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Page 5
"He is the scourge of our native land," said one of the generals. "His
restless ambition constantly plunges us into new wars, rouses the hatred of
all Europe against France, and this hatred will one day burst into bright
flames and plunge France into destruction."
"He is destroying the prosperity of the country for generations," said
another; he is robbing wives of their husbands, fathers of their sons,
labor of sturdy arms. The fields lie untilled, the workshops are deserted,
trade is prostrate, and all this to gratify a single man's desire for war."
"Therefore it is necessary to make this one man harmless," said a third.
"If no hand is found to slay him, there are arms strong enough to seize
him, bind him, and deliver him to those whose prison doors are always open
to receive the hated foe who blockades their harbors denies their goods
admittance to France and all the countries he has conquered and everywhere
confronts them as their bitter enemy."
"Yes, England is ready and watchful," whispered another. "She promises
those who have the courage to dare the great deed, a brilliant reward; she
offers a million florins and perpetual concealment of their names, as soon
as the Emperor Napoleon is delivered to her."
"Then let us seek men who are bold, ambitious, resolute, and money-loving
enough to venture such a deed," said Colonel Oudet. "Form connections with
those who hate him; be cautious, deliberate and beware of traitors."
"We will be cautious and deliberate," they all replied submissively; "we
will beware of traitors."
"But while determining to free France from the ambitious conqueror who is
leading her to destruction," said Colonel Oudet, "we must consider what is
to be done when the great work is accomplished, when the tyrant is removed.
It is evident to you all that the present condition of affairs ought not to
last. France now depends upon a single life; a single person forms her
dynasty, and when he sinks into the grave, France will be exposed to
caprice, to chance; every door to intrigue will be opened. We must secure
France from every peril. We have now seen, for the first time, that the
proud emperor is only a mere mortal. Had the bullet which wounded his foot
at Regensburg struck his head, France would probably be, at the present
moment, in the midst of civil war, and the Legitimists, the Republicans,
and the adherents of Napoleon would dispute the victory with each other. We
must try to avert the most terrible of all misfortunes, civil war; the
emperor is not merely mortal; we do not merely have to consider his death,
but we must also know what is to happen in case our plan succeeds and he is
placed in captivity. We must have ready the successor, the successor who
will at once render the Republic and the return of the Bourbons alike
impossible. Do any of you know a successor thus qualified?"
"I know one," replied General Marmont.
"And I! And I! And I!"
"General Marmont," said Oudet, "you spoke first. Will you tell us the name
of the person who seems to you worthy to be Napoleon's successor?"
"I do not venture to speak until the head of the Carbonari has named the
man whom _he_ has chosen."
"Then you did not hear me request you to speak," said Oudet, in a tone of
stern rebuke. "Speak, Marmont, but it will be better to exercise caution
and not let the walls themselves hear what we determine. So form a circle
around me, and let one after another put his lips to my ear and whisper the
name of him who should be Napoleon's successor."
Marshals and generals obeyed the command and formed a close circle around
Oudet, whose tall, slender figure towered above them all, and whose
handsome pale face, with its enthusiastic blue eyes, formed a strange
contrast to the grave, defiant countenances which encircled him.
"Marmont, do you begin!" said Oudet, in his gentle, solemn tones.
The general bent close to Oudet and whispered something into his ear, then
he stepped back and made way for another, who was followed by a third, and
a fourth.
"My brothers," said Oudet, after all had spoken, "my brothers, I see with
pleasure that the same spirit, the same conviction rules among you. You
have all uttered the same name; you have all said that Eugene Beauharnais,
the Viceroy of Italy, would be the fitting and desired successor of
Napoleon. I rejoice in this unanimity, and, in my position as one of the
heads of the great society, I give your choice my approval. The invisible
ones--the heads who are above us all, and from whom I, like the other three
chiefs of the league, receive my orders--the invisible ones have also
chosen Eugene Beauharnais for the future emperor of France. Thereby the
succession would be secured, and as soon as, by the emperor's death or
imprisonment, the throne of France is free, we will summon Eugene de
Beauharnais to be emperor of the French. May God grant His blessing upon
our work and permit us soon to find the hands we need to rid France of her
tyrant."
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