CHAPTER XXXIV.
1800.
War and monuments--Influence of the recollections of Egypt--
First improvements in Paris--Malmaison too little--St. Cloud taken
--The Pont des Arts--Business prescribed for me by Bonaparte--
Pecuniary remuneration--The First Consul's visit to the Pritanée--
His examination of the pupils--Consular pensions--Tragical death of
Miackzinski--Introduction of vaccination--Recall of the members of
the Constituent Assembly--The "canary" volunteers--Tronchet and
Target--Liberation of the Austrian prisoners--Longchamps and sacred
music.
The destruction of men and the construction of monuments were two things
perfectly in unison in the mind of Bonaparte. It may be said that his
passion for monuments almost equalled his passion for war;
--[Take pleasure, if you can, in reading your returns. The good
condition of my armies is owing to my devoting to them one or two
hours in every day. When the monthly returns of my armies and of my
fleets, which form twenty thick volumes, are sent to me, I give up
every other occupation in order to read them in detail and to
observe the difference between one monthly return and another.
No young girl enjoys her novel so much as I do these returns!
(Napoleon to Joseph, 20th August 1806--Du Casse, tome iii.
p. 145).]--
but as in all things he disliked what was little and mean, so he liked
vast constructions and great battles. The sight of the colossal ruins
of the monuments of Egypt had not a little contributed to augment his
natural taste for great structures. It was not so much the monuments
themselves that he admired, but the historical recollections they
perpetuate, the great names they consecrate, the important events they
attest. What should he have cared for the column which we beheld on our
arrival in Alexandria had it not been Pompey's pillar? It is for artists
to admire or censure its proportions and ornaments, for men of learning
to explain its inscriptions; but the name of Pompey renders it an object
of interest to all.
When endeavouring to sketch the character of Bonaparte, I ought to have
noticed his taste for monuments, for without this characteristic trait
something essential is wanting to the completion of the portrait.
This taste, or, as it may more properly be called, this passion for
monuments, exercised no small influence on his thoughts and projects
of glory; yet it did not deter him from directing attention to public
improvements of a less ostentatious kind. He wished for great monuments
to perpetuate the recollection of his glory; but at the same time he
knew how to appreciate all that was truly useful. He could very rarely
be reproached for rejecting any plan without examination; and this
examination was a speedy affair, for his natural tact enabled him
immediately to see things in their proper light.
Though most of the monuments and embellishments of Paris are executed
from the plans of men of talent, yet some owe their origin to
circumstances merely accidental. Of this I can mention an example.
I was standing at the window of Bonaparte's' cabinet, which looked into
the garden of the Tuileries. He had gone out, and I took advantage of
his absence to arise from my chair, for I was tired of sitting. He had
scarcely been gone a minute when he unexpectedly returned to ask me for
a paper. "What are you doing there, Bourrienne? I'll wager anything you
are admiring the ladies walking on the terrace."--"Why, I must confess
I do sometimes amuse myself in that way," replied I; "but I assure you,
General, I was now thinking of something else. I was looking at that
villainous left bank of the Seine, which always annoys me with the gaps
in its dirty quay, and the floodings which almost every winter prevent
communication with the Faubourg St. Germain; and I was thinking I would
speak to you on the subject." He approached the window, and, looking
out, said, "You are right, it is very ugly; and very offensive to see
dirty linen washed before our windows. Here, write immediately: 'The
quay of the École de Natation is to be finished during next campaign.'
Send that order to the Minister of the Interior." The quay was finished
the year following.
An instance of the enormous difference which frequently appears between
the original estimates of architects and their subsequent accounts I may
mention what occurred in relation to the Palace of St. Cloud. But I must
first say a word about the manner in which Bonaparte originally refused
and afterwards took possession of the Queen's pleasure-house. Malmaison
was a suitable country residence for Bonaparte as long as he remained
content with his town apartments in the little Luxembourg; but that
Consular 'bagatelle' was too confined in comparison with the spacious
apartments in the Tuileries. The inhabitants of St. Cloud, well-advised,
addressed a petition to the Legislative Body, praying that their
deserted chateau might be made the summer residence of the First Consul.
