CHAPTER XXXIII.

1805.

Treaty of alliance between England and Russia--Certainty of an

approaching war--M. Forshmann, the Russian Minister--Duroc's mission

to Berlin--New project of the King of Sweden--Secret mission to the

Baltic--Animosity against France--Fall of the exchange between

Hamburg and Paris--Destruction of the first Austrian army--Taking of

Ulm--The Emperor's displeasure at the remark of a soldier--Battle of

Trafalgar--Duroc's position at the Court of Prussia--Armaments in

Russia--Libel upon Napoleon in the Hamburg 'Corespondent'--

Embarrassment of the Syndic and Burgomaster of Hamburg--The conduct

of the Russian Minister censured by the Swedish and English

Ministers.

At the beginning of August 1805 a treaty of alliance between Russia and

England was spoken of. Some persons of consequence, who had the means

of knowing all that was going on in the political world, had read this

treaty, the principal points of which were communicated to me.

Article 1st stated that the object of the alliance was to restore the

balance of Europe. By art. 2d the Emperor of Russia was to place 36,000

men at the disposal of England. Art. 3d stipulated that neither of the

two powers would consent to treat with France, nor to lay down arms

until the King of Sardinia should either be restored to his dominions or

receive an equivalent indemnity in the northeast of Italy. By art. 4th

Malta was to be evacuated by the English, and occupied by the Russians.

By art. 5th the two powers were to guarantee the independence of the

Republic of the Ionian Isles, and England was to pledge herself to

assist Russia in her war against Persia. If this plan of a treaty, of

the existence of which I was informed on unquestionable authority, had

been brought to any result it is impossible to calculate what might have

been its consequences.

At that time an immediate Continental war was confidently expected by

every person in the north of Europe; and it is very certain that, had

not Napoleon taken the hint in time and renounced his absurd schemes at

Boulogne, France would have stood in a dangerous situation.

M. Forshmann, the Russian charge d'affaires, was intriguing to excite

the north of Europe against France. He repeatedly received orders to

obtain the insertion of irritating articles in the 'Correspondent'. He

was an active, intriguing, and spiteful little man, and a declared enemy

of France; but fortunately his stupidity and vanity rendered him less

dangerous than he wished to be. He was universally detested, and he

would have lost all credit but that the extensive trade carried on

between Russia and Hamburg forced the inhabitants and magistrates of

that city to bear with a man who might have done them, individually,

considerable injury.

The recollection of Duroc's successful mission to Berlin during the

Consulate induced Napoleon to believe that that general might appease

the King of Prussia, who complained seriously of the violation of the

territory of Anspach, which Bernadotte, in consequence of the orders he

received, had not been able to respect. Duroc remained about six weeks

in Berlin.

The following letter from Duroc will show that the facility of passing

through Hesse seemed to excuse the second violation of the Prussian

territory; but there was a great difference between a petty Prince of

Hesse and the King of Prussia.

I send you, my dear Bourrienne, two despatches, which I have

received for you. M. de Talleyrand, who sends them, desires me to

request that you will transmit General Victor's by a sure

conveyance.

I do not yet know whether I shall stay long in Berlin. By the last

accounts I received the Emperor is still in Paris, and numerous

forces are assembling on the Rhine. The hopes of peace are

vanishing every day, and Austria does everything to promote war.

I have received accounts from Marshal Bernadotte. He has effected

his passage through Hesse. Marshal Bernadotte was much pleased with

the courtesy he experienced from the Elector.

The junction of the corps commanded by Bernadotte with the army of the

Emperor was very important, and Napoleon therefore directed the Marshal

to come up with him as speedily as possible, and by the shortest road.

It was necessary he should arrive in time for the battle of Austerlitz.

Gustavus, King of Sweden, who was always engaged in some enterprise,

wished to raise an army composed of Swedes, Prussians, and English; and

certainly a vigorous attack in the north would have prevented Bernadotte

from quitting the banks of the Elbe and the Weser, and reinforcing

the Grand Army which was marching on Vienna. But the King of Sweden's

coalition produced no other result than the siege of the little fortress

of Hameln.

