + <br /> + <br /> +<hr class="full" /> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span> + <!-- Mirror of Literature header --> + <h1>THE MIRROR<br /> + OF<br /> + LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> + <hr class="full" /> + <table width="100%"> + <tr> + <td align="left"><b>Vol. 10, No. 263.]</b></td> + <td align="center"><b>SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER.</b></td> + <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> + </tr> + </table> + <hr class="full" /> + <!-- end of header --> + <h2>SIR WALTER SCOTT'S LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.</h2> + <h4>(<i>Continued from page 5.</i>)</h4> + <p>Robespierre was a coward, who signed death-warrants with a hand that shook, though + his heart was relentless. He possessed no passions on which to charge his crimes; + they were perpetrated in cold blood, and upon mature deliberation.</p> + <p>Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate, had attracted the attention of the + lower orders, by the violence of his sentiments in the journal which he conducted + from the commencement of the revolution, upon such principles that it took the lead + in forwarding its successive changes. His political exhortations began and ended like + the howl of a blood-hound for murder; or, if a wolf could have written a journal, the + gaunt and famished wretch could not have ravened more eagerly for slaughter. It was + blood which was Marat's constant demand, not in drops from the breast of an + individual, not in puny streams from the slaughter of families, but blood in the + profusion of an ocean. His usual calculation of the heads which he demanded amounted + to two hundred and sixty thousand; and though he sometimes raised it as high as three + hundred thousand, it never fell beneath the smaller number. It may be hoped, and for + the honour of human nature we are inclined to believe, there was a touch of insanity + in this unnatural strain of ferocity; and the wild and squalid features of the wretch + appear to have intimated a degree of alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre, + a coward. Repeatedly denounced in the assembly, he skulked instead of defending + himself, and lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar among his cut-throats, + until a storm appeared, when, like a bird of ill omen, his death-screech was again + heard. Such was the strange and fatal triumvirate, in which the same degree of + cannibal cruelty existed under different aspects. Danton murdered to glut his rage; + Robespierre to avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival whom he envied; Marat, + from the same instinctive love of blood, which induces a wolf to continue his ravage + of the flocks long after his hunger is appeased.</p> + <p>Passing by the horrors of the reign of terror, we shall close the second volume + with a vivid and powerful picture, which we cannot refrain quoting—</p> + <h4>THE DEATH OF ROBESPIERRE.</h4> + <p>Meantime the convention continued to maintain the bold and commanding front which + they had so suddenly and critically assumed. Upon learning the escape of the arrested + deputies, and hearing of the insurrection at the Hotel de Ville, they instantly + passed a decree outlawing Robespierre and his associates, inflicting a similar doom + upon the mayor of Paris, the procureur and other members of the commune, and charging + twelve of their members, the boldest who could be selected, to proceed with the armed + force to the execution of the sentence. The drums of the National Guards now beat to + arms in all the sections under authority of the convention, while the tocsin + continued to summon assistance with its iron voice to Robespierre and the civic + magistrates. Every thing appeared to threaten a violent catastrophe, until it was + seen clearly that the public voice, and especially amongst the National Guards, was + declaring itself generally against the Terrorists.</p> + <p>The Hotel de Ville was surrounded by about fifteen hundred men, and cannon turned + upon the doors. The force of the assailants was weakest in point of number, but their + leaders were men of spirit, and night concealed their inferiority of force.</p> + <p>The deputies commissioned for the purpose read the decree of the assembly to those + whom they found assembled in front of the city-hall, and they shrunk from the attempt + of defending it, some joining the assailants, others laying down their arms and + dispersing. Meantime the deserted group of Terrorists within conducted themselves + like scorpions, which, when surrounded by a circle of fire, are said to turn their + stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding took place + among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means you promised to furnish?" + said Payan to Henriot, whom he found intoxicated and incapable of resolution or + exertion; and seizing on him as he spoke, he precipitated the revolutionary general + from a window. Henriot survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which + he was afterwards discovered and brought out to execution. The younger <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> Robespierre threw + himself from the window, but had not the good fortune to perish on the spot. It + seemed as if even the melancholy fate of suicide, the last refuge of guilt and + despair, was denied to men who had so long refused every species of mercy to their + fellow-creatures. Le Bas alone had calmness enough to despatch himself with a + pistol-shot. Saint Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, attempted his own + life with an irresolute hand, and failed, Couthon lay beneath the table brandishing a + knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without daring to add force enough + to reach his heart. Their chief, Robespierre, in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot + himself, had only inflicted a horrible fracture on his under-jaw.</p> + <p>In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with blood, + mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay on a table in an + anti-room, his head supported by a deal-box, and his hideous countenance half-hidden + by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round the shattered chin.<a id="footnotetag1" + name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> + <p>The captives were carried in triumph to the convention, who, without admitting + them to the bar, ordered them, as outlaws, for instant execution. As the fatal cars + passed to the guillotine, those who filled them, but especially Robespierre, were + overwhelmed with execrations from the friends and relatives of victims whom he had + sent on the same melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the + cloth had never been removed till the executioner tore it off, added to the torture + of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch yelled aloud, to the + horror of the spectators.<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a + href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> A mask taken from that dreadful head was long + exhibited in different nations of Europe, and appalled the spectator by its ugliness, + and the mixture of fiendish expression with that of bodily agony.</p> + <p>Thus fell Maximilian Robespierre, after having been the first person in the French + republic for nearly two years, during which time he governed it upon the principles + of Nero or Caligula. His elevation to the situation which he held involved more + contradictions than perhaps attach to any similar event in history. A low-born and + low-minded tyrant was permitted to rule with the rod of the most frightful despotism + a people, whose anxiety for liberty had shortly before rendered them unable to endure + the rule of a humane and lawful sovereign. A dastardly coward arose to the command of + one of the bravest nations in the world; and it was under the auspices of a man who + dared scarce fire a pistol, that the greatest generals in France began their careers + of conquest. He had neither eloquence nor imagination; but substituted in their stead + a miserable, affected, bombastic style, which, until other circumstances gave him + consequence, drew on him general ridicule. Yet against so poor an orator, all the + eloquence of the philosophical Girondists, all the terrible powers of his associate + Danton, employed in a popular assembly, could not enable them to make an effectual + resistance. It may seem trifling to mention, that in a nation where a good deal of + prepossession is excited by amiable manners and beauty of external appearance, the + person who ascended to the highest power was not only ill-looking, but singularly + mean in person, awkward and constrained in his address, ignorant how to set about + pleasing even when he most desired to give pleasure, and as tiresome nearly as he was + odious and heartless.</p> + <p>To compensate all these deficiencies, Robespierre had but an insatiable ambition, + founded on a vanity which made him think himself capable of filling the highest + situation; and therefore gave him daring, when to dare is frequently to achieve. He + mixed a false and over-strained, but rather fluent species of bombastic composition, + with the grossest flattery to the lowest classes of the people; in consideration of + which, they could not but receive as genuine the praises which he always bestowed on + himself. His prudent resolution to be satisfied with possessing the essence of power, + without seeming to desire its rank and trappings, formed another art of cajoling the + multitude. His watchful envy, his long-protracted but sure revenge, his craft, which + to vulgar minds supplies the place of wisdom, were his only means of competing with + his distinguished antagonists. And it seems to have been a merited punishment of the + extravagances and abuses of the French revolution, that it engaged the country in a + state of anarchy which permitted a wretch such as we have described, to be for a long + period master of her destiny. Blood was his element, like that of the other + Terrorists, and he never fastened with so much pleasure on a new <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> victim, as when he + was at the same time an ancient associate. In an epitaph, of which the following + couplet may serve as a translation, his life was represented as incompatible with the + existence of the human race:—</p> + <blockquote class="poetry"> + "Here lies Robespierre—let no tear be shed;<br /> + Reader, if he had lived, thou hadst been dead." + </blockquote> + <p>The commencement of the third volume introduces us to the family of Bonaparte, who + resided in the island of Corsica, which was, in ancient times, remarkable as the + scene of Seneca's exile, and in the last century was distinguished by the memorable + stand which the natives made in defence of their liberties against the Genoese and + French, during a war which tended to show the high and indomitable spirit of the + islanders, united as it is with the fiery and vindictive feelings proper to their + country and climate.</p> + <h4>BIRTH OF BONAPARTE.</h4> + <p>Charles Bonaparte, the father of Napoleon, died at the age of about forty years, + of an ulcer in the stomach, on the 24th of February, 1785. His celebrated son fell a + victim to the same disease. During Napoleon's grandeur, the community of Montpellier + expressed a desire to erect a monument to the memory of Charles Bonaparte. His answer + was both sensible and in good taste. "Had I lost my father yesterday," he said, "it + would be natural to pay his memory some mark of respect consistent with my present + situation. But it is twenty years since the event, and it is one in which the public + can take no concern. Let us leave the dead in peace."</p> + <p>The subject of our narrative was born, according to the best accounts, and his own + belief, upon the 15th day of August, 1769, at his father's house in Ajaccio, forming + one side of a court which leads out of the Rue Charles.<a id="footnotetag3" + name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> We read with interest, + that his mother's good constitution, and bold character of mind, having induced her + to attend mass upon the day of his birth, (being the Festival of the Assumption,) she + was obliged to return home immediately, and as there was no time to prepare a bed or + bedroom, she was delivered of the future victor upon a temporary couch prepared for + her accommodation, and covered with an ancient piece of tapestry, representing the + heroes of the Iliad. The infant was christened by the name of Napoleon, an obscure + saint, who had dropped to leeward, and fallen altogether out of the calendar, so that + his namesake never knew which day he was to celebrate as the festival of his patron. + When questioned, on this subject by the bishop who confirmed him, he answered + smartly, that there were a great many saints, and only three hundred and sixty-five + days to divide amongst them. The politeness of the pope promoted the patron in order + to compliment the god-child, and Saint Napoleon des Ursins was accommodated with a + festival. To render this compliment, which no one but a pope could have paid, still + more flattering, the feast of Saint Napoleon was fixed for the fifteenth August, the + birthday of the emperor, and the day on which he signed the Concordat. So that + Napoleon had the rare honour of promoting his patron saint.</p> + <h4>NAPOLEON'S EARLY LIFE.</h4> + <p>The young Napoleon had, of course, the simple and hardy education proper to the + natives of the mountainous island of his birth, and in his infancy was not remarkable + for more than that animation of temper, and wilfulness and impatience of inactivity, + by which children of quick parts and lively sensibility are usually distinguished. + The winter of the year was generally passed by the family of his father at Ajaccio, + where they still preserve and exhibit, as the ominous play-thing of Napoleon's + boyhood, the model of a brass cannon, weighing about thirty pounds.<a + id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> We + leave it to philosophers to inquire, whether the future love of war was suggested by + the accidental possession of such a toy; or whether the tendency of the mind dictated + the selection of it; or, lastly, whether the nature of the pastime, corresponding + with the taste which chose it, may not have had each their action and reaction, and + contributed between them to the formation of a character so warlike.</p> + <p>The same traveller who furnishes the above anecdote, gives an interesting account + of the country retreat of the family of Bonaparte during the summer.</p> + <p>Going along the sea-shore from Ajaccio towards the Isle Sanguiniere, about a mile + from the town, occur two stone pillars, the remains of a doorway, leading up to a + dilapidated villa, once the residence of Madame Bonaparte's half-brother on the + mother's side, whom Napoleon created Cardinal Fesch.<a id="footnotetag5" + name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> The house is approached + by an avenue, surrounded and overhung by the cactus and other shrubs, which luxuriate + in a warm climate. It has a garden and a lawn, showing amidst <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> neglect vestiges of + their former beauty, and the house is surrounded by shrubberies, permitted to run to + wilderness. This was the summer residence of Madame Bonaparte and her family. Almost + enclosed by the wild olive, the cactus, the clematis, and the almond-tree, is a very + singular and isolated granite rock, called Napoleon's grotto, which seems to have + resisted the decomposition which has taken place around. The remains of a small + summer-house are visible beneath the rock, the entrance to which is nearly closed by + a luxuriant fig-tree. This was Bonaparte's frequent retreat, when the vacations of + the school at which he studied permitted him to visit home. How the imagination + labours to form an idea of the visions, which, in this sequestered and romantic spot, + must have arisen before the eyes of the future hero of a hundred battles!</p> + <p>Bonaparte's ardour for the abstract sciences amounted to a passion, and was + combined with a singular aptitude for applying them to the purposes of war, while his + attention to pursuits so interesting and exhaustless in themselves, was stimulated by + his natural ambition and desire of distinction. Almost all the scientific teachers at + Brienne, being accustomed to study the character of their pupils, and obliged by + their duty to make memoranda and occasional reports on the subject, spoke of the + talents of Bonaparte, and the progress of his studies, with admiration. Circumstances + of various kinds, exaggerated or invented, have been circulated concerning the youth + of a person so remarkable. The following are given upon good authority.<a + id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></p> + <p>The conduct of Napoleon among his companions was that of a studious and reserved + youth, addicting himself deeply to the means of improvement, and rather avoiding than + seeking the usual temptations to dissipation of time. He had few friends, and no + intimates; yet at different times, when he chose to exert it, he exhibited + considerable influence over his fellow-students, and when there was any joint plan to + be carried into effect, he was frequently chosen dictator of the little republic.</p> + <p>In the time of winter, Bonaparte, upon one occasion, engaged his companions in + constructing a fortress out of the snow, regularly defended by ditches and bastions, + according to the rules of fortification. It was considered as displaying the great + powers of the juvenile engineer in the way of his profession, and was attacked and + defended by the students, who divided into parties for the purpose, until the battle + became so keen that their superiors thought it proper to proclaim a truce.</p> + <p>The young Bonaparte gave another instance of address and enterprise upon the + following occasion. There was a fair held annually in the neighbourhood of Brienne, + where the pupils of the Military School used to find a day's amusement; but on + account of a quarrel betwixt them and the country people upon a former occasion, or + for some such cause, the masters of the institution had directed that the students + should not on the fair-day be permitted to go beyond their own precincts, which were + surrounded with a wall. Under the direction of the young Corsican, however, the + scholars had already laid a plot for securing their usual day's diversion. They had + undermined the wall which encompassed their exercising ground, with so much skill and + secrecy, that their operations remained entirely unknown till the morning of the + fair, when a part of the boundary unexpectedly fell, and gave a free passage to the + imprisoned students, of which they immediately took the advantage, by hurrying to the + prohibited scene of amusement.</p> + <p>But although on these, and perhaps other occasions, Bonaparte displayed some of + the frolic temper of youth, mixed with the inventive genius and the talent for + commanding others by which he was distinguished in after time, his life at school was + in general that of a recluse and severe student, acquiring by his judgment, and + treasuring in his memory, that wonderful process of almost unlimited combination, by + means of which he was afterwards able to simplify the most difficult and complicated + undertakings. His mathematical teacher was proud of the young islander, as the boast + of his school, and his other scientific instructors had the same reason to be + satisfied.</p> + <p>In languages Bonaparte was less a proficient, and never acquired the art of + writing or spelling French, far less foreign languages, with accuracy or correctness; + nor had the monks of Brienne any reason to pride themselves on the classical + proficiency of their scholar. The full energies of his mind being devoted to the + scientific pursuits of his profession, left little time or inclination for other + studies.</p> + <p>Though of Italian origin, Bonaparte had not a decided taste for the fine arts, and + his taste in composition seems to have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page21" + name="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> leaned towards the grotesque and the bombastic. He + used always the most exaggerated phrases; and it is seldom, if ever, that his + bulletins present those touches of sublimity which are founded on dignity and + simplicity of expression.</p> + <p>Notwithstanding the external calmness and reserve of his deportment, he who was + destined for such great things had, while yet a student at Brienne, a full share of + that ambition for distinction and dread of disgrace, that restless and irritating + love of fame, which is the spur to extraordinary attempts. Sparkles of this keen + temper sometimes showed themselves. On one occasion, a harsh superintendant imposed + on the future emperor, for some trifling fault, the disgrace of wearing a penitential + dress, and being excluded from the table of the students, and obliged to eat his meal + apart. His pride felt the indignity so severely, that it brought on a severe nervous + attack; to which, though otherwise of good constitution, he was subject upon + occasions of extraordinary irritation. Father Petrault, the professor of mathematics, + hastened to deliver his favourite pupil from the punishment by which he was so much + affected.</p> + <p>It is also said that an early disposition to the popular side distinguished + Bonaparte even when at Brienne. Pichegru, afterwards so celebrated, who acted as his + monitor in the military school, (a singular circumstance,) bore witness to his early + principles, and to the peculiar energy and tenacity of his temper. He was long + afterwards consulted whether means might not be found to engage the commander of the + Italian armies in the royal interest. "It will be but lost time to attempt it," said + Pichegru. "I knew him in his youth—his character is inflexible—he has + taken his side, and he will not change it."</p> + <p>In 1783, Napoleon Bonaparte, then only fourteen years old, was, though under the + usual age, selected by Monsieur de Keralio, the inspector of the twelve military + schools, to be sent to have his education completed in the general school of Paris. + It was a compliment paid to the precocity of his extraordinary mathematical talent, + and the steadiness of his application. While at Paris he attracted the same notice as + at Brienne; and among other society, frequented that of the celebrated Abbé + Raynal, and was admitted to his literary parties. His taste did not become correct, + but his appetite for study in all departments was greatly enlarged; and + notwithstanding the quantity which he daily read, his memory was strong enough to + retain, and his judgment sufficiently ripe to arrange and digest, the knowledge which + he then acquired; so that he had it at his command during all the rest of his busy + life. Plutarch was his favourite author; upon the study of whom he had so modelled + his opinions and habits of thought, that Paoli afterwards pronounced him a young man + of an antique caste, and resembling one of the classical heroes.</p> + <p>Some of his biographers have about this time ascribed to him the anecdote of a + certain youthful pupil of the military school, who desired to ascend in the car of a + balloon with the aëronaut Blanchard, and was so mortified at being refused, that + he made an attempt to cut the balloon with his sword. The story has but a flimsy + support, and indeed does not accord well with the character of the hero, which was + deep and reflective, as well as bold and determined, and not likely to suffer its + energies to escape in idle and useless adventure.</p> + <p>A better authenticated anecdote states, that at this time he expressed himself + disrespectfully towards the king in one of his letters to his family. According to + the practice of the school, he was obliged to submit the letter to the censorship of + Monsieur Domairon, the professor of belles lettres, who, taking notice of the + offensive passage, insisted upon the letter being burnt, and added a severe rebuke. + Long afterwards, in 1802, Monsieur Domairon was commanded to attend Napoleon's levee, + in order that he might receive a pupil in the person of Jerome Bonaparte, when the + first consul reminded his old tutor good-humouredly, that times had changed + considerably since the burning of the letter.</p> + <p>Napoleon Bonaparte, in his seventieth year, received his first commission as + second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery, and was almost immediately afterwards + promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in the corps quartered at Valence. He + mingled with society when he joined his regiment, more than he had hitherto been + accustomed to do; mixed in public amusements, and exhibited the powers of pleasing, + which he possessed in an uncommon degree when he chose to exert them. His handsome + and intelligent features, with his active and neat, though slight figure, gave him + additional advantages. His manners could scarcely be called elegant, but made up in + vivacity and variety of expression, and often in great spirit and energy, for what + they wanted in grace and polish.</p> + <p>He became an adventurer for the honours of literature also, and was anonymously a + competitor for the prize offered by the Academy of Lyons on Raynal's question, "What + are the principles and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[pg + 22]</span> institutions, by application of which mankind can be raised to the highest + pitch of happiness?" The prize was adjudged to the young soldier. It is impossible to + avoid feeling curiosity to know the character of the juvenile theories respecting + government, advocated by one who at length attained the power of practically making + what experiments he pleased. Probably his early ideas did not exactly coincide with + his more mature practice; for when Talleyrand, many years afterwards, got the essay + out of the records of the academy, and returned it to the author, Bonaparte destroyed + it after he had read a few pages. He also laboured under the temptation of writing a + journey to Mount Cenis, after the manner of Sterne, which he was fortunate enough + finally to resist. The affectation which pervades Sterne's peculiar style of + composition was not likely to be simplified under the pen of Bonaparte.</p> + <p>Sterner times were fast approaching, and the nation was now fully divided by those + factions which produced the revolution. The officers of Bonaparte's regiment were + also divided into royalists and patriots; and it is easily to be imagined, that the + young and friendless stranger and adventurer should adopt that side to which he had + already shown some inclination, and which promised to open the most free career to + those who had only their merit to rely on. "Were I a general officer," he is alleged + to have said, "I would have adhered to the king; being a subaltern, I join the + patriots."</p> + <p>There was a story current, that in a debate with some brother officers on the + politics of the time, Bonaparte expressed himself so outrageously, that they were + provoked to throw him into the Rhone, where he had nearly perished. But this is an + inaccurate account of the accident which actually befell him. He was seized with the + cramp when bathing in the river. His comrades saved him with difficulty, but his + danger was matter of pure chance.</p> + <p>Napoleon has himself recorded that he was a warm patriot during the whole sitting + of the National Assembly; but that on the appointment of the Legislative Assembly, he + became shaken in his opinions. If so, his original sentiments regained force, for we + shortly afterwards find him entertaining such as went to the extreme heights of the + revolution.</p> + <p>Early in the year 1792, Bonaparte became a captain in the artillery by seniority; + and in the same year, being at Paris, he witnessed the two insurrections of the 20th + of June and 10th of August. He was accustomed to speak of the insurgents as the most + despicable banditti, and to express with what ease a determined officer could have + checked these apparently formidable, but dastardly and unwieldy masses. But with what + a different feeling of interest would Napoleon have looked on that infuriated + populace, those still resisting though overpowered Swiss, and that burning palace, + had any seer whispered to him, "Emperor that shall be, all this blood and massacre is + but to prepare your future empire!" Little anticipating the potent effect which the + passing events were to bear on his own fortune, Bonaparte, anxious for the safety of + his mother and family, was now desirous to change France for Corsica, where the same + things were acting on a less distinguished stage.</p> + <h4>BONAPARTE'S FIRST MILITARY EXPLOIT.</h4> + <p>Napoleon's first military exploit was in the civil war of his native island. In + the year 1793, he was despatched from Bastia, in possession of the French party, to + surprise his native town Ajaccio, then occupied by Paoli or his adherents. Bonaparte + was acting provisionally, as commanding a battalion of National Guards. He landed in + the Gulf of Ajaccio with about fifty men, to take possession of a tower called the + Torre di Capitello, on the opposite side of the gulf, and almost facing the city. He + succeeded in taking the place; but as there arose a gale of wind which prevented his + communicating with the frigate which had put him ashore, he was besieged in his new + conquest by the opposite faction, and reduced to such distress, that he and his + little garrison were obliged to feed on horse-flesh. After five days he was relieved + by the frigate, and evacuated the tower, having first in vain attempted to blow it + up. The Torre di Capitello still shows marks of the damage it then sustained, and its + remains may be looked on as a curiosity, as the first scene of <i>his</i> combats, + before whom</p> + <blockquote class="poetry"> + —"Temple and tower<br /> + Went to the ground.— + </blockquote> + <p>A relation of Napoleon, Masserio by name, effectually defended Ajaccio against the + force employed in the expedition.</p> + <p>The strength of Paoli increasing, and the English preparing to assist him, Corsica + became no longer a safe or convenient residence for the Bonaparte family. Indeed, + both Napoleon and his brother Lucien, who had distinguished themselves as partisans + of the French, were subjected to a decree of banishment from their native island; and + Madame Bonaparte, with her three daughters, and Jerome, who was as yet but a child, + set sail under their protection, and settled for a time, <span class="pagenum"><a + id="page23" name="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> first at Nice, and afterwards at + Marseilles, where the family is supposed to have undergone considerable distress, + until the dawning prospects of Napoleon afforded him the means of assisting them.</p> + <p>Napoleon never again revisited Corsica, nor does he appear to have regarded it + with any feelings of affection. One small fountain at Ajaccio is pointed out as the + only ornament which his bounty bestowed on his birthplace. He might perhaps think it + impolitic to do any thing which might remind the country he ruled that he was not a + child of her soil, nay, was in fact very near having been born an alien, for Corsica + was not united to, or made an integral part of France, until June, 1769, a few weeks + only before Napoleon's birth. This stigma was repeatedly cast upon him by his + opponents, some of whom reproached the French with having adopted a master, from a + country from which the ancient Romans were unwilling even to choose a slave; and + Napoleon may have been so far sensible to it, as to avoid showing any predilection to + the place of his birth, which might bring the circumstance strongly under the + observation of the great nation, with which he and his family seemed to be + indissolubly united. But, as a traveller already quoted, and who had the best + opportunities to become acquainted with the feelings of the proud islanders, has + expressed it,—"The Corsicans are still highly patriotic, and possess strong + local attachment—in their opinion, contempt for the country of one's birth is + never to be redeemed by any other qualities. Napoleon, therefore, certainly was not + popular in Corsica, nor is his memory cherished there."<a id="footnotetag7" + name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a></p> + <p>The feelings of the parties were not unnatural on either side. Napoleon, little + interested in the land of his birth, and having such an immense stake in that of his + adoption, in which he had every thing to keep and lose,<a id="footnotetag8" + name="footnotetag8"></a><a href="#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> observed a policy + towards Corsica which his position rendered advisable; and who can blame the + high-spirited islanders, who, seeing one of their countrymen raised to such exalted + eminence, and disposed to forget his connexion with them, returned with slight and + indifference the disregard with which he treated them?</p> + <p>The siege of Toulon was the first incident of importance which enabled Bonaparte + to distinguish himself in the eyes of the French government and of the world at + large. Shortly afterwards he was appointed chief of battalion in the army of Italy, + and on the fall of Robespierre, Bonaparte superseded in command. At the conflict + between the troops of the Convention under Napoleon, and those of the Sections of + Paris under Damican, the latter was defeated with much slaughter, and Bonaparte was + appointed general-in-chief in command of the army of the interior.</p> + <h4>BONAPARTE'S FIRST MARRIAGE.</h4> + <p>Meantime circumstances, which we will relate according to his own statement, + introduced Bonaparte to an acquaintance, which was destined to have much influence on + his future fate. A fine boy, of ten or twelve years old, presented himself at the + levee of the general of the interior, with a request of a nature unusually + interesting. He stated his name to be Eugene Beauharnois, son of the ci-devant + Vicomte de Beauharnois, who, adhering to the revolutionary party, had been a general + in the republican service upon the Rhine, and falling under the causeless suspicion + of the committee of public safety, was delivered to the revolutionary tribunal, and + fell by its sentence just four days before the overthrow of Robespierre. Eugene was + come to request of Bonaparte, as general of the interior, that his father's sword + might be restored to him. The prayer of the young supplicant was as interesting as + his manners were engaging, and Napoleon felt so much interest in him, that he was + induced to cultivate the acquaintance of Eugene's mother, afterwards the empress + Josephine.</p> + <p>The lady was a Creolian, the daughter of a planter in St. Domingo. Her name at + full length was Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie. She had suffered her share + of revolutionary miseries. After her husband, General Beauharnois, had been deprived + of his command, she was arrested as a suspected person, and detained in prison till + the general liberation, which succeeded the revolution of the 9th Thermidor. While in + confinement, Madame Beauharnois had formed an intimacy with a companion in distress, + Madame Fontenai, now Madame Tallien, from which she derived great advantages after + her friend's marriage. With a remarkably graceful person, amiable manners, and an + inexhaustible fund of good-humour, Madame Beauharnois was formed to be an ornament to + society. Barras, the Thermidorien hero, himself an ex-noble, was fond of society, + desirous of enjoying it on an agreeable scale, and of washing away the dregs which + Jacobinism had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> + mingled with all the dearest interests of life. He loved show, too, and pleasure, and + might now indulge both without the risk of falling under the suspicion of incivism, + which, in the Reign of Terror, would have been incurred by any attempt to intermingle + elegance with the enjoyments of social intercourse. At the apartments which he + occupied, as one of the Directory, in the Luxemburg Palace, he gave its free course + to his natural taste, and assembled an agreeable society of both sexes. Madame + Tallien and her friend formed the soul of these assemblies, and it was supposed that + Barras was not insensible to the charms of Madame Beauharnois,—a rumour which + was likely to arise, whether with or without foundation.</p> + <p>When Madame Beauharnois and General Bonaparte became intimate, the latter assures + us, and we see no reason to doubt him, that although the lady was two or three years + older than himself,<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a + href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> yet being still in the full bloom of beauty, and + extremely agreeable in her manners, he was induced, solely by her personal charms, to + make her an offer of his hand, heart, and fortunes,—little supposing, of + course, to what a pitch the latter were to arise.</p> + <p>Although he himself is said to have been a fatalist, believing in destiny and in + the influence of his star, he knew nothing, probably, of the prediction of a negro + sorceress, who, while Marie Joseph was but a child, prophesied she should rise to a + dignity greater than that of a queen, yet fall from it before her death.<a + id="footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a><a href="#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a> + This was one of those vague auguries, delivered at random by fools or impostors, + which the caprice of fortune sometimes matches with a corresponding and conforming + event. But without trusting to the African sibyl's prediction, Bonaparte may have + formed his match under the auspices of ambition as well as love. The marrying Madame + Beauharnois was a mean of uniting his fortune with those of Barras and Tallien, the + first of whom governed France as one of the Directors; and the last, from talents and + political connexions, had scarcely inferior influence. He had already deserved well + of them for his conduct on the Day of the Sections, but he required their countenance + to rise still higher; and without derogating from the bride's merits, we may suppose + her influence in their society corresponded with the views of her lover. It is, + however, certain, that he always regarded her with peculiar affection; that he relied + on her fate, which he considered as linked with and strengthening his own; and + reposed, besides, considerable confidence in Josephine's tact and address in + political business. She had at all times the art of mitigating his temper, and + turning aside the hasty determinations of his angry moments, not by directly + opposing, but by gradually parrying and disarming them. It must be added to her great + praise, that she was always a willing and often a successful advocate in the cause of + humanity.</p> + <p>They were married 9th of March, 1796; and the dowry of the bride was the chief + command of the Italian armies, a scene which opened a full career to the ambition of + the youthful general. Bonaparte remained with his wife only three days after his + marriage, hastened to see his family, who were still at Marseilles, and, having + enjoyed the pleasure of exhibiting himself as a favourite of fortune in the city + which he had lately left in the capacity of an indigent adventurer, proceeded rapidly + to commence the career to which fate called him, by placing himself at the head of + the Italian army.</p> + <p>The renowned Italian campaigns occupy the remainder of the third, and some part of + the fourth volume, to which we now proceed. It will be remembered that the war in + Egypt being triumphantly concluded on the part of Great Britain, the news of the + contest reached France some time before the English received it. Napoleon, on + learning the tidings, is reported to have said, "Well, there remains now no + alternative but to make the descent on Britain."</p> + <h4>PROPOSED INVASION OF GREAT BRITAIN.</h4> + <p>As the words of the first consul appeard to intimate, preparations were resumed on + the French coast for the invasion of Great Britain. Boulogne and every harbour along + the coast was crowded with flat-bottomed boats, and the shores covered with camps of + the men designed apparently to fill them. We need not at present dwell on the + preparations for attack, or those which the English adopted in defence, as we shall + have occasion to notice both, when Bonaparte, for the last time, threatened England + with the same <span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> + measure. It is enough to say, that, on the present occasion, the menaces of France + had their usual effect in awakening the spirit of Britain.</p> + <p>The most extensive arrangements were made for the reception of the invaders should + they chance to land, and in the meanwhile, our natural barrier was not neglected. The + naval preparations were very great, and what gave yet more confidence than the number + of vessels and guns, Nelson was put into command of the sea, from Orfordness to + Beachy-head. Under his management, it soon became the question, not whether the + French flotilla was to invade the British shores, but whether it was to remain in + safety in the French harbours. Boulogne was bombarded, and some of the small craft + and gun-boats destroyed—the English admiral generously sparing the town; and + not satisfied with this partial success, Nelson prepared to attack them with the + boats of the squadron. The French resorted to the most unusual and formidable + preparations for defence. Their flotilla was moored close to the shore in the mouth + of Boulogne harbour, the vessels secured to each other by chains, and filled with + soldiers. The British attack in some degree failed, owing to the several divisions of + boats missing each other in the dark; some French vessels were taken, but they could + not be brought off; and the French chose to consider this result as a victory, on + their part, of consequence enough to balance the loss at Aboukir;—though it + amounted at best to ascertaining, that although their vessels could not keep the sea, + they might, in some comparative degree of safety, lie under close cover of their own + batteries.</p> + <p>The preliminaries of peace, however, were signed, and the treaty was confirmed at + Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802. Napoleon still prosecuted his ambitious projects, + extended his power in Italy, and caused himself to be appointed consul for life, with + the power of naming his successor.</p> + <h4>SCHEME OF INVASION RENEWED.</h4> + <p>It must be in the memory of most who recollect the period, that the kingdom of + Great Britain was seldom less provided against invasion than at the commencement of + this second war; and that an embarkation from the ports of Holland, if undertaken + instantly after the war had broken out, might have escaped our blockading squadrons, + and have at least shown what a French army could have done on British ground, at a + moment when the alarm was general, and the country in an unprepared state. But it is + probable that Bonaparte himself was as much unprovided as England for the sudden + breach of the treaty of Amiens—an event brought about more by the influence of + passion than of policy; so that its consequences were as unexpected in his + calculations as in those of Great Britain. Besides, he had not diminished to himself + the dangers of the undertaking, by which he must have staked his military renown, his + power, which he held chiefly as the consequence of his reputation, perhaps his life, + upon a desperate game, which, though he had already twice contemplated it, he had not + yet found hardihood enough seriously to enter upon.</p> + <p>He now, however, at length bent himself, with the whole strength of his mind, and + the whole force of his empire, to prepare for this final and decisive undertaking. + The gun-boats in the Bay of Gibraltar, where calms are frequent, had sometimes in the + course of the former war been able to do considerable damage to the English vessels + of war, when they could not use their sails. Such small craft, therefore, were + supposed the proper force for covering the intended descent. They were built in + different harbours, and brought together by crawling along the French shore, and + keeping under the protection of the batteries, which were now established on every + cape, almost as if the sea-coast of the channel on the French side had been the lines + of a besieged city, no one point of which could with prudence be left undefended by + cannon. Boulogne was pitched upon as the centre port, from which the expedition was + to sail. By incredible exertions, Bonaparte had rendered its harbour and roads + capable of containing two thousand vessels of various descriptions. The smaller + sea-ports of Vimereux, Ambleteuse, and Etaples, Dieppe, Havre, St. Valeri, Caen, + Gravelines, and Dunkirk, were likewise filled with shipping. Flushing and Ostend were + occupied by a separate flotilla. Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort, were each the station + of as strong a naval squadron as France, had still the means to send to sea.</p> + <p>A land army was assembled of the most formidable description, whether we regard + the high military character of the troops, the extent and perfection of their + appointments, or their numerical strength. The coast, from the mouth of the Seine to + the Texel, was covered with forces; and Soult, Ney, Davoust, and Victor, names that + were then the pride and the dread of war, were appointed to command the army of + England, (for that menacing title was once more, assumed,) <span class="pagenum"><a + id="page26" name="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> and execute those manoeuvres, planned + and superintended by Bonaparte, the issue of which was to be the blotting out of + Britain from the rank of independent nations.</p> + <p>Far from being alarmed at this formidable demonstration of force, England prepared + for her resistance with an energy becoming her ancient rank in Europe, and far + surpassing in its efforts any extent of military preparation before heard of in her + history. To nearly one hundred thousand troops of the line, were added eighty + thousand and upwards of militia, which scarce yielded to the regulars in point of + discipline. The volunteer force, by which every citizen was permitted and invited to + add his efforts to the defence of the country, was far more numerous than during the + last war, was better officered also, and rendered every way more effective. It was + computed to amount to three hundred and fifty thousand men, who, if we regard the + shortness of the time and the nature of the service, had attained considerable + practice in the use and management of their arms. Other classes of men were embodied, + and destined to act as pioneers, drivers of wagons, and in the like services. On a + sudden, the land seemed converted to an immense camp, the whole nation into soldiers, + and the good old king himself into a general-in-chief. All peaceful considerations + appeared for a time to be thrown aside; and the voice, calling the nation to defend + their dearest rights, sounded not only in Parliament, and in meetings convoked to + second the measures of defence, but was heard in the places of public amusement, and + mingled even with the voice of devotion—not unbecoming surely, since to defend + our country is to defend our religion.</p> + <p>Beacons were erected in conspicuous points, corresponding with each other, all + around and all through the island; and morning and evening, one might have said, + every eye was turned towards them to watch for the fatal and momentous signal. + Partial alarms were given to different places, from the mistakes to which such + arrangements must necessarily be liable; and the ready spirit which animated every + species of troops where such signals called to arms, was of the most satisfactory + description, and afforded the most perfect assurance, that the heart of every man was + in the cause of his country.</p> + <p>Amidst her preparations by land, England did not neglect or relax her precautions + on the element she calls her own. She covered the ocean with five hundred and seventy + ships of war of various descriptions. Divisions of her fleet blocked up every French + port in the channel; and the army destined to invade our shores, might see the + British flag flying in every direction on the horizon, waiting for their issuing from + the harbour, as birds of prey may be seen floating in the air above the animal which + they design to pounce upon. Sometimes the British frigates and sloops of war stood + in, and cannonaded or threw shells into Havre, Dieppe, Granville, and Boulogne + itself. Sometimes the seamen and marines landed, cut out vessels, destroyed signal + posts, and dismantled batteries. Such events were trifling, and it was to be + regretted that they cost the lives of gallant men; but although they produced no + direct results of consequence, yet they had their use in encouraging the spirits of + our sailors, and damping the confidence of the enemy, who must at length have looked + forward with more doubt than hope to the invasion of the English coast, when the + utmost vigilance could not prevent their experiencing insults upon their own.</p> + <p>During this period of menaced attack and arranged defence, Bonaparte visited + Boulogne, and seemed active in preparing his soldiers for the grand effort. He + reviewed them in an unusual manner, teaching them to execute several manoeuvres by + night; and experiments were also made upon the best mode of arranging the soldiers in + the flat-bottomed boats, and of embarking and disembarking them with celerity. Omens + were resorted to for keeping up the enthusiasm which the presence of the First Consul + naturally inspired. A Roman battle-axe was said to be found when they removed the + earth to pitch Bonaparte's tent or barrack; and medals of William the Conqueror were + produced, as having been dug up upon the same honoured spot. These were pleasant + bodings, yet perhaps did not altogether, in the minds of the soldiers, counterbalance + the sense of insecurity impressed on them by the prospect of being packed together in + these miserable chaloupes, and exposed to the fire of an enemy so superior at sea, + that during the chief consul's review of the fortifications, their frigates stood in + shore with composure, and fired at him and his suite as at a mark. The men who had + braved the perils of the Alps and of the Egyptian deserts, might yet be allowed to + feel alarm at a species of danger which seemed so inevitable, and which they had no + adequate means of repelling by force of arms.</p> + <p>A circumstance which seemed to render the expedition in a great measure hopeless, + was the ease with which the English <span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" + name="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> could maintain a constant watch upon their + operations within the port of Boulogne. The least appearance of stir or preparation, + to embark troops, or get ready for sea, was promptly sent by signal to the English + coast, and the numerous British cruisers were instantly on the alert to attend their + motions. Nelson had, in fact, during the last war, declared the sailing of a hostile + armament from Boulogne to be a most forlorn undertaking, on account of cross tides + and other disadvantages, together with the certainty of the flotilla being lost if + there were the least wind west-north-west. "As for rowing," he adds, "that is + impossible.