The petition was referred to the Government; but Bonaparte, who was not
yet Consul for life, proudly declared that so long as he was at the
head of affairs, and, indeed, for a year afterwards, he would accept no
national recompense. Sometime after we went to visit the palace of the
18th Brumaire. Bonaparte liked it exceedingly, but all was in a state
of complete dilapidation. It bore evident marks of the Revolution. The
First Consul did not wish, as yet, to burden the budget of the State
with his personal expenses, and he was alarmed at the enormous sum
required to render St. Cloud habitable. Flattery had not yet arrived at
the degree of proficiency which it subsequently attained; but even then
his flatterers boldly assured him he might take possession of St. Cloud
for 25,000 francs. I told the First Consul that considering the ruinous
state of the place, I could to say that the expense would amount to more
than 1,200,000 francs. Bonaparte determined to have a regular estimate
of the expense, and it amounted to nearly 3,000,000. He thought it a
great sum; but as he had resolved to make St. Cloud his residence
he gave orders for commencing the repairs, the expense of which,
independently of the furniture, amounted to 6,000,000. So much for the
3,000,000 of the architect and the 25,000 francs of the flatterers.
When the First Consul contemplated the building of the Pont des Arts we
had a long conversation on the subject. I observed that it would be much
better to build the bridge of stone. "The first object of monuments
of this kind," said I, "is public utility. They require solidity of
appearance, and their principal merit is duration. I cannot conceive,
General, why, in a country where there is abundance of fine stone of
every quality, the use of iron should be preferred."--"Write," said
Bonaparte, "to Fontaine and Percier, the architects, and ask what they
think of it." I wrote and they stated in their answer that "bridges
were intended for public utility and the embellishment of cities.
The projected bridge between the Louvre and the Quatre-Nations would
unquestionably fulfil the first of these objects, as was proved by the
great number of persons who daily crossed the Seine at that point in
boats; that the site fixed upon between the Pont Neuf and the Tuileries
appeared to be the best that could be chosen for the purpose; and that
on the score of ornament Paris would gain little by the construction of
an iron bridge, which would be very narrow, and which, from its light
form, would not correspond with the grandeur of the two bridges between
which it would be placed."
When we had received the answer of MM. Percier and Fontaine, we again
had a conversation on the subject of the bridge. I told the First Consul
that I perfectly concurred in the opinion of MM. Fontaine and Percier;
however, he would have his own way, and thus was authorised the
construction of the toy which formed a communication between the Louvre
and the Institute. But no sooner was the Pont des Arts finished than
Bonaparte pronounced it to be mean and out of keeping with the other
bridges above and below it. One day when visiting the Louvre he stopped
at one of the windows looking towards the Pont des Arts and said, "There
is no solidity, no grandeur about that bridge. In England, where stone
is scarce, it is very natural that iron should be used for arches
of large dimensions. But the case is different in France, where the
requisite material is abundant."
The infernal machine of the 3d Nivôse, of which I shall presently speak
more at length, was the signal for vast changes in the quarter of the
Tuileries. That horrible attempt was at least so far attended by happy
results that it contributed to the embellishment of Paris. It was
thought more advisable for the Government to buy and pull down the
houses which had been injured by the machine than to let them be put
under repair. As an example of Bonaparte's grand schemes in building I
may mention that, being one day at the Louvre, he pointed towards St.
Germain l'Auxerrois and said to me, "That is where I will build an
imperial street. It shall run from here to the Barrière du Trône. It
shall be a hundred feet broad, and have arcades and plantations. This
street shall be the finest in the world."
The palace of the King of Rome, which was to face the Pont de Jena and
the Champ de Mars, would have been in some measure isolated from Paris,
with which, however, it was to be connected by a line of palaces. These
were to extend along the quay, and were destined as splendid residences
for the Ambassadors of foreign sovereigns, at least as long as there
should be any sovereigns in Europe except Napoleon. The Temple of Glory,
too, which was to occupy the site of the Church of la Madeleine, was
never finished. If the plan of this monument proved the necessity, which
Bonaparte felt of constantly holding out stimulants to his soldiers,
its relinquishment was at least a proof of his wisdom. He who had
reestablished religious worship in France, and had restored to
its destination the church of the Invalides, which was for a time
metamorphosed into the Temple of Mars, foresaw that a Temple of Glory
would give birth to a sort of paganism incompatible with the ideas of
the age.
