FRANCE AND EUROPE.

185

ascend the throne in order to resume their own titles and their former functions at the Court of our kings.

Seconded on both sides by this double influence of two such opposite parties, the First Consul maintained his own equilibrium between them, without allowing either to encroach upon the other for a moment. He advanced with increased confidence towards his aim; yet he never neglected the public business, but worked at it with indefatigable ardour. No one had ever so assiduously endeavoured to establish the Administration on such a solid basis as that which he gave to it, and which is still the groundwork, not only of the Administration existing to this day in France, but also of those in other countries which have adopted his system. enforced the strictest order in the management of the public funds, and if he was at first obliged to shut his eyes to the extortions of Talleyrand, Lucien Bonaparte, Bourrienne, and the rascally subordinates who served under them, he was not unaware of their existence, he repressed them by degrees, and even punished them.

He

Such was the state of France at the close of year VIII. (September 1800). In the course of that eventful year, the nation had risen from her ruins and reappeared in all her glory on the stage of the world. Abroad, she was regarded with mingled fear and admiration. Europe already felt that her destiny would depend on that of France, and that the destiny of France hung on the extraordinary man who had placed himself at her head. This man, therefore, became the one sole object of every plot and every conspiracy. To beat France on the field of battle was no longer the question; there were too many adverse chances, and the struggle was too formidable; but the destruction of the man who ruled her would once more deliver her up to a state of anarchy which must complete her ruin.

I had watched the course of events closely, and the consequences that I have just deduced from them were clear to my perception. The friendship and confidence of Joseph Bonaparte, my conversa.tions with the First Consul, who was still occasionally accessible to me on account of our former intimacy in Italy, had initiated me into certain secrets, and had enabled me to detect certain hidden meanings unknown to others. Yet I had no place in the Government up to the end of year VIII., and, as a Member of the Tribunate, I was opposed to, rather than associated with, its

acts.

My position was about to undergo a change. On the fifth complementary day of that year (September 22), I received a note from Cambacérès, asking me to call on him at eight o'clock in the evening. I went. He had been desired by the First Consul to inform me of his intention to summon me to the Council of

State on the 1st Vendémiaire, and to ask whether this appointment would meet my views.

The new functions which were offered to me were more in accordance with my tastes and habits than those I should have to relinquish. I accepted with eagerness.

Five other Councillors of State were appointed at the same time as I. General Gouvion-St.-Cyr to the War Section; Portalis and Thibandeau to the Section of Legislation; François de Nautes and Shee, like myself, to the Section of the Interior.

The promotion of citizens chosen from such widely differing parties was dictated by the system of fusion to which the First Consul at that time adhered in all his appointments, with the purpose which I have already explained.

CHAPTER XI.

A Treaty of Peace with the United States is signed-Incident connected with the date of that Treaty-The active part taken by the First Consul in the deliberations of the Council of State-The proposed law on the formation of lists of Eligibles is abandoned-The Republican conspiracy of Ceracchi and its consequences-Reform of the laws on Emigration-Letter from Louis XVIII. to the First Consul-Arrival of Count von Cobentzel to negotiate for peace-Rudeness of the First Consul to that Minister, who leaves Paris on his way to LunévilleDissensions between the First Consul and his brother Lucien-Violent dispute between the latter and Fouché-Lucien is removed from the Ministry of the Interior and appointed Ambassador to Madrid-The Author is selected for a second Mission to Corsica-Opinions expressed by the First Consul during the debates of the Council of State.

THE ninth year of the Republic began auspiciously. The armistice with Austria had been prolonged for forty-five days; peace with the Americans had been signed on the 4th Vendémiaire (September 26, 1800); the Congress at Lunéville was about to open; the Russian Minister at Berlin had been directed to treat with our Minister, General Bournonville, and the Czar, Paul I., had become infatuated with Bonaparte, of whom he spoke with the wildest enthusiasm; all these things contributed to strengthen the hope of a near and general peace. The fête at Morfontaine, in honour of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace with the United States, was consequently most brilliant and animated. I was present, as were also the American Commissioners, the Consuls, the Ministers, and a considerable number of Generals, Tribunes, and members of the Legislative Body. Among other persons of note who had received invitations was General La Fayette, and the compliment paid to that famous citizen was universally approved.

An incident occurred connected with the conclusion of peace which will not, I think, be out of place in this narrative.

