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Page 25
Napoleon and Voltaire--Demands of the Holy See--Coolness between the
pope and the Emperor--Napoleon's departure for Italy--Last interview
between the Pope and the Emperor at Turin--Alessandria--The field of
Marengo--The last Doge of Genoa--Bonaparte's arrival at Milan--Union
of Genoa to the French Empire--Error in the Memorial of St. Helen--
Bonaparte and Madam Grassini--Symptoms of dissatisfaction on the
part of Austria and Russia--Napoleon's departure from Milan--
Monument to commemorate the battle of Marengo--Napoleon's arrival in
Paris and departure for Boulogne--Unfortunate result of a naval
engagement--My visit to Fouche's country seat--Sieyes, Barras, the
Bourbons, and Bonaparte--Observations respecting Josephine.
Voltaire says that it is very well to kiss the feet of Popes provided
their hands are tied. Notwithstanding the slight estimation in which
Bonaparte held Voltaire, he probably, without being aware of this
irreverent satire, put it into practice. The Court of Rome gave him the
opportunity of doing so shortly after his Coronation. The Pope, or
rather the Cardinals, his advisers' conceiving that so great an instance
of complaisance as the journey of His Holiness to Paris ought not to go
for nothing; demanded a compensation, which, had they been better
acquainted with Bonaparte's character and policy, they would never have
dreamed of soliciting. The Holy see demanded the restitution of Avignon,
Bologna, and some parts of the Italian territory which had formerly been
subject to the Pope's dominion. It may be imagined how such demands were
received by Napoleon, particularly after he had obtained all he wanted
from the Pope. It was, it must be confessed, a great mistake of the
Court of Rome, whose policy is usually so artful and adroit, not to make
this demand till after the Coronation. Had it been made the condition of
the Pope's journey to France perhaps Bonaparte would have consented to
give up, not Avignon, certainly, but the Italian territories, with the
intention of taking them back again. Be this as it may, these tardy
claims, which were peremptorily rejected, created an extreme coolness
between Napoleon and Pius VII. The public did not immediately perceive
it, but there is in the public an instinct of reason which the most able
politicians never can impose upon; and all eyes were opened when it was
known that the Pope, after having crowned Napoleon as Emperor of France,
refused to crown him as sovereign of the regenerated kingdom of Italy.
Napoleon left Paris on the 1st of April to take possession of the Iron
Crown at Milan. The Pope remained some time longer in the French
capital. The prolonged presence of His Holiness was not without its
influence on the religious feelings of the people, so great was the
respect inspired by the benign countenance and mild manners of the Pope.
When the period of his persecutions arrived it would have been well for
Bonaparte had Pius VII. never been seen in Paris, for it was impossible
to view in any other light than as a victim the man whose truly evangelic
meekness had been duly appreciated.
Bonaparte did not evince great impatience to seize the Crown of Italy,
which he well knew could not escape him. He stayed a considerable time
at Turin, where he resided in the Stupinis Palace, which may be called
the St. Cloud of the Kings of Sardinia. The Emperor cajoled the
Piedmontese. General Menou, who was made Governor of Piedmont, remained
there till Napoleon founded the general government of the Transalpine
departments in favour of his brother-in-law, the Prince Borghese, of whom
he would have, found it difficult to make anything else than a Roman
Prince. Napoleon was still at Turin when the Pope passed through that
city on his return to Rome. Napoleon had a final interview with His
Holiness to whom he now affected to show the greatest personal deference.
From Turin Bonaparte proceeded to Alessandria, where he commenced those
immense works on which such vast sums were expended. He had many times
spoken to me of his projects respecting Alessandria, as I have already
observed, all his great measures as Emperor were merely the execution of
projects conceived at a time when his future elevation could have been
only a dream of the imagination. He one day said to Berthier, in my
presence, during our sojurn at Milan after the battle of Marengo, "With
Alessandria in my possession I should always be master of Italy. It
might be made the strongest fortress in the world; it is capable of
containing a garrison of 40,000 men, with provisions for six months.
Should insurrection take place, should Austria send a formidable force
here, the French troops might retire to Alessandria, and stand a six
months' siege. Six months would be more than sufficient, wherever I
might be, to enable me to fall upon Italy, rout the Austrians, and
raise the siege of Alessandria!"
As he was so near the field of Marengo the Emperor did not fail to visit
it, and to add to this solemnity he reviewed on the field all the corps
of French troops which were in Italy. Rapp told me afterwards that the
Emperor had taken with him from Paris the dress and the hat which he wore
on the day of that memorable battle, with the intention of wearing them
on the field where it was fought. He afterwards proceeded by the way of
Casal to Milan.
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