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WE all knew the
Generalissimo Personally; he had been Ambassador from his Court to the
Emperor, of whom he had formerly been the very humble servant and
courtier. It was he who, in 18io, had taken the most pains to bring
about the rupture of the marriage-negotiations with Russia, and to play
the principal part in making the Emperor marry the Archduchess, by
letting it be known secretly that he had plenary powers to accept
proposals, which were eventually made.
Astonished at finding the
Generalissimo at the outposts, and concluding that he intended to attack
us, I expressed my surprise at finding him there, adding that if his
intentions were hostile, we trusted to his honour to tell us so, in
order that we might break off our mission and return to our posts. He
replied by protesting that he had merely come to Petit-Bourg to pay his
respects to the Crown Prince. He added that he had but just arrived when
our messenger came to ask for a safe conduct for us, and that he had
taken upon himself to receive us at the headquarters of his
advance-guard. We could not go on to Paris without permission from the
Emperor of Russia, he said, but he had sent to let him know of our
arrival, and was sure that his answer would arrive ere Iong.
He was very polite to us, and our
conversation naturally turned upon passing events and the object of our
mission. We expected to find in him a strong partisan for the right of
the King of Rome to succeed his father, and for the regency of the
Empress. We were soon undeceived by hearing the Prince pronounce himself
warmly in favour of the general cause of the allies as against the
private interests of the House of Austria. His language was certainly
that held at his Court, hut it was impossible to believe that the
Emperor Francis would sacrifice his daughter in this catastrophe, and
help in precipitating her from the throne that he had eagerly assisted
her to mount. it appeared to us the less likely, as it was said that
this Archduchess was his favourite daughter.
During this conversation someone came and
called the Prince ; he left us, and returned a quarter of an hour later,
accompanied by the Duke of Ragusa. As the latter observed our surprise,
he came to me in an off-hand manner, smiling, and as though relieved of
a great weight. He told us that, having, without, making himself known,
discovered who were in the castle, he had learned that the Generalissimo
had preceded us, and that the Crown Prince had just retired to his own
apartments. it then occurred to him to ask for Prince Schvartzenberg,
and he begged him to allow their convention to have no sequel, as we,
his comrades, were come to treat for the whole army inclusively, but on
avowable and very different bases. To this the Generalissimo had
consented without difficulty. Had all things passed in this manner our
discretion would have thrown an impenetrable veil over this fault ; the
destiny of the Duke of Ragusa decided it otherwise.
The conversation, or, to express it better,
the discussion, UOfl the subject of the rights of the King of Rome,
recommenced with even more warmth, and with no less resistance on the
part of the Generalissimo. His servants rescued him from his difficulty
by announcing that supper was ready; it was between ten and eleven
o'clock at night, and he told us that he had not dined. He invited us to
share his supper, but we took no part in this German meal, for the
reason that we had dined at Essonne a few hours previously. Supper was
silent and melancholy; everyone kept his eyes on his plate: we observed
each other. On rising from table we were informed that the Emperor of
Russia was expecting us in Paris. The Generalissimo came to see us off,
and we started. The
Emperor Alexander was staying in the house belonging to the Prince de
Talleyrand. We were immediately ushered into his presence; but before
allowing us to lay before him the object of our mission, he begged us
first to hear what he had to say. Thereupon he expressed warmly, and in
the most chivalrous manner, his admiration for the French armies, the
great glory with which they had covered themselves, notwithstanding the
reverses they had met with, which in nowise detracted from their valour.
