CHAP. LV. 1808. between the two potentates, almost rivalling that of Tilsit in interest and importance. On his route for Germany, the Emperor met large bodies of the Grand Army on their road from the Rhine to the Pyrenean frontier; he addressed them in one of those nervous proclamations which ever bear so strong an impress of his genius, but which, long the heralds of his victories, began now to afford a curious contrast to the disasters he was destined to undergo.* The troops traversed France in the highest spirits, animated by the Emperor's address, magnificently feasted by the municipalities, beneath triumphal arches, and amidst songs of congratulation from their fellowcitizens. Vain illusion! They were marching only to the scene of protracted agony; to whiten by their bones 51. Montg. the fields of Spain; to a lengthened conflict, which, vi. 352. ushered in at first by brilliant victories, was destined in 85. the end to thin their ranks by its carnage, and overwhelm their honour by its disasters.1 1 Thib. 49, Jom. ii. 84, tenor of the held there. The Emperor Alexander set out before Napoleon, and on his way paid a melancholy visit to the King and 6. Queen of Prussia at Konigsberg. Proceeding on his Its secret route, he rapidly traversed the Prussian states, received object, and with marked gratification the honours paid to him by conferences the French troops; took Marshal Lannes with him in his own carriage, and expressed publicly to the French officers the satisfaction which he felt "at finding himself among such brave men, such renowned warriors." Proceeding in this manner, and received every where with the utmost distinction by the French authorities, he arrived at Weimar late on the evening of the 26th, Sept. 26. and found every thing prepared for his reception by his brother the Grand-duke Constantine, and the French "Soldiers! after having triumphed on the banks of the Danube and the Vistula, you have traversed Germany by forced marches. I now make you traverse France without giving you a moment's repose. Soldiers! I have need of you. The hideous presence of the leopard [the arms of England] defiles the continent of Spain and Portugal. Let it fly dismayed at your appearance! Let us carry our arms to the Columns of Hercules; there also we have outrages to avenge. Soldiers! you have surpassed the renown of all modern armies, but have you yet equalled the glory of the Roman legions, which in the same campaign frequently triumphed on the Rhine and the Euphrates, in Illyria and on the Tagus? A long peace, enduring prosperity, shall be the reward of your labours. A true Frenchman should never taste of repose till the seas are enfranchised from their oppressors. Soldiers! all that you have already done, all that you will yet do for the happiness of the French people, will be eternally engraved in my heart."-THIBAUDEAU, vii. 50. CHAP. LV. 1808. ambassador Caulaincourt, who had arrived two days before. Meanwhile Napoleon, in more than regal state, was leisurely advancing from Paris, surrounded by the sovereigns, princes, and ministers of Germany, enjoying the secret satisfaction of exhibiting the Russian Autocrat awaiting his arrival in an inconsiderable town of Germany, above five hundred miles distant from the nearest point of his dominions. At ten o'clock on the morning of the 27th, he made his public entry into Erfurth, and, after reviewing the troops, proceeded on horseback to meet Alexander, who had left Weimar at the same hour to approach his august ally. The two sovereigns met on the highway, betweeen the villages of Ottsted and Nora, near a remarkable pear-tree, which is still to be seen on the road-side. Alexander immediately descended from his carriage; Napoleon alighted from his horse, and the two monarchs embraced with the strongest marks of mutual esteem. The French Emperor was decorated with the order of St Andrew of Russia, the Russian bore the grand badge of the legion of honour on his bosom. Magnificent presents were interchanged on both parts; side by side the two Emperors rode into Erfurth, amidst the roar of artillery, the cheers of multitudes, and the thundering acclamations of ten thousand soldiers. When they arrived at the hotel prepared for the Czar, the monarchs again embraced, and ascended the stairs arm in arm. Napoleon requested Alexander to give the watchword of the day; he complied, and it was Observation. «Erfurth and confidence." The two sovereigns dined Mont. vi. 352. together, and in the evening a general illumination evinced the intoxicated joy of the inhabitants.1* 1 Personal Thib. vii. 61. 