The treaty had really been signed at Morfontaine, where the conferences had been held and where they terminated; and Joseph Bonaparte greatly regretted that the Act should bear the date of Paris instead of that of Morfontaine. He was attached to the place, which would thus have acquired a kind of historical celebrity. He spoke of his disappointment to me, and as, after a few minutes' consideration, we came to the conclusion that there

An

would probably still be time to effect the desired alteration, I undertook to be the bearer of the proposal to Talleyrand. express despatched by that Minister to Havre might easily arrive there before the embarkation of the American Commissioners, and by means of a letter from Mr. Murray, the United States Minister in Paris, who had negotiated the treaty, the change of date might be made on the copy which they were to take back with them.

I saw Talleyrand on the 13th Vendémiaire (October 5) at Auteuil, and, at first, he seemed quite disposed to fall in with the plan; but I afterwards had reason to believe that his acquiescence was not quite sincere. We agreed to meet on the following day, and I accompanied him to the Tuileries. He went in to see the First Consul, and I waited for him in a drawing-room. I had scarcely been there five minutes, when Bonaparte, opening the door of his private room himself, called me in. The conversation was animated, he said that his brother had missed his opportunity, and that opportunities when missed did not recur; then he took a higher flight, and said that missed opportunities were the cause of great revolutions, and of the overthrow of empires; that it would have been very easy to have had the thing done, as his brother wished it, at the time of signing the treaty, but that now he would never consent to the proposed proceeding. I tried in vain to alter his decision, and Talleyrand supported me, although feebly. The First Consul, however, took umbrage at the mediation of his Minister in an affair which he might have arranged himself had he sincerely desired it, and, turning sharply to him, he said, “Why did you come and consult me about it? You should have done it without asking, and afterwards I should have thought it quite right." Talleyrand stammered out that he had told him, because it was necessary to tell him everything, but that there were certain things that he might know without being supposed to know them, and this one was of the number. Notwithstanding all this fencing, I soon perceived there was nothing to be done, and I withdrew. Talleyrand was more than civil to me on our way back, he tried very hard to persuade me that in the step I had just taken the First Consul could only see a proof of my affection for his brother, and that, in reality, he must feel pleased at it. We parted, and I returned to Morfontaine. I have narrated this anecdote, not very interesting in itself, only because it was a revelation to me of a trait in the character of Bonaparte. From his own words I perceived the great importance which, according to the maxim of one of the sages of Greece,* he attached to know

* Pittacus; his motto was yaɩpòv yvŵðɩ, occasionem nosce. The King of Prussia called Opportunity “the mother of great events.'

BONAPARTE'S ADMINISTRATIVE SAGACITY.

189

ing how to seize Opportunity; a doctrine that during the most brilliant period of his career generally guided his conduct with great advantage.

On returning to Paris, whither I was called by my new duties, I was assiduous in my attendance at the sittings of the Council of State. I was also present at various Councils of Administration, to which the First Consul summoned me, and which were sometimes prolonged to a late hour at night. No branch of the government was unfamiliar to him, and he entered into the minutest details with wonderful sagacity.

The Council of State was particularly occupied at this time in framing a law for the formation of the lists of eligibles, who by the terms of the Constitution were to furnish the candidates for the various public offices, and even for the renewable consulships. But the deeper we plunged into this discussion, the less could we see our way. Roederer and I were jointly charged with the task, and we had contrived and framed a project of law; but we were well aware that the difficulties of its execution would be serious. I read it aloud to the Council of State. It was printed, and each member studied it; but, either I had not succeeded in expressing my own and my colleague's ideas clearly, or the executive details appeared impracticable, or-as I can readily believe-our difficulties were purposely multiplied so as to lead to the abandonment of a scheme which did not suit the views of the First Consul; at any rate, it was ultimately given up. Although the plan was at first adopted, as Bonaparte had not given it his approval, it was sent back for examination to the Sections of the Interior and of Legislation, so that they might either amend our project or propose another. But the subject was threadbare, time went by, and subsequent events caused the projected law to be lost sight of; it perished still-born.

The power of the First Consul was increasing through a concourse of circumstances produced by his own genius, and which he contrived to turn to the advantage of the nation, by the order that he introduced into every branch of the government, and to his own, by making himself the sole source of benefits or rewards. But his enemies were also increasing in number, and being more than ever persuaded that by striking down this one man they could overturn the Government, they were secretly sharpening the daggers with which they hoped to strike him.

The extreme Republicans and the partisans of the former dynasty, united by a common interest, without maintaining any mutual relations, were hatching the same plots, and seemed only to be disputing who should strike the first blow.

The Republicans did the deed. A few enthusiasts formed a