He admitted that they had only yielded compulsorily to superior force,
of which he had had an example recently at Fere-Champenoise, where a
mere detachment, consisting for the most part of raw recruits, in
blouses and round hats, had immortalized itself by its courageous
resistance to all the forces collected at that point he told us that he
was deeply distressed at the loss of so many brave men, and that, after
making every effort to save them from certain death, he had at last
succeeded in inducing them to surrender as prisoners of war. He said
further that he was no longer an enemy of Napoleon, now that he was
unfortunate; that he had previously been his greatest admirer, his
friend and his ally; that, oil side, he had faithfully carried out their
treaty against England, that was, against her commerce, even though the
said treaty caused cruel suffering to his own subjects (whose only means
of obtaining what was necessary for their wants and comfort was by means
of exchange), although they murmured aloud, and there was some danger of
a revolution in his States. It had, however, come to his certain
knowledge, he said, that, contrary to the treaty of prohibition, his
ally permitted licenses to be issued, and that, notwithstanding his
representations, which passed unheeded, he continued to issue them. He
had therefore been obliged to shut his eyes to some traffic which
Napoleon insisted upon closing. Some curt diplomatic notes were
exchanged, and seeing himself threatened with a fresh war, he still had
preferred to await the effects in his own country rather than provoke
it. 'You know the
results, gentlemen,' he continued; 'my armies, and the climate of my
country, avenged my subjects for the miseries they had undergone. You
were but passive instruments. I only esteem you the more for having done
your duty, and proved your attachment, your devotion, and your fidelity
to your master, of which you are now giving him a fresh proof, instead
of doing as many others have done, who have thrown themselves into our
arms, and done their best to bring about his downfall, and that of the
French Empire. We were willing to treat openly with him at Prague, at
Frankfort, and at Châtillon-sur-Seine; he would not consent, and see
whither his obstinacy has brought him. We have now declared that we will
not treat any further with him, because we can place no reliance upon
him; but we do not wish in the smallest degree to take any part' in the
government of France, nor to lay her under any contributions, nor to
diminish her ancient territory. We will even increase it.'
He recommenced his praises of the French
army, of its Marshals, etc. We saw through it, and clearly distinguished
how much flattery there was in this long speech, which we did not
interrupt. When he
had finished, Marshal Ney began to speak, and said some good things and
some useless ones. We tried to stop him, but he replied in an angry
voice': 'Let me
speak. You will have your turn.'
The Duke of Vicenza was boiling over; it
would have been more suitable for him to reply, as he was much better
acquainted with the proper forms, and was more moderate. The Emperor
listened quietly. At last conversation became general. We praised the
generosity of the allies when they had gained the right to avenge
themselves upon us; but we referred that generosity to his personal
magnanimity. We spoke of the glory and bravery of the Russian troops,
and of his own in particular, and made use of the weapons that he had
employed to return all that he had with so much liberality and chivalry
accorded to us. He seemed much touched.
After these reciprocal compliments we
profited by his favourable disposition to ask for his intervention and
support in favour of the cause that we had come to submit to him, and
the proposals that we had to make to him—that is to say, the abdication
of Napoleon, which ought to satisfy the allies, the recognition of his
son as his successor, and of the Empress as Regent.
'It is too late,' he said 'opinion has made
too great strides. We have not checked it, and it is growing
momentarily. Why did you not come to an understanding with the
Conservative Senate?'
'By what right did it act?' we exclaimed. It
has belied its title; it had no mission ; a crawling. creeping,
complaisant slave, it depended for its existence on the constitutions of
the Empire. They are now overturned; it therefore is nothing. It is
usurping at this moment an authority which can only emanate from
national opinion, and that opinion has everything to feat- from the
resentment of the Bourbons, the emegris, and the Royalists. Will your
Majesty permit us to speak plainly to this vile Senate? Every
institution, everything that now exists, will be threatened; those who
have acquired national property will be sought out a frightful civil war
will be the result. The nation has made too many sacrifices; she has
paid too dearly for the little liberty she has secured, not to be ready
to do anything to safeguard it. The army will not allow the glory
wherewith it has covered itself to be trodden under foot. Unhappy by the
fault of its chief, it will, either with or without him, spring again
from its ashes, stronger, more ardent than ever for national liberties,
institutions, and independence. Henceforward its one aim will be to
consolidate these without thinking of conquering or harassing other
nations.' The
Emperor of Russia, struck by these arguments, was shaken.
'Be our mediator, Sire; it is a fresh field
of glory, and one worthy of the great soul of your Majesty. You have
declared that you made war only against one man ; he is vanquished; let
your Majesty show that you are a generous conqueror. Earn the gratitude
of the great national majority, as you have earned ours by your
magnanimous moderation.