7. Fêtes and spectacles at Erfurth. No adequate idea can be formed of the greatness of Napoleon's power, or the almost irresistible sway which he had acquired in northern and central Europe, but by those who witnessed the pomp and deference with which he was surrounded at Tilsit and Erfurth, and four years afterwards at Dresden. Environed by a brilliant cortège of marshals, generals, diplomatists, and staff-officers, he was at the same time the object of obsequious attention to a crowd of princes and inferior potentates, who *The place between Ottsted and Nora, where this remarkable meeting took place, is still shown to travellers.-Personal Observation. CHAP. 1808. depended on his breath for the political existence or nominal independence. All the beauty, rank, and distinction of Germany were assembled; seventy princes or independent sovereigns were in attendance; and literally it might be said, that the monarchs of Europe watched for a favourable sign from the mighty conqueror's chamberlains. The two Emperors spent the forenoons together, conversing on the public affairs of Europe and the separate plans of administration for their vast dominions; they then rode out in company to a review or inspection of their respective troops, dined alternately with each other, and in the evening went to the same box at the theatre. A brilliant band of the most distinguished French performers had come from Paris to grace the conference, and during a fortnight the theatre of Erfurth, resplendent with illustrious men and beautiful women, 1 Thib. vii. beheld the masterpieces of Racine and Corneille per- Cas. iv. 232. formed by the talents of Talma, Saint Pris, Mademoiselles Hard. x. 239. Duchesnois and Bourgoin, besides a host of inferior performers.1* * The attentions of Alexander and Napoleon to each other at Erfurth, though delicate, were got up with so much anxiety, as to convey to the spectators the impression that the intimacy of Tilsit had somewhat declined, and that a feeling of which they were on every occasion so very solicitous to give public demonstration, could not in reality have a very deep foundation. On one occasion Alexander expressed great admiration of a singularly beautiful dressing-case and breakfast set of porcelain and gold in Napoleon's sleeping apartment: they were sent to him as a present on the same evening. At the representation of Edipe on October 3, when the line was repeated,— "L'Amitie d'un grand homme est un bienfait des dieux," Alexander turned to Napoleon, and presented to him his hand. A few days after, the Czar, when preparing to go into the salle-à-manger to dinner, perceived that he had forgotten his sword. Napoleon immediately unbuckled his own, and presented it to him.-"I accept it as a mark of your friendship," replied Alexander. "Your Majesty may be well assured I shall never draw it against you." In the midst of all his grandeur, Napoleon had sufficient greatness of soul and true discernment to attempt no concealment of his origin. At dinner one day the conversation turned on the Golden Bull, and the primate of Germany insisted that it had been published in 1409.-" I beg your pardon," observed Napoleon; "When I was a second lieutenant of artillery, I was three years at Valence, and there I had the good fortune to lodge with a learned person, in whose library I learned that and many other valuable details. Nature has given me a memory singularly tenacious of figures." Mademoiselle Bourgoin, whose personal charms were equal to her talents as an actress, attracted the particular notice of the Emperor Alexander; and he inquired of Napoleon if there would be any inconvenience in his forming her personal acquaintance. "None whatever," replied Napoleon, except that it would be a certain mode of making you thoroughly known to all Paris. The day after to-morrow, at the post hour, the most minute particulars of your visits to her will be despatched : and soon there will not be a statuary in Paris who will not be in a situation to model your person from head to foot." This hint had the effect of cooling the rising passion of the Russian Emperor, who, with all his admiration for the fair sex, had an extreme apprehension of such a species of notoriety. It was at Erfurth that Napoleon made the memorable observation to Talma on his erro 61, 70. Las CHAP. 1808. 8. And on the § 41. On the 6th October the whole court proceeded to Weimar, where they were magnificently entertained by the Grand-duke of that place; and Napoleon enjoyed the satisfaction of conversing with Goethe, Wieland, and field of Jena. the other illustrious men who have thrown an imperishable lustre over German literature. On the 7th, the whole party visited the field of Jena. An elegant temple had been constructed by the Grand-duke on the highest summit of the Landgrafenberg, the scene of 1 Ante, c. 43, Napoleon's frigid bivouac two years before, on the night before the battle;1 and a little lower down were a number of tents, of sumptuous construction, where the Emperor and his cortège of kings were entertained, and from whence he pointed out to Alexander the line of the different movements which, on that memorable spot, had led to the overthrow of the Czar's most cherished projects. At length, after seventeen days spent together in the closest intimacy, the two Emperors, on the 14th October, the anniversary of the battle of Jena, rode out together to the spot where they had met on the 27th September; 2 Thib. vii. they there alighted from their horses, and walked side by side for a few minutes in close conversation, and then, embracing, bade each other a final adieu. Alexander Las Cas. iv. returned rapidly towards Poland; Napoleon remeasured his steps slowly and pensively towards Erfurth. They never met again in this world.2* 61, 76. Montg. vi. 353, 354. 