Napoleon

by Emil Ludwig

  Day dawns. A year ago, on the altar steps in Notre Dame, he had crowned himself with the circlet of golden laurels.! In a

  Name Your Children After Me

  fervent proclamation, he reminds his soldiers of that day, and concludes with the promise that for this once he will keep out of the firing line.

  Never before has history recorded such words uttered by a commander. They have always been eager to declare their determination to defy death in the forefront of the battle. Napoleon, whose grenadiers have seen him in twenty fights and regard him as a heavenborn leader, can venture to tell his men that he will reward their valour by being careful of his own safety.

  Then the Emperor defeats both his enemies, and makes famous for a thousand years an out-of-the-way spot of which no one had ever heard before—the plain of Austerlitz.

  " Soldiers," he says next day to the victors, " I am pleased with you. . . . Name your children after me, and if one of them should prove worthy of us, I will make him my own son and appoint him my successor ! " That is the emotional note he keeps for the army. To his wife, he writes as simply as possible : "I have beaten the Russian and Austrian armies. Rather tired, after a week in the open, when the nights have been chilly. To-night I shall sleep in a bed, in Prince Kaunitz' fine castle. I'm wearing a clean shirt, the first time for a week. ... I hope to get two or three hours' sleep."

  Quite a simple matter, these momentous happenings ! It is but a new song in the rhapsody when, a day later, Emperor Francis comes to Count Kaunitz' castle, to beg for an interview with the little Corsican lieutenant. But the bird has flown. When the two men meet at length, it is in a windmill. Napoleon greets his brother emperor courteously, saying: "I regret, Sire, that I must receive you here, in the only palace I have entered for two months." What self-confidence in the soldier interviewing the man born in the purple; what subtle mockery in the mouth of one who knows that in his distant capital, at news of his splendid victory, flags will soon wave and songs resound.

  The Two Emperors

  But the distinguished guest, a man of sound sense and good breeding, knows how to parry the thrust: " Your present quarters are so profitable to you, Sire, that I think they cannot fail to please you." Both smile; and unobtrusively they eye one another up and down, for, though they have fought for a decade, they have never met. Of the same age, they had both reached power at twenty-six or thereabouts, though in such different ways ; and neither of them can foresee how close Napoleon's will-to-peace is one day to bring them, or how widely Francis' will-to-revenge will ultimately sever them.

  " Yesterday I had the German emperor in camp with me and we had two hours' talk. ... He threw himself on my generosity. But I took good care of myself, as I am used to doing. . . . We have agreed to make peace promptly. . . . The battle of Austerlitz is the finest of all I have fought. "We have taken forty-five regimental colours, more than one hundred and fifty guns, the flag of the Russian guard, twenty generals, and thirty thousand prisoners in all. More than twenty thousand killed—a ghastly sight! " Did the jubilant outburst of a conqueror ever come to a stranger close ? He luxuriates in the figures of his gains, and then, suddenly, the corpses of the dead rise before his eyes ! Henceforward, such references become frequent; he writes in simple and heartfelt words about bloodshed.

  In the peace negotiations, the minister has a contest with his master. The day after Austerlitz, Talleyrand writes to the Emperor : " How easy would it be, now, to destroy the Habs-burgs once for all. But it would suit our book better to strengthen them, to give them a fixed place in France's system ! " Napoleon, however, enforces the peace of Pressburg, in which the old German empire is shattered into fragments, while Austria vanishes from Germany and Italy. What is in the conqueror's mind ?

  Europe ! A league of States under French hegemony. Russia is Asia; England is detached, an island. The Continent must be

  United States of Europe

  unified, must consist of middle-sized and small powers overshadowed by the eagles of France, and democratically ranged side by side. Now, after Austerlitz, the new thought takes shape. The victory has put it within his power to realise the greatest aim of a European, the unification of Europe.