The recollection of the magnificent Necropolis of Cairo frequently
recurred to Bonaparte's mind. He had admired that city of the dead,
which he had partly contributed to people; and his design was to make,
at the four cardinal points of Paris, four vast cemeteries on the plan
of that at Cairo.
Bonaparte determined that all the new streets of Paris should be 40 feet
wide, and be provided with foot-pavements; in short, he thought nothing
too grand for the embellishment of the capital of a country which he
wished to make the first in the world. Next to war, he regarded
the embellishment of Paris as the source of his glory; and he never
considered a victory fully achieved until he had raised a monument to
transmit its memory to posterity. He, wanted glory, uninterrupted glory,
for France as well as for himself. How often, when talking over his
schemes, has he not said, "Bourrienne, it is for France I am doing all
this! All I wish, all I desire, the end of all my labours is, that my
name should be indissolubly connected with that of France!"
Paris is not the only city, nor is France the only kingdom, which bears
traces of Napoleon's passion for great and useful monuments. In Belgium,
in Holland, in Piedmont, in all Italy, he executed great improvements.
At Turin a splendid bridge was built over the Po, in lieu of an old
bridge which was falling in ruins.
How many things were undertaken and executed in Napoleon's short and
eventful reign! To obviate the difficulty of communication between
Metz and Mayence a magnificent road was made, as if by magic, across
impracticable marshes and vast forests. Mountains were cut through and
ravines filled up. He would not allow nature more than man to resist
him. One day when he was proceeding to Belgium by the way of Givet, he
was detained for a short time at Little Givet, on the right bank of the
Meuse, in consequence of an accident which happened to the ferry-boat.
He was within a gunshot of the fortress of Charlemont, on the left bank,
and in the vexation which the delay occasioned he dictated the following
decree: "A bridge shall be built over the Meuse to join Little Givet to
Great Givet. It shall be terminated during the ensuing campaign." It was
completed within the prescribed time. In the great work of bridges
and highways Bonaparte's chief object was to remove the obstacles and
barriers which nature had raised up as the limits of old France so as to
form a junction with the provinces which he successively annexed to the
Empire. Thus in Savoy a road, smooth as a garden-walk, superseded the
dangerous ascents and descents of the wood of Bramant; thus was the
passage of Mont Cenis a pleasant promenade at almost every season of the
year; thus did the Simplon bow his head, and Bonaparte might have said,
"There are now my Alps," with more reason than Louis XIV. said, "There
are now no Pyrenees."
--[Metternich (tome iv. p. 187) says on this subject, 'If you look
closely at the course of human affairs you will make strange
discoveries. For instance, that the Simplon Pass has contributed as
surely to Napoleon's immortality as the numerous works done in the
reign of the Emperor Francis will fail to add to his.]--
Such was the implicit confidence which Bonaparte reposed in me that I
was often alarmed at the responsibility it obliged me to incur.
--[Of this confidence the following instructions for me, which he
dictated to Duroc, afford sufficient proof:--
"1st. Citizen Bourrienne shall open all the letters addressed to
the First Consul, Vol, and present them to him three times a day, or
oftener in case of urgent business. The letters shall be deposited
in the cabinet when they are opened. Bourrienne is to analyse all
those which are of secondary interest, and write the First Consul's
decision on each letter. The hours for presenting the letters shall
be, first, when the Consul rises; second, a quarter of an hour
before dinner; and third, at eleven at night.
"2d. He is to have the superintendence of the Topographical office,
and of an office of Translation, in which there shall be a German
and an English clerk. Every day he shall present to the First
Consul, at the hours above mentioned the German and English
journals, together with a translation. With respect to the Italian
journals, it will only be necessary to mark what the First Consul is
to read.
"3d. He shall keep a register of appointments to offices under
Government; a second, for appointments to judicial posts; a third
for appointments to places abroad; and a fourth, for the situations
of receivers and great financial posts, where he is to inscribe the
names of all the individuals whom the First Consul may refer to him.
These registers must be written by his own hand, and must be kept
entirely private.