—It is perfectly right to be prepared for a mad government," + continued this incontestable judge of maritime possibilities; "but with the active + force which has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable."</p> + <p>Before quitting the subject, we may notice, that Bonaparte seems not to have + entertained the least doubts of success, could he have succeeded in disembarking his + army. A single general action was to decide the fate of England. Five days were to + bring Napoleon to London, where he was to perform the part of William the Third; but + with more generosity and disinterestedness. He was to call a meeting of the + inhabitants, restore them what he calls their rights, and destroy the oligarchical + faction. A few months would not, according to his account, have elapsed, ere the two + nations, late such determined enemies, would have been identified by their + principles, their maxims, their interests. The full explanation of this gibberish, + (for it can be termed no better, even proceeding from the lips of Napoleon,) is to be + found elsewhere, when he spoke a language more genuine than that of the + <i>Moniteur</i> and the bulletins. "England," he said, "must have ended, by becoming + an appendage to the France of <i>my</i> system. Nature has made it one of our + islands, as well as Oleron and Corsica."</p> + <p>It is impossible not to pursue the train of reflections which Bonaparte continued + to pour forth to the companion of his exile, on the rock of Saint Helena. When + England was conquered, and identified with France in maxims and principles, according + to one form of expression, or rendered an appendage and dependency, according to + another phrase, the reader may suppose that Bonaparte would have considered his + mission as accomplished. Alas! it was not much more than commenced. "I would have + departed from thence [from subjugated Britain] to carry the work of European + regeneration [that is, the extention of his own arbitrary authority] from south to + north, under the Republican colours, for I was then Chief Consul, in the same manner + which I was more lately on the point of achieving it under the monarchical forms." + When we find such ideas retaining hold of Napoleon's imagination, and arising to his + tongue after his irretrievable fall, it is impossible to avoid exclaiming, Did + ambition ever conceive so wild a dream, and had so wild a vision ever a termination + so disastrous and humiliating!</p> + <p>It may be expected that something should be here said, upon the chances which + Britain would have had of defending herself successfully against the army of + invaders. We are willing to acknowledge that the risk must have been dreadful; and + that Bonaparte, with his genius and his army, must have inflicted severe calamities + upon a country which had so long enjoyed the blessings of peace. But the people were + unanimous in their purpose of defence, and their forces composed of materials to + which Bonaparte did more justice when he came to be better acquainted with them. Of + the three British nations, the English have since shown themselves possessed of the + same steady valour which won the fields of Cressy and Agincourt, Blenheim and + Minden—the Irish have not lost the fiery enthusiasm which has distinguished + them in all the countries of Europe—nor have the Scots degenerated from the + stubborn courage with which their ancestors for two thousand years maintained their + independence against a superior enemy. Even if London had been lost, we would not, + under so great a calamity, have despaired of the freedom of the country; for the war + would in all probability have assumed that popular and national character which + sooner or later wears out an invading army. Neither does the confidence with which + Bonaparte affirms the conviction of his winning the first battle, appear go certainly + well founded. This, at least, we know, that the resolution of the country was fully + bent up to the hazard; and those who remember the period will bear us witness, that + the desire that the French would make the attempt, was a general feeling through all + classes, because they had every reason to hope that the issue might be such as for + ever to silence the threat of invasion.</p> + <p>The next most important occurrence that claims our notice in this volume, and + which fully delineates the nature and character of this wonderful and ambitious + individual, is the account of his declaration as Emperor of France, and his + subsequent coronation.</p> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> + <h4>CORONATION OF NAPOLEON.</h4> + <p>Measures were taken, as on former occasions, to preserve appearances, by + obtaining, in show at least, the opinion of the people, on this radical change of + their system. Government, however, were already confident of their approbation, + which, indeed, had never been refused to any of the various constitutions, however + inconsistent, that had succeeded each other with such rapidity. Secure on this point, + Bonaparte's accession to the empire was proclaimed with the greatest pomp, without + waiting to inquire whether the people approved of his promotion or otherwise. The + proclamation was coldly received, even by the populace, and excited little + enthusiasm. It seemed, according to some writers, as if the shades of D'Enghien and + Pichegru had been present invisibly, and spread a damp over the ceremony. The Emperor + was recognised by the soldiery with more warmth. He visited the encampments at + Boulogne, with the intention, apparently, of receiving such an acknowledgment from + the troops as was paid by the ancient Franks to their monarchs, when they elevated + them on their bucklers. Seated on an iron chair, said to have belonged to king + Dagobert, he took his place between two immense camps, and having before him the + Channel and the hostile coasts of England. The weather, we have been assured, had + been tempestuous, but no sooner had the Emperor assumed his seat, to receive the + homage of his shouting host, than the sky cleared, and the wind dropt, retaining just + breath sufficient gently to wave the banners. Even the elements seemed to acknowledge + the imperial dignity, all save the sea, which rolled as carelessly to the feet of + Napoleon as it had formerly done towards those of Canute the Dane.</p> + <p>The Emperor, accompanied with his Empress, who bore her honours both gracefully + and meekly, visited Aix-la-Chapelle, and the frontiers of Germany. They received the + congratulations of all the powers of Europe, excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, + upon their new exaltation; and the German princes, who had everything to hope and + fear from so powerful a neighbour, hastened to pay their compliments to Napoleon in + person, which more distant sovereigns offered by their ambassadors.</p> + <p>But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to be made, + by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon determined should take + place with circumstances of solemnity, which had been beyond the reach of any + temporal prince, however powerful, for many ages. His policy was often marked by a + wish to revive, imitate, and connect his own titles and interest with, some ancient + observance of former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered + more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low birth, when + raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to conceal the obscurity of their + origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope Leo, he remembered, had placed a + golden crown on the head of Charlemagne, and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. + Pius VII. he determined should do the same for a successor to much more than the + actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome to receive + inauguration from the hands of the Pontiff of that day, Napoleon resolved that he who + now owned the proud, and in Protestant eyes profane, title of Vicar of Christ, should + travel to France to perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See + of Rome had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom also + her power had been re-erected and restored, not only in Italy, but in France + itself.</p> + <p>Humiliating as the compliance with Bonaparte's request must have seemed to the + more devoted Catholics, Pius VII. had already sacrificed, to obtain the Concordat, so + much of the power and privileges of the Roman See, that he could hardly have been + justified if he had run the risk of losing the advantages of a treaty so dearly + purchased, by declining to incur some personal trouble, or, it might be termed, some + direct self-abasement. The Pope, and the Cardinals whom he consulted, implored the + illumination of heaven upon their councils; but it was the stern voice of necessity + which assured them, that, except at the risk of dividing the Church by a schism, they + could not refuse to comply with Bonaparte's requisition. The Pope left Rome on the + 5th of November. He was everywhere received on the road with the highest respect, and + most profound veneration; the Alpine precipices themselves had been secured by + parapets wherever they could expose the venerable Father of the Catholic Church to + danger, or even apprehension. Upon the 25th of November, he met Bonaparte at + Fontainbleau; and the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon was as studiously respectful + towards him, as that of Charlemagne, whom he was pleased to call his predecessor, + could have been towards Leo.</p> + <p>On the 2nd of December, the ceremony <span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" + name="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> of the coronation took place in the ancient + cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony which could be devised + to add to its solemnity. Yet we have been told that the multitude did not participate + in the ceremonial with that eagerness which characterises the inhabitants of all + capitals, but especially those of Paris, upon similar occasions. They had, within a + very few years, seen so many exhibitions, processions, and festivals, established on + the most discordant principles, which, though announced as permanent and + unchangeable, had successively given way to newer doctrines, that they considered the + splendid representation before them as an unsubstantial pageant, which would fade + away in its turn. Bonaparte himself seemed absent and gloomy, till recalled to a + sense of his grandeur by the voice of the numerous deputies and functionaries sent up + from all the several departments of France, to witness the coronation. These + functionaries had been selected with due attention to their political opinions; and + many of them holding offices under the government, or expecting benefits from the + Emperor, made up, by the zealous vivacity of their acclamations, for the coldness of + the good citizens of Paris.</p> + <p>The Emperor took his coronation oath, as usual on such occasions, with his hands + up on the scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated to him by the Pope. But + in the act of coronation itself, there was a marked deviation from the universal + custom, characteristic of the man, the age, and the conjuncture. In all other similar + solemnities, the crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding + spiritual person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not even from + the head of the Catholic Church would Bonaparte consent to receive as a boon the + golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he owed solely to his own + unparalleled train of military and civil successes. The crown having been blessed by + the Pope, Napoleon took it from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his + brows. He then put the diadem on the head of his Empress, as if determined to show + that his authority was the child of his own actions. <i>Te Deum</i> was sung; the + heralds, (for they also had again come into fashion,) proclaimed, "that the thrice + glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French, was crowned and + installed." Thus concluded this remarkable ceremony. Those who remember having beheld + it, must now doubt whether they were waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so + dazzling in its appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so + ephemeral in its endurance.</p> + <p>The very day before the ceremony of coronation, (that is, on the 1st of December,) + the senate had waited upon the Emperor with the result of the votes collected in the + departments, which, till that time, had been taken for granted. Upwards of three + millions five hundred thousand citizens had given their votes on this occasion; of + whom only about three thousand five hundred had declared against the proposition. The + vice-president, Neufchateau, declared, "this report was the unbiassed expression of + the people's choice. No government could plead a title more authentic."</p> + <p>Sir Walter occupies his sixth volume with details of the celebrated battles that + were fought between the French and English armies in the Spanish territories, and + which are told with great truth and develope the extraordinary powers of this + celebrated writer. The divorce of Josephine, and marriage of Maria Louisa, commence + the succeeding volume. The sterility of Bonaparte's wife was now an irremediable + evil; and political motives were to supersede the ties of endearment, affection, + talents, and virtue. Fouché the minister of police, made Josephine the means + of suggesting to Napoleon, the measure of her own divorce, and subsequently Napoleon + made Josephine acquainted with the cruel certainty, that the separation was + ultimately determined upon.</p> + <h4>NAPOLEON DIVORCED FROM JOSEPHINE.</h4> + <p>When this sentence had finally dissolved their union, the emperor retired to St. + Cloud, where he lived in seclusion for some days. Josephine, on her part, took up her + residence in the beautiful villa of Malmaison, near St. Germains. Here she + principally dwelt for the remaining years of her life, which were just prolonged to + see the first fall of her husband; an event which might have been averted had he been + content to listen more frequently to her lessons of moderation. Her life was chiefly + spent in cultivating the fine arts, of which she collected some beautiful specimens, + and in pursuing the science of botany; but especially in the almost daily practice of + acts of benevolence and charity, of which the English <i>detenus</i>, of whom there + were several at St. Germains, frequently shared the benefit. Napoleon visited her + very frequently, and always treated her with the respect to which she was entitled. + He added also to her dowry a third million of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" + name="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> francs, that she might feel no inconvenience from + the habits of expense to which it was her foible to be addicted.</p> + <h4>BONAPARTE MARRIES MARIA LOUISA.</h4> + <p>This important state measure was no sooner completed, than the great council was + summoned, on the 1st of February, to assist the emperor in the selection of a new + spouse. They were given to understand, that a match with a grand duchess of Russia + had been proposed, but was likely to be embarrassed by disputes concerning religion. + A daughter of the king of Saxony was also mentioned, but it was easily indicated to + the council that their choice ought to fall upon a princess of the house of Austria. + At the conclusion of the meeting, Eugene, son of the repudiated Josephine, was + commissioned by the council to propose to the Austrian embassador a match between + Napoleon and the archduchess Maria Louisa. Prince Schwarzenberg had his instructions + on the subject; so that the match was proposed, discussed, and decided in the + council, and afterwards adjusted between plenipotentiaries on either side, in the + space of twenty-four hours. The espousals of Napoleon and Maria Louisa were + celebrated at Vienna, 11th March, 1810. The person of Bonaparte was represented by + his favourite Berthier, while the archduke Charles assisted at the ceremony, in the + name of the emperor Francis. A few days afterwards, the youthful bride, accompanied + by the queen of Naples, proceeded towards France.</p> + <p>With good taste, Napoleon dispensed with the ceremonies used in the reception of + Marie Antoinette, whose marriage with Louis XVI., though never named or alluded to, + was in other respects the model of the present solemnity. Near Soissons, a single + horseman, no way distinguished by dress, rode past the carriage in which the young + empress was seated, and had the boldness to return, as if to reconnoitre more + closely. The carriage stopped, the door was opened, and Napoleon, breaking through + all the tediousness of ceremony, introduced himself to his bride, and came with her + to Soissons. The marriage ceremony was performed at Paris by Bonaparte's uncle, the + Cardinal Fesch. The most splendid rejoicings, illuminations, concerts, festivals, + took place upon this important occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which threw a + shade over these demonstrations of joy. Prince Schwarzenberg had given a + distinguished ball on the occasion, when unhappily the dancing-room, which was + temporary, and erected in the garden, caught fire. No efforts could stop the progress + of the flames, in which several persons perished, and particularly the sister of + Prince Schwarzenberg himself. This tragic circumstance struck a damp on the public + mind, and was considered as a bad omen, especially when it was remembered that the + marriage of Louis XVI. with a former princess of Austria had been signalized by a + similar disaster.</p> + <p>As a domestic occurrence, nothing could more contribute to Bonaparte's happiness + than his union with Maria Louisa. He was wont to compare her with Josephine, by + giving the latter all the advantages of art and grace; the former the charms of + simple modesty and innocence. His former empress used every art to support or enhance + her personal charms; but with so much prudence and mystery, that the secret cares of + her toilette could never be traced—her successor trusted for the power of + pleasing to youth and nature. Josephine mismanaged her revenue, and incurred debt + without scruple. Maria Louisa lived within her income, or if she desired any + indulgence beyond it, which was rarely the case, she asked it as a favour of + Napoleon. Josephine, accustomed to political intrigue, loved to manage, to influence, + and to guide her husband; Maria Louisa desired only to please and to obey him. Both + were excellent women, of great sweetness of temper, and fondly attached to Napoleon. + In the difference between these distinguished persons, we can easily discriminate the + leading features of the Parisian, and of the simple German beauty; but it is + certainly singular that the artificial character should have belonged to the daughter + of the West Indian planter; that marked by nature and simplicity, to a princess of + the proudest court in Europe.</p> + <p>Bonaparte, whose domestic conduct was generally praiseworthy, behaved with the + utmost kindness to his princely bride. He observed, however, the strictest etiquette, + and required it from the empress. If it happened, for example, as was often the case, + that he was prevented from attending at the hour when dinner was placed on the table, + he was displeased if, in the interim of his absence, which was often prolonged, she + either took a book, or had recourse to any female occupation,—if, in short, he + did not find her in the attitude of waiting for the signal to take her place at + table. Perhaps a sense of his inferior birth made Napoleon more tenacious of this + species of form, as what he could not afford to relinquish. On the other hand, Maria + Louisa is said to have expressed her surprise at her husband's dispensing with the + use of arms and attendance <span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[pg + 31]</span> of guards, and at his moving about with the freedom of an individual; + although this could be no great novelty to a member of the imperial family of + Austria, most of whom, and especially the Emperor Francis, are in the habit of mixing + familiarly with the people of Vienna, at public places, and in the public walks.</p> + <p>From this date may be traced the declination of Napoleon's greatness. In the field + he was generally unsuccessful, and occasionally murmurs of discontent were whispered + by citizen and soldier. The plot thickens in the eight volume, and his abdication of + the throne of France, and subsequent journey to Elba, are feelingly narrated by our + author.</p> + <h4>RETURN OF MARIA LOUISA TO HER FATHER, AND DEATH OF JOSEPHINE.</h4> + <p>Maria Louisa made more than one effort to join her husband, but they were + discouraged on the part of Napoleon himself, who, while he continued to ruminate on + renewing the war, could not desire to have the empress along with him in such an + adventure. Shortly afterwards, the emperor of Austria visited his daughter and her + son, then at Rambouillet, and gave her to understand that she was, for some time at + least, to remain separate from her husband, and that her son and she were to return + to Vienna along with him. She returned, therefore, to her father's protection.</p> + <p>It must be also here mentioned, as an extraordinary addition to this tale of + calamity, that Josephine, the former wife of Bonaparte, did not long survive his + downfall. It seemed as if the Obi-woman of Martinico had spoke truth; for at the time + when Napoleon parted from the sharer of his early fortunes, his grandeur was on the + wane, and her death took place but a few weeks subsequent to his being dethroned and + exiled. The emperor of Russia had visited this lady, and showed her some attention, + with which Napoleon, for reasons we cannot conjecture, was extremely displeased. She + was amply provided for by the treaty of Fontainbleau, but did not survive to reap any + benefit from the provision, as she shortly after sickened and died at her beautiful + villa of Malmaison. She was buried on the 3rd of June, at the village of Ruel. A vast + number of the lower class attended the obsequies; for she had well deserved the title + of patroness of the poor.</p> + <p>The residence at Elba, the return, the treachery of Ney, the arrival at Paris, and + Napoleon's repossession of the throne, now occupy the page. The battle of Waterloo is + briefly, but finely described, and indeed the whole of the ninth volume, to which we + have now arrived, is deeply interesting. We find, however, that we have nearly + reached our limits, and as we shall take an early opportunity of again referring to + this elaborate history, we shall now close with the following extracts;—</p> + <h4>CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON ON HIS WAY TO ST. HELENA.</h4> + <p>Upon the Northumberland crossing the line, the emperor desiring to exhibit his + munificence to the seamen, by presenting them with a hundred louis d'or, under + pretext of paying the ordinary fine, Sir George Cockburn, considering this tribute to + Neptune as too excessive in amount, would not permit the donative to exceed a tenth + part of the sum; and Napoleon offended by the restriction, paid nothing at all. Upon + another occasion, early in the voyage, a difference in national manners gave rise to + one of those slight misunderstandings which we have noticed. Napoleon was accustomed, + like all Frenchmen, to leave the table immediately after dinner, and Sir George + Cockburn, with the English officers, remained after him at table; for, in permitting + his French guests their liberty, the admiral did not choose to admit the right of + Napoleon to break up the party at his, Sir George's, own table. This gave some + discontent. Notwithstanding these trifling subjects of dissatisfaction, Las Cases + informs us that the admiral, whom he took to be prepossessed against them at first, + became every day more amicable. The emperor used to take his arm every evening on the + quarter-deck, and hold long conversations with him upon maritime subjects, as well as + past events in general.</p> + <p>While on board the Northumberland, the late emperor spent his mornings in reading + or writing; his evenings in his exercise upon deck, and at cards. The game was + generally <i>vingt un</i>. But when the play became rather deep, he discouraged that + amusement, and substituted chess. Great tactician as he was, Napoleon did not play + well at that military game, and it was with difficulty that his antagonist, + Montholon, could avoid the solecism, of beating the emperor.</p> + <p>During this voyage, Napoleon's <i>jour de fête</i> occurred, which was also + his birthday. It was the 15th of August; a day for which the Pope had expressly + canonized a St. Napoleon to be the emperor's patron. And now, strange revolution, it + was celebrated by him on board of an English man-of-war, which was conducting him to + his place of imprisonment, and, as it proved, his tomb. Yet Napoleon <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span> seemed cheerful and + contented during the whole day, and was even pleased at being fortunate at play, + which he received as a good omen.</p> + <p>Upon the 15th of October, 1815, the Northumberland reached St. Helena, which + presents but an unpromising aspect to those who design it for a residence, though it + may be a welcome sight to the seaworn mariner. Its destined inhabitant, from the deck + of the Northumberland, surveyed it with his spy-glass. St. James' Town, an + inconsiderable village, was before him, enchased, as it were in a valley, amid arid + and scarped rocks of immense height; every platform, every opening, every gorge, was + bristled with cannon. Las Cases, who stood by him, could not perceive the slightest + alteration of his countenance. The orders of government had been, that Napoleon + should remain on board till a residence could be prepared suitable for the line of + life he was to lead in future. But as this was likely to be a work of time, Sir + George Cockburn readily undertook, on his own responsibility, to put his passengers + on shore, and provide in some way for the security of Napoleon's person, until the + necessary habitation should be fitted up. He was accordingly transferred to land upon + the 16th of October; and thus the emperor of France, nay, wellnigh of Europe, sunk + into the recluse of St. Helena.</p> + <h4>DEATH OF NAPOLEON</h4> + <p>During the 3rd of May, it was seen that the life of Napoleon was drawing evidently + to a close; and his followers, and particularly his physician, became desirous to + call in more medical assistance;—that of Dr. Shortt, physician to the forces, + and of Dr. Mitchell, surgeon of the flag-ship, was referred to. Dr. Shortt, however, + thought it proper to assert the dignity belonging to his profession, and refused to + give an opinion on a case of so much importance in itself, and attended with so much + obscurity, unless he were permitted to see and examine the patient. The officers of + Napoleon's household excused themselves, by professing that the emperor's strict + commands had been laid on them, that no English physician, Dr. Arnott excepted, + should approach his dying bed. They said, that even when he was speechless they would + be unable to brook his eye, should he turn it upon them in reproof for their + disobedience.</p> + <p>About two o'clock of the same day, the priest Vignali administered the sacrament + of extreme unction. Some days before, Napoleon had explained to him the manner in + which he desired his body should be laid out in state, in an apartment lighted by + torches, or what Catholics call <i>une chambre ardente</i>. "I am neither," he said + in the same phrase which we have formerly quoted, "a philosopher nor a physician. I + believe in God, and am of the religion of my father. It is not everybody who can be + an atheist. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of the Catholic + church, and receive the assistance which it administers." He then turned to Dr. + Antommarchi, whom he seems to have suspected of heterodoxy, which the doctor, + however, disowned. "How can you carry it so far?" he said. "Can you not believe in + God, whose existence every thing proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have + believed?"</p> + <p>As if to mark a closing point of resemblance betwixt Cromwell and Napoleon, a + dreadful tempest arose on the 4th of May, which preceded the day that was to close + the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A willow, which had been the exile's + favourite, and under which he had often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the + hurricane; and almost all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate.</p> + <p>The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Napoleon's passing spirit was deliriously + engaged in a strife more terrible than that of the elements around. The words + "<i>tête d'armée</i>" the last which escaped his lips, intimated that + his thoughts were watching the current of a heady fight. About eleven minutes before + six in the evening, Napoleon, after a struggle which indicated the original strength + of his constitution, breathed his last.</p> + <h4>HIS FUNERAL.</h4> + <p>Bonaparte was buried on the 8th of May, in a small secluded recess called Slane's, + or Haine's Valley, where a fountain arose, at which his Chinese domestics used to + fill the silver pitchers, which they carried to Longwood for Napoleon's use. "All the + troops were under arms upon the solemn occasion. As the road did not permit a near + approach of the hearse to the place of sepulture, a party of British grenadiers had + the honour to bear the coffin to the grave. The prayers were recited by the priest, + Abbé Vignali. Minute guns were fired from the admiral's ship. The coffin was + then let down into the grave, under a discharge of three successive volleys of + artillery, fifteen pieces of cannon firing fifteen guns each. A large stone was then + lowered down on the grave, and covered the moderate space now sufficient for the man + for whom Europe was once too little."</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a> + <p>It did not escape the minute observers of this scene, that he still held in his + hand the bag which had contained the fatal pistol, and which was inscribed with the + words, <i>Au grand monarque</i>, alluding to the sign, doubtless, of the gunsmith + who sold the weapon, but singularly applicable to the high pretensions of the + purchaser.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a> + <p>The fate of no tyrant in history was so hideous at the conclusion, excepting + perhaps that of Jugurtha.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a> + <p>Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag4">(return)</a> + <p>"Sketches of Corsica," p. 4.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a> + <p>The mother of Letitia Ramolini, wife of Carlo Bonaparte, married a Swiss officer + in the French service, named Fesch, after the death of Letitia's father.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag6">(return)</a> + <p>They were many years since communicated to the author by Messrs. Joseph and + Louis Law, brothers of General Baron Lauriston, Bonaparte's favourite aid-de-camp. + These gentlemen, or at least Joseph, were educated at Brienne, but at a later + period than Napoleon. Their distinguished brother was his contemporary.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag7">(return)</a> + <p>Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 121.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a> <b>Footnote 8</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag8">(return)</a> + <p>Not literally, however: for it is worth mentioning, that when he was in + full-blown possession of his power, an inheritance fell to the family, situated + near Ajaccio, and was divided amongst them. The first consul, or emperor, received + an olive-garden as his share.—<i>Sketches of Corsica</i>.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a> <b>Footnote 9</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag9">(return)</a> + <p>Bonaparte was then in his twenty-sixth year. Josephine gave herself in the + marriage contract for twenty-eight.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote10" name="footnote10"></a> <b>Footnote 10</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag10">(return)</a> + <p>A lady of high rank, who happened to live for some time in the same convent at + Paris, where Josephine was also a pensioner or boarder, heard her mention the + prophecy, and told it herself to the author, just about the time of the Italian + expedition, when Bonaparte was beginning to attract notice. Another clause is + usually added to the prediction—that the party whom it concerned should die + in an hospital, which was afterwards explained as referring to Malmaison. This the + author did not hear from the same authority. The lady mentioned used to speak in + the highest terms of the simple manners and great kindness of Madame + Beauharnois.</p> + </blockquote> + <hr class="full" /> + <p><i>Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset House,) and + sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers.</i></p> + <hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + +***** This file should be named 9883-h.htm or 9883-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/8/9883/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: December 5, 2011 [EBook #9883] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 27, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, No. 263.] SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +SIR WALTER SCOTT'S LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. + +(_Continued from page 5._ [Note: see Mirror 262]) + + +Robespierre was a coward, who signed death-warrants with a hand that +shook, though his heart was relentless. He possessed no passions on +which to charge his crimes; they were perpetrated in cold blood, and +upon mature deliberation. + +Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate, had attracted the +attention of the lower orders, by the violence of his sentiments in the +journal which he conducted from the commencement of the revolution, upon +such principles that it took the lead in forwarding its successive +changes. His political exhortations began and ended like the howl of a +blood-hound for murder; or, if a wolf could have written a journal, the +gaunt and famished wretch could not have ravened more eagerly for +slaughter. It was blood which was Marat's constant demand, not in drops +from the breast of an individual, not in puny streams from the slaughter +of families, but blood in the profusion of an ocean. His usual +calculation of the heads which he demanded amounted to two hundred and +sixty thousand; and though he sometimes raised it as high as three +hundred thousand, it never fell beneath the smaller number. It may be +hoped, and for the honour of human nature we are inclined to believe, +there was a touch of insanity in this unnatural strain of ferocity; and +the wild and squalid features of the wretch appear to have intimated a +degree of alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre, a coward. +Repeatedly denounced in the assembly, he skulked instead of defending +himself, and lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar among his +cut-throats, until a storm appeared, when, like a bird of ill omen, his +death-screech was again heard. Such was the strange and fatal +triumvirate, in which the same degree of cannibal cruelty existed under +different aspects. Danton murdered to glut his rage; Robespierre to +avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival whom he envied; Marat, +from the same instinctive love of blood, which induces a wolf to +continue his ravage of the flocks long after his hunger is appeased. + +Passing by the horrors of the reign of terror, we shall close the second +volume with a vivid and powerful picture, which we cannot refrain +quoting-- + + +THE DEATH OF ROBESPIERRE. + +Meantime the convention continued to maintain the bold and commanding +front which they had so suddenly and critically assumed. Upon learning +the escape of the arrested deputies, and hearing of the insurrection at +the Hotel de Ville, they instantly passed a decree outlawing Robespierre +and his associates, inflicting a similar doom upon the mayor of Paris, +the procureur and other members of the commune, and charging twelve of +their members, the boldest who could be selected, to proceed with the +armed force to the execution of the sentence. The drums of the National +Guards now beat to arms in all the sections under authority of the +convention, while the tocsin continued to summon assistance with its +iron voice to Robespierre and the civic magistrates. Every thing +appeared to threaten a violent catastrophe, until it was seen clearly +that the public voice, and especially amongst the National Guards, was +declaring itself generally against the Terrorists. + +The Hotel de Ville was surrounded by about fifteen hundred men, and +cannon turned upon the doors. The force of the assailants was weakest in +point of number, but their leaders were men of spirit, and night +concealed their inferiority of force. + +The deputies commissioned for the purpose read the decree of the +assembly to those whom they found assembled in front of the city-hall, +and they shrunk from the attempt of defending it, some joining the +assailants, others laying down their arms and dispersing. Meantime the +deserted group of Terrorists within conducted themselves like scorpions, +which, when surrounded by a circle of fire, are said to turn their +stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding +took place among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means you +promised to furnish?" said Payan to Henriot, whom he found intoxicated +and incapable of resolution or exertion; and seizing on him as he spoke, +he precipitated the revolutionary general from a window. Henriot +survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which he was +afterwards discovered and brought out to execution. The younger +Robespierre threw himself from the window, but had not the good fortune +to perish on the spot. It seemed as if even the melancholy fate of +suicide, the last refuge of guilt and despair, was denied to men who had +so long refused every species of mercy to their fellow-creatures. Le Bas +alone had calmness enough to despatch himself with a pistol-shot. Saint +Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, attempted his own life +with an irresolute hand, and failed, Couthon lay beneath the table +brandishing a knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without +daring to add force enough to reach his heart. Their chief, Robespierre, +in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot himself, had only inflicted a +horrible fracture on his under-jaw. + +In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with +blood, mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay +on a table in an anti-room, his head supported by a deal-box, and his +hideous countenance half-hidden by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round +the shattered chin.[1] + + [1] It did not escape the minute observers of this scene, that + he still held in his hand the bag which had contained the fatal + pistol, and which was inscribed with the words, _Au grand + monarque_, alluding to the sign, doubtless, of the gunsmith who + sold the weapon, but singularly applicable to the high + pretensions of the purchaser. + +The captives were carried in triumph to the convention, who, without +admitting them to the bar, ordered them, as outlaws, for instant +execution. As the fatal cars passed to the guillotine, those who filled +them, but especially Robespierre, were overwhelmed with execrations from +the friends and relatives of victims whom he had sent on the same +melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the cloth +had never been removed till the executioner tore it off, added to the +torture of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch +yelled aloud, to the horror of the spectators.[2] A mask taken from that +dreadful head was long exhibited in different nations of Europe, and +appalled the spectator by its ugliness, and the mixture of fiendish +expression with that of bodily agony. + + [2] The fate of no tyrant in history was so hideous at the + conclusion, excepting perhaps that of Jugurtha. + +Thus fell Maximilian Robespierre, after having been the first person in +the French republic for nearly two years, during which time he governed +it upon the principles of Nero or Caligula. His elevation to the +situation which he held involved more contradictions than perhaps +attach to any similar event in history. A low-born and low-minded +tyrant was permitted to rule with the rod of the most frightful +despotism a people, whose anxiety for liberty had shortly before +rendered them unable to endure the rule of a humane and lawful +sovereign. A dastardly coward arose to the command of one of the bravest +nations in the world; and it was under the auspices of a man who dared +scarce fire a pistol, that the greatest generals in France began their +careers of conquest. He had neither eloquence nor imagination; but +substituted in their stead a miserable, affected, bombastic style, +which, until other circumstances gave him consequence, drew on him +general ridicule. Yet against so poor an orator, all the eloquence of +the philosophical Girondists, all the terrible powers of his associate +Danton, employed in a popular assembly, could not enable them to make an +effectual resistance. It may seem trifling to mention, that in a nation +where a good deal of prepossession is excited by amiable manners and +beauty of external appearance, the person who ascended to the highest +power was not only ill-looking, but singularly mean in person, awkward +and constrained in his address, ignorant how to set about pleasing even +when he most desired to give pleasure, and as tiresome nearly as he was +odious and heartless. + +To compensate all these deficiencies, Robespierre had but an insatiable +ambition, founded on a vanity which made him think himself capable of +filling the highest situation; and therefore gave him daring, when to +dare is frequently to achieve. He mixed a false and over-strained, but +rather fluent species of bombastic composition, with the grossest +flattery to the lowest classes of the people; in consideration of which, +they could not but receive as genuine the praises which he always +bestowed on himself. His prudent resolution to be satisfied with +possessing the essence of power, without seeming to desire its rank and +trappings, formed another art of cajoling the multitude. His watchful +envy, his long-protracted but sure revenge, his craft, which to vulgar +minds supplies the place of wisdom, were his only means of competing +with his distinguished antagonists. And it seems to have been a merited +punishment of the extravagances and abuses of the French revolution, +that it engaged the country in a state of anarchy which permitted a +wretch such as we have described, to be for a long period master of her +destiny. Blood was his element, like that of the other Terrorists, and +he never fastened with so much pleasure on a new victim, as when he was +at the same time an ancient associate. In an epitaph, of which the +following couplet may serve as a translation, his life was represented +as incompatible with the existence of the human race:-- + + "Here lies Robespierre--let no tear be shed; + Reader, if he had lived, thou hadst been dead." + +The commencement of the third volume introduces us to the family of +Bonaparte, who resided in the island of Corsica, which was, in ancient +times, remarkable as the scene of Seneca's exile, and in the last +century was distinguished by the memorable stand which the natives made +in defence of their liberties against the Genoese and French, during a +war which tended to show the high and indomitable spirit of the +islanders, united as it is with the fiery and vindictive feelings proper +to their country and climate. + + +BIRTH OF BONAPARTE. + +Charles Bonaparte, the father of Napoleon, died at the age of about +forty years, of an ulcer in the stomach, on the 24th of February, 1785. +His celebrated son fell a victim to the same disease. During Napoleon's +grandeur, the community of Montpellier expressed a desire to erect a +monument to the memory of Charles Bonaparte. His answer was both +sensible and in good taste. "Had I lost my father yesterday," he said, +"it would be natural to pay his memory some mark of respect consistent +with my present situation. But it is twenty years since the event, and +it is one in which the public can take no concern. Let us leave the dead +in peace." + +The subject of our narrative was born, according to the best accounts, +and his own belief, upon the 15th day of August, 1769, at his father's +house in Ajaccio, forming one side of a court which leads out of the Rue +Charles.[3] We read with interest, that his mother's good constitution, +and bold character of mind, having induced her to attend mass upon the +day of his birth, (being the Festival of the Assumption,) she was +obliged to return home immediately, and as there was no time to prepare +a bed or bedroom, she was delivered of the future victor upon a +temporary couch prepared for her accommodation, and covered with an +ancient piece of tapestry, representing the heroes of the Iliad. The +infant was christened by the name of Napoleon, an obscure saint, who had +dropped to leeward, and fallen altogether out of the calendar, so that +his namesake never knew which day he was to celebrate as the festival of +his patron. When questioned, on this subject by the bishop who +confirmed him, he answered smartly, that there were a great many saints, +and only three hundred and sixty-five days to divide amongst them. The +politeness of the pope promoted the patron in order to compliment the +god-child, and Saint Napoleon des Ursins was accommodated with a +festival. To render this compliment, which no one but a pope could have +paid, still more flattering, the feast of Saint Napoleon was fixed for +the fifteenth August, the birthday of the emperor, and the day on which +he signed the Concordat. So that Napoleon had the rare honour of +promoting his patron saint. + + [3] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + + +NAPOLEON'S EARLY LIFE. + +The young Napoleon had, of course, the simple and hardy education proper +to the natives of the mountainous island of his birth, and in his +infancy was not remarkable for more than that animation of temper, and +wilfulness and impatience of inactivity, by which children of quick +parts and lively sensibility are usually distinguished. The winter of +the year was generally passed by the family of his father at Ajaccio, +where they still preserve and exhibit, as the ominous play-thing of +Napoleon's boyhood, the model of a brass cannon, weighing about thirty +pounds.[4] We leave it to philosophers to inquire, whether the future +love of war was suggested by the accidental possession of such a toy; or +whether the tendency of the mind dictated the selection of it; or, +lastly, whether the nature of the pastime, corresponding with the taste +which chose it, may not have had each their action and reaction, and +contributed between them to the formation of a character so warlike. + + [4] "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + +The same traveller who furnishes the above anecdote, gives an +interesting account of the country retreat of the family of Bonaparte +during the summer. + +Going along the sea-shore from Ajaccio towards the Isle Sanguiniere, +about a mile from the town, occur two stone pillars, the remains of a +doorway, leading up to a dilapidated villa, once the residence of Madame +Bonaparte's half-brother on the mother's side, whom Napoleon created +Cardinal Fesch.[5] The house is approached by an avenue, surrounded and +overhung by the cactus and other shrubs, which luxuriate in a warm +climate. It has a garden and a lawn, showing amidst neglect vestiges of +their former beauty, and the house is surrounded by shrubberies, +permitted to run to wilderness. This was the summer residence of Madame +Bonaparte and her family. Almost enclosed by the wild olive, the cactus, +the clematis, and the almond-tree, is a very singular and isolated +granite rock, called Napoleon's grotto, which seems to have resisted the +decomposition which has taken place around. The remains of a small +summer-house are visible beneath the rock, the entrance to which is +nearly closed by a luxuriant fig-tree. This was Bonaparte's frequent +retreat, when the vacations of the school at which he studied permitted +him to visit home. How the imagination labours to form an idea of the +visions, which, in this sequestered and romantic spot, must have arisen +before the eyes of the future hero of a hundred battles! + + [5] The mother of Letitia Ramolini, wife of Carlo Bonaparte, + married a Swiss officer in the French service, named Fesch, + after the death of Letitia's father. + +Bonaparte's ardour for the abstract sciences amounted to a passion, and +was combined with a singular aptitude for applying them to the purposes +of war, while his attention to pursuits so interesting and exhaustless +in themselves, was stimulated by his natural ambition and desire of +distinction. Almost all the scientific teachers at Brienne, being +accustomed to study the character of their pupils, and obliged by their +duty to make memoranda and occasional reports on the subject, spoke of +the talents of Bonaparte, and the progress of his studies, with +admiration. Circumstances of various kinds, exaggerated or invented, +have been circulated concerning the youth of a person so remarkable. The +following are given upon good authority.