  He did not set out towards this goal. It was a gradual growth, the fruit of circumstances. He did not deliberately provoke the wars that were fought when the new idea was in its inception. Since Marengo, his chief wish has been for peace. At that time, Austria had been loath to make peace. The Austrian renewal of the attack was a logical outcome of legitimist theory, for Habsburg and the revolution could not jointly rule Europe. Austerlitz had settled the dispute once more. Now it had become possible to reunite Charlemagne's resurrected Europe. But neither the kings and emperors (who were only beaten, not convinced), nor he himself (who had gained all by the sword and not by persuasion), could march along the way of the spirit towards the unification of Europe. The determinisms of his own past left Napoleon no option but to create his United States of Europe by force. Not till ten years later did he come to see that he had been seeking to achieve a great end by false means.

  When he came to understand this, it was too late; he was impotent, in the great epilogue of his exile.

  XII

  " Tell the pope that I am keeping my eyes open; tell him that I am Charlemagne, the Sword of the Church, his Emperor, and as such I expect to be treated."

  Thus threateningly he writes to Rome. If he must bow before this mole-hill, at least he will enforce obedience. His demeanour is infused with a new tone since Austerlitz and Pressburg. From conquered Austria, he writes in a dictatorial style which neither he nor Europe has hitherto known. The

  New Kingdoms

  queen of Naples, despite his yearlong warnings, has permitted English ships to anchor in the bay. An army order is issued : " The Bourbon dynasty has ceased to reign in Naples." Simultaneously, he writes to Brother Joseph : " I think I have already told you that I intend the kingdom of Naples to accrue to my family, so that, like Switzerland, Holland, Italy, and the three German kingdoms, it may belong to my federated States or, rather, to the French Empire."

  Henceforward he endeavours to make the plan a reality, the plan whereby Europe shall be governed by one emperor with kings as vassals. Paris, which now acclaims the conqueror, shall be the capital city of the Continent. The Emperor has, in the best sense of the term, " come home again." He exclaims : " This campaign has made me fat! I believe that if all the princes of Europe were to ally themselves against me, I should develop an absurdly wide paunch ! " In such a mood does he hurl himself from recent events into new adventures and allow them to run their course.

  During the next few months he organises, from Paris, the following realms : Joseph becomes king of Naples ; the princes of Bavaria and Wurttemberg are turned into kings ; Baden is changed into a grand duchy; Eugene weds a daughter of the House of Wittelsbach; a Badenese hereditary prince marries a niece of Josephine's; a Wurttemberg princess is reserved for his youngest brother; sixteen States of southern and western Germany are joined together to form the Confederation of the Rhine, vassals of the Emperor, liable for the payment of tribute and the provision of troops, and the sixteen German princes hasten to Paris to vow allegiance, hoping to get a share for themselves in the great mart; a dozen small principalities are wiped out; imperial fiefs are established for Talleyrand, Berthier, and Bernadotte.

  Meanwhile Napoleon announces, curtly and conclusively: " Holland has no executive. She must have one. I will give her Prince Louis. We will frame a treaty. . . . For me the whole

  King Log and King Stork

  matter is settled : either thus, or annexation to France. . . . Not a minute must be lost." Why " not a minute " ? Holland has been dependent for years ; she only needs a crowned vassal; her dependence is to be made clearer by the phrasing, " Napoleon bestows his brother on Holland." The Dutch object ? Then they shall be gobbled up ; the choice is quickly made. Louis does not care for the honour ; climate bad ; health weak ? "It is
better to die sitting on a throne, than to live a mere prince in France." Hortense must become a queen, Josephine is aglow for the consummation; the Dutch must present a solemn petition, and must be graciously received by the Emperor in the Tuileries. But Napoleon is so overcome by the irony of the situation, he is so contemptuous, that after the audience he cannot resist telling his little nephew (son of the new king of Holland), in front of the ladies of the court, the fable of the frogs who wanted a king.

  What next ? His sisters are complaining and intriguing. Are there no more kingdoms available ? The pity of it. Oh well, a few grand duchies must be vacated ! Through Murat's promotion, Caroline becomes grand duchess of Cleves; Elise is made grand duchess of Tuscany; and the lovely Pauline Borghese weeps because she is nothing more than princess of Guastalla. "Why, it's no more than a village! And I'm to be princess of that ? " Still, she soon finds consolation in an ocean of diamonds and lovers.

