Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

with such contagious fervour that Becker entered into his views warmly and instantly. Carnot was of opinion to accept his offer, and trust to his genius, fortune, and good faith. Fouché, like the noted duke of Lauderdale in Scotland, and another ermined buffoon who died recently in Ireland, combined the love of jesting with the thirst of blood, he laughed at the proposal, and told Becker, with an expression of trivial pleasantry, that his prisoner was flown, and already haranguing the troops. Becker found Napoleon waiting his return, and ready to mount his horse, already saddled for the field, on the supposition that his offer would be accepted, but without the slightest intention to take advantage of the absence of his keeper and violate his pledge. Fouché became alarmed at his contiguity to the French troops, and the consequent possibility of his placing himself, or their placing him at their head. He therefore gave the necessary orders, and Napoleon was permitted to leave France. Preparations for his departure commenced early on the morning of the 29th of June. The false, the dastardly, and the ungrateful had fallen off: - Malmaison presented a spectacle of indescribable desolation and sorrow: the mother, sister, and other relatives of Napoleon, wept and sobbed around him, whilst he employed himself in reading, or appearing to read the "American Farmer's Calendar *:" he occasionally raised his head to console his mother by saying, "No, my mother, it is not so bad as you think it is not so bad." An old dependent on his

[ocr errors]

* He purposed going to the United States.

bounty, who had known him in his youth, presented himself, to solicit a last succour; the lord of nations and their monarchs, found himself without the means to comply, his fortitude forsook him; and exclaiming," It is too much, it is too much," he gave way to his emotion:- this scene is referred to on the authority of the celebrated tragedian Talma, who witnessed it, and who maintained and avowed a generous faith even to the memory of his illustrious protector and friend.

At five o'clock in the evening of the 29th of June, Napoleon took leave of Malmaison for ever.

CHAPTER XXIV.

1815.

[ocr errors]

THE provisional government, on the 30th of June, again solicited an armistice through marshal Davoust. Napoleon, they urged, was now removed from the scene, and the sole condition insisted on by the allies fulfilled. The duke of Wellington referred them to marshal Blucher, who returned to Davoust the following reply: "We pursue our victory. God has given us the means and the will. Take care what you are about. Do not plunge one city more in misery and desolation. You well know what would be the conduct of the exasperated soldier if your capital were taken by assault. Would you load yourself with the curses of Paris as well as of Hamburgh? In Paris only can an armistice be safely concluded."

This humiliating refusal, conveying a personal as well as public insult to Davoust, in the allusion to Hamburgh, which he had defended pertinaciously in the preceding year, made the chamber of representatives sensible at last of the folly of their expectations. An express acknowledgment of the son of Napoleon was hitherto evaded. It now appeared that nothing remained but unconditional, abject submission, or an appeal to arms.

The

latter was decided on. A rallying cry became necessary; and commissioners, wearing the tricolor scarf of the republic, were sent to the army in the name of Napoleon II. The troops echoed the name of the young emperor with enthusiasm, and forwarded to the chamber of representatives an address vehemently repudiating the Bourbons. The representatives in reply protested as strongly against the Bourbons, and appealed to the public declarations of the allies that France should be permitted to choose her government. "Napoleon," said they, "is removed from us. His son is called to the empire by the constitutions of the state. The coalesced sovereigns know this. The war, then, must terminate, or the promises of kings are vain." Blucher and Wellington, regardless of this grave alternative, moved rapidly upon Paris. A battle was expected under the walls of the capital. But the representatives had broken the sword as well as the sceptre of France. After some skirmishes of cavalry, the Prussians occupied St. Germain, Versailles, and St. Cloud. Two councils of war, the one under the auspices of Fouché, in Paris, the other of Davoust, at the French head-quarters of Villette, resolved, with considerable difference of opinion, that Paris was indefensible. The deciding majority consisted of marshals surcharged with wealth, titles, and years, in whom patriotism, ambition, and the desire of glory had given way to the love of luxurious grandeur, vanity, and repose. The more active and aspiring officers, who had ambition and reputation, without yet reaching the highest rank, formed the minority.

[ocr errors]

Davoust, in pursuance of this military decision, to which he was a party, once more requested of the Prussian general Zieten a suspension of arms to consider the terms of the surrender of Paris. The answer of the Prussian was an aggravated reiteration of insult and contempt. "I dare not," said he, "even mention such a request to marshal Blucher; but if the deputies of the government declare to my aide-de-camp that both Paris and the French army are ready to surrender, I will speak to the marshal." The insulting Prussian, like the Gaul, threw his sword into the scale; but Davoust and the provisional government, degraded and despicable, crouched in silence before the conqueror, and appealed to the duke of Wellington. Paris, after some further supplicatory negotiation, was surrendered to the allies, whilst the French army retired behind the Loire.

Two articles of the capitulation should be borne in mind. The eleventh declares that "public properties, with the exception of those which have reference to war, shall be respected:" the twelfth, that "the inhabitants, and, in general, all individuals in the capital, shall continue to enjoy their liberty and rights without being molested or called to account relative to the functions which they occupy, or may have occupied, their conduct, or their political opinions."

The capitulation was signed at St. Cloud, and made public in Paris on the 3d of July. It produced a ferment through the capital. Davoust and the provisional government were denounced as traitors; but the courageous patriotism of the

« AnteriorContinuar »