[6] + + [6] They were many years since communicated to the author by + Messrs. Joseph and Louis Law, brothers of General Baron + Lauriston, Bonaparte's favourite aid-de-camp. These gentlemen, + or at least Joseph, were educated at Brienne, but at a later + period than Napoleon. Their distinguished brother was his + contemporary. + +The conduct of Napoleon among his companions was that of a studious and +reserved youth, addicting himself deeply to the means of improvement, +and rather avoiding than seeking the usual temptations to dissipation of +time. He had few friends, and no intimates; yet at different times, when +he chose to exert it, he exhibited considerable influence over his +fellow-students, and when there was any joint plan to be carried into +effect, he was frequently chosen dictator of the little republic. + +In the time of winter, Bonaparte, upon one occasion, engaged his +companions in constructing a fortress out of the snow, regularly +defended by ditches and bastions, according to the rules of +fortification. It was considered as displaying the great powers of the +juvenile engineer in the way of his profession, and was attacked and +defended by the students, who divided into parties for the purpose, +until the battle became so keen that their superiors thought it proper +to proclaim a truce. + +The young Bonaparte gave another instance of address and enterprise upon +the following occasion. There was a fair held annually in the +neighbourhood of Brienne, where the pupils of the Military School used +to find a day's amusement; but on account of a quarrel betwixt them and +the country people upon a former occasion, or for some such cause, the +masters of the institution had directed that the students should not on +the fair-day be permitted to go beyond their own precincts, which were +surrounded with a wall. Under the direction of the young Corsican, +however, the scholars had already laid a plot for securing their usual +day's diversion. They had undermined the wall which encompassed their +exercising ground, with so much skill and secrecy, that their operations +remained entirely unknown till the morning of the fair, when a part of +the boundary unexpectedly fell, and gave a free passage to the +imprisoned students, of which they immediately took the advantage, by +hurrying to the prohibited scene of amusement. + +But although on these, and perhaps other occasions, Bonaparte displayed +some of the frolic temper of youth, mixed with the inventive genius and +the talent for commanding others by which he was distinguished in after +time, his life at school was in general that of a recluse and severe +student, acquiring by his judgment, and treasuring in his memory, that +wonderful process of almost unlimited combination, by means of which he +was afterwards able to simplify the most difficult and complicated +undertakings. His mathematical teacher was proud of the young islander, +as the boast of his school, and his other scientific instructors had the +same reason to be satisfied. + +In languages Bonaparte was less a proficient, and never acquired the art +of writing or spelling French, far less foreign languages, with accuracy +or correctness; nor had the monks of Brienne any reason to pride +themselves on the classical proficiency of their scholar. The full +energies of his mind being devoted to the scientific pursuits of his +profession, left little time or inclination for other studies. + +Though of Italian origin, Bonaparte had not a decided taste for the fine +arts, and his taste in composition seems to have leaned towards the +grotesque and the bombastic. He used always the most exaggerated +phrases; and it is seldom, if ever, that his bulletins present those +touches of sublimity which are founded on dignity and simplicity of +expression. + +Notwithstanding the external calmness and reserve of his deportment, he +who was destined for such great things had, while yet a student at +Brienne, a full share of that ambition for distinction and dread of +disgrace, that restless and irritating love of fame, which is the spur +to extraordinary attempts. Sparkles of this keen temper sometimes showed +themselves. On one occasion, a harsh superintendant imposed on the +future emperor, for some trifling fault, the disgrace of wearing a +penitential dress, and being excluded from the table of the students, +and obliged to eat his meal apart. His pride felt the indignity so +severely, that it brought on a severe nervous attack; to which, though +otherwise of good constitution, he was subject upon occasions of +extraordinary irritation. Father Petrault, the professor of mathematics, +hastened to deliver his favourite pupil from the punishment by which he +was so much affected. + +It is also said that an early disposition to the popular side +distinguished Bonaparte even when at Brienne. Pichegru, afterwards so +celebrated, who acted as his monitor in the military school, (a singular +circumstance,) bore witness to his early principles, and to the peculiar +energy and tenacity of his temper. He was long afterwards consulted +whether means might not be found to engage the commander of the Italian +armies in the royal interest. "It will be but lost time to attempt it," +said Pichegru. "I knew him in his youth--his character is inflexible--he +has taken his side, and he will not change it." + +In 1783, Napoleon Bonaparte, then only fourteen years old, was, though +under the usual age, selected by Monsieur de Keralio, the inspector of +the twelve military schools, to be sent to have his education completed +in the general school of Paris. It was a compliment paid to the +precocity of his extraordinary mathematical talent, and the steadiness +of his application. While at Paris he attracted the same notice as at +Brienne; and among other society, frequented that of the celebrated Abbe +Raynal, and was admitted to his literary parties. His taste did not +become correct, but his appetite for study in all departments was +greatly enlarged; and notwithstanding the quantity which he daily read, +his memory was strong enough to retain, and his judgment sufficiently +ripe to arrange and digest, the knowledge which he then acquired; so +that he had it at his command during all the rest of his busy life. +Plutarch was his favourite author; upon the study of whom he had so +modelled his opinions and habits of thought, that Paoli afterwards +pronounced him a young man of an antique caste, and resembling one of +the classical heroes. + +Some of his biographers have about this time ascribed to him the +anecdote of a certain youthful pupil of the military school, who desired +to ascend in the car of a balloon with the aeronaut Blanchard, and was +so mortified at being refused, that he made an attempt to cut the +balloon with his sword. The story has but a flimsy support, and indeed +does not accord well with the character of the hero, which was deep and +reflective, as well as bold and determined, and not likely to suffer its +energies to escape in idle and useless adventure. + +A better authenticated anecdote states, that at this time he expressed +himself disrespectfully towards the king in one of his letters to his +family. According to the practice of the school, he was obliged to +submit the letter to the censorship of Monsieur Domairon, the professor +of belles lettres, who, taking notice of the offensive passage, insisted +upon the letter being burnt, and added a severe rebuke. Long afterwards, +in 1802, Monsieur Domairon was commanded to attend Napoleon's levee, in +order that he might receive a pupil in the person of Jerome Bonaparte, +when the first consul reminded his old tutor good-humouredly, that times +had changed considerably since the burning of the letter. + +Napoleon Bonaparte, in his seventieth year, received his first +commission as second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery, and was +almost immediately afterwards promoted to the rank of first lieutenant +in the corps quartered at Valence. He mingled with society when he +joined his regiment, more than he had hitherto been accustomed to do; +mixed in public amusements, and exhibited the powers of pleasing, which +he possessed in an uncommon degree when he chose to exert them. His +handsome and intelligent features, with his active and neat, though +slight figure, gave him additional advantages. His manners could +scarcely be called elegant, but made up in vivacity and variety of +expression, and often in great spirit and energy, for what they wanted +in grace and polish. + +He became an adventurer for the honours of literature also, and was +anonymously a competitor for the prize offered by the Academy of Lyons +on Raynal's question, "What are the principles and institutions, by +application of which mankind can be raised to the highest pitch of +happiness?" The prize was adjudged to the young soldier. It is +impossible to avoid feeling curiosity to know the character of the +juvenile theories respecting government, advocated by one who at length +attained the power of practically making what experiments he pleased. +Probably his early ideas did not exactly coincide with his more mature +practice; for when Talleyrand, many years afterwards, got the essay out +of the records of the academy, and returned it to the author, Bonaparte +destroyed it after he had read a few pages. He also laboured under the +temptation of writing a journey to Mount Cenis, after the manner of +Sterne, which he was fortunate enough finally to resist. The affectation +which pervades Sterne's peculiar style of composition was not likely to +be simplified under the pen of Bonaparte. + +Sterner times were fast approaching, and the nation was now fully +divided by those factions which produced the revolution. The officers of +Bonaparte's regiment were also divided into royalists and patriots; and +it is easily to be imagined, that the young and friendless stranger and +adventurer should adopt that side to which he had already shown some +inclination, and which promised to open the most free career to those +who had only their merit to rely on. "Were I a general officer," he is +alleged to have said, "I would have adhered to the king; being a +subaltern, I join the patriots." + +There was a story current, that in a debate with some brother officers +on the politics of the time, Bonaparte expressed himself so +outrageously, that they were provoked to throw him into the Rhone, where +he had nearly perished. But this is an inaccurate account of the +accident which actually befell him. He was seized with the cramp when +bathing in the river. His comrades saved him with difficulty, but his +danger was matter of pure chance. + +Napoleon has himself recorded that he was a warm patriot during the +whole sitting of the National Assembly; but that on the appointment of +the Legislative Assembly, he became shaken in his opinions. If so, his +original sentiments regained force, for we shortly afterwards find him +entertaining such as went to the extreme heights of the revolution. + +Early in the year 1792, Bonaparte became a captain in the artillery by +seniority; and in the same year, being at Paris, he witnessed the two +insurrections of the 20th of June and 10th of August. He was accustomed +to speak of the insurgents as the most despicable banditti, and to +express with what ease a determined officer could have checked these +apparently formidable, but dastardly and unwieldy masses. But with what +a different feeling of interest would Napoleon have looked on that +infuriated populace, those still resisting though overpowered Swiss, and +that burning palace, had any seer whispered to him, "Emperor that shall +be, all this blood and massacre is but to prepare your future empire!" +Little anticipating the potent effect which the passing events were to +bear on his own fortune, Bonaparte, anxious for the safety of his mother +and family, was now desirous to change France for Corsica, where the +same things were acting on a less distinguished stage. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MILITARY EXPLOIT. + +Napoleon's first military exploit was in the civil war of his native +island. In the year 1793, he was despatched from Bastia, in possession +of the French party, to surprise his native town Ajaccio, then occupied +by Paoli or his adherents. Bonaparte was acting provisionally, as +commanding a battalion of National Guards. He landed in the Gulf of +Ajaccio with about fifty men, to take possession of a tower called the +Torre di Capitello, on the opposite side of the gulf, and almost facing +the city. He succeeded in taking the place; but as there arose a gale of +wind which prevented his communicating with the frigate which had put +him ashore, he was besieged in his new conquest by the opposite faction, +and reduced to such distress, that he and his little garrison were +obliged to feed on horse-flesh. After five days he was relieved by the +frigate, and evacuated the tower, having first in vain attempted to blow +it up. The Torre di Capitello still shows marks of the damage it then +sustained, and its remains may be looked on as a curiosity, as the first +scene of _his_ combats, before whom + + --"Temple and tower + Went to the ground.--" + +A relation of Napoleon, Masserio by name, effectually defended Ajaccio +against the force employed in the expedition. + +The strength of Paoli increasing, and the English preparing to assist +him, Corsica became no longer a safe or convenient residence for the +Bonaparte family. Indeed, both Napoleon and his brother Lucien, who had +distinguished themselves as partisans of the French, were subjected to a +decree of banishment from their native island; and Madame Bonaparte, +with her three daughters, and Jerome, who was as yet but a child, set +sail under their protection, and settled for a time, first at Nice, and +afterwards at Marseilles, where the family is supposed to have undergone +considerable distress, until the dawning prospects of Napoleon afforded +him the means of assisting them. + +Napoleon never again revisited Corsica, nor does he appear to have +regarded it with any feelings of affection. One small fountain at +Ajaccio is pointed out as the only ornament which his bounty bestowed on +his birthplace. He might perhaps think it impolitic to do any thing +which might remind the country he ruled that he was not a child of her +soil, nay, was in fact very near having been born an alien, for Corsica +was not united to, or made an integral part of France, until June, 1769, +a few weeks only before Napoleon's birth. This stigma was repeatedly +cast upon him by his opponents, some of whom reproached the French with +having adopted a master, from a country from which the ancient Romans +were unwilling even to choose a slave; and Napoleon may have been so far +sensible to it, as to avoid showing any predilection to the place of his +birth, which might bring the circumstance strongly under the observation +of the great nation, with which he and his family seemed to be +indissolubly united. But, as a traveller already quoted, and who had the +best opportunities to become acquainted with the feelings of the proud +islanders, has expressed it,--"The Corsicans are still highly patriotic, +and possess strong local attachment--in their opinion, contempt for the +country of one's birth is never to be redeemed by any other qualities. +Napoleon, therefore, certainly was not popular in Corsica, nor is his +memory cherished there."[7] + + [7] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 121. + +The feelings of the parties were not unnatural on either side. Napoleon, +little interested in the land of his birth, and having such an immense +stake in that of his adoption, in which he had every thing to keep and +lose,[8] observed a policy towards Corsica which his position rendered +advisable; and who can blame the high-spirited islanders, who, seeing +one of their countrymen raised to such exalted eminence, and disposed to +forget his connexion with them, returned with slight and indifference +the disregard with which he treated them? + + [8] Not literally, however: for it is worth mentioning, that + when he was in full-blown possession of his power, an + inheritance fell to the family, situated near Ajaccio, and was + divided amongst them. The first consul, or emperor, received an + olive-garden as his share.--_Sketches of Corsica_. + +The siege of Toulon was the first incident of importance which enabled +Bonaparte to distinguish himself in the eyes of the French government +and of the world at large. Shortly afterwards he was appointed chief of +battalion in the army of Italy, and on the fall of Robespierre, +Bonaparte superseded in command. At the conflict between the troops of +the Convention under Napoleon, and those of the Sections of Paris under +Damican, the latter was defeated with much slaughter, and Bonaparte was +appointed general-in-chief in command of the army of the interior. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MARRIAGE. + +Meantime circumstances, which we will relate according to his own +statement, introduced Bonaparte to an acquaintance, which was destined +to have much influence on his future fate. A fine boy, of ten or twelve +years old, presented himself at the levee of the general of the +interior, with a request of a nature unusually interesting. He stated +his name to be Eugene Beauharnois, son of the ci-devant Vicomte de +Beauharnois, who, adhering to the revolutionary party, had been a +general in the republican service upon the Rhine, and falling under the +causeless suspicion of the committee of public safety, was delivered to +the revolutionary tribunal, and fell by its sentence just four days +before the overthrow of Robespierre. Eugene was come to request of +Bonaparte, as general of the interior, that his father's sword might be +restored to him. The prayer of the young supplicant was as interesting +as his manners were engaging, and Napoleon felt so much interest in him, +that he was induced to cultivate the acquaintance of Eugene's mother, +afterwards the empress Josephine. + +The lady was a Creolian, the daughter of a planter in St. Domingo. Her +name at full length was Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie. She had +suffered her share of revolutionary miseries. After her husband, General +Beauharnois, had been deprived of his command, she was arrested as a +suspected person, and detained in prison till the general liberation, +which succeeded the revolution of the 9th Thermidor. While in +confinement, Madame Beauharnois had formed an intimacy with a companion +in distress, Madame Fontenai, now Madame Tallien, from which she derived +great advantages after her friend's marriage. With a remarkably graceful +person, amiable manners, and an inexhaustible fund of good-humour, +Madame Beauharnois was formed to be an ornament to society. Barras, the +Thermidorien hero, himself an ex-noble, was fond of society, desirous of +enjoying it on an agreeable scale, and of washing away the dregs which +Jacobinism had mingled with all the dearest interests of life. He loved +show, too, and pleasure, and might now indulge both without the risk of +falling under the suspicion of incivism, which, in the Reign of Terror, +would have been incurred by any attempt to intermingle elegance with the +enjoyments of social intercourse. At the apartments which he occupied, +as one of the Directory, in the Luxemburg Palace, he gave its free +course to his natural taste, and assembled an agreeable society of both +sexes. Madame Tallien and her friend formed the soul of these +assemblies, and it was supposed that Barras was not insensible to the +charms of Madame Beauharnois,--a rumour which was likely to arise, +whether with or without foundation. + +When Madame Beauharnois and General Bonaparte became intimate, the +latter assures us, and we see no reason to doubt him, that although the +lady was two or three years older than himself,[9] yet being still in +the full bloom of beauty, and extremely agreeable in her manners, he was +induced, solely by her personal charms, to make her an offer of his +hand, heart, and fortunes,--little supposing, of course, to what a pitch +the latter were to arise. + + [9] Bonaparte was then in his twenty-sixth year. Josephine gave + herself in the marriage contract for twenty-eight. + +Although he himself is said to have been a fatalist, believing in +destiny and in the influence of his star, he knew nothing, probably, of +the prediction of a negro sorceress, who, while Marie Joseph was but a +child, prophesied she should rise to a dignity greater than that of a +queen, yet fall from it before her death.[10] This was one of those +vague auguries, delivered at random by fools or impostors, which the +caprice of fortune sometimes matches with a corresponding and conforming +event. But without trusting to the African sibyl's prediction, Bonaparte +may have formed his match under the auspices of ambition as well as +love. The marrying Madame Beauharnois was a mean of uniting his fortune +with those of Barras and Tallien, the first of whom governed France as +one of the Directors; and the last, from talents and political +connexions, had scarcely inferior influence. He had already deserved +well of them for his conduct on the Day of the Sections, but he required +their countenance to rise still higher; and without derogating from the +bride's merits, we may suppose her influence in their society +corresponded with the views of her lover. It is, however, certain, that +he always regarded her with peculiar affection; that he relied on her +fate, which he considered as linked with and strengthening his own; and +reposed, besides, considerable confidence in Josephine's tact and +address in political business. She had at all times the art of +mitigating his temper, and turning aside the hasty determinations of his +angry moments, not by directly opposing, but by gradually parrying and +disarming them. It must be added to her great praise, that she was +always a willing and often a successful advocate in the cause +of humanity. + + [10] A lady of high rank, who happened to live for some time in + the same convent at Paris, where Josephine was also a pensioner + or boarder, heard her mention the prophecy, and told it herself + to the author, just about the time of the Italian expedition, + when Bonaparte was beginning to attract notice. Another clause + is usually added to the prediction--that the party whom it + concerned should die in an hospital, which was afterwards + explained as referring to Malmaison. This the author did not + hear from the same authority. The lady mentioned used to speak + in the highest terms of the simple manners and great kindness + of Madame Beauharnois. + +They were married 9th of March, 1796; and the dowry of the bride was the +chief command of the Italian armies, a scene which opened a full career +to the ambition of the youthful general. Bonaparte remained with his +wife only three days after his marriage, hastened to see his family, who +were still at Marseilles, and, having enjoyed the pleasure of exhibiting +himself as a favourite of fortune in the city which he had lately left +in the capacity of an indigent adventurer, proceeded rapidly to commence +the career to which fate called him, by placing himself at the head of +the Italian army. + +The renowned Italian campaigns occupy the remainder of the third, and +some part of the fourth volume, to which we now proceed. It will be +remembered that the war in Egypt being triumphantly concluded on the +part of Great Britain, the news of the contest reached France some time +before the English received it. Napoleon, on learning the tidings, is +reported to have said, "Well, there remains now no alternative but to +make the descent on Britain." + + +PROPOSED INVASION OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +As the words of the first consul appeard to intimate, preparations were +resumed on the French coast for the invasion of Great Britain. Boulogne +and every harbour along the coast was crowded with flat-bottomed boats, +and the shores covered with camps of the men designed apparently to fill +them. We need not at present dwell on the preparations for attack, or +those which the English adopted in defence, as we shall have occasion to +notice both, when Bonaparte, for the last time, threatened England with +the same measure. It is enough to say, that, on the present occasion, +the menaces of France had their usual effect in awakening the spirit +of Britain. + +The most extensive arrangements were made for the reception of the +invaders should they chance to land, and in the meanwhile, our natural +barrier was not neglected. The naval preparations were very great, and +what gave yet more confidence than the number of vessels and guns, +Nelson was put into command of the sea, from Orfordness to Beachy-head. +Under his management, it soon became the question, not whether the +French flotilla was to invade the British shores, but whether it was to +remain in safety in the French harbours. Boulogne was bombarded, and +some of the small craft and gun-boats destroyed--the English admiral +generously sparing the town; and not satisfied with this partial +success, Nelson prepared to attack them with the boats of the squadron. +The French resorted to the most unusual and formidable preparations for +defence. Their flotilla was moored close to the shore in the mouth of +Boulogne harbour, the vessels secured to each other by chains, and +filled with soldiers. The British attack in some degree failed, owing to +the several divisions of boats missing each other in the dark; some +French vessels were taken, but they could not be brought off; and the +French chose to consider this result as a victory, on their part, of +consequence enough to balance the loss at Aboukir;--though it amounted +at best to ascertaining, that although their vessels could not keep the +sea, they might, in some comparative degree of safety, lie under close +cover of their own batteries. + +The preliminaries of peace, however, were signed, and the treaty was +confirmed at Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802. Napoleon still +prosecuted his ambitious projects, extended his power in Italy, and +caused himself to be appointed consul for life, with the power of naming +his successor. + + +SCHEME OF INVASION RENEWED. + +It must be in the memory of most who recollect the period, that the +kingdom of Great Britain was seldom less provided against invasion than +at the commencement of this second war; and that an embarkation from the +ports of Holland, if undertaken instantly after the war had broken out, +might have escaped our blockading squadrons, and have at least shown +what a French army could have done on British ground, at a moment when +the alarm was general, and the country in an unprepared state. But it +is probable that Bonaparte himself was as much unprovided as England +for the sudden breach of the treaty of Amiens--an event brought about +more by the influence of passion than of policy; so that its +consequences were as unexpected in his calculations as in those of Great +Britain. Besides, he had not diminished to himself the dangers of the +undertaking, by which he must have staked his military renown, his +power, which he held chiefly as the consequence of his reputation, +perhaps his life, upon a desperate game, which, though he had already +twice contemplated it, he had not yet found hardihood enough seriously +to enter upon. + +He now, however, at length bent himself, with the whole strength of his +mind, and the whole force of his empire, to prepare for this final and +decisive undertaking. The gun-boats in the Bay of Gibraltar, where calms +are frequent, had sometimes in the course of the former war been able to +do considerable damage to the English vessels of war, when they could +not use their sails. Such small craft, therefore, were supposed the +proper force for covering the intended descent. They were built in +different harbours, and brought together by crawling along the French +shore, and keeping under the protection of the batteries, which were now +established on every cape, almost as if the sea-coast of the channel on +the French side had been the lines of a besieged city, no one point of +which could with prudence be left undefended by cannon. Boulogne was +pitched upon as the centre port, from which the expedition was to sail. +By incredible exertions, Bonaparte had rendered its harbour and roads +capable of containing two thousand vessels of various descriptions. The +smaller sea-ports of Vimereux, Ambleteuse, and Etaples, Dieppe, Havre, +St. Valeri, Caen, Gravelines, and Dunkirk, were likewise filled with +shipping. Flushing and Ostend were occupied by a separate flotilla. +Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort, were each the station of as strong a naval +squadron as France, had still the means to send to sea. + +A land army was assembled of the most formidable description, whether we +regard the high military character of the troops, the extent and +perfection of their appointments, or their numerical strength. The +coast, from the mouth of the Seine to the Texel, was covered with +forces; and Soult, Ney, Davoust, and Victor, names that were then the +pride and the dread of war, were appointed to command the army of +England, (for that menacing title was once more, assumed,) and execute +those manoeuvres, planned and superintended by Bonaparte, the issue of +which was to be the blotting out of Britain from the rank of +independent nations. + +Far from being alarmed at this formidable demonstration of force, +England prepared for her resistance with an energy becoming her ancient +rank in Europe, and far surpassing in its efforts any extent of military +preparation before heard of in her history. To nearly one hundred +thousand troops of the line, were added eighty thousand and upwards of +militia, which scarce yielded to the regulars in point of discipline. +The volunteer force, by which every citizen was permitted and invited to +add his efforts to the defence of the country, was far more numerous +than during the last war, was better officered also, and rendered every +way more effective. It was computed to amount to three hundred and fifty +thousand men, who, if we regard the shortness of the time and the nature +of the service, had attained considerable practice in the use and +management of their arms. Other classes of men were embodied, and +destined to act as pioneers, drivers of wagons, and in the like +services. On a sudden, the land seemed converted to an immense camp, the +whole nation into soldiers, and the good old king himself into a +general-in-chief. All peaceful considerations appeared for a time to be +thrown aside; and the voice, calling the nation to defend their dearest +rights, sounded not only in Parliament, and in meetings convoked to +second the measures of defence, but was heard in the places of public +amusement, and mingled even with the voice of devotion--not unbecoming +surely, since to defend our country is to defend our religion. + +Beacons were erected in conspicuous points, corresponding with each +other, all around and all through the island; and morning and evening, +one might have said, every eye was turned towards them to watch for the +fatal and momentous signal. Partial alarms were given to different +places, from the mistakes to which such arrangements must necessarily be +liable; and the ready spirit which animated every species of troops +where such signals called to arms, was of the most satisfactory +description, and afforded the most perfect assurance, that the heart of +every man was in the cause of his country. + +Amidst her preparations by land, England did not neglect or relax her +precautions on the element she calls her own. She covered the ocean with +five hundred and seventy ships of war of various descriptions. +Divisions of her fleet blocked up every French port in the channel; and +the army destined to invade our shores, might see the British flag +flying in every direction on the horizon, waiting for their issuing from +the harbour, as birds of prey may be seen floating in the air above the +animal which they design to pounce upon. Sometimes the British frigates +and sloops of war stood in, and cannonaded or threw shells into Havre, +Dieppe, Granville, and Boulogne itself. Sometimes the seamen and marines +landed, cut out vessels, destroyed signal posts, and dismantled +batteries. Such events were trifling, and it was to be regretted that +they cost the lives of gallant men; but although they produced no direct +results of consequence, yet they had their use in encouraging the +spirits of our sailors, and damping the confidence of the enemy, who +must at length have looked forward with more doubt than hope to the +invasion of the English coast, when the utmost vigilance could not +prevent their experiencing insults upon their own. + +During this period of menaced attack and arranged defence, Bonaparte +visited Boulogne, and seemed active in preparing his soldiers for the +grand effort. He reviewed them in an unusual manner, teaching them to +execute several manoeuvres by night; and experiments were also made upon +the best mode of arranging the soldiers in the flat-bottomed boats, and +of embarking and disembarking them with celerity. Omens were resorted to +for keeping up the enthusiasm which the presence of the First Consul +naturally inspired. A Roman battle-axe was said to be found when they +removed the earth to pitch Bonaparte's tent or barrack; and medals of +William the Conqueror were produced, as having been dug up upon the same +honoured spot. These were pleasant bodings, yet perhaps did not +altogether, in the minds of the soldiers, counterbalance the sense of +insecurity impressed on them by the prospect of being packed together in +these miserable chaloupes, and exposed to the fire of an enemy so +superior at sea, that during the chief consul's review of the +fortifications, their frigates stood in shore with composure, and fired +at him and his suite as at a mark. The men who had braved the perils of +the Alps and of the Egyptian deserts, might yet be allowed to feel alarm +at a species of danger which seemed so inevitable, and which they had no +adequate means of repelling by force of arms. + +A circumstance which seemed to render the expedition in a great measure +hopeless, was the ease with which the English could maintain a constant +watch upon their operations within the port of Boulogne. The least +appearance of stir or preparation, to embark troops, or get ready for +sea, was promptly sent by signal to the English coast, and the numerous +British cruisers were instantly on the alert to attend their motions. +Nelson had, in fact, during the last war, declared the sailing of a +hostile armament from Boulogne to be a most forlorn undertaking, on +account of cross tides and other disadvantages, together with the +certainty of the flotilla being lost if there were the least wind +west-north-west. "As for rowing," he adds, "that is impossible.--It is +perfectly right to be prepared for a mad government," continued this +incontestable judge of maritime possibilities; "but with the active +force which has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable." + +Before quitting the subject, we may notice, that Bonaparte seems not to +have entertained the least doubts of success, could he have succeeded in +disembarking his army. A single general action was to decide the fate of +England. Five days were to bring Napoleon to London, where he was to +perform the part of William the Third; but with more generosity and +disinterestedness. He was to call a meeting of the inhabitants, restore +them what he calls their rights, and destroy the oligarchical faction. A +few months would not, according to his account, have elapsed, ere the +two nations, late such determined enemies, would have been identified by +their principles, their maxims, their interests. The full explanation of +this gibberish, (for it can be termed no better, even proceeding from +the lips of Napoleon,) is to be found elsewhere, when he spoke a +language more genuine than that of the _Moniteur_ and the bulletins. +"England," he said, "must have ended, by becoming an appendage to the +France of _my_ system. Nature has made it one of our islands, as well as +Oleron and Corsica." + +It is impossible not to pursue the train of reflections which Bonaparte +continued to pour forth to the companion of his exile, on the rock of +Saint Helena. When England was conquered, and identified with France in +maxims and principles, according to one form of expression, or rendered +an appendage and dependency, according to another phrase, the reader may +suppose that Bonaparte would have considered his mission as +accomplished. Alas! it was not much more than commenced. "I would have +departed from thence [from subjugated Britain] to carry the work of +European regeneration [that is, the extention of his own arbitrary +authority] from south to north, under the Republican colours, for I was +then Chief Consul, in the same manner which I was more lately on the +point of achieving it under the monarchical forms." When we find such +ideas retaining hold of Napoleon's imagination, and arising to his +tongue after his irretrievable fall, it is impossible to avoid +exclaiming, Did ambition ever conceive so wild a dream, and had so wild +a vision ever a termination so disastrous and humiliating! + +It may be expected that something should be here said, upon the chances +which Britain would have had of defending herself successfully against +the army of invaders. We are willing to acknowledge that the risk must +have been dreadful; and that Bonaparte, with his genius and his army, +must have inflicted severe calamities upon a country which had so long +enjoyed the blessings of peace. But the people were unanimous in their +purpose of defence, and their forces composed of materials to which +Bonaparte did more justice when he came to be better acquainted with +them. Of the three British nations, the English have since shown +themselves possessed of the same steady valour which won the fields of +Cressy and Agincourt, Blenheim and Minden--the Irish have not lost the +fiery enthusiasm which has distinguished them in all the countries of +Europe--nor have the Scots degenerated from the stubborn courage with +which their ancestors for two thousand years maintained their +independence against a superior enemy. Even if London had been lost, we +would not, under so great a calamity, have despaired of the freedom of +the country; for the war would in all probability have assumed that +popular and national character which sooner or later wears out an +invading army. Neither does the confidence with which Bonaparte affirms +the conviction of his winning the first battle, appear go certainly well +founded. This, at least, we know, that the resolution of the country was +fully bent up to the hazard; and those who remember the period will bear +us witness, that the desire that the French would make the attempt, was +a general feeling through all classes, because they had every reason to +hope that the issue might be such as for ever to silence the threat +of invasion. + +The next most important occurrence that claims our notice in this +volume, and which fully delineates the nature and character of this +wonderful and ambitious individual, is the account of his declaration as +Emperor of France, and his subsequent Coronation. + + +CORONATION OF NAPOLEON. + +Measures were taken, as on former occasions, to preserve appearances, by +obtaining, in show at least, the opinion of the people, on this radical +change of their system. Government, however, were already confident of +their approbation, which, indeed, had never been refused to any of the +various constitutions, however inconsistent, that had succeeded each +other with such rapidity. Secure on this point, Bonaparte's accession to +the empire was proclaimed with the greatest pomp, without waiting to +inquire whether the people approved of his promotion or otherwise. The +proclamation was coldly received, even by the populace, and excited +little enthusiasm. It seemed, according to some writers, as if the +shades of D'Enghien and Pichegru had been present invisibly, and spread +a damp over the ceremony. The Emperor was recognised by the soldiery +with more warmth. He visited the encampments at Boulogne, with the +intention, apparently, of receiving such an acknowledgment from the +troops as was paid by the ancient Franks to their monarchs, when they +elevated them on their bucklers. Seated on an iron chair, said to have +belonged to king Dagobert, he took his place between two immense camps, +and having before him the Channel and the hostile coasts of England. The +weather, we have been assured, had been tempestuous, but no sooner had +the Emperor assumed his seat, to receive the homage of his shouting +host, than the sky cleared, and the wind dropt, retaining just breath +sufficient gently to wave the banners. Even the elements seemed to +acknowledge the imperial dignity, all save the sea, which rolled as +carelessly to the feet of Napoleon as it had formerly done towards those +of Canute the Dane. + +The Emperor, accompanied with his Empress, who bore her honours both +gracefully and meekly, visited Aix-la-Chapelle, and the frontiers of +Germany. They received the congratulations of all the powers of Europe, +excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, upon their new exaltation; and +the German princes, who had everything to hope and fear from so powerful +a neighbour, hastened to pay their compliments to Napoleon in person, +which more distant sovereigns offered by their ambassadors. + +But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to +be made, by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon +determined should take place with circumstances of solemnity, which had +been beyond the reach of any temporal prince, however powerful, for +many ages. His policy was often marked by a wish to revive, imitate, and +connect his own titles and interest with, some ancient observance of +former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered +more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low +birth, when raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to conceal +the obscurity of their origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope +Leo, he remembered, had placed a golden crown on the head of +Charlemagne, and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. Pius VII. he +determined should do the same for a successor to much more than the +actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome +to receive inauguration from the hands of the Pontiff of that day, +Napoleon resolved that he who now owned the proud, and in Protestant +eyes profane, title of Vicar of Christ, should travel to France to +perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See of Rome +had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom +also her power had been re-erected and restored, not only in Italy, but +in France itself. + +Humiliating as the compliance with Bonaparte's request must have seemed +to the more devoted Catholics, Pius VII. had already sacrificed, to +obtain the Concordat, so much of the power and privileges of the Roman +See, that he could hardly have been justified if he had run the risk of +losing the advantages of a treaty so dearly purchased, by declining to +incur some personal trouble, or, it might be termed, some direct +self-abasement. The Pope, and the Cardinals whom he consulted, implored +the illumination of heaven upon their councils; but it was the stern +voice of necessity which assured them, that, except at the risk of +dividing the Church by a schism, they could not refuse to comply with +Bonaparte's requisition. The Pope left Rome on the 5th of November. He +was everywhere received on the road with the highest respect, and most +profound veneration; the Alpine precipices themselves had been secured +by parapets wherever they could expose the venerable Father of the +Catholic Church to danger, or even apprehension. Upon the 25th of +November, he met Bonaparte at Fontainbleau; and the conduct of the +Emperor Napoleon was as studiously respectful towards him, as that of +Charlemagne, whom he was pleased to call his predecessor, could have +been towards Leo. + +On the 2nd of December, the ceremony of the coronation took place in +the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony +which could be devised to add to its solemnity. Yet we have been told +that the multitude did not participate in the ceremonial with that +eagerness which characterises the inhabitants of all capitals, but +especially those of Paris, upon similar occasions. They had, within a +very few years, seen so many exhibitions, processions, and festivals, +established on the most discordant principles, which, though announced +as permanent and unchangeable, had successively given way to newer +doctrines, that they considered the splendid representation before them +as an unsubstantial pageant, which would fade away in its turn. +Bonaparte himself seemed absent and gloomy, till recalled to a sense of +his grandeur by the voice of the numerous deputies and functionaries +sent up from all the several departments of France, to witness the +coronation. These functionaries had been selected with due attention to +their political opinions; and many of them holding offices under the +government, or expecting benefits from the Emperor, made up, by the +zealous vivacity of their acclamations, for the coldness of the good +citizens of Paris. + +The Emperor took his coronation oath, as usual on such occasions, with +his hands up on the scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated +to him by the Pope. But in the act of coronation itself, there was a +marked deviation from the universal custom, characteristic of the man, +the age, and the conjuncture. In all other similar solemnities, the +crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding spiritual +person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not even +from the head of the Catholic Church would Bonaparte consent to receive +as a boon the golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he +owed solely to his own unparalleled train of military and civil +successes. The crown having been blessed by the Pope, Napoleon took it +from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his brows. He then +put the diadem on the head of his Empress, as if determined to show that +his authority was the child of his own actions. _Te Deum_ was sung; the +heralds, (for they also had again come into fashion,) proclaimed, "that +the thrice glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French, +was crowned and installed." Thus concluded this remarkable ceremony. +Those who remember having beheld it, must now doubt whether they were +waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so dazzling in its +appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so +ephemeral in its endurance. + +The very day before the ceremony of coronation, (that is, on the 1st of +December,) the senate had waited upon the Emperor with the result of the +votes collected in the departments, which, till that time, had been +taken for granted. Upwards of three millions five hundred thousand +citizens had given their votes on this occasion; of whom only about +three thousand five hundred had declared against the proposition. The +vice-president, Neufchateau, declared, "this report was the unbiassed +expression of the people's choice. No government could plead a title +more authentic." + +Sir Walter occupies his sixth volume with details of the celebrated +battles that were fought between the French and English armies in the +Spanish territories, and which are told with great truth and develope +the extraordinary powers of this celebrated writer. The divorce of +Josephine, and marriage of Maria Louisa, commence the succeeding volume. +The sterility of Bonaparte's wife was now an irremediable evil; and +political motives were to supersede the ties of endearment, affection, +talents, and virtue. Fouche the minister of police, made Josephine the +means of suggesting to Napoleon, the measure of her own divorce, and +subsequently Napoleon made Josephine acquainted with the cruel +certainty, that the separation was ultimately determined upon. + + +NAPOLEON DIVORCED FROM JOSEPHINE. + +When this sentence had finally dissolved their union, the emperor +retired to St. Cloud, where he lived in seclusion for some days. +Josephine, on her part, took up her residence in the beautiful villa of +Malmaison, near St. Germains. Here she principally dwelt for the +remaining years of her life, which were just prolonged to see the first +fall of her husband; an event which might have been averted had he been +content to listen more frequently to her lessons of moderation. Her life +was chiefly spent in cultivating the fine arts, of which she collected +some beautiful specimens, and in pursuing the science of botany; but +especially in the almost daily practice of acts of benevolence and +charity, of which the English _detenus_, of whom there were several at +St. Germains, frequently shared the benefit. Napoleon visited her very +frequently, and always treated her with the respect to which she was +entitled. He added also to her dowry a third million of francs, that +she might feel no inconvenience from the habits of expense to which it +was her foible to be addicted. + + +BONAPARTE MARRIES MARIA LOUISA. + +This important state measure was no sooner completed, than the great +council was summoned, on the 1st of February, to assist the emperor in +the selection of a new spouse. They were given to understand, that a +match with a grand duchess of Russia had been proposed, but was likely +to be embarrassed by disputes concerning religion. A daughter of the +king of Saxony was also mentioned, but it was easily indicated to the +council that their choice ought to fall upon a princess of the house of +Austria. At the conclusion of the meeting, Eugene, son of the repudiated +Josephine, was commissioned by the council to propose to the Austrian +embassador a match between Napoleon and the archduchess Maria Louisa. +Prince Schwarzenberg had his instructions on the subject; so that the +match was proposed, discussed, and decided in the council, and +afterwards adjusted between plenipotentiaries on either side, in the +space of twenty-four hours. The espousals of Napoleon and Maria Louisa +were celebrated at Vienna, 11th March, 1810. The person of Bonaparte was +represented by his favourite Berthier, while the archduke Charles +assisted at the ceremony, in the name of the emperor Francis. A few days +afterwards, the youthful bride, accompanied by the queen of Naples, +proceeded towards France. + +With good taste, Napoleon dispensed with the ceremonies used in the +reception of Marie Antoinette, whose marriage with Louis XVI., though +never named or alluded to, was in other respects the model of the +present solemnity. Near Soissons, a single horseman, no way +distinguished by dress, rode past the carriage in which the young +empress was seated, and had the boldness to return, as if to reconnoitre +more closely. The carriage stopped, the door was opened, and Napoleon, +breaking through all the tediousness of ceremony, introduced himself to +his bride, and came with her to Soissons. The marriage ceremony was +performed at Paris by Bonaparte's uncle, the Cardinal Fesch. The most +splendid rejoicings, illuminations, concerts, festivals, took place upon +this important occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which threw a +shade over these demonstrations of joy. Prince Schwarzenberg had given a +distinguished ball on the occasion, when unhappily the dancing-room, +which was temporary, and erected in the garden, caught fire. No efforts +could stop the progress of the flames, in which several persons +perished, and particularly the sister of Prince Schwarzenberg himself. +This tragic circumstance struck a damp on the public mind, and was +considered as a bad omen, especially when it was remembered that the +marriage of Louis XVI. with a former princess of Austria had been +signalized by a similar disaster. + +As a domestic occurrence, nothing could more contribute to Bonaparte's +happiness than his union with Maria Louisa. He was wont to compare her +with Josephine, by giving the latter all the advantages of art and +grace; the former the charms of simple modesty and innocence. His former +empress used every art to support or enhance her personal charms; but +with so much prudence and mystery, that the secret cares of her toilette +could never be traced--her successor trusted for the power of pleasing +to youth and nature. Josephine mismanaged her revenue, and incurred debt +without scruple. Maria Louisa lived within her income, or if she desired +any indulgence beyond it, which was rarely the case, she asked it as a +favour of Napoleon. Josephine, accustomed to political intrigue, loved +to manage, to influence, and to guide her husband; Maria Louisa desired +only to please and to obey him. Both were excellent women, of great +sweetness of temper, and fondly attached to Napoleon. In the difference +between these distinguished persons, we can easily discriminate the +leading features of the Parisian, and of the simple German beauty; but +it is certainly singular that the artificial character should have +belonged to the daughter of the West Indian planter; that marked by +nature and simplicity, to a princess of the proudest court in Europe. + +Bonaparte, whose domestic conduct was generally praiseworthy, behaved +with the utmost kindness to his princely bride. He observed, however, +the strictest etiquette, and required it from the empress. If it +happened, for example, as was often the case, that he was prevented from +attending at the hour when dinner was placed on the