Prussia would not come to a rupture with France, the King of Sweden

was abandoned, and Bonaparte's resentment against him increased. This

abortive project of Gustavus contributed not a little to alienate the

affections of his subjects, who feared that they might be the victims

of the revenge excited by the extravagant plans of their King, and the

insults he had heaped upon Napoleon, particularly since the death of the

Duc d'Enghien.

On the 13th of September 1805 I received a letter from the Minister of

Police soliciting information about Swedish Pomerania.

Astonished at not obtaining from the commercial Consuls at Lübeck and

Stettin any accounts of the movements of the Russians, I had sent to

those ports, four days before the receipt of the Police Minister's

letter, a confidential agent, to observe the Baltic: though we were only

64 leagues from Stralsund the most uncertain and contradictory accounts

came to hand. It was, however, certain that a landing of the Russians

was expected at Stralsund, or at Travemtinde, the port of Lübeck, at the

mouth of the little river Trave. I was positively informed that Russia

had freighted a considerable number of vessels for those ports.

The hatred of the French continued to increase in the north of Europe.

About the end of September there appeared at Kiel, in Denmark, a

libellous pamphlet, which was bought and read with inconceivable

avidity. This pamphlet, which was very ably written, was the production

of some fanatic who openly preached a crusade against France. The author

regarded the blood of millions of men as a trifling sacrifice for the

great object of humiliating France and bringing her back to the limits

of the old monarchy. This pamphlet was circulated extensively in the

German departments united to France, in Holland, and in Switzerland. The

number of incendiary publications which everywhere abounded indicated

but too plainly that if the nations of the north should be driven

back towards the Arctic regions they would in their turn repulse their

conquerors towards the south; and no man of common sense could doubt

that if the French eagles were planted in foreign capitals, foreign

standards would one day wave over Paris.

On the 30th of September 1805 I received, by an 'estafette',

intelligence of the landing at Stralsund of 6000 Swedes, who had arrived

from Stockholm in two ships of war.

About the end of September the Hamburg exchange on Paris fell

alarmingly. The loss was twenty per cent. The fall stopped at seventeen

below par. The speculation for this fall of the exchange had been made

with equal imprudence and animosity by the house of Osy and Company.

The head of that house, a Dutch emigrant, who had been settled at

Hamburg about six years, seized every opportunity of manifesting his

hatred of France. An agent of that rich house at Rotterdam was also very

hostile to us, a circumstance which shows that if many persons sacrifice

their political opinions to their interests there are others who

endanger their interests for the triumph of their opinions.

On the 23d of October 1805 I received official intelligence of the

total destruction of the first Austrian army: General Barbou, who was

in Hanover, also informed me of that event in the following terms: "The

first Austrian army has ceased to exist." He alluded to the brilliant

affair of Ulm. I immediately despatched twelve estafettes to different

parts; among other places to Stralsund and Husum. I thought that these

prodigies, which must have been almost incredible to those who were

unacquainted with Napoleon's military genius, might arrest the progress

of the Russian troops, and produces some change in the movements of the

enemy's forces. A second edition of the 'Correspondent' was published

with this intelligence, and 6000 copies were sold at four times the

usual price.

I need not detain the reader with the details of the capitulation of

Ulm, which have already been published, but I may relate the following

anecdote, which is not generally known. A French general passing before

the ranks of his men said to them, "Well, comrades, we have prisoners

enough here."--"yes indeed," replied one of the soldiers, "we never saw

so many . . . collected together before." It was stated at the time,

and I believe it, that the Emperor was much displeased when he heard of

this, and remarked that it was "atrocious to insult brave men to whom

the fate of arms had proved unfavourable."