  None of the clan are equal to the occasion. King Joseph, in his first proclamation, compares the love of his subjects (who have never clapped eyes on him till yesterday) towards himself with the love of the French towards their emperor. He covers himself with ridicule, and makes the Emperor furious. King Louis utters piteous sighs because the war with England forces him to interfere with " his country's " trade ; and he sends, instead of troops, long letters to the Emperor filled with complaints. " Really, you are throwing unnecessary burdens upon me," replies Napoleon, in a hectoring tone. " It is all due to your narrow-mindedness and your lack of interest. ... I wish

  Jerome's American Marriage

  you were not always whining! . . . Leave wailing and complaining to women; a man must be determined. . . . You are governing far too gently. You allow me to bear the full brunt of the war expenses. . . . See to it that you raise an army of thirty thousand men. You only think of yourself; that is neither good nor magnanimous. . . . More energy ! "

  Elise, who dominates her husband, gives a constitution to Tuscany, holds reviews of the troops, changes her favourites every quarter, and amuses Napoleon by an assumption of the imperial style: " My people is content; the opposition is crushed; your commands, Sire, have been carried out. I am much pleased with the Senate; it is showing deference to my authority."

  Murat, for excess of zeal, draws upon himself a reprimand phrased with Napoleon's customary bluntness: " I have seen decrees issued by yourself which are quite senseless. You seem to have lost your reason! . . . All you appear to have in mind is to reign and nothing more ! "

  Pauline, however, is immortalised by Canova, in a work which outlasts all the realms Napoleon has set up.

  Young Jerome, who has gone to America in his capacity of midshipman, has meanwhile married a lady of the middle class without consulting his family. The Emperor, who has more crowns to dispose of than siblings to give them to, and cannot spare any of his brothers, is outraged by this marriage. He persuades his mother to utter a prohibition. When the young man's ship puts in to Lisbon, the vessel is surrounded; Jerome alone is permitted to land. Bidding the lady farewell, the youthful husband swears everlasting troth ; he travels alone to Paris ; is received by the Emperor with threats and lures; at length he gives up his spouse for the sake of princely honours and a post as admiral; maybe, even, he will become a king. The wife fruitlessly endeavours to land on the Continent; she journeys to England, where she brings a child into the world.

  Eugene, Viceroy of Italy

  There she meets Lucien, her companion in misfortune. He has been well received by the English, and settles in the island realm with his wife and children. He writes poetry. An epic. What is it called ?

  Charlemagne.

  The only member of the family who is active, loyal, and, for the most part, judicious in his undertakings is Napoleon's stepson Eugene. The Emperor loves him, publicly praises his work whenever possible, and now, when Eugene becomes viceroy of Italy and spouse of the Bavarian Princess, Napoleon writes : " You are working too hard, dear son. That is all very well for yourself, but you have a young wife who has hopes. . . . Why do you not go once a week to the theatre and occupy the royal box ? . . . One can accomplish much business in a short time. I am leading the same kind of life as yourself, but my wife is getting on in years—also I have more business to deal with! " To his step-daughter-in-law, from whom he categorically demands a male heir (seeing that Hortense's son has but one life, and the dynasty needs additional safeguards!), he writes : " Do not give us a daughter, please ! Here is a recipe for you : drink some undiluted wine, daily—only you'll never believe me ! " When, in his despite, she gives birth to a daughter, he says : " If one begins with a daughter, one is destined to have a dozen children ! "

  How marvellously Napoleon, the great stylist, can accommodate his tone to every circumstance—to inspire dread or to flatter, to praise, to spur on, to punish, or to persuade. He pours this out upon a family which is ever acting in opposition to him, and expends himself thus in the interludes of all his other business.

  The Emperor's mother lives in Paris, as retired a life as her son will allow. She is watchful and conciliatory. He has installed her in the Trianon ; gives her one million a year. No one understands why she is so thrifty. Some use the word " miserly." But she maintains that" we Corsicans have experi-

  Letizia Is Incorruptible

  enced many revolutions ; all this may come to an end ; what will then happen to my children ? It is better that they should come to their mother, than go to strangers who might leave them in the lurch." From time to time she holds a reception, where she carries herself with natural dignity, and far more regally than many of her children who wear the royal crown. If any one haggles as to the price of the beads with which she works, she smiles and says : " No, you can't impose upon me. I do not play the princess as my daughters do." Though she is the mother of the Emperor, and of kings and princes, she laments that not a single trustworthy person is in her immediate entourage. She only unbends over a game of reversi with old friends of hers ; or when she chats of an evening with her faithful servant, discussing " the happy days gone by. . . . They all say that I am the happiest of mothers. In truth I am always full of worry. Every news item makes me tremble lest the Emperor lie dead upon the battle-field."

