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Page 24
Why, then, am I declared suspected without being heard, and arrested
eight days after I heard the news of the tyrant's death
I am declared suspected, and my papers are placed under seal.
The reverse of this course ought to have been adopted. My papers should
first have been sealed; then I should have been called on for my
explanation; and, lastly, declared suspected, if there was reason for
coming to, such a decision.
It is wished that I should go to Paris with an order which declares me
suspected. It will naturally be presumed that the representatives did
not draw up this decree without accurate information, and I shall be
judged with the bias which a man of that class merits.
Though a patriot and an innocent and calumniated man, yet whatever
measures may be adopted by the Committee I cannot complain.
If three men declare that I have committed a crime, I cannot complain of
the jury who condemns me.
Salicetti, you know me; and I ask whether you have observed anything in
my conduct for the last five years which can afford ground of suspicion?
Albitte, you do not know me; but you have received proof of no fact
against me; you have not heard me, and you know how artfully the tongue
of calumny sometimes works.
Must I then be confounded with the enemies of my country and ought the
patriots inconsiderately to sacrifice a general who has not been useless
to the Republic? Ought the representatives to reduce the Government to
the necessity of being unjust and impolitic?
Hear me; destroy the oppression that overwhelms me, and restore me to the
esteem of the patriots.
An hour after, if my enemies wish for my life, let them take it. I have
often given proofs how little I value ft. Nothing but the thought that I
may yet be useful to my country makes me bear the burden of existence
with courage.
It appears that this defence, which is remarkable for its energetic
simplicity, produced an effect on Albitte and Salicetti. Inquiries more
accurate, and probably more favourable to the General, were instituted;
and on the 3d Fructidor (20th August 1794) the representatives of the
people drew up a decree stating that, after a careful examination of
General Bonaparte's papers, and of the orders he had received relative to
his mission to Genoa, they saw nothing to justify any suspicion of his
conduct; and that, moreover, taking into consideration the advantage that
might accrue to the Republic from the military talents of the said
General Bonaparte, it was resolved that he should be provisionally set at
liberty.
--[With reference to the arrest of Bonaparte (which lasted thirteen
days) see 'Bourrienne et ses Erreurs', tome i. pp. 16-28, and Iung,
tome ii. pp. 443-457. Both, in opposition to Bourrienne, attribute
the arrest to his connection with the younger Robespierre.
Apparently Albitte and Salicetti wets not acquainted with the secret
plan of campaign prepared by the younger Robespierre and by
Bonaparte, or with the real instructions given for the mission to
Genoa. Jealousy between the representatives in the staff of the
army of the Alps and those with the army of Italy, with which
Napoleon was, also played a part in the affair. Iung looks on
Salicetti as acting as the protector of the Bonapartes; but Napoleon
does not seem to have regarded him in that light; see the letter
given in Tunot, vol. i. p. l06, where in 1795 he takes credit for
not returning the ill done to him; see also the same volume, p. 89.
Salicetti eventually became Minister of Police to Joseph, when King
of Naples, in 1806; but when he applied to return to France,
Napoleon said to Mathieu Dumas, "Let him know that I am not powerful
enough to protect the wretches who voted for the death of Louis XVI.
from the contempt and indignation of the public" (Dumas, tome iii.
p. 318). At the same time Napoleon described Salicetti as worse
than the lazzaroni.]--
Salicetti afterwards became the friend and confidant of young Bonaparte;
but their intimacy did not continue after his elevation.
What is to be thought of the motives for Bonaparte's arrest and
provisional liberation, when his innocence and the error that had been
committed were acknowledged? The importance of the General's military
talents, though no mention is made about the impossibility of dispensing
with them, is a pretence for restoring him to that liberty of which he
had been unjustly deprived.
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