table, he was +displeased if, in the interim of his absence, which was often prolonged, +she either took a book, or had recourse to any female occupation,--if, +in short, he did not find her in the attitude of waiting for the signal +to take her place at table. Perhaps a sense of his inferior birth made +Napoleon more tenacious of this species of form, as what he could not +afford to relinquish. On the other hand, Maria Louisa is said to have +expressed her surprise at her husband's dispensing with the use of arms +and attendance of guards, and at his moving about with the freedom of +an individual; although this could be no great novelty to a member of +the imperial family of Austria, most of whom, and especially the Emperor +Francis, are in the habit of mixing familiarly with the people of +Vienna, at public places, and in the public walks. + +From this date may be traced the declination of Napoleon's greatness. In +the field he was generally unsuccessful, and occasionally murmurs of +discontent were whispered by citizen and soldier. The plot thickens in +the eight volume, and his abdication of the throne of France, and +subsequent journey to Elba, are feelingly narrated by our author. + + +RETURN OF MARIA LOUISA TO HER FATHER, AND DEATH OF JOSEPHINE. + +Maria Louisa made more than one effort to join her husband, but they +were discouraged on the part of Napoleon himself, who, while he +continued to ruminate on renewing the war, could not desire to have the +empress along with him in such an adventure. Shortly afterwards, the +emperor of Austria visited his daughter and her son, then at +Rambouillet, and gave her to understand that she was, for some time at +least, to remain separate from her husband, and that her son and she +were to return to Vienna along with him. She returned, therefore, to her +father's protection. + +It must be also here mentioned, as an extraordinary addition to this +tale of calamity, that Josephine, the former wife of Bonaparte, did not +long survive his downfall. It seemed as if the Obi-woman of Martinico +had spoke truth; for at the time when Napoleon parted from the sharer of +his early fortunes, his grandeur was on the wane, and her death took +place but a few weeks subsequent to his being dethroned and exiled. The +emperor of Russia had visited this lady, and showed her some attention, +with which Napoleon, for reasons we cannot conjecture, was extremely +displeased. She was amply provided for by the treaty of Fontainbleau, +but did not survive to reap any benefit from the provision, as she +shortly after sickened and died at her beautiful villa of Malmaison. She +was buried on the 3rd of June, at the village of Ruel. A vast number of +the lower class attended the obsequies; for she had well deserved the +title of patroness of the poor. + +The residence at Elba, the return, the treachery of Ney, the arrival at +Paris, and Napoleon's repossession of the throne, now occupy the page. +The battle of Waterloo is briefly, but finely described, and indeed the +whole of the ninth volume, to which we have now arrived, is deeply +interesting. We find, however, that we have nearly reached our limits, +and as we shall take an early opportunity of again referring to this +elaborate history, we shall now close with the following extracts;-- + + +CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON ON HIS WAY TO ST. HELENA. + +Upon the Northumberland crossing the line, the emperor desiring to +exhibit his munificence to the seamen, by presenting them with a hundred +louis d'or, under pretext of paying the ordinary fine, Sir George +Cockburn, considering this tribute to Neptune as too excessive in +amount, would not permit the donative to exceed a tenth part of the sum; +and Napoleon offended by the restriction, paid nothing at all. Upon +another occasion, early in the voyage, a difference in national manners +gave rise to one of those slight misunderstandings which we have +noticed. Napoleon was accustomed, like all Frenchmen, to leave the table +immediately after dinner, and Sir George Cockburn, with the English +officers, remained after him at table; for, in permitting his French +guests their liberty, the admiral did not choose to admit the right of +Napoleon to break up the party at his, Sir George's, own table. This +gave some discontent. Notwithstanding these trifling subjects of +dissatisfaction, Las Cases informs us that the admiral, whom he took to +be prepossessed against them at first, became every day more amicable. +The emperor used to take his arm every evening on the quarter-deck, and +hold long conversations with him upon maritime subjects, as well as past +events in general. + +While on board the Northumberland, the late emperor spent his mornings +in reading or writing; his evenings in his exercise upon deck, and at +cards. The game was generally _vingt un_. But when the play became +rather deep, he discouraged that amusement, and substituted chess. Great +tactician as he was, Napoleon did not play well at that military game, +and it was with difficulty that his antagonist, Montholon, could avoid +the solecism, of beating the emperor. + +During this voyage, Napoleon's _jour de fete_ occurred, which was also +his birthday. It was the 15th of August; a day for which the Pope had +expressly canonized a St. Napoleon to be the emperor's patron. And now, +strange revolution, it was celebrated by him on board of an English +man-of-war, which was conducting him to his place of imprisonment, and, +as it proved, his tomb. Yet Napoleon seemed cheerful and contented +during the whole day, and was even pleased at being fortunate at play, +which he received as a good omen. + +Upon the 15th of October, 1815, the Northumberland reached St. Helena, +which presents but an unpromising aspect to those who design it for a +residence, though it may be a welcome sight to the seaworn mariner. Its +destined inhabitant, from the deck of the Northumberland, surveyed it +with his spy-glass. St. James' Town, an inconsiderable village, was +before him, enchased, as it were in a valley, amid arid and scarped +rocks of immense height; every platform, every opening, every gorge, was +bristled with cannon. Las Cases, who stood by him, could not perceive +the slightest alteration of his countenance. The orders of government +had been, that Napoleon should remain on board till a residence could be +prepared suitable for the line of life he was to lead in future. But as +this was likely to be a work of time, Sir George Cockburn readily +undertook, on his own responsibility, to put his passengers on shore, +and provide in some way for the security of Napoleon's person, until the +necessary habitation should be fitted up. He was accordingly transferred +to land upon the 16th of October; and thus the emperor of France, nay, +wellnigh of Europe, sunk into the recluse of St. Helena. + + +DEATH OF NAPOLEON + +During the 3rd of May, it was seen that the life of Napoleon was drawing +evidently to a close; and his followers, and particularly his physician, +became desirous to call in more medical assistance;--that of Dr. Shortt, +physician to the forces, and of Dr. Mitchell, surgeon of the flag-ship, +was referred to. Dr. Shortt, however, thought it proper to assert the +dignity belonging to his profession, and refused to give an opinion on a +case of so much importance in itself, and attended with so much +obscurity, unless he were permitted to see and examine the patient. The +officers of Napoleon's household excused themselves, by professing that +the emperor's strict commands had been laid on them, that no English +physician, Dr. Arnott excepted, should approach his dying bed. They +said, that even when he was speechless they would be unable to brook his +eye, should he turn it upon them in reproof for their disobedience. + +About two o'clock of the same day, the priest Vignali administered the +sacrament of extreme unction. Some days before, Napoleon had explained +to him the manner in which he desired his body should be laid out in +state, in an apartment lighted by torches, or what Catholics call _une +chambre ardente_. "I am neither," he said in the same phrase which we +have formerly quoted, "a philosopher nor a physician. I believe in God, +and am of the religion of my father. It is not everybody who can be an +atheist. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of the +Catholic church, and receive the assistance which it administers." He +then turned to Dr. Antommarchi, whom he seems to have suspected of +heterodoxy, which the doctor, however, disowned. "How can you carry it +so far?" he said. "Can you not believe in God, whose existence every +thing proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have believed?" + +As if to mark a closing point of resemblance betwixt Cromwell and +Napoleon, a dreadful tempest arose on the 4th of May, which preceded the +day that was to close the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A +willow, which had been the exile's favourite, and under which he had +often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the hurricane; and almost +all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate. + +The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Napoleon's passing spirit was +deliriously engaged in a strife more terrible than that of the elements +around. The words "_tete d'armee_" the last which escaped his lips, +intimated that his thoughts were watching the current of a heady fight. +About eleven minutes before six in the evening, Napoleon, after a +struggle which indicated the original strength of his constitution, +breathed his last. + + +HIS FUNERAL. + +Bonaparte was buried on the 8th of May, in a small secluded recess +called Slane's, or Haine's Valley, where a fountain arose, at which his +Chinese domestics used to fill the silver pitchers, which they carried +to Longwood for Napoleon's use. "All the troops were under arms upon the +solemn occasion. As the road did not permit a near approach of the +hearse to the place of sepulture, a party of British grenadiers had the +honour to bear the coffin to the grave. The prayers were recited by the +priest, Abbe Vignali. Minute guns were fired from the admiral's ship. +The coffin was then let down into the grave, under a discharge of three +successive volleys of artillery, fifteen pieces of cannon firing fifteen +guns each. A large stone was then lowered down on the grave, and covered +the moderate space now sufficient for the man for whom Europe was once +too little." + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. 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[PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +SIR WALTER SCOTT'S LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. + +(_Continued from page 5._ [Note: see Mirror 262]) + + +Robespierre was a coward, who signed death-warrants with a hand that +shook, though his heart was relentless. He possessed no passions on +which to charge his crimes; they were perpetrated in cold blood, and +upon mature deliberation. + +Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate, had attracted the +attention of the lower orders, by the violence of his sentiments in the +journal which he conducted from the commencement of the revolution, upon +such principles that it took the lead in forwarding its successive +changes. His political exhortations began and ended like the howl of a +blood-hound for murder; or, if a wolf could have written a journal, the +gaunt and famished wretch could not have ravened more eagerly for +slaughter. It was blood which was Marat's constant demand, not in drops +from the breast of an individual, not in puny streams from the slaughter +of families, but blood in the profusion of an ocean. His usual +calculation of the heads which he demanded amounted to two hundred and +sixty thousand; and though he sometimes raised it as high as three +hundred thousand, it never fell beneath the smaller number. It may be +hoped, and for the honour of human nature we are inclined to believe, +there was a touch of insanity in this unnatural strain of ferocity; and +the wild and squalid features of the wretch appear to have intimated a +degree of alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre, a coward. +Repeatedly denounced in the assembly, he skulked instead of defending +himself, and lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar among his +cut-throats, until a storm appeared, when, like a bird of ill omen, his +death-screech was again heard. Such was the strange and fatal +triumvirate, in which the same degree of cannibal cruelty existed under +different aspects. Danton murdered to glut his rage; Robespierre to +avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival whom he envied; Marat, +from the same instinctive love of blood, which induces a wolf to +continue his ravage of the flocks long after his hunger is appeased. + +Passing by the horrors of the reign of terror, we shall close the second +volume with a vivid and powerful picture, which we cannot refrain +quoting-- + + +THE DEATH OF ROBESPIERRE. + +Meantime the convention continued to maintain the bold and commanding +front which they had so suddenly and critically assumed. Upon learning +the escape of the arrested deputies, and hearing of the insurrection at +the Hotel de Ville, they instantly passed a decree outlawing Robespierre +and his associates, inflicting a similar doom upon the mayor of Paris, +the procureur and other members of the commune, and charging twelve of +their members, the boldest who could be selected, to proceed with the +armed force to the execution of the sentence. The drums of the National +Guards now beat to arms in all the sections under authority of the +convention, while the tocsin continued to summon assistance with its +iron voice to Robespierre and the civic magistrates. Every thing +appeared to threaten a violent catastrophe, until it was seen clearly +that the public voice, and especially amongst the National Guards, was +declaring itself generally against the Terrorists. + +The Hotel de Ville was surrounded by about fifteen hundred men, and +cannon turned upon the doors. The force of the assailants was weakest in +point of number, but their leaders were men of spirit, and night +concealed their inferiority of force. + +The deputies commissioned for the purpose read the decree of the +assembly to those whom they found assembled in front of the city-hall, +and they shrunk from the attempt of defending it, some joining the +assailants, others laying down their arms and dispersing. Meantime the +deserted group of Terrorists within conducted themselves like scorpions, +which, when surrounded by a circle of fire, are said to turn their +stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding +took place among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means you +promised to furnish?" said Payan to Henriot, whom he found intoxicated +and incapable of resolution or exertion; and seizing on him as he spoke, +he precipitated the revolutionary general from a window. Henriot +survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which he was +afterwards discovered and brought out to execution. The younger +Robespierre threw himself from the window, but had not the good fortune +to perish on the spot. It seemed as if even the melancholy fate of +suicide, the last refuge of guilt and despair, was denied to men who had +so long refused every species of mercy to their fellow-creatures. Le Bas +alone had calmness enough to despatch himself with a pistol-shot. Saint +Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, attempted his own life +with an irresolute hand, and failed, Couthon lay beneath the table +brandishing a knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without +daring to add force enough to reach his heart. Their chief, Robespierre, +in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot himself, had only inflicted a +horrible fracture on his under-jaw. + +In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with +blood, mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay +on a table in an anti-room, his head supported by a deal-box, and his +hideous countenance half-hidden by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round +the shattered chin.[1] + + [1] It did not escape the minute observers of this scene, that + he still held in his hand the bag which had contained the fatal + pistol, and which was inscribed with the words, _Au grand + monarque_, alluding to the sign, doubtless, of the gunsmith who + sold the weapon, but singularly applicable to the high + pretensions of the purchaser. + +The captives were carried in triumph to the convention, who, without +admitting them to the bar, ordered them, as outlaws, for instant +execution. As the fatal cars passed to the guillotine, those who filled +them, but especially Robespierre, were overwhelmed with execrations from +the friends and relatives of victims whom he had sent on the same +melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the cloth +had never been removed till the executioner tore it off, added to the +torture of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch +yelled aloud, to the horror of the spectators.[2] A mask taken from that +dreadful head was long exhibited in different nations of Europe, and +appalled the spectator by its ugliness, and the mixture of fiendish +expression with that of bodily agony. + + [2] The fate of no tyrant in history was so hideous at the + conclusion, excepting perhaps that of Jugurtha. + +Thus fell Maximilian Robespierre, after having been the first person in +the French republic for nearly two years, during which time he governed +it upon the principles of Nero or Caligula. His elevation to the +situation which he held involved more contradictions than perhaps +attach to any similar event in history. A low-born and low-minded +tyrant was permitted to rule with the rod of the most frightful +despotism a people, whose anxiety for liberty had shortly before +rendered them unable to endure the rule of a humane and lawful +sovereign. A dastardly coward arose to the command of one of the bravest +nations in the world; and it was under the auspices of a man who dared +scarce fire a pistol, that the greatest generals in France began their +careers of conquest. He had neither eloquence nor imagination; but +substituted in their stead a miserable, affected, bombastic style, +which, until other circumstances gave him consequence, drew on him +general ridicule. Yet against so poor an orator, all the eloquence of +the philosophical Girondists, all the terrible powers of his associate +Danton, employed in a popular assembly, could not enable them to make an +effectual resistance. It may seem trifling to mention, that in a nation +where a good deal of prepossession is excited by amiable manners and +beauty of external appearance, the person who ascended to the highest +power was not only ill-looking, but singularly mean in person, awkward +and constrained in his address, ignorant how to set about pleasing even +when he most desired to give pleasure, and as tiresome nearly as he was +odious and heartless. + +To compensate all these deficiencies, Robespierre had but an insatiable +ambition, founded on a vanity which made him think himself capable of +filling the highest situation; and therefore gave him daring, when to +dare is frequently to achieve. He mixed a false and over-strained, but +rather fluent species of bombastic composition, with the grossest +flattery to the lowest classes of the people; in consideration of which, +they could not but receive as genuine the praises which he always +bestowed on himself. His prudent resolution to be satisfied with +possessing the essence of power, without seeming to desire its rank and +trappings, formed another art of cajoling the multitude. His watchful +envy, his long-protracted but sure revenge, his craft, which to vulgar +minds supplies the place of wisdom, were his only means of competing +with his distinguished antagonists. And it seems to have been a merited +punishment of the extravagances and abuses of the French revolution, +that it engaged the country in a state of anarchy which permitted a +wretch such as we have described, to be for a long period master of her +destiny. Blood was his element, like that of the other Terrorists, and +he never fastened with so much pleasure on a new victim, as when he was +at the same time an ancient associate. In an epitaph, of which the +following couplet may serve as a translation, his life was represented +as incompatible with the existence of the human race:-- + + "Here lies Robespierre--let no tear be shed; + Reader, if he had lived, thou hadst been dead." + +The commencement of the third volume introduces us to the family of +Bonaparte, who resided in the island of Corsica, which was, in ancient +times, remarkable as the scene of Seneca's exile, and in the last +century was distinguished by the memorable stand which the natives made +in defence of their liberties against the Genoese and French, during a +war which tended to show the high and indomitable spirit of the +islanders, united as it is with the fiery and vindictive feelings proper +to their country and climate. + + +BIRTH OF BONAPARTE. + +Charles Bonaparte, the father of Napoleon, died at the age of about +forty years, of an ulcer in the stomach, on the 24th of February, 1785. +His celebrated son fell a victim to the same disease. During Napoleon's +grandeur, the community of Montpellier expressed a desire to erect a +monument to the memory of Charles Bonaparte. His answer was both +sensible and in good taste. "Had I lost my father yesterday," he said, +"it would be natural to pay his memory some mark of respect consistent +with my present situation. But it is twenty years since the event, and +it is one in which the public can take no concern. Let us leave the dead +in peace." + +The subject of our narrative was born, according to the best accounts, +and his own belief, upon the 15th day of August, 1769, at his father's +house in Ajaccio, forming one side of a court which leads out of the Rue +Charles.[3] We read with interest, that his mother's good constitution, +and bold character of mind, having induced her to attend mass upon the +day of his birth, (being the Festival of the Assumption,) she was +obliged to return home immediately, and as there was no time to prepare +a bed or bedroom, she was delivered of the future victor upon a +temporary couch prepared for her accommodation, and covered with an +ancient piece of tapestry, representing the heroes of the Iliad. The +infant was christened by the name of Napoleon, an obscure saint, who had +dropped to leeward, and fallen altogether out of the calendar, so that +his namesake never knew which day he was to celebrate as the festival of +his patron. When questioned, on this subject by the bishop who +confirmed him, he answered smartly, that there were a great many saints, +and only three hundred and sixty-five days to divide amongst them. The +politeness of the pope promoted the patron in order to compliment the +god-child, and Saint Napoleon des Ursins was accommodated with a +festival. To render this compliment, which no one but a pope could have +paid, still more flattering, the feast of Saint Napoleon was fixed for +the fifteenth August, the birthday of the emperor, and the day on which +he signed the Concordat. So that Napoleon had the rare honour of +promoting his patron saint. + + [3] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + + +NAPOLEON'S EARLY LIFE. + +The young Napoleon had, of course, the simple and hardy education proper +to the natives of the mountainous island of his birth, and in his +infancy was not remarkable for more than that animation of temper, and +wilfulness and impatience of inactivity, by which children of quick +parts and lively sensibility are usually distinguished. The winter of +the year was generally passed by the family of his father at Ajaccio, +where they still preserve and exhibit, as the ominous play-thing of +Napoleon's boyhood, the model of a brass cannon, weighing about thirty +pounds.[4] We leave it to philosophers to inquire, whether the future +love of war was suggested by the accidental possession of such a toy; or +whether the tendency of the mind dictated the selection of it; or, +lastly, whether the nature of the pastime, corresponding with the taste +which chose it, may not have had each their action and reaction, and +contributed between them to the formation of a character so warlike. + + [4] "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + +The same traveller who furnishes the above anecdote, gives an +interesting account of the country retreat of the family of Bonaparte +during the summer. + +Going along the sea-shore from Ajaccio towards the Isle Sanguiniere, +about a mile from the town, occur two stone pillars, the remains of a +doorway, leading up to a dilapidated villa, once the residence of Madame +Bonaparte's half-brother on the mother's side, whom Napoleon created +Cardinal Fesch.[5] The house is approached by an avenue, surrounded and +overhung by the cactus and other shrubs, which luxuriate in a warm +climate. It has a garden and a lawn, showing amidst neglect vestiges of +their former beauty, and the house is surrounded by shrubberies, +permitted to run to wilderness. This was the summer residence of Madame +Bonaparte and her family. Almost enclosed by the wild olive, the cactus, +the clematis, and the almond-tree, is a very singular and isolated +granite rock, called Napoleon's grotto, which seems to have resisted the +decomposition which has taken place around. The remains of a small +summer-house are visible beneath the rock, the entrance to which is +nearly closed by a luxuriant fig-tree. This was Bonaparte's frequent +retreat, when the vacations of the school at which he studied permitted +him to visit home. How the imagination labours to form an idea of the +visions, which, in this sequestered and romantic spot, must have arisen +before the eyes of the future hero of a hundred battles! + + [5] The mother of Letitia Ramolini, wife of Carlo Bonaparte, + married a Swiss officer in the French service, named Fesch, + after the death of Letitia's father. + +Bonaparte's ardour for the abstract sciences amounted to a passion, and +was combined with a singular aptitude for applying them to the purposes +of war, while his attention to pursuits so interesting and exhaustless +in themselves, was stimulated by his natural ambition and desire of +distinction. Almost all the scientific teachers at Brienne, being +accustomed to study the character of their pupils, and obliged by their +duty to make memoranda and occasional reports on the subject, spoke of +the talents of Bonaparte, and the progress of his studies, with +admiration. Circumstances of various kinds, exaggerated or invented, +have been circulated concerning the youth of a person so remarkable. The +following are given upon good authority.[6] + + [6] They were many years since communicated to the author by + Messrs. Joseph and Louis Law, brothers of General Baron + Lauriston, Bonaparte's favourite aid-de-camp. These gentlemen, + or at least Joseph, were educated at Brienne, but at a later + period than Napoleon. Their distinguished brother was his + contemporary. + +The conduct of Napoleon among his companions was that of a studious and +reserved youth, addicting himself deeply to the means of improvement, +and rather avoiding than seeking the usual temptations to dissipation of +time. He had few friends, and no intimates; yet at different times, when +he chose to exert it, he exhibited considerable influence over his +fellow-students, and when there was any joint plan to be carried into +effect, he was frequently chosen dictator of the little republic. + +In the time of winter, Bonaparte, upon one occasion, engaged his +companions in constructing a fortress out of the snow, regularly +defended by ditches and bastions, according to the rules of +fortification. It was considered as displaying the great powers of the +juvenile engineer in the way of his profession, and was attacked and +defended by the students, who divided into parties for the purpose, +until the battle became so keen that their superiors thought it proper +to proclaim a truce. + +The young Bonaparte gave another instance of address and enterprise upon +the following occasion. There was a fair held annually in the +neighbourhood of Brienne, where the pupils of the Military School used +to find a day's amusement; but on account of a quarrel betwixt them and +the country people upon a former occasion, or for some such cause, the +masters of the institution had directed that the students should not on +the fair-day be permitted to go beyond their own precincts, which were +surrounded with a wall. Under the direction of the young Corsican, +however, the scholars had already laid a plot for securing their usual +day's diversion. They had undermined the wall which encompassed their +exercising ground, with so much skill and secrecy, that their operations +remained entirely unknown till the morning of the fair, when a part of +the boundary unexpectedly fell, and gave a free passage to the +imprisoned students, of which they immediately took the advantage, by +hurrying to the prohibited scene of amusement. + +But although on these, and perhaps other occasions, Bonaparte displayed +some of the frolic temper of youth, mixed with the inventive genius and +the talent for commanding others by which he was distinguished in after +time, his life at school was in general that of a recluse and severe +student, acquiring by his judgment, and treasuring in his memory, that +wonderful process of almost unlimited combination, by means of which he +was afterwards able to simplify the most difficult and complicated +undertakings. His mathematical teacher was proud of the young islander, +as the boast of his school, and his other scientific instructors had the +same reason to be satisfied. + +In languages Bonaparte was less a proficient, and never acquired the art +of writing or spelling French, far less foreign languages, with accuracy +or correctness; nor had the monks of Brienne any reason to pride +themselves on the classical proficiency of their scholar. The full +energies of his mind being devoted to the scientific pursuits of his +profession, left little time or inclination for other studies. + +Though of Italian origin, Bonaparte had not a decided taste for the fine +arts, and his taste in composition seems to have leaned towards the +grotesque and the bombastic. He used always the most exaggerated +phrases; and it is seldom, if ever, that his bulletins present those +touches of sublimity which are founded on dignity and simplicity of +expression. + +Notwithstanding the external calmness and reserve of his deportment, he +who was destined for such great things had, while yet a student at +Brienne, a full share of that ambition for distinction and dread of +disgrace, that restless and irritating love of fame, which is the spur +to extraordinary attempts. Sparkles of this keen temper sometimes showed +themselves. On one occasion, a harsh superintendant imposed on the +future emperor, for some trifling fault, the disgrace of wearing a +penitential dress, and being excluded from the table of the students, +and obliged to eat his meal apart. His pride felt the indignity so +severely, that it brought on a severe nervous attack; to which, though +otherwise of good constitution, he was subject upon occasions of +extraordinary irritation. Father Petrault, the professor of mathematics, +hastened to deliver his favourite pupil from the punishment by which he +was so much affected. + +It is also said that an early disposition to the popular side +distinguished Bonaparte even when at Brienne. Pichegru, afterwards so +celebrated, who acted as his monitor in the military school, (a singular +circumstance,) bore witness to his early principles, and to the peculiar +energy and tenacity of his temper. He was long afterwards consulted +whether means might not be found to engage the commander of the Italian +armies in the royal interest. "It will be but lost time to attempt it," +said Pichegru. "I knew him in his youth--his character is inflexible--he +has taken his side, and he will not change it." + +In 1783, Napoleon Bonaparte, then only fourteen years old, was, though +under the usual age, selected by Monsieur de Keralio, the inspector of +the twelve military schools, to be sent to have his education completed +in the general school of Paris. It was a compliment paid to the +precocity of his extraordinary mathematical talent, and the steadiness +of his application. While at Paris he attracted the same notice as at +Brienne; and among other society, frequented that of the celebrated Abbe +Raynal, and was admitted to his literary parties. His taste did not +become correct, but his appetite for study in all departments was +greatly enlarged; and notwithstanding the quantity which he daily read, +his memory was strong enough to retain, and his judgment sufficiently +ripe to arrange and digest, the knowledge which he then acquired; so +that he had it at his command during all the rest of his busy life. +Plutarch was his favourite author; upon the study of whom he had so +modelled his opinions and habits of thought, that Paoli afterwards +pronounced him a young man of an antique caste, and resembling one of +the classical heroes. + +Some of his biographers have about this time ascribed to him the +anecdote of a certain youthful pupil of the military school, who desired +to ascend in the car of a balloon with the aeronaut Blanchard, and was +so mortified at being refused, that he made an attempt to cut the +balloon with his sword. The story has but a flimsy support, and indeed +does not accord well with the character of the hero, which was deep and +reflective, as well as bold and determined, and not likely to suffer its +energies to escape in idle and useless adventure. + +A better authenticated anecdote states, that at this time he expressed +himself disrespectfully towards the king in one of his letters to his +family. According to the practice of the school, he was obliged to +submit the letter to the censorship of Monsieur Domairon, the professor +of belles lettres, who, taking notice of the offensive passage, insisted +upon the letter being burnt, and added a severe rebuke. Long afterwards, +in 1802, Monsieur Domairon was commanded to attend Napoleon's levee, in +order that he might receive a pupil in the person of Jerome Bonaparte, +when the first consul reminded his old tutor good-humouredly, that times +had changed considerably since the burning of the letter. + +Napoleon Bonaparte, in his seventieth year, received his first +commission as second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery, and was +almost immediately afterwards promoted to the rank of first lieutenant +in the corps quartered at Valence. He mingled with society when he +joined his regiment, more than he had hitherto been accustomed to do; +mixed in public amusements, and exhibited the powers of pleasing, which +he possessed in an uncommon degree when he chose to exert them. His +handsome and intelligent features, with his active and neat, though +slight figure, gave him additional advantages. His manners could +scarcely be called elegant, but made up in vivacity and variety of +expression, and often in great spirit and energy, for what they wanted +in grace and polish. + +He became an adventurer for the honours of literature also, and was +anonymously a competitor for the prize offered by the Academy of Lyons +on Raynal's question, "What are the principles and institutions, by +application of which mankind can be raised to the highest pitch of +happiness?" The prize was adjudged to the young soldier. It is +impossible to avoid feeling curiosity to know the character of the +juvenile theories respecting government, advocated by one who at length +attained the power of practically making what experiments he pleased. +Probably his early ideas did not exactly coincide with his more mature +practice; for when Talleyrand, many years afterwards, got the essay out +of the records of the academy, and returned it to the author, Bonaparte +destroyed it after he had read a few pages. He also laboured under the +temptation of writing a journey to Mount Cenis, after the manner of +Sterne, which he was fortunate enough finally to resist. The affectation +which pervades Sterne's peculiar style of composition was not likely to +be simplified under the pen of Bonaparte. + +Sterner times were fast approaching, and the nation was now fully +divided by those factions which produced the revolution. The officers of +Bonaparte's regiment were also divided into royalists and patriots; and +it is easily to be imagined, that the young and friendless stranger and +adventurer should adopt that side to which he had already shown some +inclination, and which promised to open the most free career to those +who had only their merit to rely on. "Were I a general officer," he is +alleged to have said, "I would have adhered to the king; being a +subaltern, I join the patriots." + +There was a story current, that in a debate with some brother officers +on the politics of the time, Bonaparte expressed himself so +outrageously, that they were provoked to throw him into the Rhone, where +he had nearly perished. But this is an inaccurate account of the +accident which actually befell him. He was seized with the cramp when +bathing in the river. His comrades saved him with difficulty, but his +danger was matter of pure chance. + +Napoleon has himself recorded that he was a warm patriot during the +whole sitting of the National Assembly; but that on the appointment of +the Legislative Assembly, he became shaken in his opinions. If so, his +original sentiments regained force, for we shortly afterwards find him +entertaining such as went to the extreme heights of the revolution. + +Early in the year 1792, Bonaparte became a captain in the artillery by +seniority; and in the same year, being at Paris, he witnessed the two +insurrections of the 20th of June and 10th of August. He was accustomed +to speak of the insurgents as the most despicable banditti, and to +express with what ease a determined officer could have checked these +apparently formidable, but dastardly and unwieldy masses. But with what +a different feeling of interest would Napoleon have looked on that +infuriated populace, those still resisting though overpowered Swiss, and +that burning palace, had any seer whispered to him, "Emperor that shall +be, all this blood and massacre is but to prepare your future empire!" +Little anticipating the potent effect which the passing events were to +bear on his own fortune, Bonaparte, anxious for the safety of his mother +and family, was now desirous to change France for Corsica, where the +same things were acting on a less distinguished stage. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MILITARY EXPLOIT. + +Napoleon's first military exploit was in the civil war of his native +island. In the year 1793, he was despatched from Bastia, in possession +of the French party, to surprise his native town Ajaccio, then occupied +by Paoli or his adherents. Bonaparte was acting provisionally, as +commanding a battalion of National Guards. He landed in the Gulf of +Ajaccio with about fifty men, to take possession of a tower called the +Torre di Capitello, on the opposite side of the gulf, and almost facing +the city. He succeeded in taking the place; but as there arose a gale of +wind which prevented his communicating with the frigate which had put +him ashore, he was besieged in his new conquest by the opposite faction, +and reduced to such distress, that he and his little garrison were +obliged to feed on horse-flesh. After five days he was relieved by the +frigate, and evacuated the tower, having first in vain attempted to blow +it up. The Torre di Capitello still shows marks of the damage it then +sustained, and its remains may be looked on as a curiosity, as the first +scene of _his_ combats, before whom + + --"Temple and tower + Went to the ground.--" + +A relation of Napoleon, Masserio by name, effectually defended Ajaccio +against the force employed in the expedition. + +The strength of Paoli increasing, and the English preparing to assist +him, Corsica became no longer a safe or convenient residence for the +Bonaparte family. Indeed, both Napoleon and his brother Lucien, who had +distinguished themselves as partisans of the French, were subjected to a +decree of banishment from their native island; and Madame Bonaparte, +with her three daughters, and Jerome, who was as yet but a child, set +sail under their protection, and settled for a time, first at Nice, and +afterwards at Marseilles, where the family is supposed to have undergone +considerable distress, until the dawning prospects of Napoleon afforded +him the means of assisting them. + +Napoleon never again revisited Corsica, nor does he appear to have +regarded it with any feelings of affection. One small fountain at +Ajaccio is pointed out as the only ornament which his bounty bestowed on +his birthplace. He might perhaps think it impolitic to do any thing +which might remind the country he ruled that he was not a child of her +soil, nay, was in fact very near having been born an alien, for Corsica +was not united to, or made an integral part of France, until June, 1769, +a few weeks only before Napoleon's birth. This stigma was repeatedly +cast upon him by his opponents, some of whom reproached the French with +having adopted a master, from a country from which the ancient Romans +were unwilling even to choose a slave; and Napoleon may have been so far +sensible to it, as to avoid showing any predilection to the place of his +birth, which might bring the circumstance strongly under the observation +of the great nation, with which he and his family seemed to be +indissolubly united. But, as a traveller already quoted, and who had the +best opportunities to become acquainted with the feelings of the proud +islanders, has expressed it,--"The Corsicans are still highly patriotic, +and possess strong local attachment--in their opinion, contempt for the +country of one's birth is never to be redeemed by any other qualities. +Napoleon, therefore, certainly was not popular in Corsica, nor is his +memory cherished there."[7] + + [7] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 121. + +The feelings of the parties were not unnatural on either side. Napoleon, +little interested in the land of his birth, and having such an immense +stake in that of his adoption, in which he had every thing to keep and +lose,[8] observed a policy towards Corsica which his position rendered +advisable; and who can blame the high-spirited islanders, who, seeing +one of their countrymen raised to such exalted eminence, and disposed to +forget his connexion with them, returned with slight and indifference +the disregard with which he treated them? + + [8] Not literally, however: for it is worth mentioning, that + when he was in full-blown possession of his power, an + inheritance fell to the family, situated near Ajaccio, and was + divided amongst them. The first consul, or emperor, received an + olive-garden as his share.--_Sketches of Corsica_. + +The siege of Toulon was the first incident of importance which enabled +Bonaparte to distinguish himself in the eyes of the French government +and of the world at large. Shortly afterwards he was appointed chief of +battalion in the army of Italy, and on the fall of Robespierre, +Bonaparte superseded in command. At the conflict between the troops of +the Convention under Napoleon, and those of the Sections of Paris under +Damican, the latter was defeated with much slaughter, and Bonaparte was +appointed general-in-chief in command of the army of the interior. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MARRIAGE. + +Meantime circumstances, which we will relate according to his own +statement, introduced Bonaparte to an acquaintance, which was destined +to have much influence on his future fate. A fine boy, of ten or twelve +years old, presented himself at the levee of the general of the +interior, with a request of a nature unusually interesting. He stated +his name to be Eugene Beauharnois, son of the ci-devant Vicomte de +Beauharnois, who, adhering to the revolutionary party, had been a +general in the republican service upon the Rhine, and falling under the +causeless suspicion of the committee of public safety, was delivered to +the revolutionary tribunal, and fell by its sentence just four days +before the overthrow of Robespierre. Eugene was come to request of +Bonaparte, as general of the interior, that his father's sword might be +restored to him. The prayer of the young supplicant was as interesting +as his manners were engaging, and Napoleon felt so much interest in him, +that he was induced to cultivate the acquaintance of Eugene's mother, +afterwards the empress Josephine. + +The lady was a Creolian, the daughter of a planter in St. Domingo. Her +name at full length was Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie. She had +suffered her share of revolutionary miseries. After her husband, General +Beauharnois, had been deprived of his command, she was arrested as a +suspected person, and detained in prison till the general liberation, +which succeeded the revolution of the 9th Thermidor. While in +confinement, Madame Beauharnois had formed an intimacy with a companion +in distress, Madame Fontenai, now Madame Tallien, from which she derived +great advantages after her friend's marriage. With a remarkably graceful +person, amiable manners, and an inexhaustible fund of good-humour, +Madame Beauharnois was formed to be an ornament to society. Barras, the +Thermidorien hero, himself an ex-noble, was fond of society, desirous of +enjoying it on an agreeable scale, and of washing away the dregs which +Jacobinism had mingled with all the dearest interests of life. He loved +show, too, and pleasure, and might now indulge both without the risk of +falling under the suspicion of incivism, which, in the Reign of Terror, +would have been incurred by any attempt to intermingle elegance with the +enjoyments of social intercourse. At the apartments which he occupied, +as one of the Directory, in the Luxemburg Palace, he gave its free +course to his natural taste, and assembled an agreeable society of both +sexes. Madame Tallien and her friend formed the soul of these +assemblies, and it was supposed that Barras was not insensible to the +charms of Madame Beauharnois,--a rumour which was likely to arise, +whether with or without foundation. + +When Madame Beauharnois and General Bonaparte became intimate, the +latter assures us, and we see no reason to doubt him, that although the +lady was two or three years older than himself,[9] yet being still in +the full bloom of beauty, and extremely agreeable in her manners, he was +induced, solely by her personal charms, to make her an offer of his +hand, heart, and fortunes,--little supposing, of course, to what a pitch +the latter were to arise. + + [9] Bonaparte was then in his twenty-sixth year. Josephine gave + herself in the marriage contract for twenty-eight. + +Although he himself is said to have been a fatalist, believing in +destiny and in the influence of his star, he knew nothing, probably, of +the prediction of a negro sorceress, who, while Marie Joseph was but a +child, prophesied she should rise to a dignity greater than that of a +queen, yet fall from it before her death.