"4th. Secret correspondence, and the different reports of
surveillance, are to be addressed directly to Bourrienne, and
transmitted by him to the hand of the First Consul, by whom they
will be returned without the intervention of any third party.
"6th. There shall be a register for all that relates to secret
extraordinary expenditure. Bourrienne shall write the whole with
his own hand, in order that the business may be kept from the
knowledge of any one.
"7th. He shall despatch all the business which may be referred to
him, either from Citizen Duroc, or from the cabinet of the First
Consul, taking care to arrange everything so as to secure secrecy.
"(Signed) "BONAPARTE, First Consul.
"Paris, 13th Germinal, year VIII.
"(3d. April 1800.)"]--
Official business was not the only labour that devolved upon me. I had
to write to the dictation of the First Consul during a great part of
the day, or to decipher his writing, which was always the most laborious
part of my duty. I was so closely employed that I scarcely ever went
out; and when by chance I dined in town, I could not arrive until the
very moment of dinner, and I was obliged to run away immediately after
it. Once a month, at most, I went without Bonaparte to the Comédie
Française, but I was obliged to return at nine o'clock, that being the
hour at which we resumed business. Corvisart, with whom I was intimately
acquainted, constantly expressed his apprehensions about my health; but
my zeal carried me through every difficulty, and during our stay at the
Tuileries I cannot express how happy I was in enjoying the unreserved
confidence of the man on whom the eyes of all Europe were filed. So
perfect was this confidence that Bonaparte, neither as General, Consul,
nor Emperor, ever gave me any fixed salary. In money matters we were
still comrades: I took from his funds what was necessary to defray my
expenses, and of this Bonaparte never once asked me for any account.
He often mentioned his wish to regenerate public education, which he
thought was ill managed. The central schools did not please him; but
he could not withhold his admiration from the Polytechnic School, the
finest establishment of education that was ever founded, but which he
afterwards spoiled by giving it a military organisation. In only one
college of Paris the old system of study was preserved: this was the
Louis-le-Grand, which had received the name of Pritanée. The First
Consul directed the Minister of the Interior to draw up a report on that
establishment; and he himself went to pay an unexpected visit to the
Pritanée, accompanied by M. Lebrun and Duroc. He remained there upwards
of an hour, and in the evening he spoke to me with much interest on the
subject of his visit. "Do you know, Bourrienne," said he, "that I have
been performing the duties of professor?"--"You, General!"--"Yes! and I
did not acquit myself badly. I examined the pupils in the mathematical
class; and I recollected enough of my Bezout to make some demonstrations
before them. I went everywhere, into the bedrooms and the dining-room. I
tasted the soup, which is better than we used to have at Brienne. I must
devote serious attention to public education and the management of
the colleges. The pupils must have a uniform. I observed some well and
others ill dressed. That will not do. At college, above all places,
there should be equality. But I was much pleased with the pupils of
the Pritanée. I wish to know the names of those I examined, and I have
desired Duroc to report them to me. I will give them rewards; that
stimulates young people. I will provide for some of them."
On this subject Bonaparte did not confine himself to an empty scheme.
After consulting with the headmaster of the Pritanée, he granted
pensions of 200 francs to seven or eight of the most distinguished
pupils of the establishment, and he placed three of them in the
department of Foreign Affairs, under the title of diplomatic pupils.
--[This institution of diplomatic pupils was originally suggested by
M. de Talleyrand.]--
What I have just said respecting the First Consul's visit to the
Pritanée reminds me of a very extraordinary circumstance which arose
out of it. Among the pupils at the Pritanée there was a son of General
Miackzinski, who died fighting under the banners of the Republic. Young
Miackzinski was then sixteen or seventeen years of age. He soon quitted
the college, entered the army as a volunteer, and was one of a corps
reviewed by Bonaparte, in the plain of Sablons. He was pointed out
to the First Consul, who said to him, "I knew your father. Follow his
example, and in six months you shall be an officer." Six months elapsed,
and Miackzinski wrote to the First Consul, reminding him of his promise.
No answer was returned, and the young man then wrote a second letter as
follows:
You desired me to prove myself worthy of my father; I have done so.
You promised that I should be an officer in six months; seven have
elapsed since that promise was made. When you receive this letter I
shall be no more. I cannot live under a Government the head of
which breaks his word.
