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Page 9
I faithfully related all that he had said of Moreau, observing that at
one moment I imagined he was about to speak of the Due d'Enghien, when he
suddenly reverted to what he had been saying, and never made the
slightest allusion to the subject.
Madame Bonaparte replied to me, "Napoleon has spoken the truth respecting
Moreau. He was grossly deceived by those who believed they could best
pay their court to him by calumniating that general. His silence on the
subject of the Due d'Enghien does not surprise me; he says as little
respecting it as possible, and always in a vague manner, and with
manifest repugnance. When you see Bonaparte again be silent on the
subject, and should chance bring it forward, avoid every expression in
the smallest degree indicative of reproach; he would not suffer it; you
would ruin yourself for ever in his estimation, and the evil is, alas!
without remedy. When you came to Malmaison I told you that I had vainly
endeavoured to turn him from his fatal purpose, and how he had treated
me. Since then he has experienced but little internal satisfaction; it
is only in the presence of his courtiers that he affects a calm and
tranquil deportment; but I perceive his sufferings are the greater from
thus endeavouring to conceal them. By the by, I forgot to mention that
he knew of the visit you paid me on the day after the catastrophe. I
dreaded that your enemies, the greater number of whom are also mine,
might have misrepresented that interview; but, fortunately, he paid
little attention to it. He merely said, 'So you have seen Bourrienne?
Does he sulk at me? Nevertheless I must do something for him.' He has
again spoken in the same strain, and repeated nearly the same expressions
three days ago; and since he has commanded your presence to-day, I have
not a doubt but he has something in view for your advantage."--" May I
presume to inquire what it is?"--"I do not yet know; but I would
recommend to you, in the meantime, to be more strictly on your guard than
ever; he is so suspicious, and so well informed of all that is done or
said respecting himself. I have suffered so much since I last saw you;
never can I forget the unkind manner in which he rejected my entreaties!
For several days I laboured under a depression of spirits which greatly
irritated him, because he clearly saw whence it proceeded. I am not
dazzled by the title of Empress; I dread some evil will result from this
step to him, to my children, and to myself. The miscreants ought to be
satisfied; see to what they have driven us! This death embitters every
moment of my life. I need not say to you, Bourrienne, that I speak this
in confidence."--"You cannot doubt my prudence."--" No, certainly not,
Bourrienne. I do not doubt it. My confidence in you is unbounded. Rest
assured that I shall never forget what you have done for me, under
various circumstances, and the devotedness you evinced to me on your
return from Egypt.--Adieu, my friend. Let me see you soon again."
It was on the 14th of June 1804 that I had this audience of the Emperor,
and afterwards attended the Empress.
On my return home I spent three hours in making notes of all that was
said to me by these two personages; and the substance of these notes I
have now given to the reader.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
1804.
Curious disclosures of Fouche--Remarkable words of Bonaparte
respecting the protest of Louis XVIII--Secret document inserted in
the Moniteur--Announcement from Bonaparte to Regnier--Fouche
appointed Minister of Police--Error of Regnier respecting the
conspiracy of Georges--Undeserved praise bestowed on Fouche--
Indication of the return of the Bourbons--Variation between the
words and conduct of Bonaparte--The iron crown--Celebration of the
14th of July--Church festivals and loss of time--Grand ceremonial at
the Invalides--Recollections of the 18th Brumaire--New oath of the
Legion of Honour--General enthusiasm--Departure for Boulogne--Visits
to Josephine at St. Cloud and Malmaison--Josephine and Madame de
Remusat--Pardons granted by the Emperor--Anniversary of the 14th of
July--Departure for the camp of Boulogne--General error respecting
Napoleon's designs--Caesar's Tower--Distribution of the crosses of
the Legion of Honour--The military throne--Bonaparte's charlatanism
--Intrepidity of two English sailors--The decennial prizes and the
Polytechnic School--Meeting of the Emperor and Empress--First
negotiation with the Holy Sea--The Prefect of Arras and Comte Louis
de Narbonne--Change in the French Ministry.
Louis XVIII., being at Warsaw when he was informed of the elevation of
Napoleon to the Imperial dignity, addressed to the sovereigns of Europe a
protest against that usurpation of his throne. Fouche, being the first
who heard of this protest, immediately communicated the circumstance to
the Emperor, observing that doubtless the copies would be multiplied and
distributed amongst the enemies of his Government, in the Faubourg St.
Germain, which might produce the worst effects, and that he therefore
deemed it his duty to inform him that orders might be given to Regnier
and Real to keep a strict watch over those engaged in distributing this
document.
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