[10] This was one of those +vague auguries, delivered at random by fools or impostors, which the +caprice of fortune sometimes matches with a corresponding and conforming +event. But without trusting to the African sibyl's prediction, Bonaparte +may have formed his match under the auspices of ambition as well as +love. The marrying Madame Beauharnois was a mean of uniting his fortune +with those of Barras and Tallien, the first of whom governed France as +one of the Directors; and the last, from talents and political +connexions, had scarcely inferior influence. He had already deserved +well of them for his conduct on the Day of the Sections, but he required +their countenance to rise still higher; and without derogating from the +bride's merits, we may suppose her influence in their society +corresponded with the views of her lover. It is, however, certain, that +he always regarded her with peculiar affection; that he relied on her +fate, which he considered as linked with and strengthening his own; and +reposed, besides, considerable confidence in Josephine's tact and +address in political business. She had at all times the art of +mitigating his temper, and turning aside the hasty determinations of his +angry moments, not by directly opposing, but by gradually parrying and +disarming them. It must be added to her great praise, that she was +always a willing and often a successful advocate in the cause +of humanity. + + [10] A lady of high rank, who happened to live for some time in + the same convent at Paris, where Josephine was also a pensioner + or boarder, heard her mention the prophecy, and told it herself + to the author, just about the time of the Italian expedition, + when Bonaparte was beginning to attract notice. Another clause + is usually added to the prediction--that the party whom it + concerned should die in an hospital, which was afterwards + explained as referring to Malmaison. This the author did not + hear from the same authority. The lady mentioned used to speak + in the highest terms of the simple manners and great kindness + of Madame Beauharnois. + +They were married 9th of March, 1796; and the dowry of the bride was the +chief command of the Italian armies, a scene which opened a full career +to the ambition of the youthful general. Bonaparte remained with his +wife only three days after his marriage, hastened to see his family, who +were still at Marseilles, and, having enjoyed the pleasure of exhibiting +himself as a favourite of fortune in the city which he had lately left +in the capacity of an indigent adventurer, proceeded rapidly to commence +the career to which fate called him, by placing himself at the head of +the Italian army. + +The renowned Italian campaigns occupy the remainder of the third, and +some part of the fourth volume, to which we now proceed. It will be +remembered that the war in Egypt being triumphantly concluded on the +part of Great Britain, the news of the contest reached France some time +before the English received it. Napoleon, on learning the tidings, is +reported to have said, "Well, there remains now no alternative but to +make the descent on Britain." + + +PROPOSED INVASION OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +As the words of the first consul appeard to intimate, preparations were +resumed on the French coast for the invasion of Great Britain. Boulogne +and every harbour along the coast was crowded with flat-bottomed boats, +and the shores covered with camps of the men designed apparently to fill +them. We need not at present dwell on the preparations for attack, or +those which the English adopted in defence, as we shall have occasion to +notice both, when Bonaparte, for the last time, threatened England with +the same measure. It is enough to say, that, on the present occasion, +the menaces of France had their usual effect in awakening the spirit +of Britain. + +The most extensive arrangements were made for the reception of the +invaders should they chance to land, and in the meanwhile, our natural +barrier was not neglected. The naval preparations were very great, and +what gave yet more confidence than the number of vessels and guns, +Nelson was put into command of the sea, from Orfordness to Beachy-head. +Under his management, it soon became the question, not whether the +French flotilla was to invade the British shores, but whether it was to +remain in safety in the French harbours. Boulogne was bombarded, and +some of the small craft and gun-boats destroyed--the English admiral +generously sparing the town; and not satisfied with this partial +success, Nelson prepared to attack them with the boats of the squadron. +The French resorted to the most unusual and formidable preparations for +defence. Their flotilla was moored close to the shore in the mouth of +Boulogne harbour, the vessels secured to each other by chains, and +filled with soldiers. The British attack in some degree failed, owing to +the several divisions of boats missing each other in the dark; some +French vessels were taken, but they could not be brought off; and the +French chose to consider this result as a victory, on their part, of +consequence enough to balance the loss at Aboukir;--though it amounted +at best to ascertaining, that although their vessels could not keep the +sea, they might, in some comparative degree of safety, lie under close +cover of their own batteries. + +The preliminaries of peace, however, were signed, and the treaty was +confirmed at Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802. Napoleon still +prosecuted his ambitious projects, extended his power in Italy, and +caused himself to be appointed consul for life, with the power of naming +his successor. + + +SCHEME OF INVASION RENEWED. + +It must be in the memory of most who recollect the period, that the +kingdom of Great Britain was seldom less provided against invasion than +at the commencement of this second war; and that an embarkation from the +ports of Holland, if undertaken instantly after the war had broken out, +might have escaped our blockading squadrons, and have at least shown +what a French army could have done on British ground, at a moment when +the alarm was general, and the country in an unprepared state. But it +is probable that Bonaparte himself was as much unprovided as England +for the sudden breach of the treaty of Amiens--an event brought about +more by the influence of passion than of policy; so that its +consequences were as unexpected in his calculations as in those of Great +Britain. Besides, he had not diminished to himself the dangers of the +undertaking, by which he must have staked his military renown, his +power, which he held chiefly as the consequence of his reputation, +perhaps his life, upon a desperate game, which, though he had already +twice contemplated it, he had not yet found hardihood enough seriously +to enter upon. + +He now, however, at length bent himself, with the whole strength of his +mind, and the whole force of his empire, to prepare for this final and +decisive undertaking. The gun-boats in the Bay of Gibraltar, where calms +are frequent, had sometimes in the course of the former war been able to +do considerable damage to the English vessels of war, when they could +not use their sails. Such small craft, therefore, were supposed the +proper force for covering the intended descent. They were built in +different harbours, and brought together by crawling along the French +shore, and keeping under the protection of the batteries, which were now +established on every cape, almost as if the sea-coast of the channel on +the French side had been the lines of a besieged city, no one point of +which could with prudence be left undefended by cannon. Boulogne was +pitched upon as the centre port, from which the expedition was to sail. +By incredible exertions, Bonaparte had rendered its harbour and roads +capable of containing two thousand vessels of various descriptions. The +smaller sea-ports of Vimereux, Ambleteuse, and Etaples, Dieppe, Havre, +St. Valeri, Caen, Gravelines, and Dunkirk, were likewise filled with +shipping. Flushing and Ostend were occupied by a separate flotilla. +Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort, were each the station of as strong a naval +squadron as France, had still the means to send to sea. + +A land army was assembled of the most formidable description, whether we +regard the high military character of the troops, the extent and +perfection of their appointments, or their numerical strength. The +coast, from the mouth of the Seine to the Texel, was covered with +forces; and Soult, Ney, Davoust, and Victor, names that were then the +pride and the dread of war, were appointed to command the army of +England, (for that menacing title was once more, assumed,) and execute +those manoeuvres, planned and superintended by Bonaparte, the issue of +which was to be the blotting out of Britain from the rank of +independent nations. + +Far from being alarmed at this formidable demonstration of force, +England prepared for her resistance with an energy becoming her ancient +rank in Europe, and far surpassing in its efforts any extent of military +preparation before heard of in her history. To nearly one hundred +thousand troops of the line, were added eighty thousand and upwards of +militia, which scarce yielded to the regulars in point of discipline. +The volunteer force, by which every citizen was permitted and invited to +add his efforts to the defence of the country, was far more numerous +than during the last war, was better officered also, and rendered every +way more effective. It was computed to amount to three hundred and fifty +thousand men, who, if we regard the shortness of the time and the nature +of the service, had attained considerable practice in the use and +management of their arms. Other classes of men were embodied, and +destined to act as pioneers, drivers of wagons, and in the like +services. On a sudden, the land seemed converted to an immense camp, the +whole nation into soldiers, and the good old king himself into a +general-in-chief. All peaceful considerations appeared for a time to be +thrown aside; and the voice, calling the nation to defend their dearest +rights, sounded not only in Parliament, and in meetings convoked to +second the measures of defence, but was heard in the places of public +amusement, and mingled even with the voice of devotion--not unbecoming +surely, since to defend our country is to defend our religion. + +Beacons were erected in conspicuous points, corresponding with each +other, all around and all through the island; and morning and evening, +one might have said, every eye was turned towards them to watch for the +fatal and momentous signal. Partial alarms were given to different +places, from the mistakes to which such arrangements must necessarily be +liable; and the ready spirit which animated every species of troops +where such signals called to arms, was of the most satisfactory +description, and afforded the most perfect assurance, that the heart of +every man was in the cause of his country. + +Amidst her preparations by land, England did not neglect or relax her +precautions on the element she calls her own. She covered the ocean with +five hundred and seventy ships of war of various descriptions. +Divisions of her fleet blocked up every French port in the channel; and +the army destined to invade our shores, might see the British flag +flying in every direction on the horizon, waiting for their issuing from +the harbour, as birds of prey may be seen floating in the air above the +animal which they design to pounce upon. Sometimes the British frigates +and sloops of war stood in, and cannonaded or threw shells into Havre, +Dieppe, Granville, and Boulogne itself. Sometimes the seamen and marines +landed, cut out vessels, destroyed signal posts, and dismantled +batteries. Such events were trifling, and it was to be regretted that +they cost the lives of gallant men; but although they produced no direct +results of consequence, yet they had their use in encouraging the +spirits of our sailors, and damping the confidence of the enemy, who +must at length have looked forward with more doubt than hope to the +invasion of the English coast, when the utmost vigilance could not +prevent their experiencing insults upon their own. + +During this period of menaced attack and arranged defence, Bonaparte +visited Boulogne, and seemed active in preparing his soldiers for the +grand effort. He reviewed them in an unusual manner, teaching them to +execute several manoeuvres by night; and experiments were also made upon +the best mode of arranging the soldiers in the flat-bottomed boats, and +of embarking and disembarking them with celerity. Omens were resorted to +for keeping up the enthusiasm which the presence of the First Consul +naturally inspired. A Roman battle-axe was said to be found when they +removed the earth to pitch Bonaparte's tent or barrack; and medals of +William the Conqueror were produced, as having been dug up upon the same +honoured spot. These were pleasant bodings, yet perhaps did not +altogether, in the minds of the soldiers, counterbalance the sense of +insecurity impressed on them by the prospect of being packed together in +these miserable chaloupes, and exposed to the fire of an enemy so +superior at sea, that during the chief consul's review of the +fortifications, their frigates stood in shore with composure, and fired +at him and his suite as at a mark. The men who had braved the perils of +the Alps and of the Egyptian deserts, might yet be allowed to feel alarm +at a species of danger which seemed so inevitable, and which they had no +adequate means of repelling by force of arms. + +A circumstance which seemed to render the expedition in a great measure +hopeless, was the ease with which the English could maintain a constant +watch upon their operations within the port of Boulogne. The least +appearance of stir or preparation, to embark troops, or get ready for +sea, was promptly sent by signal to the English coast, and the numerous +British cruisers were instantly on the alert to attend their motions. +Nelson had, in fact, during the last war, declared the sailing of a +hostile armament from Boulogne to be a most forlorn undertaking, on +account of cross tides and other disadvantages, together with the +certainty of the flotilla being lost if there were the least wind +west-north-west. "As for rowing," he adds, "that is impossible.--It is +perfectly right to be prepared for a mad government," continued this +incontestable judge of maritime possibilities; "but with the active +force which has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable." + +Before quitting the subject, we may notice, that Bonaparte seems not to +have entertained the least doubts of success, could he have succeeded in +disembarking his army. A single general action was to decide the fate of +England. Five days were to bring Napoleon to London, where he was to +perform the part of William the Third; but with more generosity and +disinterestedness. He was to call a meeting of the inhabitants, restore +them what he calls their rights, and destroy the oligarchical faction. A +few months would not, according to his account, have elapsed, ere the +two nations, late such determined enemies, would have been identified by +their principles, their maxims, their interests. The full explanation of +this gibberish, (for it can be termed no better, even proceeding from +the lips of Napoleon,) is to be found elsewhere, when he spoke a +language more genuine than that of the _Moniteur_ and the bulletins. +"England," he said, "must have ended, by becoming an appendage to the +France of _my_ system. Nature has made it one of our islands, as well as +Oleron and Corsica." + +It is impossible not to pursue the train of reflections which Bonaparte +continued to pour forth to the companion of his exile, on the rock of +Saint Helena. When England was conquered, and identified with France in +maxims and principles, according to one form of expression, or rendered +an appendage and dependency, according to another phrase, the reader may +suppose that Bonaparte would have considered his mission as +accomplished. Alas! it was not much more than commenced. "I would have +departed from thence [from subjugated Britain] to carry the work of +European regeneration [that is, the extention of his own arbitrary +authority] from south to north, under the Republican colours, for I was +then Chief Consul, in the same manner which I was more lately on the +point of achieving it under the monarchical forms." When we find such +ideas retaining hold of Napoleon's imagination, and arising to his +tongue after his irretrievable fall, it is impossible to avoid +exclaiming, Did ambition ever conceive so wild a dream, and had so wild +a vision ever a termination so disastrous and humiliating! + +It may be expected that something should be here said, upon the chances +which Britain would have had of defending herself successfully against +the army of invaders. We are willing to acknowledge that the risk must +have been dreadful; and that Bonaparte, with his genius and his army, +must have inflicted severe calamities upon a country which had so long +enjoyed the blessings of peace. But the people were unanimous in their +purpose of defence, and their forces composed of materials to which +Bonaparte did more justice when he came to be better acquainted with +them. Of the three British nations, the English have since shown +themselves possessed of the same steady valour which won the fields of +Cressy and Agincourt, Blenheim and Minden--the Irish have not lost the +fiery enthusiasm which has distinguished them in all the countries of +Europe--nor have the Scots degenerated from the stubborn courage with +which their ancestors for two thousand years maintained their +independence against a superior enemy. Even if London had been lost, we +would not, under so great a calamity, have despaired of the freedom of +the country; for the war would in all probability have assumed that +popular and national character which sooner or later wears out an +invading army. Neither does the confidence with which Bonaparte affirms +the conviction of his winning the first battle, appear go certainly well +founded. This, at least, we know, that the resolution of the country was +fully bent up to the hazard; and those who remember the period will bear +us witness, that the desire that the French would make the attempt, was +a general feeling through all classes, because they had every reason to +hope that the issue might be such as for ever to silence the threat +of invasion. + +The next most important occurrence that claims our notice in this +volume, and which fully delineates the nature and character of this +wonderful and ambitious individual, is the account of his declaration as +Emperor of France, and his subsequent Coronation. + + +CORONATION OF NAPOLEON. + +Measures were taken, as on former occasions, to preserve appearances, by +obtaining, in show at least, the opinion of the people, on this radical +change of their system. Government, however, were already confident of +their approbation, which, indeed, had never been refused to any of the +various constitutions, however inconsistent, that had succeeded each +other with such rapidity. Secure on this point, Bonaparte's accession to +the empire was proclaimed with the greatest pomp, without waiting to +inquire whether the people approved of his promotion or otherwise. The +proclamation was coldly received, even by the populace, and excited +little enthusiasm. It seemed, according to some writers, as if the +shades of D'Enghien and Pichegru had been present invisibly, and spread +a damp over the ceremony. The Emperor was recognised by the soldiery +with more warmth. He visited the encampments at Boulogne, with the +intention, apparently, of receiving such an acknowledgment from the +troops as was paid by the ancient Franks to their monarchs, when they +elevated them on their bucklers. Seated on an iron chair, said to have +belonged to king Dagobert, he took his place between two immense camps, +and having before him the Channel and the hostile coasts of England. The +weather, we have been assured, had been tempestuous, but no sooner had +the Emperor assumed his seat, to receive the homage of his shouting +host, than the sky cleared, and the wind dropt, retaining just breath +sufficient gently to wave the banners. Even the elements seemed to +acknowledge the imperial dignity, all save the sea, which rolled as +carelessly to the feet of Napoleon as it had formerly done towards those +of Canute the Dane. + +The Emperor, accompanied with his Empress, who bore her honours both +gracefully and meekly, visited Aix-la-Chapelle, and the frontiers of +Germany. They received the congratulations of all the powers of Europe, +excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, upon their new exaltation; and +the German princes, who had everything to hope and fear from so powerful +a neighbour, hastened to pay their compliments to Napoleon in person, +which more distant sovereigns offered by their ambassadors. + +But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to +be made, by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon +determined should take place with circumstances of solemnity, which had +been beyond the reach of any temporal prince, however powerful, for +many ages. His policy was often marked by a wish to revive, imitate, and +connect his own titles and interest with, some ancient observance of +former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered +more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low +birth, when raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to conceal +the obscurity of their origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope +Leo, he remembered, had placed a golden crown on the head of +Charlemagne, and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. Pius VII. he +determined should do the same for a successor to much more than the +actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome +to receive inauguration from the hands of the Pontiff of that day, +Napoleon resolved that he who now owned the proud, and in Protestant +eyes profane, title of Vicar of Christ, should travel to France to +perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See of Rome +had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom +also her power had been re-erected and restored, not only in Italy, but +in France itself. + +Humiliating as the compliance with Bonaparte's request must have seemed +to the more devoted Catholics, Pius VII. had already sacrificed, to +obtain the Concordat, so much of the power and privileges of the Roman +See, that he could hardly have been justified if he had run the risk of +losing the advantages of a treaty so dearly purchased, by declining to +incur some personal trouble, or, it might be termed, some direct +self-abasement. The Pope, and the Cardinals whom he consulted, implored +the illumination of heaven upon their councils; but it was the stern +voice of necessity which assured them, that, except at the risk of +dividing the Church by a schism, they could not refuse to comply with +Bonaparte's requisition. The Pope left Rome on the 5th of November. He +was everywhere received on the road with the highest respect, and most +profound veneration; the Alpine precipices themselves had been secured +by parapets wherever they could expose the venerable Father of the +Catholic Church to danger, or even apprehension. Upon the 25th of +November, he met Bonaparte at Fontainbleau; and the conduct of the +Emperor Napoleon was as studiously respectful towards him, as that of +Charlemagne, whom he was pleased to call his predecessor, could have +been towards Leo. + +On the 2nd of December, the ceremony of the coronation took place in +the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony +which could be devised to add to its solemnity. Yet we have been told +that the multitude did not participate in the ceremonial with that +eagerness which characterises the inhabitants of all capitals, but +especially those of Paris, upon similar occasions. They had, within a +very few years, seen so many exhibitions, processions, and festivals, +established on the most discordant principles, which, though announced +as permanent and unchangeable, had successively given way to newer +doctrines, that they considered the splendid representation before them +as an unsubstantial pageant, which would fade away in its turn. +Bonaparte himself seemed absent and gloomy, till recalled to a sense of +his grandeur by the voice of the numerous deputies and functionaries +sent up from all the several departments of France, to witness the +coronation. These functionaries had been selected with due attention to +their political opinions; and many of them holding offices under the +government, or expecting benefits from the Emperor, made up, by the +zealous vivacity of their acclamations, for the coldness of the good +citizens of Paris. + +The Emperor took his coronation oath, as usual on such occasions, with +his hands up on the scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated +to him by the Pope. But in the act of coronation itself, there was a +marked deviation from the universal custom, characteristic of the man, +the age, and the conjuncture. In all other similar solemnities, the +crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding spiritual +person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not even +from the head of the Catholic Church would Bonaparte consent to receive +as a boon the golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he +owed solely to his own unparalleled train of military and civil +successes. The crown having been blessed by the Pope, Napoleon took it +from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his brows. He then +put the diadem on the head of his Empress, as if determined to show that +his authority was the child of his own actions. _Te Deum_ was sung; the +heralds, (for they also had again come into fashion,) proclaimed, "that +the thrice glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French, +was crowned and installed." Thus concluded this remarkable ceremony. +Those who remember having beheld it, must now doubt whether they were +waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so dazzling in its +appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so +ephemeral in its endurance. + +The very day before the ceremony of coronation, (that is, on the 1st of +December,) the senate had waited upon the Emperor with the result of the +votes collected in the departments, which, till that time, had been +taken for granted. Upwards of three millions five hundred thousand +citizens had given their votes on this occasion; of whom only about +three thousand five hundred had declared against the proposition. The +vice-president, Neufchateau, declared, "this report was the unbiassed +expression of the people's choice. No government could plead a title +more authentic." + +Sir Walter occupies his sixth volume with details of the celebrated +battles that were fought between the French and English armies in the +Spanish territories, and which are told with great truth and develope +the extraordinary powers of this celebrated writer. The divorce of +Josephine, and marriage of Maria Louisa, commence the succeeding volume. +The sterility of Bonaparte's wife was now an irremediable evil; and +political motives were to supersede the ties of endearment, affection, +talents, and virtue. Fouche the minister of police, made Josephine the +means of suggesting to Napoleon, the measure of her own divorce, and +subsequently Napoleon made Josephine acquainted with the cruel +certainty, that the separation was ultimately determined upon. + + +NAPOLEON DIVORCED FROM JOSEPHINE. + +When this sentence had finally dissolved their union, the emperor +retired to St. Cloud, where he lived in seclusion for some days. +Josephine, on her part, took up her residence in the beautiful villa of +Malmaison, near St. Germains. Here she principally dwelt for the +remaining years of her life, which were just prolonged to see the first +fall of her husband; an event which might have been averted had he been +content to listen more frequently to her lessons of moderation. Her life +was chiefly spent in cultivating the fine arts, of which she collected +some beautiful specimens, and in pursuing the science of botany; but +especially in the almost daily practice of acts of benevolence and +charity, of which the English _detenus_, of whom there were several at +St. Germains, frequently shared the benefit. Napoleon visited her very +frequently, and always treated her with the respect to which she was +entitled. He added also to her dowry a third million of francs, that +she might feel no inconvenience from the habits of expense to which it +was her foible to be addicted. + + +BONAPARTE MARRIES MARIA LOUISA. + +This important state measure was no sooner completed, than the great +council was summoned, on the 1st of February, to assist the emperor in +the selection of a new spouse. They were given to understand, that a +match with a grand duchess of Russia had been proposed, but was likely +to be embarrassed by disputes concerning religion. A daughter of the +king of Saxony was also mentioned, but it was easily indicated to the +council that their choice ought to fall upon a princess of the house of +Austria. At the conclusion of the meeting, Eugene, son of the repudiated +Josephine, was commissioned by the council to propose to the Austrian +embassador a match between Napoleon and the archduchess Maria Louisa. +Prince Schwarzenberg had his instructions on the subject; so that the +match was proposed, discussed, and decided in the council, and +afterwards adjusted between plenipotentiaries on either side, in the +space of twenty-four hours. The espousals of Napoleon and Maria Louisa +were celebrated at Vienna, 11th March, 1810. The person of Bonaparte was +represented by his favourite Berthier, while the archduke Charles +assisted at the ceremony, in the name of the emperor Francis. A few days +afterwards, the youthful bride, accompanied by the queen of Naples, +proceeded towards France. + +With good taste, Napoleon dispensed with the ceremonies used in the +reception of Marie Antoinette, whose marriage with Louis XVI., though +never named or alluded to, was in other respects the model of the +present solemnity. Near Soissons, a single horseman, no way +distinguished by dress, rode past the carriage in which the young +empress was seated, and had the boldness to return, as if to reconnoitre +more closely. The carriage stopped, the door was opened, and Napoleon, +breaking through all the tediousness of ceremony, introduced himself to +his bride, and came with her to Soissons. The marriage ceremony was +performed at Paris by Bonaparte's uncle, the Cardinal Fesch. The most +splendid rejoicings, illuminations, concerts, festivals, took place upon +this important occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which threw a +shade over these demonstrations of joy. Prince Schwarzenberg had given a +distinguished ball on the occasion, when unhappily the dancing-room, +which was temporary, and erected in the garden, caught fire. No efforts +could stop the progress of the flames, in which several persons +perished, and particularly the sister of Prince Schwarzenberg himself. +This tragic circumstance struck a damp on the public mind, and was +considered as a bad omen, especially when it was remembered that the +marriage of Louis XVI. with a former princess of Austria had been +signalized by a similar disaster. + +As a domestic occurrence, nothing could more contribute to Bonaparte's +happiness than his union with Maria Louisa. He was wont to compare her +with Josephine, by giving the latter all the advantages of art and +grace; the former the charms of simple modesty and innocence. His former +empress used every art to support or enhance her personal charms; but +with so much prudence and mystery, that the secret cares of her toilette +could never be traced--her successor trusted for the power of pleasing +to youth and nature. Josephine mismanaged her revenue, and incurred debt +without scruple. Maria Louisa lived within her income, or if she desired +any indulgence beyond it, which was rarely the case, she asked it as a +favour of Napoleon. Josephine, accustomed to political intrigue, loved +to manage, to influence, and to guide her husband; Maria Louisa desired +only to please and to obey him. Both were excellent women, of great +sweetness of temper, and fondly attached to Napoleon. In the difference +between these distinguished persons, we can easily discriminate the +leading features of the Parisian, and of the simple German beauty; but +it is certainly singular that the artificial character should have +belonged to the daughter of the West Indian planter; that marked by +nature and simplicity, to a princess of the proudest court in Europe. + +Bonaparte, whose domestic conduct was generally praiseworthy, behaved +with the utmost kindness to his princely bride. He observed, however, +the strictest etiquette, and required it from the empress. If it +happened, for example, as was often the case, that he was prevented from +attending at the hour when dinner was placed on the table, he was +displeased if, in the interim of his absence, which was often prolonged, +she either took a book, or had recourse to any female occupation,--if, +in short, he did not find her in the attitude of waiting for the signal +to take her place at table. Perhaps a sense of his inferior birth made +Napoleon more tenacious of this species of form, as what he could not +afford to relinquish. On the other hand, Maria Louisa is said to have +expressed her surprise at her husband's dispensing with the use of arms +and attendance of guards, and at his moving about with the freedom of +an individual; although this could be no great novelty to a member of +the imperial family of Austria, most of whom, and especially the Emperor +Francis, are in the habit of mixing familiarly with the people of +Vienna, at public places, and in the public walks. + +From this date may be traced the declination of Napoleon's greatness. In +the field he was generally unsuccessful, and occasionally murmurs of +discontent were whispered by citizen and soldier. The plot thickens in +the eight volume, and his abdication of the throne of France, and +subsequent journey to Elba, are feelingly narrated by our author. + + +RETURN OF MARIA LOUISA TO HER FATHER, AND DEATH OF JOSEPHINE. + +Maria Louisa made more than one effort to join her husband, but they +were discouraged on the part of Napoleon himself, who, while he +continued to ruminate on renewing the war, could not desire to have the +empress along with him in such an adventure. Shortly afterwards, the +emperor of Austria visited his daughter and her son, then at +Rambouillet, and gave her to understand that she was, for some time at +least, to remain separate from her husband, and that her son and she +were to return to Vienna along with him. She returned, therefore, to her +father's protection. + +It must be also here mentioned, as an extraordinary addition to this +tale of calamity, that Josephine, the former wife of Bonaparte, did not +long survive his downfall. It seemed as if the Obi-woman of Martinico +had spoke truth; for at the time when Napoleon parted from the sharer of +his early fortunes, his grandeur was on the wane, and her death took +place but a few weeks subsequent to his being dethroned and exiled. The +emperor of Russia had visited this lady, and showed her some attention, +with which Napoleon, for reasons we cannot conjecture, was extremely +displeased. She was amply provided for by the treaty of Fontainbleau, +but did not survive to reap any benefit from the provision, as she +shortly after sickened and died at her beautiful villa of Malmaison. She +was buried on the 3rd of June, at the village of Ruel. A vast number of +the lower class attended the obsequies; for she had well deserved the +title of patroness of the poor. + +The residence at Elba, the return, the treachery of Ney, the arrival at +Paris, and Napoleon's repossession of the throne, now occupy the page. +The battle of Waterloo is briefly, but finely described, and indeed the +whole of the ninth volume, to which we have now arrived, is deeply +interesting. We find, however, that we have nearly reached our limits, +and as we shall take an early opportunity of again referring to this +elaborate history, we shall now close with the following extracts;-- + + +CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON ON HIS WAY TO ST. HELENA. + +Upon the Northumberland crossing the line, the emperor desiring to +exhibit his munificence to the seamen, by presenting them with a hundred +louis d'or, under pretext of paying the ordinary fine, Sir George +Cockburn, considering this tribute to Neptune as too excessive in +amount, would not permit the donative to exceed a tenth part of the sum; +and Napoleon offended by the restriction, paid nothing at all. Upon +another occasion, early in the voyage, a difference in national manners +gave rise to one of those slight misunderstandings which we have +noticed. Napoleon was accustomed, like all Frenchmen, to leave the table +immediately after dinner, and Sir George Cockburn, with the English +officers, remained after him at table; for, in permitting his French +guests their liberty, the admiral did not choose to admit the right of +Napoleon to break up the party at his, Sir George's, own table. This +gave some discontent. Notwithstanding these trifling subjects of +dissatisfaction, Las Cases informs us that the admiral, whom he took to +be prepossessed against them at first, became every day more amicable. +The emperor used to take his arm every evening on the quarter-deck, and +hold long conversations with him upon maritime subjects, as well as past +events in general. + +While on board the Northumberland, the late emperor spent his mornings +in reading or writing; his evenings in his exercise upon deck, and at +cards. The game was generally _vingt un_. But when the play became +rather deep, he discouraged that amusement, and substituted chess. Great +tactician as he was, Napoleon did not play well at that military game, +and it was with difficulty that his antagonist, Montholon, could avoid +the solecism, of beating the emperor. + +During this voyage, Napoleon's _jour de fete_ occurred, which was also +his birthday. It was the 15th of August; a day for which the Pope had +expressly canonized a St. Napoleon to be the emperor's patron. And now, +strange revolution, it was celebrated by him on board of an English +man-of-war, which was conducting him to his place of imprisonment, and, +as it proved, his tomb. Yet Napoleon seemed cheerful and contented +during the whole day, and was even pleased at being fortunate at play, +which he received as a good omen. + +Upon the 15th of October, 1815, the Northumberland reached St. Helena, +which presents but an unpromising aspect to those who design it for a +residence, though it may be a welcome sight to the seaworn mariner. Its +destined inhabitant, from the deck of the Northumberland, surveyed it +with his spy-glass. St. James' Town, an inconsiderable village, was +before him, enchased, as it were in a valley, amid arid and scarped +rocks of immense height; every platform, every opening, every gorge, was +bristled with cannon. Las Cases, who stood by him, could not perceive +the slightest alteration of his countenance. The orders of government +had been, that Napoleon should remain on board till a residence could be +prepared suitable for the line of life he was to lead in future. But as +this was likely to be a work of time, Sir George Cockburn readily +undertook, on his own responsibility, to put his passengers on shore, +and provide in some way for the security of Napoleon's person, until the +necessary habitation should be fitted up. He was accordingly transferred +to land upon the 16th of October; and thus the emperor of France, nay, +wellnigh of Europe, sunk into the recluse of St. Helena. + + +DEATH OF NAPOLEON + +During the 3rd of May, it was seen that the life of Napoleon was drawing +evidently to a close; and his followers, and particularly his physician, +became desirous to call in more medical assistance;--that of Dr. Shortt, +physician to the forces, and of Dr. Mitchell, surgeon of the flag-ship, +was referred to. Dr. Shortt, however, thought it proper to assert the +dignity belonging to his profession, and refused to give an opinion on a +case of so much importance in itself, and attended with so much +obscurity, unless he were permitted to see and examine the patient. The +officers of Napoleon's household excused themselves, by professing that +the emperor's strict commands had been laid on them, that no English +physician, Dr. Arnott excepted, should approach his dying bed. They +said, that even when he was speechless they would be unable to brook his +eye, should he turn it upon them in reproof for their disobedience. + +About two o'clock of the same day, the priest Vignali administered the +sacrament of extreme unction. Some days before, Napoleon had explained +to him the manner in which he desired his body should be laid out in +state, in an apartment lighted by torches, or what Catholics call _une +chambre ardente_. "I am neither," he said in the same phrase which we +have formerly quoted, "a philosopher nor a physician. I believe in God, +and am of the religion of my father. It is not everybody who can be an +atheist. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of the +Catholic church, and receive the assistance which it administers." He +then turned to Dr. Antommarchi, whom he seems to have suspected of +heterodoxy, which the doctor, however, disowned. "How can you carry it +so far?" he said. "Can you not believe in God, whose existence every +thing proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have believed?" + +As if to mark a closing point of resemblance betwixt Cromwell and +Napoleon, a dreadful tempest arose on the 4th of May, which preceded the +day that was to close the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A +willow, which had been the exile's favourite, and under which he had +often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the hurricane; and almost +all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate. + +The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Napoleon's passing spirit was +deliriously engaged in a strife more terrible than that of the elements +around. The words "_tete d'armee_" the last which escaped his lips, +intimated that his thoughts were watching the current of a heady fight. +About eleven minutes before six in the evening, Napoleon, after a +struggle which indicated the original strength of his constitution, +breathed his last. + + +HIS FUNERAL. + +Bonaparte was buried on the 8th of May, in a small secluded recess +called Slane's, or Haine's Valley, where a fountain arose, at which his +Chinese domestics used to fill the silver pitchers, which they carried +to Longwood for Napoleon's use. "All the troops were under arms upon the +solemn occasion. As the road did not permit a near approach of the +hearse to the place of sepulture, a party of British grenadiers had the +honour to bear the coffin to the grave. The prayers were recited by the +priest, Abbe Vignali. Minute guns were fired from the admiral's ship. +The coffin was then let down into the grave, under a discharge of three +successive volleys of artillery, fifteen pieces of cannon firing fifteen +guns each. A large stone was then lowered down on the grave, and covered +the moderate space now sufficient for the man for whom Europe was once +too little." + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + +This file should be named 7m26310.txt or 7m26310.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7m26311.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7m26310a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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[PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +SIR WALTER SCOTT'S LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. + +(_Continued from page 5._ [Note: see Mirror 262]) + + +Robespierre was a coward, who signed death-warrants with a hand that +shook, though his heart was relentless. He possessed no passions on +which to charge his crimes; they were perpetrated in cold blood, and +upon mature deliberation. + +Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate, had attracted the +attention of the lower orders, by the violence of his sentiments in the +journal which he conducted from the commencement of the revolution, upon +such principles that it took the lead in forwarding its successive +changes. His political exhortations began and ended like the howl of a +blood-hound for murder; or, if a wolf could have written a journal, the +gaunt and famished wretch could not have ravened more eagerly for +slaughter. It was blood which was Marat's constant demand, not in drops +from the breast of an individual, not in puny streams from the slaughter +of families, but blood in the profusion of an ocean. His usual +calculation of the heads which he demanded amounted to two hundred and +sixty thousand; and though he sometimes raised it as high as three +hundred thousand, it never fell beneath the smaller number. It may be +hoped, and for the honour of human nature we are inclined to believe, +there was a touch of insanity in this unnatural strain of ferocity; and +the wild and squalid features of the wretch appear to have intimated a +degree of alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre, a coward. +Repeatedly denounced in the assembly, he skulked instead of defending +himself, and lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar among his +cut-throats, until a storm appeared, when, like a bird of ill omen, his +death-screech was again heard. Such was the strange and fatal +triumvirate, in which the same degree of cannibal cruelty existed under +different aspects. Danton murdered to glut his rage; Robespierre to +avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival whom he envied; Marat, +from the same instinctive love of blood, which induces a wolf to +continue his ravage of the flocks long after his hunger is appeased. + +Passing by the horrors of the reign of terror, we shall close the second +volume with a vivid and powerful picture, which we cannot refrain +quoting-- + + +THE DEATH OF ROBESPIERRE. + +Meantime the convention continued to maintain the bold and commanding +front which they had so suddenly and critically assumed. Upon learning +the escape of the arrested deputies, and hearing of the insurrection at +the Hotel de Ville, they instantly passed a decree outlawing Robespierre +and his associates, inflicting a similar doom upon the mayor of Paris, +the procureur and other members of the commune, and charging twelve of +their members, the boldest who could be selected, to proceed with the +armed force to the execution of the sentence. The drums of the National +Guards now beat to arms in all the sections under authority of the +convention, while the tocsin continued to summon assistance with its +iron voice to Robespierre and the civic magistrates. Every thing +appeared to threaten a violent catastrophe, until it was seen clearly +that the public voice, and especially amongst the National Guards, was +declaring itself generally against the Terrorists. + +The Hotel de Ville was surrounded by about fifteen hundred men, and +cannon turned upon the doors. The force of the assailants was weakest in +point of number, but their leaders were men of spirit, and night +concealed their inferiority of force. + +The deputies commissioned for the purpose read the decree of the +assembly to those whom they found assembled in front of the city-hall, +and they shrunk from the attempt of defending it, some joining the +assailants, others laying down their arms and dispersing. Meantime the +deserted group of Terrorists within conducted themselves like scorpions, +which, when surrounded by a circle of fire, are said to turn their +stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding +took place among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means you +promised to furnish?" said Payan to Henriot, whom he found intoxicated +and incapable of resolution or exertion; and seizing on him as he spoke, +he precipitated the revolutionary general from a window. Henriot +survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which he was +afterwards discovered and brought out to execution. The younger +Robespierre threw himself from the window, but had not the good fortune +to perish on the spot. It seemed as if even the melancholy fate of +suicide, the last refuge of guilt and despair, was denied to men who had +so long refused every species of mercy to their fellow-creatures. Le Bas +alone had calmness enough to despatch himself with a pistol-shot. Saint +Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, attempted his own life +with an irresolute hand, and failed, Couthon lay beneath the table +brandishing a knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without +daring to add force enough to reach his heart. Their chief, Robespierre, +in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot himself, had only inflicted a +horrible fracture on his under-jaw. + +In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with +blood, mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay +on a table in an anti-room, his head supported by a deal-box, and his +hideous countenance half-hidden by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round +the shattered chin.[1] + + [1] It did not escape the minute observers of this scene, that + he still held in his hand the bag which had contained the fatal + pistol, and which was inscribed with the words, _Au grand + monarque_, alluding to the sign, doubtless, of the gunsmith who + sold the weapon, but singularly applicable to the high + pretensions of the purchaser. + +The captives were carried in triumph to the convention, who, without +admitting them to the bar, ordered them, as outlaws, for instant +execution. As the fatal cars passed to the guillotine, those who filled +them, but especially Robespierre, were overwhelmed with execrations from +the friends and relatives of victims whom he had sent on the same +melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the cloth +had never been removed till the executioner tore it off, added to the +torture of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch +yelled aloud, to the horror of the spectators.[2] A mask taken from that +dreadful head was long exhibited in different nations of Europe, and +appalled the spectator by its ugliness, and the mixture of fiendish +expression with that of bodily agony. + + [2] The fate of no tyrant in history was so hideous at the + conclusion, excepting perhaps that of Jugurtha. + +Thus fell Maximilian Robespierre, after having been the first person in +the French republic for nearly two years, during which time he governed +it upon the principles of Nero or Caligula. His elevation to the +situation which he held involved more contradictions than perhaps +attach to any similar event in history. A low-born and low-minded +tyrant was permitted to rule with the rod of the most frightful +despotism a people, whose anxiety for liberty had shortly before +rendered them unable to endure the rule of a humane and lawful +sovereign. A dastardly coward arose to the command of one of the bravest +nations in the world; and it was under the auspices of a man who dared +scarce fire a pistol, that the greatest generals in France began their +careers of conquest. He had neither eloquence nor imagination; but +substituted in their stead a miserable, affected, bombastic style, +which, until other circumstances gave him consequence, drew on him +general ridicule. Yet against so poor an orator, all the eloquence of +the philosophical Girondists, all the terrible powers of his associate +Danton, employed in a popular assembly, could not enable them to make an +effectual resistance. It may seem trifling to mention, that in a nation +where a good deal of prepossession is excited by amiable manners and +beauty of external appearance, the person who ascended to the highest +power was not only ill-looking, but singularly mean in person, awkward +and constrained in his address, ignorant how to set about pleasing even +when he most desired to give pleasure, and as tiresome nearly as he was +odious and heartless. + +To compensate all these deficiencies, Robespierre had but an insatiable +ambition, founded on a vanity which made him think himself capable of +filling the highest situation; and therefore gave him daring, when to +dare is frequently to achieve. He mixed a false and over-strained, but +rather fluent species of bombastic composition, with the grossest +flattery to the lowest classes of the people; in consideration of which, +they could not but receive as genuine the praises which he always +bestowed on himself. His prudent resolution to be satisfied with +possessing the essence of power, without seeming to desire its rank and +trappings, formed another art of cajoling the multitude. His watchful +envy, his long-protracted but sure revenge, his craft, which to vulgar +minds supplies the place of wisdom, were his only means of competing +with his distinguished antagonists. And it seems to have been a merited +punishment of the extravagances and abuses of the French revolution, +that it engaged the country in a state of anarchy which permitted a +wretch such as we have described, to be for a long period master of her +destiny. Blood was his element, like that of the other Terrorists, and +he never fastened with so much pleasure on a new victim, as when he was +at the same time an ancient associate. In an epitaph, of which the +following couplet may serve as a translation, his life was represented +as incompatible with the existence of the human race:-- + + "Here lies Robespierre--let no tear be shed; + Reader, if he had lived, thou hadst been dead." + +The commencement of the third volume introduces us to the family of +Bonaparte, who resided in the island of Corsica, which was, in ancient +times, remarkable as the scene of Seneca's exile, and in the last +century was distinguished by the memorable stand which the natives made +in defence of their liberties against the Genoese and French, during a +war which tended to show the high and indomitable spirit of the +islanders, united as it is with the fiery and vindictive feelings proper +to their country and climate. + + +BIRTH OF BONAPARTE. + +Charles Bonaparte, the father of Napoleon, died at the age of about +forty years, of an ulcer in the stomach, on the 24th of February, 1785. +His celebrated son fell a victim to the same disease. During Napoleon's +grandeur, the community of Montpellier expressed a desire to erect a +monument to the memory of Charles Bonaparte. His answer was both +sensible and in good taste. "Had I lost my father yesterday," he said, +"it would be natural to pay his memory some mark of respect consistent +with my present situation. But it is twenty years since the event, and +it is one in which the public can take no concern. Let us leave the dead +in peace." + +The subject of our narrative was born, according to the best accounts, +and his own belief, upon the 15th day of August, 1769, at his father's +house in Ajaccio, forming one side of a court which leads out of the Rue +Charles.[3] We read with interest, that his mother's good constitution, +and bold character of mind, having induced her to attend mass upon the +day of his birth, (being the Festival of the Assumption,) she was +obliged to return home immediately, and as there was no time to prepare +a bed or bedroom, she was delivered of the future victor upon a +temporary couch prepared for her accommodation, and covered with an +ancient piece of tapestry, representing the heroes of the Iliad. The +infant was christened by the name of Napoleon, an obscure saint, who had +dropped to leeward, and fallen altogether out of the calendar, so that +his namesake never knew which day he was to celebrate as the festival of +his patron. When questioned, on this subject by the bishop who +confirmed him, he answered smartly, that there were a great many saints, +and only three hundred and sixty-five days to divide amongst them. The +politeness of the pope promoted the patron in order to compliment the +god-child, and Saint Napoleon des Ursins was accommodated with a +festival. To render this compliment, which no one but a pope could have +paid, still more flattering, the feast of Saint Napoleon was fixed for +the fifteenth August, the birthday of the emperor, and the day on which +he signed the Concordat. So that Napoleon had the rare honour of +promoting his patron saint. + + [3] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + + +NAPOLEON'S EARLY LIFE. + +The young Napoleon had, of course, the simple and hardy education proper +to the natives of the mountainous island of his birth, and in his +infancy was not remarkable for more than that animation of temper, and +wilfulness and impatience of inactivity, by which children of quick +parts and lively sensibility are usually distinguished. The winter of +the year was generally passed by the family of his father at Ajaccio, +where they still preserve and exhibit, as the ominous play-thing of +Napoleon's boyhood, the model of a brass cannon, weighing about thirty +pounds.