In reading the history of this period we find that in whatever place

Napoleon happened to be, there was the central point of action. The

affairs of Europe were arranged at his headquarters in the same manner

as if he had been in Paris. Everything depended on his good or bad

fortune. Espionage, seduction, false promises, exactions,--all were

put in force to promote the success of his projects; but his despotism,

which excited dissatisfaction in France, and his continual aggressions,

which threatened the independence of foreign States, rendered him more

and more unpopular everywhere.

The battle of Trafalgar took place while Napoleon was marching on

Vienna, and on the day after the capitulation of Ulm. The southern coast

of Spain then witnessed an engagement between thirty-one French and

about an equal number of English ships, and in spite of this equality of

force the French fleet was destroyed.--[The actual forces present were

27 English ships of the line and 38 Franco-Spanish ships of the line;

see James' Naval History, vol. iii. p. 459.]

This great battle afforded another proof of our naval inferiority.

Admires Calder first gave us the lesson which Nelson completed, but

which cost the latter his life. According to the reports which Duroc

transmitted to me, courage gave momentary hope to the French; but they

were at length forced to yield to the superior naval tactics of the

enemy. The battle of Trafalgar paralysed our naval force, and banished

all hope of any attempt against England.

The favour which the King, of Prussia had shown to Duroc was withdrawn

when his Majesty received intelligence of the march of Bernadotte's

troops through the Margravate of Anspach. All accounts concurred

respecting the just umbrage which that violation of territory

occasioned to the King of Prussia. The agents whom I had in that quarter

overwhelmed me with reports of the excesses committed by the French in

passing through the Margravate. A letter I received from Duroc contains

the following remarks on this subject:

The corps of Marshal Bernadotte has passed through Anapach and by

some misunderstanding this has been regarded at Berlin as an insult

to the King, a violence committed upon his neutrality. How can it

be supposed, especially under present circumstances, that the

Emperor could have any intention of insulting or committing violence

upon his friend? Besides, the reports have been exaggerated, and

have been made by persons who wish to favour our enemies rather than

us. However, I am perfectly aware that Marshal Bernadotte's 70,000

men are not 70,000 virgins. Be this as it may, the business might

have been fatal, and will, at all events, be very injurious to us.

Laforeat and I are treated very harshly, though we do not deserve

it. All the idle stories that have been got up here must have

reached you. Probably Prussia will not forget that France was, and

still may be, the only power interested in her glory and

aggrandisement.

At the end of October the King of Prussia, far from thinking of war,

but in case of its occurrence wishing to check its disasters as far as

possible, proposed to establish a line of neutrality. This was the first

idea of the Confederation of the North. Duroc, fearing lest the Russians

should enter Hamburg, advised me, as a friend, to adopt precautions. But

I was on the spot; I knew all the movement the little detached corps,

and I was under no apprehension.

The editor of the Hamburg 'Correspondent' sent me every evening a proof

of the number which was to appear next day,--a favour which was granted

only to the French Minister. On the 20th of November I received

the proof as usual, and saw nothing objectionable in it. How great,

therefore, was my astonishment when next morning I read in the same

journal an article personally insulting to the Emperor, and in which the

legitimate sovereigns of Europe were called upon to undertake a crusade

against the usurper etc. I immediately sent for M. Doormann, first

Syndic of the Senate of Hamburg. When he appeared his mortified look

sufficiently informed me that he knew what I had to say to him. I

reproached him sharply, and asked him how, after all I had told him of

the Emperor's susceptibility, he could permit the insertion of such an

article. I observed to him that this indecorous diatribe had no official

character, since it had no signature; and that, therefore, he had acted

in direct opposition to a decree of the Senate, which prohibited the

insertion in the journals of any articles which were not signed. I

told him plainly that his imprudence might be attended with serious

consequences. M. Doormann did not attempt to justify himaelt but merely

explained to me how the thing had happened.