  On Sundays, following the tradition of her patrician ancestors, she dines with her children at the Tuileries. She does not invariably obey the Emperor; and when he constrains her, she is resentful. No doubt he is aware that she is too proud to accept the relationship which circumstances have established between them; and whenever he looks in the mirror, he cannot fail to see his increasing personal resemblance to his mother, in forehead, mouth, eyes, and hands. Sometimes he teases her :

  " Do you find life at court tedious ? Look at your daughters ! Why do you hoard your money ? You ought to spend freely! "

  " You'd better allow me two millions instead of one, if that is what you want. But it's my nature to be thrifty."

  She has as keen an eye for the detection of flatterers as Napoleon himself, and gently warns him against them from time to time. Though she never asks anything for herself, she will often enough beg him to help the numerous Corsicans who come to visit her, and thus does her best for whilom family

  Fridericus Rex

  friends. Once, indeed, and late in the day, she puts in a plea for something she has much at heart. She would like Ajaccio to become the capital of Corsica, instead of Corte. A stirring of family pride ! The Emperor issues a decree to this effect, understanding perfectly well what moves her, and says : " My mother was born to reign over a kingdom."

  But she cannot get him to do anything for Lucien. " I love him more than all the others," she says, " because he's not been so lucky." The Emperor is adamant: " No feelings of affection can weigh against reasons of State. I will only accept as relatives, those who serve me. He who does not soar with me, ceases to belong to my family."

  XIII

  At Paris, in his study, Napoleon has a silent witness of his activities ; a b
ronze bust of Frederick the Great.

  He had grown up in the days when the renown of the last of the famous commanders was still fresh; and, indeed, he had become lieutenant before the king died. Like all the generals of the day, in the art of war he was a disciple of Frederick. He had not yet come into personal contact with the Prussian army, but he still had considerable respect for it, although Frederick's immediate successor had won no laurels against the soldiers of France. He knew Frederick William III, to be foolish and weak; and if, none the less, he tried to induce the Prussian ruler to enter into an alliance, and hoped to turn Prussia's antagonism towards Austria and Russia to his own uses, it was because he continued to entertain an unavowed respect for the only foreign army in Europe which had covered itself with glory during the eighteenth century. But when Prussia showed him, not her strongest side, the military, but her weakest, the political, his respect waned.

  In the previous year, before Austerlitz, he had offered

  Broil With Prussia

  Frederick William an alliance. After Trafalgar, when Francis and Alexander were courting Prussia, and after Austerlitz, when the indications were in favour of France, the weakling monarch continued to vacillate, always hoping to better his position by neutrality. Then, when the Emperor was stronger than ever before, the Prussian ruler seized the first pretext for making warlike preparations against France. Had not Napoleon violated Prussian neutrality last year by marching through Ansbach ?

  What has really decided the king's attitude is the mood of the democrats, in conjunction with his dread of mortified national pride, and, in especial, with his uncertainty as to the loyalty of some of his bellicose generals. In Nuremberg, a bookseller had been tried by court martial and shot for publishing a lampoon against the French army and circulating it in places which, in accordance with the terms of the treaty, were legitimately occupied by French troops. The decision of the court was formally just; but the indignation it aroused, being moral, was juster. The Emperor realised this, and wanted to avoid war. He proposed a mutual withdrawal of troops. Through the mouth of his envoy, he explained that Frederick William had only to say whether the presence of French soldiers in Westphalia annoyed him. Then he wrote personally to the king : " I hold unalterably to our alliance. . . . But if your answer shows me that on your side you repudiate this alliance, and put your trust solely in the power of arms, then indeed I shall be compelled to make war. Nevertheless, battles and victories notwithstanding, my feelings will remain unchanged. Since I regard this war as a wicked one, I shall, even then, propose peace."