[4] We leave it to philosophers to inquire, whether the future +love of war was suggested by the accidental possession of such a toy; or +whether the tendency of the mind dictated the selection of it; or, +lastly, whether the nature of the pastime, corresponding with the taste +which chose it, may not have had each their action and reaction, and +contributed between them to the formation of a character so warlike. + + [4] "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4. + +The same traveller who furnishes the above anecdote, gives an +interesting account of the country retreat of the family of Bonaparte +during the summer. + +Going along the sea-shore from Ajaccio towards the Isle Sanguiniere, +about a mile from the town, occur two stone pillars, the remains of a +doorway, leading up to a dilapidated villa, once the residence of Madame +Bonaparte's half-brother on the mother's side, whom Napoleon created +Cardinal Fesch.[5] The house is approached by an avenue, surrounded and +overhung by the cactus and other shrubs, which luxuriate in a warm +climate. It has a garden and a lawn, showing amidst neglect vestiges of +their former beauty, and the house is surrounded by shrubberies, +permitted to run to wilderness. This was the summer residence of Madame +Bonaparte and her family. Almost enclosed by the wild olive, the cactus, +the clematis, and the almond-tree, is a very singular and isolated +granite rock, called Napoleon's grotto, which seems to have resisted the +decomposition which has taken place around. The remains of a small +summer-house are visible beneath the rock, the entrance to which is +nearly closed by a luxuriant fig-tree. This was Bonaparte's frequent +retreat, when the vacations of the school at which he studied permitted +him to visit home. How the imagination labours to form an idea of the +visions, which, in this sequestered and romantic spot, must have arisen +before the eyes of the future hero of a hundred battles! + + [5] The mother of Letitia Ramolini, wife of Carlo Bonaparte, + married a Swiss officer in the French service, named Fesch, + after the death of Letitia's father. + +Bonaparte's ardour for the abstract sciences amounted to a passion, and +was combined with a singular aptitude for applying them to the purposes +of war, while his attention to pursuits so interesting and exhaustless +in themselves, was stimulated by his natural ambition and desire of +distinction. Almost all the scientific teachers at Brienne, being +accustomed to study the character of their pupils, and obliged by their +duty to make memoranda and occasional reports on the subject, spoke of +the talents of Bonaparte, and the progress of his studies, with +admiration. Circumstances of various kinds, exaggerated or invented, +have been circulated concerning the youth of a person so remarkable. The +following are given upon good authority.[6] + + [6] They were many years since communicated to the author by + Messrs. Joseph and Louis Law, brothers of General Baron + Lauriston, Bonaparte's favourite aid-de-camp. These gentlemen, + or at least Joseph, were educated at Brienne, but at a later + period than Napoleon. Their distinguished brother was his + contemporary. + +The conduct of Napoleon among his companions was that of a studious and +reserved youth, addicting himself deeply to the means of improvement, +and rather avoiding than seeking the usual temptations to dissipation of +time. He had few friends, and no intimates; yet at different times, when +he chose to exert it, he exhibited considerable influence over his +fellow-students, and when there was any joint plan to be carried into +effect, he was frequently chosen dictator of the little republic. + +In the time of winter, Bonaparte, upon one occasion, engaged his +companions in constructing a fortress out of the snow, regularly +defended by ditches and bastions, according to the rules of +fortification. It was considered as displaying the great powers of the +juvenile engineer in the way of his profession, and was attacked and +defended by the students, who divided into parties for the purpose, +until the battle became so keen that their superiors thought it proper +to proclaim a truce. + +The young Bonaparte gave another instance of address and enterprise upon +the following occasion. There was a fair held annually in the +neighbourhood of Brienne, where the pupils of the Military School used +to find a day's amusement; but on account of a quarrel betwixt them and +the country people upon a former occasion, or for some such cause, the +masters of the institution had directed that the students should not on +the fair-day be permitted to go beyond their own precincts, which were +surrounded with a wall. Under the direction of the young Corsican, +however, the scholars had already laid a plot for securing their usual +day's diversion. They had undermined the wall which encompassed their +exercising ground, with so much skill and secrecy, that their operations +remained entirely unknown till the morning of the fair, when a part of +the boundary unexpectedly fell, and gave a free passage to the +imprisoned students, of which they immediately took the advantage, by +hurrying to the prohibited scene of amusement. + +But although on these, and perhaps other occasions, Bonaparte displayed +some of the frolic temper of youth, mixed with the inventive genius and +the talent for commanding others by which he was distinguished in after +time, his life at school was in general that of a recluse and severe +student, acquiring by his judgment, and treasuring in his memory, that +wonderful process of almost unlimited combination, by means of which he +was afterwards able to simplify the most difficult and complicated +undertakings. His mathematical teacher was proud of the young islander, +as the boast of his school, and his other scientific instructors had the +same reason to be satisfied. + +In languages Bonaparte was less a proficient, and never acquired the art +of writing or spelling French, far less foreign languages, with accuracy +or correctness; nor had the monks of Brienne any reason to pride +themselves on the classical proficiency of their scholar. The full +energies of his mind being devoted to the scientific pursuits of his +profession, left little time or inclination for other studies. + +Though of Italian origin, Bonaparte had not a decided taste for the fine +arts, and his taste in composition seems to have leaned towards the +grotesque and the bombastic. He used always the most exaggerated +phrases; and it is seldom, if ever, that his bulletins present those +touches of sublimity which are founded on dignity and simplicity of +expression. + +Notwithstanding the external calmness and reserve of his deportment, he +who was destined for such great things had, while yet a student at +Brienne, a full share of that ambition for distinction and dread of +disgrace, that restless and irritating love of fame, which is the spur +to extraordinary attempts. Sparkles of this keen temper sometimes showed +themselves. On one occasion, a harsh superintendant imposed on the +future emperor, for some trifling fault, the disgrace of wearing a +penitential dress, and being excluded from the table of the students, +and obliged to eat his meal apart. His pride felt the indignity so +severely, that it brought on a severe nervous attack; to which, though +otherwise of good constitution, he was subject upon occasions of +extraordinary irritation. Father Petrault, the professor of mathematics, +hastened to deliver his favourite pupil from the punishment by which he +was so much affected. + +It is also said that an early disposition to the popular side +distinguished Bonaparte even when at Brienne. Pichegru, afterwards so +celebrated, who acted as his monitor in the military school, (a singular +circumstance,) bore witness to his early principles, and to the peculiar +energy and tenacity of his temper. He was long afterwards consulted +whether means might not be found to engage the commander of the Italian +armies in the royal interest. "It will be but lost time to attempt it," +said Pichegru. "I knew him in his youth--his character is inflexible--he +has taken his side, and he will not change it." + +In 1783, Napoleon Bonaparte, then only fourteen years old, was, though +under the usual age, selected by Monsieur de Keralio, the inspector of +the twelve military schools, to be sent to have his education completed +in the general school of Paris. It was a compliment paid to the +precocity of his extraordinary mathematical talent, and the steadiness +of his application. While at Paris he attracted the same notice as at +Brienne; and among other society, frequented that of the celebrated Abbé +Raynal, and was admitted to his literary parties. His taste did not +become correct, but his appetite for study in all departments was +greatly enlarged; and notwithstanding the quantity which he daily read, +his memory was strong enough to retain, and his judgment sufficiently +ripe to arrange and digest, the knowledge which he then acquired; so +that he had it at his command during all the rest of his busy life. +Plutarch was his favourite author; upon the study of whom he had so +modelled his opinions and habits of thought, that Paoli afterwards +pronounced him a young man of an antique caste, and resembling one of +the classical heroes. + +Some of his biographers have about this time ascribed to him the +anecdote of a certain youthful pupil of the military school, who desired +to ascend in the car of a balloon with the aëronaut Blanchard, and was +so mortified at being refused, that he made an attempt to cut the +balloon with his sword. The story has but a flimsy support, and indeed +does not accord well with the character of the hero, which was deep and +reflective, as well as bold and determined, and not likely to suffer its +energies to escape in idle and useless adventure. + +A better authenticated anecdote states, that at this time he expressed +himself disrespectfully towards the king in one of his letters to his +family. According to the practice of the school, he was obliged to +submit the letter to the censorship of Monsieur Domairon, the professor +of belles lettres, who, taking notice of the offensive passage, insisted +upon the letter being burnt, and added a severe rebuke. Long afterwards, +in 1802, Monsieur Domairon was commanded to attend Napoleon's levee, in +order that he might receive a pupil in the person of Jerome Bonaparte, +when the first consul reminded his old tutor good-humouredly, that times +had changed considerably since the burning of the letter. + +Napoleon Bonaparte, in his seventieth year, received his first +commission as second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery, and was +almost immediately afterwards promoted to the rank of first lieutenant +in the corps quartered at Valence. He mingled with society when he +joined his regiment, more than he had hitherto been accustomed to do; +mixed in public amusements, and exhibited the powers of pleasing, which +he possessed in an uncommon degree when he chose to exert them. His +handsome and intelligent features, with his active and neat, though +slight figure, gave him additional advantages. His manners could +scarcely be called elegant, but made up in vivacity and variety of +expression, and often in great spirit and energy, for what they wanted +in grace and polish. + +He became an adventurer for the honours of literature also, and was +anonymously a competitor for the prize offered by the Academy of Lyons +on Raynal's question, "What are the principles and institutions, by +application of which mankind can be raised to the highest pitch of +happiness?" The prize was adjudged to the young soldier. It is +impossible to avoid feeling curiosity to know the character of the +juvenile theories respecting government, advocated by one who at length +attained the power of practically making what experiments he pleased. +Probably his early ideas did not exactly coincide with his more mature +practice; for when Talleyrand, many years afterwards, got the essay out +of the records of the academy, and returned it to the author, Bonaparte +destroyed it after he had read a few pages. He also laboured under the +temptation of writing a journey to Mount Cenis, after the manner of +Sterne, which he was fortunate enough finally to resist. The affectation +which pervades Sterne's peculiar style of composition was not likely to +be simplified under the pen of Bonaparte. + +Sterner times were fast approaching, and the nation was now fully +divided by those factions which produced the revolution. The officers of +Bonaparte's regiment were also divided into royalists and patriots; and +it is easily to be imagined, that the young and friendless stranger and +adventurer should adopt that side to which he had already shown some +inclination, and which promised to open the most free career to those +who had only their merit to rely on. "Were I a general officer," he is +alleged to have said, "I would have adhered to the king; being a +subaltern, I join the patriots." + +There was a story current, that in a debate with some brother officers +on the politics of the time, Bonaparte expressed himself so +outrageously, that they were provoked to throw him into the Rhone, where +he had nearly perished. But this is an inaccurate account of the +accident which actually befell him. He was seized with the cramp when +bathing in the river. His comrades saved him with difficulty, but his +danger was matter of pure chance. + +Napoleon has himself recorded that he was a warm patriot during the +whole sitting of the National Assembly; but that on the appointment of +the Legislative Assembly, he became shaken in his opinions. If so, his +original sentiments regained force, for we shortly afterwards find him +entertaining such as went to the extreme heights of the revolution. + +Early in the year 1792, Bonaparte became a captain in the artillery by +seniority; and in the same year, being at Paris, he witnessed the two +insurrections of the 20th of June and 10th of August. He was accustomed +to speak of the insurgents as the most despicable banditti, and to +express with what ease a determined officer could have checked these +apparently formidable, but dastardly and unwieldy masses. But with what +a different feeling of interest would Napoleon have looked on that +infuriated populace, those still resisting though overpowered Swiss, and +that burning palace, had any seer whispered to him, "Emperor that shall +be, all this blood and massacre is but to prepare your future empire!" +Little anticipating the potent effect which the passing events were to +bear on his own fortune, Bonaparte, anxious for the safety of his mother +and family, was now desirous to change France for Corsica, where the +same things were acting on a less distinguished stage. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MILITARY EXPLOIT. + +Napoleon's first military exploit was in the civil war of his native +island. In the year 1793, he was despatched from Bastia, in possession +of the French party, to surprise his native town Ajaccio, then occupied +by Paoli or his adherents. Bonaparte was acting provisionally, as +commanding a battalion of National Guards. He landed in the Gulf of +Ajaccio with about fifty men, to take possession of a tower called the +Torre di Capitello, on the opposite side of the gulf, and almost facing +the city. He succeeded in taking the place; but as there arose a gale of +wind which prevented his communicating with the frigate which had put +him ashore, he was besieged in his new conquest by the opposite faction, +and reduced to such distress, that he and his little garrison were +obliged to feed on horse-flesh. After five days he was relieved by the +frigate, and evacuated the tower, having first in vain attempted to blow +it up. The Torre di Capitello still shows marks of the damage it then +sustained, and its remains may be looked on as a curiosity, as the first +scene of _his_ combats, before whom + + --"Temple and tower + Went to the ground.--" + +A relation of Napoleon, Masserio by name, effectually defended Ajaccio +against the force employed in the expedition. + +The strength of Paoli increasing, and the English preparing to assist +him, Corsica became no longer a safe or convenient residence for the +Bonaparte family. Indeed, both Napoleon and his brother Lucien, who had +distinguished themselves as partisans of the French, were subjected to a +decree of banishment from their native island; and Madame Bonaparte, +with her three daughters, and Jerome, who was as yet but a child, set +sail under their protection, and settled for a time, first at Nice, and +afterwards at Marseilles, where the family is supposed to have undergone +considerable distress, until the dawning prospects of Napoleon afforded +him the means of assisting them. + +Napoleon never again revisited Corsica, nor does he appear to have +regarded it with any feelings of affection. One small fountain at +Ajaccio is pointed out as the only ornament which his bounty bestowed on +his birthplace. He might perhaps think it impolitic to do any thing +which might remind the country he ruled that he was not a child of her +soil, nay, was in fact very near having been born an alien, for Corsica +was not united to, or made an integral part of France, until June, 1769, +a few weeks only before Napoleon's birth. This stigma was repeatedly +cast upon him by his opponents, some of whom reproached the French with +having adopted a master, from a country from which the ancient Romans +were unwilling even to choose a slave; and Napoleon may have been so far +sensible to it, as to avoid showing any predilection to the place of his +birth, which might bring the circumstance strongly under the observation +of the great nation, with which he and his family seemed to be +indissolubly united. But, as a traveller already quoted, and who had the +best opportunities to become acquainted with the feelings of the proud +islanders, has expressed it,--"The Corsicans are still highly patriotic, +and possess strong local attachment--in their opinion, contempt for the +country of one's birth is never to be redeemed by any other qualities. +Napoleon, therefore, certainly was not popular in Corsica, nor is his +memory cherished there."[7] + + [7] Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 121. + +The feelings of the parties were not unnatural on either side. Napoleon, +little interested in the land of his birth, and having such an immense +stake in that of his adoption, in which he had every thing to keep and +lose,[8] observed a policy towards Corsica which his position rendered +advisable; and who can blame the high-spirited islanders, who, seeing +one of their countrymen raised to such exalted eminence, and disposed to +forget his connexion with them, returned with slight and indifference +the disregard with which he treated them? + + [8] Not literally, however: for it is worth mentioning, that + when he was in full-blown possession of his power, an + inheritance fell to the family, situated near Ajaccio, and was + divided amongst them. The first consul, or emperor, received an + olive-garden as his share.--_Sketches of Corsica_. + +The siege of Toulon was the first incident of importance which enabled +Bonaparte to distinguish himself in the eyes of the French government +and of the world at large. Shortly afterwards he was appointed chief of +battalion in the army of Italy, and on the fall of Robespierre, +Bonaparte superseded in command. At the conflict between the troops of +the Convention under Napoleon, and those of the Sections of Paris under +Damican, the latter was defeated with much slaughter, and Bonaparte was +appointed general-in-chief in command of the army of the interior. + + +BONAPARTE'S FIRST MARRIAGE. + +Meantime circumstances, which we will relate according to his own +statement, introduced Bonaparte to an acquaintance, which was destined +to have much influence on his future fate. A fine boy, of ten or twelve +years old, presented himself at the levee of the general of the +interior, with a request of a nature unusually interesting. He stated +his name to be Eugene Beauharnois, son of the ci-devant Vicomte de +Beauharnois, who, adhering to the revolutionary party, had been a +general in the republican service upon the Rhine, and falling under the +causeless suspicion of the committee of public safety, was delivered to +the revolutionary tribunal, and fell by its sentence just four days +before the overthrow of Robespierre. Eugene was come to request of +Bonaparte, as general of the interior, that his father's sword might be +restored to him. The prayer of the young supplicant was as interesting +as his manners were engaging, and Napoleon felt so much interest in him, +that he was induced to cultivate the acquaintance of Eugene's mother, +afterwards the empress Josephine. + +The lady was a Creolian, the daughter of a planter in St. Domingo. Her +name at full length was Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie. She had +suffered her share of revolutionary miseries. After her husband, General +Beauharnois, had been deprived of his command, she was arrested as a +suspected person, and detained in prison till the general liberation, +which succeeded the revolution of the 9th Thermidor. While in +confinement, Madame Beauharnois had formed an intimacy with a companion +in distress, Madame Fontenai, now Madame Tallien, from which she derived +great advantages after her friend's marriage. With a remarkably graceful +person, amiable manners, and an inexhaustible fund of good-humour, +Madame Beauharnois was formed to be an ornament to society. Barras, the +Thermidorien hero, himself an ex-noble, was fond of society, desirous of +enjoying it on an agreeable scale, and of washing away the dregs which +Jacobinism had mingled with all the dearest interests of life. He loved +show, too, and pleasure, and might now indulge both without the risk of +falling under the suspicion of incivism, which, in the Reign of Terror, +would have been incurred by any attempt to intermingle elegance with the +enjoyments of social intercourse. At the apartments which he occupied, +as one of the Directory, in the Luxemburg Palace, he gave its free +course to his natural taste, and assembled an agreeable society of both +sexes. Madame Tallien and her friend formed the soul of these +assemblies, and it was supposed that Barras was not insensible to the +charms of Madame Beauharnois,--a rumour which was likely to arise, +whether with or without foundation. + +When Madame Beauharnois and General Bonaparte became intimate, the +latter assures us, and we see no reason to doubt him, that although the +lady was two or three years older than himself,[9] yet being still in +the full bloom of beauty, and extremely agreeable in her manners, he was +induced, solely by her personal charms, to make her an offer of his +hand, heart, and fortunes,--little supposing, of course, to what a pitch +the latter were to arise. + + [9] Bonaparte was then in his twenty-sixth year. Josephine gave + herself in the marriage contract for twenty-eight. + +Although he himself is said to have been a fatalist, believing in +destiny and in the influence of his star, he knew nothing, probably, of +the prediction of a negro sorceress, who, while Marie Joseph was but a +child, prophesied she should rise to a dignity greater than that of a +queen, yet fall from it before her death.[10] This was one of those +vague auguries, delivered at random by fools or impostors, which the +caprice of fortune sometimes matches with a corresponding and conforming +event. But without trusting to the African sibyl's prediction, Bonaparte +may have formed his match under the auspices of ambition as well as +love. The marrying Madame Beauharnois was a mean of uniting his fortune +with those of Barras and Tallien, the first of whom governed France as +one of the Directors; and the last, from talents and political +connexions, had scarcely inferior influence. He had already deserved +well of them for his conduct on the Day of the Sections, but he required +their countenance to rise still higher; and without derogating from the +bride's merits, we may suppose her influence in their society +corresponded with the views of her lover. It is, however, certain, that +he always regarded her with peculiar affection; that he relied on her +fate, which he considered as linked with and strengthening his own; and +reposed, besides, considerable confidence in Josephine's tact and +address in political business. She had at all times the art of +mitigating his temper, and turning aside the hasty determinations of his +angry moments, not by directly opposing, but by gradually parrying and +disarming them. It must be added to her great praise, that she was +always a willing and often a successful advocate in the cause +of humanity. + + [10] A lady of high rank, who happened to live for some time in + the same convent at Paris, where Josephine was also a pensioner + or boarder, heard her mention the prophecy, and told it herself + to the author, just about the time of the Italian expedition, + when Bonaparte was beginning to attract notice. Another clause + is usually added to the prediction--that the party whom it + concerned should die in an hospital, which was afterwards + explained as referring to Malmaison. This the author did not + hear from the same authority. The lady mentioned used to speak + in the highest terms of the simple manners and great kindness + of Madame Beauharnois. + +They were married 9th of March, 1796; and the dowry of the bride was the +chief command of the Italian armies, a scene which opened a full career +to the ambition of the youthful general. Bonaparte remained with his +wife only three days after his marriage, hastened to see his family, who +were still at Marseilles, and, having enjoyed the pleasure of exhibiting +himself as a favourite of fortune in the city which he had lately left +in the capacity of an indigent adventurer, proceeded rapidly to commence +the career to which fate called him, by placing himself at the head of +the Italian army. + +The renowned Italian campaigns occupy the remainder of the third, and +some part of the fourth volume, to which we now proceed. It will be +remembered that the war in Egypt being triumphantly concluded on the +part of Great Britain, the news of the contest reached France some time +before the English received it. Napoleon, on learning the tidings, is +reported to have said, "Well, there remains now no alternative but to +make the descent on Britain." + + +PROPOSED INVASION OF GREAT BRITAIN. + +As the words of the first consul appeard to intimate, preparations were +resumed on the French coast for the invasion of Great Britain. Boulogne +and every harbour along the coast was crowded with flat-bottomed boats, +and the shores covered with camps of the men designed apparently to fill +them. We need not at present dwell on the preparations for attack, or +those which the English adopted in defence, as we shall have occasion to +notice both, when Bonaparte, for the last time, threatened England with +the same measure. It is enough to say, that, on the present occasion, +the menaces of France had their usual effect in awakening the spirit +of Britain. + +The most extensive arrangements were made for the reception of the +invaders should they chance to land, and in the meanwhile, our natural +barrier was not neglected. The naval preparations were very great, and +what gave yet more confidence than the number of vessels and guns, +Nelson was put into command of the sea, from Orfordness to Beachy-head. +Under his management, it soon became the question, not whether the +French flotilla was to invade the British shores, but whether it was to +remain in safety in the French harbours. Boulogne was bombarded, and +some of the small craft and gun-boats destroyed--the English admiral +generously sparing the town; and not satisfied with this partial +success, Nelson prepared to attack them with the boats of the squadron. +The French resorted to the most unusual and formidable preparations for +defence. Their flotilla was moored close to the shore in the mouth of +Boulogne harbour, the vessels secured to each other by chains, and +filled with soldiers. The British attack in some degree failed, owing to +the several divisions of boats missing each other in the dark; some +French vessels were taken, but they could not be brought off; and the +French chose to consider this result as a victory, on their part, of +consequence enough to balance the loss at Aboukir;--though it amounted +at best to ascertaining, that although their vessels could not keep the +sea, they might, in some comparative degree of safety, lie under close +cover of their own batteries. + +The preliminaries of peace, however, were signed, and the treaty was +confirmed at Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802. Napoleon still +prosecuted his ambitious projects, extended his power in Italy, and +caused himself to be appointed consul for life, with the power of naming +his successor. + + +SCHEME OF INVASION RENEWED. + +It must be in the memory of most who recollect the period, that the +kingdom of Great Britain was seldom less provided against invasion than +at the commencement of this second war; and that an embarkation from the +ports of Holland, if undertaken instantly after the war had broken out, +might have escaped our blockading squadrons, and have at least shown +what a French army could have done on British ground, at a moment when +the alarm was general, and the country in an unprepared state. But it +is probable that Bonaparte himself was as much unprovided as England +for the sudden breach of the treaty of Amiens--an event brought about +more by the influence of passion than of policy; so that its +consequences were as unexpected in his calculations as in those of Great +Britain. Besides, he had not diminished to himself the dangers of the +undertaking, by which he must have staked his military renown, his +power, which he held chiefly as the consequence of his reputation, +perhaps his life, upon a desperate game, which, though he had already +twice contemplated it, he had not yet found hardihood enough seriously +to enter upon. + +He now, however, at length bent himself, with the whole strength of his +mind, and the whole force of his empire, to prepare for this final and +decisive undertaking. The gun-boats in the Bay of Gibraltar, where calms +are frequent, had sometimes in the course of the former war been able to +do considerable damage to the English vessels of war, when they could +not use their sails. Such small craft, therefore, were supposed the +proper force for covering the intended descent. They were built in +different harbours, and brought together by crawling along the French +shore, and keeping under the protection of the batteries, which were now +established on every cape, almost as if the sea-coast of the channel on +the French side had been the lines of a besieged city, no one point of +which could with prudence be left undefended by cannon. Boulogne was +pitched upon as the centre port, from which the expedition was to sail. +By incredible exertions, Bonaparte had rendered its harbour and roads +capable of containing two thousand vessels of various descriptions. The +smaller sea-ports of Vimereux, Ambleteuse, and Etaples, Dieppe, Havre, +St. Valeri, Caen, Gravelines, and Dunkirk, were likewise filled with +shipping. Flushing and Ostend were occupied by a separate flotilla. +Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort, were each the station of as strong a naval +squadron as France, had still the means to send to sea. + +A land army was assembled of the most formidable description, whether we +regard the high military character of the troops, the extent and +perfection of their appointments, or their numerical strength. The +coast, from the mouth of the Seine to the Texel, was covered with +forces; and Soult, Ney, Davoust, and Victor, names that were then the +pride and the dread of war, were appointed to command the army of +England, (for that menacing title was once more, assumed,) and execute +those manoeuvres, planned and superintended by Bonaparte, the issue of +which was to be the blotting out of Britain from the rank of +independent nations. + +Far from being alarmed at this formidable demonstration of force, +England prepared for her resistance with an energy becoming her ancient +rank in Europe, and far surpassing in its efforts any extent of military +preparation before heard of in her history. To nearly one hundred +thousand troops of the line, were added eighty thousand and upwards of +militia, which scarce yielded to the regulars in point of discipline. +The volunteer force, by which every citizen was permitted and invited to +add his efforts to the defence of the country, was far more numerous +than during the last war, was better officered also, and rendered every +way more effective. It was computed to amount to three hundred and fifty +thousand men, who, if we regard the shortness of the time and the nature +of the service, had attained considerable practice in the use and +management of their arms. Other classes of men were embodied, and +destined to act as pioneers, drivers of wagons, and in the like +services. On a sudden, the land seemed converted to an immense camp, the +whole nation into soldiers, and the good old king himself into a +general-in-chief. All peaceful considerations appeared for a time to be +thrown aside; and the voice, calling the nation to defend their dearest +rights, sounded not only in Parliament, and in meetings convoked to +second the measures of defence, but was heard in the places of public +amusement, and mingled even with the voice of devotion--not unbecoming +surely, since to defend our country is to defend our religion. + +Beacons were erected in conspicuous points, corresponding with each +other, all around and all through the island; and morning and evening, +one might have said, every eye was turned towards them to watch for the +fatal and momentous signal. Partial alarms were given to different +places, from the mistakes to which such arrangements must necessarily be +liable; and the ready spirit which animated every species of troops +where such signals called to arms, was of the most satisfactory +description, and afforded the most perfect assurance, that the heart of +every man was in the cause of his country. + +Amidst her preparations by land, England did not neglect or relax her +precautions on the element she calls her own. She covered the ocean with +five hundred and seventy ships of war of various descriptions. +Divisions of her fleet blocked up every French port in the channel; and +the army destined to invade our shores, might see the British flag +flying in every direction on the horizon, waiting for their issuing from +the harbour, as birds of prey may be seen floating in the air above the +animal which they design to pounce upon. Sometimes the British frigates +and sloops of war stood in, and cannonaded or threw shells into Havre, +Dieppe, Granville, and Boulogne itself. Sometimes the seamen and marines +landed, cut out vessels, destroyed signal posts, and dismantled +batteries. Such events were trifling, and it was to be regretted that +they cost the lives of gallant men; but although they produced no direct +results of consequence, yet they had their use in encouraging the +spirits of our sailors, and damping the confidence of the enemy, who +must at length have looked forward with more doubt than hope to the +invasion of the English coast, when the utmost vigilance could not +prevent their experiencing insults upon their own. + +During this period of menaced attack and arranged defence, Bonaparte +visited Boulogne, and seemed active in preparing his soldiers for the +grand effort. He reviewed them in an unusual manner, teaching them to +execute several manoeuvres by night; and experiments were also made upon +the best mode of arranging the soldiers in the flat-bottomed boats, and +of embarking and disembarking them with celerity. Omens were resorted to +for keeping up the enthusiasm which the presence of the First Consul +naturally inspired. A Roman battle-axe was said to be found when they +removed the earth to pitch Bonaparte's tent or barrack; and medals of +William the Conqueror were produced, as having been dug up upon the same +honoured spot. These were pleasant bodings, yet perhaps did not +altogether, in the minds of the soldiers, counterbalance the sense of +insecurity impressed on them by the prospect of being packed together in +these miserable chaloupes, and exposed to the fire of an enemy so +superior at sea, that during the chief consul's review of the +fortifications, their frigates stood in shore with composure, and fired +at him and his suite as at a mark. The men who had braved the perils of +the Alps and of the Egyptian deserts, might yet be allowed to feel alarm +at a species of danger which seemed so inevitable, and which they had no +adequate means of repelling by force of arms. + +A circumstance which seemed to render the expedition in a great measure +hopeless, was the ease with which the English could maintain a constant +watch upon their operations within the port of Boulogne. The least +appearance of stir or preparation, to embark troops, or get ready for +sea, was promptly sent by signal to the English coast, and the numerous +British cruisers were instantly on the alert to attend their motions. +Nelson had, in fact, during the last war, declared the sailing of a +hostile armament from Boulogne to be a most forlorn undertaking, on +account of cross tides and other disadvantages, together with the +certainty of the flotilla being lost if there were the least wind +west-north-west. "As for rowing," he adds, "that is impossible.--It is +perfectly right to be prepared for a mad government," continued this +incontestable judge of maritime possibilities; "but with the active +force which has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable." + +Before quitting the subject, we may notice, that Bonaparte seems not to +have entertained the least doubts of success, could he have succeeded in +disembarking his army. A single general action was to decide the fate of +England. Five days were to bring Napoleon to London, where he was to +perform the part of William the Third; but with more generosity and +disinterestedness. He was to call a meeting of the inhabitants, restore +them what he calls their rights, and destroy the oligarchical faction. A +few months would not, according to his account, have elapsed, ere the +two nations, late such determined enemies, would have been identified by +their principles, their maxims, their interests. The full explanation of +this gibberish, (for it can be termed no better, even proceeding from +the lips of Napoleon,) is to be found elsewhere, when he spoke a +language more genuine than that of the _Moniteur_ and the bulletins. +"England," he said, "must have ended, by becoming an appendage to the +France of _my_ system. Nature has made it one of our islands, as well as +Oleron and Corsica." + +It is impossible not to pursue the train of reflections which Bonaparte +continued to pour forth to the companion of his exile, on the rock of +Saint Helena. When England was conquered, and identified with France in +maxims and principles, according to one form of expression, or rendered +an appendage and dependency, according to another phrase, the reader may +suppose that Bonaparte would have considered his mission as +accomplished. Alas! it was not much more than commenced. "I would have +departed from thence [from subjugated Britain] to carry the work of +European regeneration [that is, the extention of his own arbitrary +authority] from south to north, under the Republican colours, for I was +then Chief Consul, in the same manner which I was more lately on the +point of achieving it under the monarchical forms." When we find such +ideas retaining hold of Napoleon's imagination, and arising to his +tongue after his irretrievable fall, it is impossible to avoid +exclaiming, Did ambition ever conceive so wild a dream, and had so wild +a vision ever a termination so disastrous and humiliating! + +It may be expected that something should be here said, upon the chances +which Britain would have had of defending herself successfully against +the army of invaders. We are willing to acknowledge that the risk must +have been dreadful; and that Bonaparte, with his genius and his army, +must have inflicted severe calamities upon a country which had so long +enjoyed the blessings of peace. But the people were unanimous in their +purpose of defence, and their forces composed of materials to which +Bonaparte did more justice when he came to be better acquainted with +them. Of the three British nations, the English have since shown +themselves possessed of the same steady valour which won the fields of +Cressy and Agincourt, Blenheim and Minden--the Irish have not lost the +fiery enthusiasm which has distinguished them in all the countries of +Europe--nor have the Scots degenerated from the stubborn courage with +which their ancestors for two thousand years maintained their +independence against a superior enemy. Even if London had been lost, we +would not, under so great a calamity, have despaired of the freedom of +the country; for the war would in all probability have assumed that +popular and national character which sooner or later wears out an +invading army. Neither does the confidence with which Bonaparte affirms +the conviction of his winning the first battle, appear go certainly well +founded. This, at least, we know, that the resolution of the country was +fully bent up to the hazard; and those who remember the period will bear +us witness, that the desire that the French would make the attempt, was +a general feeling through all classes, because they had every reason to +hope that the issue might be such as for ever to silence the threat +of invasion. + +The next most important occurrence that claims our notice in this +volume, and which fully delineates the nature and character of this +wonderful and ambitious individual, is the account of his declaration as +Emperor of France, and his subsequent Coronation. + + +CORONATION OF NAPOLEON. + +Measures were taken, as on former occasions, to preserve appearances, by +obtaining, in show at least, the opinion of the people, on this radical +change of their system. Government, however, were already confident of +their approbation, which, indeed, had never been refused to any of the +various constitutions, however inconsistent, that had succeeded each +other with such rapidity. Secure on this point, Bonaparte's accession to +the empire was proclaimed with the greatest pomp, without waiting to +inquire whether the people approved of his promotion or otherwise. The +proclamation was coldly received, even by the populace, and excited +little enthusiasm. It seemed, according to some writers, as if the +shades of D'Enghien and Pichegru had been present invisibly, and spread +a damp over the ceremony. The Emperor was recognised by the soldiery +with more warmth. He visited the encampments at Boulogne, with the +intention, apparently, of receiving such an acknowledgment from the +troops as was paid by the ancient Franks to their monarchs, when they +elevated them on their bucklers. Seated on an iron chair, said to have +belonged to king Dagobert, he took his place between two immense camps, +and having before him the Channel and the hostile coasts of England. The +weather, we have been assured, had been tempestuous, but no sooner had +the Emperor assumed his seat, to receive the homage of his shouting +host, than the sky cleared, and the wind dropt, retaining just breath +sufficient gently to wave the banners. Even the elements seemed to +acknowledge the imperial dignity, all save the sea, which rolled as +carelessly to the feet of Napoleon as it had formerly done towards those +of Canute the Dane. + +The Emperor, accompanied with his Empress, who bore her honours both +gracefully and meekly, visited Aix-la-Chapelle, and the frontiers of +Germany. They received the congratulations of all the powers of Europe, +excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, upon their new exaltation; and +the German princes, who had everything to hope and fear from so powerful +a neighbour, hastened to pay their compliments to Napoleon in person, +which more distant sovereigns offered by their ambassadors. + +But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to +be made, by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon +determined should take place with circumstances of solemnity, which had +been beyond the reach of any temporal prince, however powerful, for +many ages. His policy was often marked by a wish to revive, imitate, and +connect his own titles and interest with, some ancient observance of +former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered +more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low +birth, when raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to conceal +the obscurity of their origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope +Leo, he remembered, had placed a golden crown on the head of +Charlemagne, and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. Pius VII. he +determined should do the same for a successor to much more than the +actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome +to receive inauguration from the hands of the Pontiff of that day, +Napoleon resolved that he who now owned the proud, and in Protestant +eyes profane, title of Vicar of Christ, should travel to France to +perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See of Rome +had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom +also her power had been re-erected and restored, not only in Italy, but +in France itself. + +Humiliating as the compliance with Bonaparte's request must have seemed +to the more devoted Catholics, Pius VII. had already sacrificed, to +obtain the Concordat, so much of the power and privileges of the Roman +See, that he could hardly have been justified if he had run the risk of +losing the advantages of a treaty so dearly purchased, by declining to +incur some personal trouble, or, it might be termed, some direct +self-abasement. The Pope, and the Cardinals whom he consulted, implored +the illumination of heaven upon their councils; but it was the stern +voice of necessity which assured them, that, except at the risk of +dividing the Church by a schism, they could not refuse to comply with +Bonaparte's requisition. The Pope left Rome on the 5th of November. He +was everywhere received on the road with the highest respect, and most +profound veneration; the Alpine precipices themselves had been secured +by parapets wherever they could expose the venerable Father of the +Catholic Church to danger, or even apprehension. Upon the 25th of +November, he met Bonaparte at Fontainbleau; and the conduct of the +Emperor Napoleon was as studiously respectful towards him, as that of +Charlemagne, whom he was pleased to call his predecessor, could have +been towards Leo. + +On the 2nd of December, the ceremony of the coronation took place in +the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony +which could be devised to add to its solemnity. Yet we have been told +that the multitude did not participate in the ceremonial with that +eagerness which characterises the inhabitants of all capitals, but +especially those of Paris, upon similar occasions. They had, within a +very few years, seen so many exhibitions, processions, and festivals, +established on the most discordant principles, which, though announced +as permanent and unchangeable, had successively given way to newer +doctrines, that they considered the splendid representation before them +as an unsubstantial pageant, which would fade away in its turn. +Bonaparte himself seemed absent and gloomy, till recalled to a sense of +his grandeur by the voice of the numerous deputies and functionaries +sent up from all the several departments of France, to witness the +coronation. These functionaries had been selected with due attention to +their political opinions; and many of them holding offices under the +government, or expecting benefits from the Emperor, made up, by the +zealous vivacity of their acclamations, for the coldness of the good +citizens of Paris. + +The Emperor took his coronation oath, as usual on such occasions, with +his hands up on the scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated +to him by the Pope. But in the act of coronation itself, there was a +marked deviation from the universal custom, characteristic of the man, +the age, and the conjuncture. In all other similar solemnities, the +crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding spiritual +person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not even +from the head of the Catholic Church would Bonaparte consent to receive +as a boon the golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he +owed solely to his own unparalleled train of military and civil +successes. The crown having been blessed by the Pope, Napoleon took it +from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his brows. He then +put the diadem on the head of his Empress, as if determined to show that +his authority was the child of his own actions. _Te Deum_ was sung; the +heralds, (for they also had again come into fashion,) proclaimed, "that +the thrice glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French, +was crowned and installed." Thus concluded this remarkable ceremony. +Those who remember having beheld it, must now doubt whether they were +waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so dazzling in its +appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so +ephemeral in its endurance. + +The very day before the ceremony of coronation, (that is, on the 1st of +December,) the senate had waited upon the Emperor with the result of the +votes collected in the departments, which, till that time, had been +taken for granted. Upwards of three millions five hundred thousand +citizens had given their votes on this occasion; of whom only about +three thousand five hundred had declared against the proposition. The +vice-president, Neufchateau, declared, "this report was the unbiassed +expression of the people's choice. No government could plead a title +more authentic." + +Sir Walter occupies his sixth volume with details of the celebrated +battles that were fought between the French and English armies in the +Spanish territories, and which are told with great truth and develope +the extraordinary powers of this celebrated writer. The divorce of +Josephine, and marriage of Maria Louisa, commence the succeeding volume. +The sterility of Bonaparte's wife was now an irremediable evil; and +political motives were to supersede the ties of endearment, affection, +talents, and virtue. Fouché the minister of police, made Josephine the +means of suggesting to Napoleon, the measure of her own divorce, and +subsequently Napoleon made Josephine acquainted with the cruel +certainty, that the separation was ultimately