On the 20th of November, in the evening, M. Forshmann, the Russian

charge d'affaires who had in the course of the day arrived from the

Russian headquarters presented to the editor of the Correspondent the

article in question. The editor, after reading the article, which he

thought exceedingly indecorous, observed to M. Forshmann that his paper

was already made up, which was the fact, for I had seen a proof. M.

Forshmann, however, insisted on the insertion of the article. The editor

then told him that he could not admit it without the approbation of the

Syndic Censor. M. Forshmann immediately waited upon M. Doormann, and

when the latter begged that he would not insist on the insertion of the

article, M. Forshmann produced a letter written in French, which,

among other things, contained the following: "You will get the enclosed

article inserted in the Correspondent without suffering a single word

to be altered. Should the censor refuse, you must apply to the directing

Burgomaster, and, in case of his refusal, to General Tolstoy, who will

devise some means of rendering the Senate more complying, and forcing it

to observe an impartial deference."

M. Doorman, thinking he could not take upon himself to allow the

insertion of the article, went, accompanied by M. Forshmann, to wait

upon M. Von Graffen, the directing Burgomaster. MM. Doorman and Von

Graffen earnestly pointed out the impropriety of inserting the article;

but M. Forshmann referred to his order, and added that the compliance of

the Senate on this point was the only means of avoiding great mischief.

The Burgomaster and the Syndic, finding themselves thus forced to admit

the article, entreated that the following passage at least might be

suppressed: "I know a certain chief, who, in defiance of all laws divine

and human,--in contempt of the hatred he inspires in Europe, as well as

among those whom he has reduced to be his subjects, keeps possession of

a usurped throne by violence and crime. His insatiable ambition would

subject all Europe to his rule. But the time is come for avenging the

rights of nations . . . ." M. Forshmann again referred to his orders,

and with some degree of violence insisted on the insertion of the

article in its complete form. The Burgomaster then authorised the editor

of the Correspondent to print the article that night, and M. Forshmann,

having obtained that authority, carried the article to the office at

half-past eleven o'clock.

Such was the account given me by M. Doormann. I observed that I did not

understand how the imaginary apprehension of any violence on the part of

Russia should have induced him to admit so insolent an attack upon the

most powerful sovereign in Europe, whose arms would soon dictate laws

to Germany. The Syndic did not dissemble his fear of the Emperor's

resentment, while at the same time he expressed a hope that the Emperor

would take into consideration the extreme difficulty of a small power

maintaining neutrality in the extraordinary circumstances in which

Hamburg was placed, and that the articles might be said to have been

presented almost at the point of the Cossacks' spears. M. Doormann added

that a refusal, which world have brought Russian troops to Hamburg,

might have been attended by very unpleasant consequences to me, and

might have committed the Senate in a very different way. I begged of

him, once for all, to set aside in these affairs all consideration of my

personal danger: and the Syndic, after a conversation of more than

two hours, departed more uneasy in his mind than when he arrived,

and conjuring me to give a faithful report of the facts as they had

happened.

M. Doormann was a very worthy man, and I gave a favourable

representation of his excuses and of the readiness which he had always

evinced to keep out of the Correspondent articles hostile to France;

as, for example, the commencement of a proclamation of the Emperor of

Germany to his subjects, and a complete proclamation of the King of

Sweden. As it happened, the good Syndic escaped with nothing worse than

a fright; I was myself astonished at the success of my intercession.

I learned from the Minister for Foreign Affairs that the Emperor was

furiously indignant on reading the article, in which the French army was

outraged as well as he. Indeed, he paid but little attention to insults

directed against himself personally. Their eternal repetition had inured

him to them; but at the idea of his army being insulted he was violently

enraged, and uttered the most terrible threats.

It is worthy of remark that the Swedish and English Ministers, as soon

as they read the article, waited upon the editor of the Correspondent,

and expressed their astonishment that such a libel should have been

published. "Victorious armies," said they, "should be answered by

cannonballs and not by insults as gross as they are ridiculous." This

opinion was shared by all the foreigners at that time in Hamburg.