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Page 28
--[On the eve of the battle of Hohenlinden Moreau was at supper with
his aides de camp and several general officers, when a despatch was
delivered to him. After he had read it be said to his guests,
though he was far from being in the habit of boasting, "I am here
made acquainted with Baron Kray's movements. They are all I could
wish. To-morrow we will take from him 10,000 prisoners." Moreau
took 40,000, besides a great many flags.--Bourrienne.]--
On the 6th of December the First Consul received intelligence of the
battle of Hohenlinden. It was on a Saturday, and he had just returned
from the theatre when I delivered the despatches to him. He literally
danced for joy. I must say that he did not expect so important a result
from the movements of the army of the Rhine. This victory gave a new
face to his negotiations for peace, and determined the opening of the
Congress of Luneville, which took place on the 1st of January following.
On receiving information of the battle of Hohenlinden, Madame Moreau came
to the Tuileries to call on the First Consul and Madame Bonaparte. She
did not see them, and repeated her calls several times with no better
success. The last time she came she was accompanied by her mother,
Madame Hulot. She waited for a considerable time in vain, and when she
was going away her mother, who could no longer restrain her feelings,
said aloud, before me and several persons of the household, that "it ill
became the wife of the conqueror of Hohenlinden to dance attendance in
this way." This remark reached the ears of those to whom it was
directed. Madame Moreau shortly after rejoined her husband in Germany;
and some time after her departure Madame Hulot came to Malmaison to
solicit promotion for her eldest son, who was in the navy. Josephine
received Madame Hulot very kindly, and requested her to stay to dinner.
She accepted the invitation. The First Consul, who did not see her until
the hour of dinner, treated her very coolly: he said little to her, and
retired as soon as dinner was over. His rudeness was so marked and
offensive that Josephine, who was always kind and amiable, thought it
necessary to apologise, by observing that his mind was disturbed by the
non-arrival of a courier whom he expected.
Bonaparte entertained no dislike of Moreau, because he did not fear him;
and after the battle of Hohenlinden he spoke of him in the highest terms,
and frankly acknowledged the services he had rendered on that important
occasion; but he could not endure his wife's family, who, he said, were a
set of intriguers.
--[Napoleon had good reason for his opinion. "Moreau had a mother-
in-law and a wife lively and given to intrigue. Bonaparte could not
bear intriguing women. Besides, on one occasion Madame Moreau's
mother, when at Malmaison, had indulged in sharp remarks on a
suspected scandalous intimacy between Bonaparte and his young sister
Caroline, then just married. The Consul had not forgiven such
conversation" (Remusat tome i. P. 192). see also Meneval, tome
iii. p. 57, as to the mischief done by Madame Hulot.]--
Luneville having been fixed upon for the Congress, the First Consul sent
his brother Joseph to treat with Count Louis de Cobentzel. On his way
Joseph met M. de Cobentzel, who had passed Luneville, and was coming to
Paris to sound the sentiments of the French Government. Joseph returned
to Paris with him. After some conversation with the First Consul they
set out next day for Luneville, of which place Bonaparte appointed
General Clarke governor. This appeared to satisfy Clarke, who was very
anxious to be something, and had long been importuning Bonaparte for an
appointment.
A day or two after the news of the battle of Hohenlinden M. Maret came to
present for Bonaparte's signature some, decrees made in Council. While
affixing the signatures, and without looking up, the First Consul said to
M. Maret, who was a favourite with him, and who was standing at his right
hand, "Are you rich, Maret?"--"No, General."--" So much the worse: a man
should be independent."--"General, I will never be dependent on any one
but you." The First Consul then raised his eyes to Maret and said,
"Hem! that is not bad!" and when the secretary-general was gone he said
to me, "Maret is not deficient in cleverness: he made me a very good
answer."
On the 9th of February 1801, six weeks after the opening of the Congress
of Luneville, peace was signed between Austria and France. This peace--
the fruit of Marengo and Hohenlinden--restored France to that honourable
position which had been put in jeopardy by the feeble and incapable
government of the pentarchy and the reverses of 1799. This peace, which
in the treaty, according to custom, was called perpetual, lasted four
years.
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