determined upon. + + +NAPOLEON DIVORCED FROM JOSEPHINE. + +When this sentence had finally dissolved their union, the emperor +retired to St. Cloud, where he lived in seclusion for some days. +Josephine, on her part, took up her residence in the beautiful villa of +Malmaison, near St. Germains. Here she principally dwelt for the +remaining years of her life, which were just prolonged to see the first +fall of her husband; an event which might have been averted had he been +content to listen more frequently to her lessons of moderation. Her life +was chiefly spent in cultivating the fine arts, of which she collected +some beautiful specimens, and in pursuing the science of botany; but +especially in the almost daily practice of acts of benevolence and +charity, of which the English _detenus_, of whom there were several at +St. Germains, frequently shared the benefit. Napoleon visited her very +frequently, and always treated her with the respect to which she was +entitled. He added also to her dowry a third million of francs, that +she might feel no inconvenience from the habits of expense to which it +was her foible to be addicted. + + +BONAPARTE MARRIES MARIA LOUISA. + +This important state measure was no sooner completed, than the great +council was summoned, on the 1st of February, to assist the emperor in +the selection of a new spouse. They were given to understand, that a +match with a grand duchess of Russia had been proposed, but was likely +to be embarrassed by disputes concerning religion. A daughter of the +king of Saxony was also mentioned, but it was easily indicated to the +council that their choice ought to fall upon a princess of the house of +Austria. At the conclusion of the meeting, Eugene, son of the repudiated +Josephine, was commissioned by the council to propose to the Austrian +embassador a match between Napoleon and the archduchess Maria Louisa. +Prince Schwarzenberg had his instructions on the subject; so that the +match was proposed, discussed, and decided in the council, and +afterwards adjusted between plenipotentiaries on either side, in the +space of twenty-four hours. The espousals of Napoleon and Maria Louisa +were celebrated at Vienna, 11th March, 1810. The person of Bonaparte was +represented by his favourite Berthier, while the archduke Charles +assisted at the ceremony, in the name of the emperor Francis. A few days +afterwards, the youthful bride, accompanied by the queen of Naples, +proceeded towards France. + +With good taste, Napoleon dispensed with the ceremonies used in the +reception of Marie Antoinette, whose marriage with Louis XVI., though +never named or alluded to, was in other respects the model of the +present solemnity. Near Soissons, a single horseman, no way +distinguished by dress, rode past the carriage in which the young +empress was seated, and had the boldness to return, as if to reconnoitre +more closely. The carriage stopped, the door was opened, and Napoleon, +breaking through all the tediousness of ceremony, introduced himself to +his bride, and came with her to Soissons. The marriage ceremony was +performed at Paris by Bonaparte's uncle, the Cardinal Fesch. The most +splendid rejoicings, illuminations, concerts, festivals, took place upon +this important occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which threw a +shade over these demonstrations of joy. Prince Schwarzenberg had given a +distinguished ball on the occasion, when unhappily the dancing-room, +which was temporary, and erected in the garden, caught fire. No efforts +could stop the progress of the flames, in which several persons +perished, and particularly the sister of Prince Schwarzenberg himself. +This tragic circumstance struck a damp on the public mind, and was +considered as a bad omen, especially when it was remembered that the +marriage of Louis XVI. with a former princess of Austria had been +signalized by a similar disaster. + +As a domestic occurrence, nothing could more contribute to Bonaparte's +happiness than his union with Maria Louisa. He was wont to compare her +with Josephine, by giving the latter all the advantages of art and +grace; the former the charms of simple modesty and innocence. His former +empress used every art to support or enhance her personal charms; but +with so much prudence and mystery, that the secret cares of her toilette +could never be traced--her successor trusted for the power of pleasing +to youth and nature. Josephine mismanaged her revenue, and incurred debt +without scruple. Maria Louisa lived within her income, or if she desired +any indulgence beyond it, which was rarely the case, she asked it as a +favour of Napoleon. Josephine, accustomed to political intrigue, loved +to manage, to influence, and to guide her husband; Maria Louisa desired +only to please and to obey him. Both were excellent women, of great +sweetness of temper, and fondly attached to Napoleon. In the difference +between these distinguished persons, we can easily discriminate the +leading features of the Parisian, and of the simple German beauty; but +it is certainly singular that the artificial character should have +belonged to the daughter of the West Indian planter; that marked by +nature and simplicity, to a princess of the proudest court in Europe. + +Bonaparte, whose domestic conduct was generally praiseworthy, behaved +with the utmost kindness to his princely bride. He observed, however, +the strictest etiquette, and required it from the empress. If it +happened, for example, as was often the case, that he was prevented from +attending at the hour when dinner was placed on the table, he was +displeased if, in the interim of his absence, which was often prolonged, +she either took a book, or had recourse to any female occupation,--if, +in short, he did not find her in the attitude of waiting for the signal +to take her place at table. Perhaps a sense of his inferior birth made +Napoleon more tenacious of this species of form, as what he could not +afford to relinquish. On the other hand, Maria Louisa is said to have +expressed her surprise at her husband's dispensing with the use of arms +and attendance of guards, and at his moving about with the freedom of +an individual; although this could be no great novelty to a member of +the imperial family of Austria, most of whom, and especially the Emperor +Francis, are in the habit of mixing familiarly with the people of +Vienna, at public places, and in the public walks. + +From this date may be traced the declination of Napoleon's greatness. In +the field he was generally unsuccessful, and occasionally murmurs of +discontent were whispered by citizen and soldier. The plot thickens in +the eight volume, and his abdication of the throne of France, and +subsequent journey to Elba, are feelingly narrated by our author. + + +RETURN OF MARIA LOUISA TO HER FATHER, AND DEATH OF JOSEPHINE. + +Maria Louisa made more than one effort to join her husband, but they +were discouraged on the part of Napoleon himself, who, while he +continued to ruminate on renewing the war, could not desire to have the +empress along with him in such an adventure. Shortly afterwards, the +emperor of Austria visited his daughter and her son, then at +Rambouillet, and gave her to understand that she was, for some time at +least, to remain separate from her husband, and that her son and she +were to return to Vienna along with him. She returned, therefore, to her +father's protection. + +It must be also here mentioned, as an extraordinary addition to this +tale of calamity, that Josephine, the former wife of Bonaparte, did not +long survive his downfall. It seemed as if the Obi-woman of Martinico +had spoke truth; for at the time when Napoleon parted from the sharer of +his early fortunes, his grandeur was on the wane, and her death took +place but a few weeks subsequent to his being dethroned and exiled. The +emperor of Russia had visited this lady, and showed her some attention, +with which Napoleon, for reasons we cannot conjecture, was extremely +displeased. She was amply provided for by the treaty of Fontainbleau, +but did not survive to reap any benefit from the provision, as she +shortly after sickened and died at her beautiful villa of Malmaison. She +was buried on the 3rd of June, at the village of Ruel. A vast number of +the lower class attended the obsequies; for she had well deserved the +title of patroness of the poor. + +The residence at Elba, the return, the treachery of Ney, the arrival at +Paris, and Napoleon's repossession of the throne, now occupy the page. +The battle of Waterloo is briefly, but finely described, and indeed the +whole of the ninth volume, to which we have now arrived, is deeply +interesting. We find, however, that we have nearly reached our limits, +and as we shall take an early opportunity of again referring to this +elaborate history, we shall now close with the following extracts;-- + + +CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON ON HIS WAY TO ST. HELENA. + +Upon the Northumberland crossing the line, the emperor desiring to +exhibit his munificence to the seamen, by presenting them with a hundred +louis d'or, under pretext of paying the ordinary fine, Sir George +Cockburn, considering this tribute to Neptune as too excessive in +amount, would not permit the donative to exceed a tenth part of the sum; +and Napoleon offended by the restriction, paid nothing at all. Upon +another occasion, early in the voyage, a difference in national manners +gave rise to one of those slight misunderstandings which we have +noticed. Napoleon was accustomed, like all Frenchmen, to leave the table +immediately after dinner, and Sir George Cockburn, with the English +officers, remained after him at table; for, in permitting his French +guests their liberty, the admiral did not choose to admit the right of +Napoleon to break up the party at his, Sir George's, own table. This +gave some discontent. Notwithstanding these trifling subjects of +dissatisfaction, Las Cases informs us that the admiral, whom he took to +be prepossessed against them at first, became every day more amicable. +The emperor used to take his arm every evening on the quarter-deck, and +hold long conversations with him upon maritime subjects, as well as past +events in general. + +While on board the Northumberland, the late emperor spent his mornings +in reading or writing; his evenings in his exercise upon deck, and at +cards. The game was generally _vingt un_. But when the play became +rather deep, he discouraged that amusement, and substituted chess. Great +tactician as he was, Napoleon did not play well at that military game, +and it was with difficulty that his antagonist, Montholon, could avoid +the solecism, of beating the emperor. + +During this voyage, Napoleon's _jour de fęte_ occurred, which was also +his birthday. It was the 15th of August; a day for which the Pope had +expressly canonized a St. Napoleon to be the emperor's patron. And now, +strange revolution, it was celebrated by him on board of an English +man-of-war, which was conducting him to his place of imprisonment, and, +as it proved, his tomb. Yet Napoleon seemed cheerful and contented +during the whole day, and was even pleased at being fortunate at play, +which he received as a good omen. + +Upon the 15th of October, 1815, the Northumberland reached St. Helena, +which presents but an unpromising aspect to those who design it for a +residence, though it may be a welcome sight to the seaworn mariner. Its +destined inhabitant, from the deck of the Northumberland, surveyed it +with his spy-glass. St. James' Town, an inconsiderable village, was +before him, enchased, as it were in a valley, amid arid and scarped +rocks of immense height; every platform, every opening, every gorge, was +bristled with cannon. Las Cases, who stood by him, could not perceive +the slightest alteration of his countenance. The orders of government +had been, that Napoleon should remain on board till a residence could be +prepared suitable for the line of life he was to lead in future. But as +this was likely to be a work of time, Sir George Cockburn readily +undertook, on his own responsibility, to put his passengers on shore, +and provide in some way for the security of Napoleon's person, until the +necessary habitation should be fitted up. He was accordingly transferred +to land upon the 16th of October; and thus the emperor of France, nay, +wellnigh of Europe, sunk into the recluse of St. Helena. + + +DEATH OF NAPOLEON + +During the 3rd of May, it was seen that the life of Napoleon was drawing +evidently to a close; and his followers, and particularly his physician, +became desirous to call in more medical assistance;--that of Dr. Shortt, +physician to the forces, and of Dr. Mitchell, surgeon of the flag-ship, +was referred to. Dr. Shortt, however, thought it proper to assert the +dignity belonging to his profession, and refused to give an opinion on a +case of so much importance in itself, and attended with so much +obscurity, unless he were permitted to see and examine the patient. The +officers of Napoleon's household excused themselves, by professing that +the emperor's strict commands had been laid on them, that no English +physician, Dr. Arnott excepted, should approach his dying bed. They +said, that even when he was speechless they would be unable to brook his +eye, should he turn it upon them in reproof for their disobedience. + +About two o'clock of the same day, the priest Vignali administered the +sacrament of extreme unction. Some days before, Napoleon had explained +to him the manner in which he desired his body should be laid out in +state, in an apartment lighted by torches, or what Catholics call _une +chambre ardente_. "I am neither," he said in the same phrase which we +have formerly quoted, "a philosopher nor a physician. I believe in God, +and am of the religion of my father. It is not everybody who can be an +atheist. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of the +Catholic church, and receive the assistance which it administers." He +then turned to Dr. Antommarchi, whom he seems to have suspected of +heterodoxy, which the doctor, however, disowned. "How can you carry it +so far?" he said. "Can you not believe in God, whose existence every +thing proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have believed?" + +As if to mark a closing point of resemblance betwixt Cromwell and +Napoleon, a dreadful tempest arose on the 4th of May, which preceded the +day that was to close the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A +willow, which had been the exile's favourite, and under which he had +often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the hurricane; and almost +all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate. + +The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Napoleon's passing spirit was +deliriously engaged in a strife more terrible than that of the elements +around. The words "_tęte d'armée_" the last which escaped his lips, +intimated that his thoughts were watching the current of a heady fight. +About eleven minutes before six in the evening, Napoleon, after a +struggle which indicated the original strength of his constitution, +breathed his last. + + +HIS FUNERAL. + +Bonaparte was buried on the 8th of May, in a small secluded recess +called Slane's, or Haine's Valley, where a fountain arose, at which his +Chinese domestics used to fill the silver pitchers, which they carried +to Longwood for Napoleon's use. "All the troops were under arms upon the +solemn occasion. As the road did not permit a near approach of the +hearse to the place of sepulture, a party of British grenadiers had the +honour to bear the coffin to the grave. The prayers were recited by the +priest, Abbé Vignali. Minute guns were fired from the admiral's ship. +The coffin was then let down into the grave, under a discharge of three +successive volleys of artillery, fifteen pieces of cannon firing fifteen +guns each. A large stone was then lowered down on the grave, and covered +the moderate space now sufficient for the man for whom Europe was once +too little." + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + +This file should be named 8m26310.txt or 8m26310.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8m26311.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8m26310a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8m26310.zip b/old/8m26310.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb2d125 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8m26310.zip diff --git a/old/8m26310h.htm b/old/8m26310h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d62540e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8m26310h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1542 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827, by Various</title> + + <style type="text/css"> + /*<![CDATA[*/ +<!-- + body + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p + {text-align: justify;} + blockquote + {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 + {text-align: center;} + hr + {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr + {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full + {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full + {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + pre + {font-size: 0.7em; background-color: #F0F0F0;} + .poetry + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 0%; + text-align: left;} + .footnote + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em;} + .figure + {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; + text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em;} + .figure img + {border: none;} + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; + font-size: 0.7em;} + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + +--> + /*]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827, by Various</h1> + +<pre> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Supplementary Number, Issue 263, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9883] +[This file was first posted on October 27, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + + + +</pre> + <center> + <h3>E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram<br /> + and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</h3> + </center> + <br /> + <br /> +<hr class="full" /> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span> + <!-- Mirror of Literature header --> + <h1>THE MIRROR<br /> + OF<br /> + LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> + <hr class="full" /> + <table width="100%"> + <tr> + <td align="left"><b>Vol. 10, No. 263.]</b></td> + <td align="center"><b>SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER.</b></td> + <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> + </tr> + </table> + <hr class="full" /> + <!-- end of header --> + <h2>SIR WALTER SCOTT'S LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.</h2> + <h4>(<i>Continued from page 5.</i>)</h4> + <p>Robespierre was a coward, who signed death-warrants with a hand that shook, though + his heart was relentless. He possessed no passions on which to charge his crimes; + they were perpetrated in cold blood, and upon mature deliberation.</p> + <p>Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate, had attracted the attention of the + lower orders, by the violence of his sentiments in the journal which he conducted + from the commencement of the revolution, upon such principles that it took the lead + in forwarding its successive changes. His political exhortations began and ended like + the howl of a blood-hound for murder; or, if a wolf could have written a journal, the + gaunt and famished wretch could not have ravened more eagerly for slaughter. It was + blood which was Marat's constant demand, not in drops from the breast of an + individual, not in puny streams from the slaughter of families, but blood in the + profusion of an ocean. His usual calculation of the heads which he demanded amounted + to two hundred and sixty thousand; and though he sometimes raised it as high as three + hundred thousand, it never fell beneath the smaller number. It may be hoped, and for + the honour of human nature we are inclined to believe, there was a touch of insanity + in this unnatural strain of ferocity; and the wild and squalid features of the wretch + appear to have intimated a degree of alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre, + a coward. Repeatedly denounced in the assembly, he skulked instead of defending + himself, and lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar among his cut-throats, + until a storm appeared, when, like a bird of ill omen, his death-screech was again + heard. Such was the strange and fatal triumvirate, in which the same degree of + cannibal cruelty existed under different aspects. Danton murdered to glut his rage; + Robespierre to avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival whom he envied; Marat, + from the same instinctive love of blood, which induces a wolf to continue his ravage + of the flocks long after his hunger is appeased.</p> + <p>Passing by the horrors of the reign of terror, we shall close the second volume + with a vivid and powerful picture, which we cannot refrain quoting—</p> + <h4>THE DEATH OF ROBESPIERRE.</h4> + <p>Meantime the convention continued to maintain the bold and commanding front which + they had so suddenly and critically assumed. Upon learning the escape of the arrested + deputies, and hearing of the insurrection at the Hotel de Ville, they instantly + passed a decree outlawing Robespierre and his associates, inflicting a similar doom + upon the mayor of Paris, the procureur and other members of the commune, and charging + twelve of their members, the boldest who could be selected, to proceed with the armed + force to the execution of the sentence. The drums of the National Guards now beat to + arms in all the sections under authority of the convention, while the tocsin + continued to summon assistance with its iron voice to Robespierre and the civic + magistrates. Every thing appeared to threaten a violent catastrophe, until it was + seen clearly that the public voice, and especially amongst the National Guards, was + declaring itself generally against the Terrorists.</p> + <p>The Hotel de Ville was surrounded by about fifteen hundred men, and cannon turned + upon the doors. The force of the assailants was weakest in point of number, but their + leaders were men of spirit, and night concealed their inferiority of force.</p> + <p>The deputies commissioned for the purpose read the decree of the assembly to those + whom they found assembled in front of the city-hall, and they shrunk from the attempt + of defending it, some joining the assailants, others laying down their arms and + dispersing. Meantime the deserted group of Terrorists within conducted themselves + like scorpions, which, when surrounded by a circle of fire, are said to turn their + stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding took place + among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means you promised to furnish?" + said Payan to Henriot, whom he found intoxicated and incapable of resolution or + exertion; and seizing on him as he spoke, he precipitated the revolutionary general + from a window. Henriot survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which + he was afterwards discovered and brought out to execution. The younger <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> Robespierre threw + himself from the window, but had not the good fortune to perish on the spot. It + seemed as if even the melancholy fate of suicide, the last refuge of guilt and + despair, was denied to men who had so long refused every species of mercy to their + fellow-creatures. Le Bas alone had calmness enough to despatch himself with a + pistol-shot. Saint Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, attempted his own + life with an irresolute hand, and failed, Couthon lay beneath the table brandishing a + knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without daring to add force enough + to reach his heart. Their chief, Robespierre, in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot + himself, had only inflicted a horrible fracture on his under-jaw.</p> + <p>In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with blood, + mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay on a table in an + anti-room, his head supported by a deal-box, and his hideous countenance half-hidden + by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round the shattered chin.<a id="footnotetag1" + name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> + <p>The captives were carried in triumph to the convention, who, without admitting + them to the bar, ordered them, as outlaws, for instant execution. As the fatal cars + passed to the guillotine, those who filled them, but especially Robespierre, were + overwhelmed with execrations from the friends and relatives of victims whom he had + sent on the same melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the + cloth had never been removed till the executioner tore it off, added to the torture + of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch yelled aloud, to the + horror of the spectators.<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a + href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> A mask taken from that dreadful head was long + exhibited in different nations of Europe, and appalled the spectator by its ugliness, + and the mixture of fiendish expression with that of bodily agony.</p> + <p>Thus fell Maximilian Robespierre, after having been the first person in the French + republic for nearly two years, during which time he governed it upon the principles + of Nero or Caligula. His elevation to the situation which he held involved more + contradictions than perhaps attach to any similar event in history. A low-born and + low-minded tyrant was permitted to rule with the rod of the most frightful despotism + a people, whose anxiety for liberty had shortly before rendered them unable to endure + the rule of a humane and lawful sovereign. A dastardly coward arose to the command of + one of the bravest nations in the world; and it was under the auspices of a man who + dared scarce fire a pistol, that the greatest generals in France began their careers + of conquest. He had neither eloquence nor imagination; but substituted in their stead + a miserable, affected, bombastic style, which, until other circumstances gave him + consequence, drew on him general ridicule. Yet against so poor an orator, all the + eloquence of the philosophical Girondists, all the terrible powers of his associate + Danton, employed in a popular assembly, could not enable them to make an effectual + resistance. It may seem trifling to mention, that in a nation where a good deal of + prepossession is excited by amiable manners and beauty of external appearance, the + person who ascended to the highest power was not only ill-looking, but singularly + mean in person, awkward and constrained in his address, ignorant how to set about + pleasing even when he most desired to give pleasure, and as tiresome nearly as he was + odious and heartless.</p> + <p>To compensate all these deficiencies, Robespierre had but an insatiable ambition, + founded on a vanity which made him think himself capable of filling the highest + situation; and therefore gave him daring, when to dare is frequently to achieve. He + mixed a false and over-strained, but rather fluent species of bombastic composition, + with the grossest flattery to the lowest classes of the people; in consideration of + which, they could not but receive as genuine the praises which he always bestowed on + himself. His prudent resolution to be satisfied with possessing the essence of power, + without seeming to desire its rank and trappings, formed another art of cajoling the + multitude. His watchful envy, his long-protracted but sure revenge, his craft, which + to vulgar minds supplies the place of wisdom, were his only means of competing with + his distinguished antagonists. And it seems to have been a merited punishment of the + extravagances and abuses of the French revolution, that it engaged the country in a + state of anarchy which permitted a wretch such as we have described, to be for a long + period master of her destiny. Blood was his element, like that of the other + Terrorists, and he never fastened with so much pleasure on a new <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> victim, as when he + was at the same time an ancient associate. In an epitaph, of which the following + couplet may serve as a translation, his life was represented as incompatible with the + existence of the human race:—</p> + <blockquote class="poetry"> + "Here lies Robespierre—let no tear be shed;<br /> + Reader, if he had lived, thou hadst been dead." + </blockquote> + <p>The commencement of the third volume introduces us to the family of Bonaparte, who + resided in the island of Corsica, which was, in ancient times, remarkable as the + scene of Seneca's exile, and in the last century was distinguished by the memorable + stand which the natives made in defence of their liberties against the Genoese and + French, during a war which tended to show the high and indomitable spirit of the + islanders, united as it is with the fiery and vindictive feelings proper to their + country and climate.</p> + <h4>BIRTH OF BONAPARTE.</h4> + <p>Charles Bonaparte, the father of Napoleon, died at the age of about forty years, + of an ulcer in the stomach, on the 24th of February, 1785. His celebrated son fell a + victim to the same disease. During Napoleon's grandeur, the community of Montpellier + expressed a desire to erect a monument to the memory of Charles Bonaparte. His answer + was both sensible and in good taste. "Had I lost my father yesterday," he said, "it + would be natural to pay his memory some mark of respect consistent with my present + situation. But it is twenty years since the event, and it is one in which the public + can take no concern. Let us leave the dead in peace."</p> + <p>The subject of our narrative was born, according to the best accounts, and his own + belief, upon the 15th day of August, 1769, at his father's house in Ajaccio, forming + one side of a court which leads out of the Rue Charles.<a id="footnotetag3" + name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> We read with interest, + that his mother's good constitution, and bold character of mind, having induced her + to attend mass upon the day of his birth, (being the Festival of the Assumption,) she + was obliged to return home immediately, and as there was no time to prepare a bed or + bedroom, she was delivered of the future victor upon a temporary couch prepared for + her accommodation, and covered with an ancient piece of tapestry, representing the + heroes of the Iliad. The infant was christened by the name of Napoleon, an obscure + saint, who had dropped to leeward, and fallen altogether out of the calendar, so that + his namesake never knew which day he was to celebrate as the festival of his patron. + When questioned, on this subject by the bishop who confirmed him, he answered + smartly, that there were a great many saints, and only three hundred and sixty-five + days to divide amongst them. The politeness of the pope promoted the patron in order + to compliment the god-child, and Saint Napoleon des Ursins was accommodated with a + festival. To render this compliment, which no one but a pope could have paid, still + more flattering, the feast of Saint Napoleon was fixed for the fifteenth August, the + birthday of the emperor, and the day on which he signed the Concordat. So that + Napoleon had the rare honour of promoting his patron saint.</p> + <h4>NAPOLEON'S EARLY LIFE.</h4> + <p>The young Napoleon had, of course, the simple and hardy education proper to the + natives of the mountainous island of his birth, and in his infancy was not remarkable + for more than that animation of temper, and wilfulness and impatience of inactivity, + by which children of quick parts and lively sensibility are usually distinguished. + The winter of the year was generally passed by the family of his father at Ajaccio, + where they still preserve and exhibit, as the ominous play-thing of Napoleon's + boyhood, the model of a brass cannon, weighing about thirty pounds.<a + id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> We + leave it to philosophers to inquire, whether the future love of war was suggested by + the accidental possession of such a toy; or whether the tendency of the mind dictated + the selection of it; or, lastly, whether the nature of the pastime, corresponding + with the taste which chose it, may not have had each their action and reaction, and + contributed between them to the formation of a character so warlike.</p> + <p>The same traveller who furnishes the above anecdote, gives an interesting account + of the country retreat of the family of Bonaparte during the summer.</p> + <p>Going along the sea-shore from Ajaccio towards the Isle Sanguiniere, about a mile + from the town, occur two stone pillars, the remains of a doorway, leading up to a + dilapidated villa, once the residence of Madame Bonaparte's half-brother on the + mother's side, whom Napoleon created Cardinal Fesch.<a id="footnotetag5" + name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> The house is approached + by an avenue, surrounded and overhung by the cactus and other shrubs, which luxuriate + in a warm climate. It has a garden and a lawn, showing amidst <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> neglect vestiges of + their former beauty, and the house is surrounded by shrubberies, permitted to run to + wilderness. This was the summer residence of Madame Bonaparte and her family. Almost + enclosed by the wild olive, the cactus, the clematis, and the almond-tree, is a very + singular and isolated granite rock, called Napoleon's grotto, which seems to have + resisted the decomposition which has taken place around. The remains of a small + summer-house are visible beneath the rock, the entrance to which is nearly closed by + a luxuriant fig-tree. This was Bonaparte's frequent retreat, when the vacations of + the school at which he studied permitted him to visit home. How the imagination + labours to form an idea of the visions, which, in this sequestered and romantic spot, + must have arisen before the eyes of the future hero of a hundred battles!</p> + <p>Bonaparte's ardour for the abstract sciences amounted to a passion, and was + combined with a singular aptitude for applying them to the purposes of war, while his + attention to pursuits so interesting and exhaustless in themselves, was stimulated by + his natural ambition and desire of distinction. Almost all the scientific teachers at + Brienne, being accustomed to study the character of their pupils, and obliged by + their duty to make memoranda and occasional reports on the subject, spoke of the + talents of Bonaparte, and the progress of his studies, with admiration. Circumstances + of various kinds, exaggerated or invented, have been circulated concerning the youth + of a person so remarkable. The following are given upon good authority.<a + id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></p> + <p>The conduct of Napoleon among his companions was that of a studious and reserved + youth, addicting himself deeply to the means of improvement, and rather avoiding than + seeking the usual temptations to dissipation of time. He had few friends, and no + intimates; yet at different times, when he chose to exert it, he exhibited + considerable influence over his fellow-students, and when there was any joint plan to + be carried into effect, he was frequently chosen dictator of the little republic.</p> + <p>In the time of winter, Bonaparte, upon one occasion, engaged his companions in + constructing a fortress out of the snow, regularly defended by ditches and bastions, + according to the rules of fortification. It was considered as displaying the great + powers of the juvenile engineer in the way of his profession, and was attacked and + defended by the students, who divided into parties for the purpose, until the battle + became so keen that their superiors thought it proper to proclaim a truce.</p> + <p>The young Bonaparte gave another instance of address and enterprise upon the + following occasion. There was a fair held annually in the neighbourhood of Brienne, + where the pupils of the Military School used to find a day's amusement; but on + account of a quarrel betwixt them and the country people upon a former occasion, or + for some such cause, the masters of the institution had directed that the students + should not on the fair-day be permitted to go beyond their own precincts, which were + surrounded with a wall. Under the direction of the young Corsican, however, the + scholars had already laid a plot for securing their usual day's diversion. They had + undermined the wall which encompassed their exercising ground, with so much skill and + secrecy, that their operations remained entirely unknown till the morning of the + fair, when a part of the boundary unexpectedly fell, and gave a free passage to the + imprisoned students, of which they immediately took the advantage, by hurrying to the + prohibited scene of amusement.</p> + <p>But although on these, and perhaps other occasions, Bonaparte displayed some of + the frolic temper of youth, mixed with the inventive genius and the talent for + commanding others by which he was distinguished in after time, his life at school was + in general that of a recluse and severe student, acquiring by his judgment, and + treasuring in his memory, that wonderful process of almost unlimited combination, by + means of which he was afterwards able to simplify the most difficult and complicated + undertakings. His mathematical teacher was proud of the young islander, as the boast + of his school, and his other scientific instructors had the same reason to be + satisfied.</p> + <p>In languages Bonaparte was less a proficient, and never acquired the art of + writing or spelling French, far less foreign languages, with accuracy or correctness; + nor had the monks of Brienne any reason to pride themselves on the classical + proficiency of their scholar. The full energies of his mind being devoted to the + scientific pursuits of his profession, left little time or inclination for other + studies.</p> + <p>Though of Italian origin, Bonaparte had not a decided taste for the fine arts, and + his taste in composition seems to have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page21" + name="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> leaned towards the grotesque and the bombastic. He + used always the most exaggerated phrases; and it is seldom, if ever, that his + bulletins present those touches of sublimity which are founded on dignity and + simplicity of expression.</p> + <p>Notwithstanding the external calmness and reserve of his deportment, he who was + destined for such great things had, while yet a student at Brienne, a full share of + that ambition for distinction and dread of disgrace, that restless and irritating + love of fame, which is the spur to extraordinary attempts. Sparkles of this keen + temper sometimes showed themselves. On one occasion, a harsh superintendant imposed + on the future emperor, for some trifling fault, the disgrace of wearing a penitential + dress, and being excluded from the table of the students, and obliged to eat his meal + apart. His pride felt the indignity so severely, that it brought on a severe nervous + attack; to which, though otherwise of good constitution, he was subject upon + occasions of extraordinary irritation. Father Petrault, the professor of mathematics, + hastened to deliver his favourite pupil from the punishment by which he was so much + affected.</p> + <p>It is also said that an early disposition to the popular side distinguished + Bonaparte even when at Brienne. Pichegru, afterwards so celebrated, who acted as his + monitor in the military school, (a singular circumstance,) bore witness to his early + principles, and to the peculiar energy and tenacity of his temper. He was long + afterwards consulted whether means might not be found to engage the commander of the + Italian armies in the royal interest. "It will be but lost time to attempt it," said + Pichegru. "I knew him in his youth—his character is inflexible—he has + taken his side, and he will not change it."</p> + <p>In 1783, Napoleon Bonaparte, then only fourteen years old, was, though under the + usual age, selected by Monsieur de Keralio, the inspector of the twelve military + schools, to be sent to have his education completed in the general school of Paris. + It was a compliment paid to the precocity of his extraordinary mathematical talent, + and the steadiness of his application. While at Paris he attracted the same notice as + at Brienne; and among other society, frequented that of the celebrated Abbé + Raynal, and was admitted to his literary parties. His taste did not become correct, + but his appetite for study in all departments was greatly enlarged; and + notwithstanding the quantity which he daily read, his memory was strong enough to + retain, and his judgment sufficiently ripe to arrange and digest, the knowledge which + he then acquired; so that he had it at his command during all the rest of his busy + life. Plutarch was his favourite author; upon the study of whom he had so modelled + his opinions and habits of thought, that Paoli afterwards pronounced him a young man + of an antique caste, and resembling one of the classical heroes.</p> + <p>Some of his biographers have about this time ascribed to him the anecdote of a + certain youthful pupil of the military school, who desired to ascend in the car of a + balloon with the aëronaut Blanchard, and was so mortified at being refused, that + he made an attempt to cut the balloon with his sword. The story has but a flimsy + support, and indeed does not accord well with the character of the hero, which was + deep and reflective, as well as bold and determined, and not likely to suffer its + energies to escape in idle and useless adventure.</p> + <p>A better authenticated anecdote states, that at this time he expressed himself + disrespectfully towards the king in one of his letters to his family. According to + the practice of the school, he was obliged to submit the letter to the censorship of + Monsieur Domairon, the professor of belles lettres, who, taking notice of the + offensive passage, insisted upon the letter being burnt, and added a severe rebuke. + Long afterwards, in 1802, Monsieur Domairon was commanded to attend Napoleon's levee, + in order that he might receive a pupil in the person of Jerome Bonaparte, when the + first consul reminded his old tutor good-humouredly, that times had changed + considerably since the burning of the letter.</p> + <p>Napoleon Bonaparte, in his seventieth year, received his first commission as + second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery, and was almost immediately afterwards + promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in the corps quartered at Valence. He + mingled with society when he joined his regiment, more than he had hitherto been + accustomed to do; mixed in public amusements, and exhibited the powers of pleasing, + which he possessed in an uncommon degree when he chose to exert them. His handsome + and intelligent features, with his active and neat, though slight figure, gave him + additional advantages. His manners could scarcely be called elegant, but made up in + vivacity and variety of expression, and often in great spirit and energy, for what + they wanted in grace and polish.</p> + <p>He became an adventurer for the honours of literature also, and was anonymously a + competitor for the prize offered by the Academy of Lyons on Raynal's question, "What + are the principles and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[pg + 22]</span> institutions, by application of which mankind can be raised to the highest + pitch of happiness?" The prize was adjudged to the young soldier. It is impossible to + avoid feeling curiosity to know the character of the juvenile theories respecting + government, advocated by one who at length attained the power of practically making + what experiments he pleased. Probably his early ideas did not exactly coincide with + his more mature practice; for when Talleyrand, many years afterwards, got the essay + out of the records of the academy, and returned it to the author, Bonaparte destroyed + it after he had read a few pages. He also laboured under the temptation of writing a + journey to Mount Cenis, after the manner of Sterne, which he was fortunate enough + finally to resist. The affectation which pervades Sterne's peculiar style of + composition was not likely to be simplified under the pen of Bonaparte.</p> + <p>Sterner times were fast approaching, and the nation was now fully divided by those + factions which produced the revolution. The officers of Bonaparte's regiment were + also divided into royalists and patriots; and it is easily to be imagined, that the + young and friendless stranger and adventurer should adopt that side to which he had + already shown some inclination, and which promised to open the most free career to + those who had only their merit to rely on. "Were I a general officer," he is alleged + to have said, "I would have adhered to the king; being a subaltern, I join the + patriots."</p> + <p>There was a story current, that in a debate with some brother officers on the + politics of the time, Bonaparte expressed himself so outrageously, that they were + provoked to throw him into the Rhone, where he had nearly perished. But this is an + inaccurate account of the accident which actually befell him. He was seized with the + cramp when bathing in the river. His comrades saved him with difficulty, but his + danger was matter of pure chance.</p> + <p>Napoleon has himself recorded that he was a warm patriot during the whole sitting + of the National Assembly; but that on the appointment of the Legislative Assembly, he + became shaken in his opinions. If so, his original sentiments regained force, for we + shortly afterwards find him entertaining such as went to the extreme heights of the + revolution.</p> + <p>Early in the year 1792, Bonaparte became a captain in the artillery by seniority; + and in the same year, being at Paris, he witnessed the two insurrections of the 20th + of June and 10th of August. He was accustomed to speak of the insurgents as the most + despicable banditti, and to express with what ease a determined officer could have + checked these apparently formidable, but dastardly and unwieldy masses. But with what + a different feeling of interest would Napoleon have looked on that infuriated + populace, those still resisting though overpowered Swiss, and that burning palace, + had any seer whispered to him, "Emperor that shall be, all this blood and massacre is + but to prepare your future empire!" Little anticipating the potent effect which the + passing events were to bear on his own fortune, Bonaparte, anxious for the safety of + his mother and family, was now desirous to change France for Corsica, where the same + things were acting on a less distinguished stage.</p> + <h4>BONAPARTE'S FIRST MILITARY EXPLOIT.</h4> + <p>Napoleon's first military exploit was in the civil war of his native island. In + the year 1793, he was despatched from Bastia, in possession of the French party, to + surprise his native town Ajaccio, then occupied by Paoli or his adherents. Bonaparte + was acting provisionally, as commanding a battalion of National Guards. He landed in + the Gulf of Ajaccio with about fifty men, to take possession of a tower called the + Torre di Capitello, on the opposite side of the gulf, and almost facing the city. He + succeeded in taking the place; but as there arose a gale of wind which prevented his + communicating with the frigate which had put him ashore, he was besieged in his new + conquest by the opposite faction, and reduced to such distress, that he and his + little garrison were obliged to feed on horse-flesh. After five days he was relieved + by the frigate, and evacuated the tower, having first in vain attempted to blow it + up. The Torre di Capitello still shows marks of the damage it then sustained, and its + remains may be looked on as a curiosity, as the first scene of <i>his</i> combats, + before whom</p> + <blockquote class="poetry"> + —"Temple and tower<br /> + Went to the ground.— + </blockquote> + <p>A relation of Napoleon, Masserio by name, effectually defended Ajaccio against the + force employed in the expedition.</p> + <p>The strength of Paoli increasing, and the English preparing to assist him, Corsica + became no longer a safe or convenient residence for the Bonaparte family. Indeed, + both Napoleon and his brother Lucien, who had distinguished themselves as partisans + of the French, were subjected to a decree of banishment from their native island; and + Madame Bonaparte, with her three daughters, and Jerome, who was as yet but a child, + set sail under their protection, and settled for a time, <span class="pagenum"><a + id="page23" name="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> first at Nice, and afterwards at + Marseilles, where the family is supposed to have undergone considerable distress, + until the dawning prospects of Napoleon afforded him the means of assisting them.</p> + <p>Napoleon never again revisited Corsica, nor does he appear to have regarded it + with any feelings of affection. One small fountain at Ajaccio is pointed out as the + only ornament which his bounty bestowed on his birthplace. He might perhaps think it + impolitic to do any thing which might remind the country he ruled that he was not a + child of her soil, nay, was in fact very near having been born an alien, for Corsica + was not united to, or made an integral part of France, until June, 1769, a few weeks + only before Napoleon's birth. This stigma was repeatedly cast upon him by his + opponents, some of whom reproached the French with having adopted a master, from a + country from which the ancient Romans were unwilling even to choose a slave; and + Napoleon may have been so far sensible to it, as to avoid showing any predilection to + the place of his birth, which might bring the circumstance strongly under the + observation of the great nation, with which he and his family seemed to be + indissolubly united. But, as a traveller already quoted, and who had the best + opportunities to become acquainted with the feelings of the proud islanders, has + expressed it,—"The Corsicans are still highly patriotic, and possess strong + local attachment—in their opinion, contempt for the country of one's birth is + never to be redeemed by any other qualities. Napoleon, therefore, certainly was not + popular in Corsica, nor is his memory cherished there."<a id="footnotetag7" + name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a></p> + <p>The feelings of the parties were not unnatural on either side. Napoleon, little + interested in the land of his birth, and having such an immense stake in that of his + adoption, in which he had every thing to keep and lose,<a id="footnotetag8" + name="footnotetag8"></a><a href="#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> observed a policy + towards Corsica which his position rendered advisable; and who can blame the + high-spirited islanders, who, seeing one of their countrymen raised to such exalted + eminence, and disposed to forget his connexion with them, returned with slight and + indifference the disregard with which he treated them?</p> + <p>The siege of Toulon was the first incident of importance which enabled Bonaparte + to distinguish himself in the eyes of the French government and of the world at + large. Shortly afterwards he was appointed chief of battalion in the army of Italy, + and on the fall of Robespierre, Bonaparte superseded in command. At the conflict + between the troops of the Convention under Napoleon, and those of the Sections of + Paris under Damican, the latter was defeated with much slaughter, and Bonaparte was + appointed general-in-chief in command of the army of the interior.