Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume III

"At Rennes, 26th April, 1806, on his way from England to Paris. – Villeneuve, when taken prisoner and conveyed to England, was so much grieved at his defeat, that he studied anatomy on purpose to destroy himself. For this purpose he bought some anatomical plates of the heart, and compared them with his own body, in order to ascertain the exact situation of that organ. On his arrival in France, I ordered that he should remain at Rennes, and not proceed to Paris. Villeneuve, afraid of being tried by a court-martial, determined to destroy himself, and accordingly took his plates of the heart, and compared them with his breast. Exactly in the shape of the plate, he made a mark with a large pin, then fixed the pin as near as he could judge in the same spot in his own breast, shoved it in to the head, penetrated his heart, and expired. He need not have done it, as he was a brave man, though possessed of no talent." – Napoleon, Voice, &c., vol. i., p. 57.

194

This admiral commanded at Toulon in 1804, and having stolen out of harbour with a strong squadron, when the main body of the English fleet was out of sight, had the satisfaction to see three vessels, under Rear-admiral Campbell, retreat before his superior force. This unusual circumstance so elated Monsieur Latouche Tréville, that he converted the affair into a general pursuit of the whole British fleet, and of Nelson himself, who, he pretended, fled before him. Nelson was so much nettled at his effrontery, that he wrote to his brother, "You will have seen Latouche's letter, how he chased me and how I run. I keep it, and if I take him, by God, he shall eat it." Latouche escaped this punishment by dying [19th August, 1804] of the fatigue incurred by walking so often up to the signal-post at Sepet, to watch for the momentary absence of the blockading squadron, which he pretended dared not face him. This man Buonaparte considered as the boast of the French navy. – S. – "Napoleon said, he much regretted Latouche Tréville, whom he regarded as a man of real talent. He was of opinion that that admiral would have given a different impulse to affairs. The attack on India, and the invasion of England, would by him have been at least attempted." – Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 247.

195

Moniteur, 3d March, 1806.

196

The Exposé also states – "The calendar of the Revolution has been abolished, because its object was found to be unattainable, and it was necessary to sacrifice it to commercial and political convenience, which requires a common system. – Indeed," it adds, "the people of fair Europe are already divided by too many varieties; they ought only to form one great family."

197

"This embarrassment Napoleon had himself caused by carrying off from the vaults of the bank above fifty millions. Placed upon the backs of King Philip's mules, these millions had powerfully contributed to the prodigious success of this unexpected campaign." – Fouché, tom. i., p. 295.

198

"A ridiculous story," says the Prince de Ligne, who accompanied the Empress Catherine during her tour through her southern provinces, in 1787, "has been spread, which affirms that villages of pasteboard, and paintings representing distant fleets and arsenals, and bodies of cavalry, have been so disposed as to cheat our eyes during our rapid journey. I believe, however, that some little contrivance is occasionally employed: that, for instance, the Empress, who cannot rove about on foot as we do, is persuaded that some towns, for the building of which she has paid considerable sums, are really finished; whereas there are, in fact, many towns without streets, streets without houses, and houses without roofs, doors, or windows." —Lettres et Pensées.

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"How does Sir Walter make these different assertions agree? The truth is, Napoleon never wished or pretended to give appanages, but to act as he thought right towards France, and this design was as great as it was noble and generous; exaggeration only deforms it." – Louis Buonaparte, p. 48.

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"One day, after a warm despute between the two brothers, Lucien, taking out his watch, and flinging it violently on the floor, addressed Napoleon in these remarkable words: 'You will one day be smashed to pieces as I have smashed that watch; and a time will come, when your family and friends will not have a resting-place for their heads.'" —Mémoires de Rapp, p. 11.

201

De Bourrienne, tom. vi., p. 80.

202

In 1805 he settled at Rome, where the Pope, calling to mind the active part he had taken in the negotiation relative to the Concordat, treated him with marked attention and kindness.

203

Towards the close of 1803, Jerome married Miss Paterson, the daughter of a rich merchant of Baltimore. In the spring of 1805, he embarked in a neutral vessel, and landed at Lisbon, whence he set off, by land, for Paris, directing the ship to proceed to Amsterdam; from which city he intended his wife should follow him, as soon as he had obtained the requisite permission from his imperial brother. On the arrival, however, of the vessel in the Texel, Madame Jerome, not being permitted to go on shore, landed at Dover, took up her residence during the summer at Camberwell, and in the autumn returned to America.