The Emperor seemed much moved by our
confidence in him, and said 'I have no reason to object to your seeing
the Senate. I do not care about the Bourbons; I do not know them. I fear
it will be impossible to obtain the Regency. Austria is most opposed to
it. Were I alone, I would willingly consent; but I must act in concert
with my allies. Since the Bourbons will not do, take a foreign Prince,
or choose one of your marshals, as Sweden did Bernadotte; there are
plenty of illustrious men in France. Finally, gentlemen, in order to
prove the sincere esteem and great regard I entertain for you, I will
make your proposals known to my allies, and will support them. I confess
I am most anxious to have the matter settled, for there are risings
still going on in Lorraine and the Vosges, and they are increasing;
people are shooting each other there every day; a column of my troops
lost 3,000 men while crossing those departments, and that w/hom seeing a
single French soldier. Your outspokenness has encouraged mine, and I do
not hesitate to tell you these things. Come back at nine o'clock—we will
finish then.' We
withdrew; on entering the great drawing-room we found there the members
of the so-called Provisional Government, with the provisional Ministers
and other persons. Anxiety and fear were depicted upon every
countenance. A discussion had begun, when the members of this Government
were summoned to the Emperor's presence. They were all in disgraceful
undress, and we had found the Czar in full military uniform.
They remained with him some time. The
discussion in the drawing-room increased in animation. At length they
reappeared, and wished to take a high hand and authoritative manner with
us, which we promptly resented, telling them that they were a set of
factious, ambitious men, who were betraying their country, and
forswearing the oaths they had sworn.
The Prince de Talleyrand
took no part. As the discussion became very noisy, the Duke of Vicenza
raised his voice, and said:
'Gentlemen, you forget that you are in the
apartments of the Emperor of Russia.'
Silence ensued, and Monsieur de Talleyrand
invited everyone to go down to his room, adding that there we might
seek, and perhaps find, a means of agreement and conciliation. We
answered that we did not recognize their authority, and departed.
On my own account I had overwhelmed with
reproaches my friends Beurnonville, and Dupont, who had accepted the
Ministry of War. The latter had good reason to complain of Napoleon, who
had caused him to be tried by a commission of Ministers and Privy
Councillors who were devoted to him, instead of sending him before his
proper judges, either the High Court, or a court-martial, for his share
in the memorable and unfortunate affair at Bavlen.
I have forgotten to say that as we were
leaving the presence of the Emperor of Russia one of his generals began
to speak to him in a low voice. I heard the words, to/urn corpus, to
which at first I attached no importance, but which gained great
significance a few moments later.
We were going to the house of Marshal Ney.
Welearned here that our arrival had struck terror into the hearts of all
the supporters of the new state of things; more than 2,000 white
cockades had been removed from as many hats, and the Senate was
trembling. While we
were at breakfast the Duke of Ragusa was called away. He returned a
moment later, pale and as if beside himself, and said to us:
'My whole corps went over to the enemy last
night.'
He took his sword,
disappeared, and we saw him no more.
We deplored this event, which destroyed our
last remaining hope, and at the same time gave colour to the assumptions
of our enemies. A vast field of conjecture was opened to us by the
impression naturally produced by such a sad piece of news, What must it
not have been in the army, at the headquarters at Fontainebleau, after
such an occurrence? Would others follow his example? Would despair
increase? On the one hand we had isolated cases of desertion, which were
alarming enough on the other, we had the audacity of those ambitious men
who had put themselves at the head of the movement in Paris from motives
of personal interest, while our mere presence in the capital had
sufficed to cause the disappearance of more than three- fourths of the
white cockades. Besides, would not the allies, who had at first shown
themselves so pleasant and willing to receive us, and to treat with an
army whose broken remains even they dreaded, profit by so unhoped-for a
circumstance, which lent such weight to their claims ? However,
confident in the chivalrous honour of the Emperor Alexander, we waited,
not without anxiety, till he should summon us to hear the result of his
conference with his allies.
The message came at length, and we were
introduced into his presence. The King of Prussia was with the Emperor,
who received us with the kindly, simple manner that has been observed by
all who approached him. His face showed symptoms of secret
satisfaction—the cause was not far to seek; he knew what had happened at
Essonne. The King
of Prussia spoke first, and told us that we were the authors of all the
misfortunes of Europe. The Crown Prince of Wurtemberg had apostrophized
us in the same strain the previous evening at Petit-burg. The Czar,
fearing that this would create discussion, hastily intervened.
'My brother,' said he,
'this is not the time to argue about what is passed,' and immediately
entered upon the subject- matter of the conference. He told us that the
question had been decided in the negative.