</p> + <h4>BONAPARTE'S FIRST MARRIAGE.</h4> + <p>Meantime circumstances, which we will relate according to his own statement, + introduced Bonaparte to an acquaintance, which was destined to have much influence on + his future fate. A fine boy, of ten or twelve years old, presented himself at the + levee of the general of the interior, with a request of a nature unusually + interesting. He stated his name to be Eugene Beauharnois, son of the ci-devant + Vicomte de Beauharnois, who, adhering to the revolutionary party, had been a general + in the republican service upon the Rhine, and falling under the causeless suspicion + of the committee of public safety, was delivered to the revolutionary tribunal, and + fell by its sentence just four days before the overthrow of Robespierre. Eugene was + come to request of Bonaparte, as general of the interior, that his father's sword + might be restored to him. The prayer of the young supplicant was as interesting as + his manners were engaging, and Napoleon felt so much interest in him, that he was + induced to cultivate the acquaintance of Eugene's mother, afterwards the empress + Josephine.</p> + <p>The lady was a Creolian, the daughter of a planter in St. Domingo. Her name at + full length was Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie. She had suffered her share + of revolutionary miseries. After her husband, General Beauharnois, had been deprived + of his command, she was arrested as a suspected person, and detained in prison till + the general liberation, which succeeded the revolution of the 9th Thermidor. While in + confinement, Madame Beauharnois had formed an intimacy with a companion in distress, + Madame Fontenai, now Madame Tallien, from which she derived great advantages after + her friend's marriage. With a remarkably graceful person, amiable manners, and an + inexhaustible fund of good-humour, Madame Beauharnois was formed to be an ornament to + society. Barras, the Thermidorien hero, himself an ex-noble, was fond of society, + desirous of enjoying it on an agreeable scale, and of washing away the dregs which + Jacobinism had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> + mingled with all the dearest interests of life. He loved show, too, and pleasure, and + might now indulge both without the risk of falling under the suspicion of incivism, + which, in the Reign of Terror, would have been incurred by any attempt to intermingle + elegance with the enjoyments of social intercourse. At the apartments which he + occupied, as one of the Directory, in the Luxemburg Palace, he gave its free course + to his natural taste, and assembled an agreeable society of both sexes. Madame + Tallien and her friend formed the soul of these assemblies, and it was supposed that + Barras was not insensible to the charms of Madame Beauharnois,—a rumour which + was likely to arise, whether with or without foundation.</p> + <p>When Madame Beauharnois and General Bonaparte became intimate, the latter assures + us, and we see no reason to doubt him, that although the lady was two or three years + older than himself,<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a + href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> yet being still in the full bloom of beauty, and + extremely agreeable in her manners, he was induced, solely by her personal charms, to + make her an offer of his hand, heart, and fortunes,—little supposing, of + course, to what a pitch the latter were to arise.</p> + <p>Although he himself is said to have been a fatalist, believing in destiny and in + the influence of his star, he knew nothing, probably, of the prediction of a negro + sorceress, who, while Marie Joseph was but a child, prophesied she should rise to a + dignity greater than that of a queen, yet fall from it before her death.<a + id="footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a><a href="#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a> + This was one of those vague auguries, delivered at random by fools or impostors, + which the caprice of fortune sometimes matches with a corresponding and conforming + event. But without trusting to the African sibyl's prediction, Bonaparte may have + formed his match under the auspices of ambition as well as love. The marrying Madame + Beauharnois was a mean of uniting his fortune with those of Barras and Tallien, the + first of whom governed France as one of the Directors; and the last, from talents and + political connexions, had scarcely inferior influence. He had already deserved well + of them for his conduct on the Day of the Sections, but he required their countenance + to rise still higher; and without derogating from the bride's merits, we may suppose + her influence in their society corresponded with the views of her lover. It is, + however, certain, that he always regarded her with peculiar affection; that he relied + on her fate, which he considered as linked with and strengthening his own; and + reposed, besides, considerable confidence in Josephine's tact and address in + political business. She had at all times the art of mitigating his temper, and + turning aside the hasty determinations of his angry moments, not by directly + opposing, but by gradually parrying and disarming them. It must be added to her great + praise, that she was always a willing and often a successful advocate in the cause of + humanity.</p> + <p>They were married 9th of March, 1796; and the dowry of the bride was the chief + command of the Italian armies, a scene which opened a full career to the ambition of + the youthful general. Bonaparte remained with his wife only three days after his + marriage, hastened to see his family, who were still at Marseilles, and, having + enjoyed the pleasure of exhibiting himself as a favourite of fortune in the city + which he had lately left in the capacity of an indigent adventurer, proceeded rapidly + to commence the career to which fate called him, by placing himself at the head of + the Italian army.</p> + <p>The renowned Italian campaigns occupy the remainder of the third, and some part of + the fourth volume, to which we now proceed. It will be remembered that the war in + Egypt being triumphantly concluded on the part of Great Britain, the news of the + contest reached France some time before the English received it. Napoleon, on + learning the tidings, is reported to have said, "Well, there remains now no + alternative but to make the descent on Britain."</p> + <h4>PROPOSED INVASION OF GREAT BRITAIN.</h4> + <p>As the words of the first consul appeard to intimate, preparations were resumed on + the French coast for the invasion of Great Britain. Boulogne and every harbour along + the coast was crowded with flat-bottomed boats, and the shores covered with camps of + the men designed apparently to fill them. We need not at present dwell on the + preparations for attack, or those which the English adopted in defence, as we shall + have occasion to notice both, when Bonaparte, for the last time, threatened England + with the same <span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> + measure. It is enough to say, that, on the present occasion, the menaces of France + had their usual effect in awakening the spirit of Britain.</p> + <p>The most extensive arrangements were made for the reception of the invaders should + they chance to land, and in the meanwhile, our natural barrier was not neglected. The + naval preparations were very great, and what gave yet more confidence than the number + of vessels and guns, Nelson was put into command of the sea, from Orfordness to + Beachy-head. Under his management, it soon became the question, not whether the + French flotilla was to invade the British shores, but whether it was to remain in + safety in the French harbours. Boulogne was bombarded, and some of the small craft + and gun-boats destroyed—the English admiral generously sparing the town; and + not satisfied with this partial success, Nelson prepared to attack them with the + boats of the squadron. The French resorted to the most unusual and formidable + preparations for defence. Their flotilla was moored close to the shore in the mouth + of Boulogne harbour, the vessels secured to each other by chains, and filled with + soldiers. The British attack in some degree failed, owing to the several divisions of + boats missing each other in the dark; some French vessels were taken, but they could + not be brought off; and the French chose to consider this result as a victory, on + their part, of consequence enough to balance the loss at Aboukir;—though it + amounted at best to ascertaining, that although their vessels could not keep the sea, + they might, in some comparative degree of safety, lie under close cover of their own + batteries.</p> + <p>The preliminaries of peace, however, were signed, and the treaty was confirmed at + Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802. Napoleon still prosecuted his ambitious projects, + extended his power in Italy, and caused himself to be appointed consul for life, with + the power of naming his successor.</p> + <h4>SCHEME OF INVASION RENEWED.</h4> + <p>It must be in the memory of most who recollect the period, that the kingdom of + Great Britain was seldom less provided against invasion than at the commencement of + this second war; and that an embarkation from the ports of Holland, if undertaken + instantly after the war had broken out, might have escaped our blockading squadrons, + and have at least shown what a French army could have done on British ground, at a + moment when the alarm was general, and the country in an unprepared state. But it is + probable that Bonaparte himself was as much unprovided as England for the sudden + breach of the treaty of Amiens—an event brought about more by the influence of + passion than of policy; so that its consequences were as unexpected in his + calculations as in those of Great Britain. Besides, he had not diminished to himself + the dangers of the undertaking, by which he must have staked his military renown, his + power, which he held chiefly as the consequence of his reputation, perhaps his life, + upon a desperate game, which, though he had already twice contemplated it, he had not + yet found hardihood enough seriously to enter upon.</p> + <p>He now, however, at length bent himself, with the whole strength of his mind, and + the whole force of his empire, to prepare for this final and decisive undertaking. + The gun-boats in the Bay of Gibraltar, where calms are frequent, had sometimes in the + course of the former war been able to do considerable damage to the English vessels + of war, when they could not use their sails. Such small craft, therefore, were + supposed the proper force for covering the intended descent. They were built in + different harbours, and brought together by crawling along the French shore, and + keeping under the protection of the batteries, which were now established on every + cape, almost as if the sea-coast of the channel on the French side had been the lines + of a besieged city, no one point of which could with prudence be left undefended by + cannon. Boulogne was pitched upon as the centre port, from which the expedition was + to sail. By incredible exertions, Bonaparte had rendered its harbour and roads + capable of containing two thousand vessels of various descriptions. The smaller + sea-ports of Vimereux, Ambleteuse, and Etaples, Dieppe, Havre, St. Valeri, Caen, + Gravelines, and Dunkirk, were likewise filled with shipping. Flushing and Ostend were + occupied by a separate flotilla. Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort, were each the station + of as strong a naval squadron as France, had still the means to send to sea.</p> + <p>A land army was assembled of the most formidable description, whether we regard + the high military character of the troops, the extent and perfection of their + appointments, or their numerical strength. The coast, from the mouth of the Seine to + the Texel, was covered with forces; and Soult, Ney, Davoust, and Victor, names that + were then the pride and the dread of war, were appointed to command the army of + England, (for that menacing title was once more, assumed,) <span class="pagenum"><a + id="page26" name="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> and execute those manoeuvres, planned + and superintended by Bonaparte, the issue of which was to be the blotting out of + Britain from the rank of independent nations.</p> + <p>Far from being alarmed at this formidable demonstration of force, England prepared + for her resistance with an energy becoming her ancient rank in Europe, and far + surpassing in its efforts any extent of military preparation before heard of in her + history. To nearly one hundred thousand troops of the line, were added eighty + thousand and upwards of militia, which scarce yielded to the regulars in point of + discipline. The volunteer force, by which every citizen was permitted and invited to + add his efforts to the defence of the country, was far more numerous than during the + last war, was better officered also, and rendered every way more effective. It was + computed to amount to three hundred and fifty thousand men, who, if we regard the + shortness of the time and the nature of the service, had attained considerable + practice in the use and management of their arms. Other classes of men were embodied, + and destined to act as pioneers, drivers of wagons, and in the like services. On a + sudden, the land seemed converted to an immense camp, the whole nation into soldiers, + and the good old king himself into a general-in-chief. All peaceful considerations + appeared for a time to be thrown aside; and the voice, calling the nation to defend + their dearest rights, sounded not only in Parliament, and in meetings convoked to + second the measures of defence, but was heard in the places of public amusement, and + mingled even with the voice of devotion—not unbecoming surely, since to defend + our country is to defend our religion.</p> + <p>Beacons were erected in conspicuous points, corresponding with each other, all + around and all through the island; and morning and evening, one might have said, + every eye was turned towards them to watch for the fatal and momentous signal. + Partial alarms were given to different places, from the mistakes to which such + arrangements must necessarily be liable; and the ready spirit which animated every + species of troops where such signals called to arms, was of the most satisfactory + description, and afforded the most perfect assurance, that the heart of every man was + in the cause of his country.</p> + <p>Amidst her preparations by land, England did not neglect or relax her precautions + on the element she calls her own. She covered the ocean with five hundred and seventy + ships of war of various descriptions. Divisions of her fleet blocked up every French + port in the channel; and the army destined to invade our shores, might see the + British flag flying in every direction on the horizon, waiting for their issuing from + the harbour, as birds of prey may be seen floating in the air above the animal which + they design to pounce upon. Sometimes the British frigates and sloops of war stood + in, and cannonaded or threw shells into Havre, Dieppe, Granville, and Boulogne + itself. Sometimes the seamen and marines landed, cut out vessels, destroyed signal + posts, and dismantled batteries. Such events were trifling, and it was to be + regretted that they cost the lives of gallant men; but although they produced no + direct results of consequence, yet they had their use in encouraging the spirits of + our sailors, and damping the confidence of the enemy, who must at length have looked + forward with more doubt than hope to the invasion of the English coast, when the + utmost vigilance could not prevent their experiencing insults upon their own.</p> + <p>During this period of menaced attack and arranged defence, Bonaparte visited + Boulogne, and seemed active in preparing his soldiers for the grand effort. He + reviewed them in an unusual manner, teaching them to execute several manoeuvres by + night; and experiments were also made upon the best mode of arranging the soldiers in + the flat-bottomed boats, and of embarking and disembarking them with celerity. Omens + were resorted to for keeping up the enthusiasm which the presence of the First Consul + naturally inspired. A Roman battle-axe was said to be found when they removed the + earth to pitch Bonaparte's tent or barrack; and medals of William the Conqueror were + produced, as having been dug up upon the same honoured spot. These were pleasant + bodings, yet perhaps did not altogether, in the minds of the soldiers, counterbalance + the sense of insecurity impressed on them by the prospect of being packed together in + these miserable chaloupes, and exposed to the fire of an enemy so superior at sea, + that during the chief consul's review of the fortifications, their frigates stood in + shore with composure, and fired at him and his suite as at a mark. The men who had + braved the perils of the Alps and of the Egyptian deserts, might yet be allowed to + feel alarm at a species of danger which seemed so inevitable, and which they had no + adequate means of repelling by force of arms.</p> + <p>A circumstance which seemed to render the expedition in a great measure hopeless, + was the ease with which the English <span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" + name="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> could maintain a constant watch upon their + operations within the port of Boulogne. The least appearance of stir or preparation, + to embark troops, or get ready for sea, was promptly sent by signal to the English + coast, and the numerous British cruisers were instantly on the alert to attend their + motions. Nelson had, in fact, during the last war, declared the sailing of a hostile + armament from Boulogne to be a most forlorn undertaking, on account of cross tides + and other disadvantages, together with the certainty of the flotilla being lost if + there were the least wind west-north-west. "As for rowing," he adds, "that is + impossible.—It is perfectly right to be prepared for a mad government," + continued this incontestable judge of maritime possibilities; "but with the active + force which has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable."</p> + <p>Before quitting the subject, we may notice, that Bonaparte seems not to have + entertained the least doubts of success, could he have succeeded in disembarking his + army. A single general action was to decide the fate of England. Five days were to + bring Napoleon to London, where he was to perform the part of William the Third; but + with more generosity and disinterestedness. He was to call a meeting of the + inhabitants, restore them what he calls their rights, and destroy the oligarchical + faction. A few months would not, according to his account, have elapsed, ere the two + nations, late such determined enemies, would have been identified by their + principles, their maxims, their interests. The full explanation of this gibberish, + (for it can be termed no better, even proceeding from the lips of Napoleon,) is to be + found elsewhere, when he spoke a language more genuine than that of the + <i>Moniteur</i> and the bulletins. "England," he said, "must have ended, by becoming + an appendage to the France of <i>my</i> system. Nature has made it one of our + islands, as well as Oleron and Corsica."</p> + <p>It is impossible not to pursue the train of reflections which Bonaparte continued + to pour forth to the companion of his exile, on the rock of Saint Helena. When + England was conquered, and identified with France in maxims and principles, according + to one form of expression, or rendered an appendage and dependency, according to + another phrase, the reader may suppose that Bonaparte would have considered his + mission as accomplished. Alas! it was not much more than commenced. "I would have + departed from thence [from subjugated Britain] to carry the work of European + regeneration [that is, the extention of his own arbitrary authority] from south to + north, under the Republican colours, for I was then Chief Consul, in the same manner + which I was more lately on the point of achieving it under the monarchical forms." + When we find such ideas retaining hold of Napoleon's imagination, and arising to his + tongue after his irretrievable fall, it is impossible to avoid exclaiming, Did + ambition ever conceive so wild a dream, and had so wild a vision ever a termination + so disastrous and humiliating!</p> + <p>It may be expected that something should be here said, upon the chances which + Britain would have had of defending herself successfully against the army of + invaders. We are willing to acknowledge that the risk must have been dreadful; and + that Bonaparte, with his genius and his army, must have inflicted severe calamities + upon a country which had so long enjoyed the blessings of peace. But the people were + unanimous in their purpose of defence, and their forces composed of materials to + which Bonaparte did more justice when he came to be better acquainted with them. Of + the three British nations, the English have since shown themselves possessed of the + same steady valour which won the fields of Cressy and Agincourt, Blenheim and + Minden—the Irish have not lost the fiery enthusiasm which has distinguished + them in all the countries of Europe—nor have the Scots degenerated from the + stubborn courage with which their ancestors for two thousand years maintained their + independence against a superior enemy. Even if London had been lost, we would not, + under so great a calamity, have despaired of the freedom of the country; for the war + would in all probability have assumed that popular and national character which + sooner or later wears out an invading army. Neither does the confidence with which + Bonaparte affirms the conviction of his winning the first battle, appear go certainly + well founded. This, at least, we know, that the resolution of the country was fully + bent up to the hazard; and those who remember the period will bear us witness, that + the desire that the French would make the attempt, was a general feeling through all + classes, because they had every reason to hope that the issue might be such as for + ever to silence the threat of invasion.</p> + <p>The next most important occurrence that claims our notice in this volume, and + which fully delineates the nature and character of this wonderful and ambitious + individual, is the account of his declaration as Emperor of France, and his + subsequent coronation.</p> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> + <h4>CORONATION OF NAPOLEON.</h4> + <p>Measures were taken, as on former occasions, to preserve appearances, by + obtaining, in show at least, the opinion of the people, on this radical change of + their system. Government, however, were already confident of their approbation, + which, indeed, had never been refused to any of the various constitutions, however + inconsistent, that had succeeded each other with such rapidity. Secure on this point, + Bonaparte's accession to the empire was proclaimed with the greatest pomp, without + waiting to inquire whether the people approved of his promotion or otherwise. The + proclamation was coldly received, even by the populace, and excited little + enthusiasm. It seemed, according to some writers, as if the shades of D'Enghien and + Pichegru had been present invisibly, and spread a damp over the ceremony. The Emperor + was recognised by the soldiery with more warmth. He visited the encampments at + Boulogne, with the intention, apparently, of receiving such an acknowledgment from + the troops as was paid by the ancient Franks to their monarchs, when they elevated + them on their bucklers. Seated on an iron chair, said to have belonged to king + Dagobert, he took his place between two immense camps, and having before him the + Channel and the hostile coasts of England. The weather, we have been assured, had + been tempestuous, but no sooner had the Emperor assumed his seat, to receive the + homage of his shouting host, than the sky cleared, and the wind dropt, retaining just + breath sufficient gently to wave the banners. Even the elements seemed to acknowledge + the imperial dignity, all save the sea, which rolled as carelessly to the feet of + Napoleon as it had formerly done towards those of Canute the Dane.</p> + <p>The Emperor, accompanied with his Empress, who bore her honours both gracefully + and meekly, visited Aix-la-Chapelle, and the frontiers of Germany. They received the + congratulations of all the powers of Europe, excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, + upon their new exaltation; and the German princes, who had everything to hope and + fear from so powerful a neighbour, hastened to pay their compliments to Napoleon in + person, which more distant sovereigns offered by their ambassadors.</p> + <p>But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to be made, + by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon determined should take + place with circumstances of solemnity, which had been beyond the reach of any + temporal prince, however powerful, for many ages. His policy was often marked by a + wish to revive, imitate, and connect his own titles and interest with, some ancient + observance of former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered + more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low birth, when + raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to conceal the obscurity of their + origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope Leo, he remembered, had placed a + golden crown on the head of Charlemagne, and proclaimed him Emperor of the Romans. + Pius VII. he determined should do the same for a successor to much more than the + actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome to receive + inauguration from the hands of the Pontiff of that day, Napoleon resolved that he who + now owned the proud, and in Protestant eyes profane, title of Vicar of Christ, should + travel to France to perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See + of Rome had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom also + her power had been re-erected and restored, not only in Italy, but in France + itself.</p> + <p>Humiliating as the compliance with Bonaparte's request must have seemed to the + more devoted Catholics, Pius VII. had already sacrificed, to obtain the Concordat, so + much of the power and privileges of the Roman See, that he could hardly have been + justified if he had run the risk of losing the advantages of a treaty so dearly + purchased, by declining to incur some personal trouble, or, it might be termed, some + direct self-abasement. The Pope, and the Cardinals whom he consulted, implored the + illumination of heaven upon their councils; but it was the stern voice of necessity + which assured them, that, except at the risk of dividing the Church by a schism, they + could not refuse to comply with Bonaparte's requisition. The Pope left Rome on the + 5th of November. He was everywhere received on the road with the highest respect, and + most profound veneration; the Alpine precipices themselves had been secured by + parapets wherever they could expose the venerable Father of the Catholic Church to + danger, or even apprehension. Upon the 25th of November, he met Bonaparte at + Fontainbleau; and the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon was as studiously respectful + towards him, as that of Charlemagne, whom he was pleased to call his predecessor, + could have been towards Leo.</p> + <p>On the 2nd of December, the ceremony <span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" + name="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> of the coronation took place in the ancient + cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony which could be devised + to add to its solemnity. Yet we have been told that the multitude did not participate + in the ceremonial with that eagerness which characterises the inhabitants of all + capitals, but especially those of Paris, upon similar occasions. They had, within a + very few years, seen so many exhibitions, processions, and festivals, established on + the most discordant principles, which, though announced as permanent and + unchangeable, had successively given way to newer doctrines, that they considered the + splendid representation before them as an unsubstantial pageant, which would fade + away in its turn. Bonaparte himself seemed absent and gloomy, till recalled to a + sense of his grandeur by the voice of the numerous deputies and functionaries sent up + from all the several departments of France, to witness the coronation. These + functionaries had been selected with due attention to their political opinions; and + many of them holding offices under the government, or expecting benefits from the + Emperor, made up, by the zealous vivacity of their acclamations, for the coldness of + the good citizens of Paris.</p> + <p>The Emperor took his coronation oath, as usual on such occasions, with his hands + up on the scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated to him by the Pope. But + in the act of coronation itself, there was a marked deviation from the universal + custom, characteristic of the man, the age, and the conjuncture. In all other similar + solemnities, the crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding + spiritual person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not even from + the head of the Catholic Church would Bonaparte consent to receive as a boon the + golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he owed solely to his own + unparalleled train of military and civil successes. The crown having been blessed by + the Pope, Napoleon took it from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his + brows. He then put the diadem on the head of his Empress, as if determined to show + that his authority was the child of his own actions. <i>Te Deum</i> was sung; the + heralds, (for they also had again come into fashion,) proclaimed, "that the thrice + glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor of the French, was crowned and + installed." Thus concluded this remarkable ceremony. Those who remember having beheld + it, must now doubt whether they were waking, or whether fancy had framed a vision so + dazzling in its appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress, and so + ephemeral in its endurance.</p> + <p>The very day before the ceremony of coronation, (that is, on the 1st of December,) + the senate had waited upon the Emperor with the result of the votes collected in the + departments, which, till that time, had been taken for granted. Upwards of three + millions five hundred thousand citizens had given their votes on this occasion; of + whom only about three thousand five hundred had declared against the proposition. The + vice-president, Neufchateau, declared, "this report was the unbiassed expression of + the people's choice. No government could plead a title more authentic."</p> + <p>Sir Walter occupies his sixth volume with details of the celebrated battles that + were fought between the French and English armies in the Spanish territories, and + which are told with great truth and develope the extraordinary powers of this + celebrated writer. The divorce of Josephine, and marriage of Maria Louisa, commence + the succeeding volume. The sterility of Bonaparte's wife was now an irremediable + evil; and political motives were to supersede the ties of endearment, affection, + talents, and virtue. Fouché the minister of police, made Josephine the means + of suggesting to Napoleon, the measure of her own divorce, and subsequently Napoleon + made Josephine acquainted with the cruel certainty, that the separation was + ultimately determined upon.</p> + <h4>NAPOLEON DIVORCED FROM JOSEPHINE.</h4> + <p>When this sentence had finally dissolved their union, the emperor retired to St. + Cloud, where he lived in seclusion for some days. Josephine, on her part, took up her + residence in the beautiful villa of Malmaison, near St. Germains. Here she + principally dwelt for the remaining years of her life, which were just prolonged to + see the first fall of her husband; an event which might have been averted had he been + content to listen more frequently to her lessons of moderation. Her life was chiefly + spent in cultivating the fine arts, of which she collected some beautiful specimens, + and in pursuing the science of botany; but especially in the almost daily practice of + acts of benevolence and charity, of which the English <i>detenus</i>, of whom there + were several at St. Germains, frequently shared the benefit. Napoleon visited her + very frequently, and always treated her with the respect to which she was entitled. + He added also to her dowry a third million of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" + name="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> francs, that she might feel no inconvenience from + the habits of expense to which it was her foible to be addicted.</p> + <h4>BONAPARTE MARRIES MARIA LOUISA.</h4> + <p>This important state measure was no sooner completed, than the great council was + summoned, on the 1st of February, to assist the emperor in the selection of a new + spouse. They were given to understand, that a match with a grand duchess of Russia + had been proposed, but was likely to be embarrassed by disputes concerning religion. + A daughter of the king of Saxony was also mentioned, but it was easily indicated to + the council that their choice ought to fall upon a princess of the house of Austria. + At the conclusion of the meeting, Eugene, son of the repudiated Josephine, was + commissioned by the council to propose to the Austrian embassador a match between + Napoleon and the archduchess Maria Louisa. Prince Schwarzenberg had his instructions + on the subject; so that the match was proposed, discussed, and decided in the + council, and afterwards adjusted between plenipotentiaries on either side, in the + space of twenty-four hours. The espousals of Napoleon and Maria Louisa were + celebrated at Vienna, 11th March, 1810. The person of Bonaparte was represented by + his favourite Berthier, while the archduke Charles assisted at the ceremony, in the + name of the emperor Francis. A few days afterwards, the youthful bride, accompanied + by the queen of Naples, proceeded towards France.</p> + <p>With good taste, Napoleon dispensed with the ceremonies used in the reception of + Marie Antoinette, whose marriage with Louis XVI., though never named or alluded to, + was in other respects the model of the present solemnity. Near Soissons, a single + horseman, no way distinguished by dress, rode past the carriage in which the young + empress was seated, and had the boldness to return, as if to reconnoitre more + closely. The carriage stopped, the door was opened, and Napoleon, breaking through + all the tediousness of ceremony, introduced himself to his bride, and came with her + to Soissons. The marriage ceremony was performed at Paris by Bonaparte's uncle, the + Cardinal Fesch. The most splendid rejoicings, illuminations, concerts, festivals, + took place upon this important occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which threw a + shade over these demonstrations of joy. Prince Schwarzenberg had given a + distinguished ball on the occasion, when unhappily the dancing-room, which was + temporary, and erected in the garden, caught fire. No efforts could stop the progress + of the flames, in which several persons perished, and particularly the sister of + Prince Schwarzenberg himself. This tragic circumstance struck a damp on the public + mind, and was considered as a bad omen, especially when it was remembered that the + marriage of Louis XVI. with a former princess of Austria had been signalized by a + similar disaster.</p> + <p>As a domestic occurrence, nothing could more contribute to Bonaparte's happiness + than his union with Maria Louisa. He was wont to compare her with Josephine, by + giving the latter all the advantages of art and grace; the former the charms of + simple modesty and innocence. His former empress used every art to support or enhance + her personal charms; but with so much prudence and mystery, that the secret cares of + her toilette could never be traced—her successor trusted for the power of + pleasing to youth and nature. Josephine mismanaged her revenue, and incurred debt + without scruple. Maria Louisa lived within her income, or if she desired any + indulgence beyond it, which was rarely the case, she asked it as a favour of + Napoleon. Josephine, accustomed to political intrigue, loved to manage, to influence, + and to guide her husband; Maria Louisa desired only to please and to obey him. Both + were excellent women, of great sweetness of temper, and fondly attached to Napoleon. + In the difference between these distinguished persons, we can easily discriminate the + leading features of the Parisian, and of the simple German beauty; but it is + certainly singular that the artificial character should have belonged to the daughter + of the West Indian planter; that marked by nature and simplicity, to a princess of + the proudest court in Europe.</p> + <p>Bonaparte, whose domestic conduct was generally praiseworthy, behaved with the + utmost kindness to his princely bride. He observed, however, the strictest etiquette, + and required it from the empress. If it happened, for example, as was often the case, + that he was prevented from attending at the hour when dinner was placed on the table, + he was displeased if, in the interim of his absence, which was often prolonged, she + either took a book, or had recourse to any female occupation,—if, in short, he + did not find her in the attitude of waiting for the signal to take her place at + table. Perhaps a sense of his inferior birth made Napoleon more tenacious of this + species of form, as what he could not afford to relinquish. On the other hand, Maria + Louisa is said to have expressed her surprise at her husband's dispensing with the + use of arms and attendance <span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[pg + 31]</span> of guards, and at his moving about with the freedom of an individual; + although this could be no great novelty to a member of the imperial family of + Austria, most of whom, and especially the Emperor Francis, are in the habit of mixing + familiarly with the people of Vienna, at public places, and in the public walks.</p> + <p>From this date may be traced the declination of Napoleon's greatness. In the field + he was generally unsuccessful, and occasionally murmurs of discontent were whispered + by citizen and soldier. The plot thickens in the eight volume, and his abdication of + the throne of France, and subsequent journey to Elba, are feelingly narrated by our + author.</p> + <h4>RETURN OF MARIA LOUISA TO HER FATHER, AND DEATH OF JOSEPHINE.</h4> + <p>Maria Louisa made more than one effort to join her husband, but they were + discouraged on the part of Napoleon himself, who, while he continued to ruminate on + renewing the war, could not desire to have the empress along with him in such an + adventure. Shortly afterwards, the emperor of Austria visited his daughter and her + son, then at Rambouillet, and gave her to understand that she was, for some time at + least, to remain separate from her husband, and that her son and she were to return + to Vienna along with him. She returned, therefore, to her father's protection.</p> + <p>It must be also here mentioned, as an extraordinary addition to this tale of + calamity, that Josephine, the former wife of Bonaparte, did not long survive his + downfall. It seemed as if the Obi-woman of Martinico had spoke truth; for at the time + when Napoleon parted from the sharer of his early fortunes, his grandeur was on the + wane, and her death took place but a few weeks subsequent to his being dethroned and + exiled. The emperor of Russia had visited this lady, and showed her some attention, + with which Napoleon, for reasons we cannot conjecture, was extremely displeased. She + was amply provided for by the treaty of Fontainbleau, but did not survive to reap any + benefit from the provision, as she shortly after sickened and died at her beautiful + villa of Malmaison. She was buried on the 3rd of June, at the village of Ruel. A vast + number of the lower class attended the obsequies; for she had well deserved the title + of patroness of the poor.</p> + <p>The residence at Elba, the return, the treachery of Ney, the arrival at Paris, and + Napoleon's repossession of the throne, now occupy the page. The battle of Waterloo is + briefly, but finely described, and indeed the whole of the ninth volume, to which we + have now arrived, is deeply interesting. We find, however, that we have nearly + reached our limits, and as we shall take an early opportunity of again referring to + this elaborate history, we shall now close with the following extracts;—</p> + <h4>CONDUCT OF NAPOLEON ON HIS WAY TO ST. HELENA.</h4> + <p>Upon the Northumberland crossing the line, the emperor desiring to exhibit his + munificence to the seamen, by presenting them with a hundred louis d'or, under + pretext of paying the ordinary fine, Sir George Cockburn, considering this tribute to + Neptune as too excessive in amount, would not permit the donative to exceed a tenth + part of the sum; and Napoleon offended by the restriction, paid nothing at all. Upon + another occasion, early in the voyage, a difference in national manners gave rise to + one of those slight misunderstandings which we have noticed. Napoleon was accustomed, + like all Frenchmen, to leave the table immediately after dinner, and Sir George + Cockburn, with the English officers, remained after him at table; for, in permitting + his French guests their liberty, the admiral did not choose to admit the right of + Napoleon to break up the party at his, Sir George's, own table. This gave some + discontent. Notwithstanding these trifling subjects of dissatisfaction, Las Cases + informs us that the admiral, whom he took to be prepossessed against them at first, + became every day more amicable. The emperor used to take his arm every evening on the + quarter-deck, and hold long conversations with him upon maritime subjects, as well as + past events in general.</p> + <p>While on board the Northumberland, the late emperor spent his mornings in reading + or writing; his evenings in his exercise upon deck, and at cards. The game was + generally <i>vingt un</i>. But when the play became rather deep, he discouraged that + amusement, and substituted chess. Great tactician as he was, Napoleon did not play + well at that military game, and it was with difficulty that his antagonist, + Montholon, could avoid the solecism, of beating the emperor.</p> + <p>During this voyage, Napoleon's <i>jour de fête</i> occurred, which was also + his birthday. It was the 15th of August; a day for which the Pope had expressly + canonized a St. Napoleon to be the emperor's patron. And now, strange revolution, it + was celebrated by him on board of an English man-of-war, which was conducting him to + his place of imprisonment, and, as it proved, his tomb. Yet Napoleon <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span> seemed cheerful and + contented during the whole day, and was even pleased at being fortunate at play, + which he received as a good omen.</p> + <p>Upon the 15th of October, 1815, the Northumberland reached St. Helena, which + presents but an unpromising aspect to those who design it for a residence, though it + may be a welcome sight to the seaworn mariner. Its destined inhabitant, from the deck + of the Northumberland, surveyed it with his spy-glass. St. James' Town, an + inconsiderable village, was before him, enchased, as it were in a valley, amid arid + and scarped rocks of immense height; every platform, every opening, every gorge, was + bristled with cannon. Las Cases, who stood by him, could not perceive the slightest + alteration of his countenance. The orders of government had been, that Napoleon + should remain on board till a residence could be prepared suitable for the line of + life he was to lead in future. But as this was likely to be a work of time, Sir + George Cockburn readily undertook, on his own responsibility, to put his passengers + on shore, and provide in some way for the security of Napoleon's person, until the + necessary habitation should be fitted up. He was accordingly transferred to land upon + the 16th of October; and thus the emperor of France, nay, wellnigh of Europe, sunk + into the recluse of St. Helena.</p> + <h4>DEATH OF NAPOLEON</h4> + <p>During the 3rd of May, it was seen that the life of Napoleon was drawing evidently + to a close; and his followers, and particularly his physician, became desirous to + call in more medical assistance;—that of Dr. Shortt, physician to the forces, + and of Dr. Mitchell, surgeon of the flag-ship, was referred to. Dr. Shortt, however, + thought it proper to assert the dignity belonging to his profession, and refused to + give an opinion on a case of so much importance in itself, and attended with so much + obscurity, unless he were permitted to see and examine the patient. The officers of + Napoleon's household excused themselves, by professing that the emperor's strict + commands had been laid on them, that no English physician, Dr. Arnott excepted, + should approach his dying bed. They said, that even when he was speechless they would + be unable to brook his eye, should he turn it upon them in reproof for their + disobedience.</p> + <p>About two o'clock of the same day, the priest Vignali administered the sacrament + of extreme unction. Some days before, Napoleon had explained to him the manner in + which he desired his body should be laid out in state, in an apartment lighted by + torches, or what Catholics call <i>une chambre ardente</i>. "I am neither," he said + in the same phrase which we have formerly quoted, "a philosopher nor a physician. I + believe in God, and am of the religion of my father. It is not everybody who can be + an atheist. I was born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of the Catholic + church, and receive the assistance which it administers." He then turned to Dr. + Antommarchi, whom he seems to have suspected of heterodoxy, which the doctor, + however, disowned. "How can you carry it so far?" he said. "Can you not believe in + God, whose existence every thing proclaims, and in whom the greatest minds have + believed?"</p> + <p>As if to mark a closing point of resemblance betwixt Cromwell and Napoleon, a + dreadful tempest arose on the 4th of May, which preceded the day that was to close + the mortal existence of this extraordinary man. A willow, which had been the exile's + favourite, and under which he had often enjoyed the fresh breeze, was torn up by the + hurricane; and almost all the trees about Longwood shared the same fate.</p> + <p>The 5th of May came amid wind and rain. Napoleon's passing spirit was deliriously + engaged in a strife more terrible than that of the elements around. The words + "<i>tête d'armée</i>" the last which escaped his lips, intimated that + his thoughts were watching the current of a heady fight. About eleven minutes before + six in the evening, Napoleon, after a struggle which indicated the original strength + of his constitution, breathed his last.</p> + <h4>HIS FUNERAL.</h4> + <p>Bonaparte was buried on the 8th of May, in a small secluded recess called Slane's, + or Haine's Valley, where a fountain arose, at which his Chinese domestics used to + fill the silver pitchers, which they carried to Longwood for Napoleon's use. "All the + troops were under arms upon the solemn occasion. As the road did not permit a near + approach of the hearse to the place of sepulture, a party of British grenadiers had + the honour to bear the coffin to the grave. The prayers were recited by the priest, + Abbé Vignali. Minute guns were fired from the admiral's ship. The coffin was + then let down into the grave, under a discharge of three successive volleys of + artillery, fifteen pieces of cannon firing fifteen guns each. A large stone was then + lowered down on the grave, and covered the moderate space now sufficient for the man + for whom Europe was once too little."</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a> + <p>It did not escape the minute observers of this scene, that he still held in his + hand the bag which had contained the fatal pistol, and which was inscribed with the + words, <i>Au grand monarque</i>, alluding to the sign, doubtless, of the gunsmith + who sold the weapon, but singularly applicable to the high pretensions of the + purchaser.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a> + <p>The fate of no tyrant in history was so hideous at the conclusion, excepting + perhaps that of Jugurtha.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a> + <p>Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 4.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag4">(return)</a> + <p>"Sketches of Corsica," p. 4.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a> + <p>The mother of Letitia Ramolini, wife of Carlo Bonaparte, married a Swiss officer + in the French service, named Fesch, after the death of Letitia's father.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag6">(return)</a> + <p>They were many years since communicated to the author by Messrs. Joseph and + Louis Law, brothers of General Baron Lauriston, Bonaparte's favourite aid-de-camp. + These gentlemen, or at least Joseph, were educated at Brienne, but at a later + period than Napoleon. Their distinguished brother was his contemporary.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag7">(return)</a> + <p>Benson's "Sketches of Corsica," p. 121.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a> <b>Footnote 8</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag8">(return)</a> + <p>Not literally, however: for it is worth mentioning, that when he was in + full-blown possession of his power, an inheritance fell to the family, situated + near Ajaccio, and was divided amongst them. The first consul, or emperor, received + an olive-garden as his share.—<i>Sketches of Corsica</i>.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a> <b>Footnote 9</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag9">(return)</a> + <p>Bonaparte was then in his twenty-sixth year. Josephine gave herself in the + marriage contract for twenty-eight.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote10" name="footnote10"></a> <b>Footnote 10</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag10">(return)</a> + <p>A lady of high rank, who happened to live for some time in the same convent at + Paris, where Josephine was also a pensioner or boarder, heard her mention the + prophecy, and told it herself to the author, just about the time of the Italian + expedition, when Bonaparte was beginning to attract notice. Another clause is + usually added to the prediction—that the party whom it concerned should die + in an hospital, which was afterwards explained as referring to Malmaison. This the + author did not hear from the same authority. The lady mentioned used to speak in + the highest terms of the simple manners and great kindness of Madame + Beauharnois.</p> + </blockquote> + <hr class="full" /> + <p><i>Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset House,) and + sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers.</i></p> + <hr class="full" /> +<pre> + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, ISSUE 263, 1827 *** + +This file should be named 8m26310h.htm or 8m26310h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8m26311h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8m26310ah.htm + + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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