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"The marriage took place on the 4th January, 1802. Louis became a husband – never was there a more gloomy ceremony – never had husband and wife a stronger presentiment of all the horrors of a forced and ill-assorted union! From this he dates the commencement of his unhappiness. It stamped on his whole existence a profound melancholy." – Louis Buonaparte, Documens Historiques, tom. i., p. 126.

205

Louis pleaded the delicacy of his constitution, and the unfavourableness of the climate. "Better to die a king than to live a prince," was Napoleon's reply; and in a day or two after Talleyrand waited on him at St. Leu, and read aloud to him and Hortensia, the treaty and constitution. This took place on the 3d of June, 1806; on the 5th Louis was proclaimed King of Holland. – De Bourrienne, tom. viii., p. 126.

206

Murat's father was the keeper of an humble country inn, and, having once been a steward of the Talleyrands, enjoyed the protection of that ancient and wealthy family.

207

They were married in January, 1800, at the Palace of the Luxembourg.

208

Las Cases, tom. iv., p. 357.

209

M. de Talleyrand said of her, that "she had Cromwell's head on the shoulders of a pretty woman."

210

Ferdinand having embarked for Sicily, Joseph Buonaparte, in February, 1806, made his public entry into Naples, alighting at the palace which the unfortunate monarch had just quitted. He was proclaimed King of Naples and the two Sicilies on the 30th of March. The city was illuminated on the occasion, "amidst every demonstration of joy, even more on the part of the nobles than of the lower orders." – Botta, Storia d'Italia, tom. iv., p. 264.

211

"She was haughty, nervous, passionate, dissolute, and devoured by the two passions of love and ambition – influenced, as has been said, by the poet Fontanes, in whom she was wrapped up." – Fouché, tom. i., p. 240.

212

It is said, that being asked by a lady how she could submit to such an exposure of her person, she conceived that the question only related to physical inconvenience, and answered it by assuring her friend that the apartment was properly aired. – S.

213

Fouché, tom. ii., p. 33. The most ridiculous reports were also circulated, respecting an improper intercourse between Napoleon and his step-daughter Hortensia: – "Such a connexion," said he, "would have been wholly repugnant to my ideas; and those who knew any thing of the morality of the Tuileries, must be aware that I need not have been reduced to so unnatural and revolting a choice." – Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 307.

214

"Stephanie Beauharnais lost her mother in childhood. She was left in the care of an English lady, who confided her protegée to some old nuns in the south of France. During the consulship, I had her placed in the establishment of Madame Campan, at St. Germain; all sorts of masters were appointed to superintend her education, and on her introduction into the world, her beauty, wit, accomplishments, and virtues, rendered her an object of universal admiration. I adopted her as my daughter, and gave her in marriage to the hereditary Prince of Baden. This union was, for several years, far from being happy. In course of time, however, they became attached to each other, and from that moment they had only to regret the happiness of which they had deprived themselves during the early years of their marriage." – Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 317.

215

Speech on the King's Message, relating to Prussia, April 23, 1806; Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, vol. vi., p. 891.

216

Las Cases, tom. vii., p. 77.

217

On the abdication of Louis, Napoleon sent an aide-de-camp for the minor, to whom he assigned a dwelling in a pavilion in the park of St. Cloud with his brother, and a few days after made him the above speech, which he caused to be inserted in the Moniteur. "This," says Madame de Staël, "is no libel, it is not the opinion of a faction: it is the man himself, it is Buonaparte in person, who brings against himself a severer accusation than posterity would ever have dared to do. Louis XIV. was accused of having said in private, 'I am the State;' and enlightened historians have with justice grounded themselves upon this language in condemning his character. But if, when that monarch placed his grandson on the throne of Spain, he had publicly taught him the same doctrine that Buonaparte taught his nephew, perhaps even Bossuet would not have dared to prefer the interests of kings to those of nations." Consid. sur la Rév. Franç., tom. ii., p. 379.

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