232. Hard. x. 239. 3 See below, But it was neither to amuse themselves with reviews and theatrical representations, nor to make proposals to Austria and England, which they were well aware could not be listened to, that the two Emperors had come so far neous view of the character of Nero, in the Brittanicus of Racine: viz., that the poet had not represented him as a tyrant in the commencement of his career; and that it was not till love, his ruling passion at the moment, was thwarted, that he became violent, cruel, and oppressive.-See LAS CASES, iv. 232; and THIBAUDEAU, vii. 61, 65, 71. * In one of their conversations, Alexander strongly represented to the French Emperor the resistance which he experienced in his senate from the aristocratic chiefs, in his projects for the public good. "Believe me," said Napoleon, "how large soever a throne may be, it will always be found too small for two masters."-MONTGAILLARD, vi. 354. Though Austria was not admitted as a party to the Conference at Erfurth, Baron Vincent, envoy of the cabinet of Vienna, came with a letter from the Emperor Francis on the subject of the armaments on either side in southern Germany; and a joint memorial was presented by the Emperors of France and Russia, proposing a termination of hostilities to the government of Great Britain. But these important state papers will more fitly come under consideration in the succeeding chapters, which treat specifically of the affairs of Austria and England at this momentous crisis of their history. CHAP. LV. 1808. Secret views conference. and remained together so long. It was with no view to peace, but, on the contrary, with a distinct prophetic anticipation of an approaching resumption of hostilities, that the conference at Erfurth took place. Napoleon 9. clearly perceived that Austria was about to take advan- of both tage of his immersion in the Peninsular war, and of the parties at the extraordinary preparations which England was making for a Continental campaign, to renew the contest in Germany; and it was to Russia alone that he could look for a sure guarantee of the peace of the North of Europe during the arduous crisis which was approaching. Albeit internally convinced of the necessity of a fearful contest in the end with the power of France, Alexander was not less sensible of the importance of gaining time for the preparations for it. He was strongly impressed with the conviction, that the peculiar and national interests of Russia were in the mean. time chiefly to be promoted by remaining firm in the French alliance, and that when the evil day did come, the best preparation for it would be found in the augmentation of the strength of the empire in Finland and on the Danube, which was likely to follow an adherence to his present engagements. Thus, while both these great potentates were lavishing professions of friendship and regard on each other, they were in reality nursing the feelings destined to lead to inextinguishable hostility in their hearts: Napoleon returned, almost blinded by Russian flattery, to Paris, to prepare, in the subjugation of the Peninsula, the means of arranging the countless host which he was afterwards to lead to the Kremlin; and Alexander, loaded with 76, 78. French presents, remeasured his steps to Muscovy to Boutour. i. 32, 33, 45. organise the force destined, after adding Finland and the Jom. iii. 86. principalities on the Danube to his dominions, to hurl back to the Seine the tide of Gallic invasion.1* "The Emperor Alexander," says Boutourlin, "felt that the alliance concluded at Tilsit, and cemented at Erfurth, as soon as it ceased to be conformable to the interests of Napoleon, would come to an end; and that the grand crisis was approaching which was destined either to consolidate the universal empire which the French Emperor was endeavouring to establish on the Continent, or to break the chains which retained so many Continental states under his rule. Determined never to submit to any condition inconsistent with the honour of his crown, the Emperor of Russia regarded the rupture as near and unavoidable, and thenceforward applied himself silently to organise the immense resources of 1 Thib. vii. |