Thus was extinguished the last feeble ray of
hope that our first interview had lighted as to the establishment of a
Regency, contingent upon the abdication of Napoleon in favour of his
son. Alexander
added that opinion in Paris was against it, and that this opinion was
being rapidly spread in the provinces.; that wives were always
wives—that is to say, weak—and that Napoleon, wherever he might be, and
with his authority, would dictate to his ; that it would be easy for him
to repossess himself of power, and that the thirst for vengeance would
drive him to shake anew the foundations of Europe; that every nation had
need of peace and rest, especially France, after so many years of
disturbance, so many sacrifices, and so much bloodshed, from all of
which she had gained immense glory and nothing else, and that that glory
had been too dearly purchased. Nevertheless, her territory should be
enlarged, as to secure the political balance and equilibrium of Europe
it was necessary that she should he stronger and more powerful than
tinder her kings.
Who, on hearing this high-flown language, would not have expected that
an extension of her frontier on the Rhine would be granted? The net
result of it all was Chambéry and its environs.
The Emperor of Russia added that, as a proof
of their respect and admiration for the army, of their esteem and
friendship for France, which would soon be sealed, no war indemnity
would be imposed or exacted by the allies, except a sum of 30,000,000
francs (£1,200,000), which was intended, I believe, as a little present
to the King of Prussia.
They kept their word. It is true that they
obtained, not an equivalent, but a considerable, reparation by their
seizure of the immense store of war material contained in the garrisoned
towns which were not taken by them, but which were made over to them by
the disgraceful treaty of April 29. This treaty was published in the
Moniteur, without signature, and public opinion protested that it had
not been concluded gratuitously.
As we could oppose no further objections to
the determination of the allies, the question arose as to their
intentions regarding the ultimate fate of Napoleon and his family.
Caulaincourt cleverly introduced the question, and I added that Napoleon
had expressly enjoined and commanded us neither to discuss nor to agree
to anything personal to himself. The Duke of Vicenza's question,
therefore, arose partly from curiosity and partly from foresight, as it
might happen that Napoleon, forgetting his restrictions, might wish to
know beforehand what fate was in store for him.
The Emperor of Russia appeared surprised and
incredulous. I showed him my instructions. After reading them over, and
convincing himself of the accuracy of my statement, his demeanour became
more solemn, and he said:
'I esteem him the more highly for it.
Henceforward I cease to he his enemy, and restore my friendship to him.
I was formerly his greatest admirer ; I allied myself with him, approved
every variation in his policy, recognised all the sovereigns he created
and established, and the alliances he formed. I adopted, and faithfully
carried out, his Continental system as long as the treaty lasted. He
demanded its prolongation, but this treaty was causing the utmost
suffering to my country; and while I was ruining my subjects by
forbidding all commerce, he was enriching himself by selling licenses.
He threatened me. I put myself in a state of defence. He advanced to
attack me, invaded my dominions, and drove me back into the very heart
of my empire. I will say no more about the calamities which have
produced such terrible results for you and for France; they brought
about the catastrophe in which we, in our turn, have to play a part—the
fall of 'Napoleon and his dynasty. But he is in trouble, To-day I become
once more his friend, and I will forget everything. He shall have the
island of Elba as his sovereignty, or something else; he shall keep the
title by which he is generally recognised his family shall receive
pensions and preserve their estates. Tell him, gentlemen, that if he
will have none of this sovereignty, or in case he can find no other
shelter, he is to come into my dominions. There he shall be received as
a sovereign. He may trust Alexander's word.'
During this speech the King of Prussia had,
I think, retired. The Emperor declined to give any explanation of the
words something else when we asked him what they meant. We then asked
for a draft in writing of the proposal, or rather decision, of the
allies; but he objected, saying that the matter was one that ought to be
treated diplomatically, and through the usual ministerial channels,
whereupon we called his attention to the fact that Napoleon might fear
false interpretations, or misunderstandings, and we urgently pressed him
to have merely written down, without date or signature, what he had
condescended to say to us by word of mouth concerning the resolutions of
the allies. He at
length consented, left the room, and returned shortly afterwards holding
in his hands a minute in every respect corresponding with what he had
declared to us. He gave it to Caulaincourt, granted us an armistice of
forty-eight hours, in order to allow us time to go and return, furnished
in the name of the army with sufficient instructions to admit of our
treating upon the basis agreed to, and dismissed us.
We were at least as anxious to return to
headquarters as the Emperor Napoleon and the army were to learn the
result of our negotiations. The defection of the Duke of Ragusa's corps
had naturally caused great excitement there. It was supposed, and
rightly, that this occurrence might hinder our mission, and in every
respect render its success doubtful. Our return calmed for the moment
the most excited as well as the most timorous spirits. |