Poor Miackzinski kept his word but too faithfully. After writing the
above letter to the First Consul he retired to his chamber and blew
out his brains with a pistol. A few days after this tragical event
Miackzinski's commission was transmitted to his corps, for Bonaparte
had not forgotten him. A delay in the War Office had caused the death
of this promising young man. Bonaparte was much affected at the
circumstance, and he said to me, "These Poles have such refined notions
of honour.... Poor Sulkowski, I am sure, would have done the same."
At the commencement of the Consulate it was gratifying to see how
actively Bonaparte was seconded in the execution of plans for the social
regeneration of France; all seemed animated with new life, and every one
strove to do good as if it were a matter of competition.
Every circumstance concurred to favour the good intentions of the First
Consul. Vaccination, which, perhaps, has saved as many lives as war has
sacrificed, was introduced into France by M. d'Liancourt; and Bonaparte,
immediately appreciating the value of such a discovery, gave it
his decided approbation. At the same time a council of Prizes was
established, and the old members of the Constituent Assembly were
invited to return to France. It was for their sake and that of the
Royalists that the First Consul recalled them, but it was to please the
Jacobins, whom he was endeavouring to conciliate, that their return was
subject to restrictions. At first the invitation to return to France
extended only to those who could prove that they had voted in favour
of the abolition of nobility. The lists of emigrants were closed, and
committees were appointed to investigate their claims to the privilege
of returning.
From the commencement of the month of Germinal the reorganisation of the
army of Italy had proceeded with renewed activity. The presence in Paris
of the fine corps of the Consular Guard, added to the desire of showing
themselves off in gay uniforms, had stimulated the military ardour of
many respectable young men of the capital. Taking advantage of this
circumstance the First Consul created a corps of volunteers destined for
the army of reserve, which was to remain at Dijon. He saw the advantage
of connecting a great number of families with his cause, and imbuing
them with the spirit of the army. This volunteer corps wore a yellow
uniform which, in some of the salons of Paris where it was still
the custom to ridicule everything, obtained for them the nickname of
"canaries." Bonaparte, who did not always relish a joke, took this in
very ill part, and often expressed to me his vexation at it. However,
he was gratified to observe in the composition of this corps a first
specimen of privileged soldiers; an idea which he acted upon when he
created the orderly gendarmes in the campaign of Jena, and when he
organised the guards of honour after the disasters of Moscow.
In every action of his life Bonaparte had some particular object in
view. I recollect his saying to me one day, "Bourrienne, I cannot yet
venture to do anything against the regicides; but I will let them see
what I think of them. To-morrow I shall have some business with Abrial
respecting the organisation of the court of Cassation. Target, who is
the president of that court, would not defend Louis XVI. Well, whom do
you think I mean to appoint in his place? . . . Tronchet, who did defend
the king. They may say what they please; I care not."
--[On this, as on many other occasions, the cynicism of Bonaparte's
language does not admit of a literal translation.]--
Tronchet was appointed.
Nearly about the same time the First Consul, being informed of the
escape of General Mack, said to me, "Mack may go where he pleases; I am
not afraid of him. But I will tell you what I have been thinking. There
are some other Austrian officers who were prisoners with Mack; among
the number is a Count Dietrichstein, who belongs to a great family in
Vienna. I will liberate them all. At the moment of opening a campaign
this will have a good effect. They will see that I fear nothing; and who
knows but this may procure me some admirers in Austria." The order
for liberating the Austrian prisoners was immediately despatched. Thus
Bonaparte's acts of generosity, as well as his acts of severity and his
choice of individuals, were all the result of deep calculation.
This unvarying attention to the affairs of the Government was manifest
in all he did. I have already mentioned the almost simultaneous
suppression of the horrible commemoration of the month of January, and
the permission for the revival of the opera balls. A measure something
similar to this was the authorisation of the festivals of Longchamps,
which had been forgotten since the Revolution. He at the same time gave
permission for sacred music to be performed at the opera. Thus, while in
public acts he maintained the observance of the Republican calendar,
he was gradually reviving the old calendar by seasons of festivity.
Shrove-Tuesday was marked by a ball, and Passion-week by promenades and
concerts.